Creative Aussie Links

Image Science Update

2008-08-27T09:38:00.003+10:00

This is an update for the post about Image Science. They are now stocking Crystal Clear bags which are great quality and professional looking bags to store your prints, which is a handy point-of-sale item.

Live 2 Knit

2008-08-22T11:47:00.002+10:00

Rita Wool/ Nylon shown in Magick

Soft Elizabeth Merino shown in Tidal

Merino/ silk/ nylon & REAL silver blend

Undyed Yarn

Live 2 Knit (oz) have a range of luxury hand dyed yarns & yarns for dying yourself. You can find alpaca, cashmere, cotton, wool and silk (blends of these as well) in many different weights. You can also find circular and double pointed needles, crochet hooks & patterns. They have good service too, I should know, I just recently bought some wool from them!

Patchwork on Central Park

2008-08-13T19:53:00.006+10:00

Amy Butler- Midwest Modern AB25-5 Brown

Denise Schmidt- Flea Market Fancy Medallion Floral Chartruese

Japanese Novelty- Trees

Horse n House Linen trim

Patchwork on Central Park (East Malvern VIC) is a patchwork fabric shop that sells a modern range of fabrics, including a delightful range of Japanese prints, fabrics from local designers, patterns, kits and books online and through their store in East Malvern. Check out their adorable range of printed tapes and ribbons! If I didn't have so many crafty projects on the go I'd be so tempted to invent another one just as an excuse to buy some of them!

Redback Envelopes (Comnet)

2008-06-12T11:50:00.004+10:00

Comnet (VIC-no website) sell a rigid cardboard mailing envelope that is great for mailing prints, and it even has a handy 'do not bend' message in the bottom right hand corner. Available in A3, A4 and A5 from Officeworks or you can call them directly on 03 9770 8156 for a wholesale price list.

Silver 925

2008-01-29T22:07:00.000+11:00

Silver 925 (OZ) is a silver jewellery wholesaler based in Australia. You'll need to contact them for their price list before ordering. Here you'll find chains in a variety of styles for necklaces, anklets and bracelets & a handy page of facts about silver. The omega chains (pictured at top), snake chains & chokers (pictured in middle) would in my opinion go great with modern style pendants.
They do have other items for sale on their site, but the chains are probably the most useful to us crafty people. There is a flat rate of $8 AUD for postage regardless of order size.

Apologies

2007-12-14T16:43:00.000+11:00

Sorry I haven't been updating here regularly. It's a busy time of year for me with illustration & art work, family life and Christmasy things. In the New Year (if not before) I will continue to keep adding to the growing list of resources for you, and in the meantime please do email me if you think you have any suggestions for links I can provide here.
Thanks for visiting, have a happy and safe festive period and I'll catch up with you in 2008!

Creative Spaces

2007-12-03T16:41:00.000+11:00

CreativeSpaces.net.au is a website that is a joint initiative between the City of Melbourne and Arts Victoria that has been designed to help you locate a space suitable for your next arts project.
Use the website to search for creative spaces such studios, galleries, theatres & rehearsal rooms. You can also list a space that you manage.
Creative Spaces is a work in progress and is going to expand early 2008 to become more interactive (and attractive). Help it to realise it's full potential by suggesting places for them to list. I think this will be a fantastic resource and is a great idea.

Retro Mummy Shop

2007-11-21T12:06:00.002+11:00

Retro Mummy Shop (OZ) is an online shop run by a stay-at-home Mum. You can find a range of retro & cute Japanese fabrics, Japanese craft books, accessories & Amy Butler patterns. I hear good things about the quality and service.

Decal Paper

2007-11-15T11:20:00.000+11:00

Decal Paper (Sydney NSW) offer products and project ideas that you can use to transform objects at home using your computer and printer. They have papers which you can make water-slide decals for many different surfaces including your fingernails, guitars, helmets, model cars and much more. They also have papers which allow you to print and apply images to ceramics, glass, tiles, plastics, metals and many other items with a shiny non porous surface. They've even got a product that you can make temporary tattoos with!
Their online ordering system is coming soon; though to make an order you can just print out their online pdf order form and fax or mail it to them following their instructions.
(ps. If anyone happens to try out their products I'd love to hear how they go)

The Artisan Press

2007-11-09T15:58:00.000+11:00

The Artisan Press (OZ) specialise in customized work & short runs. Ideal for wedding stationery, letterpress writing sets and cards, function and cocktail invitations, business stationery, unique letterpress greeting cards, short edition posters and books. Beautiful old printing method where the ink is pressed into the paper. The impression leaves a debossing effect in the paper.

Treetops Colour Harmonies

2007-11-01T11:15:00.000+11:00

Treetops Colour Harmonies (Floreat WA) have beautiful hand dyed wool & silk fibres in amazing colours.
All of their ordering details can be found on their site.

Art Shed

2007-10-23T14:28:00.000+10:00

Art Shed (QLD, VIC, WA) have a range of affordable (with an emphasis on affordable) art supplies including a wide range of canvases and easels. The canvases are stapled on the back which is great, no one wants to see pesky staples on the sides of your art. Another product of interest that I am a personal fan of is their tear-away paper palettes.
They have stores in West End QLD, Moorabin VIC & Myaree WA. If you can't make it to their physical stores they do have a delivery option.

