Vintage sewing pattern anyone?

In an effort to raise a bit more cash for the Handmade Help Bushfire Appeal, I have started raiding my considerable stash of vintage sewing patters (because hey, most of them are at least 2 - 4 sizes too big for me anyway, and I'm nowhere near a clever enough sewer to downsize them - so out they go!!!). They are currently for sale in the Beckybean Etsy Shop.


I have added a few in the last day or so, but will continue to add more over the next week. So far six have already walked out the door (three on their way to France - oooh la la!!), so I'm hoping there will be more following suit over the next couple of weeks. At $4.00 USD and free postage within Australia I'm only going to raise a lot of $$$ by selling a lot of patterns, so I've got my fingers crossed.


The proceeds of these sales will all be going to Wildlife Victoria. I figured I have so far made all my donations to Red Cross so it's time for me to think about the animals. Speaking of which, doesn't that story about the Koala and the Fireman just bring tears to you eyes? In a good way, for a change!

As does the story about the Ingham residents who received their flood grants from the government, only to hand them straight over to the Bushfire Appeal. After all the tragedy and sadness it is so heartening and humbling to see such humanity emerge from all around our country, and even around the world. In fact, here are just a few stories I think are worth sharing:

* This morning I was talking to Lee's Kindy teacher, who told me how the women at her gym did a 'creams and lotions' drive, with all the ladies buying face creams and hand creams and cleansers, to send to the Bushfire survivors.

* The Kindy also offered to put a Handmade Help flyer into every kids locker (that's 88 flyers!!).

*Our local IGA is donating 20% of all their sales to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal this Friday, and I heard the owner saying that the business next to him has already had a sausage sizzle fundraiser, with thousands of dollars being donated to the Red Cross .

*Our local primary school has just had a casual dress day and raised almost $2000 for the Red Cross.

*My mum's work have donated dollar for dollar any money their workers donate to Red Cross.

*My husband's work donated $25,000 to Red Cross.

*A lady in the next suburb is collecting handmade goods to distribute to affected families.

These are just the things happening in my little local area - it doesn't include everyone who has taken part in the Handmade Help community project, or those that have donated their handmade goods to the Oz Bushfire Appeal Etsy Shop - an online shop set up by DUST for the sole purpose of raising money for the bushfire survivors, or people running book drives, handmade toy collections, making comfort packs....the list goes on and on.

And although this list seems huge, I know that these are just the things I have happened to hear about. I know so many people are doing so much more that I don't even know about, and for the first time in a long time I feel like people in general are united. People are focusing on what they have and what they can do, rather than what they don't have, and what's being done for them. I feel a kindness and compassion in strangers that I hadn't noticed before. When I heard the IGA owner telling the op shop ladies about his fundraiser this Friday (he was asking if he could tape a flyer to their window) I felt like hugging him, because he sounded so passionate about what he was doing. And also, just because I understood. We all feel a connection to what has happened. We all feel like we can maybe make a difference. Don't worry, I didn't hug him. That would have been weird...

And of course all this isn't going to bring back lives that have been lost. And it can't erase pain and grief. But it is a small pheonix rising from the ashes. And it makes me feel hopeful :)

PS. Buy some patterns :D

Handmade Help Bushfires Appeal

I have found it so hard to start this post - there are just no words to adequately describe the horror with which I have learned about the events which have taken place so close to where I grew up as a child. 'Bushfires' just doesn't seem like a strong enough word, although really I guess they were 'firestorms' which is a word that comes much closer to the mark. So many lives lost, so many homes destroyed. Whole towns razed - the sadness just weighs so heavily.

Apart from giving what money we can, Jade and I have also listed two bags in our shop that will have the full proceeds going to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal as part of the Handmade Help initiative being run by Cindy of Bug and Pop.

Visit the dedicated Handmade Help blog to find out what you can do to help, whether it be donating items for sale or auction, donating goods or services, or simply buying products from people who are donating their proceeds to the bushfire survivors.

