Showing posts with label makers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label makers. Show all posts
Have yourself an Independent Christmas
New in HandMade May
New in Handmade February
So for our second instalment of New in Handmade we are sharing a three new treats for the month for you. Just what you wanted to close to payday, right??!
Makers month: What's on all our desks
Hello there folks, so we thought we would give you another special edition of one of your favourite nosey posts for Makers Month. This time around we have another great selection of Makers for you, you can see our last round in May here. This time we had a nosey at the desks of Mister Peebles, The Fox in the Attic, Oh Squirrel and Frilly Industries. So lets get started shall we?
Makers Month: Makers Wishlist
Maker Badge / Make-up Bag / Cactus Pincushion Kit / Coffee Print / Tassel Garland / Biscuit Purse / Storage Jars / Phone Case / Makers Note Book / Makers Mug / Love Bracelet / Plant Subscription / Acrylic Rings / Crystal Cushion
Our first Spring Makers Month is almost over and we couldn't round it up without sharing some of our favourite pieces from some of our favourite makers. So here are our picks, honestly there are so many amazing creators around it is a constant battle to choose! We share our best finds weekly on our instagram @liveit.loveit.makeit so head over and turn on notifications to keep up with all our posts.
Have a lovely long weekend
Sammy xxx
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Makers Month: Branding Q&A with HAM
Way back at the beginning of our Makers Month we had a brand Q&A with Kim from Finest Imaginery and now we thought we should share another great perspective on branding with Jo from HAM. So let's hear what insights she can give us to making your brand work for you.
Hello Jo, Could you tell our readers a little about yourself and your business?
Hi! I am the illustrator behind HAM and spend my time capturing moments from the contented life of Rabbit on a range of ceramics, wall art and paper goods. We sell direct online at hammade.com and through our family of stockists around the world.
Where/when did you decide that you wanted your own business?
I started working on HAM in 2010 after making the tough decision to leave the job I loved at the brand consultancy Wolff Olins. A lot of factors got me to this point: I’d always been hungry to start a business having grown up surrounded by people doing their own thing - both my parents and brother run companies. I’d also studied fine art at university and although I was working at a creative agency, I was a strategist and longed to be physically designing and making. The final push was getting ill in my mid 20s, which came a bit out the blue, and stopped me in my tracks for a year. I had to take some time off and whilst I was away I started filling up my sketchbook again and the HAM idea was born. Returning to work was definitely the best thing for me but my outlook on life had changed and I was now very much focused on living for the moment, so I took the plunge, left work and launched HAM in 2011.
Who do you design for?
HAM has quite a broad reach. I always hope to create things that all ages can enjoy. And I try and keep the themes and humour universal so language or culture isn’t a barrier.
Do you think you need a brand identity?
Absolutely! Brand is often mistaken as just a logo or the look of a business but it can do so much more. Think of your brand as an idea, something that defines what makes you special, then use it as a guiding principle or a blueprint for all that you do. Staying true to what you stand for will help keep your offer authentic and consistent and it’s a really powerful tool for helping make decisions about opportunities that come your way.
Does using social media help to build your customers?
Social media has revolutionized the way we do business, cutting out the middleman and enabling us to have a
direct conversation with a ton of potential customers all over the world. It’s a big part of our marketing strategy and best of all it’s free! It is evolving so quickly it’s tricky to keep up. We have a presence on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram (my fave) and I’m keen to get to grips with the next wave of apps… Snapchat is next on my list!
Top tips to building your brand.
- Really think about what you stand for as a designer, the idea driving your work and how that makes you different.
- Use brand as brief for all areas of your business: from the development of collections and deciding which events to show at, to planning collaborations and figuring out your tone of voice.
- Get family and friends involved. There are always ups and downs so share concerns with those around you and gauge feedback wherever possible.
- With time and experience your brand will naturally evolve so don’t be worried if the offer or brand idea changes and needs a refresh.
- Invest time in thinking about your customer experience. Use your brand to help make packaging, web content, newsletters and social media really unique.
- Keep striving to think how can I make this better? And don’t forget to celebrate the good times!
Time to share the love, name some of your favourite designers.
