oh no, where did my internet go??

Greetings all,
Just as i settled in for a quiet weekend of movies, blogs & mercifully only one party on . . . where did my internet connectivity go??  Seeing i had a tonne of sewing, i kept myself busy in the studio, watched Atonement (torture for an Army wife) but by Sunday i was detemined to get a connection!!  Well, 3 hours of my life i'll never get back, spread over telephone calls to India, Malaysia, Bigpond-customer-service-land . . . i finally had to accept i needed a tech out to the house, "how long would that take??" i moaned to Gupta . . . i miss blog land & business emails might help you know, run my business . . . oh, only 20 minutes!!  Bless the lovely young man who flew in, fixed everything, including wireless router, had to listen to me talk lovingly & longingly to my husband on the phone, while he reconfigured the childrens' laptops . . . 2 hours pass & i'm still offering him food & drink (i was starving) . . . i stopped short of asking him if he needed the bathroom before he left. 
Ahhh . . . welcome back internet!!  So long $179 call out fee!! 
It did rather cap off my weekend with children behaving poorly, missing my husband terribly, running out of eggs - all things can lead to tears you know . . . surely Monday morning will work out better??  I know, i'll treat myself to a new hair cut, lovely!!  But no, planets not aligned, even though i got a walk up appointment . . . the fire alarms went off in the shopping centre, "please evacuate".  So i did the groceries while talking to my sister on my mobile, her fault, she called, she asked how my day was going . . . life is back to strawberry goodness again.  Seeing i only had time to pop a few strawberries in my mouth for lunch, on they way out the door for school pick up - i thought this Reprodepot print was rather perfect.   

Wishing you all lovely weeks, with smooth internet connectivity!!  Love Posie

My Creative Space 'a door stopper - which could stop a freight train"

Greetings all,
Welcome to another week of My Creative Space as hosted by Kirsty at Kootoyoo.  This is my offering, something i made in January yet couldn't find the 5 minutes to fill it, stitch it up & plonk it by the front door.  Our front door has a tendency to slam in the most gentle of winds, still, procrastination had set in. 
Voila, a hommage to my love of Kristen Doran & PippiJoe screen printed fabrics, made into a door stopper based loosely on a Lotta Jansdotter pattern which i enlarged (too much). 

This is why it could stop a freight train - it is filled with stones!!

For the ones i'm making to go into the Shop Handmade, i'm going to pad them with wadding first (which will also keep the fabric cleaner) then fill through a sleeve, so the bottoms don't look like this dust pad which once was denim!!

My instant stitching while balancing the 45kg door stopper on my knee!!

While you're enjoying the Shop Handmade blog, check out the Handmade Market blog too - a nice feature about Posie over there today!!  Happy Creative Spacing people, love Posie

name dropping

Greetings all,
Yippee, i had a few products in the latest Cosmo Pregnancy magazine, including cowboy bunting in this cool collection of country & western gear . . . 

that red, pink & white patchwork quilt from this blog post & a cute vintage bib . . .

have to say my first pregnancy did not look this glam in 1998 mummies . . .
love Jenna Elfman, she's soooooo cool!!

So that is a little taste of your $13.95 worth of Cosmo Pregnancy magazine.

Gosh i think back to my first pregnancy, i was finishing up my 6th year at Sydney Uni, i was 23, moving to the Northern Territory for the first time with my handsome soldier, so morning sick i couldn't work at all, it just doesn't feel like it was that long ago!!  That baby is now in year 6, a house captain, away on camp & turning into a lovely young lady.  I can't wait to make her formal dresses & she actually agrees with my colour, style & designs, brilliant.  I should get that in writing & signed now, will save immense trauma later on don't you think??  Oh we have our moments, she struggles to be a daughter & not the leader all the time, but i know when to back down & when to put her in her place.  Motherhood is this amazing balance of personalities, relationships & development.  I am loving this stage, it's delicate & unpredictable, we try not to do drama . . . tomorrow i'm giving her a room make over.  Can't wait to see her face when she returns on Friday.  Love Posie

blame it on the rain . . . let's go fly a kite . . .

