Have yourself an Independent Christmas

We know we always bang on about this, but its for very good reason, promise.  If everyone just bought one small thing this Christmas from an independent shop it would make all the difference to making sure that we keep small businesses afloat!

Sammy's Handmade Christmas Tree 2016

Every year My Christmas tree has a theme, yes, I am not sorry, I am one of 'those' people. When we add kids to our family they will get to sort out the tree, but until then it is all mine. This year I was planning to go with a kind of winter forest thing, then I saw our friend Claire (aka Claireabellemakes) was bringing out some limited edition Christmas decorations and I had an even better idea. This year all the decorations on my tree are handmade by independent UK Designer/Makers.

Why We Will be Shopping Independent this Christmas

I feel that we might be hammering in the point at the moment about shopping independent, buying handmade and making this Christmas, but we are not going to stop any time soon!  You might have seen via our Instagram that we have been enjoying all the craft fairs in London these past few weeks, first up was Renegade at the beginning of the month and Sunday, just gone, was Bust Craftacular.

We do love a craft fair as I am sure you will know by now.  But what we really love about them is discovering the people behind the brands who are always so lovely and the individual nature of the work. The best part is that you know all of the money you spend goes towards that designer/maker making more and learning more and experimenting more.  Basically your paying for them to grow, it's not all about factories, profits and margins.

You may have seen the 'Just a Card' campaign, which aims to improve the fortunes of independent businesses and makers, as, if everyone bought just a card, then it could make a real difference to those people who make them.  Cards are so easy to buy and the easy option at a craft fair, so why not aim to start buying handmade rather than production line cards, it could be your 2016 resolution if you don't want to start this Christmas of course!

We thought we should take this time to mention a few new (to us) designer/makers we found at this years fairs.  First up was at Renegade and we loved Monti by Monti with these ace terrariums, Verdantica who 'create bespoke miniature worlds' and Sparrow + Wolf whose cushions Sammy just had to have!

Bust Craftacular was an altogether more colourful set of new (to us) finds, as you can see.  These badge rosettes from dAKOTArAEdUST were super fun and so bright,  then the cute face mitts (do you remember them from being a child!) from Terri Leahy and lastly were these cool patterned trays from Jonna Saarinen. We picked up some awesome gift ideas from both fairs for Christmas and beyond.

 

Another thing we are really enjoying about modern craft fairs at the moment is that they are introducing more workshops as well as stalls into the experience. We took part in a workshop by the lovely Helen Robinson at Bust Craftacular to make Macramé plant holders!  I feel a new craft addiction coming on for both of us, watch out for more of this.  Going back to the 70's is a big trend at the moment and so Macramé was always going to make a comeback!

Another reason we love independent makers, is that they inspire us to try new things, learn more ourselves and have even more beautiful things in our lives!  We just want all the pretty around us all the time!

Are you going to shop independent this Christmas?  Or make your own, have you been inspired to try your hand at something yourself?  Do check out our tutorials in the 'Make it' tab above to give you some inspiration.  Also check out Sammy's post last week and this Friday for a few more handmade gift ideas.

H, xxx

Bloglovin / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest / Google+ / Instagram

Love it: Craft Fairs coming up

With so many Craft fairs coming up between now and Christmas, we thought it would be a good time to show you some of our favourites and some we want to go and see for the first time.

Of course this weekend is a definite favourite of Renegade over in East London!  We have been going to this one for some time now and it is a firm favourite with us, so many great designer/makers in one place and we get to see some of our friends too!

Then on the 22nd November is the famed Bust Craftacular which is also in East London, another favourite of ours, so much so that H has been saving up the pennies to get some treats at both of these!  It will be lovely to see all the winter stock out and see what's different from the Spring versions of both of these fairs.

Picture from www.timeout.com

Christmas fairs of course pop up all over the place from the end of November, H visited the Christmas market outside the Tate Modern and all along the Southbank last year, which was so pretty and had her favourite things ever at Christmas Fairs, no not mulled wine, but Churros!  It even managed to get her in the Christmas spirit!

Picture from www.cockpitarts.com

Last but by no means least is Cockpit arts Open Studios which we would love to go to.  Seeing all the artists work in their own space is always such a great way to buy artwork.  There are so many open studios all over the country so maybe there is one near you to take a look at.

We also found this handy guide of London Craft Fairs if you are down this way anytime soon, mentions the Crafty Fox Markets too which is great.

Are you going to any of these fairs, or any other near you?  Do let us know if you have a firm favourite as we may be able to go check it out too.

H & Sammy

Note: All photographs belong to Live it. Love it. Make it, unless otherwise stated.

