Stallholder Profile Adorn You

Todays Stallholder Profile belongs to Adorn You

https://www.facebook.com/AdornYouArtisan

Growing up I was a bush bower bird..collecting bits of broken china and glass, feathers and anything  bright that caught my eye… spending time in the bush with my pony, using wire to fix things, picking up stones…I began to see the sometimes hidden beauty of nature at an early age..even now  when the cabbage gums drop their silvery, purple bark to become  bright orange continues to fascinate me. I remember having a collection of broken egg shells just because I liked the patterns.”  Making Do” in the bush led me to believe, as I still do, that there are no real right ways to do things....just what works best at the time…This is the basis of my innovativeness ..I put things together in a way that work .

  I am the proud daughter of an amazing artist and my mother was a fabulous dressmaker and fashionista . So she drafted and sewed the latest designs and I was always  dressed in the latest fashion.  Jewellery and accessories in the bush were very rare so I made mine to match each outfit.  I still have all my long dresses that I hand beaded and the accessories that went with. So adorning is as natural as breathing to me.

I studied school at home , art and business  at university and then have been a  potter, a bead store owner, art teacher [also did I mention a fish farmer, grazier and am currently a  safari operator in another life.. I am a mother but our  kids have grown and gone from  home but  I still have

‘precious collection of beads and stuff but now I also now have a collection of opinionated animals....birds, dogs, deer and a camel .

  Some of my favourite highlights have been runner up in the Australian Wool awards, pieces selected and exhibited in the prestigious  for Santa Fa Bead exposition and winning  the title of Southern Downs ABC Rural Woman of the year” and being runner up for the state in 1997 because of my  reinventing objects of the drought and giving them  new life … I find it hard to throw ”interesting”  things away  and I often have things stashed for a while until they come to life again with a new story of creation .making it truly special. 

  I love the joy people have when they wear a piece of my jewellery and how special they say they feel when other people comment on their jewellery. I think people respond to colour and my work is colourful, especially my hand-painted beads, it’s whimsical nature naturally spreads joy and smiles.  Life is for living, why not make it a colourful one too!  

Toowoomba Handmade Expo and Vintage Market

One last blog post before the launch next Sunday of our very first Toowoomba market incorporating Vintage.  
To say we are all excited is a gross understatement.
We hope you can make it or tell a friend about it or even pop it on face book for us.
Without all our loyal supporters, of course this would not be possible.

We'd like to thank everyone for voting for us in the recent Australian Markets and Fairs magazine Golden Gazebo Awards, where we won the Best Handmade Market in Australia.
We once again are just so thankful to you all for your support of our market.

Stallholder Profile CelestinesArt

Our stallholder profile today is Celestines Art

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Celestinesart/1480421628939619?fref=ts

Your name: Celestine Stokes

Your Business name: Celestine’s Art (www.celestinesart.com.au)

The suburb/town you live in now: Lockyer Valley

What is it that you make and what skills do you use?

Whimsical Mixed Media Art

What inspired you to start your business? 

My children

How long have you been ‘creating’? 

2 years

Is it a full time/ part time/hobby or business?

Full time professional artist

Where do you sell your creations? 

 Gallery’s, art shows, exhibitions, the Handmade Expo, markets, fairs, online and through Etsy.

What makes what you do special or different? 

I do original paintings, commissions, prints, cards, postcards, bags and phone covers for people who like to dream, make daisy chains and jump in puddles.

What is the most rewarding part of what you do? 

Being able to escape into my imagination and share my imaginings with other people to make them smile.

What is your favourite product that you make? 

Original paintings

Do you teach classes or workshops? Occasionally.

Stallholder Profile Simply Sweet Cupcakes and Bake

New Stallholder profile for today is Simply Sweet Cupcakes and Bake

https://www.facebook.com/simplysweetcupcakesandbake?fref=ts

Name:

Sam Lowery 

Your Business name:

Simply Sweet Cupcakes & Bake

The suburb/town you live: 

Quinalow QLD 4403

What is it that you make and what skills do you use? 

Sweet Treats; Slices, Biscuits, Cupcakes, Cakes, Tarts etc

What inspired you to start your business? 

Love to bake!!  

How long have you been ‘creating’? 

12 months

Is it a full time/ part time/hobby or business? 

Full Time & Hobby 

Where do you sell your creations?  

The Handmade Expo and Vintage Market Toowoomba, Dalby, Quinalow, Oakey, Toowoomba, Highfields, Meringandan, lots of my business comes from Facebook!!

