Bluebirds of Happiness...

triesteprusso | cherylasmith |  blackbaroque | crazyfoxstudio | freshline | asherjasper | chetanddot | grammieshats

You may have noticed that I have a bit of a fondness for Bluebirds (You hadn't?  Check out my logo!).  So I decided to devote this weeks 'must haves' to some crafters who share my love of the blue winged bird and have created little crafty tributes to them.  I hope you like them as much as I do :0)

Easter Lovlies - Top 5 Easter Picks

I find that the major holidays are an opportunity to really let crafty people play their 'A' game.  

If you have a look through MadeIt or Etsy, you are surrounded by themed holiday items; some traditional, others way out there!  However all of them are great fun!!  

Thanks to the talented crafters on MadeIt, here are my Top 5 Easter Picks for this year :0)

gorgieporgie

Chantal Vincent Art

erin dove accessories

plushka

Little Spunky Monkey

A Little Bit of Cuteness to Brighten Your Day!

Nothing makes me smile more than a little bit of 'cute'.  So here are some quick cuties to give your day a bit of fun and happinesss :0)

Enjoy!

matouenpeluche

SweetieBird

pocketcarnival

Ihearttosew

littlemoandfriends

Pincushions - Works Of Art You Can Stick Pins In!

By now, many of you will know that I recently purchased a wonderful handmade, felt pincushion from a fellow Etsy seller That Pincushion Place.  I have been waiting with bated breath for my parcel to arrive from the UK and today it did!  I was greeted by a lovely box on the doorstep just waiting for me to open it up and examine it's contents.  So scissors at the ready I held my breath and carefully opened the box.

I was not dissappointed!

There it was in all of it's 8" glory.  My pincushion.  Yay!!  I am completely gobsmacked by the amount of time and work that has obviously gone into creating this little masterpiece.  It got me thinking though.  What other pincushions are out there defined purely by utalitarian ideals.  What other little works of art are lurking in the functional sections of all craft/auction sites under 'sewing paraphenalia'?

So I went on a search and this is what I found - true pieces of art!!

L to R Top: 1) yifatiii, 2) minibytes, 3) detailsbydes, 4) yoorika

L to R Bottom: 1) BayColonyDesigns, 2) FatCatCrafts, 3) Dollydrip, 4) Sairaku

Time. Is There Ever Enough?

A Time For Now 

a time to cheer, a time to cry,

a time to live, a time to die,

a time to sleep, a time to wake,

a time for real, a time for fake,

a time for truth, a time to lie,

a time to laugh, a time to sigh,

a time to stand, a time to fall,

a time for one, a time for all,

a time for love, a time for hate,

a time to run, a time to wait,

a time to stay, a time to flee,

a time for you, a time for me. 

Arik Fletcher

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was thinking about time today as I sat on a training course wishing the day away because I wasn't doing what I wanted to do.  Don't get me wrong, the training course is very good, but it was 27 degree celcius today and I usually don't work on a Friday afternoon and I have a cold and I wanted to watch Moo do her gymnastics and...I could come up with a million more reasons.

I just didn't have the time to be sitting in a training course when I could have been doing so much more.

The ever allusive time.  We wish for more of it or we hope it will go quickly, we're never happy with what we have and how we use it.  Yet, I am a classic time waster.  I never have enough of the stuff, but I'll happily sit here on my blog writing about it instead of doing the dishes, or checking homework.  I then ask myself at the end of the day, "Where did the time go?"

What do you do with your time?

1. edmdesigns (cuff)

2. SunshineandRavioli (tags)

3. Scentsinsoy (candle)

4. RingRingRing (necklace)

5. Winterberrycottage (print)

6. evgie (felt clock)

7. empressivedesigns (decal)

8. 2BeContinued (dominoes)

The Handmade Show - Blood Sweat and, hopefully not, Tears!!

For those of you who may have been down a mineshaft with 34 Chilean miners over the last couple of months, you may have missed the fact the The Handmade Show is expericencing a rebirth.  The original concept of the wonderful Celeste Wong, The Handmade Show is a boutique crafters' and artisans' market which is now being lovingly looked after by a group of creative, hardworking 'nuts' including my good self.

(Note: Calling us 'Nuts' is, of course, a term of endearment!)

We are excited to be holding the first of these rebirthed Shows this coming Saturday, 16 October - at the Oakleigh-Carnegie RSL (Dummond St, Oakleigh, 3166).

As mentioned earlier, we are a boutique market so we are able to bring you some amazing items in a very intimate environment - no walking for hours to get from one end to the other - it's all in one spot AND it's INDOORS!!!  Particularly good since this weekends forecast is a little wet!

Some of the fantastic stallholders coming to the market include:

• Rosa May Creations
• Mignonne
• Ladybugs & Daisychains
• Spikey Rose jewellery design
• Jooce Bath n Body
• Found n Bound
• Vintage Sew and Sew
• EP Designs
• Holi Goddess
• Creations by Bobbie Mac
• Red Letter Studio

And did I mention there is a GIVEAWAY?  Just turn up and we give you the chance to win a Gift Voucher to spend at the November market.  Purchase something and we give you bonus entries in the draw for the Gift Voucher - how good is that???

I hope that we see some of you on Saturday - please come up and say hello - or I hope we see you as a stallholder in the future! 

Cheers!!