.December Cool Shops! StickyTiki.

{If you were wondering why I didn't do my next Cool Shops! review on the 2nd December, it is because I have decided to space them out a bit from now on...that way I don't go crazy writing reviews four days in a row and you can have a bit of time to browse their stores, enter giveaways, etc.}

The second Cool Shop! for December is StickyTiki...

 

Wall decals have been one of my most browsed shopping items online lately.  We have quite a few big blank walls left in our house that I'm not quite sure what to do with and really like the idea of some big wall decals to make a statement.

And I think I've found my answer...StickyTiki is a New Zealand based company run by Kim and Simon that create the most amazing wall decals from FABRIC!  Because they are made of fabric, they won't rip, wrinkle or damage your walls.  They adhere to any smooth surface and can be repositioned again and again...Iove the fact that your kids can play with them.  Mine haven't seen them yet (they were in bed when I started decorating the wall!) but I know that when they get up in the morning they are going to have a ball making new designs.  StickyTiki wall decals are even washable so I can wipe of any sticky fingerprints that are bound to appear and I just read on their website that they are also weatherproof so you can use them outside too!!  Instead of being totally computer generated, StickyTiki are handcrafted from Kim's own artwork, showing brush stroke detail and more of a painted look.

 

Being the green girl that I am, I selected the Retro-Kiwi set of decals to have a play with.  My original idea was to put them in Tommy's room and use them around the fabric-covered canvas above his wall to fill in some of the empty space.  Because he was in bed when I needed to take photos, we popped them onto part of our green hallway wall and I think I am  tempted to keep them there.  The good thing is that I know I can easily move them to Tommy's room and try them out because they are repositionable!  (Perfect for renters!)

We were amazed at how easy they were to apply.  They are not fussy at all and easily smooth out on the wall.  They can also be stuck on top of each other, which we did on some of the big plain circles at the top of the next picture:

StickyTiki are not too cute or sweet.  They are a little quirky and I have not seen anyone else doing the same kind of thing.
Some of my other favourite StickyTiki designs...
Sleepy Sheepy:

 Space Odyssey 19698:

 Dear Deer Tree:

 Hundreds and 1000s:

Alphabetica:

 A big thanks to Sticky Tiki for being a Cool Shop! on my blog.  Your work is awesome!

And a special offer to you today...for every purchase you make from StickyTiki, Kim will give you a FREE item from their exclusive StickyTINY range valued at $26.95!  After you have made your purchase, message Kim and let her know you want to take advantage of the offer!!

Important STICKYTIKI links:

Webstore

Etsy Store

Facebook

Blog

.I finished in the nick of time!.

Literally...I was packing up my sewing stuff at 11:57pm on 30th November!  And I am glad it is done - definitley won't be cutting and sewing 25 little stockings any time soon.  If that wasn't enough, I had this bright (not!) idea of using a freezer paper stencil to paint the numbers on each stocking.  Oh, seriously, what was I thinking?  It was all going well until I realised that it was going to take me longer to cut each number out with a craft knife than it took me to sew all of the stockings!!  I persevered though, Elissa from Kelani Fabric called me when I was in the middle of it and not feeling very impressed with my bright idea and reminded me that it was worth it because maybe this advent would end up being a family heirloom in time, passed on through the family.  They better look after it and use it EVERY...SINGLE...YEAR!!!

Sorry about the dodgy photos - really difficult to photograph with light streaming in through the windows behind...I'm sure you get the gist of it though.  I should have taken photos before hanging, but we ended up putting nails right through the hanging strip so it is too much effort to take down now!

The children were VERY excited when they woke up in the morning and found a lolly pop and activity in #1.  We have a "no treat before breakfast" rule and they are so good at eating their breakfast straight away and really fast!

So, if you are wondering what activities we have in store this year...instead of filling up the stockings all at once, I pop a treat and activity in before I go to bed each night.  I have a master list of activities to choose from and decide what we are going to do the next day each night.  Here is the master list:

• Paint toenails in Christmas colours
• Make Christmas cards for friends
• Write a letter to Santa
• Bake treats for teachers
• Make Christmas ornaments
• Make gingerbread men
• Make gingerbread houses
• Put a present under the Kmart Giving Tree
• Picnic for dinner at the beach/park
• Family disco
• Games night
• Watch a Christmas movie with popcorn
• Go out for dinner
• Have Cold Rock for dessert
• Play backyard cricket/footy
• Have a bubble bath
• Go strawberry picking
• Go out for a milkshake
• Go to the pool
• Make rocky road
• See Christmas lights
• Play at the beach
• Read Christmas stories under the tree
• Make reindeer food
• Go to the Playgroup Christmas party

If you haven't got a fancy advent calendar, don't let that stop you from doing something similar with your kids - mine love the activities each day and I love the excitement that it adds to Christmas.
If you have any other activity ideas, I'd love to hear them!

