How to fill your weekend...

How will you fill your time this weekend?
We've got a great idea for Saturday (Sunday is up to you!).
The Boutique Markets is a great designer market that started in sunny Brisbane a few years ago and has now launched itself, along with Mathildas Markets) all over Australia.

This is their first outing to Launceston and if the response from Hobart is anything to go by - we are in for another great market find!
With being so wrapped up in sanctum, this is my first market of the year! 
Very exciting!

Saturday 15th September

The Hotel Grand Chancellor

9am til 1pm

Boutique Markets meets Hobart

Just a few pictures of yesterdays combined Boutique and Mathilda's Markets at Hobarts waterfront.
We were very lucky with sunny (mostly) weather and a great turnout of market goers.
Well worth the trip south.

Top to bottom: red bamboo soap; luscious li'l cupcakes; What Katie Did Next; Marley & Lockyer; nigh nigh; adore u; red bamboo candles

Boutique Markets @ Hobart this weekend...

It's been a bit of a long haul, but we are finally counting down the days (and products left to make!) till the innaugural Boutique Markets in Hobart this weekend.
Am a bit excited as I haven't done a market in Hobart before so it will be interesting to see how my little range goes, plus I get to see an old friend, Rachael - organiser extraordinaire of the Boutique Markets who invited me.

Have been very busy making candles, soaps, soy melts and bath melts - just a few more bits and pieces to go.

Spent the better part of 4 hours today just labelling!

You really do have to love what you are doing - with handmade goods there really isn't a way to recoup all the labour time in your selling price. Otherwise they would be $20 bars of soap!

Still, I enjoy every batch and my house smells divine!

Hope to see you there.

Hobart Function Centre

Sunday 28th August

9am - 1pm

upcoming Market fun in Hobart!!

What joy!

red bamboo has been invited to be part of a combined Market effort in Hobart at the end of this month!

The wonderful children and baby market, Mathilda's Market and the designer driven Boutique Markets are sharing space for one day only!

The wonderful Rachael and I got to know each other while I lived in Brisbane - I was lucky to be part of the Boutique Markets in it's earlier stages. Seeing it grow and go from strength to strength has been lovely - though somewhat bittersweet as I could no longer join in the fun!

How very exciting then to see that the Markets are now touring the country and now it's Tassie's turn!

Now, the challenge is to be ready in time!!

With our lovely wellness centre going so well, and orders from other lovely outlets (like here and here) coming in - we are starting to sweat a little with planning and ordering and making!

But it's all still fun and I can't wait to catch up with Rachael again.

Plus hubby and I will make a weekend of it and stay overnight in Hobart - never a hard thing!

Makers' Market @ Festivale!

Just a quick post to let eveyone know about the upcoming Makers' Market during Festivale.

The Design Centre is hosting this event on Saturday 12th February in their lovely courtyard behind the centre.

A round up of local talent will be showcasing and selling their wonderful wares - we would love your support. So please pass along the word!

See the sanctum blog for more information plus the stall holder lineup!!

moroccan magic....

This is a new version of my old fave, Moroccan Rhassoul Goat Milk soap.

Flashied up a bit for the Design Centre's Makers Market this weekend, I've layered it in two pours and added a touch of glamour with a seam of Gold Mica through the middle!

With all the bars together, the log looks like a big latte or a hot chocolate!! Mmmmmm.......

New Soap Logs

Thought would just pop a few shots of my latest batches that I have done up for the upcoming Design Centre Market that's in conjunction with Launceston's Festivale celebrations. Check out what else is happening over the 3 days here.

This first one is my old favourite Vanilla, Pomegranate & Black Currant. I added a spash of pink clay at the end and was really thrilled to see it come out in some really great patterns. You never know what you'll end up with with each pour.

Then I had a play with layering a soap log - this one's my After Dinner Mint but in log form instead of the round bar. This took 3 separate pours and I've used non-bleeding oxides so the colours won't run into each other. I was really pleased with how well it came out, I just hope the layers stay stuck together!!!

The market is on in City Park, along with the rest of Festivale, from 11am till 4 pm Saturday 13th Feb. Spread the word!

I'm looking forward to it, but think with the numbers that come out for Festivale, it could be a big day - best get to making more stuff to sell!

reasonable absences......

Ok... so I haven't blogged for awhile....

This is the reason why!

These are some of the candles, melts, tea lights and lip balms I've been furiously making over the past few weeks for Niche, with more curing as I am taking this picture.

