In the land of tomorrow that was thought of today but will not exist until yesterday, there was an ordinary tea cup called Mr. Teetally Tea Cup.

He lived in an ordinary house on an ordinary street with an ordinary little old lady, who had one magical secret...

She could cook extraordinary Magical Scones.

She would order her minions to gather her piles of wood and set her stove alight, making very sure it heated up to exactly 220 degrees Celcius, or 428 degrees Fahrenheit if they were travelling through the magnificent land of Ah-merr-icka.

The minions would then collect 3 cups of self-raising flour, 1 tablespoon of caster sugar, 1 cup of soy milk, and 80 grams of vegan butter, perfectly cubed; for if it was not, the ordinary lady in the ordinary house on the ordinary street would turn into an extraordinarily evil Queen of Hearts.

Once the ingredients were accumulated, the little old lady with the extraordinarily evil streak would snatch her broom and chase her minions wildly from the depths of her kitchen, as they could never be allowed to discover the Top Secret ingredient within her Magical Scones.

With a beastly cackle, she would combine the self-raising flour and caster sugar in a medium-sized bowl; using her fingertips, she would rub in the room-temperature vegan butter until the mixture resembled fine breadcrumbs. She added the soy milk all at once, and used a round-bladed knife to mix the flour and sugar together with a cutting motion. She would be sure not to over mix her mixture, but simply mix until it was mixed together evenly.

It was at this stage that she would add the most important and Top Secret ingredient of all... a potion of Love, Sweetness and Delirium.

The extraordinarily evil Queen would bring the dough together with her hands on a lightly floured surface and wickedly work it until it was smoother than the Cheshire Cat's smile. She then used her weapon of choice (an evil rolling pin) to roll out the dough to exactly 2cm thick, and once she had captured her 5cm pastry cutter, would cut out perfectly round circles before placing them on a baking tray exactly 1cm apart.

They would then go into her preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until the Magical Scones were golden brown on the top and sounded hollow when she tapped the bottom of one with her bony finger. To serve, she would drench them with lashings of vegan butter, rich strawberry jam and thick, whipped vegan cream.

One sunny Sunday in September, she was making her extraordinarily Magical Scones with her Top Secret ingredient in the ordinary kitchen of her ordinary house. Unbeknownst to her, she had accidentally left Mr. Teetally Tea Cup, the ordinary tea cup, in the room with her... and he overheard her entire Magical Scone recipe!

It was in that very moment that he knew he needed to escape, before the ordinary lady in the ordinary house discovered his presence and turned her wicked ways upon him. To escape, however, he needed one very special item...
a Magical Beyond The Looking Glass Passport Cover.

He racked his small pink brain for hours, and in a moment of genius, knew where he could get one- from the bewitching world of Pepperberry & Co. To get there, he only needed to squeeze his eyes very tightly shut, poke his handle harder into his hip, and wiggle his nose five-and-a-half times. Within a second, the Magical Beyond The Looking Glass Passport Cover appeared inside him, and he was off! Flying through space in a whirlwind of madness and kitten toes.

When he landed, it was with a thump. Dizzy and slightly sore, he rubbed his eyes and looked up into the face of the most beautiful young girl. 'Hello,' she said kindly, 'my name is Alice'. She lifted him into her arms, and gave him the sweetest rub all over his little face; suddenly, he turned the brightest of bright pinks and a blinding sparkle began to shine from his newly-golden handle. He was no longer an ordinary tea cup- he was the extraordinarily pink Mr. Teetally Tea Cup!

He wandered down a green grass lane with Alice, towards a meadow of bright pink poppies. On the way, he began to think about the
Magical Beyond The Looking Glass Passport Cover that had saved his life; now that he was safe as safe can be, he wanted to pass it on to one of the wonderful people who lived in the magical world of Pepperberry & Co. So, he decided that anyone who wanted to win his Magical Beyond The Looking Glass Passport Cover simply needed to become a Follower of the Pepperberry & Co. blog, and leave a comment describing the most magical journey they would want to take with its help.

