Book Review: The Handmade Marketplace by Kari Chapin

V useful book for any designers/makers that wanna sell stuff.  This book covers lots of topics/marketing avenues that you won’t have thought of and has succeeded my expectations of a ‘how to sell your crafts’ style book.  Contents even include advice about craft podcasts and increasing your blog popularity.  There are quotes, interviews and advice from successful crafters and the book is split in to clear, easy to read sections.  Very informative and some nice pockets of illustration, but it could be improved with a few ‘real’ visual examples e.g. screen shots to break up the text and to stimulate the creative eye.  A rather practical 8/10

Book Review – Tatty Devine, How to Make Jewellery

I bought this book from the Brick Lane Tatty Devine store a few weekends ago on a trip to London.  It’s packed full of cool ideas for DIY jewellery projects, including one of my favourites, the bow tie necklace (pictured below).  The book is punctuated with Tatty Devine’s personalised hints and tips to help with the practical side of things.  The book is really nicely presented and easy to follow with a clear breakdown of all the tools you may need at the start.   Unusually – there is also a list of recommended suppliers at the back of the book.  This surprised me as good suppliers are usually hard to find and companies often keep their cards close to their chests where business is concerned!  Some of the projects shown are not my cup of tea but I definitely learned a lot from this book.  An inspirational 8/10!

Sweatshop

Visiting The Paper Village shop in Bedminster was a real treat.  I was browsing for a scrapbook related gift for someone special and knew that this would be the place I would find it.  The shop assistant was very helpful and pointed me towards a gorgeous pack containing vintage style stickers (think typewriters/bluebirds/stickered suitcases) and a selection of scrapbook papers in a variety of colours and designs.  The perfect gift!  This shop has been in Bedminster, Bristol since September last year and sells all sorts of crafty items, from fabric spray paint to wool.  Paper Village also runs creative courses.  You can find out more by clicking here.  Definitely worth a look if you are a local designer/maker.

Whilst browsing the selection of Art/Design/Craft books I was amazed to find this beautiful Parisian book….

I read about this place 2 years ago in the Guardian Sunday Suppliment (read a summary of this article here) and loved the ethos of the whole project.  It is a Paris based cafe/shop/workspace set up by a Swiss makeup artist and an Austrian fashion designer (a.k.a. Martena Duss and Sissi Holleis).  The ladies wanted to create a workspace where people could visit and share ideas, hire Singer sewing machines by the hour, undertake courses run by local craftspeople/designers, sell handmade pieces and to eat cake!  The cafe/shop/workspace is ironically called Sweatshop as it is the opposite.  The owners want people to think about where their clothes come from and pick local handmade rather than unsustainable fast fashion.  The book contains crafty projects such as: make your own bootie slippers; how to add lace reverse applique detail to your cardigan, and how to create different shaped oversized T-shirts.  There are also delicious looking recipes including Sissi’s chocolate cake.  I can’t wait to get started!