This 3 day designer market hits Launceston from the 27th - 29th November (10 till 4) and looks to be a huge event. Lots of familiar faces from the last Niche market, near Mothers Day, earlier this year, but some very tempting new folks as well!

After such a great response to my candles at the last market and in the time between, I decided very early on to concentrate on that side of things this time around and bring aboard Natalie from Gypsy Hill (more info soon), to fill the other half of the stall with her beautiful soaps.

That way it has saved me both the cost on ingredients and some serious production time! Plus we can spot each other for loo breaks over the weekend!

These are some new mosaic containers that I managed to get from my suppliers at a good price as they are a discontinued line - but I thought they would make a great 'Yuletide Collection' being red and green. I picture them in the centre pieces of folks Christmas dinners and so have filled them with fragrances such as: Tangerine, Applejack (red apple and cinnamon), Vanilla and Rhubarb. Hope folks like them.

Tell one...tell all... come along and see what great talented and craftie people we have down in Tassie!

New and improved....

Just a quick plug for a great market I was lucky enough to be part of in Brisbane. The Designers Emporium markets have be revamped with a sparkly new venue (Portside Wharf) and a sparkly new name - The Boutique Markets.
Their new website is at http://www.boutiquemarkets.com.au/. I am very excited for Rachael and Leasl, the hardworking mum's who created and run the market and also for my hubby's uncle, who is the marketing guru for the Portside Wharf precinct. Best of luck to them all.

Cheerio Brisvegas!!!

I did my last markets (Designers Emporium) yesterday for Brisbane.

What an awesome group of people I have been lucky to meet and get to know. It's been a while since I could truly feel at ease being just me. So the whole experience has been very appreciated.

I managed to clear the majority of my stock so I am glad of that too. Thanks go to a good friend, Andrea, and her family who came to visit and bought just about everything!!

There were only six stalls, so very quiet, but a fun day anyway as we got to chat all day long!

Some of the other great stalls there were:

Mags Bags (http://www.magsbags123.etsy.com/) run by Maggie, a lovely lady who makes the loveliest handmade bags. I now own two!!

Cloth to Creation (http://www.clothtocreation.com/) run by Pam and Co who make some amazing things with vintage cloths and fabrics as well.

There are too many talented people to mention, but I wish them all the very best for the new year.

I can't wait to hit Tassie and start building my business there as well!

Now we get down to the nitty gritty of packing our life up and shifting it south. We only just found out today that our removalists want a fully itemised list on each carton we pack! Poor hubby Drew, who has been powering through the packing, was a little annoyed.

But we have a month before the move so there is time.

All the best to everyone for 2009 - looking forward to what the new year might bring!

Christmas comes but once a year.....

Well, Christmas is racing towards us once again and it is a great time to to find bargains - if you know where to look for them.Personally, I intend to not set foot inside any large shopping centre if I can help it (I managed this last year to my delight!).

I have added these little guest sized soaps to my repetiore - the mould design is called 'Fleurish' and they look a celtic design to me.
I have a lady who wanted them as soaps for her guesthouse in the Moroccan Rhassoul (rhassoul clay, nutmeg, orange and cinnamon) scent. I have also put them on my market stall and dusted them with a lovely gold mica to give them a little 'bling' for Christmas.
I hope people like them.
It's a bit of a challenge to know how much to make of everything. On one hand, you want to have the stock there to sell - on the other, you don't want to be left with a lot of leftover stock to try and shift in the quieter months early in the year. Especially with perishable items like the soaps that can lose their aromas or sometimes their looks (scratches, dullness etc). But fingers crossed we will all have a great season and make enough money so we can go buy other marketeers goodies!
Be well.

Introducing Hot Toffee + Peg & Kate

Just come back from the Melbourne Cup version of the Designers Emporium Markets (bit quiet) but got to chat to some of the other awesome stallholders, so not a loss at all!

Two of the talented folks are Nicole from 'Hot Toffee' and Cathy from 'Peg & Kate'.

Hot Toffee (http://www.hottoffee.com.au/) is an amazing collection of fired glass jewellery inspired by Japanese Art and Design and influenced by Australian Beaches. They are wonderfully colourful and quite intricate when you get to look at her pieces up close.

Working from her home studio west of Brisbane, Nicole creates little pieces of art, that you can wear!

She has stockists throughout Australia - in Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales as well as Queensland. She has just joined us at Designers Emporium Markets and is wonderful company!

