Well, its been a while between posts (I feel like I say that every time!) but really my only excuse is being busy busy busy getting ready for the upcoming Sydney Finders Keepers Markets.

Pouch will be there selling their wares on 31st May and 1st June and this time its at a brand new venue, meaning there are now over 200 designers selling amazing things! Pretty exciting!

The new venue is the Australian Technology Park, just around the corner from the old venue. Pouch will be there from 6pm on 31st, ready to sell, sell, sell. Its a great way to end your week, come down after work, enjoy the always good live music, food & buy some goodies - perfect combination if you ask me!

I am pretty excited that a few of my design-crushes will be there - makes me pretty proud to be selling next to them! and also am very excited to see my lovely friend from Joyjoie will be making her Finders Keepers début! She makes the most beautiful handmade kids teepees!! I want one!! 

Make sure you come along and support us local designers & makers, we love you! 

Oh and also, Pouch will be selling the brand new Australiana Range at Finders Keepers - stay tuned for more details on that.

Here are the all important details:

Friday 31st May from 6pm - 10pm
Saturday 1st June from 10am - 5pm The markets will be held at:
Australian Technology Park
Exhibition Hall, Locomotive Street
Eveleigh
(Entry via Henderson Road) Nearest train:
Redfern Station. Entry fee: $2 entry fee

What’s the ultimate wedding gift? A teapot? A set of plates? Ummmm maybe not for me…

But my brother & his girlfriend managed to find THE ULTIMATE wedding gift…to end all wedding gifts from now until end of time…

That’s talking it up isn’t it! I know, now you are wondering what on earth can be so amazing…

Well…this is it….

(sorry about the rubbish photo!)

And what is this you ask….

It’s a HAND DRAWN illustration of my husband & I on our wedding day…the shoes are perfect and look just like the ones I wore. Our pose – showing off our rings is what we sent to friends to tell them we got hitched. There is bunting and birds, Scottish thistles and my wedding bouquet too. It is just so detailed and so beautiful that I keep having to look at it and each time I see something new. It even mentions 'Two Left Feet' which describes us very well (always tripping over!) and is also the name of our travel blog

What shocks me the most is that this is all drawn by hand! It blows my mind! What also blows my mind is that even if the present was 6 months late (those who know my brother will know this is nothing unusual) it still is the most well thought, personal wedding gift you can ever imagine.

And the person who created this…well her name is Millie Marotta and she lives in sleepy Wales, UK. She is a freelance illustrator who has some impressive clients (understandably so!) and such a lovely style. What gets me is the detail in everything…have a look at her website here:http://milliemarotta.co.uk/

Take some time to look over all the examples of her work…you won’t be able to resist…

So…a huge thanks to my little brother & Hannah for the gift, it’s so special and thanks to Millie for creating this for my husband and I….I feel just a tiny, weeny bit lucky to have someone so talented make something for us….

Sorry for the rather large gap between posts...I have to admit, I was on a little holiday, refreshing the brain, relaxing the body, enjoying some sunshine!

I had one week up in sunny Byron Bay attending my lovely friends Amelia & Stuart's Wedding. It one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever seen...on the top of a hill, with 360 views of Byron, the ocean & the hinterland. To top it off, my little brother (photographer James Bowden) was there to take the photos - making it an even more special day. Below is a photo of the menus I created for the wedding....

Week two was another wedding, this time in Thailand...I know, I know - how lucky am I?! This wedding was also just mind-blowingly beautiful...on the beach, sun shining, smiles all around...bliss.

So now I am back and Autumn has well and truly hit with a BANG today!

Now I am back, I am busy busy with Pouch orders and this weekend I will be selling Pouch artworks at Olive Tree Markets in Newcastle on Saturday and Eveleigh Artisan Markets in Sydney this Sunday - double whammy!

But aside from Pouch...I have also been very busy at work (Object: Australian Design Centre) creating a series of exciting workshops that will be held inside a specially created workshop space in Object Gallery during March & April.  MAKE.PLAY workshops start on 9th March with the amazing Stefanie Ingram teaching how to create a mini terrarium, your own indoor garden. I have to say I am pretty proud of the amazing talented bunch I have got on board to run the workshops, including Kit Palaskas, The Land of Fig, 3 Chooks, Reverse Garbage, even someone from Grease Monkey Bicycles will be coming to teach you how to care for your 2 wheeled friend! 

