Beautiful things for slow childhoods
Welcome to Waratah Studio
What do you get when a marine science teacher, artist, graphic designer & thoroughly millennial mum starts making things for her kids?
A whole lot of creative ways to make childhood feel like an adventure.
Meet the Artist
Hi, I'm Haley, and I make things for kids who still believe the best adventures happen outside.
I grew up on the water in the Whitsundays, with the kind of childhood that didn't have a lot of screen time in it - just salt air, mud, animals, and a genuinely unhealthy obsession with getting into things I probably shouldn't have. Now I'm raising my own three kids on a rural property in the same part of the world, and trying to give them as much of that same slow, grounded, gloriously analogue childhood as I possibly can.
Waratah Studio started as a way to make beautiful, considered things for kids and families - resources designed by a former arts and graphic design teacher who cares deeply about quality, creativity, and the kind of play that actually sticks.
Bestseller
Bush Buddies Mail Club
Bush Buddies Mail Club is where all of that came together.
It's a monthly snail mail subscription for children, where a brand new Australian animal character writes them a real letter every single month tucked in alongside stickers, a collectors curio card, a passport stamp, and a mystery surprise.
It's the letterbox moment your kids will start counting down to.
The kind of thing they'll remember when they're grown up.
Kids don't remember the apps they used or the shows they watched. They remember the things that felt personal - the stuff that had their name on it, that arrived just for them, that they didn't see coming.
Bush Buddies gives kids something to look forward to every single month. A real letter, addressed to them, from an Australian animal who's been waiting to tell them something. And whether you're a mum trying to carve out a little more slow time, a grandparent wanting to feel close from a distance, or someone who just needs something to hand the kids while you get dinner on - it lands the same way every time.
They lose their minds over it. And you feel like an absolute legend.
Printables & Stationery
And if you love what Bush Buddies is about, the Waratah Studio shop has more to explore — from themed sticker sheets to digital downloads, all designed with the same care as everything else that comes out of this little corner of Queensland.