Welcome Ivy

At 1:21am my beautiful little niece Ivy was born. My sister had a water birth at home and didn't tell everyone as the first baby she had ended up being an emergency caesar. But, as you can see, Ivy has come into the world as happy as can be. Doesn't she have lovely squidgy fingers?!

Scarves up now!

New scarves are finally online! There are 5 beautiful and individual scarves up now - including 'Foxy' (featured here) which has a fab vintage 1940's fuzzy felt fox on the front. I have also created one scarf that is quite masculine so would be great for your fella.


Been so busy with Theo that I can't believe it's almost been a week and I haven't posted. Even if I can't manage any sewing or designing I do try to post something on my blog!


Theo is now 15 weeks old - 4 months next week. She is a little ball of fun now. I absolutely love this stage with her. She has got a couple of little pairs of snazzy jeans so looks a lot older now!

Peppermint Mag

Yay! I have had a bag featured in the delicious new Peppermint Mag. This is a very exciting magazine - one at the forefront of Australian & New Zealand eco friendly fashion. It is such a beautiful magazine to read and love the 100% recycled aspect to it.

Lots of cutting edge design and great articles... check it out!

Stupid stupid toes

I have to vent... then it's time for bed. I have broken my toe again - the little one - again - but this time my right toe! I sound like some little feeble old woman don't I?

I have been staying with Mum in Sydney to get some help with Theo. I can't believe my bad luck lately!!!

This time it was trying to take the screaming banshee for a walk to get her to sleep, had the dog lead too and a Emmaljunga pram which is a 4 wheeler and hopeless to navigate so presto - bang into foot (in thongs) and another broken toe. Hobbled home trying not to cry while Theo screamed the whole way and the dog was not impressed as the walk was cut short!

Winter scarves coming soon

I have been creating scarves over the Easter long weekend - it's probably the most sane of things I can do with Theo calling for attention as well.

Simple, straight lines on the machine means I can pick them up and put them down when I need to and not be doing tricky little things that can be mistakes too easily.

I just love mixing and matching the fabrics to create these unique scarves. I hope to get these first ones up next weekend. So far 3 are finished (I know, I know - there should be more made over a 5 day long weekend but it's as fast as I can go!).

Some have some fun details - and look out for the scarves with vintage fuzzy felt animals on them!

My sister's second baby is due any day now and I have a TON of stuff that no longer fits Theo. So I have bagged it all up and taking it to Mum's place in Sydney tomorrow so she can take it to my sister in Newcastle when the baby is born. It's nice that all these clothes and baby items can be shared around! It also means another day or two in the city!!!

Beautiful butterflies

How divine are these?!

Lightly has created these delightful recycled crockery butterflies - called 'Chrysalis'. Inspired by the lifecycle of a butterfly and the process of metamorphosis, Davies uses vintage saucers as the natural curve creates shadows on the wings - as if the butterflies are in flight.

To die for!

Kreativ blogger award

I have been put to the challenge to come up with the 7 things I love most by beatnik bazaar in Cape Town, South Africa (such a long way from here!) - thanks for that... here it goes...


1. My darling little girl, Theo. She is now just over 13 weeks old and as hard as the job is, it is so incredibly rewarding. To see her grow, learn and respond with smiles, chatting and laughing melts my heart. Just what did we do before she came along? Steven and I are besotted by her!

2. Road trips with the family. When we get the chance, Steven, Nelly (the dog) and I have had some great road trips around this fantastic country. I prefer these so much more to overseas holidays. Getting in the car, bag of sweets, great cds, a map too big for the front seat - and hit the road! We have been everywhere from Qld, NT, SA, VIC and NSW. I would really like the next trip to be down through Melbourne and across on the ferry to Tasmania - one day soon I hope!

3. 2nd hand stores. This goes hand-in-hand with road trips! Never pack the car up too much as there is always something fabulous to be found that really needs to be squeezed into the car somehow - even if Nelly ends up having to sit on top of it!!!

4. Living out of the city. I just love, love, love living in Katoomba in the beautiful Blue Mountains. There is a fantastic community of like-minded people here, the air is fresh, our house is nestled in the bush with a bubbling stream near by (which is lovely to go to sleep listening to), I get to watch and listen to birds all day as I work and it's still close enough to Sydney so we can get our fix of city life when we need it.

I left Sydney in 2001 for the Northern Territory. We tried Brisbane for almost 2 years but to be back out in a quieter space really does work for me. It's also a lovely spot to bring up children.

5. Sweets. I have a terrible sweet tooth! Homemade cakes and treats are things I think about daily though I'm not a real cook (I'm more of your stirfry/quick cook - I'm not good with recipes). Some of my lovely customers have sent me sweets (naughty ;)!) and I got homemade brownies from a customer that came specially to the Leura markets last year... mmmm....