Greetings all,

How are you finding the weather on the Eastern Seaboard lately??  Bit blustery, hail, floods, insanity.  So long as the rain falls in the catchments & is shared with farmers . . . I'm happy to entertain children who don't like television with indoor activities!! 
Had this brilliant idea when i saw these plain wooden Russian Nesting Dolls, to buy half a dozen & next rainy day, let the children paint them.  This set is for my husband, each child in order, painted one (note: the boy is 4th & his doll is a bit light on fine detail).  

plain wooden Babushkas $5 per set at Typo

we had to get out in between down pours & fly the kite in the gale force winds . . .
only the boy stopped the kite with his forehead moments after a 'before' shot was taken safely at home.

nothing is as funny as watching 4 children run like crazy looking up & slamming into each other

i spent my time strapped to this puppy who thought the kite was a giant butterfly &
knocked me over several times chasing it, like the children, running like crazy, looking up!!

& this big girl is off to camp, have fun!!

Just a litte note about the Oscars/ Academy Awards, did anyone else find Tom Hanks' announcing the Best Picture winner a bit quick & uneventful, like he was ripping off Avatar's bandaid the most painless way??  Ouch!!  Shame i can't see the Hurt Locker, my husband saw it last week, he suggested i do not - did you know Guy Pearce is in it too, in the beginning, doesn't end well for him . . . why not torture me with Dear John while you're at it.  Any other war movies & love stories on at the moment??  Oh i know, Meatloaf's latest album . . . no kidding . . . songs from a wounded soldier trying to find his way home to his wife Jennie - are you SERIOUS!!  Have a lovely week people, love Posie 

lounge craft & what you can do in your jammies

Greetings all,
Well looks like another rainy weekend here in Canberra.  Naturally that means my husband must stand in the rain to watch rugby with mates late into the night.  So what does Posie do when she's snuggled up in new Peter Alexander pyjamas home alone on a Friday night??  Hand stitching, badge making & anything you can comfortably do from the lounge.  I didn't mind sewing my heart out late at night in the studio to meet orders in my 20s, but not anymore.  Built for comfort thanks!!  I'd like to promote the new 'Lounge Craft' movement. 
With a neat badge order for ChildPlay, i thought i'd make the badges on the lounge, with the machines balancing on my husband's giant hardback original 1960's Australia Woman's Weekly cookbook.  What more could you want, great tools, a decent movie, access to amazing fabrics, plus 4 happy children tucked away in bed - exhausted from their school swimming carnival & House Captain duties . . . i went pom pom & balloon mad & was an official time keeper, great job if you can get it, sooo much easier than being a time keeper at the athletics as they are trapped in the pool & stop at the end . . . my girls swam 12 races between them, doing it for the house points.  Very proud mama. 

my MUCH loved apple green coloured 25mm badge machine & resulting badges . . .

my practical-coloured bronze 35mm badge machine which does key rings & magnets too . . .

ah, for the love of wireless internet, King Furniture lounges, new jammies & waffle blankets!!

Rather than drive all over the ACT yesterday (we live in the north, school in the south, swimming carnival in the west & you have to be turning 8 in 2010 or older to compete) - our 6y.o. son had a treat, a day off school & went to see Alice in Wonderland with Daddy. He loved it, my husband wasn't so wrapped. There were a couple of moments at the end when the boy climbed onto Daddy's lap but certainly no more scary than a Harry Potter & certainly more colourful & exciting!! 

During the week, after my in-laws left, my husband & i went to see Valentine's Day, great movie, i enjoyed it much more than Love Actually.  Yes, i cried, doing a lot of that this week!!  Actually after the movie i burst into tears in the food court, i'm sure the people at the next table thought 'that guy is breaking up her in a public place so she won't freak out' rather than i'm just so incredibly sad my husband is about to go away again, after 7 weeks away already this year!!  Yes, it's the first week of March, what else is new to an Army wife?? 

Have yourselves cosy weekends if you're chilly or wet outside.  We'll be baking, shopping, farewelling & then you'll see a WHOLE lot more from the Posie lounge with lonely weekends for the next 6-7 months.  Love Posie

My Creative Space 'market decorations & merchandising'

Greetings all,
This week's Creative Space round is devoted to merchandising at markets to give your stall a little extra something.  Gone are the days when plonking your handmade wears on a white table cloth on a trestle & hoping their prettiness will do the trick - customers & market organisers want more!!  If you've attended Magnolia Square, the stalls there are beautiful, much effort goes into this.  I'm no expert but why not make your stall as lovely as possible??  While i'm not into plain white back drops . . . plain white 'props' are very hard to beat as they are stylish & don't detract from your product. 
I really wanted to make my own trees for the entrance at Mathilda's Market last Sunday in Canberra, they will happen as i have the wood, saw & soft orange paint, but purchasing ready made trees just became easier at the 11th hour.  I used PaperKlip (hi Melinda) inspired signage & decorated the trees with Sizzix machine cut colourful owls, birds & flowers, with circle bunting on divine twine.  Pretty result don't you think??

