this sat: reetsweet's summer fair has arrived!

it's finally here folks, there's lots to see and so much to tell....we have over 25 stalls of hip handmade, featuring the likes of kitschensink, ruth jamieson, hey sosi,and many more...plus we have Dawn the local guru of all things handmade who runs FABRICATION workshops who will be running drop in workshops all day for just £2 for materials making awesome little jubilee corsages...

PLUS we have a great competition for you - for every item you buy, you will be given a vintage cinema ticket which is your entry to our prize draw to win a woodland themed goody bag full of handpicked best sellers from our best makers...REETSWEET! 

see you at leeds corn exchange from 10am this saturday june 2nd!

june fair: new maker preview stephanie lawson

At reetsweet we love working with and promoting new local talent; Stephanie Lawson is new to reetsweet, only 19 and from newcastle, currently still studying her in 2nd year of Graphic Design at the prestigious Leeds College of Art.

 

'My work is very much influenced by my surroundings, if a song happens to be played whilst I have pen or paper, or if someones drinking or eating something I get an immediate want to draw it!'


She describes her work as light hearterd and decorative, primarily illustrative, working in range of medias, she says she is most influenced by Kate Sutton - through her hand rendered typography.  For reetsweet she will selling a range of cards and lovely summery screen printed totes, she hopes to one day open a store of her own to sell her work.  You can view her online portfolio here.

Our fair will be at leeds corn exchange on sat june 2nd from 10 to 5pm - see you there to take a peek at Stephanie's work!

Want to win with reetsweet on june 2nd?

We love craft, we love wood, we love animals, fresh air and summertime - and to celebrate our June summer fair we are offering a woodland themed goody bag to one of you lucky people, containing some amazing jewellery, stationery and other super pieces by reetsweet makers...

 

(necklace by ladybirdlikes)

All you have to do to enter is come down on June 2nd to The Leeds Corn Exchange - and every item you buy at the reetsweet fair, you will be given a ticket for the goody bag prize draw - and the more you buy, the more chances you have of winning! Ta da!!!


....But hold on tight as we have another chance to win coming up this week - so stay tuned!
 

june fair: maker profile sophie wilson

I can tell you the moment I fell in love with Sophie Wilson, it was at an exhibition a couple of years ago, trying on moustaches in her 'know before you grow' exhibit - I went for a classic black curly (no 74).  I picked up her card, and I think I tried to persuade her to get involved with reetsweet via email - she did, and at christmas last year we hosted her design + print stall and she has had great success.

What people love about Sophie - who is only 20 and still has a year of studying to go, is that all her work has a profound humour to it, and is uplifting without being cheesy. She wasn't initially drawn to art - she had a penchant for drama, and it was only late on in her school career, she decided to apply for Art & Design at College and was chuffed when she received a place and found that illustration and design was what she really loved and went on to study BA (Hons) Graphic Design at Leeds College of Art.

 

Musically she loves Fleetwood Mac, Simon & Garfunkel, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, The Smiths, Beirut and Regina Spektor, and enjoys the accordion - Yann Tiersen is a big love of hers as her boyfriend actually plays the accordion himself.  Blessed with some hilarious  friends, Sophie says that it is through them that she channels a lot of my inspiration and energy for her work.

 

 

'I like design to be quite clean, but sometimes a little decorative and quite pretty too. Some of my favourite designers and illustrators include Olly Moss, Robbie Porter, Gemma Correll and so many more (I could genuinely go on for hours).'

She will be finishing Uni soon, then she hopes to go into freelance design, specialising in print and illustration, and hopefully still making people smile. Aside from design, she is hoping to get a tortoise, and she will call him Winston...we like this girl's style and priorities!

june fair preview: the divine ms devall

Reetsweet launched in 2009, and Jade Devall joined us on one of our earliest escapades, and is going from strength to strength with her originally designed collection - including bone china, cushions and tea towels. New to her range, and especially popular has been her latest work involving a host of friendly owls!  We also especially love this cityscape jug...head over to our website www.reetsweet.com/events to find out how to find us.

On the blog soon we will be revealing our new competition, and we will also be revealing a great workshop for you to take part in at the june event...

june fair: bear follows cat returns...

Fresh from living and working in Berlin, Bear Follows Cat aka Phillipa returns to reetsweet for the june event to show us more of her intricate and original papercuts and screenprints.

She has now introduced a series of homewares including cushions and you can also shop online at her lovely folksy shop which has a selection of her woodland creature artworks for sale...they make us want to marry a deer and live in wood...

new maker preview: love lottie

One of the many facets of handmade crafts the team at reetsweet adore is the use of the old to make the new - upcycling not only makes us feel good, because it recycles raw materials, it also gives new creations an authenticity and a sense of history that you wouldn't otherwise get using the new.  Especially brilliant is the use of vintage fabrics...

'Love lottie'  is a Charlotte Fairclough - a new maker at reetsweet designer/maker fair - a textiles teacher by day, and a crafter by night Charlotte has had a long term obsession with loud and proud vintage/retro homewares and as a result opened an Etsy shop last August. 

Always collecting vintage textiles she is now using her stash making bold home and fashion accessories...cushions, bags and a range of jewellery and other bits and bobs, including the charming collars pictures below.  Catch her at the June fair on Sat 2nd June at Leeds Corn Exchange...