Oh, and whatever happened to Alice and Mr. Teetally Tea Cup? Well, they found a thick, brown trunk made from oozing vegan chocolate, and there they lived together, eating Magical Scones full of Love, Sweetness and Delirium and living happily ever after.

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The best thing about having bloggy Followers is that of being introduced to a whole new world of creative goodness through every reader. When people leave comments, I usually check out their blogs, often end up Following them, then get introduced to other blogs through them... and the world becomes my crafty oyster!

Throughout my exploring of Crafty Blogland, I have found some incredible creations that I am just dying to share with you all. These are a group of softies that have struck a cord with me due to their uniqueness, quirkiness, and the pure joy they bring to my heart when I look at them.

First up is the super-talented Dotty from The Dotty One, who pops out spectacular new softies so many times per week that I think she's secretly a softie machine! In the past few months, she's created these adorable disco fish,
multi-legged monsters, sweet little owls and Clive the Carrot. Check out her blog and shop for further inspiration!

Next up is the amazing Nikki from My Black Cardigan, who also bought you Tango the Magnet. Now, Nikki is always impressing me with her crafty talents, but there was one project in particular that blew me away: these softie replicas she made for friends who were celebrating their anniversary. If the miniature beach towels, pyjamas, bedtime toys and laptop don't make you squeal, then you're a hard-hearted wonder!

The talent must run in the family, because Nikki's sister Truj has also spoilt us with some softie sensations. Apparently, it all started with a mama pig and her bub, but then came a donkey, some chicks, a pair of womats, and a whole other array of gorgeous felted animals to make you never need a pet again. Too precious!

And finally, no list of Softie Inspiration would be complete without the Queen of Softies herself- the marvellous Jodie from RicRac.The imagination that this crafty wonder possesses has to be seen to be believed! A few weeks ago, she introduced her lucky blog readers to Parsley and Beet, the most handsome elephants to have ever gumbooted the Earth. Don't forget to check out her blog and shop for further cute attacks!

Surely after all that inspiration you're hankering for some tutorials? Yes? Good! For I have six delights to share with you today, and I can't wait to see the versions that you create!

First up, we have a delightful Dachshund and a lovely Lamb:

Then a cute Cat and Hoot the handsome owl:

And finally, a delicious Donkey and some mini Mice:

If you've ever wanted to create a soft toy and didn't know where to start, you've now run out of excuses. So, go! Create! Each of these tutorials is super-simple, well written and includes all pattern pieces and instructions. Enjoy!

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Is there any such joy as opening one's letterbox to discover bundles of crafty packages?

I think not!

Since starting my own business, and in particular my own Etsy shop, I have come to understand the joy that supporting handmade brings- not just to the seller, but also to the buyer. As a crafter, I cannot tell you how high and happy I get whenever I make a sale; however, I have also started buying nearly everything I need through Etsy and Made It, and the pleasure I get from supporting fellow crafty types is just as good. The other glorious thing about it, of course, is that I have a permanent Christmas happening in my letterbox!

There is something even better than receiving purchased goodies, though, and that is receiving handmade gifts that have been made just for you. Back in May, I signed up for a lovely Coaster Swap through Kindred Crafters. I was lucky enough to receive the super-talented Kristy as my swap partner, and we quickly figured out that we had an incredible amount in common: we're both lovers of Autumn, are inspired by neutral and warm colours, take great joy in sewing, and live in gorgeous countries (she lives in Italy, the lucky thing!).

Imagine my joy, then, when I opened my letterbox to find a big, fat parcel all the way from Italy. I ripped it open with excitement, and then you should have heard the squeal that emitted from my lungs when I saw...

My very own, personalised, hand sewn, quilted Autumn coasters. Are they not simply sensational? There is no way in the world that I will ever use them, mind you. They are purely works of art that I will pat, admire and whisper sweet nothings to.

Just in case that wasn't wonderful enough, she also popped in a handmade vegan soap and a gorgeous letter. I'm telling you- if you can ever partner with this clever lass for a swap, do it! You will be spoilt beyond belief.

Thank you so much, Kristy! I'm in love.

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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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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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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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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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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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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 feature
d. And to think I only started all this in March!

The week just kept getting better when a surprise email arrive
d 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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