things i'm loving . . . 'finding fun'

Greetings all,
Can you believe my husband has been in Afghanistan for a month already??!!  I'm finding plenty of fun ways to keep busy, happy, distracted & positive . . . i do have tears as well, i'm not made of stone, i'm just very well practised in this routine of solo parenting 4 children while my husband is away at war.  Thanks for your support bloggers!!  One amazing blogger Cherry Red Quilter has gathered her troup of seamstresses to sew laundry bags for our troops, thanks Jan-Maree, you're a doll!!

I have always found sewing projects = avoid boredom.  A young lady ordered a lllloooonnnngggg pencil roll in Babushka fabrics from the last Handmade Market.  I delivered!!  

 Like the pencil & texta combination to fill the 16 pockets??

 First week of term 4, my primary school children have a new 'focus of inquiry' . . . 'outer space'.  This is not my forte & i wish my i-can-navigate-by-the-stars husband was around.  He might also ace camping, but i totally nailed glamping!!  Anyway, i can make some fun bunting & hand flags for Team Gravity.  I'm the teacher's pet-parent!!  

 How much fun are giveaways & swaps in blogland??!!  I am in an international swap with NZ Green Buttons blog, who sent this parcel of kiwi goodness.  Thanks Louana!!  Check out the play NZ money, maps, badges, stationery, chocolates . . .

 meanwhile i'm busy at the post office, this is my 4th parcel to handsome soldier.  This random box includes a diary, wind up kangaroo, moisturiser, soft-thick-luxurious-daddy-toilet-paper, a little softie & some meusli bars. 

 Finally, still losing myself in the Dottie Angel book, she's a fellow Babushka fan.  I've added more Russian Nesting Doll goodness to my collection this week too.

I hope you enjoyed the little tour around my head this week, Things I'm Loving is finding fun in my world.  Those who know me will be shocked i'm reading so much, it's the sunshine & my new slow down attitude. 
Don't forget my latest giveaway, it includes a Babushka fabric pencil roll.  Follow my blog now as i have new giveaways coming up with Sesame Street Wii games & hello . . . Donna Hay products!!  Stay tuned. 
Special shout out to Julie-Ann who featured me on her Decorating Forum all week, thank you, 'twas fun & welcome new readers - i believe i've taught you a some tricks from day beds to glamping.  Love Posie
PS PaisleyJade hosts things i'm loving each Friday, go check out her last few posts, she is one amazingly dedicated, cool mummy of 4, you should see what she made for her son's birthday (crocheted gift, layer cake & party games!!)

things i'm loving & i'm grateful for 'Spring giveaways'

Greetings all,

As a take a blogcation to rock my fluoro socks off at my niece's 80's themed 21st this weekend . . . i'm leaving my blog to host a giveaway.  Things I'm Loving & I'm Grateful For . . . are being able to offer lots of giveaways . . . sponsored/ Lego/ IKEA/ handmade from my own hands. Take it away blog.

While making a bunch of patchwork pencil rolls for last weekend's Handmade Market, i made a special Babushka fabric one for this Spring giveaway with tiny bunting flags.  Ahhh.  Fancy the latest copy of Mollie Makes magazine??  I'm so delirious, i picked a copy from the newsagent & my subscription issue came in the mail, so where better to share (including linen pouch project)??  Toss in some stitching & mending books + gift tags & you've got yourself a crafty giveaway. 
Just follow this blog & leave a comment, to win Mollie Makes, 2 craft books, patchwork pencil roll & gifts tags.  Entries close midnight on Halloween, 31st October 2011.  Extra entries if you share on your social media, go nuts.  Random draw, good luck!! 

 Spring cleaning my September giveaways, i have some winners to announce!!
3 lucky randomly selected followers have each won a Lego Hero Factory scary dude.  Congratulations . . . Rachelle from Prim & Pretty blog,
Mel from Loved blog & Ally from Everyday Miracles blog.

 The latest Riley adventure in Tania McCartney's exciting series of children's book is Riley & The Grumpy Wombat in Melbourne + a coordinating pencil roll . . . the hand picked winner is . . . Greta from Topography & On Top of a Lilypad blogs in NZ.  Yay, lucky girl.  Let me know who Tania can autograph it to.

