Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Stallholder Profile Big Sistah Little Sistah

Our Stallholder profile this time is of Big Sistah Little Sistah,  look out for them travelling to country areas to Markets, Shows and Festivals.

Name: Nicola Matthews & Lisa Dunn (company partners)

Business name: Big Sistah little sistah

The suburb/town you live in now: Brisbane

What is it that you make and what skills do you use?
Handmade and designed women’s clothing with real sizes for real women.


What inspired you to start your business? 
Sick of trying to buy clothes to fit a us “matured aged women with real bodies” A genuine market need for beautiful clothes for larger real women!!

How long have you been ‘creating’?
Lisa has been designing for years I am the business brain behind the operation.

Is it a full time/ part time/hobby or business? Full time business we both work 24 /7 at the moment.

Where do you sell your creations? Online/markets etc.. 
The Handmade Expo regional markets, online through our website www.bigsistah.com.au, Handmade Canberra markets, Melbourne markets, Simply Handmade Yamba, Queens Park Toowoomba
WE love getting out of the city and going country!!!

What makes what you do special or different?
We design clothing for real women celebrating all shapes and sizes.

What is the most rewarding part of what you do?
Genuine happy customers who become repeat customers and they really “love” our sizes NO large no extra large its all about “me”

What is your favourite product that you make?
My wardrobe is now enormous, too many clothes to choose from each weekend when we are out and about at markets. There are definitely not enough days in the week to wear all of Lisa’s new designs.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Stallholder profile WittS.Made

Our first stallholder profile in a new ongoing feature is Stacey from WittS.Made 
https://www.facebook.com/pages/WittS-MADE/134420143323861?fref=ts


Name : Stacey & Sam Witt

Business name: WittS. MADE

Town you live in now: Gracemere, Queensland

What is it that you make and what skills do you use? 
Home wares, furniture, storage pieces, wedding items

What inspired you to start your business? 
Stacey wanted to turn her creative abilities into something productive and that would be of benefit for us financially. Something she was able to do whilst also a stay at home mum.

How long have you been ‘creating’? 
Art was one of Stacey’s majors at High School so it has always been something she was passionate about doing but WittS. MADE was launced September 16th 2011

Is it a full time/ part time/hobby or business? 
It is part time for the moment with little ones at home and once our time is freed up with them growing up and going to school we hope to make it into a business that we are both able to commit to full time.

Where do you sell your creations? Online/markets etc..  
Online (Facebook), The Handmade Expo Market, Rockhampton, word of mouth and on occasion other markets.

What makes what you do special or different? 
We like to have items that not only look good but are functional and whenever possible create things that have dual functionality. With four kids we appreciate the need for storage without breaking the budget.



What is the most rewarding part of what you do? 
When we are able to make someone’s idea come to life. Many of our creations have spiked from a customer’s idea. We work together to create something that ticks all the boxes but is also unique to that customer.

What is your favourite product that you make? 
For Sam it’s the beds/furniture as he has no previous experience in carpentry and so each item is a challenge but therefore is truly one-of-a- kind as it is constructed from our own plans rather than a model/plan/design of someone elses.
For Stacey it is the finer details on any of the custom made items, to begin with it is nerve racking as you want very much to do it just right but when it is completed it is all that much more rewarding because you have created something different to what you may normally do.

Do you teach classes or workshops?
No but on many occasions we have talked people through how we have constructed things, especially the casement window transformations.  We have had people say to us our ideas are ones they may not have thought of and we have inspired them to go home and try it themselves. 

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Fabulous interview was had with Brendan from www.findhandmade.com.au
Seriously when I read it I thought he must have been speaking with someone else.
I knew I had said all that but when you do a phone interview you have no idea whats going to come out on paper ( so to speak )
All the Handmade Expo are very grateful for the market to be showcased like this and we thank Brendan.
Heres the link to the article.
http://findhandmade.com.au/handmade-expo/