There is a gang of us that all started around the same time – we see each other regularly at trade shows and we’ve become pals, something that’s important when you work in such an insular way. It’s been amazing to watch their collections flourish and their following grow. Aside from loving and respecting what they do they are all ace people. Highly recommend checking out…
Tom Pigeon, Tori Murphy, Lisa King London, Chase and Wonder, Not Another Bill, Kangan Arora, Lindsey Lang, Wrap Magazine and Richard Brendon.
Thanks so much Jo for having a chat with us about her brand and that super cute rabbit! Some great new people to stalk (We mean check out) on social media too!
Hope you have found it useful and it may have given you some inspiration into making your brand work for you more!
H & Sammy, xxx
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Makers Month: Whats on all our desks
We thought as this month is all about the makers it would only be right to get a bunch of our fave creatives to share their desks rather than ours for a change and who doesn't like a nosey at other peoples workstations!! Here are a bunch (and we mean bunch) of amazing desks from some amazing makers, enjoy.
Welcome to May Makers Month
We love to share what other people are up to and help you find some new makes to lust after, as these are always the premise of Makers Month. We like to showcase designers/makers and ask them questions so that you can learn from their mistakes and opportunities. We want to show some fun tutorials by other crafters, so that you get to see what other people have made, rather than us all the time. We hope that being able to see behind the scenes of some of our favourite people, you get to learn more about them and love them just as much as we do.
We wouldn't want to spoil too much of what is coming up, but if you are new to creating your own work, you may want to keep your eyes peeled as there may well be some good advice to get you on your way and lets face it just being plain nosey into other people's lives.
We are also entering the Mollie Makes Awards this year for the Handmade Champion Award as we thought it was right up our street as sharers of all things pretty, crafty, design and general all round cuteness. You can see our Pinterest board here if you would like to see it. Fingers crossed.
Let us know if there is anyone you would like us to feature as we will keep them on our list for September.
Hope you enjoy this month and we look forward to sharing all the joy!
H & Sammy, xxx
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Welcome to Makers Month 2015
Check this out: We Built this City
Now you may have seen on Instagram a few weeks ago we took a look at this shop when we were in London. We Built this City is a souvenir shop with a difference!
It showcases all that is good about London design, whether that be illustrated maps of London, chutneys made in London kitchens or designers who have their studios in London. It means that tourists to the very popular Carnaby Street where the shop is based, can have a very different souvenir experience to go back home with. Or, of course, people can just get cool stuff from the shop wherever they are from.
I particularly love a print and the print wall made me want to plaster my flat in them. The designers work on display is fresh and interesting and will give people a different view on what makes London great.
If you are able to go to the We Built this City shop it is at the further end of Carnaby street, near Beak Street. If not, get someone you know to have a look for you and post it up! ha, ha. Or, you could have a look at the artists individual websites once you have found them on the We Built this City site. Anything to help designer/makers.
Is there anywhere near you that we should take a look at? We love to find new designer/makers and shops full of fun things, so let us know in the comments and we can go have a look.
H, xxx
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Makers Month: Folksy Finds
Cuppa Tote bag by Hello Dodo / Hedgehog earrings by Ginger Pickle / Custard Cream Brooch by Laura Lane / Waistcoat baby grow by This is Lullaby / Flying ducks by Prince Design UK / Best of British print by We Laugh Indoors / Union Jack Pillbox hat by Maynard Millinery
I think Folksy gets the raw end of the stick sometimes when comparing it to other sites of it's kind. I am going to confess that in the past I have not been a frequent visitor to (or even a fan of) the British handmade market place Folksy.com, always heading for Etsy or Not on the High Street as my 'go to' for all things designer/maker. I feel I and many others have been doing the site an injustice.
I have in the past felt that it was a bit 'village craft fair' or 'Homemade' as opposed to 'Handmade' (there is a difference). However I have been scouring the site lately for home grown UK talent and have been very pleasantly surprised!
I was always under the impression that the site was full of 'Folk' style crafts, but knowing that some of my favourite makers have recently opened shops on Folksy made me take a closer look. They are in very good company, there are some absolutely beautiful hand-crafted items available.
I have spoken about presentation before in my 'What Will it Take to Make Crafting Cool' post earlier this year and I still feel that poor photography lets a lot of Brits down when it comes to showing off their products on many of these sites. However I have discovered some really great new makers to add to my ever growing Wishlist.
Do you sell on Folksy or Etsy or NOTHS? I would love to know your thoughts on why you like where you sell, Why you chose that platform etc. Let me know in the comments below.
