come along & join me at the Canberra Creatives Mini Market

Greetings all,

What a brilliant way for me to share & sell off the remainder of my fabric store supplies . . . 

at a mini market & craft de-stash!!  

Imagine a dozen of Canberra's best crafters, selling off their fabrics & craft supplies . . . spread over eight huge tables of craft glory, in a cute little convenient venue.  Bring your children, there will be a craft class, delicious snacks & the friendliest people in the business!!

As i move the supplies & materials i wish to keep for future projects, over to the farm, ready for the shearing shed studio renovation . . . i have piles & piles of top quality fabrics cut & ready to sell off, at huge discounts, for another crafter to enjoy.

My fabric themes include . . .

vintage . retro . animals . robots . babushkas . children . games . fairy tales . pin up girls

 toys . roses . space . farms . paper dolls . transport & many more!!

Think designer international fabric brands & top quality fabrics from Kokka, Michael Miller, Alexander Henry, Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner, Sis Boom & Cath Kidston + local designers Kristen Doran, Thea&Sami, PippiJoe & Saffron Craig.  I'm selling the big time gorgeous patterns, colours, screen prints . . . emptying the bolts & the prices are fantastic!!  Love Posie

the massive, exciting & wonderful next chapter in our life & lifestyle . . .

 Greetings all,

Super exciting news . . . we bought a farm!! It's been a 20 year dream with my husband & only possible since he returned from his fifth deployment. We have lived all over Australia, deciding to settle in Canberra, a military & public service national capital city, surrounded by farmland.

Our must-have list was . . . 45 minutes from the CBD, cleared land, no dwelling, 100 acres & sobering things like 'affordable'. During our search, issues like . . . fencing/ rainfall/ school buses became important; power/ telephone/ sewerage did not - as we desire to be self sufficient. Finally we found the right property & much larger!!

This has given us the exciting potential of raising livestock, building a straw bale homestead & planting orchards. Could not be happier. Stay tuned for our exciting plans, we will build our home next year.  All the home building information will take place at my other blog, which has been waiting for this moment . . . b u i l d Z i l l a.  Love Posie

restocking baskets & attending the Brindabella Market tomorrow

Greetings all, 

I'm presenting a stall tomorrow, it's been a while, putting my little market hat back on . . . 

Brindabella Business Park Town Square
(Yass Road, next to Canberra Airport)

11a.m. to 2p.m.

Thursday 10th October 

 Love old school ice block makers & cool stuff like this?? Heavily discounted?? Listen up!! 

After deciding to close my handmade sewing & design business last year (after bilateral carpal tunnel decompression surgery) I've been running a sale at www.posie.com.au & attending the occasional little local market.  I'm selling vintage/ retro/ modern inspired children's clothes, onesies, toys, accessories, stationery, bunting flags, night lights, screen printed fabric, thermos flasks, craft kits, twine & everything from Tasmanian Oak knitting needles to tissue paper decorations & party supplies . . . up to 70% off.  Seriously!!  I'm satisfied with 14 successful years in business (while raising a bunch of children & living all over Australia with my soldier) now it's all got to go, below cost. 

Think: $1 badges & $2 sale baskets!!  Listen for giggles - I'm next to awesome local author @taniamccartney who has recently released four new books!!  I'll be wearing a dress by @little_tienda for festivity, so come & say hello, we're a friendly, blonde, colourful duo . . . 

 I'm also bringing fresh chicken eggs, including the incredible blue ones!!  

If you enjoy great food, coffee & love music . . . 

a happy midweek market atmosphere . . . 

this gorgeous event only occurs a few times a year, so run!! 

I'll upload new & leftover stock for sale ASAP on line, then I'm focussing on my new foray into industrial design & things like having 3 high schoolers next year!! 

Thanks, love Posie

Tania McCartney's Riley & the Jumpy Kangaroo - a Journey Around Canberra INSTAGRAM book GIVEAWAY

Greetings all,

Welcome to the first ever Tania McCartney Instagram book GIVEAWAY!! 

The much anticipated & exciting release of a new Riley journey with Ford Street Publishing is another fantastic adventure with my local gal pal author Tania's creative mind & Kieron Pratt's delightful illustrations.  

