Happy New Year

There were many hurdles in 2009 but I am glad to say we got over them all.

Thankyou to all our customers, suppliers, stockists, followers, friends and family.

Happy New Year!!

Summer Sale

Do you love a sale?

Love to feel like the cat that got the cream??

Well we at Brusselsprouts are having a summer sale!

25% off everything in store all you have to do is use the code TWEET at the checkout.

 Happy shopping.....

New Melbourne Stockist

We have a new stockist la compagnie des petits , Winter '10 will be available from March 1st.

Things that make you go hhmmmm.....

So I'm having a wander around etsy and I stumble upon this, on closer inspection I discover it is an applique template of a lighthouse (not a phallic symbol) so if you are in the market for one it can be purchased here 

Turkey Lurkey

Today I cook the turkey because it is finally under 40 degrees!!!! We went a bit mad on the size of turkey we bought, as its our first Christmas in our own home my husband wanted all the trimmings. Which is great if you are the one not doing the trimming. Because it will only be ourselves and the two boys I decided to only do the one meat, this meant that Brennan wanted the largest bird on the market so we are now the proud owners of a 7.3kg turkey. I have no idea how long this will take to cook in our crap oven, as an example lasagne takes 2hours so I am thinking it should just be about ready Christmas morning............

Summer Lovin'

Its hot in Kalgoorlie, its darn hot, over 40 degrees everyday and its only going to get hotter! The watermelon is in the fridge, the paddling pool is filling up and the fruit juice iceblocks are slowly hardening in the freezer. You have just got to love an Aussie summer. When the mid morning heat starts to hit we go back indoors and colour in using the fantastic and free printable designs from this blog . You can also submit your own designs, a great activity for the kids or yourself. Have fun :)

Kreative Blogger Award

Last month I received two Kreative Blogger awards, one from the lovely Mayka of Little Rose whose little girls t shirts are just divine, I especially love the Rapunzel. The second was from Carli of Minilala who has the most gorgeous baby photos for her nappy covers. Thankyou both so much and I am very, very, very sorry it has taken me so long to post!!

Now there are the rules to follow and I am going to cheat here and do them just the once...
1. Copy the award picture and post on your blog.... as seen above
2. Thank the person (or peoples in this case) and link to their blog...with pleasure
3.Write 7 things about yourself we dont know.....

1. I peel my peaches because I dont like the fluffy skin
2. I hate doing the dishes and somethimes leave them till the next day
3. I'm scared of spiders
4. I am 36
5. I sometimes feel 26
6. I probably look 46
7. I never return my library books on time

4.Choose 7 other bloggers to pass the award to.......... looking,looking!
5. Link to those 7 other bloggers...........

1. Chunky Chooky
2. My One Brown Mouse
3. I Love Stitches
4. Little Bird Decor
5. Sweet Emmelie
6. A Little Bird Told Me
7. Red Possum

6. Let those 7 bloggers know........ done & dusted!!

Op Shop Find

I love op shopping and found this for $6, I just couldnt pass it up and it is now spray painted white and living in my sewing room, bright orange fluffy cover and all....fabulous!

Stand Back & Take Stock

I was browsing through some vintage photos today and came across these ones. This lady's name is or should I say was Florence Thompson , age 32, a migrant pea picker and mother of seven and the photo is dated 1933. I love these sorts of photos, they always make me stop and just appreciate my modern life and I have such respect for these women who just got on with things because I doubt I could do it...

Look into My Crystal Ball...

Last night it happened... in the middle of the night.... it was perfect..... an entire collection.....  I saw it all.... I knew exactly what to make out of the half kilometre of fabric I crazily bought.... I blissfully go back to sleep.... I awake and it is all forgotten.......did it happen... was it just a dream...... what the heck am I to do with all this fabric....

Now is it just me or does that look like a man in drag????

Woohoo!!!

