saying farewell to Made

Yesterday was another successful market in Port Fairy, where we sadly said farewell to the market.  There were some new faces, and some exciting new work from some familiar faces.  I always find markets to be so inspiring and motivating - what can I create next?  how will this idea work? I wonder whether...   I have a notebook that I take with me each time, and it's filled with ideas and observations of things that I notice throughout the day.  The key is then going back to it and then making the time - but that's for another day!

Some cards and bunting

I had made a new range of cards using some beautiful

illustrations from some of the books in my collection.

I love how these cards turn out, but it's a surprisingly

difficult process!

Looking for new ways to put these very tactile products on display.

I'm always in two minds about 'exposed' paper, rather than their

protective plastic sleeves, but (I believe) it looks so much better.

Some of these upcycled and handmade books found new homes.

Celebratory bunting up close

Looking across the table

Illustration card

Printed and sewn cards

Literary favourites

View from behind the stall, everyone was still setting up but

lots of people milling around and getting in sneak peeks before

the doors opened - very much a stallholder privilege :)

I'm constantly on the lookout for beautiful maps

I love this big book - full of artist pages, and concertina sketch foldouts.

If you'd like to see more photos, some have been posted and linked to the MADE Facebook page.

farewell MADE

On Easter Saturday we say goodbye to the MADE artists' market in Port Fairy.
This was the market that got me into the whole market gig and convinced me that it was actually possible to load the car up for a weekend away, set up shop, meet lots of link-minded stallholders and customers alike, and come home feeling hugely inspired and motivated.

The first market, back in April 2011

I missed the original advertisement, but a friend put me onto the call out for stallholders and in that first year, I went to all four of their seasonally themed markets.  We're located in a small Church hall, just off one of the busy main streets.  Port Fairy is a tourist haven and is very busy each weekend, but especially so when one of their regular festivals are on.

The market is focused on the promotion of local artists and makers, so last year when I successfully applied for two events, and got the call in for a third, I was especially proud of my involvement in the 'local scene'.

October, 2012

This time around we'll be celebrating what everyone has achieved over the last two years and look forward to future opportunities for us all.  I'm looking forward to seeing familiar faces again, saying thank you and importantly - staying connected in many of the wonderful ways that make a craftisan feel like it's not such an isolated life after all.

Thanks MADE market - it's been a brilliant couple of years  :)

Finding some more inspiration

It's been too long between posts, and I've got a couple of exciting things to share.

I recently did a screen printing course with Laura from Learn2ScreenPrint.  I'll post some of my adventures in this new and exciting medium in coming weeks, but needless to say as usual I have another million ideas churning around in my mind about how to play with the possibilities of screens and inks.

Stencil design, printing onto plain cotton (right) and an upholstery sample (left)

Close up of flower design which was my experiment in painting a relief 

blackout onto the screen.  This needs a lot more patience than I gave it,

but am happier with the final result than I thought I would be.

I'm also currently happily undertaking the decor8 Blogging Your Way online course this month.
There are so many inspiring people participating and I'm looking forward to sitting down with a (big) cup of coffee and having a look at the blogs of others classmates.

I have found that working my way through these online courses is such an easy and enjoyable way to end up with a great range of advantages - connections with people all around the world, which is the beauty of blogs; learning some new skills and new insights; and actually taking the time to reflect and plan my own work - with is truly a rarity.

Let's see what comes from these adventures in weeks to come.

finding some inspiration

I'm finding that this time of the year is the time of the year that I am actively seeking out some inspiration and in that, some motivation.  Maybe it's the charge ahead for a new year or that feeling of clearing out the old, in with the new.  Whatever it is, I've been busy reading about what some other people get up to to formulate some new designs and structure into their processes.

I've been a fan of Ali Edwards for a long time now, and if you're not familiar with her or her work, she's a graphic designer who has a clean and simple approach to her work.  She does a lot of paper work and posts regularly about the projects that she's been doing, both personal and for her business.

I decided again to sign up for her One Little Word year-long workshop again, to remind myself of a regular project and the reflectiveness that this project can provide.  Hopefully it'll also inject a bit of my word back into my day-to-day in the year thirteen.

I also went back and went through the blogging course from elsie & laura at a beautiful mess, which I first mentioned in a post last year about blogs I was (and still am) reading.  In their blogging ecourse, I like their mix of personal experiences and guidelines.

