.Designer Pillows.

We had a fun morning yesterday with Miss Fiona while she took photos for a couple of my new patterns.  I so love handing the photography for my patterns over to someone else.  Truth be told, by the time I get to the end of a pattern, I am usually feeling a little over it and it is refreshing to see someone else's interpretation of the pattern.  Helps me to get excited about the pattern again!

One of the photo shoots took place in my bedroom.  I have had this thing about having an all white bedroom for awhile now.  Totally not what is expected from me...a colour freak!  But I really like the clean look that white provides.  So I only buy white sheets and doona covers now and on our recent trip to Ikea we bought a new white bed and bedside tables.

It was all good until I decided that we needed to invite a bit of colour into the bedroom for the photo shoot and wrapped our pillows in some of my fabric stash.

                   

Oh dear.  I REALLY like it.  Which totally goes against my white bedroom plans.  And now I am experimenting with all of my fabric stash, trying to find the right mix of fabrics to make pillow cases from.  Ooh, maybe I could change them every season?!!

 

And just to prove how make-shift these photo shoots are...this is the very technical way I attached the fabric to the pillows!  Which actually is a really handy way of visualising what feel the fabrics are going to contribute with the room!!

.Christmas Citrus pOp!.

So, I'm not one for dressing up all festive.  

No Christmas t-shirts, flashing earrings or sparkly attire. 

BUT, I just couldn't help putting together some Christmas-inspired Citrus pOp hairpins and earrings.  

Really, I would wear these.  

Perfect for adding a subtle festive touch without going overboard!  And the best part is that they could easily be worn all year 'round :)

 ELF - Festive Hairpins (Etsy/Made It)

  ELF - Festive Earrings (Etsy/Made It)

And if you want to get some Christmas shopping out of the way early, Citrus pOp goodies make a lovely gift for a friend or perfect stocking stuffer.  I have remade some old favourites that have been sold out for awhile...

Mexican Sun (Etsy/Made It)

Silver Shadow (Made It/Etsy)

 Oceanside (Made It/Etsy)

 Milky Twilight (Made It/Etsy)

.Kawaii Kids giveaway winner.

Please forgive my tardiness, I forgot to draw the winner of the Kawaii Kids giveaway yesterday!

Congratuations Suzanne!  You've won yourself a $50 gift voucher to the very funky Kawaii Kids!!  Looks like those girls will be getting new lunch boxes next year after all!

If you are looking for unique Christmas gifts for the little ones in your life, I highly recommend Kawaii Kids - thanks for being a Cool Shop! on my blog :)

.Book News.

Only 12 days until the official book release date!!  So excited about seeing it in the shops and especially about seeing what projects you guys create from it :)

I have decided to temporarily open an online store and sell a limited number of SIGNED books.  If you would like the message made out to someone or to say something in particular, let me know.

The books are for PRE-ORDER now, they will be posted within 1 week of release date.

You can visit my store here.

Also, there have been a couple of lovely book reviews recently, read more about it at:

A Spoonful of Sugar Girls

Ric-Rac

Thanks for your kind words!

.Iszle Giveaway Winner.

Thankyou Iszle for being one of this month's Cool Shops!

 A big congratulations to Jess who wins a Pocket Mirror and matching Keyring of your choice :)

.Salt City Candle Winners.

Time to announce the THREE lucky winners of the Salt City Candle Australia giveaway...

FIRST PRIZE = 1 x 26oz candle (RRP $44.95) in fragrance of your choice 

 

SECOND PRIZE = 1 x 16oz candle (RRP $34.95) in fragrance of your choice

 

THIRD PRIZE = 1 x 10oz candle (RRP $24.95) in fragrance of your choice 

Congratulations Kara, Anna and Jan!  I've sent each of you an email confirming  your win :)

And a big thankyou to Salt City Candles for being a Cool Shop! in November...LOVE your candles!!!

.Maya Dress.

I made a Modkid Maya dress for Lil recently.  It was a great sew, and very cute everyday play dress.  Lil really loves it.  In fact, I am not ashamed to tell you that she wore it non-stop for 72 hours before I had to pry it off her little body and give it a wash.  She declared that it was a nightie after bath.  It was actually really handy as it meant there was one less child to get dressed in the morning!

The dress should fit her for quite awhile.  Great length and nice and roomy all over.  Will be perfect for summer.  She has also worn it with a long-sleeved top under and stockings and it looked equally as cute on a cold day.

