Was back at the St Aloysius Social Club again on Saturday, this time for the Bust Christmas Craftacular. More crowded than the previous two events I'd been to there recently, and entry wasn't even free this time! Although they were handing out a guide to the tables. It was a pretty shoddy guide, though, two pink pieces of A4 (why did it have to be bloody pink?), printed on all sides and folded in half. Out of the resultant five pages remaining after the table guide and front cover, there was exactly one devoted to information about the event and the stall-holders — the rest was all bloody ads! On top of that, there were no actual issues of the magazine on sale anywhere, which was a bit annoying since I haven't got this month's yet. (In theory, they could even have been handing them out to interested people the way that the folks from Nude have done at the last few similar events. But they should at least have been on sale.)
Those gripes aside, there was a lot of good stuff on show, and I saw quite a few things I coveted for myself, although often the stalls were so crazy busy I ran out of energy just trying to get a look at them… As it happened, I had less than a tenner on me, and I was planning to also go to the WeMakeLondon fair on the same day, so I didn't spend a lot. But I did pick up loads of business cards, so I can do another long post of crafty handmade goodness full of great places for you to chuck your cash at.
Prick Your Finger – they stock yarn from British sheep, including rare breeds and hand-spun wool. The site is Flash-only though, which is really annoying!
Kirsty Kirkpatrick – "an anti-landfill fashion label," apparently. Reclaimed bits and bobs usually turned into jewellery, for sale here. It's mostly a bit fussy for my tastes, but I like some of the wine box necklaces.
Tatty Devine – I do like the sense of play that the TD jewellery has, but I also think it's too expensive! It was great to see the pair of them playing "Craft Doctor" to help people fix their problems, though, and they did seem like really approachable women, which was nice, too. But I find myself wondering who actually makes their stuff these days, since they are both so busy running the business and putting on exhibitions and participating in events like this and being interviewed in fashion magazines and so forth that they surely just don't have the time to make all the jewellery as well?
The Great Cake Escape – these girls have been getting loads of press, so I'm sure you know all about them already. Here's some from earlier this year.
Caz Potter – the site is not online yet, which is annoying because I can't remember what she sold, but it should be ready next week…
Eclectic Eccentricity – despite the somewhat cringeworthy slogan ("jewellery with inspired kookiness"), these were the prettiest and most original of all the reclaimed jewellery stalls, especially the lovely, lovely lockets, which I coveted, oh how I coveted. But I don't even wear the locket I do have. Having said that, I totally fell in love with this fabulous octopus necklace when I saw someone wearing one recently, and I'm delighted to discover where it came from. And the prices are really reasonable, too!
Moxie – a one-stop shop for beauty products, they sell on behalf of others, but the prices are in sterling which makes it easier than converting the dollar when buying direct.
Mr Wingate – great t-shirts and tea-towels featuring modernist buildings and alt.London landmarks. I nearly bought a tea-towel featuring an illustration of The Macbeth as it was only a fiver, and I've seen some insane gigs there. But I don't need any more tea-towels. Nice business-card, too.
Hellomemo – all sorts of lovely stuff, from knitted ice-cream brooches to notebooks. I like the bird cushions.
Made By Kate – cute monsters made by Kate.
Bbel – pretty jewellery, with lots of birds. I really liked the acrylic pendants. And the business-card is handmade; collage on one side and rubber-stamped on the other. Nice!
Carte Couture – funny sewn collages. Just don't mention furries.
Pom Pom International – rather silly but fun craft project created by Amy Lame, making great use of the ol' social media and the international craft scene, huzzah!
Experimental Letterpress Workshop – I bought some nifty letter-pressed gift-tags (five for a quid! Bargain!), and they gave me a nice catalogue, but it only features things to buy in bulk, which is a pity 'cos their stuff is nice, so hopefully they'll do more craft fairs as well.
Battenberg – new clothes and toys made from… old clothes and toys. Also, cutest business card alert!
Anthony Zinonos – illustration and collage. Quite fun.
I Like Pens – cards and notebooks in that fun, "naive art" illustration style that is so popular these days.
Lady Luck Rules OK – another stalwart on the "small craft company makes big" front, with stock that changes with the seasons, so I don't always like it. The customised babushka doll pendants they have at the moment are pretty though, and although I didn't buy it, the mirrored owl pendant just absolutely hooted Jeremy's name.
Love From Hetty & Dave – another owl here, a brooch handmade from coloured leather, was what caught my eye. I've been noticing owls a lot in illustration and design this year1, so I passed comment on it with the designer, Zoe Larkins, mentioning that they've even been seen as Christmas decorations in Selfridges and Paperchase. She said she thought it was because owls were quite wintery creatures, and wasn't surprised at the numbers that have been showing up in design because "everyone likes owls, don't they?" (I'm not sure they do, but I do, so seeing them everywhere is quite cool.)
Custom Made UK – loads of fun stuff. And speaking of owls again, I totally fell in love with their owl tote! They've got a thing for the babushka dolls as well.
Kandy Diamond – I liked the crayon scarves. Also the purveyor of Sugar Paper: Things To Make and Do. I bought the recent winter edition, which came with a free "I <3 craft" badge.
Jess Turnbull – I so almost bought one of her fabulous flamingo brooches for Beth but I couldn't decide if the pink mirrored one was perhaps a bit too fabulous, if you know what I mean! They're only £6.00 though, and some of the other jewellery is fun too.
I didn't even make it to the WeMakeLondon event, because it finished at 5:00pm and not 6:00pm, which seemed a bit early for a Saturday in December. So I ended up throwing down my readies on some nice art paper in Paperchase instead. Which is fine.
1In fact, I've been meaning to collect all the ones I've spotted on ffffound into one special blog post, with links to all the originating illustrators, but I keep forgetting to get around to it
on Dec 8th, 2008 at 1:06 am
I saw a lot of people wandering around with copies of BUST tucked under their arms, so maybe there were some earlier in the day? There were goody bags for the first 100 people so maybe they were stuffed in them…
on Dec 9th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
[...] Mondoagogo, I was less than impressed by the distinctly shoddy presentation of the programme for the event. [...]
on Dec 11th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Camilla, I think they were, but it still would have been nice for the rest of us to even have been able to buy a copy! I did get one yesterday, anyway.
Also, just realised from visiting your site that you were the lady with the DIY badge stall. I nearly bought a load of badges from you but you were busy and I was tired. I loved the stamps and the comics speech-bubbles ones, though. Did you actually cut up comics or did you photocopy/scan the pages first?