Nehoc

2007-10-14T12:12:00.000+10:00

*Picture is of the Japanese version of the kit, the Nehoc set differs slightly from this one.

Nehoc (Bayview NSW) offer gocco & screen printing supplies. Don't know what gocco is? It's a little easy to use screen printing contraption that originated from Japan. Head on over to their page for a more detailed explanation.
They sell the print gocco PG-5 model, which replaces the original favourite B6 model (which can still sometimes be found second hand through sites like eBay if you're lucky).
Their PG-5 basic-set is all you need to get up and running to start printing. Extra supplies will allow you to print on different materials. I've added a couple of my own gocco prints so you can see the results of printing with these little nifty machines, though there are many more examples out there to see on the web. Try the Flickr group here. You will also find discussion there from other gocco users where you can ask questions to get all the help you need.
Want more information? Head over to savegocco.com to educate yourself some more.
Happy goccoing!

Image Science

2007-10-08T14:04:00.001+10:00

Image Science (Nth Melbourne VIC) offer a fine art (giclee) printing service that is well priced. You can also find a great range of quality fine art ink jet papers & media here including great quality crystal clear bags to house your prints. Sample packs of ink jet papers are available which is a great way to find the type of papers you like best. In addition to all of this, there is a wealth of information on their website to do with colour management and ink-jet printing. Run by a husband & wife team you also get friendly personalised service.

Fully Stoked

2007-10-02T11:14:00.000+10:00

Fully Stoked (ACT) offer the all popular and very comfortable American Apparel brand of quality cotton sweat-shop free blank t-shirts. Perfect for screen printing or appliquéing on, head to their online shop to find a range of their products. There's the option of buying wholesale if you're buying in bulk, and last time I checked you could mix sizes and colours in the one style which is great. They've got a good range of colours to choose from, and I like that they even have t-shirts for dogs!

Remo

2007-09-25T14:38:00.000+10:00

Remo (Oz) is the place to find the legendary Moleskine brand acid free notebooks made in Milan. My personal favourite being the smooth papered plain sketch version. I have tried many different types of sketch books and what I love about these is that the pages open out flat, allowing you to utilise both sides of the pages for double-spread doodles & masterpieces. Check out their website for an in depth explanation of what the Moleskine is all about.

Keith + Lottie

2007-09-18T10:26:00.000+10:00

Keith + Lottie (Northbridge WA) have wooden & vinyl toys for you to order & paint, including blank babushka dolls! Hop on board to the vinyl toy craze and paint your own Qee. Keith + Lottie say: "Imported from Hong Kong, these DIY Qee's are available in 5 shapes. They are designed to be painted - but of course look shit hot plain too. Each has it's own individual serial number, and as an owner of a genuine Toy2R DIY Qee you are eligible to submit your finished design to Toy2R headquarters. If they like it you swap your painted Qee for a gift and your Qee will tour the world... and possibly even go into production. Each figure measures 8" in height and is made from quality vinyl."
That's basically it for this store in the area of crafty items, but have a browse through their other wares and I'm sure you'll agree that this shop is pretty darn cool.

Tall Poppy

2007-09-14T12:20:00.000+10:00

Tall Poppy (Hurstville NSW) have a range of craft supplies, but in particular handbag & purse supplies. They have modern purse frames for making those cute little snap-lock vintage style purses our Grandmothers had. The magnetic closures for bags are an excellent addition to a bag to give it a professional touch. Bag handles, feet, patterns and a small selection of fabric are sure to please. The website is easy to navigate and order from, a bonus being that you can choose the currency you wish to shop in.

Amitie Textiles

2007-09-12T13:54:00.001+10:00

Amitie Textiles (Bentleigh VIC) differs from your typical patchwork fabric shop as it offers a range of modern & stylish patchwork fabrics. The link is for their blog, though you can see more of their fabrics on their flickr page. I am advised that they are setting up an online ordering system and this should be available soon.

Wool Dancer

2007-08-29T21:25:00.000+10:00

Wool Dancer (Blue Mountains NSW) offers hand spun, painted & dyed wools for your knitting or crafting pleasure. Great colour palettes and an ever changing range. I wasn't sure if I was going to feature etsy shops in this section, though I definitely think this one's worth a mention.

Welcome!

2007-08-02T12:14:00.000+10:00

Welcome to the Aussie Link Hub! It's for fellow crafters, designers & artists who need a resource for quick, quality and sometimes quirky links to find all the things in Australia (and possibly beyond) that they need for their hobby or business. It's going to be a work in progress which I will keep adding to. I feel like I'm forever trying to find weird & wonderful products & information related to the art & craft business that is sometimes hard to find in your own backyard. I'd like to share my knowledge and google-search finds with everyone and hope that you will do the same. Share your favourite shops & links and explain to me why they are good and why they stand out from the rest. Email any info to: julieknoblock [at] gmail [dot] com

I'd like to keep this list a quality list of hard to find products & info, so please don't send an email suggesting Spotlight for fabric! You get the drift.. :)

I hope you will find the links useful & pass the word on to your crafty mates.