Hollabee

free!

2011-05-02T10:15:00.000+10:00

I've been posting lots of freebies for you to download. To get your freebies, visit my other blog.

Click on any of the links below for your free diy printable cards:

bon voyage card
happy easter card
mothers day card
party invitation
valentines card

what's for dinner

2011-02-25T14:21:00.000+11:00

I know that some of you might still be hanging out here, so I thought I'd let you know about one of my new products. I'm super excited about this one. I'm allowed to be right?

For the past few weeks me and my friends have been testing this idea and it has exceeded my expectations.

The goal was to save money and be more organised with my grocery shopping. So far we've been to market every Saturday, prepared with a list for the whole week.

To read more about what inspired me, click here.

To see the original post about this new and exciting product, click here.

or if you love it as much as I do, go directly to the shop to buy it.

a colourful message

2011-02-02T21:41:00.001+11:00

I've just launched my new product range. on my other blog. are you curious? come on over then.

you're missing out

2011-01-21T19:13:00.002+11:00

Hello :)

I'm posting over here... and you're missing out ;)

Queensland Flood Relief - Handmade Kids Auction

2011-01-13T09:53:00.000+11:00

sadly, one of Australia's states is in a state of emergency due to flash flooding. it is unimaginable what people go through. the devastation it causes. one thing I admire aussies for is their strength and determination. even though it seems like it will never end and the clean up is going to take months if not years. aussies form strong communities. they help each other. it is great to see that so many bloggers are taking initiative. please donate to the Queensland Flood Relief.

Hollabee has donated to the Handmade Kids flood relief.

Even though I don't print anymore, I still have some fabrics and products at home and what better cause than this to share some 'old' hollabee love.

I have donated 4 hot water bottle covers (even though they won't be needed anytime soon) and a very limited edition mix pack of swirl fabric in pastel colours.

i've moved...

2011-01-08T18:28:00.002+11:00

well. not physically. what I'm really trying to say is: I have a new blog.

I could type up the whole story of 'why' again, but I can also send you to where I've already spoken about it.

it has something to do with this:

miki.o design blog

Jam labels

2011-01-04T22:14:00.004+11:00

I've been cooking up a storm lately, making strawberry jam and sadly burning the cherry jam... and I've also been playing in adobe illustrator... thought I'd share the jam labels I whipped up. Please feel free to use them for your own home-made jams.

strawberry & cherry jam labels

to download, click on the labels. In flickr, click on: actions > view all sizes > original. Then print it on blank label paper and cut your circles :)

Happy New Year!

2011-01-03T21:58:00.003+11:00

2010 has been one heck of a year, a fantastic one that is... I started a new job in March, which I absolutely love! Went on numerous trips (can't complain there), started Italian classes (which I will continue in 2011), spent great times with friends ('friends are more important than money' as the quote on my lulu lemon poster says), read lots of books and generally have just had a great year.

I'm not really a person to make new years resolutions but there are some things that I'd like to do:

1. continue Italian classes (level 2 starts on 31 January)
2. travel to Europe (planned and booked for March, we'll be in Holland and Italy)
3. eat great food (home-made preferably)
4. continue to spend time with friends
5. grow at work
6. nut out some of the ideas that I have in my head, which are all home-based business related
7. help my boyfriend grow his business (yes, I like doing that sort of thing)
8. learn kite surfing (hang-on I think I said that last year too)
9. start planning for our year overseas
10. take more photos

I hope 2010 has been good to you and that 2011 is going to be even better! Happy New Year!

and to end the post with pictures... some of what I've been up to lately...

Home-made strawberry jam (recipe from 13mimosa) I tried to make cherry jam as well but unfortunately I burnt them :(

A day trip to Lake Eildon, which I've never seen so full (capacity at 75.62%)

Had a go at water skiing, which was awesome. It took me 2 turns to get up, not a bad effort I think.

In pictures

2010-12-31T00:26:00.002+11:00

Our holiday in pictures...

1. Cherry picking, 2. Cherry picking, 3. Cherry picking, 4. Weekend away 27-29 Dec, 5. Weekend away 27-29 Dec, 6. Weekend away 27-29 Dec, 7. Christmas 2010, 8. Christmas 2010, 9. Christmas 2010

Wishing you all a fantastic, successful and happy 2011!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-21T22:52:00.003+11:00

Merry Christmas... may your Christmas be filled with laughter and fun... and cookies :)

More camera fun...

2010-11-24T08:55:00.005+11:00

Last weekend it was such beautiful weather in Melbourne and I really wanted to use my new camera a bit more. I bought a canon 550D back in September and because the weather hasn't been all that good I feel like I haven't used it enough.

What better place to take photos than at the Melbourne zoo... I think most of Melbourne had the same idea because it was packed! Nonetheless, I had a great time and with my FOTZ pass I can go whenever I like and skip certain parts without feeling guilty.

Social Media Revolution

2010-11-23T15:47:00.000+11:00

How the world is changing...

Blokkenkast

2010-11-19T15:18:00.003+11:00

Sometimes I wish my apartment was bigger and I didn't need to think about storage space in the furniture I buy or make... Right now my TV cabinet is a large chest that holds my camping gear, ski gear, Christmas tree and miscellaneous... practical? Definitely! Pretty? So, so!

I absolutely love this and it's a DIY project... I'll definitely keep it in my bookmarks and will revisit it when (if) I buy a house...

Blokkenkast Tas-ka via 101 woonideen

MOvember

2010-11-18T15:08:00.004+11:00

I think we should all support MOvember. You can make a donation on the website (gosh I love that tweed background)

To make it a bit more fun... buy yourself a Mo Towel.. how cool!

Mo Towel from Spin Spin

Melbourne's Chinatown

2010-11-02T10:29:00.003+11:00

I was walking through Melbourne's Chinatown last week, killing time taking photos before going to the supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Mary Poppins show (it's awesome!)

These are some of the photos I took:

Happiness flowchart

2010-10-14T16:00:00.001+11:00

found here

Fashion show at GPO

2010-09-29T14:02:00.002+10:00

A few weeks ago I went to see a fashion show at GPO, which was great fun. The show itself was a bit short, but the cocktails were great and my friend even won the draw they had on. She's not complaining with a $700 Wayne Cooper voucher...

I took some photos that night too.

Find more photos on flickr

Royal Melbourne Show

2010-09-20T13:58:00.003+10:00

On Saturday I went to my first ever Royal Melbourne Show and had a great time (apart from the rain). I just loved the horses! It made me miss my childhood, when I used to spend lots of time on a family friend's farm looking after the horses, calves and lambs. Definitely great memories!

New Blog!

2010-09-14T20:56:00.006+10:00

I know I have been neglecting this blog a bit but that's mainly because I have had little to show, not because I don't want to talk.

