See you on the flipside fellow bloggers :)

What a crazy month March was! There was the BrisStyle market in the beginning (there's some pics below of some lovely stalls on the day), and of course the big birthday bash for Jettster who turned two at the end of March. Above was 'the cake'. The real 'toot toot' cake he had been pointing out since he found my Women's Weekly birthday cookbook in February. It was one of those 'great from far' cakes. Don't look too closely at the smeared icing sugar, or the fact that taking a big cake like that to a park (mum nearly wore it a few times as I rounded corners!), in Brisbane - still reaching tops of 30 degrees, was no mean feat. Melting icing sugar meant wheels were not always staying where they were supposed to. But he loved it. So I'm happy. Last year Kym had to 'save me' with my pirate ship cake, so I was pleased to avert such disasters this time around.
Somewhere in the middle of it all I've been decluttering and trying (??) to organise myself for the arrival of the next little one coming out...ahem... Monday. eek. I'm sorry did I say 'eek'? I meant, holy crappola!!!!

I really need to get off the internet and finish cleaning/packing/writing Kym's do's and don't lists for Jett/organising movies to watch in the middle of the night, etc etc etc! Oh and of course trying to find time in the day to 'relax and sleep' before the meanings of these words become all but a distant memory for the next few years again :p
So, farewell, fellow bloggers, it will probably be a while... See you on the flipside!

Me!

SMboutique

Hot Fudge

RERead

Kimono Reincarnate

Enticing Icing

Toot toot!

"Toot toot". That's what Jett calls the red bus bag - except it's not a train, it's a bus. But hey, he's not quite two so I think I'll cut the little man some slack :p Perhaps after market I'll have to buy some train fabric and make him his own little 'man bag'.

I've had lots of fun making these new shoulder bags for the Beckybean stall, which will be at the BrisStyle Indie Designers Market on Saturday March 6 in Hamilton, Brisbane (that's right, two days away!).

Having found my inspiration from collectable vintage tea towels and of course some lovely prints from Ink & Spindle and Pippijoe, combined with reclaimed textiles and organic hemp canvas, I must say I'll be a little sad to see them go... But of course looking forward to seeing them find new homes :)

If instead you're feeling a little bit retro, check out Bec's blog to see some more pics of the other cool shoulder bags that will be at our stall this Saturday.

Oh and how cool is this Poladroid progam Bec got me onto?? I could spend quite some time playing with this, but alas I really should be packing up the bags and getting them ready for market :)

Eek, two weeks until BIDM!

Boy have I been queen of procrastination this year... 'I really should be sorting through Jett's clothes getting ready for the next boy', 'I really should be restocking the new bathroom vanity now that it's finished with all of our things that were carted down to the spare bathroom downstairs during the reno', and most recently 'I really should starting sewing for the next BrisStyle Indie Designers Market in two weeks'. That's right, two weeks. And I've done squat. Not a thing. Nudda. I feel like I'm uni again and leaving everything to last minute!

But what have I been doing instead? Between spending time trying to get Jett to keep his daysleep and then getting him to sleep at night, then tidying the house of toys and the odd bout of cleaning that I feel I really have to do every now and then, I just want to sleep. Like all the time. Except I can't - I have a toddler and a bladder that doesn't understand :p

So in a bid to get motivated I headed off to some op shops hoping to feel inspired by fabric, tea towels, tableclothes, anything! (oh yeah that's right, I procrastinated that trip for two weeks too!) And I think it worked - after a trip last Wednesday to four op shops carrying Jett around to each one and trying to explain that he can only pick 'one' toy to take home with him, I was feeling deflated as none had anything a bit special. But as I was leaving and trying to explain to Jett that he needs to hold my hand when there's so many cars about, some bright coloured tea towels caught my eye in an antique shop. Hurrah, hope at last. So in we went, amid nervous glances from the lady in the shop who didn't seem entirely comfortable with my toddler (with said chosen dinosaur figurine in hand) accompanying me. And it was a good score - so many vintage tea towels to choose from! I finally felt motivated and spent the next day cutting and pinning and getting ready to pull my finger out. Here's a sneak peek of some bags/tea towels that are still either waiting for buttons, waiting to be put together with linings and straps, or just waiting to become 'something'. The above pic is a bit hard to tell as the lighting wasn't great, but I'm a bit excited about the red London bus bag (top left) - I think it's going to be very cool and I don't think I'll be disappointed if it doesn't sell as I wouldn't mind keeping this one for me...:pBec's been a little more organised than me and you can check out some of the very cool little coin purses coming at you in two weeks from Beckybean here!!

OK it's so past my bedtime so until we meet again :)

Rude people

Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength - Eric Hoffer

I was having a chat this morning about seemingly 'normal' people who turn into utter twats the moment they are being 'served' by waitstaff. Having dealt with my fair share of said people, it is of little wonder that this industry is no longer for me.

