Making a list... checking it twice.

I may have overcommitted. Two markets in one weekend, activity advent, handmade christmas... Such lovely stuff ahead! If I didn't need to sleep, it'd all be a shoe-in. I'm focusing on getting ready for the Beach Market and The Market which will both be the weekend after next and promise to be huge and lovely in their own ways. A lovely way to end the year, and mark a full 12 months since I first threw some skirts on a table at a christmas market and started this whole crafty caper... I'm making lots of extra gifty things like bean bag sets, apron kits, sparkly crowns, silky capes and mini mei tais.


I'm hoping to have some more boysy stuff, an abundance of summery skirts and more things for tiny owlets. If there's something you'd particularly like and its not in the owlet shop at the moment, please let me know or put in an order and I'd be happy to whip something up for you.

January will be for sleeping and booking the trusty husky in for a service...

My creative space... an update

It seems its where you live... A little while ago I posted about my Spotlight woes after an incident involving a staff member there I like to call Bev and her thoughts on red. There were some lovely supportive responses, particularly from Vic, who I wish was with me at the time, and Sue who pointed out the store classing system. Nikki directed me back to Vic's post about red love. I mean really, Red is most certainly a colour much loved by so many bloggers and fashionistas I can think of... Quilt project anyone?

So anyway, we were in Melbourne and I had reason to go to Spotlight. I tried the local Brunswick store which, on a Saturday morning is just plain awful. Not sure if they had what I wanted cos most stock was on the floor. There was no-one to ask for help either, just 25 people waiting for service and two frantic women serving them... so I left. "That's it!!" I said to Huz on returning to the little red car, "We have to go to WORLD OF SPOTLIGHT!" Thats our special name for the South Melbourne store. Its right opposite head office, so you can generally find what you are after, and then some. They have enough staff to help, not so many customers, and registers that you wander through like a supermarket. No queues, no big tables or numbers or confusion. Its clinical, sure, but come on, this is Spotlight on a saturday morning, people. The day before a market. I'm in a hurry and I'm guilty enough of not supporting my local community... So I rush in and find what I'm after, then say to Huz "just a minute, I'm going to check the red buttons"... and there they are. A selection of red buttons larger than I've seen elsewhere and not just that, they had the ones I particularly wanted!! So I bought them all. I now have 14 red fabric buttons in my creative space for cherry onesies.. and maybe something else. And the red love can continue here again.


I'll also be unpacking, taking stock and preparing for the next round of market fever. I think I may need to take a reserved approach to the market thing next year, but that's another post all together.

Go see some lovely creative spaces at Kirsty's. I have so much catching up to do - I'm really looking forward to it!!

We're home!!

Oh and isn't it just the best place in the world?!! We had a busy whirlwind trip to Melbourne again... no time for blogging and barely time to remember to take photos as the owlets whizzed around playgrounds, the zoo and the Spanish fiesta.


We love Melbourne and its food and the friends and family we have there... but goodness its busy and loud and dirty and smelly and HOT!! Actually we spent the first two days hiding inside from the scorching heat, living on icypoles... while I prepared for Mathilda's Market. The market was great - busy and bustling. Lots of lovely things and shoppers swooping in to pick them up. The owlets had a great time away too, new experiences and tastes...

oh but we did miss nature - something we have in abundance here! Hello little green home where it never gets too hot. We love you. xx

Dashing off...

Apologies for my blogging absence of late... I've been head down in a pile of fabric. Lots of orders to fill and markets to prepare for!! Today we're heading off to Melbourne to catch up with family and friends and on Sunday I'll be at Mathilda's Market. Its at the Hawthorn Town Hall between 9am and 1pm and there is an amazing range of stalls there. Some beautiful stuff!! I'd love to see you if you feel like saying hello :) In the meantime, if you are in Hobart you can now find some owlet staples (onesies, skirts and clips) in the Wilderness Society shop! They are down at Salamanca, so pop in and check out their lovely range of ethical children's clothes and gifts as well as fantastic books... and stuff for grown ups too! You will find capes, similar to the one pictured above, at Spiral Garden in the very near future which is another lovely place to find beautiful things for the owlets in your life.

I'm hoping to post while we're away... but you never know, we might be having lots of fun or I might still be up to my ears in sewing before Sunday.... Hope to see you around soon!!

My creative space...

Packing and mailing silk capes for my first order for Spiral Garden...


Enjoying new patterns and combinations...


Battling the owlets for my creative space.

Looking at other peoples creative spaces here.

PS. Thanks for your messages of solidarity in response to my previous post! So happy to know I'm not alone in my daggy red button love :)

The road less travelled....

I've become quite resigned to the fact that the choices I make are often different to the mainstream. Most places I go there's something I do or like to talk about that's different to the norm... Like home educating the owlets or choosing to birth the little owlet at home. Apparently that makes me part of a minority, a special interest group. Its ok, I quite like being different. It makes for good conversation. But it seems that the gap is widening...

I made my weekly unfortunate trip to Spotlight last week. For those unfamiliar with it, Spotlight is a major fabric and craft retail chain in Australia. In my town its famous for being perpetually out of whatever it is you want... I browsed the shelves for what I wanted. It wasn't there. As usual. I approach the counter to purchase my second choice of each item. I mention to the woman behind the counter (lets call her Bev, cos she reminds me of someone's aunty), all the things that are missing, they were there last week... She goes through the "you can't order it, you just get what comes when it comes" store policy. *sigh* So then I ask her about red buttons. The shelves house a large range of buttons of all colours, but the section of red buttons has dwindled. Every time I walk past the buttons, there's someone there lamanting the absence of red. I broached the subject with Bev. Her response?

"Well you don't see many people wearing red these days, its not very fashionable".

Then I look down. I'm wearing my red bag, red jewellery, red shoes!!! The owlets are dressed in red!! Bev obviously thinks we're dags. And what of the people who've been buying the owletty things with red buttons? Dags too, I'm afraid. Sorry peeps. Spotlight have a team of colour forecasters on the subject and red buttons are sooo two seasons ago. "But they are RED BUTTONS!!" I plead. "They are a staple, a classic!" Bev is unmoved. I suddenly realise that since I've left my mainstream fashion design job, I'm no longer in the loop. People around me wear colours that make them feel good. I make clothes in colours that make my eyes happy rather than being part of a push to get people back in the shops each season. And now Spotlight thinks I'm a dag. I can live with that. And I think I can find somewhere else to buy my red buttons...

Simple Days

Still here! I haven't fallen down a wombat hole, just catching up on some domesticities and sewing stuff. You'll be pleased to know that my laundry basket has a bottom! I know I was. You'll also be pleased to hear there's more goodies coming to the shop soon - a lovely side product of all the sewing!

On Sale

Wide Leg Denim Pants are available again in my Madeit shop. There are four styles with cute japanese print or green spotty print trims in two size ranges. I've reduced the price on them as we head into warmer months. Check out the other things in my madeit shop while you are there! I'll try and pop the pants on Etsy in the coming days...