Sweden is no stranger when it comes to handcraft and design, and it should come as no surprise that the crafty DIY spirit is alive and well in the Nordic nation!

Light & Space

Textile designers light & space, based in Göteborg, Sweden, offer up definitely Scandanavian cards.

Lilla Jizo

Self-proclaimed hermit and artist Lilla Jizo shares images from her mysterious corner of the world with these amazing little paintings on pottery fragments found on the Western coast of Sweden.

Cristina Pires

Seamstress Cristina Pires creates swoon-worthy handmade dresses from vintage fabrics, with a smashing selection of color and pattern.

The craft scene in Sweden definitely seems to be bustling these days! The amount of crafters that have popped up online from this lovely country has increased dramatically since last year, so we’re going to be paying special attention for any hidden gems that may pop up this year! Have a favorite Swedish crafter you’d like to share? Leave us a note in the comments!

Feria de San Telmo, held on Sundays in one of Buenos Aires’ oldest neighborhoods, has an impressive mix of artisanal crafts as well as flea market goodies, and a great write up on it can be found here.

And of course, a country with beautiful architecture and a good mix of cultural influences can only mean one thing:wonderful crafters! Here’s just a few of the magical things being made all the way down south.

Maria Lunate

Mmmmmmm-mmm! We are big fans of papercraft, and marialunate sells an adorable variety of things to buy, such as this “Little Red” paper house set! She’s also got super cute prinatbles, perfect for scrapbooking and gift adornment. Check out her shop here!

Ensamble Carro

Though there aren’t too many items in the shop right now, the upcycled/recycled bags of Ensamble Carro are hot hot hot. Fashioned from vintage suits and ties, these things are muy sexitanté!

Capricho Urbano

Awesome vintage-fabric purses and plushies from Argentinean designer Soledad Marteletti, available on Etsy! Goodies of all kinds can be seen on her Flickr photostream as well.

Cynthia Del Giudice

Beautiful handmade minimalist jewelry with a delightfully organic feel, available from Cynthia Del Giudice.

Yet another country on our list of places to see, Argentina no doubt has a wealth of creativity and inspiration, obvious through the goods of it’s fine crafters! Did we miss anyone on your list of favorites? Leave a note in the comments, because, after all, sharing is caring!

With that then, it’s no surprise that indie craft is alive and well today! On a larger scale, November brings a massive five-way of trade shows running in parallel to Oslo, the craftiest of which is the Kunst & Håndverk (in Norwegian) featuring all manner of craft goods from around the world.

Let’s take a look at some modern-day indie crafters from this northern country steeped in a long tradition of cuteness!

Carambatack Design

Oslo-based illustrator Annette Mangseth has original artwork prints, stickers, and more in her Etsy shop that have a decidedly cute Scandinavian folk color and design sense.

Mandag

Textile and print designer Sini makes these awesome cards above with bold colors and graphics, but also makes minimalist scarves with beautiful muted, natural tones. More in the shop here.

Wandering The Woods

Norway sure does have a lot of artists, doesn’t it! Katrine of Wandering the Woods celebrates one of the things Scandanavian mythology does best: creepy woods! She does a good job of mixing in the cute with the creepy though in her archival prints of original works, available here.

Have any favorite Norwegian crafters we might have missed? On your way to indie crafty events in Oslo, Bergen, or beyond? Let us know in the comments!

Photo by Kokosmeli

Mexico has a long history of tradition arts & craft, which anyone living in the southern half of the United States is probably well familiar with! Mexico City’s craft institution, Mercado Artesanal La Ciudadela, is *the* spot to go if you want authentic handmade goods, ranging from pottery to wood craft, paper maché to hand-blown glass.

Indie craft is, of course, thriving in Mexico as well! The DIY spirit is apparent everywhere you go, and I for one am always impressed with the ingenuity with which people get things done. Let’s take a look at some of what Mexico has to offer:

Illustrator Rosie Music creates cute cute cute things inspired by rock n’ roll and sells prints, t-shirts and more with her adorable watercolor & ink type drawings. Another swoon-worthy piece: Home Sweet Home. Swoon!

Paper doll cutter Art & Scrap, also in Mexico City, works some combo of a Cricut and specialized Cricut software to make some pretty fabulous paper dolls. Cut with the awesome power of a Cricut, Diana decorates the shapes by hand to make scrapbooking pieces you won’t find anywhere else. Need a Jonas Brothers paper doll set for that piece you’re working on? She’s got you covered!

What happens when kids don’t tidy up their room? NOM NOM comes out to eat their pajamas! La Mandragora created this adorable plushie monster with zipper mouth to CHOMP CHOMP on pajamas and hold them safely in it’s mouth until they’re needed again. Super cute plushies!

All in all, we look forward to finding more and more goodies coming out of an ever-growing indie craft society in Mexico! Have an awesome Mexico-based crafter we missed? Feel free to leave information in the comments to share with the world!

New Zealand is definitely holding it down when it comes to getting crafty. A virtual cornucopia of craft fairs has appeared in recent years on the island nation, including Craft 2.0, Fabric-a-brac (supporting crafters via it’s fabric selling mayhem), and craft markets popping up left and right all over the country. They’ve even got their own online marketplace for handmade goods, Felt! The fellow above is the Sweet Yeti from Bad Animals, makers of cute plushies and other felty cuteness.

World Sweet World, a ReadyMade/CRAFT-style publication, delivers DIY/MIY (Make It Yourself) tutorials to an ever-growing New Zealand and Aussie crafty crowd, and has a nice calendar of events available online.

Here are a few more gems from other crafty kiwis:

The “Blue Leaves” handmade cloth journal and more by Cat Taylor, who has an eye for patters and color!

Kati Brown’s “Just Me” handmade agate earrings.

Lilu No. 1 – 2 Birds, stuffed prints and more from Minu, whose cute printed goods have “lots of love in them and (hopefully) some magic.”

New Zealand has plenty to offer the crafty world, above and beyond hobbits and Flight of the Conchords. If you’re taking a trip over, try to stop by one of the many weekly and monthly craft happenings and support handmade!