Finders Keepers Spoils!

I'm guessing many of you out there in Melbourne based craft-blog-land would have made the trip to the wonderful Finders Keepers market this weekend. With so much fun to be had and so many pretty, colourful, shiny things to ogle at, who could resist!

I may have gone on a little bit of a spree. As much as I love Finders Keepers, it's not particularly great for the wallet...

I picked up a copy of the extra special issue 50 of frankie and oh my goodness, who else is madly in love with the embossed cover that looks like it's actually embroidered?! Happy 50th frankie!

On top of that, I also picked up three necklaces (I'm not sure what possessed me to buy so many necklaces, now I just have cute-accessory induced angst because I can't wear them all at once >:( ), and this adorable mini-colloage kit that I picked up from the Hello Polly stall.

These two little ceramic necklaces came from  Meow Girl. She has so many tiny uber-kitschtastic animals, it was *agonising* trying to pick! I could quite easily wear an entire zoo around my neck, but I couldn't go past the fox. 

And this ridiculously sweet little spool of thread, in my favourite, favourite colour came from Days of August, who was a super nice lady!

Other highlights included seeing Dawn Tan, Catherine Campbell, Cat Rabbit and Miss Foo, whose work is somewhat like if Beatrix Potter went to the circus and then went mad with sequins - in the most awesome way possible. Also had a brief chat with Emily Green, who, when I told her my chain on my own Emily Green necklace had broken didn't hesitate to say she'd me a new one, free of charge! She was so very lovely. It really was like the A-list of Melbourne crafters/designers/artists.  

Did you go to Finders Keepers and see all the fun and funky things? Do you ever get cute-accessory induced angst? 

Happy days!

The People of Finders Keepers

Yesterday I said I'd say more about some of the wonderful stall holders at Finders Keepers over the weekend, and while I can only scratch the surface, as there were so many crazy talented people there, here goes! 

 Shortly after walking into the market and taking in the first couple of stalls, my friends and I became enamoured with all the business cards, which are pretty much works of art in themselves, so I began collecting, in the hope that one day, when I have endless supplies of money and my dream home (haha), I will be able to look up all these wonderful artists and designers and surround myself with their work.

Beautiful aren't they? I think my favourites are the Cottage Industry horse cross stitch, the Vintage Prints fox, and Victoria Masons cute triangles. 

And for those of use without the eagle eyes to read the cards (no thanks to my lacking photography skills), here is a list of links to all these lovely people. If you couldn't get to the market, I strongly encourage you to look a few up, they won't disappoint! Like I said this is only a tiny representation of the stalls there...and thanks goodness really, or I would have been linking forever!

Truth Be Told - Stationary and illustration
Emily Green - Fantastically colourful jewellery
Beneath the Sun - Homewares, stationary, print, potter
Love & Clutter - All sorts of gorgeous bits and bobs
The Mod Collective - Homewares and lovely porcelain
The Storybook Rabbit - Illustrations on crockery and jewellery
Hannakin - Illustrations and strange and wonderful creatures
Made by White - Laser cut jewellery
Gretel Girl - Illustration
Vintage Prints - Just as it sounds - vintage prints!
Sandra Eterovic - Illustration
Whiskers Lane - Super cute accessories, jewellery and ceramics
Bespoke Press - Stationary
Especially for You - Incredible kids clothes
Marcello Neckwear - Neckties and bow ties
The Gently Unfurling Sneak - Quirky prints
Victoria Mason - Wonderful jewellery
Cottage Industry - Knits, cushions, all sorts of fantastic things
Salvage and Selvedge - Gifts and homewares

...wow, that took a long time.

Finders Keepers!

Finders Keepers, the craft market to end all craft markets was on this weekend, and wasn't it glorious?!

It was held in the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, which was an absolutely breathtaking space, so as you can probably understand, I couldn't stop taking photos of the building, let alone the stalls. 

I went with a few friends on Saturday afternoon and it was insanely busy, so I just hope they run the next one on Sunday as well, to spread out the crowd a bit.

Coconut cupcake with key lime icing. I am fairly enamoured with this flavour combination. 

While I did have to restrain myself from buying something from nearly every stall, I did pick up a couple of little goodies, mainly from the frankie stall, including this Lucky Dip (or should I say 'Larky' dip? Sorry, I can't resist a good pun), from Lark, which contained some vintage buttons and a $10 Lark gift card...

And this thoroughly ridiculous, kitsch-tastic jumper, which sort of remind me of a children's art smock. I wore it on the train home, because 'Fool' is my middle name.

There were some truly irresistible things, and I shall post more on the store holders tomorrow. Did you go to Finders Keepers? I'd love to see what goodies you picked up!