So Chic...so Niche....

I can't believe it's that time of year again. Niche All Wrapped Up market is here again and this time, it's going to be huge!!! Apologies for not blogging in some time - the year has snuck away on me and we've been keeping busy what with sanctum, getting ready for Niche, a lovely double bout of chickenpox for hubby and myself and now a head cold that has hung on for over 3 weeks!! Good times.....

Nevertheless, we are very excited to be getting back behind the market stall and chatting and selling to all our lovely market goers. Can't wait to see what is in store for everyone - there are 60 stalls this time around - will need some pocket money to spend myself I am sure!

Niche All Wrapped Up

Inveresk Tramsheds

Friday 18th November 4pm - 8pm

Saturday 19th November 10am - 4pm

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!

Local Talent

A collection of very good friends are part of a current Design Exhibition here in Tassie running as part of the 'Ten Days on the Island' program till April 4th. Such clever folks down here! It's called 'Furnished' and is being run by DOT (Design Objects Tasmania - Australia's longest running design collective). Check out the website for some wonderful design finds! Current fav's are: Isis St Pierre and her brilliant armchair! Abigayle Tett and her hand formed chandelier. Joanna Gair with Martin Vinnicombe with their combined book terminus. Loz Abberton and her light shade. The simplicity of Stuart Williams standing lamp. And the smooth lines of Belinda Winkler's vessels. Worth a look if you are in this part of the world.

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!!

Christmas Day in Tassie....

Just a quick post to say that we hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and to wish you all a well celebrated New Years!
Our Christmas Day was a very low key affair... a gentle nudge awake by two hungry pussycats, a leisurely walk around Heritage Park a few blocks behind our house, a breakfast of croissants, warm from the oven and then onto the present opening!
We were lucky to catch up with the lovely Gemma (from Loz and Dinny), her hubby Dunc and their gorgeous brood of three for a delightful afternoon tea (consisting mainly of dessert items as it turns out!) and we were meant to get together with a few other folks for a picnic at Cataract Gorge, but this fell through.
Not to be defeated, we packed up and headed to the beautiful City Park, sat on the grass and enjoyed: BBQ Tandoori Chicken, homemade Coleslaw with Red Cabbage and Fennel, Corn Fritters with a tangy dipping sauce of Sour Cream and Spring Onions, homemade White Chocolate and Pistachio Fudge and topped off with a bottle of Andrew Garrett Sparkling Shiraz..... ahhhh....bliss....

It's tough celebrating Christmas in Tasmania!!

Makers Evening at TVC

This Thursday 9th, between 5.30pm and 7pm, a local Tourist Centre, the Tamar Visitor Centre is holding a Makers Evening.

Karen Burnett and the wonderful team at the TVC love to support and stock locally made crafts and items and are very excited to be able to bring a showcase to Tassie's visitors.

It's open to whoever would like to come along and see some of the local talent and I know that Karen is always on the lookout for new stock and would love to chat to anyone interested.

There will be small selection of Makers who will be there to sell and chat about their work, including yours truly.

If anyone is looking for some Christmas Shopping ideas, the TVC this Thursday might be a good place to start!

three lovely souls....

The three lovely souls I speak of are Vee, Alan and newcomer, Saffron (5 weeks old!).
Vee, folks may know from The Purple Finch, is making return to the crafty scene after having bub and Alan, is a very sought after local photographer with his business Photobat.
During the upcoming Niche market this weekend, these lovely people are doing an amazing offer and giving proceeds to St Giles! How nice is that?!?
Alan is offering Photography Gift Vouchers for Christmas (valid through to January) worth $350 for the tiny price of $50!!
That's not an offer you will match anywhere else.
Take a quick peek through Alan's body of work on the Photobat website and you will soon see that this is an offer that will be very hard to pass by and very popular this weekend.
So if you, or anyone you know is thinking about organising a family portrait, or perhaps pet photos or the obligatory cute baby shots for the grandparents -come along to the guys stall at Niche in the Tram Sheds at Inveresk this Friday (4pm-8pm) or Saturday (10am-4pm) and bag a serious bargain!!

rainy day blues...

