Meet the Northside Crafters: Monster Doll

I'm loving Libby's Monster Dolls and all the unique combination of fabrics that she uses to create them!

Tell us about what you sell ...
I sell soft toys. They are kooky, friendly, grumpy individuals, all with their own unique personalities. Some are dolls and some are monsters. They are all handmade originals.

What inspires you?
I draw influence from animals, being a mother, fraggle rock, marty monster, Tim Burton, Old Tom and Holly Hobbie.

What's your favourite medium to work in?
I love buttons and ric rac and can't imagine ever making a soft toy without them.

What would you be lost without ....
My quick unpick and my Mum who looks after my two year old so I can sew.

What's your fave crafty read?
I love art magazines especially Artists Profile and Australian Art Review.

What do you like to listen to when you craft?
774 ABC Melbourne.....very daggy

Whats up next for you on the craft front?
Finishing the pile of zombie fairies on my studio floor.

Do you have any UFO's (unfinished objects),what are they?
A giant concrete sculpture in my garden (6 years)
A mosaic ball in the shed (5 years)
A painting of breastfeeding mandrills (2 years)
A knitted skirt (1 year)
My kitchen tiles (1 year)
Several skirts and a rag rug

Where else can people shop for your goodies?
I'm at St. Andrews market most Saturdays and Yarra Glen Market on the first Sunday of each Month. Blue Attic in East Brunswick has some of my work and I will be in the Wyreena Christmas show in Croydon.

Meet the Northside Crafters: Jenny Balzan

If you have little ones, then you will love Jenny's handmade crayons. They are just the right size for toddlers to get a hold of and draw with!

Tell us about what you sell ...
Crayons.... we re-shape & recycle where possible.

What inspires you?
I am one that just does not like throwing things out when I know I can make something else from them :) and seeing smiles on peoples faces....

What's your favourite medium to work in?
Mmmm ... wax?

What would you be lost without ....
I'd be lost if I had nothing to do.... does that make sense? I am a workaholic, even with 2 kids under 4 and an even bigger kid "my hubby".

What's your fave crafty read?
I enjoy reading anything that involves craft I think...

What do you like to listen to when you craft?
Jazz, hip hop, modern music. Sometimes even modern European music (Greek, French, Italian).

Whats up next for you on the craft front?
Sewing & more kidding craft ideas I think :)

Do you have any UFO's (unfinished objects),what are they?
We always do don't we! Some sewing projects (aprons & art smock making), wrapping paper project.

Where else can people shop for your goodies?
Made n Thornbury Womens Market & Northside Makers Market for now.

Four days to go!

It's only four days until Northside Makers Market, and you can bet we're not sitting around twiddling our thumbs! Our stallholders are busy sewing, gluing and printing and we organisers are chanting calming mantras under our breath.

We're thrilled to present another family-friendly day of hot craft, cool design, face-painting and hands-on activities for kids, coffee and a sit-down for grown-ups and mouth-watering cupcakes and gingerbread for everyone.

One stallholder who'll help you relax those Silly Season twinges is gifted masseur Kaye, who can work wonders in under five minutes. After you've had your muscles melted why not ask a stallholder friend if they'd like you to mind their stall while they get a backrub? We organisers heartily recommend it!

We're also very excited about having MixTape available to purchase at the Northside Makers Collective Table.

As if you needed another reason to visit Northside Makers Market!

Watch this space for more Meet The Crafters features and a full list of stallholders you'll find at the market this Saturday. And after Saturday we may well have one or two more treats for you before 2009 is over... be excited!

Meet the Northside Crafters: Twisted Violet Jewellery

We have fallen in love with some of Twisted Violet's jade creations ... and we are looking forward to seeing them in the flesh on Saturday!

Tell us about what you sell ...
A range of hand made, unique contemporary jewellery. I combine Australian woods, crystals, gemstone, resin and ceramics. I have a love of strong color and texture in jewellery and produce jewellery for both casual and evening wear.

What inspires you?
I take inspiration from other design forms and nature. Often going out window shopping, and deliberately steering away from my own medium, introduces me to color and texture combinations in other design forms. I love looking at furniture, textiles and visual arts for color. I sometimes try to turn a blind eye to fashion, and instead concentrate what feels right for me.

What's your favourite medium to work in?
Jewellery - wood, gemstone, ceramic, resin and glass.

What would you be lost without ....
My crafty friends who understand the predicaments, ups & downs and simple pleasures of running a craft based business. Life would be strange without them! Also, my Persian cat Chilli, who keeps me company, and provides hours affection regardless of my work attire and mood.

What's your fave crafty read?

Dumbo Feather Magazine
Five interviews per edition, with artists, entrepreneurs, and people of great inspiration.

What do you like to listen to when you craft?
Podcasts, JJJ, and ABC Radio National

What crafty forums do you lurk in ....
DUST team

Whats up next for you on the craft front?
A BIG change -being due with my 1st baby in late January there will be massive changes to my work schedule, targets, and expectations.
I have no doubt that I can continue my business and at this stage Ive got to be open to an unknown flexibility. In many ways I feel blessed to have a small home based business at this stage of my life.

