Material Pleasures @ The National Folk Festival

After a long hiatus, Material Pleasures is coming back to the National Folk Festival. Held over the Easter Long Weekend, from April 5-9, the National Folk Festival is one of, if not the best, folk festivals in Australia – and we are so lucky to have had it here in Canberra since 1967.

Held at Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC), there is music, dancing, food and entertainment galore – not to mention some amazing local and interstate stalls to browse through as you immerse yourself in everything ‘folkie.’

Everyone here at MP would love to see as many of you as we can across the Easter weekend, and there’ll be plenty of time to come and find a treasure – we’re open from 10am to 10pm for the entire festival!

Plus, this year we are going to be joined by the lovely Mel from Librarian Chic – so you are certain to find something fabulous while soaking up the atmosphere at Epic!

Material Pleasures and Librarian Chic can be found at stall number 60, near the Piazza.

Handmade Treasures

There are certain times of the year when you avoid the crowds gathering at the National Convention Centre – formal dresses, hotted up cars and camera flashes. But over this weekend, another type of crowd made the journey up the stairs and past the brightly coloured entrance of the Convention Centre – the fans and supporters of Canberra’s Handmade Market.

And wow! From the moment you stepped through the doors you were greeted with the scent of coffee, macaroons and handmade cupcakes. This delicious mixture of scents guided you, as your eyes took in the array of brightly coloured handmade treasures that seemed to be calling your name and begging to jump in your bag and take them home with you.

From jewellery, to prints, clothing, accessories, sculptures and quirky and beautiful odds and ends, there was something for everyone – right down to the super capes and library bags for the littlies. But it wasn’t just the treasures that drew you in and often resulted in ahhs as you walked by – it was the atmosphere. The pride and delightful exuberance that each stallholder had for their wares was evident the moment you stepped off the main walkway and into their little worlds. In fact, each stallholder had taken the same time and effort in creating a welcoming and beautiful environment to display their treasures, as they had in creating them, with vintage typewriters, recycled desks and draws and tree branches helping to display and show off each item.

With over 150 stallholders making their way to Canberra from both the local region and interstate, the Canberra Handmade Market is an event not to be missed. But, if that Sunday morning sleep in was too enticing and you missed it, head out to the Handmade Shop on City Walk in the City and you’ll find a collection of pieces that you might not be able to live without!

Visit Handmade at their website or on Facebook.

Winter has Arrived!

The laundries throughout Canberra were looking a little bare on Friday night, as the washing baskets of Canberra took their rostered day off and headed down to the Material Pleasures Winter launch, bringing with them some fabulous people!

As 5pm fast approached, everyone at MP were eagerly watching the skies, wishing and hoping that the rain would hold off long enough to allow everyone to get into Fyshwick on time and in one piece. And as Mel and Jo were handing out glasses of champagne and everyone was nibbling on the yummy sandwiches made by our talented Christine, the rain stopped spitting on us and we were to have a rain free night – how lucky were we?!

Like athletes taking their position on the starting line, with 2 minutes to five, the crowd started etching forward, their minds already set on the must have piece that they had spied through the front window. Then, as the clock struck 5, Rebekah opened the door and winter had arrived!

For the seasoned shoppers, this launch was the perfect opportunity to show off their talents and well practiced finesse at manoeuvring the racks, champagne in hand and clothing collection growing by the minute. For our new shoppers, it is these people that teach the best lessons, and for this makeshift bar tender come Smartphone/Facebook techie, it provided a wonderful opportunity to come up with the definitive list of skills that are needed to survive a MP launch, with sanity and new clothing items well in grasp:

1.  Get here early. While you may not be let in until 5pm, those large windows are perfect for getting a sneak   peak of what we have on offer.

2. Eat, eat, eat. Now let me take a moment to dispel some myths for those people who think that shopping  isn’t a sport – it is. Therefore, you need energy and what better way to build up your strength than sample  some of Christine’s delicacies?

3.  Have a drink – alcoholic or not. For the same reason as above.

4. Have the ability to multitask. Trying on a coat while grabbing that red dress off the wall and claiming the boots in the corner is a perfect example of how to gain three things at once.

5. Like us on Facebook. MP has gone technological and we are loving our facebook site. A huge congratulations goes to Julie Nichols who was the winner of our $100 gift certificate! And a huge thank you to our younger girls, Ruby and Mia, for helping draw the winner. One of the fabulous things about the launch is getting the whole MP team together – big and little ones!

But the most important point, is to bring a sense of humour and be prepared to laugh. As the evening rolled on, friendships were formed over cries of ‘that looks amazing!’ and rum balls were consumed a plenty. For those who missed our Winter Launch, the next one will be in September when we change to summer, but you can still get your winter MP fix from Tuesday – Saturday at Fyshwick and on Sunday’s at the Old Bus Depot Markets.