The Good, The Bad and The Party!
THE GOOD
Allow me to start by announcing that following my SOS call, we have petsitters for all 5 bubs! HOORAH! Thanks to the Blogging, Twittering, Facebooking and Emailing ways of my crafty readers, our 5 little monsters are being looked after and Sharon and I are officially off to South East Asia in 7 days. Gulp. Have you any idea how much there is left to do before we're ready to go?

...(insert panicked breathing exercise here)...

Ok, I'm back. And I would particularly like to thank Lizzie and Linda for blogging, Lou for Tweeting, Jennie for emailing, Jay and Danielle for offering to move in, and all my other readers for making suggestions in regards to petsitters- it was a team effort, and we succeeded!

THE BAD
In a nutshell, the Northern Exposure Visual Arts Festival Market bombed. Hard. It was freezing cold and windy enough to make my notebooks fly; to top it off, while the rain visited us, the people did not. After four hours, ten people browsing and no sales, I packed up and ran away to defrost.

Thanks to the Melbourne blogging scene, however, the day was brightened by stalls from:

Melbourne Epicure (with delicious vegan Orange & Walnut Muffins)...

The vibrant Finki...


The talented CurlyPops...

and the lovely Polly Pratt...

Visits from the gorgeous Nikki, her cute-as-pie little girl, and birthday girl Lara also made the day much lovelier!

THE PARTY!
After the excitement of the Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway, I just couldn't resist signing up to participate in another global crafty party. This time, it's A Fanciful Twist's Mad Tea Party!

All I'm saying is that on June 27th, Pepperberry & Co. will be transformed into a delicious land of Tempting Tea, a Glorious Giveaway and a Tantalising Tutorial.

Stay tuned, dear friends!

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P.S. Thanks to Cathie and Cam for the market photos, and Teegs for keeping me company on the day... and for sewing with me for 48 hours beforehand!
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3:24 PM | Category: , , , | 16 Pepperberrians Said...

A Visual Feast In Northcote: Come & Explore!
Allow me to begin by sending a huge thank you to the dozens of people who have responded to my Furry SOS. Great news: Tango's off to Teegs and Gin Gin has a home! Yay! Three bubs to go, so please keep sending any petsitting and housesitting contacts.

Now, onto crafty goodness! An exciting email popped up this morning informing me that the vibrant suburb of Northcote would be bursting at the seams with crafty and artistic excitement this weekend due to the Northern Exposure Visual Arts Festival. On from Friday until Saturday, this Festival will encompass visual arts displays, artist talks, art demonstrations, projections and installations, and artisan markets. That's right, markets!

If you've been following me for a while, you may have noticed that I have a slight penchant for markets. This year, I've explored the Sonny & Coco Market, the Yarraville Market, the Botanical Gardens Market, the St. Kilda Market, the Melbourne Design Market, the Arts Centre Market, and the Ivanhoe Market. Phew! I'm exhausted just thinking about all that delightful shopping.

Another thing you may have noticed is that I have a slightly crazed way of jumping into things deadlines that are over my head. So, when my email asked if I'd liked to be in the Artisan Market at the Uniting Church as a part of the Festival, I may, just maybe, perhaps, possibly... said yes. So, on top of trying to plan my trip, organise my housesitters, and make sure my business is ok for three months, I will now be in full-steam preparation mode for this Saturday's market.

So come and visit me and my goodies...

And the gorgeous Finki and her goodies...

at the Uniting Church (100 metres from the Northcote Town Hall) from 10am until 4pm this Saturday the 20th.

Poor Sharon... to think she has to put up with my endless crazy whims. Sigh.

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11:18 AM | Category: , | 20 Pepperberrians Said...

An SOS From My Furry Friends

Houston, we have a great, big problem...

Never fear, the crafty blogosphere is here. Hopefully one of you crafty heroines will come to the rescue!



WHAT HAPPENED?
Well, as some of you may know, Sharon and I are due to be going overseas in 2 weeks for a 3-month adventure around South-East Asia. You'll note that I say 'due to be', and not 'are'...

The last time we went overseas, we had a horrible experience with a relative who failed to look after our home. He spent the money given to him to look after our pup's brain tumour on going out, and our gorgeous Malamute, Taj, died as a result. Not wanting to go through such a traumatic experience again, Sharon and I decided to go through a professional service to get a qualified, experienced and contracted housesitter.

About 4 months ago, I contacted Dawn McKenna from Housesitting Services to book their service. She responded promptly, and vehemently assured me that she would arrange the perfect person who would look after our home, and our 5 furry babies, as though they were her own. Lovely!

According to the Housitting Services website, Sharon and I were due to meet with our housesitter a month prior to leaving. That date came and went, and I heard nothing. I emailed her again, only to be ignored. I called and spoke to Dawn McKenna, who told me she would call me back in 5 minutes. Guess what? It didn't happen! I then called, and called again, and then again... but not one of my messages was responded to.

