Going to market again

The year is rolling on and it is time for the next Upmarket!

Made on the Left is just after that, in a new venue in the Perth CBD.

June 26
Perth Upmarket
10am to 4pm at Winthrop Hall, The University of Western Australia

July 10
Made on the Left
11am to 5pm at one40william, Perth

April Market

After the fun of the Angelo Street Fiesta in South Perth comes the Angove Street Fiesta in North Perth. I am hoping to find some more handmade goodies and yummy scrummy things to eat.

April 10
Angove Street Festival
10am to 4pm at Angove Street, North Perth

E and I are planning to head there and I think that she has a list of garage sales for us to attend as well! Should be fun.

Markets this month

It has been a little quiet on the shopping front lately, we are in the process of building a house and my shopping budget is fairly grim. I feel too that I have barely had time to even window shop! Where does the time go?

There are a few shopping events that I am looking forward to, and they are our March markets. I missed them last year as I travelled to Sydney and Tasmania for a friend's wedding.

These markets are always good to pick up some handmade treasures and I am anticipating finding some things to tickle my fancy.

March 20
Perth Upmarket
10am to 4pm at Winthrop Hall, The University of Western Australia
Made on the Left William Street Festival
10am to 4pm in the James Street Mall, Northbridge

March 27
Unwrapped South Perth
12pm to 6pm at Angelo Street, South Perth

Bazaar at the Fremantle Arts Centre

A couple of weekends ago E and I made our way to Fremantle to check out the Bazaar at Fremantle Arts Centre. It was a fairly mellow event, with a mix of familiar and new stalls! The flavour was definitely Fremantle.

My favourites for the day included the beautiful fabrics of Old Grey House and the card creations of Mokoh. There was a lighting guy too I liked but I have to find his business card.

The gift shop at the Fremantle Arts Centre also stocks many of the artists who were selling at the market, and it was fun to play "Spot the Local Vendor". Maybe I should get out more.

We also browsed through the Home Open exhibit. It features selections from the private collections of a range of Fremantle artists, and the display was fascinating. I definitely recommend a look if you're down that way. I never seem to make the time to visit galleries, although when I go on holidays to other cities it tends to be high on my list of things to do. Maybe that can be one of my new years resolutions. (I made only one for this year and I have not managed to do it, so that is rolling over. Again.)


We topped off our day with a visit to the new B&M Store, where they stock a delightful range of all things felt and beautiful objects. E and I both bought some lovely greeting cards and tried to think of excuses to buy other items. B&M are another reason now to visit that part of High Street Fremantle.

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Catching up on markets

E and I are off to the Subi Street Festival including the Subi Upmarket tomorrow night. We went last year and it was the event that inspired me to start blogging about my shopping experiences.

There are so many cool things to buy out there but not enough cupboard space in which to store them, so saving photos and inspiration in a journal is the next best thing to owning them.

On Sunday we are planning to head to Fremantle to check out the new B&M Store and I think that a visit to the Bazaar at Fremantle Arts Centre will also be on the cards!

Hopefully we can get a bit of a kickstart happening for our Christmas gifts. I do not like leaving it until too late, and I haven't even thought about what to buy as yet!

Upmarket or Unwrapped?

I finally made it out shopping again. The prospects have been quite bleak lately - so many other things to occupy my time! These two markets however are ones that I only miss by being out of the state, and since I did not have that excuse...

First on the agenda was the Perth Upmarket. As much as I love the university and its grounds, I did rather prefer the Upmarket at its previous venue, the Perth Town Hall. I am not sure why, perhaps it has to do with my perception that there are too many people selling similar items now - you get a sense of deja vous and not so much of individuality.

They had changed a couple of things from the last Upmarket. First of all was to open it two hours earlier for "email subscribers". We did take advantage of that - just - and were there before 10am to see what we could see. This was much better and there were less people to fight through than when Mum and I went. The second thing that they had changed was to reduce the number of stalls in the Old Ref and Winthrop Hall. This was much better too and there seemed to be more space. This perception could have been skiewed by the fact that there were less people. By the time that we left the market felt as busy as it had the last time!

I did not find as many things to inspire me this time around (too focussed on the wedding I think!) and all I purchased was a block of chocolate. Woo. E was more productive and she bagged a range of goodies.

After the Upmarket we headed into the city for Unwrapped. This market is in a completely different direction! Upmarket is all about WA designed and (mostly) WA made. The Unwrapped market is more focussed on design (WA designed and made), and the styles on display are much more interesting and contemporary. There were a lot more Vendors selling clothes - or maybe it just seemed that way because the market was much smaller than the Upmarket! The stalls were out amongst the vegetable garden of the Urban Orchard, opposite the Perth Art Gallery. I am so glad that our city is starting to create these interesting spaces.