 

Oh, and if I haven't told you before...let me fill you in on a little secret.  This girl has a mind of her own.  She is very stubborn and not easily persuaded to do things like pose for Mum during a quick photo shoot.  (I often hear my parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles laugh that she is "just like Toni when she was a little girl" but I always shut my ears at that point.  I was truly angelic.)

Fortunately, she does respond well to a bit of bribery and within no time I can have her doing tremendous stunt-shots.

(Fiona...I hope you are feeling very afraid!  Pull out your best child-coaxing abilities for Friday!)

SUPPLIES
Pink = stretch (knit) Patty Young for Michael Miller, Ta Dot in Pink
Aqua = old t-shirt from my cupboard

.Christmas Wreaths.

Happy Monday!  No recipe for you this week, things have been busy, busy, busy and no time to cook!  Change of plans...Clare shared the BESTEST Rocky Road with us on the weekend.  I thought I made good Rocky Road, but this is better than any I have ever had before...so I'm linking to her Rocky Road recipe over at Clares Place today - thanks Clare!  (Oh, and it is so delicious it really needs a better name than just "Rocky Road"!!)

I've been writing THREE new patterns to get ready for Australian Quilt Market, which is coming up in just under two weeks.  Still got heaps to do though, so if the blog is a bit quiet for awhile, then that is why!  I'm really excited about these new patterns...am doing something a bit out of the ordinary for Make It Perfect and hopefully it will be something that you all enjoy!  So the rest of my week will be spent sewing and writing patterns and unfortunately there is not a lot I can share with you until closer to release date ;)

In the meantime, my mind has been working overtime thinking about all of the wonderful things I can make for Christmas, Annette shared heaps of inspirational images and ideas at our Stake Relief Society activity on the weekend and I really want to make a special wreath to hang on our front door this year.  

I really like wreaths wrapped in wool (yarn) and found this cool tutorial to help me out so hopefully when the preparation for Quilt Market has died down, I can start wrapping a wreath in wool!!  There are some cool yarn wreaths on Etsy to buy too...great for a bit of inspiration or if I can't be bothered making it yourself - I particularly like this store.

Ooh, and then there is the new advent calendar I want to make, presents I want to sew and the grand idea I have to go with a pink/red/green decorating scheme this year...yep, I really should have started thinking about this WAY before November!

1. Pink Heaven, 2. Neon Yarn Wreath, 3. Mintie Wreath -yum!, 4. DSCF0052, 5. Whoville Yarn Wreath, 6. doily christmas wreath, 7. yarn ball & ornament wreath, 8. Sweet Fabric Wreath - Christmas Joy (small) by Jane Joss, 9. Button Wreath Ornament, 10. Xmas 2006, 11. Hostess Yarn Wreath with Retro Stand Mixer, 12. Lemon Lime Yarn Wreath, 13. Xmas 2008, 14. Pink Lemonade wreath, 15. wreath closeup, 16. Cotton Candy Yarn Wreath

.An Awesome Book.

I just received an email from Dallas Clayton, telling me about some AWESOME kids books he has written.

This excerpt is taken from his website...

"My name is Dallas Clayton. I wrote a book for my son about the idea of dreaming big and never giving up. I put it online and my whole life changed forever. Because of this I started a Foundation to give away one book for every copy of An Awesome Book I sell. Now I write children's books for a living, travel the world reading to kids, and spend my days having magical adventures. If you think there's an adventure I should be having please email me."

What a cool guy, great cause and seriously fun books!

You have GOT to watch this video...it totally made me laugh out loud and smile a lot.  I'm off to order a copy of each of his books now to give the kids for Christmas!

 

An Awesome Book of Thanks! from Dallas Clayton on Vimeo.

.November Cool Shops! KAWAII KIDS.

And last up in the November Cool Shops! round up, I introduce you to KAWAII KIDS...

Kawaii means "cute" in Japanese and Kawaii Kids is a totally unique children's boutique heavily Japanese and Korean inspired, with a mix of boutique and handmade labels thrown in for good measure.

The lovely Andrea owns and runs Kawaii Kids and she started her business because she wanted a store that would stand out from the rest.  There are tons of children's boutiques online, but Kawaii Kids really succeeds in providing a huge range of quirky, crazy and unique clothing, shoes and accessories for your little ones.

