“It gave me a purpose and something to do throughout furlough”: Have you been getting creative throughout lockdown?

National Creativity Day gave everyone and anyone a chance to unleash their imagination – and Salford was no exception.

Artists, musicians, photographers and more celebrated on Sunday May 30.

Part-time crafter Hayley Dell, who sells hand-decorated and upcycled glass and slate items, says crafting has helped her throughout lockdown.

Hayley said: “My favourite thing about crafting I suppose, is that it usually gives pleasure to somebody else, I mean I enjoy doing it but I also like to see the response I give them to someone or if they purchase it.”

Over lockdown, people often felt lost and like they had no purpose and this was a similar feeling for Hayley, she told us that crafting has her a sense of purpose. Here is what she had to say:

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Hayley takes any kind of recycled bottles she cleans them, before taking napkins and acrylic paints to try out different patterns on the bottles, she uses the napkins to actually decorate with and then she adds lights and makes them into beautiful ornaments.

She also uses this technique on other materials like slate hearts, wooden items, plastic items, glass jars, light bulbs, she said: “I try pretty much anything really, I am upcycling and recycling as a rarely buy any of my items that I do use”.

Hayley told us that not only does she sell some of her items online (which you can find here) but she also attends craft fairs when she can, here’s what she told us about them; “I like to be there with other people who do crafts and I like to see what others do and create.”

“It is a pleasant atmosphere and interesting, I like lots of different crafts and I like to see lots of different crafts and it is good for people to come out and chat to other people, there is a good social aspect to it.”

We asked Hayley what advice she would give someone who struggles to be creative: “I think if anything I have learnt that it’s not always what you think is good art or creative, it’s what others think. Sometimes you just need to think outside of the box and not only think about what you like but what others may like as well.”

Hayley told us that covid-19 and lockdown did help her enjoy crafting more as it did allow her more time away from 9-5 work to focus on something that she really enjoys…which is crafting.

Hayley told us how she would be spending her National creativity day and that is holding zoom demonstrations showing people how to do what she does, and she has done several of these throughout lockdown.