Posted on 8 September 2012

Meet the Maker ~ missy melly

Featured/ Hand Made Blog/ Meet The Maker

Today we have the pleasure of getting to know Shan from missy melly a little bit better, so Shan¦.

Tell us about your business:

missy melly has been running now for 2 years and came from a desire to dress my twin girls in something different. I am the owner and the designer but now employ another work from home mum to help with the sewing.  Missy melly is all about fun, bright colours, practical styles, easy care, clothes your girls will feel comfortable in while still looking super stylish. We cater for ages from 6months up to 12 years.

 

What inspired you to start your business?

As mentioned above I wanted to make my twin girls something a little different to wear. They have inspired me through their lust for life and creativity. Just being around them makes life so much more fun and I wanted their clothing to reflect that.

 

Is there an interesting anecdote behind your business name?

Again because my girls were the reason behind the name its been named after them miss madison and miss elly. I originally mas going to be miss melly but thought when spoken it sounded like miss smelly and that certainly wouldnt do! So missy melly it became.

 

What is the most satisfying part of what you do?

Dressing girls in clothing I love and that is age appropriate. I love meeting new customers, the social interaction on my facebook page, seeing pictures of little ladies from everywhere wearing my creations,  all while working around my daughters very hectic schedules.

 

Have you tried something in business that didnt work as planned, or on the flip side “ worked out better than expected?

I tried doing it all initially and it was too hard to stay true to my style and myself.  Employing someone to help was the best thing I ever did as now I have time to be a mum as well as expand my business.

 

What would be your best tip for someone thinking about selling their handcrafted goods?

Keep your head down and dont worry about whats going on around you. Stay true to yourself and your passion will shine through in your work.

 

What is your favourite item you make?

I enjoy making most of my items but more so I love using fabrics. Im happiest when Im thigh deep in fabric piles sorting out whats going to happen next at missy melly. I am very excited about our new summer shorts and playsuits this year though and cant wait to make up some more.

 

Any personal or business highlights in the last year:

Personally, I have taken control of my health and fitness and have gone from couch potato to running 10km and have just entered the city to surf 14km run in November. Businesswise my highlight would definitely be the continuing connections I make with other like-minded women. I simply love being around gorgeous and positive people and missy melly is constantly providing these connections.

 

3 things about you that people might not know:

  • I love 80s music and will ALWAYS belt out a few tunes at karaoke
  • I am going to my 20 year school reunion this year and cant wait
  • I only starting to sew about 4 months prior to starting missy melly and I taught myself and am continuing to teach myself

Thank you Shan, it has been a pleasure meeting you, the maker!

Posted on 6 September 2012

Introducing: Sugar Plum Tree

Accessorize/ Featured/ Wear

 

Sugar Plum Tree is a collection of the sweetest babies’ and children’s handmade clothing and accessories. We are all about fun, cute and gorgeous, with a touch of whimsy!

2nd birthday celebrations & PARIS in the SPRINGTIME Launch

In celebration of our 2nd Birthday we are delighted to share with Handmade Kids and their fans our “PARIS in the SPRINGTIME” Collection, on sale from next WEDNESDAY 12th September 2012 at 8.30pm from our website: www.sugarplumtree.com.au.

Inspired by the beauty & style of Paris, our collection features designer fabric in delicate antique florals alongside glorious Eiffel towers in rich and classic colourways. We have also used bohemian style colourways in colourful prints inspired by the boho Montmatre area for our stylish yet practical Indi Playsuits. These gorgeous fabric combinations create our collection of timeless pieces including dresses, playsuits, sunsuits, bloomers, head pieces & bags for petite belle filles (beautiful little girls).

View our range at www.facebook.com.au/sugarplumtree or at www.sugarplumtree.com.au
from Sunday 9th September 2012

Jingle bells, jingle bells…Christmas has come early to Sugar Plum Tree.

 

Last year we had a large request for custom orders, so this year we thought wed be prepared and offer all customers the opportunity to pre-order their custom design in the choice of fabric & style in the size they want so they dont miss out!

We have a gorgeous selection of materials “ from reindeers, to doves, to classic florals and partridges in a pear tree! Were offering dresses, skirts & appliqué tops, boys shorts & appliqué tshirts.

Pre-orders can be made via our website: www.sugarplumtree.com.au now & orders received by Sunday 16th September 2012 are entitled 10% off their order (DISCOUNT CODE: XMAS12) and will be shipped in November. This allows us time to get the required amounts of fabric in and sew your gorgeous items!

About Sugar Plum Tree.

Born in September 2010 by two new mums (Nicole & Samantha), we envisaged creating gorgeous handmade clothes and accessories for our beautiful daughters Zara Amelie (Nicole) and Ava Liliana (Samantha).  Now in 2012 we have our 2nd daughters Arabella Maree (Samantha) & Indi Kaia (Nicole) to make for!

Sugar Plum Tree began with a large range of appliqué tees & rompers for boys and girls. We wanted to create stylish, funky and cool designs for our little miss’s and their friends. Within months of opening our girls inspired us to add to our collection dresses, hair ties and our very popular large feeding bibs.