Whilst they proclaim throughout to be no experts (which I think there a lot of us who would decry that they are!), it is refreshing to read about what they find interesting and how they manage their own time.  I am a planner and organiser, but my own ideals don't always flow through to everything that I want them to - I don't post regularly, I don't have a lot of planned or scheduled posts, I don't take enough nor share enough photos, I don't... I don't...   I am trying to be easier on myself with running a  craft business and having an online presence, so I think that reading through these courses and articles help to both re-inspire and to remember that it's okay that I don't do all of that!

january 2013

I have many reasons to love january: the long holidays, beautiful summer weather, sleeping in, tennis on tv (and in person), the beach, iced coffee, driving with the windows down, freedom and TIME.
I get into the habit every year of making a "holiday" list.  It's not usually a physical list of jobs or words, but it's certainly a physical presence.  There are piles of things to sort, tackle, fix and start all throughout the house that are labelled "holidays".  At the beginning of these big holidays, I usually am too tired to really deal with much of it.  There's a quick cleaning frenzy and then I'm content to look at things for a few days and ignore them.  Three days ago I got my mojo back and started into them all.

The types of things that I leave can be as mundane as sorting paper into the filing cabinet and re-arranging piles in the spare room, but also excitingly, things that are more fulfilling in the creative sense.

I started making new cards which is a great process.  I am making more of some popular designs which sold out at recent markets, but I'm also making a lot of new ones.  I've got a collection of amazing old prints and photographs from encylopaedias and novels which are being made into absolute one-off cards.

Here you can see little piles of cards in various stages.

At the back is a tray filled with cover pieces ready to be put together.

Front left is an example of a vintage illustration, and next to it is an example of some of the popular phrase cards that also use some vintage book paper.

I love sewing paper together as it gives it another texture and design element.

One of the january jobs that I enjoy is trying to plan out the year ahead.
I have work and personal commitments that influence those plans, but as the market dates are announced I put those into the year's schedule, as well as their application opening dates.  I try and spread markets out throughout the year, but a lot of market organisers seem to share the same ideas and there can often be a glut!  I have to travel between 75kms and 300kms to attend markets, so it's not something that I can easily do as many weekends as I would like.

And I also discovered a little while ago that the website I had started to build in 2012 was shut down.
How did that happen???
Well, I have to take a lot of the blame for that - I hadn't done any work on it in a long time, I hadn't even checked it for a long time.  I didn't realise that I was on a limited renewal (not automatic like I requested) and therefore it just ceased to exist.
Now I'm in two minds and whilst I have spent time and money learning how to develop an independent website, I'm clearly not in a position to be able to update and maintain it as should be required.  So it's a loss and a lesson, but I'm happy to spend more time here in blogpost instead.  So hopefully you've noticed a slight change here.  I'll keep tweaking as I find how to do more things, but my main focus will be the content itself, because that's what everyone loves most on a blog (well I do anyway!).

clearing out for a fresh beginning

I am super excited to have some time in January to be able to devote to luciandjoe bookbinding.
What that means is that I have a chance to go through all the ideas that I've stored away, mostly on pinterest, and make some prototypes and see what I will put into the shop and market stand during 2013.

I've got a few things in mind and am very keen to explore a few new designs and products themselves. I like to trial a few ways of making things, which inevitably means a trail of half-finished or abandoned ideas as I go.  If something is too tricky or too time consuming it doesn't auotmatically mean it's discarded.  I'm all about the final product - if it looks as best as it can be, then the tricky factor or time allowed isn't really a consideration.  Which is probably why I will never be a big corporate business mogel!!

Some sneaky hints at things to come include some glorious thick felt, more sewing lines and fixtures, as well some pretty cool new ways of highlighting the gorgeous vintage book pages which are a prominent feature in what we do.  Keep an eye out for some sneaky peeks and requests for feedback!

Until then, I'd like to clear out some shop stock and make room for some new products.
Head on over to our etsy shop to pick up a bargain - some of the books are HALF PRICE...

Merry Season to you all

Thank you to everyone for your support throughout the year - what a great year 2012 has been for luciandjoe.

I hope that you have a safe and relaxing merry season and I look forward to seeing what 2013 will bring us all.

and the winners are...

