Oh, craft!
Two words: stationary buffet. You read that right —shelves filled with postcards, stickers and notebooks that you can hoard on to your heart’s content. If those words aren’t enough to get your inner elementary student buzzing and thinking, “I will find this place and I will buy everything I can get my hands on,” then we don’t know what else will.
The Craft Central is newly opened in Greenbelt 5 to showcase a magical spread of stationery items guaranteed to bring back memories of writing nonsense letters to your elementary buddies. While liking a good quality rainbow patch could’ve made you the butt of jokes in pre-Instagram times, these days, there’s absolutely nothing childish about wanting to collect as many stickers as you possibly can.
O wned by Alexis Ventura, the calligraphy artist behind the IG account-turned- full- blown-calligraphy-brand Ink Scribbler, The Craft Central was originally an online store where workshop participants could buy their products. After two years of conducting business online, she was finally able to open an actual store that could very well be the physical manifestation of every crafter’s dream.
It’s the perfect time, too, since Alexis is confident that an appreciation for all things handmade is steadily growing. Look no further than the pins and patches with a handmade touch. There’s a lot of love and hard work that goes into handcrafted products. The journey to get all these creatives together in one shop was tiring, but Alexis says it was worth it. After holding an open call for possible artists to partner with on Instagram, they categorized the applications and accepted around 70 artists in an effort to represent a lot of different crafts.
The Craft Central is a haven for both arts and crafts enthisiasts and creatives as well. Aside from the stationery buffet (have to repeat that because it’s a stationery buffet) and its own brand, the store is also home to a host of other well-loved online brands like Soak Artisan soap, Pink Opium and Bedazzle Accessories. Enamel pins with pizza and astronauts on them? Check. Bath bombs and plants in dinosaur pots? Double check. Cheeky sticker designs with pop culture references? Triple check.
Partner artist Tish Hautea is grateful to have a space to showcase her work and products. “One thing I’ve learned is that you have to be open to other opinions and advice from other crafters,” says Trish, who is the lady behind the intricately hand-carved SQOOID stamps. “I also learned how to deal with people, how to talk to them, how to befriend them. And then my art, it became better kasi I was able to improve on it.”
Join The Craft Central ( 3/ F Greenbelt 5) for a weekend of crafts and freebies on Oct. 1 and 2. Follow @thecraftcentral for more information.
The Craft Central extends their creative hub beyond the web in their first physical store opening.