We asked what a typical day of making actually looks like.

“Designing is something I like to do in the quiet of the day when the house is still sleeping, and the only sound is the birds welcoming the day in the garden, shortly followed by my chooks and rooster calling to be let out.” – Rebecca Founder of Fluturi

Tea first. Then fabric is spread across the cutting table. Each garment is cut by hand before it even reaches the sewing machine, followed by hours of stitching, ironing, pinning, and finishing touches that give each piece its character: Peter Pan collars, vintage linens, contrast pockets, and unique textures.

“Because I am based in my home, I can work slowly and thoughtfully to ensure high-quality garments.”

On this season’s theme

“Grow” turned out to mean something quietly different for a brand marking eighteen years in business.

“After 18 years in business, I’ve realised that growth doesn’t always mean becoming bigger. Sometimes it means evolving, learning and becoming more confident in who you are and what you want your business to be.”

This year also brought a genuine milestone: becoming a casual stallholder at Salamanca Market.

“It’s really felt like a new chapter for the business.”

Made to outlast a growth spurt

Ask why longevity matters so much, and the answer comes without hesitation.

“I believe children’s clothing should be more than something that’s worn a handful of times and then discarded. I want a Fluturi garment to be worn, loved, remembered and, hopefully, passed on to another little person.”

Even the offcuts get a second life, larger scraps become patchwork or reusable bags, the smallest become toy stuffing or Christmas decorations. Nothing goes to landfill on principle.

Letting kids actually dress like kids

Not smaller adults. Not generic basics. Just kids.

“I don’t want Fluturi pieces to feel disposable or anonymous. I want them to feel considered and memorable, the kind of clothes that make a child feel special without making them feel uncomfortable or overly dressed.”

For anyone picking up a Fluturi piece for the first time at the market:

“I hope they feel the care behind it… I’d love a parent or gift-giver to imagine the little person who will wear it — chubby legs poking out of a romper, kids running around, playing, getting muddy, climbing a tree or twirling in a skirt. I want them to see the personality in the clothes and think, ‘That is so them.'”

And above all else:

“I hope, above all, that they pick it up and smile.”

What’s grown alongside the business

Eighteen years in, we asked what’s grown the most. The answer was simple.

“My confidence in myself as a designer and maker. I’ve learned to trust that there is value in doing things differently. I don’t need to follow trends, outsource, or mass-produce.”

Fabric, thread, and eighteen years of trusting her own hands, that’s Fluturi, still growing, one romper at a time.

The post Getting to know Fluturi | Our SS26 Regional Program recipient  first appeared on The Finders Keepers.

Proudly Aboriginal-owned and designed entirely in Melbourne, Cooked Concepts turns local quirks into tea towels, gifts, and everyday objects you didn’t know you needed until you saw them.

Rooted in place

We asked what it means to build a brand so tied to culture and place.

“We’re proud of what we do and where we do it. Building a brand that celebrates place and what it means and feels like to be local is pretty special to us.” – Jack Latimore (Owner) 

Then, true to form, the tone shifts:

“Admittedly, our contribution to culture currently involves putting bin chickens, questionable food choices, and other local and regional quirks on tea towels. My Old People probably didn’t forecast that.”

Where the ideas actually come from

Ask any creative where their ideas come from, and you’ll usually get some version of “inspiration strikes.” Cooked Concepts has a different answer.

“We eat an irregular and possibly irresponsible amount of blue cheese before bed and wait for the cultural subconscious to reveal itself. Sometimes we wake up with a new tea towel idea. Sometimes it’s just a vivid dream about being chased through a Bunnings car park by a giant ibis.”

“It’s not a perfect creative process, but in cheeses we trust.”

On this season’s theme

This season, our theme across the market is Grow, but when we put it to Cooked Concepts, they had a different word in mind.

“Grow is an excellent theme. But we would interpret this differently. We like the term ‘fermented.'”

“Cooked Concepts has been left somewhere slightly warm and left unsupervised for a few years and has now developed into something much stronger, stranger, and harder to contain. We are the SCOBY of the gift world.”

“There are now significantly more people encouraging us, which feels irresponsible. We don’t really know what’s growing next, but we probably need to put it in a bigger container.”

Fermented, grown, or otherwise, it’s clearly working.

A cause close to home

Behind the humour sits something the team takes very seriously: 25% of Cooked Concepts’ profits go to the Rhodanthe Lipsett Indigenous Midwifery Charitable Fund.

