Giveaway Thursday!

Katie

Hello! How are you today?

I'm a bit excited today, the sun is shining and I'm happy because my little online

store is finally updated and looking snazzy!

I hope to keep it looking this way with lots of new bits & pieces,

including of course..

lots of bunnies!

These are some of the bunnies you will find in my store today..

I do hope you will pop/hop over and have a look.

You will also find this rainbow quilt cover, the first of many I hope!

To celebrate the shop reopening I am happy to say I am having a giveaway!

 This little blue bunny is looking for a new home..

Her name is Bluebell, of course. She has been lovingly made with beautiful soft alpaca wool and she is wearing a dear little blue woollen cardigan and a pretty laced edged flowery skirt. Did I mention she is super cuddly? Oh yes she is!

There are several ways to win this little bunny....

*  if you follow my blog you will have one chance,  

                  *  if you 'like' the Dandelion Facebook page you will have two 

           *  and if you are a follower on Instagram you'll have three!!

 Please leave me a comment so that I know. And if you feel like it tell me the name of your most loved childhood toy. This giveaway is open to all, Australia & O/S so please spread the word! I do hope you win!

Thanks to all my friends out there, I really love all your comments and thoughts, some of you I have known for a long time now and some are new friends which is lovely too. So good luck, and

see you soon! xo

things I'm loving right now

I'm really in love with this new bunny. I think it's her black cardi,

or maybe it's her little ric rac trimmed skirt. Although she will be in my shop shortly I would really like to keep her for myself.

Have you noticed I've changed the bunnies eyes recently? I've gone from plastic safety eyes to embroidering them myself. Not only is this more in keeping with the soft nature of my bunnies, it is also safer for babies. This means they can be a gift for a newborn with no safety issues. I'm avoiding buttons on cardi's too, for the same reason. Any thoughts on the 'eye change'? 

L\

I'm also loving our back yard, with all it's quirky bits and ducks and fruit trees. The ducks were enjoying a bit of water sport today, they have a whirl pool going in their clam shell. So funny!

A bit of crazy swimming in circles and then woosh! out of the pool with wings aflapping..!

Crazy!

I loved going to see Jess's exhibition on Friday night with Charlotte. Jess's creatures looked so fabulous and I wasn't surprised to see so many red stickers. I tried to snaffle up a blue elephant but alas, he was already sold.

 It was great to see Jess, of course, and lots of other lovely people including Catherine & Jess's mum and dad and the Foxs Lane crew. And of course Tania and her beautiful boy, great to see you Tania!

It was so fun hanging out with Char on Friday night, of course I loved that. We did a bit of posing & people watching in the city and then headed to Brunswick St for some churros - yum!

I'm loving spending time with my other kids too, and watching them all grow up. They are all such interesting people and I love to see how their minds work, and what excites them. It's such a privilege to be a mum, although of course it's not always easy is it? But there are so many gorgeous moments that the tricky ones quickly fade away. Rosie was on her way to bed the other night when I took these photo's,

"Mum," she said, "the clouds are racing!"

I'm loving being involved in a local oral history group. Last week we talked to a really interesting woman who at one point owned a general store near our town (see above). I also spoke to an older lady who moved to Daylesford when she was five, she had so many fascinating stories. Both women were so inspiring. Everyone has a story don't they?

Finally I'm loving taking photo's, I just can't help it. It's such a joy, I love the way I can record a beautiful vision, a funny old letterbox, a smile, the sky, a moment. It really opens up my world and gives me so much pleasure. 

What are you loving lately? Go on..tell me!

see you soon xo

Grey skies over East Street

today

Today I am getting some sweet bunnies ready, 

for the fantastic Christmas Sugar & Spice Children's Market, this Sunday.

It should be a lot of fun, Charlotte & I are so excited! I'm looking forward to seeing some old friends, and hopefully some new ones too.

Other things happening lately are a bit festive! We put the tree up yesterday which was pretty exciting for the kids. And yes, I enjoyed it too! Charlotte cut out 40 colourful angels that have now been decorated, don't they look great?

A cheap & cheerful Christmas activity.

 Can you someone lounging in the background? Gee it's fun having her at home. I'm loving it!

We all are. The family isn't complete without our biggest one.

This week I was sent these gorgeous photo's by a friend

who took them at our ballet recital. I love this one of Rosie, the mouse, dancing her little heart out.

And this one (she is in the middle) at the finale. So sweet.

Tomorrow I will do a dress rehearsal for the market, I think I'll tweak the table a little.

 Last time we displayed the bunnies in a vintage suitcase, which looked pretty snazzy, but I found people didn't pick them up as much as they would if we had the bunnies sitting all around the table. I'll  get my visual merchandiser onto it.

So if you are in the area, or even not too far away, do come and visit us at Sugar & Spice!

The market is in St Ambrose's Hall, Woodend, this Sunday from 9 -1. Charlotte, myself, the bunnies and bits, and lots of lovely stalls will be awaiting you. Do come and say..

bye for now lovely friends, see you soon xo

My Creative Space - The Tale of Two Bunnies

The twin bunnies are finished and went off to their new home yesterday. A day later than planned. I have learnt a valuable lesson with this order...don't leave things to the last minute as something is sure to go wrong!!

The girls ended up looking lovely and their beds & bedding were sweet but it didn't look like a happy ending for a while there....

The cutting out bit was fine. Or was it?

How did that happen?

A small operation and things were back on an even keel.

Pink Bunny was born first,

and five minutes later along came Blue Bunny. Now, time to get their beds painted.

Note to self: when painting the little beds that your beloved spent The Whole of Sunday making please check a) that you use the right paint, you know, the fast drying wash out in water type, and b) that you have a paint brush. Ok? Please don't use the really full on enamel paint that takes four weeks to dry because you didn't read the label and PLEASE don't find yourself buying a basting brush at Coles. And for godsake don't then use said basting brush to paint with. Am I clear????

So the beds worked out ok, in the end. Thanks to my super hero who saved the day with his methodical approach to paint scraping and sanding. Things were back on track. What I didn't factor in was....

..a sewing machine that refused to sew. I threaded and re threaded, poked and tightened, untightened, re threaded, Pam just refused to sew. Perhaps it was her RDO. This is when things started to really get ugly. Yes, there were tears. Sobs actually.

Luckily I managed to borrow a sewing machine, after a bit of nose blowing, face washing and pulling myself together type action, to finish off the last little bit of bedding. Phew.

Two little bunnies were finished, just in the nick of time. I've never had a problem with orders before so I'm thinking this one was just one of those crazy situations where the odds are stacked against you. Funny to look back on but not at the time!

I hope the girls are being cuddled and put to bed early tonight as they have been through a lot in the last couple of days. I'm sure their new mummies will be kind and gentle. I wonder what their names will be?

If you would like to order a bunny for someone you love just drop me a line on my email and we can chat about colours and fabrics.

Hope you are having a lovely, creative, trouble free day today. Pop over here to see what these lovely people are up to, see you soon xo