Donna Hay General Store

Greetings, this was top on my list of new shops to visit while in Sydney. Conveniently just around the corner from Piggot's Store & it's grand opening only 2 weeks earlier, i spent 2 hours in here. Obviously i was shopping without an anchor (read: husband) or any distractions (read: children). With an entrance as pretty as this, you can guess that it's equally gorgeous in side too. Take a peek . . . A little something i couldn't resist even though my children can all read & write now, i will keep these for the grandchildren. The prettiest French alphabet blocks ever.

My next purchase will be 2-3 of these massive floor cushions, basically can't choose the colour. They are stuffed full of quality filling & my reasoning is that at only $139, i could barely make them cheaper.

Light fittings to die for, isn't this just gorgeous?? The fireplace matches the exposed sandstone in the stair well.

This is a classic example of what Donna does best, makes every day essentials, simply beautiful.

Oh oh oh, imagine being the lucky recipient of one of these special handmade bears. The super knowledgable staff explained that the fur is hand died & the outfits made from vintage fabrics, all in France. At around $380, they are super special & a treasured item you would keep forever . . .

I'm just going to pretend my children have these chairs in their bedrooms . . . too much fun!!

Much to my surprise after filling a bag with goodies down stairs, was this amazing corner of French toys & accessories upstairs. Simply beautiful, pristine, soft & makes you want to have more babies just so you can play with these gorgeous goodies.

Imagine this is how my children's bedroom shelving looks on any given day . . .

Yes, couldn't resist these wrappers, what prettier way to offer up a cup cake, mini quiche . . .

I have committed to red Kitchen Aid accessories in my kitchen, however, ice blue was a close 2nd.

When my husband came to collect me/ drag me out of the store, he was pleased to know i had purchased him a freshly baked brownie. No, he didn't share it. Gosh it smelt delicious.

Image your pantry looked like this . . . i can recommend the icing spatula, clever size.

Are you a Donna Hay fan/ fanatic/ wanna be?? At the next Handmade Canberra's UpMarket on Saturday 23rd May at Albert Hall . . . Donna has generously donated a raffle prize. So come along, see the awesome Julie at the entrance with the raffle & Handmade merchandise, fill in the ticket & enter. Then come over to the Posie Market Stall for some more smiles. Love Posie

Power House Museum

Greetings & welcome to school holidays, while in Sydney we took the children to the Power House Museum. Better yet, Questacon families receive free entry (yes!!) so went spent a few great hours running (my children do not walk) around this multilevel complex. I'll add as many descriptions as i can remember. I feel like it was sooo long ago i was studying all this at University. Actually this is just down the road (Broadway) from Sydney Uni. I think my little nerds know more than me now. Below is a still, fascinating.
Not sure, maybe some polymer representing something, my 2nd daughter doing her best game show case arms she could muster. Then they all started doing this . . . & sorry the image won't save the right way up!!

Space man at the shuttle display, kind of alien really . . .

This is the spinning room where the oustide moves & makes everyone tilt, funny to watch!!

There is an entire room dedicated to the old steam trains which used to chug around Sydney. I especially love this time table board, but it's missing my old line, the North Shore to Hornsby!!

These ace little children's toilet were a fantastic find & suit a big family. More discrete adult toilet for mummy next door. Didn't see anyone else using this bathroom, it was also spotless.

This was fascinating, had the children captivated for ages . . . using a computer touch screen to stop & start the train with a red or green light, turn the lights on & off in the station house, not to mention speed up the train, which of course, the children all tried to make it crash!!

Oh i wish i could bring this home, a laser cutting machine, from boxes to cardboard, excellent!!

This was especially cool, it's the Bejing Olympics pool cube, designed by an Australian. Had my little fellow in particular completely captivated. They have video interviews with the designer too!!

Cochlear ear implants, soooo clever, celebrating Australian inventions.

Sheep shearing, follow the lights & it makes clipper noises, bleats & lights up red if you go to shear in the wrong direction.

Oh i wish i could have cracked the perspex & pinched this one, isn't it lovely!!

This was fun, all the old fashioned chores little girls like mine would have had to have done not too long ago . . . & to think the tears roll now when i ask them to pick up their toys & clothes!!

Super clever, braille, so glad it showed up on the camera. They even had braille Play Boy magazine.

Old fashioned kitchen complete with bug & rodent killing tips, must have been tough housewives!!

