Why buying a handmade gift means more than buying a gift...

There is no escaping it, the Christmas shopping season has started...

My inbox has a daily enquiry about new products, last dates for custom orders & I already have some confirmed!

The handmade market always booms in the winter months & for a good reason. It's so easy to order stuff online from faceless corporate companies & whilst it's often what people want, a lot of the time it's just something to pad out or to add a little something extra. We all know the type, hair products, chocolate, alcohol. No whilst you will NEVER hear me complaining from receiving such gifts something handmade from a small business always stands out in my memory.

Take my Mums house for example. In the kitchen there are roses from Mothers Day 2 years ago & daffodils from last year. A sunflower from her most recent birthday. 

In the living room is a blanket from her 50th & in my sisters room a blanket for her 21st. 

(Thinking I REALLY need to make my Dad something this Christmas!)

Think I'm biased coz I made them? Nope. I can't remember everything I received for past Christmas's & birthdays but I remember the personalised notepad my sister bought me, I remember the Gir hoodie (from Invader Zim) that Chelle made me.

My sister is awesome & only shops at independent stores so anything from her is really memorable!

The point is when you buy handmade anything you are buying more than just the item. You seal in a memory. You make that gift unforgettable to that person. Might be because you can see the hard work & dedication that's gone into the item & 9/10 it's gonna be something that's got a super personal meaning to the receiver.

You might pay a couple of quid more for something but 70p of every £1 spent stays locally when you shop independently as opposed to 5p when spent in a chain.

My Etsy shop has opening this weekend with a few hiccups but I think we are sorted now! 

As a thank you for your continued support I was offering 20% off this weekend (on orders over £5) but I have decided to extend this till midnight on Wednesday coz lets face it, we are all feeling a bit rubbish till Wednesday hits & we start looking forward to the weekend!

The Crafty Side of The Independent Liverpool Festival...

Last weekend saw Independent Liverpool hold its first Festival & it sold out! 

Set in the wonder that is The Baltic Triangle, Constellations & the new Great Baltic Warehouse where full to the rafters of people enjoying the benefits of our fair cities local independent retailers.

I was also there! Sadly I was largely away from the gin VW bar & the prosecco trolley but I got to hang out with the most amazingly talented bunch in Constellations at the arts & craft fair!

Whilst I was showcasing lots of my new goodies (mega thanks to you purchases & admirers alike) I loved having a good old nose & chat with everyone else! 

This Material Culture where my neighbours for the weekend & great crafty pals so that was a pleasure as always! So where The Soap Empire & At What Cost (fellow Rex retailers in the original store too!) so I already felt right at home.

The best shop companion was in the form of Pip The Tiny Pup brought by Scott Duffey with his & Lucy's amazing prints! 

The guys from One Art where as fabulous as every bringing a huge selection of local artists together in pop up shops! If you haven't heard or seen their collective works, then you are really missing out! 

I bought my Mum some local honey from The Postcode Honey guys who offered free tasters from different areas! Can't get better than that!

In true me & Chelle style we supported our fellow local businesses by making it our mission to fill up on independent cake both days!

The food section was packed out all day & everyone seemed to be having an absolute ball.

La Meme Etoffe

As a stall holder we where looked after fantastically well with complimentary tea & coffee both mornings which was greatly appreciated. The guys from Independent Liverpool personally came round to speak to everyone & to see if we needed anything which was really good of them considering the size of the event.

It was an epic although tiring weekend but I can't wait for next year!

Wex who donates profits to the Whitechapel Centre! Amazing!

For those of you that are not Liverpool based I have good news! This weekend I'll be launching my Etsy shop finally! Sadly it's going to be later than I had previously hoped due to my lack of photography skills it's taking longer than expected but if you head over to my Facebook & Twitter pages there will be a discount code running for all of my likers & followers of 20% off on Saturday & Sunday as a massive thank you from me for all your continuing support!

Mini fruit

Mini sushi

Mini biscuits

Yeah they are mini!

Did you attend the festival? What did you think? 

Duke Street Relaunch

Last Thursday was the relaunch of The Duke Street Bazaar, situation only enough on its name sake street in Liverpool.

New window display!

  From my last post you will know that it is a gem of an independent supporting lots of local retailers who all run the store as a collective.

After being shut for a couple of days we reopened to the public after fixing the lighting & some plumbing issues as well as a refurbishment of each individual pod, now all decorated as well a general tidying up of the place!
  

It was great to see so many people waiting patiently outside before we opened & the huge number of you that came to take advantage of the discounts, free cake & fizz! It meant a lot to all of us!

Homemade goodies!

  
What was especial nice for the pod holders was you lot taking the time to talk to everyone about what they do & there was a lot of networking.

The shop is open Monday - Saturday, 10am-5pm so now that all the excitement is over don't forget about us! Is so important that we support each other in business, especially as each of us is a small business trying to take over our own little corner of the world!

My space!

 

  
If you couldn't make it down to the opening here is a list of the pod sellers that have social media pages so you can check out what we do!* Girl On Purl Action* Curious Orange* Pretty Flamingo* Flos Fancies* Stix Creations

* Blond Pineapple