POSIE REVIEW: Riley the Aviator takes his famous red bi-plane & animal friends on a journey around Canberra, to discover who is making all that thumping raucous & action packed commotion??  Your children will love this cleverly photographed & beautifully illustrated journey all over Canberra, as the Jumpy Kangaroo pings, pongs, bounds, zigs, zags & catapults around  the landmark sites of Australia's capital city.  Will Riley catch up to the Jumpy Roo??  What is she in such a hurry for anyway??  Luckily Jumpy stops long enough to smell the tulips at the magnificent Spring Floriade flower festival 

. . . to find "exactly what she'd been looking for."

 Tania concludes her stories with a heart felt ending & writes about cities she has lived.  They are a mix of street-smart & tourist must-see items for any adventure.  As a fitting tribute, Canberra is celebrating its Centenary in 2013!!

Recent journeys have included A Grumpy Wombat in Melbourne; A Curious Koala in Sydney; A Dancing Lion in Hong Kong: & the original . . . A Sleeping Dragon in Beijing.  Collect them all, my children absolutely adore this series of books.  More information & order details at TaniaMcCartney.com.      

 For your chance to . . .

win a copy of Tania McCartney's 

Riley & the Jumpy Kangaroo 

A Journey Around Canberra

 . . . head over to my Instagram feed Posie Shoots & leave a comment at the 'Tuesday 30th July Riley & the Jumpy Kangaroo post' to enter!!  You will need an Instagram account, please follow Posie Shoots & enter between Tuesday 30th July & midnight Sunday 4th August 2013.

The full Jumpy Roo tour schedule is here, for more reviews, news & chances to win copies of this fabulous book.   

Good luck everyone, thank you Tania for asking me to host, it was such fun, as always - a pleasure working with you!!  Love Posie

Want more Tania McCartney magic in your children's book shelves . . . here's a sneak peek at her next book . . . to be released with Exisle Publishing in the coming months, illustrated by the divine Tina Snerling . . . the perfect gift this Christmas!!

Comments have been closed on this post to ensure you do not place your entry here!!

social commentary Sunday . . . 'knowing when to take a break from blogging'

Greetings all, 

My blogging journey has come to a stop-start-halt lately, i've just lost the passion, enjoyment & time for it.  While i started my blog 6 years ago & blogged regularly during 2010 to 2012 while my husband lived interstate, sharing 'our life' with him . . . i'm finding less & less time to post about craft, lifestyle, animals, baking, children, my husband & our happiness.  

My studio is only working on large commissions, not pretty blog-worthy-craft; i'm spending many more hours in the garden, tending to animals, exercising & preparing healthy meals, less blog-worthy-cakes; the children are growing fast, i am not missing a minute & considering next year we'll have three teenagers - it's incredibly busy with sports, academics & their social engagements, i'm not comfortable posting lots of images of teenagers, especially as they are not allowed their own social media; my husband is here & being a wife takes up a lot of time, i'd prefer his company than reading blogs . . . as for our happiness, we've never been happier, with exciting dreams.  Spending less time on the computer is a good example to our children too.  

I've been using my non-blogging-time making more calls to my elderly parents, catching up with people who bring me joy & soaking in the lucky life i have as a housewife.  I refuse to be 'busy' as it implies i don't have time for the things i love.  I still adore the idea of a blog & the blogging community is lovely; trolls - their loss, i click delete & refuse to engage with them, absolutely not worth a second thought; stalkers - go get a life, especially the ones who know me personally, it's creepy you read my posts (& pretend you don't) yet don't communicate with me directly!!

So it's for positive reasons that i am taking a break from blogging.  I want to offer the world quality or nothing, i won't blog for the sake of blogging.  I'll be hanging around on Instagram, which is so much fun, friendly, engaging & fast . . . i find it like mini-speed-blogging.  While blogging has been a wonderful adventure with 700 posts, 15000 comments & 2000 hits per day, if i was paid to blog - i'd reconsider taking a break, i just can't maintain 'free' work - yes, 'work' . . . i put great consideration/ thought/ ideas/ effort into my posts: an extension of my business & the personality behind it . . . i'm closing down the on line store & no longer attend markets, as i'm starting a new chapter in my creative life.  Stay tuned. 