What a great day so far, the kids are at day care (I love Thursdays!!), there were sales in my inbox this morning, new winter orders from retailers, I have lost 2kg and my little blog now has 50 followers, WOOHOO!!!! Hope everyone else has a great day too ;)

Autumn/Winter '10 Orders

Our Autumn/Winter range is set for release March 1st and we are taking orders up to December 21st. If you are interested in stocking Brusselsprouts and would like a catalogue and price list please contact Victoria for more info at brusselsprouts@live.com.au

Light at the End of my Hallway

This is a photo of our hallway when we first bought our house in February, unfortunately I didnt get the light fitting in the shot which was hideous. It consisted of 8 seperate lightbulbs in their own glass floral bulb like things and was apricot in colour with stencilled brown flowers. (Knowing my luck it was probably worth a fortune and I gave it to the electrician.) Nonetheless it did not match the bottle green wall paper surround or the nicotine yellow walls so it just had to go. It has taken 9months of painting while the boys slept usually I got 20mins a day but I can see the end in sight. My dear husband had to paint the ceiling (its 14 foot and I am scared of heights) but the rest was done by yours truly and I am pretty happy with the results so far...

All the walls in our house are tin and have got dented and buckled over the last 100years but I love them, all I need to do now is paint the doors at the end and find some nice door handles. Then I will finish the front door which to my husbands horror I painted black...... here's a sneak peek, I just love my door handle!

Tutorials for your Free Scraps

Photo courtesy of sewmamsew

Thankyou to everyone who contacted me for free scraps, I have emptied out one tub of fabric and one of wool! I stil have lots more so please contact me if you want some, and thankyou to all of those who paid for postage it was a lovely gesture. If you need some ideas for what to do with those scraps follow this link where you will find free tutorials, one for everyday of the month from October 2009. I am a big fan of the sewmamasew blogs and once you click through you will see why. Dont forget to send me a photo, I cant wait to see what everyone comes up with.

A Fantastic Handmade Gift Guide

If you love handmade then this is the gift guide for you, a fantastic online guide that you can refer to all year round! Kate from Please Eloise came up with the concept and it looks fantastic! Then the very talented Nykie from Noo Creative was kind enough to design the guide and here it is. You get 13 pages showcasing 23 Australian handmade creators, now where else are you going to find such a thing? Save this guide and refer to it whenever needed and in the meantime pour a glass of wine sit back and browse around the stores.

The News Spreads.... Knitters Included in Giveaway

I am now including wool in my stash giveaway, all this wool is NEW yes you heard me new balls of wool and they are all FREE! I have two large tubs of wool and my little fingers just dont have the time to knit it all up. If you would like some please email me brusselsprouts@live.com.au and let me know if you would like boy or girl or both! and your postal address. All balls are mostly 100% wool or alpaca blend (I hate acrylic). Please send me a picture or post about what you come up with, Merry Christmas!!

Huge Scrap Giveaway.... Read All About It!!

I have 3 very lage, very space consuming containers full of scraps. These scraps are quite generously sized and I had very good intentions of using them for lots of small projects, however I know that I will never start let alone finish such projects so in the spirit of Christmas I would like to give them away. The scraps are the pieces left over from my dresses etc which you can view on my website . All you need to do is just email me brusselsprouts@live.com.au with the fabric you would like and your address and I will post it to you. Now dont be shy! I need space!! I also have lots of scraps not on the site and I will pop in a few extras I think you might like. Take as much or as little as you like all I ask is could you please follow my blog (if you dont already) and that if you do make something take a photo and post about it because I would really love to see something created. Merry Christmas!!

My Baby Rocks Exclusive Range

We have collaborated with the lovely Mary from My Baby Rocks and have come up with some new dresses for her online store. Mary chose a range of fabrics from Amy Butler, Alexander Henry and Heather Bailey and they are now available for purchase exclusively to My Baby Rocks.

Mary stocks some fantastic Australian brands and we are very happy to be part of the team. Thanks Mary!

Handmade Swap

Thought I would share what I have been up to with the Japanese fabric I received from Buttons by LouLou. I have made the boys some red linen three quarter pants with the fabric pocket and a cute wood button. Cool and comfy for summer! Visit Lou's etsy store to see more great fabrics, hair accessories and buttons.

Stick 'em Up!

