July round-up

HUGE thanks to the many visitors who came to our Market on Saturday, we hope you enjoyed it!

We're taking a break during August, so the next Market will be held on Saturday 4 September.

The rather gorgeous door prize was drawn at random from everyone who joined our mailing list and the winner is... Morgan Wills!

Congrats Morgan, we'll be contacting you shortly.

And the winner is...

Thanks to Moederkip, we have a $50 gift voucher to give away!

To be in the draw to win you needed to read their 'meet the maker' profile and leave a comment telling us what you would buy if you were lucky enough to win.

And the lucky blog reader is... Nelly!

Congratulations to Nelly and a very big thank you to Moederkip!

If you missed out on this giveaway, don't worry too much, we'll have another giveway from the next maker we meet.

Have you visited our Flickr page?

Martine has set up a Daylesford Makers Market Flickr Group, check it out for the most amazing photos of our great makers and our pretty venue. We are lucky to have two talented photographers on board - Rohan Anderson and Tea & Jam. You can also post your own pics of the market, we'd really love to see them!

Daylesford is Craft Central!!

Have you heard? Daylesford is going to be Craft Central from 2-4 July. All the crafty folks in our crafty town have been collaborating to make this the craftiest craftacular ever! Here’s what’s happening:

Saturday
Daylesford Craft Experience at Peppers, with workshops all day
Daylesford Makers Market open from 10-5 - Town Hall
Daylesford Farmers Market - Daylesford Primary School

Sunday
Daylesford Craft Experience at Peppers, with workshops all day
Daylesford Sunday Bric-a-Brac Market - Raglan Street

Friday - Sunday
Local craft and handmade shops will be welcoming visitors with lots of events happening in stores. Lark is having a huge garage sale in Duke St, with cute and vintage stuff. Threadneedle, Purl's Palace and others will be open late throughout the weekend.

The Daylesford Craft Experience is a two-day stitchery retreat featuring three stars of the Australian craft Scene: Melly & Me, Jodie Carleton of Ric Rac and Anette Eriksson. Tickets are sold out for Saturday but there are still just a few places left for Sunday - click here for the full details.

Come and visit, and join in the crafty fun next weekend!

Next Market Saturday July 3rd!

Need another reason to visit Daylesford the weekend after next? The fab Daylesford Makers Market is on again, with over 50 stalls including local makers, Melbourne crafters and several emerging makers who are showing for the first time.

Geoffrey Williams will be playing live sets throughout the day.

Craig and the guys will be making the best coffee EVER and their own hot chocolate blend at the market café.

And of course there is the beautiful setting of Daylesford Town Hall, which is so inviting on a cold winter's day! The Market will be open until 5pm, we hope to see you there!

In the press

Saturday's Makers Market was featured in the Daylesford Advocate this week, alongside the local farmer's market. Check out the pics - you can see the girls from Spruce, and the Woolly Wookie family keeping warm, and little Angus, whose Dad Craig is our master coffee maker!

Meet the Maker: Moederkip

The "Meet the Maker" profile lets us get to know the Daylesford Makers Market stallholders a little better. In this profile we meet Natalie and Paul Hennekam, the couple behind the Moederkip brand.

We are also offering a giveaway, a $50 Moederkip gift voucher to one lucky blog reader! Competition details at the bottom of this profile.

What's the story behind your business?

When our son Bradley was born, Paul made him a wooden nameboard, and I started sewing some cloth nappies to use. We both realised that we had really missed making things with our own hands, and so we started doing more and more around the house.

Then over time, particularly as I came to the end of my maternity leave, we just knew that we didn't want to go back to working ridiculously long hours with a young family. So we decided the only way we could do this was to simplify our lives, become more self-sufficient, and look to how we could support ourselves while raising our family. A business focussed on making children's products just seemed like a natural extension of what we were doing and loving anyway.

For us, having our own business is about being able to live life on our own terms. It's about us being able to raise our children ourselves; and to look after the health and well being of our family, as well as our community, and the earth more generally. It's about becoming more self-sufficient, more aware, and having fun doing it.

Where did your business name come from?

MoederKip (pronounced 'moo-der kip') is Dutch for "Mother Hen".

A mother hen is nurturing, but also pretty tough - and we felt this suited our aim to produce children's clothing, toys, and accessories which are both beautiful and practical.

The name (as well as our feature colour orange) also provides a connection to Paul's Dutch heritage.

Have you always been creative?