Baby pretties

I finally got to give away some of the locally made pretties that I have been buying for my friends with, or in this case expecting, children.

What is in this simple package?

Eli the Elephant whose "Enormous Ears Eavesdrop for Entertaining Expose" by Inuk Designs and recycled birdies by Rubbergob.

Made on the Left - Sunday 18th July

I had intended going to Made on the Left yesterday, but in the end I had too many other things to do. Today however I had no excuses not to and E and I went to see the Sunday Vendors.

The market has moved from the Hyde Park Hotel to The Saint in Innaloo. Hint for parking for next time, there is a small shopping centre around the corner if the pub carpark is full!

The Made on the Left market is much smaller than the Perth Upmarket. I think it is a much nicer atmosphere. There were not as many people there but the numbers were steady and whenever I looked each stall had several people there looking interested.

I picked up some more Inuk Design pieces for my ever expanding group of friends! I love the simple shapes and fabrics and my favourite was a tip truck design.

Some gorgeous tags from Little Mo & Friends for using when I wrap up gifts for little people.

Beautiful and vibrant soaps by Soap Opera>.

Lovely children's tshirts and sets by Hem'd. Unfortunately the largest tshirt they had was 000 and I was in the market for something larger!

Hem'd images

Made on the Left

I am actually looking forward to attending the next handmade market on the Perth horizon. Made on the Left is on in a couple of weeks, and it is always great to see what is new on offer.

I have done an indifferent search and cannot seem to find a list of who will be there selling their wares, so I guess it will be a mystery and hopefully I can make it to both days!

If you are in Perth, head on down and have a look and support local handmade products.

Perth Upmarket - beautiful items

There were many beautiful and varied items for sale at the Perth Upmarket today. Here are some of my highlights from today.

Gorgeous clothing and this beautiful flower from Monster Alphabets

Awesome cards and tags from Huckleberry Hill. There's my friend MC manning the stall, and a sample of one of my favourite things, cupcakes!


I just had to try a Spirals Cinnamon cinnamon spiral. (?) My afternoon tea today.

Funky canvases from Splash Canvas. The canvases were abstract, contemporary, and could be made to order for your colour scheme.

Stylish and practical aprons for your children to wear to protect their clothes by Berry Cosy.

Cool and interesting removable wall decals by Wall Allure. These are actually made in Queensland!

Patterns and yarn for beautiful knitwear by Jo Sharp. I was eyeing off this particular garment at the market however I did not manage to convince my Mum that it could be her next project to make me one! I do love my woollen clothing so I might just have to learn, now that I know there are some non-granny styles out there...


Images 5, 6, 7, 8

Perth Upmarket - the experience

Well, I managed to organise myself, my mother and two friends for my day today however I neglected to organise a pickup time for my sister for the Perth Upmarket. Mum and I got to her apartment and she was still in bed! Sorry E.

The market today was at UWA, spread out across Winthrop Hall, the Undercroft, the Old Ref and the walkways in between.

The Junior Upmarket was held in the Old Ref, and there were many different selections to choose from! The room was quite crowded and I kept feeling that we were going against the flow of traffic. Mum commented on the number of prams that were in evidence and helping to clog up the aisles.

It was a little roomier in the Undercroft, where there were more children's items and things for the grown ups too!

There was more room to move still again in Winthrop Hall. It was sad to see the stained glass windows that had broken during the storm. The pieces were still sitting in the windows, it looked like they had made them safe. The windows on the other side of the Hall were still intact so you could compare the two.

It is obviously a popular market. We were there at 10.30am and it was already very busy. I think it would be great if the Upmarket could happen more frequently. There are quite a few arts markets in Melbourne that occur regularly (The Esplanade Market, St Kilda, Sunday Arts Market, Rose Street Market) and it would be fantastic to have the opportunity to browse local WA talent more than four times a year!

Melbourne expedition

Last weekend we went to Melbourne to watch the Dockers beat Carlton. Thankfully they did, although I was on the edge of my seat in the last quarter as they let Carlton back into the game. For the boys, it was a football trip. For me, there is no way I could go to Melbourne without doing at least a little bit of shopping...

Saturday morning C and I had breakfast in Fitzroy and I realised that Queen Clothing was just around the corner. Perfect! Early on in the shopping experience they pointed C to a chair and even gave him a box as a footrest when he got cheeky with them.

