SparklePanda Design

The Versatile Solution for Modern Blogging

2010-07-16T22:20:00.000+09:30

I'm already wondering if Ikea can sue me for that headline...

I've won an Award, I have! Which is pretty cool since I win NOTHING. Except that CD player. And that Christmas Hamper. And that Mothers' Day Hamper. And that Magnum of champagne. And that night in a hotel. And that Scholarship. And that other Scholarship. Oh, and that other one too. And that award for my photography.

But apart from that: total LOSER.

Some crazy wench at a blog called Just Me has tagged me and handed me an award for being a Versatile Blogger. I suppose it's a compliment and not some thinly-veiled hint that maybe just once I might stick to the same topic two posts in a row.

There are Rules that come attached to this award so its not so much an award, I feel, as a heavy burden placed upon my already care-worn shoulders.

Am ready for my close-up now, Mr De Mille.

The Rules for The Versatile Blogger Award are:

1. Thank the person who gave you this award.
I'd like to thank ~~the Academy~~ ~~God~~ ~~my parents~~ ~~my co-stars~~ Sarah.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.
Surely I've done that by now, what with my Award-Winning Versatility 'n' all?

I have three tattoos, and only one of them I regret.
I left school when I was 14 and went back when I was 21. I now have a Degree.
I am terrified of heights.
I have no contact with my family.
Before I broke my spine I was the Queen of Hackysack.
I knew my husband for 7 days before we were engaged.
I am a Leo, my husband is a Leo and my daughter is a Leo. God help us.

3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic!
15? There were 325 posts in my Google Reader yesterday and you want me to choose 15? I'll be in my trailer.

Meet Me At Mikes
Mummy Diaries
Rosie's Growing Sweet Peas
Epheriell
Fox's Lane
Muffin Monster Bubbalug Blog
An Ordinary Life

err...That'll do. Really.

4. Contact the bloggers you’ve picked and let them know about the award.
My agent will get right on it. What? Oh, havent hired one yet. Is there NO END to the responsibilities???

Friday Finds

2010-07-16T17:08:00.000+09:30

Found today: The path towards finding the Will to Live. Always a good start.

Found a while ago but sharing now:

Ella, almost two, goes Vintage Corporate

I clearly remember having this exact same dress when I was little. I know there is a photo of me in it somewheres, but I dont have it. I found this in an op shop when Ella was still a wee baby, and you can only imagine the extent of my Sqeeee-age when I saw it on the rack for $4. Lordy. Wouldn't it be SO AWESOME if this were actually my old dress???

Now if only I had the red faux patent leather handbag from my childhood to go with it.

P.S. Giveaway is coming, fret not! I haven't been able to decide what to have for dinner this week, let alone which of my creations to give away.

Awesome Milestone Goodness..

2010-07-11T21:16:00.000+09:30

Achieved! Tick!

Giveaway will ensue.

Stay tuned for announcement of giveaway or death from Man Cold.

Serenity Sunday Can Bite Me

2010-07-11T15:14:00.000+09:30

I am sick, with Man Cold.

I care not for photography, or serenity, or children. I dont want to look at my world in a different way and discover the joy in the details.

I want to go to bed and not feel like shit and I want the kids to stop having tantrums every 5 minutes and I want to not feel like my skin hurts and I want to stop craving chickenbloodynoodlesoup.

I'm almost up to 100 Facebook Fans. In fact, I have 99. I will have a good old-fashioned blog based giveaway when I get there, if I do not die beforehand. If you havent Liked me yet: for shaaaaaame!

In the meantime, have you added yourselves to my Reader's Blogroll yet? Well get to it. Nothing wrong with shameless self-promotion.

Going back to bed now.

My Creative Space

2010-07-07T19:22:00.005+09:30

This week my creative space is being used for the betterment of humanity. Project 18 are having an Auction on Facebook on July 20 to raise funds for childhood education in Indonesia. They need handmade items to be donated to sell at the Auction. So that's what I'm doing.

I've found lovely vintage tea cups in my opshop raids over the last week, so I am putting them all to good use. After all, how many pincushions does one woman need? Well, at least 3 by my reckoning, (wrist, tabletop and ring) so the rest are going to Cate for the Auction. Mostly so she will get off my case.

My creative space: filled with vintage china, polyfill, vintage fabric and some sort of altruism (even though I dont believe in it).

