Big Design Market

Last weekend was the Big Design Market here in Melbourne. It happened to coincide with a weekend I was spending in the city anyway, so I literally had no excuse to NOT go! The venue was the amazing Royal Exhibition Building which always feels a little nostalgic for me because I've spent many hours sitting my medical exams here, so it sure is nice to be visiting it for less stressful reasons!

Hung around the building everywhere were strings and strings of folded paper stars which was part of the Million Stars Installation. Impressive hey?

But of course the whole thrust of the market is about showcasing local independent designers and small businesses from across Australia. I figured it would be a good opportunity to knock over a fair chunk of our Christmas shopping, and I wasn't wrong. Let me share just the tip of the iceberg as far as the stalls were concerned. I'm pretty sure most of these designers and shops sell online as well, so good to keep them in mind for those last minute gifts you might need ;-)

Print Space are a Melbourne based business who create the most gorgeous art prints for nurseries and around the home. There were like a thousand different options here. Sooooo hard to chose!

La De Dah Kids specialise in kids toys and gifts and I was already familiar with their products from following them on Instagram. Seeing their crocheted animals in person was even cuter than I had imagined, and I've definitely got that deer on my list of things to buy when Tikvah enters the world in March.

Stationary of course rates highly in my interests and Ask Alice had these fun journals designed to look like vintage books that I just adored. The pages were thick and plentiful and left completely blank so they would make a great art journal as much as a diary.

As far as bright and happy decorative items were concerned, Made by Mosey had it covered with her range of fabric wall hangings, feather garlards and plush mobiles. These I considered to be truly unique!

Given my recent adventures into letterpress I was excited to see how many designers were present with their own range of cards and tags. Write To Me had an extensive line of products including a very cute DIY bonbon kit. And another designer that I discovered (but didn't photograph because I was too busy rifling through all their products) was Olive and the Volcano. Love love LOVE!

As far as homegoods were concerned Urban Cartel had some really lovely products. I'm especially taken with these gold foil raindrop trinket dishes.

Hannakin is another Melbourne designer with a really unique range of products, from these quirky dolls, to jewellery, to prints and cards. The girls chose this stall out of the 200+ exhibitors that we saw to purchase a little gift I promised them for being so patient and well-behaved. They each picked out a cute badge to wear.

Blank Goods is another stationary and packaging store which specialise in providing DIY products. As the name suggests, most of the supplies are blank and ready for you to customise. Totally our thing right? This hanging advent calendar was my favourite.

I couldn't help but giggle when I came across these off-beat Christmas cards by Able and Game. It's probably especially funny if you work in Frankston like I do ;-)

The highlight of the show for me though has to go to Emily Green. Once again she's someone I've been following on Instagram for a while and I love her colourful jewellery and art prints. Even her stall was so beautifully designed. You know I didn't walk away from there empty handed! My choice ultimately was the Bianca necklace and matching earrings - the gold glitter tipped me over the edge. I was so super chuffed with Emily herself regrammed this very photo I took. Eeek!!

There was literally another 100 stalls that I loved and bought stuff from, but that's probably enough for now. I'm definitely locking in the next dates that this is on so that I can go again!