“Self-determination works. We’ve seen it over and over again for mob. We’re passionate about letting Aboriginal people gain the tools they need to engage in this process.”

The cause is personal, too.

“My wife had several pregnancy losses, wrote a book about pregnancy loss, and now runs a charity representing miscarriage organisations. The Rhodanthe Lipsett Indigenous Midwifery Scholarship funds education for Aboriginal midwives or Aboriginal people who want to work in the space. It’s a cause close to all our hearts.”

A market-exclusive teaser

Naturally, we couldn’t go without asking about the new products launching exclusively at the market.

“Two of our most popular products are being reborn. Reimagined. Rising from the ashes like little phoenixes made of biscuit. Are they bigger? Better? More unhinged? We can’t say.“*

*”That’s not true. We just enjoy being mysterious. Get your djutu down to the market and find out for yourself.”

What they hope you feel

For anyone discovering Cooked Concepts for the first time this season, the team knows exactly what they’re hoping for.

“Confused. Delighted. Nostalgic. Possibly a little bit seen. Ideally they pick something up, blink at it for a few seconds and think, ‘Yes, but who approved this?’ Then they buy two and post a photo online so we can send them a discount code for their next purchase. That’s the customer journey.”

And when we asked what’s actually grown alongside the business itself, the answer was somehow both a joke and totally relatable:

“The number of browser tabs we have open at a single time. Our collection of cardboard boxes that we swear we’ll re-use.”

The post An afternoon with Cooked Concepts | Our SS26 Indigenous Program recipient  first appeared on The Finders Keepers.

Join us at the Sydney design market from the 13-15th November at Carriageworks, Gadigal land, for three days of good design, great food and the kind of creative discovery you won’t find scrolling Insta! 

For 18 years, Finders Keepers has been where emerging talent launches, one-offs and small batches find their people, and design lovers get first dibs on what’s next. This November, discover 170+ independent designers and makers under one iconic roof, with new collections, handcrafted pieces, limited editions and finds you won’t find anywhere else.

Get ahead on festive-season gifting by choosing something they’ll actually want to keep, from thoughtful, functional finds to statement pieces, collectibles, art, fashion, homewares, and more. Find better gifts, find something worth keeping, and meet the people behind the things you love.

Check out the full designer lineup below, grab your $7 tickets (+booking fee), and plan to make a weekend of it.

Designers:

Foodies:

The post SS26 Sydney Design Market Lineup first appeared on The Finders Keepers.

For 18 years, Finders Keepers has been where emerging talent launches, one-offs and small batches find their people, and design lovers get first dibs on what’s next. This October, discover 230+ independent designers and makers under one iconic roof, with new collections, handcrafted pieces, limited editions and finds you won’t find anywhere else.

Get ahead with your festive-season gifting by choosing something they’ll actually want to keep, from thoughtful, functional finds to statement pieces, collectibles, art, fashion, homewares and more. Find better gifts, find something worth keeping, and meet the people behind the things you love.

Check out the full designer lineup below, grab your $7 tickets (+booking fee), and plan to make a weekend of it.

Foodies:

The post SS26 Melbourne Design Market Lineup first appeared on The Finders Keepers.

Another market weekend has come and gone, and we’re already missing the buzz of the Royal Exhibition Building. What a magical weekend it was.

To every maker who trusted us with their beautiful work, every visitor who wandered the aisles, every family, friend, foodie and supporter who helped bring this market to life… thank you.

Events like The Finders Keepers are built on thousands of tiny moments of care.

Months of planning, countless moving parts, and a whole lot of people working behind the scenes to create a space where creativity can thrive. But none of it means anything without the incredible community that shows up each time (that’s you!). 

Your support doesn’t just look like a purchase. It looks like the conversations you had with makers, the compliments you shared on their work, the businesses you discovered, the stories you shared, the friends you brought along, and the independent creatives you continue to champion long after the market doors close.

So before we dive into our post-season break, we wanted to share a few words from our very own Mother Hen, Katie, our General Manager, on what this Melbourne Design Market meant to us.

Trust, care and a little bit of fun

There is an enormous amount of trust involved in putting on an event like The Finders Keepers.

Every creative who joins us is trusting our team to create an event deserving of what they have made. They arrive with products that have been meticulously designed, refined, packaged and presented. But behind every beautiful stall is also an investment of time, money, energy and, often, a very big piece of themselves.

