Grace Designs on Madeit newsletter

This was a lovely surprise in my inbox today! My African Violet headband featured on today's email from madeit.com.au It's the Aussie equivalent of Etsy :-) Visit my store here. More about my lovely weekend adventures tomorrow.

Friday favourites - Element Clay Studio

How divine are these! Element Clay Studio has some truly beautiful things in their Etsy store. As you know I love macro photos and I also love nature and artists who reflect this in their creations and Heather Knight does just that, really really well!! I am also really appreciation clay work at the moment. I'd love one of these tiles on my wall!

1. Fungi Micro Tile
   
2. Split leaf bowl

Amy Butler Barcelona Skirt - pattern review

Finally I have finally finished my Amy Butler Barcelona skirt! I received that pattern back in May and bought my material in July.... here we are November and I wore it today for the first time. Sooo comfortable, I love things that sit on my hips low. This skirt is truly so QUICK and EASY! I will probably make a layered one too (on the pattern cover) but that may take another 6 months ;) If you have the pattern sitting in your cupboard, get it out and make it this weekend! You could definitely do it in an afternoon. If you have any doubts about what an invisible zipper foot looks like (for the invisible zip) then hop on over to Lara's blog Kirin Notebook for a fabulous tutorial on invisible zips (on a pillow - but it's all the same principal). Happy sewing and YAY for finishing projects. PS: If you are new to my blog that is a baby - not beer belly!!! 4.5months along.

One of my brides..

This is the lovely Melanie from the States who wore one of my satin rosette hair combs with her birdcage veil. Melanie added the feathers. What a gorgeous photo and couple! I loved getting this photo - it's always nice to see your handy work in action. Thanks Melanie :-)
{Photo courtesy of - Susie Linquist}

New Listings in my Etsy shop

I have listed some new items in my etsy and madeit stores including these darling rose bloom headbands. Great for Christmas - summery and cheery :-) I can make smaller ones for the little ones too!

Monday Musings - Handmade over for the year

What a great weekend it was at Handmade... It felt so typically Australian to be in a wool shed with the heat, dust and flies! I kept hydrated Friday night with plenty of water, fruit and thank goodness a slushy stall!! There is always a great vibe amongst shoppers and stallholders at handmade - everyone seems genuinely happy to be in a lovely environment with awesome items on offer. Three cheers for market girl for pulling together yet another fabulous market. Thanks to those that braved the heat Friday especially and took home some Grace Designs hair candy :-) Only a few pics of my stand and some lovely friends.

1. Grace Designs
2. Rockstars and Royalty
3. Posie Patchwork

A little tutorial on my Christmas bunting (see first pic) to come...

"Handmade Christmas" is here - come one, come all

I will be at the Handmade market tonight only 5-9pm! Lets hope the weather cools down and I can keep me and my little bump hydrated :-) What fun - I wish I could go shopping!! I think I will make a shopping trip myself tomorrow - 10am - 4pm

Customer Service

I ordered some lovely Christmas cookie cutters from Little Betsy Baker with the intention of making some more clay decs for the markets but Australia post let me down and the package never arrived :-( Boo.... BUT.... the lovely people at LBB were very understanding, showed excellent customer service and sent me another set out yesterday which promptly arrived just now! When you run your own little business it's good to be on the receiving end of good customer service, particularly when it comes to problem management. It reminds you of why it's good to go the extra mile, trust your customers word and do all you can to resolve problems. These might end up being for special Christmas cookies now although I doubt they will look as good as the divine cookie in the 2nd photo - that's a work of art! Thanks LBB.

Food and Wine guide - Canberra Times

Top of the gift guide list for the handmade market :-) My sweet African Violet headband. Only 2 sleeps till market! I will be there Friday night only.

I love GREEN

Aren't these Christian Louboutin shoes divine!!! I saw them on the Snippet and Ink blog ages ago.... perfect shoes for the bride. I only wish I thought outside the box like that when I got married - it was so 'matchy' back then!

Monday Musings - more pretties in the making

I had such a fabulous time creating over the weekend. I am really happy with how my pieces turned out. Can I say these photos are only of me 'modeling' out of necessity!! They would look no good on my hubby. It is hard to get photos where you don't feel or look like a complete idiot :-) A few more of this weekends work on flickr.

