Makerhoodies at South Bank Village Fair

Craft is coming to the Southbank Centre on 24 and 25 August – and Makerhood will be there!

The Village Fair is part of the Southbank Centre’s Festival of Neighbourhood and will include local brass bands and bell ringers, traditional games such as hoopla, a dog show, and animals from Vauxhall City Farm.

There will also be lots of crafty activities going on, including Makerhood workshops. Carol Grantham of Carol’s Creative Workshops will offer you the chance to make a needlefelted ladybird, snail or leaves, Maggie Winnall of Sewin Studio will be making beautiful garden-themed bunting, and Chloe Morais of Cheeky Suds will be creating scrubs, bath salts and foot soaks using natural floral and herbal ingredients from the garden.

Kim Winter of Makerhood and Flextiles will also be taking part in a discussion at the Craft Code Village in the Royal Festival Hall at 11am on Saturday 24 August, talking about how the internet has contributed to the revival of the craft community.

And Karen Martin of Makerhood and Chris Patton of Eight B Design will be on hand, too, to spread the word about Makerhood’s expansion across Lambeth and sell work by makers taking part.

It’s all free, including a ceilidh on Saturday evening at 6pm. So bring your crafty fingers and dancing shoes and join us for a fab weekend!

The Village Fair runs at the Southbank Centre on Saturday and Sunday 24 and 25 August, 11am-4pm.

The London Beer Lab

Saskia spoke to Bruno and Karl from the London Beer Lab about the opening of their micro-brewery later this month, and about exciting local beer plans with Brixton Buzz.

Why open a brewery in Brixton?

Bruno: When I moved to London I could not really find a wide variety of beer and I started to home brew. Back in my home town, in Lyon, it is possible to do home brewing courses. I was surprised to find that there were no brewing workshops in London, and I thought to myself “we should do this in London”. This is how it started. I use to work in finance, this is a bit of a transition for me. The first home brewing workshop took place in my flat last year. My entire flat got taken over by brewing equipment, so we decided to look for a place to open a micro-brewery.

Karl: We looked at possible sites across London, Brixton was the best location we could find. We are close to the Brixton high street,…

Bruno: …other businesses, and the community. The other possible sites were hidden in industrial parks. We are close to Brixton Market and the Tube, making it easy for people to find us.

Karl: We moved in February this year, in June we held our first brewing workshop here. The workshops have been great. People have been returning to bottle their beer and have been very happy. A couple brewed wheat beer especially for their wedding.

What type of beer will you be making?

Bruno: We just brewed some Bavarian wheat beer, and some amber ale. The brewing workshops we do every week will determine what we brew next. It can really be any type of beer, we will see what requests we are getting. In the fermentation room we have some Belgium styles, some altbier and pilsner. We want to experiment, that’s one of the guiding principles of the London Beer Lab. That’s why I wanted to open a brewery really, to brew different beers.

Karl: For the moment we will be focusing on bottled beer. We are also doing a collaboration with Brixton Buzz, they will crowd source the recipe for a beer from local internet forum Urban75. It is great how they get people involved. It looks like people are going for a medium strength pale ale, with something that gives it a bit of a buzz. Brixton Buzz will probably be available in local pubs from mid August. More will be revealed soon.

Will you cater mainly to the South London craft beer connoisseurs, or are you planning to win over a new audience?

Bruno: In fact we are planning for world domination.

Karl: It is not like we have different opinions… We both feel that people should not be drinking bad beer. We also don’t think that craft beer should be the preserve of the beard and sandals brigade or yuppies, it should be accessible to people and hopefully we can contribute to that locally.

Bruno: We will definitely cater for the beer connoisseurs, but also introduce beer to a new audience through our workshops. There are now in the region of 50 micro-breweries in London and we are planning to stock beer from other micro-breweries, for people to buy. Alongside that we will be selling our own beer. If we get a feel for the local taste, we may get local pubs interested.

Are you currently working with other local businesses?

Bruno: We are very much focused on getting up and running, and ready for our official opening later in August. We need to get some shelves, and cardboard boxes for the bottles. We are currently looking for a local bakery to work with. The spent grain we have left over from brewing can be made into bread. Do you know a local bakery?

Saskia: Sure.

