2022 Christmas Gift Guide
It’s a funny old year 2022 and a very strange time to be a maker trying to make a living doing what they love. Which is why I am once again dusting off the GBS studio Christmas gift guide, because if you’re gifting this year then I really believe that buying a little bit less, but buying from a small business is one of the best ways to support your local community during what will be a very tough winter.
So with community in mind I am going to focus this gift guide on my community, the people who I go to for advice and who make my local high streets great. In this little round up we’ve got some amazing Hither Green, (the home of my new studio) small businesses as well as some from nearer my current home in Deptford plus a few from further afield who, whilst not my neighbours, support me and my business throughout the year.
You might have your own list of businesses you’d like to support, which is fantastic, consider this a nudge to go and say hello.
Christmas gift guide 2022 an image of the inside of Three Sisters shop in hither green
Three Sisters is run by the amazing Donna and her two daughters, they are my closest neighbours on Springbank Road in Hither Green, and I can’t wait to finally be a few doors down next year! They sell a beautifully curated mix of vintage homewares combined with plants and gardening tools and everything in between. Top of my list this year are their alpaca socks and beeswax candles.
Full disclosure - Carla Murdoch is not based in Hither Green but she is very much part of my extended community of makers. Always ready to share tips and advice (especially sharing her knowledge about the murky world of instagram) Carla and I have somehow only met once in really life, but speak every week and I own lots of her work and think you should too!
Anna Wiscombe makes lovely things, we also used to share a studio until pesky covid put an end to that. But she still makes very lovely things, just from her new studio in Dorset rather than a grotty industrial estate in SE London. She is my go-to for Christmas decorations and her miniature flowers would make beautiful table settings on the big day.
I couldn’t let a gift guide go by without flagging a key member of my community (me!) In amongst the Neptune launch this print may have gotten a little lost, but I love it and wanted to give it pride of place in the gift guide. An incredibly limited edition 7 colour screen print this print is of a street scene in Mexico but makes me very excited for my own shop front in the new year!
If you’re looking for a lower waste Christmas this year then may I direct your attention to the new zero waste textile collection I have launched with Neptune. Each cushion is entirely unique and is made using offcuts from the production of our flags collection quilts. Sustainable, fun and playful - everything we want Christmas to be!
So there we are, places to shop IRL, places to shop on line and excellent small businesses who would all love your custom this festive season. If you have any other recommendations please pop them in the comments below as I’d love to grow this amazing community.
Just down the road from Hither Green in Catford is Sophie Home, a beautiful knitted homewares business who make (amongst other things) the most beautiful baby rattles. As someone who is now regularly on the look out for new baby gifts these are my absolute go to and would also make a lovely stocking filler for a new person too!
Back to SE London now and the exciting news that my old studio neighbour Sophie has taken a brand new shop/ studio space for her business Grain and Knot in New Cross Gate. Bookings for the space will be opening soon so keep an eye on her instagram for news.
Cecily Vessey is my friend and long-time collaborator; we have a series of 13 screen prints that we have made together, the most festive being St Pauls which is finished with gold ink. Cecily’s screen prints are all printed by hand in London, and she’s recently been working on some new mono prints, which are an exciting new direction and definitely on my wish list for the new year.
Christmas gift guide 2022 - Melisa Dora ceramic wax melt in a cream glaze with a lit candle inside
Another South Londoner - Melisa Dora makes beautiful ceramic tableware with glazes which somehow always seem to match the colours I’m working with! My pick for this year are these brand new oil burners, I am a huge fan of a few drops of essential oil in the home and this little burner will make it much more chique than my current saucer and mug set up! Melisa also has open studios coming up if you fancy avoiding the inevitable postal chaos.
Simple shape in Brockley, a table filled with ceramics in a light space in se London
One final recommendation for keeping your Christmas shopping exceedingly local - Simple Shape is squirrelled away on a mews in Brockley, run by the lovely Helen who will be able to curate you the most beautiful gift selection from her products, all of which are made in the UK & Ireland.
Black steel candle stick holders by Agnes Jones
A last minute addition to the gift guide are these incredible candle sticks by Agnes Jones. Agnes is a blacksmith working in Glasgow and makes the most amazing 3D drawings from metal, I only want these sticks for my table this Christmas!