We have a dilemma, the house we have bought is situated next to a vacant block and every wild cat in town likes to hang out in it. That is fine until they decide to visit their neighbour..us.
My cat is 12 and is not a fighter, as such she gets beaten up fairly regularly. I do all the right things, I dont let her out after dark and only let her out in the back yard where she is protected by Gilbert the wonderdog. However she was attacked at 2pm down the narrow side of the house where the dog cant go because he is too big. So much for the after dark theory! So off to the vet for a drain in her back ($380), she had been recovering nicely from that last attack, all fur had grown back and things were quiet, until we had a massive storm and she ran and hid under the house, here is the result 12 stitches and more antibiotics ($454)

Any solutions greatly appreciated (and yes that is my messy sewing room floor!)

When the Circus Comes to Town

Benjamin is very excited as the circus has come to town and is in our street! He has not been to the circus and will not be going to the circus because I am too cheap and refuse to pay $155. However being only 2 he loves to look at the lights. Everynight  the tents change colours and as he knows his colours we stand outside our house waiting for the tent lights to change as he shouts out boo, lellow, wed, purple, gween..... priceless.

To Have and To Hold...

Today is our 3rd wedding anniversary, where do the years go? Since being married we have lived in 3 states, moved to Kalgoorlie with 3 suitcases a dog a cat and a 4mth old baby, we have had a second baby, started a business, bought our first home, seen 2 weddings, 4 divorces and 1 funeral. I am tired and never, ever, ever want to move ever again!

New Shorts In Store Now!

I must confess that I am a little in love with this new fabric, a great unisex design and made into super comfy wide leg long shorts. Available in store now!

Little One Baby Interview

The gorgeous Little One Baby magazine has hit the shelves and we were interviewed for the premmie baby section. It was so nice to see our little boys in the magazine! If you do happen to read the interview please let me elaborate on Joshua's early arrival. Labour started weeks before his birth but living in Kalgoorlie I would have been flown by the flying doctors to Perth as they dont have the facilities here for a premmie. I begged them to stop the labour as I knew what it was like to go home without my first baby I sure as hell didnt want to do it again with the second. Luckily the doctors were able to stop the labour but not the contractions, so for the next 3weeks I took tablets every 4hours and had contractions every 30mins. I felt like Big Ben, those darn contractions were spot on 30mins all day and all night.
As well as the interview they popped in a picture of our Peacock Slip

Thanks Little One Baby!

When a Magazine Calls.....

...get ready to party! Well we have just had our first ever phone call for products, needless to say we are a little excited. Two of our products will be heading off to a Shop 4 Kids photo shoot for their next issue due out Feb '10. We have been in their fabulous magazine once before which was through a general call out for products but to have a magazine ring and ask (and very politely ask too) well that is just a little more exciting. Thanks Shop 4 Kids!!

Another Handmade Swap!

I received my gorgeous decal in the post today from the lovely Maryanne of Little Bird Decor, their website is currently under construction however you can buy these two cute birds from her made it shop along with her range of hairclips. I was lucky enough to also be given a cute set of these clips which I am going to give to my niece for Christmas, thankyou Maryanne!
I was not sure how the decal would work as all the walls in my house are tin but it has worked beautifully, it also came with very easy instructions and even a white cloth glove to help in the application process. A fantastic product and very easy to apply, I am now totally addicted to these decals and am eyeing off several blank walls in my house.

 Benjamin is loving the birds and keeps making bird noises, it seems he cant decide if they are owls, ducks or chickens so we get to hear his whole bird call repertoire. Thankyou for a great swap Little Bird Decor!

Thankyou Bird & the Babies

I have been awarded a Kreativ Blogger award by the lovely Katie from Bird and the Babies and there are a few rules that need to be followed... so here goes

1. Copy the award picture and post on your blog.......done
2. Thank the person who gave it to you and link to their blog.........with pleasure
3. Write 7 things about yourself that we dont know.........bit trickier

1. I like to eat my kiwifruit with the skin on
2. I have 6 half knitted jumpers to finish
3. I backpacked around Vietnam alone
4. I have a small addiction to Green Curry Chicken
5. I dislike driving immensely
6. I love to lie in bed and listen to the rain
7. I dont cope well in cold weather