What makes what you do special or different? 

Home baked & fresh!!! 

What is the most rewarding part of what you do? 

Happy Costumers, great comments they make!!  

What is your favourite product that you make? 

Cupcakes, but really everything sweet!!! 

Stallholder profile Moonage Exchange

New stallholder profile is Moonage Exchange

https://www.facebook.com/moonageexchange

Your name:

Bec Bougoure

Your Business name:

Moonage Exchange

The suburb/town you live in now:

Toowoomba

What is it that you make and what skills do you use?

I sell Men and Women’s Vintage Clothing and Accessories.

 I also sell Upcycled Second-Hand Clothing where I take second hand pieces and alter or restyle a piece by adding something to the garment (patches, prints or embroidery/beading), or colouring dying items, or cropping/distressing an item (jeans in particular).  

What inspired you to start your business?

For as long as I can remember I have had a keen interest in second hand clothing, and in particular altering or upcycling second hand clothing.  When I was a teenager the older looking the piece the more I wanted it, and in more recent years with the emergence of Vintage clothing becoming a trending term I have started to look at Vintage pieces with a modern vibe.  I love to style my Vintage pieces with more modern pieces to create edgy unique looks.  I have also started to develop a range of upcycled second hand pieces to expand on this styling component and have been altering other items to continue the unique styling theme.  

How long have you been ‘creating’?

Since I was a teenager I have been attempting to create unique and edgy styles from Vintage Second-Hand pieces, however Moonage Exchange is a new project that I have been trying to establish for the last 12 months.

Is it a full time/ part time/hobby or business?

Part-Time Business

Where do you sell your creations? Online/markets etc..of course you must include The Handmade Expo, lol:

I have only started selling pieces via markets; however I am also working on creating an online store via Etsy and also at The Handmade Expo and Vintage Market in Toowoomba

What makes what you do special or different?

I don’t have the most typical Vintage pieces; I try to collect Vintage pieces that allow me to style them with a modern vibe.  I enjoy the idea of using Vintage clothing and Upcycling clothing to promote sustainable fashion practices which is why I like to promote modern styling with Vintage pieces.  

What is the most rewarding part of what you do?

I do it for the love of sustainable fashion and enjoy promoting this idea particularly with the youth of today and small communities.

What is your favourite product that you make?

I love all my Vintage pieces but best of all I love creating new and unique pieces from recycled clothing.

Stallholder profile gecko Grove Fine Foods

Stallholder Profile Gecko Grove Fine Foods

https://www.facebook.com/GeckoGroveFineFoods?fref=ts

When did we start and why?

Gecko Grove Fine Foods is a family operation. We live on acreage just outside Gatton. We have always enjoyed cooking and gardening. In January 2013, we decided to use the wonderful produce of the Lockyer Valley to make a range of preserves. In the days before freezer, preserving was used to store seasonal food.  Today supermarket shelves are full of preserved food in bottles, cans or freezer packs but often the factory process of preserving has robbed the food of flavour or filled it with additives.

What do we make?-

Our preserves are made in small batches our licenced home kitchen with traditional methods. They feature mainly local Valley produce and other produce from South East Queensland. We like to give every a little gourmet twist like slow roasting some of the vegetable or adding  a touch of spice to a jam.

What do we love about our business?

We love making our preserves. We get to shop at local farms for fresh produce and experiment with complimentary spices. We also use fruit from the many backyard fruit trees in the area – fruit that is otherwise wasted. We travel the world by cook book in our own kitchen. We love the challenge of being inventive with the local produce. For example, the Lockyer Valley grows a lot of tomatoes. Of course, we had to make a tomato relish like my mother in law makes and everyone loves – even Bob who hates tomatoes. But why stop there? We have Tomato and Tamarind Chutney, Tomato Kasundi, Tomato and Pepper Sauce – and we are still coming up with new products.

Our Customers?

People buy our products for special gifts and for everyday eating. They like the fact that we make a range – mild and spicy, chunky and smooth, sweet and tangy – something for every taste.

An old lady who was given some of our jam contacted me to say thank you. “To Barbara, with many thanks for your lovely homemade jams and all.  They remind me of the past when I was growing up and things tasted like the fruit they were made of” R.A 

Stallholder profile Cooked

Stallholder profile today is on a new stallholder for Toowoomba and her business name is Cooked

https://www.facebook.com/icooked.com.au?fref=ts

I live in Toowoomba.

