As you all know, this little Pepperberry journey that I'm on all began because of a wonderful, inspiring and life-changing craft gathering: the Stitches & Craft Show. What you might not know is that I have now come full circle, and I will be at the Stitches & Craft Show again this year- but not as a visitor!


This year, I am so, so proud and excited and happy to let you know that I will be there as a stallholder, speaker and teacher. I will not only be selling my handmade goodies, but also teaching other people on how to kick butt on the sewing machine and make Notebook Covers, Baby Blankets, Textile Cards and Cushion Covers. And if that's not enough, I'll be running Small Business talks to share all of the crazy things that I have learnt on this Pepperberry & Co. journey. Squeal!

Here are the details of the Show, which is happening next week (excuse me while I go and hyperventilate...):


Now, if you've never been to a Stitches & Craft Show, you are seriously missing out. It is P*A*C*K*E*D full of crafty goodness- workshops, classes, freebies, competitions, hints, tips, networking opportunities, and so, so much more. I spent 4 days straight there last year and still didn't get to all of the crafty events I wanted to see and do! Don't dilly-dally now- grab your Show Guide here, book the classes you want to be a part of, and enjoy being immersed in craft heaven.


Now that I have convinced you of the wonder and joy of this Show, I would like to proudly present the classes I will be teaching at the 2010 Melbourne Stitches & Craft Show! To book into any of them (and pre-booking is advised!), just give me a call on 0401 766 348 or email me at littlemisspepperberry AT gmail DOT com.



Using handmade plant fibre paper and hand screenprinted fabrics, you will sew 4 unique, beautiful and personalised cards. Learn which threads and stitches work best with paper and receive a take-home kit so
you can keep on creating!

When:  Wed 5th May @ 11.45am ~ Thu 6th May @ 11.00am ~ Sun 9th May @ 12.15pm (incorrectly listed as Saturday in the Show guide!)
Level: Beginner +
Cost: $12



A COZY CUSHION COVER
Sew a unique cushion cover using stunning, hand screen-printed fabric and natural unbleached linen. Learn how to work with interfacing, insert an invisible zip, create boxed corners and make your own cushion
inserts. A take-home sewing pattern is included!


When:  Fri 7th May @ 12.30pm
Level: Intermediate +
Cost: $30


CUSTOM A5 NOTEBOOK COVER
Using beautiful, hand screen-printed fabric and natural unbleached linen, you will sew your very own notebook cover. Learn effective cutting/pinning techniques and how to use ironing templates, creative stitches and a walking foot. A take-home sewing pattern is included!


When: Wed 5th May @ 3.15pm ~ Sat 8th May @ 4.00pm (incorrectly listed as 3.45pm in the Show guide!)
Level: Beginner +
Cost: $24


SNUG AS A BUG BABY BLANKET
Sew a soft, cozy and comforting baby blanket using gorgeous natural cotton and snuggly fleece. Learn how to create basic appliqué, stitch around curves, work with stretch fabric and create mitred corners. A take-home sewing pattern is included!


When:Thu 6th May @ 12.15pm ~ Sat 8th May @ 2.00pm
Level: Beginner +
Cost: $20


And, if you're wanting to stop working a job and start living your passion, come along to my small business talk:


LIVING YOUR CRAFTY DREAM: MAKE IT HAPPEN!
Ever dreamt of running away from the rat race and crafting for a living? I did just that and so can you! Come along to this talk to learn all about the ins and outs of running your craft business, including blogging, online marketplaces, bookkeeping, taxes, local craft markets, advertising, marketing, media and more!


When: Fri 7th May @ 11.00am ~ Sat 8th May @ 11.00am
Level: Everyone!
Cost: Free!

Finally, of course, you can come say hi to Sharon and I by visiting our stall, where we will not only have hundreds of my handmade goodies, but also Sewing Patterns, Sewing Kits, Fabric and Paper so you can do it all yourself.

If you can't make it to Melbourne or the Show this year, fear not! All of the wonderful things will also be available at my Etsy shop, which I must say is looking rather sexy these days with all of its new Notebooks and Cushions!



