Made in Bristol Designer-Maker Gift Guide

To celebrate our tenth birthday we are giving you the gift of ideas! To assist your planning for the festive gift-giving season we have created a gift guide showcasing designer-makers from across our fair city. Peruse our 2018 Made in Bristol Gift Guide here.

We believe shopping local & handmade is super important for our society, culture and economy. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Handmade is forever. In a time when so many purchases are disposable buying a quality handcrafted object you love and will treasure is better for the environment (and your soul!)

2. Buying handmade supports real local people and keeps your hard-earned money in the economy where you live. Good for your community, good for you.

3. Buying handmade keep authentic craft skills and traditions alive, preserving skills that can be passed to future generations.

4. Handmade celebrates people, history, personal expression, diversity and the magic of imagination. Amazing! 

Rose Nisbet's expressive range of painted ceramic tableware with gold lustre

In our first ever Gift Guide we have four specially curated sections for you to discover: ceramics, jewellery, homeware and textiles. Our featured ceramicists include the playful Rose Nisbet  - who you can read more about here in our new series of our popular ‘Meet the Maker’ posts.

Sonya Bennett's jewellery is steeped in the folklore of our native countryside

We've showcased a diverse sparkle (we just made this collective noun up, you get the idea) of jewellers in our Gift Guide including Bianca Rose Wood and Sonya Bennett, who, alongside hundreds of talented makers, are both taking part in our tenth Made in Bristol Gift Fair series at Colston Hall.

Will Priestley's traditionally hand-carved wooden spoons

Representing just some of the designers creating with our homes in mind discover illustrator Hannah Broadway, woodcarver Will Priestley and sustainable homeware champion Priormade in our Gift Guide (who has a crowdfunder running to launch her very own workshop / shop in Old Market, Bristol with some great bargains for supporters.)

Priormade's colourful wooden planters

From the elegance of Amber Hards knitwear to the fun functionality of Ceridwen Hazelchild’s  creations we have curated a range of textile designers aimed to delight and inspire. Find them all here.

Amber Hards' luxurious knitwear is inspired by rock strata

So Shop Local this Christmas! We are very lucky to have such amazing access to the plethora of creative talent working in our city - from art trails, artist-led shops and big showcase events, like our Gift Fairs, you can easily shop directly from designer-makers. Nothing beats strolling through a market or fair and meeting the creator of the exact unique “something” you didn’t even know you were looking for. You can discover how that gift was made and the creator learned the necessary skills. Also, in our opinion, giving something handmade has more meaning - you are telling the recipient just how special and unique they are. Yay!

Ceridwen Hazelchild's textile designs are inspired by flora and fauna

We believe collaboration is the key to success and we couldn't have put this guide together without the support of some pretty talented people. Yes, we’re talking about you Jo Hounsome Photography and you, Fable Media, and yes, thank you to all at Bristol 24/7 for hosting and supporting our very first Gift Guide.