things i'm loving 'baskets of happiness' & my Gifts of Serendipity 'Six Senses Tour' feature

Greetings all,

Phew, what a week of market preparation.  If you could imagine the most fantastic market, only on once a quarter, 12 000+ people come-a-shopping in a massive, highly anticipated surge of handmade & handcrafted passion . . . well you'd understand the time i invest in production for such an event. 

Playing along with Paisley Jade's Things I'm Loving this Friday . . . basically it's 'basket porn'.

Mid week i picked up some new baskets from Provincial - picture French Provincial style at affordable prices, then 30% off this basket range = shopping spree!!  You can't present handmade goodness at such an upmarket event in broken down old baskets.  Ok, i might have broken/ stepped on a few baskets to make way for new ones, shhhh.  Presentation is everything, right??

 There are bread baskets, laundry basket, fruit crates, caddies & even a bicycle basket (with actual leather & brass fixings for your bike but i saw beyond that - i saw the perfect basket for my Liberty of London brooches).  All in that French-country-living shade of grey & linen, what is not to love??  Better yet, not a single thing i wouldn't use in my home, after market use.

 The charcoal tissue had these wrapped up inside - tea light caraffes.  I lit them tonight with some of those IKEA smelly fruity tea lights, quite pretty. 

 The glass carafes remind me of the wine my mother would buy in America, it had a jam jar kind of pull off lid.  She'd bring the carafes home in our luggage, they are EXACTLY like this, only with a base - these ones are bottomless & you place them over the lit tea lights.  Clever.  Just don't hold the wire holder by the handle, it's a bit, er, drunk, unbalanced & tipsy.

 I couldn't resist checking in on Revolve at the Tip just in case they had any decent baskets for my market wares.  Et voila, check out this bundle - one is even in the shape of a heart + another wooden caddy, perfect for my badge display.

 You see correctly, $10 for the lot, ten buckers!!

 Now i can't think of a single thing my husband will like in this post, he loathes my basket obsession, yet happily tosses his keys in them, socks in another, boots in the garage one . . . he'll come around.  To him they are like Tupperware, he insists he'll bury them with me. 

Have a gorgeous long weekend if you're in Australia, celebrating the Queen's April birthday in June, because that is when it suits us.  

If you're in my 'hood, join us on Saturday for the amazing Handmade Market at the National Convention Centre 10a.m. - 4p.m., which is just a short walk from . . . ANZAC Parade where at 10a.m. the Trooping the Colour is on, open to the public for the first time (it's a wonderful historic Royal Military College Parade honouring our Queen, normally at RMC by invitation only).  Oh that's a point, watch out for road closures around ANZAC Parade & Constitution Road Saturday morning.  Community Service Announcement over.
For those of you at the Handmade Business Summit, i'll see you at lunch.
Special mention that darling Felicity Serendipity has featured my Six Senses Tour of Canberra, check the post out, check her blog out, check out how wonderful Gifts of Serendipity makes you feel about your own dollups of lovely in your own life.  Thanks Felicity!!
Have gorgeous weekends everyone, love Posie

my creative space 'cubby house bunting'

Greetings all,

Another Thursday, another Kootoyoo creative space to kick me into action.  Tomorrow i have 250+ gifts to prepare for the school's Mother's Day stall, so making some outdoor/ cubby/ doll's house bunting has been a welcome project.  Armed with scissors, pinking shears, ruler, blunt pencil (why can i never find a pencil & when i do they are blunt & the sharpener is missing??) & about 18 of the prettiest Mexican printed oil cloths a girl could hope for.  I picked up another 15 prints while on holiday in Brisbane, at Beach Vintage (thanks Simone!!)

 I had visions of ric rac edges & lined flags, but that can just add to the variety of the range in the future, for now, keep it simple!!

 Working with material that doesn't have threads is so dreamy.

 I zig zag stitched them onto pretty ribbons.

 Et voila!!  Fit for an outdoor cubby house.

 This is the mini version, these flags made up from remnants from cutting out the larger flags (that's the nothing-is-wasted-patchwork-quilte in me).

 Added a bit of nostaglia with some post it note clouds, perhaps a distraction from the poor lighting effort, i just wanted a quick post.

 I think these would be cute in a doll's house, non??

I'll be making a long version with the larger flags for our BBQ area, just for fun, something for my husband to shake his head at while he cooks.  Love Posie
PS i'll be back to link Kootoyoo in, i'm stuck & can't access her blog right now
EDIT: link seems to be working, poor Kirsty, living on the edge with her blog connectivity.
This bunting is not for the mother's day stall, i'm just doing up wholesale & inexpensive organic soaps, chocolates, soy candles etc & making them look a million dollars for profit to the P&C.  Amazing what a bit of stylish packaging (cello, raffia, washi tape, tissue paper) can do.
Finally, don't forget the lovely IKEA giveaway i have live, next post down, enjoy & good luck!!

& the bedroom makeovers are off & racing . . .

Greetings all,

For those of you who might not have school age children yet, we school mummies tend to go a bit postal on the children's bedrooms in the school holidays.  More than just a good clean, it's a "don't talk to me OR look at what is in the garbage bags" frantic situation.  These school holidays i'm quite literally turning out the bedrooms as if we were moving (we will be moving in the next 3-12 months) & to add a new degree of difficulty - just for fun i'm roatating all 4 children into different rooms.  What else would you do when your husband is away for a week??

 My secret weapon to keep the children away from their rooms while i psycho clean & to avoid the irrating "i'm hungry" moan, is to put out a picnic spread.

 Really annoyed these images are not grouping & are all spread out BLOGGER (??!!) anyway, you can see where i'm going - the first room is evolving & attracting silly children (FYI neither of these two are in this particular room, this is our eldest daughter's room with a red & blue theme, i said evolving!!)  There are still electronics to plug in, pictures to hang & a book shelving unit to collect, which will be perfect for the French wooden doll's house, as she said "it's a nice memory from my childhood".  

I love love love the chess board, shall take a close up image later, the pieces are Alice in Wonderland, it makes playing chess even more of a pleasure. 

Oh, now what's on that pallet in the garage??  I have new chairs from Little Nest for the children's 'play area' of their bedrooms, i can not wait to unload these, one by one as i complete the rooms.  So hope the new bunks for the twins arrive soon, we've also decided to get the big & little ones new beds too, so their rooms won't be 'perfect' for a little while longer.  Back to it, there are two children dispersed right now, who will sleep on the lounge tonight, good incentive to finish their rooms for a head start on those twins & all their bits & pieces tomorrow.  Love Posie