They had this construction area for children under 6, i only had one qualifier for that age group, my 5 year old son, however, his 3 big sisters had a better time than he did. Lots to build, knock down, move around with cranes, all while wearing high visibility vests & hard hats. Too cute, well for the girls, a certain little boy is a little too obsessed about fashion to mix fluro with navy. This is on the bottom floor called Zoe's House.

So just up from Darling Harbour/ Ultimo/ Pyrmont depending on where you park, is the fabulous Power House Museum. We didn't do the Star Wars exhibition (very long queues) & resisted purchasing any Lego or merchandise from the gift shop. We do love our Lego. Love Posie

Meet Me At Mike's craft book lauch at Metropolis Book Store

Read all about it . . . something that took almost 18 months in the making so it was 'just right' is this fabulous new book from the Meet Me At Mike's queen Pip Lincolne. Pip had asked 25 of the craftiest designers to donate a project for the book, which has proven to be a fabulous collection of useful projects, for all skill levels. Packed with inspiration, tips, instructions & patterns, you'll find pretty pictures & quirky bits & pieces from each designer in there. I'm a bit shy when having my photo taken, however, i happily had 2 pictures of myself & my big sister from the earlier 80's when we were little little girls travelling the world. The book launch was at the lovely Metropolis Book Shop in Swanston Street, where designers & crafty types alike enjoyed cup cakes & chatter. Most enjoyable. The lovely Erin Lewis (of paper flower fame in the book) kindly took me in for the night. I couldn't resist taking snaps of Pip on her 'stage' & the super Jho from One Red Robin. It was a bit of craft fan fare overload actually. I'm selling the book on line & at markets, it's highly recommended by lots of magazines & people in the know, plus me!! Love Posie

back with a blast . . .

Greetings blog world, as part of my new policy to take care of myself, the things i like doing & the fact that baby number 4 is all grown up & starting Primary School in a couple of weeks . . . i am starting off the year as i intend to continue it - getting fitter, keeping a better house, working with a clear head (read: child free after 7 years in business!!) & back to blogging. i really enjoyed the little world of blogging, i just found moving back to a big city (ok, Canberra) took up more free time & mental space than i imagined.

So quick update: we're in the middle of our 2 year posting to Canberra. We live in the country & the children go to school in the city, so i have a country drive each morning & afternoon, where we count the kangaroos, cows, sheep, horses & their Spring foals . . . it's fun & the fantastic school is worth the trek.

After spending much of 2008 floundering with the market scene in the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) & wondering how or why there was such a difference between the flourishing market scene of little old Darwin, compared to the well populated & flush capital of this country . . . i felt a little deflated to say the least. Then come November, after feeling much the same way, a crafty & successful fellow Military Wife started a new market to get Canberra up, out & supporting we local crafty designers. Well what a fantastic concept, it's a genuine handmade & handcrafted market, aptly named 'Handmade, Canberra's UpMarket' which is perfect!! Just once a quarter & on Saturdays, each event is held at the grand old assembly hall named Albert Hall in Yarralumla. Visit the Handmade market website to sign up for information on events & see Julie's great work.

So kicking off this year with a new attitude, knowing i have the nice Hall Country Market first Sunday of each month, 4 gorgeous Handmade Markets - which also have a mini show case in Civic the Saturday prior & yes, i have a position there too, i might find time to attend Gorman House (also on Saturdays) & the odd Old Bus Depot Market (on Sundays). i love doing markets, meeting new people, listening to their squeals of delight about certain products, fabrics & gifts they pick for loved ones . . . & their wonderful ideas & concepts which keep Posie fresh.

Now most recently i spent a week in Sydney, just me & the children. Took the Jeep for it's first biggish trip (can't do family trips with my husband as it's only a 5 seater) & i learnt the joy of cruise control. So easy to set the speed & be able to focus on your lane, traffic & children, not constantly checking your speedo!! Made for a very enjoyable smooth trip & with the M5, M7 & M2 (for a price) we were door to door at my parents in 3 hours. Same on the way home, only with a dinner stop & the McDonalds i think is still sitting my belly, oh the cramps!!

