market wrap up & school holidays begin

Greetings all,

What a weekend!!  A double Handmade Market, mercifully indoors (it poured with rain) & due to weather/ football finals/ long weekend/ school holidays . . . crowds were down.  Ditto my effort, as i am still suffering from exhuastion & woke up both mornings vomiting, not a good sign for something i used to love doing!!  Bless Rosalind from Grace Designs who saved me with some drugs. 

I set up my stall on Saturday morning, with my twin girls & we had some fun meeting new designers & bloggers + selling lots of brooches, fabric, buttons & bloomers.  With my stall already set up for Sunday morning, i did some shopping.
First stop, Mookah.  I love those ladies & their stylish screen printed goodness from country Victoria.  I bought a beautiful skirt from Leisa, so happy with the colours.  I was in love with the large moose floor cushion (it's not our first Mookah floor cushion, i know they are bloody fantastic).  Let's just say my son's dimples = discount!!  Thanks Margaret. 

 On our way to Heidi's The Curious Chocolatier's macarons for brunch . . . we stopped by the uber clever Gillian at Look Mama, her cards are wet-your-pants funny with her devilish sense of humour.  I collected some badges & 6 packs of stickers. 

 My darling boy was so brilliant, ALL day, he looked around, winked at the ladies nearby like Miss Haidee (she's a twin, vintage lover, living in Tasmania) & Red Parka Designs (hi Jen, a sweet Tasmanian living in Melbourne, dreaming of home).  My son brought me hot chocolate when i could barely stand & only asked for $2 for a balloon animal.  As you know we're not an electronic gadget kind of family - he played with business cards, pencils & my cash tin.  He carried my baskets back to the car, even dragged a trestle table into the rain, muscles!!  Bless his heroic heart, i was waiting for a trolley. 

Markets are funny events.  I didn't like my neighbour.  I know that is horrible & unprofessional to mention, but i know they are too superior to read my blog.  Let's just say, if the stall next to you offers to shift over if you need extra space (i paid extra for a corner, i had room to wiggle) & they don't even look up, just mutter "no, we won't" . . . you wonder why bother to be nice at all??  Then they glared at me for the rest of market, especially when customers stood in their stall space to reach my products!!  

Thanks so much for your 80's dress up tips in my last post - so funny to think people dressed like that seriously . . . shoulder pads, high hair, fluoro & eyeshadow . . . as daily business attire, now it's 'dress ups'. I'll let you know how we go on the weekend at the 21st.
Now it's time to kick off the school holidays - i've already washed the dog, done the garden & back verandah, sorted my high schooler's room out . . . not bad seeing i was still vomiting at midnight.  Let me at that linen cupboard, love Posie

i'm grateful for . . . 'my inner '80s release'

Well hello ladies, or should i say laydeeez??

 My eldest brother's eldest daughter is having an 80's themed 21st party.  I was born in 1975 & can safely say i was spared the worst of the 1980's.  My big sister was modelling so i got her hand-me-downs & my friends would say "those red jeans are rad".  My husband remembers grey leather shoes & a matching skinny tie, shudder.  Even more shocking, he graduated high school in 1989 & was let loose in nightclubs wearing such fashion.  When i mentioned the '80's' theme, he suggested i swing by his parent's home to borrow his totally awesome leather jacket dude!!  After 18 years with this man, i never knew said jacket existed!!  What is next??  Sweat bands, leg warmers, a WHAM album??  He was still wearing hypercolour in 1994, it mysteriously went missing when we got married!! 

 Within minutes of tearing open the invitation, i was on line ordering Tshirts & $3 sunglasses for my children, having Pretty In Pink flash backs, Footloose was in my head & bad fashion had never been so much fun.  I rang my sister & was SHOCKED that she is considering not dressing up, like what, like not at, like all.  Not even a chunky lace Madonna tie in her hair.  

I'm so very Grateful (hello hostess Lemon Rhodes) to release my inner 80's with a sense of humour. 
Now i need your help, suggestions please, what do you remember of 80's fashion??  I'm thinking . . . strategically placed hair gel, bubble skirts, thick black elastic belts & fluoro colours.  One mum at school suggested anything flammable would be perfect. 
Can you remember words or sayings??  Like the Tshirt above, "Say It, Don't Spray It".  We could dress 80's & talk 80's too!!  Love Posie
PS i'll be back tonight after the Handmade Market day 1 - wish me extra luck now, my EFTPOS machine has been corrupted (as in the date says 1975, a fine year, but not for EFTPOS) & hopefully a kind ANZ IT guy will come to the market with a new money-taking-machine, it's happened before at a market, he was easy to find, the ONLY bloke at my stall!!

things i'm loving . . . 'printed crochet'

Greetings all,

What a week of howling stormy weather, super slow internet, high school athletics (next stop: state finals) & market sewing panic.  Not a lot of time for blog reading.  Bring on school holidays i say - 3.25p.m. can not come around fast enough for me today!! 

Then i catch my breath to find Queen of Handmade Market has left flowers on my doorstep.  I haven't had a chance to say how much i appreciated your comments about my mummy & her Alzheimer's, it's still raw, i'm unsure how i feel, beyond sad.  It's lovely, heart warming & so kind of you to care.    

 Busy with new fabrics & products, these Kristen Doran crochet screen printed beauties will be on my Market stall this weekend, loving her style.  Buy a cushion, purse, brooch or the fabric panel to make your own handmade goodness.