For that reason I've started a new blog. Fashion et al is a blog that covers Fashion et al (and others).

Felix & Mabel, the first to be featured on Fashion et al

The new blog will bring you lots of fashion news, but not just the big names. We aim to showcase indie designers, established labels, big business, accessories designers and quirky little retail shops.

There are so many fashion and design blogs out there, but I haven't found THE ONE that I absolutely love in terms of fashion and accessories. I thought, why not start one myself? Because I want everyone to love what's featured on the blog, I would love your feedback, suggestions, ideas etc.

In the meantime, I hope you'll enjoy Fashion et al.

Healesville Sanctuary

2010-09-13T15:58:00.004+10:00

Thank you for the lovely comments!

I haven't really had the chance to use my new creative suite because I work fulltime and weekends have been taken up by trips to the snow, the beach or the zoo. (Tough life.. I know)

But I'm loving my camera at the moment! The perfect way to be creative if you ask me. I took these pictures on Saturday, at Healesville Sanctuary.

You will find more photos in my flickr

Photography

2010-09-08T18:00:00.006+10:00

Hello?

I know it has been aaaages and I'm sorry :( I just haven't had anything too exciting to talk about. Certainly nothing crafty, unless I name the numerous cooking and baking adventures I've had, or trips to the snow, or weekends away.

I'm pretty excited now though. I just bought my first DSLR camera and am totally in love with it. It's a canon eos 550d with 18-135mm lens and it's just perfect!
I've been snapping away after work (which is going great by the way, I love my job in marketing at one of Melbourne's universities) and have finally started using my flickr pro account again.

Hopefully I won't disappear for 6 months again, since I now have something to show :)

I have also installed Adobe CS5, so I'm hoping to get back into designing a bit more. It seems easier to find my creative mojo when it's not a must.

1. car, 2. nature, 3. sky, 4. station, 5. arrow, 6. flower, 7. laneway posters, 8. red, 9. house

Beautiful...

2010-03-04T20:32:00.006+11:00

I've been looking at pretty things on etsy... It has been a while since I've visited the amazing wonderland of handmade, and it's great to find so many new and pretty things.

I have my eyes on these beauties:

Tweed Brown Hood by Afra

Raw silk bolero by Angelika Liv

White garden silver necklace by Little White Dresser

I'm hoping to get my crafty mojo back soon because I need some curtains for my bedroom. I'll show you the result once I get around to it ;)

Breadmaking...

2010-02-25T10:35:00.006+11:00

Thank you all for your lovely comments :) I feel like I'm on the right track now and am looking forward to achieving all the things that I want to do in my life.

Last weekend I went to do a breadmaking course at the Abbotsford Convent Bakery and it was sooo much fun! It starts pretty early (8am on a Saturday) but that was perfect because it was heating up during the day. We started off with white sourdough of which we made rolls, then wholemeal pizza dough of which we made a savoury pizza and a apple & custard calzone, we made scones with sultanas and two rye sourdough loafs.

It was such a fabulous day, we got to have morning tea in the sun with our own scones, fresh cream and homemade raspberry jam and we had our own pizza for lunch (I only had 2 slices because I was still full from the scones). Our freezers are full with bread now, and it feels so good to know that I made it :)

Word's out...

2010-02-12T17:41:00.003+11:00

As you may have read over at Ink & Spindle, I have decided to pursue my career in marketing and left the business.

Ever since I was 18 I have had the dream to have a successful career in marketing (and events) and chose to study International Business to get me started on my dreams. In my 4th year of studies I was fortunate to be offered a work experience place with a company in Melbourne and made the trip Down Under. What was meant to only be a 5 month internship turned into another 5 months to complete my thesis and after I graduated I returned to Australia to begin my career.

A lot has happened since then, I have worked in several jobs, marketing and non-marketing and started playing around with pattern design about 3 years ago... the rest of the story is pretty well-known.

At the end of last year I started to feel restless and uncomfortable and couldn't quite figure out what it was that 'bugged' me until I took a break to think about what I actually wanted to do with my life. Ink & Spindle was fun and a great experience but it wasn't quite taking me where I wanted to be in life. Leaving the business wasn't an easy decision and it took me a very long time and the help and support of my wonderful personal coach to finally tell the girls in December. They were really supportive and could see that it was for the best, and now we're all happy :) Thanks girls!

Fear not, Ink & Spindle will still be printing and selling my designs so all you lovelies can still sew gorgeous things with it.

I'm not sure how often I'll blog as my craft life is somewhat non-existent at the moment... I still craft but it's more in the form of baking and cooking :)

I'm really proud and happy about the journey that I have made, with Hollabee and Ink & Spindle and it wouldn't have happened without your support, so thank you all so much for your support, kindness and love for fabric. I really enjoyed setting up the business with the girls, going to markets, meeting lovely bloggers and non-bloggers, doing shows, travelling interstate and generally just having a great time! Thank you! But...Sometimes it's just time to move on to other things, and that's what I'll be doing...

Thank you and I'm sure we'll meet again :)

Hot, hot, hot

2010-01-12T15:55:00.003+11:00

We're experiencing some extremely hot temperatures here in Melbourne. Yesterday we hit 45, and that's not all that surprising, but we also had the hottest night since 100 years... and guess who doesn't have aircon at home? Yup, moi!

I've kept everything shut and dark over the past few days and it has been reasonably bearable inside, with the fan on, whilst drinking lots of water and eating frozen yoghurt.

Today is the second day I got sent home from work because it's simply too hot to function. Some ^*#@*^ decided that it was a good idea to replace the office aircon system in the middle of summer, which leaves us without nice cool air. The manager decided to get some portable aircons in, but they used too much electricity which made the power turn off, including our computers and lights, so the only other option was to go home.

I've been hanging out on the couch, in front of the fan...

2010

2010-01-03T17:37:00.002+11:00

I'm not very good with new years resolutions so I'm not going to give it a try... instead I have written a list of things I'd like to do and some of what's on it is pretty straight forward, some might ask for more dedication and some might eventually be taken off the list because life changes right?

Things I'd like to do/achieve in 2010:

1. Spend time with friends
2. Listen to my heart
3. Learn kite surfing
4. Save money
5. Go skiing in either New Zealand or Canada
6. Talk to my family more
7. Go on day trips/weekends away more
8. Eat healthy
9. Take up some form of exercise
10. Cook & bake new things
11. Read more
12. Learn Italian
13. Be creative
14. Set personal goals
15. Continue life coaching
16. BE HAPPY!

Hello 2010!

2010-01-02T16:06:00.007+11:00

Wow, another year has passed... and what a year it was.
So much has happened in 2009, happy things, sad things, eventful things, difficult things, scary things. I can't say that '09 has been an easy year with a break up, a move and one of the most diffucult decisions right at the end. I might write about this one day, when I'm ready.

