Re-Stash Craft Appeal @ The Handmade Expo!

The lovely ladies behind The Handmade Expo have had their kind hearted thinking caps on and have organised the 'Re-Stash Craft Appeal' to help all those who were affected by the devasting floods in Queensland.

The idea behind the appeal is to collect donated art and craft supplies which will then be distributed to crafty peeps who lost their 'stashes' in the flood.

 Image courtesy of The Handmade Expo

How can you help I hear you ask?

Well, all you need to do is pop along to 'The Handmade Expo' market this weekend, Saturday 19th February (Ipswich Turf Club, Brisbane Road, Bundamba), with all of your crafty donations. There will be 'bins' on site to leave your goodies in. These 'bins' will then be made available for flood victims to rummage through in the week following the market at Handmade Heaven and Mimmi's.

 Image courtesy of The Handmade Expo

What a great way to offer your support to all those crafty peeps affected by the devastating floods! Brighten someone's creative space and pop along to The Handmade Expo with your donations this weekend!

Shop Handmade: Handmade Heaven

Liesa of Handmade Heaven joins us today for the BrisStyle Shop Handmade series.

Handmade Heaven is a funky little boutique which is located downstairs in the Old Flour Mill, Brisbane Street, Ipswich.

Full to the brim of handmade gifts and goodies all made by local and interstate artists/designers/makers/crafters.


With 70+ "handmadies" involved you are bound to find something wonderful and unique.
From handbags to brooches, from homewares to kids clothing/accessories, from candles to manchester and softies to greeting cards. There is just so much variety in store.

The Old Flour Mill is a little hidden away, but the perfect setting for this unique shop.

Open 6 days a week, it's perfect for that handmade fix in between the monthly Handmade Expo.

Chelley Bean Designs

"I have always been around handmade...Mum (aka Bubba Chenille) has always been crafty so it is in our blood. Me, no...it skipped a generation, but the passion for handmade, promoting and selling on "handmadies" behalf is perfect. There is definitely a niche for this in Ipswich and South East Queensland. Everyone seems to be embracing it."


Handmade Heaven proudly stocks the wares of BrisStylers Bubba Chenille, Vintage Visions, Sybella Boutique, Cute as Buttons, Sandra Darling, Enticing Icing, Chelley Bean Designs and Kitty Boo Boo.

Sybella Boutique

Handmade Heaven
Downstairs at The Old Flour Mill
Brisbane Street, Ipswich
Open Monday 9am-12pm, Tuesday - Friday 9am-4pm, Saturday 9am-2pm.

The Ipswich Handmade Expo

The very first Ipswich Handmade Expo, held on Saturday 16th August, saw many BrisStyle members not only making great sales, but getting some fantastic feedback, and even publicity as well!

With close to 2000 people coming through the doors of the 87 stallholder event, various BrisStyle members described the day as huge, wonderfully organised, busy and exhilarating! Some of the BrisStyle members who sold their wares at the expo included:

Michelle from Pedrosprout and Sharon from Shazzabeth Creations, who both had photos of themselves and their stalls featured in the Queensland Times paper (click on the photo to read the whole article).


Michelle's gorgeous booties and other handmade sewn goodies made a beautiful display, and Sharon's original beaded, wirework and chainmaille Jewellery brought lots of crowds, with earrings being her most popular items.


Other BrisStyle members who attented included Jacqui from Bellabijoux, selling beautiful one-of-a-kind jewellery pieces.


Trish from Trishalan Designs, also had a beautiful stall set up, selling wonderfully vibrant hand-dyed fabric and threads, with the threads being a particularly popular item.

Polka dot Rumba pants were the most popular item for Louise from Made by Miffy, who sells boutique wear for kids and the kitchen! And Eliza of Eliza's Art was happy to find customers falling in love with her gorgeous art prints.

All members who attended agreed that the morning was the peak time for crowds, with many stall holders not getting a coffee break until well into the afternoon. They also said that the organisation of the event was superb, as was the publicity leading up to the event, and they are sure that next month's Expo will be even bigger and better, so stay tuned for more information on the next Expo happening in September. We will put the information in our 'What's Happening' section of the blog (in the top right hand column) as details come to hand :)