Stealing Time

Lately my life has been so busy. Moving house, single parenting, family get togethers, birthday parties, markets and planning a new shop. There seems to never be enough hours in a day. I sneek extra minutes wherever I can, whether it be sitting in the car waiting for the all-day car park to open and checking my emails on my i-phone while I'm waiting, to sitting on the bathroom floor with the laptop paying bills while Emily takes a bath. I jam as much as possible into my day because at the moment there is just so much to do!

I'm currently in SALE mode at Bearly Worn, getting ready for the endo of financial year and clearing the shop of stock in preparation for the closing down, renovation and opening of the new shop. I have some beautiful handmade clothing and today I put up a Facebook sale for C is for Cat who exclusively stocks Bearly Worn. You can check it out here.



I love her reversible Babushka Pinafores. They are the best thing for pre-school and birthday parties.

So I decided that I need a little relaxation at night and something that is just for me. I love retromummy's blog and taking inspiration from her last night I trotted down to the local Lincraft before work this morning and picked up a $2.95 pattern book and a couple of balls of wool. I'm going to knit Emily a jumper for next winter. I say next winter because it always takes me ages to knit anything! Jumpers are so expensive to buy new and if i can pull this off I will have a lovely pure wool jumper for Emily for under $20. Not bad....... 

This Thursday I have to go to Melbourne for two days to buy fittings for the new shop and meet with suppliers. I'll also be having a little R&R with my bestie Lisa. She always cheers me up and she's a foodie so we always go to an amazing restaraunt. We'll also be going to a comedy club after dinner and meeting some friends there. I really don't want to look like the frumpy single Mum I've been feeling like lately so I pulled out my absolute favourite shoes and it's been my mission this week to find something that goes with them.

Are these not the hottest blue suede shoes you've ever seen? Mollini baby!

In the whole hour I get to myself between dropping Emily at childcare and opening the shop I stopped off at Valley Girl to see what tops or jackets they had that would go with my awesome shoes. We don't get a lot of choice of shops in Albury and I don't want to risk waiting till I get to Melbourne to find an utfit.

I swear Mrs Woog was reading my mind this morning when she blogged about Retail Discrimination! Anyway I entered the shop just after the 16 year old shop assistant pulled up the roller door. She looked pissed off that she already had a customer and then proceeded to totally ignore me while I floundered around trying to figure out whether to get a jacket to go over a slinky black dress or a layered top look to go with some skinny black jeans. I left empty handed as it turns out a large at Valley Girl is equivilent to a small at Susan..... seriously.....

Anyway I'm open to all suggestions about the shoes and what would go with them. What would you do?

The Big Chop!

When things aren't going right in your life what else can you do but chop your hair off?

Yesterday morning I woke up and decided I needed a change. I'd been thinking about it for a while but it took a major event to spring me into action.

I've had long straight hair for as long as I can remember. It has been every color but always long and straight. Yesterday morning I decided it was the day to get the big chop. Yes I was going short!

I've been trying to find something for a before photo but it's been difficult since I've hardly worn my hair out in 3 years. My hairdresser Jill said to me before I went on holidays that if I wear my hair up more than 3 times a week I need to chop it off.

This is my before picture taken in Cairns a few years ago because that was the last time I had it down.....Sad because it was still the same color and cut until last night.

We looked though lots of hair magazines and discussed lots of options. I was dead set not having a bloody fringe so Jill convinced me that I should have something that swept to the side that was "sort of a fringe, a bit like it but different".

She began chopping away, then got frustrated, told me to close my eyes and go to my happy place. She grabbed all my hair into a ponytail and did one big chop. And then it was short......

I was sure this was a small terrier dog that had snuck into the salon but apparently that's my hair!



20cm of length gone in one chop! It was freeing. I already felt lighter, like I'd lifted a weight.

So for the final result......

Sort of fringe my arse!

I wish I'd done it years ago. I wish I'd had the guts to change and do things for me, not what I thought someone else would want.

Onward and upwards I say!

In other news the Baobab and Levi stock came in yesterday and I love it! Great quality and it's going fast. This weekend I have the Little Me Market where I'm taking a heap of kids clothing from the shop and also some handmade children's clothes and accessories. Fingers crossed the sun is out and people are in the mood to shop!

And We're Off!

Yesterday I did my final market before our holiday and I'm so happy it went well.