So, thanks to Dawn McKenna, we are left with no-one to look after our most precious belongings. Sharon and I have spent the last week desperately talking to friends, workmates, and fellow Wildlife Rescuers and Lort Smith volunteers in the hope that someone can care for our bubs. The gorgeous Teegs has come on board to look after Tango the Bichon, but unless we find other generous souls to look after the remaining mob, we're going to have to forfeit our tickets and our trip.


CALLING ALL HEROINES AND HEROES!
We have four pets in desperate need of a loving home for 12 weeks- from the 29th of June until the 30th of September. All food, litter, toy, bedding and vet costs will be covered by us, and we will happily bring the furry critter of your choice to your home. We will also provide detailed instructions about each critter, and anything else you may need. As we are foster carers for both domestic and wild animals, all four of our creatures are used to interacting with other cats, dogs, ducks, rabbits, and even humans!

Here's who needs a home:

Gorgeous Gin Gin
The sensational Gin Gin may or may not have been catnapped from his neglectful owners. He came to us with ribs protruding, dirt embedded into his skin and an inability to interact with people. He is now a giant, happy, purring fluffball who loves nothing more than a cuddle and a feed. Gin Gin is a 100% indoor cat, so anyone who would want to give him a home would need to be able to guarantee that he would be indoors the whole time.


Majestic Monsieur and Charming Coconut
Before being rescued, Coco was thrown out of a car at 110km an hour and Monsieur was dumped by his owners. Now that these two have each other, though, they have no cares in the world! They grew up together, sleep together, and even clean one another; they will therefore need to go to a home together. Both are loving, relaxed cats who are happy to sleep, eat and snuggle. Like Gin Gin, they are 100% indoor cats, so anyone who would want to give them a home would need to be able to guarantee that they would be indoors the whole time.

Magnificent Manhattan
Our beautiful Malamute puppy, Manhattan, is pure joy in a fur coat. She is still young, and her playfulness is infectious! Because of her size and age, she will either need a home with a large backyard for running, a fellow dog to play with, or regular walks and runs. She has been highly trained and socialised well, and will submit to all dogs, cats and people. She welcomes all foster pups with open paws, and needs someone who will do the same for her. Oh, and have I mentioned her goofiness provides at least 10 funniest-home-video moments per day?


OR, IF YOU CAN HOUSESIT...
If you can housesit instead of petsitting, you'll get a three-bedroom home (located 20 mins northwest of the Melbourne CBD) with: a dedicated craft room; a huge backyard; a freshly renovated kitchen, bathroom, toilet, bedroom, dining and lounge; downlights throughout; stainless steel appliances; 7GB of free wireless internet per month; a short stroll to public transport; and the use of our car. As a bonus, we'll even include loving snuggles from 3 cats and a dog!

And finally, each of the heroines or heroes who come to our rescue will also receive a $50 USD voucher to the Pepperberry & Co. store!


WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?
PETSIT: If you live in Melbourne, please consider looking after one of our babies.

SPREAD THE WORD: If you know anyone who lives in Melbourne, please contact them and let them know of our need.

BLOG: If you have a blog and post about this, I will send you a 20% off gift voucher to my store... and a huge thank you and warm-fuzzy feeling!

Please help us find our furry friends a home!

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3:55 PM | Category: , | 27 Pepperberrians Said...

Not in Kansas Anymore: The Melbourne Design Market
What a day! No, scrap that- what a week!

I have spent a total of 72 hours sewing this week. 72 hours! That's 3 days straight, if you don't include sleeping- and there definitely hasn't been too much of that going on.


The 72 hours has resulted in some magnificent creations, though, which is the required result when your goodies are going to be on display at something as snazzy as the Melbourne Design Market. I was there as a part of the most impressive stall on offer- Ink & Spindle. Not that I'm biased in any way!


Luckily, when you're working with fabrics as gorgeous as these, it's easy to create a masterpiece. Here is the range I created for the day:

About half of it's gone- yay!- and the other half will be on Etsy by the end of this week.

Now, I'm used to both shopping and having stalls at small, community-run markets full of bloggy and crafty goodness. As soon as I arrived at the Melbourne Design Market, it was obvious to me that this a whole new planet!

There were top-level designers everywhere, with some of the most creatively-inspired pieces I have seen in a long time. I was most impressed by the lego-inspired USBs from Zip Zip, the gorgeous lamps from Ute Australian Design, and the vintage display from the Melbourne Museum of Printing. My lil' passport covers felt a tad intimidated by their peers!

Luckily, the loveliness of the I & S gals meant that I felt right at ease, and the surprise visits from Tania, Jay, Beky and a few other bloggers warmed my heart during the day. All in all, it was an overwhelming success! Thank you to everyone for your support. I'm off now to do something that quite resembles this:

Zzz...

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3:36 PM | Category: , , | 13 Pepperberrians Said...

Support Handmade on Sunday!
Sunday's a big day for Pepperberry & Co., and I'd love for you to be a part of it!

What's happening? Well, it all starts with the ridiculously clever Teegs, Lara and Bianca from Melbourne's renowned screenprinting boutique, Ink & Spindle. These gorgeous girls have a secured a stall at the phenomenally popular Melbourne Design Market, which is on this Sunday at the Federation Square car park.

