I’ve always loved gift-giving for friends and family so this year I thought it would be nice to share some of my favourite Australian makers and creators who create beautiful quality-made, nature-inspired products. By shopping small this Christmas season you’re not only gifting carefully created presents but also giving the gift of support to small businesses.

Andrea Ward Silk Scarves

Andrea creates beautiful quality silk scarves on 100% Italian rolled silks and recently asked me to illustrate the Regeneration range, inspired by Australian florals and birds whilst incorporating the heritage mosaic tiles of Melbourne’s iconic Block Arcade.

The range features three colourways & sizes: Medium 70cmx70cm in Tapioca and Fog and Small 54cm x 54cm in Mango. They come beautifully packaged in a gift box and make a great gift for anyone who appreciates art and a bit of Australian architectural history!

Prices from $99
Buy Andrea Ward Silk Scarves
Andrea Ward on Instagram

Art After Dusk Ceramics

Bessie Nunes is one damn talented lady. Her ceramic works are a labour of love and she prides herself on capturing the essence of her subjects. Her brand, Art After Dusk, was born out of the need to feed her creative soul: “…once I put the kids to bed I found myself staying up until the early hours of the morning to work on projects so I could feel like myself again. Being creative is the only way I know how to be, it brings me peace and balance but most importantly, it brings me so much joy.”

I’ve been a huge fan of Bessie since discovering her Instagram earlier this year and every time she releases a collection of illustrated ceramics they sell out within minutes! You can find her new pieces at the following upcoming exhibitions at WAC with Canberra’s Potters Society and subscribe to her newsletter (and set an alarm!) for her next ceramics drop.

Prices From: $50+
Art After Dusk Online Shop
Art After Dusk On Instagram

Apiary Made Skincare

My mother gifted me a bottle of Apiary Made’s moisturising lotion last Christmas and I’ve used it literally day and night almost every day this year and I’m only JUST running out now! These guys craft a really beautiful range of skincare along with other bee-related products such as beeswax wraps, candles and their own honey. The reason their skincare is so special is from the use of Jelly Bush Honey which is an organic alternative to the many chemicals and parabens used in skincare today. Jelly Bush Honey is nature’s answer to a chemical-free skincare ingredient that aids in anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties.

What also makes this brand so special is their Honey Of Hope Project, which raises funds for Heifer International - an organisation helping families to overcome hunger, poverty, and to develop sustainable incomes. Heifer International works with communities by providing animals such as goats, chickens or honey bees as a source of food and a sustainable, and reliable income for people in need. These families then 'pass on the gift', giving the first female offspring of their animal to another family.

Who knew the gift of some delicious scented, super moisture-rich Jelly Bush Honey and Jojoba cream could give back so much?!

Price $46
Buy Jelly Bush Honey Hydrating Face Cream
Apiary Made on Instagram

Alex Monroe Alphabet Necklaces

Okay, so this brand is not Australian, however, they are stocked in several boutiques around the country including the NGV and MCA gift shops and have been high up on my wishlist for a long time. I’ve always been a big fan of anything illustrative and Alex Monroe who’s work is feminine, delicate and quirky, but above all consistently wearable. Each and every piece is individually designed and handmade in England by Alex and his team of expert jewellers. I was especially pleased to see they now offer Botanical Illustrated Letters as jewellery in their Floral Alphabet range. I personally think these make the perfect gift to give along with one of my Botanical Alphabet prints!

Price: £105
Buy Floral Alphabet Necklaces
Alex Monroe Instagram

HOME Book By Natural Harry

I first discovered Harriet through a small architecture feature of her & her husband’s 40 square metre house that they built on the South Coast of Melbourne, then quickly followed her after reading some of her plant-based recipes and realising she too was a self-described 'rooky surfer and clumsy goofball’. Born out of her first project which was a wooden caravan that sold smoothies and raw desserts, her main focus in the past has been publishing healthy recipe books that focus on plant-based cooking until her newest book release, titled HOME.

HOME is a book that encourages you to tread a little lighter on the earth through toxic/waste/plastic-free remedies and recipes for cleaning and personal products you’d use in your own home that is not only effective but actually really simple to make. Again, I grabbed a copy when they were released at the end of October and I’ve been kicking myself for not trying some of her home-made cleaning supplies and hair products sooner! An added to bonus to this book is you could keep it for yourself and use a bunch of her remedy & recipes to create home-made gifts for your friends family instead! Win!

