Hey, are you busy next Thursday night? What about the one after? Well, I am, but you'll never guess what I'm doing! Oh, ok, I'll tell you. But only coz I like you!

I'm changing the world! And you're invited!

Ok, that might be a tad dramatic, but it's pretty close. I, in fact, am running two fundraisers (including a craft class and a movie!)- and no, before you jump to that conclusion, they are not to support my ever-increasing fabric stash. They are to support a voluntary project I've been accepted for!

What voluntary project, you ask? Well... I've been accepted to undertake a placement with Liberty in North Korea (LiNK), an organisation that works to help people escape from the atrocities in North Korea and rebuild their lives in free countries! I'm off to the USA in two weeks to spend 3 months working with them, and there are heaps of ways you can get involved.

Would you like the full story? Fair enough. It's all a bit of a surprise, isn't it?! Here's the story (and if you just want to come to the crafty fundraiser or the movie fundraiser, skip to the bottom of the post for all of the details, or just head here).

I had always been vaguely aware that there were significant humanitarian issues in North Korea. On a cold day in 2009, however, that vague awareness was shattered when I was introduced to the harsh reality of what was actually happening in the country.

I was surfing the internet at the time, using StumbleUpon to find new & exciting websites. One of the topics that I regularly surf through is ‘Activism’, and that’s the channel that I was on when I came across an article about the crisis in North Korea. It detailed the atrocities that were occurring right under my nose, the lack of international response to the situation, and the desperation of the people involved.

As I explored the crisis further, plans that I had had for the day ahead disappeared. I read article after article, watched videos that brought me to tears, found stories from survivors, and was touched by tales of underground bloggers and journalists. I couldn’t put my computer down, and by the time the night came, I was convinced beyond a doubt that I somehow had to become involved in the solution to what I now knew was a massive problem.

Throughout my research, I kept coming across one organization that was making a noticeable difference to the people of North Korea: LiNK. I was inspired by the fact that unlike other organisations, LiNK didn’t simply fight from afar; they were on the ground, assisting people to escape from the country, supporting them to develop educational and workplace skills, and helping them to relocate and live lives full of freedom and choice. By the end of that fateful day, I was a monthly supporter of LiNK.


One day in April this year, on a morning like any other, I received my regular email update from LiNK. This time, the update was a little bit different to normal. Although there were still inspiring stories of change that had been created as a direct result of supporters, there was also a call to action: Become A LiNK Nomad.

A nomad? I thought. What's that?

Off I went to the LiNK Nomad website, where I found a little description that read:

North Korea is one of today’s least known yet most complicated crises; but where skeptics would argue that the future of North Korea is already written, a collective of passionate individuals – LiNK Nomads – are standing to say that the ink is not yet dry. They refuse to adhere to prescribed formulas and have instead chosen to bring this crisis out of the shadows to empower more North Korean refugees.

Don’t wait for others to be the change. Be on the frontlines, rewriting the history of North Korea. Are you ready to make this your story? Become a Nomad...

Above this description was a video, and it was a video that ended up changing my life:

 Nomads: The Call To Action from LiNK Global on Vimeo.

Within a week, I had submitted my application. Within another, I had been accepted. In two weeks, I am off to the United States to change and save the lives of people I might never meet, but who I now know will experience a freedom that I take for granted on a daily basis.

This is where you come into it! You can join me on this incredible journey by coming along to one of my fundraisers:


LIGHT UP FOR LINK: A CRAFT CLASS THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE!
Come along to this gorgeous craft class, where you'll receive beautiful handmade paper from Papers By Pepperberry and be taught how to create your very own Paper Lampshade.

As if crafting, creating, chatting and giggling isn't enough, you'll also receive a lampshade base and lampshade pattern to take home, as well as have all of the tools and materials provided. And did I mention that all of the funds raised support a great cause? What's not to love! So, grab your friends, family, kids and any randoms you find on the street and come along:



CAN WATCHING A MOVIE MAKE A DIFFERENCE? WATCHING THIS ONE CAN!
Enjoy a night out watching one of the most powerful movies ever made, whilst also raising much-needed funds to help end the human rights abuses & humanitarian crisis in North Korea.

