Next Saturday is Handmade Arcade's 1st Birthday!!

The Handmade Arcade 1st Birthday is in just one week! Woohoo! We're getting busy decorating the arcade and planning a great little gathering!

We thought we'd give you a little run down of who you can expect to find within McCoys Arcade on the 6th April! The arcade will be open from 10-5pm within you will find so many great independent shops, a cafe and some mighty fine music as well as all of these guys....

Sarah Macdonald! - Maker of retro art, badges, as well as nice things for your house - Sarah's paintings can be found on old vinyl, clocks and cards Sarah can even come and transform a wall in your house into a brilliant mural!

The Spirit Forge! - Handmade Arcade regulars, spirit Forge are makers of extraordinary objects with Wiccan origins - find forest elves and sacred scripts amongst their hand sculpted gems!

You can also find some brilliantly decorated skulls - the handiwork of Barry John!

 

Ruvina! maker of unique brooches hand crafted from re-cycled indian silks, felted wool in indulgent rich colours and textures!

Helena Coard and Nic Farrel! - Brilliant printmakers, illustrating duo Helena and Nic will be showing off a wide and whimsical range of prints, cards and totes!

Ollie Jillings! with a penchant for vintage mischief Ollie's cards, books and prints bring the past to future eyes ears and minds - mixing eras, bending tales and winding stories of wonder! He's keeping his hand-made hero's under wraps until the big day :)

Common Goals! Art, music, tees and charity should all go together, buy an awesome organic band designed tee from NGNG's sister project and ALL profit goes straight to charity! watch out for new designs available Saturday!

Gingerface! maker of colourful jewellery, distinctively styled and imaginative affordable pieces - 

Exeter Local Records - Championing the areas talented musicians Exeter Local Records are sellers of vinyl, tapes, CD's and merch! 

Little Owl Crafts! - hand-dyed colourful wool spun by hand into balls of super soft yarn!

And of course the wonderful Autumn Jitters! wonderful nature inspired printed things!

See you on the 6th for a celebration of locally made indie arts!

WE MAKE IT - Maker of the day Little Owl Crafts

The People Who Make It....

Heather of Little Owl Crafts can usually be found at Handmade Arcade spinning away, her hand-dyed fibres becoming beautiful, colourful, unique balls of yarn...

It sounds like a blissfull existence - living on a farm in the hills surrounding the valley, transforming Dartmoor sheep coats into the most beautiful, warm and different hand-dyed and spun yarns... Heather's partner runs a recording studio, so not only is she surrounded by natural goodness and the unbeatable Devon countryside - she's also surrounded by locally crafted music! Win win, and win!

Wool shopping can be pretty hard nowadays in this town, but luckily for us heather is at most Handmade Arcade Markets and has a very loyal following of knitters, felters and crafters. She also stocks her wool in McCoys Arcades crafty shop Good Golly Miss Molly! For those out of reach of the Devon hills Little Owl Crafts has an Etsy shop and a facebook page so her hand-spun goodness is never too far out of reach!

Heather is mostly pre-occupied with eco-friendly home-building and ways to go back to the land from which we came, she has a fondness for inventive green design and a penchant for creative and crafty ideas - she's a huge part of the Handmade Arcade collective and you can catch her and all the rest of the crew at the next Handmade Arcade on the 6th April!

In other news..... Exeter has been proven to be the 4th happiest place in the country and number 1 for neighbourliness! - I'm pretty sure the Handmade Arcade bunch and all the local super-heros this city boasts has a lot to do with this! 

Happy Making!

See you on Saturday April 6th!

We Make It! - Maker of the day Autumn Jitters!

The people who Make It....

First, some words by Gemma from Autumn Jitters

"under a cloudy sky...

...birds shook the dew from their wings, and pulled on their capes... foxes called to each other in the night, spreading the news that spring was about to arrive... and slowly, in the warmth of the rising sun... autumn jitters woke from the sleep of a capped pen..."

