New Melbourne card + giveaway!

We have a new Melbourne train station card and to celebrate its launch we thought we would have a shop based giveaway. House of Balaklava have 10 new Balaclava cards to give away for free, all you need to do is visit them and be one of the first 10 to ask for one.

House of Balaklava stock a whole range of jewellery and gift ware and is a great place to go for winter accessories, they have lots and lots of lovely, warm looking scarves. They are located at 167 Carlisle Street in East St. Kilda.



We asked Jacqui from House of Balaklava a few questions about the shop and area:

What is your favourite thing about running your own shop House of Balaklava?
The interesting and fun customers that come and visit us and the creative people we work with whose product we stock.

What would be your recommendation for a good place to have lunch on Carlisle Street?
Las Chicas

What is your favourite accessory to keep warm this winter?
Gorgeous scarf for warmth but also to add interest to an outfit

Get me a filing cabinet - STAT!

I drew these cards while at Rose Street one Saturday on the little table set up behind my stall. The table is probably at the top of my list of things I need while doing the market. I could almost do without a float and food, maybe even stock. As long as I have my table I am happy.

When I was drawing the guy I decided I was going to put him in a kilt because the idea of trousers seemed a bit heavy and I seem to draw an awful lot of guys in yellow shorts. I showed it to my neighbours Hollie and Mark and asked what they thought of the kilt. They were both a bit confused so I decided to do the next logical thing, turn the guy into a girl wearing a skirt. No surprises to see that the new guy ended up in a set of yellow shorts, stick with what you know! They are both available on Etsy as well as this weekend at Rose Street.

Winky Winky!

We have a new girl version of our lazy eye card. We have listed her on Etsy and she will be available the markets we are doing this weekend. We have been trying to add some opposite sex version to our range of cards as we are always asked 'do you have this card as a boy/girl?' Come and visit us at the market and let us know which ones you would like to see opposite sexerised.

Saturday 10th July
ROSE STREET ARTIST MARKET
Time: 11am - 5pm
Where: 60 Rose Street, Fitzroy


Sunday 11th July
ROSE STREET ARTIST MARKET
Time: 11am - 5pm
Where: 60 Rose Street, Fitzroy


Sunday 11th July
MELBOURNE DESIGN MARKET
Time: 10am - 5pm
Where: Federation Square Carpark
Cnr Flinders Street & Swanston Street
Melbourne

I read your zine, it was a dream!

A few weeks ago I was looking at the online Sticky Institute Shop via the Three Thousand Website. For some reason I didn't realise you could by the zines online so I went a bit hog wild and got a whole bunch. I set myself a budget and ended up with about 7 or 8 zines. One of my favourites was Macarons are not Macaroons a kind of story/recipe book on how to make both macaroons and macarons.

A few months back I gave the macarons a try for a friend's hens party. I failed - they are very hard to make. I used a recipe from the Black Apple blog and thought I was going to do okay as Emily had done all of the hard work trying out a bunch of recipes to find one that works. Then on Monday night I saw they were making them on Masterchef and kinda wish I had have watched it, just to see what they did! I'm not sure if I will make them again, the sugar headache from eating only one or two made me feel ill for a day or so. But this guy above in the little yellow shorts, he isn't scared of sugar brain! And my tip for chai latte (from Hollie), make them with rice milk. It adds a bit of sweetness and makes it much more delish.

PS if you're thinking of getting some zines from Sticky, I also recommend Dates I have been on and not been on. The part about speed dating that required the participants to bring along a book was much better than anything a gossip mag could ever provide!

Here kitty kitty

In recent years (the last 26 years?) I have been a bit cat crazy. When I was a kid I always got cat related gifts including books on how to look after cats, cat calendars, posters of kittens hanging off a branch and enlarged photos of my own cats. The last few years, due to renting, we have not had a cat so my catsession has grown to what one might like to call dangerous levels. If you have a cat I will listen to your cat stories and not get bored. I will tell other people your cat stories until well past the stage where they thought eye rolling would shut me up. You can go cat crazy on me and I will keep up. So making cat related cards is something I like to do.

Gareth is well aware of this, so to get me to draw up his own card ideas he has them featuring cats. This makes me want to draw them quick smart and so his ideas get made, like the one above. This card made his debut at Brisbane Finders Keepers and like all new cards we were unsure how people would react. Turns out big boy was rather popular and the last one left was snapped up early Sunday morning. This made us both very happy because I think he is in our top 5 Able and Game cards of all time. The card is available on Etsy, as well as at Rose Street this weekend. Come along and say meow hello and if you have a cat come tell me all of your stories, or better still bring the kitty along!*


*Free cards for anyone bringing along their cats!

All the things we like about Brisbane

Gareth and I are back in Melbourne after our trip up to Brisbane for Finders Keepers. I was getting a little sick of the cold weather here in Melbourne so we spent a few extra days in Brisbane. I wanted to make the most of the 22 degree days and the option of wearing a t-shirt till 9pm at night in winter!

Although it wasn't really a holiday as such, we did get to do a few things that had been put off recently. We had some cocktails at The Bowery on Ann Street in the Valley, went to see Ron Mueck at GOMA and saw Exit Through the Gift Shop at the Tribal Theatre. The Robin Gibson '70s architecture of the Queensland Art Gallery overlooking the Brisbane River was also highlight. I first saw it as we took the City Cat from Hill End into the city and thought it was pretty amazing. Getting to travel interstate really is one of the highlights of running your own business and I give Brisneyland a big tick of approval!

Finders Keepers on Saturday and Sunday was great fun. Gareth and I really enjoy watching people's reactions to the cards and moments people share deciding on which card to get. I saw a funny exchange between a young girl and her mother while choosing a card for her own mothers birthday. The young girl was adamant "I love you so much I want to jump on the couch" was the perfect card for a Grandma's birthday! We also did a little bit of shopping, Gareth picked up some very spiffy cufflinks from A Skulk of Foxes and I got a Sarah McNeil bird brooch from the Leeloo stall plus we got some lovely letterpress cards from Bespoke. The event ran really well, the weather was perfect and it was nice to catch up with some familiar faces we don't get to see very often.

Bleeding Heart / 166 Ann Street, Brisbane

On Monday we walked from The Valley to Southbank along Ann Street and found Bleeding Heart on the way. I was drawn to the large 'School of Arts' above the front door so we went in to have a some tea and cake. They have a cafe, a little shop selling local designers wares including Liana Kabel, Biddy Bags, Wicked Child Designs (including The Beatles Softies from the latest Frankie Mag!) and a gallery. Definitely worth a visit if you're in town. The big veranda is the perfect place to sit and watch the world go by.

Bleeding Heart Gallery Space