what a weekend!! Handmade Hobart a success

Well I have to say I have had the best weekend at the inaugural Handmade Market at St peters Hall in Hobart.
Even thought the weather was shocking the good people of Hobart and from all over still braved the weather and still came in their droves to see what local crafters / makers and artists had to offer for sale
So many wonderful visitor to talk to and share our loves of what we do with .
I Have to say this new market has just the most wonderful friendly atmosphere the table set up were wonderful with lots of room to move from one stall to the next .
Stall holders we all happy and friendly and from what I could see where all very happy they had supported this lovely new market.
I hope you all enjoy the photos and feel that you would like to visit when the next market will be held in January.



















<--------- Oh yeah and this is Rosie (notion) haha told you I would I would post this photo! I have a feeling I might be gotten back for this thought lol Thanks for being a very entertaining neighbour stall holder Rosie I look forward to seeing you and all the other people at the next market.

Handmade Hobart - market is Tomorrow

Handmade Hobart is On tomorrow and even if it is rain please do come along everything is undercover and there will be a fabulous array of stall holder with many many beautiful things to buy.
The market is held over 2 days the
28th and 29th of Nov. at St peters hall
corner of Brisbane and Harrington St in Hobart.
from 11an till 4pm both days
http://handmadehobart.blogspot.com/

I will have my little tabletop letterpress machine there doing demos for people to have a look and see how my printing is done and if space permits people can have a go at printing something themselves.
It is always a joy for me to see a little kids face when they see something they have printed and better still they have seen and understood where it has come from .
It feel nice to know that I am able to keep Letterpress alive in my own little way.

Please come and say hi especially if you have seen my blog and have been following I love meeting new people that are interested in what I do .

New letterpress treasures

I went to visit a friend of mine yesterday to pick up some printing plates that her sister had sitting on their verandah for ages.
When I got there they had boxes of them ....... I was in heaven.
I will post more photos when I get a chance to go through the boxes to see what is hiding in there .
The plates come from a quarterly booklet that was printer for a hiking / bush walking group based in Hobart and apparently they were just sitting around in the boxes getting in the way and they were destined for the tip so Elizabeth's sister rescued them and took them home and they had sat on their verandah ever since until they we found a use........ through Elizabeth and her sisters generosity and them being aware that these beauties would be safe in my hands they have now come to live with me.
I have to say they have been kept if perfect condition, all look to have only been used for the one run to print the books and then they were just boxed up and left .
I printed a couple of them tonight as I just couldn't resist it any longer. The maps are just fantastic.

Wimble & Co. lead cutter

Today my big heavy Wimble & C0. lead cutter arrived by courier I knew it was going to be bigger than the one I have but I wasn't expecting the handle of the Wimble to be as big as the entire Adana lead cutter hehe ! It makes the Adana cutter look king of sweet really
Another plus was pack with the cutter was this beautiful Wimble & Co ink specmin book showing the rang of ink that were available .
The guy that I bought them from was telling me that he bought them at auction here in Tassie, so I have bought them back home from the mainland

Handmade Hobart is coming!!!!!

There is a new market on the block and Ruby Victoria letterpress & printmaking are going to be there with a whole heap of other creative, wonderful people that work hard to bring you the best there is to offer in handmade.

The list of stall holders is rather impressive really and it will be well worth the effort in coming along and saying hello and maybe even buy some Christmas gifts for yourself and your loved ones.
So I hope to see you there and please come say hello and have a look at the little letterpress machine in action if I haven't met you before and you have only just found my blog.

• Barista Sista
• Snowpea Handmade
• ERA-zistable
• Mahdi Chandler
• Bucket Brigade
• copycat design
• She Sells Sea Glass
• Fait main
• Notions
• shall design
• Ruby Victoria
• Twin Things
• Dance in my Garden
• What Katie Did Next
• Fairy Goat Mumma
• Little Snoring
• Tizzy Bits
• Loopee Designs
• Little Black Crow Studio
• The Bird and the Fish

My poor little machine

This gorgeous little machine has really coped a floggin the last couple of months and It doesn't look like it is going to get a rest just yet.
This Christmas season is becoming a bit of an eye opener for me, I wasn't expecting to be as busy as I have been the faster I print the faster it is all walking out the door . I received a call from Essie at Love & clutter this afternoon requesting more of my flora coaster tags, apparently they have just flown out the door after only a day in the store and they need more already ... just incredible !
So as you can see I seriously need a new home for my workshop so that I can finally get Adana's big brother up and running.
If anyone reading this knows anyone that has a place local, that would be happy for me to set up a small letterpress printing studio in PLEASE call me at let me know
It is getting desperate now that I also have a lead casting macine on its way here from Queensland

little green teapot feature

what a lovely surprise , I was just taking a look at the madeit blog http://madeitdotcomdotau.blogspot.com and realised that my little green teapot has been featured in a christmas gift guide called Tea & cupcakes.

