See you tomorrow in Brisbane or Sydney!

I'm OK!

Close friends Jen and Sandra are the crazy girls and dynamite creative duo behind the design company IMOK (pronounced “I Mock”). We’re wearing big smiles because IMOK are stallholders at Mathilda’s Market in Sydney AND Melbourne, where they are stocking their enchanting, whimsical and edgy lettering and art. We gave the IMOK girls a challenge: to create a fresh new look for the letters in “Mathilda’s Market”. Here’s what they came up with: 

Woah! It’s OUT there, and we love it to pieces.

IMOK have conjured up their own wildly magical alphabet lettering. They then arrange these letters into people’s names, or inspirational sentiments, such as this one:

The hue of the watercolour background and the special little character next to the word can be chosen by you to create something lovely and personal, like this: 

IMOK’s lettering designs can be purchased laminated, or mounted & framed. They’ll happily take customised orders for parties, birthdays or even your business, and we expect they’ll be busy bees taking plenty of Christmas orders at Mathilda’s. (They’ll also be selling some art pieces there, too). But perhaps our absolute favourites are the customised, handpainted initials. You can get any letter(s) of the alphabet painted IMOK style. Feast your eyes on this! It's B for boldly, bizarrely breathtaking! 

Oh, and for the big kids with a bit of rock n’roll in them, they also do fabulous clothing and accessories. Check out their website for a taste of what’s on offer.

Jen and Sandra from IMOK actually met while studying Hospitality Management. After graduating, Jen went on to forge a career in catering while Sandra studied photography. Rather astoundingly, neither have formal art training. Jen says there was certainly a strong creative connection when they met, but they had no idea that one day they’d be living out their dreams to make a living as artists. Isn’t it grand how life sometimes pans out! Oh and congrats are due to Sandra, who is getting married in early December. We hope her married life is as wonderful as her creative one. And incase you were wondering, the name of their biz comes from the sentiment “I’m OK”. (And we’re guessing it’s said with a cheeky grin, rather than a defeated shrug of the shoulders). At Mathilda’s Market, we think they’re MORE than just OK!

Books ahoy, mateys!

Cameron Stelzer had BIG daydreams of becoming a kids book writer and illustrator. But getting published as a children’s author is a tough task indeed. Many try, and few succeed. So Cameron decided to bypass the big publishers, instead creating Daydream Press with his wife Jenny in 2004. It’s now home sweet home to two series of kids picture books: The Stroogle and Pie Rat series. Open up these books and feast your eyes on the beautiful watercolour illustrations.

You won’t find these books in retail shops – so here’s yet another good reason to visit Mathilda’s Market in Brisbane on Sunday 1 November! You’ll also love the wide and colourful collection of The Stroogle and Pie Rat merchandise, all designed by the clever Cameron, including vibrant t-shirts, card games, library bags, stickers and toys. We rather like the wickedly cool Pie Rat t-shirts, which are bound to be a big hit with the boys!

Cameron also does his bit to encourage kids to embrace drawing and the written word by holding writing and illustration workshops at primary schools around Australia. And that deserves a big high five! If you can’t make it to Mathilda’s Market in Brisbane, you can stock up on books and other bits at the Daydream Press online shop.

Scissor sister

Melinda Andersen, a mother of three and former architectural drafter, freely admits there’s few things she’d rather do than wield a pair of scissors. Argh - sounds dangerous, right?! Don’t be alarmed! Just be alert to her fabulously crafty business. Melinda is the talent behind Paperklip, which creates hand-cut decorative paper features (mainly garlands) for kid’s bedrooms, parties, Christmas decorations, gift tags, etc. using wonderful vintage and new decorative papers.

No two works are the same – but all are colourful, eye-catching and oh so festive! Melinda dreamed up the idea of Paperklip during a Christmas holiday to Denmark in 2004. She humbly began crafting her wares on the lounge room floor, and is now quietly pleased to be stocked in various kids and homeware retailers around Australia. And we Market Mavens are in turn VERY pleased to have Paperklip doing the decorating honours at Mathilda’s Market in Sydney on Sunday 1 November (where Paperklip will, of course, have a stall).

You may be so dazzled by Melinda's work, you might feel the urge to ask Paperklip to create custom designed decorations for your home! Our pick from the Paperklip range? We think there’s no better way to teach your kids their ABC’s than with this stunning A to Z garland.