Price: $34.95
Buy Home By Natural Harry
Natural Harry Instagram

Jess Hutchison 2021 Calendar

Jess Hutchison hails from the South Coast of NSW and has been a huge source of inspiration and help regarding finding a good printer for me since I found her work online earlier last year. She’s a talented painter who creates beautifully detailed paintings of Australian birds and native flowers with a contemporary colour palette and has pulled her best sellers all together into her 2021 Colours Of Australia Calendar!

If you want to go a step beyond the annual calendar you can also shop a huge variety of prints and originals through Jess’ website where she even has a ‘Try in your room’ plugin which allows you to submit a photo of the space you’d like to put the artwork and see how it’d look! What a talented lil lady.

Calendar price: $45.00
Buy 2021 Colours Of Australia Calendar
Jess Hutchison Instagram

La La Land 2021 Diary

It wouldn’t be a gift guide without including a 2021 planner and diary by who other than my favourite gifting brand (and my employer!), La La Land. Yes, I’m biased as I’m their in-house designer & art director but the latest diary we designed is packed full with Australian birds and contemporary colour features illustrations by myself and fellow artist, Murilo Manzini. The Floral Paradiso Diary follows a week-to-week layout with monthly summary pages, contacts, tiny little mini cards you can cut-out, positive affirmation pages for self-development & good vibes, and LOTS of room for notes and STICKERS!

Basically, this diary is designed to help take the chaos out of next year and to celebrate being done with 2020!

Price: $29.95
Buy La La Land 2021 Diary
La La Land Instagram

Nature To Grain Platters

Nature To Grain is a passion project created by a crafty couple from the Mornington Peninsula that combines woodwork with epoxy resin pouring to set stunning sustainably and ethically sourced dried native compositions between the grains of their chosen wood. Everything they create is so awe-inspiring from their colour palettes to the eclectic textures making every creation a true piece of art. I’m obsessed with their Instagram page and am constantly watching their stories as they record the production process!

They offer platters, tabletops, wall art, and custom pieces through their website but have warned that their current wait time for custom orders is 3 months and are booking up QUICKLY for Christmas orders, so get your orders in quickly!

Prices From: $200+
Nature To Grain Website
Nature To Grain Instagram

Moonshine Madness Tea Towels

Mel is one of those Instagram accounts I was drawn to for her awesome retro-inspired illustrations and colour palettes that seem to be inspired by her country lifestyle and has led to some seriously cool artworks. You might also recognise her work in your local bottleshop plastered across vibrant beer cans for Lost Palms & Newstead Brewing Co. Mel is based in rural Queensland and creates small runs of her art on T-shirts, Art Prints and Tea Towels.

Her tea towels are printed in Sydney on a cotton/linen blend, and then hand-stitched and lovingly assembled by Mel and her Mum.

Price: $30
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Moonshine Madness on Instagram

Wholesome Store Embellished Spoons

Brisbane based Wellness blogger, Ellie runs her own ethical, eco-conscious & plant-based concept shop, The Wholesome Store. Her 100% vegan and ethical curated products sell out all the time including her personally designed spoon and cutlery range which is crafted from solid cast brass and feature embellished wooden like handles with delicate brass bees!

I love all things bees and I quickly jumped on her last release back in September to secure a couple for myself. Again, they sell out really fast so I recommend subscribing to their newsletter and keeping an eye on their socials to catch the next drop of designs!

Price: $17
Buy Wholesome Store Embellished Bee Spoon
Wholesome Store on Instagram

South Coast Distillery Gin

I was on my way to a Birthday lunch and had to pick up a bottle on the way, so I stopped in at Thirroul Cellars where I was introduced to local NSW South Coast Distillery’s Gin! I purchased their limited edition Oolong infused gin and it was SO GOOD! Everyone at who attended that Birthday lunch still talks about the uniquely refreshing taste still to this day and unfortunately, I haven’t yet found another bottle.

I was happy to find that they do have other kinds and was also really impressed by their multi-award winning Batch Zero Gin recipe bottled into their ‘Sublime Gin’, aptly named after Illawarra’s favourite Sublime Point landmark. It has strong but smooth flavours of lemon myrtle, cardamom, and dandelion root, best enjoyed straight, on the rocks, or in a G&T paired with fresh lime or grapefruit peel.
South Coast Distillery Gin was created by a bunch of gin-enthusiast housemates out of Wollongong and prides themselves on having a focus on responsibility and sustainability, and supports its local farmers by sourcing ingredients from Illawarra-based producers whenever possible.

You can buy directly through their online shop or if you’re in the area pop by their cellar door and try what’s brewing every Friday night!

Price: $80
Buy South Coast Distillery Sublime Gin
South Coast Distillery on Instagram