What's yours filled with? Share over at Kirsty's.

Serenity Sunday

2010-07-04T19:27:00.000+09:30

I am NOT a winter girl.

I hate the cold. I hate being unable to move three feet from the heater because otherwise my fingers will drop off from frostbite. I hate having to pay SeventyHundred dollars for my power bill. I hate not being able to spend any time outside for fear of freezing solid. I hate the dark days. I get S.A.D. And I get it BAD.

But I hate being trapped inside with two very active and very bored pre-schoolers even more.

Ella lovin' on some rocks

Felix writes the initials of all his friends in the dirt.

"This is the T-Rex bone and this bit is the thing that shoots out water."

Basil loves wool. REALLY loves wool.

So today we ventured outside as soon as the temperature got above ten degrees (at midday) and the wee-uns played in the Digging Patch and I sat in the sun. Then we went for a walk to the op-shop, where of course I found things to buy, and then took Felix's trike to the bike track and playground.

It wasn't so much Serene and Not As Bad As It Could Be, but that is far too long a post title.

Except for Basil. I think he was rather serene indeed, sucking on that wool. If you know what I mean.

Reader's Blog Roll: Put Your Blog Self Here

2010-07-04T09:39:00.000+09:30

Do you read SparklePanda Design? Do you have a blog? Would you like other people to read your blog?

I'm betting that the answer to all three questions is: YES

So here's what you can do: you can put your very own blog on this here list of lovely blogs people should read. Yes! You can! That way you don't have to ask me to do a link exchange with you, and I dont have to remember to put your link up. Win/win.

I know, it's totes awesome!

Link away, peeps.

Friday Finds

2010-07-02T12:39:00.000+09:30

Another week, another collection of treasures from the op-shops. This week, my local had a whole basket of awesome vintage sewing patterns out for 25c each. It was pure heaven.

Have a closer look at the little girl on the top one. How adorable is that jumpsuit?

This is the piece de resistance really. Check out the legs!

Did the illustrator never see a real woman before?

I love Paua shell. What should I use this for?

All these beauties were 20c each! I'm going to turn them into pincushions. Yes! Radness!

There was also much in the way of clothing for me and some fabric for making clothes for the shop. And a totes awesome tablecloth which I plan on turning into a skirt for myself. That picture will have to wait until said project is on the go. Then you will swoon with delight at how totally awesome it is. You will. You'll see.

My Creative Space is Back

2010-07-01T17:47:00.002+09:30

Which is kinda scary because it sure as hell doesn't feel like a whole week has gone by. Dont ask me what I did; I couldn't tell you.

Today in my creative space there is some finishing going on. Some of the finishing perhaps should have been done 2 years ago. 10 minutes was all it took. Not sure why I couldnt find 10 minutes 2 years ago. Perhaps it had something to do with being heavily pregnant and in 10/10 on the pain scale 24/7 and wanting to die.

Yes, that might've been it.

If you want to play along, head over to Kirsty's.

Serenity Sunday

2010-06-27T20:39:00.000+09:30

This week, Sunday was quite serene thankyouverymuch.

Coldest morning this year, it was.

Even the butterflies froze solid.

For the most part the kids behaved: I pruned the grapevines, the kids behaved, I made a new advertising banner, the kids behaved, I cooked dinner, the kids beh...oh no they didn't behave for that bit.

Hide and Seek, Felix style.

My Creative Space is on Holidays

2010-06-24T22:18:00.000+09:30

I've been busy all day and there is no time! no time! for My Creative Space this week.

9am: Get all excited because we have our first female Prime Minister. Realise am running late because of said excitement. Drop off 4 year old at Kindy, spend quality time ~~playing with daughter socialising~~ bitching at Playgroup, hurry to Rheumatologist appointment an hour's drive away, get horribly disillisioned at appointment, rush back to Kindy via Dan Murphy's (cheapo chain booze store) and Hungry Jacks (Burger King) to pick up 4 year old, have 4 year olds Bestie come round and play and stay for dinner, get kids ready for bed, wrangle 4 year old away from his car pictures and into bed.

Now its 9pm and I dont feel particularly creative. Perhaps a little spacey. Even a little "My!" So I'm not doing it.

According to Dr Rheumy, Disease Most Likely is not Ankylosing Spondylitis, but Fibromyalgia. OK, its a name, but I didnt want to be told "There is nothing we can do. We just handball you back to the Pain Management Clinic." I wanted to be told "You have disease X and you take these drugs and it will get better."