For those of you who regularly join us for the monthly celebration that is Handmade Arcade, you will probably recognise Devon based Gemma's nature inspired illustrations which feature star-lit sky's, tree canopy's and super-hero birds, Gemma's illustrations are available as badges, prints, cards and notebooks and she's also available for commissioned work! 

Gemma is a wanderer/explorer/adventurer who loves to work with dead leaves, brown paper, wool fibres and paper pulp, she can often be found drawing, on a beach in Devon or on the moor. She has a love of foxes, owls, star-lit skies and mint chocolate. You can see more from Autumn Jitters on her facebook page and she also has an etsy shop for fans from further afield!

We're pretty excited to say that Autumn Jitters will be joining us once again  at The Handmade Arcade First Birthday Party on the 6th April!

Join our event page to keep updated, bring a friend and come on down!

For May's Handmade Arcade we're planning a "May The 4th Be With You" day! 

If you're interested in applying for a table, we're seeking makers of small press, illustrators and comic artists to join us... email handmade arcade@hotmail.co.uk with some snaps of your wares!



Wrap up warm in scarves and gloves but allow the sun to warm each strand of hair upon your head, spring is playing with the rooftops today.....

Join us for handmade Arcade's First Birthday on Saturday 6th April!!

The sweet aftertaste of Butterscotch Sunday's screening of Amelie

Sunday is traditionally a day of restful indulgence, spoiling yourself with simple delights and secret pleasures, writing letters, planting seeds, rugs, blankets and cloud gazing..... 

Last Sunday was a true reflection of this, when we gathered ourselves (and a batch of vegan treats) and headed to the Bike Shed Theatre for Butterscotch Sunday's edible screening of the beautiful French film Amelie.

I'd like to introduce Mr Guy Millon and Miss Hannah Mumby - partners in crime, inventors, designers and endive fondlers creating the all encompassing quirky atmosphere of Butterscotch Sunday. Spreading the word of good causes which quite fittingly so for Amelie, was local social enterprise Love Local Food - reminding us quietly that surrounded by such rich fields and farms, we need look no further than our very own doormats (and who knows, with neighbours like these, perhaps we will find a visual treasure or two under there as well).

Descending down the staircase into a bustling Bike Shed Theatre, people crowded in the basement bar surrounded by the quirky oddities, a pianist and a singer by the name of Kat Brooks, tinkering chords and fluttering melodies bringing the atmosphere of MonteMarte to somewhere much closer to home.

Like a well organised handbag - the VCR boxes adorned the tables in rows, each one containing pockets of tiny treats, organised, enticing and evocative of the idea of waiting and playing; teasing out time, following a trail until the time is right to devour the flavours contained within. 

The key turned and as people flooded into the theatre space, a great feeling of mystery descended, with a playful promise of what could be....

"If you have ever felt that food can be magical, something to transform and transcend, then just imagine what it could do to your experience of watching a film! Your miniature hamper will be filled with delicious treats that have been designed to be eaten at significant moments in the film and immerse you in the emotional of Montmartre, Paris." - Guy Millon - The Butterscotch Beau.

 "All proceeds, as alway's with Butterscotch sunday happenings, will benefit the local community. In this instance our chosen beneficiary is the fabulous Love Local Food, a not-for-profit social enterprise which brings local food to the community in it's mobile van, as well as offers educational opportunities about food, the environment and personal well-being to all sectors of the community."

 A few wily characters donned hats and scarves and made their way to the theatre, (I think this gent was a regular though)

On the cover of each VCR box was a poster and menu designed by the hand and pen of the talented Miss Mumby.

"It's better to help people than garden gnomes"

Within each box amongst other delights lay hand-crafted raspberry marshmallows and mini crisp-topped Creme Brûlée's, all hand-made by Guy and Butterscotch friends, sure to cast a magic spell when explored with the visual treat  that is Amelie.

"With a prompter in every cellar window whispering comebacks, shy people would have the last laugh."

A photo both was provided to capture rare moments, with a gnome - of course.

