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• Judges from Etsy, John Lewis, the Guardian, Enterprise Nation;
• Crafty Fox Market, Sew Over It and Lisa Levis London.
The Mollie Makes Handmade Awards will discover, celebrate and showcase the work of some of the best designers in the handmade community.
More people are crafting than ever before.
• 71% of British females said they had taken part in a craft activity in the previous year.
• There are now 17.4 million women taking part in these activities, up 11% on 2011.
• Of the 7.1 million British women who have tried a new craft in the last 12 months, 41% of them were aged under 35.*
• And increasing numbers of designer makers are looking to make money from their handmade products.
Katherine Raderecht, Head of Lifestyle at Future, says: “Contemporary handmade crafting is a thriving scene and Mollie Makes is at its centre. As more and more young people are getting involved and using their creative talent and skills to start businesses and social enterprises we wanted the Mollie Makes Handmade Awards to celebrate their achievements. And we’re so pleased to have a stellar array of judges and involvement from John Lewis, Etsy, the Guardian, Crafty Fox Market, Sew Over It and Lisa Levis London.”
Prizes on offer include a day with Etsy getting business advice on everything from digital marketing to setting up an Etsy store, mentoring sessions with Lisa Comfort from Sew Over It and Lisa Levis of Betty & Walter, £500 prize money and coverage in Mollie Makes. All entrants will receive a free Etsy store listing, for their first 20 products, and 30% off Moo business cards.
The five categories in the awards are:
• The Youth Award
• The Start Up Award
• The Established Business Award
• The Social Enterprise Award
• The Creative Idea Award
The judging panel consists of:
• Matt Doris Leader of Etsy’s International Community Programmes team
• Vanessa Bowerman Buyer, Haberdashery, Crafts & Fabrics, John Lewis
• Kate Carter Life and Style Editor for The Guardian
• Emma Jones Founder of Enterprise Nation, business expert and author
• Sinead Koehler Founder of Crafty Fox Market
• Lisa Comfort Owner of Sew Over It
• Lisa Levis, Designer/Founder of Betty & Walter
The judging panel will be chaired by Lara Watson, Editor of Mollie Makes.
Lara adds: “Since Mollie Makes launched three years ago it has established itself as the number one choice for this new generation of designers. Mollie is at the heart of this flourishing community, reaching over 300,000 creatives every month, and showcasing the best designers and makers. We are so excited to discover the next generation of design talent through the Mollie Makes Handmade awards.”
Earlier this week it was announced that Mollie Makes will be launching in the US. Set to debut on 29 April, Mollie Makes US will bring a local touch for US Mollie readers. The digital property will be built on FutureFolio, Future’s fully interactive content platform specifically designed for tablets and smartphones. The Mollie Makes U.S. Edition editorial team will be led by Editor-in-Chief Katherine Stevenson.
Competition entries close on 25 May. The winners will be unveiled at an event on 11 June at the Proud Archivist in London.
• Source: Future’s 2013 Craft Intelligence Survey
About Mollie Makes
Mollie Makes, launched in 2011, is the UK’s number one contemporary handmade magazine and has a brand reach of over 300,000. A craft magazine with a difference, Mollie Makes has tapped into a strong and growing trend for contemporary handmade craft, appealing to a younger generation of crafters, with many of its readers under 35.
About Future
• Future plc (futureplc.com) is an international media group and leading digital business, listed on the London Stock Exchange (symbol: FUTR).
• Future has been named Consumer Digital Publisher of the Year for three years in a row by the Association of Online Publishers (2011, 2012, 2013) and has been named the Professional Publishers Association Digital Publisher of the Year for two consecutive years (2012, 2013). Future is also the British Media Awards Media Company of the Year.
• We have operations in the UK, US and Australia creating more than 200 publications, apps, websites and events.
• We hold market-leading positions in Technology, Games, Guitar, Creative and Sport & Auto sectors.
• We attract more than 57 million monthly global unique users to our websites, which includetechradar.com, gamesradar.com, bikeradar.com and musicradar.com.
• Future sold more than 19 million magazines last year, that’s 37 magazines sold every minute. Our most well-known brands include T3, Cycling Plus, Total Film, Mollie Makes and Xbox: The Official Magazine.
• Future has developed its own app-creation software, FutureFolio. We produce over 100 digital editions, and have sold over 5 million digital issues in the last year.
• Future exports or syndicates 218 publications to over 92 countries, making us the UK’s number one exporter and licensor of magazine content.
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