Once upon a December, when the search for gifts was frantic, we remembered to lower our laptop screens. As Mariah wailed from the radio for the first time that year, we realised: behind the sparkling banner ads and e-blasts from Amazon (and as the corniest Christmas films will remind you) – everything we needed had been right in front of us all along…
In our League of Strangers community we have a clutch of creative movers and makers right on our doorstep. As we speak, like Christmas elves in stylish knitwear, they’re slaving away creating beautiful objects to satisfy all your generous impulses.
And beyond the studio walls, there’s plenty more to discover nearby. So we asked Katie Tregidden, design writer and bonafide authority on all things lovely, to pad out our list with some local recommendations of her own.
So here it is…merry Strike’s first Christmas list. Because all we want for Christmas is… sustainably sourced products from talented local craftspeople, of course*:
*And Peace on Earth, etc.
Spatula, Heather Scott
If you’ve visited the Stranger Studio, you might have shared a brew or sat down to creative breakfast around our kitchen table handcrafted by Heather Scott. It’s the centrepiece to our best creative breakthroughs (and even named after us).
But a table, to be honest, is a nightmare to wrap. For under the tree, we recommend these sleek solid ash spatulas, for all stirring adventures. More durable and sustainable than plastic or steel, they’re designed and made in Cornwall.
Small | 8.00
Large | 12.00
Resin Planters, Jaxon Surfboards
Motivated to address the environmental impact of the surf industry, Cornish based shaper Jaxon Surfboard Workshops has come up with one stylish solution. Resin left over from the glassing process is moulded, shaped and sanded into colourful planters, perfect to hold your favourite mini household plants. For more information or to pick out a pot for yourself, get in touch.
Weaving: Contemporary Makers on the Loom, Katie Treggiden
Katie’s book, Weaving: Contemporary Makers on the Loom, makes for one lovely gift for the bookish and the textile lover. Spotlighting weavers pushing the boundaries of their craft, it champions a diverse range of makers and their motivations for getting behind the loom. It’s true to Katie’s ongoing mission of spotlighting makers away from the mainstream.
See her Cornish gift recommendations below…
Grain Hanging Planter, Studio Haran
“This is the studio’s first foray into ceramics, and still bears the delicate imprint of wood. I love the soft, gentle and rounded aesthetic of all the work Studio Haran put out.”
Small | 20.00
Large | 30.00
Leach Standardware Mug, Leach Pottery
“I drink my coffee from a Leach pottery mug every morning. They’re such an important part of Cornwall’s making heritage, while still a contemporary working pottery. I’m not sure visitors always realise that beyond its famous history; art and making in St Ives is still very much alive.”
20.00
Black-headed Gull Clutch, Poppy Treffry
“I love that Poppy Treffry lets you send items back to be repaired if necessary. And there’s such life and lightness in her products, they capture tiny little bits of Cornwall in a gently humorous way.”
52.00
‘Infinite Sky’, C J Flood
“I always buy people books for Christmas – it’s giving someone a way of escaping to a whole new world. Chelsey called Cornwall home for a little while and to know that she’d been able to create something as beautiful as this was really inspiring when I was starting out as a writer.”
7.99