Click here to see the full schedule of workshops....get in fast places are limited and the Macrame workshop with Kit Palaskas has already sold out! Book tickets here on Eventbrite - go on!!!  There are even some special School Holiday workshops for kids during April school holidays - keep them busy!

So...I hope to see some of you at the workshops...I am so excited to be able to share this news with you and I hope they are a success.....

There are days when I wonder why I doing what I am doing...the doubtful days when all seems impossible and the shine seems to have disappeared from once exciting projects...

We all have them (especially those fellow small business/creative business owners!)  and on those sorts of days/weeks what you need is a little bit of reassurance and love that tells you exactly why you battle through...

And as if by magic...arriving in my inbox last week was an email from a friend who had purchased a Pouch artwork for a friend's engagement gift. Now - I must add that this friend of mine is perhaps known as the 'best gift giver ever'...she has a knack for giving the exact item you might purchase for yourself or something that oozes so much love & thought that a tear comes to your eye. 

In this email, was a photo of the above mentioned Pouch artwork, which was a custom made, extra large Diamond. The photo showed the Diamond artwork in situ, proudly displayed in a beautiful home.

It made my day, actually it made my week! A beautiful home, with Pouch proudly given centre of attention.

So all is well again...all seems worthwhile and confidence has been boosted

Thank you Sophie for buying such a great gift and giving me the opportunity to create something special and for passing on the lovely photo.

And this is the photo.....

So…there are a few little bits & bobs that escaped under the radar at the end of 2012.

Firstly, Pouch was featured on a fab children's gift guide by Angie from Materialistic. A new design, the Elephant was slap bang right in the middle of so many other amazing things! An honour to be among such greatness! Thanks Angie & Finders Keepers.

Secondly, Pouch products that had been exclusively made for KinderGallery finally went live. KinderGallery is a fantastic little website that offers some of the most beautiful artwork for kids. Meredith & Kevin, the proud parents of KinderGallery have worked so hard to create a haven of art for kids. Love it – check out the KinderGallery Pouch Handmade exclusives here

Thirdly,  a nice stockist to add to the Pouch Handmade list, Object Gallery’s online store Collect now has a little selection of artworks for sale. The lovely gallery ladies have created such a nice range of goodies to buy, they have the eye for choosing a stunner! Get over to Collect online to see all the things on offer.

Pouch on the Children's Gift Guide on Finders Keepers

Pouch Handmade on KinderGallery

Sunny days spent at the beach during the Christmas break

Pouch at Olive Tree in Newcastle

How on earth is it nearly the end of January 2013? And I look at my blog and see the last post was November 2012….whoops!

I cannot quite fathom where the last few months have gone…..a blur of making, eating, reading, working, planning…..

Well aside from a luxurious Christmas & New Year break in which I recharged my very flat batteries and took stock on 2012, I now feel ready to do battle with the world once more!

Pouch ended 2012 on a high…a huge, enormous, exhausting high that was Finders Keepers, Olive Tree Markets, Eveleigh Artisan Markets and Xmas orders galore…all rolled into one lot of making and frantically getting orders out the door in time for Christmas.

Finders Keepers in Dec was just spectacular and amazing. I had so much fun but also felt totally overwhelmed and under prepared! So many lovely comments and customers but next time I will make double the amount of stock! I could have easily purchased goodies from every single one of the stalls there. I felt honoured to be surrounded by so many talented people.

At Finders Keepers, I launched a little trial range of prints. The prints are from original Pouch artworks, printed onto my favourite recycled card stock, with little hints & details of fabric collage added to them. So they are all still unique, all handmade, but offer a cheaper product for those in search of a handmade bargain. At the moment the range is small and limited, but I hope to trial it a little more in 2013 and see where it takes me. What do you think??  I am quite pleased with the cat in the hat! (see images below)

2012 was a big year…launching Pouch, getting married, passing my driving test (this is a massive deal amongst those who know me!!!)  – Among many other big & small achievements…looking back I wonder how I got it all done!

So 2013 – what do you hold for me?? I am excited to see what happens this year. I want Pouch to get big & strong and grow into a lovely blooming business….I have already received some lovely online editorial from Steph at Bondville (such a lovely write up!) which you can read here. I hope to get Pouch out there and into kiddie’s rooms all over the world – too big a dream you think!?!? Eeek – well let’s think BIG!

Welcome 2013…you are going to be fun – I can feel it!

The new Pouch Handmade prints.....

Just in time for the festive season, Pouch has released a few new designs....as well as updating the Pouch website with some lovely new images.

