I didn't forget

The boys.....

Just to make sure that the gender balance is equal.

Just a little bit late

My two eldest nephews stayed for a sleepover lastnight, so I thought it was about time that I dragged out the christmas tree. After much searching, we ended up finding both christmas trees (one in a wardrobe in the study, and one in the garage), but the boys chose to go with the green one.

Even after the huge christmas tree search, we still didn't manage to find the box of decorations, so we decided to make our own. We had a limited colour pallette of pink, orange, and blue as they were the only colours of paper that I already had on hand.

They also decided to add some random bits of yarn, and Mr X made a star for the top using some corrugated cardboard.

If you look closely enough, you'll even find some secret messages.....

Mr B was so proud that he wanted to take a photo to school to show his teacher.... cute!

For the budding Superhero

I finally had the chance to make a start on the handmade christmas pressies today. I have requests for playtime dress up pieces, so I've begun by making some Superhero Headbands inspired by SuperPops herself!

I was having so much fun mixing and matching prints, that I decided to whip up a few extra to take to the market. I have lots more cut out..... just need to get back to the stitching up bit. But first I need to head over to my sisters house for meatloaf and mash for dinner...yum!

A drawer story

Ever since I moved to a smaller house, I've been searching for the perfect piece of furniture for the front hallway. I didn't really mind what type of furniture piece - it was all about the function.

There had to be room to dump my handbag, keys, mail, and shopping when I walk in the door. There also had to be storage where I could hide all sorts of ugly things that live at the front entrance (plastic bags, extra keys that belong to goodness knows what, spare change, random notebooks and pens, MP3 players, batteries... and the list goes on).

As I brought along all the furniture from my old house, I've trialled quite a few pieces. Most of them have just been too large and imposing for my smaller house. They also just didn't have the right feel, as they were bought specifically for somewhere else.

For the last month or so, I've been making do with a pine bookcase that I made myself in woodwork class in Year 9 with Mr Mac. It was a bad option as I could just see a huge pile of mess everytime I walked in the front door. Not really the welcoming feel that I was going for.

But, I do believe that sometime things happen for a reason. I just happened to be at my mums house last week, and discovered that one of my old chests of drawers will still in her garage. I thought that it would be the perfect size for my entrance.

The drawers in my bedroom circa 1989 - note the very technologically advanced stereo (turntable and tape deck), and secret shoeboxes under the bed holding all of my treasures

I've had the drawers since I was in Year 10 (they were secondhand). They were painted a brown colour at this stage. I took them with me when I left home at 17 after I finished Year 12. They moved house with me 6 times while I was studying at Uni, and then moved with me another 3 times after that, before ending up sitting unloved in mums garage. The current paint effect is something I did circa 1998 (you can blame the UK version of Changing Rooms for that - back when Carol was the hostess with the mostess). I'm not quite sure how long they've been sitting there....

I organised last weekend that I would get someone to pick them up and bring them over, and I would have been quite happy just to have them.

Then on Monday, I decided to pop down to the local oppies as I hadn't visited for a couple of weeks. I spotted this old shelf unit at the Salvos with no price label. I was willing to pay up to $25, so I asked one the employees if they could find out the price for me. I was delighted when they came back and told me it was $10! At this stage, I thought I could use the shelf unit on my craft table.

On Monday night the drawers arrived and they were sitting next to the shelf unit, and I realised that it was a marriage made in furniture heaven..... all it took was a couple of screws to secure them together, and a completely new piece now adorns my hallway.

I think the search is finally over.

Trashs Rainbow Swap - part 2

My swap partner received their rainbow swap parcel a little while ago, so I can now do the big reveal.

I decided to take on the rainbow theme by going with a bit of colour overload - I included a pretty pink waist apron, a multicoloured doily brooch, and a very colourful mini tote bag with a couple of goodies inside.

That's the last of the swaps for the year.... now it's time to move on to a handmade Christmas. How many days to go again?

