Introducing Martina to the team

I feel awfully slack to only now introduce you all to Martina Gemmola, who joined the CWC team as my event coordination assistant earlier this year. She's been a fantastic helping hand at our last two events, taking on many of the random tasks associated with pulling an event together with aplomb (not to mention baking some amazing treats for us all to share while catching up after wards!) Martina is a freelance photographer by day, and has spent manyyears working and travelling through the US and Europe, gathering experiences and imagery from all over the world. After realising that Melbourne would always be home, she has embedded herself into the local creative community. When she is not shooting gorgeous spaces or spirited people, she is poring over design publications and dreaming of what's next. At times wearing many hats, she has a background in production and project management, keen barista skills and a serious passion for anything food and travel related.

In addition, Martina has a passion for helping fellow creative ladies in their business ventures, so if you find yourself in need of product or portfolio photography... she is highly recommended!

See more of her work at www.gemmola.com, on The Circle Database, or revisit her featured profile on the blog in 2011.

Organise Me: How to Stay Creative on the Road

I’ve been travelling across the USA and Canada for about 8 weeks now, and whilst my plans to stay long term in Canada have changed, I’ve been doing my best to keep my creativity flowing on the road so I’m refreshed when I get back to Melbourne after 12 weeks away.

The novelty of travelling and living out of a suitcase can get old pretty quickly, especially if you thought packing light was an amazing idea and now you’re just sick of wearing the same outfits over and over.

Here are my top tips for staying creative on the road:

• Have a packing system. Know what you’ve got and how to pack it easily. I roll everything I can and put an elastic band around it to keep it small, and keep my shoes in the dust bags they give you with handbags (then you don’t have to worry about dirt in your suitcase). A tidy suitcase takes the stress of packing a suitcase explosion on checkout morning and allows you to fit more goodies you pick up along the way.
• Walk where you can. You see more of the everyday activities that go on in a place if you walk around it. Take the time to wander. Look in the shop windows and see what you find. It may surprise you.
• If the weather is good visit the local park or garden. Take a book or sketchpad and allow your thoughts to wander. Listen to the sounds and people watch. If it’s winter and snowy, visit an ice skating rink and just soak up the atmosphere.
• Visit a book shop, an independent one if you can find one. Find your favourite section and take the time to see what titles they have on the shelves. See what’s popular, it may just spark an idea that you never would have thought of at home. If you’re feeling adventurous, pick a section of the bookshop you’d never visit at home and see what pops out at you.
• Get your camera out. It doesn’t have to be a top of the range, bells and whistles camera for you to stop, look around and see your surroundings. Use your phone if that’s what you’ve got. Make a point to see where you are and be in that moment. It’s amazing what you see when you look. Extra tip: Don’t forget to look up! (I must have walked through Flinders Street Station a million times before I stopped to look up and see the beautiful ceiling)
• Buy a local magazine about something you’re interested in. Even if you can’t read the words, it’s always interesting to see how other cultures approach things and how they present them.
• Keep your headphones off and ride the public transit. If you’re in a city with good public transportation, pick a place to go and take a ride. Listen to the sounds, the conversations and hear how the people live. Even if you can’t understand a word they say, enjoy how the sounds are different to what you’re used to.
• Take a break and be kind to yourself. Travelling gets tiring, especially when everything feels go, go, go. Pick a night or a weekend that’s just for relaxing. Put on your favourite music, grab that book you’ve had no time to read, order in something delicious and just enjoy the break.

If you can do a combination of these you may feel more inspired and relaxed while your away and carry that through to when you’re back home. I know that I have felt more inspired on this trip than I have in a long time. But even if you’re not travelling, some of these tips would work at home as well.

Dannielle is a blogger, web designer, serial organiser and passionate traveller. She has a secret love of 90s teen movies and can often be found on Twitter. In 2013, Dannielle is packing up her life in Melbourne into one suitcase and moving to Canada to make her crazy dream of a more adventurous life happen. But she quickly found the inspiration she was searching for is on her way back to Melbourne. You can find out more on her blog.

Etsy Interactive + Merchandising workshop

An exhibition entitled Etsy Interactive featuring many works from Australian Etsy retailers - including CWC Member Kerrie Oliver of Lloyd Told George (whose piece Urchin, above, will feature) - will run at Fracture Gallery @ Federation Square until 31 March. More info about the exhibition is on the LMFF site.

In addition, the Etsy Australian Team have a few events happening during L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival.  A "Merchandising for Etsy Success" workshop  will be presented by Etsy's Senior Merchandising Specialist, Emily Bidwell on Wednesday 20 March in Melbourne.