Bloglovin / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest / Google+ / Instagram

Makers Month: I am Acrylic Jewellery Making Workshops

Here's a selection of amazing things people have made in one of our workshops!

As I am sure you must be aware by now we are great lovers of I am Acrylic!  The Jewellery is so fun and the founders are so lovely too.  So we thought we would let them tell you all about the Jewellery Workshops that they are now doing to add to their workload.  Read on to find out some more.

Hi! We are Ruth Williams & Brendan Fan and we make quirky acrylic and wooden jewellery under the name I Am Acrylic!

We hand-cut all of the components for our jewellery on a mechanical fretsaw and realised recently that this might translate really nicely into running workshops, using hand-saws, to teach people how to make their very own piece of acrylic jewellery - and now we're hooked!

We enjoy getting all the equipment together for the workshops, including buying safety goggles, making bench pegs, getting lots of piercing saws and, most importantly, TONS of saw blades - as they snap quite easily!

We were a bit over-excited when all the goggles arrived! And we always swoon at all the pretty bits of different coloured acrylic waiting to be turned into something lovely!

We have an easy 3 step process for our workshops........You design it, cut it out with the saw, and then clean it up with files and sandpaper! Then we pop it on a chain for you to take away then and there! It's fun, easy and very hands on!

The 3 simple steps in the workshop and the finished thing!

We have run quite a few workshops now since our first one at BUST Craftacular fair last Christmas.

We've really enjoyed the more casual, drop-in ones, that we've run alongside our market stall at several events (BUST, Renegade, CraftyFox & Aspex) - there's no need to book and anyone passing by can just stop and have a go for half an hour or so!

We have also run longer, more involved, two hour long sessions with several lovely hosts (Knit with Attitude, We Make London, Mamahood and LOIS) and the results of these can be stunning!

When running these longer sessions we give people some advice for designing their necklace or keyring beforehand, and give them some examples from our range of the more simple or more complex things they could achieve!

A selection of our products as examples, showing a simple butterfly design or much more complex shape like the flower!

We have been really impressed with all of the designs that have been made in our workshops, and it's amazing how quickly people pick all the skills up!

It was lovely when you guys came and had a go during our drop-in workshop at Renegade this spring - you were naturals! We really hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as we enjoyed teaching you - it was fun, fun, fun!

H's anchor keyring - designed, cut and finished!



Sammy's sewing machine necklace - designed, cut, finished & worn!

One aspect of running the workshops that we've both really enjoyed, is the interest from young children - they love getting involved! - and even though we quite often have to risk our fingers to help them cut the shapes out - they have a great time doing it and so do we!

Brendan helping one of our younger makers sand the edges of a flower she was making!
(Photo Credit: http://marthalovesblog.blogspot.co.uk/)

We're getting super excited now about our next drop-in workshop that we're doing as part of the Crafty Fox Market event with the London Design Festival.  It's on the last weekend of September (26th & 27th) and is at an exciting new venue for Crafty Fox called Kachette in Old Street. The space will be decorated especially for the weekend by paper artist Little PaperVee - and we can't wait to see it!

They'll be loads of great designer/makers selling their wares there - with a different selection each day.

We'll be running the workshop alongside our market stall all weekend - it's free entry and the workshop is just £10 a go - and there's no need to book - you can just pop in!

Here's another brilliant creation from one of our workshops - a very appropriate, and very crafty, fox  : )

And finally, we absolutely love looking at our #iamacrylicworkshop tag on Instagram - there's a great selection of pictures on it that really give you a sense of what we get up to in the workshops!

Here's a selection from the #iamacrylicworkshop Instagram tag.

We LOVED dusting off our DT skills when we did the workshop at Renegade earlier this year and I think a bit of practice at the next event will hone our skills for sure!  We recommend checking out I am Acrylic workshops when you see them!  We just love the fact that they use old school methods to produce their work and help others to use these skills during the workshops.

Thanks so much to Ruth and Brendan for chatting to us.  We know they are off on their holidays for a well deserved rest and so have fun guys!  Check out their Instagram for Jigsaw puzzle related holiday snaps too!

H,xxx

Bloglovin / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest / Google+ / Instagram

Let's Meet: Oh Squirrel

This month we had a little chat with Katie from Oh Squirrel.  After admiring her work for ages we eventually plucked up the courage to ask her if she would be interviewed by us and she said yes!  In between Renegade and Craftacular and making many many sashes for the Wedding season of course!

So let's have a look at what she has to say and look at all the gorgeous things she has to offer of course too!

Love it: Renegade Haul

If you were watching our Instagram feed yesterday you will know that we went to the first Spring version of one of our favourite craft fairs, Renegade in London.