Peg & Kate (http://www.pegandkate.com.au/) has been created by the lovely Cathy ('Peg' was her Grandmother, no longer with us and 'Kate' was a nickname she used to call Cathy - much to Cathy's mothers dismay!).

Cathy hand sews these great rolls for childrens colouring in pencils, chair bags, book covers and also sells the best colouring in pencils (Lyra) that make me want to sit down and colour in all day!

Her kits are very popular and she is doing well at the Markets with the littlies.

Her daughter, Rose often comes along to different markets with her - but I believe Rose likes to see what other stalls are doing and is very good at borrowing money from Mum to buy lots of goodies!

Thats what I am finding is one of the best things about doing markets - the people you meet. What a clever and friendly bunch of people. Now I just need to make some money so I can buy all the lovely things from other peoples stalls!

The Markets hit TV!

Just got a call from one of the lovely ladies who organises the Designers Emporium Markets - we are doing a Melborne Cup special market tomorrow - she let me know that the local Brisbane television show, 'Extra', from Channel 7 will be coming along as well to shoot footage of us all.

'Very exciting' was my first thought, followed very quickly by, 'what does one wear for their first television outing?!'. Actually, my second... the first was a TV ad for a spa I once worked at!

I beleive they are doing a special on Christmas Markets around town, so fingers crossed it will mean a rise in business for us all, as the past few weeks have been a little quiet.

I am in the process of making up another batch of one of my favourite soaps - the 'resting woman' soap.


I fell in love with the picture of the mould from one of my suppliers and she is even more lovely in the 'flesh'. I chose to scent her with beautiful Ylang Ylang, Lime and Bergamot essential oils and colour her a soft, pale green. Just sublime!
As much as I would love to have her out for all the world to see, I package her in a clear bag for her own protection, but have a small sample soap for people to smell available.
I don't usually go for moulded soaps, but she is one exception.
I hope others love her as much as I do!
Ciao for now!

Annie

Getting ready for Market

There seems to be a Market happening every time I look around right now! It's still a lot of fun, but it is also a challenge to keep my stock levels replenished and ordering the right amounts from my suppliers.

I have been blessed to be given an order from a lovely lady by the name of Carol. Carol owns and runs an online Gift Hamper business called 'hamperme.com.au' (well worth a look) and she came across my stall at a market a few months ago.

As these things happen, just as I go to fill Carols' order, my suppliers change two of the containers I have been using since last year - and they are two that Carol really likes!!
I also have a few orders coming in from some of my Clients at the Spa I work at and another one from the wonderful Raylee (my hubby's Mum!) for friends and colleagues as well.

So, I have been making batches of soaps, lotions and lip balms the past few weeks and thought I would make an effort to get some photos to show some of the process.














Yes.. this is my kitchen table! These are some of the products I have made up in the past few weeks awaiting labels and wrapping.














The 'tottles' (upside down bottles) are now white instead of clear bodied. I am hoping to be able to get the clear ones back as I think they look better (and I can see which lotion or body polish is which!), but unless I buy 10 000 of them in one go..... the chances are slim!

redbamboo @ Designers Emporium

redbamboo has arrived at Designers Emporium!




This is a wonderful Market run by two clever ladies who decided to showcase local, handmade goods. They veto everyone coming on board and ensure a high level of quality and variety. No two stalls sell the same things.


I applied for this Market many months ago, but missed out to another lady who had a similar range of products - I thought at the time I didn't have Insurance to cover me and she did. As it turns out, I had it all along (it's part of my Insurance for Massage Therapy)! Wasn't meant to be.



The lady eventually moved on and Leasl and Rachael got in touch to see if I was still interested. Oh yeah! The Markets run the first Sunday of each month and my first day was last Sunday (5th October). We hold it in a permanent marquee at the Everton Park Hotel and there is a great variety and standard of clever things to buy.



It was a little warm (Summer is speeding towards us), but we had fans and opened up the sides of the marquee. We had music piped through all day and the Hotel supplies the tables! So much less hassle for all us stallholders!


Plus there was a bar just across from us, so no complaints here!





Meeting the other stallholders from this Market and from Manly has definitely been one of the greatest joys about this whole experience. What a wonderful group of people and such a wide range of personalities and backgrounds.


The next step is to make redbamboo a sustainable business (at present there is still more money going out than in!) and to continue to grow and refine my products.



Each batch I make teaches me something a little more (sometimes what not to do ever again!) and I am still loving every minute!

Ciao!



Annie