Thursday, December 18, 2008

...and LO it was awesome!!!


I must admit, I'm a teensy bit worried. The market was so good, I fear I am spoiled for all future events. The bar has been set terribly high. Firstly they were just so much fun. The vibe going on was amazing - I guess because although many of us had not actually met in real life before, we all felt like we knew each other anyway, after weeks or months of chatting online. It really was a case of 'we are all in this together' and everyone was so supportive of each other and super friendly.


Add to this some great crowds, which flowed steadily throughout the day, and everyone making a fantastic number of sales (I sold almost two thirds of my stock, so I was stoked!!) and you really can't ask for much better than that can you?


We had some lovely jazz tunes pumping from Betty Kingston's corder of the hall inside, and then at 11am we had some fantastic live music in the courtyard. It really did make a fantastic atmosphere. Even the food was awesome (my homemade iced-billy-tea and roast vegetable wrap went down a treat!!). We also had Olivia from Scampsville doing a live radio cross with 4ZZZ (she hosts the fantastic program 'At the Local') and she actually interviewed Helen from Ruby Red Studios & Ruby2GoGo who coordinated this whole shebang, Hayley from REread, and myself - you can listen to it here if you're interested. She also interviews Karen from Knitting for Brisbane's Needy, which is the charity we raised money for on the day as well.


Best of all though was sharing the day with my sister, which meant I had someone to chat with all day, someone to share my excitement (and remind me to eat) and someone to take turns with manning the stall so that a little (ok a lot) of shopping could be done. I could so easily have bought something from every stall. The quality and variety of goods was so fantastic. Alas, I didn't buy something from everyone....I did give it a good ol' aussie go though. Wanna check out my loot? Here it is:


Notecards from Twinkle Star Art - these are completely handmade, and are perfect for writing thank-yous to people when sending out orders.


Reindeer brooch from Pedrosprout - now I can be festive and funky on Christmas day. Yay!!!


Uber-pink ruffle bottoms from Bettsy Kingston - Kate is going to LOVE these. And so am I. They are just so so gorgeous. And the super-generous Benita also threw in a gorgeous red polka-dotted nappy cover.


I couldn't wait for Christmas to give these to Kate. She's wearing them already. This is her fluffing up her skirt so I could take a photo :P


Zip purse from Little Mary Moo - boy were these gorgeous. I think my friends and family alone must have depleted at least a quarter of Therese's stock (Jade couldn't decide which fabric she liked best so she ended up buying three purses - one in each of her favourite fabrics, and my mum also couldn't resist. Oh, and I know a couple of ladies from my book club came back holding up their purses saying "how cute are these". They really were the perfect little Christmas gifts!!)


Glass brooch from Hot Toffee - there was no way I was leaving Hamilton that day without some kind of Hot Toffee goody on my person. In fact I also bought a hairband with a gorgeous green glass square on it, but I was wearing it when taking the photos, and I've learnt my lesson about taking ugly close-up shots of my hair....ahem. Moving on...


Brooch from old books by REread - are you getting the idea I may have a bit of a brooch thing going on? Yep, hair accessories and brooches. I can never resist. What I love love love about this brooch is that the illustration on it is by one of my favourite children's illustrator teams, Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone. So so cool!! Oh, and Hayley is actually giving away one of her gorgeous brooches on her blog right now - so go enter!

But wait, there's more!!!!!


I was lucky enough to do a little swap with Catherine from Made by Maisie, and Kate will be receiving this beautiful Missy Mermaid for Christmas. She is currently obsessed with all things mermaidy so will adore this gorgeous doll.

And I couldn't come away without some more gorgeous kids' clothing.


A stop by the Ogekko stall helped me get my fix, with a beautiful paneled skirt for Kate,


and some very cool pants for Lee.

Some gorgeous handmade Christmas decorations for our tree. If anyone read this post as soon as it went up you'll notice I have just added these in. I forgot them originally as they had been put on the tree as soon as we got home, and they looked so at home there I forgot to take them down and photograph them. So from left to right - star ornament that Kate chose from Raspberry Pink (Lee also chose a green tree one for himself but I can't find what he's done with it....). Peggy Rudolf from Sharlzndollz, a gorgeous gift from Bel from EmBelISH - Kate keeps pointing at her and saying "that's mum"...awwwww), thank-you SO much Bel, I love it!!! And a little Christmas Jelly from Jellygnite (and Kate points to that one as says "that's Kate"....once again...aawwwwww).

Whew, and I think that's it. I'll be doing up a post of the BrisStyle blog in the next day or so, which will include a lot more pics of market stalls. So check that out shortly if you're interested.

Oh, I almost forgot, kinda yesterday's news now, but a couple of weeks ago my bags were featured in the Courier Mail paper. Two days in a row!!! First in an art-lovers gift guide, and then in an Eco Gifts article. As my scanner is on the blink I can't scan the articles in, but here is a link to the blog post by the journalist who wrote the Eco Gifts article. It's the same article, just posted on his blog - The Green Blog.
(oh, and please note, I was a bit misquoted. When asked where I got my inspiration I answered vintage fabrics, Enid Blyton, and my Grandma's button tin. When asked where I found most of my fabrics I answered at local op shops. This transpired into me being quoted as saying I was inspired by op shops and a biscuit tin....he he he ...mmmmmm biscuits......)

