China gurl: we heart 'The Art Salon'

We all know that at reetsweet we love a splash of colour, a bit of humour, sillyness and fashion in our handmade - but you know what we also love? Sheer prettiness...The Art Salon specialises in one of a kind homewares - all with a high fashion, super pretty finish.

They've just opened at Redbrick Mill in Batley where 'the work on display is inspired by a love of decorative art, objects and design. All objects and artworks are lovingly handmade by Rebecca Appleby with selected items exhibited by other designer-makers...'

The aim is to create a gallery-shop that showcases a varied and continually changing selection of original, unique pieces, and you can catch these pieces in Leeds city centre in the buzz of Christmas at reetsweet on Dec 7th. Hurrah!

New makers for the April Event: 'The mouse ran up the clock'

What do you get if you take two sweet sisters from Holmfirth, mix a dash of eccentricity, and spoonful of fun? You get 'The mouse ran up the clock' of course, our newest reetsweeters..

 

Purveyors of the sweetest collection of  handmade and hand crafted and designed artwork including quirky stitched mouse houses and trinkets, vintage pin cushions, illustrated art, brooches, cushions and cards, you won't find anything as delightful as this for a while...super, cute!

Catch them on April 6th with us at Leeds Corn Exchange and join us in the campaign against crap craft!

New maker: Nicola Hanrahan

I hope you don't judge me, but one of my favourite things to do this time of year is to make a cuppa (milk, with one), get some biscuits (a whole packet, let's be honest!), a dvd and my pjs and be all cosy with the heating on, I love a biscuit love-in!  One of our new makers Nicola Hanrahan must, it seems have a biscuit+bird obsession... 

'Hi I'm Nicola, and I'm an illustrator and surface pattern designer from Leeds. I realised my love of illustration and how it could be applied to printed textiles while studying Printed Textiles & Surface Pattern Design at Leeds College of Art. I graduated in 2009, and since then I have been designing new patterns and getting them digitally printed onto fabric. I make cushions, purses and other crafty bits and bobs from the fabric, along with designing cards featuring my illustrations.

Wildlife and the British countryside are my main source of inspiration, particularly flowers and garden birds. I like to create a naturalistic yet quirky feel with my work, by drawing animals and birds with tea sets, sweets and treats! Going for walks and playing in my Mum and Granny's gardens were a key part of my childhood. They were full of life and character, and particularly as a child they always seemed magical and exciting. This, combined with the children's books I used to read (particularly Beatrix Potter and Molly Brett, who created gorgeous stories accompanied with adorable illustrations), are what started off my love of nature and illustration!

Along with my designs reflecting beautiful British nature, I source all of my materials from the UK and as locally as I can. My dream is to devote all my time to illustrating, designing patterns, and making things to sell from the patterned fabric (whilst having a menagerie of animals to look after, including a pond with ducks and a donkey in the yard!).'

See her at our next event...Dec 1st Leeds Corn Exchange.

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...

reetsweet's occasional guide to what to do in leeds when reetsweet isn't on...

so we understand at reetsweet the heartache of going to your nearest city centre (for many of our fans: Leeds) and finding that 1) there's no reetsweet on and b) half the shops you used to like have vanished....so we present to you reetsweet's occasional guide to what to in leeds when reetsweet isn't on...a guide for the stylish and crafty girl/boy about town that's looking for something fun to do!

(mad elizabeth vintage)

vintage shopping
love it or hate it, there are many little vintage haunts to go see in leeds if you like to stay away from the highstreet - may i firstly recommend 'pop boutique vintage', mainly because the staff don't look at you like you just spat in their eye if you ask for help, and it's reasonably priced. i hate rip off vintage. also well worth a trip is 'mad elizabeth vintage' upstairs in our spiritual home - the corn exchange, run by two lovely brummy lasses they won't rip you off either, and they have a great denim selection! the charity shops in headingley by the arndale centre are also well worth a browse...but i prefer to get to know the lovely people in some vintage shops, and let them do the legwork for me in sourcing the stock!

(shaky jakes)


(marvellous tea rooms)

sweet treats
if you are in headingley aka studentville, there's 'shaky jakes' milkshake bar* - a place which takes a bit of milk, and a bit of chocolate, whizzes it together under various recipes and make a little bit of heaven for £2.50. cannot argue with that. there's also the rather fabulous and newly opened 'marvellous tea rooms' in the town centre, just down the road from the corn exchange - housed in 'birds' yard' - an independent shopping hangout (will get to that in a moment!) this is leeds' newest (and only i believe!) tea room! afternoon tea for two is just £18, and you will get to enjoy the crazy vintage decor (look out for the tea cup lamp) and chat to donna and angie - the marvellous tea ladies! cakes start at £2. the brownie is like crack, go carefully my friends...

(candy candy)

independents
sadly in leeds, an endangered species...there's 'bird's yard' home to a veritable treasure trove of vintage, handmade, local designers and also a hair salon! this place is like a maze of cool, they stock tatty devine exclusively in leeds - go and drool! and well worth a look is 'candy candy' in the corn exchange - a burlesque girly girl's dream - 50's style clothing, makeup and toiletries - it's all pretty lovely. upstairs in the corn exchange for the boys i'd highly recommend the award winning 'kiosk78' home to a great selection of understated men's labels such as APC, Carhartt and Folk, they also stock 'kitsune' tees which are amazing.