I tried on a few different items and in the end settled on a couple of Strange & Strange 100% merino cowl necked tops. I am always on the looking for layers of wool to wear and these are a little more stylish than my Icebreaker outer layers. I purchased one in black and one in charcoal. I forgot to check where they were made before I purchased, I was relieved to find that they were Made in Melbourne.

We went for a wander up Smith Street and did not find much to tempt us until I saw in.cube8r. I had read about this store so was curious to see what was in there. C was not particularly impressed (no power tools!) but they had some lovely wall decals and I found a gorgeous organic cotton jumper I had thought to buy for a friend’s new baby. That is, until I asked and found out that the jumper was made overseas and the local content was the screen printed car on the front. I was happy to pay the price they were asking if it had been locally made but was not so keen given its unknown origins and misleading labelling – it said “Designed in Australia”. To be fair, the philosophy of the shop is to showcase local designers so most of it is made in Australia. I just have a talent for picking up the outliers!

We headed back into the city to catch up with C’s mates in anticipation of an afternoon of drinking before we went to the game. A couple of text messages from NM (she spent last year in Melbourne and ferreted out lots of great clothing stores!) and I was under Flinders Street to find The Cats Meow. They had some great clothes, but I was focussed on wool and bought myself a Wool/Cashmere/Linen/Cotton skirt by Kylie Jane. They also had more great wool and wool blend skirts but the fabric was not as heavy and the cute owl and flower details would make them more for casual wear rather than work clothes.

Sunday morning and we headed to the Sunday Arts Market. I had decided that I wanted a new bag and was keen to check out the Mattt bags if I got the chance. They had a stall at the market and I spent some time deciding on style and fabric. In the end I bought an A4 shoulderbag with Ink & Spindle Gingko fabric. There were many beautiful prints to choose from and a particularly gorgeous green suiting fabric. Yay! The bag looks sturdy and well made. The main fabric is backpack material and the zippers are YKK so hopefully it will take whatever I throw at it! There is a zip pocket for my purse inside and also a pocket for my mobile phone. The gingko panel hides an outer pocket. Other than that the inside of the bag is a cavernous pit for whatever I wish to carry. It will be great for serious shopping expeditions and I may even be able to fit my lunch in it to carry to work.

That was it for my spending on locally made and designed items. Not a bad effort for a quick weekend trip!

Next Upmarket

I am excited, the Perth Upmarket is on this Sunday! I missed the last one due to being in Sydney (a tough life I know) and I am looking forward to seeing what is out there.

My good friend (and bridesmaid!) Michelle has let me know that she and her friend Cyndee are launching their card business Huckleberry Hill. I am definitely curious to see what goodies they have to offer!

Image here

Hobart

After seeing a small part of Tasmania, it was time to hit be a tourist in Hobart! I had a few items on my hitlist and wanted to have a walk around the city centre.

Of particular note was Thumbprint, a jewellery shop that was closing down. They had some gents dress rings that caught my eye, and I asked what the largest size was. C has quite large fingers and my experience here in Perth has been that the largest size they carry is an X... his ring size has been measured as Z+2 (or Z+3) so about four-five sizes up. I was stoked to find out that they had several around the Z+2 size so I snapped these two up.


I was also in search of a book or two to read, as I had finished the two I had brought from home. I wandered into the local Angus & Robertson... then wandered back out again after I found that they were selling the Popular Penguins, with RRP of $9.95 clearly on the back, for $10.99. I was much more impressed with the Hobart Bookshop at Salamanca, and added to my library there and at the ABC Shop.


Absurdistan is by ABC reporter Eric Campbell, and covers his time as a foreign correspondant for the ABC based in Moscow and in Beijing. I recommend this book. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me think about the world.


Saturday mornings in Hobart means the Salamanca Market. I did not realise just how big and how popular it would be! The crowd was claustrophobic and quite slow. There was however an abundance of locally made timber goods, foodstuff, fresh fruit and vegetables, jewellery, clothing and more.


I was very much overwhelmed however I did manage to find a few lovely items. A cube bag by Sashiko Design.

Organic bamboo onesies by Sahara Bloom.

I also bought some locally made silver earrings as well as a biscuit assortment to take to Easter Sunday lunch!

I was all shopped out so took a detour past Arthur's Circus on my way back to the hotel to get dresed up for the wedding!

Shopping in Sydney

I finally made it to Sydney! I flew over on a Friday night redeye and after limited sleep I was loose on the streets of Sydney.

On the top of my list of places to go to were the Paddington Markets. My sister E had recommended that I check them out and I was keen to see what the fuss was about. They had less of a homemade feel than I was expecting, but there seemed to be more interesting fashion, vintage pieces and some awesome chocolates!