Seriously, sometimes you just have to wonder who the hell you were in a previous life.

Disabled Parking Space

2010-06-23T22:48:00.000+09:30

Today is an important day. Not only because I'm off to my Rheumatologist to find out what the hell is actually wrong with me (disease most likely is Ankylosing Spondylitis), nor because today the petition I wrote about in my last post will be presented to our government. Today is also important because it marks a BloggersUnite event called People First: Empowering People with Disabilities. Today, people all over the world will be writing blog posts about the experiece of living with a disability (their own or a loved one's) in order to educate, empower and...um, another "e" thing... enable.

Actually, these three important events share a common ancestor, and that is this:

You can't tell just by looking.

You can't tell by looking at me that I have a disability. You can't tell by looking that I have a spinal injury. You can't tell by looking that I have nerve damage. You can't tell by looking at me that I have a mental illness. You can't tell that I am in intense pain. You can't tell that I struggle with debilitating anxiety at times. You can't tell that I am so tired I feel it in every cell of my body and have for 20 years. You can't tell that the demons from my past resurface again and again and again and affect me still, decades later. You can't tell that some days I hate my life. You can't tell that some days I want to die. You can't tell that if I walk from here to there I will pay for it for days or sometimes weeks.

You can only see that I do walk from here to there. You see me smile. You see me talk intelligently to people. You see me graduate from university. You see me start a business. You see me create. You see me move through the days like any other mother. You see me as unremarkable. You see me park in the disabled parking space, and you look. And I know you look. And I know what you think.

And I know that you are wrong.

I am remarkable.

I am remarkable because you see me smile, you see me talk inteligently to people, you see me start a business, you see me create, you see me move through the days like any other mother. I am remarkable because those things happen despite what you dont see.

I am disabled. I am also able. The trick is finding the balance.

Not in my own mind, but in yours.

Do It For My Mental Health

2010-06-22T14:28:00.001+09:30

On Thursday, a collective of 60 mental health organisations form around Australia will be presenting a co-signed letter and a petition from Australian citizens to our PM. They will be urging him and his government to act immediately to reform the mental health system in this country and provide it with enough funding to actually make it work. Right now, it doesnt work at all. People suffer. People die. I know this first hand.

So I wrote a letter to my local MP. Never done that before. This time, I just had to. So with tears streaming down my face, I wrote. I'd like to share it with you. And then I'd like you to go here and sign the petition.

***

I come from a family with a history of mental illness. My mother suffered from severe depression for as long as I can remember. I have had anxiety and depression my entire life, not diagnosed until I was in my 20s (I'm now 41). One brother had schizophrenia. The other had severe and untreated depression. Both of my brothers committed suicide at the age of 45, within two years of each other. They desperately needed help and they didnt get it because the proper services were not available. Warren, my brother with schizophrenia, was on a forced treatment order and suffering terribly with psychotic episodes and yet was released from hospital to "live in the community". He died in that community too, unnoticed for several days until he had not turned up for his required medication.

Mental ill-health is the leading killer of Australians under 45 (there's that magic number again!) and the leading cause of disability in Australia. It is not acceptable that people are turned away from hospitals, or that government funding for outreach services is either an embarrassing pittance or non-existant.

Does this government care that for each of those Australians that has a mental illness there are many more around them that suffer too? Does this government care that for every person who dies as a result of suicide, their families and friends continue to suffer and blame themselves?

Does this government care enough about its citizens to provide adequate funding for mental health services, so that other families do not have to explain to their children why the uncle whom they resemble so much isnt around anymore?

I urge you to support the efforts of the 60 mental health organisations who are presenting a letter to Kevin Rudd on Thurday. I urge you to support the immediate reform mental health services and increase funding.

I urge you to consider my 4 year old son - the one who looks so much like his uncle - who has a very high chance of living with mental illness himself. What future will this government be giving him?

Yours sincerely,

****

Little Panda and big brother Warren (then known as Robert), c1973

Felix, Aug 2009

Please sign the petition.

Serenity Sunday

2010-06-20T14:05:00.001+09:30

This week is not so much Serene as "Shut The Hell Up and Behave" Sunday. Meh. You get that.

