Top Tips on Shopping Eco 2: Buy British Handmade

Buy from someone else, please.

Now, in the spirit of truthfulness and for the benefit of all peoplekind, I'm going to recommend to you our competitors.

Er, what?

Not our competitors', ours ours ours!

You know the bit where The Husb claps his hands on his head and pulls handfuls of hair precisely in the opposite direction of the follicles?  Yes; this, one such.  Ok, so maybe it's not the best business idea, but if I am to promote British, hand-made, locally crafted works of beauty, like our products, then I must champion us all, I tell you. Up the hand-made! So to speak.

Britain is full of such astonishing artistic talent, selling products for, I promise you, much lower prices than you might imagine.  So you can buy good-value, beautiful stuff, and do your bit for your carbon footprint by buying British-made.

Latest haul, netted in Charity shops.  Look at the chandeliers!

Now we here are all about eco-friendly, so our products use only vintage, pre-loved or recycled materials, but you don't have to go so earth-gentle to do your bit - simply buying from an individual who has made their product on these 'ere shores will be helping to reduce your environmental impact, because you can be sure your product was made in a loving home, not a vast soul-less factory with unhappy workers paid pitiful wages for soul-destroying hours, shipped vast distances to reach you.

Gimme! Gimme names!

Christmas pressie from Quirky Thistle, aka Mum. Keeping me warm one lap at a time

Where to find these things, and be sure they're made here, you might wonder?  Many small-scale makers are championed by a great website called Folksy, an amazing treasure trove of artist-makers, working from home, selling their wares.  Everything you can buy there will be hand-made, and in most cases unique - that's the bonus of individually made pieces.  I'm not talking just fabric, I'm talking ceramics, wood, prints, jewellery, clothing, and a whole bunch more, including the Old Apple Tree whence I fell, though she won't be too pleased about being called Old. Yes, me old Mum will soon have a shop up there to sell her lovely quilts to people for money, instead of making them free, for me.
Darn you.
Darn you all, you greedy, good-for-nothing workshy customers, you!
Sorry. Now I owe her a blog post once her shop's up.  And she'll clip my ear when she sees me.  Darn it.

And I promise you, these things are often not expensive.  I bought many Christmas presents from makers at Folksy, except, I admit, for the toxic unmentionables Father Christmas informed me were on the Daughts' Christmas List.  Fair do, Santa, I said. Ones own children are not always the best proponents of ones work.  Said Hetty, and I quote, after I foolishly asked her if she liked something I'd made "Not much, Mummy, I don't really like fabric".  Or Isla "Yeah, no, I don't like those colours, Mummy, and you know, it's, like, not made from plastic teenage upward inflection and sneer?"
Down we go, aaaaaand Bump. Hi Earth, only me.

Yanyhoo....Notonthehighstreet is another great online retailer pointing you towards fab makers based in Britain. And there are many organisations out there which showcase and promote British designers and makers - you can see my badge here on this blog for UK Handmade, another community which supports the work of UK based makers.

And to top it all, we are delighted to have been approved as a seller on FromBritainWithLove, a beautiful website dedicated to showcasing and routing you to Britain's most talented designers, crafstpeople, producers and retailers.  We're thrilled to be on there, because there are some big names and fabulous products on there, and that's very exciting for us.  Hoorah!  Up the OriginalStitch!  You know, I mean, not literally.

So, listen here then - if you're a maker - please leave a comment below with your website, folksy, or facebook details, and if you're a reader-buyer, then do have a look at all these lovely places, and come back to see who's left their details here.  I don't mind sharing, because that's another thing - this is a friendly community that helps its fellow crafters out, and for buyers that translates to great customer service.  Home makers bust an absolute gut to get customers' orders right for you, ain't that right, you makers?  Yeah!  Up the workers!  So to speak.

And here's some fun: We're going to select a maker at random from the comments, buy one of their products, and offer it as a giveaway in a blog post coming soon.

So, come say hi, leave a little comment and your shop's details.  Looking forward to hearing from you!  And you reader-buyers, take a little time to check out these places; you'll be happy with what you see.