Stalked on Etsy!

My bathroom bag has been featured on EtsyStalker!

Whoo hoo! Check out the link here if you'd like to see the original post. It's all about moving out of home for uni, and some of the things you can use to ease the transition... it's called "From the nest to the dorm".

I have never heard of EtsyStalker before, (has anyone out there ever heard of it?) but that has absolutely no bearing on the fact that I'm completely rapt to find this out.

I get such a blast when someone likes one of my things. It's part of the whole reason I started doing markets - because yes, on the face of it, markets take up heaps of time (especially on the precious weekends) and you often get rained on, and sometimes blown over, and every now and again you have a really rubbish day where you hardly sell anything .... but I tell you, the rush I get when I sell *anything* is completely worth it.

I love the look on a little person's face when they pick up a Hoot or a Catticus. I love it when people rush over to look at some of the amazing fabrics I use. I love it when a little girl tugs her mother over by the hand to see one of my Perfect Pencilrolls.

I love it because I made it, and in some way it's like that little bit of particular happiness would never have existed without me. And that makes me feel worthwhile (and on special days, super powerful and almighty. But only for a moment.).

Recently Thornberry did a post on the whole market vibe thing and asked people why they chose to sell at craft markets. I really enjoyed reading the range of responses - I highly recommend you check out the post - which varied from my little bit of happiness thing, through to it being a way to connect with the community, and also the very common "I sell craft so I can buy more craft supplies" - which is certainly true for me too.

I for one am really glad to see the resurgence in craft markets and the desire to buy local and support your artistic, crafty community. I'm glad for the chance to meet up with others like me. I'm glad I get to send a little bit of happiness out into the world, happiness that is unique and special and might never have existed if I hadn't slaved over a hot sewing machine to create it.

Nothing beats that buzz - crafters, together we are raising the happiness quotient in the world!!

Long may it last.

(and if blogger could please just sort out this weird spacing thing I'm experiencing, my day would be complete.)

A herd of Catticus, and two vintage suitcases

Another busy week at work, another four days goes past without a blog post .... I'm very sorry! I must do better, I know. And what happens when I don't post regularly? I end up with loads of news I need to cram into a tiny little space, and that's not satisfactory for anyone, certainly not me.

So today I'm going to edit. I'm going to show you the two lovely, beautiful amazing vintage suitcases I found recently - they're the perfect thing for my weekend markets.

I'm usually at a loss when it comes to making my market stall look nice ... I just pile things up higgledy-piggledy and hope it all kinda comes together. And I carry all my goodies around in horrible plastic tubs, which I hate, and every time I pick them up it sort of makes my skin crawl with the sheer utilitarian aspect of it.

BUT, a few days ago I was in Collingwood for work, and I stopped by a fantastic second-handery on the way home, and look at what I found! Two fan-TAS-tic vintage suitcases.

Exhibit A: the blue one is a lovely deep square, and inside it are a few pages of a newspaper from 1964 which depict "a guide to birds" .. and of course they mean the female kind of "bird", not an actual bird. It's so sexist and inappropriate, I love it. I'm keeping that a secret for now and will post a bit about it later in the week.

Exhibit B: the second suitcase - I absolutely adore this, since it's orange leather. And everyone knows that orange is my favouritest colour in the whole wide world. And how often do you find an orange suitcase, let's be honest? I'm completely rapt with this one already, and I've only owned it two days. It's become my new mascot.

I carried these home from Collingwood, and had the strangest sensation from the handle of the blue one .... it vibrated in my hand all the way home, almost like it was singing to me with happiness from having been found, and as if it was really happy to be coming home with me. It was a lovely feeling!

I think these are the perfect things to display (and carry to and from the market) my toys. Look at all the new Catticus in the blue one, don't they look great?? It really shows them off to their best advantage, and the most fabulous thing is that they all pack inside it perfectly. Ideal for market transport!!

All the new Catticus will be with me at the Shirt and Skirt Market tomorrow. The weather is meant to be a bit rubbish, so I'm not sure how many people will come down .... so if you're not doing anything, why not pop by?

It would be great to see you - and then I can show off the suitcases in person!

Close but no cigar .....

Lovely new reddy-pinky-salmony-terracotta-ish wide-legged pants - hemmed, topstitched, finished? Check.

Fabulous new Catticus in brilliant Joel Dewberry Spade Damask in Mulberry from the Ginseng home dec range? Check.

Bright and cheerful doorstops in candy-coloured canvas stripes, all filled with sand and stitched closed? Check.

Gorgeous new - well, vintage, but I just bought it on ebay so it feels new to me - lolly-yellow fabric in stripes with little pink flowers and grass-green embroidery doodads? Check.

Camera battery? ba-BOW!!!!!!!!!!! (to imitate the Family Feud bad-buzzer-noise)

Charging, of course. Sigh ......

A big thank you

THANK YOU to everyone who sent me fairy dust and sparkles!My smile today is much bigger than the one here on my new Catticus.

In case you're wondering, it really truly worked. I blitzed my important appointment yesterday and that is a huge relief to me. I was sure I'd be all morbid and morose and completely unsparkly, but you - you lovely people you - made sure I felt confident, happy, and comfortable with myself. Thank you! I really could not have done it without you.

And so this post will not dwell on the unhappiness on the previous one.
Instead, I am going to show off some of my latest creations, which will be coming with me to the Northcote Town Hall market tomorrow (between 10-4pm, heaps of parking nearby, and the Number 86 tram stops right outside on High St.)



Here is Cinnamon Spice Hoot.






And this is Salmon Ella Hoot (geddit?)







And this is Spaced-Out Hoot. (should I call him Uni Student Hoot?)







And last but never least, here is Chairman Meow, who will be keeping Catticus company. He's a much more pleasant version than the original, of course ......

Bring LOVE into your home

First day of the working week and I am wrecked. Absolutely wrecked. Getting out of bed this morning was like trying to drag myself up out of a river of treacle.

I blame the sewing machine.

I made another two pencilrolls yesterday, and another Appleblossom Hoot, and a baby Catticus (should he be a Kittencus?), and a new cushion which I've called Bring LOVE Into Your Home. Subtle, eh?

I'm starting to feel like I'm getting more on top of things for the market this weekend, which, let me tell you, is a GOOD feeling and I LIKE IT and all I have to do is keep sewing like a maniac and everything will be FINE!

I dropped into Rathdowne Remnants over the weekend and picked up some more textured black upholstery fabric to make a few more Catticus (what's the plural of Catticus? Is it Cattici? Or Catticodae?) and have a lovely chat with the ladies there. I tell you, that shop is an absolute goldmine for fabric. Every time I go there I get lovely, lovely things.

This time around, in addition to the upholstery fabric, it was a gorgeous lolly pink wool and cashmere blend. The pink is a kind of cross between between bubblegum and calomine lotion, which I'm going to have made into a suit for work - I wouldn't trust my own skills, I'd be bound to muck it up and it's such amazing fabric I couldn't bear that.

And of course I left the stupid camera on my table so I will have to add a picture to this post once I get home from work!