What's a girl to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon.....?

Homemade scones,warm from the oven.....a sleepy pussycat on the chair beside you......a cup of tea and some good company.....that's what!

Snow in September....

We've just gotten home from a overnight trip to Hobart.

As you can see from the piccies below... it's been a wee chilly down here in September!!

These shots are taken north of Bothwell (home to the Australian Golf Museum!) and on the way to the Great Lakes.

I put my first foot print in snow.... I threw my first snowball (deliberately missing hubby I'll have you know!)... and saw my first snow man/penguin! Very, very groovy!

Tassie... you just keep surprising me.These shots are from the Steppes Sculptures on the same road about 90 mins from Hobart. The Steppes Sculptures are a gift to all who help protect and maintain the Forests and Ecosystems of the Midlands, from Artist Stephen Walker. You need to keep an eye out as they are only marked by simple roadside signs and you can only just see them from the road.What a wonderful way to celebrate this amazing country and remind us to care for it as we should.

Morning Tea anyone?

Just wanted to show a rather lovely little spot we have found here in Launceston called 'Tranquility Gardens'. It's a bed and breakfast as well as a tea room. Gemma (of Loz & Dinny fame) put us onto it as we would never have driven in otherwise. Five minutes outside of the city, it is a beautiful place for morning tea or lunch. It's history is as a private residence for a Japanese businessman who created his own japanese style garden. Complete with fountains, a lake and stone sculptures throughout a garden just made for wandering around in. Well worth a drop in if you're in this neck of the woods. As I am writing this, we have a lovely gentleman installing a hand made Blackwood Timber screen door on our house. Now, seeing as it was something like minus 3 degrees this morning, I can't see it getting a whole lot of use until next summer! But this was the earliest that Michael had available to make and install for us. We didn't want to go the aluminium route, and were very pleased to stumble across Michael at the Deloraine Craft Fair last year.

We are really happy with it and are hoping the cats won't use it for climbing practice or claw sharpening! Michaels details are: Michael Thomson Design & Sculptural Furniture (03) 6369 5170 if anyone would like more information.

baby, it's cold outside.....

My name is Joseph. I was a little chilly this morning. Although I have my own custom-made fur coat, sometimes it's just not enough. My human grandma knitted this blanket and I find it comes in quite handy on a cold, Autumn morning.

YAAWWN!

I might not even move for the whole day......

More touring...

This is becoming a bit of a tradition with anyone coming to visit with us down here - a trip to Penguin on the north coast and a photo with the big penguin (complete with halloween pumpkin on his head!?).

Aren't my folks cute?

Today we hit the Deloraine Craft Fair - it's HUGE! A bit tricky for us to get around to everything but we managed to see maybe half of what was on offer. Looking forward to next year - may even organise a stall for red bamboo.... hmmm.

I got to chat to Maya from Hideyo and she said the four days had been very busy and successful - they sold out of their beautiful origami flowers each day and spent the night and next day making more! Wé'll see them again at Niche in November.

We also managed to stumble apon the Pearns Steam World annual 'Steam Up' weekend. A rather (surprisingly for me) interesting family business centered around the preservation and restoration of old engines and machinery.

As you can see, plenty of rides for the 'kiddies'.....

Back to work tomorrow for hubby and me, then we'll be plotting the next trip....

It's been a little while....

It's been a little while since I blogged....

The folks are here for a holiday (their first to Tassie) and so our time has been well spent playing proud tour guide.

We have managed to cover some miles since they arrived and with the beautiful weather we have been having down here, it's been nice to get to know all of these wonderful places again and see it through their fresh eyes as well.

Unfortunately my Dad cannot walk as far as he used to, but fortunately, there are plenty of great places to drive to.

One of the places we've been to is Beaconsfield. Most will know of this town because of the Anzac Day 2006 Beaconsfield Mine Disaster. We went through the Beaconsfield Mine & Heritage Centre and were really impressed with both the size of the place and the effort that has gone into it all. Worth a look if you are in the area. What the two men went through is documented really well and I definitely have more of a sense of their survival in extreme circumstances. Scary stuff...

