Handmade Arcade is back! Heres what's on offer this time around!

We're back on Saturday 5th May with a whole host of wonderful stalls & some great lively music for your ears as well as home cooked food from McCoys Cafe!

You can shake a leg, buy a book and meet some lovely local folk who use their hands to make great things! Heres a selection of just some of the things that will be on offer. More to be announced over the next few days so keep your eyes peeled and get your purses ready for the next round of Exeter's only regular Indie Art and Makers Fair!

In the meantime feast your peepers with a preview of the locally grown goodies we've hand picked for you this time around!

Penny Dreadful will be bringing us her handmade vintage steampunk and kitsch goodies. Pendants with images from the cheap illustrated stories that were popular in the 19th Century. Featuring pictures of bloodthirsty pirates, thieves monsters and murderers all combined with up-cycled and re-purposed jewellery and found objects.

Bee Watson is the lady behind The Costume Box - a whimsical and wonderful business that specialises in bespoke costume design and amazing boxes filled to the brim with costumes that are available to hire! Bee has been busy creating a range of dresses and accessories especially for Handmade arcade - all lovingly made from re-purposed and pre-loved fabrics and materials! What's more, a dress like this is likely to cost you under £20! Come down and ask her to make something beautifully unique for you :) 

Local chap Joe Sellman-Leava will be joining us with a large collection of his hand-made Stencil Prints, Paintings, Intaglio and Lino-Prints - many of which are images based on the Worklight Theatre piece, How To Start A Riot - showing at the BikeShed Theatre this June. 

The Alt Street Collective are a 100% independently owned and ethically minded project!
Hailing from Plymouth they produce an exciting range of screen-printed tees and jumpers that are affordable, ethical and feature designs from lesser known artists! You can also see these guys at plymouths Give Up Your Day Job fair which No Guts No Glory will also be attending :)

Local boy Benjamin Smith has been busy making zines,  - he'll be bringing along a small suitcase of his self published offerings, featuring his own photography and musings!

Exeter based Laura Curran makes these marvelous hand-stitched monsters and curious creatures from old duvets and vintage fabrics that seem to have their own personalities! Scrappies are a perfect and unique present for your own little terror!

You can be pretty sure that the next Handmade Arcade will also feature a selection of beautiful clay mugs, vases and jars just like these - all hand made by Elena Matos and friends from Exeter's Unearthed Studio, tucked away behind Fore Street Unearthed is a wonderful place to pick up some handmade goodness or get your hands dirty with affordable workshops, in their beautiful studio.

Kimbows is the creator of these sweet treat inspired adornments, made locally with handpainted fabrics, glossy painted beads and fashioned into bow shaped goodness. Colourful candybox treats that make us feel like it's Spring :)

We're delighted to welcome Nia Gould, Frances Matteson and Patrick Cullum back for the second round of Handmade Arcade! Exeter Phoenix based illustrators with an eye for good design will once again be bringing their penned and printed creations -  be sure to come and take a peek if you missed these guys at the first Handmade Arcade!

Introducing the magnanimous Mr Guy Millon who will have his very own stall selling tickets for Exeter's new independant and intimate Pop Up Cinema - Butterscotch Sunday! May's edition promises to bring us sunshine with the Wes Anderson Film Festival, hosted by Exeters wonderful Bike Shed Theatre on Sunday the 13th May from 6pm. All proceeds from Butterscotch Sunday will be going to the Quiet Mind Centre - a local charity based in Exmouth offering holistic treatment for people on low income benefits, a very worthy project!

Expect to find sweet dalmation mice, badges and of course butterscotch popcorn, yum.

The soundtrack of the day will be provided by Laura Dugmore, and a host of other musical locals!

Remember to pay a visit to our Facebook Event page, and help us spread the word!

See you there!

Hayley & Nath

Handmade Arcade Has Arrived!

This last Saturday marked the beginning of something awesome for the city of Exeter! With the launch of the all-new No Guts No Glory Shop and The First Ever Handmade Arcade, we sure as hell know how to keep ourselves busy! The day was a huge success, as locals and tourists came together and Handmade Arcade made it's mark as no ordinary Craft Fair. Thanks to all of you who stopped eating chocolate eggs and made your way down to McCoys Arcade to sample the delights of Devons talented makers and artists. If you missed the day or spied something you want to get your hands on, feel free to email us - or see the list of links to all the artists involved at the bottom of this post and get your hands on some unique locally made goodness! We are of course doing it all over again in just a few weeks time!