.December Cool Shops! Mee a Bee.

Hello December!!!  It is really starting to feel like Christmas around here and we are all starting to get excited :)  I'm also very excited to have another round of Cool Shops! on board this month.

First up, let me introduce you to Mee a Bee...

 

Mee a Bee is run by Jacqui, a New Zealander living in Japan long-term with her husband and two children.  Jacqui designs and sews the most adorable messenger bags, tote bags, book and library bags for children.  That's right...they are child-size and the cutest thing ever!

One of the great advantages of being based in Japan is the charming fabric that Jacqui has access too (yes, I am jeslous!).  Mee a Bee uses the highest quality linens, linen & cotton blends and cotton canvas...all from Japan.  

I knew I would be in big trouble if I didn't choose the Pink Ballerina Messenger Bag for Lil!  And she was over the moon when it arrived and I told her the package was for her!  She was even more excited when she spotted ballerinas and popped it straight over her chest and filled it to the brim with little toys!

Seriously, these bags are the cutest thing ever!  The size is just perfect for little kids - big enough to store a few treasures in, but not too big to carry.  Lil's bag has already accompanied her to church, the shops, playgroup - she just loves it!

I was very impressed with the workmanship of the bag, it is impeccable and definitley does not look as though it was handmade.

 

Mee a Bee has lots of lovely girly bag designs to choose from...

Raspberry Ballet Messenger Bag:

Red Stripe Ballet Messenger Bag:

Woodland Deer Friends Messenger Bag:

And being a Mum of two boys, Jacqui has made sure the boys are not forgotten about here!!

London Bus Messenger Bag:

Blue Robots Messenger Bag:

Robot Attack Messenger Bag:

I'm sure you can think of a little person or two who would love a Mee a Bee messenger bag!  I know we could do with a few more around here!!

Mee a Bee is giving my blog readers 10% off your order until the 31st December 2010!  Enter the code "SAVE10" at the checkout if you are ordering on the main website.  If you are ordering on Etsy, you will have to contact Jacqui for a refund.  Thankyou Jacqui!!!

Important MEE A BEE links:

Webstore

Etsy Store

Facebook

Blog

.Citrus pOp Holiday Sale!

If you are a crafty blog reader, I'm sure you have visited U-Create once or twice.  To help you get your Christmas shopping done quickly and easily while picking up a bargain, U-Create have put together a spectacular Holiday Boutique - comprising of 50 different online stores offering exclusive discounts.

Citrus pOp is a part of the boutique and has a special offer just for you!

CITRUS POP HOLIDAY SALE...Buy any TWO items, receive a FREE pair of Mini Earrings!

Perfect opportunity to grab a special pressie for your family and friends :)

I've got RINGS in store now too - they are super cool!

Sleeping Princess Ring (Etsy/Made It)Raspberry Cream Ring (Etsy/Made It)

Budding Rose Ring (Etsy/Made It)

 Porcelain Earrings (Etsy/Made It)

 Rain Splash Necklace (Etsy/Made It)

 Clear View Necklace (Etsy/Made It)

 Oceanside Hairpins (Etsy/Made It)

.Cutting it close.

I have always wanted to make a lovely advent calendar for Christmas.  With a whole year to think about it, do you think I could have started it in July and been organised for this year?!!

Not to worry, I have just over 24 hours until the 1st Decmeber and have finished all of my cutting, ready to start sewing in a couple of minutes when Tommy goes down for a (hopefully) long nap!

I did make an advent calendar last year out of scrapbook paper.  It was cute, but not what I want to use forever.  

Okay, no time to waste!  I'm off to sew and plan our family activities for the 2010 Family Christmas Countdown!!  Will share my advent calendar and list of activities when I am done (hopefully before 1st December!!)

.Winners are Grinners!!

Lots of winners to announce today!  First of all, winners of a copy of my new patterns (all have been notified via emai):

And a big thankyou for all of your new Versatile Wrap fabric suggestions - woah!  So many awesome ideas...I think I want to make another 10 skirts just to try out my favourite combos!!  I think this is a great resource to refer to if you are having trouble deciding what fabric to make your skirt up in.  I have decided which fabric I am going to be using, but want to keep it a secret until the new cover is released (just because secrets are fun!)  But I have drawn a winner of a copy of the newly revamped pattern:

Congratulations and thankyou to all!

.Meeting Jenny.

Earlier this week we were privileged to have a visit by Jenny Phillips.  Jenny is a top-selling LDS singer and song-write and produces beautiful inspirational music.  We have been awaiting her visit all year and were so excited when she and her husband Dan arrived from Salt Lake City, Utah on Wednesday.
Jenny and Dan have four children - including an 8 month old baby boy, so their visit was very short, which made us even more grateful that they had sacrificed a lot to come and perform for us.

