On a much needed Sunday out of London imagine our surprise when, strolling through Whitstable, we noticed a gorgeous shop with some very familiar bits and pieces in the window.
Out of curiosity we popped inside to discover that Frank stocks several products by more than one of the talented souls we've featured here at Craft Crunch. We noticed some of Buddug's earrings, brooches & necklaces, titiMadam's acrylic badges and Lucky Bird's greetings cards & keyrings.
We got talking to shop owner Mary Claire Smith and realised we had a lot in common. She opened Frank three years ago with the intention of championing the best of British craft and design and
so far she's doing a great job! The shop is beautifully laid out & decorated and promotes home-grown talent as well as artists from London and further afield.
We’ve discovered that Whitstable has quite a buzzing crafts scene with classes being held on the beach in summer and everything from chunky crockery to delicate necklaces being produced by some incredible talent.We particularly like the little knitted dogs by Kate Erbe, local ceramicist Keith Brymer's 'typed' mugs, bowls and jugs, local jeweller Heidi Butler's cut-out jewellery and Ciara Healey's knitted bird coats (seen in the birdcage in the window).
You can find Mary Claire's shop, Frank, at 65 Harbour Street, Whitstable, Kent CT5 1AG. Some of her stock is available to purchase online at http://www.frankworks.eu/index.html or call 01227 262500 for more information.
To find out a little more about Lucky Bird, look here, for titiMadam here and for Buddug, look here.
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