Homemade and Homegrown
It is often surprising just how diverse the range of talents are in our small community. If you’ve ever wondered what hobbies or artistic skills other locals enjoy pursuing, here’s a snapshot.
Amy—Recycled Homewares and Jewellery
My love for secondhand stems from my childhood. My parents built two of our family homes entirely from recycled materials! Nan (who was always beautifully dressed) would buy clothes and homewares from thrift stores. I have wonderful memories of op shopping with Nan! Combining some of my favorite things - Arts & Crafts, recycling, the environment, teaching my children life skills, giving presents and being frugal has equated to one-off handmade recycled gifts. I have made a letterbox from a laundry tub and a tractor grill, kids play kitchen from recycled timber and sink with pots and pans from op shops, necklaces made from vintage spoons, earrings from recycled inner tubes, and even a life sized truck at Tele Point school all of which was made from 100% recycled materials.
Jessica Lewandrowski—Whale Tail Resin Boards
I started making resin serving boards because a few friends and family wanted to buy some but found that the wait time for them was too long. So I thought I would try to give it a go. It was a slow start and a lot of trial and error and a lot of mistakes. But slowly I started to get it right and started to get happier with what I was able to create. My husband then joined the ranks and he started making my boards with me. We make whale tail boards which are my favourite. They are beautiful with the blues and white. But we have also made a few custom requests: turtles, stingrays, and lately the shape of Australia. It takes a lot of time to make these just right but it’s definitely addictive. We love making resin boards and seeing people’s reactions to them. We are a local very small family business and work out of our kitchen. We have 2 daughters, one who also helps when she can.
Jenny Magill—Bee Keeping
I started my beekeeping journey during the fires in November last year. I purchased a Flow Hive and a healthy little bee colony from a registered bee breeder around Nambucca area. Since then, we joined the amateur beekeeping club at Wauchope and increased our hives to 3 and soon 5 as I have another 2 coming soon. I was inspired by beekeeping as we grow all our own organic food and we wanted to complete the process. We have noticed an incredible success in our garden with our pollinators doing an amazing job. We don’t use any chemicals and use old tarps to kill weeds off in large areas of our garden. My husband Jason is addicted to the hobby I started and is now hand making all our new hives. I also do pyrography and I brand the hives too. Another use for bees wax is I love making homemade food wax wraps. They are an incredible lid for any container. They seal well, are reusable and look so pretty in your fridge or around a sandwich or cheese etc! We haven’t had to buy plastic cling wrap for over 12 months and the food seems to stay fresh a lot longer. We put it down to the antibacterial and antifungal properties, and because it is water tight, locks in moisture – but does not let it build up – while letting the food naturally breathe, something that plastic wraps, being airtight, will not do. I love beekeeping and living a natural holistic lifestyle growing our own veg and beekeeping!
Sandi Ozolins—Leadlight Glass
As a jack of all crafts, master and teacher of Leadlight, I have spent the last 40 years engrossed in a love of coloured and textured glass, and blessed by the possibility of being able to design and build leadlight windows for clients around the Hastings area. In my studio in the Hastings hinterland behind Telegraph Point, I can enjoy the solitude of nature while creating masterpieces of coloured glass and lead.
Sandra—Mountain Goat Soap
Mountain Goat Soap started about 15 years ago, with my children's allergies and has grown to many others' skin issues. So, Fragrant Free Goat's Milk Soaps, using different base oils are our main sellers. It's great creating new recipes, like a pet soap, shampoo bar, dish soap, plus more! My love of dairy goats and their amazing personalities plus being able use to their precious white gold (milk) to the full, is a passion that gives great satisfaction!
Real Goat's Milk Soap, from the farm to you!
Linda Graham—Sewing
This year has been all but lost to me with major surgery, radiation and chemo. The one saving grace is that I haven’t had the opportunity to sew for years and after spending hours watching YouTube sewing videos I decided that I would take up sewing to keep my hands moving. It has been a fantastic experience to be able to create something from a scrap of material again. These are some of the little things I made. The bowl cosies are for the microwave to protect your hands and then keep food warm. The red bag and scrunchy were for my granddaughter in QLD, I also sent the microwave pop corn bag to her. A friend crocheted caps for me to wear and in return I have made a project bag and some shopping bags for her.
Janine Lee—Aromatherapy & Macramé
In addition to yoga, I enjoy bee-keeping, aromatherapy and craft. I sell fresh honey, blocks of beeswax, essential oil rollerballs and sprays, and macramé plant hangers. I enjoy doing macramé as I find it very relaxing… it’s like meditation via your fingers. And I love the science of essential oils and creating blends in rollerballs and sprays so that the benefits can be enjoyed in everyday life.
Many of these locals also offer their products for sale. Please consider supporting our locals artists and producers at the Telegraph Point Markets or supporting the TPCA by advertising on the website or in the community newsletter.
The Telegraph Point Markets are held on the 3rd Sunday of the month alongside the Tele Point Sports and Recreation Club.
