festive market double header weekend!

hello dears, it’s that time of the year again, can you smell the cinnamon and see all the sparkles? it’s festive season time and we do have some nice ones lined up this year again. unfortunately we will not be doing any in glasgow this winter, but for all of you my glaswegian friends, feel free to browse the online selection, we are putting up a lot of the smaller gifts yea as well.

but for those of you in dundee and edinburgh (the first festive one in the city for zitozza!), you can come and get your hands on the tactile goods (and dig into the bargain basket!) as there’s a lovely little line-up of two consecutive weekends.

DCA CRAFTED - 26th & 27th november at the dundee contemporary arts
11:00 - 17:30 (152 nethergate, dundee, DD1 4DY)

the first one is just around the corner, in the city of jute of course, we wouldn’t miss this for anything. this is a fabulous line-up of the very best of contemporary scottish design at a true creative hub. this venue has creative workshops, cinemas and exhibitions so if you’re that kind of crowd, please do come along and have a chat! we really look forward to it.

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festive makers market - 2nd december at edinburgh open workshops
10:00 - 16:00 (39-41 assembly street, edinburgh, EH6 7BQ)

this one is brand new, and we’re particularly excited about this one because for the first time for christmas, we’re heading to edinburgh, to leith to be more precise, the new creative hub of the place! i particularly look forward to meeting the creatives who know about and use edinburgh open workshops as i’ll be joined by furniture makers, woodworkers and other craftspeoople and can’t wait to buy something beautiful too!

so i hope you’re able to join and see us in either dundee or edinburgh - glasgow, aberdeen, and fife, i do hope to see you sometime later, but the online shop remains open 24/7.

if you want to buy anything bespoke or made to order, please place your purchase by tuesday 12th december as after this date, we might not be able to send with enough time before christmas to arrive. regular orders will be shipped right up to christmas, but please be mindful of courier services being overwhelmed and give your order slightly more time than usual.

happy shopping and do have a wonderful, wonderful christmas and all the very best for the new year.

summer market double header!

hello again, we have a very nice announcement to make - just a quick blog post to announce our latest market round up. and we have a very, very nice double header ahead in our favourite scottish venues in edinburgh and then glasgow! celebrate the summer with some colourful block prints and browse all the loveliness scotland’s designers have to offer.

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19th - 20th august - dovecot studios, edinburgh

first up is our bestest most favourite venue in scotland, the dovecot studios in edinburgh. this fabulous venue will be home to a fantastic line-up of local makers, curated by support the makers. the dovecot is also a fringe festival venue with exhibitions and of course, their lovely café and shops so do come along.

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26th - 27th august - the briggait, glasgow

and afterwards, our favourite market returns. we absolutely love coming to the wasps studios markets as these markets are always very well organised and lovingly curated with some of the most engaged, creative audience of shoppers. it’s just a great experience all round and i can’t wait to talk to visitors and browse the lineup again. do come along

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after all these fairs we will take a little break before we come back in the autumn and winter - but our shop remains online always so do browse our collections and let us know if we can help with anything at all. happy browsing!

spring markets!

hello spring, hello market season! the days are getting longer and it’s time to go outside, and get your hands on lovely, locally made stuff. visit the spring fairs and support your local, independent businesses. here’s where you’ll find some zitozza stuff this spring:

15th - 16th april - the briggait, glasgow
with wasps studios

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6th may - the steeple church, dundee
with the yard

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14th may - assembly rooms, edinburgh
with craft & flea

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looking forward to seeing you there - bring your friends for a day out and enjoy the fresh air and the local makes. take care!