I'm definitely looking forward to 2010 and started the year in an amazing way. Through my job I got in touch with a fellow Dutchy, who's daughter works for ID&T, the company who has been organising 'Sensation' for years.

Image credit: Sensation

It's a Dutch organisation which puts on some massive events, such as Sensation. I have been to Sensation before, in 2002 in the Amsterdam Arena. I absolutely loved it back then, but didn't think that I'd ever go again because the tickets are quite expensive. Anyway, I'm drifting off... the girl who works for ID&T lives in Holland whilst her parents have been here for 28 years. During my work Christmas dinner we got talking about this and he thought it wouldn't be a problem to get us free tickets... he text his daughter et voila... free DELUXE tickets to Sensation! It was amazing, the show was spectacular and like last time I was excited to see everyone dressed in white, it's really something special. At midnight they had a sensational show with fireworks and the famous Sensation megamix, I had the best NYE ever!

The only negative was that I got a throat infection the day before NYE. I'm still fighting it and it's probably a good thing that I have a few days to myself (i.e. nobody to talk to) before going back to work. I've been keeping myself busy with...

reading magazines

decorating my apartment

looking after a friend's vegies in my kitchen

baking a pear upside-down cake

I'd like to say thanks to everyone for visiting my blog and the ink & spindle blog, for supporting our little business, for sharing their handmade creations, for visiting us at shows and for being our dedicated fans.

Happy New Year everyone, cheers to a great 2010!

Happy Holidays...

2009-12-24T09:33:00.001+11:00

Making...

2009-12-13T20:56:00.004+11:00

Christmas is slowly (actually not that slowly) creeping up on us and since I've moved, I haven't really had the time to shop for a Christmas tree that fits my tiny apartment. I still wanted to create a somewhat festive atmosphere and when I was browsing blogs on Friday I found this.

The one in the link is made of old jumpers but I didn't have any of those... What we did have in the studio was scraps of 100% wool felt and they were perfect for this wreath!

Here's the result... it's not as fancy as the one I found, but it's pretty Christmas-sy!

Melbourne Design Market no.3

2009-12-06T19:52:00.003+11:00

Done n dusted... already!
The market was good, although, we feel like it wasn't as busy as previous times... but still good :) Our lovely ex-intern Jane came to help us in the morning, and Lou and Theresa were there in the afternoon. We also got a visit from the lovely JacRan... who brought us yummie treats.

Pocket Carnival & Rabbit and the Duck were part of our stall and it was heaps of fun hanging out with them. Penny also made some yummie goodness. We were spoilt!

I'm retreating to my couch to drug myself with medicine to scare off this cold that I can feel coming...

Only one more event to go. Our Open Studio on the 19th of December and then we'll be closing our doors for a well deserved Chrissy break!

I'll leave you with some pictures...

For more pictures, go to my flickr page.

New beginnings...

2009-11-27T14:13:00.004+11:00

I think it's time for me to tell you about the latest development in my life. Lara blogged about hers, and like her, I have moved house too.

About a month ago I found a cute little apartment in Kensington and it was just perfect. New house, new beginnings. It hasn't been an easy time, but it is really nice to have my own space where I can be by myself. The other thing that's so great is that I now live within walking distance from the studio, Lara & Teegs... it's fun to be a Kensi local!

lounge room

I was lucky to 'know' the girl who lived here before and to know that she was moving out. She had been in the apartment for 12 years! The apartment needed a bit of a make over and the landlord was really really great about this. He let me choose my own paint colour and have a feature wall. Once he was done with painting he thought the carpet looked 'shocking' (his words) so he sent me out to find floorboards and get some quotes. As you can see, the floorboards are in and I'm loving them! It's great when you get to pick your own paint colour and floor... it's very common in Holland to do whatever you want to a rental place, but here in Australia they're not that flexible... I consider myself very lucky!

the original kitchen... how cute

Things are slowly happening, pictures are put up and furniture bought or recycled. It's so much fun!

Pretty pretty...

2009-11-19T14:10:00.004+11:00

Blog posts seem to happen less frequent... but I'm still here... after a somewhat challenging period in my personal life... but more on that when I feel like writing it down.

We tend to blog over at Ink & Spindle and I usually don't really feel like copying a blog post, even though they're fabulous (dare I say so myself).

Here's something new though.. and also fabulous! As I was reading through my blog feeds I was scrolling down looking at pictures on Kim's blog and at first I scrolled over it until I somehow scrolled back because something caught my eye...

Picture from Udessi's blog

I love the black delft in the background and am also completely in love with the jewelry...

... wondering if I should make something similar in the form of a pin board... that would be nice too!

A pretty bit of upholstery...

2009-10-19T16:25:00.003+11:00

I didn't mean to disappear, but somehow it has almost been a month since I last blogged. Things have been a little bit hectic around here, with 4 birthdays to be celebrated (Lara, myself, Teegs & Ink & Spindle's). A big thanks to everyone who came to our birthday party on Saturday, we had a fab time! Check I&S's blog for party pics and stories.

As for the pretty bit...
One of my friends found this blog last week and sent it to me... Isn't it fabulous?

Picture taken by Vanessa Lockyer

Visit Vanessa's blog to see the full 'before' and 'after' shots.

Shop update...

2009-09-26T21:02:00.007+10:00

We have some new and exciting colours in the shop...

Bloem in Burnt Orange on cream

Sumor in Olive on natural

... and some old favourites are back too...

Seeds in Charcoal on natural

Seeds in Olive on cream

Open studio tomorrow!

2009-09-25T17:14:00.003+10:00

Ink & Spindle open studio is TOMORROW!!

Details below:

Awesome poster donated YET AGAIN by the very talented Sixto from Too Yeah Media.

For the first time ever we'll actually be doing a demo print run so if you would like to see how the magic happens this is your chance! We'll start at 11am sharp!

And then you can go on to your Grand Final BBQ's etc etc and get plastered. (these words were taken from Lara's blog... and yes, I'm having a Grand Final BBQ, but I'm not getting plastered)

Hope to see you there!

We have two winners...

2009-09-20T19:25:00.003+10:00

I fed the random number generator and it pulled out two winners for me...

Penny & Rabbit and the Duck

Congratulations!
You have to promise me one thing though... DON'T STASH IT ;)

Nook

2009-09-17T19:28:00.005+10:00

Just a quick post... to share this lovely new shop in Queensland's West End.

Nook
19 browning st
west end qld 4101

Ink & Spindle little basket kits - available at Nook

Give away...