A would-be-invited guest of another customer (who was also fairly intoxicated) yesterday went past a waiter and asked them to 'get them a f$%king drink'. When is that cool to speak to people like that? When asked to leave, the friend that invited them started yelling that they were 'their guest' to come into the restaurant if they said they can come in, and then turned to my husband who was dealing with the guest being asked to leave and said 'you, go cook'. Really, is that a smart thing to say to someone preparing your food??? Although I know that would NEVER happen there, I wouldn't be so sure about saying something like that at other venues around town...

Don't get me wrong - I've had my fair share of rude obnoxious waiters too. So tell me, why do people think it's OK to treat other human beings with such rudeness?

Love to hear your thoughts or any stories of your experiences :)

Beckybean Christmas Sale!

Ho! ho! ho! Merry Christmas everybody!

Yes that's right... wait for it... it's SALE TIME AT BECKYBEAN!

To celebrate all that is wonderful and merry (and ok... a little stressful for many of us!!!) at this time of year, we're having a 10% off sale in the shop up until 24 December 09'. So not only do you not have to battle the crowds at your local Westfield, you get something that's a one-of-a-kind, handmade with love item. Simply order online, we'll wrap it up and 'make it look pretty' and can post to anywhere in Australia for free!!

We've also hugely discounted some of our existing Beckybean stock, becausw frankly, we're sick of looking at it and want the space back in our sewing rooms so we can go and make some more in the new year! So the 10% off also includes sale items as well. All you have to do is take it through the checkout, pay for it, and we'll jump on Paypal straight away and refund the 10%

Too easy, easy peesy :)

Now if only Jett would have wanted a handbag or pochette out of the shop, instead of me having to pull a tummy muscle trying to carry his new bike and Thomas Tank track, while pushing a pram, back to the car... would have been WAY easier!!! Ah the joy :pOk shameless plug over, I promise. I guess I should get back to my browsing on Etsy for more Christmas pressies while Jett's asleep. Have a lovely week everybody :)

BIDM wrap :)

Last Saturday was the December BrisStyle Indie Designers Market - and what a day! Sure it was hot, but there were yummy cupcakes, good coffee, and lots of water to go around. Not to mention all the awesome wares on offer! After a few days of R&R to get over the excitement of it, I thought I better post some pics. I'd brought along a fan to help cope with the hot day but luckily found I didn't need it - it was put to much better use blowing some air into the portacot of Bel and Em's gorgeous little boys behind me - if second babies are this easygoing them I'm not so worried about welcoming our next one. I can't believe you barely heard a peep out the little guys and they were there all day - little marketers already!! There's no way Jett would ever have been this easy as a 5 month old!!!

Anyway, I think this was the least stressed Bec and I have been going into this market, and by making a few things easier for ourselves like simplifying our tagging, less props etc, we managed to get the stall set up early and still have time to eat breaky and check out everybody elses stalls - yay!

Here's a few pics of how we looked at the start of the day :)


And luckily for us, we managed to sell a few bags early on, so Bec and I got to tag team while we went about the market buying up Christmas presents for the family! Hooray! Here's a few of some of the very lovely things I picked up for my nieces and nephews. These items are for my pink-loving niece - a hairclip holder and clips from EmBelISH, skirt by the Seamstress and the Daughters, and cute cupcake and polka dot belt by Hip Brown.
For my mum, a 'just because' present by Hot Toffee - Nicole makes the best earings!!
A pair of aeroplane PJs for my nephew who's Jett's age, by Katie from Miss Kitty Boo Boo.
For my other niece - who is not a pink-loving little girl!! Pretty skirt by Christine at Little Diva, a beautiful necklace by Amanda from Twinkle Star Art, and some hairclips by Chicuff :)
And one of the presents I got for my five year old nephew - who wouldn't want to be a superhero for a day? This cool outfit was by Chicuff as well.
I have no pictures to put up but Jett didn't go without - I've purchased him and the little man still in my belly some lovely plane wall prints with their names on them from Twinkle Star Art too. I can't wait to see them! Amanda does such lovely kids illustrations :)

OK, I think that's the market wrap up for me - so many good things to buy, never enough time or money to get it all!!

So new stock has now been uploaded to the Beckybean shop - but I'll do another post about that one at another time :) Have a lovely weekend everybody if I don't do it before then. xxx

Sneak peak of some new Beckybean bags :)

Today I finished all my machine sewing for this Saturday's BrisStyle Indie Designer's Market - woo hoo!

After spending the last hour and a half sewing on lots of Dad's wooden buttons, my bed has never looked so good... so before I trot off to dream of fabric, buttons, Scotchgard, and thread, I thought I'd leave you with a sneak peak of some of the Beckybean bags that will be on offer :) This was the line up of a few bags waiting their turn for a light Scotchgard!

Nighty night :)