I hear a lot of people talking about how they wish they were more creative, as if it is some mysterious quality that only artists and craftspeople are born with. In reality, I think people are all naturally creative - although we do sometimes get a bit rusty at the process of thinking creatively. Looking at the world through a child's eyes is actually a wonderful way to rediscover just how creative you can be.

So while I've not always been actively involved in a 'craft', I would say I've always had the urge to create. In fact, I think this need to make something tangible is a very human quality.

What is your favourite Moederkip product, and why?

At the moment I'm really loving our Playclothes range. The fabric (which is made here in Australia) is amazing - it's so durable, and even has a UPF rating of 50+, which is a great benefit in our climate. And the colours just make my heart sing.

Plus, most importantly, when we see children wearing them, you can tell they're just so happy and comfortable.

What inspires you and the creation of your product?

Mainly our son Bradley, and his friends. I talk to them, and watch them at play and at rest, and just learn from them. I like to see what colours they are drawn to; and the sort of styles that are comfortable and don't restrict their natural play. If they can't run, jump, or climb in it, it's not going to make it into our range.

I also lean a lot from our little DestructoBoy in terms of how durable clothing needs to be. We run a pretty free-range household, so if our clothes can stand up to the sort of treatment we put them through, then I can be pretty confident that they'll last the distance in most households.

What inspires you and the creation of your product?

All our products are made in our home - although I have been known to pack up the machines and work somewhere else if I'm feeling like I'm getting a bit stale and need a change of environment.

What's your favourite thing about Daylesford?

For me, I'd have to say the drive into town - coming past all the farms with their fresh organic produce; under the canopies of trees that change with the season; the gradual build up of buildings; and the lack of bright lights and big billboards. It just provides a really lovely gentle entrance to the community.

What are five things about you we don't already know?

My sewing area actually used to be our bedroom. It was the biggest room in the house, with the best light, and so I managed to take it over when the business started getting busier and I needed more room.

One of the things I'm very passionate about is breaking down this false divide people have between 'arts and science'. For example, people often don't realise what a big part maths plays in in art, music, fashion design, etc. I'd love to see a greater focus on maths being taught in school in ways to demonstrate this. It really makes me sad to see people coming out of the schooling system so frightened of numbers.

For a while Paul and I wondered about how we could reconcile our differences to raise a family - then we realised it's actually really healthy for children to be exposed to different ways of thinking. Although we're still not sure if Bradley is going to turn out a meat-eating athiest or a vegetarian catholic!

Bradley has three older brothers and sisters that we all just adore, and not being able to see them as often as we'd like is one of the hardest things about living where we do. It's for this reason that we're very thankful for facebook!

I didn't get my drivers' license until I was 33 years old. My first car - which we still have - was a Prius.

And now for the giveaway – a $50 Moderkip gift voucher!

All you need to do is check out Moederkip's range of of children's clothing, toys and accessories on their website, then leave a comment here telling us what you would buy with your $50 gift voucher if you were the lucky winner.

Entries close at 12 midnight on Sunday 20 June. The winner will be drawn randomly and notified via email.

Good luck everyone! And thanks Moederkip for the fabulous prize.

Grounded Pleasures Café at DMM!

More great news - starting at the 5 June market, Grounded Pleasures will be at the market serving awesome coffee, hot chocolate and tea to thirsty shoppers.

Craig and Sophie make the best coffee we've tasted in years, you might have met Craig teaching barista skills around Daylesford including at the Neighbourhood House, as he is a total coffee freak.

His coffee comes from Social Roasting, a Melbourne company we love because of their commitment to ethical sourcing and providing employment to long-term unemployed people, plus of course they have damn fine coffee that they grind themselves by hand. Come along on June 5 for a brew, there are lots of great coffee options in Daylesford but we guarantee you wont find anything better than this!

Grounded Pleasures have their own range of quality African Red drinking chocolates, check out their website, perfect for a Daylesford winter. There'll also be tea and delicious biscotti to keep you fuelled as you browse the lovely wares you'll find at the June market (of which more soon...).

Vintage coffe cup image by MayaLee.

Ben Riddle at DMM!

We're chuffed to tell you that Ben Riddle will be playing at the June 5 Daylesford Makers Market! Catch him from 11.30 at the Town Hall.

Bookings now open for new Market dates!

You can now book online for the Daylesford Makers Market events from July through to Christmas.

You'll notice a lot of improvements to the booking process - you can now book different sizes/types of stalls depending on your product.

