Try Handmade

Shopping blog featuring products made by people not factories.

Picnic Time!

by 2 Comments

Last weekend was the end-of-summer Bank Holiday in England and school will be starting again soon. There’s still time for a picnic though (weather permitting)! I’ve put together this product showcase full of unique handmade items to make up the perfect picnic.

Spread the word about your picnic with this adorable invitation design from Paperslice. The design is customized just for you and conveniently sent via email so that you can print as many or as few invites as you need!

Why not have a breakfast picnic featuring this gorgeous “Menage a Trois” marmalade? Lyn of Marmalady has been making marmalade for years and selling at farmers’ markets as well as online. Lyn explained that the combination of Seville oranges, lemons and grapefruit is very popular as it blends the sharpness of traditional marmalade with a touch of sweetness. When renaming her products a couple of years ago, Lyn wanted to move away from bland descriptive names, so her “Three Fruit Marmalade” became “Menage a Trois” as it is the perfect marriage of three fruits!

You’ll need something pretty to sit on, of course! Instead of the traditional blanket, spread out a pretty tablecloth like this one by Ellen from Tuwhittuwhoo. The Betty Brown tablecloth was inspired by a vintage charity shop (thrift store) find. Ellen especially loves how each of her tablecloths looks so different with a change of colour and fabric pattern.

Cupcakes are essential picnic food and these sweet EAT ME cake toppers by Rowena from Crafty Pagan Design would be a great decoration! Just like me, Rowena was caught up in Alice-in-Wonderland mania and was searching to create new items that could work well for lots of occasions whilst still having a touch of whimsy to them. The cake toppers have been used in Alice in Wonderland weddings, birthday parties, book club meetings and bridal and baby showers. The toppers are fully customizable.

In England, bad weather can often ruin even the most well-planned picnic. If rain should occur, don’t fret! Move your picnic inside and decorate with bunting and food-themed artwork. The inspiration for the ‘American Foods’ picture (top) began when Kitty put a print up on Etsy of an illustration she had made with all her favourite foods, which were mainly hearty English dishes! Kitty was then asked if she could make a similar illustration but with lots of American foods, and here is the result. Kitty is now planning to explore some different countries’ edible delights too!

Heidi started making bunting earlier this year for fun and relaxation and her boyfriend Will came up with the perfect name for her new line: Good Will Bunting! Heidi decided to develop a small range and sell it through her Etsy shop, which focuses mainly on fine art prints. At the time she was preparing for a summer holiday to New York with friends and decided to make Stars, Stripes and Denim bunting as a tribute to our friends in the US and their Independence Day celebrations.

Have you peppered your picnic with handmade delights? Share your links here!

Me&Yu

by 2 Comments

This week I’m profiling Me&Yu, a small fashion label specialising in hand-made and hand-printed clothing for men and women.

I first encountered the label in offbeat shopping mecca Affleck’s Palace in Manchester, UK. There I had the fortune of meeting Angie, one of the label’s co-founders. Angie has wanted to be a fashion designer since she was a child and luckily she has turned that dream into a reality – albeit with a lot of hard graft along the way!

“We had the idea for creating clothes together back in 2003 whilst we were living in Sydney,” Angie explained. “We just wanted to create clothes that were a bit different, that had a bit more personality than what was available on the high street.”

Me&Yu’s designs are cool and unique, appealing to a wide audience. I particularly adore their quirky, hand-drawn prints and stylish handmade dresses! Unlike many smaller labels, Me&Yu offers both girl and guy garments and many of the designs are unisex, allowing the wearer to put their own slant on things.

Me&Yu started in 2003, with stalls at weekend markets and events in Sydney, Australia then in Manchester and Liverpool, UK during 2004-2006. The designers had to balance developing the label with working full-time – what a challenge! Finally in 2006, Me&Yu moved permanently to a shop in Affleck’s Palace, complemented by its online store and presence in a handful of boutiques in the UK.

“Affleck’s Palace is a great place to be as it houses lots of small independent businesses together – you have the support of other people around you, and that’s the best thing. When we first started we got loads of helpful advice from other small businesses, obviously every business is different but you can get some great tips!”