Emily will be talking about the importance of photography, styling tools, seasonal trends and tips on getting noticed by Etsy's onsite curators.

Full Members of the CWC can WIN a ticket to the workshop! To be in the running, simply log in to your CWC account, visit this page and enter your contact details by 6pm Friday 15 March 2013 (that's tomorrow!). Two winners will be chosen at random (to receive one ticket each) and notified by email and SMS on Saturday 16 March.

Women in the World: A Follow Up with Lara Cameron

By Joanna Francis You'll remember that late last year, we caught up with Lara Cameron of Melbourne fabric design studio Ink & Spindle, before she took off on a study tour to Nepal. Lara was part of a tour organised by Steph Woollard, founder of Seven Women, a not-for-profit working with women with disabilities. Today, Lara is joining us again to share with us a little about her experiences in Nepal (illustrated with some of her photos!).

Lara, welcome home! Can you remind us of the purpose of your trip to Nepal, and tell us about where you visited and what you did?

Where do I start?! The whole trip felt like a lifetime worth of experiences jam packed into a mere 3 weeks! I guess generally the purpose of the trip was to learn about fair trade enterprises and production in Nepal. We visited a whole host of different fair trade businesses (felt workshops, silversmiths, craft producers, up-cyclers). We learnt about their processes, their challenges, who they employed and how they were making a difference in Nepalese society.

We also spent lots of time getting to know the Nepalese people, learning about their way of life, both in cities and rural areas.  Nepalese people are renowned for being friendly and cheerful and that definitely seems to be true. They have an infectiously warm and positive nature. Their lives don't revolve around working, but instead they are centred around family and community. Although these people might be 'poor' by western standards they seem truly happier. This might sound flippant and naive but it really does seem that the simpler your life is the happier you can be. As humans (particularly Westerners) we find it so hard to be content, but having less opportunities, lofty ambitions or obsession with material goods can be somewhat liberating.

Can you tell us a little about meeting the women involved and seeing how Seven Women is supporting disadvantaged women?

Seven Women is basically set up to empower women who are disadvantaged or living with a disability. Steph is passionate about establishing business models that promote self reliance, rather than long term dependence on external aid. Her original centre EPSA used to make a lot of felt craft goods that Steph would wholesale here in Australia. Now they wholesale goods to the local market and are functioning independently, which is great.

Steph has just recently established a new Seven Women centre which is where we spent a lot of time during our trip. The new centre can house up to 10 women and also has a workspace for even more women and a shop front (plus a rooftop terrace and a veggie patch!). We had the great privilege of being able to assist in fitting out the new house and also meeting a lot of the women who live and work there. They are absolutely gorgeous, warm hearted people and a joy to work with.

Is there someone that you met that particularly inspired you, or shared their story with you of how their life had been changed by their involvement?

Well Steph is definitely an inspiring individual, but I have to say I was also very inspired by a social entrepreneur we were introduced to named Sanu Kaji. Sanu established the Foundation for Sustainable Technologies and is possibly the most endearing, enthusiastic and inspirational person we met over there! Sanu has dedicated the latter part of his career designing sustainable fuel alternatives for the Nepalese people, in particular his unique "Briquettes" which are made from a compressed combination of waste paper and biomass (sawdust, grass, leaves or rice husks etc). 1.5kg of his briquettes is the equivalent to 5-8kg of timber in terms of cooking capacity, and he is training people to make their own.

 What were some of the obvious challenges in working in an international context like this?

Gosh, where do I start? Communication is an obvious one. There are very few people in Nepal who have fluent English skills, so explaining the finer details of things is definitely a challenge. The Nepalese people also have that tendency to never say no. Very frustrating when you're trying to figure out if or when something can be done! Culturally there are challenges too - they can have a different perspective on what constitutes "good quality"; Steph has worked very closely with her team to make sure they're producing what a Western market would find acceptable. The other massive challenge is rolling blackouts! Most places in Kathmandu only have power about half of the day, and sometimes that allocation is largely at night time! This definitely affects productivity and turn around times - no wonder Western customers get flabbergasted when something takes 3 months longer to produce than they expected!

Did you have the opportunity to share some of what you've learnt through developing your own creative business here in Melbourne?

I did! I think that was my favourite part actually - getting to work alongside the women and teach them things! I went over there with a prototype for a new product - laptop sleeves made from handmade Nepalese felt. The felt they work with is just so lovely and textured and beautiful in its own right, so I thought that we should develop a product that really showcased this. I found myself sitting on the floor of the new Seven Women centre, surrounded by these cheerful and cheeky women and bits of felt and scissors and chalk and patterns, laughing at my poor Nepalese skills and our haphazard communication, generally having a ball. That was great.