But how is Pepperberry & Co. involved? Well, the lovely ladies have graciously asked me to display some of my Ink & Spindle goodies as a part of their stall! Is that not exceptionally exciting? And is my alliteration a little alarming?

So, if you're from Melbourne or the surrounds, make your way down to Fed Square between 10 and 5 to experience the wonder of some of our city's top designers, and to find little ol' me hidden amongst it all. I'll have a whole new range of notebook covers, passport holders, bookmarks and snap pouches- all in the delicious Ink & Spindle fabric!

While you're there, support handmade by also checking out Melbourne's other Sunday market delights at the Arts Centre and the St. Kilda Esplenade. And what if you're from out of town? Well, fear not! Etsy is your never-ending source of handmade treasures, and it has a nifty little features that allows you to shop locally. So, wherever in the world you are, let's make Sunday a day for supporting handmade!

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P.S. Thanks to Lara for the pics!
P.P.S. Thank you to all of you for your tear-inducing comments of love!
P.P.P.S. Thank you to the scrumptious Patti for her wonderful rant about me!
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10:01 AM | Category: , | 20 Pepperberrians Said...

Little Dreams Coming True in a Big Way
Welcome back to Pepperberry & Co.! It's been a big week in my world, and I have much excitement to share with you all. I hope you get excited too!

First and foremost, one of my blogging and crafting dreams came true when I was featured on my favourite crafty site, One Pretty Thing. If you've never spoilt yourself by popping over there, go- you'll die of excitement! In a nutshell, the lovely Rachel slaves away for hours a day to find all the hottest crafty tutorials, trends and news from across the web. She then compiles it into a spiffy little picture-based list, and shares it with you! I have found some if the most incredible tutorials, blogs, and crafty friends through her site, so imagine the joy that rushed through me when I rocked up there to find this...

My 'How to Make Your own Iron-On Labels for Crafty Products' tutorial! And, the next day, there was this...

My 'How to Insert Metal Snaps into Fabric' tutorial!

They're my tutorials, right there, being featured. And to think I only started all this in March!

The week just kept getting better when a surprise email arrived in my inbox. It was from the delightful ladies over at the Stitches and Craft Show, the place where all of my sewing and blogging adventures began! They had heard about me through the super-talented Louise of Audrey & Maude, and guess why they were writing? To invite me to have a stall at the Sydney show! OH. MY. GOODNESS. ME. A stall! At the show that inspired me to be where I am today! With all the other ludicrously talented crafters out there! Imagine that. Unfortunately, I'm overseas while it's on, but I'm very much hoping to be at the show next year.

Finally, I have spent the week sewing like a madwoman in a small, cold dungeon. OK, it was actually in a bright, sunny lounge room, but a dungeon makes it sound like I work so much harder! After assistance from Nikki and a shopping spree at the ridiculously attractive Ink & Spindle, I appeared at the Yarraville Market with 24 new passport covers, 12 new notebook covers, a brand new range of bookmarks, and a new style of snap pouches.

It was another roaring success, with a great vibe on the day and lots of positive feedback and purchases. I look forward to getting all the goodies into my Etsy store so I can share them with the world!

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P.S. Thank you to all of you who have left supportive and encouraging comments since I began this journey. Without you, I wouldn't be experiencing these successes today!
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4:43 PM | Category: , , , , | 33 Pepperberrians Said...

A Drum Roll Please...
For it's time to announce the winner of the Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway!

The extraordinary amount of entries allowed me to share in some of your most special moments. I learnt about grandmothers who taught you to sew, best friends who touched your hearts and partners who knew just what to give. Many of the entries made me tear up- I'm definitely living up to my reputation as a softie!

After negotiating an employment contract, I was able to get Monsieur the Cat on board to choose the winner. I tell you, the man drives a hard bargain! For his ten minutes of participation, he requested snuggles, food and the right to sit on top of my sewing machine whilst I'm sewing. Does anyone else have such a demanding cat?

Any-hoo... first came the entries:


Then the sorting:


Then came in Monsieur himself. Now, I should explain why I felt Monsieur was the best judge for this competition. Every since we rescued him from the incredible Ingrid's Cat Haven, Monsieur has shown a slightly inappropriate penchant for all things paper. He likes receipts, boxes, envelopes, toilet paper, tissues... you name it, he's eaten it. So, we had no doubt that if we introduced Monsieur to the pile of paper, he would sooner or later flip one over, if not eat it!

For a while, he lounged...


But this quickly turned into a playful roll, and he flipped the lucky winning entry!


And the winner is... the lovely Heidi from My Hiding Place in Cyberspace! Congratulations to you!


Thank you all for entering. I am wading my way through the comments and promise to respond to each one (except those with no emails to respond to!). I look forward to getting to know you and your blogs in the near future.

Yay for giveaways! And here's to many more in the near future.

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P.S. If any of you are as amused by the wonderfully strange and hilarious behaviour of cats as I am, make sure you check out the famous and hilarious Mabu the Box Addict on YouTube- as discovered by Lara. The last 25 seconds makes me pee my pants with laughter!
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6:44 PM | Category: | 25 Pepperberrians Said...