To be continued. The London Beer Lab micro-brewery can be visited at Arch 41 Nursery Road (row of arches across the street from bar SW9). More information about the London Beer Lab brewing workshops can be found at http://londonbeerlab.com/

Mentoring month with Etsy UK: Coupon code sale 10% off

Throughout July, 10 Makerhoodies worked incredibly hard as part of Etsy UK mentoring month. Using the fantastic resources provided by Etsy UK makers revisited their photography and branding, tags and titles, SEO, pricing, shipping and marketing, carried out shop critiques, brainstormed their ideal customers and planned social media strategies. And they continued making of course…

To celebrate all of this work we’re having an Etsy coupon code sale. Until 14 August 2013 you can get 10% off all items in the makers’ Etsy shops by entering the code MMSALE when you checkout.

You can read all about mentoring month in this Etsy UK blog post. Two other Etsy teams took part, the Brighton Sellers and British Crafters. The Brighton Sellers team is participating in the coupon code sale too and you can see all the makers taking part here.

Here’s a little preview of the beautiful things the Makerhoodies have on offer:

Hunted and Stuffed

Luxury homeware brand specialising in upcycling rare and beautiful vintage textiles. Quirky printed tea towels from the 1950s onwards become striking bench cushions or handmade aprons. Vintage silk scarves get reborn as floor cushions. Ornate gilt brocade wedding kimonos are transformed into unique luxury wedding gifts. We hunt for unusual and rare textiles, redesign and repurpose them to create beautiful, unique pieces for the home.

Opian

OPIAN is a label ready-to-wear and accessories for women run by Chloé masson. Created in 2008 in Geneva, Switzerland, we are now based in London, England. All of our items are made out of organic, recycled, retrived or re-used materials, in order to limit the negative environmental impact on the environment. Most items are handmade and manufactured in small quantities or even one of a kind which makes them more exlusive. OPIAN style fits in a modern and minimalist feel while maintaining a comfortable look. OPIAN’s brand caters to a clientele that seeks to reconcile fashion and commitment.

DreamyMeIsMe

No matter how many stories have been told, no matter how many images have been drawn, there are always new stories to be told, there are always new images to draw. I create artist books where my images can be coloured or used to make other people’s stories. Unique, exclusive prints. Only limited editions. Great opportunity to purchase the lovely academic calendars and other back to school prints

Flextiles

I’m a textile artist working mainly with wet felt and indigo dyeing. I like experimenting with textiles – which I define quite loosely, so I include felt, yarn, plastic, paper, metal and more. The beauty of making items from scratch is that each one is unique. So if you see something that you quite like but would prefer a different size/colour/shape, get in touch! I’d be happy to make something to your requirements.

KPictures

I am a freelance illustrator living and working in the wilds of South London. I am a displaced (misplaced) Canadian, having found a home and inspiration in jolly ole’ Blighty. I love to draw ideas to life and am open to any and all illustrative projects. I welcome commissions so please contact me if you have any questions.

Prickle press

I hand-print cards, prints and various stationery on my vintage LETTERPRESS in Brixton, London using luxurious and environmentally friendly papers and inks. Each piece of card is fed through the press, piled, cut and enveloped by hand. The result is something you will instantly want to stroke, collect, frame or gift away.

Rags&Tatters

Delight in texture, in the age of objects and in making them. I hope you enjoy browsing my individually designed and handmade items. Made in my loft studio in London, UK.

If you’re a member of Makerhood’s Makers’ Club you can see all of the resources we used for mentoring month in the forums.

If you’re interested in taking part in future mentoring events let us know at hello@makerhood.com

Rachel Stanners: Why I am involved in Makerhood

Rachel runs a letterpress business from her Brixton studio, is a member of our Makers’ Club, and volunteers on Makerhood’s events. Rachel explains what brought her to Makerhood, and why it’s been great for her social life and her business.

I began to teach myself how to letterpress using a hand-operated 8×5 Adana press about four years ago, and I quickly fell in love with the medium. Prickle Press was officially established in 2010 when I got my first wholesale order from a beautiful bookshop in Copenhagen.

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Last year I came across a much larger, foot-operated treadle press called a Chandler & Price on ebay. I left like I’d won the lottery when we got it! The press meant I could print larger sizes and much more easily.

I’m at the point now where I am launching a full range of greetings cards, approaching more shops for trade orders and receiving regular requests for bespoke work: wedding invitations, business cards and birth announcements.

I wanted to get involved in my community

I heard about Makerhood at a Christmas fair in Brixton a couple of years ago. I was immediately interested. At this point I had just started working four days a week on Prickle Press from home, and although I loved it, I was missing those day-to-day contacts and colleagues. I’d been living in Brixton for four and a half years but it was only once I started working from home that I realised how disconnected my life was from my local area. I wanted to get more involved in my local community and meet people with similar passions – to create and make – and Makerhood seemed like the perfect place to do that.

