.February Cool Shops! A LITTLE RED RIBBON.

This week's Cool Shop! is A Little Red Ribbon...

This sweet Etsy store is filled with beautiful handmade items created from new and vintage fabrics with a touch of pure class.  Gretel certainly has an eye for fabric combination with that "homey" feel while still being very fashionable.

For my review, Gret kindly sent me one of her cute baby bibs and coin purses.  This baby bib is made from vintage cotton fabric and natural linen.  I love the classic look that linen creates and this bib is just gorgeous.  Beautifully sewn with a lovely colour combination for any little girl.  The back is lined with a double layer of flannel and is super soft and makes it really absorbent. 

I almost squealed with delight when I saw the coin purse.  It is purely lovely!  Made from linen and vintage lace, it is pretty and feminine and as soon as I opened it I knew it would be ideal for housing my new earring collection.  The interior is lined with an orange and yellow vintage floral fabric which adds a bit of spark to the little purse.  It would also be great for carrying around money and credit cards if you didn't want to take a big bag or keeping cosmetics or other small items safe and together in your handbag.

 

Take a look at some of the other lovelies made by A Little Red Ribbon...

Vintage Embroidery Coin Purse: 

Liberty of London Brooches:

Mini Clutch:

Yellow Vintage Fabric Baby Bib:

Make It Perfect readers are extra lucky today because Gret is offering a discount of 15% OFF ALL PURCHASES in her shop until the 23rd February!
(Use coupon code "makeitperfect" during checkout to receive 15% off.)

Thanks to A Little Red Ribbon for sharing your beautiful creations with us!

Important A Little Red Ribbon Links:

Etsy Store

Blog

Facebook

Twitter

Flickr

.Two things.

#1.  Did you know the 2011 Handmade Olympics is happening over at RikRak Studio?  The Olympics are divided into eight categories and you can vote for your favourite in each section.

The Queensland Flood Appeal Auctions have made it into the finalists for the "Forwarding Kindness Thru Handmaking" category!  Head over to cast your vote!

#2.  I'm sure you all know that Boy Month starts tomorrow.  Dana and Rae have an awesome round-up of boy-friendly crafts to share with us...and I will be joining them on Rae's blog later on in the month!  Stay tuned as there are going to be lots of boy stuff to get making.

.Can I share one last birthday gift with you?.

I know I've told you that my new sister-in-law is amazingly talented in an artsy way.  

You should see the brilliant sketches she does.  (Jaron - being the designer that he is - saw some house designs that she was sketching up last week and was very impressed.)

She just has a knack for all things creative.

And being the creative soul that she is, Samantha made me a very special canvas art for my birthday.

Isn't is perfect?

Did you know that she cut out each of those butterflies by HAND?!  No paper punches here, each little paper butterfly meticulously cut out using a pair of scissors.  I love the colours that she has chosen.  Soothing and relaxing.  And colours I would not usually choose myself, but wish that I would choose because I love the subtle, earthy colours but can't help myself and always go for the super brights instead.  The house needs a bit more earth.

 

Love it Sammy!  Thanks!

.Did you know I got glasses?.

Well, the wearing glasses bit is old news.  I first started wearing specs 15 years ago and quickly progressed to contact lenses.  After wearing contact lenses every waking hour for the last 15 years, my eyes aren't tolerating them as well as they should be (which could also be attributed to the fact that I stretch my 1-month lenses out for 2 or 3 months!).  So, back to the glasses wearing it is!  

I actually don't mind them, but don't like wearing them all the time, so am finding a happy medium between wearing contacts and glasses.  They are very handy for those mornings when I want to hang around in my PJs for a bit longer and can't be bothered getting my contacts on.

One of my greatest wishes is to have laser eye surgery...but I think that will be quite a few years down the track!

Oh, and don't look too closely at my bed hair and smudged makeup...that's what happens when you take photos after a midday nap - ha!

.On my birthday...handmade jewellery.

I was spoiled on my birthday with thoughtful handmade gifts from friends...

Amazingly funky LIME GREEN necklace from Charlotte (she sells her lovelies at Spotted Lime): 

A cute pair of  button earrings and chocker necklace from Aimee (she sells her lovely button jewellery and accessories at Greentree Goods):

And these gorgeous dangly Willow Tree Earrings from Eve - I'm a bit scared to wear dangly earrings yet and worried that they will get caught on something, but I'm sure I'll get used to them with time! 

 Thankyou, thankyou friends - I love them!

.On my birthday...

...Oscar woke up in the morning with a "great idea".

"Mum, we should go to the IGA and choose some lollies and then you can make some cupcakes and leave them on the bench for Lil and I to decorate.  But you have to go away, because it will be a surprise."

 

 

And it was a great idea!  Their cupcake decorating skills were out of this world amazing!  (Photos taken on my iphone because Jaron stole my camera for work - the nerve!)

After cupcake decorating, we spent the afternoon at the pool and then a quick singing of Happy Birthday before Jaron and I went out for a yummy, child-free dinner.

Thankyou, family for making 29 not so bad...you are really going to have to pull out the big guns for the big 3-0 though!!

.February Cool Shops! BLAKE'S CRAYONS.

Welcome to my newest Cool Shop, Blake's Crayons...

 

Wendy is the clever woman behind Blake's Crayons, and she makes these cool novelty-shaped crayons. 

Drawing is done many times a day at our house and you may remember that Lil is quite fond of a bit of body art.  Thankfully crayons don't leave such a mark but are a little higher on the drawing material ranking than pencils.  Very Mummy-friendly :)

And these ones are super cute to look at too!  Lil is most impressed that her new crayons look like ice cream cones, whereas I can't get Tommy to stop chewing them!