Based on a real-life story, Kim Tae-kyun’s Crossing tells the tale of a North Korean defector & his desperate fight to save his family. An uncompromising, touching & inspiring movie, its depiction of the harsh reality of life in North Korea will touch your heart & move your soul. Don't miss it!


I hope to see you there! If you're not in Melbourne or can't make it but would still love to support my quest to change the lives of North Koreans, you can always help out in any of the following ways:

- Learn all about North Korea, and then learn even more about North Korea and what's being done to change the situation at the LiNK website

- If you can't come along but still want to make a difference, donate! Even $5 can make a difference, and most of us have that to spare. I'm accepting donations of all sizes for my Nomad Project via PayPal- simply click on the link below! (EFTPOS, Bank Cards, Credit Cards and PayPal Account payments are accepted)

- Speaking of donations, LiNK are always looking for one-off and longer-term supporters to help more people escape from North Korea and start new lives elsewhere.

- Become a follower of thatLiNKproject to stay up-to-date with what's happening

- Spread the word! Let your friends and family know about how much the North Korean situation has shocked you, point them to the LiNK website, or grab them by the wrist and bring them along to one of the fundraisers!

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P.S. The haunting images in this post were sourced from CompleteAll.

Some weekends just don't turn out as planned.

...as Sharon was driving home, she found a little ginger ball of bones that turned out to be a kitten.

Boris, as he is now known, is all spine and ribs and sunburnt face, but not much else. He now lives in our bathroom and is being regularly stuffed silly with food and water and vitamins. His ears and nose, which are badly burnt, are covered in paw paw cream, as is his little neck, which has lost all of its fur.

... our car died. Totally and completely died. After an adventure with towing and many phone calls, we were told our engine needs to be replaced.

 Please note: Not our actual bus! Just a cute, relevant photo :-)

We're now using Sharon's giant school bus and keep getting inspired by the idea of a road trip!

... a severe storm hit Melbourne. If you didn't see it in the news, here's a great update:

Normally I get very excited by storms. They mean lots of silliness and running around and squealing in the rain. Saturday's storm, however, flooded the Pepperberry & Co. studio. Bad drainage in the building meant that water rushed in at ground level, and the crazy, 10cm large, solid hail stones broke through the roof and flooded us from above. 

We lost quite a bit of stock, particularly paper; our office furniture got soaked; and we are yet to see if all of the machinery (computers, sewing machine, overlocker) that we rescued actually function. Our office kind of ending up looking like the shop they show in the video above.

We moved out of the studio on Sunday, and are currently working from home. Next weekend, we're moving the office into the spare room of our temporary rental property. And then, we'll try to regain some semblance of normality in our now very wet world. 

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Some things in life are so overwhelmingly exciting they just don't seem real.

A year ago, in March 2009, I dipped my nervous little toes into the big wide world after a bout of Chronic Depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

I found the wonderful Stitches & Craft Show.

I learnt how to sew. 

From scratch!

I started a business.

I made stuff.

I sold stuff!

I met some of the most wonderful people in the world.

And now, a year later, I have another mind-blowing achievement to celebrate... my very first stockist! 

A year ago, as I was sitting in my sewing classes and listening to the wisdom of some of craft's brightest stars, I never in my wildest dreams imagined that one day, something I made with my very own hands would be sitting on an actual shelf in an actual shop. 

But there they are, at the gorgeous Little Shop Of Handmade run by the even more gorgeous Bec. 

And I couldn't be more proud! Thank you to all of you who have supported me from day one. I couldn't have done it without you!

May all of your perseverance, blood, sweat, tears, laughter and hopes too turn into a dream come true...

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Ok. So, I may or may not have not blogged for... please cringe with me... nearly two months. And I may or may not now be too petrified to return to the world of blogging. But, fortunately for me, I am surrounded by a group of beautiful Melbourne crafters who have promised me that writing a blog post after so long will be nowhere near as scary as it seems... so here I am! Peeking out from under my little hat of blogging laziness and hoping that at least some of you will still be peeking back. 

