Try Handmade

Shopping blog featuring products made by people not factories.

Skudfisher

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Cartoons! I watch tons of cartoons.

That was Mike from Skudfisher‘s response when I asked him what inspired his fun plushies. How can you argue with such enthusiasm?

Everything from Invader Zim to Rocky and Bullwinkle (both of which are responsible for huge chunks of my sense of humour). I also pretty obsessively try to absorb as much cool art as possible from the internet. Flickr has so many amazing independent artists that it kind of blows my mind sometimes. I can spend hours just going from artist or artist on flickr. I have some pretty amazing people on my contact list on there that I really admire.

Mike has been obsessed with drawing silly characters and monsters since he was little. Then 2 years ago he decided to try and make one of his monsters into a toy for his nephew as a birthday gift, lucky kid. It only took that one toy to turn sewing into an obsession and he’s been making plushies ever since. Each monster has it’s own story along with it’s likes and dislikes to ensure monster/child compatibility.

There is something very satisfying about coming up with an idea, cutting out the fabric and sewing everything together, into something you can hold in your hands, that I just don’t get from drawing. I still love drawing though!

Mike’s current favorite is Acorn! He thinks she is just so adorable and huggable and really loves working with faux fur material. And as I was working on this, my 2 1/2 year old son told me he wanted THAT monster – so I guess she’s not just Mike’s favorite!

Currently Skudfisher’s plushies are only sold through Mike’s shop, but after many years of attending craft fairs and enjoying Montreal’s great craft scene he hopes to get involved as a vendor there soon. So if you’re in the Montreal area, keep your eyes peeled.

If you’d like to keep up with Mike’s creations he keeps a blog of all his work at and updates his Flickr very regularly.

Hoboe Jane

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Are you a hat person? Me, I LOVE hats. I wish people wore them more often. And you wont find more interestingly designed berets then Hoboe Jane‘s! These quirky hats are a simple way to add a sens of fun to your look. Hoboe Jane’s creator Kristy has a background in sculpture and art and some of the hats have hand painted elements. Kristy picked up her love of arts, crafts, sewing and design from her mother, a Kindergarten teacher and has been exploring creative venues from a young age.

Kristy is influenced by lines and patterns in nature and also draws heavily from the fantasy movies she watched growing up like “Labyrinth” and “The Princess Bride”.

Kristy’s favorite item in her shop is the Spider Swirl Beret Hat. It’s a good representation of her style as it includes both hand painted elements and design with felt.

When I make my items, I think of a story that goes along with each piece. Like with the Spider Swirl Beret Hat I’ve made, she is a wandering tarantula from the northern regions of Chile and has made her new home on this very hat and wants to live with you now.

Kristy started making her own clothing and accessories in high school and to help with the family budge she started redesigning her old things and turning them into brand new objects! While she’s always loved making skirts and bags within the last year, she found a new love for making hats.

I love the work I create and I hope my love for it shows through, in my products. I try to give my work a sense of fun and joy, so whoever purchases an item will have their very own one of a kind piece.

Larger retail organizations may sometimes have better prices, but you are getting what you paid for. Retail stores sell numerous multiples of items, making them not as unique, quirky, and creative. I try to make my items as affordable as possible, for the everyday customer.

Hand made goods are much more personal and unique. Much more passion and care goes into everything we create ourselves than if it is made by a machine in some obscure factory.

You can find out more about Kristy Albury at her art website or at her experimental music site Retro Juju.

New Column – Freshly Made

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Please welcome Chelsey Mona to Try Handmade. She’s a jewelry designer and a blogger, and has done a great job describing her new column to you. Leave her a comment to welcome her to the site, and tell her if you have any shops to suggest!

::
Erika

Diamond in the rough

You know the feeling you get when you introduce your best friend to a new band she’s never heard of? Or you when you discover that little hole-in-a-wall restaurant that makes THE best blackberry pancakes? Well, that’s what Freshly Made is all about. I get the privilege of introducing you to new artists that haven’t been discovered yet, the rare diamonds in the rough that are beautiful but little known.