That trust is something we don’t take lightly.

In return, we bring the same level of care to creating the event around them. Every sign, campaign, floor plan, piece of content and conversation is considered. Most visitors will never see just how many tiny decisions go into delivering The Finders Keepers events, but collectively, those details shape how the event looks and feels.

And that look, those feels, they matter.

We are well aware of the external pressures facing events, small businesses and the creative industries right now. People are making more considered decisions about where they spend their money and time. Small creative businesses are having to work harder than ever to earn attention and build something sustainable.

But we are also deeply optimistic about what happens when talented people come together in a space designed with care.

Melbourne gave us a weekend worthy of its unofficial winter uniform, the black puffer jacket, but inside the Royal Exhibition Building, The Finders Keepers crowd turned up in all their colourful glory.

More than 20,000 people came through the doors across the weekend, proving there is still a real appetite for creative experiences that bring people together.

Throughout the weekend, I kept looking around and seeing evidence of that. I caught glimpses of our team throwing themselves into content, laughing and genuinely enjoying the event they had worked so hard to create. I shared a post-market vino with makers who were tired but buzzing. And I watched a glowing stallholder embrace one of our team, overwhelmed with gratitude for how well their weekend had gone.

Those moments stay with you.

They are also a reminder that fun isn’t frivolous. It creates energy. It helps people connect. It makes the hard work feel worthwhile. And when the fun is genuine, it becomes contagious.

The Finders Keepers has always been a market, but it has never only been about buying and selling things. It is a place where creatives come together, where people discover something new and where small businesses can find new customers, opportunities and each other.

I think our role in that community is growing too. We want to do more than put on great market weekends. We want to back creative people, create opportunities for them and help more people understand the value of what they do.

That is something we’re really proud of, and something we will work to keep earning.

Katie x 

The post And with that, the Autumn/Winter 2026 season comes to a close first appeared on The Finders Keepers.

You arrive expecting to browse. You leave having discovered something, a maker, a story, or a small, beautiful object that somehow feels like it was made just for you. You carry it home, and it means something.

That feeling, of things made with intention, of craft that connects you to a person and a place, is exactly why our partnership with not-for-profit Bush Heritage Australia felt so right.

You might have noticed that when you are checking out your tickets, or when you visit us at the market next weekend, they are there, quietly asking for a donation. Here is why we love their work: 

What Bush Heritage Does 

Bush Heritage Australia has spent 35 years doing something extraordinary: buying land to protect it. Not to develop it, not to farm it, but to let it be wild. To help it heal. To keep it intact for every generation that comes after us.

They now help protect over 25 million hectares of Australian land. To put that in perspective, that’s an area larger than the United Kingdom.

But the numbers only tell part of the story.

The real story is in the places. A reserve in Queensland that is twice the size of Brisbane, home to the only known population of the Fat-tailed false antechinus (Pseudantechinus macdonnellensis) in the state. A remote reserve in outback Queensland where ecologists have spent more than a decade quietly studying and protecting the Night Parrot, one of Australia’s most elusive birds. A remarkable spring system so biologically rich it ranks as one of the third most diverse on the planet, sheltering fish species found absolutely nowhere else on Earth.

These are living, irreplaceable ecosystems, and without Bush Heritage, many of them simply wouldn’t have anyone looking after them.

A Piece of the Puzzle, Now Secured

We’ve got some good news to share.

In the mid-west of Western Australia, there is a place called Wanarra. A woodland of critically endangered eucalypts, Salmon Gum, Wandoo and York Gum, that represent some of the last standing native vegetation in a region where more than 90 per cent of it has been cleared.

Wanarra sits within the Southwest Australia Biodiversity Hotspot, one of the most floristically diverse regions on Earth. It is also a living cultural landscape for the Badimia People and the Widi Mob of the Yamatji Nation, who have cared for this Country for generations beyond counting.

Bush Heritage has been working to secure Wanarra as the final piece connecting one million hectares of protected land, an unbroken corridor double the size of the Grand Canyon.

And they’ve done it. The Wanarra campaign has officially reached its $4.6 million goal. This landscape of wildflowers and salt lakes, woodlands and granite outcrops, is now protected for good, a huge step toward Bush Heritage’s goal of doubling the land it manages by 2030.

