Today....

I know I have spoken about my Mondays and Tuesdays before and this week was no different....I could totally use a whole other person on these days but instead I rush and rush and some days like today I feel like I haven't really completed anything. I have done lots, but completed...not too much. And it is the completion which has the 'feel good' effect.

Just because I am half mad and not busy enough already I thought I would take on something else....I have become involved in another wonderful opportunity. A space in the beautiful heritage listed "Old Bakery" building in the heart of Mullumbimby town became available and 10 of us are setting up shop full of amazing local, hand made crafts and art pieces. I am sooo excited BUT it means making sure I have enough stock for two shops....ahhhhh.... it will all  be OK.....but more on that next time.

Today I have been receiving more stock and pricing and dyeing mohair for dolls hair and dropping parcels off at the post office and, and, and.....

But I thought I would show you my Night Time project because that is more fun....

At night I am working on a new babies blanket in my Coconut Ice - hand painted chunky, super soft, unplyed yummy wool and mixing up the squares with the natural cream in the same wool. I am using a 10mm bamboo crochet hook so that "completion" comes around quicker. I am loving the colour combination but will have to do a more boyish one next time. 

Oh....and I did have a quick lunch. I have given up bread again....I do this every so often and I definitely feel better for it but then I just give in to temptation and toast and tea is back on the breaky menu. So sea salt and cracked pepper vita grains with local avocado and tomatoes from the garden with more sea salt and cracked pepper on top is my favourite at the moment.

Oh.....and here is the latest autumn rainbow hand painted mohair I have been working on.

Hope you are all well...would love to hear what you are up to.    ♥Jo

relaxing Sunday....

My eldest has just started working on Sundays down at a cafe in Brunswick Heads. He starts at 7.30am which is pretty early in our house for a weekend (except of course in soccer season)......so we decided to drop him off and go for a walk along the beach and come back for a coffee before venturing home for breaky. Today was one of those perfect mornings on the beach.....calm, warm and very peaceful.

Last year when we were visiting Sydney, we went down to an Eastern Suburbs beach with some friends. Our kids could not believe the people.....every bit of sand was taken up with towels and bodies. I was use to it.....when I was younger every weekend would be spent hanging at Curl Curl Beach with my friends. My children have only experienced beaches where you have plenty of space around you and you can throw a ball and even have a game of soccer if you want.....lucky them.

my decaf cap....

And the working man himself....sorry it is a little blurry as I was trying to take it without him seeing me.

I work everyday - I can't help myself...when you have a small business there is always a huge 'to do' list. But today, writing this post is the first bit of work I have done. Instead I did a spot of spring cleaning.....went through my clothes (again), wiped down areas that really, really needed it and it feels good. 

I really hope you had a great day too!! 

Was it relaxing or hectic, peaceful or chaotic? I would love to hear...

♥ Jo

An ETSY update....

I have been busy today adding to my ETSY shop as many of my crafty goodies as I can....It is so much easier than adding to my website. 

I have been working on hand dyeing mohair and thought I would show you. 

Mohair is perfect for doll's hair as it is lovely and soft and can be plaited just like real hair. I can actually dye any colour you like.....purple, green, blue...really whatever you like!!!

strawberry blonde

medium dark brown

red

light brown

golden

I am just waiting on my boucle mohair to arrive in the mail.....a nice loopy mohair..... and then I will dye that in similar colours.....I can't wait. I love it when I hear the postie van beep, beep as he nears the house.

I will be adding more goodies soon so stay tuned.

♥♥ Jo

I am lovin'.....owls

  

Owls are such amazing creatures...did you know that they have three eyelids?.....amazing isn't it? One is for blinking, one is for sleeping and one is for keeping the eye clean and healthy. I learnt this fact from here and there are nineteen more fun Owly facts.

This owl that watches over our garden day and night was an op shop find probably around 10 years ago.I love those huge orange eyes....

♥

What an amazing photo this one is....I wouldn't imagine the owl staying there like that....

I don't have any OWLY things in my shop unfortunately.....if you or you know of anyone that makes anything 'Owl like' out of natural materials and you/they wholesale them can you please, please contact me...I would love to hear from you.

*There is a really cool OWL PILLOW PATTERN AND TUTORIAL here

*Other great OWLY things I have found....

via Etsy store

via Etsy store

via Etsy store

via Etsy store

via Etsy store

via Etsy store - I actually couldn't resist this one.....going to make some Chrissy pressies with it.

Do you love owls too and think they are just the cutest.....or do you have another bird or animal fetish?

Hope your weekend, where ever you are has been wonderful. I have been dyeing mohair for dolls hair so will show you that next time.

Take care ♥Jo

just arrived...online update...

Just a little online update in preparation for Christmas.....My shop is overflowing with goodies at the moment making set up and pack up a bigger job than usual for me and my helping fairies (my two youngest ones and hubby).

At this time of the year I don't get a chance to update the website so I will let you know here and on my facebook page.

RAINBOW NESTING BOXES - set of 10 only $35. 

Children will love nesting, stacking and building with this set of 10 rainbow coloured wooden boxes...... made with non-toxic paint and child safe materials. Recommended age: 18 months +

SEAGRASS DOLL CARRIER only $37.50

This doll carrier is perfect for creative play....ideal  for a doll around 30-40cms....(I have hand made Steiner dolls too that I can email photos if you are interested)

The carrier is 40 x 25 x 12 cm's.....too cute!!

TREE HOUSE CONSTRUCTION SET...$72.50

Gorgeous tree house made of recycled branches. the set comes with 2 wooden dolls. Housed in wooden box with a lid. Recommended age is 3+

Email me at sales@indigoinspirations.net.au if you have any questions or thoughts. If ordering please include your postal address so I can calculate postage. 

