market stall merchandising . . . i'm going with my Euro theme

Greetings all,
Busy sewing up a storm this week for Handmade Canberra's UpMarket on Sunday, very excited as it's the first for the year.  It's normally on a Saturday & the next 3 are all Saturdays, but i can't tell you how handy it is to have a day up my sleeve to pack & prepare.  Then it will be time to crash on Sunday night, revive myself for Easter Egg decorating at school on Monday. 
So check out this handy wooden medicine cabinette i bought at our local Revolve centre at the tip, $25 & it's a fantastic size.  I instantly thought of laying it on a table, open & using it as a craft  First Aid supply centre at markets.  So i've filled it with . . .

Art Viva 1960's newspaper tubes (60mm & 40mm), Dumpling Dynasty sewing kits, Cavallini stamp kits, Jurianne Matter paper craft, children's learn to sew card kits, Lark knitted pin cushions, Craft Books, Tres Divin ribbons & MT washi masking tapes in all their pretty colours from Japan. So now i have all the non-handmade-by-me things in one spot!! I'm allowed to sell these things as they promote your own sewing & handmade, the rest of my stall is fabric & handmade products - um, all 4 trestle tables worth!!

Onto themes . . . i've continued with my Euro direction & purchased a subtle Eiffel Tower & matching planters to display products & look eye catching on my stall.  They will be filled with products in French fabrics.  Also used a damaged hula hoop, wrapped in pale pink polka dot fabric & with 7 x $2 sticks of faux flowers from a $2 shop, i tied them to the hoop with organza ribbons to make a pretty hanging feature for the centre of my marquee.  Can't wait to put it up!!

I'm using up some gorgeous European prints from AGES ago, time to share them.

Of course it's the weekend before Easter so i have some Lark knitted eggs to sell & the cute wooden bunny is from Bed, Bath & Table (they're having 30% off Easter things in store).  The lovely open handled basket was a whopping $2 from Revolve!!  Also, see that huge tool box, it was $5 from Revolve & is still empty, trying to work out the perfect product to display in there.  Finally, more $5 letters from Typo, to spell out POSIE on my table.  I'm aware i bought a T for the I, i thought an upside T would be more stable as the table gets bumped.  Um, realised the P is not self standing, so P is propped up by a cute wooden mushroom, ahhhh, thank goodness for blue tack!!

 
Yippee, new Kristen Doran prints, love her!!

This is how Canberra looked on the way to school . . . brrrr . . .

 

only to look like this an hour later??!!  Canberra pretty much has beautiful blue skies all year round, even when it snows, looks gorgeous until you go outside & loose feeling in your toes. 

So i went shopping on the way back to school - um, shoes $130 original price, but i got ALL of this haul, killer peep toe heels & cute grey sneakers for me; hat, body wash, black sequin beret & silver headband for my girls, the lot was $80!!  Nothing like a further 30% off all sale items at Sportsgirl.  The black shoes are really comfortable too, i can reach the top shelf in the pantry now!!
Have happy weeks everyone, see you at My Creative Space on Thursday, until then, sew sew sew.  Love Posie

if you EVER need a reason to cheer yourself up . . . try Cake Wrecks!!

Greetings all,
While I’m not a fan of blog posts which don’t relate or use the images of the blog owner, I’m going to make an exception here.  Ever since my friend Lisa from Canberra’s Got Style blog put me onto Regretsy, which I think is the funniest name for a blog ever - if you haven’t ever visited, go immediately, all the things on etsy which are . . . regretful.  Anyway, when I heard about this Cake Wrecks blog, I knew I’d love it.
As a bit of a try hard & fail cake icing disaster myself, I can laugh out loud at these efforts as most Cake Wrecks are by professional cake decorators aka “Wreckorators”.  Wreckporters email in images of sad sad cakes they have witnessed, ordered or had the misfortune of tasting – from spelling mistakes, writing word for word instructions on the order & those which are just plain wrong with a capital R. They even have a book with my favourite of all Cake Wrecks on the cover - decorating with this winner . . . "Best Wishes Suzanne, under neath that, We Will Miss You".  Imagine a Woman’s Weekly "How NOT to Decorate Children’s Cakes"!!
The blog post images go something like this . . . with their whitty & hilarious captions . . .

I've had a bandaid in a shop bought cake before, but scissors??  Poison challis from this bakery perhaps??

Tell me, was your wedding cake cute, fun & quirky or slasher??

Did you watch the Supper Bowl or the Super Bowel??

On Sundays there is some light relief with beautiful, amazing, stunning, award winning cakes . . .

. . . which make up for entries like this, shudder!!

How is it that so many icing efforts end up looking like a penis or poo - instead of, you know, a first birthday cake for a sweet baby in the shape of a number one??!!  Now quick, deep breaths & get over to Bakerella for some more beautiful, amazing & inspirational decorating ideas on cookies to cakes!! Awesome Julie from Handmade Market put me onto Bakerella, love her.  Enjoy, love Posie

my weekend, projects & super exciting news about Stitches & Craft

Greetings all,
It's one of those weekends, fellow market crafters will relate to - the final count down to a massive market event.  So it's head down, bottom up at the sewing machine for Handmade Market on Sunday 28th March.  Deep breaths, it's SO exciting & i have fun merchandising ideas which i'll share throughout next week.  The anticipation is palpable, teachers/ mothers/ friends all telling me they can't wait!!

