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...

A Nipple and A Donut: How to Insert Metal Snaps
*Squeal!*

I've been doing a lot of that today. Why? Well, every five minutes or so, my lovely computer beeps and another sweet message pops up from a reader. In between the pop ups, I've been exploring the delicious talent hidden in the nooks of the crafty blogoshphere via the Sew, Mama, Sew! giveaway list. Have you seen some of the goodies up for grabs? IN-credible. Which reminds me- there's still time to enter my giveaway if you haven't already!

Now, onto the serious business: let's talk about Nipples and Donuts. The metal kind. The kind that can turn any little pouch into a serious wallet. This kind:

After posting about the launch of my Snap Pouches, I received a few enquiries about how I put my metal snaps in. I'm here to serve, so here's your tutorial!

BEFORE YOU START
Grab a hammer, some scrap fabric and a pack of Metal Snaps from your local craft store. You'll want to practice the first few times in case things go wrong!

MEET THE TEAM
In every packet of snaps come four uniquely shaped pieces and a tool. The pieces are, from left to right, the Donut, the Inner Button, the Nipple, and the Outer Button. Take one of each pieces and the tool out so you're ready to go.


COME TO THE ENGAGEMENT PARTY
The Outer Button and the Donut are, in fact, engaged to be married.


OUT ON THE CONCRETE
These two belong together, so take them out of the pack and place the Outer Button on a hard surface. Yes, hard. Not an ironing board or a table. I'm talking a concrete porch with a single sheet laid down to protect your snap. Then get your fabric ready.


PIERCE WITH PRONGS
Take your tool and use the thin end to push the fabric over the prongs of the Outer Button.


THE JAGGED SEAL
The Donut has two different sides. If you look closely at the middle section of the Donut in the photo on the left, it has a sealed edge and a larger hole. The middle of the Donut in the photo on the right is far more jagged, as though it has little lines cut into it, and has a smaller hole.












GIVE THE DONUT A HOME
Place the Donut on the prongs of the Outer Button with the jagged side (small hole) facing towards you.


TOOL & HAMMER
Place the thick end of the tool flat onto the Donut. Hit it twice sharply with a hammer. Make sure that you hit it directly downwards and not on an angle.

VIOLA!
Part 1 of your snap is complete! Your Donut and Outer Button are now married and on their honeymoon, trying to recover from that painful meeting with the hammer.


THE AFFAIR
Unbeknown to the Donut and the outer Button, their friends the Nipple and the Inner Button are having a secret affair.


THE COMMITMENT
Take your Inner Button and place it on the hard surface, then get your fabric ready.


A SECOND PIERCING
Again, use the thin end of your tool to push the fabric over the prongs of the Inner Button.


THE AMAZING BALANCING NIPPLE
With the Nipple facing towards you, balance it on the prongs of the Inner Button.


HAMMER & TOOL
Place the thick end of your tool onto the Nipple, and again hit straight down with the hammer twice.


VIOLA AGAIN!
The affair has turned serious. The Nipple and the Inner Button are now together for life!


THE LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER
You should now have two very sexy snaps placed in your fabric!






















ONCE YOU'VE PRACTICED...
When it comes to inserting the snaps into your actual project, check that they are placed in the appropriate positions and in the right directions so that they will meet up. Then check again. Trust me, it sucks having to learn that your Nipple is trying to have an affair with your Outer Button and your pouch won't close!

I hope that's helpful. Any questions, drop me a line!

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P.S. If the 'naughty passport covers' were so popular on Google, imagine the readers this Nipple post will bring in!
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8:14 PM | Category: , | 26 Pepperberrians Said...

A Giveaway of Crafty Treasures
*THIS GIVEAWAY HAS NOW CLOSED! STAYED TUNED FOR MORE IN THE NEAR FUTURE*

There's nothing quite as delightful as receiving a gift of crafty treasures- except winning one!

Ever since I was a young lass (ok, it wasn't that long ago!), I enjoyed nothing more than opening a present to find that it contained creatively inspiring goodness- little treasures that had been carefully handcrafted or wonderful supplies that would allow me to create my own magic. Of course, Charlie the Sewing Machine was the ultimate crafty treasure!

With this spirit of sharing crafty inspiration in mind, I welcome you to my Sew, Mama, Sew giveaway! Today, you will be spoiled with the chance to win 3 handmade crafty goodies, one of which you can run away with and create something bewitching of your own.