We had some great live sounds from the likes of the lovely Simon & Rhys, Sunday Skyclub and Some Sort Of Threat and a couple of great buskers who turned up on the day, thanks guys!

Screen Printing and Make and Take Workshops run by Bunyip Beads and Buttons were popular as ever, and Stacia Blake supporting Love For Fukushima, had a pop up shop filled with origami cranes giving demonstrations to raise awareness for her project.

Here's a slice of the action...

The weeks building up to the event seem like a mighty blur of sawdust and paint splashes as we strived to finish the new No Guts No Glory shop and get it full to the brim with exciting new specialist books, mags, zines and a host of handmade bits and bobs... We are super chuffed with the results, and the No Guts No Glory shop looks pretty happy with itself too :)

Thanks a lot to everyone involved in the set up, especially all the local independant businesses in Fore Street and beyond who embraced the idea of this project and have made it possible to bring something new to the area. A special thanks to friends of the shop who volunteered their time and much needed DIY skills to get the shop looking ship shape and help us run the show on the day!

If you missed the launch of Handmade Arcade and the No Guts No Glory shop, never fear -  the next one is just a few weeks away on  Saturday 5th  May. Mark your calendars, tell your friends, and join us in celebrating the abundance of local talent on our doorsteps.... we'll have music from the Zazou Cowboys and lots of other surprises ... more to be revealed next week when we announce next months talented crew...

If you think your handiwork may be good at the next handmade arcade please see the apply section on this 'ere blog and get in touch. We'll be announcing the successful applicants next week!

A final massive Thank you to the lovely Artists & Makers who graced the arcade with their wares on the day - Abigail McKenzie of the Marmalade Collective, Lize Meddings, Laura Jayne Weeks, The Preservation Society, Tabbytha, Mick & Emma, Laurel Coxon & Co, Nia Gould, Frances Matteson, Patrick Cullum, Ollie's Mum, and of course the great chaps from the Flying Post!

Be sure to pop down and take a look at the newly upgraded NGNG Shop!

Oh yeah, Handmade Arcade is on Twitter and Facebook too - follow us to keep updated with what we're up too :)

Hayley and Nath

x

Countdown to the first Handmade Arcade!

So there's only Three days to go!

Handmade Arcade is this coming Saturday (7th April), and there seems to be a great buzz and sense of anticipation growing on Fore Street and in the surrounding area!  It's great to see that every one is getting as excited as we are!

Here's a few snaps of what we've been up to with our paintbrushes...

So, what can you expect on the day??

Well, all the stalls have been confirmed, and we can't wait to see the displays on the day! Expect an array of Screen Printed goods, zines, greetings cards, upcycled jewelry, knitted wares and of course some workshops for you to get involved in!  Our neighbours Bunyip Buttons and Beads will be holding 'Make & Take' sessions throughout the day, as well as a Screen Printing Workshop (which is now full) and the awesome guys from the Preservation Society will be running a workshop from their stall on making upcycled Jewelry and head-dresses!

We've also confirmed the musicians for the day, expect sounds to be delivered to your ears by Exeter's very own Some Sort Of Threat, Simon & Rhys and the Sunday Skyclub.  In between the live sounds there will be a playlist for the day made from 100% locally grown musicians! If you'd like to have your songs added to our playlist, email them over to us at handmadearcade@hotmail.co.uk :)

Also, definitely get in touch if you fancy helping us out for the day, along with the No Guts No Glory Shop Relaunch we're going to have our hands full - so any help would be awesome!

There will be refreshments and delicious home-cooked food from McCoys Cafe available all day, and of course over 60 independent shops in the surrounding area that you should be sure to take a look at! there really is so much on offer around these parts, with new ventures and projects springing up all the time - be sure to keep an eye out for workshops that will be taking place in and around the area on the day too!

I think that all for now, we really look forward to seeing you on the day! Please help us to spread the word be adding your friends to our Facebook Event Page!

See ya soon,

Nath and Hayley :)