And that's about it from me for a while. On Sunday I will be taking off for Christmas in Melbourne, and will be away for a couple of weeks. I have closed my Etsy shop until 26 January, and am making no promises about blogging until then either. I'm getting ready for some serious chill-out, play with the kids, sew some clothes, have some fun and bake some bikkies time.

Hope you all have a wonderful stress-free, healthy and relaxing Christmas and New Year. My very best wishes to you and your loved ones. See you in the new year. XXX Bec

25 comments:

CurlyPops said...

Congratulations Bec, it sounds like you had such an amazing time... and of course there's nothing better than picking up some handmade goodies for yourself too. I'm off to check out all of those links (especially the glass brooch).

Hot Fudge said...

What a wonderful post, Bec. Your story took me back to last Saturday and now I'm sitting here day-dreaming instead of making that wretched glace fruit Christmas cake! The butter I left out is now a greasy puddle, so I had better get cracking.

I did some serious buying at our market as well - it was too hard to resist, wasn't it?

Have a great Christmas and come back all enthused for our next Market.

Jade said...

Ah you did the addendum to your quote in the paper! I was going to do it for you on my blog then forgot... I didn't want people thinking you were a big porky who was inspired by bikkies and op shops :) he he he

And yay, time off! Perhaps you can teach me to sew some clothes for Jett too.

Melanie Gray Augustin said...

Wow, that's a really successful market! Well done and well deserved. I loved all the shopping you did too. When I do markets with my cousin, we also take turns during the day to man the stall so we can both go shopping. Often, there are so many fabulous handmade things that it's hard not to spend our earnings :)

I'm off to check out those links now!

Cathy {tinniegirl} said...

It sounds and looks absolutely fabulous. Now I'm off to check out all those great Etsy stores. I might have to do a little Christmas shopping for myself.

Have a wonderful Christmas holiday. I hope you have a fabulous time baking, reading, sewing and living. I'll look forward to catching up on all your news when you are back in Blogland.

Cathy
xxx

Cass said...

Congratulations Bec. Looks like the market was great. Have a very happy Christmas and New Year

flossy-p said...

WOW! It really does sound like that day will be hard to top! Both in the number of sales you made, the atmosphere and all the great stuff you got yourself!

You deserve a break after all that. Enjoy your Christmas and New Year!!!!!

May next year bring many more grand events!

Car said...

Congrats on a great market Bec :) was lovely to see you (& Jade) there & my friend absolutely LOVES her beckybean bag... now I'm wishing I got one for me too - maybe next time ;)

Have a great Christmas / new year break - look forward to seeing you blogging again in the new year :)

Ali said...

What a post Bec!
Your stall looked so great on market day - lovely display goodies, excellent signage... on market day I only got a good look at it after a lot of your lovely things had been given good homes!
And what a shopper you are (really, why would you shop anywhere else?!!) Bring on the Christmas spirit!

Sharon said...

Wow! Your stall looked amazing, great sign!
Merry Christmas!!

Hey Harriet said...

Awesome post! Awesome market! It was a great day & I think it exceeded all expectations! And I think you may have exceeded your credit card limit ;) A very nice bundle of goodies!

Hope you & your family have a lovely Christmas & you enjoy your well deserved break. See you in the New Year Bec :)

Sherrin said...

yay for a fantastic market day!!! :o) you sounds like you're still on a high. :o)

Unknown said...

great post ... thanks for the blurb!! cool cat!

Kawaii for You said...

Love the blog Bec... had a bit of a giggle at the "op shop and biscuit tin" quote. Christine

Lin said...

Congrats on a great market. I only wish I had gone! Maybe next time... in the mean time I'll save up my money.

Anonymous said...

What a fantastic market! Your stall looks wonderful and sounds like it was a brilliant atmosphere! Thanks for sharing pics of your purchases, what lovely things - that purse is especially cute!

Have a fantastic Christmas Bec!

Michelle said...

Hi Bec,

Lovely post! It was great to see you and your amazing range of bags at the Markets. I really love your taste in fabric and button combos.

Oh, and congrats on the Courier Mail article!! Can't wait to see your new biscuit tin inspired range in '09 ;) tee he.

Have a nice holiday. See you next year!!

Michelle (AKA Pedrosprout)

Rachel said...

This sounds like an amazing market! I'm so glad it was such a hit! : )

Chrisy said...

Congrats on this fabulous market...i couldn't go as i was ill...but it sounds like it was a big success...and fun...both ingredients that'll encourage you to do it all over again....hope you have a lovely christmas and will be back on line in a week or two.

Paula Weston said...

Well done Bec.

Brilliant looking stall, brilliant products, and brilliant booty!

And well done on the media coverage.

(A journalist misquoted you? Say it ain't so!)

Jessica Lonard (The Crafty Librarian) said...

Your stall looks fabulous, Bec! Congrats on your sales, you deserved it :o) Hopefully the market experience is as good for you next time. Merry Christmas!!

Stacey said...

Your stall looks fantastic. You obviously put a lot of effort into making it look just right.
Congratulations in such a great result.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Bec on such a successful market - and so well deserved. I hope you have a lovely break full of all those wonderful things you'd like to do. Merry Christmas.

vanessa said...

wow!! your booth looks so great! congrats on having so many sales! it sounds like you had such an exciting day. I'm so happy seeing people buying, making and gifting handmade gifts this year! I am glad your kids get cool handmade stuff and really appreciate it. how awesome! hope you had a merry Christmas! happy new year!!

Claire (ethel loves fred) said...

Looks amazing Bec, and well done on the sales, and having a good time to boot!!