At the recent Beechworth Night Market I sold one of my own skirts that I made and it was great. But this market I sold one of my dresses and I'm completely chuffed. I'm chuffed because this dress was so original, one of my own designs (although you can say it's similar to other designs) and no one else had anything like it on their stalls.

Normally I'm selling other peoples creations but more and more I'm making my own and I have so many ideas for stalls in the future.

This market was flat out from the start and after working in the shop selling kids clothing all day Saturday I was already pretty tired. Thank God I had my Mum there to help me. After packing up the shop and loading the car with all the handmade clothing and gift ware on Saturday afternoon, we were up early Sunday morning to set up for the Little Me Market in Wodonga. No sooner had we set up than customers started pouring in. And they didn't stop until well after 2pm!

It really was a great atmosphere with kids everywhere, Mum and Dads busy looking for clothes, toys and home wares, live music and plenty of yummy cupcakes........

After packing up I headed home to start on the washing and cleaning because tomorrow WE GO TO IRELAND!!

I can't believe it's already here and tonight is our last sleep in Albury before we leave. It will take 35 hours to get to where we're going and I'm so nervous about the flight. My husband has been wonderful the last couple of days. I've had a few small meltdowns, mostly about what to where on the plane and what to pack.

We've weighed our bags, locked all the deadlocks on the windows, made sure a stop has been put on the mail and organised emergency contact numbers in case something happens while we're away.

I don't know how I'll sleep tonight and when I'll get to blog again. Hubby has promised me I can blog while I'm away but it might be a couple of days before I get the chance to.

Anyway.....see you on the other side!

Cockroaches and Sleepless Nights

All day today I wanted to go home and sew. Of course tonight all I've managed to do is cut out one single dress.

I'm so tired with Emily waking four times last night and then my hubby wakes at 4am because a bloody big cockroach was having a lovely time sitting on his mouth!

Yes you read that correctly. He woke with a start because a cockroach had decided to run across his mouth and face and another was perched next to his glass of water on the bedside table. Uugghh! Disgusting!

He had to basically disinfect his mouth and face before I would let him back in the bed. And of course as soon as we turned the light off and started to drift back to sleep Emily woke again.

I have no idea what is going on with her. I'm putting it down to a growth spurt and teething. She didn't sleep again today and hardly ate, but was otherwise happy. So oh well, such is life and I'm sure it's just another phase.

Anyway, to top my day off I've managed to get bronchitis.....again! It always stats as hayfever (that was a week and a half ago) and turns into a sinus infection (at which point I went to the doctors who prescribed me antibiotics but I thought I was superwoman and could fight the infection with shear willpower) and ends up being a full blown bronchial infection (and now I sound like Muttly when I cough).

This infection is highly inconvenient and I should have just taken the antibiotics last week. Now I'm sick, don't feel like doing anything and I have at least two more dresses to make before Saturday plus a load of bookwork and website work to do in the shop.

Tomorrow morning I thankfully get some me time as I'm getting my hair done. After that it's off to the chemist to get the antibiotics and then home to sew like a mad woman. Hopefully I can get the last two done tomorrow and then Thursday and Friday I can make extras like skirts and pants.

For now it's off to bed and I'm praying Emily will sleep through tonight.

Little Me Market

Very soon we have a new handmade market coming up in Wodonga called the Little Me Markets. It specialises in baby and children's handmade items and I'm determined to make something worthy of it.

My idea is simple. A bag. A library/childcare/swim/wet bag to be exact. I've ordered a heap of fabric on line because nobody likes to see fabrics they can buy at Spotlight.

Last night I began making my prototype with a cheap fabric I had lying around the house.

I started with a bag 30x40cm and my intention was to sew a clear plastic window on the front that you can slide a card or piece of paper into to write the child's name, class and school on. The plastic PVC was too thick and my sewing machine just pulled it along and wouldn't sew it to the fabric. The bag was also too small to be a decent library bag. Kids picture books can be big and i wanted a bag big enough to fit a towel if used for swimming classes.

This was my second attempt tonight and I purchase thinner PVC earlier today hoping I would be able to sew it on. I ended up hand blanket stitching it and I'm still not happy with the finial outcome. Whilst the rest of the bag is great, the plastic window looks shonky and hand stitching it means I can't turn out 20 or so bags by market time as it'll take too long.

So back to the drawing board and I'll have a third attempt tomorrow night.

One success of the night's crafting was my stand for the new boys accessories range I have at the shop. They're fabric covered magnets and badges and they look very cool. Apparently boys love these. I grew up in a house of girls so I'm taking Mum's with sons word for it!

