Another week in the office

Last week was slightly less crazy at work, primarily because my managing partner was on leave for 2 days. I'm not looking forward to his return to the office on Monday, it could potentially be very busy.

Since I haven't had time to leave the office to buy a coffee, it's a lifesaver that we have an awesome coffee machine. It uses Lavazza coffee pods, which I like a lot better than both the Nespresso and Expressi (Aldi) variety.

I have become partial to a 6:30pm coffee every evening, which is when I should be eating dinner but inevitably still have a few hours of work to do!

This is the view from my office window:

I actually love it. I have worked in a big firm where I had a panoramic view of the city, foreshore and river... and it was so depressing. It made me sadder to be in the office, I wanted to be out there enjoying the outdoors. At least this boring view doesn't make me yearn to be somewhere else.

I have put a few things in my office to brighten it up. I can't go overboard like I did working in Government, this office is a lot more conservative. Most people don't even have a single photo frame! I don't think anyone has noticed these things yet, so I've gotten away with it.

 My changeable sign

 Very cool paperclip holder

On Sunday my sister and I got up at 4am to go to the Karrinyup markets (swap meet). When we got there there were already heaps of cars lining up.

We sold quite a bit of stuff and this time I didn't catch anyone stealing, which hopefully means that people were honest. The markets are a great way to offload your stuff but it was exhausting, I don't think I'll do it again in a hurry while I'm working long hours during the week.

I wish I had bargained more when I went to the Melville markets a few weeks ago - I just accepted whatever price the vendor suggested (or what was marked), most people at these markets haggle down to the last 50c!

 Some of the takings

Melville Markets

Last weekend, I went to the Melville markets. They are held in the Melville shopping center carpark from about 6:30am - 11:30am. My sister dutifully woke me up at 6am and we headed out in the cold and dark.

I had heard good things about these markets but I don't think they're better than the Karrinyup shopping center ones. The Melville ones aren't undercover which is very problematic for winter, and they weren't any cheaper. I thought some people were really overpricing their goods - no wonder when I sold at the markets myself, my stall was so popular and I sold so much - my prices were very low!

Nonetheless, there were some gems to be found (they were all purchased from one off stalls, not from the regulars - so it's a matter of luck really). I bought the following:

Vintage teatowel ($1), 'Boy and his dog' hanging picture ($4)

Lace cushions ($4 each)

 My favourite - a gorgeous wooden tray for $5

 The other favourite - vintage dress which fits amazingly, $5

 Piper dress- I plan to wear this to work with a collared shirt underneath ($4)

Jacqui E silk beaded top ($5)

Hot Options top ($2)

Linking up with Sophie...

Fash and Treasure, Roller Derby & Pumpkin Festival = Jam Packed Weekend

Apologies for my lack of blogging lately - I have been very busy. Work hours have been unusually long, and I have been organising things for my impending departure from Canberra.

If anyone is wondering, no I do not have a job to go to in Perth. I haven't even had time to update my CV or start looking. This is a little nerve racking, but since I will be bunking with the parentals temporarily upon my return (so won't have to pay rent), I have some breathing room.

The weekend was also super busy (but very enjoyable). I am trying to cram in as many 'last minute' Canberra experiences as possible, and spend quality time with the good friends I have made here. They are the sole reason that I'm sad about leaving Canberra, but I have no doubt we'll stay in touch for many years to come. When I buy a house in Perth, I want to have an empty room available for them to come and visit me whenever they want to!

My weekend consisted of:
-Holding a stall at the Fash and Treasure markets at Kingston Old Bus Depot. This was an exhausting day, but it was fun. All in all I made about $160 profit after the stall fees, and got rid of some of my excess clothing and shoes. I didn't make nearly as much as I did at the markets I sold at in Perth (see this post).

-On Saturday night we went to see the Roller Derby (Canberra vs Newcastle). This was SO MUCH
FUN! It's a very family friendly event with space for the kids to run around (and they danced to the band that played at half time - unfortunately it was an awful metal/rock band with no skill which was painful for the rest of us).

It really is like the movie 'Whip It'!

I can now say that I love roller derby... it is such a fun, interesting sport. The cool uniforms and creative player names give it that little extra something, and it's nice to see a woman dominated sport which requires such skill, agility and strength. I would love to get involved myself, but given my history with sporting injuries and my tendency to go a little too far, I think I'd end up leaving a game in an ambulance. It can get pretty violent!

-After roller derby we went to Pho Viet in Belconnen for dinner. They serve up a delcious rare beef pho for $9, which is filling and warming on a chilly winter evening.

-On Sunday morning, we were up bright and early to head to Collector for the annual Pumpkin Festival. I was lamenting my lack of any weekend sleep in, and seriously considered bailing when my alarm went off on Sunday and Bub was still asleep... but I'm glad I went in the end. It's a cute festival with lots of pumpkin related goodies and a genuine country town vibe.