Volunteering and Making Uncovered

When I attended my first Makerhood meeting I enthusiastically volunteered for just about everything! I’ve since started interviewing local makers for the ‘Meet the Makers’ section of the website. A few months later went along to an events planning meeting. At this stage the idea of the ‘Making Uncovered’ event was underway but none of the details were set. I remember being so excited about it.

I’d originally trained as a designer for dance and theatre and also done some event planning on the side. Although I’d decided I didn’t want to pursue a career in theatre design I missed aspects of the event planning. Over the next few months I got as involved as I could, taking on small jobs which I knew I could manage like organising the volunteers for the event. We spent months planning Making Uncovered but it wasn’t until I walked into the venue – the Brixton East gallery – that I started to really imagine what it would be like.

In addition to organising the event, I ran a letterpress workshop on the day. I was terrified setting up the night before. I was sure I would be standing there alone looking like a wally all day trying to persuade anyone to have a go – how wrong I was! At about 11.15am a little boy with his sister and parents came by and said he would like to print his name – and I was away.

I have no idea how the rest of the event went because I barely had a moment to sit down. After six hours of solid printing I was shattered, but elated to have so much interest. I purposefully didn’t charge a set rate – I wanted everyone to have a go and not be put off by costs. And it turned out I sold so many cards and prints that I really didn’t need to!

It wasn’t until I watched the video of the event that I caught a glimpse of the event as a whole. The open and inclusive nature of the event meant there was such a variety of people who took part – and it felt like a real reflection of Brixton. I feel so proud to have taken part in a creative, positive, local event.

New connections, new friendships, new skills and… new sales.

I think through the amount of publicity the event had my profile must have been raised because since the event I’ve had further requests for workshops and more bespoke requests than ever! I’m not sure but I wonder whether running workshops and being generous with your craft makes you more approachable so that customers are less nervous about contacting you for work. Either way I feel like since the event my business has really improved.

I went to my first Makerhood meeting about nine months ago and it’s done everything for me that I hoped: I have new friends who live locally and share a passion for creativity and I feel connected and involved in Brixton. The fact that it’s also boosted interested and sales is just an added bonus!

If you’re interested in getting involved with Makerhood drop us a line at hello@makerhood.com. We’d love to hear from you! Or, you can find out more about our Makers’ Club and how to join on this page.

Getting to grips with pricing

If you want to make a living as a maker, you need to get your prices right. But how do you work out the right price?

At our August Makers’ Club meeting, Jane Doxey of Creative and Retail Services, a product development and retail expert, former buyer for Liberty’s and product development director for Marks & Spencer, will guide you step by step through how to calculate what you should be charging.

She’ll also explain the difference between selling direct to consumers, wholesale, and retail – and how you should adjust your prices accordingly. And highlight additional factors, such as knowing how much your competitors charge.

You’ll have the chance to ask questions and also network with other makers before and after.

The event is free for Makers’ Club members, £4 for non-members. Please book through Eventbrite.

Getting to grips with pricing is on Wednesday 7 August, 7-9pm, on the first floor of the Dogstar, 389 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton SW9 8LQ.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Makerhood at Urban Art

Makerhood will again be having a pitch at the Urban Art Fair on Josephine Avenue, Brixton, on 13 and 14 July.

Kristina Glushkova of Makerhood with local MP Chuka Umunna at last year's Urban Art Fair — Kristina Glushkova of Makerhood with local MP Chuka Umunna at last year’s Urban Art Fair

With more than 200 artists on exhibiting, this annual al fresco event offers a wonderful opportunity to see a staggering range of art, talk to the artists about their work, and buy direct.

This year there will also be special street art area, where artists will be creating live work, including spraying a London tube train, which will be exhibited in Windrush Square the following week.

The Makerhood pitch number is S11 – it’s one of the panels in the pedestrianised part of the street. The artists exhibiting will be:

Kaylene Alder Kaylene is a displaced Canadian whose quirky illustrations are inspired by the scenes around her in good ole’ London town, from local landmarks to urban wildlife.

CAS Clare Smith works in acrylics on canvas, usually from photographs. Her paintings include London landmarks as well as family portraits and commissions.

Ray Stanbrook Ray’s distinctive graphic prints and cards of south London are extremely popular with local residents. As well as Brixton, he features Clapham, Crystal Palace, Brockwell Park, Herne Hill, Dulwich and Forest Hill.

