If you follow us on Facebook, you’ll have seen that the GCM is organising an event next Sunday at the Tron Theatre, Give, Craft, Make.

In our last post we said that instead of running our own markets we’d hold one-off themed sales and exhibitions or events, and Give, Craft, Make is the first of those. Give, Craft, Make is a de-stash sale where members of the Mafia and friends will be selling craft supplies. We’ll also have charity donation stations for unwanted items and tutorials where you can learn new craft skills.

More details on those last two things across the coming week- but in the meantime, what sort of things are we selling? Well, amongst the goodies on offer are a Gocco printer, an overlocker, several sewing machines (some vintage), letterpress blocks, haberdashery supplies, fabric, beads, buttons, trim and more! Here’s a taster of some of the haberdashery supplies on sale from Girl Industries.

Stamp sets from Girl Industries

Ribbon assortment from Girl Industries

Vintage buttons from Girl Industries

Suedette leaf ribbon from Girl Industries

Stay tuned for some more taster photos across the next week, and we hope to see you next Sunday!

You’ll notice some changes going on around here, and more are still to come. We bet you’ve changed a bit since 2007, too. The Glasgow Craft Mafia was set up in 2007 by a group of crafty entrepreneurs in the Glasgow area, following the model established by the original Craft Mafia in Austin, Texas. Just as our Austin pals no longer operate in the same way, the Glasgow crowd have followed suit. Membership has changed, with some people moving on, with businesses evolving and some major lifestyle changes along the way. We are currently re-evaluating our membership structure and hope to bring you news on that later this year. We’re also planning a new look website so you can get to know our current members better once we’ve adopted our image change.

We no longer organise or promote our own craft markets, there are lots of opportunities across Glasgow to take part in craft and vintage fairs on a regular basis. However, we will occasionally hold exhibitions, themed sales or crafty socials, where you can meet like-minded souls, or try a new craft.

Some things haven’t changed. We’re a non-political organisation, and we’re not much keen on politics with a small p, either. We’re a non-profit organisation, without paid employees. All our members have independent businesses, with an online presence. Some of our members have day jobs, shift jobs, family commitments and other voluntary roles. This lack of budget and recognition of our members’ competing priorities means that have to be flexible, responsive to opportunities and dare we say it, sometimes do things at short notice, on a tiny scale or without a co-ordinated publicity campaign. We have a strong following on facebook, and reach many people around the world via this website, so to be in the know on everything we’ll be planning, the best approach is to stay connected, you’ll hear it from the horse’s mouth.

Our aims are broad and inclusive. We love independent design, making and businesses. We like to network and share our knowledge. We want to make sure that everyone who wants to do so has the opportunity to buy handmade, local and independent. We encourage our members to collaborate on innovative and creative projects and to learn from each other. We share details of our members shops and websites so you can be a part of our story, too.

Watch this space for details coming very soon of your chance to get to know us better.

As well as our pretty website and this fabulous blog we love being social, not just in the real world but in the virtual one too (get us going all 21st century).

One place we’d love you to say hello is on Facebook. Think of it as your guide to wonderfulness where we share what we’re up to individually and collectively; keeping you right up to date with new products and fairs we’ll be at. You can also access links to individual members Facebook pages and best of all say hello to us – yea!

It’s not all about us though as we like to share the beautiful things we’ve seen on-line from tutorials to events, products we love and even tartan sheep…yes tartan sheep…but you don’t have to take my word for it have a look at our Facebook Page. The one thing we promise is that we won’t overload your timeline though we’d be cook-a-hoop if you shared our posts with your friends.

For those of you who like it short and snappy why not follow us on Twitter or look at our gorgeous makes and finds on Pinterest.

Now you know where to find us in the virtual world why not “like” or “follow” us and join us on a wonderful adventure.

Come rain or shine, cheer yourself up with some local independent retail therapy (and a lovely cuppa) at Little Birds this weekend. Taking place in Sloans, via Argyle Arcade, from 12 – 5pm on Sunday 8 July, you’ll find:


For more photos, information and market chat, visit www.facebook.com/littlebirdsmarket

Things have been a little quiet here of late. The Glasgow Craft Mafia has been taking stock, regrouping, and is planning to re-emerge into the crafty landscape later this year. But since we’ve not been out much of late, we think it’s time to treat ourselves to a whole new look and for that, we need your help.

If you’re a designer or design student looking for experience who’s interested in helping us re-design our brand, please email us on glasgowcraftmafia@gmail.com with a quote. Include a bit about yourself, links to a portfolio or some images of your work, and tell us why you’re interested in working with the Mafia. We’ll be making our decision soon, so please get in touch by  Monday 23 July.