4. Choose 7 other bloggers to pass the award to.....mmmmmm so many to choose from
5. Link to those 7 other bloggers........ click away

Thula Thula
Mee a Bee
Buttons by Lou Lou
Bubbagrubb
Littlemimoo
Notions
Zippy Zippy

6. Notify your bloggers.....that was fun!!!

Studio Bambini Photo Shoot

After days of work and sleepless nights it was time for our winter photo shoot. The day began well I dropped hubby and baby at airport, dropped big brother at day care and still had plenty of time to iron the clothes sew on a few buttons and pack the car, until............ Hubby calls to say plane is delayed and can I please return to the airport. Qantas had to fly an engineer from Perth to look at the plane and that took 6hrs, ofcourse he and baby missed their connecting flight to Brisbane and are now at this moment after 11hrs finally in Perth with a 5hr flight ahead to Brisbane and then the 2hr drive to Noosa.
I get to the studio late, buttons missing, clothes rack broken, props forgotten. We soldier on and try to get a few shots until 1st model has some sort of allergy and cannot take her fingers from her eyes, nose and mouth and 2nd model refuses to put on any clothes, understandable as it was 40degrees and the clothes were for winter.
Nevertheless things worked themselves out and we did get a couple of nice shots...

AAAAAAACCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHH00000000000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would love to post a photo of Winter '10 but that would be cheating now wouldn't it, so have popped a couple of new summer ones I have made up for Christmas from today instead.

Bye Bye Baby Bye Bye

Brennan and Joshua have left for Noosa today to go to our friends wedding. Joshua being under 2 means he travels for free which all sounds good in theory until you have to fly for 12hrs and change planes 3 times with the forementioned under 2. I have done this twice by myself so I'm thinking its a good thing for my husband to experience. Have a great time boys we will miss you x

Channeling Alice

I have been working till midnight and getting up from 3am for a teething baby the last 2 nights which is do-able if baby goes back to sleep but this little baby just likes to sing which is far better than crying but still not sleeping, things are getting fuzzy and I am starting to feel like Alice.............

photo courtesy of sodahead.com

 what was it that made that darn cat so relaxed??????????????

What you Talkin 'bout Willis?!

Well we have made the big decision to advertise in Studio Bambini, this is our first paid magazine advertising so no experience in this area at all. When I confirmed the ad I sent an email asking for requirements deadlines etc and was under the impression that I had until December to have everything ready. This is not the case, I just received a "friendly reminder" to have everything sent by Monday... AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So am madly crocheting and sewing and knitting and booking the photographer and finding a model and wondering what the heck is a TIFF file and looking after the kids and cooking meals and washing clothes and cleaning the house (okay maybe not so much cleaning going on). Farewell dear blog readers I will be back with a large glass of wine when all is finished..................................

Surprise!!

While reading through my blog list I saw a new post by MeeaBee (who is by the way holding a competition to win one of her stunning bags click here ) off I go to check it out and she has a link to another blog Hansel & Gretel which I click through to and what do you know we have been featured right underneath MeeaBee!! Thankyou Hansel & Gretel , check out their blog here

Paper Dolls

Found these too cute paper dolls and just had to share them. Is it showing my age to say that I loved paper dolls as a child. As I have two boys who like trucks and dinosaurs I suppose there is no reason for me to print them out and play......... unless ofcourse it was purely for research purposes say some patternmaking research?? sound plausible...yes I think so!

If you would like to print these out in a large size please follow this link

Phone Snobbery

My husbands phone is on the blink so I offered him mine, it may be a little old fashioned (bigger than a matchbox) and it does have a temperamental number 3 but it does work. I dont know why but there was a slight scoff and a firm no. Good luck with Telstra honey xx

Bert & Ernie

Ernie died today, 2 years is not a bad life span for a goldfish (in our house!). You will be missed Ernie especially by puss however Bert is waiting in the big goldfish bowl in the sky.......

Happy Halloween!!

Trick or Treat?

?

Our fabrics & wools for our Winter '10 range have started to arrive, so excited!!!!! Grace our lovely crochet lady (who is now 92!) has started working away already but I cant give away too many secrets..... yet