Growing a better world

There’s an old saying that goes something like this: “We do not own the earth – we merely borrow it from our children.” Wiser words have never been spoken, and it’s a philosophy that rings true for Kate and Jacqui from Three Little Trees. They believe this world will be a better place for our precious kids if we embrace a sustainable lifestyle, and in turn, teach our children how to take care of the environment. The Three Little Trees range is created with this ethos in mind, and consists of girls and boys clothes (all made of 100% cotton), hair accessories, balms, lotions, ponytail holders, etc. Their designs are bold and bright and make all our beautiful kids look even more wondrous than they already are! Check out this exquisite Butterfly Dress from the new birds and bees summer range …

And these super groovy Jitterbug Shorts!

What’s especially fantastic is that their clothes are hard wearing – tough enough to withstand one rough and tumble play session after another. Native plant seeds are contained in the swing tag attached to all garments, so like Kate and Jacqui, you too can watch your own three little trees grow! Brisbane shoppers can visit the Three Little Trees stall at Mathilda’s Market on Sunday 1 November.

Heaven Sent

As we all know, kids in real life usually don’t act like kids in fashion photo shoots. They are rarely perfectly poised on little chairs, neatly pouring ice tea into miniature plastic cups, eating cupcakes and smiling beatifically, while a terrier sits at their feet. They’re more likely to tumble off the chair into a mud puddle, or spill the ice tea down the front of their outfit, as the dog jumps up on them to seize a cupcake from their sticky little hands. And we love them for it! (We also love the escapism of looking at beautiful photo shoots and dreaming of a splendidly perfect life!) Heavenly Creatures Children’s Wear bring us a divine mix of the dreamy and practical, such as these sweet little Peasant Tops.

Clever designers Heidi and Kelly, who are also Mums, well understand that kids clothes will be subject to the rigours of swings, scooters, fairies, mud and cupcakes. So for the last four years, their team has designed garments for boys and girls that not only look irresistibly cool and can withstand the activities of youngsters, but also have a nostalgic feel about them.

You can view their entire current range in the Gallery section of their heavenly website. Photography this gorgeous is well worth checking out, and the website’s intro really brightened up our morning – so captivating! You can find Heavenly Creatures at Mathilda’s Market in Sydney on Sunday 1 November. 

A treat for teeny tootsies

It’s such a joyous thing to watch babies taking their first tentative steps! Yet a lot of baby footwear you find in the shops isn’t exactly fashionable OR comfy for our little ones. Many people skip the whole shoe palaver until their babies are older because quite often, bubba shoes seem a little chunky and, well … grown-up. So it’s splendid that Baby Couture has filled the gap, with stylish footwear for bambinos aged up to 18 months.

All their shoes are made of silky soft leather, allowing tiny footsies to grow and flex naturally … which we imagine is rather important when you are figuring out this whole walking caper! Perhaps you’re thinking “why would I put my baby in shoes? Sure, it looks cute – but they just fall off!” That’s quite true – and Baby Couture has nipped that one in the bud. Their range features fantastic elastic ankles to stop shoes being left behind. But enough talk of their practicality! Let’s allow ourselves to oooh and aaaah (just for a sec!) over the extreme cuteness of the black and white trainers above, and these cherry red and white numbers …

If you’re lucky enough to be at Mathilda’s Market in Sydney on Sunday 1 November, you can pick up a pair for the discounted price of only $25 – just for shoppers at this Market. Everyone else can sate their baby footwear fetish by doing a spot of online shopping at the Baby Couture website.

Designs on you

Aaaah ... the delightful scents and sounds of spring! There's truly nothing more nourishing for the soul than feeling the sun warming your face as you smell the wafting scent of jasmine. Well, perhaps there's one thing ... Opening the letterbox to find an invitation in the mail, JUST for you. It happens so rarely nowadays in the age of email, but it doesn't it just give you the fuzziest of feelings when it does? It's a feeling that Nathalie, a mum of three boys from Sydney, wanted to recapture. Also, hard as she tried, she couldn't find stylish, beautiful and personalised birth announcement, christening and birthday invitations in the stores. She was a talented designer, so she resorted to creating her own just for personal use. A wonderful friend (you know the kind ... those endlessly supportive and generous people worth their weight in chocolate) gave her the encouragement she needed to launch a small range - and that's how Imprintables came to be. You're bound to find a design you love to bits in her huge range. There's something for every occasion. We love the gingerbread men invitations! Spice up your life and head down to the Imprintables stall at Mathilda's Market in Sydney on Sunday 1 November.