In this age, at Christmas time, it is so easy to get sucked into the dark hole of over-consuming from large companies and fast fashion retailers. However, us here at Point of You believe that it is so important to shop small and support independent businesses. This Christmas, we thought that we'd spread a little Christmas cheer by creating a Christmas Gift Guide to help you out with the (dreaded) Christmas shopping.
Below you will find a variety of gift ideas from 13 different artists, designers and illustrators from UK based indie businesses.
Annie Wright
Annie is a Designer and Artist based in Hartlepool. She designs and creates handmade products such as scrunchies, makeup bags, headbands, as well as hand embroidered items such as hanging hoops, badges and cushions. Hand drawn prints and custom drawings are also a speciality at Arttbyannie.
Taaryn Brench
Taaryn Brench is an independent designer and illustrator based in Leeds. Her work is characterised by a love of colour, pattern and playfulness which is applied to paper goods and hand sewn textiles. Working from her home studio, Taaryn splits her time working with commercial clients and on her own retail brand. Analogue methods and happy accidents are at the core of her process, she enjoys painting and mark making with gouache, ink and crayons.
Eliott Bulpett
Eliott Bulpett runs a business selling illustration prints and crochet gifts, they are based in Buckinghamshire. Eliott creates fun and colourful artwork in the form of art prints, original paintings, stickers, bookmarks and more. Graduating in 2021 with an illustration degree, they have a love for creating joyful work with a strong focus on nature and animals (and their shop looks after the planet too, with biodegradable/recyclable packaging!) A keen crocheter for many years, Eliott also creates pencil cases and keychains that resemble animals - fun for adults and kids!
Emma Lammie
Emma runs Lately Studio since summer 2019. She started of doing commission work (drawing peoples lovely friends, family and pets!) and soon after began designing products too. Now she has the wonderful job of packing boxes full of colour and sending them off into peoples homes. Lately Studio is a stationery, homeware and lifestyle brand focused on making life as fun as possible. All the products are designed in Emma's home studio and created to be functional, beautiful and, very importantly, bring your life a bit more joy!
Jenny Pawley
Jenny recently graduated from a textiles and surface design course and started her small business to continue her love for print. Jenny's main focus is screen printing and she creates bright, colourful printed products including tote bags, zipped pouches and cards. All her fabric products have the option to be personalised for either the person buying them or someone else, making them perfect gifts. As a small business, Jenny tries to be as sustainable as possible by reusing scraps and mis- prints to create alternative products.
Laura Tobin
Laura is a recent Photography graduate and "creative juggler" based in Glasgow, Scotland. She is an enthusiastic and innovative creative, who has a passion for craft. During the pandemic, in March 2020, Laura decided to dip her toes into something new, and experimented more with various creative disciplines. From this experimentation, she discovered her passion for notebook making and prints - ultimately leading to her opening up her own Etsy shop, selling original handmade notebooks, prints and cards.
Dorota Dziki
Dorota is a Polish, Glasgow-based artist. She started her art instagram in lockdown, and a few months later opened an Etsy shop. She also illustrates for her university's newspaper, The Glasgow Guardian, where she is the photography/illustrations manager. She gets a lot of inspiration for art from Slavic mythology and folktales she used to listened to and read as a child, and people say her illustrations have a 'fairytale-esque' feeling to them, which is good since ultimately she'd, ultimately, love to illustrate fairytale books.
Chloe Isteed is an illustrator based in Essex. She works in painted paper collage, exploring narrative and connection, and is particularly interested in exploring objects and their role within storytelling. Her shop features a variety of high quality digital prints of her collages, plus greetings cards for any occasion, badges and stickers. Her work is full of bright colours and positivity, and makes the perfect gift for yourself or a loved one. All orders are sent out with love using plastic-free packaging, and can be sent straight to a loved one by adding a note at checkout.
Imogen Leonard
Imogen is a digital illustrator and film graduate based in Glasgow, Scotland. Imogen’s illustrations are available to buy as prints via her etsy store: Hija Design as well as greeting cards (inc xmas ones!!). Her brand is inspired by bold design, empowering women, self growth, whilst keeping things cute! Her commissions and prints act as a unique/artsy gift for Christmas and you’re supporting a small business at the same time!