More Than Buying Land

For Busy Heritage, purchasing the land is just the beginning.

Their field staff don’t visit these reserves; they live on them. Year-round, these are the people walking the country, monitoring the species, managing fire, restoring habitat, and doing the patient, unglamorous, essential work of caring for land at scale.

At Tarcutta Hills Reserve in regional New South Wales, years of revegetation work have expanded habitat for woodland birds, and the proof arrives every year when the critically endangered Swift Parrot returns to forage on the flowering eucalypts during migration. 

And woven through all of it is a deep commitment to working alongside the Traditional Custodians of each landscape. As Bush Heritage’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Manager, Sheree Strauss puts it:

“It’s important to protect the ecological values, but just as important are the cultural heritage values.”

Why This Connection Works

At The Finders Keepers, we’ve always believed that conscious commerce can be a force for good. The makers at our market build things with care, things that last, and that hold the intention to push back against the throwaway.

Bush Heritage operates from the same conviction. That what’s worth protecting is worth protecting properly, with expertise, presence and a long view.

How You Can Help – At the Melbourne Market and Beyond

When you check out your tickets to The Finders Keepers Melbourne Design Market, you’ll find a spot on our ticketing platform to opt in to donating to Bush Heritage. The Bush Heritage team will be at the market all weekend and would love to meet you. They’ll have copies of their quarterly magazine, Bushtracks, origami parrots, and plenty of stories to share.

They’ll also have socks! $5 bamboo koala socks – warm, sustainable, and a small act that directly funds vital conservation work. Their goal is to sell 10,000 pairs. Help them get there.

If you want to go further:

• Follow them on social media and share their stories with your community
• Subscribe to Bushtracks magazine or their monthly newsletter, Bush Banter
• Listen to their award-winning podcast, Big Sky Country
• Donate – even a small amount of funds, real, on-ground action
• Volunteer – on a reserve or from your desk at home

As Bush Heritage says, all it costs to start is a follow, a like, a click, or an email registration. Every single one helps get Wanarra, and the next Wanarra, across the line.

We’re proud to have Bush Heritage Australia as our charity partner for The Finders Keepers Melbourne AW26. Visit them at the Royal Exhibition Building from 10-12 July and say g’day.

The post The People Protecting the Places That Take Your Breath Away first appeared on The Finders Keepers.

Inspired by the vibrant spirit of Mexican street-food culture, The Taqueria is a high-energy dining experience where Dingo Ate My Taco‘s food will be served alongside resident bars Fin Wines, Sailor’s Grave Brewing and Meet Gertrude. 

In 2020, Texans Katy Simkins and Paul Walcutt started serving tacos from a food truck. Melbourne chef Isaac Castellano joined shortly after, and the truck quickly became one of the city’s favourite taco spots. 

From that early beginning came Taqueria Sin Nombre in Chinatown, and now the trio have just opened a shopfront on Johnston Street in Abbotsford. It’s the brand’s first permanent, purpose-built restaurant, open five days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

The Finders Keepers has spent 18 years platforming emerging talent and independent makers, and Dingo Ate My Taco is the kind of story our market is built to celebrate: the handmade, the obsessive, the ones quietly making their mark. 

The Finders Keepers Melbourne Design Market, 10–12 July 2026. Royal Exhibition Building, 9 Nicholson St, Carlton. $7 daily / $10 weekend pass. Kids under 13 free.

The post Taqueria Comes to The Finders Keepers: Dingo Ate My Taco Takes Over The Dining Room first appeared on The Finders Keepers.

Sometimes the most meaningful stories begin in quiet towns. In places where creativity is given room to breathe.

For our Melbourne AW26 Regional Program, we’re proud to welcome Wildwood Pages, a business that embodies exactly what we mean by saying The Finders Keepers is “a festival of creativity and connection.”

Based in Atherton, Far North Queensland, the maker and founder of Wildwood Pages, Natasha, spends her days transforming sheets of timber into beautifully crafted notebooks designed to be treasured, gifted, and filled with ideas, dreams, plans, sketches, and stories.

This will be her very first The Finders Keepers Market.

While travelling across the country to Melbourne might seem like a long journey for a notebook, we think it’s exactly what this market is all about.

“There’s something really special about knowing notebooks designed and made in regional Queensland will be sitting alongside some of Australia’s most talented makers.“ – Tash

Some of Australia’s most thoughtful and exciting makers are creating incredible work in regional communities and often working quietly behind the scenes, refining their craft far from the spotlight.

