We made Christmas! HA!

Seasonal Greetings fellow makers, friends and traders,

Phew! What a December we have had! - we've finally hung our stockings up and spent the last few days chilling out and getting ready for the exciting flurry of 2013 activities!

Handmade Arcade has always felt like so much more than an art market, to us it stands for positive change, giving people a marketplace for the unusual, shops staying open, happy traders creating community events that people love, conscious choices to shop local and buy something handmade as well as trading our hard earned cash into supporting individuals!

We want to see sense in where we live, understanding the buildings that surround us and realising that we can have such a direct impact on our environment.

The little haven of McCoys Arcade has been bursting with good spirit thanks to all you glorious supporters of Handmade Arcade and the hard work and energy the people of the West Quarter have ploughed into supporting each other - the fair has seen so much growth! From witnessing friendships blossom between makers, exciting idea swaps and collaborations, we've also seen a growing awareness of the West Quarter, many new people have come to explore this treasured part of town. And we've built closer relationships with the people who exist on our very doorstep, those people who allow us to use the space and embrace something new and different in this old but ever changing corner of Exeter.

The last Handmade Arcade was such a lovely day - many thanks to all of you who came along! Here are some snaps of all the truly wonderful things on offer! We'll be taking a little break from Handmade Arcade over January and February so we can concentrate on organising some exciting new adventures for NGNG in 2013! It's been a hoot!

Heather from Little Owl Crafts spinning away!

Such splendid wool!

 Huy Truong impressed us with his portrait drawing skills! incredible portraits in just 10 minutes - the spirit of Montmartre in McCoys Arcade who would have thought it! Huy will be back soon with his pencils for more fun :)

Amazing skills Huy!

Jasmin Liddel is one awesome little lass who lives over North Devon way. On the 22nd that would seem to be where all the flooding happened ! - but alas Jasmin and her friend donned wellies and made it down to Exeter for the day! Jasmin makes brilliant upcycled earrings from bottle tops as well as perfect handmade boxes from old magazines and some beautiful cards made from Jasmin's photography which is stunning! Pop over to her Etsy page and buy some :)

 scrummy little boxes.

 We welcomed back Tom and Sharifa from Exeter Local Records! Be sure to keep an eye on these guys in the new year! :)

 Christmas birds!

Madeline Bunyan made some beautiful glass ornamental birds for the day!

Thanks to Mandy Biscoe for bringing down some colourful make it yourself decorations - made one for my mum and she loved it :) Thanks Mandy! Oh and she also makes these brilliant Robots, trees and birds too.....

The Robots were amazing!

Mandy Biscoes daughter and friend came to help out for the day!

Sarah McDonald came along with her brilliant range of handmade retro goodies from clocks to cake stands paintings and badges crikey she's almost as busy as Bananaman!

 Ruvina had an amazing selection of brooches made from Indian silks she also had these felted and hand beaded and stitched decorations - we picked up some for our house!

Simon Hodgkiss brought some of his captivating images....

Tracey Andrews decoupage boxes and badges were brilliant, and it was great to see her again - hopefully she'll be back at future Handmade Arcade events!

Theo Weedons t-shirts were really popular he had some great designs and brilliant cards and prints! Check out Theos blog for more of his work :)

We'll be taking a wee break from Handmade Arcade but please do get in touch with us with photos of things you make and we'll be sure to keep you in the loop of future happenings!

Have an awesome New Year come and see us in the NGNG shop for a cuppa soon :)

Happy Making,

Hayles and Nath xxx

A very festive Make Your Christmas 3!

Wow! Only one more Handmade Arcade to go this year!

December is flying by - Handmade Arcade every week has kept our spirits soaring at this busy time of year! It's been great to mingle with makers and meet so many newcomers to the area. As alway's this past Saturday was no exception - McCoys Arcade was packed with some of the most brilliant creations - affordable decorations and christmas gifts - unique, handcrafted, original and best of all sold by the hands that made them!

We also had music arranged by Exeter Local Records a local distro selling a wide range of great music from the area, you can catch Tom this coming Saturday in the Arcade.

This Monday I wanted to write a little about a few of the artists who come to Handmade Arcade almost every time - they spend their evenings and spare days in the process of creation, and bring their very personal and thought filled pieces to HA! - I wanted to take a minute to write a few words about these very special people whose friendly faces and character filled creations you may recognise! 

