We recently hawked our Mitchell & Dent wares at the Kyilla Primary School Fête and omigoodness, were we flabbergasted by the fundraising efforts of the folks involved. It was incredible. The fête and coinciding Celebrity Book Auction (40-odd celebs including the likes of Dawn French, Julia Gillard and Tim Minchin donated books, no less) raised something like twenty thousand dollars. It sure did make the soggy sandwiches, toffee cups, chocolate wheels and kewpie dolls of our childhood fêtes pale in comparison. It was the fête equivalent of super-charged kewpies with extra added cuteness, a bit like the ones from The Little Dröm Store.

thelittledromstore.bigcartel.com

Fleur Schell is one clever little cookie. She is a ceramic artist maker and the Founding Director of SODA Studios in North Fremantle. She has worked all over the world and her pieces are held in collections near and far. We’re particularly fond of her most recent series The Excellent Adventures of Heidi, narrative pieces in porcelain inspired by her daughter. We take great pride in joining Fleur at SODA Gift 2010 this weekend, an invitational exhibition showcasing works by four ceramic artists from SODA and four invited guests including, you guessed it, Mitchell & Dent. Why not come along?

Open 10am to 6pm
Saturday 27th and Sunday 28 November 2010
1/98 Stirling Highway, North Fremantle
Parking available at North Fremantle train station

I know I know, that title doesn’t quite work, but I needed to get into the guts of this post quick smart. No time for tweaking the twee, as there is an awful lot to tittle and tattle about. If you’ve been living under a rock, you may not know that Mitchell & Dent went to Melbourne last week to hawk our wares at Magnolia Square (we did go on about it a bit). And omigoodness, there were so many good things there by good people that impressed our good selves. Here is a little taste of the goodness (from top to bottom)….

Melbourne’s A Skulk of Foxes make crazy good silver, timber and acrylic jewellery.

Angus & Celeste make jewellery and homewares, but we most loved these porcelain bottle vases decorated with botanicals native to Victoria’s Dandenong Ranges.

A treasure trove of vintage papery goodness from Green Olive – prints and stationery items made out of rescued children’s books from days gone by.

More midcentury-meets-paper wonderfulness, this time from South Australia’s Delilah Devine. Love the flying duck plaques covered with vintage wallpapers.

The mesdames must confess, we ate a whole host of Michel’s Fine Biscuit Co‘s wares. We heartily recommend the hazelnut shortbread and the ginger and almond buscuit with a lemon myrtle-infused white chocolate filling.

And finally, having just driven by the old Skipping Girl Vinegar sign in Victoria Street, it was really nice to see her emblazoned on homewares by Make Me Iconic. Swoon-worthy souvenirs.

We want to say a giant thankyou thankyou thankyou to our lovely friend Michelle who helped us out so much in Melbourne – our guide, our taxi, our handyman, our tea-lady, our support and our cheerleader. You’re tops, Shells.

And to three ladies who made our day by coming to say hello – you know who you are Belgian Nancy, Tanya from T&J and Sylvia. Very nice to meet you.

You might have noticed that Mitchell & Dent have been a little quiet on the tittle tattling front recently. That’s because we’ve been beavering away, making damn good goodies to take to Melbourne next week. If you want to take a sneaky peek before they hit our online shop, just trundle on down to Magnolia Square at the Malvern Town Hall on August 5-6-7 and come say hooroo. We’d love to see you.

magnoliasquare.com.au

‘Tis time for us to pop on the pinnies again. This time you’ll find Mitchell & Dent hawking their paperwares at  Subi Upmarket, part of the Subi Street Festival. It will be some street party and you’ll find us amongst 80 retailers of artisan crafts and gourmet goodies. Perfect for knocking a few items off those Christmas shopping lists. There will be live music, street performances, a kid’s zone and activities galore. Come hit the pavement and join the fun.

Thursday 10th December 2009, 5pm – 9pm
Subi Upmarket @ Subi Street Festival, Rokeby Road, Subiaco

After donning our pinnies and peddling our paperwares at the Distracted Little Market Day, we have now become market addicts. If you are keen to get your mitts on some delightful stocking stuffers, we will be selling our goodies at the Made on the Left markets on Sunday 15th November. From Christmas cards to pocketbook calendars, we will have felicitous fare for everyone.

Sunday 15th November 2009 – 10am to 4pm
Hyde Park Hotel, 331 Bulwer St, West Perth
www.madeontheleft.com