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 see Neil Gaiman read from The Graveyard Book at LSE, thanks to a spare ticket from Ade. It was pretty good, and I've decided I want my own pocket Gaiman that I could carry around so he could read me stories when I'm feeling bored or depressed. Not just his own stories, either; I have a feeling that he would be a great story-teller reading work by other people, too. Actually, I think that everyone would feel better with pocket Gaiman to carry around and tell them stories. Maybe we should clone him.

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I decided not to go to Thought Bubble up in Leeds next weekend, since it clashes with some other things I want to do in London. Instead, I'm spending Friday evening bidding farewell to Adam and Beth before they move to Tennessee, and going to see Dave McKean being interviewed by fellow artist Andrzej Klimowski at Comica on Sunday. I'm also thinking of going to see some silent movies and artists' films accompanied by live music at the Barbican on Saturday; either the Millennial Territory Orchestra meets Laurel & Hardy, or Bill Frisell scoring Jim Woodring and Buster Keaton. Or both. If anyone else wants to come? I am sad to be missing everyone going to Thought Bubble, though. Hope it's a good weekend!

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I stumbled upon Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's Frequency and Volume at the Barbican, which was good fun, but would probably have been more effective with more people there.

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I went to the Polaroid retrospective at the AOP gallery with Paul. It was both interesting and disappointing. I was interested to see how much of the work on display looked nothing like yer basic humble medium format everyone-could-afford-one Polaroid photos that most people would be familiar with — but that was also the first disappointment. There were a lot of very interesting techniques used, but, frustratingly, absolutely no information about what those techniques were, or what type of Polaroid camera was used. Since most of these techniques are going to be lost once Polaroid film becomes completely obsolete, and since this was ostensibly a celebration of what Polaroid had to offer in its heyday, it seems such a shame not to have documented the processes to an audience that would obviously be interested. But it's a nice little gallery, and it was good to have the opportunity to visit it in the evening, so I'll be looking out for other shows there.

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I went to Tuttle Club a couple of times, and I signed up to Amp08, but I'll write about that some more in its own post.

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I went to the launch of Street or Studio: A Photobook at Tate Britain. The book is pretty good (see the pictures here), but the party was a bit odd. We weren't allowed to take drinks into the section where the book table and the projections were, and there was a room full of old masters that had been done out like a disco, with pumping music and flashing lights. It wasn't part of the Flickr party, just a regular part of the Late at Tate event, but it was somewhat surreal and, frankly seemed pointless since no one was dancing and it was too loud and too dark to actually look at the pictures! I'm not sure who they were trying to appeal to, except that it was so full of business suits that I thought it was some kind of private corporate party. Only it wasn't. Very weird. So we escaped to the Morpeth Arms just in time for them to have stopped serving food. It's had a refit, with all the normal height tables and chairs replaced by those stupid high tables and towering bar stools that make you look like an undignified idiot when you try to climb onto them, and are a liability if you're drunk. Fortunately, the furniture upstairs is at normal proportions, and the Tribute ale was tasty.

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I popped into Handmade & Bound at the awesomely kitsch and untouched St Aloysius Social Club, a place I've been past many times but never gone inside. I didn't buy much from the fantastically packed stalls, though there was a lot of beautiful stuff to be had, including one woman who makes the most gorgeous pop-up books. Unfortunately, once again, most people didn't have any kind of business card for me to to take so I could remember who they were afterwards. It was nice to see Xtina, Marc, Mark and Gav, anyway. Next time I'll try and buy more stuff!

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I went to Tarek's leaving drinks at The Couch, where they have no couches, and they serve disgusting Gordon's gin when you ask for a G&T, rather than the better-tasting Bombay Sapphire that's become the more standard basic gin of choice in most pubs and bars. But the company was great and we ended up in the New Evaristo (No.3 in Gentry Style's top five London bars); one of those after-hours basement drinking dens that is ostensibly a members' only place but, according to the lass who signed us all in, it seems that to become a member, all you have to do is get on well with the doorman so that he remembers you next time. Great end to a great night, anyway. (Good luck in Qatar, dude!)