Pop on over to www.pouch-handmade.com.au to see the new designs, including a curly cat, graceful giraffe, elephant & a chubby little bear....

While you are there...take a few minutes to look over the new product images and the fantastic images on the homepage. All courtesy of the amazingly talented photographer Luisa Brimble (and also here) and super-stylist Stefanie Ingram.

There are more images to reveal...but didn't want to overload you all!! he he!

The day we shot the Pouch images was so much fun and a real eye-opener as to how hard it actually is creating images, setting scenes, keeping the flow going all day and at the same time being lovely ladies too! 

Stef + Luisa = amazing team!

There will be a video soon too....which I will reveal soon - stay tuned!

Another mention needs to go out to the lovely Eliza how let us tear apart her beautiful home in Leura...a stunning little cottage full of family love, memories & beautiful details...not to mention gorgeous kids (that feature in my new photos!) and cute puppy-dog (also featured in the photos!) and Eliza is a super talented lady too...look! 

So here are a few more photos....enjoy!! 

Recently I have been working on a few bespoke projects for customers. I love a bespoke design…nothing is more satisfying than creating something for someone that they have had a hand in designing or customising.

I have recently created 2 crazy cats…A giant DIY Diamond for an engagement present (what a GREAT idea for an engagement gift!), as well as working on Christening cards and creating some of my designs in custom colours…

I also created a very special  platypus for a little man called Grady…and giraffe for lovely little lady called Lily…

It was time for a change at Pouch Handmade…time to freshen up and show you something new!

Its been nearly a year ago that I launched the current range of artworks and while they have all been well received, there are some that have definitely sold better than others!

So, I decided to remove the artworks that didn’t seem to appeal & replaced them with some exciting new designs.

I have also decided to trial some digital prints…prints of the collages that have fabrics & papers added to them, so each one is still unique and still special…but they are a little lower in price – making ideal Christmas gifts in fact!

The new designs are not up for sale on the online store yet…but here is a sneak peek...

So, its been a while…apologies…I seem to left the Pouch blog a little unattended recently..

I have been busy, busy and with all the markets, making and mayhem and there was little time left before I fell asleep at my desk to write my blog!

But I realised that I have met some super inspiring people recently and had not shared this news with anyone…

Firstly…a while back, I met with 2 lovely ladies who will be in charge of photographing & styling the Pouch Handmade photoshoot (which happened this weekend!). Stef Ingram and Luisa Brimble make one hell of a team! Together they create honest, homely, beautiful images that have graced the pages of impressive publications such as Frankie & Kinfolk magazine.  What a team! And what amazingly lovely people…both humble, lovely, kind and sweet people who obviously care very much about what they do and doing it well.

Luisa’s work just blows my mind…the simplicity but beauty of every photo she takes really takes my breath away! (have a look-see here) When we first met to talk about Pouch…she had a mini melt down when she realised I was related to James Bowden – my brother of course! A talented photographer, my brother recently left this sunny isle for colder climates of the UK (sadly). Luisa was so excited to be standing in front of someone related to James – it was really a lovely moment to be very proud of my little brother and also find it quite funny that Luisa saw him as this minor photography celebrity!! He he! Anyway…Luisa is a one-woman creative whirlwind and seems to have more than the normal 24 hours in a day! Kids, design work, photography…is there anything this woman cannot do!!??

And Stef…Stef is beautiful! And so is her work (which you can see here)…in a way I think her and her work look very similar…you know – like how a dog owner looks like their dog! Fresh, simple, cute, honest, and lovely…all words I might use to describe both Stef & her work.  Stef recently landed a big gig – styling the 50^th edition Frankie party in Melbourne and what an amazing job she did…looks like my kind of party! Stef is another lady who seems to have more than 24 hours in her day too – so much going on and so many projects it makes my head spin!

And then I met another talented lady…Angie responsible for the successful Materialistic brand. Through mutual friends, we decided to meet and talk business…well actually I just asked lots of questions and Angie very graciously answered all of them! Her experience & loveliness just opened up a whole new window for me and made me excited about Pouch all over again. I love her work and am pretty excited to find out that we will both be at Sydney Finders Keepers in December. I have already been picking her brains about markets etc…so I cannot wait to see her in action!!

Well…that’s a long bit of writing for someone who normally just posts a few images!

But I guess I felt the need to tell you about these extremely talented people…they inspire me…make me realise anything is possible and most of all – are lovely to share of a cup of tea with and just natter away an hour or two!

Luisa's:

Stef's: