The Finders Keepers

Places

Aug 1

Hello decor8 readers! This is Jillian with another Shopgirl Visits column. Today I'm taking you with me on a market visit that you're bound to love. Have you heard about The Finders Keepers?

This design and art market supports emerging designers, artists & musicians. The markets, which were started 3 years ago by Sarah Thornton and Brooke Johnston, are held bi-annually in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne and are a huge hit.

My own introduction to the markets was a bit circuitous. I saw some of Kylie Johnson’s ceramics on Pia’s blog a few years ago and I was enchanted. I bought some of her work and soon started following her blog, Instinct and Grace. Kylie mentioned on the blog that she’d be in Sydney attending the Finders Keepers. I'd not been to Finders Keepers before so I decided to have a look see and whilst there, I found the Paperboat Press stall. I summoned up the courage to approach Kylie and I’ve been an annual visitor to the market since then, camera always in hand. You can see some of my earlier Finders Keepers images here on decor8 from 2010.

The Sydney Winter Finders Keepers were held on a cold, wet windy day in Sydney. I put on my boots, picked up my camera and firmly placed my ‘Shopgirl visits for decor8’ hat on my head and made my way over to the lovely Carriageworks building in Eveleigh.

The Sydney Finders Keepers is always a bustling event. What a better way to wile a way a wet Saturday than with a spot of shopping? The beauty of the markets is their ever changing nature. The line-up of stall holders varies with every market so you never quite know what to expect.

What did I find there? A beguiling mix of old favourites and some new discoveries. Some of my old favourites were there - Paperboat Press, Attia, the Storybook Rabbit and Bespoke Press.

And my new discoveries? The spare ceramics designed by Haydn Youlley, the funky Las Vegas style lighting from Fromage La Rue, some beautiful furniture from Ply Candy and a great pop up stationery shop, the Super Cool.