Another fabulous web find...

I love scouring the web for new blogs and craft sites. After happily stumbling upon Cafe Cartolina last week, I was even more excited to find Parasol Craft. Parasol Craft is an online downloadable magazine dedicated to independent crafters. You do have to pay to download each issue, but at $US2.50 (about $AU3.05), it's very reasonably priced (considering I bought three magazines on the weekend for a total of $28!) This issue features crafters from around the globe.  Parasol Craft is a fabulous resource for keeping up with what the global craft community is doing, so check it out.

New Stock & Winner of Competition

Here are some photos of new stock heading to Rap in Melbourne. These Spring themed bookmarks and brooches are exclusive to Rap. BUT, the lucky winner of this months give-a-away competition will receive one of the brooches (along with other goodies). This month the draw was done randomly: each follower was ascribed a number that corresponds to the order that they appear in my followers list and then I entered the numbers into the random number generator (on the left hand side of this blog).

And the winner is...Bek McW! Congratulations Bek.

*due to the small number of followers each months winner will be excluded from the next two draws

Sunday Reading

Sunday morning. No market. No commitments. What to do? Walk down to the local newsagent and buy a stash of inspirational (and tax-deductible!) magazines of course! Then have an extra large mocha at a cafe and flick through the glossy pages of Inside Out, Frankie and Notebook. My sister gave me some women's' magazines the other day (Cosmo and Madison). I took then with me to read at the market yesterday. I picked up the Cosmo, flicked through the pages, muttered to myself a few, 'I can't wear that's and 'I don't want to wear THAT!'s and put it back down. I'm not sure when I stopped being a Cosmo girl and became a Notebook girl, but somewhere along the way it happened. I wonder what it says about me? Am I starting to act my age? Recently I have caught myself thinking, 'Kids today!' and 'What IS she wearing?' ...hmmm, maybe I've become a real grown-up??? What a frightening though!

the beach market

Yesterday was the 3rd Beach Market. Despite the appalling weather the appeal of local handmade drew many people out of their warm and cosy homes. It was great to see so many people supporting local crafters (Julie did a fabulous job with advertising. Thanks Julie!). For myself, sales were a disappointing, BUT I had a great time! Firstly I was I was lucky enough to have my stall under a wall heater! Plus, I my stall was next to Ruby Victoria Press. I am so jealous of Narelle's vintage letter press. At one stage I considered grabbing the press and making a run for it, but I feared that the weight of the machine would have hampered my get-a-way so I ditched that idea and purchased a gorgeous blue teapot lino print instead.

I also bought myself a broach and some prints from jasmine rose (below). I also almost bought a fabulous skirt from Mamma Mia, but I couldn't commit to a fabric. I think I'll commission once once I've decided on the fabric. These skirts are fabulous. They can be worn six different ways. Yes, 6 ways to wear one skirt! All in all, a good (if somewhat wet) day.

Late addition...

Another fabulous find over at Cafe Cartolina.

Another distraction...

Over the last few evenings I've been getting ready for Saturday's market- cutting, stitching, hammering and gluing! Despite all the work going on I have managed to find time for a little distraction. Earlier this week I stumbled across Cafe Cartolina 's blog and fell in love. I've only gone through a few pages of listings, but already it's become a 'daily checker' for me. Below is picture from one of her entries; makes my two little tip-shop draws look quite pitiful!

Colour Wednesday

This weeks colour theme is red & aqua. Crisp & cheerful. I have ordered fabrics to have a go at making the robot quilt squares (top left) for a friend who is pregnant. She's not due for a few months so that should give me enough time to get my act together and actually finish a quilt.

Travel (Shopping) advice?

I'm heading to beautiful New Zealand in two weeks. While I'm there I'd like to check out some independent shops selling handmade or fabrics. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Babushka, Babushka

As a child I always wanted a set of nesting dolls (and a real-life Wookie -an 8ft Chewbacca of my very own- and each Christmas I still hope that Santa will bring me one!). Alas, I'm still waiting for a Wookie, but in the meantime I have been able to indulge my babushka craving by collecting traditional vintage nesting dolls. I love the simple clean decorative style of the traditional babushkas. Did you know that each Russian village that produces these dolls has their own distinctive decorative style? Sometimes its a small detail like the shape of the eyes or the colour of the scarf. I suspect that many others have a similar inclination towards these gorgeous Russian dolls. The Notions babushka range is one of my most popular. They seem to appeal to the young and old alike. These sweet little babushkas will be heading to Inside and Rose's Cupboard later this week.

Tip Shop Treasures

At around 2am the other morning it suddenly came to me that old draws would look good filled with my brooches and hair accessories on my market stalls. So, today's mission was to head to the tip shop and find some suitable draws. I came home with 2 fabulous vintage looking wooden draws. Not bad for $2! I adore the one that says stationary. Now all I have to do is give them a good clean and they'll be ready to make their first appearance this coming Saturday (29th) at the Beach Market. Hope to see you there.

Notions goodies give away

Just a quick reminder that the first notions blog give away will be drawn at the end of the month. The winner will receive a selection of the above products. Only blog followers are eligible, so sign up if you want to be in the draw for a bag of delicious hand made goodies!