And so we close this chapter of Butterscotch Sunday - who knows where the next one will take us, you can be sure, however, that it will be an intimate, intricate and wonderful occasion...

O' Butterscotch Sunday - "Without You, today's emotions would be the scurf of yesterday's"

Until soon,

Hayley

The Handmade Arcade community is back!

A brilliant day was had at this months Handmade Arcade! We welcomed some very talented people from the area with creative ideas up their sleeves, carrying creations carved from their very own hands - people with the motivation to get up on a cold and blustery March morning and share their wares with the supportive community.

We had some brilliant music this month from local musicians who make the atmosphere so merry and welcoming, doing so for a piece of homemade cake and a cup of tea! All for the joy of playing music and celebrating this diverse community! Offering something different - a playful approach to a life of make and do! We really appreciate you guys coming down and giving up your Saturday's to come play with us! Thanks to Two Furious Guitars, Jonathan from The Skull Kids, Rosie Eade Folk Pixie, Jonny Found a Raygun, Will Odgers from Count to Fire for a brilliant day of music! 

Thanks to all of you who came down to browse and snap up a unique piece of Devon on your Saturday travels - we really enjoyed seeing you all and meeting some new faces!

If you would like to take part in the next Handmade Arcade please get in touch with us at handmade arcade@hotmail.co.uk, send us some snaps please take the time to read the information for traders on this blog - we'd love to hear from you!

Likewise for musicians - get in touch and come and share your merry tunes with us!

We took a few snapshots of a day in the life of Handmade Arcade...

 Well life and death go hand in hand right? Here are a few remains Barry John has found/made. His skulls are esquisite, he is available for comissions too and writes a rather interesting blog...

Babes In The Wood came with a really awesome range of  handmade, self designed and stitched; hats,  beautiful tops and some little handmade worry dolls in pouches...

Good Golly Miss Molly's Claire Jillings and her daughter India, who made a great mask at the Picturehouse beore heading up for a browse at Handmade Arcade!

 Common Goals organic tees - NGNG's sister project! Who by combining art, music, tees and community, support local charity's through the sale of t-shirts! Keep an eye on the facebook for a new design by The Xcerts!

Jack from Common Goals - realising what life would look like if he was a little bit shorter..

 We love Gingerface - maker of amazing tapers and jewellery - we saw some great new things from her   - it would seem her jewellery is growing eyes and a steampunk influence..

 Ah! The beautiful McCoys Arcade full of colour and life!

Heather Sturdy-Sherwood from Little Owl Crafts came to spin us a tale! She'll be back again soon with her beautiful hand spun and dyed wool!

Global Indigo - a non profit organisation with such a unique collection of work from small communities and co-op's, ethically sourced shopping to support people who live in poverty!

 Jonny found a raygun, making things merry!

 Delightful sounds of Jonathan from The Skull Kids! Hopefully he'll be back again soon :)

Thanks to Exeter Local Records for helping with the music, and for coming down with the Exeter Local Records Distro!

Madeline Bunyan's new Hares in Squares and Foxes in Boxes were adored by many! as well as her beautiful handmade glass beads!

Tom (Exeter Local Records) was even offered a whole hand for one of his records on sale! Oh my!

 Madeline chatting with some friendly looking faces!

 Enjoying the musical sounds with a nice cup of coffee!

The beautiful Rosie Eade Folk Pixie came back to play!

Ruvina's gorgeous and unique hand made brooches!

We always enjoy seeing knitting guerrilla Lisa from The Knitting Tent - she always has an abundance of cosy knitted things and a warm smile to match! Keep an eye out around Exeter for her guerrilla knitting - you never know where it may turn up!

If you see anything on this blog that you'd like to get your paws on but can't - please just send us an email or follow links on artists names and we can make it happen! :)

Really looking forward to the next Handmade Arcade on Saturday 6th April! It's Handmade Arcade's 1st Birthday! WOW!

See you there!

Hayles and Nath 

No Guts No Glory