ZITOZZA ON TV!

we have been waiting to announce this news for a while, but we’re finally allowed to say it out loud: zitozza will be on TV!

i am absolutely thrilled to have had the chance to participate in a new project for the BBC titled ‘make it at market’, filmed in beautiful leicestershire earlier this year. the idea of the show is to explore how some talented makers and crafters are turning their hobbies into a business with the help of being mentored by an expert designer - and i got selected to be one of these, to be mentored by the wonderful piyush suri of handmade in britain!)

the challenges were a lot of fun, and obviously the business mentoring has been a huge help, all this while also having met all these amazing and talented people completely flourishing from all kinds of creative disciplines made this a really, really inspiring experience. it will be definitely worth a watch, if not for some “zitozza-behind-the-scenes”, then for the variety of creativity and the immense amounts of talent that this show will cover.

the show is finally confirmed to have an airing date: 3rd january 2023! save the date and do tune in…. eeek!

edit: if you want to learn a bit more about how the experience went, read our next blog post about the episode!

festive market triple header!

with the festive season in full swing, we’re announcing our upcoming festive market dates - we’re not leaving scotland for this season but we do come to glasgow twice! so make sure you come to one of these to touch our tactile textiles and leave with some brand new handmade homewares - for yourself, or a loved one!

first date: 19-20 november 2022, kibble palace, botanics, glasgow - from 10am to 4pm
- a beautiful, unique setting with a bunch of talented scottish designers, as usual with tea green events, the line-up is going to be exciting, colourful and sustainable.

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second date: 26th november, CRAFTED market at the dca, dundee - from 11am to 17:30pm
- another fab line-up, curated by the team at the dundee contemporary arts themselves, it’s guaranteed to bring you the best of the most cutting edge and contemporary designers. please note this is only a one-day event, not the full weekend, so make sure you come and visit on the saturday!

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third date: 3rd - 4th december, wasps studios winter market, the briggait, glasgow - from 10am to 5pm
- this is a brand new one for me, but with the hosts being wasps studios, the talent and the quality is guaranteed, at the fabulous setting of the briggait in glasgow. this will be the last one of the year for zitozza, so please do come.

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it sure will be a busy few weeks ahead, but it is always worth to meet in person, and new pieces, not yet listed on the website are definitely coming, curated to fit in with the line-up with each of these events so please visit. and although the live events finish on the 4th december, we remain open online 24/7.

for deliveries before christmas though, please place your order before thursday 15th december. thank you and have a fab winter.

guest post for support the makers!

hello readers! it’s been a while, but i have been blogging, i promise. just not here, but over there at the support the makers, whose network i joined earlier this year, and decided to introduce myself in a short blog post, in which i share a little bit about my background, my motivations and what really is behind the zitozza brand. go have a read for yourselves here!

unfortunately, my participation in their 1st may market at bellfield, portobello (the one announced in the march newsletter), had to be cancelled again - at least not due to covid, but for a much more exciting reason which i will be able to share later! however, it’s still worth a visit so please do go and support the line-up of talented makers from all over the UK.

i’m sure i will be there at some point with other of their markets (a pop-up shop in london is also in the works now - more of that later!)

i will have more exciting news and markets to announce soon, and until then, please keep an eye on the blog, our instagram and of course the newsletter!

market alert - support the makers

good afternoon - this just a very quick announcement that zitozza joined the support the makers network and will be attending the spring market on sunday 6th march, at bellfield, portobello, edinburgh (16b bellfield st, portobello, edinburgh EH15 2BP) between 11am and 4pm.

this is a ticketed event (costs £1.50) so hurry up and purchase yours now - and see you there soon!

UPDATE 03/03/2022

many apologies but due to a positive covid test zitozza will be unable to attend the market. we are definitely, definitely going to the next one though (same place, in may), so stay tuned and i will leave this post here because i’m sure that it will be still worth attending!

zitozza at the V&A dunde and bowhouse markets!

we’re pleased to gather you around today, ladies and gentlemen, with a few more announcements to make. zitozza has been selected for the line-up of this year’s tea green festive market at the v&a dundee. zitozza will be there for one day only, on the sunday 7th november, but the event itself takes place on the whole weekend with a whole bunch of brilliant designers and i can hardly contain myself! it will be amazing to be exhibiting at this most prestigious venue and meet fans and makers of high quality contemporary design made in scotland. really cannot wait!