New Fabrics

It's been very quiet on the postie front this week. I buy most of my supplies on line so there is usually something waiting for me when I get home. But this week, nothing...until today that is. There were four parcels waiting for me when I got home this afternoon. I love getting parcels in the post. I buy most of my fabrics from the USA and Japan so by the time they arrive usually I've forgotten what I ordered, so there is always and element of surprise. And then there are the little extras that many suppliers throw in...a cute piece of ribbon or an extra piece of fabric. My niece now has an endless supply of Hello Kitty tissues thanks to one of my Japanese suppliers! I am particularly excited about the fabric below. I love typography and vintage typewriters so I can't wait to play with this and see what it turns into.

Lovely Little Find

I popped into Love & Clutter the other day and was immediately taken with the delightful little creations of little black crow. I simply adore every aspect of these hand sewn beauties...the knitted clothes, the tea stained linen, the miss-matched button eyes...adorable! You can find these gorgeous animals at Love & Clutter or on line at etsy here.

Colour Wednesday

I love blogs with lots of photos. When I'm doing my daily blog round up (which can take some time!) I like to save a copy of any image that catches my eye. Most often what attracts me is a particular colour or combination of colours. With my blog photo file now stuffed to the brim with images I thought I'd share a few of my favourites. Each Wednesday I'll try to post a different theme. Although Summer is still some way off, today's theme is summer citrus. These colours remind me of oranges, limes and pink grapefruit.

A little distraction...

I've been making more stock this week and bundling up packages to send out to stores. But I've also found time (between my two other jobs!) to get stuck into another quilting project. While I love designing and making my Notions products, quilting lets me play with colour and texture on a much larger scale. Here's a pic of the image that inspired the colours for the new quilt and my quilt layout.

More storage ideas

Okay, so this may not be practical for fabric storage, but I just couldn't resist sharing this image. Hmmmm...maybe I need to start hoarding yarn?

Spring Clean

What better way to start a Sunday than to spring clean work work space? Well, okay so I had a muffin and a coffee first, but then I got stuck into giving my work room a good once over. It's needed a revamp so some time. When you have to climb over stuff to get to more stuff you know it's time to do something about the mess. And while the room is tidier, my fabric is still crammed into boxes under the desk which means each time I go to look for a particular piece I have to remember which box its in or rummage through the entire stash. Now that I've discovered quilting I'm sure this problem is only going to get worse! What I need is wall to ceiling shelving and one of those sliding ladders that old libraries had (my house has high ceilings). I can just see myself sliding back and forth grabbing a yard of this and a yard of that. While time and money prevent the creation of my dream work environment, I love looking through glossy magazines at the work spaces of featured artists and designers, though I wonder what these spaces look like when a photo shoot isn't scheduled! I thought I share with you some of the storage ideas I've come across on the web (she says as she turns green with envy).

Notions featured on Beach Market Blog

I am very honoured to be the current featured stall holder on The Beach Market blog. You can read the interview here. The Beach Market is organised by Julie Hoddy, who does a fabulous job. The next market will be held on Sat Aug 29th at the Blackmans Bay hall. Here's a peek at some of the goodies that will be on offer (including my nest brooches):

New Stock in Store

I've been busy, busy, busy this last week. I started a new job, plus I've been madly putting together orders for 6 stores. I'm happy to say that the orders are all but complete and will be shipping out this week. New stock heading to...Love & Clutter (Hobart), Inside (Hobart), Cocoon (Launceston), Rose's Cupboard (South Hobart), Rap (Melbourne City Centre) and Evolve (QLD). Also, I've been teaching myself to quilt. I'm surprised to discover how addictive it is. Here's a peek at what I'm currently working on (the fabric is Wonderland by Moda)...

Sadly, there is no rest for the wicked (or the crafty)...time to start planning for the next market (Beach Market, Aug 29) and making Christmas stock.

Magazine Appearance

I was very excited to learn that Notions had recently been featured in a Queensland weekend magazine. Even a front page blurb! The girls at Evolve at Peregian Beach (Qld) kindly sent me a copy. The photos are fab!

Spring has Sprung...

The gorgeous pre-Spring weather had me out in the garden (or should I say jungle?) today. It's been some months since I mowed the lawn and as I was pruning I made sure the keep an eye open for any tigers that might suddenly spring from the long grass. While my garden is a mess, the lovely Luisa (who has written some thoughts about last Sundays market, some of the stall holders and their wares -including Notions- on her blog) has room to dance in her garden. Luisa makes the most delicious baby blankets and bibs using gorgeous quilting fabrics. You can find them here in her etsy shop.

I am spending my Monday evening sewing cards for the gorgeous Suzanne from Cocoon and the lovely girls at Inside. If you haven't been into Launceston's Cocoon then you're really missing out. The first time I went in I just wanted to curl up in one of the displays and go to sleep (a great place to hiberate for the winter). With warm reds, browns and greys dominating the colour sceme, Cocoon has a fabulous collection of handmand goodies that just shout 'take me home'.

to market, to market...

Had a fabulous market day today! Received a lot of positive feed back about my Spring collection and it was great to have contact with my customers. Usually I ship my goodies off to the shops and that's the last I ever hear from them (they don't write, don't call....), but today I had the chance to meet some lovely people who were either wearing my products or had previously bought Notions goodies. It's great to see (and hear) that all my little buttons are going to good homes were they are appreciated. I also had a quick chat to the lovely Amber from Fresh Fabrics Australia who was down in Tassie for the weekend. Markets also offer a chance to catch up with peers and check out what everyone else is up to. I'm continuously amazed at how many talented people there are in Hobart. All in all, a wonderful day.