Once again there was so much to look at and instead of our usual post about the whole event, as you can read all about them in previous posts - we thought we would show you what we bought, much more fun!

H's stash; Mouse and Cheese Earrings from I am Acrylic, Animal Coasters from Karin Akesson, Arrow necklace from A Weathered Penny, Constellation bracelet from Fleur Caroline, Anchor keyring made in the I am Acrylic workshop, Leather black and silver necklace from Tiny Track.

Sammy's Stash; Bag and Succulent from Oh No Rachio, Candle from East Wick, Bag, Pencil cards, Fabric tag and note books from Oh Squirrel, midi ring from Star and Metal, 'We're all mad here' ring from The Silver Shed, cards from Emma Margaret Illustrations, the Paper Hare and Hello Harriet, Succulent from Geo-fleur, Camera print Pouch from Duck and Duffel, Window necklace from A Weathered Penny, Constellation bracelet from Fleur Caroline, Necklace made in the I am Acrylic workshop. 

Phew!  That was a lot of shopping, we did well. All new goodies for us! It was such a lovely day aswell so a pop to Rosa's for some Thai food (a favourite) and what a great post birthday day out for me too!  yey.  We really did have a truly magical day - Thanks Emma Margaret Illustrations for the very apt business card!

H

Bloglovin / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest / Google+ / Instagram

Renegade Wishlist

House Frame Pendant from A Weathered Penny  /  Concrete Succulent pot from Concrete Jungles  /  Geometric Hanger from Geo-Fleur  /  Cloudy Stars Notebook by Nikki Strange  /  We're All Mad Here Ring from The Silver Shed  /  Peppermint Soy Candle from East Wick

H and I are especially excited to be heading into London this weekend to check out our fave craft fair for it's first spring show. Renegade is where you find the best of the best designer makers so we always love our trips to the Old Truman Brewery to get our fix and pick up some unique pieces at the same time. I have already picked out some of the bits I want to get whilst I'm there.

What are you up to this weekend? Will we see you at Renegade? or are you planning on doing some making of your own?

Sammy xxx


Bloglovin / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest / Google+ / Instagram

#HandmadeChristmas Gift Guide

This year as well as endeavouring to make alot of my Christmas gifts for my family and friends I am planning on only buying anything I don't make from independent crafts people. Some of my favourite places to shop are at craft fairs and there are tonnes to visit this time of year. We will be heading to Renegade later this month to check out some of our designer maker friends, but if you can't make it out to a fair, there is no excuse... you can always buy handmade online. I have chosen some of my top picks from my go-to online marketplaces.

Photo Frame / Phone case / Tea Subscription 

Bracelet / Make-up bag / Button Dish

Fox necklace / Lip Balm / Cookies

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? Are you making any gifts this year? Which craft fairs do you like to visit?? Let us know in the comments what you have planned.

Sammy xxx


Bloglovin / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest / Google+ / Instagram

Makers Month: What to see, What to do

Hello there and welcome to September!  It's not so bad hey!  We thought that with lots going on in September, it would be a great way to showcase some British Talent and so we have for you Makers Month.  We will be showcasing more from designer/makers with our Who's who feature, tutorials and DIY's as usual, alongside some other little bits and pieces, that you will just have to watch out for!

So, sit back and enjoy what we have to offer for our Makers Month.  Have you any plans for September?  It's wedding fever for us over here at Live it. Love it. Make it and there are lots more going on besides and so we thought we might share some of the things coming up this Autumn to kick start the month of fun.

On Sunday 7th September, hot foot it over to Bath to check out The Makery as they are having an open day!  You can find out more here, and find out more about the special guest, One man crochet.  What a great way to see the new venue and learn more about blogging and crochet.

On right now is Collaborate in that there north, Manchester.  A group of Manchester based makers, come together to exhibit their work at the Manchester Craft & Design Centre.  Well worth a look.

Back down south is The Handmade fair, which I am sure you may have heard of by now.  Kirstie Allsopp will be there along with many other famous faces such as Cath Kidston and Kaffe Fassett.  Sounds like it is going to be a great weekend and you will get to meet lots of designer/makers too.

Next up is one of our favourite craft fairs, Renegade, although we do have to wait for November!  It's on at the weekend of the 22/23 November in London's trendy East end and is definitely worth a visit, so much pretty to be found.  You can see our post on last year's event here.

Finally for our picks of things to go see and do, is the Made Brighton event in November.  Looks like it will be a busy weekend!  There are around 120 sellers on the weekend and so if you don't find Christmas presents for other people, I am sure you can find some for yourself!

So, that's a little round-up of some things to check out, anything we have missed?  Is there somewhere we should visit in the Autumn?  Are you organising an event that you would like us to come to?  Let us know in the comments below and we will take a look see.