Cooked is founded on a back-to–basics principle:  healthy, unprocessed, delicious food, made from scratch with ingredients that you can pronounce.

We are good, family, home cooks.

Before I started my business I worked as an accountant. I have 3 busy children and a busy husband. I felt terrible that by the time I got home there was no time to make nutritious meals for them. Even though I was a good cook, my family were not eating well. Friends of mine were in the same situation. So when I left my job, I started cooking for them and then their friends and the business has grown from there; by word of mouth.

The first meals were sold to 5 friends in February 2014. Cooking though has been part of my life sine I left home at 18 and realised I needed to cook to eat and as I loved to eat, I would need to learn to cook well. Whilst I have worked as an accountant for nearly 30 years, I have also had stints cooking for a pub in London, a ski hotel in the French Alps and managing a guesthouse in NSW.

Every week I send an email with a newsletter, which details the meals I will be making the following week. Subscribers to the newsletter order their meals over the phone or return email and I deliver them once a week; on Thursdays. I have recently started to sell to a local convenience store. The Handmade Expo and Vintage Market in Toowoomba is the first market that we have ever attended.

Our product is unique because it is local. It is not produced in a factory. It is made by hand, from scratch. The only difference is that we have a bigger oven and bigger pots. The recipes are domestic, cookbook ones that I just make a lot of! There are no preservatives, numbers and fillers. They are wholesome and family friendly.

The most rewarding part of this is the feedback that I receive.  When someone finishes a meal and sends me a text saying: “Sensational!”, or “Thank you for making my life a helluv a lot easier”, it is very rewarding indeed.

My favourite product is the chicken and leek pie. I must have made nearly a thousand of these. I never get sick of them and my family all request them for their birthday dinners, so they must love them too.

I have not taught classes or workshops. However I have spoken to a vocational teacher about taking on a Hospitality Cert 111 student and this will happen some time in the near future.

Stallholder Profile Bird on a Branch Designs

Our stallholder profile today is Bird on a Branch Designs.

https://www.facebook.com/birdonabranchdesigns?fref=ts

Your name:

Kathleen Moon

Your Business name and facebook name and link:

• Bird on a Branch Designs

•https://www.facebook.com/birdonabranchdesigns

The suburb/town you live in now:

Warwick, (Previously Mackay & Whitsundays)

What is it that you make and what skills do you use?

Stringing, Wirework and Art Glass Bead Creation & Design.

What inspired you to start your business?

I began designing jewellery with my two sisters in Mackay for fun, which turned into an overwhelming obsession for beads and and the need to design interesting limited edition pieces. I constantly strive to surprise my customers with each new collection, and look forward to one on one consultation sessions which produce one off designs tailor made for each of my clients.

How long have you been ‘creating’?

13 years.

Is it a full time/part time/hobby or business?

Full time hobby/business.

Where do you sell your creations? 

The Handmade Expo and Vintage Market Toowoomba, Via Private Exhibition, various curated art & handmade craft markets & facebook.

What makes what you do special or different?

I take individual beads that appear foreign to each other, and combine them uniquely to create one harmonious and dynamic design that is spectacular!  I incorporate a wide variety of materials (beads and stringing medium) into my designs, and many of them can consist of not just one type of bead, ie semiprecious stone, but of many... Including resin, acrylic, faceted glass and crystal, wood, bone, shell, pearl, Swarovski or my own art glass lampwork beads designs and created in my glass studio.  I am first and foremost a jewellery designer with a flair for dynamic and contemporary design, who currently spends considerable time honing the art of creating unique art glass lampwork beads.

What is the most rewarding part of what you do?

Seeing a customer taken by surprise by one of my designs, and feeling a connection between their enjoyment for wearing my work, and mine, for designing that item.  I also love walking up the street and unexpectedly running into someone wearing my jewellery.  I take pride in all I create and the enjoyment it gives others is gratifying for me. 

What is your favourite product that you make?

Anything that is beaded. But my favourite is the "statement necklace". The "top-shelf item" that few people buy with exception to the most daring of customers, who not only choose that piece because it is remarkable, but because they are confident enough to wear it and bring it to life in style.

Do you teach classes or workshops?

I have in the past conducted beading classes predominantly for children out of my studio during school holiday periods and for birthday parties, when I resided in my hometown of Mackay last year. It was called the "Bead Buffet".  It was a huge success and I have video clips and photos on my fb page for your reference.