After my little telco-crash-induced extension (thanks for everyone's understanding with that), the giveaway closed last night and I'm very excited to announce the winners of the prize packs.

The first one was for comments left on the blog in that competition time, and I'm looking forward to passing this prize pack onto Bron for her comment about cards at Christmas time.

Secondly, another pack was for anyone who 'liked' luciandjoe on Facebook, and that was a little more time-consuming in that I had to write down everyone's name, assign them a number and hit the generator's button...  of all of the people in that draw, I'm pleased to now get in touch with Lauren so that I can arrange to get her pack to her.

Thanks to everyone for their support.
In the days since my final market for the year, I've been plotting and planning and scheming my 2013 plans.  I am going to use the period between Christmas and Australia Day to get stuck into some new ideas that I've been tossing around in my mind for a while now.  My market schedule is still up in the air at the moment as I wait for some dates to be announced, so it's a good time to look at online strategies and more opportunities in general.  One of my first points of call will be to go back to Pinterest and go through the hundreds of inspiring ideas that I've saved for later.  It's a great way of refreshing your thinking and of course, of feeling creative and productive without leaving your laptop ;)
Lots of exciting opportunities ahead.

Xmas Bunting clearout

'Merry Xmas' Bunting clearout - now all $20.
I have a dozen ten bunting packs left from this year's markets and am keen to see them hanging in homes this season.
Each one was originally priced at $30, but are now down to $20.

Please contact via email or leave a comment if you'd like to purchase one - I can list it on etsy, d

eliver in person if you're local (local as in Portland, Victoria, Australia!), or see what's easiest for you.

If you'd like to see a photo of the specific bunting that's listed, please just ask.

The options left are:
‘Merry Xmas’ Bunting – now $20
Vintage Book Pages
1. Black satin ribbon
2. Black grosgrain ribbon
3. Red satin ribbon
4. Black grosgrain ribbon
5. Black grosgrain ribbon
6. Black grosgrain ribbon
Parchment Paper with embellishment
7. White paper with red twill ribbon
8. Light taupe paper with black grosgrain ribbon
9. White paper with red ribbon with white stitching detail
10. White paper with red twill ribbon
11. Light taupe paper with black grosgrain ribbon
12. Light taupe paper with black grosgrain ribbon

market specials, specials, specials

It's the Christmas MADE Artist's market in Port Fairy tomorrow and I'm excited  :)

And guess what - you might be too!  luciandjoe are having a sale, sale, sale.  They're the words that everyone likes to hear at this time of the year.
I've decided to put all items on SALE for tomorrow's market.
Why you ask?  Who needs a reason for a reduction in prices?  Well, no one does but I do have a good one - Christmas cheer, good will and joy.  And a desperate need to make more room for new stock, new ideas and new, new, new.

So the breakdown goes like this:

all garlands $5 (were $10)

all bunting $25 (were $30)

- including 'Merry Xmas' bunting

all books have $5 off

and cards are $5 each, or 4 for $15

Head on over to beautiful Port Fairy on Saturday 8th December to check out these bargains, and the 

gorgeous items that my fellow stallholders will have.  It's a market worthy of the trip.

* and don't forget that my giveaway finishes on Monday night, so head on over to facebook to like away, and leave a comment on the blog for double your chances to win.

back online and up and running

Have you been in the situation recently where you've lost electronic communications for any period of time?  Perhaps an hour whilst your phone went flat?  Or two hours when you were inside a cinema?  How about a long weekend away when you promised yourself that you wouldn't check email?
Well, how about a whole week?

It certainly makes a difference when the choice is not yours too.  A fire in the region's telco exchange essentially shut the whole region down.  I had one day without any mobile services, about 3 days with patchy 3G coverage, a few more without a landline, and a week without ADSL internet.  I was certainly not one of the worst affected, and I was so lucky to have other options available to me, but it really affected my week.  I was frustrated that I couldn't just jump online to check things like I was used to, and I felt completely hog-tied when I couldn't properly check and respond to emails either.  This was especially frustrating for work, but only mildly worried about 'my' connections and access.  First-world problem I know, but it was certainly an eye-opener.

