to market, to market

I really should be heading off to bed - it is going to be a very early morning for me.  Market day has finally arrived and I am hoping that the blue skies will favour us.  My wonderful sister is here and has been in charge of merchandising while I finish products, write blurbs and generally pfaff around creatively!!  It has been great to have someone come in an organise my chaos, calm the whizzme household and make it more fun than doing this on your own.  So if you are anywhere near Elwood primary school tomorrow, drop in to the Elwood market.  Better yet stop by and say hi - if you wish me Happy Birthday too you might even get a little party favour.  

Recovery

I think I may have finally recovered from Miss Whizzme's birthday party! I would love to tell you all the hilarious chaotic adventures we had for it, but I need Mr Whizzme to remain talking to me! Let's just say 26 girls being diva's (it was a movie star party but they certainly took to the theme!), a candy bar with no system, a cake with melted cream and a daughter who lost the dvd remote control, meant that not many things went to plan. However, Miss Whizzme and her friends had a good time and I guess at the end of the day, that is all it's about!! The postscript to this was that Miss Whizzme then accidently deleted all the photos from the camera! Some things are best for memories only I guess.

The next ordeal is the presents. We have a 'one in, one out' policy, with the outs being given to a local op shop. I will confess it isn't always the easiest process to go through with Miss Whizzme (and don't even get me started on Mr Whizzme!) but we get there. This year however, the swag of goodies has reached ridiculous proportions and even I'm having trouble culling old toys to meet the quota. Seriously, how much does one 7 year old need?!

Otherwise, I am still working on a couple of secret projects (I hope to share soon) and some not so secret projects: Finished presents for people, orders from others and even some clothing repairs. I also put a little rainy idea in the latest PANDA newsletter which you can view here (opens pdf).

Leaving me now counting down the weeks to my Elwood June market stall. Cripes!!

Miss Whizzme Grows Up

On Monday Miss Whizzme turned 7. It is hard to believe it is already seven years since we welcomed our new little bundle into our family. And it still amazes me just how much they learn and change in this relatively short time. Mr Whizzme & I often look at each other and say "she goes well"! Who knew parents could get so soppy?!

Our little girl is becoming quite the individual, showing her personality more each day: the scientist with a love of facts and research, the actor who can play any role time and her toys require, the adventurer who has a curiosity for new experiences yet wisely assessing the risks beforehand, the circus performer, the budding author, the open minded friend. It continually fascinates me to see another facet revealed. It also sometimes overwhelms with the love I have for this little person- somedays it is like my heart swells to the size of my chest. Being a parent is just a fantastic job.

So I figure that by writing this post the next time Miss Whizzme decides to make something from my newly purchased fabric, or use kitchen utensils to unearth discoveries in the backyard, it will remind that it is part of growing up!

Now I must run and pack: the Whizzmes are off to camp at Port Fairy. Happy Easter.

Posted with LifeCast

when you know they understand you

here's one I prepared earlier

There is little to show, in fact I am really just here to tell you that.  Mr Whizzme and I are both home nursing ourselves through colds and infections, and generally getting on each others nerves. Him with his cough, cough, coughing, his this hurts, that hurts, and me, well actually I'm a pretty good patient!  Miss Whizzme is still riding on a high from her 6th birthday last weekend, (Little sis I uploaded the photos here!).  The party did go very well, and the Butterfly lady was fantastic.  Finally I can stop dreaming about beetles, bugs and butterflies.  But as there has been a lack of craftiness to show of late, I thought I would whip out this little item I made a while ago. 

The Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Laundry Bag.

Take one thrifted pillowcase. Cut off the small flap of fabric in the pillowcase opening - divide in half to make two fabric ties. Make a slit a small way down from the pillowcase opening, wide enough for children to thrust large amounts of dirty clothes.  Sew around slit edge to stop fraying. Sew pillowcase opening shut, enclosing the two ties.  Tie to end of bed and alert child of its use.  Ta da.

The only trouble is it doesn't wash the large amount of clothes it holds. Bugger!