2009-09-15T12:46:00.004+10:00

Last week I was sorting through a pile of fabrics and came across some Sprout Design fabric I still had. I'm sure I put it apart for a project, but I really can't remember what it was... so instead I'm giving it away. It's all to do with the spring cleaning bug. For the last week I've just been tidying, cleaning, reorganising... it's great!

What am I giving away? I'm giving away one orange 'fabric pack' and one blue 'fabric pack'. The packs contain either bicycle fabric or toy car fabric and both have matching road fabric.

Here's what you have to do... just leave a comment on this post and I will draw two winners on Sunday 20.09.09 11:00AM AEST. One winner will receive a blue pack, the other an orange pack.

Good luck!

Not enough blogging...

2009-09-10T13:23:00.005+10:00

It has been a while since my last blog post, and overall I feel like I don't blog enough... well, I know I don't blog enough.

It seems like I have less time to blog now than I did when I had a full-time job. Working part-time in an office job and working part-time at Ink & Spindle doesn't seem to give me any time to blog. I would love to blog a lot more, but somehow my days are filled with business related things and printing, which leaves little time for crafty activities and picture taking.

Luckily, this week I have something to blog about...

Last week I received this magazine in the mail. Holland Focus is a magazine for Dutch people in Australia and the editor approached me to write an article about myself and my business. Most of you will not be able to read it, but it mostly describes how I got to where I am now. You can read it in my bio on the Ink & Spindle website.

The other exciting news is that we printed Bloem in a new colour! This is a limited edition and I only have 3m of it...

Bloem in Inky Blue

We're back!

2009-08-28T20:20:00.005+10:00

After a very long flight, due to Melbourne's bad weather on Tuesday, we finally landed back in Melbourne. The Stitches & Craft Show in Sydney was heaps of fun, the highlight being meeting all the other crafty incubator peeps.

This time the incubator section was much larger than previously and I had so much fun meeting everyone. We were very lucky to have Julie from Juicy Roo and Cathy and Louise as our neighbours, hi girls ;)

Lara has done a great post on the show, so I'm going to send you to her blog for the full story and more pictures ;)

I'd like to end this post with a big thank you to Angela & Ross and the team at Living Creatively for making this show such a success! We'll see you next year in Melbourne!

last week in a nutshell...

2009-08-10T20:03:00.010+10:00

Handmade Melbourne book launch

Printing for Stitches & Craft Sydney

... and being published in Living Creatively's latest issue.

It was such a busy week last week that I've lost all my energy to write a long blog post. Thankfully Teegs is back... she's the star blogger of Ink & Spindle, which gives me a break ;)

We're all on track for Sydney and are all very excited to be at the show. We're counting down now...

ps. a little bit of my delft fabric is up in the shop... the rest will be put up when we get back...

18 sleeps...

2009-08-01T19:30:00.003+10:00

until the Stitches & Craft show Sydney

We've been printing madly over the last few weeks to get all of our (and hopefully your) favourites printed to bring to the show. We've also been printing our new patterns in some yummie colours, so far my favourite is the new 'Delft' pattern in white on natural.

'Delft' in white on natural

'Delft' in charcoal on cream

Come and visit us at the Stitches & Craft show in Sydney :)

Open Studio 25 July 2009

2009-07-21T11:24:00.003+10:00

It's that time again... we're opening up our studio for you to come and have a look :) Of course we'll also have our lovely fabrics on display and you can see, touch, smell and buy them.

We'll even have some of our new fabrics out... how exciting!

You can find us here:

Suite 206, 10 Elizabeth Street
Kensington

We'll be open from 10am until 1pm!

'Delft' in Honeysuckle, Inky Blue & Deep Red

Most of the new fabric will be launched at the Stitches & Craft Show in Sydney, this is just a sneak peak... we're still busy printing heaps of yummie colours for the show.

Another week went by...

2009-07-17T22:49:00.010+10:00

I've been back for more than a week and I still haven't managed to put a decent blog post up, shame on me. It almost seems like it was months ago now that I was in Holland...

Leerdam, the little village where my parents live

The trip was fantastic. It started off in the Netherlands, where I got to see my family again. On the 22nd of June, mum and I got on the train for a 4 day city trip to Paris. I couldn't believe it was just a 3 hour train ride and I'd never been before?! Living in Australia definitely changes your perception of distance.

In Paris we visited the Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, the Louvre (amazing!), Basilique Sacre Coeur, Mont Martre, Arc de Triomphe etc etc. We basically got to see all the touristy bits of Paris and we were so lucky that the weather was beautiful, so sunny.

Mont Martre

Centre Pompidou

After 4 days the fun in Paris was over and we went back to Holland, for the highlight of my trip (the whole reason I booked a ticket in the first place)... my best friend's wedding! Charlotte and Danny have been together for 7 years and last year he asked her to marry him, in the most romantic way mind you. He took her on a boat ride on a local river and suggested a walk in the local castle gardens. She was a bit nervous at first because it is private property. After convincing her that it should be alright, she agreed. He had everything planned out and at the back of the castle garden was a little table with lots of roses and a picnic basket, and it was there that he went down on one knee and asked her to marry him. How romantic!
On the 27th of June was their big day and it was absolutely beautiful, she was glowing the whole day, the weather was perfect, the groom had the biggest smile ever, there were white turtle doves, pink roses, a touching church ceremony and a fantastic party... it was just perfect, exactly like she wanted it. I felt so happy for her, she's my best friend ever!

Charlotte & I

There's one sad bit in their story though. Two days after the wedding they were meant to fly out to Bali for their honeymoon, however, two days before the wedding the groom got sick. He had an infection in his intestines and almost had to cancel the wedding. Luckily this didn't happen, but the doctor advised them not to travel to Bali until he was feeling better. On the upside, this gave us more time together and we spent two lovely days in Zeeland, one of Holland's coastal provinces. We enjoyed the fantastic summer weather, went to the beach, cycled through the dunes and had fabulous outdoor dinners and breakfasts. It was so good to spend so much time with her again!

Checking out a castle in Zeeland

After this, our holiday was almost over... I spent the last few days with my family, helping my younger brother move into his first house... which is obviously going to be decorated with Ink & Spindle goodies :)

Visiting Utrecht

On the 7th of July it was time to fly back to Melbourne :( when we arrived at the airport we heard that the flight was overbooked and we had been upgraded to business class. Awesome! We flew business class from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and it was fabulous. There is so much leg room and the seats fold (almost) flat so I could have a good sleep. They also have menus and come to take your order... it was definitely a good experience.

Two days after my arrival I went straight back to the studio... gosh I had missed it so much. It's great to be printing again.
Teegs and I have swapped, she's off now to enjoy herself whilst Lara & I have turned into printing machines. The next couple of weeks are going to be quite hectic, especially because I still work 3 days per week and can only be in the studio 2 days per week :( Luckily we have good planning skills and managed to keep up with our printing schedule the last two days. We even managed to visit to Design Made Trade, which is still on! Go check it out, there's so much good stuff to see and so many lovely people to talk to.

