The summer for ....

...Cocktails!

Summer is my favourite time of year. I like it because you can go swimming, drinking is more fun and it has that fantastic 6 days between Christmas and New Year when going at a slow pace is expected. Even if you don't do anything amazing the thought of those 6 days makes November and December's super busy times more bearable.

This summer we have been going a little cocktail crazy. We got some shakers, we got some booze and we got some books and have been mixing up a storm. We are usually beer and wine drinkers but cocktails have been growing on us the last year or so. Building a drinks cabinet is a long process (unless you're rich) so we have been slowly adding to it for months.

Gareth's current favourite cocktail is a Whiskey Sour and I like anything not too sweet. Last night I yanked a lime off a tree while walking home from the new office and it went well in a rummy number I took from Stephy A's colourful stripey cookbook. It is in the Lemon/Lime section and it uses the rule of 1 bitter, 2 sweet, 3 strong and 4 weak which I think it is a pretty good way to go about making your own cocktail recipe, and it rhymes.

So I think this summer we will be creating some cocktail themed cards (to go with these two...) and if you have any favourite drinks please sent them our way!

Moved in!

Happy New Year!

We hope everyone is having a lovely festive season and had a lovely Christmas and New Year. We are back in the thick of it moving office to a bigger and better space. I've been excited about it since we found out about the new place but right now I'm in the thick of allen keying stuff undone and wishing I had million large boxes to fill everything up. Shifting it HARD work and we don't even have an oven to clean.

We have been a bit slacko with the old blogging with November and December being filled with so many markets and the usual business that the silly season brings. I was hanging out for Christmas Eve and spending some time with the family and relaxing and boy did I do that. I don't think I've felt as content with just sitting as I have the last few days. But that will not last for long, the markets start back up tomorrow night with the Suzuki Night Market and our new office will need sorting, a job I'm kind of looking forward to because for once in Able and Game's life we will have a bit of room to move and maybe even a table that is just used for packing orders and another for cutting paper.

We will have to play catch up on the blog because lots of things have happened, but right now it is one job at a time, at least until the cool change comes!

The picture at the top was taken flying into Melbourne a few weeks ago just as the sun was setting. I couldn't help getting out the camera as the light was so perfect.

At the market

On Saturday we took part in Craft Victoria's Craft Hatch Market at 1000 Pound Bend. We have taken part in the market once before well over a year ago so I was looking forward to this market at the new location.

Our new card displays are going well and we have worked out how to tetris them into the car really well by slotting our card boxes between them in our boot. I want to note we have a very small car (and that it was also my dream card as an 11 year old!)

1000 Pound Bend was a great space for the market, not too big and a cafe to bring me tea and eats whenever I needed it. Perfect for the disorganised carny like me who don't have anything for breakfast before leaving the house.

My neighbour was Andrea from Stämpel who had macrame plant holders and lovely faceted wooden vases.

I loved her colourful details at the top of the macrame flower holders that contrast so well with the jute. You can buy them from her Big Cartel shop.

Moite are a design studio and they had greeting cards, hand bound sketchbooks and beautiful delicate bowls with gold, black and pastel interiors. They don't have an online shop but they are available at Paperpoint in South Melbourne and Richmond.

These hanging fruit baskets from Made by Dane are pretty great and a great KK gift at only $15 plus shipping.  You could also use them for other things but I think having a hanging fruit basket would be perfect for freeing up more bench space. We never seems to have enough!

These terrariums from Greenscape Creations are pretty amazing. I'm a sucker for anything plant related and the added bonus of a pretty glass jar makes these pretty special.

Craft Hatch

It is well and truly market season here in Melbourne and Gareth and I are both suffering from Marketisis. This Saturday we will be at Craft Hatch at 1000 Pound Bend from 11am - 4pm and also at Rose Street on both Saturday and Sunday from 11am - 5pm. A relatively quiet weekend compared to last weekends make or break showdown. While the markets are always great fun it is the behind the scenes work, packing and unpacking of our tiny car (tetris is an important game to play as a child) and getting stock ready so you can be in three places at once that really makes even a type A personality feel chills. I a writing this while sitting at Revolver Market while Gareth is across town at the Northcote Kris Kringle Market. It is called market multi tasking!!

Back to Craft Hatch here are the details:

Craft Hatch

Saturday 10 December

11am-4pm

At 1000 £ Bend

361 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne City

 

Christmas Design Pop Up

If you're in Melbourne over the next three days we will be taking part in a design pop up store in the Nicholas Building in the city. Located on the corner of Swanston and Flinders Lane the building houses loads of cools shops like Alice Euphemia as well as many many artist studios. We will be on the second floor across from Buttonmania and will be open 10am - 6pm today and tomorrow and 10am - 3pm on Saturday.

Dawn designed the poster with the lovely Christmas Pudding to get you feeling all Christmassy. And unlike most shopping centers we wont be playing carols! Come along and say hi and meet some of the other lovely makers. More details are over on the facebook event invite.

Designer’s Websites:
Monolog
Emily Green
Madeleine Stamer
Rebecca Argent Millinery
Dawn Tan
Kick and Screen
Shara Lambeth

4 years our of work...

Four years ago I quit my teaching job to work on my own business. I went from being able to function in a busy office to not being able to have anyone in the office as I get too distracted. Coworkers are a funny species as you can often spend so much time with them they become like a second family. A coworker once told me you could tell if someone would be good to work with if they dropped the f-bomb. I am sure some people will disagree but it rang true to me when she said it. We made this card a few months back and it was fun times coming up with silly present ideas people might give someone leaving a workplace. It is available on Etsy as well as our weekly markets, which have quadrupled in the last few weeks:

Every Wednesday
From 16th November -29 February
SUZUKI NIGHT MARKET
When: 5.30pm-10pm
Where: Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne.
Enter via Queen, Therry or Peel Streets

Every Thursdays
from 24th November - 15th December
KRIS KRINGLE NIGHT MARKET
When: 5.30pm - 10pm
Where: Northcote Town Hall
High Street Nothcote 

Every Saturday and Sunday
ROSE STREET ARTIST MARKET
When: 11am - 5pm
Where: 60 Rose Street, Fitzroy