Throwback Friday – and a request to people make nice stuff

Today I'm plucking some of my favourite craft from the archives. Why? 

To inspire any readers of this blog who make, paint or draw lovely stuff, to apply to be part of the illustrious Crafty Fox Markets this Christmas. The deadline for submissions is next week (23 September) and – ta-da! – I am one of three guest curators selecting which stalls get a pitch (details below).

I touched on this in Monday's post, but that neither scratched the surface of my excitement – nor said anything like enough about it all.

When Sinead Koehler, Crafty Fox founder, invited me to co-curate the festive events which run across three venues London venues this year: Brixton, Peckham and Dalston, I was honoured. I'm also in amazingly cool company, since my co-curators are the very creative Emy Gray and Supermarket Sarah, both of whose style I've previously written about on this blog. Our job will be to pore over submissions from potential exhibitors and curate our dream market. It's quite the fantasy task.

In case you don't know about the markets, and don't hang about it London, they're worth the excursion. Founded in 2010 by Sinead and her husband, Stephen, along with artist Jimboart (whose nice bear cups you might recognise), Crafty Fox has taken off in a big way. Once a one-venue, very local affair, the market has now popped up in north London, been part of a Tate Modern event and attracts over 3000 visitors a pop. As you can probably guess, The Crafty Fox markets sell things handmade by real people – but there is also a DJ, a bar, cakes and tea, creative workshops and a side-project of expert talks.

The autumn markets take place on 4-5 October and have been curated by Katie Tregidden, aka the design blogger behind Confessions of a Design Geek and editor of new design magazine, Fiera. (See some of her curated crafts in the top image.)

So will you be sending us your wares? I hope so – and please do spread the word to any friends who create nice things to sell. The stalls are open to experienced and new sellers alike – and if you've been trading for under 12 months you may even be offered a cheaper rate and a mentor. As I've said, the deadline is imminent, 23 September, so get in quick. Full details can be found at the Crafty Fox website.

To get you in the mood – whether to buy or sell – here are just six of my many favourite made-by-actual-people items from the blog over the past year or so (the links will take you to the original posts).

Anna Chilton's tiger mug

Tali Yalonetzki's tiny portraits

Horse hangers

Durido's happy t-shirts

Jordan Grace Owens' personalised paper dolls

Very cool posters inspired by The Wire

It has been hard narrowing just this lot down. I fear the task ahead with my co-curators will be even harder... Hope to see you there.

Don't forget – submission deadline to be considered for a stall is 23 September. All details at The Crafty Fox website.