We found out that we've been published in a couple of books & magazines, but more about that later... I've been talking long enough now ;)

I'm back...

2009-07-10T13:13:00.002+10:00

I'm back from my holiday in Europe... but I haven't quite got my head around things yet, so a longer post will follow later.

Today I'm in the studio. It feels so good to be printing again... especially when it's a fresh new screen :)

We printed 'Delft', my new pattern. We'll be taking this print to the Stitches & Craft Show in Sydney.

wedding...

2009-06-29T06:26:00.005+10:00

My best friend's wedding. She was so beautiful. They were ecstatic. I was so happy and proud to be there. Just amazing!

Charlotte & Danny 27 June 2009

Me & my best friend

still holidaying...

2009-06-27T04:19:00.002+10:00

Paris was amazing... and I'm still holidaying :)

Musee du Louvre

Basilique de Sacre Coeur

... we'll talk later ;)

Another great Melbourne Design Market...

2009-06-15T23:57:00.004+10:00

Hooray for another successful Melbourne Design Market. The carpark was packed!

Teegs did a long post with lots of pics... have a look here :)

Thanks for visiting!

I'll be back soon... reporting from my home town (in the Netherlands) undoubtedly...

Meet us at the market...

2009-06-11T16:52:00.003+10:00

I have some studio goodness to show you... well, only a little bit of it...

... to be made into badges

... super strong magnets (really super strong, no kidding)

We're busy getting ready for the Melbourne Design Market with fresh fabrics, new designs, and other delicious fabric goodies.

We'll see you there!

weekend goodness...

2009-06-07T15:37:00.007+10:00

This weekend is all about relaxation... and a bit of work.

Yesterday we visited the Substation markets in Newport. What an amazing building! Absolutely stunning!

After a quick stop to stock up on yummie pasta, we headed to Yarraville for another market. The mission was to drop off new moon and have a chat to the lovely Sandra & Sharon... but of course I couldn't resist buying her awesome passport covers. With Europe only 10 days away, I simply had to have them. Thanks for the beautiful wrapping Sharon, enjoy new moon!

Going to Europe in style

We finished the day with a visit to our friends and the cinema, where we saw Samson & Delilah.

Today has been spent on the couch and at the supermarket (pretty boring, I know). Tomorrow I'll be in the studio, cutting and packing away for the Melbourne Design Market (which is awkwardly close now).

Lucky me gets to relax after that though... in 10 days I'll be on a plane to Europe to see my family, attend my best friend's wedding, spend some time in Paris and go on an indoor skiing trip to Germany... what a life!

Market weekend...

2009-06-05T15:40:00.007+10:00

I'll be visiting some markets this weekend, which will be a nice change because next week we'll be at the other end.

Firstly, there's the artist market at the Substation in Newport... which is great because it's at the end of our street so I can walk there and get myself some goodies from the fruit & veg shop on the way home.

After that I'll be visiting Miss Pepperberry at the Yarraville markets. Please come and visit the markets too, there are great goodies to be bought and of course everyone loves to support the local handmade community, right?

Talking about markets... we are busy getting ready for the Melbourne Design Market and the studio looks like this at the moment:

Studio explosion

It definitely shows that we're working ;)

Feel free to come and say hi at the Melbourne Design Market, we'd love to meet you!

Delicious handmade soaps wrapped in handprinted fabrics, yum! (no, not handmade by us)

A bit of this...

2009-05-25T15:04:00.004+10:00

I can't believe I haven't blogged for over a week and it's not like I've had a break... I wish! The last week has been so hectic. I swapped days at work as I was asked to supervise the expo I've been organising over the last couple of months. It all went well and it was great to be at the other end and get to know what goes on behind the scenes at an expo. Swapping days means that I now get to spend a full week in the studio... heaven!

Today my day mostly consists of finishing this:

... my lace homework for tonight... and it's not looking very hopefull as I keep doing things wrong... my teacher is not going to be impressed :(

The rest of the week we'll be busy printing and getting ourselves organised for the Melbourne Design Market, which is on the 14th of June. Please come and visit us :)

We're also having another open studio, which is on the 30th of May from 10am til 1pm.

New colour...

2009-05-14T12:03:00.003+10:00

I just listed a new colourway in the shop. A delicious Deep Red on Cream.

Back from Brissie...

2009-05-11T23:34:00.006+10:00

Whilst the other girls post pretty patterns and funny stories, I'll be showing my shoes :) I bought these cute, adorable shoes on my trip to Brissie as well as a nice dress and top. (sorry for the bad pics, it's night time and I couldn't wait any longer ;)

I have to tell you that I never buy any brands or so, but I went a bit overboard and treated myself to a Wayne Cooper top :) for which I had to go back to the store in Melbourne because the shop assistant in Brisbane forgot to take the security tag off?! How did we ever get out of the store AND through airport security?

That aside, we had the best time in Brisbane. The weather was perfect, the company even better and the show was once again fabulous. It was so good to meet up with Brissie, Sydney and Melbourne crafters. The indie crafters even made it onto the local radio, how cool?! Thanks Brissie crafters, you're awesome!

And a huge thanks to Angela & the team too! We'll see you again in Sydney!

Our next event will be the Melbourne Design Market on the 14th of June, make sure you come and visit us... we like hot chocolate ;)

Shop in Brisbane or online...

2009-04-26T21:11:00.005+10:00

We've been busy cutting, folding, packing all weekend and we're almost ready to hop on the plane. Before we go we're doing a class in lace making, the old school type... tea lady style :) how cool!

Lara & Teegs will fly out on Tuesday to setup and man the stall on Wednesday and I will fly out on Wednesday evening to be there from Thursday til Sunday. How exciting... I hope we have enough stock...

Please come and visit us at the Brisbane Stitches and Craft show... and for those who are left behind, I just updated the shop with a whole lot of mixpacks. All orders will be sent out when we get back, which is after the 5th of May.

See you in Brisbane! or when we get back :)

Stitches & Craft show Brisbane

2009-04-23T17:47:00.006+10:00

We're very busy cutting, folding, packing and making to-do and to-take lists.

Here are some pretty stack shots.

Most of the fabric will be coming with me (pre-cut) to Brisbane... We're fully stocked and crossing our fingers that it's going to fit in 3 suitcases.

Oh and I almost forgot... these fabrics are also available in our shop. I believe the other girls will also stock up our shop soon... either before or after the show. Please know that we won't be able to post anything while we're in Brisbane, so you might have to wait a little bit longer ;)

Wedding Photography

2009-04-20T16:01:00.008+10:00

On the weekend we dropped off some 600+ wedding photos and a bottle of bubbly to a very happy couple and I thought I should share some of Marcel's great work with you. He takes commercial photos during the week, but also takes beautiful wedding photos for friends, family and everyone else who asks ;) (ie. you, your friends & family?)