Their trip was certainly a whirlwind, with one of our congregations putting on a special Thanksgiving Dinner for their first night, some sightseeing and lunch at the Raspberry Farm the next day and then a special fireside and musical performance that evening. 

I have always been a big fan of Jenny's music, but after hearing her in real life I am absolutely smitten.  Her voice was truly angelic and she shared some very special messages with us also.

Apart from being a talented musician, Jenny and Dan are both so easy going and down-to-earth.  It was great to have the opportunity to spend a few special days with them and hopefully the next time we get together is when we get to visit the USA!!

.Post AQM.

Can't believe it has taken me a whole week to finally post about Australian Quilt Market last weekend!  The past 2 months have been super busy for me and I am (crossing my fingers and) hoping that the craziness has come to an end and I can get the house cleaned up properly and the family back into a functioning routine (and hopefully get to bed a little earlier than I have been!)

Quilt Market was great, it was only the second one I have been to and was fun to catch up with familiar faces - both customers and blogging friends.  We decided it would be easier if I went to Melbourne on my own this year and I was going to stay somewhere by myself, but was so grateful when a couple of months before AQM got talking via email with Saffron Craig, Kate Conklin and Bec Johnson and we decided that we should make a girly weekend of it and stay together.  MUCH more fun than staying by myself :)

I hadn't met any of the girls before, but after spending a few minutes together, it really did feel as though we had known each other for years.  

I was (as usual) terrible at taking photos over the weekend, but the girls happily shared a few with me!  Saffron and I were on our own for the first night, so after setting up our booths we headed into the city for dinner together.  There are so many amazing places to eat in Melbourne - the hardest part was deciding on which restaurant to go to!  We ended up in this authentic little Italian restaurant that served the most delicious food...the gnocchi was to die for, I didn't want it to end and am reluctant to ever try gnocchi again because I don't think anything could top it! 

 

Bec and Kate joined us the next day.  I was so excited to meet these girls after becoming "email friends" a few months ago.  They are both amazing quilters and sell their fantastic patterns through their online stores and some retail stores.  (Bec's store here....Kate's store here).

Saffron has been working VERY hard behind the scenes and had HEAPS of new fabric ranges and pieces to order at AQM.  I am a huge fan of her fabric and can't wait until the new ranges are for sale - keep an eye on her online store here or at your local fabric store for her new fabric.

The four of us had a lovely time that evening at a cute little restaurant in St Kilda (oh, it is so lovely to eat out without the children!), then headed back to the hotel where we talked until after 2am!  I haven't done that since I was a teenager, and surprisingly didn't feel too bad the next day!  We had so much in common and heaps of questions to ask each other, I'm sure that we could have kept on talking for another week!

I actually didn't get much of a chance to take a proper walk through the rest of the market...I was busy on the Creative Abundance booth chatting with customers about our new patterns, but I did make sure that I got to meet with some of the fabric reps to preview upcoming ranges and get a bit of inspiration for future patterns!  As fun as the weekend was, it was lovely to come back to my rug rats and know that I can have a break from pattern writing for a little while!

.Helpful blog post.

Morning!  This is a bit of a boring post, but will be very helpful if you would like me to answer questions that you leave for me in comments...

My friend Kate taught me how to do this and it certainly has made my blogging life easier :)

So, when you leave a comment on my (or anyone else's) blog post, your comment will either be displayed as "anonymous" or with your profile name.  All of the comments left on my blog also show up in my inbox.  Unfortunately more than half of the comments that are left on my blog do not have an email address directly associated with them - which makes it really hard for me to reply to you or answer a question that you may have asked me!

To make things a lot easier, PLEASE do this:

Go to your blog and click on the "Dashboard" link at the top of the page.  Even if you don't have a blog, you can still have a blogger account which you can leave comments from.

When you click on "Dashboard", you will see the following page:

Then click on "Edit Profile" on the left-hand side...

Which will take you to the following page.  In order for me to be able to reply directly to your comments, all you have to do is tick the box that says "Show my email address".  Easy!!  This doesn't mean that everyone will be able to see your email address, but does mean that when your comment shows up in my inbox, I can reply to you directly from my email.

 

If you don't have a blogger account and are always leaving comments as "Anonymous" that is fine too, but if you want me to know who you are or would like me to answer a question, PLEASE type your email address into the comment.  I often have people asking me questions about pattern availability, supplies used, etc. and most of the time I can't respond because I don't have your email address to reply to.

Okay, boring stuff aside...

I have had tonnes of people asking about purchasing my book overseas.  Currently it is not available overseas, but should be sometime in the future.  Yes, postage from my store is VERY expensive for New Zealand and the rest of the world.  The book weighs almost 1.5kg which means it costs a lot for me to post.  I have had a hunt around some online stores selling my book though and have found a few with quite reasonable postage rates.

Take a look at one of the following:

Readings

QBD Bookshop

Fishpond

Hope this helps someone out there!