The Urban Art Fair is on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 July, 10am-6pm.

Etsy Mentoring Month with Makerhood!

Would you like to get tips on setting up or improving your Etsy stall? We’re offering a small group of makers the opportunity to take part in a new Etsy mentoring scheme to improve their online stalls.

You don’t need to have an Etsy stall to take part – just an interest in setting one up. You will be partnered with another Makerhood maker to help each other take your Etsy stalls to the next level, whether it’s getting your products online for the first time or fine tuning your photos and copy to boost sales. Together we will cover topics such as taking photographs, titles and tagging, using site stats and pricing.

Mentoring Month is running throughout July. Etsy is providing tips and online resources, and Makerhood will be offering local support as we go through Mentoring Month together.

At the end of the month we will arrange an event to celebrate and showcase our new and improved stalls. Etsy will be watching these events, and we might have the opportunity for our event to be featured in the Etsy blog.

If you would like to take part, please send an email to hello@makerhood.com, telling us the name of your Makerhood stall and why you would like to take part, by Friday 28 June.

We’re sorry but this opportunity is only for makers who already have a Makerhood stall or who are members of Makerhood Norwood.

Meet the makers: Anna Jackson

Anna Jackson of Black Cactus London describes the delights of living in south London and producing one-off printed bags and purses

1. Tell us how you got started in printing.
I did a fine arts degree in printmaking and sculpture at university in Australia – and always preferred printmaking to sculpture. Then I went travelling to Japan, came to the UK in 2000 and got very frustrated doing office work as a project analyst. So I did another printmaking course at Central St Martins, which reminded me how much I loved printmaking and helped me to realise that I wanted printmaking back in my life!

2. So you prefer printing on fabric to paper?
Printing on fabric is more versatile. You can frame a paper print, but with fabric it’s more flexible – you can make other things from it. They have to be small things like bags, because I work on small-scale pieces – I don’t have the facilities to produce large pieces of fabric with repeat patterns. I use real leaves in my prints, so every piece is different and unique. I love printing the fabrics – I’m less keen on making up the bags. It would be great to pair up with a seamstress!

3. As well as selling through Makerhood you’re stocked by independent retailers.
Yes – I have an Etsy shop and I also sell my bags through Diverse Gifts in Brixton and Lovely and British in Bermondsey Street. I’m not interested in John Lewis – I prefer independent retailers. I want to get to the point where people like my stuff enough to commission one-off pieces, so I keep experimenting rather than just becoming a production line. For me it’s about wanting to do it – otherwise there’s a danger it just becomes a chore.

4. Have you always lived in south London since coming to the UK?
No – I used to live in Hackney, but then I moved to the Camberwell/Brixton borders about four years ago. I wasn’t sure about being south of the river at first, but I like it now! It’s spikier than Hackney – people watching here is so much better. I wouldn’t move back!

5. So can you share some of your favourite places in the area where you live?
There are events like the Chelsea Fringe Festival, where a garden designer has created a secret garden in the yard behind our studio block in Vanguard Court. I also like the Hermit’s Cave pub, a real hole in the wall place with stuffed weasels – no gastropub nonsense here! And there’s a new farmer’s market with a great berry stall, and the Camberwell Arts Festival (15-23 June 2013).

6. And why did you join Makerhood?
I heard about Makerhood through picking up a flyer in Burgess Park and thought why not? It’s provided useful relevant local information that’s hard to come by elsewhere. I’ve made some online sales, met other makers and got stocked in Diverse through Makerhood.

You can see Anna’s stylish, versatile bags at http://brixton.makerhood.com/black-cactus-london

Join us for Brite London: the Makers & Creatives edition

Are you running or thinking about starting a creative business? Looking for advice on how to succeed? Come to our free business development event on 18 June.

Makerhood has teamed up with Eventbrite to bring you the Brite London: the Makers & Creatives edition – a night packed with great advice from successful creatives who’ve done it all themselves. Insightful talks, Q&A and plenty of time for chatting to fellow makers. Drinks and snacks will be provided, too!

The event is at 7pm on 18 June at the Craft Beer pub in Brixton. Please book your free ticket on Eventbrite, or read on to find out more.

Crowd funding: how to raise money for your creative business

James-McBennett-200-x2001

The buzz word has been around for a while, but what does crowd-funding mean in practice? Does it actually work – and for whom? If you are thinking of a crowd-funding campaign, or simply want to find out more about raising funds from the public, this is your chance to learn from someone who’s run a recent successful campaign.