Is life just a bit of a crazy rush for you too or have you got a more relaxed system in place. Please let me know what you do. I read a great post a few days ago by "motherwho"  about organisation around meal times which I plan to take on board. Check it out here...

Take care ♥ Jo

teapots flowers, cups and saucers flowers.....and Curly

 I stumbled upon this "Teapots flowers" on facebook last week and was inspired to take a photo of my own. I often use whatever is lying around that is the right size as a vase.....and as our garden is beautifully decorated with happy nasturtiums at the moment and they don't have very long stems, I chose one of my favourite op shop finds....a Royal Doulton cup and saucer with purple flowers......don't you just love those self seeding smiley faces......oh and those great op shop finds?

This morning Sasha went out to feed Curly the sheep to find that he couldn't stand up....we took him straight to the vet and found out that he had a tick. We just went to visit him in hospital and were shocked to see him....he doesn't look very "Curly" at the moment......they had to shave him to see if there were any more ticks. He will stay in over night and hopefully be home with us tomorrow. 

Of course we bought his fleece home but not sure yet what we will do with it.

It is very quiet around here without him ♥♥

I hope you are having a lovely weekend. I am off for a nice cuppa and maybe a tim tam (all the banana bread and anzac cookies the kids made have all gone)

♥Jo

wool. wool and more wool.....

I close my shop in school holidays.....I open it up again tomorrow until the end of this school term and "oh my god" - until Christmas. For those of you that are new here, I have a small shop which is jam packed with wool and felt and other craft goodies, books, children's toys and puzzles. I take up a large area outside the shop as well. It is on the grounds of Shearwater - the Mullumbimby Steiner School and is open to everyone....I have customers who travel quite a distance because of the difficulty of finding natural, quality craft items and especially wool felt and I post world wide which is pretty exciting.

Which brings me to today - my last day of frantically trying to restock my supplies of hand painted wool. I had a wonderful customer a few weeks ago who almost took home all my wool in stock so I had a lot to replace. It is quite a time consuming job. I buy all the wool in different plys, soak it, paint it, cook it, rinse it, dry it and then it usually ends up in 50gm balls ($10).....(that is a sit in front of the TV kind of job).  I also sell it in 100gm ($19.50), 200gm ($30)  and if it comes in it 250gm ($36) hanks.

I also sell it in my ETSY store and on my website and am continually experimenting with colour combinations for new listings. I sooooo love what I do!!!! and feel very, very lucky especially on beautiful spring days like today.


Happy about: I have just received a copy of Pip Lincolne's Sew La Tea Do book and can't wait to make a new dress from it. (not her latest book - I haven't won that one yet.)
Reading: the latest issue of Papier Mache Magazine.
Favourite blog post I have read lately - Ivy Nest
Listening to: (sad but true) Australian Business Women's Network Podcasts.
In my craft basket: still stitching together my crochet blanket.....I will get there by next winter, I promise.
Grateful for: the sun and the rain.
Watching: The slap.....have you....what did you think??


Would love to hear from you  ♥ Jo

Jack (John/Sasha) of all trades.....

My little Sasha is a bundle of enthusiasm and energy. He is the family researcher and the family doer. I was going through my photos today while trying to clean up my desktop (ha) and realised how versatile he has been over the last few weeks. 

Firstly, he built a house with Pa for Curly the Sheep to sleep in ....

and here it is again with its bunting ♥♥

Then he made a pair of groovy shorts - red with white pokka dots....

The finished product......he hasn't really taken them off yet.....love the undies.. 

He fell off his scooter (while riding down a hill) and landed himself with 4 stitches in his knee but that didn't stop him from getting behind the sewing machine.

Then their was a cupboard to make with dad....

                            

And sheep to look after.....

and chocolate covered strawberries to make......and eat.

oh and here is Curly at school ♥

School holidays are almost over.....I am a little sad as I am soooo enjoying the house full of laughter and plans for what to make next. I purchased an overlocker a few days ago so am looking forward to having time to make more clothes...

Thanks so much for taking the time to read through my blog....I really appreciate it.

♥♥ Jo

Pip Lincolne's new book...."make hey while the sun shines" giveaway

:

Pip Lincolne's new book "MAKE HEY while the sun shines" is out and about in the book shops now......full of crafty projects & recipes. 

She is giving a signed copy away. All you have to do (Australia/NZ only) is make a lovely comment on her blog.....here....

Also please comment below to let me know....thanks heaps

Good luck!!

♥ Jo

off to the local farmers market....

As I always work on Friday's in my little shop, I unfortunately miss out on our local Mullumbimby Farmers Market. Well, I could get up extra early and be really organised and go before work....but well that just isn't going to happen. So as another school holiday treat I headed to the Mullum Showgrounds bright and early to grab some amazing local produce and to also get some vege seedlings. 

I just love the variety and the quality of the produce....freshly dug potatoes, just picked eggplants and you can't beat this one.....fresh bread straight out of the wood fire oven....so yummy!!

Fresh strawberries and marshmallows drizzled with melted chocolate....Mmmm

 Mandy - one of the "PickleChicks" was also there with here delectable pickles and preserves made from locally sourced grown ingredients....

Farmers markets are popping up all over the place which is a wonderful thing....next to growing your own it is the next best thing. And it is great to support the local growers and makers - just like supporting handmade (only different)......
Do you also have great local growing community? and just love this kind of shopping experience??

Happy eating yummy, fresh food ♥Jo