My Creative Space

After two markets last week, I'm madly re-stocking for tonights Kris Kringle Market at the Northcote Town Hall.

I'm packaging up lots and lots of Felt Flower Brooch Kits - they make great christmas pressies for anyone who is crafty. 

Short and sweet today - gotta get back to it!

PS - Check out this extra special Christmas Offer at Handmade Heaven (while stocks last)

PPS - The home of My Creative Space

Seriously Spoiled

Not only did I arrive home from my weekend away with a mountain of LOOT, but there was also something else very special carefully flat packed in my suitcase for the journey.

Liesl and Liesl's Mum and Bargy came to visit the market on Saturday, and bought along Liesl's original SuperPops watercolour drawing for me to keep...... boob tassels and all!

Now I just need to find myself the perfect frame, and she's heading 'straight to the pool room' .... errrrr art wall.

I promised LOOT

Softies by Ric Rac

The sign of a great weekend away is when you arrive home with lots of loot that makes you happy.

Date Planner and Stitching Kit by Kootoyoo

It's really nice to be able to see handmade goodies up close, when you've only seen them in photos previously.

Clockwise from top left - Thaw Magazine, Stitched Card by Pepperberry & Co, Lavender Heart and Hairclip by Dandelion (there is another hairclip but I'm wearing it in my hair already), Acoustic CD by Geoffrey Williams

I really tried to restrain myself..... but it seems that resistance was futile.

 

Vintage placemat set, and jingle bells from Blonde Vintage, Knitting Nancy from Lark

I did use the excuse that some of my purchases were Christmas pressies.

Cushion and Vintage Biscuit Tin from Dear Prudence

But, to tell you the truth..... most of it was for me!

It seems that I even have my dad collecting for me now. He picked up these old flour sacks at the Sunday Market at the Ballarat Racecourse.....score!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggedy Jig!

The view from my sisters front porch

Wowee, what a busy weekend!
Mr X had a curriculum day on Friday, so we headed up to Clunes Friday afternoon. Once the car was unpacked, we headed straight for the main street to Widow Twankeys Confectionery Emporium for a cappucino and an ice cream (boysenberry ripple...delicious).
  

On Saturday, it was an early start and we were off to the Daylesford Makers Market. My sis unloaded everything from the car, and helped me to set up and pack up (thanks Sel). My BIL spent a couple of hours Friday night rigging up a nifty contraption to hang my handbags, using an old bed frame that he had in the shed. It worked a treat.

I'm clearly still struggling with the less is more approach

After taking a couple of happy snaps of my stall, my point and shoot camera decided that it had battery issues, and decided not to work.... so for some more photos of the day, head over here and here and more here.

The market had such a lovely vibe, and all of the local ladies made us visitors feel very welcome indeed. When you have such lovely stallholders and customers, it makes the market a whole lot of fun (and the time passes really quickly)!

 Steph did a wonderful job of organising, and came straight over when I arrived to make sure that I had everything I needed, and made sure that I had a big country welcome. I was extremely excited to finally meet Jodie and after all this time. She is one of my super crafty bloggy heroes, and it seems that we've missed each other every time there's been a crafty catch up.

It ended up being crafty blog central for the day, with soooo many blogging stallholders and visitors (most wearing puffy brooches for quick identification). I'm going to try really really hard to list them all here, but I seem to have memory issues these days (as Danielle can attest to), so if I've missed you, please let me know and I'll update my list!

The Doily
Dandelion
Fox's Lane
Kootoyoo
Ric-Rac
Flowergarden
The Essess
Dear Prudence
Beccasauras
Hoppo Bumpo
Two Cheese Please
The Craft Gypsy
Copper Patch
Patch Andi
Chicken Flowertots
Teacups on Treetops
Blogless Jen
Julies Provincial Patch
Dear Fii
62 Cherry
Nikkishell
Land of Meg
Yardage Girl 
Knitting Sprouts

A huge thanks to each and every person who came along and said hello, and bought handmade.