This weekend he'll be taking photos at a wedding in Adelaide and I'm excited to see his beautiful photos when he gets back.

click on the photo to enlarge

Going home...

2009-04-18T17:20:00.004+10:00

My dad emailed me yesterday that ticket prices dropped, and I started hunting for a ticket straight away. My best friend is getting married in June and I had already 'given up' on going as ticket prices were just too high... well, that changed yesterday. After an hour on skype with mum, I booked my ticket home from 17 June til 7 July. I'm sooooo excited and so is my best friend. She's the first one to get married and I'm over the moon that I can be part of her special day.

Of course I'm already worrying about what to wear etc. It'll be summer in Europe then so I'll be wearing a dress :) for which I went shopping today (unconsciously). The real reason I went out was because of reading about this lovely shop, on this lovely blog. I just had to go... and came home with a dress (sorry no pics) and some vintage nik naks.

Southern Grampians...

2009-04-13T19:35:00.008+10:00

We're back from our trip to the Southern Grampians. It was great to be away for a few days but unfortunately Marcel got a fever on Sunday, so we couldn't enjoy ourselves completely.

Mt Sturgeon & Mt Abrubt

We left Friday morning and had lunch at Dunkeld's fantastic Royal Mail Hotel. It's definitely a beautiful location and the food was delicious too. Marcel and I got together in the Grampians so we have a strong connection with it. It was great to be back.

Nigretta Falls (which doesn't flow...)

Our accommodation was in Hamilton, which is a very charming country city. We had breakfast at the darriwill farm cafe which was so yum. I also bought raspberry & kirsch jam and lemon & caper mayonaise in their shop, gotta love deli goodies.

Me & Marcel in the botanic gardens

We visited many of the historic towns, dry waterfalls, empty lakes (it's shocking and sad to see how much water has vanished) and strolled through the botanic gardens. The Southern Grampians is a lovely place for a holiday and we'll definitely go back there.

SALE...

2009-04-07T16:09:00.006+10:00

All* of my discontinued designs are on sale in my etsy shop! Grab yourself a bargain at US$20 per metre or less!

* all discontinued fabrics at half width

Black is back...

2009-04-03T10:16:00.003+11:00

Sumor in Charcoal on Black and Bloem in Charcoal on Black are back in the shop.

click here to see what I made with it... if you're lacking inspiration ;)

Playing...

2009-03-29T18:12:00.003+11:00

... with a two colour pattern.

We're off, on our new bikes, to enjoy a nice dinner in Williamstown & soak up some sun while it lasts.

New colour...

2009-03-26T19:45:00.006+11:00

Fresh in the shop... a new colourway that we printed for the Stitches & Craft show.

Bloem in Dusty Pink

Better late...

2009-03-25T14:21:00.004+11:00

I'm about a week behind in my blog updates, but better late than never...

Here are two of the skirts that I designed and made for the 'Refabricated' show. The skirt consists of two panels. The plain panel has a large coverage at the front while the back is divided equally between the two panels.

We're going to get our patterns graded, hang in there :) soon you'll be able to make your own Ink & Spindle skirts.

Sumor in Charcoal on Black & denim skirt + little cape

Bonsai in Robins Egg on cream & natural skirt

Surprise...

2009-03-19T12:47:00.004+11:00

Today I was googling (not sure if that's a real word) Ink & Spindle and look what I came across... yay!

found here

Show & tell...

2009-03-18T10:42:00.009+11:00

Today we're having a day off. A day just for us. To 'recover' from the big show(s).

Yesterday's show was fun. It took some time and coordination to get all the models dressed and lined up (gosh the place was a mad house for a while) but once that was all sorted it went pretty smooth. Ink & Spindle made 9 skirts for the show and we'll get them back so we can wear them :)

We also made some canvasses and other cool things for the exhibition, which will be on at NMBQ, 57 Smith street, Fitzroy until the 22nd of March 2009. Go and have a look, there's great work on show and all made ethically and locally.

Screen printed artworks from Ink & Spindle

... and here's what I came home with from the Stitches & Craft show

Henry le oobee (ooh la la, he's French) and a zipper mouth monster (it says 'Bite me')

We all did swaps, how nice is that. Thanks Leslie. Thanks Jodie. You both rock! These softies totally make my day, every day. Henry is very charming and zipper mouth monster is hilarious, I'm in lurve :)

Check Soozs' blog to see all the photo's of the show and the great blogger dinner she organised. Thanks Sooz, it was fun and yummie too! We all brought something for a swap too, what else could I bring but fabric ;) and in return I received a free tap dancing lession from Miss Caroline Tap Dance. That's going to be so much fun, and Teegs is coming with me.

... and to top it off. I updated the shop with some leftover stock. Bloem in Charcoal and Deep Red are back, as well as some new mixpacks. I have a new colourway to add too, but I haven't had time to photograph it yet.

Refabricated

2009-03-16T20:11:00.004+11:00

Come and see the show & exhibition tomorrow.

Where: NMBQ, 57 Smith Street, Fitzroy
When: 17 March 2009 from 7pm

'Sumor' chair by Hollabee - photography by Marcel Lee

it's all over...

2009-03-15T21:01:00.007+11:00

Booooohoooo! The show is over and although I'm exhausted and about to fall asleep, I do feel a tad sad about it. It was so much fun meeting fellow bloggers, crafters and other people who love what we do. Thanks so much to everyone who made our days!

I have heaps more to show and tell, but I don't think I can write proper sentences now so that'll have to wait. Good night everyone!

Here's a pic I 'borrowed' from Justine's flickr since I was way to busy to snap some pretty pics ;)

Shannon, Kristen, me, Teegs & Lara aka 'fabric mafia or print mafia'

Oh.. it looks like we're going to Brisbane too... yikes that's in 6 weeks. Back to the printing table soon :) Bribane, here we come!

Our first show day...

2009-03-11T21:22:00.005+11:00

Our first day at the Stitches and Craft show went pretty smooth. We met heaps of nice people and had some pretty good sales too :)

Both Lara & Teegs are presenting some workshops over the next couple of days so if you're coming to the show, make sure you book yourself a ticket.

As part of the learning centre studios, I presented a 'seminar' on A Home Based Craft Business today and will be doing another one on Friday. The good news... it's free to come along to my talk!

Right, I'm off to bed now... we have some busy days still ahead.

Please come and say hi at the show, we love meeting new people and putting faces to bloggers names.

See you there!

In the studio...

