We interview Tania about 'Shop Handmade Australia'!

Tell us a little bit about your website?

The Shop Handmade Australia blog and associated Facebook page caters to the Australian shopper and lover of handmade. They seek items that are lovingly produced in the homes/workshops of hard working people around Australia; items which are not available in mainstream stores; items which are made with love and a creative spark, and delivered with excellent customer service and care. Items which are contemporary, beautiful, whimsical and original.

 SHA is discerning and aims to facilitate a genuine connection of buyer to artist in a meaningful way. We are not a store; just a doorway into the handmade community. Here, people connect with Aussie crafting businesses and artists who will tell about their sales, specials, events, auctions, new products, markets and more. In addition, we work hard to inform about handmade news as well as shopping guides, interviews, competitions and more.

For the seller, SHA is an extension to their own online stores, market stands, blogs and Facebook pages; helping them increase their reach to potential buyers. For the buyer, it provides quality, short, sharp and easy to digest information about Australian handmade businesses; connecting them to products they are interested in and helping them to benefit from sales and special events.

When/why did you open your website?
We are quite new, with our first blog post published on 20 April 2011. It is the sister site to The Contemporary Handmade Alliance; a blog and Facebook page which I have been operating since May 2010. Where the CHA is an information and support source for the handmade maker, SHA is an information source for the handmade buyer. It just made sense to address both sides of the industry.

What is the favourite part about running your website?
Seeing it grow, be well received and achieving its goals, with the industry genuinely benefitting from the hard work I put in! At the time of writing this, we have collected over 770 follows on Facebook in just 10 days; thanks largely to people in the industry who have thrown their support behind it and spread the word. I love that; it makes me happy.

Why do you love handmade so much?
I love what the handmade community stands for; a return to our roots, a sense of community, kindness to the earth, support for our local economy, people working from home whilst being with their families, people expressing their creative spirits and following their passions. If we could all find a way to do what makes us truly happy, the world would be a happier place.

Name 5 reasons why your visitors keep coming back to your website?
Handmade, community, quality, connection, benefit


Shop Handmade Australia
BLOG, Facebook Page

Contemporary Handmade Australia
BLOG, Facebook Page

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