Bobby Dazzler: dolls

"I recognise you"
"I recognise you, too!"
So began a random encounter when I unexpectedly ran into a fellow ex-Camberwell College of Arts student earlier on today while we were hunting for more Craft Crunchers.

Since I last saw Rosie and Fumie five years ago their passion for illustration has developed into a succesful business making super cute soft toys with their own personal biography attached. The dolls first came about as an accompaniment to the stories the girls were writing and illustrating. Now those pesky critters have taken over and the girls have had no choice but to take them on full-time!

Each toy is handmade using reclaimed fabric and buttons and has a label telling you which magical place he or she has come from. I fell in love with the cute monkey with a brass nose who says "I escaped from the zoo but don't know what to do with myself now" (see below). The toys cost from £10 - 25 each. Bobby Dazzler has been operating full-time for the last year.

" We like having our stall here because you meet the customers and get immediate feedback. We also have a lot of friends with stalls nearby ".




Name: Rosie Short, 29 & Fumie Kamijo, 28
From: Brick Lane
Are: Illustrators and makers of dolls & soft toys
Brand/label: Bobby Dazzler

You can give a Bobby Dazzler creature a home by visiting the girls at Sunday Upmarket (you won't be able to walk away empty handed!), or at Super Superficial on Fouberts Place, W1. They're also available in Rome, Tokyo and Cornwall! To find out more, look here

Andrea Garland: natural beauty products

Andrea Garland began as an aromatherapist 9 years ago, and first started making her own natural beauty products as presents for clients. Demand soon increased, and necessity being the mother of invention, her collection of vintage tins seemed an obvious and beautiful solution to the question of what to put her luxurious balms in.

Her collection ranges from rose body and lip balms (including scents for men), an anti-inflammatory ginger muscle soother, all housed in unique vintage tins and pots, as well as face creams for different skin types. As someone a bit wary of all things alternative and patchouli related, I was really impressed with the subtle and lovely smells on offer. Andrea also offers a cost-effective, eco-friendly and just brilliant refill service, costing roughly half the price of your original purchase. Craft-crunch-tastic.

"I make everything in my kitchen, and just before Christmas things were so busy I drove my husband mad because we couldn't even cook dinner".

Name: Andrea Garland
From: Hackney
Is: Natural beauty products
Brand/label: Andrea Garland

Andrea's beauty products can be found at the Sunday Upmarket off Brick Lane and at Franklin Alvarez on Columbia Road. Occasionally she can also be found at Greenwich Market. More information about her can be found on her website.

Every Day Life: menswear

We found fashion designer Jonas dancing to Italo-disco tunes in a store on a very cold day on Broadway Market. But it wasn't his moves that caught our eyes, no siree! It was the imaginative designs on his t-shirts and jumpers. Geometric shapes play with nature-inspired patterns on these lovely garments.

At £25 for a t-shirt, they may not be the cheapest out there, but they're less than you'd pay at Liberty for something much less inspiring. Mind you, if you pop down to see Jonas on Broadway Market, you could try and negotiate a good price by throwing some shapes for him.

"I love the freedom of working for myself. But I hate having cold fingers on days like these".

Name: Jonas Altman, 32
From: Shoreditch, London
Is: Fashion designer
Brand/label: Every Day Life

Jonas sells Every Day Life on Broadway Market in Hackney on Saturdays. No One (Shoreditch), Gloria's (Dray Walk) and The Social (Hampstead) also stock his designs. You contact him via this site.

Lucky Bird: bespoke printing

Sorry for the lack of activity over the last week - we've been away!

We're back now however, and hit Broadway Market in Hackney this morning to see what's happening around there.

We immediately spotted Lucky Bird, a little stall covered in beautiful hand printed greetings cards (£3), leather key rings, wooden 'sticks' (50p) which make excellent bookmarks and very cool (and very now) recycled shopping bags (£15) made from old market sacks.

Lucky Bird has been on Broadway Market for four years. Everything is hand printed using inks and hot foils on recycled materials.

"It's a great way to test the market and I love meeting the other traders. Although not when it's too cold!"

Name: Kim Jenkins, 42
From: Kingsland Road, Hackney
Is: Graphics, printing
Brand/label: Lucky Bird

You can find Kim's gorgeous creations on Broadway Market on a Saturday and in Liberty, Magma, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Yorkshire Sculpture Park and the Barbican. If you would like to find out more, you can contact Kim at kim@luckybird.co.uk

I Like Birds: fashion accessories, jewellery

Be prepared to fight your way through the adoring crowds if you want to peek at the treasure trove that is the I Like Birds stall. Each member of this trio specialises in a different discipline: sewing, enamel and jewellery-making.

In just three years, they've managed to get their work into retailers across the UK including the Red Door Gallery (Edinburgh) and Stiffkey Stores (Norfolk). Treating yourself to their designs won't break the bank either - two pairs of earrings for a tenner, a necklace for £15 or a scrabble letter ring for a fiver (I had to fight the urge to re-arrange these into rude words).

"We met when we were working with a jewellery designer and it was pretty tough to make a living back then. But we've since managed to find a balance between creativity and pricing that makes our work affordable but also allows us enough of a margin to support ourselves."