Seeing as this is my Official Return To Blogging, it seems quite essential that I update you on all the a-happenings over the past two months! With that in mind, please sit back and enjoy a very speedy, super-succinct Top Ten Things in Two Months:

Wee-hee! You may remember that I posted about our beautiful renovation and impending house sale, and the brilliantly exciting news is that our house sold within one week of being on the market for $100k more than it was valued at! Needless to say, we were just a little bit over the moon. 

That's right! We've settled on our beautiful 20-acre lot in Hurstbridge and now our heads are buried in a crazy amount of information about water tanks, septic systems, fire safety, solar panels, wind power, insurance, planning permits, and a million other things we've never dealt with before. So exciting!

Not being homeless is always such a nice feeling, and luckily for us, friends of ours have just bought a new home and are renting their old one to us whilst we build on our land! There's room for all of our pets (6 at the moment!) and even for us. 

Ok, so I don't know if that deserves an exclamation mark, as it really wasn't that exciting. But it sure was painful! In a momentary lapse of concentration whilst sewing at the highest speed, the needle managed to go right through my finger, pick up the bobbin thread, and bring it back through. I then panicked and pulled away, which resulted in the needle ripping through the entire tip of my finger. EEEWWW!

That's not my actual finger (mainly because there was so much blood I couldn't take a photo!) but that's exactly what my finger felt like!

This has got to be one of the most exciting things to have happened since I started this journey- I now have people working with me! They are a wonderful team who deserve to be introduced properly in a blog post, though, so I'm just going to leave you with that tantalising bit of information and tell you more later!

Ok, so it's totally unrelated to craft and my business, but WOW! How much fun are Wiis? I've already pulled my shoulder muscle playing tennis, peed myself with laughter doing obstacle courses, and felt proud to be 20 years old one day and 40 the next. Seriously addictive.

Yes, this is the most boring member of the list. Bur possibly also the most important! January was a crazy month that saw me open a Business Bank Account (all growed up now!), get an EFTPOS machine (endless excitement!), finally get an accountant and call the ATO (scary!), and get my income and expenditure into order. Phew! Good luck to everyone else out there trying to do the same...

Christmas itself was a delightful pleasure, but the 17 markets we did in four weeks were a little less so! Of course, meeting all the lovely crafters and crafty lovers from around Melbourne was a highlight, but working every Saturday and Sunday, getting up at 6am, packing, unpacking, keeping on top of stock... well, that was that was not quite as much of a highlight. We survived, however, and had a blast along the way. Here's to many more Christmas periods of madness!

We've seen them all! Our little possums from way back when are all grown up and almost ready to be released. We rescued a very fat lizard who had been hit by a car and she gave birth to fifteen (FIFTEEN!) babies (ouch!). Whilst walking on our block a really fluffy bush moved and it turned out to be an echidna. And then a mummy wallaby with a little bub bounced past!So much cuteness all at once.

I haven't read a single blog in two months, or emailed friends, or facebooked, or tweeted... and I miss you all! I miss laughing out loud at your crazy blog posts, being involved in your crafty projects, hearing all the inspirational stories, and most of all, getting to know you better and better through back-and-forth emails. I can't wait to get back into it!

See you soon...

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My. Goodness. Me. What a mad week, month, year! The end is near, though, in more ways than one. December is creeping towards the New Year, my list of upcoming markets is slowly getting smaller, and... AND!... the most exciting, important goal of the year is complete. 

Our house is on the market!!

In the space of eight weeks, it has been transformed from an average home into a gleaming, sparkling, spotless little beauty. It looks so good, in fact, that Sharon and I are wondering why in the world we're moving out! Mind you, we've also conveniently forgotten all about the blood, sweat, tears, tantrums and bruises that got us to this point. Here are some pics I took for the online ad:

 Our front yard, with the requisite sunrise.

Our beautiful, brand new kitchen.

Our ridiculously clean bedroom (please note the lack of cat fur!).

And our big, beautiful backyard with freshly grown green grass! 

(Yes, this is a big deal if you live in drought-riddled Australia!)

Is this super-exciting or what? I've never sold a house before, and it's all a bit of a rush. We have our fingers crossed that it will be snapped up this week so that we can start planning our move to our 20-acre bush sanctuary in Hurstbridge:

And begin living our sustainable, off-the-grid, animal rescue and rehabilitation centre dream. Fingers crossed!