Blake's Crayons really are great.  They are the perfect size for little hands to hold - slightly chunky and not too long, and have a lovely, smooth feel to them.

Not only do Blake's Crayons specialise in really cool novetly crayons, but check out this absolutely adorable Wooden Bird Baby Toy.  A lovely gift for a new baby that is unlike most you can purchase in baby stores.  I love the natural look that it has and it would be great for encouraging grasping and soothing teething pain.

Check out a few of the other novetly crayon shapes in store...
Flip Flops:

Race Cars:

Ballet Slippers:

 Blake's Crayons is offering a $10 store credit to their Etsy store to one lucky reader!  Simply leave a comment on this post to be in the running.  
(Winner will be selected randomly and announced on Tuesday 15th Feb.)

Click here to visit Blake's Crayons on Etsy!
Wendy's Blog

.Flood Auction goodies.

Last week was happy mail week.  You know, the kind of mail that you didn't "order" and have been hanging out for every day!  It was more like, "surprise - bet you weren't expecting me today" kind of mail - and not yucky bills, but lovely parcels full of super special goodies.

Like sweet Evonne, who sent Carli and I a cute plush heart each in gratitude for running the QLD Flood Appeal Auctions which she sends out to people she thinks has kind hearts...

And this wasn't in the real mail, but did make it's way to my inbox...a GREEN version of Jan's special quote from Leanne.  Love it!

 Then to top things off, lovely sisters Amelia and Kate surprised Carli and I with a gorgeous cushion cover each.  They are just beautiful and it is going to be very hard deciding who gets which one - Carli, your thoughts?!

The cushions are made using Saffron Craig's soon-to-be-released new fabric range "Magical Lands" Edit...it is RELEASED!!! - how beautiful are those colours? I can't wait to get hold of some!

 

Thankyou sweet ladies :) 

Although we certainly didn't expect to receive anything in return for running the auctions, we are truly grateful for these heartfelt gifts.

.eek! i went to an opp-shop!!.

My friends know that I don't "do" opp-shops (thrift stores).

I really want to, but they kind of ick me out a bit!

I'm happy for people to buy things from opp-shops and give to me all washed and fresh, but I'm not very good at going myself and sifting through everything.

Which is why this post is a big deal for me.  A couple of days before the wedding, I went looking for some vintage fabric to use as tablecloths and lucky for me, I scored!

Check out the cool doily tablecloth I found - and only $2!! It is beautiful, but won't be staying whole for very long as I have plans to cut it up and dye away.  (Stay tuned, because I think I am going to have an abundance of hand-dyed doilies that I might just have to give away later on!)

And I'm loving this awesome piece of fabric - broderie anglaise - with pretty green and yellow flowers.  I'm envisioning a sweet dress made from it, or maybe a nice flowy skirt?  It is about 2m long so plenty to work with!  Again, a bargain at $2!

So, my opp-shopping adventure was successful...until I heard a kid blowing a tune into a recorder only to turn around and find it was Lil and freaked out a little bit.  GROSS!

.A heart for his sister.

Most days, our table is a mess of pencils, sticky tape, scissors and tons and tons of paper.  No matter how many times I quickly pack it up during the day, it isn't long before they notice and get everything out again to do some more making.  As much as the mess drives me crazy, I really do love that they love to draw, cut, stick and create awesome stuff every day.

Today was particularly funny...Oscar was busy making something at the table, I was in the lounge room watching the events of Cyclone Yasi unfold and heard Oscar call out to Lil, "Lilsy...I made you a new t-shirt, come and see!"

The.Cutest.Thing.Ever.

Big brothers officially rock.

.February Cool Shops! BAMBOO GROVE.

(With all of the business on the blog during the Flood Auctions, I postponed a few Cool Shops! reviews - thanks Beth and everyone else still to come for waiting patiently.)

Welcome to my newest Cool Shop! Bamboo Grove...

Bamboo Grove is a trendy shop found on Etsy selling handmade books and concertina albums with Japanese paper - also known as washi.  Beth, who resides in Melbourne, is the creative mind behind Bamboo Grove.  Her little albums are just a treat, they are superbly made and a fantastic gift idea for that person who "has everything".

Beth kindly sent me three of her little concertina albums to review.  I love them and can see tons of potential for turning them into gifts for the grandparents by adding a selection of our favourite photos of the kiddies.  How easy is that?  A completely handmade gift, that isn't going to cause you any stress!  They look great displayed on a bookshelf or side table and are made with exquisite attention to detail - they don't look handmade at all!

 

Take a look at what this photographer has done with some of her photographs and Bamboo Grove albums - I would love to be one of her clients!

This map album is really cool...

And I love this green one...

Beth also makes lovely big albums filled with handmade paper such as this one...

To coincide with her Cool Shops! review, Beth is offering a great discount of 20% off ALL purchases in her Bamboo Grove Etsy shop for the next month!

(To receive 20% off your order, enter the code "20off" when you order.  Offer is valid between Wednesday 2nd Feb - Tues 1st March.)

Click here to visit Bamboo Grove on Etsy!

.All because I started making earrings...

I was crusing along nicely into my 29th year, happily un-pierced (much to my Father's delight) when I started making earrings.  I thought it was a weird thing to start doing as I couldn't even wear them myself, but requests were coming in so I obliged.

And then the earrings kept getting cuter and cuter and finally it was decided that it would be done.

 

So on the last day of 2010, this is what we did.  My lovely sister-in-law Ashleigh held my hand and almost fainted and I cringed...don't believe it when people tell you it doesn't hurt because IT DOES!

And now that it has been 4 weeks (just!) I'm experimenting with all different kinds of lovelies.  So far these Tickle Me Pink ones are the favs, but I still have a whole heap to try out!!

(Photo stolen from Mrs King, and I'm due for a visit to the hairdresser!)