(yorkshire's best kept secret: ilkley lido)

random places you should know (but keep it to yourself yeah?)
on a sunny day, get out of the city and head to ilkley lido - they have a lido people! - an outdoor pool! it's about £5 for adults to get in and it's just gorgeous vintage day out - it does have to be pretty warm though folks...but on the two days a year it gets warm enough - it's worth the drive! also, i highly recommend saltaire - yorkshire's most vibrant arts town - it boasts salts mill home to david hockney (he has a studio there and still has regular exhibitions there), the amazing saltaire arts trail, and a wealth of cool vintage homeware shops including the house of rose & brown.

(the house of rose & brown)

now don't say we don't look after you! june 2nd is our next fair, at leeds corn exchange on the jubilee weekend - previews will start here shortly!



*i wish i owned a milkshake bar although i may grow 5 dress sizes as i would live off milkshake but at least i'd get my calcium intake up!

hello leeds: easter fair preview of Catherine Summers Design

New to reetsweet Catherine Summers is a unique artist working with ceramics and textiles, she produces lovely original illustrations with a sweet and innocent feel. Bunny rabbits, giraffes, pugs and other animals are brought to life in stark black and white designs and used in her tea collection, and also on a range of cushions and toys.

We at reetsweet have a feeling that Catherine (who has only recently graduated as a mature student) will be very popular at this fair so pop down early on april 7th to make sure you get to see the whole range - simply beautiful!

hello leeds: easter fair previews!

Wow doesn't time fly? It seems like yesterday we were putting up christmas trees, and here I am about to talk to you about the easter fair! Well, it's the perfect time of year for craft easter I think, spring is springing, and there's chocolate eggs and lambs in the fields. It's awesome. A great time to spruce up your home with something lovely a handmade, and you can't go wrong with anything made by these guys...






Foxbunting are always a big hit at reetsweet, Brionny and her friend both try their hand at a range of crafts - from illustration to crocheting, to cushion making! Their biggest hit with the crowd (and one that gets a lot of people talking) is the crochet taxidermy heads, I think these two will go on to BIG THINGS, they have imagination in buckletloads and are lovely ladies...

Catch them at reetsweet's easter fair on sat 7th april - leeds corn exchange, see here for more info....more updates in the next few days, featuring more new makers and news!

See you today leeds!

Head down to the leeds university today (8th nov) from 11am to 4pm for our first super student fair, featuring lots of stalls including a nail art booth, plus our free art badge giveaway - you won't be disappointed. Jil Smith will be there will her ace textiles... See you soon!

x

reetsweet

bag of fun...

Reetsweet is very honoured tomorrow to have with us Jo Bagshaw, Jewellery Designer and Maker who also makes small silverware pieces. Jo is based in Heslington, York, North Yorkshire. Jo completed a BA (Hons) Degree at Sheffield Hallam University in Metalwork and Jewellery in 2004 and has since been running her jewellery business alongside teaching jewellery making.

The central theme of Jo’s work is to create pieces of jewellery that follow simple lines and shapes. Jo also often weaves a narrative into her jewellery, incorporating messages or well known sayings to items that convey meaning to the wearer which I think is a lovely touch. I also think her fortune fish work referencing the little plastic fortune fish from crackers is so clever and fun, you can't help but love these luxurious versions!

See you at the corn exchange from 11am...

debbie returns!

Returning once again to reetsweet this sunday is Debbie Greenaway, one of my favourite illustrators and printmakers.

Debbie creates narrative images and uses a variety of methods and materials, carrying a sketchbook with her wherever she can, Debbie draws from observation or when inspiration strikes!

At the moment she is developing her characters and experimenting with book illustration, combining mixed media techniques with printmaking methods. Debbie enjoys making screen prints, plushes, badges, buting, purses and has new badges and fish paintings for sale this reetsweet!

who lives in a haus like this?

reetsweet would kindly like to introduce to you Carla De Azevedo aka Maus Haus began in 2010 with the imaginings of Carla De Azevedo. Based in Leeds she makes limited edition, bags, purses, brooches and journals. Her work is often described as fun and quirky. She’s sold items across West Yorkshire, including Saltaire, Wakefield and Leeds and will be at reetsweet this coming sunday from 11am to 4.30pm..see you there!

leeds made this:

A little chat with Jil from Jilmadethis, a regular at reetsweet:

tell us a bit about yourself, did you grow up in leeds?

I grew up and was artsied up in leeds

what led you to making your own craft business?

It's something I've always wanted to do since I was about 5. I wanted to work in a shop, which I am doing and i wanted to make my own crafts which I've finally begun doing this year. After my degree in Printed Textiles & Surface pattern design, I wasn't sure exactly what to do. I began running a t shirt printing shop 4 years ago and developed my own unique and quirky range of printed items which now say 'Jil Made this' - I hope people can look at my items and think, wow, that is so Jil! I like to to take elements from my past, be it toys or conversations, and mix with my illustrations to create people, animals, robots and more!

what's the most fun part of what you do?

Coming up with new ideas, and seeing them through from drawing and printing to sewing and selling. The fun part is thinking what people think of their purchases or gifts! I love the colours and the characters I've created and am so pleased that I've finally come up with something to be proud of.

what's the least fun part?

I guess hours of sewing can be less fun, my fingers go numb but it's worth it! I struggle to decide things, which can be pain staking - things like deciding which fabric would be best, what colour hair and what sizes!

what's your favourite piece?

My favourite piece is one of my first proper plush items - my rainbow horse - i think I may keep him! Though I do love the others too!

Jil will be at the next reetsweet at leeds corn exchange on sunday 6th feb x