Firstly, you will get to choose your very own Pepperberry & Co. Notebook Cover from the ones available in my Etsy shop:


Then, you'll be spoiled with 5 luscious pieces of handmade, plant-fiber paper to do with as you please:


And finally, you'll receive one of these delicate jewelry sets:


That's 3 handmade treasures delivered straight to your door, anywhere in the world!

To enter this wonderful competition, simply become a 'Follower' of Pepperberry & Co. (over on the right sidebar) and leave a comment telling me what your favourite crafty gift has been. Don't forget to leave your name, email and blog, or I won't be able to contact you!

The winner will be selected bright and early on Monday morning using the infamous Coconut the Cat method- although this time, we might give Monsieur the Cat a go...

Best of luck!

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P.S. Head over to Sew, Mama, Sew! to enter all the other fabulous giveaways!
P.P.S. Current followers who leave a comment telling me about their favourite crafty gift will of course get an entry!
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10:02 AM | Category: , , | 126 Pepperberrians Said...

Global Giveaway Goodness!
Grab your diary and a pen and get ready to surf a global wave of giveaways, because the gorgeous girls over at Sew, Mama, Sew! are hosting another giant Giveaway Day!

This coming Wednesday May 27th, crafters, bloggers, handmaking goddesses and crafty horders are uniting to create a day that's all about giving gorgeous goodies to you. You'll have the chance to explore new blogs with great ideas, check out stunning shops with wonderful items, and win one of hundreds of cool crafty prizes- all without leaving your seat!

So make sure you come and visit me between Wednesday and Friday this week to get all of the details, enter my giveaway, and grab the link to the other fabulous giveaways happening on the world wide crafty web.

Get excited!

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4:35 PM | Category: | 10 Pepperberrians Said...

Mouth-Watering Pesto in Ten Minutes Flat!
I've recently noticed that every crafter I meet has a soft spot for gourmet food.

Instead of delving into the sociocultural reasonings for this, I thought I'd share with you a pesto recipe so delicious that it'll make your cheeks pink, and so quick that it'll leave you plenty of time to get on with your crafting.



WHAT YOU'LL NEED (feel free to take out the commentary)
-1 pot of fresh basil (you know, about a bowl full of fresh basil leaves)
-1 small tub of semi-dried tomatoes (approx 250gm- can you tell I make it up as I go?)
-1 packet of pine nuts (250gm- I only know because my packet tells me!)
-1/2 cup of olive oil (try not to dwell on the future heart disease)
-2 crushed cloves of garlic (mmm, smelly)
-Salt & Peppa (insert cheesy 80s song here)
-50gm of Feta (optional! I use vegan Kolios Feta- ask for it at your local continental deli)

WHAT TO DO
1. Lightly toast the pine nuts in a frying pan.
2. Place the basil, semi-dried tomatoes, crushed garlic, oil, salt, pepper and feta into a food processor and blend until you have a Slightly Chunky Paste (that's the Scientific Name for it)
3. Add the pine nuts and blend until they are broken up into small chunks. Don't over blend- you want your pesto to have some texture!

HOW TO SERVE IT
1. Heat it through pasta, then sprinkle chunks of Marinated Artichoke Hearts on top.
2. Smother a pizza base with it instead of using tomato paste.
3. Cover your veggies with it and pop them into the oven to roast.
4. Spread it as a base for delicious Bruschetta.
5. Please remember to remove all drool prior to serving. I sometimes forget.

Share, enjoy, then get back to crafting!

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P.S. Pics thanks to the ever-useful Stock.Xchng!
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2:49 PM | Category: , , , | 16 Pepperberrians Said...

A Market, A Treasury, A Swap and a Laugh!
Wow! My tutorial on how to make iron-on product labels has gone crazy- thank you so much for all your kind comments. I'm really glad that I can give something back to the crafty blogosphere, who have given me so much!

Today's post still comes from a flu-riddled, bed-ridden state, so it won't be quite as exciting as the last. I do, however, have some great Pepperberry news to share with you all.

A MARKET!
I have secured a spot at the next Yarraville Market on June 6th! It's on from 10am - 4pm at the Masonic Hall, which is on the corner of Canterbury and Willis Streets in Yarraville. The best part about this market is that my little Snap Pouches have been featured on the Yarraville Market picture- how exciting! Pop by and say hello if you can, as there are dozens of brilliant artists who will be there and I will be boasting a whole new fabric range in my products.























A TREASURY!
The lovely Laura from SugarRainDrops created a Treasury that then made it onto the front page of Etsy- and my Vine and Little Worm snap Pouch was featured in it! I was flabbergasted when one afternoon, I logged into my Etsy store to see that over 300 people had viewed the one item, whereas only 30 or so had viewed the others. The amazing search function over at Craftopolis quickly let me know why. This has definitely been a highlight of selling on Etsy!