[deep breath] Calm blue ocean...calm blue ocean... Look! Pretties!:

Lovely things from Etsy Finds today:

1: Wide Leather Wristband by aos Leather USD$20

2: Origami Cranes by SnWeStore USD$28

More cool things from another op shop raid. (No, I never stop). Vintage doilies, vintage patterns and tracing paper, an oriental paper candy box kit and assorted lovelies. All this plus 2 cars and a novel for $6. The Candy Box says "English Instructions Including". Doesn't bode well.

...and sometimes from sheer insanity.

This project gave me a little island of serenity yesterday. I've wanted one for ages. Finally I made one:

I'm now completely obsessed with making more pincushions. Next on the list is a Ring Pincushion, and then possibly one in a teacup. Just because.

The Envelope Project

2010-06-18T08:16:00.003+09:30

I love Art Projects. I especially love Completely Random Art Projects.

Meet Me At Mike's is running an art project at the moment called The Envelope Project. It goes a little like this:

You mail (by actual snail-mail) an envelope to Meet Me At Mike's with something little in it. Anything. Possibly not poo. Anything cute or pretty or lovely in some way. They put all the envelopes up in their store window for 6 weeks. At the end of the 6 weeks, a name from all participants is drawn at random from the universe and that person receives every.single.envelope AND all.their.contents.

Having been a big fan of posting people random stuff for many years now, even almost-strangers that read my old blog (I posted some awesome stuff to those folks) I am Bang Up for posting a little somethin somethin to lordy knows who.

I aint sayin what I posted, but one was made by me some time ago and just sitting in my scrapbooking basket feeling unloved, one was made by Monkey Boy today, and one was made by an animal. It is not poo.

If you want to find out how to participate, best look here. Check out the rest of Mike's too. Miss Pip is the Mayor of Awesome-Town!

My Creative Space

2010-06-17T21:15:00.000+09:30

Crap, is it Thursday again?

A toddler with conjunctivitis means no childcare, no playgroup, no visiting friends, no LIFE. Also not much time for creativity since she stands at my door and cries "Mumm-mmm-yyyyy cuu-uu-ggg-le" for as long as I can stand it. Today that would be about 2 minutes. Sometimes I'm a hard-ass mamma and just let her scream until she stops, but when the kid is sick some stupid maternal thing kicks in. Probably so we dont inadvertantly kill them with our hard-assness.

I did manage to sneak enough time after my writing group yesterday to stop at my fave op-shop, where they lured me in via a shopping trolley full of handbags for $1.

Cute little vinyl-lined toiletries bag, looking for a purpose. How lovely is the fabric?

The Handbag Stash: Two little bags, the toiletries clutch, a patchwork shoulderbag, and a briefcase thingy. I've ALWAYS wanted a briefcase thingy. $5 the lot = awesome

There was some divine oriental fabric, and a chrome 50s chair for $2 and step-stool. The stool needs re-upholstering, but it was $3! I clearly remember one just like this in my kitchen when I was a kid. Of course we had the chrome-leg faux-marble table and chairs to go with it. We were, like, groovy.

3m oriental loveliness, 2m coffee velvet, 4 metres soft butter-yellow cotton = $7.

Finally I got around to doing some very simple stuff like changing buttons on a recent

Boring Brown op-shop cardi.

and then decided to go uber-nuts and put buttons all over it.

The buttonifying of Boring Brown Cardi will take a while methinks. I dont know what it will look like when its done, but that is where the fun in hand-sewing 3000 buttons lies.

What's happening in your Creative Space today?

Serenity Sunday

2010-06-13T14:40:00.003+09:30

Today's Serenity Sunday is brought to you by the good graces of my friend who lives round the corner. Aware of my Near-Deathness, she offered to take Felix for the morning thereby halving my stress and doubling the potential serenity-factor.

When you dont have any family and you have a small circle of friends and you live in the Boonies, a break from the kids - even when near death - is a rare thing indeed.

Monkey Boy and Felix left, and Ella dragged my sorry arse outside, even though it was so cold the rainwater in the toy trailer was still covered with ice and we could see our breath in the air. Do kids not feel the cold???

I'm glad she did drag me outside, because this is the first thing I saw:

Illuminated Leaf

Discarded. I think I'll turn this into a planter.

Apple Feast Continues (compare with last week's photo)

Buzzy

Chalk

Chilli

Sshhh!

Warrigal Greens: self-seeder, rampant ground cover, use as you would spinach. Awesome.

