'Girly girl' sewing

I've been having fun sewing lots of kid stuff lately.


Haven't finished the 'boyish boy' sewing yet, but have completed a couple of 'girly girl' things.


An apron and quilted pot-holder for a niece's 2nd birthday.


She received a gorgeous big wooden kitchen for Christmas from Santa, so I am hoping these might get some use (I also included a rolling pin, some cookie cutters, and a sweet little tin teapot).


A little dress for Kate that I actually cut out while I was away on holidays, but didn't get around to finishing until now. It was a vintage pattern in size two, and was actually meant to be a straight 'A-line' dress. However it seems that the 'size 2' referred to a size 2 giant. Not a wee little two and a half year old. So I decided it just needed a little cinching at the waist. The vintage pink buckle on the belt was one I picked up when shopping with Sherrin in Fitzroy. It's from a gorgeous vintage clothing/accessories shop called Circa. Highly recommended (their collection of buckles, brooches and dress clips was quite delicious)!!

Thank goodness it passed the dancing test!!!

Hope you are having a great start to the year. As of Saturday I will be officially closer to 40 than 30. Eeeekkk!!! How on earth did that happen? And why don't I feel grown up yet?

Thankfully I'm still immature enough to pass for a bit younger....he he....

Hello New Year. Nice to meet you!

The start of a new year is such a lovely time. Full of promise. A clean slate. All that. And yet I still haven't said a bloggy goodbye to 2008 yet. I guess there's really no such thing as a completely clean slate - there will always be something on the 'to do' list to be carried over to the next day. Or the next year, as the case may be.

Christmas present from Matt - phone brooch by Betty Jo. Can't tell you how much I LOVE this.

So goodbye 2008. You were great. You were the year I decided to stop thinking and start doing. I have a great habit of thinking myself out of doing things. And last year I just stopped. And great things happened. I met some truly wonderful people, I had fun making stuff. I did my first market and my first exhibition, and got my first bit of media attention. In addition, I had lots of fun with my family, made some great birthday cakes and yummy treats, and had lots of big extended family get-togethers.

And the ending of the year was no disappointment either. During our Melbourne holiday I was lucky to finally meet Sherrin from Starashan in person, and she was every bit as nice, interesting and lovely to talk to in person as she is online. Thank-you Sherrin, I had such a fabulous time wondering around Fitzroy with you. Very cool that I recognised you by the brooch you were wearing, and that you recognised this gorgeous piece of fabric you sent me so long ago.


I totally love the purse I bought from Meet Me at Mikes (by Haruka)


and really, it was so nice to see Mikes in person, when I have been reading about it for so long.


Our Christmas was a fantastic affair with the Melbourne contingent of the extended family, and we even managed a ride on Puffing Billy on New Year's Day.


The weather could have been a little kinder (it was FREEZING) but it was a lovely day out.


And I was SO glad that it was me who was the designated driver at the New Year's Eve BBQ we attended the night before (even though at the time I was not so happy about it). Somehow I think riding on a stinky steam train in the freezing cold with a hangover might have been a less than smashing experience!

Lastly, I'm leave you my favourite pic of the holidays. Taken on Christmas day. Kate in one of the many dress-up costumes she received, and desperately trying to ride her older cousin's bike.....of course she had to ride it...it had streamers, and it was PINK!!!


Looking forward now to settling into the new year. It will be a whole new world with Lee starting Kindy, BrisStyle really starting to happen, and (hopefully) my sister joining me in my bag making adventures. Whheeeee what fun. Bring it on!

...and LO it was awesome!!!

I must admit, I'm a teensy bit worried. The market was so good, I fear I am spoiled for all future events. The bar has been set terribly high. Firstly they were just so much fun. The vibe going on was amazing - I guess because although many of us had not actually met in real life before, we all felt like we knew each other anyway, after weeks or months of chatting online. It really was a case of 'we are all in this together' and everyone was so supportive of each other and super friendly.


Add to this some great crowds, which flowed steadily throughout the day, and everyone making a fantastic number of sales (I sold almost two thirds of my stock, so I was stoked!!) and you really can't ask for much better than that can you?


We had some lovely jazz tunes pumping from Betty Kingston's corder of the hall inside, and then at 11am we had some fantastic live music in the courtyard. It really did make a fantastic atmosphere. Even the food was awesome (my homemade iced-billy-tea and roast vegetable wrap went down a treat!!). We also had Olivia from Scampsville doing a live radio cross with 4ZZZ (she hosts the fantastic program 'At the Local') and she actually interviewed Helen from Ruby Red Studios & Ruby2GoGo who coordinated this whole shebang, Hayley from REread, and myself - you can listen to it here if you're interested. She also interviews Karen from Knitting for Brisbane's Needy, which is the charity we raised money for on the day as well.