Etsy treasury by Under the Shade of a Bonsai tree

Thank you to Shadeofabonsia for creating this lovely treasury on Etsy titled Talented Tasmanian and an extra special thank you for including my little blue teapot.
She has chosen a lovely group of makers in here Listed from left to right Owletshop, littleglowinglights, whatkatiedidnext, littlesnoring, Thatvitage - sohpiehillartist, catrabbitplush, pipemma, 3redbuttons,rubyvictoria, nerine, poppylane and Danceinmygarden.
We really are a creative bunch here in Tasmania

Please go visit her shop and have a look at her lovely jewellery
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ShadeOfABonsai you can also catch her at various market around hobart

Red Bamboo candles

I got the best package delivered today, A box of 6 Red Bamboo scented candles and they are simply divine. Seriously I have been carting the vanilla candle around with me all day smelling in the sweet scent and every now and then hold the candle to my nose and breathing it in, the smell is sooooooooooooo yummy!
makes me want to go buy a vanilla hot chocolate from Anvers House of Chocolate! but that is a whole other story in itself drool!
Annie contacted me a little while back about having a swap, some of her candles for some of my Christmas goodies , I can't help but feel she got a bit of a raw deal though as these are as I keep saying divine.
I got the sandalwood for Allan as that is his favourite, the vanilla for me and the magnolia for my mum but I am going to keep the one with the little lid thought cos it is way too cute to give away even to my mother ..sorry mum!
Please go and have a look at Annie's blog and buy some of her goodies you will find she make alot more than just candles, you can also catch her at the Civic Homespun Market in Launceston and the upcoming Niche Market at the end of November just google the two market to find out where and when ! Annie's blog is here ------> http://redbamboohandmadethings.blogspot.com/
Now I am off to go smell my new candles! Vanilla of course!

Handmade Nation

Yup I went and bought a copy as I didn't get to see it when they had a little viewing get together at the local salamanca art centre a little while back and I just figure that if I didn't just buy it there would be a pretty good chance that I would never get to see it .
Maybe if there are another other local artists and crafters that haven't seen it and would like to ,we could have another little viewing get together and nibbles at my place and I have to tell you Allan is a chef and make the yummiest finger food. let me know what you think and we can maybe get some number and just do it !! I think it will be fun to get to know people away from the meltdown environment of the markets .

The Vintage Rose

Boy o Boy it was hot in Launceston today!

I took a trip up north to deliver a package of letterpress goodies up to Amanda the lovely owner or the even lovelier little shop the vintage Rose, in Tamar street just down from the Design Centre and city Park. Amanda stocks the most beautiful French provincial style wares, and the smell of the shop as you first walk in is just divine but my most favourite thing in the shop is the gorgeous jugs and dinnerware I think being married to a chef has well and truly rubbed off.

Amanda is now stocking a range of my note paper packs and tags for the Christmas season so if you like the look of them and would like to see them in the flesh before buying just go visit The Vintage Rose and have a little look.

new prints

hi all just a little post to show what I have been up to the last couple of days.
more new stockists to report and just working way trying to get stock up and ready for the market at the end of Nov. and mid December and creating a few new little things to add to my market stock as well as some custom gift tags for The Vintage Rose in Launceston.
I am really excited about the new stuff I have been printing, the design is carved out of lino then printed using the adana letterpress on to consumer recycled cardboard, they really are lovely to write on and don't necessarily have to be for Christmas I am thinking of printing these in all sorts of beautiful colours

The big super dooper news thought is that I have just purchased a Ludlow type casting machine and the letter matrix cabinets full of type moulds off a guy in Queensland.this means that I am able to make my own lines of type using this machine, I will share photos of this once I have some

Just call me the TAG lady

when I started this whole letterpress printing gig I never really thought I would spend so much time making tags, don't get me wrong! I love making tags and deep down I was hoping my tags would take off as they are super fun to make, but I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I would end up making so many.
It has been interesting seeing what people ask for on custom tags , Love & Clutter in Hobart have asked for some really fun but simple tags for Christmas this year and The Vintage Rose in Launceston have asked for merry Christmas in French in a typewriter font so I can't wait to see how those turns out I will post some photos once they are printed.

New linocut tags

Finally gotten around to starting a new linocut for some tags I have been thinking about this one for a while and just haven't gotten around to sitting a carving it out as I have been a little busy with other stuff, but it was nice to just sit quietly and carve I really should do a little bit everyday it settles me down as I tend to cram my mind full of ideas alot of the time and don't get around to off loading any of it and having to focus on one thing seems to help and the fact that I accomplish something helps too .

what inspires me & a little about my past

I thought I would share some inspiration,
I found this book the other day about Frida Kahlo in Fullers book shop and I just had to have it!
I find Frida absolutely fascinating her art her subject matter her life and I have loved her work for a very long time and she is a huge influence on the way I view creativity and how honestly in your work is for me very important and inspiring.
The book is about a rare find of Frida Kahlo belongings in Mexico that had been in the possession of a sculptor friend of Kahlo's and then spend another 25 years in and eccentric lawyers house in 30 heavy duty safes until early 2000, the book showcases the cases and their extraordinary contents, it shows only a small section of the find in all there were 1200 items, what a find! while scanning this book I kept thinking about how it must have felt to be faced with such things and how I might have felt if it had of been me, surreal I expect!

The other books I wanted to share were these two books about raw /outsider art I was interested in this type of art when I was doing my Arts diploma and I personally believe that art has a role in healing.
A couple of years back I lived Perth WA , I worked at an art therapy studio where I was in charge of photographing , documenting and creating a computer data base of their collection of hundreds of art works by past and present psychiatric patients, the work there was mind blowing in their content and the skill of some of these artist, I wasn't surprise in the least really and I feel privileged to have been allowed access to these works of arts, I would have liked to keep a record of these works but because of confidentiality to the patients I wasn't able to. anyway working at the studio simply fuelled my interest in so called outsider art and the fact that on many occasions I would draw out scenarios from my life and my feelings as a was to work though some of my own issues and found that alot of this stuff I think was my best work.
I tend to refrain from exhibiting this work as it is intensely private not considered by me as finished work and most people wouldn't understand them anyway