Due to being generally disorganised and busy, I didn’t make a booking in time and so instead I volunteered to come out and take photos for Kate. Here are just a few…

It was great to see so many women enjoying a pot of tea, some cake and a chat.

Sock Monkey from Poppy, Bean and Bloss hard at work, guarding the sign.

Julie Nichols (Handmade Market) and Lisa Barrett (Canberra’s Got Style and Tango and James) were there of course.  Love you both!

I really liked this display - SEE ART.  Everywhere.

What looks to be four generations catching up over a lovely warming tea.

Gorgeous Jennie McClelland and her gorgeous girls.

I sewed up a bunch of winter dresses for the day.

Karmen Sega and her leather shoes and bags was there.

Last but definitely not least - I was so glad to catch up with my good friend Jess (on the right) and meet her friend Kellie, who was up from Melbourne to see French and Saunders - and OMG  Jess met Dawn French after the show!

Here is my baby when she was just a baby - she had the bluest eyes and the longest feet as a baby.  She still does actually…

She is right into Littlest Pet Shop right now, so we had a Pet Shop Party with six of her friends over, and asked them to bring a soft toy pet to join in.

We had bears and horses and cats and dogs, all in baskets at the Pet Shop, and had activities like Pet Shop Beauty Parlour, where they decorated their pets with hair clips, bows and ribbons.

We also had competitions for Cutest Pet, Fluffiest Pet and whatever else we could think of, complete with little certificates made by Sam! There was Disco Dancing and Make a Crown for your Pet sessions.   There was a birthday cake and plenty of whipped cream and fresh strawberries to decorate it.  There was caramel popcorn and chips.  There was a gaggle of gorgeous and happy kids.

We could have been organised and less seat-of-our-pants in the way we ran the games but they all had a wonderful time, so it was a success.  Happy Birthday my big girl.

I got busy last night and this morning making a cute little toy for the new baby.  It love how it turned out!  I call it a Flat Teddy but Jenny Ryan calls it a Square Bear in her book, Sew Darn Cute:

Polka dots and ric rac and hearts, oh my!

Here’s to a happy and healthy baby, Bek!  Enjoy these last few weeks… or days?!?

• we hosted a BBQ lunch for 12 to celebrate Sam’s 17th birthday (also included some fun moments with the Wii) 
• packed up some cards, zip purses and girl’s dresses to take out to Kate’s shop - Miss Chief Maker at Picturesque Pialligo, and took an order for more dresses 
• got invited by Kate to her Winter High Tea, at her shop out at Pialligo
• got invited to a Baby Shower for Bec for next weekend - can’t believe your baby is coming so soon!
• ate a yummy Japanese dinner (sushi rolls and gyoza) cooked by Sam and Paul on Sunday night - again for Sam’s birthday (he loves Japan)
• packed up another box of things (zip purses and handbags) to be stocked at the National Gallery Gift Shop
• did a quick visit of the Soft Sculpture exhibition, the Sculpture Gallery and a few of the permanent exhibitions while we were at the National Gallery (had to be quick before the kid’s enthusiasm ran out)
• bought a wide angle lens for cheap - a second-hand Sigma 10-20mm 4-5.6 Ultra Wide from someone who found that he didn’t really use it much so I got it for $400 instead of the new price of $1200!  I know once the novelty wears off, I probably won’t use it that much either but for that price it’s totally fine!  I love the look of wide angle shots.

Getting some of my Red Instead products into shops and boutiques has been something I had wanted to do for a long time, but I have always had some reason not to do it.  Confidence in my pricing and approaching shops with my things was always something I couldn’t seem to get over.  Well, I guess I have gotten over it now.  It helps that they both approached me, which gives me confidence in what I am making and the prices I am asking.  Stupid self-esteem issues hanging over from a long time ago.  Life is a journey…

These are optional extras…

Here are a few measurements for a decent sized lightbox.  For the base you will need a piece of MDF that is 390 x 382 mm.  2 sides of 390 x 150 mm, 2 sides of 350 x 150 mm.  The MDF is 15 mm thick. You will also need a piece of perspex that is 355 x 350 mm to fit into the top.  Get the men at the shop to cut it up for you - they have big machines to do all the work for them, they just measure the wood and press a button.   Wish we had one of those.

You will also need some little flouro lights, a switch, an electricity cord - and a person (see above) who will fit them all together for you.

Once the box has been built and you have turned the electricity back on (maybe your husband didn’t know as much about wiring the lights and switch together as he thought he did) it’s nearly done.  It’s your turn now.  Don’t worry, all the hard work has been done for you.  Get yourself an iron (one of those cute little quilting irons is perfect) and some iron-on melamine edging. A brayer is good for pressing it down too.  Cut about a million little strips to cover all the edges that are left unfinished and use the iron to melt the glue on the edging strip.  Prepare yourself, it sounds easy but it takes forever and your arm will hurt at the end of it.  Don’t forget to tell your husband how hard you worked, he will really appreciate hearing it.

Pretty soon, you will have one of these.  Hopefully without listening to too much swearing.  And all you had to do was bring him a cool drink, keep the kids out of his hair and drive back to Bunnings to get a new piece of MDF cut, due to “measurement issues”.