My first ever Birdcage Veil

Nine inch birdcage veil, bandeau style. You can wear this across the top of your head or around the back also. I like it at the front but not covering eyes. I have attached the fascinator on this one - if it doesn't sell at market next week it will be in my Etsy store.

More Christmas Decorations

I seriously thought yesterday was Friday when I posted my "Friday Favourites" :-) Can I blame that on pregnancy brain? I made some more clay Christmas decorations - filled with many imperfections, just like their maker :-)  Here is how we made them.

Friday Favourites - Kristen Doran Advent Panels

Loving these Advent calendar Kits by the talented Kristen Doran!! I want one - I am sooo partial to green. Images courtesy of Kristen's blog, Cheeky Beaks.

Little Besty Baker

I found this cute little shop while looking for some more cookie cutter shapes. It's called Little Betsy Baker and had the nicest shapes over the multitudes I looked at. They sell decorating supplies for Cakes, Cupcakes and Cookies! Nice stuff. These are textured cutters for biscuits etc.. Gorgeous for a baby shower or bridal shower :-)

Make for Christmas

This lovely image is from the Magazine Inside Out - I bought the Christmas mag for some inspiration. You can see a few more Christmas images on their blog. They have some simple paper crafts to make. All you would need was a fiskar circle cutter and you're set. I bought one at K Mart for a reasonable price.

Monday Musings - stocking up

Finally getting my butt into gear and getting some more stock made for the markets! Do you like the bright yellow? I am using new pearls too and these are so much nicer! I was working my way through an old stash I had. I don't usually use Swarovski's for my felt work. These are just glass pearls. We spent the weekend in Sydney for my cousins daughters 1st birthday - which I took my camera for and forgot to take photos :-( We had a lovely time catching up with family and Anya adored being doted on by her big cousins. She is missing them today and quite frankly so am I!!! They kept her very entertained.

Friday Favourites - Paper Boat Press

If you don't want to make your own clay Christmas decorations - here is a lovely artist that you can buy them from. Brisbane based Paper Boat Press has not only lovely Christmas pieces but stunning bowls with poetry that would be divine for a Christmas gift. I love Kylie's pencils too. You can see more of her work on her blog, Instinct and Grace and you can find where to buy her gorgeous pieces via her website. I'm not sure if I mentioned that I saw the clay stars I made in an old copy of Better Homes & Garden but probably also subconsciously inspired by Kylie's lovely work :-)
{images: Instinct & Grace}

Crafting with Mum

My daughter loves "crafting" she invented the name - I didn't. (She also calls blowing bubbles "bubbling" - cute). Here she is proudly showing off a birthday card she made for a friend. She LOVES stickers! We aren't a toy focused house - we prefer to get creative, read or go outdoors!

Divine buffets

These divine dessert buffets are popping up all over blog-land! I found this one via Eat Drink Chic she has the original links you can visit! Aren't they gorgeous! Here are a few more to whet your appetite:

Baby naming dessert bar by Sweet Designs: Amy Atlas

Wedding sweets buffet via My sweet and Saucy

A crazy amount of work to put these together - I would just love it! All those little details - right up my alley.

Easy Christmas decorations / gifts...

I made these stars on Saturday when my girl slept - a mummy only project :-) They were super easy, definitely a craft to do with kids but I wanted some creative therapy all to myself for this one. The longest part was waiting 24hrs for the clay to dry and turn white.

Materials:

• Air dry clay - Bunnings (Hardware store)
  
• Star cookie cutters - Spotlight (sewing store)
• Stamp set - Lincraft (sewing store)
  
• Skewer - kitchen drawer :-)
• Rolling pin
  

I rolled the clay with Anya's plastic playdough rolling pin - approx 3mm, cut out shapes, imprinted stamp design, engraved my initials and the year on the back and finally poked a hole through the top so I can thread ribbon through to hang, once they have dried.

Monday Musings

It's that time of year, Christmas decs are in the shops, which my daughter is LOVING! Birthdays are starting to roll around en masse, soon it will be end of year parties (I'm already planning our playgroup "mums night out"). However, this time of year is always twinged with a bit of sadness as we remember two lovely friends that 'went home' too early (in our eyes). So, do yourself a favour; appreciate life, family and love hard as if it's your last day on earth.