Aunty Social returns to GNCCF in 2025
We’re heading to the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair at Victoria Baths in Manchester from 17-20 October 2025 to tell craft lovers all about Aunty Social and to showcase a selection of fabulous Fylde Coast artists.
Aunty Social is dedicated to supporting our local artists, crafters, designers and makers to develop their work, skills and business, to help build a thriving arts scene in Blackpool. We provide opportunities to sell their products in our shop, exhibit in our spaces, offer support and advice and promote their amazing work. This year will be the 4th year Aunty Social has been invited to showcase our local artists and crafters at the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, alongside some of the best from across the country. A national leader in craft fairs, the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair hosts over 150 selected crafter-makers and design artists from across the country each year. Through our partnership with Great Northern Events, we offer a space with Aunty Social for local makers to show and sell their work on a scale much greater than is available in Blackpool. This offers the chance to meet other makers, observe sales techniques, develop their industry understanding and meet potential buyers. Every year we jump at the opportunity to showcase the very best of Blackpool & The Fylde.
Meet the Artists
Paula Smithson
Printmaker & Bookbinder
Website: https://www.paulasmithson.co.uk/
Instagram: @smithson.paula
Paula Smithson is an artist, printmaker and maker of handmade books, who works from her studio in the North West. As an artist, Paula has exhibited both in the UK and internationally. Inspired by the human experience, her creative practice is multi-disciplinary, often combining printmaking processes like collagraph and screenprint to achieve both two and three dimensional outcomes. The themes explored within her work have a key focus on the human form, inspired by her love of theatre and performance. More recently, an interest in incorporating the outdoors, mapping and walking has taken her work in new directions.
Paula is a skilled bookmaker. After acquiring a collection of geographical survey maps from a disbanded university Geography department, she has developed a collection of beautifully unique sketch and note books that bring together her concepts of mapping and talent for bookmaking. Each book is hand-stitched and created using locally-sourced paper, manufactured in a mill in the Lake District.
Sana.Jpeg
Illustrator & 3D Print Artist
Instagram: @sana.jpegg
Roksana Kryca is an illustrator and 3D print artist based in Blackpool. Her work, inspired by her Polish heritage, explores contemporary interpretations of traditional Slavic folklore. Drawing inspiration from other mythological creatures, stories and lore, she uses her training as a video game designer to create images and sculptures designed for a digital world.
Roksana works across multiple mediums. As an artist, she mixes traditional art techniques with her digital skills to blend the two disciplines and create unique sculptures and illustrations. She combines linoleum carving and print, hand-drawn illustration, model-making, acrylic painting and sewing, with her skills as a 3D print designer to bring her creations to life.
In 2025 Roksana was offered the opportunity to open a studio in Blackpool Town Centre. This has allowed her to create and sell her work directly to her customers, whilst showcasing her skills and ever-growing collection, to the general public.
Helen Mary Rodger
Jeweller
Website: https://helenmaryrodger.com
Instagram: @helen.m.rodger
Hailing from Sheffield, Helen trained as a designer for theatre, making props before forging a career in education championing the creative use of digital technologies in learning. Now settled on the Fylde Coast, Helen has returned to her craft roots as a jeweller, joining Aunty Social for GNCCF in 2023 to showcase her products. Soon after, Helen was offered the role of Retail Supervisor at Aunty Social, championing local artists and makers along with delivering workshops to our local community.
In 2024, Helen successfully applied for an artist residency with Blackpool School of Arts as part of Arts Council England’s AA2A programme. The residency afforded Helen the time and resources to lean into her already considered approaches informed by bold shapes, colour and confident expressions of personality. It also offered her the opportunity to explore the history of Blackpool, the place she now calls home.
Helen joins us this year to present her Work In Progress, a research project centred on the stories of the Blackpool Tower Ballroom. Helen’s current work focuses on recreating sections of the famous ballroom dancefloor and individual pieces will tessellate to form a complete replica. Bespoke pieces which relate to specific locations will form keepsakes that connect the wearers to personal events or memories that took place in that space. These works combine lasercutting, resin work and traditional jewellery-making techniques.
We’d like to thank everyone at Great Northern Events for their continued support, and offering us this brilliant opportunity.
The Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair returns to Manchester from 17-19 October 2025.
Manchester’s iconic Victoria Baths will once again become a hub of creativity as the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair (GNCCF) showcases a Curated Collection of Britain’s Finest Makers.
This award-winning event, recognszed as the North’s most prestigious craft fair, will showcase a meticulously curated collection of work from over 200 of the UK’s most talented artists and makers.With a rigorous selection process, the GNCCF guarantees a showcase of truly unique and original pieces. The event offers a rare opportunity to purchase original, handcrafted work directly from the makers themselves, with everything from luxury jewellery to bespoke furniture.
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