Madeline Bunyan

Maker of some truly amazing beads and buttons, Madeline plays with fire to produce beautiful swirling colours, her beads are evocative of a dazzling array of constellations, swirling fires, gleaming rockpools as well as tiny intricate detailed pieces - whipping glass into tiny birds and delicate polar bears!

Madeline has a studio where she does all of her glass making -


"I’m always captivated by what glass can do as a material, the way it can be moved, and changed, the colours that can be encouraged to bloom in specialty glass such as silver glass. I work with my material, trying to understand it to improve the details and forms I can achieve. Of course glass will always find new ways to suprise you, its fascinating!"

Gemma Ritchie AKA Autumn Jitters

We fell in love with Gemma's illustrations instantly her nature inspired prints and superhero birds are always a huge hit at Handmade Arcade and it's always wonderful to see Gemma, and get to know such a lovely character!

Hop on over to Gemma's  blog or etsy for a little read about life in Devon!

The Spirit Forge

 Abi and Leon are two of the friendliest people you could ever hope to meet, they have been coming to Handmade Arcade since the warmer months and I'm constantly amazed at the new things they produce.

They create intricate and detailed models of imps and faeries, as well as scarab beetles pins and illustrations - here's a selection of their  awesome Christmas pieces they bought with them to Handmade Arcade.

"DISCLAIMER: The Faeries that we have found or which have come to us are not trapped, captured or held against their will. The lids are not sealed shut, they can come and go as they please, each Faerie chose how to decorate their very own Jar & we were very privileged to receive their names - such unique beautiful creatures!"

Little Owl Crafts

Heather Sturdy Sherwood can often be seen in the Arcade spinning or knitting her beautiful hand dyed and spun yarns. Heather lives just outside of Exeter and makes what I like to call art yarn - when knitted the beautiful colours of Heathers wool create beautiful swathes of warm colour!

It's been a pleasure to get to know Heather through Handmade Arcade, she's full of smiles and super friendly!

Concentrating or more likely avoiding the massive lens on Nath's camera!

Talks with a Devil

A few familiar faces at HA! 

The work of Barry Jack Burton.

Barrys sculptural work is astounding - his brightly coloured skulls are painted in a variety of techniques each have such a great feel to them, they are just the tip of what Barry Jack burton creates take a look at his blog for Barrys thought provoking descriptions of his pieces alongside a few interesting musings! 

We've commisioned Barry to personalise a skull for us - it will be really special to us to have something made that signify a meeting of minds and exceptance of states - where we are with this project and it's wonderful that it will be made by Barry - we'll definitely share the finished piece with you all!

Arrietty

Another person we love to have around is Laurel Coxon from Arrietty! Since we've known Laurel (only a little while) she's opened up shop in Magdalen Road and sells an amazing array of Handmade bits and bobs a lot of which is made by herself! Laurels unique collection of craft and magical goodness really does make me feel like a borrower! Laurel is always busy teaching at the college, running workshops, doing craft fairs and of course running the delightful wonderland that is Arrietty! 

Such a busy bee! We often see her riding her bicycle around town - basket brimming and hair flowing in the wind! Laurel used to live and study in Berlin - but she came back to live on on a boat....

The Arcade was filled this Saturday with such an array of things......

Artist Sarah Mcdonald joined us with some amazing record player clocks cakestands and badges - she'll be back next week with a larger table and much more awesome stuff!

Exeter Local Records provided some great musicians who came to play on the day!

 Emma made these awesome warm and toasty hot water bottle covers - I can say that because I bought one! :)

Wonderful illustrations and tees from Micky Jennings!

Madeline Bunyan's wonderful Robin necklaces!

 CD's and records from Exeter Local Records

Our favourite Guerrilla Knitter Lisa! and her beautiful knitted hats gloves and scarves!

No Guts No Glory's sister project Common Goals - Punk rock shirts for charity!

So Super Awesome - they really are! Claire Hollands great cards and tags made from dutch comics! Have a peek at her blog for some truly inspiring work!

Betty Thread so glad to have found Betty's beautiful things! - you can now find Bettys work in our neighbouring shop Good Golly Miss Molly!

Amie Coco had a beautiful selection of headbands as well as some great cards!  

We were chuffed to welcome back Abigail Mckenzie of Mary Mary Marmalade Collective! from down Plymouth way!  With a marvelous selection of prints cards mirrors and all sorts of joyous things!

We had such a brilliant time - thanks to all of you who came to the Arcade and made the warm and buzzy atmosphere of Handmade Arcade!

See you NEXT SATURDAY!!! for more festive Handmade Arcade action!

Hayles and Nath! 

xxxxx