{MARKETS} Mathilda's Market Melbourne

Some photos of my stall at the Mathilda's Market on Sunday 15th May 2011, Malvern Town Hall.

Hubby was such a trooper driving down earlier in the week with all my stock and then all the way home again after the market ox

Little Nate & I caught the plane down and back and the 3 of us all enjoyed our first Melbourne market. The crowd was fantastic and so were the lovely stallholders around us.

I did a very quick spot of shopping at 10 to 1 just before the market closed, getting some Baby Gap PJ's for the kids from Animal Crakers Clothing and some gorgeous little pieces for both Nate & Matilda from MiniFin.

My (a little late) Creative Space

A busy week here. Slowly getting myself geared up for another year of markets, with the first local one for the year in a couple of weeks time and the first city one - Lollipop Markets in Adelaide in 4 weeks time - eeeekkkk! So my rack of clothing had dwindle down to about a dozen dresses after the final Christmas markets so after a beautifully relaxing break away over the Christmas/New Year period I am back into full "sewing mode" and have been busy this week . . .

quilting

sewing

and an early release for Autumn/Winter 2011 available in store now.

More creative spaces over here : )

Blogtoberfest Day #30 ~ Mathilda's Market Adelaide

You can find me here tomorrow - Sunday 31st October : )

Blogtoberfest Day #22 ~ PINK!

Not the singer that is, but tonight is a PINK Fundraiser Shopping Night at our local hall. The car is packed, even though it is walkable distance for me, just not so with all the gear for the stall - trestle table, suitcases, rack and baby in the pram, lol. 18 stallholders of arts, craft, food, wine and more - plus LOTS of door prizes and giveaways happening throughout the night. More details here : ) I'm looking forward to a fantastic night and maybe even a spot of eary Christmas shopping!

Blogtoberfest Day #9 ~ Market Prep

Today I am busy putting together stock for some big upcoming markets - more drawing wallets for my stock for both the boys and the girls. Mathilda's Market in Adelaide in 3 weeks time is the next big market on the calender for me and I am looking forward to doing a spot of Christmas shopping there myself, with over 40 gorgeous sellers on the day : )

Blogtoberfest Day #2 ~ To Market

This morning I had a local makers market that is run 4 times a year out at the Australian Inland Botanical Gardens. The venue at the gardens is a woolshed that was completely dismantled from a station/property in the area, moved and re-erected at the gardens. A little quiet today, hopefully a bigger crowd for the Christmas market in December. The photos show the woolshed with the stallholders setting up prior to the opening of the market, and my stall for today.

Sugar and Spice Market Wrap Up

Last weekend hubby, baby Nate and I packed up the car and headed to Woodend for the Sugar and Spice Boutique Children's Market. A 6 hour car journey each way, meant 12 hours in the car keeping baby Nate amused. Thankfully he slept most of the journey with just one stop each way for a feed.

We were very lucky to be offerred a bed for the night before the market with the Moederkip family who had recently moved to Woodend to a lovely house in the woods. Thanks Nat, Paul and Bradley for welcoming us into your home for the weekend!

On the morning of the market we only had a short 5 minute drive to the lovely old hall in town where the market is held. Setting up we met our lovely neighbour for the day Helen of the little card boutique - gorgeous cards, why didn't I buy more! Always good to have a stash of cards at home for those unexpected occassions! I didn't get much of a chance to do very much shopping, but did grab some gorgeous new bibs for Nate from Sam of Gromarts, and some wooden puzzles for the kids from Fairground Child.

We were also lucky to be on an end so could spread ourselves out a little more than our allocated space which is always a good thing when you have clothing racks for people to get too.

We had great sales for the market, quite beyond expectations, and also a couple of wholesale and custom order enquiries which is always a good thing! All in all, a fabulous weeked away!

A big thankyou to Ali the market organiser for hosting the market and we look forward to doing another one soon!

Mallee Almond Blossom Festival

We are off to the Mallee Almond Blossom Festival tomorrow for the day. If you are in the Mildura/Robinvale area - pop on out to Kyndalyn Park Almond Orchard just outside Robinvale on the Murray Valley Highway for a day of fine foods, wines and arts by talented locals in the area. Under a huge marquee you will find lots of yummy foods & wines plus lots of stalls of arts and crafts.

Ladies Shopping Night - Werrimull Hall

I am just about to start packing up the car with all my market stock for a Ladies Shopping Night out at the Werrimull Hall. Werrimull is a small town not quite an hours drive from Mildura, off the main highway between Mildura and the SA border. It has a pub, school, corner store, police station and a church and is central to around 85 farms in the area. Hopefully there aren't too many skippy's on the road on the way home.

