Dreaming of a BrisStyle Handmade Christmas

Only 12 sleeps to go until the BrisStyle Indie Designers Market! In celebration of the impending handmade Christmas shopping goodness I am going to do a 12 days of Christmas list of some of the lovelies from each of the stall holders. So on the first day of Christmas I hope Santa brings to Little Mary Moo's Place:

Hand Embroidered Tissue Cosy by Edward and Lilly

Woodcut Iron Lace Print by Flight Industries

Maudie's Hatbox by Why Not Street

Red Orbs - Ocean Jasper Sterling Silver Wire Wrapped Pendant by RocknWrap

Elephant Stuffie by P Byers Design

Sunny Shoulder Bag by Lamp and Motor

Lovely Break

Why is it that holidays always have to go so fast? The girls and I have just gotten back from the most lovely week down the coast at Burleigh Heads. So much fun to be had. Walking, swimming, more swimming, markets, parks, Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, loads of fish and chips and many, many ice creams.

Cait and Moo exploring the rock pools. Hours of fun.

Some members of the family, namely Cait chose to be adventurous holiday activities climbing up on the high ropes course with the birds at Currumbin. It was such a pity that I didn't wear closed in shoes to join in the joy of being harnessed in meters above the ground.

I on the other hand was content to join in this lot in lots of laziness.

Look, we even got a sneak look at her babe.

On another pretty interesting handmade note, Burleigh had quite a few lovely shops selling handmade wears. What a treat. The girls are so funny to take shopping now and can pick handmade a mile off and make sure everyone in the shop knew that they had seen things for sale on etsy or that they were handmade. My favorite shops were Raggedy Anne and Love From Lucy.

Feeling Hungry

"In February 2009 Victoria was victim to the worst bushfires on record, which wiped out entire communities, caused 173 deaths and left thousands without homes or shelter.

The Handmade Help Recipe Book evolved as part of handmadehelpsout.blogspot.comby a group of crafters and artists who wanted to contribute to the recovery effort.

The result is a truly international cookbook, packed with treasured recipes and family favourites, donated by people across the globe who wanted to help including well-known chefs such as Margaret Fulton, Allan Campion and Michele Curtis.

All proceeds from sales of the recipe book will be donated to the Salvation Army."  

(Text and Picture from here)

I got my pdf version of this cookbook and I have to say there are some very, very yummy recipes.   I love the idea of downloading the cookbook as I usually make such a mess of my hard copy ones. I have only gotten as far as the sweet section in my looking though.   So if you too would like a fab cookbook that supports such a great cause go to here.

Well, the girls and two of their friends an I are off to go ice skating today.  I have never been before, so I'm hoping that I come home with all limbs intact.  Have a lovely day all!

Busy Busy

(photo from here)

I've been keeping myself busy making some little bits and pieces for this most wonderful shop.  Tangled Yarns is a new shop in Newstead that stocks the most amazing range of yarns and so much other goodness that goes with handmade.  To walk in here, you feel like you are walking into another world - one where handmade rules!  The shop is so bright and airy and there is so much wonderful colour and texture that it is very hard to walk back out the door and go home, definitely not a shop you can just pop in and out of.  So now I am so very lucky to have some purses and pencil cases from Little Mary Moo's Place stocked in Tangled Yarns.  Hooray!  

Off to the Stitches and Craft show today, can't believe that I've been able to make it as it is the last day of the show.  More Hooray!  There are so many BrisStyle girls that have been busy at the show and from the sounds of it they all have been a huge success but that comes as no surprise.  I just hope that they have some of their handmade goods left for me to buy.

The other thing that has been keeping me hugely busy is my eldest Little Moo who has had gymnastics competitions the last two weekends.  I have lived in a fog of glitter spray.  I apologise in advance for the brag (not usually my style) but on such a very exciting note - she qualified for State Championships!  She trains so hard and puts in so much effort it is nice to see it pay off and for there to be some icing on the cake.  These girls are so brave.  They get out there and do these amazing routines with judges watching every little thing and then they are given a score for it.  I was also very impressed with the fantastic sportsmanship buy all the girls that were in her team.  They all cheered each other on and were there with a shoulder to lean on when things weren't going so great.  I have no photos of my own as my hand shakes to much - there is always a little part of me that wants to yell out "young lady you get down from there before you hurt yourself!"  but luckily for everyone I don't.  But there are photos here and here of her in action.  

Handmade Fanatic

I think I've created a monster. Above is picture of my youngest who is becoming a wee bit of a handmade snob. While going through her Christmas presents she picked up a headband my Mum (know as Mama to the girls) gave her. She turned around a said "oh good, I think this is a handmade headband Mama gave me". Ha, too funny. This is the same child that at the end of the school year took a bag to school that she had hand sewn and took several orders from the other year ones. Nothing like a little enterprise.

The three girls all think its a bit of a great joke Made by Miffy's flyer that she gave us that said "Mall is a four letter word". The two little girls don't quite understand by my eldest gets a real kick out of it. It's great to see the next generation on handmade makers and consumers.

The Handmade Welcome Mat

Welcome to my place. Pull up a comfy chair, a rug (yes, it is winter here) and a sweet, hot cuppa. I hope you enjoy your time in my little blue house.

I love to sew and make bags. I love all the original and very beautiful textiles that are available(some of them much to lovely to take scissors to). We are very lucky to live in an age that allows me to access such talent through the Internet. I am often in awe of the beauty some people are able to produce.

I often wonder what my very talented and creative grandmothers and great grandmothers would of created with the plethora of resources we have in this day and age. My Mum tells me the story of her Grandmother at the end of World War Two, making them handcrafted dolls from a mould with sawdust and glue mixed together that she then hand painted. My own Grandmother was very excited when she got her first sewing machine - that was top of the range for the time that could do a zig zag stitch. I wonder what she would think of the sewing machines that we now have access to. The clothes she produced were amazing and finished with such precision.

I hope you enjoy your time here and share in my journey with my three girls and my handmade bag creations.