Friday Friends - Etsy Western Australian Street Team Members - Homegrown + Handmade

Happy Friday dear readers - this week seems to have disappeared so quickly. I really love winter weekends - especially getting outside and catching a few rays of winter sunshine. We have some friends coming to share a mexican feast on Saturday night - I LOVE to cook ! I have created a beautiful fresh salsa style side dish that we eat with mexican food, it's made with coriander, a squeeze of lime juice, fresh sweet corn kernels, red capsicum and chopped cherry tomatoes. So refreshing !This week it is my great pleasure to introduce the wonderfully talented Kallista Bolton, designer and owner of the Homegrown and Handmade of Boddington range which features her own local brands Crossman Cookie Company, New Vintage Homewares and Squashed Olive as well as an array of other locally made gourmet produce lines. Kallista is also a fellow sandgroper and member of the  Western Australian Street Team on Etsy. 

The products on offer from this wonderful store are just luscious. I know I would LOVE  to receive a subscription to a 3 Month Nutritious Cookie Delivery Service from the Crossman Cookie Company - just imagine a family box of 14 mixed fresh cookies which can include a combination of most (if not all) Coffee and Hazelnut Choc Top cookie, White Choc Spelt cookie, Dark Choc and Orange Gluten Free cookie, Choc Chip Linseed cookie, Pistachio Cranberry and Lime cookie and  Honey and Lavender Shortbread delivered to your door. Almost Guilt free cookie eating, the recipes have been developed on low GI whole food, organic and sustainable food principles, Kallista has researched and sourced organic wholefood ingredients.

Fathers Day is just around the corner too - why not surprise the Dad in your life with this 3 Piece Mens Gift set comprising of 1 x 280ml Jar of Lime and Lemon Marmalade, 1 x Jar of Roast Hazelnut Honey (230ml size) and 1 x Bar of Goats milk + Olive Oil Soap in Lemongrass and Patchouli.

And I swear hubby would never pinch these glam gardening gloves - a white leather glove with a Pretty Pink Floral Cuff !

Dear readers, I will leave you now as I spread the love of the sweet story of Homegrown + Handmade. See you on Saturday for the first seven days in photos from the Savage Kitten mid month photo challenge !

The Sweet Story of Homegrown + Handmade
What is Homegrown Handmade ?
Homegrown + Handmade is a West Australian “cottage industry” enterprise making gourmet produce and textiles owned by me, Kallista Bolton. I ran away from Sydney in 1994 for a dreamy life in the country and despite a glamorous career in marketing I'd always wanted a small scale rural based business of my own. With my husband and 3 little boys, our slice of heaven appeared in 2009 the shape of a 10 acre olive farm in Crossman, just outside of Boddington in rural Western Australia. 

Homegrown + Handmade started in Feb 2010 with my original New Vintage Homewares textile products; gardening gloves and cushions for sale at my local markets. Soon after a collection of healthy gourmet cookies were added to the stall, they were so popular that Crossman Cookie Company was born specialising in nutritious and delicious wholefood cookies. Along with our Squashed Olive gourmet oils and inclusion of other delicious local products, the whole lot was pulled together to become the Homegrown + Handmade range. 

How and When did your handmade/artistic journey begin ?
My handmade / artistic journey began just after I had my first child in 2004. We had bought a dilapidated 100 year old weatherboard cottage in East Vic Park, Perth, I had quit work to stay home with bub. We had no money but I wanted to create a beautiful home. We couldn’t afford to purchase items so had to be resourceful and started sewing. I soon discovered I adored the creative process not just with the sewing but the entire innovative, resourceful, design style. Twins soon followed so here we were with 3 small boys (3 kids in 26 months !!) and that made me even more resourceful. I must have done OK as when we sold it to move to Boddington, the beautiful finished home made the front cover of the West Australian newspaper real estate liftout.

What inspires you ?
Being resourceful and the idea of creating my own financially viable cottage industry lifestyle business.  Also the SLOW FOOD MOVEMENT, all of the values linked to this movement completely resonate with me.
What mediums do you work with - do you have a favourite ?
I work with food and textiles. Food wise – my fav would be the range of custom labeled wedding products.

Textiles wise - my favourite fabrics would be linen and velvet. They are both classic, richly elegant and casual. 

What kind of things do you make/create ?
In terms of the gourmet food, I make cookies and olive oil, then I collaborate with other local foodies to produce sauces, vinegars, jams, preserves, soaps etc. In terms of textiles I make all of these…my best sellers are my leather gardening gloves, then I also make cushions, bunting and have a range of childrens throw rugs and embellished garments to come. 

The cookies are the cornerstone of my business and I should give them some more airplay here as it's quite an achievement ! I have gone on to create Crossman Cookie Company which specializes in producing delicious but nutritious wholefood cookies. 
In fact they are guaranteed to be Australia's most nutritious range of gourmet cookies or your money back ! 

After studying with renowned Perth Wholefood Chef – Jude Blereau , and following the work of the iconic Australian nutritionist Cyndi O ‘Meara,  I started baking nutritious cookies for our kids. When we moved down to the farm my husband said one day, these are so good you should sell them. I took a batch down to the local Boddington Markets where I’d been selling my textiles and the rest is history. They were so popular. I now have a number of outlets (cafes, roadhouses, health food shops) and bake weekly, I must have baked over 20,000 cookies since then, selling individually and in boxes and also I make “packet mixes” of my nutritious cookies for the home bakers out there. The cookie business really could take over my time 100% but I am wanting to stay diversified. 

For something a little different, here is my latest You Tube Promo for the Crossman Cookie Company entitled "5 Unique Features of Crossman Cookie Company Products"
                          
Do you have a favourite piece that you have made/created ? 

My emerald green circular velvet pillow and my infused olive oils, my favourite being the 23 carat gold leaf olive oil “Dazzling Dinner Party”

What are your future plans/dreams/aspirations ?
To keep fine tuning things to make this really work financially, to create my ultimate rural lifestyle venture that fits harmoniously alongside my family life. 

Dear readers, do you want to explore further ? Here is how you can connect :
Become a follower on facebook here :
http://www.facebook.com/HomegrownHandmade
http://www.facebook.com/CrossmanCookieCompany
Buy beautiful homewares and delicious goodies on Etsy  http://www.etsy.com/shop/homegrownhandmade