Wildwood Pages is one of them.

Working from her regional Queensland workshop, every notebook begins with an idea. Then comes the designing, refining, testing, staining, sanding, laser cutting, assembling, and finishing. Sheets of plywood arrive by the pallet before being carefully transformed by hand into something entirely new.

“Living regionally gives you a different perspective. Things move a little slower here, and I think that encourages a more thoughtful approach to making. There’s less pressure to chase trends and more freedom to create pieces that feel timeless and meaningful.”

It’s a process that reflects the slower pace of regional life.

These notebooks aren’t meant to be used and then discarded. Instead, they are meant to become your companions, spaces where you jot down a business idea, plan a trip, start a journal, sketch a dream, make a list, or write a letter. They are designed to be long-lasting and cherished.

When we asked Tash about her favourite part of running the business, she talked about conversations: the customer who picks up a notebook because it reminds them of their grandmother. The person who sees a design and is transported back to a favourite holiday. The market visitor who shares a story that sparks the idea for a future collection.

“Meeting customers is genuinely one of my favourite parts of running Wildwood Pages.

I love seeing which designs people are drawn to and hearing the stories behind their choices.” 

Those moments of human connection are exactly why markets matter. They are why people continue to seek out experiences that bring them together. They are why we continue to champion independent makers.

Visitors to Melbourne will also be the very first to see four brand-new Wildwood Pages designs, launching exclusively at the market before they’re released anywhere else.

“One of my favourite things about in-person events is watching people’s reactions to new collections for the very first time. There’s no hiding behind a screen; you find out pretty quickly what people connect with, and I love that.”

As we celebrate another festival of creativity and connection this July, we’re thrilled to welcome Wildwood Pages to The Finders Keepers creative community and to help share a little piece of regional Queensland with Melbourne.

“There’s something about opening those first blank pages that takes me straight back to being a kid at the start of a new school year, convinced this would be the year my handwriting would be neat, and every page would stay perfectly organised.

That still has never happened, haha.”

The post Regional Program Recipient | Wildwood Pages first appeared on The Finders Keepers.

Spend the day exploring over 230 independent designers and food makers, including more than 40 exciting new brands, all under one iconic roof. From thoughtful gifts and locally made treats to one-of-a-kind fashion, ceramics, art and homewares, you’ll discover unique pieces and exclusive “Only at Finders” offerings you won’t find anywhere else.

Come wander, snack, shop mindfully and soak up the atmosphere of Australia’s original festival-style design market – the perfect school holiday outing for curious minds and creative hearts alike.

Check out the full designer lineup below and RSVP to the official Facebook event for sneak peeks and updates.

Designers:

Foodies:

The post AW26 Melbourne Design Market Lineup first appeared on The Finders Keepers.

What a total blast it was, brought to you by our (now very weary) team with alotta love. We spent months preparing, planning, packing, styling, problem-solving and pouring our hearts into creating a market that we want you all to come along to, have fun at, shop mindfully through, and hopefully help make a maker’s day along the way.

So, from our team, we want to say a very big thank you for helping keep the world of small businesses turning. Your support of independent makers shows up in the friends you tell, the makers you follow, the mailing lists you sign up to, and the posts you engage with.

And with that, we wanted to share a few words from our very own “Mother Hen”, Katie, our General Manager, on what this market meant to us.

A message from our Mother Hen – Katie 

There’s always a strange feeling after a Finders Keepers weekend. Months of planning. Thousands of moving parts. Hundreds of makers. Tens of thousands of conversations.
Then suddenly, it’s just… quiet again.

And after our last Market, I’ve mostly just been sitting in that quiet feeling incredibly grateful:

• Grateful for our community.
• Grateful for the trust people continue to place in this event.
• Grateful that in a world moving manically, people are still deeply craving connection, creativity and thoughtful experiences.

This market felt special, and not because it was flashy or overproduced or trying to be everything to everyone. In fact, I think the opposite was true. We showed up as our true selves. A market that celebrates creatives.

After a difficult year for many small creative businesses, there was something really meaningful about seeing our stallholder community do well.

A market full of incredibly talented independent makers.
Thoughtfully made goods.
People purchasing with purpose.
Customers want to know who made something, where it came from and why it matters.

