Magnolia square Sydney....

Hey ho - It's Christmas shopping time!
This is where I will be for the next 3 days - Magnolia square will be in the the lovely Oaks Lawn Marquee at Randwick Racecourse.
Please pop by and say hi - there will be heaps of wonderful retailers there with beautiful wares for your Christmas shopping needs.
I am really looking forward to the buzz of it all, it is such a fun event - not to mention a good excuse to meet up with some of my lovely friends again.

a little lighter these days....

How does the time fly so quickly? 
It is amazing that 12 months has flown by in a blink of an eye. I know we say it every year, but this year REALLY has flown by.
This is what I looked like this exact time last year. It is funny to think that a few days after this shot was taken, I had Lachie - he was a week early!
It was a particularly hot few days then too, and I was so over myself (and the world), I just laid on the couch, eating icypoles, watching tv and remembering the nasty parts of labour!


That also means that little bubble and tree is a week away from turning 1 year old as well - Woo hoo - party time next week.

got to love the kaftan!

Sisters market - Teeny tiny kids market.....

I will be here today....so come and say hi and grab a kaftan for your kids!

community spirit.......

'Got to love the side of the road flower stall'. This house is around the corner from us, and I often buy a bunch of flowers when they are on offer. It runs on an honour system that you just leave your cash in the letter box..........it may be bolted to the table with a padlock - but hopefully the community spirit is still a way of life for some.
I wish we had a few more of these side road stalls down this way, I would like Avacados, limes and apples for sale, but for now - roses are just fine thanks!

catch of the day....

Sorry for the delay in writing...a few of you have been complaining of my slackness ( you know who you are!) The days feel like they have just been getting shorter and shorter, while the jobs are taking longer and longer!

Well these are a few of the things I have been doing lately. 
I love to hand sew, I find it so relaxing to just sit down and sew, while the kids are asleep. I pretend that my house is spotless and the ironing and cleaning is doing itself....yeh right.

I had some little fish beads sitting here, just waiting for the perfect project...and this is what I came up with.
I wanted a nice little fiddly thing to make......so you get your catch of the day - complete with the net still attached!

These cute little badges can be added to your hat, your jacket, your pants and shoes....or just about anywhere you think you need to show of your catch of the day!

where do owls sleep at night?....

Here of course!

the crazy frame lady....

One of the things you will notice when you walk into my house is the fact that I have soooo much stuff. I collect things, everything, lots of things, things I like, little treasures, little nik nacs and creations.

Sometimes it gets a little crowded in here and I will have to do a little shuffle (not a dance - just a move around of stuff) and then it seems to fit.

I seem to have a little problem with one area though and that is wall space. We have walls of windows therefore making it impossible to house all my pictures that I buy. Stop buying I hear you say!

Aaaah highly unlikely - just build me more walls I say!

This is a new purchase I had to make - It is actually wrapping paper, and I thought it would look really cool framed.

I am going through a little obsession at the moment with chunky frames. The old thick chunkus melunkus ones that are usually hanging in galleries. Not the ones dripping in gold - the lovely white distressed ones, or pink, aqua, green, blue etc. I have found the cheapest frame place near me and they have the frames already painted white.

I find myself now just walking around the house and beyond looking for random things to frame! Craaaaaaaazzeeeeeeeee!

My wall at the market, carrying on my frame obsession.....

is it a mirage....

New in for little bubble and tree this summer......

I love these shorts, well actually I love all the boys range for summer. So fun and fresh your boy will stand out in the crowd with these fun Mirage shorts.

With a handy front pocket for collecting special bits and bobs, your little explorer will have great fun filling his pockets, as he climbs trees, explores the yard - and just does what little boys love to do!

where will I be today?....

It's market season, and this is where I will be for the next few crazy months or so.

I love markets though, who can't resist the latte's, the shopping, and catching up with fellow market buddies (as my husband calls them).

Soooooo buddies - see you today and anyone else that is around for a good shop with some lovely wares.

tip toeing through the tulips.......

the staff all walk around in traditional dress and big wooden clogs....

rows and rows of colours and tulips galore.....

replica Dutch windmills - you would think you were in Holland.....

