Hello! I’m Jeanie B - writer and crafter living in East
London - delighted to be here guest blogging for Craft Guerrilla.
Why not grab a pocketful of Crafty pic ‘n’ mix with
CraftCandy - I have!
 |
| Maid of Gingerbread - yummy sculptural gingerbread |
Last year I found myself at a conference in Leeds and after everyone headed to the pub to get pissed unwind, I was
left twiddling my thumbs (beer’s not my thing). I fancied a swing dance class
or craft session somewhere, but short of trawling through Google or accosting
crafty vintage locals, I hadn’t a clue where to go…
…Which is why Craft Candy is such a good idea.
Crafty blogger Zoe Arch has been busy developing a brand new type of craft platform
around the idea of word of mouth crafty info, which serves crafters
like you and me, businesses and the wider community.
Craft Candy has a website where you can
find out what craft events or workshops are
taking place locally but you can also download their free App which makes
finding craft events neat and easy to navigate.
The App has
links to social media tools like Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and FB so
likeminded crafters can keep in touch. It’s a whole lotta crafting cool in your
pocket and if I’d had this functionality in Leeds last year I might have found
my way to a Craft Café somewhere instead of watching bad TV in my hotel room.
I attended the Craft Candy launch last week and
we got some wonderful treats. I had the best banoffi pie cupcake ever from TheTea’s Knees, no word of a lie.
 |
| The Tea's Knees wonderful cupcakes |
Once I was
home my daughter rifled through my Goodie bag and bagsied the mini cross stitch
from Urban Cross Stitch.
 |
| Hand crafted goodies |
A craft
listing site is only useful when it is chock full of varied
things to do across a wide area, so if you’re running workshops or have a
regular craft night, register with Craft Candy to get your event listed and that way the service can grow and grow.
Zoe’s motto is “if you don’t charge
people to take part, then we won’t charge you”. Put simply, it’s free to list free
of events on both the Craft Candy website and the Apps.
The
universe is currently filling up with Craft startups and communities which is
great for us makers and hobbyists (I’m out to reclaim the term hobby), but
ultimately confusing as every other venture is Craft or Make something.
I get Craftsy and Craft Candy mixed up with Craft Blogs and Make Lounges mistaken for Make Spaces and Make Places. I have the same trouble
with Vintage outlets, which all seem to have vintage in their moniker. I’ll
make it my mission to compile a list of innovative named outlets, ones I find
easier to remember.
Craft Candy’s
branding is sharp and recognizable, I love it when that happens.
I am off to Leeds again next month for the same conference,
this time I may be able to navigate to craft events if they are happening
nearby. But what if I get happy feet – come on all you start-up geniuses out
there – where’s the Swing Dance listing app?