The stand was originally a slate grey color so I covered it in white fabric and the two ribbons were hot glued to the top and bottom of the stand so I can attach the badges to them. I can't wait to put all the magnets and accessories on it tomorrow and see how it looks.

Finally this is my little munchkin this morning pretending to blog while we watched retro mummy on Channel 9.

I love that she's my walking advertisment for the shop in her Gaia Organic Cotton Tee and Leggins and her Walnut Melbourne Mary Jane shoes.

The Other Irishman

I think the movie PS I Love You has ruined it for all Irishmen. I should know. I'm married to one!

Now when I say ruined it here's what I mean. You've watched the movie right? Gerard Butler....mmmmm......that accent and that cheeky smile.........ooooooooohhhhhhhhh.

When I tell women my husband is Irish they croon "Oh I love Gerard Butler in that movie" or "he could read the phone book to me all day". Well I've got news for you.

1. Gerard Butler is not Irish

2. Not all Irishmen have that cute 'hey diddly dee' accent, some are actually from the North and their accents are vastly different (but mostly still cute although hardly represented in the movies)

3. My husband downright refuses to put on suspenders and shamrock printed boxers and give me a strip tease



In saying all that I will agree that most men I've met from Ireland have a wicked sense of humour, a certain amount of charm, and no matter how repugnant they might be they all have gorgeous eyes.

My Irishman is.....challenging. He makes me laugh, he infuriates me, he turns me on, he turns me off (usually when he farts in bed), he keeps me guessing and I love him. I knew I would love him the moment we met. He shook my hand and something instant happened. Something burned inside me that made me want to be with him every moment I could spare.

It's coming up to Valentines Day but we're on a budget to save for our big trip to Ireland in April. So here's my challenge. Get my husband (who will be returning from a long business trip that night) a Valentines present that I have either made or bought cheaply and keep in mind that I want it to rock his world.

Any ideas??

Handmade SquigglePop

Why is handmade so damn popular at the moment? I would love to be creative and make something divine that people loved and wanted and I could sell in my little children's clothing shop. I can sew, I can copy, I can color, but coming up with an original idea is something I would struggle with.

I have several handmade suppliers in my shop, all of whom I love. The way I usually choose what to stock is common sense. "Would I buy it?" is first and foremost. Sometimes they're items I've purchased at markets and fallen in love with and then approached the creator to see if they want to supply. Most importantly it has to be original. There's no point in me stocking something everyone else has.

I think this blog I read today said it perfectly:

The tale of the grey Rhombus! (why copying matters in the handmade world)

January 22, 2012 By Lou Lou

I think it's important to distinguish yourself from everyone else. I'm definitely no marketing guru or branding expert (I have my own challenges in the shop with that!) but I think when it comes to handmade baby clothing and children's clothing it's definitely a competitive market. Everyone is making pillowcase dresses, applique t-shirts, hair clips, headbands, baby singlets etc. So when I stock these things I want to ensure I have a product that is so different to everyone else's that people will come back for more.

A perfect illustration of this is my lovely supplier SquigglePop. Mrs SquigglePop is a mother who loves to sew. She is a fantastic sewer/artist and she has come up with the most amazing yet simple idea. She created the bungy cord. What's that you ask? Well it's an elasticised cord that has a loop and toggle at one end and a clasp at the other end. It's similar to the old fashioned dummy cords but this one is stretchy so you an attach one end to the pram or car seat and the baby or toddler can stretch the toy, bottle, dummy or whatever up to their mouth. The elastic loop at the other end can be adjusted to fit something as small as a dummy or as big as a wide neck drink bottle. Honestly I don't know how we survived before she came up with these!

Mrs SquigglePop also  makes gorgeous terry backed bibs. Now there's nothing different about that I hear you say. But when she puts them into cute little noodle boxes with her bungy cords they all of a sudden become this very original baby shower gift idea!

So now here's what happens when you hand make something and it becomes a hit. I now have mothers coming in saying "so-and-so i my mothers group had this gorgeous bib and matching dummy cord by SquigglePop and she told me you sell them" Viola! The rest is history.

I've just put a big order into SquigglePop as her bibs and bungy cords were so popular in the lead up to Christmas that I've almost sold out. Every time I receive a parcel from her it's like opening a present because unlike buying from big name labels, I never know what designs I'm getting. I can't wait for this lot to arrive!