My Creative Space

Today i am getting back into the swing of things and getting stuck into some more cutting out of winter dresses. I have a market on the Anzac Day long weekend here that I am really not sure how busy it might be as this is the first time this event has been run - but if your in the Mildura area, come on out to the Artback Gallery at Wentworth between 10am & 4pm for a very special handmade market : )

Today is my first day home alone with my 3 babies now that hubby has gone back to work and so far so good, little Nate is a fantastic sleeper - I can't believe that I have been blessed (touch wood) with 3 great sleepers so hopefully I can still get lots of crafting and sewing achieved in bits and pieces throughout the day.

For more wonderful creative spaces go HERE : )

My Creative Space

I'm busy adding hangtags and labels to some last minute sewing for this weekend's Easter Markets. You will find me on Saturday at the Magenta Makers Easter Fair at the Australian Inland Botanical Gardens and on Sunday at my usual spot at the Red Cliffs Country Markets. Saturday's market at the Gardens is expected to be a huge event with an anticipated 2000+ people through the gates for the morning - Easter is a huge event in our town! Be early if you want to stock up on your fresh fruit and veg as well as checking out the fantastic local handmakers that are a part of the Magenta Makers Craft Fairs.

I am also 38 weeks pregnant today - time has certainly crept up with that one! All is going well, I just hope this little one stays put til after this weekend's markets! Then I might be able to put my feet up for a day or two ; )

Check out lots of other crafty lovelies HERE.

Mathilda's Market Wrap Up!

Wow, what a weekend! I am totally exhausted, but had a absolutely amazing time in Adelaide being a part of my first Mathilda's and Adelaide's first Mathilda's markets!

I think mum and I were totally unprepared by how big a crowd would turn out, mum bought a newspaper to read that morning and it was left untouched as were our stomachs as we didn't even get a chance for lunch! I managed just one very quick loo break all morning! Sales totally passed all expectations and I have to say a HUGE THANKYOU to all those that came and commented, bought and chatted with me at my stand about my products - everyone had such lovely kind words on my products and I am so pleased with how it all went. I also had quite a few new wholesale enquiries from stores around Adelaide which will be followed up in the coming weeks so stayed tuned for for more on that!

I also got to meet in person some lovely fellow bloggers and sewers from Adelaide, so thankyou to Natalie, Nic and Candice for stopping by the stall and introducing yourselves - it was lovely to meet you in real life. And also fellow madeit seller Caryn from Smooch Designs who didn't have a stall, but stopped by and introduced herself with her two gorgeous little boys.

Some quick pics of my stall I took before the crowd were allowed in - they were waiting patienty at the doors well before 9am!

And some purchases I managed to make on a very quick run around the other stalls towards the end of the market. The gorgeous little doll is from Lysia at Sassilu and Miss M hasn't let her go since I got home. The cute little nonite owl is from Mardie at little luv and is Master T's little teddy's new pillow at bedtime, so cute! And some super gorgeous hair clippies that I couldn't resist from Kathryn at Pink Apple - I will definitely have to get more, beautifully made and it was hard to only come home with just these ones!

It was a very long day with driving all the way home after the markets, but mum and I made it back home by 7pm that night, right on bedtime for the kids and it was a bath and straight to bed for me ready for today's markets at Red Cliffs, which were surprising busy and another great market day.

I have also setup a newsletter service, so if you would like to signup for that, you can find the signup link over there in the left sidebar : )

My Creative Space

In my creative space today there is MESS! I am busy with some last minute sewing for Mathilda's Markets this weekend in Adelaide. I am very excited to be taking part in my first Mathilda's and definitely have a couple of the Melbourne dates for later in the year bookmarked a maybe's . . .

I have also done a test run of my table to make sure all my stock fits in, and mum generously loaned me some funds to purchase this fabulous new rack that holds nearly all my hanging stock.

I also bought this fabulous laser cut jewellery tree from fellow madeit seller Mr Killmousky - isn't it gorgeous! Just perfect for hanging my button bracelets on with more scattered around the base. Its only a tiny 20cm high but looks perfect on top of a little stool I have it sitting on, on the table. You can also get them a little bigger at 30cm high.

Back to some last minute sewing, then packing the car for the road trip over to Adelaide tomorrow. Leaving hubby home with the kids, hopefully I get a chance to do some shopping at the other stalls on Saturday!

Check out more fabulous creative spaces HERE!

Hushabye Quilts

I opened my "Hushabye" by Tula Pink jelly roll earlier this week and created two cot size (approx. 110x130cm) very quick quilt tops to finish and take to Mathilda's in Adelaide in March. The first I pieced together 24 random strips including all the pink ones from the roll then sliced in half, turned one half around and pieced the two long pieces together. The second one doesn't have any pink in it and I think the colours would be great for a little boy. This I have just left the strips as sewn - I had to add in 8 extra strips to get my 24 strips in total of some coffee coloured quilters cottons I picked up at spotlight. The spotted fabric I am using to back both quilts, not sure about the binding yet.

Girls quilt

Boys quilt - Miss M loves to 'help' measure everything with my measuring tape.

Apologies for the terrible photos once again - I am in serious need of a new camera, the colours really are much better in real life.

