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Second Saturday of each month at St Mark's Church, Wimbledon, so many beautifully inspiring craftspeople take over the space with their wonderful wares.
My first visit was this month, I enjoyed the long, learned chat I had with the beekeepers of Charlwood, Surrey - learning about bees' habits, the problems facing bees/food growing, and identifying and tasting different kinds of honey! The array of handmade goods was overwhelmingly attractive and alluring. If I had all the money in the world, I would've bought every last item! I shall attempt to link to all the lovely people I spoke to at the last event.... MiniBuds - hair bands, bookmarks, magnets, and all sorts of cute trinkets, made of lovely fabrics. Pip And Squeak - gorgeous jewellery, including Alice in Wonderland theme, and crafty pretty themes. Elephant & Pickle - handcrafted wooden and woolly goods, such as toys, and stunningly decorated bird houses. Aunty Ann's Larder (search for on Facebook). Windmill Market, Wimbledon Went to an 'upcycling' event recently. If you don't know this term, 'upcycling' is giving new purposes to materials, especially ones you might otherwise throw away. It's like a more creative version of recycling. I was at this event to host a garden-themed stall, and I had ammassed assorted bits and bobs that people could put to new use - all kinds of food containers to be used as plant pots (yoghurt pots, cases from biscuits, margerine tubs, coleslaw pots, cream cheese containers, plastic take-away boxes, and on and on!), cut up circles of carpet to be used around seedlings to deter pests, netting from shop-bought fruit to cover over plants and keep birds away, cut in half lemonade bottles to use as 'cloches' (like a mini greenhouse for a plant as it grows in its early stages, to protect it from cold).... I was also on hand to give people advice on growing vegetables for the first time, people could come and plant a seed in a little pot to take home, and I had made several 'zines about gardening. It was a really good event. And i have so many colourful photos. There was a wide range of stalls set up in the community church. There was a Community Scrap stall, where you could put old material and bits and bobs to new use in a craft fashion - eg for kids, opportunity to make hats and pretty things. There was a Rags to Rugs stall, where people had put old rags into new use as those rag-rug mats. And people had also knitted lots of lovely clothes for sale, for children and adults. There was an amazing stall from Wimbledon Nature Club - there was an almighty towering house for woodland creatures with layer upon layer of wood. There were tips on wise energy use, renewable energy, and climate change, and some free leaflets and goodies from the local council. I was most impressed by the bracelets that you could make on the spot - out of the rubber from bicycle inner tubes! I had popped out into the church garden for a breather from the stall, when the lady from this stall came and sat next to me, and as we chatted all the while she was sewing away - sewing buttons onto the rubber, with bright pink thread, creating an instant item of jewellery right there before me! So innovative and infinitely pretty. She told me how she had used craft cutting tools for the shapes, like hearts and sunshine and circles, and was using odd buttons and other little bits and bobs to sew on. There was a really cute stall called Tedwood, with men's shirts upcycled into big pretty cushions! There were stars and patterns printed on with paint. Tedwood also had handmade flowery corsage, and mobile phone covers. I bought a rag-rug style mobile cover with a tiny little green wooden flower button sewn onto it. All the stall holders were really enthused and friendly, it was a good community event. I came home with lots of interesting info, flyers, people's little cards, etc. And now I can recommend them all to you!
Abundance Wimbledon - surplus fruit project. Picks unwanted fruit, gives to good community causes. Love Fashion Hate Sweat Shops Squirrels Scrap Scheme - sign up to get batches of scrap materials for your community organisation/group. TedWood's Emporium - for upcycled/home-crafted corsage, phone covers, tote bags, cushions, and more. Tomfoolery - All sorts of home-crafted wares. Lots of bicycle themed stuff! |
AthemauraEnthusiastic about 'zines, libraries, gardening in the city, independent book shops/record shops/cafes, vegetarian and vegan, London in all its variety, local living/community. Archives
November 2014
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