Today as we watch our babies grow into little girls, our business too continues to grow, develop and expand at an amazing speed!  With the launch of www.sugarplumtree.com.au we are offering many new and beautiful Sugar Plum Tree creations including our new gorgeous yet practical playsuits, eye-catching sunsuits and the sweetest ruffle bloomers.

Our mission is to create beautiful and high quality handmade Sugar Plum Tree products, whilst sourcing and providing our customers with an assortment of the best quality handmade accessories and decor from other leading handmade brands too.

Thank you for supporting a handmade business and we hope you can find the sweetest thing at Sugar Plum Tree for your little one!

Posted on 5 September 2012

Saffron Craig Announces the Launch of Wombat Wonderland

Featured/ Hand Made Blog/ Trends

Internationally known Australian fabric designer, Saffron Craig, is pleased to announce the launch of her new range, Wombat Wonderland. This new range heralds the expansion of Craigs unique fabric designs into the 100 percent organic cotton market. The fabrics of Wombat Wonderland are whimsical and designed for quilts, wall hangings, clothing, hand crafts and interior design. The entire range of Wombat Wonderland fabrics are available online.

Saffron Craig is an award-winning, independent Australian fabric designer, who has a worldwide reputation for creating bold, playful contemporary fabrics inspired by the natural elements and culture of her homeland. Saffrons interest in design dates back to her teen years. Since that time she has evolved into a skilled artisan and successful fashion designer, who studied textile production at the prestigious Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). Her love of design sparked her entry into the business world when she realized that there was a market for the fabrics printed with her lively, contemporary designs. Many of her designs are created from hand drawn sketches that are digitally refined. Now in her 5th year of business, Saffron Craigs bespoke fabrics are being sold in stores throughout Australia, and in select shops around the world.

The fabric designs of Wombat Wonderland are a delightful mix of pastel colours, plants, and the mystical wombat. The designs use cheerful, daytime colours and shapes to convey a sense of lighthearted discovery and dream-like wonderment. The use of stylized plants and geometrical shapes gives Saffrons designs a decidedly modern and contemporary look, while giving a gentle nod to aboriginal dreamtime images.

The hearts and garden themes are showcased to great effect in Wombat Wonderland. In œWombat Lovehearts a white wombat whimsically browses among the bright orange flowers of the loveheart garden, painted against a light purple background. Saffron says the playful design for her œWombat in My Garden range was inspired by her œchildhood fantasy of having a pet wombat in my garden. The mystical white wombat strolls against a pink background, through a garden of yellow and green flowers, accented by delicate butterflies with pink and white wings.

The Sunflower Garden continues the garden theme, using joyful minty greens, pink and magenta. The fabric is decorated with lively pink and yellow flowers.. The design is perfect for quilting, making curtains and clothing. The Flower Spot range has a pink background decorated with grey polka dot stylized flowers. The Sunrays range is decorated with small scale, delicate, pale blue stylized flowers on a white background.

 

The Wombat Wonderland range also embraces geometric shapes, such as stripes and triangles. In contrast to the hearts and flowers themes, The Garden Stripe range uses bold, summery yellow, pink, minty green and grey stripes of varying widths. True to its name, the design for the Triangles range is a small scale print with green, blue, grey and pink triangles and mint green dots on a white background.

All of the designs of the Wombat Wonderland range are printed on 100 percent organic cotton, and are made in compliance with the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), the internationally recognized processing standard for textiles made from organic fibers.

This year also marks Saffron Craigs debut as a childrens book illustrator. She created 16 illustrations for œWilly and the Magical Night Lands, written by her good friend, Vanessa Jane. The book tells the story of Willy the Wombat and his friend Stella, as they travel throughout the Magical Night Lands. The wombat is a muscular koala-like marsupial that is native to Australia. Wombats are known for their speed and strength, and the fact that they only come out at night. This makes Willy the Wombat a perfect guide into the mysteries of the Magical Night Lands. The journey of Willy and Stella is reflected in the fabrics of the Wombat Wonderland range.

For additional information on Saffron Craig and Wombat Wonderland, visit: http://saffroncraig.com/shop/wombat-wonderland.

The eBook for Willy and the Magical Night Lands can be downloaded at: http://saffroncraig.com/_blog/Saffrons_Blog/post/Willy_Wombat_e-book/

The New Wombat Adventures quilt kit can be purchased here: http://saffroncraig.com/shop/quilt-kits/wombat-adventure-quilt-kit

www.facebook.com/saffroncraig

Posted on 4 September 2012

How building creative relationships can help your business.

Articles/ Guest Post

Sometimes working in a creative business can get a little lonely. It’s hard to keep coming up with fresh ideas and staying motivated.

Building relationships with other like minded people can result in collaborations that can reinvigorate you and take you in directions that you may never have considered.

No matter what field you are in:

– Get to know people in your industry

– Build relationships based on friendship and trust

– Share your knowledge and talk about your ideas

– Collaborate on projects

– Identify your skills and share workload accordingly

– Motivate and be accountable to keep the project moving along.

 

 Do you have a friend or colleague that you’ve worked together with to ‘get things done’?

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This Guest Post is brought to you by Cintia over at My Poppet. She is a blogger, crafter and online store owner.  Want more My Poppet? Read the blog or visit the online store.

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