“Mindfully made, thoughtfully bought” has been one of our guiding values for a long time now, but this time it genuinely felt like consumers were meeting us there too. We’re seeing more and more that values-led purchasing isn’t just a trend. People want meaning attached to what they buy. They want story, connection, transparency and heart.

And honestly, that feels really hopeful.

Before this event, we held our Market Pulse session to better understand the realities facing Australian small creative businesses right now. We invited in experts (thanks Fiona and Mel) and had proactive conversations about what the future could look like for our businesses.

But I think one of the biggest lessons from that process was this: Informed trumps denial every single time.

The more openly we can talk about the challenges facing creative industries, the better positioned we are to respond to them with care, intention and actual solutions.

Pretending things are fine helps nobody.

At the same time, this event reminded me that creativity is incredibly resilient.
People still showed up.
They supported independent businesses.
They bought art, ceramics, fashion, prints, jewellery, skincare, homewares and little treasures that mattered to them.

And for me, that balance of excitement and intentionality felt really significant.

Operationally, this was one of the smoothest events I’ve experienced in a long time. But events only feel effortless because of the people carrying them.

One thing I will never take for granted is having a team of amazing women who treat this brand like it’s their own. The care, ownership, pride and passion they bring to Finders Keepers is visible in every tiny detail across a market weekend.

From bump in to bump out.
From signage to customer conversations.
From solving problems before they become problems.
From staying back late because they care about getting it right.

That kind of ownership is rare, and you can feel it when you walk through the doors.

To every stallholder, customer, team member, artist, musician, food vendor and supporter who participated, thank you.

Thank you for continuing to believe in independent creativity.
Thank you for shopping small.
Thank you for reminding me that coming together matters.

My cheeks are sore from laughing, my feet are wrecked, and my inbox is hanging on by a thread… but my cup feels very full.

Thx, kt

The post Thats all, folks! first appeared on The Finders Keepers.

The Finders Bar: 

Every market visit deserves a cosy spot to take a break, and this year, the Finders Bar does just that.

Created as a welcoming place to unwind and enjoy, the Finders Bar features a thoughtfully curated selection of independent makers from the market, so you can have a bevvie while you browse, AND take some home for later!

Come along and sip fresh, easy-drinking beers from Yulli’s Brews or try delightful drinks by Weerona Wines, Subtle Tea vodka, and Heathcote Gin. It’s all about slowing down and savouring the moment, with comfy lounge seating, a lively DJ setting a relaxed vibe, and a menu that highlights local producers doing their own unique thing.

Grab tickets now, WIN later:

There’s something truly delightful about planning your visit to the market in advance, especially when it comes with a little extra reward (Wahoo!). 

When you buy your tickets online for the Sydney Design Market, you’re automatically entered into a draw to win one of three $100 vouchers to Mapo Gelato (mmmmm ). 

We love to support past and present Stallholders at our markets in any way we can, and Mapo Gelato is one of them! Their commitment to thoughtful craftsmanship and quality ingredients makes them such a wonderful part of our creative community.

Three lucky winners will each get a $100 voucher to enjoy at any Mapo Gelato store, including just around the corner in Newtown. All you need to do is secure your tickets online before the event. Tickets are just $7 each day or $10 for the weekend, with free entry for kids under 13.

Indigenous Program recipient, JIMAWOOD:

Sometimes the most meaningful creations begin by accident.

Born from the red pindan soils of the West Kimberley, JIMAWOOD transforms fallen native wood into handcrafted incense that carries the essence of Country, memory, and connection. What started as a chance reaction between rainwater, sawdust, and resin has grown into a practice grounded in Yawuru cultural traditions and slow, intentional making.

Explore the full story of JIMAWOOD and the cultural practices behind their work in our feature blog.

Regional Program recipient, NOA Australia:

NOA Australia is a quiet celebration of place, memory, and natural beauty.

Created by maker and artist Nicole in the coastal town of Lakes Entrance, each piece is handcrafted using foraged shells, driftwood, dried flowers, gemstones, and pearls gathered from her surroundings. No two pieces are ever the same, and that’s exactly the point.

Rooted in slow making and deeply personal storytelling, NOA Australia transforms everyday natural materials into wearable keepsakes and meaningful objects.

Read more about Nicole’s practice, process, and inspiration in the full feature blog.