After all of the excitement of the market, Sel and I headed off for a very quick visit to Lark and bumped straight into Jodie and Annie....and had a quick laugh that we were all out and about still wearing our market aprons!

It was time for a very well deserved sleep in today. After a big breakfast of pancakes, bacon and maple syrup on toast, we headed into Ballarat.

First stop was Dear Prudence (after a few blockies due to me giving my BIL the wrong address number) - it's 434 Sturt St Ballarat, not 424! Then it was across the road (still in Sturt St) to Blonde Vintage.
We popped in to visit my dad for the rest of the afternoon, before bidding our farewells and heading back to the big smoke. I've arrived home tonight to find that my older sister (who was on cat feeding duty for the weekend), has cleaned my entire house from top to bottom. I'd left it in an absolute shemozzle of a mess on Friday, but now I can put my feet up and relax and watch some tv and just chill..... thanks Rach.

I still haven't unpacked my car, so the display of market / shopping loot will have to wait for tomorrow!

The weekend

Thanks so much for all the lovely comments and wishes from yesterdays post. I didn't get home from the market until 11.15PM lastnight, and I really needed to get to bed as soon as possible, hence there were no email replies. Also, a huge thankyou to everyone who came to visit and popped by to say hello!

Photo courtesy of Fontok

The first Kris Kringle market was a little quiet - lots of people browsing so they can return over the next three Thursdays and buy some lovely christmas pressies. I made sure that I had a couple of quick browses at all of the lovely stalls lastnight.... so much gorgeousness to choose from. I was extremely restrained, but I just couldn't resist picking up some Shmishmas Cards by Myf from Fontok. They're made using photos of abandoned christmas trees from christmases past...hilarious!

I also forgot to mention that I'm sharing my stall at the Kris Kringle Markets with Ann Marie from Map 29. She makes the coolest little map purses around, as well as badges and pocket mirrors, and next week she'll also have some map pencilcases ready.

I'm heading off to Clunes today for a relaxing weekend, and then to Daylesford tomorrow for the Makers Market. Make sure you come along for a day trip so you can check out all that Daylesford has to offer - including the lovely Lark shop!

Of course, if you can't make it to Daylesford, then you should definitely head to the Northside Makers Market tomorrow at the Uniting Church in High St, Northcote. There are lots of new stalls filled to the brim with gorgeous things for Christmas. I'll have at few brooches and brooch kits available on the Northside Collective Table.

Anyway, it's getting late and I've gotta go and pack my suitcase....seeya!

My creative space

In my creative space.... one final handbag for tonights market, still needing some straps and a magnetic snap. I love the print, which is actually a vintage kitchen curtain that I found at Vinnies in brand new condition. I'm using it sparingly - the other side of the bag is turquoise.

As per usual, I have absolutely no idea what will sell. It seems to change each time, so fingers crossed! My sister helped me pack the car yesterday so I'm nearly ready to go.


Of course, I also have some other new completed handbags that I'll be bringing along.

More lovely vintage fabric goodness...

.... and another with the lovely vintage floral print. This time I've teamed it with red.

....and this very spring inspired fabric. Another from the vintage stash - it's a really thick fabric with a textured effect. I hope someone falls in love with the colours.

Make sure to check out all of the lovely creative spaces right here.

Making and Listing

Lots of new bibs for the Daylesford Makers Market.... so many pretty fabrics to choose from.

I need to finish off some more handbags today to take to the Northcote Kris Kringle market tomorrow, and then start packing and ticking things off my market list. I have a terrible memory these days, so a list is absolutely essential.

I also must remember to go to the bank and get some change..... so many things to do, so little time!

Quality Control Testing

 

Moo Moo came over to visit with his mum yesterday, so I took the opportunity to test out the sizing of the birthday present.... (don't tell his dad that I dressed him in a pink floral cape).