The venue is also going to be even better. We're opening up the foyers and stairs, improving the lighting, and also featuring a great café, watch this space for more details! We are currently looking for artisan food producers to be part of the café and market so let us know if this sounds like you.

Bookings are already coming in thick and fast so please don't delay or you could miss out! Book here. We'll be approving the first round of applications on 18th May.

Bookings update

Thanks to everyone who has expressed an interest in booking markets from July through to Christmas!

We're making lots of improvements to the market at the moment based on your feedback, one of which is to offer stallholders more flexibility in choosing the preferred locations for their stall, so we're currently working on an online floorplan and a better booking system which should be ready in about a week's time. We'll post an update on this blog and also email existing stallholders as soon as bookings are open!

Marketing Organisers News: please join us!

The Daylesford Makers Market is a community event and there's no better time to get involved, either as a stallholder, a volunteer, or both.

We're currently looking for people to join our new committee or help with the Market, for example distributing leaflets, setting up the Town Hall or helping out on the day. If you're interested please email us: hello@daylesfordmakersmarket.com.au

As a committee member you'll get to come along to our monthly meetings over a glass of wine, have your say about how the market is run, get involved in finding and selecting stallholders, and share your skills.

Until we appoint the new committee, the interim group is made up of Gaynor, Allison (Lark), Paul (Moederkip), Nicole (Emerald Green), Tess (Lark), Merrilyn (Threadneedle) and Zoe (Purl's Palace).

Thanks to everyone who has volunteered so far, we couldn't do it without you! Please get involved!!

June Market - bookings closed

Bookings are now closed for the June 5 Market - thanks to everyone who has applied! Once again we have been inundated with requests, so if you haven't been successful this time we are sorry, we do need to keep the mix fresh and include new makers.

If you have been successful you will have received an email from us today - please note that the system for bookings and payments has changed. because we have more makers than sites we'll be allocating stalls on a first-paid basis. Please pay your invoice asap to avoid missing out.

We received lots of feedback after the last market - most of it really great (yay!) but also some constructive feedback highlighting potential issues like draughty doors, people flow and dark corners. We're looking at all of these issues and have decided to hold off opening bookings for July onwards until we have been able to resolve them, so that everyone can have a great market experience. Watch this space!

Easter Market

We hope to see you at the Market next weekend, Easter is a great time in Daylesford! For the first time we will have over 50 stalls, with many new makers as well as favourite crafters and designers from around Victoria.

Easter Market Update + July Onwards

Hi everyone, just to let you know that the Easter market on 3 April is now FULLY BOOKED and any new applications will be placed on a shortlist. If you already have a stall booked, please pay by the start of next week or you risk losing your spot. We're squeezing in 50 stalls at the Easter market, so it's going to be a HUGE bonanza of crafty goodness.

5 June is also filling up but there are a few spots left if you are interested. Priority will be given to applicants making jewellery, paper goods, adult clothing and homewares, as we have sufficient makers in all other areas for this market. Please apply through the market website.

There is no market in May.

The dates for markets from July onwards are below. Applications for these new dates will open on Monday 5 April. We will be offering 60% of the stalls on a first-come basis, with the remainder being held until a few weeks before each market, to accommodate new makers and to maintain a great mix of products.

Saturday 3 July (Daylesford Craft Experience Event)
Saturday 4 September
Saturday 2 October (Spring Market)
Saturday 6 November
Saturday 27 November (Christmas Market)

Big thanks!

Thanks to everyone who helped with today's market: Gaynor and Tanya for giving your time; our lovely sponsors at Thaw, Threadneedle and Purl's Palace, Geoffrey Williams for entertaining us, the Town Hall staff, ChillOut, the awesomest stallholders and everyone who came to shop. See you next month for the big Easter weekend!

Big Day Tomorrow

Don't miss the Daylesford Makers Market tomorrow from 10am at the Town Hall - it's going to be huge, with over 45 stalls for the first time. We've filled the main hall, the Seniors room, the entry and two outside spots, eek! Geoffrey Williams will be performing and Thaw magazine will be giving out free copies to early birds. There will be many new stallholders as well as old favourites. Come along and say Hi to Gaynor, Allison or Tess at the Info Stall, see you there!

New poster for March

Next week our new poster for the March (CHILLOUT) Makers Market will be going up all around Daylesford. Our latest recruit to the organising team will also be out and about at local restaurants and venues distributing leaflets with all the market dates on. If you can help with getting our posters and leaflets out in your neighbourhood or at other makets you attend please let us know! And feel free to put this poster on your blog or website.