Sammy x
Live, Love, Make, Like, Share, Follow, Tweet, Pin, Add, Enjoy.
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Our Renegade Craft Fair adventure
Renegade Craft fairs have jumped across the pond from the US for the past 3 years to East London and this year we just had to pay a visit - and what a great day we had too. Renegade have made a huge stamp in the US and have fairs in Brooklyn, Chicago, San Francisco, Austin and Los Angeles - just a few then! As their website says 'The Renegade Craft Fair is a curated indie-craft marketplace showcasing the brightest talents in contemporary craft and design.'
This year in London was bigger than before with over 100 designer/makers and so the popularity is definitely growing over here in the UK. These crafts are not for the feint-hearted though as there are no country crafts in sight. You are more likely to find rude cross-stitches and jewellery that will definitely make you stand out from the crowd.
Well, firstly, where to start! We are likely to miss some people out, but we thought we would go for some of our favourites rather than trying to get everyone in. The full list of who was there can be found on Renegade's website.
The Fox in the Attic had the sweetest collection of hand embroidered plushies.
Sammy had a tough time choosing between all the beautiful jewellery from Eclectic Eccentricity but settled for a blue crystal pendant.
Cute envelope brooches by Amy Panda.
Quirky badges by Kayleigh O'Mara.
Sammy picked up one of these beautiful calendars from Cotton Post.
We love a bit of printing and Passa Pa had some lovely hand printed bags on offer and one of our favourites Zeena had some of her lovely screen printed goodies on display.
DYFALNONC had a fab display of their wooden pendants, we loved the ones using vintage stamps.
The prize for the most unique stall had to go to the girls from The Compartment Store, whose stall was a vintage suit carrier fitted out to hold all their gorgeous stationary wares. Described as 'a department store in a suitcase' it was packed full of goodies!
There was also yesterday's Who's who and H's all round fun jewellery favourite, I am Acrylic. They were pretty much the first people we saw as we walked in the door and they didn't disappoint, H may well have bought a few goodies! Thanks guys for the treats!
We loved Anna Wiscombe's wooden birds and necklaces.
Some Jewellery that neither of us had seen before was by Coatt. They use the Morse code for the word of your choice to give you a bracelet or necklace. They had come all the way from Hollywood too!
H fell in love with these bears from Pygmy Cloud, they are so cute. One day she is going to have a house and will be surrounded by little animals!
We love the very unique style of Ella Masters who Sammy featured back in July for her Love it ... Illustration feature.
Made by Loulabelle had some great Vintage inspired bags that utilised different pieces of fabric to make some really different clutches and bags. Can you guess which one H liked?
Some more cute acrylic jewellery came in the shape of Bonnie Bling whose fun phrase necklaces were a hit.
We were there on day two of Renegade and by this time Debbie Greenaway had lost her voice, thankfully she had a trusty helper to do some talking for her on the Sunday.
Whilst walking around aswell we spotted Make Thrift London doing a lino printing workshop. Daisy was so sweet, even after H admitted to seeing her on Instagram - which kind of made her feel like a stalker!
One of the great things about Lucie Ellen's stall was that you could put together your own favourite colours of her bunting shapes to make your own necklace. We did both love her dipped wooden diamonds too.
We saw our friend Mr Peebles had a stall and couldn't help but have a look what was new. We both have prints from previous visits and now have a Christmas card each to boot, thanks!
One of our Craft Coop friends, Isamo Crochet was there and so we couldn't resist a look.
Now can you guess what Designosaur do? Well, apart from dinosaur jewellery, there is also animals and flowers all lasercut, just for you.
More acrylic came from Hand over you fairy cakes and it was stars aplenty, which kept Sammy very happy.
So, as you can see there was plenty to see and spend our money on! I feel We were very restrained given all the goodies we could have bought! Although, now I feel plenty of these will be on our Christmas lists.
The venue was great and as we went quite early on Sunday morning it was a nice relaxed atmosphere. As we were leaving though it was definitely filling up and made it more difficult to take photos let alone get to the stalls. No bad thing for the designer/makers I am sure! So we swiftly hot footed it down to Giraffe for some late lunch, well needed after all the pretty!
Thanks Renegade for a great day and we will definitely see you next year!
H & Sammy
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