Do you have any UFO's (unfinished objects),what are they?
My workshop is full of them! I have a range of flower rings that are sitting and waiting for further inspiration on the technical front, that I expected to be done for Xmas trading. I also am due for a massive clean up and reorganisation of my workshop.

Where else can people shop for your goodies?
Shop online at www.twistedviolet.com.au, and every Sunday at Southbank Market (under the Hamer Hall) and Etsy.

Meet the Northside Crafters: Robyn Stewardson

We are really excited to welcome Robyn to our Northside Makers Market. Her portfolio looks really interesting and we hope that you can find lots of Christmas presents in her range.

Tell us about what you sell ...
Photographs and cards. Calenders around this time of year, too. These days my photography is mostly Macro or patterns and I have a penchant for the obscure and patterns found in nature, in fact in almost anything.

What inspires you?
Almost anything beautiful. Of course, as with everything, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. For me it keeps coming back to the details and the generally overseen. Metal objects in decomposition generally appeal. That something so solid eventually crumbles, and with such intense colour, attracts me. Other colourful items and quirky details and patterns in nature rarely escape my lens.
Here are some artists, sites and books that inspire me:
Creative photos by Chema Madoz
A Photographers Guide to Webb Bridge
Andrew Brown Photography
Fruit by Wolfgang Stuppy and Rob Kesseler
Artforms in Nature by Ernst Haeckel
Bronwyn Oliver

What's your favourite medium to work in?
Hard question to answer as a photographer. Close up! I’m a bit of a ‘can’t get close enough’ type photographer. If I had the equipment I’d probably be doing those microscope photographs showing plant & insect details 100x. ;o) It’s all in the hidden/overseen detail.

What would you be lost without ....
My sense of the obscure and the ability to see the details many miss.

What's your fave crafty read?
Can’t say I read any crafty books/mags. I mostly surf the net or go to markets for my craft/art fix.

What do you like to listen to when you craft?
Depending on the mood: Classical
Soundtrack: The Mission, Passengers, Vince & Grace — Come in Spinner, Sting — Mercury Falling/ Crowded House, Billy Joel, The Audreys, The Waifs

What crafty forums do you lurk in ....
Etsy Forums and Red Bubble

Whats up next for you on the craft front?

Honing my welding skills with my recent birthday present so I can tap into some of the creative ideas that have been floating around in my head for years!

Do you have any UFO's (unfinished objects), what are they?
An optimistic (read ‘highly advanced skills required’!) piece that I started when I did my first welding course. I aimed for the sky, although I didn’t realise it at the time (it looked pretty easy to me), but as with many things like it, once I had some knowledge on the subject, I realised how incredibly difficult it would be. Haven’t given up yet, though. ;o)

Where else can people shop for your goodies?
My business is still in its embryonic stage but orders by email are always welcome. focus [at] stewardson [dot] net should be set up soon. In the meantime I’m still using robyn.stew [at] rdson [dot] net

I look forward to hearing from you!

Pin-up Crafters

There's only two and a teensy bit weeks until the November 28th Northside Makers Market. You know what that means? Time for pasta pansies ponies posters!

Last market we postered Northcote, Westgarth, Thornbury, Fairfield, Brunswick and Fitzroy. This time we're hoping to go even further - with your help!

We're looking for volunteers to put up a poster at their workplace, school, childcare, library, tram stop, favourite cafe or anyplace else you see event posters stuck up. If you're really enthusiastic you could even help us distribute posters along major shopping strips in the area. We've already got a list of shops which accept posters to help take the guesswork out of who to approach. It's a great way to get some exercise - I lost two kilos postering for October's market.

If you can help send us an email at northsidemakers @ gmail.com and let us know how many posters you need and where you can put them up. If you've got a colour printer we'll email you a copy to print out; if not we'll pop some in the post ASAP.

Applications now open...............

Ladies and gents, get your engines started! The applications for our

November 28th market are open

Apply Now

We've had an overwhelming amount of interest for the November market and have taken on board your responses to our survey on opening hours, stall fees and advertising.
A big thank-you to all the October stall holders who filled out our "very quick" survey yesterday. Having your comments and thoughts allows us to make informed decisions.

For this market application, we have decided to offer it TOTALLY online.

No paper or printing required...Why?

Apart from saving the trees and the hip pocket on printing costs, it also cuts down on the manual data entry at our end and allows the committee to easily consolidate information ... (as we can suck the data into a spreadsheet and do funky things with it ... can you tell that one of us is in I.T?)

Planning meeting at the Wesley Anne ...

I'm sure that you'll agree the new application process is much more agreeable than trying to work with PDFs and word documents.

If you have any questions don't hesitate in dropping us a line northsidemakers@gmail.com

Otherwise .... let's get this party started!