So the wrap up for this week of shut down is that now I'm back online I have about 10 safari tabs open, a hundred things to follow up, lots of great feedback and conversations to follow up and a frenzied effort to remind everyone about this coming Saturday's MADE Artists' market in Port Fairy.  More about that in an upcoming post...  exciting specials and one-off bargains are guaranteed.

A bonus for readers in cyberland is also that I'm extending my giveaway!
I wasn't able to get online and put a few reminders out, so I'm closing it midnight on Monday 10th December now.  That's a whole extra ten days to click like for us on facebook, or leave a comment on the giveaway blog post - or really, any post since then if you prefer.
So if you'd like to be in the running for one or both of the prize packs, follow your links above.

Also, I've opened some messages today to let me know of our inclusion in some esty Treasury Lists.
An inspiring list entitled 'Bon Voyage' just makes me want to pack my bags now.  This list was featured on a blog post by The Chilly Dog.

And directly hitting one of my passions, Bec has collated this treasury of Upcycled Christmas, also featuring one of my upcycled books.

Phew, that's it for now.  I had a few things to say since I've been quiet offline for a few days!

Market Set-Up

All ready to go. Before that though: lots of organization and muscle! It's always hard to envisage your site until you're there and you change as you go. No two market stalls are the same for me. What do you think of today's feature board? I'm hoping it'll draw attention to the Xmas theme, esp the bunting.

Travel and car boots

I usually head off to a market solo. When I get to bring a friend/slave along it's a bonus, but I usually have to prepare and execute myself, which brings up challenges of transport and logistics.

Firstly, I downsized my car this year. Oops. Fitting my market gear into my new boot has meant a rethink of my packing habits and really gotten me to just take less stuff. Or rather, fit the same stuff into fewer boxes. I use vintage suitcases in my displays so they're all full of products now - they have to earn their place in the boot!
All other items have to fit into one plastic lidded tub: other display boxes, cloths, cards.
I have a smaller tub which is my kit: business cards, receipt and record books, pins, tape, scissors, stickers, pens, tags and labels, snacks and a mag or two for the quiet times.
My purchase bags are out of a big box and into a smaller bag that fits down the side.
I have a new display board too, but that's in behind the passenger seat (you'll see photos of that on Sunday).
And lastly there's my chair (needed for some markets, and comfy!), and my super super important fold-down trolley. That thing was my best investment; I can get everything from the car to the site in two trips. That's important when distance and access and parking are often not ideal.

On the day, I like to allow 45mins to set up.
That allows for all sorts of mind-changing, but also coffee buying in the time between set up and door opening.

At the end of the market, I am gone in 15 minutes. Super fast pack up, which is great when I need to hit the road.

There are a lot of things that you learn along the way, but plenty of resources to learn from those who do markets a lot more often than I do.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

No Internet!

It's been an interesting day with almost no mobile service and no Internet. This is all due to a fire at the regional telco exchange. Our city has no banking services, and no computers has crippled a lot of businesses. I'm lucky, but the expected week out blackness is going to be tough. Short post, but I'll be in a different region tomorrow which will make life easier.

Wednesday = sewing, sewing, sewing

Let's not mention Tuesday...  and go straight to the good night and discuss Wednesday.
I have the sewing machine out:

I discovered that I had somehow forgotten to print any 'X' pages, which is an oversight for my 'Merry Xmas' bunting sets that couldn't be ignored.  So I set up the printing and got that done first.

I'm a speedy sewer, so I like to have the pieces in piles ready to sew in order so that they can all zip through the machine as it whirs along.  Which sometimes means that when the bobbin runs empty, I might not realise until I get to the end - oh well!

When I set up the photo above it was like the pages were zipping through as I snapped.

I found a spool of this wide red grosgrain ribbon which has turned out really nicely on these pages too. I like the red ribbon combination, but not everyone uses red in their Christmas colour scheme, so the black ribbon can be just as popular.

The zoomed in version of the photo above showed be (with some horror) how dusty and in dire need of  a good clean the machine is.  It reminded me to enquire about whether servicing is available next month, or whether I'll need to do my own version.

After sewing up all of these bunting sets, my next stage is to knot and end the threads, trim the ribbon and then package them up.  More things ready for Sunday  :)

monday night = fail!

And I thought that a daily post in the lead-up to a market was a great idea!
I should have predicted that it wouldn't last long... but I was kinda hoping for more than one night :(

So the real job overtook my time tonight and about the only thing that I did that was related to Sunday's Piccadilly market was that I thought about it.  And moved some things about when I was looking for something else.

