Clare & Carrie's Weekend Craft Attack
Oh my! It's been a busy fortnight for the Made In The Shade gals. We're pretty beat. In between all the buzzing around adding finishing touches to the Made In The Shade Summertime Hop, our incessant list making and fretful struggles with intimidating spreadsheets (yawn), we have somehow managed to steal a few moments to get down to some crafty fun in Glasgow.
Last weekend, Clare and I treated ourselves to an afternoon down town. As it happened, our little jaunt coincided nicely with the Glasgow Craft Mafia's 'Handmade Haven' event at The Buff Club (Bath Lane). At one time or another all three Made In The Shade gals were members of the Glasgow Craft Mafia. I used to be the press lady, Suzanne was a member of the event organising team and Clare was the chairperson (and the inhouse designer and the social secretary). Billed as a market-come-crafty soiree, Clare and I thought we'd swing by and catch up with some GCM chums. We'd each brought our pocket money in case we found ourselves faced with a 'must buy beautiful thing' emergency and with promises of daytime dancing and party food, I couldn't wait to get my toes a-tappin' and my jaws a-munchin'. Clare couldn't wait to whip out her embroidery hoop and show off her latest Western themed design over a pear cider or two.
I'm angry I didn't buy this bookmark by Sherbet Head! |
'Twas a little weird being in The Buff Club during the afternoon. I guess it was little bit weird being in The Buff Club full stop. I don't think I've danced there since 2003. There are windows in there. Did you know that? We admired the fabulous lampshades in the daylight and we ooh-ed and aah-ed at the decorative gramophone for a while. In some ways, the venue lent itself well to the event. The market areas took little dressing to make 'em pretty and the space was well assigned with plenty of room to dawdle around and mull over potential purchases. Sadly though, the nasty nightclub niffs were impossible to disguise and the smell of stale beer and cleaning fluid ruined the ambiance somewhat. I really, really wanted to munch a pretty cupcake, but I was afraid that I might accidentally swallow some dank.
Although we never did find the party food, the daytime dancing or the sociable crafting, we did peruse a selection of some handmade fabulousness. And I got a free badge. Highlights included Amanda Whitelaw's (Hungry Designs) beautiful mixture of vintage-style jewellery and off-beat edibles. I have earmarked a pair of wooden butterfly hair slides and a chocolate Selleck mustache. Yes. A chocolate Selleck mustache. Our eyes popped with glee as we browsed handmade accessories by Fantoosherie Fancies. Clare nabbed herself a cute baby blue rose ring from the glamorous ladies at We Are The Robots and I bought a vintage charm necklace by t-boo.
 Oran Mor - Say No To Plastic |
This weekend we were all set for a Sunday afternoon vintage/craft-attack, but sadly – for one reason and another (and another) - it just didn't really come together for us. First up, we pulled ourselves out of D-town and headed west to the Say No To Plastic vintage sale at Oran Mor (Byres Road)
I was looking forward to a rerr ole rummage around. I had every hope I would uncover the perfect vintage treasure. However, having hauled ourselves up the spiral staircase we were whacked around the face at the door with the boom boom boom of none other than 90s old skool dance classic 'Ride On Time' by Black Box. Then 'Things Can Only Get Better' by D-Ream. Then 'The Key The Secret' by Urban Cookie Collective. We couldn't hear each other and it was impossible to converse with the vendors. By the time we'd managed to mouth, 'hello' to folks at Miso Funky, Hungry Designs and Mr Ben, the thrill of chasing the perfect vintage item had well and truly been extinguished. We had to make a swift exit. I can't help but worry that I may have allowed the perfect sparkly brooch or the perfect vintage tea set to pass me buy. Maybe next time...
After rebalancing our senses with a quick trip to vintage hidey-hole Watermelon (Great Western Road) and some tasty lunch at Naked Soup (Great Western Road), Clare and I headed Macsorley's bound to set up this months installment of our monthly crafty get-together [We Are] Fuzzy Felt Folk/Country Crafting.
Clare had prepared a new public crafting treat for her adoring/adorable Country Crafters called 'Let's Face It'. The idea was that people would hand make themselves new faces with the aid of a simple paper plate, a selection of adhesives and some cut out features. Genius. I had spent an entire Saturday afternoon buying a heap of new country ditties to entertain our guests and couldn't wait to give my updated iTunes library a workout. We arrived at the bar to be told that all DJ slots were suspended for the time being. With slumped shoulders and scuffy heels, we took our soda pops, flopped on the leather couch and grumped. Bad crafty karma all round I guess...
Comments (8)
Add a comment »The tone of this post is very negative and rather surprising. Say No To Plastic has been doing the vintage sale at the Oran Mor rather well for longer than the MITS Gals have been working the vintage angle. Maybe the music wasn't to your taste but then not everybody wants to hear I want to marry a lighthouse keeper on loop.