For my Cool Shops! blog review, Andrea sent me a Wooden Birthday Cake to have a play with.  I was tempted to get Lil in on the photo shoot but decided that I would keep this on under wraps and give it to her for Christmas.  I know she is absolutely love it.  The cake is cut into 8 segments which stick together with velcro to make a full cake or can be pulled apart for individual slices. 

On the top of each slice are small holes to insert all different "decorations" into so that your little one can create decorate the cake over and over again - Lil is going to freak!  Check out the other cool wooden toys that Kawaii Kids has to offer.

Kawaii Kids also sells a great range of funky stationary like this Little Humbugs "Puddle Duck" Print:

As well as a huge range of unique and slightly quirky clothing.  I love this Red Dress with Crochet Pockets - how cute would that be for Christmas?!

 Sooki Baby is one of my all time favourite brands, this Me Martian Tee is awesome:

 And their shoes are just adorable.  I love the Soomi leather shoes, especially these girl's green Millie shoes:

And it is very hard to find boy-friendly bags (or anything really!)  Kawaii Kids caters for boys beautifully with items such as this Blue Bus Shoulder Bag:

Kawaii Kids has a HUGE SALE happening at the moment with great savings on so many awesome items.  My advice would be to hop on over and get your Christmas shopping done for all of those little people you have to buy for - it sure beats the last minute rush through busy shops the week before Christmas, and who can resist a bit of online shopping at home in their jammies ;)

GIVEAWAY

As part of her Cool Shops! review, Andrea is giving away a massive $50 voucher to spend online at Kawaii Kids!!!

To enter, leave a comment with your favourite Kawaii Kids product.  Giveaway will close on Thursday 11th November and winner will be drawn randomly.

Important KAWAII KIDS links:

Webstore

Facebook Page

.November Cool Shops! ISZLE.

Welcome back to our Cool Shops! reviews for November :)  Next up, we have ISZLE...

Iszle is based in Melbourne and has a very successful Etsy store selling gorgeous handmade mirrors, magnets, keyrings and more.

For my review, Nadine sent me a Pink "Motto For Life" mirror.  It is the coolest thing ever!  I love the "Keep Calm and Carry On" motto and am really loving it on my new pink mirror.  I agree with what Iszle has to say about their mirrors..."every woman should have at least 1"!!  So true!  These pocket mirrors are the perfect size to pop in your bag or pocket and have handy to touch up your make up, make sure there isn't food in your teeth or fix your hair wherever you are.  Iszle's products are very affordable, great for party favours, thankyou gifts and stocking stuffers.

Iszle images are bright, crisp and stylish - and there are HEAPS to choose from!  They also do custom orders if there is something in particular you are looking for.  I am so impressed with the flawless workmanship of my mirror - it definitely fits the handcrafted category, not handmade!  

(Hmm...this next photo is creeping me out a bit...)

 

Some of my favourite Iszle products...

I Love You Pocket Mirror:

Bird Family Unites (green) Magnets:
 

Freedom Flight Pocket Mirror:

Vintage Camera Magnets:

I think I'm going to stock up on a few Iszle products in the coming weeks and pop them in the present box in case I need to come up with an unexpected last minute Christmas gift for someone!

GIVEAWAY

As part of her Cool Shops! review, Nadine is giving away a Pocket Mirror + Matching Keyring - winner gets to choose the design!!

To enter, leave a comment with your favourite Iszle product.  Giveaway will close on Wednesday 10th November and winner will be drawn randomly.

Important ISZLE links:

Etsy Store

Made It Store

Facebook Page

.November Cool Shops! SALT CITY CANDLE AUSTRALIA.

Cool Shop! #2 for November is SALT CITY CANDLE AUSTRALIA...

I didn't have to think twice when Corinne from Salt City Candle emailed me asking if she could be a Cool Shop! on my blog.  I've been a big fan of Salt City Candles for many years and my supply had recently run out so I was excited to choose a few more to keep me going!

Salt City Candles look and smell amazing.  There is a fragrant to suit everyone - I am especially partial to the fruit fragrances - they are so fresh and invigorating.  The fragrances are so intense that a soft aroma will spread in the room if you just leave the lid off the jar!  I leave a couple of opened candles by my front door and people always comment on the delicious smell that greets them!

Salt City Candles make a beautiful decoration to any home.  The colours are beautiful and the shape of the jars are stunning.  Once your candle has burned out you can use the jars to store anything from food to craft supplies!  Although, you will be waiting awhile for your candle to burn down as the largest candle (26oz) burns for 120-140 hours!