I bought a few items, including a dress from Betty of Ton&Ton Designs, a skirt from Kelda Leigh, some lovely tea towels from Rokoco and some divine chocolates from Delicaseys.

They were offering samples of the chocolates, and after tasting them I was hooked! The orange chocolate was real chunks of orange covered in chocolate.

The skirt I liked was unlined, and Kelda offered me the option of lining the skirt and posting it to me! She also posted a couple of fabric swatches with the skirt and I think that I could have found a great source for work skirts!

I left the markets and wandered back into the city along Oxford Street. There were many of the usual clothes shops and a few of interest. None that really stood out for me though and I made it back to the hostel with sore feet and no more purchases!

After checking in and a nap (so sad but I was tired!) I went to Market City. It was four levels in the style of some of the Asian shopping centres or markets, and it felt very random to be experiencing that in Sydney! The bottom level was a market, with lots of cheap and tacky items, as well as fruit and vegetables. The next level up was a very Asian IGA and normal clothing stores. Above that was a level with factory outlets, and finally there was a food court and some restaurants!


First thing that morning I had a quick look through the QVB (Queen Victoria Building). It was completed in 1898 as a market building, and now houses many exclusive shops and eating places. I was there too early for most of the shops to be opened, but the setting was magnificent and it was a lovely place to sit and read and relax after my night of interrupted sleep.

There was to be no shopping for me on the Sunday. The bus I caught to Circular Quay travelled down George Street, and I espied many shops that it would have been interesting to visit, especially the Sydney Myer store. After seeing the famous bridge and opera house, I was off to my next adventure.

I shall have to come back to Sydney with more leisure time and a bigger budget with a girlfriend or two!!

Unwrapped South Perth

I was disappointed that I could not make the Unwrapped market in South Perth a few weekends ago, we were down south in Dunsborough for a wedding.

I did a search to see if anyone had written about the markets, and the only review that I could easily find was from Style Discovery.

It seems that everyone wanted to write that it was happening, and noone has taken the time to write about how good it was!!

My sister went along, and she has picked up some cards from Vendors who she thought I would like; I think that they are mainly wedding related.

According to their website, the next market is not until September!! So long to wait!!

To market, to market

I am a bit disappointed, the first few handmade markets here in Perth are coming up and I will miss them! I am going to be a busy girl, attending a couple of weddings and will not be able to make them.

The first is the South Perth Unwrapped market, from 1pm to 6pm on Saturday 6^th March. This year it will be at Sir James Mitchell Park, on the South Perth foreshore between the Jetties at Coode Street and Mends Street. They will have more than 70 local designers there exhibiting their talents.

Made on the Left is also the same weekend. This market will be held at the foreshore in Mandurah, from 11am to 8.30pm on Saturday 6th March and from 11am to 5pm on Sunday 7th March.
Update: It looks like Made on the Left has been cancelled for Mandurah and their next market will not be until Bunbury in July!!!

The Perth Upmarket is from 10am to 4pm on Sunday 28^th March at Winthrop Hall at UWA. The Perth Upmarket boasts "over 100 of Perth's most talented artists, designers, craftsmen and gourmets".

I enjoy browsing the markets and seeing the interesting and wonderful locally made products. Hopefully I will be able to make some later in the year.

A flying Melbourne trip - November 2009 - Day Three

It was pretty wet in Melbourne. I am not entirely sure what the weather was doing. It had been cold and wet in Perth before I flew out, and I had been holed up at home in bed or on the couch so I was in prime position to watch the weather outside. It seemed that it had followed me to Melbourne, and N and I wandered around tramping through puddles.

We met my cousin KF for breakfast in Lygon Street, Carlton. Lygon Street is known for the many Italian restaurants that line it, and N had taken C and I there for dinner when we were over in September. KF had arranged to meet us at Trotters where I had very tasty home made baked beans and toast. They were vegetarian too! I have still to try to make my own.

After lunch we wandered down Lygon Street and browsed the shops. There was a great toy store where N found some lovely wooden Christmas decorations, and a gourmet store selling a great range of organic foods. I was very jealous that we do not have similar at home.

Once we had exhausted the shopping on Lygon Street N and I headed to the Sunday Arts Market at the Arts Centre, just south of the CBD. N and I approached it from a different direction than C and I had, and I discovered a whole new section of the market that we had completely missed last time! I bought myself a a reversible bag from Minx Design, and a gorgeous t-shirt for a newborn from Retrobub.

The Retrobub t-shirt had this giraffe pattern on it. The t-shirt was red with funky fabric for the giraffe. One of the shoulders of the t-shirt had press studs, which I thought was a great idea to make it easier to put on!