Now I just need to decide how to quilt these. I was first inspired to make these quick quilts like this after seeing the quilt Helen made for Ingrid's new little girl last year.

the local paper

As a boost for this new local niche market that I am having a stall at this Saturday, the organiser asked myself if I would mind being featured in the local paper to help promote the event. Sure, why not? So with tied bags under the eyes and my pregnant belly hiding behind my sewing table (after a super mad cleanup of the sewing room!) the local paper popped out for a chat and a photo and the article has been featured in today's local paper. All good except the whole way through the article they kept mentioning the market as being on, on Sunday instead of Saturday . . . they are doing another article in tomorrow's paper ; )

My Creative Space

Its back for 2010! Join in the fun HERE!

Today I am working on stuff ready for this Saturday's brand new niche market in our area. Designed just for handmakers, I am hoping that it will bring lots of fabulous handmakers out of the woodwork and lots of browsing and buying customers to purchase some amazingly gorgeous handmade goodies by local makers. So today it is drawing wallets that are being sewn up, together with a bit of quilting and lots of pattern drafting with more Winter 2010 designs popping up in my head.

Master T & Miss M had a wonderful morning also being very creative with the playdough. According to Master T this is our house (on the left), our puppy dog Millie (the little gren blob on the right) and her kennel in the middle (the orange blob). Now we don't have a chimney so when I enquired as to what the stick with the shape on top was, his reply was the pathway to our beachhouse . . . oh that would be lovely wouldn't it : )
Don't forget to check out all the crafty talent participating : )

Christmas Round-up

We had a lovely Christmas Day with family and friends, ate way too much food and got very spoilt with gifts. Hubby bought me the Amy Butler Softwares program for the computer - 22 sewing projects plus 9 bonus ones for quilts, table runners, bags, pillows and more! I am yet to find a spare moment to sit down and really take a good look at it, but love all the projects from what I have seen so far! I also got some books and a gift voucher to Spotlight which has been spent (almost) on new quilting rulers, blades and other gadgets that I wouldn't have bought for myself before.I am this week getting busy for the first market of 2010 which is this Sunday at Red Cliffs. A local market for us that runs the first Sunday of every month and my only regular monthly market in my area. I have had hubby busy with his power tools helping me to get my buttons permanently on snap clips - as glue just isn't a strong or secure hold for holding buttons on snap clips and wire becomes loose - so after a bit of trial and error we have it - a permanent hold that wont ever fall off! So the first new product for 2010 is these gorgeous button snap clip sets - available at this Sunday's market and online in my madeit store Sunday night.
I will also have the first of my Winter items available come the end of January and maybe some sneak peaks before then depending on how busy the coming weeks are for us.

I must get back to the machines now - I completely sold out of dresses before Christmas and must get busy getting my stocks back up!

Advent Blog-a-long Day #6 - Christmas Markets & Store Stocking

Wow, what a weekend. My final two markets for the year went very well, here's some pics from today's market out at Red Cliffs which is a market I do the first Sunday of every month. I have a permanent site on the shady side of the street - right out the front of the local supermarket . . . and the windows showing the beer advertisements, lol. A great spot though which I am really happy with.

I have also been uploading lots of new goodies into my madeit store, but still have LOTS more to add, it is just a slow process. And, I have two special offers happening between now and Christmas! All orders over $15 between now and Christmas will receive a special free gift and all orders over $60 placed between the 7th & 17th December will receive free post (within Australia).

So if you are still looking for that perfect Christmas gift for someone, make sure you pop on over to Madeit - there are lots of very talented crafters / designers / handmakers that I am sure would love to see you all pop into their stores for a browse and even a purchase!

Advent Blog-a-long Day #5 - Next Store Stocking

It was a very busy morning for me at the markets this morning, wonderful to see so many returning customers and lots of new ones too! Looking forward to another wonderful market tomorrow morning out at Red Cliffs - hope to see some of you there!

Just a quick note to let you know that I will be stocking my madeit store tomorrow night choc full of lots of lovely clothing, gifts and more! And, I will also be offering free standard shipping within Australi for all orders over $60 placed between the 7th & 17th December 2009.

Plus as always, a little freebie with all purchases.

So pop on over to the SHOP after 7pm tomorrow night : )

Advent Blog-a-long Day #2 - City Markets in 2010

I have been pondering a LOT over the last few months about doing markets in either Melbourne, Adelaide or both in 2010.

I was going to do the Sisters Market at Brunswick in February 2010, but now that Mathilda's Markets have announced they will be doing the rounds in Adelaide in 2010 I have decided to do their first one for the year to kick off my city rounds of markets for 2010. I have applied but don't find out if I am accepted til early next year some time, so hopefully my goodies are what they are looking for and they say yes!

Even though I will be about 34 weeks pregnant by then, it is a much closer drive for us to Adelaide than going to Melbourne and I can hopefully wrangle my mum to come with me and leave hubby home with the kids . . .

So, any suggestions of other markets in the regional/country Victoria or Adelaide/South Australia area that anyone can recommend???