Photography courtesy of Lee Illfield

The festive season is well and truly upon us, and so with it comes the time to do our Christmas shopping. With so many brilliantly creative local artists and makers, this year we’re putting a focus on shopping local!

One particular retail spot that’s worth dropping into for your festive shopping is none other than the Charlestown Square-based storefront, Creative Village Newcastle.

Born out of a desire to bring artists, creators, and designers across Newcastle and the Hunter into one fabulous shop right into the heart of retail meccas; a shopping centre! Now, almost six years later Creative Village Newcastle continues to grow and thrive and connect local artists with the public.

“Our creative small businesses have a shared vision, of putting handmade at the forefront of Christmas shopping. Our shop fit-out has needed to be flexible so we use a unique mix of vintage ladders and tables to showcase what we do, so we are truly bespoke and constantly changing,” founder of Creative Village Newcastle, Leah Fawthrop said.

Creatives working together as a team, with a shared goal of showcasing our work in a retail environment is not only heart-warming and delightful but also a lot of fun for the artists and makers.

“We have an eclectic range of handmade, unique wares, and you never know what you will find in our shop.”

Standing alongside the big guns of retail with their hand-crafted gifts, art and design, and a desire to make handmade the new black, Creative Village Newcastle is excited to invite you in for a unique shopping experience.

“Shopping with us, you get to support local independent artists, designers, makers, and small businesses, helping to fuel Newcastle’s creativity.”

To get you excited about shopping locally this year, the creatives behind Creative Village Newcastle are celebrating ‘Full Colour Friday’ this Friday as an antithesis of Black Friday Sales.

“We are the antidote to the usual stress of Christmas shopping, and you get to meet the makers. We have been handcrafting our Christmas decor creations to help you deck your halls and embrace the season; from driftwood Christmas trees to hand-painted decorations.”

The team have also curated a range of gift baskets which have been thoughtfully put together for the bamboozled shopper. The team are also happy to work with you to curate your very own gift basket filled with local creative goodies.

So, who and what can you expect to find in store?

“We are super excited to work with Upcycle Newcastle who make all their products using donated upcycled fabric and clothes, saving fast fashion from landfill.”

Di from Seeyasista forages on the beach and kerb side, recycling found materials to create one-of-a-kind artworks and jewellery, with her upcycled Venetian blind earrings being a crowd favourite.

The kids' corner features baby nursery art designed by Bryony from Hello Margot, beautiful fabric crowns and wands made by Darrah from Wonder and Wildlings, bright ice-dyed cot sheets from Colour Clouds and so much more.

“We also have two local children’s authors; Suzanne Manson from Redhead publishing has written and illustrated three books about Olivia and her Grandma set in Redhead Beach and surrounds. And Emma Hain from Secret Diaries has written two hilarious books, I did a boom boom and Secret Diaries.”

Moving into the jewellery area, Creative Village Newcastle has a beautiful range of unique one-off pieces suitable to all budgets. from silver filagree to paper jewellery.

“Our body product range, Wanderlust made by Amber in her home studio are just beautiful. We were proud as punch that QT Newcastle chose to work with us to create a range of body products for their VIP guests and you can try out these beautiful creams and shower butters too.”

Located on Level two at Charlestown Square across from Cotton On Kids, Creative Village Newcastle truly is the epitome of the saying ‘it takes a village’, creating a unique village-like shopping experience with local, handmade, and creative products featured throughout.