Jersey is such a tiny island that we are usually either related to each other, went to school together or at some point snogged at the Splash. And as I teach at the School of Art I kind of presumed that I had either taught or taught with most of the other artists over here, imagine my surprise then to chance upon Nanette of Area Thrifty One at one of the St Aubin's Craft Markets and see her incredibly beautiful handmade toys.
It felt a little bizarre to find her here, usually at local craft markets I expect to see badly knitted teddy bears and pots of homemade jam (I'm aware of how snobby that sounds) but here was the wonderful world of Area Thrifty One looking like it came straight out of Etsy. When I'd finished mentally buying everything on her stall I was quizzing her, are you on Flickr? Are you on Etsy? Do you have a Big Cartel shop? Do you blog? Are these Moo cards? Because it was a bit of an Anne of Green Gables moment and I felt like I'd met a kindred spirit. When I log on to Flickr and Etsy my little laptop allows me to become part of a much wider world of artists than I can ever be part of here in Jersey and so I have a separate online life and now here was someone else, living just up the road that is part of that too, how cool is that!
So, no wappy legged, boss-eyed knitted teddies here, all of the Area Thrifty One toys and gifts are beautifully sewn from these great fabrics that Nanette designs and has printed. They are deliciously reminiscent of the seventies and I think that also made her work feel familiar to me, the Babushka Bunny reminded me of an orange babushka doll printed on a coaster that my dad kept on his bedside table and the linen rabbit reminded me of a toy rabbit in a dressed in bonkers seventies fabric that my aunt made for me. But best of all we found this wonderful elephant pencil case who looks so much like my daughter's beloved 'Phunt' that we just had to have it. Phunt was Olivia's constant companion but he has become so worn that he is now see-through in places so he just rests on her bed and she carries a little photo of him to school in her coat pocket so that when she feels she needs a bit of Phunt reassurance he's there for her - now she will be able to take her Phunt pencil case to school and have him on her desk all the time, she's delighted and I have a feeling that this elephant may last a lot longer...
Meanwhile, Alfie goes to bed lovingly clutching at a square of dribbly muslin and is in desperate need of a special companion and I have my eye on that linen rabbit, or perhaps that linen cat... either way we have the perfect excuse to do some more shopping at Area Thrifty One! Go on, have a look yourselves...
Joanna x