Welcome to Mathilda's Market Canberra, Hyatt Hotel

an assortment of coloured boxes, baskets, jars, jugs & bowls to display products,
plus a white ladder is super efficient storage & elevated - easily stands on your trestle 

small suitcases filled with patterns & accessories are adorable at Retro Mummy (hi Corrie),
with Plushka hair accessories & stitcheries (hi Katia)

& a neat rack for displaying Retro Mummy clothes or neatly positioned on the table,
next to Bianca Jae Makes texta rolls (hi Bianca)

canvases are not easy to display without proper backdrops, but a basket on the floor is handy
plus setting them up how you might do at home . . . from Anastacia Designs (hi Stacey)

when you only have a couple of products, author Tania McCartney rocks it with amazing merchandising & enchanting trinkets to enhance her fabulous books!!  I mean, Panda nesting dolls . . . birdcages, blossom, so pretty & the globe just sets the back drop of where her books are set . . . China!!  Can't wait to see what Tania comes up with for her next children's book in the Riley series - the Curious Koala around Sydney!!

This Mathilda's was at a new venue competing with crazy weather & the Canberra Show, plus many more stalls than before & quite a different crowd.  I was actually very unwell (this happens often to market stall holders, bless us, it's a lot of work & often stress) & had my mind on in-laws visiting.  Then the horror, some of my products went missing while we were packing the car, including $300 of personal shopping i did at Retro Mummy & Sweet Sistas, so i left devestated & yes, tears!!  I really hope they were taken accidentally in the packing up chaos in the thunder & rain & someone finds them in their market stock, soon!!  I've been incredibly deflated since. 
Thanks for the uplifting comments on my last post, really appreciate them.  Back to loving my husband while i can.  Happy Creative Spacing this week everyone, love Posie

UPDATE: Heather from Handle With Care who was next to me at Mathilda's gave birth the next day!!  Now that is some market stall holder devotion, well done Heather, wish i offered you more than just the use of my powerpoint!!  Love to new baby Angus, love Posie

a day at the National Zoo & welcome to Autumn, Canberra style

Greetings all,
I'll wrap up the Mathilda's Market from Sunday in the next post, just had to share our day at the National Zoo first.  With market exhaustion & in-laws visiting, we tripped to the zoo to take in the animals, fun & weather . . . like clockwork, 1st of March = Autumn, so jackets & scarves at the ready!!  Today i'm suffering from 'lady issues' so i'll let the images do the talking while i get back to my heat pack.  I need the ohs & ahs sympathy comments today please!!

First up, oh, ah, the Koala, so gorgeous.  The Koala in the next tree was pregnant & not wanting to be photographed - know the feeling love!! 
Our middle daughter LOVES Giraffes & informed us that due to their dark colour & 3 horns, these are boys, NOT once did she have to point out genitalia to determine gender!!

Getting up close to the Emus, Kangaroos, Wallabies & Geese in the nature walk & not so close to the Tigers!!

Rather loved the Alpacas, then into the Aquarium - how funny is the bottom side of a Sting Ray??

Creatively named "black tipped reef Sharks" still bloody scary looking!!

Just in case you wondered what the bottom of a Turtle looked like??

Back to our Giraffe lover - when my husband & i saw this sign "Slow Children" we both giggled with the same thought, so i called over our middle daughter (acadmically gifted & athletic, but clumsy & accident prone) to pull her most vacant face in front of this sign . . . well you guessed it, she tripped, fell & took the skin off her knee about 6 feet away from the sign.  I was bad mother & laughed, uncontrollably, then had to carry her 8 year old body around the rest of the zoo. 

While my husband had a 'quick' medical assessment on his ankle, first thing in the morning before the zoo opened . . . the children & i entertained ourselves in the car out of the icey wind & Autumn freeze, for the first hour with this occy strap.  Yes REALLY, not one eye taken out either, but a few kidnap scenarios were played out.  We played in the car park & foyer of the building, bathrooms until finally he finished 90 minutes later.   

If you're ever in Canberra, consider a trip to our small zoo, it's fun & friendly, love Posie