I would like to introduce Oksa who are new to Piccadilly Market for our Christmas event on the 1st of December. If you or anyone you know is pregnant you will want to check out this line of maternity clothing.

Tell us a little about yourself?

I have recently moved to Jan Juc from Sydney with my husband and two children, Oscar (4) and Charlie (2). I grew up in Melbourne and had plenty of Summers in Anglesea so I am somewhat familiar with the area. I love all things active and since acquiring a garden, I spend most of my time weeding, pruning and procrastinating in it!

How did you come up with your business name?

I wanted a name that wasn't related to "mummies", "boobs" or pregnancy. Because our range is more of a lifestyle collection (meaning it can be worn by all), I didn't want to alienate those not pregnant or breastfeeding. My little nephew always called Oscar "Oksa Rockstar which I thought was so cute, so the name was decided!

Tell us how your product/range came about?

It is the same story going around! Whilst I was pregnant with Oscar and working in the medical industry, I couldn't find any nice maternity clothes and more importantly breastfeeding clothes. I bought some garments for breastfeeding from some of the bigger companies (all made off-shore) and after two or so wears of pulling fabric aside to feed, the fabric had stretched and 'pilled'. After Googling "how to start your own clothing line", I was armed with a very talented pattern maker, a few designs and Oksa was born! Cool

How long have you been in business for?

3 Years  

What inspires you? 

 I love looking through different types of magazines and seeing what is currently on-trend in mainstream fashion and seeing which type of fashion would work for maternity as well as breastfeeding. I also have quite classic design taste and pieces that will take you through multiple pregnancies and fashion trends. 

Have you always been ‘crafty’ or has it bloomed later in life?

Definitely bloomed later in life and I'd still say it hasn't bloomed as yet! As I said, I just have a very talented pattern maker that can interpret stick figure designs! 

What is something cool that most people wouldn’t know about you?

There isn't anything that cool about me to be honest! I even rang my sister to ask and she said the same! I'm a pretty open book so most people know everything about me in the first meeting. Let's just say I like to talk! We best not get chatting then. lol

If money was no object what would be your dream destination?

Right now somewhere hot, because it is coming up to Summer and it's still freezing down here! I'd love to go to South America and Mexico! 

What are you reading right now?

Shantaram- I have been reading it for about 3 months now!  Great book, I loved it

What is your favorite website(s) ?           

Hands down Bom.gov.au- I love weather watching and am constantly glued to the radar!  

What is on your Christmas wishlist?

A little dog- although I am trying to secretly get one before Chrissy!  Me too

When it is pouring with rain all day and temperatures have dropped dramatically and you have a huge market the next day with a bunch of outside stalls, one can start to stress.

luciaandjoe bookbinding
Wow!!!! What a Market. As usual it exceeded my expectations which is always a great thing. Our guesstimate is that we had 4500-5000 shoppers through so that is a big Thank You to everyone who comes out to support this Geelong event. Thanks to all the people that travel from Melbourne and other parts of the State.

So many amazing things to buy and again I found it hard to restrain from spoiling the kids and I. I see it as supporting the local economy.

One of my Besties took some snaps on the day which you can view here.



A big thank you to my team of workers who swoop in and out and get me set up and broken down so efficiently.

The next Market is pre Christmas and is on November 20th so pop that in your diaries.

I am offline till the end of August taking a well deserved vacation.

So it's another year done and dusted. Mine was so wonderfully relaxed this year. Being Polish we celebrate on Christmas Eve with everyone on my Mums side of the family. It is a night very strong in tradition which we all love and I can see my children looking forward to all the traditional bits of the evening. It was at my Aunt Libby's house and she did an amazing job on the table, we all brought something along. My American cousin in law does THE most amazing Turkey and Ham. I did Margaret Fulton's Cherry Pav and the kids and I made a Gingerbread House. I also did this amazing layered salad which is always a big hit. So here are some images of my Christmas this year.





Now it is time to enjoy some well earned time off except for the occasional blog pop in.

Wow!!! What a day we had yesterday.

When you make a decision to do anything major in your life like get married, have children, live overseas etc you know it is going to be big and that life is going to change and often you are taking a leap of faith. My leap of faith, my vision and my hard work has paid off and I am just so happy and so proud of Piccadilly Market. I am particularly proud of all my amazingly talented and lovely stall holders whose passion,professionalism, support and incredible products blow me away. I walk around on Market day and feel privileged to run such an event. Friends, family and complete strangers come up to me all day singing the praises of all the talent gathered under one roof. I bought some lovely items that I will blog about later in the week.

Could not do it without my BFF's and Shane...thank you guys. You are one rockin team. Pamela took loads of photos and I have tried to pick the best and its still loads and loads, if you want to take a peek, check out this slideshow



The White Christmas tree was laden with beautiful prizes very generously donated from stall holders, we had hourly giveaways and then the major 3 winners were drawn out at 3.15pm. One was still there and the other two came straight down and they took turns selecting gifts from the tree. We were all so jealous. Proceeds from raffle go to Geelong Adopt a Family so thank you to all who participated.



Here are a handful of yesterdays exhibitors












Would love to hear your thoughts on the day and what goodies you may have bought as presents or for yourself.

Sorry for my low profile in blog world.

I moved house last week and it has thrown me for a complete sixer. My cat has gone missing :(, I organized my Ski Club 50th Anniversary Ball last Saturday AND of course I am madly getting ready for Piccadilly this Sunday.

Just wanted to check in and say Hi and tell you to check out the list of amazing stall holders for this weekend. Come on down and get your Christmas gifts totally sorted.