See you at the Show!

xx Sandra

P.S. Sorry to have been away for a while- Sharon's Nana sadly passed away and we've been hiding away from the world just looking after ourselves and each other.

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Living The Dream

It may have come to my attention that I very rarely blog about all the wonderful little goodies I actually create.

Most of that comes down to the fact that I have the attention span of a flea, and I can never quite remember to take my camera to work, photograph the products, edit the photos, then pop them online. I'm exhausted just looking at that list!

Luckily, I'm surrounded by a group of wonderful crafters who actually do these things, and when they are at markets they do me the great favour of taking beautiful piccies of my things too!

So, thanks to the lovely Margaret from Konstant Kaos, here is my lovely range of Notebook Covers...



And a big fat stand of Passport Covers...


And here is a sneak peak of my Cushion Covers...


All of which will soon be available in my Etsy store... if my attention span will get them there!

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Sewing Does Occur!

For anyone who has not ever had the fortune of visiting or living in Melbourne, please allow me to share with you one piece of advice: the months of January through March are the time to come. Why, you ask? One word: festivals. 


If this beautiful city knows how to do one thing well, it's celebrate. From the Midsumma Festival and Chinese New Year, to the St.Kilda Festival and the Melbourne Fringe, us Melbournians will head out in droves to anything that screams 'art', 'craft', 'culture' and 'environment'. And that's why I love living here!

This weekend saw one of the highlights of our festival calendar come to town- the Sustainable Living Festival. This 3-day show, which raises awareness around the issue of sustainability in all its manifestations, is filled with practical workshops, interesting talks, great performances, gastronomical delights and some of the year's best shopping opportunities. And did I mention it's free?


As any proud urban hippy did, I too headed to revel in SLF over the weekend. Ok, I did more than revel; I moved in. In fact, I have spent the last three days doing nothing but soaking up the inspiring world of people who are changing the world for the better in a crazy and creative number of ways. Bliss!

One of the absolute highlights of this year's program was the gorgeous Slow Fashion Show.  Now, before you cringe at the very idea of the misogynistic, self-absorbed industry that is mainstream fashion, know this: the Slow Fashion Show was the exact opposite of just that!


The models were stunning, 'real' women and men; the event was open to all members of the public and was free; and best of all, every single item on the catwalk had a light environmental footprint. There were four key categories: Fairtrade, Sustainable New Materials (such as organic, unbleached and hemp items), Locally Handmade, and Second Hand/Vintage. I felt very proud that Pepperberry & Co. would fit into two of those four categories... if only we did fashion!

After delighting in the creativity and eco-goodness of the Show, I headed off to Re-Mixed Re-Worked Re-Fashioned, a workshop aimed at giving sexy new lives to sold favourite, op-shop gems or shocking Christmas gifts. There, I spent five hours doing some of my favourite things: laughing with fellow crafters, chopping up second-hand goodies and making a present of funky and stylish 3/4 pants for Sharon.



The highlight of the workshop, however, was discovering a true gem of the crafting landscape: Social Studio. The Studio is an inspiring concept that fuses the creativity and wisdom of Melbourne’s refugee community with recycled and excess materials from local industry to create original fashion garments.

In a nutshell, some of the most disadvantaged members of our community are welcomed into a space where they learn, create, craft, build long-lasting relationships and gain employment. It just makes my little former-Social-Worker's heart go all fuzzy! The Studio is located in Collingwood and runs these types of workshops every Saturday, and worldwide shoppers can also support this brilliant cause through their Etsy shop.

What did you all get up to on the weekend? Were you also spoilt with some crafty goodness?

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Sustainable Craftiness

Getting Down To Business

In my three minutes of spare breathing time this morning, I jumped online and created one of my favourite things- an Etsy Treasury!

For those of you who haven't come across them before, Treasuries are beautiful, member-curated galleries celebrating the gorgeous things that are found on Etsy. Any member of Etsy can create one, and they're an absolute blast to do! Here's all the information to get you started if you're interested in making your own.