Am off to plan the diary,
H

 Live, Love, Make, Like, Share, Follow, Tweet, Pin, Add, Enjoy. 

Bloglovin / Twitter / Facebook / Pinterest / Google+ 

Who's who: The Compartment Store

We first saw these guys when we went to Renegade Craft Fair last year and we just loved their paper goodness and the trunk they use - wow, just so cute.  We pinned them down before they wheeled away and had a quick chat for you to find out a bit more.

Who are you?

We are The Compartment Store, a mini department store on wheels! We are a collaborative shopping experience founded by Kitty Farrow, a specialist bookbinder and box maker, and gift-wrap enthusiast Victoria Jane of Gift Wrap HQ.

What do you do?

The Products - We make paper products and stationery. We have created an inventory that celebrates paper paraphernalia from the past and we have something for every occasion. We like to work with offcuts, saving all wastage where we can. It allows us to make an interesting collection of products that you won’t find in your average card shop. We particularly love the postcard, and have given it a little makeover. We have created our own version by incorporating our favourite technique, gold foil blocking. All our products are made by hand in London on vintage machines and using traditional techniques. You will find us folding, creasing, cutting, blocking whenever we can.

The Store - We sell our handmade paper goods from our travelling trunk, The Compartment Store. Our travelling trunk is reminiscent of that of a travelling sales man. We absolutely love the fact that we can open shop pretty much anywhere. The trunk gives us flexibility to move around and we can adapt it to a number of situations and spaces. We also like to move the compartments around and re-merchandise our shop as often as possible as we like to keep the customers happy and excited to discover what we have for sale in our Compartment Store, creating a mini shopping experience.

How did you start?

Friendship first then business! Originally we bonded over a love of letter writing and used to write long elaborate letters to each other for fun. It was in these letters that we dreamt up our idea for having our own department store, where we could separate our creations into their own sections or compartments. With a large ambition and no square footage quite in our price range we decided to go small and invented The Compartment Store, our very own mini department store on wheels! With lots of compartments to fill we began making.

What’s next?

We have our own online store, thecompartmentstore.co.uk, which is very exciting. So we are working on refining that and teaching ourselves the ways of online shopping. We are also trying to do more fairs and finding out where our market is and what our customers respond to. We are also working on a few commissions.

What advise would you give yourself , if you could go back to the beginning?

We are just starting out so we are at the beginning, any advise for us would be gladly taken! We would love to do more events and bespoke work for parties. We also love working in collections and themes so we will hopefully get to work on some more special ranges for summer, maybe a summer holiday compartment!

How can you resist all this gorgeousness!?!  We both love stationary and paper goodies and so combining that with having a shop you can take wherever you want is amazing!  I'm sure it won't be long before these girls have their own place though and are taking over the world, one postcard at a time!

H & Sammy, xxx

Who's Who: Designosaur

This month see's another of our finds at Renegade Craft Fair and who couldn't love Jewellery with dinosaurs!  So let's find out a bit more about them.

Who are you?

We are Jacques and Karli the CEO's, founders, designers and makers of designosaur.

What do you do?

We make fun, bright, brash, sometimes dinosaur inspired laser cut jewellery and screen printed tights. We hope that we are creating jewellery that stands out from the crowd and is exciting to wear. Everything we design, is hand drawn, laser cut and assembled by us.

How did you start?

Jacques and I both have Product Design degrees, in fact that's how we met. In the beginning Jacques started making children's mirrors for the laser cutters he was working at. There was one shiny Brachiosaurus which took my fancy, I held up to myself and suggested that it would look great as a GIANT necklace. I was so excited about it that Jacques made it into the very first designosaur necklace for me! I'm not really sure what happened between then and now, we didn't really plan to have a handmade business but it's great to be able to design and create everyday! We have so many ideas with very little time!

What's Next?

We have achieved so much over the last (nearly) two years. We have done craft fairs including Renegade London, a trade fair, we now have around 30 stockists and things just keep getting bigger and better! We would love to do one of the American Renegade Craft Fairs, have a Pop Up shop and continue to take over the world ;)

What advice would you give yourself if you could go back to the beginning?

Don't doubt yourself so much. I think this one still applies and although it is good to look at your work with a critical eye. I don't think we would have started our business if other people hadn't seen, and liked our designs right at the beginning.

We love these guys work, it's just nice to see fun and interesting jewellery out there.  One thing that H find's difficult is that she can't wear anything with nickel, so the plastic and wooden rings are great and the necklace chains can easily be replaced!  What do you guys think of designosaur?  Let us know in the comments below.

H & Sammy