Inspired by Mathildas...

I had the privilege of having a stall at the Mathildas Market on August 21st. For those that haven't heard of it, it is a baby and kids market where the stall holders are carefully picked to ensure a high quality of products are sold. I was very nervous in the lead up and worked hard on improving my stall and the visual appeal. As the photos show, I have added signage to the stall that hangs above the table. I was so happy with how it looked and I must thank my darling husband for drilling all the holes and getting it all sort for me.
So the day started off well with lots of eager shoppers through the door and wanting to get the free shopping bag. For the next 4 hours, there was a constant flow of people stopping to say hi and look at the frames. Two frames were ordered and collected by a gentleman who came with his two young daughters as his wife was away. He read about the market and thought he would check it out. I said it was very daring to venture out and battle the pram traffic at the market but he thought it was easy... well until he looked down and he was minus one child in the pram, and off he went! There were so many pregnant people checking out what was on offer for when their little baby arrives. One customer was so wanting a frame as she new the sex of the baby. Although she hadn't confirmed the name of it, she still purchased one and I said I would be happy to send the letters to her when the name was decided!
So overall I was happy with my first time there. I was amongst so many experienced and well known stallholders and was a little overwhelmed at first but I made it through the day. A big thanks must go out to my dear friend Rhiannon. I asked her to come at the start to just in case I needed anything and she stood by me for the whole 4 hours! Well, I did send her off for a coffee run and although I told her to leave her purse at home, she ventured out and did some shopping at other stalls! Having this stall here meant a lot for me and I appreciated having a friend turn up to show some support!

Inspired by babies arrival....

It is so exciting when I have friends who have a baby and of course when the baby is born, I like to try and have the best card on the shelf! I thought I would show you some cards I have done in the last year that have incorporated the babies name.

When Samuel was born and become a new addition to our street, I was quite happy to make cards for all the other neighbours to give the family. Fortunately I had 6 people able to give a card- one for each letter of the name. Each day a new letter arrived until finally the whole name was received.

This was also done when friend Sarah had little Alec recently. There were three other uni friends so straight away I made us each a card with a letter and sent them out. I actually can't find that photo at the moment but will add if it shows up.

Last year I also used the babies full names for cards. The cards below show the name spread across the three cards and I was able to give out to other friends to give.

It is great to see the looks on the mothers faces when receiving the cards. So if you know someone who has had a baby then I would be happy to do something similar for you!

Inspired by Paper Squared...

So with my life being all about work (the real job) and also Inspired by Paper, I said to my husband that we should head away for the night so I could spend some time with him. I had two days off work and I thought if I was at home, I would be in the study working on new creations and he would be on the couch watching some form of sport. So on Friday we headed to our holiday house in Rye for the night. Driving there, we went past Paper Squared in Mornington. For my fellow paper crafters, you will know it is like heaven in there. I was tempted to ask to stop but thought no, I am supposed to be getting away from this all.
When we arrived in Rye, I looked out the kitchen window and saw this beautiful rainbow...

However on Saturday, it was decided we head home a bit earlier in the afternoon than initially planned. As not only was there are good AFL game on the tv to watch, but that was then followed by the NRL game, the Wallabies game and then the 20/20 cricket. Luckily we have foxtel so I was able to head online and set the games to record just in case we didn't get home in time :-). So when driving past Paper Squared on the way home, I asked for ten minutes inside since I felt we were coming home early so he can enjoy his passion, I will enjoy a bit of mine.
I have only been in the store once and walking in I was like where do I start? So many different ranges of papers and as I wondered around the aisles, I was quickly trying to remember what projects I was working on.
When hubby called me from the car outside, I still had a bit to look at and said "just making my way to the front now". He then replied with " well I could say I am just on my way to the footy- but that doesn't mean I am not going to stop in at every pub on the way!". So true, and we returned home and he found himself on the couch watching the footy and I found myself completing another frame order... back to reality....