6. Shoes. Ok, this is obvious! There isn't many girls who don't love shoes. But being a size 16 means that clothes can't always be my first love as designers don't like to create clothes for the most common size out there. I have an abundance of shoes - all totally impractical for living in the sticks here! But I do like to look at them.

Just yesterday I spotted a pair of cute purple suede Mary Jane flats in Blackheath. I ooohed and ahhhed at them then turned to Steven and said, "What a shame. They would be totally impractical living here". He just nods and hopes I don't buy these things. I have also broken my toes and bones in my feet a few times (too hard to go into but it's been happening over a period of 15 years). This is making it harder and harder to find gorgeous shoes that fit comfortably, plus a pregnancy that's flattened out my feet further.


7. Last but in no way least... vintage fabrics and trimmings. I have always had this fascination but for a long time, collected things and didn't do anything with them. Creating an outlet by making my range of handmade handbags has helped this obsession. I don't hang on to beautiful fabrics like I once did - now I am much happier cutting them up to create gorgeous things!

Ok, my turn. I'm going to ask Anna Laura, Liana Kabel and Florence Forrest to step up to the challenge. These girls are all amazing Australian independent designers who I adore.

Recession?

Today we travelled off the mountain and headed to Penrith.

Sorry, Penrith Plaza to be exact - another Westfield. There really isn't any other reason to go to Penrith otherwise, unless you go across to the beautiful Lewers Gallery at Emu Plains.

I thought times were tough. I thought people were losing their jobs and tightening their belts, not spending so much. Every shop has ridiculous bargains on. And we haven't got Rudd's handout just yet (but maybe others do?).

So why doesn't it seem tough? People were everywhere, buying like crazy on an Easter Saturday morning. Bags of stuff hanging off arms and prams. So are people really worried about what's happening out there? Do we all really have money to spend?

I must admit I was doing the same. Target had 20% off kids stuff and as it's getting cold here I wanted to get some baby sleeping bags for Theo. Then I saw thermal wool/cotton long sleeve t-shirts for her that were reduced and (on top of that) on sale so had to grab those as well.

Maybe it will hit home after Rudd's payout has been spent and there is no more play money. I wait to see what other bargains come about...

I want...

For those of you that remember my debacle with Apple on my dying 2005 and 'just out of warranty' Mac late last year (I was told to 'buy a new one'. Rubbish!), I must say that since it has been fixed, it's still going strong and looking good.

But...

This is the one I want when my computer really does kick the bucket.

The MacBook Pro is green, green, green! It's highly recyclable and so much more energy efficient. Things like: arsenic-free glass (ummm... so all others have arsenic??), mercury-free LED-backlit display, PVC-free internal cables, 37% smaller packaging and highly recyclable aluminium and glass enclosures.

Apple controls every aspect of the product of its computers so then can minimize their carbon footprint in ways the competitors can't. Things like designing with fewer parts and recyclable materials. They even have created software that makes them more energy efficient!!!

Present & correct

How gorgeous is this stuff? My girlfriend Jess sent me the link from London. Present & Correct are based in the UK and do the most beautiful paper goods - you must check them out!!


This sort of design really inspires me. The website is divine too.

_________________________

I've had a shocker of a day.

Little Theo was a screaming banshee for most of it. She managed to poo all over two outfits which required washing her body down each time, spewing cottage cheese style milk 3 times at one venue (which was all over me too), screamed at every opportunity and wouldn't sleep. I finally got some relief when I got her and Nelly (the dog) into the car and drove around Katoomba and Medlow Bath. I have always wanted to drive around the streets in Medlow so it was fun for me.

Anyway, motherhood makes sewing and creating more than a little difficult and doesn't leave me much time to myself.

So, I am sitting here with a peppermint tea, a peanut butter sandwich and my computer. It's 6pm and quiet now as she has finally passed out. I am exhausted and can't wait for Steven to turn up to take over and make dinner so I can get in the bath.

I found out today that I didn't get into the Autumn Finders Keepers market in Sydney and it left me with mixed emotions.

Really, I wanted to be able to do a market soon and regain a little of my 'pre-Theo' life but I am also glad, as it would be incredibly hard to do a 2 day market with a 3 month old baby all the way in Sydney.

Motherhood is so much more demanding than what I thought and I don't seem to get much time to do anything more than tend to her needs each day. I am amazed at some mums who are managing to do their business and newborns though I expect they aren't getting that much more done than me!

I am in Sydney enjoying warmer weather this weekend and celebrating my grandmother's birthday (she is in her mid-80's). Theo seems to be sleeping better in the heat too - with stretches 7 -8 hours long. Today we will head up to Newtown though its hard when you have no money to spend... Oh, I forgot, we get Rudd's stimulus money now, don't we?! Weeeee!