 I'd love to be invited to blog conferences . . . i have great ideas & lots of inspiration to offer; i'd love to be given freebies & opportunities . . . i do fantastic & thoughtful reviews; i'd love to sit in a particular niche . . . but i don't . . . no babies (our youngest is 9) or live in the cities where the events take place, so i'll hum along doing my own thing.  While i've always been popular & social, i really enjoy my own company & avoid cliques at all costs.  Blogging has changed a lot over the years with awards, sponsorship & obvious circles, a lot is self-congratulatory & below average quality.  It wasn't my end-game to make money from blogging - i started as i had my own home-design-studio business to promote & make money from - i was never 'discovered' (even with 10000 social media followers) & that's Ok.  Maybe, one day??

Just to wrap up a few things, like my last giveaway & ensuring i organise all pervious giveaway winners receive their prizes (apologies for the delay) the lucky people who won the LEGO Hero Factory packs are:

Claire Hewitt of Clairey Hewitt blog,

Sash of Indigo Elephant blog &

Beck from Baby Laila blog.

Congratulations.  Please email me your delivery (street address for courier) for delivery. 

 Thanks everyone - it has truly been a wonderful experience, i appreciate all your comments & connections.  This isn't good bye or farewell, just a see you later for now.  I feel it's really important if you know your blogging journey is stalling, that you take a break.  It might be Christmas time before i blog again, but i will be back, renewed & thoroughly reinspired, love Posie

PS all images are recent snap shots from my Instagram account Posie Shoots with lots of stories & gorgeous engagement, you'll see why i completely adore this social media platform!!

attracting beautiful people into your life

 Greetings all,

You might have noticed i have reduced the frequency of my blog posts.  It's for many reasons, best of all - i was heavily involved in blogging over the past 3 years as my husband was living interstate & overseas - now he's home . . . i'm spending that 'blogging time' being a real wife.  Plus life is busier than ever with teenagers, baby animals & planning our future . . . i'm finding Instagram is like mini blogging, it's my new simple favourite form of social media.  I'd rather not blog than blog for the sake of blogging!!

For the past couple of years, i've been cutting back on my design business & reinvesting my time, energy, positivity & friendship in new places.  I've been much kinder to myself, now my 4th child is in senior primary school, i spend my 'day time' doing things i love - like gardening, reading & dreaming.  I'm slowly getting back into sewing for pleasure . . . surgery on both my hands last year, gave me the time to reassess every part of my life & ditch the extraneous babble.   

 I have let old friendships slide too.  Seemingly fun at the time, however, on reflection i've realised they really weren't positive relationships at all . . . they involved business, as in, what they could suck from me, rather than kindness in my direction.  As everything has an upside - i've absolutely soared since closing that chapter, in every aspect of my world - from my happy personal life with my husband home; harmonious children excelling in school, sports & leadership roles; business opportunities i'd never have accepted if i was still 'so busy' doing the small stuff; even materialistic . . . we bought our dream car, brand new & made huge inroads towards our future farm plans.  So you could say i am the one winning at life.  Ridding yourself of negativity has untold blessings on your life & who you attract.  

 I've found new lovely people with aspirational outlooks on life.  Like my favourite florist (whom i discovered on Instagram, after they opened a new local store) & we clicked.  I use 'delivering fresh eggs' as a friendly excuse to pop in & say hello (they are busy busy busy!!)  Yesterday, i was struck down with a migraine - so my husband delivered the eggs - & he was presented with these glorious yellow flowers, with a quirky note from the fabulous LouLou Moxom!!  Serendipitous things like this never happened while i was being dragged down by a negative force, so so so glad i saw the light, jump shipped & never looked back.  I highly recommend it - self respect is restored, i assure you.  Wishing you enlightened weekends with gorgeous people & a bunch of fresh flowers!!  Thank you Mrs Moxom & Mrs Whitney - you are a true quirky delightful duo.  Love Posie

happy Easter

Greetings all,

Happy Easter from the Posie family, puppy, bunnies & chickens!!

Instead of chocolate & rubbish, i bought my children new jammies from Peter Alexander . . .

 gave friends & my favourite local businesses, the gift of freshly laid 'Easter eggs' from our mixed breeds of hens, including the Araucana 'Easter' chicken who lays blue eggs.  We're on the look out for more Araucanas, as i desire a range of colours, like green, khaki & lavender, it's the dream!!

 My favourite local florist knew eggs were heading her way & presented me with this message & sweetest yellow chickedy chick ever . . .

 Remember to have fun & include your pets!!

Wishing you all a wonderful Easter, religious (we're not), loving family (we are), with time, appreciation & gratitude just being together, love Posie
PS don't forget to enter this fun LEGO Hero Factory giveaway here!!