We have a winner!

Sorry about the delay, folks - I got completely caught up in weekend activities and forgot to draw the giveaway. Oops!

I'm sure you've all been on the edges of your seats all weekends waiting for the announcement, so without further ado, the winner of the felt iPod case (determined by random number generator) is......



UniqueDichroic - Congratulations!! I'll be contacting you shortly for your postal address and choice of case.

Thank you so much to all the entries - they all certainly gave me lots of encouragement and motivation to keep going. I really appreciate every one of your comments!

I got an award!

I got a lovely and unexpected surprise to have been passed the Versatile Blogger Award from fellow Melbournian, Kristina from Inaluxe! What an honour to have this award bestowed upon me by someone whose work I admire so much. Thanks Kristina - I'm a big fan!

By the way,for those of you are unfamiliar with Inaluxe, here are a few of my favourite examples of her work:

I just love the colour palettes she uses - they're vibrant but calm and soothing at the same time. I also love the clean look of her prints - they're neat, but quirky at the same time. Be sure to check out the Inaluxe shop on Etsy for more goodies!

Now, onto the award!

The Versatile Blogger Award's rules are - you must say 7 things about yourself and pass the award on to some of your favorite blogs and let them know.

So, here goes:


Hmm, gosh this is hard!

1. I learnt to drive a tractor before I learnt to drive a car.

2. I'm fussy about which magnets get to go on the fridge. My fridge is a work of art - no ugly magnets please!

3. I have played field hockey for about 20 years and have never missed a season.

4. I am strangely drawn to the colour red. This was a crazy obsession when I was about 5 years old. I had red everything!

5. I cannot wait until I can quit my science job! I spend every day dreaming of expanding my shop and running my own creative business.

6. My favourite drink at the moment is pear-infused vodka with dry ginger ale. I highly recommend it.

7. I used to hate my ears when I was younger, so much so that I once attempted to superglue them back. I don't recommend this. I have since grown into my ears, thankfully.


Now comes the part where I pass the award on to some of my favourite blogs. Unfortunately I can't give one to Inaluxe since they've already been awarded it, so here are my awardees:

Nicole Mallalieu: You SEW Girl! - The first blog I ever read, and my sewing/bag making idol/one-stop-supply-shop.

Cabin + cub - I really enjoy her blog, plus all Valerie's goodies, I want! She's also lovely and leaves lovely comments on my blog regularly!

Pocket Carnival - I adore Penny's cuter-than-cute illustrations, and I love hearing about her design processes and progress. An inspiration!

Summersville - I'm in awe of Lucie Summers' textile design prowess, and her blog is a very enjoyable read, too.

Girl Startup - We're both on a similar path, so I can really relate to her blog posts on the ins and outs of starting up an online shop selling bags. She designs some of her own fabric which she uses for making her bags. Well worth checking out.

Cicada Daydream - Michelle of Cloud 9 fabrics has a great blog which I always enjoy reading. It should be pretty obvious by now that I have a soft spot for textile designers. I live my life vicariously through them.

The Crafty DIY Bride - Even though I'm not planning a wedding (or even close to being engaged!), Mel - a fellow scientist in the same building as me - writes a beautiful blog, full of inspirational eye-candy and helpful crafty DIY tips.




Thanks again Kristina+Inaluxe - you made my day!

Blogaversairy giveaway take 2 - K.I.S.S

Keep it simple, stupid.

I fear I may have made the process of entering the blogaversairy giveaway a little too involved. The fact that there was a grand total of zero entries suggests one of two things:

1. The entry process was too complicated
OR
2. Nobody wants one of my iPhone cases, not even if it's for free.

I'm sincerely hoping it's the former of the two - otherwise I'm going to be stuck with a bunch of iPhone cases that I can't even give away let alone sell.



So I'm going to make it a little bit easier for you to enter this time.

I've been feeling a bit lazy and unmotivated lately when it's come to the creative business. Perhaps it's the short sunlight hours and grey winter Melbourne skies, but I've found myself coming home from work and not leaving the couch.

To enter the giveaway this time, simply leave a comment that gives me some motivation or encouragement.


So, what will you win?

Your choice of one of these new iPhone cases. They're made from lovely rich German felt, and closed by a pair of sturdy snaps.

Don't have an iPhone?

Everyone knows somebody who has one! They'd make a lovely gift for your tech-savvy friend or relative. Alternatively they'll fit an iPod touch, or they can be used as a little pouch for whatever will fit in...

Leave your entry in the comments section. Don't forget to leave an email address so I can contact you if you win!

The winner will be announced on Friday July 16th

Blogaversairy week giveaway

Today is my first blogaversairy - yes, a whole year has passed since that fateful day when I wrote my first post.

A year ago, I was learning to sew, had no idea about blogging (not that I'm much better at it now), knew pretty much nothing about product photography, wasn't even close to having a shop of my own and my first sale was not to be for another 6 months.

I've learnt a lot in the last 12 months. Not just about how to do things, but also about myself - what I enjoy and what I don't enjoy, as well as realising just how much I can do when I put my mind to something.

Looking back on it all, I'm feeling pretty good, so what better time than now for a giveaway!

I'm going to do a few giveaways in the next few weeks, but I'm feeling like making things interesting. For the first of the giveaways I want to hand a bit of creative control over to you guys.


Suggest the next giveaway theme:

To win this week's prize, I want some crazy/creative giveaway themes. The most creative suggestion will win the prize, but will also be the way I run the next giveaway.

Just to give you a couple of examples of what I mean, your entry could be to suggest that the way to enter the next giveaway would be by doing something like:

* Suggesting an alternative name for my shop
* Coming up with a creative way to get my shop name noticed
...etc

Get it?

The above two above examples aren't particularly creative, but I'd like to see some really original suggestions. The crazier the better!

- Bonus points if it involves people sending in photos of some sort.
- Bonus points if it incorporates getting my shop/blog name 'out there' somehow.

So, what will you win?

Your choice of one of these new iPhone cases. They're made from lovely rich German felt, and closed by a pair of sturdy snaps.

Don't have an iPhone?

Everyone knows somebody who has one! They'd make a lovely gift for your tech-savvy friend or relative. Alternatively they'll fit an iPod touch, or they can be used as a little pouch for whatever will fit in...

So, leave your entries in the comments section below (don't forget to leave a way for me to contact you if you win). Enter as many times as you like. I'll decide which one is my favourite entry on Sunday July 11th.