While we were in Sydney visiting my parents & the children were swimming 5 times a day, be it our pool, my brother's pool, Retro Mummy's pool or the beach . . . 3 of my children have olive skin & even with hats, sun shirts, not swimming around lunch & loads of sun screen, with their Italian heritage they are quite brown indeed. One evening we had a picnic with our favourite Army family who are living in Seaforth, down on Clontarf Beach & they swam in the harbour, collected sea shells, fish & star fish (all returned safely thank you). Gosh, this is how we grew up, care free, in the water until sunset with BBQ & salads for dinner. Apart from my parent's health concerns, it was a lovely trip.

Back to Retro Mummy, she's awesome!! Now with twins, who are so cute & so huge for 5 months, we popped them on little patchwork rugs & took big sister Keira in for a swim. Corrie looks fantastic, in her new home, now 3 children & cookies of course, we had a Pool Party. With my children being born & bred in Darwin, it goes without saying that they have all been swimming since birth, so now they are all great swimmers & i gave Corrie a glimpse of the future - 4 children splashing about safely & very independent. 4 children in 4 years isn't everyone's idea of family perfection, but for Corrie & i, it's ideal, a nice surprise & fun.

As always, i couldn't leave Retro Mummy without practically buying up all her stock of fabrics, as she's put the business on hold for a little while, with babies everywhere, so i had a ball!! While also in the 'hood, i picked up my latest haul of the beautiful Rosie Flo books (full set), which are selling so well at the markets with my pencil rolls, i still haven't added them to the site or shot them!! That's on my To Do list this week, along with some new toys for the Vintage & Retro ToY sHoP i run plus lots more fabrics - Babushkas anyone??!!

. . . fabrics come in different colours & limited availablity on small products like cards, badges, coin purses . . .

Getting ready for the flurry of the market season, as always, when it rains it pours. Not sure what people were doing in the down time between Christmas & New Year, as i had 15 new orders, including shops, lovely, so i've been flat out!! Come the end of the month, i have a birthday, the Handmade mini show case, Hall Markets then the big Handmade Market. I'll be posting information about all of these closer to the date. Handmade's theme for Feb 7th is Handmade with Love, gorgeous don't you think & i'll have a dedicated table of Valentine's Day inspired gifts (Peggy-Jean cards, loved up badges, Lark knitted chocolates & soaps). Ah . . .

. . . Hansel & Gretel puzzle by Djeco in the ToY sHoP . . .

So thanks for stopping by, 2009 is going to be a fantastic year. For me it's having a set work plan & hours, the Meet Me At Mike's craft book (yep, i'm featured but that's a post all unto itself) the launch of my children's lable sTaRt oF FaShiOn with super cute vintage detailing & planning our family move to Brisbane in December, a lot is happening in my little world!! Until next time, love Posie

Welcome back to blog land, live from Canberra!!

Greetings all, this time from Canberra, Australia's national capital. Just in case you forget, they have it on nearly every sign, building & advertisement, "national this, nation's that". Plus the enormous parliament house & surrounds is hard to miss - especially if you get lost on one of the circuits around town, or take the wrong exit off a round about, only to find yourself at another round about, like you're trapped in a pin ball machine. It's very easy to loose your bearings here, lots of bridges over the same river, you can spiral out of control. Plus for me, it's with 4 children in the car pointing out the 'crocodiles' in the lake or debate on sharks. Being stylish nerds, they love the Art Galleries, Museums & Questacon, especially the Aboriginal exhibits wondering why it's all so new to other people, as our children are Northern Territory born & bred, it's so familiar to them.

It's been a lovely4 months (3 in the house) since we found ourselves in Canberra, a fantastic town for people who don't like to spend much time at home - there is always some festival, event or park concert on!! We live in the countryside in the north of the Australian Capital Territory, with farms & paddocks of horses, sheep, cows & Kangaroos, the whole way to school. It still makes me giggle when we drive along the airport road, that it's literally an airport in a sheep paddock, making it very Australian indeed. We do miss Darwin, it's easy lifestyle, friendly folk & warm Tropical weather, so far i think we've had everything but snow thrown at us in Canberra. I like Winter wear, so it's fine by me, but the children are reluctant to rug up, or embrace pyjamas, so once we start getting below zero, we'll see!!

