The Contemporary Handmade Alliance

The Contemporary Handmade Alliance is a Facebook community created by Tania of Chicken Ink Creative  which "provides the Australian contemporary crafting community a space through which is shared high quality information, to assist and support members in their crafting endeavours; including the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, packaging and selling of their products, as well as networking opportunities".

It has only been up for a day, but it is already thriving! It is a really positive environment where independant crafters or designers can share their business experiences and give each other advice and support. The are opportunities to promote your business, get involved in discussions, learn about handy online tools or new suppliers...the list goes on! An extremely valuable resource for a newbie like me. 

More journals for sale!

Four new designs are now for sale at the Nothing Sketchy store. Here's a quick peek...

Oh Deer

Another Madeit seller rave! I love Aussie designer Oh Deer and their collection of vintage inspired jewelry. Below are three of my favourites - so gorgeous, and reasonably priced as well!

Sweet Memories Locket

Masquerade Mask Necklace

Swinging Birdy Necklace

New Stockist - Handmade Heaven

Nothing Sketchy is now available at Handmade Heaven, store run by Liesa in Ipswich, Queensland! Each 'handmadie' gets their own little cubicle or shelf space. I wish there were more stores like this in Sydney - does anyone know of any?

Image taken by Liesa at Handmade Heaven.

Nonpareil Magazine

I have recently fallen in love with  Nonpareil Magazine, an online magazine filled with wedding inspiration and DIY projects. I won't be getting married anytime soon but that doesn't stop me from drooling over the beautifully designed pages, interesting tutorials and lovely photography!

All pages sourced from Issue 3 of Nonpareil Magazine.

Blue Caravan

I've been meaning to blog about Blue Caravan for a while now, basically because I love the concept and what they do.

Blue Caravan is a website where you can buy and sell contemporary handmade, environmentally friendly and ethical products directly from the designer/maker. All the products sold there fall under one or more of these categories: one-off, limited run, handmade, upcycled, sustainable, locally made and sweat-free certified, and ethical trade or fair trade certified. 

And as you can see the products are beautiful!

Market Finds!

This weekend I visited the Bondi, Surry Hills and Glebe Markets (phew!) to do some recon work before taking the plunge of holding a market stall. It was interesting to see how other stallholders present their goods and represent their brand in a market environment. One of the stalls I found particularly inspiring was Summer Blossom, who make handmade hair accessories. There was so much attention to detail - everything was colour coordinated, there were lanterns hanging from above, grass (fake but very effective) covering the ground - I felt transported to a different place! And she had some very creative ways of displaying her headbands and hairclips. Just gorgeous.

All images sourced from Summer Blossom's Facebook Page.