Apart from head a feeling like jelly, I am preparing myself for some more training this weekend.  Lucky I have a friend to do it with, and for support. There is also another friend who has been sewing, printing and creating up a frenzy of new goods...phew she makes me tired!

dispelling the myth

It has been quite humorous to hear from some of you about how I must have extra hours available to me because we seem to do so much. Ha! I am surprised you couldn't hear my mother laughing heartily at that suggestion!  For one thing; it is quite well known that I enjoy my sleep, specially in the morning.  I prefer to stay up late and watch crappy tv while I fluff around doing god knows what and then grumble that I have to rise before 9.  The other thing is, well, it all boils down to priorities.  This picture of our dining table, or should I say the table previously known as the dining table should enlighten you.

You see it became quite clear to me on the first day of school holidays (which also happened to be Good Friday) that having Mr Whizzme and Miss Whizzme at home together for days on end was only going to produce a riot of chaos.  My choice? fight it or ignore it.  I chose to ignore it.  There have been days when I have severely regretted this decision.  

I am happy to admit that I am quite the clutter queen with my collections of china and books and knick knacky things, but I do like them to be in. their. place.  I am a what I like to refer to as a pack stylist.  I live by packs.  Packs mean that things can be found - no matter what the occasion. Take my hand bag for example (I use this example as this seems to be quite the in thing in the blog world of late!)

Packs. Emergency pack, pack of wipes, pack of tissues, pack of pencils, small pack with meter change.  Easy to find.

Another example is the boot of my car:

Again packs. Medical pack, art pack, swimming pack, towel pack, shopping pack, beach pack, rain jacket pack*.  I'm sure you are getting the picture.

Anyway, back to the ignoring the chaos challenge.  By the end of Easter I was seriously fighting my urge to pack things away, but I held firm.  Well, I reasoned, Miss Whizzme and I were going to be away for a week anyway, it could wait.  Of course leaving a husband alone in a home with no supervision is just asking for trouble!  And then, we returned with a 5 day count down to Miss Whizzme's birthday party.  Therefore, I must confess that I then not only ignored the mess, I added quite liberally to it.  So, while maybe we might have benefited from having somewhere comfortable to eat our meals, and it would be nice not to have to leap over the washing to get into bed at night, overall I have really, really enjoyed these holidays.  

Tomorrow though, I clean!

Psst! if you want further details click on the photos to see the notes in flickr.

*sometimes the car boot also has an extra

it's my birthday and I'll give away if I want to...

UPDATE: we are back, and had a lovely time but I have come back with a dreaded lurgy, so please bear with me while I convalesce - back soon.

Yes folks it is another year since I celebrated my fabulous birth - thanks Mum and Dad! So, far it has been a wonderful day, with breakfast and stories in bed provided by Miss L. R gave me two new books, The Passionate Shopper by Marion von Alderstein and Bags: A Lexicon of Style by Valerie Steele and Laird Sorrell. Me thinks the boy is going soft in the head, encouraging my materialistic consumption like that, but I ain't complaining!

Then a sumptuous lunch of lemon risotto and a glass of champagne followed by profiteroles covered in chocolate sauce with my girl friends. Talk about rolling out of there!

Followed by some browsing, and only a small amount of purchasing, just this, this and this, sort of a present to myself, you know!

Cards in the mail, and even a surprise present to be found in the spare room - getting sneaky in your old age Mum!!

Now Miss L and I are happily playing with her latest Felicity Wishes outfits and waiting for R to come home to cook us up a feast - something he has proven to be very good at.

I like my birthday's to go on as long as possible - must be the Leo in me. So, on Friday morning Miss L, R and myself are heading up to the Alpine Country for 3 nights. Fresh local food, frolics in the snow, and cruising the local shops. Something for everyone.

Finally, because I like to give as much as recieve I am having an early giveaway this month. Shrouded in mystery, the winner will receive a goodie bag created uniquely for them. So leave me a comment about what you like on your birthday. When we get back from our little break I will draw a winner. Good Luck - and Mary this even means you - craftiness not required!

P.s. I haven't heard from all the winners of last month's giveaway, so check below to see if you won.

P.p.s I also still have some magazines up for swapping so check here to see if you would like some.

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