I have a few more giveaways up for grabs, from Wii games to more handmade goodness, follow & enjoy the ride.  Good luck, love Posie

our creative space . . . 'crafty customer service'

Greetings all,

Hmmm . . . i think customer service in craft/ haberdashery/ art supply shops is either - super fabulous with great interest in what you are using the materials for, offering their knowledge, experience & ideas, or . . . like you're at the check out of a super market, beeping the codes through & taking your money, smiles & friendly banter are not included.
I was on a giddy high from the Esprit, Country Road & Trenery sales this morning, shopping up a storm for Summer . . . then i went to Spotlight. 

What can i say??  I dashed in to use the 'spend $100 & get $30' off voucher as i needed some linen, threads & needles.  The linen was 20% off, aces, i can afford an extra metre.  I am served by the lovely Narell who is so well informed & offers excellent customer service, every time . . . only as i got to my last cut of linen, it was her break, nooo, she handed me over to the next sales assistant. 

 I calculated exactly how much i needed to crack the magic $100 mark & had already discussed with Narell that i wanted to take advantage of the $30 discount offer, but had not printed off the email voucher.  She said she had a magic code for people like me. 

Giggles.  Banter.  Smiles.

 I mentioned to the new sales assistant that i had chatted to Narell about the $30 voucher situation - to avoid any end of transaction drama, there was a queue forming behind me - it can get ugly at a Spotlight sale.  Well, you would have thought i had just asked her to stick knitting needles in her eyes & give me 100% off . . . she snapped at me "you need to print it off" & i smiled back with "Narell said you have a magic code".  She must have spent 3 minutes arguing/ telling me off, ME, the always right customer.  Guess what people, she had to move the beeper gun, aim it at a bar code AT THE POINT OF SALE & pull the trigger, click, beep, $30 off.  OMG!!  The huge effort.
Why are some sales assistants so hell bent on spoiling your transaction & experience??  I also said "don't worry about the metres of plastic wrap, kind of negates the no-plastic-bag message" & she said "you'll look like a shop lifter".  So i suggested, with my receipt, i could prove at the door, i had paid.  OMG . . . i had no option, she wrapped it up in the plastic anyway.  Then said "the yellow strip is what they look for" & i thought, well why not just give me that, argh!!

 I didn't care, i got 20% off linen + $30 off the total, i am a normal person with a good attitude, sucks to be her!!  It can never be a bad day when your husband picks up a copy of Peppermint Magazine for you, while you're in the post office, because he heard you mention it was out & you wanted to grab one!! 

Something to offer for our creative space this Thursday - you can win this pencil roll & retro fabric stack, my contribution to the Handmade Market Hamper - via the Canberra Times!!

Now, back to that gorgeous linen, i'm screen printing up a storm, stay tuned, love Posie  

Qld Flood Appeal Raffle: autographed copy of Handmade Living, pencil roll & fabric + giveaway

RAFFLE NOW CLOSED, thank you for your amazing generocity & entries, the lucky winner of the raffle is #96 Anna from TillyTom & Sew!Busy!Mama! blogs, Congratulations!!
The sweet winner of the fabric giveaway-thanks-for-entering-runner-up-prize is #45 Bronwyn from Whippet Good blog.  All you had to do was leave a comment & follow, i had to draw this one 5 times as the first 5 people weren't followers of the blog, bad luck.  All the better for my new follower Bronwyn!!  Enjoy ladies, thanks again for kindness, we raised $775 for the Qld Flood Appeal on this blog alone, yippee!!

Greetings all,

Welcome to the Qld Flood Appeal Raffle at the Posie blog . . . my husband lives in Brisbane so this is my little way to help out with fundraising & letting the people in Qld know they're in my thoughts, all the way from Canberra. My God Mother & her husband have lost their fencing business in Brisbane, water is over the roof of the sheds, all the vehicles are gone & they are expecting 3m more of flood water. They employ half a dozen men who won't be able to work for a long time, people have lost their family income too!!

So . . . up for raffle is this autographed copy of Handmade Living (signed by the author, founder & illustrator) along with a pencil roll from one of the dozen projects i have in the book, 8 fat quarters of Amy Butler fabric + i'll toss in a bunch of crafty goodies too.

An inspirational book filled with How To projects from cooking with chocolate to applique.

Autographed by author Tania McCartney, founder Julie Nichols & illustrator . . . Brisbane's own Tina Snerling.  Hi Tina, thinking of you!!