Winter Morning

12 Months of Crafting The World: Month 1

2010-06-12T22:34:00.000+09:30

I've had a little somethingsomething in my list of things to do for a while, but with sewing for the shop and sewing for the kids and occasionally sewing for myself and running a business and being a mum and having an internet addiction, where's the time going to come from? Less Twittering? I.Dont.Think.So.

As mentioned in previous dispatches I need a kick up the butt to do things sometimes. So I pulled this project out of hiding and decided it was the Thing To Do for the Craft Challenge this month. Halfway through the month (practically anyways, especially if you dont count the Sundays) and it still wasnt done. Heaping all kinds of hate upon myself, yesterday I dragged my sick-and-getting-worse self off to the studio and made it happen.

There was some of this:

and some of these:

which became little fuzzy piles of this:

Then there was a bit of this:

and then Monkey Boy and Felix came home with leftover this:

so after I stuffed myself, I stuffed this:

And when I'd done, I was cold and shivvery and had body ache and felt like utter shite and I went to sleep for three hours. But I'd made this:

In case you are wondering, this is the panda I based my SparklePanda logo on. I thought I might make some more, maybe to use as keyrings or make him a bt smaller and he could be a magnet or a brooch. What ya think?

My Creative Space

2010-06-10T13:33:00.000+09:30

Up until very recently, I had been doing all of my sewing in our dining room, in a room with no windows, one recently-added skylight, no storage space and a tiiiiny 1930s table that used to belong to my grandmother. It was the major thoroughfare of our home and consequently there was much in the way of Lets Annoy Mummy and Getting Pins Stuck in Bare Feet.

Thanks to ~~subtle hints~~ ~~badgering~~ snarly comments from Monkey Boy, we swapped our spaces. He moved all his Man Cave stuff out of our study and formed a nice little barricaded den for himself in our dining room, and I get the fully renovated, window onto the garden, huge space, walls lined with bookcases, more tables, more storage and with-a-door Good Room!

So while I deal with getting some chest infection thing thanks to taking Prednisolone for too long, and try to muster up ~~the strength~~ ~~enthusiasm~~ giving a rats arse about my contribution to the 12 Month Craft The World Challenge (which I TOTES will share with you soon), here are some piccies of my new Studio.

I've had this Singer since 1982, 1st Year High School.

Setting up for the photo shoot

Floodlights from Bunnings. Yes, that is a giant inflatable Boxing Po you can see on the floor.

AWESOME therapy tool.

Master Patterns

Vintage button goodness

And my creative work for the day is this Photoshopped image of my craft supplies and tin, all of which I have had since childhood.

What is your creative space like? If you feel like sharing where you work and what you're working on you can play along with Kirsty every Thursday at Kootooyoo's My Creative Space.

Serenity Sunday

2010-06-06T16:51:00.003+09:30

Sundays have been stressful around here. My Significant Other - know to the cyberverse as Monkey Boy - has taken up archery. Bow Hunting, to be precise, except they hunt creatures made of Styrofoam and hay bales rather than woolly mammoth. Sunday is Monkey Day, which means that I get left holding the babies.

This wouldn’t be a problem if I were actually capable of holding the babies, but with my spinal injury and now the Disease Most Likely (Ankylosing Spondylitis) affecting my ability to do much of anything physical it is, actually, a problem.

I have dreaded Sundays for a while now, because not only am I having to cope in a situation I am not built to cope with, the kids think the rules go out the kitchen door with Daddy and that means Mummy turns into a screaming banshee and wants to punch herself in the head.

Like I said: Sundays have been Stressful.

NO MORE!

I am going to introduce a new routine to my Sundays! I read a quote on Twitter* the other day: something about if you don’t like what’s happening, change it, and if you can’t change it then change the way you look at it. (I would add: “if you won’t do either of these then at least quit your bloody bitching about it.”)

My plan is to turn Stressful Sunday into Serenity Sunday. From today, every Sunday I will grab my camera (that I we paid a small fortune for) and take photos of things that make me happy. I will futz around with them on Photoshop (which also makes me happy) and then share them with you. (If anyone is actually out there. StatCounter says there is, but you’re awfully quiet...)

Hooray for A Plan!

Here’s what is making me happy today. I hope some of these images might make you happy too.

A good start to The Plan: Felix and Ella off to play.