Names: Buddug, 25 (left), Emma, 25 (right) and Jessie, 29
From: Columbia Road, Shoreditch
Are: fashion accessory and jewellery designers

The trio's work can be found in stores across the UK. Check out Emma's website here, Jessie's here and Buddug's here. Catch them at their I Love Birds stall on Saturdays at Broadway Market in Hackney or at the Sunday Upmarket at Brick Lane on Sundays.

Love Me Again: fashion

Tracey Cliffe swapped a life of dressing actors for movies, TV shows and theatre for fashion design with a twist - she takes discarded clothes and makes new garments out of them (like the dress she's holding up, a snip at just £30). It's a bold step but Tracey is ambitious and doesn't shy away from hard work. Since she started Love Me Again in November 2008, she's set up a shop in Manchester and travelled down from the North to show her gorgeous work to us Londoners.

"I try to keep things as simple as I can so that I can keep things cheap!"



Name: Tracey Cliffe
From: Manchester
Is: Fashion Designer
Brand/label: Love Me Again

The Love Me Again boutique can be found at Afflecks Palace, 52 Church Street, Manchester, M4 1PW.
Tracey's clothes are also stocked at The Third Estate in Leeds at the Meridian Centre. She can also be found at the Sunday Upmarket at the Truman Brewery on Brick Lane.

Beyond Fabrics: fabrics, homewares, accessories

Can't fit any more cushions on your sofa? One look at the handy work from Beyond Fabrics may convince you otherwise. Having set up shop three years ago from their studio on Brick Lane, the Beyond Fabrics duo hunt down vintage and retro reproduction fabrics to fashion hand-made homewares and accessories. Prices start at just £3.50 for a beautiful handmade greetings card covered with some of their eye-catching fabrics. Or if you're feeling a little more flush, pick up a cushion for £28.

"I love it when people come up to us and say 'Oh my god! I've been looking for good designs like these for years!'"


Names: Eduardo (37, pictured) and Silvana
From: their studio on Brick Lane
Are: Graphics and accessories designers
Brand/label: Beyond Fabrics

Eduardo and Silvana's wares are sold at the Victoria & Albert museum, and from February will be available at the Museum of Fashion & Textiles. If you can't wait that long, check out their website, or pop down to their stall at the Sunday Upmarket at the Truman Brewery.

Bi Chen: bags and purses

MC Escher meets Gaultier in Bi Chen's bags and purses. Chen blends monochrome with bold metallics to make very soft leather bags and purses that cost from around £6-£40.

"I'm not here to make money. Actually, it's very difficult to make a profit as each one of these pieces takes a very long time to make. I'm here to meet new people."

Name: Pi-Yeng Chen (29)
From: Holloway, London
Is: Fashion Designer
Brand/Label: Bi Chen

You can find out more about Chen on her MySpace. If you want to buy anything from her, check out her Etsy shop or catch her at the Truman Brewery's Backyard Market.

Alexis Rosy Whiteford: jewellery

Poor Woolworths may have been forced to empty their shelves with mega discounts, but Alexis here actually chooses to sell beautifully crafted gold-plated earrings for just £6.50! Shy Alexis isn't one to boast, but she's tipped for big things in Japan in 2009. After having her jewellery stocked in Tokyo boutique Penderie, her shiny pieces have caught the eyes of three magpie-like style magazines out there.

"I like being able to see my customers and what they want. It's very relaxed here and there's a lovely community vibe amongst the stall owners here at the Backyard Market"


Name: Alexis Rosy Whiteford (25)
From: Hackney, London
Is: Jewellery designer
Brand/label: Alexis Rosy Whiteford jewellery

Here's Alexis' website. We'd urge you to go down to her stall at the Truman Brewery's Backyard Market.

titiMadam: jewellery

Forget the scrums at H&M's latest designer collaborations, we literally had to fight the crowds to get close to this stall. Adam and Tina's titiMadam create fun tongue-in-cheek, acrylic, ply-wood and mirror jewellery from their studio in Hackney. They've been going for just one year and already have retailers in Finland and England selling their little treasures (including the ICA and the Saatchi Gallery). We just couldn't resist and picked up a couple of broaches for just £3.50 each.

"I love to see people's expressions on their faces when they find the animal they like"

Names: Adam (22, left) and Tina (23, that's not Tina in the photo, BTW!)
From: Hackney, London
Brand/label: titiMadam
Are: Jewellery designers

Check out their website here. Adam and Tina be found at Backyard Market at the Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, on Sundays. Maybe more days, too. We were so happy with our new purchases, we forgot to ask. Sorry Adam!

Lovelymonstory: fashion and accessories

If you bred a Pokemon with the members of a nu-rave band and gave the offspring some t-shirts and a screen-printing machine, they'd probably end up creating something like these lovely garments from Nalina and her boyfriend. And at just £12, one of these tees costs the same as a round at the pub!

"I like it when people come to the stall and tell me that they like our designs!"

Name: Nalina Tangkanokvitaya, 25
From: Bangkok, Thailand
Brand/Label: Lovelymonstory

Check out their website here for more designs. Nalina and her boyfriend can be found at the Truman Brewery's Backyard market on Saturdays and Sundays.