Crafty Fox: Brixton roundup

The craftiest of foxes were back at the Dogstar this weekend, so of course I went along to see their latest treasures.

One of the nice things about Crafty Fox is that quite a few of the sellers are regular. It makes it so much more special when you can meet the person who’s made a Lovely Thing, and even more so when you can see their work develop.

It was exciting to meet Simon Mitchell, the talent behind Alfred & Wilde – I have a small collection of Brixton/South London prints and his “South London” one featuring the iconic Battersea Power Station ♥ is my all-time favourite. This time, I really liked their mugs with gold geometric patterns – perfect for an artsy gossip session.

Kate Temple’s ties and pocket squares in Liberty print are beautifully tailored – Ted got a set of these for Christmas last year and loves them. Kate is super nice and will help you find something *just* right for your chap. (N.B. If you’re struggling to find presents for men, Kate’s work or Oliv Backpacks below are my picks of the season.)

Also back this time were the fab folk from I Am Acrylic, which was particularly serendipitous as I happened to be wearing their (wait for it) Battersea Power Station necklace. (That building, though.) Their hand-cut acrylic jewellery is so cute and clever – it just makes me smile. Bryony picked up one of their pink and grey Little Factory brooches, which is about as darling as industrial architecture can get.

On to some new discoveries. Oliv Backpacks make backpacks (obviously…), totes and more in muted browns, navy and olive green, but it was their washbags that really caught my eye. They’re so tough, yet so light! Ted’s washbag is a wonderful, sturdy beast, but it’s leather and weighs quite a lot. So I may yet upgrade him to one of these – they are beautifully made and a lot easier to lug from A to B.

Jess Jos is another welcome maker in the new wave of ceramic artists. The glazes on her work are so soothing – the blue ones reminded me of the deep blue sea and I may yet have to get some for the bathroom. She also has some adorable little handle-less milk jugs that fit *just so* in your hand – the kind of attention to detail that’s so appealing to a tactile person like me. Soulful, understated pieces.

Now, as you can see above, some of the photos aren’t great. The ground floor of the Dogstar is really quite dark and it’s hard to get decent shots, especially when photography isn’t exactly a key strength of mine. But I did want to mention Liz Mosley, who’s put her brush lettering to notebooks, cards and more – it’s lovely work – so here’s a better photo than I could take, from her Etsy shop:

I couldn’t resist her Daydreamer pin:

Then back upstairs again, Jacqueline Colley’s tigers were so exciting that I forgot to take a picture. They’re quite wonderfully prowl-y, so apologies, and here’s a photo from her online shop. Her tiger patch will be adorning some dungarees soon.

I love that Sinead and the team make space for brand-new designers, too, who can be found on the top floor at the Dogstar Crafty Foxes. It’s often up here that some of the most exciting, edgy and fun things are to be found.

This weekend was no different.

And so it was that, we discovered an item so glorious, so wondrous, that when I spied it, the clouds parted, throngs of angels descended and heavenly music was heard all around.

Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you, courtesy of Cobalt Hill, the finest Christmas jumper in all the world:

See what I mean? And yes, that is actual tinsel. WE ALL HAVE TO HAVE ONE IT CAN BE OUR CLUB SWEATER.

PS I did find one more *very* precious treasure, and it’s seasonal too, but that will have to wait for a future post … I want to share it with you once it’s in situ …