If you have ever delved into the online craft community before, it’s more than likely you find sites like Etsy, Craftster and Threadbanger. All fabulous, but you’ll notice that pretty much all are based in the US. Well, America may be a hotspot for craft, but us British folk are catching up slowly.

Folksy

A few weeks ago, I went to the Birmingham SnB group. There I was told about the UK version of etsy - Folksy. Basically the same in theory as etsy, a place to buy/sell all things handmade, the only differences I can see are the fact that it is still in beta (i.e. it’s in test mode, not fully launched), it operates in £ instead of $ and presently, it’s only open to UK folks.

Whilst I love the idea, at the moment I am not swayed by it. Etsy has a larger market (until folksy gets a bit more popular at least), is more established and unlike a lot of people are, I’m not all that fussed about converting to $. BUT, it is rather exciting news and since it’s not 100% launched yet, I shalln’t pass a proper judgement on it just yet - it’s definitely something to keep your eye on if you’re a crafty type.

Crafter Club

The second thing I discovered yesterday is actually specifically for Birmingham based crafters. I’m betting that some of you will have come across the Austin Craft Mafia before, well, I present to you the Birmingham Crafters! They did in fact add Coral Stars on myspace and after a wee bit of delving, I discovered that it’s basically the beginnings of what will be a craft community hotspot for Brummies. As you can tell, it’s in the early stages at the moment, but I fully expect that this will be something great at some point. I am not a fan of Birmingham, but this entices me toward loving my city, slightly.

Okay, so that was only 2 things. I’ve probably missed something fabulous out, but hey ho, there we go. If you know of any craft led ventures, please let us all in on the secret!