He accessorised it with Jodie's little birdie in a cage that he found on the softie shelf in my bookcase

Apparently it has very good swooshing effects - perfect for a superhero in the making.

Can you guess what Moo Moo is getting for Christmas (just maybe not in pink floral)?

Trashs Rainbow Swap

A little while back I signed up for Trashs Rainbow Swap.... and then of course, promptly forgot about the entire thing until it was the last week (story of my life it seems).

I was a couple of days late sending mine, but as I was sending it to the UK, it only really made me one day late. I don't think it has arrived yet, and I'm not sure whether the recipient actually reads my blog, so I can't post any photos just in case. I wouldn't like to spoil the surprise.

Of course, I can show you what arrived in my mailbox on Friday. Even after sending my swap package, I then promptly forgot that I would also be receiving a package....deeeerrrrrr. So when opened the mailbox and found a parcel from the UK, I was a little perplexed. I was sure I hadn't been online shopping again, so what could it be?

Imagine my delight to find all of these lovely crafty goodies AND chocolate (Green and Blacks my favoturite)!
Kitty from Kitty's Bloggy Bits sent me all of these lovely craft supplies in all the colours of the rainbow, and if you read my blog, then you'll realise just how much I love colour.

Kitty also included seven sweet little handmade christmas stockings which are going to look so cute on my christmas tree. I think I might fill them up with lollies so my nephews can find them and eat them.
The two boxes of smarties disappeared Friday afternoon when my two eldest nephews came home from school and spotted them on the table.

Thanks so much Kitty!

Time Out

That was just what I needed.

I've been moving along full steam ahead for quite a long time now, but I finally reached a point where my head still said YES but the rest of me said NO WAY NELLIE....  (or maybe that should be NO WAY CURLYPOPS).

So I took a couple of days to sit on the couch and just chill, all by myself.

Probably not the greatest idea when things are so busy, but completely necessary all the same.

I'm all refreshed again now, and ready to start stocking up on goodies to take to the markets. This week, I have the Kris Kringle Night markets at the Northcote Town Hall on Thursday night from 5.30 - 10.30 PM, and then I have the Daylesford Market on Saturday at the Daylesford Town Hall from 10 AM - 4 PM.

The photos are a little birthday pressie that I whipped up to add to a special little girls dress up box. I used a shower curtain to make the cape, so there's a lovely whooshy sound to it.... perfect for a bit of make believe / create your own imaginary superhero action.
 

 Now it's time to bunker down on the sewing machine - perfect weather for it today!

My creative space

In my creative space today.... more flower petals drying - which of course is not going to take long when the weather is forecasted to be 36 degrees today aaaagggghhh!

I'll be trying to hide inside with all of the blinds closed, until I'm forced to go out for an appointment later in the day.

Also sitting on my workbench today is this lovely suprise Blogtoberfest pressie from Becky over at Becky et al. Some beautiful fabrics and a sweet little pattern. I can't wait to use them on a project! Thanks so much Becky.

More creative spaces abound over here:

PS - A huge thankyou for all of the lovely comments on yesterdays post!

Dear Gladys,

I've been busting to tell this little secret for an entire week now.

There was little bit of a hint yesterday... 

I've been hiding away for the last week, searching through the stash looking for vintage loveliness, cutting fabric, and stitching it together to create some wonderful new pieces that I delivered to a shop thismorning.

I now have my first ever retail stockist in Melbourne - Dear Gladys,

Can you tell that I'm just ever so slightly super excited?

Dear Gladys, is a Vintage and Contemporary Boutique which stocks beautiful and unique clothing and accessories.
 

All profits from Dear Gladys, support Fitted for Work.
You can find the shop at 296 High St, Northcote.

You can also find a brand new batch of brooches in pretty summertime colours....
 

Just in time for a spot of Christmas Shopping!