The two bags Jade and I are donating the proceeds from are:


The Eco Market Tote in Jaffa, made by Jade (which you might remember was recently featured on the front page of Etsy).
EDITED: This has now SOLD


And the Clip-Clap Reversible Handbag, made by myself (which was recently featured on the Cuteable website).

EDITED: This has now SOLD also - Thank-you so much!!!

So please, visit the Handmade Help blog to find out more about how you can help out. There are so many crafty and non-crafty ways to help out. And they all make a difference.

XXX
Bec

Nice things

So many nice things have happened in the last week or so.

Very chuffed to find a new Beckybean bag featured on Cuteable this week. Yay!

Also posted off my Pay-It-Forward gifts to Ingrid, Cam and Jess.


Some of these little suckers were included in the packs.


To see what else was sent off you can see the lovely post by Cam (CurlyPops), showing off her package of stuff here, and an equally lovely post by Jess (Button Beauty) about her parcel of stuff here.

Jade and I also completed another shop update of reversible handbags.


Rather than just making stuff randomly and uploading things as we make them, we have decided to do 'runs' of items and then do a heap of uploads at once. Much easier!


First run was market totes, and the latest was reversible handbags. Coming up will be clutches and coin purses like the 'pay-it-forward' ones above. SOOOO much fun doing this with someone, rather than on my own :)

Lastly, in other lovely last-week-news, I met up with the fabulous girls from the BrisStyle committee at the Pandemonium Cafe (actually it was the weekend before last, but I'm a bit behind :P), where fellow BrisStylette Tracy from Hey Harriet is exhibiting her work. Tracy couldn't make it, so instead left little magnetic artworks for everyone to take home.


Isn't is beautiful! The background paper is vintage pianola paper - cool huh! Tracy will be exhibiting her work there until 28 March although I do believe all her works have sold already, so you'll just have to content yourself with looking :) If you're a Brisbanite then check out the Pandemonium website for details on the cafe and how to get there. Fab food and coffee too!

Lastly, in case you hadn't noticed, I have added a button to the sidebar that shows the current giveaway happening on the BrisStyle blog. There will be giveaways by featured members each month on the blog so I figured that a permanent space featuring the current prize would be a good idea.


Currently the giveaway is a gorgeous lavender scented birdy from the very talented Rebecca of Edward and Lilly, so make sure you pop over and leave a comment to enter.

In other giveaway news, Ali from Charlie and Grace is also giving away a softie from her Etsy shop.


Her new softies are based on her four year old's drawings and are SOOOO gorgeous!

Oh, and Hayley from REread design has two gorgeous birdy brooches (made from old children's books) to give away on her blog too.


She is also having a 2 for 1 sale in her Etsy shop until Valentines day - woo hoo!

OK, that's it form me! Hope you all had a wonderful week also. Here's to another one :)

Cheers,
Bec
X

It's all about me me me!

Yep folks, the theme of today is.... well... me! Starting with a couple of my fav birthday presents that I've been meaning to show. My very lovely in-laws gave me a voucher to spend on Etsy for my birthday, so I decided to try and find myself some clothing. So much beautiful stuff on Etsy I tells ya, but with the AU dollar crash everything seemed to be just outside my budget. And then I discovered Victoria n' Bird.


I can't tell you how much I love this dress - I've tried it on with just about everything I own and I love how I can dress it up or dress it down. Oh, and it's got pockets (and I'm sure I've mentioned before how much I adore dresses with pockets).

Another favourite present is this gorgeous cookbook that I got with a book voucher (one of the gifts from my lovely husband).


I'm sure I'm probably the only person to not know about Frankie Magazine's Afternoon Tea, but hey, even if I'm late on the bandwagon, I'm so glad I got there eventually! Not only are the recipes drool-inducing (I'm busting to make:

Nelly's apple shortcake..

...as well as


Pip's Best-ever choc chip cookies) but the photos are just divine, in that wonderfully stylish, crafty, vintage way that Frankie has. And the recipes are all old-fashioned, simple treats.

