Neon Love

I can't tell you how much I like these!  A new, limited edition range available here. These are a bit bigger than my usual cushions and give a really fun, burst of cheeriness to my heart!

Crafting spot.

 

Pink and grey on a dark charcoal fabric couch. A comfy spot for a touch of crochet. All that's needed is a cuppa - or a glass of red! Cushions available at  www.madeit.com.au/blackeyedsusietoo

Phil and Amity's living area

Some pics from The Block of Phil and Amity's living area featuring Black Eyed Susie cushions in yellow dandelion, yellow chain link, grey chevron and black chevron.

News just in

Black Eyed Susie, in conjunction with Loz and Dinny will be at Niche. Yay. Hmmm, better go tie myself to the sewing machine.

Niche had two venues this time, the Art school at Inveresk and the Boathouse. We'll be hanging out in the Boathouse. For details go to the Niche blog. Hope to see you there! I'm looking forward to all the chatting and catching up. And drinking coffees and doing a spot of shopping and hopefully, eating some Hungry Kitty cakes again.

Surrounded

Lovely fabrics from Danielle Stewart. For my new project. There'll be a giveaway very soon. Just need to make a few samples and finalise packaging. Exciting!

Turn your head sideways now

Why, oh why does my internet connection dropout almost every single time I click upload photos in blogger. It drives me crazy so we're having sideways photos tonight. I swear I would blog more often if photo uploading wasn't quite so frustrating.

So what's news?

The kids are growing up so, so fast. Arj is 11 months now and I'm starting to think about birthday cakes. I love making cakes! Chloe has a thing about lighthouses so we went to visit one last week (and the fabric shop on the way!) and Arj has been getting in touch with his feminine side. And, oh, how cute he looks.

I'll be having a birthday very soon too. I'm hoping to have a celebration this year as last years got cancelled as my heavily pregnant self was sick.

I've been sewing but for ourselves and presents mainly. Still no work to speak of. The kids and I have been tag teaming with various illnesses. Not much sleep, a couple of late night trips to emergency (all fine now) and many trips to the GP. Fairly large amounts of cash have been handed over to pharmacists and tissue manufacturers. I'm hoping for a break now.

I've been dieting and exercising and am feeling so, so, so much better (apart from the colds) that I just can't stop telling everyone. Yay for online Weightwatchers. I never thought I'd join something like that but it has been so worthwhile. My clothes from before Arj fit now and it feels like I have a whole new wardrobe. I'm full of energy too and have been going for long walks and even the odd run.

I've been doing a lot of fabric buying in the (maybe deluded) hope that I'll get some work done soon.

We're getting weekly veggie boxes from Hilbarn and loving them.

This, if you know me, is pretty amazing news - I cook the dinner EVERY night (almost). Sam mustn't know what to do with himself now. This weird transformation coincided with the Hilbarn boxes, my diet and the realisation that cooking the dinner is something I can do myself without feeling guilty about not doing a jigsaw/colouring in/ sticking/ drawing etc, etc. Does anyone else have a child who doesn't want to do anything by themselves? It makes me feel terribly guilty as I feel like I say no all the time.

I seem to spend a vast proportion of my life folding washing. Ironing only when absolutely unavoidable.

I'm off to fold some now. Whoopee.

PS. I met a couple of very, very beautiful boys.

Blue Jeans

Katie Jump Rope Halter top with a pair of matching jeans made to order and winging their way to the US now.

We spent a lovely long weekend in the south of the state staying with my in-laws. Lots of trips to the beach, a little shopping and lots of catching up with relatives. We visited some good friends to meet their 1 1/2 week old little girl Ellie. Just gorgeous. I'd totally forgotten how small Chloe was.

We also attended a beautiful wedding of an old uni friend. It was held south of Hobart in Stonehouse Gardens. The bride looked stunning and they both looked incredibly happy. I got teary as soon as I laid eyes on the bride! Most amazing was the 16 course feast. All prepared by the bride and groom with a bit of help from a chef cousin. I can safely say it was the most stunning wedding meal I've ever had. Perhaps I'll scan the menu to show you - to make you envious!

Winners

I decided to give away three sets of the hair ties so my husband has just drawn three numbers corresponding with blog comments out of a hat (or at least a very pretty blue bowl). So the winners are number 1, kristin and millie, number 23 kylie b and number 24, Gill - that british woman.

If you guys could email me at blackeyed-susie@hotmail.com with your address I'll send them off on there way to you.

Give away!

It's time for a give away! Just a small one, but I promise whoever wins them will love them.

These are ponytail ties made using vintage Japanese kimono silk. They are beautifully vibrant and lustrous. My photos really never do them justice.

To win please leave a comment on this post. I'll put everyone's name in a hat and draw out a random winner. I'm happy to post them anywhere in the world! The closing date is one week from now - Thursday the 14th August at midnight my time.

New things

A couple of new dresses. Not new designs, just new fabrics. I'm desperate to get onto some new ideas at the moment but I have to work through my current orders first. Then I may need a little rest!

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.

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.

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!

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.

Retro wristlet

Sharon from Shazzasknits asked me to make her a wristlet/pouch to keep her knitting accesories in when she is out and about knitting. So I gave it a go, I'd never made one (and to tell the truth I'm a tiny bit nervous of zippers) but I found this tutorial which was wonderful. I'm really happy with how it turned out. Now I'm thinking of all sorts if things I can do that involve zippers!

Excuse the bad photos - we seemed to struggle to have any daylight that day. I'm so happy the days are lengthening now.

Sharon knits beautiful hats, gloves, socks and baby pants. The hat in this picture is one of hers. So, so cute! I love this green one too.

Colours

I love the way my stock rack looks. So bright and cheery. It inspires me to keep going. I plan to organise my fabric stocks on a rack soon so that they are more visible - I run the risk of forgetting about some great new fabrics I've bought. If I can see them it encourages me to think of new ideas for them.

Collecting

For years now, I've been quietly gathering small snippets of vintage kimono silk. The colours, designs and weaving are just exquisite. I'm sure I've rambled on about this before but look at these examples. It's just a shame you can't see the glorious sheen and texture or feel the softness. And it's also a shame I'm not a better photographer!