Meanwhile, here's the one I got to make! I chose to celebrate all the enchanting, evocative and magical vegan things that I've found on Etsy over time. Here's a preview:


You can click on it to make it larger and clearer, but to see it in its full glory, head here.

Have a great weekend- I hope to see some of you at the Thread Den or Shirt & Skirt Market on Sunday!

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Enchanting, Evocative, Magical Joy!

There comes a time, once every year, when magick fills the air.

When fairies dance, and sprinkle dust, and glitter sparkles in their hair.

'Tis also the time, when Witches come out, to celebrate their New Year,

And all over the world, come shouts of joy: 'Pepperberry's Ghoulish Giveaway is 'ere!'

And so to win, this beautiful prize, of a Halloween Paper Pack,

You must visit the shoppe, of Papers By Pepperberry, and then you must come back.
Once you are here, you must share with me, your ideas for further themes,

For packs of paper, that fill you with joy, and fulfill all your paper dreams!

To enter this Ghoulish Giveaway and win a Halloween Paper Pack, leave a comment sharing your idea for a new Themed Paper Pack that could be created from the papers stocked at Papers By Pepperberry.

You may then have an extra entry for each of the following:

- Leave another comment listing the nine specific papers you would put in your Themed Paper Pack;
- Heart the Papers By Pepperberry store on Etsy (or tell me if you already have!);
- Become a fan of Pepperberry & Co. on Facebook (or tell me if you already are!);
- Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with the link;
- Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with the link;
- Post on Facebook about this giveaway and leave a comment with the link.

This giveaway will close at midnight, Melbourne time, on Wednesday the 21st of October and a winner will be drawn soon after! Thank you to the wonderfully creative and vibrant Vanessa of A Fanciful Twist for hosting yet another fabulous Halloween Party.

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A Ghoulishly Glorious Halloween Giveaway!

Hello to all of my gorgeous Pepperberrians!

I cannot even begin to thank you for the touching, heartwarming, supportive, loving and generous comments that you all left on my previous post. It truly meant the world to me to read each and every word you left for me, to share in your journeys, to learn that my words had made a difference in your lives, and to feel the love that flowed in from every corner of the globe. Thank you. I am slowly making my way through your incredible comments and will reply to each one of you personally over the next week or so.

A lot has been happening in the world of Pepperberry & Co., and it is high time I updated you on the goings on- or is it going ons?! Either way, here goes:

MARKET DELIGHTS
I spent Saturday at the best market I've ever done- Northside Maker's in Northcote. It was brimming with lovely, super-talented stallholders, ridiculously friendly and supportive visitors, and a wonderful community vibe. If you didn't go, you missed out on a spectacular day! The next one is on November the 28th, so mark your diaries in fat red pen and be there.

My next market is tomorrow, at the 1st Birthday celebration of Melbourne's Multicultural Hub. There will be performances by the Burundi, Assyrian-Chaldean, Japanese, Bhutanese and Chinese communities, an amazing variety of handmade craft stalls, and lots of fun activities for all ages. I would love to see you there, so come along for a great day and say hi! All the details are in my sidebar on the right.


AT HOME
As some of you may know, Sharon and I were lucky enough to buy a big, beautiful block of bush land earlier this year. We settle on the land in December and are hoping to move there in February, so there's lots going on to make that happen! Our house is one giant renovation site, our garden is about to undergo a makeover, and our cats are getting used to the fact that all the walls/shelves/doors they used to take for granted might not be there next time they go past. Endless hours of fun!

ON ETSY
The Pepperberry & Co. shop is looking a bit stale, but fear not! I have over 50 new products to add, including a new product range that I'm almost ready to launch- so stay tuned. There will be plenty of goodies up in time for your handmade Christmas shopping!

