Meet some of the stallholders who'll be at the upcoming Finders Keepers in Brisbane

Liana Kabel

What are you selling at Finders Keepers?
Liana Kabel: My most popular jewellery designs, along with a brand new range, which I will be launching. I love plastic, so this is the material I focus on when creating my pieces. Many of the materials I use are vintage, and are heavily influenced by my childhood and the home. This includes bangles made from knitting needles, and brooches made from tape measures.

My new range combines many of these materials, along with original hand-moulded resin pieces. As my father was a jeweller, my first childhood memory was of him casting colourful resin brooches. I'd say ever since then I've been hooked on jewellery, plastic, and vibrant colours.


Liana Kabel

What's the most unexpected thing to have inspired this design?
Tupperware. In 2004, I created an installation at Craft Queensland which featured 100 pieces of jewellery made from Tupperware. This work was influenced by my parents – particularly my mother, who was a Tupperware Lady for over twenty years.

Do you think where you live influences the designs you create?
The brightness, friendliness, and relaxed attitude of Brisbane has certainly found its way into my designs.


Liana Kabel

Who is your favourite Brisbane designer?
Brisbane designers are fabulous. I am a huge fan of many of them. If I had to pick one though, it would be the fashion designs of Nelson Molloy. I love the clothes because they are so original, immensely wearable, and versatile. Plus there is a bit of edge and attitude to them. I also love how the people present themselves. They work hard, and are willing to take risks. There is the ethical quality which I also admire. All pieces are made locally, within 7kms from where they live. I am very excited to recently be stocking them with my jewellery designs.

www.lianakabel.com


ReRead

What are you selling at Finders Keepers?
Reread: In September 2008, I did the trans-Siberian journey with two of my oldest friends. I wanted to make all three of us matching shirts that said 'Team Ynorganised', however, I was too unorganised to get around to making them. I ended up making three little brooches with 'Team Unorganised' written on the back and we wore them through Russia , Mongolia and China. I made a bird, a deer and a cat, they were a bit of a hit, so when I got back I went into production.

Each brooch or pendant is a one-off piece, as all my accessories are made from a page in a children's book. There is a fair amount of other jewellery and accessories made from upcycled books, however mine are all little animals and hearts.

What's the most unexpected thing to have inspired this design?
My Mum actually dived into a skip bin and salvaged most of them. The neighbours about four doors down were moving out and throwing away everything, all their kids' books included. She made about three round trips. I also scored a giant fan, a pair of 'doona feet' and several bottles of shampoo and conditioner. The local thrift shop also had a plethora of 50c finds.


ReRead

Do you think where you live influences the designs you create?
If you enjoy living somewhere, you will always find inspiration there. I really like Brisbane, it’s like a sunspot, she’s grown on me over the 10 years I’ve been here. Most of my closest friends live here, as does both my love interests (one is a kelpie). I have a good relationship with a fantastic art group called BrisStyle and the women in that inspire and encourage my art.

Who is your favourite Brisbane designer?
Hot Toffee – she makes beautiful glass jewellery along with other accessories and little bits and bobs. Her art is her sole income and I really admire the fact that she works so hard to keep her business running while still making sure she is producing beautiful quality products.

www.REread.etsy.com


Bespoke Letterpress Boutique

What are you selling at Finders Keepers?
Bespoke Letterpress Boutique: Our range of letterpress notelets, notecards and limited-edition prints. Not only is our work unique in that it's handprinted and foot-treadled on an 1893 printing press (the beautifully old-fashioned way), but we have worked very closely with 10 emerging illustrators to create our limited-edition prints. It has simply been the sweetest and most enjoyable project we have worked on.

All of our work is printed on 100 per cent cotton rag papers. These are tree- and chlorine-free and have been made with reclaimed fibres from the cotton industry otherwise destined for landfill. We strongly believe that beautiful things don't need to be made at the expense of the environment.

What's the most unexpected thing to have inspired this design?
We love the stories each illustrator has provided with their work – from being inspired by the sea, to the sound of birds outside the window, to the story of a young girl who is desperately in love with a unicorn. Each print has a dream-like story of sweet nostalgia, memories and childlike fantasies.


Bespoke Letterpress Boutique

Do you think where you live influences the designs you create?
Our range of notecards and notelets, as well as our couture stationery is definitely inspired by the beautiful area in which we live. Our studio is housed on the ground floor of an Art Deco 1935 old timber Queenslander, one street back from the sea. We use this inspiration to create vintage inspired designs with attention to the intricate details. Our studio has many nooks and crannies full of vintage wonder, as well as a deep down industrial feel. It is an inspiration to us every day!