2009-03-08T21:13:00.002+11:00

Here's what we're up to in the studio...

Fat quarters for the Stitches & Craft show (folded with the help of Amy's tutorial)

Fabric bolts

Fabric bolts

Skirt with Sumor in Charcoal on Black & cotton denim - made for the 'Refabricated' exhibition

Little cape made of Sumor in Charcoal on Black - made for the 'Refabricated' exhibition

Show, show, show....

2009-03-07T21:53:00.006+11:00

We've been busy this week. Cutting, sewing, packing, late dinners, lots of laughs, giggles and an earthquake. That was bizar, the whole building was shaking, the windows rattling loudly.

On Wednesday we'll be at the Stitches & Craft show with some yummie fabric goodness. We even have a few surprises for you in the form of never-seen-before fabrics. Please come and visit our stall, attend some of our workshops and listen to our story when we are interviewed on stage.
We're all very excited about this, it'll be lots of fun in the indie crafter section and we can't wait to catch up with some of our favourite blog reads.

We're not done yet. After our big week at the Stitches and Craft Show, we'll be part of 'Refabricated', an exhibition by the newly formed Melbourne Textile Collective, the show will present Bespoke ethically produced works from 'No Sweat Shop Label' accredited clothing companies and emerging local designers. Featuring hand-printed garments, textiles and textile based works.

The show is held on the 17th of March at NMBQ, 57 Smith Street, Fitzroy from 7pm onwards. Come along to see our prints made into awesome garments and showcased on the red carpet!

Etsy update...

2009-02-28T21:30:00.004+11:00

My etsy shop has been neglected and I've played with the thought of closing the shop. It'll stay open for now as I really enjoy being part of the etsy community and it's a really good marketing tool.

I don't update it as often as our other shop, but there are still some goodies in my etsy store.

One of those goodies is a scrap stack, freshly uploaded :) I have heaps more scraps so more stacks will follow.

Small shop update...

2009-02-24T14:12:00.007+11:00

I've put the nightmares aside and updated the shop with small quantities of the new sumor colours. The rest of the fabric will come with me to the Stitches & Craft show.
We hope to see you at the show... unless you have a really good excuse (like living on the other side of the world).

Sumor in Deep Red on natural

Sumor in Honeysuckle (honey gold) on cream

Sumor in Fuchsia on cream

Sumor in Nathan's Blue on cream

Back online...

2009-02-20T20:51:00.003+11:00

Yay, I'm back online... and able to receive emails again. I hope I didn't miss too much over the last couple of days.

We've been busy printing over the last couple of days. There will be some new colours in the shop soon. Most likely after the show, as I keep on having nightmares about not having enough stock for the show. I'm sure it'll all be fine, but I still feel stressed and pressured by the small amount of time left.

Copyright Marcel Lee 2009
Please do not copy or use this photos without written permission from Ink & Spindle.

Mail troubles...

2009-02-18T10:58:00.003+11:00

I'm having some problems with my hosting account, which includes my mail account.
If you have emailed me since last night... please re-send the email to hollabee [dot] design [at] gmail [dot] com as I can't access my other account at the moment. I'll let you know when things go back to normal... hopefully very soon.

Thanks.

Ink & Spindle photoshoot...

2009-02-16T23:03:00.004+11:00

On the weekend we did a little photoshoot for our website & an interview we did recently. We had heaps of fun, lots of giggles and a suitable lunch including yummie things from the local deli. The photos turned out fantastic! Thanks Marcel!

for more photos, visit our flickr page.

Copyright Marcel Lee 2009
Please do not copy or use these photos without written permission from Ink & Spindle.

Donate...

2009-02-10T09:04:00.004+11:00

For the past two days my thoughts have been with the people affected by the bush fires in Victoria. Although we're safe here in Melbourne and I don't really know anyone who's directly affected, my heart aches thinking about all the lives lost. It goes beyond comprehension...

I'm very proud of all the Australians who are standing strong and form a community. Over 12 million dollars has been collected, and more is still needed. Please visit the Australian Red Cross website to make your donation... you can donate from where-ever you are in the world. The money cannot buy back the lives lost, but it will help building up communities again.

Thank you.

Bright Sumor...

2009-02-06T22:38:00.004+11:00

Here are some new colour ways for my Sumor print... which will most likely be released at the Stitches & Craft Show (11 - 15 March @ the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds)

We've bundled our resources once more and will have an exhibition space for Ink & Spindle, which is very exciting because we've never done anything this big (apart from starting the business). We hope that you'll come and visit our stall and/or attend one of our workshops and seminars, which will actually not involve any printing...but it will be crafty and exciting.

Anyway, I'm drifting off... here are the new colour ways:

Sumor in Deep Sea on cream

Sumor in Fuchsia on cream

Sumor in Honeysuckle on cream

Sumor in Deep Red on natural

New in the shop...

2009-02-04T19:28:00.004+11:00

Bloem in White

Sumor in Teal

Sumor in Charcoal on natural

Sumor in Charcoal on black

Melting...

2009-01-29T11:53:00.004+11:00

I usually spend my Thursdays and Fridays in the studio, printing... today we're all melting here in 43 degrees. The fans give us somewhat of a cool breeze but it's too hot to print. Probably a good excuse to catch up on admin tasks...

A few days ago I took some pictures of parts of our house. Here's the result.

our couch

my former sewing corner

funny how things always look better when you take a picture of only a little part of the house...

More Sumor...

2009-01-23T16:35:00.002+11:00

We printed more of the Sumor pattern today... in a lovely Teal on natural this time.

It'll be in the shop in a few weeks time, it has to be heat-set first :)

New pattern...

2009-01-22T15:44:00.006+11:00

My new screen arrived on Tuesday and my hands were itching to print it... and we did... today! Yay!

Here's a sneak peak of 'Sumor'.

Sumor in Charcoal on natural

Sumor in Charcoal on black

I'll be printing this pattern in some bright colours too... keep an eye on the blog!

...and have you met the newest member of the Ink & Spindle studio? have a look at this gorgeous girl...

mixing...

2009-01-21T22:52:00.002+11:00

new mixpacks in the shop now :)

Plum...

2009-01-21T18:16:00.001+11:00

Seeds in Plum

in the shop now...

Colour...

2009-01-19T17:20:00.003+11:00

Feel like adding some colour to your home... or wardrobe?

I decided to print the reverse of the bright colours I already had in the shop, to make them matching. So both Bloem and Seeds have now been printed in Teal, Olive, Orange Gold and Plum. They're available in the shop now!

(Seeds in Plum will follow soon... I haven't had the chance to photograph it yet)

Some more good news... a new hollabee pattern will be coming out of our studio in the next week or so... I'll keep you posted!

Addiction...