but before that, i’m going somewhere much more local, finally here in the east neuk of fife, at the bowhouse market (also thanks to tea green events) also on sunday only, on the 10th october. there will be three of these in total though, with weekends also in november and december, all with a fabulous line-up of scottish makers, music and all sorts of great stuff here which i love and as a fifer, close to the heart! (and oh my god, the food! THE FOOD!)

so we’ll be looking forward to meeting you all and showcase the latest hand block printed jute stuff to you - please think about christmas in advance to ease the pressure on the poor delivery folk! let’s make shopping an event, treat your home (and yourself) to some beautiful decor and at these fairs - shop local, discover an army of local creatives, and… did i mention the food?

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links
tea green events
v&a dundee
bowhouse fife

in conversation with ciara mcinnes

happy autumn! we’re back to work, back to school, back to looking ahead and also back to talking to people so i’m really pleased to announce tha after a long hiatus, t the design conversation series is continuing with a new arist! ciara mcinnes is an architect and fine artist based in glasgow. i discovered her fabulous prints on instagram during lockdown when i was craving to see beautiful buildings - some of them are the exact same buildings i’m also fascinated by, such as the netherdale stadium of peter womersley – so i was really keen to know more about the background about these beautiful works.

ZITA: hello ciara! first things first - could you say a few words about yourself, what you do and how you got there?

CIARA: hi there, thank you so much for having me! i'm an architect and fine art printmaker based in the west end of glasgow. i work in the medium of lino print, combining traditional handprinting techniques with contemporary, urban subject matters. inspired by the city, street art and general urban chaos, my work typically documents lost landscapes, urban spaces and historic buildings.

ZITA: i can see your architectural background  - it comes across beautifully on your urban prints. i’m always glad to find other people who also see the beauty too in the things that often get a bad press. could you share a little bit about what inspires you about these landscapes?

CIARA: for me, the built environment is so inspiring, constantly changing and evolving. i love to document the city in my work, taking tiny snapshots of a place in time, knowing that it will never look exactly the same again. the light will be different, the graffiti will change, it will eventually be lost for good and exist only in print.

in architecture, it has always been the case that the styles of the previous generation are undervalued because they are seen as dated but not yet historic. In glasgow, there has been a huge cull of brutalist architecture in recent decades, a style that is only now starting to gain recognition. i'm really drawn to document these buildings in particular because of they represent an important era in history, when architects and designers were tearing up the rule book.

ZITA: that’s fascinating. i do love that era too, and the ideas they represent! do you have a favourite place, a city or a building you go like regularly going back to? Or do you continuously look for something new?

CIARA: i am always on the lookout for somewhere new, i love to travel. at the start of 2020 i visited mexico city which was such a vibrant and energetic city. the architecture is so diverse from pre-hispanic to cutting edge contemporary and everything in between, it's somewhere I'd love to go back to.

ZITA: that must have been beautiful. you mentioned brutalism before, but is there a particular school of architecture or style you’re attracted to more than others?

CIARA: i'm a fan of minimalist, contemporary architecture. there's a few places really leading the field such as scandinavia and japan but it's not something we have really embraced in scotland yet. there's an architectural practice called SANAA who create some truly breathtaking work.

ZITA: thanks for the tip, i will make sure to check it out. so what is the next cityscape or building you’re turning into a print? can you tell anything about any work in progress?

CIARA: i'm currently working on pair of prints that explore the temple gasworks in the north of glasgow. the structures of the old gasholders are still in place and create these skeletal figures in the landscape which you can see for miles around. i'm going to be integrating some more natural imagery in the prints which is a new direction for my work so i’m excited to see the finished pieces.

ZITA: sounds really exciting, i’ll be looking forward to seeing the finished prints. i’m also interested in your technique. your prints are very photographic! how are you working them into your prints? can you explain a little bit about your process as well?

CIARA: i always start a print by creating a master pen drawing which i then trace using carbon paper onto the lino block. i will usually combine elements from several photos or images into a final composition, all with a little artistic license. i often make little tweaks at the carving stage too, with a lot of natural elements freehanded as I go. the prints evolve through the printing process so i never fully know what the print will look like until the very end.