As for the remarks about the nasty nightclub niffs at the buff, this is a little odd considering your last fayre was held in The Venue. I paid my pound to come in and shop that day and the smell and sticky floor was in evidence. I've been to all of the different markets Glasgow has to offer as I love to shop direct from the makers. I always thought there was a good community spirit in evidence. Apparently I was wrong and this post has left a rather sour taste in my mouth.Posted by | Monday June 2009 @ 16:07
Report to moderatori have to agree with emily - i am pretty disappointed to read your snide criticisms. i too had thought there was a supportive community of crafty folk in glasgow. i'm pretty sure there is, actually, but i am sorry to see that MITS maybe isn't as supportive as it once appeared to be.
Posted by | Monday June 2009 @ 17:38
Report to moderatorHola Crafty Shoppers,
Carrie Maclennan calling! I'm a little taken aback by your responses to my latest blog post. I feel I have written a little diary entry that pretty well sums up my own personal experience of the above events. My intention was not to provide formal critique of them or make comparisons. I take some offence to the accusation of being snide. I was simply chatting about the past fortnight's activities. I'm sorry you have taken my comments about the volume of music at Oran Mor and the smell at The Buff Club so personally. I feel my accounts are balanced in that I have duly praised the organisation of the GCM event and have commented on the quality and variety of products at both Say No To Plastic and the Handmade Haven. You will be relieved to find there generally is a healthy community spirit among designers and makers in the vicinity and the network of events hosted by GCM, Say No To Plastic and MITS et al all work as supportive forums to help promote creative work in the city. Each to their own I guess. Good job there is a fruitful event calendar to satisfy all tastes and style preferences. Whoop!
Posted by | Monday June 2009 @ 18:02
Report to moderatorI was at Say no to Plastic, and I bought some lovely things. The music wasn't to my taste either, but neither is the music at MITS.
This whole post smacks of putting other people down to make yourself look better. Blogging isn't about that.
Posted by | Tuesday June 2009 @ 14:36
Report to moderatorWhat blog have you been reading? I didn't get any of that from this article. I thought it was an honest and well balanced account of these events. I've had experience of all of these markets and there are good and bad points to all of them. Obviously, everyone likes different things. I was at Say No To Plastic too "Queen Marie" and there were lots of lovely things yes, but the point about the music was justified. I found it an uncomfortable environment to shop in and didn't really work for me and I got that impression from some of the people selling too.
I've seen plenty of evidence of the great craft community in Glasgow which I know the people behind Made In The Shade have greatly contributed to. "Emily" and "Crafty Shopper" - you berate the writer of this article for being snide and unsupportive. But your comments are extremely bitchy. Much more so than you claim the article to be. I enjoy being part of the local creative community and I only hope that the likes of you don't try to get involved because attitudes like that are not welcome. My advice to you would be to read the article properly and consider all the points made before jumping in and making idiots of yourselves.Posted by | Tuesday June 2009 @ 15:42
Report to moderatorI didn't realise a flame war would arise from my comment but there we go, the perils of blogging. Firstly, I'm not sure why my name was in quotation marks in the previous comment as this is actually my name. I have no reason not to use it. Perhaps I should have included my social security number?
To the crafty supporter above, I have read the same blog as you and the other people commenting here. We're free all to interpret it differently and comment upon it as we wish - that's what comes of publishing on a public forum. What I took issue with on Monday and after reading it through for a second time today, still do, is a post which is so obviously negative about events ran by other organisations. This is a Made In The Shade blog page and there is mention of the next event in the post. It may well be a post summing up personal experience but it has been written under the banner of Made In The Shade while promoting their event. It's completely inappropriate and does no favours to Made In The Shade as an organisation.Posted by | Wednesday June 2009 @ 14:48
Report to moderatorHello
This is Sarah from The Glasgow Craft Mafia. I cannot speak for SNTP, but Carrie, Clare and Suzanne are all good friends of the Mafia and we LOVE to hear all feedback, good and bad, about our organisation including our events, which is only a small part of what we do. We are a non-profit organisation who support our members' crafty businesses. The Buff event was the first of it's kind in that venue, and it is still in it's very early stages. Hopefully it will grow and get bigger and better over time.
Our next event is a Crafty Party in The Buff Club, on Saturday June 27th from 1pm-6pm and is FREE to get in. The next day, on Sunday 28th June, we are in Mono with our fab little craft market, also from 1pm-6pm and FREE!
Come along and make up your own mind. What have you got to lose?
For more info on The Glasgow Craft Mafia, our events, and how to join, please go to www.glasgowcraftmafia.comOh, and leave our Carrie alone, or risk a hand knit, beautifully embroidered and hand embellished horses head in your bed...
Posted by | Wednesday June 2009 @ 14:59
Report to moderatorCorrect me if I am wrong, but doesn' all money raised from SNTP go to charity and isn't the GCM a non-profit group? You should be wholeheartedly supporting these events!
Posted by | Wednesday June 2009 @ 17:44
Report to moderator