George Weil Blog & FAQs

Wishing Liam (the tall one!) every success and happiness in his new job. We at George Weil will miss you. Liam has been working with us for a couple of years now and as much as we would like to keep him, he has received a job offer he can't resist.

Did you know that Doctor Ian Bowers, Managing Director of George Weil & Sons Ltd, has run the business since it merged with Fibrecrafts, over 20 years ago? Fibrecrafts was set up in 1982 by Anna Bowers, to offer textile crafts supplies for hand spinners, weavers, dyers, felt makers and knitters. Anna set the standard for the service we are prou

George Weil are pleased to have been able to support the 2017 Yvonne Arnaud Art Exhibition as a patron. The event featured 25 artists including works in oils, acrylics, pastels - and cement! Plus photographs on aluminum, sculptures and ceramics. The painting "Patti" featured here (right) is by artist David Dragon, and another of his paintings "The

Conte a Paris Crayons are square 'carre' sticks which are made using a combination of pigments, clay and binder. They are harder than pastels and charcoal, and can be applied with the corner for fine lines and the flat edge to make larger strokes. Conte a Paris Crayons - a small selection of the colours! These crayons with their 6x6mm cross-sect

Kyra has joined us for work experience this week where she's learning the in's and out's of how a business is run. Today Kyra has learnt about the steps for how orders are processed and packaged, as well as how businesses keep track of sales and profit. She's even had a sneak preview of our new and improved website, and had a summary of how it all

Jacquard Pearl Ex pigment powders are made from fine particles of glistening mica. The varying sizes of the coloured particles produce pearlescent and metallic effects. These ultra fine powders can be combined with any viscous material such as glue, paint, resin, varnish, or brushed onto tacky surfaces such as wax candles or modelling clay. Thi

What is Milliput? Milliput epoxy putty is used to repair damaged metals, glass, concrete, plastics, brick, cement and wood, and in places where welding is impractical. This malleable putty is also very popular with model makers for its work-ability and smooth finish. When mixed in equal quantities, the two-part epoxy putty cures to a rock hard, d

I decided to paint my son and his fiancé a painting to mark their engagement. The design needed to be personal to them, and to appeal to their "alternative tastes". I chose to paint three playing cards, the Queen of Spades, Ace of Hearts and King of Diamonds on a large canvas. As I'm not the most confident artist or the most experienced painter

Say hello to Cara! Cara recently joined the team here at George Weil, and a great addition she is! Cara carefully weighs, measures and packs your art and craft materials in our warehouse, ensuring you always receive exactly what you've ordered. She is responsible for checking in stock from our many suppliers, and beautifully displays the product

Why so many Coloured Pencils? We are often asked why we carry such a large range of coloured pencils. But what is the difference anyway? Here is a quick review of 8 of our most popular pencils, which we hope will help you to choose the coloured pencils most suited to your needs. Each of the pencils featured are available individually in a choice co

These water soluble drawing blocks and pencils can be use in countless different ways to create colourful artwork. Just add water to Derwent Inktense Blocks or Pencils to produce deep and vibrant permanent, waterproof ink colours on paper or fabric. If you choose to draw on fabric, your designs on cotton or silk will be hand washable at 30°C.

Wild Rose Escapes run craft, wild cookery and relaxation holidays and courses in the heart of the Highlands of Scotland. Their courses include natural dyeing and felt making. We invited owner Rosie to tell us a little more about their craft holidays. "I have been running craft courses in the Highlands of Scotland for over 7 years now and since the

The Speedy Carve block is made from smooth and flexible rubber. It cuts easily with lino cutter blades and does not crumble, making it ideal for creating detailed prints. The latex free rubber also stops the block from slipping around while it is being cut. The wavy lines on this Speedy Carve block were cut freehand using the Speedball No 37 Lino

There are a huge range of artist brushes available from the George Weil website and showroom. When choosing a brush you need to consider the type of paint you will be using, plus the amount of 'spring' required. The spring of the hairs/bristles is determined by how quickly and easily they can revert to their original shape. A selection of artist b

Professional Nannies Cara and Kim arranged this fun tie-dyeing Summer Holiday activity to entertain the children they look after. These cotton onesies were dyed by the children themselves. Tie-dyeing is a resist dyeing method. The dye is prevented from reaching the areas of fabric which are tightly bound with either elastic bands or string, or by t

Transparent fabric paints are very effective when used to create sun prints. Here we demonstrate prints made using Jacquard Dye-na-flow and Deka Silk paints in the evening sunshine using leaves as the mask. Sun Prints using Fabric Paints Creating the Sun Print First make the fabric wet by spraying or brushing water across the surface and then appl

The glorious sunshine has given me a chance to use the Fibrecrafts Cyanotype Blue Printing Kit. Include in the kit are enough chemicals to make up to 1 litre of solution, a 1/2 metre each of silk and cotton fabric, and a step-by-step instruction leaflet. Cyanotype printing is a negative process - where light cannot reach the sensitised areas the co

For many people the idea of buying a loom, then weaving on it sounds complicated and confusing. Something perhaps best left to professionals and textile artists? This is how I felt whenever I contemplated the practical use of ‘heddles’, ‘warp and weft’ and many other weaving terms. However this week I found myself surrounded by opportunity

Here's a quick fix for a plain and boring lampshade. These lampshades were bought from a well-known bargain value high street store, and we have made them more interesting by decorating them with skeleton leaves. The skeleton leaves are available from the George Weil website as are the PVA glue, glue spreader and paint brushes needed to complete

A great atmosphere here today at George Weil as we share ginger bread men, wear Christmas jumpers and surprise each other with a Secret Santa. Here are some of the staff enjoying the Christmas 2015 festivities Left to right are: Julie who is a member of the sales department and often the voice you will hear when you call us, Allison and Liam (mothe