ZITA: that is really interesting! and your colour scheme is very minimalist and together with your ukiyo-e inspired technique, it reminds me a bit Japanese influences. it is very consistent throughout your work and it works to a wonderful effect – could you tell more about this? do you have a process of deciding about the colours in your prints? 

CIARA: japanese printmaking is certainly an inspiration, particularly the dedication to craftsmanship and technique. my colour palette is typically very tonal which allows me to focus on the form of the print, then I create focal points by picking out details in metallic. i typically mix my inks with extender to create a more translucent effect, i love how this gives the prints an almost watercolour like finish. 

ZITA: it does! the results are really beautiful. and now the questions i ask from everyone - can you recommend a book or an artist or a maker whose work is worth looking into? something that keeps you going?

CIARA: i recently discovered an artist called claas gutsche who's based in berlin, a fellow lino cutter, his work is so precise and his technique is definitely something to aspire to. in a totally different direction i’ve always loved the work of a painter called maurice utrillo who was a contemporary of the impressionists but worked in quite a different style. he has a really fascinating story, using painting as a form of therapy. he painted the world around him, focusing on the built environment and often unloved corners of paris.  i only recently found out that the kelvingrove museum holds one of his pieces but it's currently in remote storage. 

ZITA: sounds like someone you would have loved to met! i will be definitely checking them out. and lastly but most importantly, where can we see your work next?

CIARA: well, i do have a few exhibitions on the horizon but sadly i’m sworn to silence until the official announcements! all i can say for now is that i have an upcoming show in a glasgow gallery this autumn, which will feature some specially created pieces. i'll also be popping up at a few art and design fairs across glasgow later this year, so keep your eyes peeled!

ZITA: very mysterious! i will keep an eye on your social media! thanks a lot for your time.

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links:

ciara mcinnes website

ciara mcinnes instagram

SANAA

claas gutsche

maurice utrillo (on artnet)

jutefest comes to an early end with cancellation (but still plenty of reasons celebrate!)

hello! we’re so sorry to have had to share the bad news with you on saturday, about the cancellation of our social media about our last jutefest event. i hope you haven’t travelled to dundee this weekend! if you haven’t heard, the very last jutefest was unfortunately cancelled due to staff having to isolate at the venue (scrapantics, our landlords have been utterly fantastic about this whole venture though so huge thanks to them!). and to be honest, for it only to happen to the last in a series of 4 is not a bad record, so we are celebrating our success and we are also thinking about how to come back with something bigger and better next year perhaps.

so if you only just heard of us, the best is yet to come. jutefest consists of three of us - jist jute, knotty but nice, and zitozza. because we all work with jute in different, but consistently modern and contemporary ways, we set out to bring the cloth back to its city and celebrate its sustainable qualities - and maybe showing the locals along the way why it’s cool again! while dundee has an enormous heritage to build on, jute is not a thing of the past but very much the future too.

photo by deborah chapman at artantics

photo by deborah chapman at artantics

we’ve done a lot of cool things together and it’s been an achievement in itself, i think, to pull this off on a shoestring with a few weeks notice. indeed there’s a lot of potential in our abilities to do something bigger and better soon! throughout the event series, alison has successfully managed to crowdfund a whole weaving loom and lessons to learn to weave - you can see the progress of all this on her instagram along with the first pieces. don’t they look fabulous? and maite was busy crocheting, unstoppably producing her work live at the fair whilst chatting to visitors about those durable bags! it was fascinating to witness that speed.

as for zitozza - of course, the embroidered wall-art collection also debuted at the jutefest and it did look good on the turqouise wall of the venue! and as a demonstration of our craft, two smaller lengths of fabric were printed live in front of enthusiastic visitors... i think one will become a lampshade, and the other a rug (see the pictures below!) and it’s coming very soon so watch this space and subscribe to the newsletter, to make sure you don’t miss out on any of our new plans (and the nice things made of these!)