Designs are made up at the label’s studio in an old cotton mill in Manchester, and it is important to the company to keep the city’s heritage alive. The mill houses a number of other artists and fosters a creative and collaborative atmosphere.

Me&Yu is a great example of excellent self-promotion – the label blogs at www.wearemeandyu.blogspot.com, uses Facebook and Twitter, distributes flyers and has even secured features in magazines. In addition, Me&Yu gets involved in charity fashion shows and fundraisers – contributing to important causes as well as raising awareness of the brand.

“There is something special about selling something that you made yourself, its very personal,” finishes Angie. “However, it’s hard work. Handmade = labour intensive and not everybody understands quite how much work goes into each item.”

What’s your favourite Me&Yu design? Post your link below!

Product Showcase – Pets

by 9 Comments

Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful holiday period and are enjoying a fun 2011 so far. This week I’ve rounded up some great handmade items to celebrate a wonderful part of our lives – our pets. My two cats were feeling a little neglected during the holidays as we spent the week away from home – and they certainly let us know, by making a huge mess of the house to welcome us home. But we can’t help but forgive them as soon as they jump into our laps and look at us adoringly. Here’s to those furry friends who drive us crazy, but who stick with us through thick and thin!

I love Gemma Correll’s illustrations, many of which feature a pug based on her dog, Mr Pickes. Gemma describes the print above as a comment on internet culture using her favourite characters, a cat and a pug. Gemma’s illustrations decorate a range of products in her shop, including prints, cards, stationery, T shirts and tote bags.

This print from erasercarver is of the artist, Carrie’s two rescue cats – who coincidentally resemble my two kitties! The initial sketch was made the first time Carrie found them curled up asleep together. She wanted to capture the peace that they had finally found in her home. Carrie uses interesting processes to produce her prints: “This is a four colour reduction print, where the lino block is destroyed during the carving process. Starting with the lightest colour, areas are cut away from the carving material to create the lightest base layer, then a run of prints is taken. The next layer has more cut out from the material, and more prints are taken and so on, and until the final black layer is cut and printed.”

Sara Norwood’s work blurs the boundaries between textile design and illustration. Each item Sara makes tells a little story in some way. She has always been fascinated by animals, and they appear in her work repeatedly. “I am inspired essentially by everything around me, ranging from nature to urban life. I am a big kid at heart and admire anything a little magical or off-beat.”

Artist Helen Dalgairns has had animals in her life since she was a child and thinks that cats have taught her how to properly relax, as they do this well! Helen’s impression of cats is that they are self indulgent creatures and only do what they want to do. “Anyone who has lived with a cat knows that they relish the sun and throughout the year my cat Neo always finds some sun rays and once found she does not move for anything, expect for some food. This illustration is based upon this purely self indulgent activity,” explained Helen.

Indira drew this print for her two year old daughter, who loves their neighbour’s dachshund. Indira’s work is inspired by daily life, nature, people and colours and I love the clean lines and bright colours used in her work.

I’d love to hear your funny pet stories – go ahead and share them below!

Product Showcase: Men Men Men

by 6 Comments

My wedding anniversary is coming up, which happens to be less than two weeks before my husband’s birthday. Which happens to be three weeks before my dad’s birthday. And don’t even get me started on Christmas…

When it comes to gift buying for the men in my life, I often draw a blank, especially when it comes to traditional presents like books, CDs, etc. The fact is, if they want something like this, they’ve often already bought it! This predicament has inspired my latest product showcase of unique and fabulous gifts for the men in your lives — and mine!

The quirky little headphone case from SheDraws is ideal for a music-lover wanting to avoid tangles. Its retro design combined with practicality makes it a perfect gift for my very own husband – so much so that I recently bought him one!

Earthworks Journals‘ notebooks are designed to be robust enough to throw in a bag or rucksack and take on travels without it getting damaged or the pages falling out. The books are made from leather, paper and strong waxed cord. Earthworks Journals use a lot of Celtic designs in their work, which comes from their love of British heritage. The designs are hand tooled rather than machine embossed as this gives a much deeper impression in the leather which will never wear off.