Dew Feather

Decay

A Cat and His Boy

Apple Feast

Moss 1:
I particularly love the smooshed bit of blue chalk, not even noticed when I shot this

Moss 2

A Boy and His Stick

The Crab Apple Tree That Never Said "You Killed Me You Bastards"

Wet Bike

Repurposed Garden Boot: I dont stop at clothing, people!

Tangled Food: eschallots resprouted from our crisper drawer

Totem

Winter Slide

Ella's Pinny Top: my first draft on the top and first attempt at applique. Not Too Shabby.

Rocket (Aragula) in potentia.

After 5 years, we still have it re-seeding through the garden. And I LOVE Rocket.

Ahhhh. How's the serenity?

*Smacks self in head for taking advice from twittersphere.

12 Months, 12 Themes, 12 Crafts, 1 Happy Panda

2010-06-02T00:11:00.000+09:30

Over at the wonderful blog of jewelery designer Adelle, there's a whole world of challenging going on.

Starting today crafters can join in on The 12 Month Craft The World Challenge and create something awesome on a different theme each month. I'm quite taken with this idea and subsequently shouted "I'm in! I'm in" before realising that she couldn't actually hear me and perhaps typing my excitement might be more appropriate.

I love crafting or being involved in any sort of creative endeavour. I've done it all from knitting, sewing, crochet (Fail) scrapbooking, photography, drawing (pass), painting (Fail), writing, garden design, jewelery, and even studying Law (which is extremely creative, let me tell you). My problem is knowing exactly where to start and what to focus on. There are too many choices, which is why I suppose I got sidetracked away from sewing in the first place all those years ago, and why I can NOT decide between 15 brands of Creamed Corn on shopping day. Give me a list, a deadline and a theme and I will produce the goods. Sadly, it takes someone else to provide these things, to give me the kick up the backside I need, to be able to surmount the incredible inertia I experience when faced with options.*

So, not only is this a 12 Month Craft Challenge, but for me I think I shall look upon it as a 12 Month Decision Challenge. If you feel like a bit of a challenge yourself, either in the making something every month for a year realm, or the cannot-make-a-decision-to-save-my-life-realm, trundle on over and sign your next 12 months away.

*Partially due to gross character flaw and partially to spending wayyy too long in tertiary education.

Vintage Vexations

2010-05-28T22:17:00.000+09:30

Back in The Day, when I was just a wee young thing with stars in my eyes about being a Famous Fashion Designer, I used to haunt all the thrift shops and vintage clothing dealers in my city. Vintage - and I mean anywhere from late 19th century to 1960s - was plentiful and it was cheap. There was The Umbrella Room on Rundle Street, Mabs' Emporium wayyy down the end of Grenfell Street. There were standard run-of-the-mill op shops in the south end of the CBD that sold truly divine 50s dresses for $2. I LOVED them. As a 17 year old, I had long conversations with the owners of these Houses of Divineness about the downfall of fashion and how sad it truly was that women no longer wore hats and gloves to go out anymore.

(I understand completely if at this point you want to kill my 17 year old self: permission granted.)

I have such intense memories of the fabulous cherry-print twirly skirt with tulle underskirt that I wore with my 1940s sequinned cardi (sometimes on backwards) and bobby sox, with a white cane doctors bag style purse. I was It And A Bit.

Somewhere along the way, life changed course and I became more interested in what a Significant Other thought of me and that certainly didnt involve having me poncing around in pretty clothes. Which is a great shame, because I did pretty clothes very well. Now the passage of time means the clothes that were fashionable at that time, the things I had decried as the End Of Fashion, are now Vintage themselves. I shudder, and I will never ever be caught in a bubble skirt (again).

I was pondering upon all this today, and on the demise of the cheap vintage store in our city. An out-of-the-ordinary trip into the city today to farewell my Bestie to the Canadadia led me past a small, put-baby-in-the-corner boutique. Vintage. Vintage! My heart skipped a beat! Perhaps it has come full circle? I thought giddily. Perhaps I can relive those moments I gave up too easily 20-something years ago.

I stepped inside the unrenovated, heritage-listed building. Tiny. Gorgeous clothing surrounded me. A brooch from my childhood (Avon, contained solid perfume) was displayed on a bust on the counter. I was in my element. 1960s mod mini dress...Cotton 1950s shirtwaist dress...Cornflower Blue 1950s tea dress.... Then I reached for the price tags. Not one thing under $150. Tea Dress? $295.