James McBennett is the founder and chief designer at Fabsie, a start-up making beautifully crafted ready-to-assemble furniture.

Fabsie

For their first product – a rocking stool – James ran a kick-starter campaign, raising over £26,000 and attracting over 530 backers. James will explain how to get your crowd-funding campaign off the ground.

How to use events, workshops and exhibitions to build support for your work

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Events can be great fun and promotion for your business, but how do you know when to use events, and how to run them well?

What are the big Dos and Don’ts, and how do you spend your time effectively? Organising events is a lot of work – here’s your chance to learn from an expert on how to make that work for you.

Katie McPhee is the Community Manager at Eventbrite UK.

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Katie has organised numerous events, and has seen many others do that – she’ll share her experience of what succeeds and what doesn’t.

Social media: how to promote your work on social networks

Hannah1

Social media is the order of the day, but with so little time and so much to do, how do you pick the right channels for your business? What messages work best? How do you find time to do social media alongside running a creative business?

Hannah Needham is founder of This Is Your Kingdom, a curated online guide to the UK’s most lovely places to eat, drink, walk, think, potter, ponder, snuggle and shop.

Hannah left her day-job to start the venture with her business partner – soon after launch their readership soared, and they grew a loyal community of readers and contributors. Hannah will share her experience of using social media, how they formulated a strategy, and what was key to their success.

Makerhood: local makers working together

Makerhood is a social enterprise that supports makers and skills in south London, founded and run by a team of local volunteers. A maker’s life can be rather isolated, working away in your studio (or back bedroom!), wondering how much to charge for your work, worrying about stock, and where to get tax advice… Makerhood supports local makers, builds partnerships with local business, helps with business development advice and facilitates a local network for makers to help each other.

Kristina Glushkova, the co-founder of the project (and author of this post!), will talk about Makerhood’s mission and how being part of a makers’ collective can promote your creative work.

There are 50 spaces available for the event. Click here to book yours.

We look forward to seeing you there!

When: 18 June, 6.30pm – 9pm

Where: The Craft Beer Company, Upstairs. 2 mins walk from Brixton tube. 11-13 Brixton Station Rd, SW9 8PA

“I liked the idea of subverting genre stereotypes”: Elena Blanco and the Making Uncovered artwork

The artist - Elena Blanco — The artist – Elena Blanco

Our recent Making Uncovered event saw 700 people coming together to celebrate art and craft in Brixton. We think that one of the reasons for its success was the lovely artwork on flyers – it got praise from almost everyone we handed them to!

We asked Elena Blanco, the artist who created the artwork, about how she came up with it. Here’s the secret…

I worked on the illustrations for the Making Uncovered flyers and posters very differently from my usual way. Especially with my first two picture books, “When nothing happens” and “Petina goes travelling”, I have normally used a very controlled illustration technique; a very clear ink line that I plan carefully. I can be very fastidious about a drawing and repeat it several times before I like the result.

Illustration from 'When nothing happens' — Illustration from ‘When nothing happens’

For the Making Uncovered piece I worked very loosely, playing by ear quite a lot. The story of this illustration started at a Stephen Chambers’ exhibition at the RA. I was very interested in his prints at that exhibition.

His prints are amazing at many different levels but I was particularly fascinated by the way he draws people’s faces. He does quite a simple line drawing that conveys lots of expression. Then I did what I do when I admire a drawing; I draw it. The process of copying something you like is such a great learning experience, I highly recommend it! The drawings looked like this:

When Makerhood offered me the job of designing the Making Uncovered poster, they had a few ideas for the illustrations. They talked about something with a vintage feel; people making; tools indicating different crafts and also the idea of subverting genre stereotypes.

When I started to try and draw people I realised I didn’t know how to draw adults and remembering Stephen Chambers’ drawings I tried to make up my own people using what I had learned from his style. Here are the drawings :

I did some sketches I liked and then scanned them and cut and pasted with Photoshop. I thought the images of people floating around on the sheet worked well and I added drawings of tools to make it feel buzzing with activity. To unify bits I added monochrome shades. The monochrome also gives the vintage feeling.

I liked the idea of subverting genre stereotypes and drew knitting and crochet tools around the bearded man and woodcraft tools around a woman. The final illustration was done in Photoshp in less than two hours. I have never worked so quickly!

Check out Elena’s work on Etsy where it’s available to buy: www.DreamyMeisme.etsy.com