But let's look at the lesson here - running a small business, or expanding a hobby/past-time/craft obsession like I have really is a juggling act, and sometimes the real world invades that time.  You know, the real world that pays for the wishful world!  It's unfortunate, but I don't have the amount of time available that I would like to spend on my papercraft.  There are many craftisans who would say exactly the same thing - we're all time poor.  I'm so conscious of this fact in the days before a 'deadline' as such, because I think back to all the grand plans and brilliant designs that I was sure would be ready for the next selling date.  Pfft!  Grand plans, but at least I am able to have many new things, and some old favourites.

I have a growing list of ideas and plans for luciandjoe... let's see how many of them become a reality in the next little while.  But for now, sleep and I'll try again tomorrow.

Have you liked us on facebook yet?

Have you entered our competition yet - there are two great prize packs up for grabs.

More details can be found on this blog post.

the getting ready phase

I am fascinated by markets and the whole market experience.  Even before I fulfilled a dream of being a stallholder myself, I would stop in at any markets I saw and even plan trips around being able to visit them.

Any time that I see blog posts about markets, I zoom straight in and soak up every detail.  I want to know how they displayed their product, what tools and equipment I could see hiding on the other side of the stall, and of course, I wanted to be amazed by every detail of their products themselves.  I definitely have market love.

So in order to put back into the blogosphere what I love to take in, I'm going to do a daily post for the next seven days giving some insights into what I'm up to in the lead-up to what might be the biggest market of the year for me.  I said "might" because in true market fashion, I have no idea of which markets will be filled with buyers, or which products will be popular from one day to the next.  It's hit and miss, but that's what makes it a bit fun too.

So tonight it's Sunday, and I didn't have high hopes for spending much time on my products this weekend.  I did manage to fix my printer problem and was able to finish off a print run I began a couple of weeks ago.

In this first photo, it gives you a very good idea of the state of my desk.  There are lots of piles, some needed for Sunday but others that will need to be moved away.  I try and keep most of this space empty and just my working projects on there so that I don't get too swamped.  That ideal doesn't always work and it becomes a dumping ground.  First job will be to move most of this stuff away.

The notebook that you can see at the front (it's upside-down), is my latest attempt at a proper inventory system.  This information will get transferred to a database, but I need written info when selling at the market.

This is just inside the door (and in front of a large noticeboard that I don't see half of at the moment).  

The shelves were part of my market display for a little while, but they're just too big for my car so I've gone back to using my vintage suitcases instead.  This suits me better not just for the car space, but also because I store a lot of things in the cases and have cut down the amount of boxes that I actually take with me.  This is a huge consideration when I go to markets alone.

I've got a framed canvas sitting on the top shelf there which is going to be a new display board for my 2D items - the garlands and bunting which are hard to display to good effect sometimes.  You don't often have a wall or backdrop behind you that you can string them from, and signage is hard for that too.  I hope that this canvas will help to display these more effectively.

This is the table from the other side and there's a pile of printed pages at the very front which are ready for sewing.  Putting those bunting pieces together is what I'm going to do over the course of this week, as well as trying to create a more effective packaging for them - high hopes!

These are a lot of the books that I'll re-box up for Sunday.  I spent some time a couple of weekends ago retagging everything.  My old labels were not wearing up to the challenge, and I wanted to add some more information onto them.  I also sorted out what cards were left and remade some of the more popular styles.

I won't get a chance to do anything much else tonight, but am aiming to get the sewing machine out tomorrow night - let's see if that happens!

Piccadilly Market - Sunday week

I  love market season!  Each one brings a different experience and a different reason to get excited.
The Piccadilly market in Geelong is a large one with a great variety of stallholders.  I am often found bringing home some treasures of my own from other stalls - it is incredibly tempting at this one to do a lot of purchasing.  And why wouldn't you, it's a market that has some beautifully handmade products and amazing choices for gifts.  It's definitely the weekend that I'll be finishing my Christmas shopping.

The market is located in the centre level (ie. not the cafeteria level, which is currently undergoing renovation works) of Deakin's Waterfront campus in Geelong.  This year, due to those renovations, we are spread throughout that level, both inside amongst all sorts of nooks and crannies and in the gorgeous internal courtyard.

