Jemma of HMK and Julia of RADD are doing an AMAZING job for the auction on facebook to raise money for QLD flood victims. They have been absolutely inundated with donations and are spending all their spare time uploading all the details. It has seen many online businesses rallying around and donating some wonderful products. I am already eyeing of several I want to bid for!

I urge everyone to head over to the facebook site, donate if you are able to (check the info tab of when and how to do so) and if you can’t donate, support by bidding on items on Friday.

A huge thank you to Jemma and Julia for all their time and efforts for organising it all.

Oh gosh, have awoken to the news this morning about the flash flooding in Toowoomba and are devestated for the loss. It is so upsetting watching the footage on tv. We have had many lovely customers from Toowoomba and many of the other flood affected areas in QLD and we are thinking and praying that you are all safe.
Ollie Rose will be donating to Hand Made Kids online auction so we will give you more details of that soon and how you can participate to help those in need.

One year ago today this beautiful little darling Esmae made her arrival.

That beautiful chubby faced little sweetie gave us a few months of “what have we done!? ” moments, but after all the hard stuff fades away she just makes me want more!

On Christmas day she started taking steps, about 5 at a time and she is pretty much full time walking now.  It is all of a sudden, that once seemingly little baby takes on a whole new light once they are upright.  She seems much more grown up, her level of understanding seems to have skyrocketed and she is just the funniest sweetest little person ever lately. And yay for walking just before her birthday as it is no fun to crawl in a pretty dress!

So we celebrated this amazing first year of her life with a Tweet themed birthday. Of course in the weeks leading up to it I was imagining this whole elaborate birthday, as you do laying in bed at night, and in reality the cake isn’t quite what I had imagined and the decorations I had planned didn’t quite happen but the afternoon was just perfect anyway. Esmae had an absolute blast and made an “ooo” face every time she opened a present. She loved her first taste of cake….. a little hesitant at first but once she got into it she thought it was great and she was still so happy and excited right up to bed time…or was that the sugar kicking in!

So here are some pics of the beautiful birthday girl, her party and a few things from around on the day. Prepare for a mega pic overload!

So now that my girls are both tucked up in bed I am off to reminisce about what I was doing this time one year ago….and what the next year and new move will bring….whilst gobbling up some more yummy banana cupcakes!

Kobie

….another move! Yes that is right! Can you believe it!?

I am trying hard to not think about it too much in the hope that maybe it is all just a weird dream. Don’t get me wrong I am happy about it but honestly moving state twice in under a year is a little much.

So husband is finally finishing his career as a Police Officer after 13 years! A big change for him but I can see the weight has already lifted off his shoulders. I think the change in jobs is just what he needed, without going into it all, it is a pretty draining and difficult  for anyone in the job, and I know part of him will miss it but the new job takes him still to a management role but in a much more relaxed coastal environment and moves us back to WA.

I am over the moon at going back closer to family, loving the thought of living in a small town again (city life is BUSY!) and oh to be on the coast where you can actually swim again. We have loved it here too mind you and neither of us feel quite ready to leave but all the benefits of the move help soften the blow of missing our friends and all the great things about being up here.

So here I am again….I am well practised… filling out inventories…….how many knives do you have?…how many books?………how many boxes of other items? (sheesh……I dunno…100?)

Trying to co-ordinate moving trucks and transporting cars and a dog and us all to be at the other end at the same time. HEADACHE!

Chuck in entertaining a 4 year old ( I am finding 4 hard work….so much more involved entertaining a 4 year old than the years before this) and a very active not quite one year old, doing a spot of sewing here and there, trying to fit in as many bbq’s and morning tea’s with friends as I can before we go and trying hard to do a bit of sorting and cleaning before life is back in boxes……….well I got tired just typing that!

I might not be able to walk yet but I sure can climb!

One more thing to get out of the way before I can let my head fully commit to the thought of the move, my baby girl is turning one next week! So of course now I have to plan a little party for her. Just a little afternoon tea and I am creating a theme around the dress she has to wear (by Plum Baby and purchased from Little Lamb here in Darwin) so red, pink and aqua blue,  and then using birds which I know she will love as she is totally obsessed with them. Of course I will share pics of everything after the day but here is some of the progress.

Kobie

Ok so we have got all your messes in 2011 covered now. Kids are really messy little things and I am always looking for ways to keep the home, kids and myself a little bit cleaner.

I let my kids make a mess, I mean that is the best bit of being a kid so I wont deny them that, but I prefer not  have to spend all my days cleaning it up. Seeing as craft is a much  loved activity around here I don’t be too precious about what is happening, don’t want to crush the creative spirit!  Pretty much everything we use like crayons, paint and glue is washable anyway and so far I have always found I am able to get any bits off anywhere they shouldn’t be.  I don’t however enjoy having to get the mop out after each session to fix up any drips and spots around the craft table….oh the joys of pristine white tiles!  So of course I am loving the new things we have in store that will help to make these messes that little bit easier to keep contained and  easy to clean up.

These oilcloth Splat Mats or Mess Mats will be your best mess free friend. Now those “ooops Mum the glue is running off the table” cries don’t have me sighing at the sticky mess I will have to clean up. No problems, I just peel the glue off when it is dry on mine. Or you can just take outside to shake off all the glitter and give it a quick wipe down.  I can also fold it away for when visitors are coming by so that my floors still look white and shiny. No more play dough squashed in the grout!

It is a god send for under the high chair. Without one my floors can be freshly mopped but one meal later and it looks like they haven’t been done in weeks. Enter the Mess Mat….pop under high chair and again just scoop it up and take it outdoors for a shake out or over to the sink for a quick wipe down.

The oilcloth is , waterproof, durable and wipe-able and they are really big too, a generous 117x89cm (approx) .

The lovely and clever Jocelyn has handmade them all. I loved this comment she made:

“I am a stay at home mom to 1 little bean. Most of my sewing is done during naptime and bedtime, although occasionally my lap is occupied while I sew…picture THAT! ”

It completely reminded me of sewing with Sabre on my lap when she was about 18months old. Blast from the past photo….

Also from Jocelyn’s range are the cool easy care laminated cotton bibs. Considering we use 3-5bibs a day….some can be rinsed clean others definitely need a machine wash, using these laminated bibs for some of the meals and snacks means a quick wipe over or rinse and voila…..clean and new again, straight back into the drawer. Saves me from an extra bib wash a week. They are also in gorgeous laminated fabrics and have a very handy crumb pocket and adjustable snaps. LOVE!

Kobie

Of course another year has flown by super fast and it is time to look back on the past year, the items we have created and the gorgeous pictures sent in by our lovely customers.

The past year saw some big changes for us with the birth of Esmae and a move from Western Australia to the Northern Territory.  Both being life changing events that meant we had to slow down this year in comparison to the previous years.  We also decided to expand our ranges to include some commercial items along with many new handmade ranges from other talented crafters and we are so pleased to be offering our lovely customers more choice from our store.

We also received some fabulous media mention the past year in some great magazines and blogs.  It is always exciting to see your items in other places, to flick open a magazine and discover one of your goodies in there.

Well it is time to say goodbye to 2010 and see what 2011 brings us next year, I believe it means our 4th year as an official online store,  if my calculations are correct – wow!, we have learnt so much in all that time.

Thank you to everyone for your support over the past 12 mths and we hope to see  you stopping by Ollie Rose next year.

Jemma & Kobie