While it's a very conservative town, people wear an alarming amount of black or grey clothing, not dissimilar to Melbourne, i've done a few markets now & my lovely customers find my products interesting, colourful & fun. Currently i'm just doing the Old Bus Depot Markets in Kingston the last Sunday of the month & Hall Markets at Hall Showground the first Sunday of the month. I must admit, the outdoor Darwin market scene has left me feeling far more comfortable at Hall Markets with their rural feel out in the middle of a paddock with the marquee. Spookily enough, about half a dozen customers at the first market, which i hadn't adverstised that i was going to be there, had read about me, or knew who i was, in the least stalkerish kind of way. I've even made pals with some of these first customers, especially the fellow mummies. So thanks to all those lovely articals & products featuring in Shop 4 Kids, Shop Til You Drop, Cosmopolitan, Total Girl & the like, i felt rather chuffed. Sometimes when we mummies have all our children at school & work alone at home in a studio, you have no clue who might be reading up or about to order from you, so this was a really lovely reception.

So this is my second year of having the 3 girls in Primary School & the boy in PreSchool, 3 days per week, i can't tell you how efficient i am in the new super size studio (read: we don't have 2 lounge suites or dining settings, so all our furniture is in the living room/ open plan mega room with kitchen & doors to the back garden). So i baggsed the so called formal lounge/ dining area at the front of the house as mine, it's easy for couriers, fantastic natural lighting & makes for a sweet show room, all at the same time!!

Over the blog break my super clever husband, web designer novice, redesigned the entire website & we added the much awaited ToY sHoP (especially by our children). I will be promoting that once it's complete, maybe mid year . . . & final exciting news is that we have adopted a new German Shepherd. He's 10 weeks old & just about to hop in the car to collect the children. Best Easter Gift the bunny could have brought us. We had to put our eldery Shepherd down when we left Darwin in January, so this little puppy has really filled the hole in our hearts. We have a new laptop for the business, i officially fried my 3rd laptop in as many years, so now we lease them, much better financial option as we're left with a metal brick at the end . . . anyway, once i figure out how the use the new camera software, i'll add some snaps. Said puppy has just run off with some thread, so i'll chase him down - i.e. follow the lime green thread around the kitchen. He's an outdoor puppy, but has to know how to behave inside, just in case the Winter is too cold, snowy & blowy. Plus he's my new best friend. Tally ho blog land, i'll be back shortly, promise. Love Posie

Not Waving, Drowning . . . in Festivities

Greeting Christmas maniacs, I'm here, just flat out . . . i have the last 3 markets of the year in the next 8 days (all at Nightcliff if you're Darwin locals, tomorrow Sunday, Thursday evening & next Sunday) then it's finally Christmas!! I also have 4 children on school holidays, heat stroke, a husband interstate for a wedding (congratulations Rob & Lisa, we love you guys!!) & an entire house to pack up for our impending move to Canberra. Of course, as you do all of this, you keep one eye on the weather, just in case a cyclone decides to blow all my packing boxes away!!
All a little crazy, i'm chasing my tail & i only finished our extended family Christmas shopping on Friday, poof, mailed off & in the hands of Australia Post now. We don't do Christmas gifts for our siblings anymore, but those grandparents, 19 nieces & nephews & our own children sure add up, especially with some having birthdays in December & January. We do seperate gifts, but post them all at the same time. I still have 5 more Posie orders PLUS 3 Edna&Alice May orders to complete this week - they're coming, i promise . . . a see a few more very late nights this week. I think our twinnies turned 6 this week?? I baked two birthday cakes in the shape of 6's plus 4 dozen cupcakes for 3 different class parties, it's all a bit of a blur.
I ran some Christmas Specials on the Posie website during the month of November. After emailing about 10% of my customers, the response was so huge, i couldn't alert any more potential customers or cope with more orders. Next year, with trusty Melissa from Peggy-Jean by my side, we will plan for such an explosion & start preparing mid year & offer ready made goods to compliment the custom made, to take the pressure off. Thanks everyone who ordered, it has made for a fantastic end to the year, especially as both Posie & Edna will be shut down for the entire month of January 2008, as we move interstate & are held up in a hotel for 4 weeks. I can relax then, ahhh, deep breath & rest.
Finally & MOST importantly to you blog readers, the competition . . . i will list all the entries, as some ideas were left as comments, some emailed & some mentioned at my market stall - gee you all have excellent imaginations & concepts, love it!! I will announce the winner(s) & see to creating something special for the silly season. There are reasons for & against a few products, like other companies already specialising in that particular range of goods, manufacturing & production issues, postage etc, so i have a lot to analyse. Thank you all for your interest, it's been brilliant!! Love Posie