We were just about shopped out now so it was back to N's apartment via the London & American Supply Stores and the Queen Victoria Markets. There I packed my case and we drank tea until it was time to head to the airport.

A flying Melbourne trip - November 2009 - Day Two

It has been a month, I am going to struggle now to remember where we went! However that is the point of this blog - helping me to remember where I have shopped - so I will give it a go.

We started with breakfast at Birdman Eating in Fitzroy. I had the yummiest Black rice, coconut, yoghurt and mango dish, and I am inspired to try and replicate the flavours at home! We then went shopping! We went to Queen Clothing, where both N and I bought items. They stock local labels as well as their own! We also wandered into Zetta Florence and Kami, two lovely stationery shops. We checked out the funky items at Third Drawer Down and enjoyed some of their more unusual items. There was a visit to Wilkins and Kent thrown in as well, a store with lots of interesting items! I had found their Little Bourke Street store on a rainy day when C and I were over, and bought a great Otto & Spike beanie!

Our (eventual) goal for the Saturday was the Rose Street Markets. My sister had visited Melbourne recently to my trip and had recommended a visit. I was happy that we did - I bought a couple of skirts from So! indesign and also ordered a t-shirt for C from shiften. The style of skirt that I bought is shown in this picture from the designers website. The t-shirt for C is similar to this picture from the designers madeit page, with a more appropriate tool. I cannot remember what colour I actually ordered, I suspect grey and blue! I have to catch up with N's sister and get that from her hopefully this week.


E kindly lent me her copy of the Melbourne Design Guide, a great resource for Melbourne design and art! It contains maps of many areas of the city and references designers of clothing, accessories, textiles, furniture and all sorts. I am so jealous that we do not have anything like this for Perth - at least that I am aware of! N and I made use of it while I was there to read up details on some of the stores that we visited. Read a review at The Design Files, the source for the picture below.


It was a fairly humid day, and pretty soon we were in need of some more sustenance - churros! N took me to a little cafe and we shared a dish of chocolate and churros. Yum! I took this opportunity to consult the Melbourne Design Guide and see if we had missed anything of note on our travels.

I am in the hunt for a bridal dress, and my friend D had suggested a place in the area that I would like - Gwendolynne. It was nearby to the Churros so we set out there to have a look. The dresses were gorgeous! They were however well out of the budget that I had set for the entire bridal outfit so for now it is a matter of looking and admiring.

Our walking finally led us to Dizingof, a collection of bold colours and styles. I found a dress that was my style, lovely soft fabric with a beautiful silk panel at the front. I justified the purchase of this dress by earmarkig it for a wearing to a wedding next year. We have three weddings to attend next year, as well as our own, so lots of excuses to dress up!

I now had two dresses, two skirts and a top, so it was definitely time to slow down the clothes shopping! I was happy though, as I had some more clothes to add to my work wardrobe, as well as a dress for a special occasion.

Purses...

E and I went to the Unwrapped Market in Leederville today. It was fairly warm early on, and it was already 35C when we were browsing through the stalls. E's shoes were really not up to the task, and she was continually commenting that her feet were burning through the soles! I of course foolishly did not put on enough (any!) sunscreen so the back of my neck is pink. I do need to buy myself a hat that fits, so that shall be on my list to buy on Monday.

It was a fairly hot day and we felt for the stall holders who would be there until 5pm with no relief. There was an umbrella to share between each stall but it did not cover nearly enough of the table and stall holders.


There were a few old favourites and also some interesting new stalls. E's friend was there with her label Nashi and The Magpie and some cute bolero jackets. It was just too hot to try anything on! Plus, in an (unconscious) effort to not spend money, we had limited cash funds between us. We had both intended to visit the CBA ATM on Oxford Street but it had gone from its usual spot and we had no idea if it had moved or been replaced! Not a good idea to go to a market without cash.

I bought a new purse! It is by Little Tea Party, and the promo picture from the Perth Upmarket blog shows the purse that I bought!


The other product that I was really taken by was the felt being sold by B&M Felt. The product is 100% wool, made in Germany. I was thinking yesterday that I would like to get something nice to use as a centrepiece for the table when we have guests, to lay hot dishes on, and something a bit nicer than multiple cork mats from Ikea! I have to consult with C and see what he would like, and hopefully we can agree on some colours for our table! The table is 1500mm square and solid jarrah, so it would nice to have something square for the centre. My current thought is to have four pieces of the 50cm square felt but we shall see!

After we had browed the markets we headed back down Oxford Street. There are some lovely stores in Leederville, and a couple of my favourites are Remedy and Urban Depot.