A SWAP!
I have signed up to my second swap! This time I'll be creating coasters for the gorgeous Kristy in Italy via the Kindred Crafters Coaster Swap. If you have ever wanted to get creative with coasters, check out their site- it's full of links to some of the most beautiful handcrafted coasters on the web.

A GIGGLE!
Are you all ready for a giggle? Google Analytics has just informed me that one of the ways people find my blog is by searching for the phrase 'naughty passport covers'. I searched that myself, and sure enough, there was my lovely blog on page 2. Now there's a life achievement to be proud of!

I'm off to spank those cheeky little passport covers now...

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3:45 PM | Category: , , , , , , | 12 Pepperberrians Said...

6 Step Iron-On Labels for Your Crafty Products!
Would you believe it? I still have the Thornbury Market flu. Sixteen days and counting! I've made promises to my Pepperberrians, though, so I've momentarily escaped from bed to post this in-demand tutorial.

Even with all my goodies looking so darn sexy, one of the main questions I have been receiving online and at markets is 'where did you get those labels from?'. My response? I didn't! I whipped them up myself in about 30 minutes, and you can too. Of course, if you're not that inspired by design or computers, simply contact me with what you'd like (littlemisspepperberry at gmail dot com) and I can make some for you.

Here's how to make your own, in only 6 steps!

Before you start, pick up a packet of Iron-On Transfer Sheets for White T-Shirts- they're usually A4 in size and have about 5 sheets per packet. They should be readily available at all craft and department stores.

Now, not everyone has Photoshop, or InDesign, or any other spiffy program- but most people have Microsoft Word, so I'm going to show you how to put your labels together in that.

1. CREATE YOUR LABEL ELEMENTS
In a new document in Word, create WordArt for the different elements of your label. If you know how to do this, skip ahead to Step 2. If not, here's the nitty-gritty:

- In Office 2007, select the WordArt button on the Insert tab. In earlier versions of Word, click the View menu, then Toolbars, then select the Drawing toolbar. On the Drawing toolbar, click the Insert WordArt button.

- Type the first line of what you want on your label- in my case, it was Pepperberry & Co. Select a font that inspires you, and make the size 36. Select Ok when you’re done, then repeat steps 2 & 3 for any other lines of text you want in your label. In my case, I added my shop address: www.pepperberryandco.etsy.com. I chose a different font for this so it stood out. You can also add a picture to your label at this stage.

- Now comes the fun part! Word lets you be phenomenally creative if you know how to use it well. When you click on your WordArt, have a look at the Toolbar- a whole heap of options come up, including the ability to change the colour, size, shape and depth of your text. Have a play around until you fall in love with your creation!

- Once you’re happy with your text, arrange it in the shape that you want your labels to be. I wanted mine to be long and slim, so I put my text elements on top of one another.

2. MERGE YOUR LABEL ELEMENTS
Next, you need to merge all of the elements in your label. To do this, click on one WordArt/Picture element. Push down the Ctrl button, and wave your cursor over another element. The cursor should change to a little arrow with a plus sign next to it. When it does, click on the next element. Do the same for any remaining parts of your label.

While you have all of the text/pictures selected, right-click with your mouse or go to the WordArt Toolbar. In both places there is a heading called Grouping. Select this, and then choose Group. This will group all of your elements together so that they are one image; if you ever need to edit any of the single elements again, simply go back to Grouping and select Ungroup.

3. FLIP YOUR LABEL
Now you need to turn your image backwards, so that when you iron it on it faces the right way. Do this by clicking on your label image. In Word 2007, this will bring up the Image Toolbar, and you'll see an option to the right called Rotate. Select this and then choose Flip Horizontal. In earlier versions of Word, the options are similar- either click Draw and then Rotate or Flip and then Flip Horizontal.

5. MULTIPLY YOUR LABEL
You're nearly done! All you need to do now is multiply your image. Place it in the top left-hand corner of the page, and whilst it’s selected, click Ctrl + C. This will copy the image. Then click Ctrl + V to paste the copy. Move the new copy next to the original image, remembering to leave a gap so that you can cut them; then, continue copying and pasting until your page is full of labels.

6. PRINT AND IRON
Finally, print the images onto the Transfer Sheets, making sure to follow the instructions on the packet regarding which print setting to use. Then, grab your handy paper slicer, chop them up, and iron on!


Viola! Sexy labels for all.

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11:23 AM | Category: , | 50 Pepperberrians Said...