As new artists get started, they’re still learning how to publicize their shops. They’ve made amazing stuff, but how do they connect with you? Let’s face it, most artists would rather be in the studio and though they may be used to the show circuit often times new artists have yet to learn the mysterious ways of selling online. Plus most websites that feature handmade items usually focus on shops that already have a following. While those artists are certainly deserving, it makes it really hard for new artists to break in. So how does the new artist get heard? We here at Try Handmade will hand them a megaphone.

Each week I’ll be featuring a new shop that hasn’t yet had a lot of online sales. I’ll be bringing you the freshest shops where the paint has barely dried, the wire has just been cut, the stones have just been set and the last threads clipped. Together we’ll go on an expedition to discover great new artists while giving a voice to those shops that need the publicity the most.

I am so excited to be a part of the Try Handmade community! I hope you’ll share your secrets with me, too. If you have a favorite hole-in-the-wall shop that should be featured or you have one yourself, please let me know in the comments below. I have a lot of shops in the queue to feature, but I know I wouldn’t have discovered half of the independent artists I know if I hadn’t been introduced by other people. Let’s build this up together!

Photo by Katharina Surhoff, available under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NonDerivative 3.0 license.

Hard Love Apparel

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pirate dyed tee
Okay, can I just say – how much does this tee shirt rock (unless you’re a ninja)!

Nickole of Hard Love Apparel took the plunge into selling her hand dyed tees when she decided to stay home with her son. Her tees are everyday rock and roll and each is unique. She has a degree in Fashion/Design and was looking for a way to keep active creating while still finding time to spend with her son. When she first found Etsy, she was THRILLED to find a venue to showcase her designs! With lots of support from her family and friends, she’s been working constantly to create new designs and make each more beautiful than the last!

Hand dyed circle tee shirt
I really like the print on this one, it’s graphic without being too patterny.

For my shop, I draw up every stencil by hand and hand dye or paint each item. So, every t-shirt is personally created for you by myself. I take great care in creating high quality and beautiful pieces. And, most importantly every item is made with LOVE!

Hand dyed tie tee

Nickole’s favorite item in the Hard Love Apparel shop right now is her Neck Tie T-Shirt. (Insert your own tie dye pun here.) She loved the menswear inspired fashions you see on the runways, but wanted to make it more wearable for everyone. I’ve seen a lot of these bleach dye type tees recently, and often they come off as too kitchy/80’s flavored for my taste (I actually lived in the 80’s and refuse to don jelly shoes and style wave bangs ever again). Nickole does a great job of making them modern in her choice of theme and execution.

Hard Love Apparel is heavily influenced by Nickole’s LOVE for fashion, art and design, but she also draws a lot of inspiration from interesting pieces that she sees along the way. Most of her sales have come from word of mouth, so let’s start talking.

Ohioja

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It’s fabulous farmers market season and these veggies look good enough to eat, if you could eat something so cute. You could, hover cuddle up to them, though, since they’re crocheted from wool. When Ohioja‘s creator Ylenia became unemployed she filled her free time in various corners of the web and discovered amigurumi and instantly fell in love. So much so that she rushed to the nearest bookshop and picked up a crochet guide so that she could get started immediately.

With some encouragement from her friends and after the success of a DIY festival, she decided to start selling her creations. She’s still learning the ins and outs of selling online. If you happen to be in Italy, you might see Ylenia out with her wares in corner markets, festivals and punk rock gigs.

My favorite item is onion, no doubt. Why? Because, talking about amigurumi, it’s hard to see onions and it’s a pity. They are nice, polite and kinda tender-hearted. What’s more I have to say it’s always funny to create an amigurumi onion.

As you can tell, Ylenia’s biggest influence is the grocer’s, but not all of her creations are vegetable based. All of her creations begin as a simple sketch. Then she studies it for a while, imagining how it will shape up and then she jumps in with her crochet hook. The finishing touch is the expression.

Ylenia lives in Florence and works in a Tattoo studio. She likes music and animals. She’s been a vegetarian since 2004, so you can see why she loves vegetables so much!

You can check out her blog where you can find a lot of photos and some info about her upcoming markets.