I adore this owl Tshirt from bonbiforest – the owl is speaking the alphabet! The owl is based on a drawing that Lee of bonbiforest made, pondering on the phrase ‘Wise Old Owl’. Lee thought that since he is so wise, he must surely know his alphabet!

Steampunk is so popular right now and these cuff-links will have even the most casual guy dying to wear a suit! Jenny of tinyminds has been taking watches apart since she was small, much to the annoyance of her parents who owned some of them! Jenny finds watches beautiful and feels that the intricate mechanisms and tiny jewels cry out to be pried from their cases and shown to the world.

I hope that these gift ideas have inspired you. I’d love to hear your suggestions for guys’ gifts – post them here!

Tea and Ceremony

by Leave a Comment

Sandra is the designer-maker behind Tea and Ceremony, selling unique paper goods, pins and tote bags inspired by her love of stationery. “I have always had a penchant for paper and as a child I was very fond of the stationery sets that contained an exercise book, ruler, pencil and rubber,” says Sandra. “I had a Mr T set, Streethawk and my favourite, Knight Rider!”

Sandra continues, “I have been crafting ever since I can remember. I had always enjoyed drawing as a child and I distinctly remember my mum showing me how to draw a three-dimensional roof and house when I about six or seven. I taught this to my class mates in school and they were amazed by it.”

“I studied art and design throughout school, college and university. My technical background is quite varied and I have experienced everything from textiles and bookbinding to oil painting and screen printing. I do have days where I decide that I want to print tote bags or sew needle cases and then others where I just want to sit at my computer all day and design a set of greetings cards.”

Applying her training and expertise to crafting, Sandra stumbled across the ideal venue for selling her products in 2008. “I came across Etsy and had never seen anything like it. It was really exciting to see all the amazing things that people can make with their own two hands. Seeing that so many other people were trying their hand at selling gave me the confidence to try and sell my own designs.”

As Sandra has a day job away from crafting, selling online offers her a convenient and manageable way of maintaining her ‘shopfront’. “Once you sell your first item, you realise that there is a market for your ideas and you are actually okay at what you do. And when you start getting positive feedback, that spurs you on to create more. The only downside of Etsy is that is American based and I feel that US buyers are a little put off by shipping costs.”

“Google Analytics is a fantastic tool to help you understand your market. Looking at visitor statistics for my shop, UK residents spend the longest time browsing my store so you cannot rely on catering to countries such as the US for high volumes of sales. I have just started selling on notonthehighstreet.com, which I am quite excited about so I am hoping that I will be able to generate more online sales through that particular marketplace. I am also just beginning to receive requests for wholesale.”

Sandra gathers inspiration from a wide range of sources. “I am quite changeable and my inspiration changes daily although I generally like bold design, for example Scandinavian, Forties wartime and folk design are probably my favourites at the moment. I also currently like the work of Swedish graphic designer Olle Eksell as there are some lovely illustrations in his work.”

Like many handmade sellers, Sandra is spurred on by the global reach that selling online offers her, as well as the support given to the handmade community. “It’s a nice feeling to know that somebody is Japan, Sweden or anywhere else in the world has something you have created in their home or passed it onto someone they care about. I think that people who buy handmade items are genuinely appreciative of the time and effort that has gone into making an item.”

“I think that the handmade scene is definitely growing in the UK and it does provide a wonderful alternative for consumers who are tired of the same stale mass produced items. There is a lot of support within the crafting community and there are schemes and grants available for business start-ups although I find that these tend to be for those crafts deemed to be more ‘traditional’, such as ceramics and jewellery making. Turning your craft into a profession is a risky business so I think that there is still some reluctance to financially support a designer-maker.”

Sandra’s items are varied but she ensures that each reflects her personal tastes and styles. “I’m a bit of a scatter brain and jump from one thing to another and I dislike the idea of creating things in one style. This can be a problem if people struggle to recognise your work but I think that versatility is an asset. You need to adapt and evolve to keep you on your toes. I can’t imagine churning out the same things over and over again. It may work for some people, but not me.”