I just love, love, love these parrot tulips - so beautiful and fresh....

ranunculus are another favorite of mine, the colours were gorgeous and spring like, also hiding some little gnome friends.....

One of my favorite flowers - if not my favorite is the tulip.

I first learnt floristry while working in London traveling, and I had the joy of working with the best tulips of all - from Holland.

We would get buckets and buckets of them, I would get to work with the loveliest colour range and varieties available.

But you don't have to live in Holland for the best tulips, we have our own Tulip festival in our own backyard (that's if you are from Melbourne of course) at Tesselaar in Silvan.

The festival runs to the 12-13th October, and there is over 100 different varieties of Tulips on show - with live entertainment, yummy food and a good coffee!

My fav tulip would have to be the Parrot tulip. The texture in the petals are so amazing and they are so top heavy they have a gracious fall about them.

So don't ever throw your tulips out when they hang over the vase, they are only finished when the petals go see through, or they fall from the stem. The bending of the stem is due being so top heavy, tulips continue to grow in the water, so you need to continually cut them to stay strong and straight.....personally I like them hanging over the edge of the vase - they are such drama queens!!

The baby show wrap up....

Well what a week I have had. I was so tired after being away I just couldn't bring myself to do anything other than read the emails - so blogging just wasn't going to happen!

The Baby show in Sydney was great fun. It was so great to meet up with some old friends, some now friends and meet some new friends. That is the best part of these events - to make friends with your neighbours.

The whole event set up was fantastic, and the attention to detail was perfect. They had so much for the kids to do, they had flowers everywhere beautiful tables set up in the cafe with highchairs galore. I have never seen so many pregnant woman in my life - there is certainly a baby boom happening at the moment.

Here are a few pics of my stand. I have tweaked a few bits and pieces to make it brighter.

I love my stand but the packing up is a bugger, I am always the last to leave, and have so many tiny things to wrap.

The baby show....

I am currently in Sydney for the Baby show which starts tomorrow morning. I have am so tired, I feel like I have worked the 3 days already! Set up was today and it looks fantastic.

I am manning the stand by myself so I hope I am ok. I have my friend besides me from B.box so we should be right.

I am staying in Manly with my good friend, who has been very kind and given me a car to use while I am here. This is all good and well if you know the area, but this morning I ended up making crisis phone calls to her as I was heading across the Harbour bridge and took the wrong turn.

Her advice was to just follow the road all the way and go with the traffic as it is all going to the same direction!....are you serious........everyone was going in the same direction in different directions! I should have taken a taxi.

Anyway, all set up and looking good. If you are in Sydney come and say hello to me - if not, I will post some pictures after the weekend.

i'm sailing too.....

A touch of summer for the boys. 'I'm sailing too' - is a cotton self stripe kaftan for boys available in sizes 0-4.

I love this shirt for it's crispness and simplicity. It comes in a white with white embroidery, and now white with blue stitching - fresh and ready for Spring then Summer.

The embroidery stitching around the cuff, waist and boat applique is sewn by hand by talented artisans in India.

Great with shorts for a casual fun play top or with tailored shorts for a special outing - it is the perfect top for your little up and coming sailor!

Available instore soon.

birdie hideaway......

I made this for a little girl's first birthday. What a lovely gift for a lovely little girl.

the enchanted closet - little bubble and tree...

I am very excited to now have a new stockist for little bubble and tree - The Enchanted closet.

They have a store in Woodend with a huge following, and have now opened a new store in High street Armadale.

The girls have done a wonderful job in setting up the store - it is just beautiful. I went on Saturday for the opening, it was really exciting to see my things on the racks in a brand new shiny store. I love the fitting rooms and the pink and white painted stripped wall is gorgeous.

Their dream is to open up a store in the country, the city and the coast - well they are 2/3 the way there, please open a store down our way on the Mornington Peninsula - we would love it!

Here are some pictures of the opening, go and visit the store when you are around the area, it is lovely.

The Enchanted Closet

1087 High St,

Armadale, 3143

Victoria.

The Enchanted Closet

Shop 5

93 High Street

Woodend 3224

Victoria.

The window was beautiful, I borrowed this picture from the The Enchanted closet blog.

I want these butterflies in my house too.