I'm a major contributor to this book, that's me in the orange top!!

Oh, look at these Amy Butler fabrics, just the inspiration for projects in the book, like my fabric fortune cookies??

Or perhaps my fabric vase cuffs, non??

Thank you to Toni from Make it Perfect blog for coordinating this - more auctions & raffles listed there too.

Simple rules, remember this is for charity, the value of this prize is over $150!! 

Donate $5 for one ticket at the official flood appeal website & leave your receipt number with your comment entry (please be honest & do not use the same receipt number at other raffle sites, we will cross reference the numbers) . . .
raffle is open worldwide, i'll throw in free shipping . . .
raffle open NOW until MIDDAY Wednesday 26th January 2011.
The lucky winner will be contacted by email on Thursday 27th. Good luck!!

If you want to enter my auction too, check out the previous post for a handmade patchwork quilt made from stunning Japanese printed fabrics.  

It's a g i v e a w a y too . . .every single raffle ticket entry will go in the draw to win 4 Japanese Fat Quarters of fabric too, like a runner's up prize, remember to follow this blog too.

Thank you for participating & happy generous raffle ticket buying!! Love Posie

EDIT: yes that date has been extended so those of you busy with auctions, once they end, you can enter raffles too to spread the love & spend any out-bid-auction-money!!

excuse me, it's Summer tomorrow, hello sunshine, where did you go??

Greetings all,
Can you believe THAT was our Australian Spring??  Tomorrow is Summer, yes our seasons change on the 1st of each quarter, to keep things simple here in Australia.  So explain to me . . . why i'm sipping on Tania's homemade gingerbread hot chocolate while i'm freezing my bottom off, chopping fabric at the kitchen counter??

 Why i'm wearing tights, leather boots, long sleeved top & a denim tunic today??  I want a hot shower & flannelette sheets back on the bed!!

 Add to that why i want to wrap myself up in a patchwork quilt & just snuggle up with my husband!!  Even the puppy is back inside tonight, ok so he's nearly 3 but still he gets cold, needy & sad when it's cold & wet outside!!

 So much hype & excitement about the Handmade Living book . . . author Tania McCartney offered up a bit of a reveal on her blog tour post today.  What i love about this book is that it's so much more than creative projects to try but how to style your handmade products - with inspirational settings, accessories & adornments.

So here's a sneak peek at how my pencil roll 'how to' was styled, pretty cute non??  As i make these professionally, i made this version a little differently, it's a simple to try with endless fabric combinations, i'd love to see people give it a go.  
Want to win a copy, check out this post, follow & comment, see, simple!! 
I'm sure i'll love the rain when we have a farm, but really, can you just hold off while Handmade Market is on Saturday, i'm outdoors & i'd love to stay dry!!  Love Posie

productive weekend so it's time for a G I V E A W A Y

Greetings all,
Well it's amazing what you can do under deadline pressure & leaving a 6y.o. boy in charge of your IT department.  Here are some images from the of my creative world this weekend.  Would you describe me as loving colour, detail, fun & children?? 

NOW for a G I V E A W A Y - you have 5 days to enter & there are 5 gift prizes!! 
While i'm developing my handmade stationery packs for 2010, i'm starting with printed folk & flora stickers & paper chains.  Each gift prize pack has 25 stickers & a paper chain kit (includes paper strips & extra mix match stickers, a little prettier than using a stapler or glue don't you think??)  If you don't want to make paper chains, they make sweet bracelets for a party!!  See, i'm FULL of ideas.  The stickers are different shapes & sizes, enjoy & good luck!!  After the response to the 'packaging' post earlier this month, I'm confident you'll like these prizes.

How to enter - please join the 'Fun Bloggers Who Like Posie' over on the right to follow this blog & leave a comment to this post.  It's so easy!!  I promise my blog posts will always be happy, upbeat, creative & all round nice.  I really enjoy blogging, checking out other people's blogs (I'll visit you too), it's a sweet community & ace social outlet, which you can join in when it suits you (notice how many mummies blog between 10p.m. & 6a.m. sleep ladies SLEEP!!)  Blogging is certainly filling a big hole in my heart this year.  Thanks everyone, good luck!!  International bloggers are welcome too, but this close to Australia Day, i kind of hope Australia rules the winner's circle.  Love Posie