 One of the pumpkin scarecrows dotted around the town. There was also a scarecrow building competition.

 Biggest pumpkin contest, complete with a grumpy little boy to show the relative size of pumpkins ;-)

We had warm pumpkin scones and tea in the community hall which were super delicious:

Lunch was fresh homemade pumpkin soup, and we also bought a pumpkin bread loaf to take home.

I would definitely advise getting to the festival as early as possible. The parking situation was already terrible when we arrived at 10:30am (we had to drive around Canberra picking up people who were car pooling with us, which delayed our departure), and the festival was getting more and more crowded as the day went on (to the extent that it was hard to walk anywhere, and there were massive lines at every food stall). Last year the festival attracted over 5500 people, which is remarkable for a sleepy town that only has around 400 residents.

 Most unusual pumpkin competition

 Pumpkin decoration competition - I love this babushka doll!

 More decorated pumpkins

 Retro pumpkin ware

They also had a pumpkin carving competition (the entries were poor compared to what I have seen made in the USA and Canada), pumpkin scone and pie baking competitions, pumpkin rolling races and plenty of country music. I don't think the facilities were adequate for the crowd, but people were a lot more patient and good humoured than would usually be the case in such a crowded space. Perhaps it was the calming effect that the countryside had on the city folk, or perhaps there were just more gentile country folk in attendance!

All in all, it was a fabulous day out.

I spent Sunday afternoon catching up on housework and laundry, and even had time to list some items on ebay in the evening. Jam packed, I tell you!

My Market Selling Experience: Scarborough Rotary Club Swapmart

Before I moved to Canberra from Perth, I did a massive de-clutter. There’s nothing like moving interstate and packing your whole life into boxes to motivate one to do this. Even though my market selling experience was over a year ago now, I have decided to post about it so that this becomes a searchable resource for others.

I know that I personally had no idea what to expect, and these tips would have helped me – so I hope they help others! This post also comes as I prepare to sell at the next Fash and Treasure market in Canberra with some friends - if anyone has any tips or experiences related to those markets (noting that they're quite different and a lot more expensive to hold at stall at), please share!

 

The Scarborough Rotary Club Swapmart is held at the underground carpark at Karrinyup shopping centre on Sundays. My friend and I decided to hold a stall together. One car space was plenty of room for both of us. From memory, the cost of a bay was about $20.

We drove to the car park to line up at around 4 or 5am, after picking up some coffees from the McDonalds around the corner. There is a lot of politics around lining up – DO NOT leave gaps between cars, because someone will inevitably try to push in later in the morning and it will most probably end in an argument (as we saw happen).

While it’s still dark, you will be handed a numbered voucher to secure your spot and then wait a bit longer until the cars are let in. We had no idea which spots were “good”, so we just picked a reasonably central one. It was absolute chaos once they let the cars in – cars and people and goods everywhere.

While we were scrambling to get things out of the car and set up, other stallholders were already browsing our goods and throwing stuff around. It was quite overwhelming and exhausting, but the day was very successful overall.

Some tips:

1. Take someone with you, but preferably more than one helper. You’ll need to set up as quickly as possible at the beginning, and also move the car away while someone guards your stock. During the morning, there were periods where my stall was frantically busy and even though I had myself, my friend and my Mum in attendance, we couldn’t keep tabs on everything. Unfortunately things do get stolen so you need people keeping an eye out. You also need to answer questions, give change (and take money!) and clean up as things fall off hangers or are moved around.
2. Use clothing racks and tables; don’t put things in baskets/buckets or on the floor. It’s a lot quicker and easier for people to browse racks of clothing – I don’t think I would have had much business at all if I had left things on the floor- most of the stuff that I had laid out on blankets was untouched. Would you want to kneel down to look through things when you might get stepped on?
3. Pre-price everything with labels that are tied (not stuck) to the goods. It is just way too chaotic to make up prices on the spot, especially if your stall is as busy as mine was. If you have sticker labels, you’ll have labels falling off or dodgy customers switching prices.
4. Take paper, sticky tape and a black marker so that you can put signs up. When there was about an hour left, I put signs up advertising ‘50% off the marked price’ and this attracted quite a lot of people.
5. Take some change to start the morning off with, and a bum bag or handbag to keep your money in. I found that most people, especially the very early customers, knew the market gig well and had small change on them to pay with. There was at least one early customer with a $50 note though.
6. Don’t be afraid of hagglers and be assertive if you don’t think a discount is warranted. Sometimes I gave a discount, other times I’d say ‘Maybe later if it hasn’t sold’. I didn't purposely inflate prices to encourage people to haggle, and most buyers appreciated this. Other people will always try to haggle regardless. One lady was really annoying me - she wanted some shoes that I had marked at $3 for $1, and my $2 tops for 50c each.
7. Take water and snacks. I didn't actually have time to eat or drink, but if I had started feeling sick or faint from not eating breakfast it would have been a lifesaver. I also took a chair to sit on but didn't have any time to sit down - hopefully if you're busy, you won't need a chair either.