jutefest is coming!

oh hello (limited, face-masked) general public! zitozza are excited and proud to announce to be a founding participant of JUTEFEST dundee! this is a brand new initiative with three makers working with jute differently (that’s - jist jute, knotty but nice, and zitozza) and our aim is to bring this wonderfully versatile and sustainable fabric back to its city where it once came out of in the tons.

the three of us work with jute in different ways - you can read our design conversations with jist jute already - there is a great deal of research and local history in alison’s work and she will also be signing her book “if these wa’s cuid talk” at the event. maite of knotty but nice is a crocheter who uses twine from nutscene to make strong and colourful bags and accessories. so there will be jewellery, fashion accessories - and cushions, rugs and lampshade by zitozza also for sale. but apart from setting up market stalls with our things, we will be making live at the event and demonstrate our crafts as well as preparing some exhibition materials on the history of jute in the city as well as some modern takes on the golden fibre.

there’s certainly a lot of heritage to celebrate in dundee but we also believe in embracing the present and we have our modern-day reasons why we work with it - one of these is of course sustainability, because we recognise our responsibility and we want to promote materials with less of a carbon, chemical, and water footprint. however, there is also a more artistic take on it - jute is a very utilitarian material, and when it was mass produced in dundee, it was fully to serve other industries and agriculture with its sacks and ropes. the three of us don’t use it this way though. we inject it with colour, design and individuality while keeping what’s good about it - the warmth, tactility and environmental qualities. there’s a lot to discover and play with and we want the locals to join us to celebrate that!

zitozza are preparing with a special launch of mini-tapestries as well, an initial 8-piece exhibtion will be set up for visitors - all wall-art will be available to be purchased online soon as well!

so when is this is happening? this is going to be a series of pop-up fairs stretched out between june and september on the first saturdays of each of these months. so that’s 5th june, 3rd july, 7th august, and 4th september.

and where about? at the artantics building (many thanks to scrapantics!), that’s right across from verdant works. the address is unit 2, anchor mill, west henderson’s wynd, dundee, DD1 5BY.

this is going to be a real-life event which is why it’s a big deal to those of us having been confined to our studios and council areas and whatnot. even though we are super happy to be finally free to meet you and celebrate, we still have to be careful and be aware of the spread of coronavirus. we want to be as safe as possible, so please note we will require face masks to be worn and we may still limit the number of people indoors in order to be able to keep a safe distance. thanks for your understanding and see you soon!

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links:

jutefest instagram and twitter

jist jute instagram and etsy shop

knotty but nice (instagram)

scrapantics (website)

in conversation with janice reid of HAYM

here we are in another month - and i’m bringing you another exciting entrepreneurial journey to read about. this one is a little bit special, as zitozza has a brand new stockist in scotland - HAYM, located on the high street of carnoustie, and i had a chance to have a lovely chat with the inspiring businesswoman behind it - janice reid. as i’m always on the hunt for new treasures, i feel really hopeful about the opening of new places, especially after such a hiatus. i think there’s a lot of warm and fuzzy feelings about local businesses supporting each-other - with everything that’s been behind us this past year, i wanted to learn more about janice’s journey and get a serving or two of the positivity!

ZITA: hi janice! can you say a few words about yourself – what you do and how you got there?

JANICE: ok, well my name is janice reid but my maiden name was hay which is part of the reason my new shop is called HAYM. i have lived most of my life in carnoustie but was born in dundee and went to university there where i studied architecture. I went on to work as an architect for almost 20 years, laterally becoming an associate with trail architects and i really loved my job and those who I worked with. my decision to change careers was based on my family situation.

ZITA: i see! has the shop been a long-held dream or something that developed through time? did you find it difficult to make the decision to go for it and open?