Who are your favourite Brisbane designers?
Oh, just the one?? When we moved from Sydney to Brisbane several years ago, we were amazed by the wonderful network of Brisbane designers. There are so many who we admire for their hard work, dedication to the individuality of their work, and the beautiful nature in which they run their studios.

If we were just to choose one – we're particularly smitten with Kylie from Paper Boat Press. She is a true inspiration and her work is a beautiful reflection of her sweet nature.

bespokepress.com.au


Little Jane Street

What are you selling at Finders Keepers?
Little Jane Street: As many creative ventures do, Little Jane St sprang from a novel idea: to revive our greeting culture and defy the mushrooming e-card inclination with an inspired line of stationery items. I design, make and sell all sorts of stationery, textile and papery goodness! Some of the products that you will be able to find at at Finders Keepers include hand-collaged greeting cards, gift enclosures, paper decorations, limited-edition prints and personalised gift trinkets.

What's the most unexpected thing to have inspired this design?
My collection often draws ideas and inspiration from tactile objects, including discarded fabrics, old story books, sewing patterns and ornate objects such as manual typewriters, discarded cutlery and vintage ceramics.


Little Jane Street

Do you think where you live influences the designs you create?
Brisbane has a fantastic creative community, beautiful weather and lots of wonderful regional towns and coastal areas to explore, it is a great place to live, design and create.

Who is your favourite Brisbane designer?
I couldn't pick just one! There are so many inspirational people in Brisbane doing what they love. I really enjoy talking to like-minded designers and hearing about their story. Some favourites include One Blue Wren, Myrtle Street Studio, Hot Toffee, Bespoke Press, Paper Boat Press and Taybian Design

littlejanest.com.au


Little Jane Street

What are you selling at Finders Keepers?
Udessi: My range of stoneware ceramics, which all incorporate vintage lace designs. I was originally inspired by a box full of beautifully crafted doilies that I discovered tucked away in a corner at St Vinnies – they had been given away due to some discoloration, yet had such lovely patterns. I started to think of ways I could reuse these little works of art and incorporate them into modern, decorative and functional pieces, revamping them to highlight the beauty of their intricate patterns and texture. After a lot of trial and error – not all doilies are suitable for making beautiful impressions into the clay – I have developed a collection that features a range of gorgeous patterns.

What's the most unexpected thing to have inspired this design?
Finding the right tools actually led to unexpected ingenuity! I spent hours working on clay-shaping with professional plaster moulds only to, more often than not, be left dissatisfied with the results. I decided to try a more unconventional method and began using everyday household items found in the kitchen – such as ravioli cutters to create scalloped edges and wooden bowls as moulds – to fashion the pieces. It has been a very successful experiment that has allowed me to create completely unique pieces.


Udessi

Do you think where you live influences the designs you create?
Having grown up in the Netherlands I find the Australian reaction to – and appreciation of – vintage items to be very refreshing. The European flea markets are flooded with vintage and antique items, being sold at low prices due to the countries having such long histories and large populations. Frankly, most people are just not very interested in buying these things as they have cupboards full of them at home!

In Australia, the availability of these pieces is limited, therefore they are considered rare and more cherished. Unfortunately, they are also more expensive. Australian friends and colleagues have absolutely loved the idea of my stoneware ceramics range incorporating the classic lace styles into contemporary products at a reasonable price.

My Dutch friends and family actually surprised me with their overwhelmingly positive reactions, as using what they consider to be “daggy, Grandma-era" doilies in my artworks was a perplexing decision to them at first! Had I remained in the Netherlands, I may never have had this new perspective on vintage and antique items so my immigration to Australia has definitely had a profoundly inspiring effect on my creative output.


Udessi

Who is your favourite Brisbane designer?
As the creator and curator of an online gallery of independent local artists, this question is almost impossible for me to answer!

I just adore the sculpted toys by Florence Forrest and love the Australian native birds and animals featured in Renée Treml’s unique scratchboard artworks and paintings. I am a huge fan of Michelle Freer’s jewellery designs and Rebecca Cason’s handmade brooches. Most recently I have fallen head-over-heels for the exquisite handmade dolls by Tina Snerling from Tiny Concept - the attention to detail is just amazing!

After purchasing some gorgeous ceramic kitchen labels from her, I can’t wait to see what else Kylie from Paperboat Press has to offer. And Shannon Garson’s ceramics are just divine … I knew it would be impossible for me not to gush!

Honestly, there are going to so many fabulous Brisbane designers at the upcoming Finders Keepers market, I can’t wait to visit all of their stalls.

www.udessi.com.au

You can find all these stallholders at Finders Keepers in Brisbane this weekend. Visit the website for more details.

Lee Tran, deputy chief sub-editor