I think the key to my success was that my prices were very low from the beginning. I didn’t sell any designer items, I kept those and listed them on Ebay separately. I had some vintage goods but mostly just high street labels and random bric a brac and household goods. I priced things from 50c to $20, and not more. Most items were $2-5. People loved the prices and because my stall was busy, it attracted more and more people. People were even shoving each other to get to my goods. I would have been even more successful if I'd had more clothes racks, sometimes my stall was too crowded and that put people off looking at the items I had laid out on blankets on the floor or in boxes.

I hardly had time to take a breath all day. By the end, I had sold 60-70% of my stock. Of what was left, I kept a few items that I wanted to try listing on Ebay, and the rest I dropped into a charity bin on the way home.

By about 11:30am, the swap mart had wound down and sellers start packing up their stalls. It was exhausting, but totally worthwhile because I made $350+ after expenses. I also really enjoyed the experience! 

Old Bus Depot Markets, Kingston

The Old Bus Depot Markets are located in Kingston (ACT) and are open every Sunday from 10am-4pm. They are fully indoors, so you can visit on a rainy day, and they run various special market days where many of the stallholders sell according to the theme: antiques, kids items, woolen items, jewellery etc.

I hadn't been in a while so and after a yummy lazy brunch in Kingston, I decided to check them out.  I don't think they're as good or cheap as the Hall Markets which I blogged about, but they serve a different purpose - they're more central and they're indoors.

 The markets

 Lots of gorgeous kids clothes

 I loved this ladies dresses - this one was on sale for $25!

 Dresses for sale - $50 each

Handmade leather bags - very exxy, costing around $300! The lady also sells on Etsy.

Chicken hats!? $38

 Flower clips / brooches made from kimono silks. Super versatile and look great as shoe clips!

 I loved this lady's artwork - she uses copper metal and modelling clay which she paints with metallic paints.

 I especially loved this kookaburra - $95 including frame.

Would you pay $38 for a short tarot reading? I wouldn't! I have always wanted to have one done, but at a much cheaper price...

I didn't take any photos, but there is a whole section devoted to food stuffs and plants - you can buy ready made cakes and tarts, freshly baked bagels, chutnies and jams, bunches of flowers, exotic teas, fudges, and even free range eggs and locally produced meats.

It also has a "food court" area where you can buy lunch - with Ethiopian, Laotian, Spanish, Turkish and Mexican food on offer amongst other cuisines. 

I'd definitely recommend the markets for an outing - especially on a rainy day when there is little else to do in 'Berra!

Hall Markets - Canberra's Best Home-Made & Home-Grown Goods Market

I am very excited to share this find with you all. Some friends and I ventured to the Hall Markets (in Hall, 15 mins from the Canberra CBD). These markets are truly lovely. They have a real country feel, super friendly stallholders who were more than accommodating when I asked if I could photograph their wares, gorgeous handmade items and everything was very reasonably priced!!!

The markets are held on the first Sunday of every month (excluding January). There is plenty of food on offer, yummy coffee (by a Jindabyne coffee company) and even a kids section which had a jumping castle and other kids rides. The highlight is obviously the large range of stalls selling handmade goods, plants, homemade baked goods, jams/conserves, locally grown fresh fruit and veggies etc. I was talking to some stallholders and it seemed that many are from rural NSW and VIC, and travel to the markets in Hall every month.

I was blown away by the goods on offer. Best of all, the prices were so reasonable.

The markets

 Homemade baked goods

 Yummy easy to make toffees - I am such a sweet tooth!

 Some children in gorgeous vintage dresses selling peacock feathers.

 Lovely woodwork and a lovely Border Collie looking after it :)

 

Bush side table - $70

 Cute handmade cat bed - $25. These people also make lovely scratching poles.

 These lovely bird feeders are around $25 each - wow!

 Very cute window styled mirror - $70

 

This is a great use for pretty vintage plates - I'm going to borrow the idea!

 Lovely dichroic glass creations, great gift idea. 

Artist: Colour for You by Kay and Cheryl Robinson. 

Made in Canberra.

 More of Kay and Cheryl's work.

 These precious stone necklaces were my favourite, and they're SO reasonably priced - around $30 or less each! Artist: Suzie's Handcrafted Jewellery - Hall Markets ACT and Rotary Markets Tumut.

 

Suzie's Handcrafted Jewellery

 Suzie's Handcrafted Jewellery

 Suzie and her partner :)

Gorgeous Australian wildflowers grown by a gentleman in rural VIC.