They've organised some ongoing live music all day and of course there are food carts and COFFEE available all day too.  It's definitely worthy of a visit - for those based in Geelong, and anyone within a good Sunday drive's distance away [that should be a new unit of measure!].

Keep up to date with information about the market on their facebook site, or through their website.

*****

As for luciandjoe, we've been madly getting our Christmas delights organised - a plethora of cards so that we can keep this ancient tradition going, specialty garlands and our ever-popular Christmas bunting.

On the weekend we were able to travel to the local Melobeda Christmas tree farm and get in before the annual chopping begins in December.  It was a gloriously sunny spring day [read: hayfever], but despite the consequential symptoms, the photos look amazing.  The shoot was a lot of fun too - it even attracted David off the mower to come and help us source a good spot out of the wind.  This involved a maze-like wander through trees three times as tall as myself, following a voice to find somewhere with the right tree, the right light and the right wind!

The top photo shows the bunting which is printed onto vintage book pages, with an old typewrite font.
This lower photo is of the more modern bunting that has a different font, a flourish design at the bottom of each letter (not seen in the photo) and is printed on a gorgeous parchment paper.

Both are available at the Piccadilly market on Sunday 25th November - come on by and smell the Christmas tree :)

giveaway time!

I've decided that it's time for not only one giveaway, but two!!
The instructions for entry are simple, but you will have to do something in return... read on...

My first giveaway is for this pack,

In order to be in the draw to win pack #1 above, you need to leave a comment on this post here on the blog.  I'd love to hear some feedback from you - whether it's about some of the posts on the blog, your response about whether you still send as many Christmas cards as you used to, or even some suggestions for products.  Just leave your comment and you are eligible to win.

This pack contains three popular cards, a small square notebook with the Paris' Seine river on the front, and a handmade concertina book.

To go into the draw to win this pack, you need to head on over to the luciandjoe facebook page and like us over there.  That's it!
Anyone who's liked us over there from when we launched last month, to when this draw closes on the 30th November is eligible to win this pack, which contains a small square notebook, three popular cards and a small concertina book.

I'm more than happy to send the winners' packs to wherever on the globe you live, so sign on up!
If you like us on facebook and leave a comment here, then you are eligible to win both packs.
There's truly no catches :)

I'll be closing the giveaway at the end of the 30th November, and will use a random number generator to decide the winners for both.  I'll get in contact via your facebook page, or email reference here on your account, so please make sure that each is up to date.

Enjoy  :)
luciandjoe

are Christmas cards still valued today?

I'm pondering this question because I know that I have such a biased view on this.
I haven't bought a commercial card - whether with a cute reindeer, or birthday greeting on it - for many, many years.  I make all of my own cards for all occasions.  I also make cards to sell.  So, I'm not a good/objective measure for such a question.

But I ask it because I wonder how many Christmas stamps will be [legitimately] used this coming Christmas to send cards across the globe, both near and far?

I'm going to speculate that people still do send cards, but not necessarily in the same quantity as years before.  It wasn't all that long ago that you would dedicate hours of time, over a night or two some time in December, working your way through your most recent address book, trying to work out who to send a card to.  And it wasn't an easy decision.  Did you hear from them last year?  Have you got their current address?  Is that even their current name?

And then there's the decision about which card to send (did you also save the most religious card for the peson on your list you knew would actually appreciate its message?).  And who received a copy of the bulk update letter?  You don't send those to everyone I'm sure.  Side note: I actually really enjoy receiving these myself; it's a great little biography on an A4 page for those who don't have a facebook account.

My working theory is that cards are still sent to particular relatives, special friends and certainly in bulk by businesses to their 'most' valued clients.  But I believe that the list of those from whom we only hear news at Christmas time, is shrinking every year.  I know that I personally don't send out as many cards as I used to, and don't receive as many in return.  But I am in touch with more people throughout the year through our wonderfully easy and reliable communication methods - facebook, emails and texting.  The need for a yearly check in is not as necessary as it once was.

But I really hope that we still do value the handwritten card or note.  Not just because I really enjoy making such products for you folks!  But because I love receiving them myself and wish that I would remember to send more of them throughout the year, not just in the spirit of Yule.

What are your Christmas card intentions for this year?