A little more of Cadel

Cadel didn't win but in my opinion showed he was the strongest overall rider anyway. Maybe next year. And if Cadel Evans doesn't make it maybe this Cadel will. Iris drew my attention to this and I'm impressed. Cadel's mummy has even put sponsorship on his little yellow jersey!

Glossy magazines

I'm not really much of a magazine buyer (although if I had more cash I might be!) but there is one I'll definitely be buying in August for the total thrill of seeing something I made in it's full glossy, coloured glory.

Some of the Black Eyed Susie range is soon to be available at Ten Sticky Fingers, a very cute online shop based in Brisbane. Ten Sticky Fingers is going to have a full page feature in Studio Bambini and a photo of one of my halter tops has made it in!

This is one of my early creations and still one my most favourites. There won't be many more as it's getting harder and harder to find the fabric.

Ten Sticky Fingers have some really cute things. They make some of their own items under the label Red Thread Designs too.

Go Cadel!

I'm just sitting here wasting time (when I really need some sleep) but it's the big night for Cadel Evans at the Tour de France. I've really enjoyed the tour this year. They went through some areas Sam and I rode through when we went cycle touring in France a few years ago. They even rode a col in the Pyrenees that I have ridden (Ah, yes, it's true, I was fit once).

For anyone who doesn't know, and if you're in Australis this is pretty unlikely, if Cadel Evans can make 1 min 35 secs on Carlos Sastre in the time trial tonight he will become the first Australian to win the Tour de France. He has had so much pressure on him so I really hope he manages.

I'm also daydreaming about another trip to France. It would be nice to go on a big adventure before we have to pay for a seat on the flights for Chloe. It would have to be minus the bikes this time and I'm not sure if it would live up to the last trip.

I did an impressive thing and managed to put on a small amount of weight whilst cycling for four weeks. Those patisseries were irresistable especially with the excuse of having to ride.

Little Jenny Wren

Little Jenny Wren is an Etsy seller who makes stunningly beautiful dolls. She was featured in the same Babyology Storque article as Black Eyed Susie and I recently discovered she lives in the same city as us. I think it's just great that two Launceston sellers were featured and I'm really very tempted to comission a doll for Chloe's birthday or Christmas. The dolls are eco-friendly which makes them even more tempting. The only difficulty would be deciding on the details as you'll see if you have a look here. Jenny also has a blog here.

Mmmm, yum.

Chloe and I got our aprons on this morning and did some baking. We made these.

Banana, Date and Rolled Oat Cookies

125g butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg yolk

1/3 cup mashed banana

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarb

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped dates

extra rolled oats for coating

Heat oven to 180 degrees celsius.

Beat butter, sugar and egg yolk until smooth.

Add banana, flour, bicarb, rolled oats and dates. Stir until combined.

Roll small tablespoon sized balls of this mixture in the extra oats and place on lined baking trays. Bake for about 15 minutes.

Give them a go there perfect for a winters day with a nice cup of tea. I know I've had my share already!

And don't forget to lick the spoon.

And please quietly ignore the mess in the background of this photo and the lack of camera skills in the next photo!

Woohoo!

Wow, two exciting things have happened this morning and it's not even 8.30 yet! Maybe the day will just keep getting better! I have an item on the front page of Etsy for the first time ever! It is one of my denim skirts and it was chosen by Kimiko. I hope this is a milestone that will inspire me to improve my photos enough to get on the front page more often!

And, the lovely Mandi from Babyology featured a Black Eyed Susie dress in an article she wrote for Etsy on Australian kids products. Go take a look, Lucy from Lucy's Place and Two Little Banshees are featured as well!

So what can make the day even better? We're going out to local vegetarian cafe Fresh for brekkie. Yum, yum. And then I'm popping in to see if Suzanne at Cocoon needs anymore hair ties. She always makes me happy!

New duds, New shop!

A couple of new models in my denim dresses and wide leg cords. I'm particularily happy with these fabric combinations and have snaffled one of the dresses for Chloe. It suits her!

These will only be available at Leeloo and should be up on the site this coming Monday. Have a bit of a browse on Leeloo - there is some cool stuff on there. You may recognise some of the makers from Etsy and Made It.

Edited to add: Oops, I'm a bit early with this! Monday the 28th will be when they are available!

Busy, busy, busy!

I've got the theme tune from Gordon the Garden Gnome (ABC Kids in the morning sometime) in my head almost constantly these days.

Busy, busy, busy. It's off to work we go, we've got to dig the garden and etc, etc, etc. So let's get mucky, put your puddlebusters on, with Gordon the Garden Gnome.

It's driving me somewhat bonkers.

But it's true. I am busy. I've been working on wholesale orders for a couple of weeks now. The only lull has been waiting for fabric to arrive (some new stuff - pictures soon). I'm getting through it and I must admit, I find it really satisfying to be busy.

Baby Style Watch

Baby Style Watch has featured Black Eyed Susie here. I'm so excited!

Off to the coast

We made a spur of the moment decision to go to the north coast for the weekend. We went for long walks on the beach, swam in the pool (indoor and heated of course!) and ate lots of nice food. It was nice to get away - that's the only way I can manage to stay off Etsy (it's addictive you know) - and just spend some time relaxing and playing together.


The only bit of work I did was a very, very quick photoshoot with Chloe. These are some of the results. Makes it hard to see the clothes!


What a cutie! And she's working the camera - true model material! She's been wearing that necklace non-stop for about 72 hours now. As soon as I take it off for bed she whips it back on again.

Finally

I've been feeling frustrated because I haven't been able to get anything new made for Black Eyed Susie for a while. Finally I made this sweet dress. I love it. I love the contrast of the large dark blue and ivory daisy print with the smaller oval and rectangle red print. OK, some may say it's a bit busy but I just think it's oh so cute!



I want to get Chloe some red tights or leggings and a red polo neck now.



I'm finding photgraphing my clothes difficult now we are in winter. It's really way to cold to put Chloe in a dress (without the leggings etc) and I do want to show the dresses as they can look in summer as well as winter. Also, the spot in my house that I have always used to photgraph the clothes flat just doesn't get enough light even on the brightest day now. So whilst I love the dress, I'm disappointed in the pictures. I need to find some better options.

Kitchen fun

For anyone in need of some inspiration go take a look at this. Fortytworoads, on Etsy, sell a tutorial for making a great play kitchen using cardboard. It looks so cool and lends itself to a bit of fun for the maker- imagine the pretty curtains you could choose, or colour schemes. A cute matching apron could be made too.

Time is a bit short here at the moment so we went to the toy library and hired a plastic toy kitchen. I still plan to make the cardboard one sometime.

Fortytworoads also has a blog and there are sometime photos of finished kitchens there.