Never in a million years, did I imagine the people I would meet through my humble homewares store, tomolly. It's been quite a journey, where strangers have become friends, ideas shared have become creative projects, and curious wanderers have become coffee guests.

tomolly has evolved to be a place where we gather elements for the home and for life that will help celebrate it, make it purposeful and intentional, and ensure that it is the passing moments in our life that matter. 

Allow me to introduce you to just some of the special people who have ventured into my life.

Belinda xx

Meet Kasturi Wren

Visual Storyteller

Learn more about Kasturi
Insta handle: wrenandwhippet
Website: wrenandwhippet.com.au

Perhaps one of the most transformative books that I have ever laid eyes on would have to be The Little Prince by Antoine de saint-exupéry. I remember the exact moment I spotted it and flicked briefly through its pages before making that inevitable decision to take it back with me to the hotel. I think they call it the unstoppable force. I was 23. At that time I had been travelling the world with my best friend and had decided to do a beach break in Koh Samui in Thailand. I remember how quickly the hours went by. I had been drawn to the words of Exupery. The art of storytelling, the beauty of innocence, the power of imagination - it was all there. At the time I saw myself as a Romantic. Not the Mills & Boon type. No, I was more Mary and Percy Shelley and Byron and Keats. Romanticism intoxicated me.

After spending my 20s and 30s pursuing a career in the Law I remembered The Little Prince once again. The words had perhaps never left but like the entrancement of a distant song I was once again absorbed. And these words came flooding back: “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

And so my world toppled for the better. I quit my job. Built a house with my very talented husband. Dabbled in interior design. Listed it as an Airbnb and became an Airbnb hostess. Started an Instagram account and began taking photos and the rest is history. And like that the Wren and Whippet was born and life has never been the same again. I found poetry from behind the lens and saw with my heart.

While I still have my own legal practice now, my life has completely transformed. Over the last 2 years I have pursued a path of self discovery and along the way have made wonderful friends through this world of Instagram and collaboration. One such collaboration began very early on in my journey when I was til working out Instagram and developing my creative persona. It started when I made a trip to Orange with a friend and stopped for lunch in Millthorpe, a small town some 20 minutes out of Orange. It was here I first stepped into a store unlike I had ever seen before - Tomolly. Immediately I was greeted by the Shopkeeper, a woman I would later call friend and inspiration. In this moment though, Belinda was simply herself - warm, energetic and inviting. Not long after our first meeting Belinda closed up her shop in Millthorpe and took the giant and courageous leap and moved her now hugely successful business to a small picturesque town some 15 minutes or so up the road to a quaint village called Carcoar.

There was something different about Carcoar and there was certainly a new energy and drive that had taken over Tomolly and had transformed it to a destination store that transcended geography and brought warmth into all our lives irrespective of where we are in this world. I am grateful to Belinda, the Shopkeeper from the town that time forgot. She is a force to be reckoned with and her impeccable taste and art of curation has won not just my heart but thousands of others.

Meet Em Callaghan

Boy Mum
Happy Snapper
Backyard Farmer
Country Road Wanderer

Visit Em's Blog here
Insta handle: emcallaghan1

Seeing the world in frames, capturing the details and candid moments. 

I love nothing more than traversing country roads, discovering country towns and meeting the fascinating people who call rural Australia home.
Slightly obsessed with the Town That Time Forgot.

 

Meet Tim and Belinda Neame

Husband and wife team
Parents to Fletcher and Tilly
Owners of Hold Cottage in Gunning
Tim is a Fireman
Belinda is Production Manager at HerCanberra and founder of The Forage

Insta handles:
Tim - @timbean_photography
Belinda - @beeneame
Hold Cottage - @hold_cottage

Hey! We are Tim and Belinda (or Bee, whatever you prefer), and husband and wife team. We're that cople that met in college, bought a house in the Canberra suburbs, married when we were 21 and now have two teenage children, Fletcher and Tilly.

Our life philosophy is pretty simple - choose kindness and laugh often. Surround yourself with family, friends and the things that make you breathe when you look at them. We love spending time as a family and watching our children grow into lovely young humans. We also adore our home and our big goofy dog, Gus.

Tim, a firefighter by day (and night), loves being behind the lens to capture all things food, people and places. You can often find Tim drinking coffee at his local or capturing a time lapse on Anzac Parade! Belinda, Production manager at HerCanberra by day and founder of The Forage, is a lover of all things food, design, interiors and handmade. You will often find her baking something sweet and asking Tim to take photos of it!