Did that experience change or have any impact on the way you view your business practices here?

It did make me appreciate what we have here and how much easier it can be to produce something locally. After seeing first hand how difficult it can be to source the right things and communicate effectively to have a quality product made in a country where "quality" has a different meaning... I feel very lucky that we have the ability to produce in-house and don't have to rely on overseas labour to do what we do.

From an emotional/personal perspective I'd like to think that witnessing the Nepalese way of life changed my perspective on life here a bit. I'd like to have a bit more relaxed pace of life, feel less like I need to constantly be keeping up with trends and what everyone else is doing, and focus more on home and family and friendships to give life meaning.

Will you have any continuing involvement with Seven Women?

I definitely plan to. I still need to ensure the new product line gets produced properly, and I'd definitely like to keep working with Steph on her product range - either hands on or just providing feedback and advice from time to time.

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If you'd like more information about the work of Seven Women or their study tours to Nepal, please go to their website to find out more. And thanks Lara for sharing your experiences with us.

Joanna Francis spends most of her time hanging out with her two year old son. But she also works for a children’s foundation and has recently started her own little business making baby quilts. In the past, Joanna has worked as an aid worker in several developing countries, and is passionate about the rights of women and children. You can visit her and her blog at www.miettehandmade.com

Scenes From Sydney: Trade Fair Season Hits Sydney

By Jaclyn Carlson The month of February is a fast & furious one for designers, retailers and creatives about to enter into the wholesale market. Prepare for long days and sleepless nights as suppliers make sure stock and samples are in order and buyers plan out a budget and purchasing decisions.  That's right, it's trade fair season and at this time every year the retail industry descends on Sydney to discover the latest and greatest in the Australian market.

If you're a creative thinking about wholesaling, then this post I wrote last year will help shed some light on an often overwhelming situation.  If you are already familar with the world of trade shows then you'll understand the long days and sensory overload that comes with visiting the three big retail events that took place this past week: Life Instyle, Reed Gift Fairs and Home & Giving.

Each one has it's own unique selling point but all provide an incredible behind the scenes look at the talent that is right here in Australia.  In a time when many people are looking overseas to make purchases or feel that design talent is lacking, this is there perfect opportunity to see, touch and feel products that are raising the bar and putting Australia on the retail map.

Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Jaclyn Carlson is the author behind the Sydney-based blog, Little Paper Trees. When not documenting her expat adventures, she can be found working for one of Australia’s top design & homewares trade shows. Passionate and prone to wasting hours on Pinterest, she has years of experience in marketing, advertising and PR and aims to put Sydney’s creative women in the spotlight with her monthly column.

Images via Emma Scamell Photography

Tools of the Trade: Belinda Evans & Alchemy

By Brianna Read The interview for this first chapter in the second volume of Tools of the Trade raised two particularly pertinent topics for the wonderful platform for discussion that is the Creative Women’s Circle: social media and collaboration. I shall return to these topics shortly, but let me introduce the subject who brought these to the fore… Belinda Evans is the creator of Alchemy, a beautiful label and online store which I admired long before I crossed paths with Belinda herself.

My reason for this admiration was that this tiny little nook, in the vast ocean of online stores, managed to cultivate an extraordinary air of calm. As anyone who has lost their way while navigating the information superhighway will understand, calm is not something you happen upon very often. I mention this particular quality because Belinda’s extraordinary talent lies not only in her hands which craft each beautiful, thoughtful product you find in the Alchemy store, but also in her ability to create quiet space and genuine connection in the arena of online shopping and social media.

How, I wondered, has this woman stayed so true to the ethos of her slow, calm, creative practice while building a tiny empire and devoted following in the chaos of online?

Belinda spent her childhood surrounded by a wonderful array of tools: lathes and pottery wheels were both things she was encouraged to try and with a glass blowing studio and furniture making workshop at her fingertips it would seem a natural progression for such a childhood to lead on to a practice such as that displayed at Alchemy. But not without an invaluable step in a different direction…

Belinda also works in the field of project and event management and it is her experiences using social media in this environment which she credits with developing the skills that have proven invaluable in the development and management of the online presence of Alchemy. Take a quick look at the Alchemy blog or her Instagram posts and her genuine enjoyment of this media is wonderfully apparent. Her beautiful blog for Alchemy has a quiet sister in the blog titled Simple Things which Belinda dedicates to displaying images of a wide spectrum of design works which catch her eye and entertain her mind. Belinda says of her sharing ‘I’m not shy about sharing my techniques, how I source my materials, and the beautiful work of other artisans that I love to surround myself with.’.

