Some Time Away - Bells Beach

The kids and I took a couple of days away at the start of the week and we headed down to The Van.  Fortunately we had a lovely day Monday (before the rain) and managed to get some time in down at the famous Bells Beach.  Preparations are well underway for the annual easter surf competition held at Bells, but we were lucky enough to still be able to get down on to the beach to watch some of the locals, and the not so locals, surfing.

Whilst there the kids spent some time chasing waves at the edge of the water - it was lovely to be away from anything that plugged into the television and just watch the kids running around like geese enjoying themselves.  

Here's my little photo essay on our adventure :0)

Picturesque Bells Beach

Happy feet on the soothing sands :0)

Ah, happy children walking together...

...imagination running away ...

...I'm sure he is trying to save his sister...

...all's well that ends well :0)

The only problem with a lovely walk along Bells Beach?  Getting back to the car!!

Lots of fun was had by all!  What are you all doing on the school holidays?

My New Obsession: Crochet!

As many of you who follow me on Facebook would know, I have recently started to learn to crochet.

MooBeeGran is a crocheter/knitter of world standards (in my humble opinion) and she has taken on the role of mentor and guru.  Whilst not the white-knuckle job she had when teaching me to drive, I'm sure as I take on more challenging projects, she may wish she'd outsourced the whole job.

Not happy to start with a granny square, I decided to head straight for a small Amigurumi project.  I posted a picture of my initial shape on facebook and asked you to guess what it might be:

There were lots of fabulous guesses, including:

• A pin cushion
• A little pink easter egg octopus
• The tummy of a new MooBeeAnimal (close)
• An owl (correct species)
• An easter bunny
• A mouse
• A pink elephant
• A bunyip
• A pink galah (the closest yet)
• A thumb warmer (my personal favourite!).

I was excited that you had become involved in my new obsession!  However I think the time has come to reveal what my small pink blob hast evolved in to.  So as they do in all of those TV make-over shows, here is the slow reveal:

Drum roll please...

Yes!  It's a small pink Amigurumi bird!!  So much fun to make and so quick!  I have the lovely Tara, owner of Mamachee, to thank for her Fat Birdy pattern - so easy for a first timer to follow!   I would recommend her fabulous patterns to everyone :0)

I have enjoyed my first foray into crocheting so much that I have already started my next Fat Birdy (I'm now consolidating my skills!).  Here's a little sneak preview:

So, much love and thanks to MooBeeGran for her help, to all of you fabulous followers for your interest and to whomever it was that decided that a stick with a hook on the end and some wool could be so much fun!!

A Few of My Favourites...

I thought I'd share a few of my Etsy favourites with you today.  There's so much loveliness in the market place that this is only a hint of what I have marked (and spend quite a bit of time drooling over!).  

I hope that you find something to get your own creative juices flowing :0)  

Enjoy!

I Love an Airline with a Sense of Humour :0)

I heard about this and then I saw it.  Gosh I love Kiwi's and their sense of humour!!!

"I'm Not a Raffle Ticket Seller's Bottom"

Yep.  That's my sad, yet somewhat profound judgement on the hour I spent today trying to sell raffle ticket's at the local shopping mall for my son's Scout Group.

It was awful.

As I am not a uniformed member of the Scout Group, Centre Management did not want me roaming the floor, trying to force shoppers into buying tickets.  I could only smile from behind my 'Community Stand' and hope that this would be enough to entice harried shoppers over to view the delights on offer from winning the Monster raffle.  Heck, I could even give you a bit of information on joining the Scout Group if you were brave enough to approach me.

It was a lonely hour.

Without the ability to approach people as they passed by and con encourage them to take part, it was akin to cutting my tongue out.  I was without my mojo.  I would happily approach shoppers with a cheeky grin and ask them if they would like to win 2nd prize.  "2nd prize", they would ask, "What about first prize?" 

And there it was.  My perfect entry to have a conversation with them about the raffle and how there was of course a 1st prize, and how there chance to win would be increased if they perhaps bought more than one ticket.  Who could say no?

But there I was, not allowed to approach anyone.  Merely a one-sided, 'come hither' look across a crowded shopping centre.  Not really enough to entice anyone over for a second look.

It did, however, give me an opportunity to think about how to encourage people to buy our MooBeeTee's items when we can't approach  them, they can't touch our items (online that is) and they won't potentially ask any questions.  How do I stop them hurrying past our shop pages and take the time to understand how lovely our items are, and the effort we have taken to make them for everyone.

I thought it might be useful to share any hints or tips you might have for your fellow e-shopkeepers.  How do you entice customers to your shop to spend some time with you?  Do you use free shipping?  Do you have freebies? What hint can you share?

(For the record I sold three raffle tickets, all to people who I knew.  I told them I'd cry if they didn't buy something - sound familiar to anyone????)