Lots of lovely things

Last weekend we had our first BrisStyle Christmas meet-up, which not only included drawing the winners of the BrisStyle blog giveaway but also a 'not-so-secret Santa swap'.

My 'secret' Santa was Helen from Ruby2GoGo and Ruby Red Studios and she gave me the most beautiful and thoughtful gifts.


My favourite item is the 'TV Temptress' bracelet, made from salvaged materials in my two favourite colours.


And the matching brooch is just perfect. Oh, and they also match so well with my two favourite rings, so I've been a well-accessorised girl lately :)

Not content with giving only beautiful handmade jewellery, Helen also gave me some gorgeous upholstery fabric samples, two absolutely beautiful huge vintage buttons (maybe bakelite??) and a block of my favourite chocolate!!! Thank-you so much Helen, I adore your gifts, and can't wait to catch up again at the BrisStyle Market!!!


Oh, and speaking of the BrisStyle market, I've been lying a bit low lately and just sew sew sewing my heart out. I've never done a maket before so I'm so excited and also nervous. I've just got everything crossed that I'm going to have enough stock. It's silly but every time I get a sale through etsy now my first thoughts are "oh no, now I have to make another bag to keep my market item numbers up..." Is this normal - does everyone who sells at markets get like this before a market. Or is it just me? I've an awful suspicion that everyone is now looking at their shoes, the ceiling...oh I think I just heard someone shuffle their foot and start whistling...

Anyway, back to lovely things. Another lovely thing is that my lovely sister has started blogging. Yay!!! She has recently been learning to sew (have I mentioned that my evil plan is to lure her into the world of crafting, sewing and blogging, so that she will then be addicted and we can both run a little handbag making business and we'll never have to go back to our old jobs when the kids go to school....EVER!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA! Ok, that was an evil laugh as I threw my head back with my hands in the air....somehow I feel that nuance was lost in the literary translation. Sorry.) So back to Jade (my sister).


She is married to a very successful Brisbane chef, so her blog is a mixture of her new foray into sewing and craft, and also a foodie blog (with a measure of 'new mum' stuff thrown in as well - you know, feeding, sleeping, pooing. All that good kid stuff.) You might guess the foodie part by the name. Just Needs Salt. Being the blanderamo eaters that Matt and I are, we often kid Jade and Kym about their sodium intake. So check it out - she writes well (not that I'm biased) and may I say that she is making some AWESOME bags (ahem...again, not that I'm biased) and I'm sure that not only will it put a smile on your face, but I'm sure that if Jade actually gets a comment on her blog from someone other than me it will put a huge smile on her face too!!!

Oooh oooh oooh, last lovely thing (I promise). A while back I treated myself to a new knitting needle necklace from Liana Kabel, a local Brissy designer with gorgeous taste in recycled plastic. And while having the obligatory 'dress-up' session that one must have after purchasing something new (ie. working out which outfits said item looks best with etc). I realised that my favourite outfit was Brisbane through and through.


So I took a photo - necklace by Liana (Brissy jeweller), top by Dogstar (Brisbane clothing designer), bag by me (sleep-deprived Brissy mum), and jeans....well, unfortunately they were probably made in a sweatshop in China I guess, but they had worn out some time ago, and instead of throwing them away I decided to mend the knee, and keep on keeping on with them. And I'm really glad I did. Instead of being embarrassed by my darned knee, I am actually quite proud of it. And of course I've convinced myself that it is the height of fashion. I even asked my biggest critic, and he agreed with me. Hey don't laugh, my four year old has great taste!!!!