2009-01-18T22:58:00.003+11:00

addiction ad·dic·tion (ə-dĭk'shən)
n.
Habitual psychological and physiological dependence on a substance or practice beyond one's voluntary control.

This might describe the way I behave(d) towards this.
Lara has pretty much described it all in her blog post about the Twilight series... it is seriously addictive. I just pretty much missed a whole week of my life, being absorbed in the books... where did time go? It's all over now though, and it feels sort of weird... I think I might need some time to get 'back into it (=life)' again.

Printed today...

2009-01-09T18:00:00.004+11:00

... and yesterday ;)

Bloem in Olive

Seeds in Orange Gold

Bloem in Teal

They'll be available in the shop in a week or so...

I've also been busy designing new patterns, which will be ready in a couple of weeks :) yay, exciting!

Hollabee on Apartment Therapy...

2009-01-09T09:04:00.003+11:00

The lovely Amy (Umbrella Prints) and Tania sent me an email to let me know that my Icy Blue Floating fabric had been featured on the fabulous Apartment Therapy blog. Thanks!

The Icy Blue Floating print is still available from my etsy shop... and because we're moving to the ink & spindle shop everything is on sale.

Shop update...

2009-01-07T21:45:00.002+11:00

Just a quick post... to let you know that I've updated the shop with some more mixpacks.

You can find them here.

new stockist...

2009-01-02T19:57:00.003+11:00

My fabric is now also available from I just love that fabric, a gorgeous online store created by Susie, who is located in Australia's beautiful Gold Coast.

Happy shopping!

the year is ending...

2008-12-31T10:08:00.008+11:00

As the year is coming to an end it's time to think about what has happened over the last year...it's amazing how many things happen in a year and what you can achieve in such a relatively short period of your life.

pelicans at The Entrance, NSW

Last year I was still working full-time. I had only just started Hollabee and only printed two patterns. Now I have printed multiple patterns and am part of Ink & Spindle... printing my own patterns :)

I have been very fortunate in the past year. I'm especially grateful for meeting Tegan & Lara... my friends and business partners :) Girls, you rock! (but you knew that already)

Nobby's Beach Newcastle, NSW

I would also like to thank you, my readers, for all your support and lovely words. Even though I cannot always find the time to reply to your comments, I definitely read and appreciate everything you write. Thank you!

The ending of the year is also a time to make plans for the new year. For hollabee this will mean more patterns and more outlets from which you will be able to buy hollabee fabrics. For Ink & Spindle it'll be an exciting year as we will start printing for all designers out there who would like their patterns printed on fabric.
We will keep you up to date through the Ink & Spindle blog... but now we're enjoying the last few days of our holiday :)

Marcel & I at Coogee Beach, NSW

I wish everyone a Happy New Year! Cheers to a crafty 2009!

ps. the pictures are from our recent holiday to the NSW Central Coast & Sydney, where we spent our Christmas with Marcel's family.

Tea towel swap...

2008-12-21T19:59:00.005+11:00

Before I shut down the computer for a blog break and holiday, I want to share the tea towel I made for Leah's tea towel swap. The recipient will find this tea towel in her mailbox now, as we just dropped it off (sorry we scrunched it in your mailbox, it wouldn't fit otherwise).

Hope she'll like it :)

Summer holidays...

2008-12-21T11:49:00.004+11:00

Ahhhh... It's so good to have all the hectic stuff over and done with... we can finally take a deep breath and relax.

I've already started my holiday, even though I still have 3 more days to go at work (our office doesn't close until the 24th). I've been cleaning our apartment and re-arranging our furniture with newly found inspiration from blogs and magazines. I'm scanning ebay for good furniture finds, reading magazines, reading more blogs, cruise on the couch, eat ice cream with friends, sit in people's backyards and just generally doing all the things I never have time for...

We'll be flying to Sydney on Christmas day to spend the festive season with Marcel's parents. On boxing day we'll drive up the coast to spend some time on the New South Wales Central Coast... somewhere I've never been. I'm soooo looking forward to it.

Before we close up shop... we're actually opening our studio. It's on Tuesday the 23rd of December (this Tuesday!!) from 6pm til 8.30pm. Please join us to celebrate the festive season with drinks and nibbles :)

Our studio is located at:

Younghusband Wool store
Suite 206
10 Elizabeth Street
Kensington VIC 3031

Hope to see you there!

No time for sewing?

2008-12-15T22:47:00.004+11:00

... no problem at all. I've done the work for you.

These yummie cushions are now available in the shop.

excl. inserts

Preview & more markets...

2008-12-11T18:01:00.004+11:00

It has been a while since my last blog post but I haven't disappeared... in the time that I haven't been on this blog I managed to finished my Certificate IV in Training & Assessment (yay, I am now allowed to teach) and I have been snowed under at work (while my buddy is on holiday). I have a part-time job at a training institute and we're taking enrolments... So I'm trying to do a full-time job in the 3 short days that I work... crazy I tell you!

Luckily I had all of my fabric printed before all of that started... and this is what it looks like :) I will put it up in the shop soon, promise!

Bloem in Gold

Seeds in Olive

Bloem in Plum

Seeds in Teal

Just to let you know...
We're doing another market this weekend, in Yarraville.
Please come and visit us :)

Shop update...

2008-12-05T15:25:00.006+11:00

Are you shopping for Christmas presents?

Well... I have just updated the shop with lots of crafty goodies such as mix packs, fabric basket kits and lace notebook cover kits. Perfect for Christmas!

mix packs

fabric basket kit

lace notebook cover kit

Olive Seeds

2008-12-01T16:51:00.004+11:00

Olive Seeds fabric is now available in our shop.

We printed this fabric just before the design market, it was part of our backdrop and I had some left for half metre packs... there are a few left and they're in our shop now.

Melbourne Design Market

2008-11-30T22:12:00.004+11:00

Here are some pictures of our stall at the Melbourne Design Market.

A big thanks to all of you who came to visit us, it was lovely to meet you! Please keep an eye on our blog, there will be more exciting news from us soon...

We're off to bed.

... and for everyone who couldn't make it to the market... I have just updated the shop with some of my bloem & seeds fabrics :) To find my fabrics, click on fabric by the metre - hollabee.

Sprout in our shop...

2008-11-23T19:37:00.002+11:00

For everyone who has little boys, nephews or just because you love it... I've put some Sprout Design mix packs in our shop.

A cold, rainy and windy day...

2008-11-23T11:07:00.002+11:00

It was a very cold and rainy day yesterday, the day of our market.

We all huddled together with our hot water bottles and we were all wearing our winter jackets, boots and gloves.

Despite the cold weather the market went really well, and we'd like to say thanks to those who braved the weather and came to say hello and bought some of our stuff.

I'd like to share some pictures of our stall with you...