TWOHUNDREDANDNINETYFIVEDOLLARS!!!

Back in The Day I could (and did) buy such things for $5. It almost made me weep. OK, so maybe I'm just pre-menstrual, but there was sadness there. Sadness that clothing of such beauty can now be so far out of the reach of regular folks. Sadness that now our clothing history is so highly priced as to make the true celebration of that history - the wearing of the clothes and the continuation of the style - unattainable. THAT, I think, is the real death of fashion.

New Store for the Non-Joiners.

2010-05-12T21:52:00.000+09:30

Here is something that comes as a bit of a shock: not everyone loves Etsy.

Personally, I'm a big fan of becoming a member at every single website I want to interact with and handing over my details and having another password to remember. I'm strange like that.

Some of you, however, don't. Some of you would rather (gasp!) not purchase things than have to sign up to something yet again. For you folks I have created this: the Funky Finds SparklePanda Design Store.

Funky Finds have a couple of things going for them over Etsy. First, for the customer: No Sign-Up Required! You just load lots of lovely items from their gorgeous shops into your cart, and away you go. Well, actually you do have to pay first, and that is done securely through Paypal. Second, for the seller: no commission fees. Etsy charges 3.5% of the sale price on each transaction. Funky Finds has no commission, just a flat (and very low) monthly fee.

They have this really cool promotion going at the moment where you pay for one month and get 6 months free, so I figured I would be all sorts of foolish - in addition to my natural levels of foolishness - to not take them up on their offer.

So feel free to check out the Funky Finds shopping experience. There are lots of lovely stores there showcasing a huge amount of creative talent, so you are sure to find something you absolutely.must.have.

And you dont have to sign up to anything.

Not Quite What I Was Expecting

2010-05-05T23:20:00.000+09:30

When I decided I was going to go into business with this online selling lark, I gave it little to no thought as to how it all worked. "Etsy exists", I thought. "I shall sell on Etsy! It will be easy! Make clothes, list 'em, sell 'em."

I Didnt Give It Much Thought. I usually dont, once I've made up my mind about something. Car to buy, person to marry, business to run: its all been a "yep, THAT one" fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants decision.

Cars have lasted for more than one year, which for little money is all you can ask. Marriage is still hanging in there despite more stress than any normal couple would cope with. Business...well...

I love the sewing part. Creativity has always and will always run through my veins. Its not just what I like, its who I am. The sewing, the creating part, that is easy. Even when it is staying up until midnight to get the thing finished, its still easy and enjoyable. But this promotions bit... No one told me, because quite obviously I never asked, that I would spend more time trying to promote my store than I would actually making the clothes. It never occurred to my that I would NEED to be up to midnight every night to do the bare minimum of the "required" social networking, let alone all the relisting and retagging and faffing around with images and finding new outlets and new sources of advertising. It never occurred to me that what started out as something I did for enjoyment, and for my mental health, would take up every single minute of every day and would tax my ability to stand upright.

There has been plenty of positive feedback for my product. Potential customers love it. Etsy love it. I've been in one Etsy email and three Treasuries already. But no-one has put their money where their mouth is, or their dollars into my PayPal account. It is gut-wrenchingly frustrating, and I dont do frustrated well.

Is it like this for all businesses when they start up? I'm supposing it must be but bugger me, it sucks. Do I have unrealistic expectations? It really and truly is the same learning curve as becoming a parent. You have no idea whatsoever, despite everything you think you know, what is actually before you. You learn on your feet or the kid (or business) dies.

I'm not talking about giving in here. Giving in is Not What I Do. I'm wondering what the happy medium is though. Somewhere in this morass that is Starting A Business, there must be a way to have a life.

Treasure Trove - Adoring Amethyst

2010-05-03T00:36:00.000+09:30

There's a rather lovely new Treasury at Etsy's Treasury East this week, curated by ChallenCharms and featuring all things wonderful and PURPLE, which just so happens to be my very most favouritist colour. This Treasury also happens to feature my Flared Leg Pants! Calloo Callay!

Just look at all these perdy things...

Girl's Flared-Leg P...

sparklepanda

$25.00 USD

Amigurumi Kawaii Purple...

cutedesigns

$9.00 USD

Little Purple Bird Lunc...

BonTons

$29.00 USD

Amethyst and Crystal Ne...

ChallenCharms

$15.00 USD