BrisStyle plays Santa

How would you like to win over $300 worth of handmade goodies just in time for Christmas? I know, it's a no brainer.

Clockwise from top left: Baby Frilly Pants, Size L, Bettsy Kingston; Chocolate Carp Onesie, 6-12 months, Small Town Carousel; Vintage Picture Canvass, Designs by Rondelle; 2 Girl’s hair clip sets with non-slip grips, Chelley Bean Designs; Stripes and zigzags large drawstring bag, Laughland; and Bermuda Shorts, Blue Coral, Boy or Girl, Size 5, Hot Fudge.

Clockwise from top left: Simple Swirls Necklet, Rock N Wrap; Festive Season brooch, SM Boutique; Set of four dandelion TtV photo prints, Hey Harriet; Dear Prudence earrings, Miu and Umi; Tea Cozy Notecards, Renee’s Artwork; and Red Lavender Scented Bird, Edward and Lilly.



Clockwise from top left: Mini mounted art print, My Nostalgic Feeling; Caravan Brooch, Tree Party Designs; Happy bag, Wimcee; Yellow and white polka dot drawstring bag, Shelley Berelli; Decorated Clothespins Fridge Magnets, Designs of the Heart; Cupcake Towel Set, Cute as Buttons; and Handmade soaps, Warm Sigh.

To enter your name in the draw, hop over to the BrisStyle blog, follow the simple instructions and keep your fingers crossed until Sunday 5 December when the winner will be announced.  This is a wonderful opportunity to do some serious damage to your Christmas shopping list, so don't delay.  Spread the word among your friends and relatives - you never know, they may win and give you some of the goodies for Christmas! 

Two more markets

It's one of those magic Brisbane days when you can feel the warmth of the promised summer.  Christmas is less than a month away, so it's time for some serious shopping.

If you don't live in Brisbane, maybe it's time you paid a visit to our fair city.  Next Saturday would be the perfect time, as BrisStyle is holding its Indie Designers Market and it will be packed with all your shopping needs for the family.

It's never too late to discover something about yourself.  A couple of days ago for instance I discovered that I am not an Overlocker Whisperer.  I thought it would be prudent to clean my fairly new overlocker, as it had been quite some time since its last clean and I had been working it fairly hard.  One lesson to be learned - wait until you have finished your current project before attempting such adventures.

I opened the casing and was engulfed by a wild mass of fluff which had been waiting to attack as soon as the latch was released.  There was enough to stuff a decent queen sized mattress.  During the process of shovelling it all away, I carelessly let the lower locker thread run free.  No problems.  This is one of those modern easy to thread models.  It was about here that I discovered that I am an Overlocker Shouter.  Nuff said.   

Back to the market, which promises to be full of holiday spirit with music, food and a happy Christmassy atmosphere.  You will find all your old favourite vendors and a few exciting new members as well.  It will be extended a further two hours, finishing at 4.00pm instead of the usual 2.00pm, so there's plenty of time to come and join in the fun.

Saturday 4th December 9am - 4pm

St Augustine's Church

Racecourse Road

Hamilton, QLD

If you are unable to attend this market, stay tuned for news of our final Twilight Market at King George Square on 17 December.

Christmas Angels

What do you do when you are handed a black plastic garbage bag containing two wire coat hangers, some tinsel, two white garbage bags, a toilet roll and some ribbon?  You make a Christmas Angel - what else?

It's the end of November, which means the round of Christmas parties has commenced.  Yesterday Schoolhouse Quilters' day group held their party, with the usual games, gift swaps, much laughter and at the end of the day a heart-warming story.

A veteran of twenty of these events, I was cunning enough to avoid acting as a model/victim in the Christmas Angel game, choosing instead to help create the vision above (of course, our team won).

Mind you, we had some stiff competition!



Representative of the McIntyre Centre (l) accepting cheque from
Schoolhouse Quilters' president Alison Campbell (r)
























Our charity quilt raffle this year raised $2,600 for the McIntyre Centre, a horse-riding academy for the disabled.  This centre is not far from where I live and I know that it carries out a magnificent job in teaching disabled children and young adults to ride, giving them such self-confidence and pride.  Some pupils have represented Australia in the Paralympic Games.  Sadly, there are over 250 children on the waiting list, a five year wait for most of them, but as the Centre has to rely mainly on donations to keep running, these poor children will probably wait in vain.  Government bodies waste so much money on some pretty silly schemes - here is a truly worthy cause, so I hope they are listening.

We were asked to bring along a photo from our teen years and it obviously taxed our brains figuring out just who was who.  I brought along a picture taken when I was 15 and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when everyone picked it straight away.

Time for a sumptuous lunch and the opening of the Christmas swap gifts.

And the heart-warming story?  I noticed an elderly lady who I had never seen before.  She was soon joined by a group of quilters and I assumed that she was mother to one of them.  It was only later I was told that she is local to the area and suffers from dementia.  She usually wanders into the hall to see what's going on that day.  One of our members recognised her and took her under her wing.  Word was sent to her husband that she was in safe hands and she sat down and enjoyed a lovely lunch and watched our antics with amusement.  Then she was taken safely home. 