Papers By Pepperberry has had a flying start, and there are many beautiful things being created with all of the papers as we speak. The gorgeous Jen from A Red Pumpkin Studio has just launched her first product featuring Pepperberry papers, and it is a simply stunning handmade art book:


ON THE BLOG
I'm making a few changes around here to recognise that over-committing to things does not do wonders for my health! So, if you don't mind, the Tuesday Tales will now be a monthly (instead of weekly) feature, held on the fourth Tuesday of each month. I will, also, 100% post the second half of the Product Photography tutorial as soon as I can.

AND A WINNER!
Thank you to all the wonderful entrants in Daniella's Happy Bee Giveaway, and thank you especially for your patience with the unusual delay. The winner, as drawn using the old names-in-the-hat method, is Jade from The Sewing Greenie. Congratulations!

That's it from me for today! I will see you all again on Sunday, when the Ghoulish Halloween Giveaway will be happening. Get your brooms out and your hats on!

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Catching Up On Life & Craft!

What do you get when you combine World Vegetarian Day with a whole group of Etsy craft fanatics?

Delicious recipes, handmade heaven, and stupendous savings, that's what!

As some of you may know, today is World Vegetarian Day- and it's also the start of World Vegetarian Month. My gorgeous EtsyVeg Team and I are celebrating with special sales and a collective sharing of vegetarian and vegan recipes on the web.

Today, I wanted to share with you a special recipe I learnt how to cook whilst living in Thailand- Gai Pat Met Mamua. It was taught to me by one of my favourite ladies of all time, Miss Ning, who looked after Sharon and I whilst we were living with her as though we were her own daughters. May the delicious flavours and scents of Miss Ning's food bring joy to your home also!

Preparation: 15 minutes ~ Cooking: 10 minutes ~ Serves: 4-6


INGREDIENTS
6 tablespoons Mushroom Sauce
2 tablespoons Medium-Hot Chilli Sauce
2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 tablespoon Corn Flour
1/4 cup of Olive Oil
1 large Red Onion, chopped roughly
3 cloves of Garlic, skinned and crushed
1 large Carrot, sliced or julienned
2 cups of Mushrooms, sliced (Oyster, Shitake, and Straw Mushrooms are particularly good)
1 packet Firm Silken Tofu, sliced into chunks
3 medium Capsicums/Bell Peppers (one red, one yellow and one green), chopped roughly
1 cup of roasted/fried cashew nuts
1 cup of water
6 cups of steamed rice


METHOD
1. In a bowl, thoroughly mix Mushroom Sauce, Chilli Sauce, Brown Sugar and Corn Flour. Set aside.

2. Place Olive Oil, Onions and Garlic in a wok or a large frying pan and toss until the Onion and Garlic are translucent and a pale golden-brown.

3. Add a Tablespoon of water and the Carrots to the pan and continue tossing all the vegetables until the Carrots begin to soften.

4. Add the Mushrooms to the mix, and another tablespoon of water if the pan is dry. Cook until Mushrooms begin to shrink and turn brown.

5. Add Tofu and toss the mixture until the Tofu begins to brown.

6. Add another tablespoon of water and all of the Capsicums/Bell Peppers. Cook until the Peppers begin to soften.

7. Add a further tablespoon of water and pour in the Mushroom/Chilli sauce combination. Stir through thoroughly until all of the vegetables are coated.

8. Add cashew nuts and continue cooking for a further two minutes.

9. Remove from heat and serve over steamed rice.

10. Enjoy!


While you're munching away, you can head over to my handmade store, Pepperberry & Co., and my beautiful paper store, Papers By Pepperberry, where I'm celebrating World Vegetarian Day by offering 10% off all of my items from now until the end of this weekend (Sunday, 4th of October). Simply add 'World Veg Day' in the Message to Seller during checkout and I'll refund you via PayPal!

You can also head to the EtsyVeg blog for the yummy details of today's celebrations, including links to original recipes and a list of all the crafty shops offering great savings. Oh, and don't forget to hug every Vegetarian/Vegan you know and thank them for doing the world a favour!

