Here's a hedgehog brooch I made for my friend Anwen's birthday

Here's a really terrible photo of the beaded moth brooch I made for my mum's Christmas present (this was the second version, which I started after I'd almost finished the first version and realised I hated it! What a waste of time… I'm not even 100% happy with this one, but my mum loves it, so that's all right)

This is Maurice Morris, who I also belongs to my mum now. (I started making him during Movember, hence his name and his moustache)

I made these two in October. They don't have names yet. They have pipecleaners in their arms and legs so they're poseable (so does Maurice Morris).

This is a sugar skull brooch I made last October

I wore it when I went to the last Alternative Press Fair and several people asked me if I was selling them. One of them, Chloe Cook, gave me her email address and commissioned me to make a brooch for her mum for Christmas.

I tried a different design for the second skull brooch, although I forgot to take a better photo than this one on my phone before I sent it off.

I also made a scrappy dog brooch, which I wore to Boring 2010 and later in the pub a drunk lady asked me to make her one but I don't know who she was…. (Incidentally, did anyone do a blogpost collecting all the reports and presentations from Boring? I can't find one, which is a bit annoying, as is the fact that I haven't taken a better photo than this one)

I also made a couple of lavender owls (not brooches), but I didn't take any photos of them before I gave them away! oops.

(the colours are a bit weird on my photos because my camera really hates the colours red and blue for some reason, so anything with a hint of them comes out looking weird and I don't always get it right when I edit in Photoshop)

Since the start of the year I have made over ten brooches, and have got started on three or four more. Sometimes the getting started bit is the most fun, because I like working out how things fix together, and building them, more than I like the straightforward sewing, which can be a bit boring. I didn't have many proper brooch pins, so I just used safety pins.

Mostly they've been flowers because I like making the roses and the little leaves (and I haven't seen the same style of roses anywhere else online, which is nice)

I also made a larger rose and leaf, which can be worn separately or together (though I'll make them with proper brooch pins next time).

And I made a robot brooch, based on the same design as Sunday George. This one doesn't have a name yet, though.

I don't really like the felt that I used to make it, as it's pretty cheap acrylic felt which bobbles and pills really easily, and isn't as nice to sew as the wool felt that I made Sunday George with (which I bought in Birmingham a few years ago). I don't know where to get some good quality wool felt in London, though, as all the shops I know which sell felt in small sheets (rather than by the metre) all sell acrylic felt rather than wool felt. Sometimes acrylic felt is just as good as wool felt, and sometimes it's just nasty. I did find this list of places I want to check out, but if anyone knows anywhere I can buy some nice wool felt (not online as I like to see what the fabric's like before I buy it), please leave a comment! I

If you want to have a go making some felt or paper flowers I just bookmarked a few different tutorials collected here. I haven't tried any of them yet, though.

Fradley Benford

Austin Flisk and Skeechy Dwippford

Mr & Mrs Treep, with the twins Klipsy and Fring

Lady Penelope Grimm-Fribbington
(note the FM logo on her scarf, designed by Woodrow Phoenix)

If you can't get to Selfridges to see them for yourself before December 24th, there are more pictures here.

(Incidentally, it looks like Jonathan is still selling copies of his ace silly gangster comic Aunt Connie and the Plague of Beards. Go buy.)

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 Sunday the lock had somehow jammed into a deadbolt that couldn't be opened from inside or outside. Luckily the stupid stupid neighbours were in their flat and the man (who is most to blame for constantly slamming the fucking door) got his tools and fixed the lock so I could leave the house. He had the cheek to act all huffy and put out by me asking him to do so, though. How do I hate my neighbours, oh let me count the ways. I know it's incredibly wishful thinking, but I really hope they manage to sell their flat soon so we no longer have to put up with the stale stink of his cheap cigarettes, her screaming neuroses and their general unfriendliness.

Craftwerk was really good, though. There were loads of great stalls, and I saw lots of lovely things, but restricted myself to only buying postcards and mini-prints (and one brooch for a friend), so I managed to come away without having spent loads of money. However, this time around I also came away with handfuls of business cards, so I now know where to go when I do have some money to spare, and I can tell you all about them. Zine/comics people: take note, will you? People can't spread the word if they don't know where to send their friends. In fact, there were too many to list here, so I'll be posting links to all of these websites in a later post as well — if you want some fun and pretty ideas for your Christmas shopping, keep an eye for that.

I went to Comiket on Saturday, part of this year's Comica festival, which was pretty cool. It was nice to catch up with some of the usual faces, but there were also loads of people whose work I'd never seen before, and seeing new stuff at events like these is always good.

Less good was the complete lack of any signs telling anyone where in the building it was actually taking place, which was poor show on the part of the ICA. Also, once again, hardly anyone had any business cards so I could make note of who they were to seek them out later, when I have some spare cash to throw down on such fripperies. People, people! If you want punters to buy your stuff, you have to make it easy for them to find you when they have money! It's not rocket science! I picked up a few good things to read, but I'll write about them in another post.

Most of the afternoon was spent having increasingly surreal conversations in the bar with Mr Jones, Mr Webb and Doctoe. Subjects included but were not limited to: FLCL, innovative restaurant ideas, honey badgers, fake band names, the mechanics of horoscope creation, cows, and Gay Bingo.

Our favourite restaurant idea was Cut Pig, where diners can carve their own cuts of meat, though Matt1′s Play With Your Food idea is a pretty good one, as well. I don't think I'll ever see truffles in quite the same light again, however, after hearing that there is a French term for women who put truffles into their private parts to get pigs to pleasure them¹. Finding out that there's a place in the Middle East where they bury dead people with honey and dig it up months later so the honey tastes better² was also a bizarre moment, but prompted a great conversation about honey badgers. I can't believe there are still people out there who haven't heard of honey badgers! Honey badgers are great! They're pound for pound the most dangerous land mammal! They're a secret weapon! And they're a Bond-girl name waiting to happen…

One of the less ridiculous tangents of the conversation, prompted by three of us having a fan-group moment over Madame Zee, was about whether there are any specific mechanics or distinct formulas to create horoscopes, and how these would be affected with different input. Maybe one could create useful horoscopes based on things that actually do affect a person's morning, like traffic and pollen count and Evening Standard headlines. Those things are more likely to affect whether you feel like you're having a good day or a bad day than whether Venus is in the house of Jupiter or something.

The Gay Bingo was the subject of much speculation. I had read about it on the ICA site and forgotten all about it, but there was a delicious moment when I realised that it was starting around the same time that the Comiket folk would have finished packing up, prompting fantastic images of the clash of cultures scrapping over who got served first and where everyone would sit. This latter was actually enough of a concern for one rather aggressive butch dyke to come over to warn us that we might not want to stick around if we weren't actually playing, because it would get so rammed it would be difficult to leave. "I'm saying this for the benefit of you two gentlemen, actually. The girls won't have a problem." She did have a point — for anyone who's been there during a very busy Tuttle, it was actually even more crowded than that. Srsly.

By that point, the comics people were starting to arrive in the bar, looking for places to sit, so we left anyway, so somewhat to my disappointment we didn't find out the difference between Gay Bingo and regular bingo. If anyone knows, please enlighten us poor ignorant souls.

¹"I read it on the internet, so it must be true!"^3
2This may only be the product of Matt Webb's fevered brain.
³Actual veracity of this statement may be in doubt, also.

Matt posted some photos of Comiket over here.