JANICE: i have wanted to open my own shop for some time now but always thought it was a bit of a pipe dream but many things influenced my decision to bite the bullet and just go for it. I had been off work on maternity following the birth of my 2nd daughter then after a short spell back at work i was furloughed due to covid. times have been so tough for so many because of the pandemic, there has been so many lives lost and so many people have found themselves in financial hardship but if anything positive can come out of such an awful situation it is that it makes you think that life is short and you should do what makes you happy. it made me reassess my life and gave me the drive and ambition to just go for it. I feel with my design background it is not such a huge leap more of a natural progression in a different direction.

ZITA: what a brilliant attitude! and it resonates a lot – zitozza came out of a similar situation. i do wonder, how has your background in architecture influenced your buying decisions, when it comes to finding stock for your shop? are you going for a particular style or feel – and if you do, where does it come from? where do you look for your curatorial inspirations?

JANICE: i have really just chosen what i like, there is no particular style, if i like it, i will sell it, but that said once all the stock is pulled together certain trends do emerge, there is a lot of monochrome and sharp lines which I guess comes from my architectural background. i am also drawn towards designers like yourself, align jewellery, hannah muir, steph liddle and jld designs who all have obvious architectural influences in their work.

ZITA: brilliant. i’ll certainly look for something for my new studio perhaps… obviously this whole period hasn’t been great for retail but people have also been getting more supportive for the values independent businesses represent. have you found it quite a supportive environment so far?

JANICE: i have found the industry to be hugely supportive and have really loved how nice everyone is and how happy they are to help. i have come from quite a harsh environment so that has been so refreshing. my customers have also been super supportive, i have had a huge amount of positive feedback and am being told on the whole that people want to shop local, support local businesses and local artists. there are lots of other lovely shops in carnoustie which makes shopping on the high street a positive experience and a destination visit. there is always the odd one that tells me i ‘must be mad and who gives up a career like architecture to go into retail during a pandemic!?’ i just ignore them!

ZITA: it’s great hearing this buzz around local business. how is HAYM going to stand out?

JANICE: so, we have great plans for HAYM, we have started with the bricks and mortar store and will concentrate on that initially, we offer a carefully curated selection of gorgeous homewares and lifestyle products and have a letterbox gifting which we will be promoting more shortly. once restrictions allow we will also be providing evening workshops including lampshade making and candle making to name a few. once these services are fully established we will be then be taking HAYM online.

ZITA:  how brilliant! when it comes to customer attitudes, apart from style (obviously), environmental and ethical responsibility has also been becoming a stronger deciding factor, with regards to textiles especially. has this been important to you throughout your selection? If this was a guiding principle, was it difficult to source these products?

JANICE: this is very important to me. i wanted to keep as many scottish suppliers as possible, not only is this important for local tourism, it supports local businesses and reduces the impact on the environment through reducing transportation. i have also tried to work with designers who are eco-conscious when both designing and making and who are committed to sustainability, where possible using materials which are reusable, recyclable or biodegradable. this has not been difficult, i have found that more and more companies are practicing green procurement, this involves sourcing goods and services that are produced and supplied in a sustainable fashion and sourcing from local suppliers rather than those located far away. we also provide 100% recyclable paper bags and environmentally friendly recycled packaging.

ZITA: amazing. ultimately, what do you hope shoppers will find at HAYM – and return for years for?

JANICE: i hope they will find a friendly, comfortable environment to browse and shop in. i want them to find unique, quality, beautiful pieces for themselves and for others. i want to be that ‘go to’ place for gorgeous gifts.

ZITA: one more thing - can you recommend a book or an artist or a maker whose work is worth looking into? something that keeps you going? this could be an inspiring read or someone else whose product you might stock. I ask this question from everyone, i love getting inspired by everyone else’s influences.

JANICE: the boy, the mole, the fox and the horse by charlie mackesy.

this book is just beautiful in every sense of the word.

ZITA: wonderful, thanks a lot!

JANICE: thank you.

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HAYM is open since 1st may 2021, at 41 high street, carnoustie, dd7 6ag.
open tues - fri 9:30am - 5:30pm, sat 9am - 4pm.

links:

HAYM (website)

HAYM (on instagram)

align jewellery

hannah muir

steph liddle

JLD designs