Best of all though was sharing the day with my sister, which meant I had someone to chat with all day, someone to share my excitement (and remind me to eat) and someone to take turns with manning the stall so that a little (ok a lot) of shopping could be done. I could so easily have bought something from every stall. The quality and variety of goods was so fantastic. Alas, I didn't buy something from everyone....I did give it a good ol' aussie go though. Wanna check out my loot? Here it is:


Notecards from Twinkle Star Art - these are completely handmade, and are perfect for writing thank-yous to people when sending out orders.


Reindeer brooch from Pedrosprout - now I can be festive and funky on Christmas day. Yay!!!


Uber-pink ruffle bottoms from Bettsy Kingston - Kate is going to LOVE these. And so am I. They are just so so gorgeous. And the super-generous Benita also threw in a gorgeous red polka-dotted nappy cover.


I couldn't wait for Christmas to give these to Kate. She's wearing them already. This is her fluffing up her skirt so I could take a photo :P


Zip purse from Little Mary Moo - boy were these gorgeous. I think my friends and family alone must have depleted at least a quarter of Therese's stock (Jade couldn't decide which fabric she liked best so she ended up buying three purses - one in each of her favourite fabrics, and my mum also couldn't resist. Oh, and I know a couple of ladies from my book club came back holding up their purses saying "how cute are these". They really were the perfect little Christmas gifts!!)


Glass brooch from Hot Toffee - there was no way I was leaving Hamilton that day without some kind of Hot Toffee goody on my person. In fact I also bought a hairband with a gorgeous green glass square on it, but I was wearing it when taking the photos, and I've learnt my lesson about taking ugly close-up shots of my hair....ahem. Moving on...


Brooch from old books by REread - are you getting the idea I may have a bit of a brooch thing going on? Yep, hair accessories and brooches. I can never resist. What I love love love about this brooch is that the illustration on it is by one of my favourite children's illustrator teams, Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone. So so cool!! Oh, and Hayley is actually giving away one of her gorgeous brooches on her blog right now - so go enter!

But wait, there's more!!!!!


I was lucky enough to do a little swap with Catherine from Made by Maisie, and Kate will be receiving this beautiful Missy Mermaid for Christmas. She is currently obsessed with all things mermaidy so will adore this gorgeous doll.

And I couldn't come away without some more gorgeous kids' clothing.


A stop by the Ogekko stall helped me get my fix, with a beautiful paneled skirt for Kate,


and some very cool pants for Lee.

Some gorgeous handmade Christmas decorations for our tree. If anyone read this post as soon as it went up you'll notice I have just added these in. I forgot them originally as they had been put on the tree as soon as we got home, and they looked so at home there I forgot to take them down and photograph them. So from left to right - star ornament that Kate chose from Raspberry Pink (Lee also chose a green tree one for himself but I can't find what he's done with it....). Peggy Rudolf from Sharlzndollz, a gorgeous gift from Bel from EmBelISH - Kate keeps pointing at her and saying "that's mum"...awwwww), thank-you SO much Bel, I love it!!! And a little Christmas Jelly from Jellygnite (and Kate points to that one as says "that's Kate"....once again...aawwwwww).

Whew, and I think that's it. I'll be doing up a post of the BrisStyle blog in the next day or so, which will include a lot more pics of market stalls. So check that out shortly if you're interested.

Oh, I almost forgot, kinda yesterday's news now, but a couple of weeks ago my bags were featured in the Courier Mail paper. Two days in a row!!! First in an art-lovers gift guide, and then in an Eco Gifts article. As my scanner is on the blink I can't scan the articles in, but here is a link to the blog post by the journalist who wrote the Eco Gifts article. It's the same article, just posted on his blog - The Green Blog.
(oh, and please note, I was a bit misquoted. When asked where I got my inspiration I answered vintage fabrics, Enid Blyton, and my Grandma's button tin. When asked where I found most of my fabrics I answered at local op shops. This transpired into me being quoted as saying I was inspired by op shops and a biscuit tin....he he he ...mmmmmm biscuits......)

And that's about it from me for a while. On Sunday I will be taking off for Christmas in Melbourne, and will be away for a couple of weeks. I have closed my Etsy shop until 26 January, and am making no promises about blogging until then either. I'm getting ready for some serious chill-out, play with the kids, sew some clothes, have some fun and bake some bikkies time.

Hope you all have a wonderful stress-free, healthy and relaxing Christmas and New Year. My very best wishes to you and your loved ones. See you in the new year. XXX Bec

Makin' merry at the market!!!