They remind me of the big morning tea spreads we would have at our outback country tennis tournaments, where all the local mums would try and outdo each other with their home-baked treats. Morning tea was always my favourite part of weekend tennis :P

Lastly, a little present from me, to me.


After making countless market totes for other people, I finally got round to making one for myself, and I love it. I used some gorgeous organic cotton/linen blend fabric from Duckcloth, with a piece of vintage linen tablerunner across the front, and orange homespun on the inside.


And the wooden buttons seemed to go with the natural fibre feel of the bag. It has been getting quite a workout lately, and not only at the markets!!!

And so what would a post about me be, without a meme all about...well....me! Lin from Paper Doll tagged me for the 6 unspectacular things about me meme some time ago and I've been super slack in getting it done. I know I've done this a couple of times already so I've been wracking my brain for some new and interesting mundane facts about myself. So anyway, here they are (feel free tune out or wonder away from the computer now....)

1. I get nervous about memes. I like reading them, and I don't mind doing them, but I worry about passing them on. Like really worry. So my solution is to leave them as an open invitation (so play if you like - just let me know and I'll edit this post and link to you :))

2. I love the smell of mangoes but don't like the taste or texture of them. Blurgh!

3. My favourite time of day is late evening, just before twilight, when there is a sepia toned glow to everything and sounds travel further and have a certain echo to them. If someone is cooking something yummy for dinner and the smell wafts over then even better. The ambiance of it always makes me feel like all is right with the world. Unfortunately, since having kids I rarely get to enjoy this time of day. Usually I am doing the dinner/bath/stories dance with the kids, who at that time are tired but fighting it so it's all kinda manic....*sigh*

4. I think one of the most useful things I learnt in High School was touch-typing. It is a skill I use every day :P

5. Speaking of touch-typing, I got through a whole year of typing class in high school, only to find out at the end that the teacher didn't even know my name. She actually asked me what "Bet' was short for - she thought it might have been something Norwegian. When I said "No, Bec - short for Rebecca" she was genuinely astounded. She was pretty old I guess, and probably a lifetime spent around manual typewriters did nothing for her hearing!!

6. If I was rich I would only ever buy ethically made fabrics. I come close to this by mostly only using salvaged and reclaimed fabrics in my sewing, but I would love to use more new organic fabrics, and fabrics made from hemp and bamboo. Sewing with the organic cotton/linen blend fabric I got for my bag was SO satisfying (in fact, I think it may have been the most beautiful and pleasing fabric I've ever sewed with). I'd love to do more of it.....just have to find the $$$$

Ok, so enough about me - I promise I'll keep myself out of future posts...for a while anyway:)

Can you tell....

...that my sister used to work in marketing? Jade and I re-opened the Beckybean shop last Monday, and since then I've done nothing. No blog post, no forum postings.... NUDDA! I hadn't even told Matt.

Thank goodness Jade is on the job! Not only that, but she also got one of the bags she made onto the front page of Etsy.


What the?!!!! SUCH a little sister thing to do.....humphhhh.....(can you tell I'm the 'hard-done-by' older sister who struggled as a teenager to be allowed to go out at night with my friends just once a month, then when my little sister gets to the same age she goes out every weekend? Yep, I've got oldest child syndrome. I own it.) Although technically that is me in the photo, so I will tell myself that my super professional modeling skills contributed to the achievement...right?

Ok, so I'm surly AND I'm slack. I've got a meme to do (Lin I will do it this week I promise!!!), I've got things to show and tell (haven't even posted about my wonderful birthday - although, actually Jade did post about that too, so maybe I can skip that one in my desperate attempt to catch up). Oh, and all my Pay-It-Forwards went out last week (only 4 months before the deadline....sorry everyone, I'm sure you all thought I'd forgotten about it my now!) and they should be received any day now, so I'll have some of that to show you soon too!!

Until then, I'll leave you with a picture of what I HAVE been remembering to do. And that is take some time to smell the roses.


Or the 'rosy tea' as Dorothy the Dinosaur would say.

Cheers Bigears,
XX

'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!