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Miss Ning's Gai Pat Met Mamua

It's Tuesday again- can you believe it? Tuesday means only one thing in the world of Pepperberry & Co.- an interview with an inspiring artist through Tuesday Tales. Today we meet with Daniela, the self-confessed 'crafty girl since forever' who is behind the gorgeous goodies at Italian Craft and Quilt shop Happy Bee.

'I remember being a kid,' Daniela reminisces, 'and every Summer, Nuns would come to our small village and teach us how to sew and embroider.' The first thing that Daniela learned how to do was cross stitch, and since then she has 'always loved all things handmade and unique.'

Her Mother and Grandmothers inspired her to further explore craft, as 'one of my Grandmothers was great at knitting, the other one crocheted wonderful shawls, slippers, and scarves, and my Mom was a dressmaker,' Daniela explains. 'I grew up surrounded by crafty people!'

Years after first gaining some crafty skills, Daniela fell in love with the beautiful quilts that she saw in American movies. 'I particularly loved the oldest ones, so I decided to try to make them too,' she tells me. 'I took a class and learned basic quilt-making skills, and once I started… well, I couldn't stop!' she laughs.

Once she had the skills, Daniela began making quilts, table runners and wall hangings for herself, her family and her friends. It wasn't long until she expanded her repertoire and began sewing small items such as pouches, cases and key chains to give away as gifts on special occasions, and, she exclaims with modest surprise, 'people seemed to appreciate them!'

Once she realised that there was a market for her creativity, Daniela 'finally' decided to try to sell her things. 'When I found Etsy, I thought it was the perfect place for sell my crafts,' she smiles. 'It's so full of wonderful international artists selling their awesome items. So I decided to try this challenge!'

One of the first things Daniela had to do was come up with a name for her store. 'When I was thinking about the perfect name for my shop, my mind immediately went to bees,' she says. 'They are always so busy, doing lots of things in their lives; but they never seem tired and are always so proud and happy in their work,' she smiles. 'They really inspired me!'

Since starting her business, Daniella has found it easy to stay motivated. 'The main thing that motivates me to craft is the fact that I love to create new things,' she explains. 'I love to start with a few pieces of fabric and end up with a quilt!' she grins. 'It’s amazing what you can create with just some fabric and thread… the possibilities are endless. The only thing that limits you is your creativity!'

Daniela dreams of one day owning her ideal craft studio. 'My favourite place in the world is a little wood cottage I found during a trip to Colorado in the United States,' she recalls. 'It looked so amazing, all surrounded by woods and situated in front of a beautiful lake. All around it were mountains,' Daniela sighs happily. 'I immediately fell in love with it and thought that it would be the perfect place for my crafts, and especially to make my quilts, because it was so peaceful and relaxing!'

To follow Daniela's adventures through craft, make sure to check out her blog and Etsy shop. But wait, it's not over yet! The lovely Daniela has generously offered to host a giveaway for readers of Tuesday Tales, and the winner will receive their choice of a 4-in-1 Case from her Etsy Shop. To enter, simply become a follower of Dany's Happy Bee blog and leave a comment here letting me know which 4-in-1 case you would choose and why. Tweet, Facebook or blog about the giveaway and receive an extra entry for each!


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P.S. Sincere apologies for the delay in posting last week's giveaway winner! We fly out of Bangkok and back to Melbourne today after having lived here for 3 months, so as you can imagine, it's been a bit hectic.

Without further ado, the lucky winner of Jennifer's gorgeous Pink Lily Press giveaway is Monique from Your Cheeky Monkey, who said she would choose to have poppies printed as her custom notecards because it's 'a simple classic design that's just lovely'. Thank you for all of your entries- I was most inspired by some of your wonderful suggestions!

An Inspiring Interview & Giveaway from Happy Bee!

Welcome to another Tuesday Tale! Today we chat with Jennifer from Pink Lily Press in Washington. As is the tale of many crafters, Jennifer first began selling her work as a way to make money to buy more crafting supplies. "A few friends that I was taking a jewelry making course with introduced me to Etsy, and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to make some money to buy more beads!" she laughs.

An Interview & a Giveaway from Pink Lily Press