The Centre is also on the sight of the original mine in the area and so you get to walk through ruins of the old pump house - I think it contrasts nicely with the current operating mine.

This abandoned shed lies just back from the main street in the town. Hubby and I had seen it on a previous visit and were pleased to get back again so we could photograph it.
These Californian Poppies are in the garden at a Lavender Farm in Rowella - what brilliant colour! Tassie is putting on her best face for my folks visit - I am totally grateful!
Another driving trip today through the North West of Tassie and tomorrow we are hitting the Deloraine Craft Fair - apparently the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere! Yay!

Holidaying in Hobart

We have just gotten back from a quick weekend away in Hobart (the other city in Tasmania). Arriving home it struck me as a little surreal to be driving home after being there, instead of flying back to Brisbane!

Drew managed to find the loveliest Bed & Breakfast for us to stay in. Wayne and Lynn Parkes are two incredibly welcoming and gracious hosts and Clydesdale Manor was a beautiful building that immediately felt warm and comfortable. Whether in the lovely garden or the warm and cosy sitting room in front of the fire sipping port. Such a hard life......

After arriving Friday we hit the Salamanca markets first thing Saturday morning. This is one of the largest markets I've been to and while there are definitely some great stalls, there was also a lot of the 'usual fare'. But, I do think I have been spoiled by being part of some amazing handmade design markets, so imported goods don't excite me that much anymore.

After the markets we went driving and found the Wooden Boat Centre at Franklin. This shed sitting on the side of the Franklin River plays host to an information centre, but they also run wooden boat building courses (an 18 month diploma and shorter 7 weeks course where you build a wooden dingy!). Very interesting to see and good to hear that crafts such as this are being kept alive by a passionate few.

Today was a mosey back to Lonnie with a stopover at Stefano Lubiana wines in Granton - about 20 minutes from Hobart. We were a bit taken with a few of their wines and a good few dollars later staggered out with a cartonful!

We also stopped off in New Norfolk at The Drill Hall Emporium. This amazing store is full of the wonders and wares of yesteryear! Everything in the store was very well displayed and in great condition. A bit pricey for us 'non-Antiquers' but well worth a wander if anyone is in the area.

All in all, a very lovely weekend - possibly the last free one before Christmas!!

Driveby Deloraine

Finally!.... a weekend without rain!

We took this opportunity by the horns and went for a long overdue 'Sunday Drive'. We were headed for the Honey Farm at Chudleigh, only to find that the one Sunday the place was closed was today!

Slightly ruffled but not defeated we decided to hit the road again and see where we ended up.

Deloraine sits on the Meander River and is about 50kms west of Launceston. We found a lovely spot for a quiet lunch by the river at the Deloraine Train Park. That's where we spotted this little guy - what a cutie! I'd never seen a duck this colour before (all tan body and very orange feet!) and was quite taken with him. I've called him 'Desmond'.

This appears to be perhaps an old mill - certainly the trains would have passed beside the building and it looks like some renovations are being done. So our Sunday was capped off by sitting on the banks of the Meander River, eating a very good vegie pastie, drinking ginger beer and watching the ducks (and local families) play. Not a bad life really......

Stormy weather..

Just to pop a few pictures of the recent floods at Cataract Gorge here in Lonnie. We didn't get to see it in full 'bloom' but there was still an amazing amount of water coming through. This was a week or so ago, but we have had heaps of rain since, so there may well be more shots coming soon! The suspension bridge (pictured) had 'Keep Off' signs posted as there were so many folks on it trying to get a better view!

Bay of Fires

A few weeks ago hubby and I were lucky enough to be offered a holiday cottage at the Bay of Fires (north east Tassie owned by a good friend. The contra deal was that we were checking out a local cafe that is up for sale for the same friend.
A glorious weekend, hampered only by the fact that I had a severe nerve pinch in my neck that made moving (or anything really) painful. But I persevered.... why wouldn't you when the place looked like this....?!