This leads me to the second topic of collaboration. I recently read an article posted on Li Edelkoort’s Trend Tablet authored by Peter Stitger and to borrow his words ‘We are leaving an individual era behind us.’ This article continued on with a brief treatise on the merits of collaboration and fostering creative environments which work on the premise of camaraderie with the sharing of tools, knowledge and creativity at the center.

Belinda has exactly this approach to her practice, take one look at the beautiful photos of Belinda using indigo dyes for some of her new projects below. Taken by Olga Bennett, these photographs showcase the talents of photographer and subject in equal measure, a perfect example of the beauty of collaboration. This appreciation for the talents of others is one of the defining characteristics which make Belinda’s online voice so pleasant to listen to. In a time which seemed to favour the loudest and most shamelessly self-promoting voices, stumbling across Alchemy and then crossing paths with the quiet collaborator herself was equal parts breath of fresh air and renewal of faith in social media platforms. Belinda, thank you!

Belinda's blogs can be found here and here. Her lovely escape from the world store is here and to find her on Instagram she is known as: @iamalchemy...

Brianna Read is a designer and maker based in Melbourne. Her knitwear label Jack of Diamonds  employs traditional hand-made techniques in combination with machine knit technologies. Her multi-faceted creative practice encompasses design, production, works for exhibition and machine knitting workshops. 

Organise Me: How to Get Organised for a Conference Like Alt

  By Dannielle Cresp

Since I was fortunate enough to attend the design and blogging conference Altitude Design Summit in Salt Lake City, Utah in January, I thought I'd start this new column off with some tips on how to get organised for a conference like Alt.

Get Ready

• Look at the schedule as soon as it's released and choose the sessions that are the best fit for you
• If you're looking to talk with sponsors: know who they are ahead of time and choose a couple to make time to speak with
• Go with an open mind. A conference like Alt is a great place learn about things you hadn't considered for your creative business or blog
• Pack your business cards and your smile. Business card exchange is a big part of Alt. It's a great way to start a conversation with other creatives and to make some new friends
• Have your elevator pitch for your creative business or blog ready. The question you will get asked most after 'Do you blog?' is 'What's your blog about?' If you're not a blogger you can read this as 'Tell me a bit about your creative business'. Have something that can get a conversation going.

When You're There

• Even if you don't know anyone, take a deep breath, smile and say hello to someone new. Ask if they've been before and about what they do.
• Take a breather when you need it. Not all conferences are the same as Alt where they have a lounge for you to take a break, but if it's getting too much, allow yourself some space.
• Take a notepad, pens or the electronic device of your choice to the sessions and take all the notes and photos that you want to. There's so much going on you'll want a memory trigger later, to remember what you saw and heard.
• Put your hand up. If you have a question for the speaker or the panel, ask it during the Q&A at the end of the session. It's your chance to ask them and there's probably someone else who wants to ask it, but hasn't found the right words.
• Go to the parties or evening events, even just for a short time. If you're shy like me, you might not want to, but the networking that comes from them makes it worth feeling a little out of your comfort zone.
• Keep non-attendees in the loop. If you're on social media share a photo or a quote from your favourite speaker. Ask your followers if they have a question that they'd love for you to ask on their behalf.

After it's Over

• Take a day or two to come down from it. It can be a really heavy feeling after a big conference, and you don't want to let the inspiration slip away, but you don't want to get burnt out either. Take some time to chill after and you will be able to turn that inspiration into something awesome easier than if you'd forced it.
• Follow up. Email that sponsor you had a great conversation with. Add your new friends to your Twitter or follow them on your preferred social media network. Email them for a catch up.
• Share your experience with others. In person, on your blog or website, on Flickr or social media. Attendees, the organisers of the conference and non-attendees alike would love to hear/see how you found the conference from your point of view

Most of all remember that being ready for a conference like Alt allows you time to have fun and soak it all in. After all, you went there for the whole experience. I hope this helps you enjoy your conferences like I enjoyed Alt.

Dannielle is a blogger, web designer, serial organiser and passionate traveller. She has a secret love of 90s teen movies and can often be found on Twitter. In 2013, Dannielle is packing up her life in Melbourne into one suitcase and moving to Canada to make her crazy dream of a more adventurous life happen. You can find out more on her blog.