Debuts:

We’re excited to welcome some new faces to The Finders Keepers fam! With over 30 new designers on our list, you’ve got so much newness to find. Enjoy plenty of tasty snacks and discover unique, mindfully-crafted gifts from independent Aussie brands.

Your Lineup:

Your groovy lineup is now live (here) and just waiting for you to start your shopping lists! Meet, admire, and support some of the coolest people around! 

Join us at the Sydney Design Market from May 1st to 3rd at Carriageworks, just one week before Mother’s Day!

Mindfulness Mural and Little Works of Art Activations:

Creativity meets play at the Sydney design market’s Mindfulness Mural, brought to life by the delightfully cheeky Merchants of Nonsense. Under the theme “this must be the place,” Kerrie’s design celebrates all things joyful, nostalgic, and unmistakably Australian, from iconic references to playful, unexpected details. 

The merchants of Nonsense love to discover new ways to look at old places. With this thought in mind, Kerrie has created a large-scale illustrated work that’s been designed for everyone to take part in. Throughout the weekend, visitors of all ages are invited to colour, doodle, and contribute in a free, family-friendly space to pause, get creative, and become part of the artwork itself.

NEW! A cute treasure hunt

Pick up your treasure hunt prompt card when you arrive at the Sydney Design Market, and let us help you discover even more!

From trying new flavours to snapping selfies and winning prizes, can you tick off all the cute prompts? Might need to come back tomorrow, too. First prompt: Find your $7 tickets online!

The post What fun to be had at The Sydney Design Market first appeared on The Finders Keepers.

Notes of Australia

The name holds two things. It’s a tribute to Nicky’s son Noah, born during a period of upheaval, the pandemic, a move interstate, and a return to Victoria. And it stands for Notes of Australia: the landscapes, coastlines, and native world that have shaped Nicky’s creative instinct since childhood.

She came to craft not as a hobby but as a language. Painting classes as a kid. Shells collected with her mum. Her late grandmother’s button collection became a whole line of feather fascinators, selling out at the Camel Cup in Alice Springs. Every place she’s lived, Perth, Alice Springs, and Lakes Entrance, has left its mark on the work.

“I have always found myself coming back to beads. They’re so sustainable, can be made out of anything, and have been used in so many cultures for millions of years.”

– Nicky

Beads resist mass production by their nature. Works can be broken down and reimagined with almost no waste. In an era of fast everything, making something beautiful by hand, one bead at a time, is a quiet act of resistance.

Where the bush meets the sea

Tourists pull over at Jimmy’s Point lookout on Kalimna Hill every day to photograph the view Nicky drives past on her commute. She hasn’t stopped noticing it. That’s the pace of Lakes Entrance, unhurried, present, and it runs through everything she makes.

Some days she’ll create three pieces and discard them all. Other days, she has to stop herself from keeping everything. That tension between artist and business owner is part of the work, too.

One of a kind

Every piece Nicky makes is unique, not as a marketing line, but as a genuine conviction. Baroque pearls, dried flowers, natural gemstones: the materials themselves resist uniformity. Nothing in nature is perfectly symmetrical, and neither is anything from NOA Australia.

In 2025, she began teaching beading workshops at a local Neighbourhood House. Teaching something she’d always found intuitive showed her just how much she’d developed, and gave her back an appreciation for slowness, for process, for the quiet hours that are easy to overlook when self-doubt is loud.

What it means to be the Regional recipient

She applied on a whim. Read her own application back and thought the selectors would laugh. When the acceptance came, she screenshotted it and sent it to her mum,  just to make sure she was reading it right.

That detail matters. Because putting handmade work into the world, work you designed, threaded, and made by hand, makes judgment feel personal. Being selected wasn’t just an opportunity. It was validation.

The work keeps going

New this season: hand-stamped photo gift cards, made using linocut stamps Nicky carves herself. The idea came from a simple truth, her grandparents love getting mail, and so does her son. In a world where photos disappear into feeds and cards go in the bin, she wanted to make something worth keeping. Something sent through the post with a little hand-designed love in it.

It’s a small thing. But it’s the small things here that carry the most weight.

Find Nicky and the full NOA Australia collection at The Finders Keepers Sydney Design Market, Carriageworks, Eveleigh on Gadigal land, 1–3 May. One week before Mother’s Day. Daily entry $7, tickets on sale now.

The post The unique story behind our Regional Program recipient | NOA Australia first appeared on The Finders Keepers.