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How time flies when life gets crazy. I have so very much to tell you all, and I hope that you're still around to hear it!

The past 3 weeks have been filled with renovation craziness to an extent that I have never seen. Our backyard, front yard, bathroom, toilet, and laundry have been transformed into sparkling, gorgeous works of art. The walls are white, the grass is green, and the windows are so clean you could walk through them. Phew! We're hoping to put our home on the market in the next two weeks, and there's still much to be done. As you can see, the fluffy monsters have been our super-helpful assistants:

On another note, I have some Very Big, Very Exciting and Very Special Pepperberry & Co. news to share with you all. Are you ready? Pepperberry & Co. now has a home of its very own! I am the proud owner of a beautiful, big studio at Ironside Studios in Kensington. The last week has seen trailer-loads of fabric (who knew I had so much?), paper, furniture and projects moved into my new space, and I've been a busy little bee setting it all up. There are plans for an indoor garden, a gorgeous Pepperberry mural, a little shop, and sewing classes... so keep your eyes and ears peeled!

What else? Oh! Sharon and I have become the proud mums to 3 orphaned possums. Two of our furry bundles of joy are little ringtails, and their names are Bubble and Gum. They're both 3 months old and are cute as buttons! Our other baby is a little Brushtail Possum, and his name is Squeak. He's a cheeky little monster with an appetite the size of a lion's and teeth to match! These little babies will be with us until they are old enough to be released into the wild.

As if that weren't enough, I also have a Christmas Market frenzy coming up, with a total of 13 markets. Thirteen! I swear to you that I'm folding Passport Covers in my sleep. If you're around and doing your Christmas shopping at any of the following places, make sure you come and have a gasbag with Sharon and I:

NOVEMBER
Sunday 15th - THREAD DEN MARKET
10.00am - 2.00pm @ the Melbourne Lithuanian Club - 44 Errol St, North Melbourne

Sunday 15th - SHIRT & SKIRT MARKET
10.00am - 4.00pm @ the Abbotsford Convent - St. Heliers St, Abbotsford

Thursday 26th - KRIS KRINGLE MARKET
5.30pm - 10.30pm @ the Northcote Town Hall - 189 High St, Northcote

Saturday 28th - NORTHSIDE MAKER'S MARKET
10.00am - 3.30pm @ the Uniting Church - High St, Northcote

Saturday 28th - DAYLESFORD MAKER'S MARKET
10.00am - 4.00 pm @ the Daylesford Town Hall - Vincent St., Daylesford

Sunday 29th - SHIRT & SKIRT MARKET
10.00am - 4.00pm @ the Abbotsford Convent - St. Heliers St, Abbotsford

DECEMBER

Thursday 3rd - KRIS KRINGLE MARKET
5.30pm - 10.30pm @ the Northcote Town Hall - 189 High St, Northcote

Thursday 10th - REVOLVER UPSTAIRS MARKET
6.00pm - 10.00pm @ Revolver Upstairs - 229 Chapel St, Prahran

Thursday 10th - KRIS KRINGLE MARKET
5.30pm - 10.30pm @ the Northcote Town Hall - 189 High St, Northcote

Saturday 12th - MADE 'N THORNBURY MARKET
10.00am - 3.00pm @ 99 Leinster Grove, Thornbury

Saturday 12th - MARKET 3031
10.00am - 4.00pm @ the Kensington Train Station - Bellair St, Kensington

Thursday 17th - KRIS KRINGLE MARKET
5.30pm - 10.30pm @ the Northcote Town Hall - 189 High St, Northcote

Sunday 20th - SHIRT & SKIRT MARKET
10.00am - 4.00pm @ the Abbotsford Convent - St. Heliers St, Abbotsford

And finally, we have a winner for the Gloriously Ghoulish Halloween Giveaway I held recently- the lovely Monique from Blueberries in the Fileds! Thanks for all of your entries.

I'm off to cut, iron, cut, sew, iron, sew and cut now! Tell me- what's been keeping you busy?

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