As well as looking and smelling fantastic, Salt City Candles are made using a unique triple blend of highly refined paraffin and soy waxes which are of food-grade quality, resulting in a much cleaner burn.  They also use zinc core wicks that are 100% lead free. 

                          

Ooh, I wish there was a scratch 'n sniff button on the computer so I could share some of my favourite fragrances with you!  I definitely recommend the fruity fragrances though, they aren't too sweet or too spicy and really fill your home with a lovely fresh aroma.

I think my absolute favourite fragrance is Cucumber Melon.  It is the kind of fragrance that I wouldn't pick from it's name alone - I don't think "cucumber" would really stand out to me as a yummy scent!  But mixed with honeydew, cantaloupe and sweet melon it truly is divine and a candle that I could burn all day long.

Lime Twist is another one of my all time favourite fragrances...mmm, it has a really sweet citrusy smell and gives a nice summery feel to the room. 

I decided to try a fragrance I hadn't smelt before and couldn't resist the name...Spring Clean.  You know how you walk into someone familiar's house and can smell their washing powder?  Maybe it is just me, but I associate all of my aunty and uncle's homes with the washing powder that they used as we were growing up!  Well, Spring Clean reminds me just of that.  It really is like crisp, clean sheets on your bed and a vase of freshly cut flowers sitting on the night stand.  Also great to pull out if you want your house to smell like you have had a big clean up...maybe my visitors won't notice the mess?!!

If you are looking for a Christmas present for that hard-to-buy for friend, sister, mother-in-law...then you can't go wrong with a Salt City Candle. 

GIVEAWAY

As part of her Cool Shops! review, Corinne would like to extend a VERY generous giveaway to readers of my blog. There will be 3 winners - so lots of chances for you to win!

FIRST PRIZE = 1 x 26oz candle (RRP $44.95) in fragrance of your choice

SECOND PRIZE = 1 x 16oz candle (RRP $34.95) in fragrance of your choice

THIRD PRIZE = 1 x 10oz candle (RRP $24.95) in fragrance of your choice

HOW TO ENTER:
1. Head over the to Facebook and click "like" on the Salt City Candles Australia page.
2. Refer your friends to Salt City Candles Australia's page.
3. Once you have "liked" Salt City Candles Australia on Facebook, leave a comment on this post with your email address so that I can contact you when you win :)

Please note that this giveaway is open to Australian residents only.  Giveaway will close on Tuesday 9th November and winner will be drawn randomly.

Important SALT CITY CANDLE AUSTRALIA links:

Web Store

Facebook page

November Cool Shops! MINSKI.

Yep, its Cool Shop! time again!  I've got a sensational round up of Cool Shops! to share with you this month, as well as some fantastic giveaways and discount codes.

First up for November is MINSKI...

If you are looking for a totally unique necklace or bracelet, then Minski will not disappoint.

Minna is from Adelaide and creates the most amazing necklaces, bracelets, brooches and earrings out of beautiful buttons.  I haven't seen button jewellery quite like this before, I love the stunning look that Minna creates from something as simple as buttons.

Minna sent me a Cantelope necklace for review...I wore it today for the first time when I went to church and had so many compliments.  If only I could have said yes when I was asked if I made it!!

I thought Minski necklaces were lovely on the screen, but was so impressed with the quality and detail when I received mine in the mail.  It sits perfectly around my neck and is very easy to wear.  I love that these necklaces can be dressed up or down also - they can have a funky or delicate look to them depending on what you are wearing.

 

Some other lovely Minski necklaces in store now...

Sweet Sweet Candy:

Golden Brown:

Mint Tea:

Black Bird, Yellow Moon:

Aren't they just divine?!

You guys are in luck, because Minna is offering a special discount to my blog readers :)

Buy one, get one 50% off!

(Use the code MIPMIN2010 in the message to the seller at checkout and Minski will refund the difference once payment is received.  Offer is valid from now until 21st December 2010. Discounted item to be of equal or lesser value to full priced item.  Discount excludes postage.)

This is the perfect opportunity for you to buy a necklace for a friend, sister, mother for Christmas and get one 50% off for yourself!  Or you could just buy both for yourself ;)

Thanks Minski for kicking off our November Cool Shops!

Important MINSKI links:

Etsy Store