After having an additional child in the mix for a few nights this week, i'm spending tonight with just 3.  Middle girl has gone to a sleepover party with 'Heddles' our favourite Oilily bag & Raffy (her favourite giraffe, actually many giraffes were found in this bag which she packed herself!!)

The birthday girl is animal mad so i made her this pencil roll today!!

Stitches & Craft is coming to Canberra, Thursday 22nd to Sunday 25th April (still school holidays for we Canberra folk).  Guess who has a stall in the Incubator & is teaching a couple of different classes in the Craft Lab??  Details, times & sign up available soon, but just a taste of the classes i'm offering . . .
'Handy Purses & Pouch Making' where you'll learn how to make 2 different purses & pouches in gorgeous screen printed & quality fabrics (Kristen Doran, PippiJoe, Cath Kidston, Japanese quirky style . . .)  All materials, zips, tags, pattern, treat & friendly teaching included in the $35 fee (limit to 10 students per class as it's on the sewing machines).
'Penny Wheel Hair Accessories' class will be a hand stitching class up to 20 students, learning how to make sweet penny wheel headbands & hair clips.  All materials are included for $25 where you'll leave with 2 products.  Both classes will have a huge choice of fabrics, colours & styles for their projects, so you make something you'll love to pieces.
Both classes will give you serious crafting confidence & lifetime of quick-simple-lovely gift ideas.  Perhaps a sign saying "no crying in the Craft Lab" will be placed on the wall, as everyone at all skill levels will be able to make these, sans tears & achieve awesomeness.  I am super patient & kind, remember, Army wife with many children & a husband far far away for a long long time.  I have visions of happy banter as everyone learns, shares & loves their sewing projects, a room filled with pretty tins of sewing supplies & gorgeous pin cushions. 

I'm also going to have a special something for my favourite project/ student/ attitude/ enthusiasm/ quirky/ colour combination etc, so someone gets a rosette to wear proudly, for their effort in each class.  I hope to hone my sewing teacher skills by practising with my daughters so they can judge how well i explain things & that my instructions make sense.  I refuse to be a grumpy matronly horror of a teacher who so many of us had to endure at school (even me, the maths/ science geek had to do non elective textiles & design, where i inherited the teacher who hated my older sister so i had no hope, plus, in year 6, i was indeed hopeless at sewing!!)

Let there be chocolate, it's the weekend, it's Lindt & we're well fed crafters!!  Happy weekends everyone, love Posie

My Creative Space 'tween bedroom makeover'

Greetings all,

As promised . . . the bedroom make over for my eldest daughter while she was away on camp last week. 11 is a hard age to cater for in many aspects of mother-daughter relationships, but seeing she has grown up among fabric, design, colour & nonstop sewing, she loves my work & I know her taste.  I knew she’d love this combination of blues in a patchwork quilt, it's just simple 15cm squares - 10 rows across, 12 rows down. 
Please enjoy some before & after shots of her bed & windows . . .

All i had to add was some wall art stickers from Handmade Market, letters from Typo, blue fabrics from Posie.   

Then to pretty up the window with some Posie bunting, simple flat curtain thumb tacked above the frame made from the excess sheeting from Lincraft which was on the back of the quilt & ribbon from Tres Divin.  The pom pom curtain was from Freedom ages ago.

You might spy many Amy Butler prints, from her original Gypsy Caravan range to the latest Love series.  I've been a huge fan of Amy Butler since the beginning.

This amazing Arne Jacobsen replica chair from Little Nest, i picked it up from the gorgeous Samantha at Magnolia Square in Sydney last year.  The blankets are Ikea & Laura Ashley from 10-15 years ago, they do not die!!

After all that, i think this prawn baguette with shallots, mayo & avocado was the perfect treat for a mother's job well done. 

I do have some sewing confessions. I put up with little hitches when sewing professionally, I don’t mind 'sewing housekeeping' like spooling bobbins, breaking needles, pressing fabric – when I’m being paid. Alas, like mechanics working on their own cars . . . I get huffy when making things for family & audibly moan when my bobbin runs out of thread.  I go through kilometres of thread each week, literally, I sew A LOT & in proportion, many bobbins. So I pre-spool about 10 bobbins for each machine at a time. Only when I finish the 10th bobbin, a little piece of me dies & I surprise myself with how frustrated i get.  I'm the most patient person on earth!!
What has sparked this outcry?? After quilting this large patchwork piece for my daughter, my last bobbin ran out of thread with no more than 10cm of stitching to do. 10cm & i was finished!! I knew it was running low & watched closely through the clear lid, stitch by stitch & convinced myself the bobbin would make it, cheered it on, sigh, no.  So I sat & spooled 10 fresh bobbins in off white (my multipurpose colour of choice) while rolling my eyes. Please, someone out there, design an uber bobbin, forget about tension, size & mechanics, just humour me that it’s possible!!
I’ve tried over filling bobbins – do not try this, it ruins the top stitching & simply does not work.  You'll have to unload it onto another bobbin or two, time wasted & annoyance gained.  On my industrial machine I can spool bobbins while I continue sewing, yes really, they are separate entities. Only I get hypnotised by watching bobbins fill with thread, so my sewing goes haywire.  So good luck if you can do it simultaneously!! I bet you can also pat your head & rub your tummy at the same time?? Happy Creative Spacing this week, check out more at Kootoyoo, thanks Kirsty, a delightful hostess.  Love Posie