Custom Made

Have you ever had a really good idea for something you would like to have made but then realised you probably couldn’t make it yourself? Then why not ask Young Explorer! Over the last year we have been making lots of custom made items, but for some reason we never got around to blogging about them. Here are some of our favourite examples of custom things we have made:

The first custom order we ever made was two embroidered brooches - one, a rasher of bacon and the other, a floret of broccoli. These brooches were made to give as wedding presents as the bride was a vegetarian and the groom a dedicated meat eater.

Another custom order/request we have made was for a brooch and an iron-on patch, based on the Khaki Scouts patch from the amazing Wes Anderson film Moonrise Kingdom, for a regular customer from America.

Then, lastly, we made this Oyster card holder with an embroidery of our favourite Positive Possum on.

So anyway, if you do have a nice idea and would like us to make it for you please get in touch and we will see what we can do. You can send us a Tweet, or an email or send us a message through our Etsy page.

L

Lancaster Creative Market

Last weekend, in an attempt to get really rich, we went over to Lancaster to sell things at the Lancaster Creative Market. And to see our friend Rebecca, who has been mentioned already in countless blog posts, who lives there. Neither of us had been to Lancaster for a while so, as well as being excited about selling things at the market, we were looking forward to having a look around town too.

Our (extremely full) table

There were lots of super nice stalls there. Reloved At Home was selling loads of amazing recycled things, like dolls and decorations. There was a woman offering massages! And a nice old man who was selling pottery that he'd made himself at home. 

The extremely good The Make District were behind our favourite stall. The Make District is a collaborative effort between three different Lancaster makers, Coo and Co, Little Lost Soul and Strange Bird Designs. 

As you can see, they had some very pretty things for sale. We'd advise you to pop over to their website and buy as much as you can afford. I'll definitely be having a look when I get paid next! As well as being dead talented and that, they're also lovely people. They were extremely supportive and enthusiastic about the things we were selling, which was very encouraging. They even agreed to pose for this photo, complete with the copies of Young Exlorer issue one that they'd bought.

It was a lovely day, all in all. We sold quite a few things (Our cards were especially popular) and we spoke to some very nice people. Definitely worth going. And then we had a dead nice time in Lancaster too. We stayed at Rebecca's house and then went for breakfast at the Whale Tail Cafe, which is a vegetarian cafe in the middle of Lancaster. And very tasty it was too.

Remember to go and have a look on our Etsy and buy some things! Also, I can't remember if this has been mentioned already, but we're making an appearance at the Manchester Print Fair at the end of October. Last week we were their featured seller, which was exciting. Go and have a look on their Facebook and mark yourself down as attending. We're going to have issue one and two for sale, as well as an A6 zine about boats, some greetings cards and other bits and bobs for sale. 

Alright then, see yer!

L + S

New Shop Stuff!

Check out the new cards we've got for sale in our ETSY SHOP! Then buy them! If you don't particularly like Etsy, send us an email at youngexplorerzine@gmail.com and we can come to some other kind of arrangement if you like. You can still buy our badges and zines and things there too. And next week we're launching some embroidered badges for you to spend your cash on too. Here's a sneaky preview.

Left: Bear, fox, cloud, badger, mountain
Right: Small cloud, small bear, small mountain, small badger, small fox, acorn

S

Solva Mill

We have just returned from a holiday in Tenby, Pembrokeshire. Although we didn't get the best of weather we both had a wonderful time. There will be another post about our Tenby fun when we get the photographs back from Boots. Something to look forward to!

On the way home from Tenby we called in at Solva Mill just outside of St David's. Solva mill is the oldest working woollen mill in Pembrokeshire, which is still using traditional shuttle looms to produce their cloth. I had spotted it when I was on work experience at Melin Tregwynt (another woollen mill) earlier this year. However, I didn't finish work early enough to visit so it was a real treat to get the chance to return and I wasn't disappointed! Not just is it set in beautiful surroundings but it is also producing wonderful Welsh woven fabric. I would highly recommend a visit.

E x

Wedding Blanket

Sorry we haven't updated for a while! We've been very busy for the last few weeks, but we're going to update our blog more regularly throughout August. Also, we've got some exciting things lined up for the second issue of our zine and we're hoping to get that sorted for some time in September.

One of the things that has been occupying my time was crocheting this blanket to give to my sister and her husband as a wedding present.

The blanket is made up of a hundred individual granny squares that have been sewn together. It took me a few months to finish it all, but I think it was worth all the hard work.

E x