While i'm still learning the yarn version of crochet, Paisley Jade is quite the amazing crochet queen . . . Things i'm Loving this week with my hot little hands, will have to be the screen printed version.  Wish me luck here in Canberra this weekend, Saturday & Sunday, it's going to be huge!!  Plus Floriade, then school holidays, it's all super exciting!!  Love Posie

our creative space . . . 'softie bombing' . . . a nod to Myrtle & Eunice

Greetings all,
Tania from Myrtle & Eunice blog . . . lists 'crafty mischief' as her main game & my children are devotees to such cheek, especially those twins.  Here they are . . . they look innocent enough, waiting outside the house for me round up their siblings into the car.

 Sneakliy, they brought out a hat box filled with tiny softies which they had been making all weekend, & started positioning them in the tree, our only tree.

 They each have names, personalities & food preferences.  Smudge, for instance, likes strawberries - they were in the hat box too, with hobby fill stuck to them, mmmm.

No need to tell you what goes on during car trips & school holidays.  I'm thinking Smudge will be frisky & start breeding??  No need to wonder why my good scissors & darning needles keep disappearing, along with all my special threads. 
Um, should i assume that - the day after my middle girls softie bombed our solitary & leafless tree on the nature strip - the next door neighbours put up a 'For Lease' sign - it's just a coincidence right??  Want to be my neighbour??  More crafty mischief here, love Posie

wordless Wednesday . . . 'succulicious'

Greetings all,

My lips are sealed . . .

 Succulicious succulents.

For even less wordy Wordless Wednesdays, play along with Faith Hope & a Whole Lotta Love.  What do you think readers - did i pass the wordless test this week??  Love Posie

the unglamorous side of designing . . .

Greetings all,

Ever wonder how designer's really work in their studios??  I dream of having a beautiful big old vintage cutting table, suitable shelving & storage - i'm using up as much of my stock as possible so when we do finally move into our homestead, it's with a small stash of materials & clutter.  I have a fantastic studio, don't get me wrong, but i often find myself cutting on the floor . . .

 I may be in my pyjama pants, in the middle of the day.  Ok, so if i wear a skirt on the school run, i can't get comfortable on the floor, so i change.  Like my new leopard print cardigan??  Another must wear for we designers in cold studios, the mighty cardigan.  Oh from that angle it looks more like leopard slug, sorry, just showing what i see!! 

 Truth is, i get easily distracted, especially when making lunch & picking salad ingredients from my herb garden.  I'll wander off & water the plants, play with my puppy & compost the willow-vine-crowns my children make.  They look so pretty but they don't 'dry' well, or i'd keep them as wreaths. 

 I'm a bit of a stickler for being on time for the afternoon school run, especially as our car parks at both primary & high school are hyper competitive, so i normally knock off early, toss a magazine in the car & read while i'm parked outside school.  My 4th graders can see my car from their class room & call out to me, it's so cute!!  They have a patient teacher.  Actually she often tosses forgotten lunch boxes & jackets out the window to me. 

You might consider the lounging about on the floor cutting fabric in jammie pants a bit lazy, not a real job??  It's all about comfort & efficiency for me, steady production lines whatever it takes.  If that means hand sewing on the lounge watching The Hills on a Friday early afternoon, i'll do it. 

Can anyone explain The Hills to me??  We watched it in Italy last year (one of the only English speaking shows) & i can't tell if it's scripted, acted, reality or why i worry??  I think it's real but my husband insists with the camera angles, it has to be directed.  I know, why does he care either??  We pride ourselves on loathing reality television but the fashion & lifestyle these young girls have, fascinates me.  FYI Lauren is my husband's favourite, she's so adorable & i simply don't understand Audrina, Heidi is beyond hope & why isn't Whitney on it enough, she's the most sensible one.  Love Posie

social commentary Sunday . . . 'how far would you go for your children??'

400km!!
Greetings all,

Yes indeedy, that is how far i went for my children, within 24 hours of party deliveries, pick ups & taxiing them to the next party this weekend.

For local folk, the suburbs & villages of Gungahlin, Bywong, Bungendore, Jerrabomberra & Belconnen are the areas which define the ACT & our state border neighbour NSW, i went to them all, twice. I had done 130km by 9a.m. on Sunday alone.

While i was touring around the 'hood we want to buy in, i checked out some farms. I now know Real Estate speak for 'frontage onto road' does not actually mean there is a driveway to the property. I kind of thought access to a block of land would be included??  I'm learning fast.

I appreciate every party invitation magnetised to our fridge. Parties come with great effort & expense to put on, i'm forever grateful my children get invited to them. This weekend my high schooler went off to the countryside, then a movie & dinner in the city, back to the property for a late night spa (all girls, oh the stories i could tell/ flash backs i've been listening too, "truth or dare") then horse riding the next day. Glorious. My son went to an all girls sleepover too, he was in his element. Then 3 went to a Laser Tag party, which was fantastic, the dads were teaming up with the children too. There was one consistent winner, the federal policeman daddy.  My guys would love to see how their soldier daddy would go. 

I got to spend Saturday night with just these 2 girls, it was so fun, eating strawberries, dinner from their favourite restaurant, watching a movie & camping out in the lounge with the puppy at their feet (worked out well, there was quite the storm last night).
So this is more of a community announcement for those of you who live 'out of area' like us or a warning for high school . . . where children come from far & wide, so will the birthday invitations - you could be travelling a very long way for the party deliveries. Love Posie