Only two sleeps until my first ever market. Eeeeekkkk!!!! I think I'm pretty organised, but I guess I won't really know until I get there and get into it.


Hopefully it will be a fun day. In fact, who am I kidding, of course it will be fun. It will be a market where I actually know all the stall holders, so of course it will be fun.


And there will also be live music (which will be nice), and yummy food, and strong coffee (which will be essential), and I will also have my lovely sister helping me, so hopefully lots of opportunities to shop shop shop as well!!!


If you're in Brisbane I'd love it if you stopped by and said hi!! Here's the details:

BrisStyle Christmas Markets
Saturday 13th December
9am - 4 pm
Hamilton Hall, cnr Racecourse Rd and Rossiter Pde, Hamilton
More info: http://brisstyle.blogspot.com



Oh, and if anyone has any last minute market advice for a complete market novice then I would LOVE to hear it!!!! OK, now I'd better get off this computer and back to making up swing tags....wwwhhheeeeee!!!!!!!

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!!!!

Happy Manic Nervous Excited Inspired Grateful....

I think this title pretty much sums me up at the moment. Life really is whizzing along at a spectacular speed, but mostly in a good way. Perfect timing really to receive this lovely Pay It Forward gift from Big Cat on Monday.


The beautiful artwork she made was just the reminder I needed to stop and have a cup of tea (Melbourne Breakfast Tea in fact, which was delightful) and start reading the book that was also included in the package. Thank-you SO much!!!!! It was just the best way to start off the week.


And just a little note to my own Pay It Forward recipients, I have not forgotten you. I have put aside 6 weeks over the Christmas/New Year break which will be dedicated to all things fun and crafty, which includes getting those Pay It Forward gifts finished and posted off :)

And if getting a very special package on a Monday morning was the best way to start a week, then hopefully the Reverse Garbage Renaissance Christmas Exhibition will be the best way to end it.


I am both super excited and super nervous about turning up to the opening on Friday evening to see some of my bags and bookmarks displayed with so many other talented artists. Also looking forward to having an 'adult' and 'kid free' evening - we're even going to grab some Vietnamese afterwards which will be a fabulous way to finish up the night!


So yeah, if you find yourself in Brisbane this Friday and with not much else to do between 6pm and 8pm then come down to Reverse Garbage for the exhibition opening, and check out all the lovely exhibits (two other BrisStyle members - Helen from Ruby2GoGo and Ruby Red Studios, and Ali from Jellygnite will also be exhibiting, as will fellow blogger Sally from djbebe).


Everything being shown will also be for sale, and in fact the whole of Reverse Garbage itself will be open, so you can grab a paper bag and start filling. Go nuts!!!

And of course, don't forget folks, that the BrisStyle Blog Giveaway is still open until this Friday, so if you haven't left a comment, make sure you pop on over for your chance to win some fantastic gift packs, made up of a variety of handmade goods donated by the BrisStyle members.


And speaking of all things BrisStyle, I'm madly sewing away trying to get ready for the BrisStyle Christmas Market on 13th December. It will be my first ever market and I'm SOOOOOO nervous. I still haven't got my signage or display stuff organised. I've been collecting bits and pieces that I think will work for displaying my bags, but I really need to pull out my table and see if it is all going to come together. I'm starting to feel like I'm really running out of time.....eeekkkkkkk!!!!

Well that's it from me. I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date.....with some nappies (which will be off to a new home in the Blue Mountains soon - hopefully Kara will find them useful). And I will have a whole storage tub free to fill up with some other useful junk...I mean...stuff...I mean really useful and uh, necessary items....:P

So last post I was a busy elf, this post I'm the white rabbit. Just wait, by next post I may be the mad hatter...

Secret Santa Elf Business

Yes, I've been giggling madly and working furiously and basically doing an all round impersonation of what I imagine one of Santa's elves to be like. Which is why I've been absent from blogland lately. But now it has all come together, I'd like to bring your attention to:

THE BIGGEST BLOG GIVEAWAY EVER!!!!!

Yes, there's been good reason for being away folks!

The giveaway is being run by BrisStyle, a Brisbane based Etsy Street team that I belong to. And I have been madly collecting goodies, making lists (don't worry, I've been checking them twice) and doing lots of other associated elfy things :P

Basically, as part of a big pre-Christmas promotional exercise, we at BrisStyle have put together 3 huge gift packs of handmade goodies from 17 of our members. Each pack is valued at over US $100, and is chockers full of great gifts including jewellery, softies, accessories, bags and artworks.

So what are you doing here? Get thee to the BrisStyle blog - you may win something very cool, and you'll make me feel like I've been a good little elf :P

Looking forward to taking off my pointy hat off now, and catching up with everyone around the bloggy traps again!

Cheers,
Bec