Not long to go until I am The Finders Keepers Melbourne! I am not doing many markets this year- so come and catch me while you can!

I am in full prep mode here in the studio. These images were taken last night where I was painting on tonnes of small coloured dots on my sweet confetti range of ceramics, then stacking them into my kiln in the dark spooky shed. I am racing to get enough stock together! Oh, the beauty of hand made!

Well, it is that time of year again! Time to subscribe to Mini Comic of the Month! It is a limited subscription of 300 and the offer closes at the end of July, or as soon as the 300 places are filled, so be quick, as I hate seeing people sad.

This year I thought I would interview Andrew Fulton, who is the guy who organises the entire event! His studio right next door to mine, so it is pretty easy to do. I like easy. For those that don't know he is also my husband, so it is nice to have an excuse to talk to him.
Firstly here are some of the awesome artists that are signed up to be a part of it this year!

Sarah McNeil

The Seven Seas

Andrew Fulton

Carla McRae

If you like you can hear a great podcast from Make it Then Tell Everybody which also interviews Andrew about the mini comic business.

Q.When and how did it all begin and how did you get roped into curating it?

A. The club was started up by Pat Grant in maybe 2009/2010, he asked me to make a comic for that first one. I hadn't made an actual comic before - like I had drawn them, but not actually printed any out into a proper mini. A few years later I decided it would be cool thing to get going again - I cant remember what started me thinking about it. So I guess I roped myself into it?

Q. What is the best part about being in the club?

A. Apart from the obvious fun of getting surprise comics in the mail, the best bit is getting people involved that might not otherwise have made a comic, and having readers discover new artists through the club that they otherise wouldn't have come across.

Q. What is your favourite comic? What is so good about it?

A. That's a real hard question to answer. Probably my favourite comic right now is "By This Shall You Know Him" by Jesse Jacobs. It's about these god creatures creating the universe. It's beautiful grotesque and funny. Or maybe "Turtie Needs Work" by Steve Wolfhard, which is this tiny book, a series of two panel strip where this little turtle goes through a series of jobs. It's really sweet.

Q.What was the first comic book you remember reading? what got you hooked?

A. Dad used to bring back comics sometimes when he travelled for work, I have this vague memory of a Fantastic Four comic, maybe some Mad Magazines. I think the thing that I really got into was "Groo" by Sergio Aragonés - who also does all the little cartoons in the margins of Mad. Groo was about a wandering barbarian who went around getting in fights and basically making a complete mess of everything he touched. I guess I was into funny drawings above everything.

Q. Who are you featuring in this years comic club?

A. This year we have Carla McRae, Sarah Mcneil, Ben Juers, Marijka Gooding, Nicky Minus, Michael Fikaris, Rafferty Amor, Bailey Sharp, The Seven Seas, Neale Blanden, George Rex & Owen Heitmann.

Q. How do you see the comic book scene in Australia? Where do you want it to go?

A. The scene in Australia is pretty great, just very, very small. I just want the scene to get bigger, I want more people to know that comics exist and consider them a regular part of their Entertainment Lifestyle(tm)

I love to smile, and to laugh. I have selected these talented makers because they all make work that makes me smile. Thank you lovely creative folk, you make our days shine brighter.

Go here to see the entire collection, there are more.

Luft has been with me from the very early days of wendy june. This was the shop where I literally took my first makings in (they were handmade toys) and they took them in, in the old days when you went shop to shop to sell your products, can't do that anymore! It was the first step into believing I could make something that people would love. I will always have a soft spot for this shop, and the people that run it!
A good amount of years later and we are still working together! I love the way they mix it up between well renowned designers and emerging ones too, in the same space. It really works.

If you are ever in the North Fitzroy area or just like shopping at fantastic places you really should pop into Luft, I bet you will find something you love.

They are also on Facebook and instagram

Luft at night!

So good with all their styling!

Yay, some of my cards on the counter!

I pretty much want everything on that table. Not to mention the Marimekko pants- they have an incredible range here!

Thank you to all that went to the Etsy Pop Up Shop at West Elm, Melbourne on Saturday! It was such a lovely crowd of people, and all the makers were wonderful too!
The West Elm Staff truly went beyond and above what was expected making it an easy and comfortable space for everyone- Thank you amazing people!

Here are some photos of the event!

MyTa Da Monster made it in The Age Newspaper- Hooray!

A small selection of my display!

An ace photo of shoppers and me- I am looking directly into the camera in the middle of the picture. Photo was taken by the lovely Georgie Cummings

I could have eaten these all day! They looked great on my little dishes too! Thank you B&P you made many peoples day with your delectable goods...