If your husband is extra clever,  he will even put a hinge-y bit on the bottom to raise it up like an easel.

Turn it on and find something to trace!

Remember to thank your husband enthusiastically and for extra points, don’t take 6 months to blog it or he will get surprisingly snippy and make a “pointed” comment every time you want to photograph the dinner you just cooked to blog it.

So I handed over my EFTPOS card and waited while the guy took a couple of links out of the metal band to make it fit my wrist better.  I was standing there waiting, looking around when I see a familiar face.  A (homeless) guy I have seen before is stopped by a woman who sees his “Big Issue” bag and wants to buy a magazine from him.  He must be on the way to his vendor spot and he smiles when she wants to buy one before he is even set up.

I am standing there idly watching this as I hold my (cheap) old watch in my hands, looking at it.  I bought this watch a few months ago as a fill-in, because my good watch had died and I couldn’t find a new one I liked.  Then the Big Issue vendor comes over to the counter and asks me - do I know what time it is.  I look at the cheap watch in my hands and I think about him without a watch (or much else) and me spending $180 so easily, just because the “silver” is coming off my $20 K Mart watch.  So I tell him the time then I offer him my old watch.  He asks me how much do I want for it, and I give him a smile and tell him - it’s yours.

His eyes smile at me but his face is more guarded.  He seems a little taken aback.  I know he appreciates it.  I know it wasn’t a big thing for me to do, but it makes me happy inside.  Maybe people can ask him the time from now on.

He needed a watch and I had one I didn’t need any more, and we met by chance at just the right moment.  That’s good timing.

I had many of my items marked down, some as much as 50% off as I really wanted to clear some stock out and make room for new.  It worked - I came home with less in the station wagon and many many $50s in my purse!   I love Handmade Market!  Thanks Julie for all your hard work in organising it for us.

I’ve already signed up for the next one - put the date in your diary:  Saturday September 12th at Albert Hall, Canberra.

Handmade brings together Canberra’s talented artists, designers, stylists, craftspeople and gourmets all at one destination. It is a unique event to connect the makers of beautiful things to people who appreciate quality, handcrafted and locally designed goods.

To be honest, after this one I think I will be taking a break from markets for a little bit - I need to get my sewjo back.  Make it fun again, and leave the retail and business parts alone for a bit.  I haven’t sewn for myself or my kids in I don’t know how long and I haven’t done any art or scrapbooking in six months.  It’s time to rediscover the fun.  Stay tuned…

Shop Indie, Win Indie.

There’s less than one week left to enter the 2009 Happily Handmade Giveaway!  Entries close on Wednesday May 13th so hurry hurry for your chance to win a basket of indie products.   There’s over $8000 worth of handmade goodies to be won by 25 lucky winners around the world.  That’s a LOT of handmade love.

How to Enter

My shop RED INSTEAD handmade is one of the sponsors of this great contest and there are tons more listed on my competition entry page.   That cloud purse below is one of the items I sent all the way over to the US as a prize - you can see the other things I sent on the HHG blog.

You can enter once through each of the Indie Shop Sponsors’ sites - why not visit them all to increase your chances of winning!  Look for the Happily Handmade Entry Site badge on each sponsor’s site and follow the instructions to enter.  While you are there, have a look around, and if you see something you like, bookmark the site or buy a little something.  All the sponsors have kindly donated the prizes and we’d all love you to check our products out just a little before you go on to the next entry form.

Enter the Giveaway »

For more information, official rules, and to see photos of all the prizes being given away, please visit the giveaway home page at www.happilyhandmade.com.   No entries will be accepted after May 13th, with winners being notified on May 18th.  An official list of winners will be posted on the Happily Handmade website as soon as they have been confirmed. 

Best of Luck!

We bought a Wii on the weekend and we can’t believe how much freaking fun it is!  We got a bundle that inludes the Wii console, Wii Sports, the Balance Board and Wii Fit and it’s all awesome! I’m not a gamer, but this is different and so great.

With the Playstation and other consoles, you sit on the couch twiddling your thumbs but with this, you are up and moving and really working hard.  I am loving tennis, bowling, baseball, yoga, golf - basically all of it.

The Wii Fit makes exercising fun and easy to follow along.  So far I’ve only worked on the Yoga and the Balance Games but I’m keen to try the rest soon.

There is strength training, balance training, aerobic workouts (including jogging on the spot!) and all sorts of fun ways to burn some energy.  It tracks your BMI and weight and allows you to set goals and work towards them.  And all with your little Mii person and the cute little sounds and animations.  SO FUN!

It’s Paul’s birthday today (happy birthday!) and so of course, one of his presents had to be a Wii game.

Skate It uses the Balance Board technology as well as the Wii Remote and Nunchuk to control your skater dude - I can hear Paul yelling at the TV right now as he practices and tries to master the controls and make the guy on the screen do what he wants him to!  It has a great voiceover guy, telling you things like: Your arms must be real tired just shaking that thing around hey? Whatever man, it was pretty sweet anyway! as you shake the remote around trying to do tricks for big points.  Funny.

My sister and my husband share a birthday and what did she pick up off layby over the weekend for herself - and the family!  The exact same package as me!  Now we ring each other up and talk about the new things we have tried!

LOVE IT!