Hand Made, with Tender Loving Care July 2, 2026 12:01

At the time of Jamie's inception, there was no doubt that our by-line would be: 'hand-made with TLC'. Not only was I raised with the phrase, 'tender loving care', I was taught to value gifts, products, furniture and food that was hand-made and hand-grown. To invent, to create, and to put your heart and soul into that which you produce and give to others, was an ingrained family value. It came from both of my parents and grandparents on both sides of the family, all of whom lived at times when resources were low, time-commitment was honoured, and gift-giving carried intention and devotion. At the heart of each and every hand-made tradition is the belief that if you put heart and time into the creation process, it carries tender care and will always deliver that well-intended love. 

Pappa made all of the family's household furniture with meticulous, highly skilled old-fashioned joinery, and even built a room onto the house to care for his own father in old age. For although Pappa was an art teacher and landscape artist, his real love was architecture and draftsmanship. His precision branded all of his artistry: if Nanna needed a vase for home-grown flowers, Pappa would throw and glaze a pot. When he realised canisters would elevate her baking invention, he perfected metal work skills to design and weld a 4-piece set that today, connects my own kitchen mantelpiece to the 50s vintage era. 

Nanna not only cooked and baked all that was needed, all day, every day, but grew all that was needed too. She came from a long line of orchardists. Nanna was a nature lover who balanced grace with grit, a pioneer of urban sustainability in the Melbourne suburbs. She brought survival and husbandry skills to the city: every summer season devoting time, energy and creativity to bottling apricots, plums, apples, walnuts and almonds. My grandparents seldom had to buy vegetables from a greengrocer. They believed that nothing should be wasted. The earth provided. You cared for the earth. You shared what you could. Social enterprise and community connection was a way of life. 

On Dad's side, farming heritage runs deep. At any event where this side of the family was brought together, we would all attend endowed with home-grown produce and dishes to be shared. Dad never came empty-handed: there was always a cartoon of eggs for his four children, as well as bunches of rhubarb, silver beet, potatoes, chives and bags of lemons. It came as little surprise to learn that in fact all of Dad's family had chickens and home-built chook sheds, and it was source for great amusement to watch Dad and my my brother chase chooks around the yard, trying to catch and clip their wings so that their free-range excursions would not end in catastrophe.  

'Home-made' is Jamie's backstory. When my own dog Jamie was ill, it was second nature for me to meticulously learn, and hand-create natural, healing products to boost his health and spearhead his healing recovery. It was in my blood to create that which was needed, with loving intent. 

To bottle it, to share it and to pass it on.  

Today, Jamie has a full health and healing product range for the whole family. Love grows over time. Hand-made products tell stories. Stories, enriched with characters who are inspired by love.