Try Handmade

Shopping blog featuring products made by people not factories.

All That Glitters

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The holidays are right around the corner and it’s time to pull out the holiday decorations. Every year, I pick a new color theme for my Christmas tree and hand make the garland and a few ornaments for it. This year, I decided on a purple and silver theme, with just a little bit of red. I want to the tree to have a handmade feel to it, but with a little bit of sparkle. But glitter isn’t just for decorating, it’s also a great addition to your holiday wardrobe.

Sparkling dresses are the perfect way to make a splash at holiday dinner parties and celebrations. This mini dress by KaliOseano has just the right amount of shine and flair. With layers of fringe and a definitive flapper feel, this dress would be perfect with a pair of patterned tights, layered long necklaces and simple heels.

When you want to add a little bit of sparkle to your outfit, shoe clips are a quick and easy way to make a big impact and still look sophisticated. These white glitter tulle clips with silver polka dots by Mari et Femme Bridal would be a great addition to a holiday outfit and the perfect stocking stuffer for a fashionable family member or friend.

If your personal style is more low key, you can still add a bit of shine to your outfit without necessarily drawing a lot of attention to your clothes. This stylish triangle shawl by pak yumak is the perfect shade of gold. It would look stunning over a simple black dress and closed with a brooch.

While my tree is dressed with glitter this holiday season, I will be too. I’ll be wrapped in silver with touches of gold, and, hopefully, at an equally glamorous party.

The beautiful photo featured at the top of this post was taken by Jill Katherine.

Product Showcase: Baby’s Here!

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Lately it seems like all my friends are announcing that they’re expecting! I suppose it’s inevitable at my age but since I still feel about 16 I’m surprised every time. I love to knit and crochet baby items as they’re super fast and easy to whip up. When I don’t have time to make something, I look for a unique gift that someone else has made instead.

This product showcase is a roundup of my latest favorite handmade baby items.

The gorgeous card above is from Storeyshop and was created when the designer’s friends started having babies. Helen wanted to design some cards with nontraditional messages as an alternative to the usual ‘New Baby Girl’ messages. I think it turned out wonderfully!

nellsmith’s adorable baby T-shirt would make a great gift for new parents. Nell’s work is inspired by retro design and toys, Japanese cartoons, and all things cute. She loves using bright, bold colors in her work to try to keep it as fresh and modern as possible.

This baby vest from FruteJuce is a must-have for any trendy baby. Alison designs nontraditional baby clothes inspired by the adult world. The inspiration for the cassette, record deck and headphones vests comes from her family’s strong relationship with music and will start any future musician off the right way.

Any modern baby needs a cool hat and this skull-and-crossbones beanie from MaisieLiddel fits the bill. Handknitted in a punk-inspired pink and white, this little gem is made from a luxurious blend of merino, silk and cashmere.

Keep baby warm with bettyandtodd2’s pretty stroller blanket. Debbie’s mum has always loved hedgehogs and when she and her brothers were growing up, her mum received many different types of hedgehogs as presents. Hedgehogs are a real part of English wildlife so Debbie created this colorful blanket in a small size to easily fit a stroller or car seat.

The inspiration for Quite Contrary Crafts’ card came while Mary was on her stall at Greenwich Market in London, when a customer asked whether there was a New Baby card available. She hadn’t – but she brainstormed new card ideas while her toes were getting rather chilly at the quiet market. Mary had always thought that Silver Cross Prams were very elegant and loves the curl in the handle of the pram in this design. Simple yet effective and elegant.

This gorgeous baby sweater from IrishWoolen was inspired by traditional Irish Aran knitting techniques. The sweater vest was custom-designed for a friend of the designers. The stitch in the center of the jumper is symbolic of the hard working bee and is a traditional stitch of the Aran style of knitting the Aran style. The light flecked wool used is a modern alternative to traditional Aran wool. It’s a great take on the original fisherman’s jumper which was a traditional and staple uniform for so many working men in the past.

I’m thrilled to see how much adorable and unique handmade clothing is available for babies. Despite not having children of her own (yet!), Jane of thedoghouse printed this onesie with an image of her greyhound, Max and the caption ‘doggy’ because she thought that is she did have a baby, this would look so adorable on them!

Brighten up any nursery with this hand-embroidered hanging heart from elissahill. Baby will adore the pretty colours, and even better the heart can be embroidered with any message and picture you desire.

I’d love to discover more handmade baby items, post yours below!

Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair

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It’s October, which means only one thing in Manchester – the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair is coming! During 22-24 October, a wide range of British designer-makers will descend on Manchester’s Spinningfields to showcase their talents to an incredibly captive audience, me included of course. I’m so pleased that my city is playing host to such a great event, as it really emphasises the growing handmade community outside of London.

The inaugural GNCCF was held at Manchester Grammar School in 2008 and relocated to Spinningfields for the 2009 event. Organisers Ann-Marie Franey and Angela Mann came up with the idea for the event during their visits to London’s annual Chelsea Craft Fair (now Origin). They felt that there should be an event of similar standard in the North, and just a short while later, when their children were older, the idea of GNCCF came into fruition. Ann-Marie and Angela spent more than a year carrying out market research with potential exhibitors and visitors before deciding to go ahead.

Manchester was chosen as the fair’s venue due to its ease of access to visitors from Cheshire, Yorkshire, Merseyside, Derbyshire and Lancashire. Hosting the GNCCF in the city centre also helps to boost the local economy, and moving the fair to Spinningfields proved to be an excellent business decision as it doubled the audience to over 6500 in 2009. 8000 visitors are expected to attend this October.

Applications to exhibit at the fair are invited from designer-makers of ceramics, glass, textiles, furniture, wood, metal, jewellery etc. and exhibitors are chosen by a panel of industry experts. GNCCF has already built up an excellent reputation in the UK and this year’s show was vastly oversubscribed, with 160 exhibitors making the final cut.

Ann-Marie and Angela undertake most aspects of the organising themselves, and with five children between them it’s no mean feat! However, the long hours spent working on the event paid off in 2009 when they saw the queues of visitors excited to get in and received excellent feedback from exhibitors and visitors alike. The ultimate payback for the pair is that they get to share their passion for contemporary craft and hopefully engage new audiences.

I’m certainly looking forward to this year’s fair, as it will be bigger than ever before with two show pavillions. One area will be entirely dedicated to Great Northern Graduates, a showcase of the best graduate students from the region’s craft and design courses. There will also be a jewelry making workshop – I’m off to check that out!

What do you think makes a great craft fair? I’d love to hear about your experiences – post here or send me your tips for making the best of an event via Twitter to @elliethouret. I’ll include the best tips in an upcoming post!

Fashion + Eco Friendly = Handmade

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It’s been on the handmade radar for years now, organic fabrics. I remember  when finding them was like digging for gold and just as expensive. But with more and more market demand for eco friendly, organically made fabrics they are finally easier to source, come in nicer colors and patterns and  penetrating the high fashion markets.

New York Fashion Weeks Spring 2010 Trends by Stylelist actually had organic fabrication as one of the top trends. When I first opened my shop on etsy you could find organic tote bags and t-shirts pretty easily, that was in 2007. As etsy sellers have become more fashion forward the designs have become more sophisticated too. Pretty Birdie’s Stephanie Teague really wowed me with this great trench coat.

pretty birdie

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