On May 16th, as part of Craft and Design Month, a series of studio holders in the Custard Factory will be opening their doors to the public offering bookable guided tours throughout the day.
It’s a fantastic opportunity to support your local artists and makers and to get to have a nosy around the more interesting corners of the Custard Factory!
There is a blog for the event HERE and you can book a free tour on the eventbrite page HERE.

If you trawl through the prehistoric timeline in search of the unique ‘Jurassic Panda‘, you’ll discover a very current Gemma Hotchkiss. Birmingham-based artist Gemma created the project a couple of years after completing her degree in Printed Textile Design at Birmingham Institute of Art & Design (BIAD) Gosta Green.

Always encouraged to showcase her sense of humour in her work, the business fist existed as a Uni project entitled ‘Dinosaur Panda’. The name she says, came to her quite randomly;

“I’d always loved dinosaurs and had carried a stuffed panda toy around everywhere with me as a child. It had been pushed in buggies, force-fed food, dressed-up, operated on – you name it! And that’s really where the idea came from.”

She likens the dinosaurs in her designs to young, boisterous children who are best friends with cuddly Panda bears that “just go along with it all”. And why not?

Post-graduation, Gemma – like most – spent some time in the creative wilderness, wondering what it was that really inspired her and how she could turn this into something real. After she’d hand-drawn a variety of designs she felt confident that she’d cracked it and finally figured out how to visualise her sense of humour.

And it was from there, following a quick name-change, that ‘Jurassic Panda’ – the business – came to life.

Gemma searched around and found a couple of UK-based companies that produced printed merchandise in low volumes, and began by creating a few pocket mirrors and postcards.

The next step was all about experimenting, as Gemma explains;

“I set up an Etsy account and had a play around until I got the hang of it all. I then created a website myself using Tumblr, a custom domain name and a bit of very basic HTML.”

She then took to Twitter – @JurassicPanda – and it was there where she discovered an entire community of creatives that were just like her, trying to make a living out of doing what they loved.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have discovered some fantastic creative people through the ‘Jurassic Panda‘ Twitter account. They are extremely generous with their time and knowledge, and I’ve learned a great deal from them all.”

With everything set up and ready to go, Gemma’s shop was quiet at first. But as with any Etsy start-up, it took a lot of patience and time spent social networking before the sales started to come in. From there, Gemma started applying to sell her work at craft fairs.

Visit her shop here and all Created in Birmingham readers can enjoy 10% OFF until the 31st January 2014. Simply enter the code ‘BIRMINGHAM’ at checkout – thanks, Gemma!

You can also see Jurassic Panda in all its scaly, furry and humourous glory this weekend at Small Business Saturday, at The Flapper pub. It’s a FREE event and runs from 12pm until 6pm.

Small Business Saturday is an American concept that exists to encourage everyone to shop only with local or small independent retailers, for one day of the year. It has become such a success in the US that it’s been bought over to the UK.

Gemma has worked in partnership with The Flapper pub to help curate what will actually be 2-day Christmas Bazaar event on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th December, with Small Business Saturday of course taking-up Saturday’s programme.

The event will showcase talented, local creatives all running their own businesses and feature the unique work of jewellery makers, makeup artists, hair stylists, illustrators and craft makers. There will also be acoustic musicians playing in the bar.

If you can’t make it this weekend, don’t worry. You can catch Gemma at her final event pre-Christmas, on Saturday 14th December in Digbeth at the Custard Factory’s big Christmas event, ‘Digmas’, from 10am until 6pm.

Gemma will also begin 2014 with a creative bang. On Sunday 2nd February she has been invited to be a guest speaker at the NEC’s Spring Fair. She will be giving a talk on how to develop an online concession through a third party website.

So if you’ve a penchant for pandas and a real taste for mash-ups, show your support for extremely talented local artist Gemma Hotchkiss and her beautifully bizarre business, Jurassic Panda.

THE SoURCE are hosting their eco gift fair at Moseley Exchange tomorrow from 10am – 4pm. Entry is free and they’ll also have a cafe area and home baked cakes, see the full list of stallholders on their blog.

The Barber Institute‘s Christmas Craft Fair is next weekend, 4 December from 11am – 4pm. Along with the usual array of gifts and artwork, they’ll also be holding a free family crafts workshop, making cards and decorations, plus Christmas storytelling throughout the day.

Light House are holding their renowned Festive Flair on 11 December from 11am – 4pm. Take a look round the selection of local talent selling their work and gifts, with a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie. Entrance to this is also free.

Also in association with Festive Flair on the same day, is the Queen Vic Designer Maker Festive Fair at Wolverhampton Arts Gallery. Kids will have the chance to meet Santa, plus there’s storytelling, free family craft activities and a local choir performance throughout the day.

How2crafts are a Birmingham based publishing company currently residing in the Jewellery Quarter, who’ve put together this series of step-by-step books on various crafts, including soap making, printing, jewellery and felting.

Designed to expand over time, craft makers are invited to contribute images of what they’ve made using the books, to the website. Collected images will be put together in a ‘readers appendix’, offering inspiration for other readers.

Currently on sale in the We Are Birmingham shop, they’ll also be at the Kitchen Garden Cafe’s Christmas fair on 30 Nov, and in Kings Heath on Dec 13. For a bit less, you can also download the ebook over at www.how2crafts.com

They’re looking for designer makers to join the current rundown of activities and attractions lined up for the day, including choirs, face painters, storytellers and reindeer. Stallholders will be given an opportunity to sell their goods at no charge to themselves, in a perfect location to catch festive shoppers.

To take advantage of the Christmas Spectacular, contact Chris Bishop on 07919 887 122

The Source Spring Fair brings together stallholders offering local vintage, flea, fair trade, vegan and green goods. It’s taking place at Moseley Exchange on Saturday 22nd May, 10-4pm, and it’s free to have a mooch around.

THE SoURCE aims to spread the sustainability message and promote quality, local sourcing and fair trade.

I have no idea if there are stalls still available, but if you’d like to have a stall yourself they’re priced at £10, payable on the day. Questions can be fired at Louise Palfreyman on louise.palfreyman@gmail.com.

In honour of the New Year this month ‘A Crafty Beer’ hosts the ‘Everybody’s Skint Special’ where pub-goers will be trading skills and ideas to help save the pennies, replenish those empty wallets after the Christmas break and beat the recession blues.

The group – which is run by current and former Birmingham City University students Katie Moran and Hannah Hilton – meets every third Wednesday of the month and you can keep up to speed with A Crafty Beer via the Facebook group and Twitter account. Alternatively, send your enquiries to ellie_rance@hotmail.com.

The project will focus on ideas of guerrilla craft, DIY Craft and Craftivism – with a view to developing a young people led craft collective which will then organise a series of interventions throughout the city.

We will recruit a series of makers to engage with young people We want young people to develop a shared interest in making, to have a voice/express opinions and to explore theirs’ and other’s creativity.

Young people that attend will then be invited to apply to be part of the collective where they will work along side makers over a period of months to plan and deliver the city interventions. Craftspace are also hoping to secure a regular base at the custard factory.

For more information, there’s a Facebook event page, the Craftspace website, and the e-flyer below.