True Christmas Angels.

Twilight Time

With Christmas speeding towards us at a frightening pace, it's time to check on the shopping list.  If you will be in Brisbane on Friday 19 November, you could save your frazzled nerves and aching feet by doing all your Christmas gift shopping at the BrisStyle Indie Twilight Market.  Here are a few of the items to whet your appetite.


Miss Dish Designs






 

 

Un Cielo
























Ruby 2 Go Go

























Pannikin



Lemon Ink





Mon Petit Poppet



Marjon Scheffer



















REread



Denim Days

This is but a small sample of what's in store to delight you at the Twilight Market between 5.00 and 9.00pm.  I know I'll be there, this time as a visitor.  However, I'll have my Hot Fudge stall at the next Twilight Market, so I hope you come along then if you can't make this one.

Of course, you can always hop on line and see what we BrisStylers have for sale in our Etsy shops.  You'll see a full list of members here.  Happy shopping!

Let's hear it for the boys

Girls' clothing makes up about 90% of my Etsy shop, but there is one little corner crying out for attention.  It's the boys.

My outrageously expensive house model has spared no energy in displaying the versatility of these elephant baggy shorts.

They look equally cool when you're grooving ...

... or relaxing after a hard day in the sand pit.  The t-shirt is part of the model's private collection (Daddy's Car Shirt) and he will not give it up without a fight.

On the other hand, if it's the authentic French look your little man is after, here's the answer.

Made from fabric bought in Paris, these shortalls are perfect for a day's outing or for building sand castles on the beach.

After all that activity, it's time for our action man to relax in the reading nook (or any quiet corner of the house) and browse through a book or two.

This cushion is currently available here.

So let's hear it for the boys - where would we be without them?

Summer in the City

Ah ... can you feel it?  Brisbane's warm days have arrived and are here to stay - well, at least for the next six to seven months.  Time to check out those sun dresses.  If you were three years old last summer, I'm guessing you're in the market for a whole new wardrobe. 

Here's a good place to start - it's a generous size 4 and ticks all the cuteness buttons ...

... or bows!

Even when the weather chills off a little, your princess can pop a pretty knit or tee underneath and carry on twirling.  It will be for sale at the upcoming BrisStyle Christmas Markets on 4 and 17 December, so please come by for a closer inspection.  It's also for sale in my Etsy shop.

If you will be in Brisbane next Friday evening, why not take in the exciting BrisStyle Indie Twilight Market at King George Square? 

The market runs from 5.00 to 9.00pm and with the Christmas Shopping Season well and truly upon us, this is the place to be.  I know I'll be there with my hot little Christmas Wish List.

Driving Miss Dahlia

My highly paid house model loves twirly skirts.

She stops on occasion to catch her breath.

I have one last dahlia dress in my Etsy shop in a size 4.  It has a shirred back for ease of fit and as you can see, it has enormous twirling capabilities.  It will also be on sale at the BrisStyle Christmas Markets on 4 and 17 December.

 
















Take a bow, Miss Dahlia.

Come rain or come shine

The BrisStyle Indie Eco Market is on tomorrow, no matter if the heavens have decided to open up or not, so don't let a little rain dampen your spirits.

Let your happy feet tap all the way tomorrow, Saturday 6 November, to St Augustine's, Racecourse Road, Hamilton between 9am-2pm.  You will be guaranteed a spiffing* time.

• * 1853, of uncertain origin, probably related to spiff "well-dressed man." Spiffing "excellent" was very popular in 1870s slang. Uncertain relationship to spiff (n.) "percentage allowed by drapers to their young men when they effect sale of old fashioned or undesirable stock" (1859), or to spiflicate "confound, overcome completely," a cant word from 1749 preserved in Amer.Eng. slang spiflicated "drunk," first recorded 1906 in O.Henry.

I am not suggesting that you will become drunk!

 














I'm a little stir-crazy today.  I'm up to my eyeballs in orange rickrack in an effort to complete some goodies for the upcoming BrisStyle Christmas markets.   By the time this evening comes around, I will be well and truly ready for a colour change.  To red.  As in wine.  With pizza.

The Race that Stops a Nation

Picture this.  Melbourne Cup Day.  It's a public holiday in Melbourne and it's raining cats and dogs.  Here in Brisbane we gather with friends in the warm sunshine to soak up the Melbourne atmosphere, but not that pesky rain. 

I was up early to make my contribution to lunch, lemon meringue pie.  Eleven of us gathered on the back porch of our friends' home and before long the first champagne cork popped (Mr Fudge has a special talent in this department).

Jack the kookaburra knows that sound only too well.  If there's champagne, can the food be far behind?

Ah, that's better.

It was time to draw the sweep and one of the punters came prepared to spend up big.  This is legal tender in Zimbabwe - it will buy you three eggs.

After lashings of prawns, cold beef fillet, seafood pie, roast potatoes and salad, washed down with a little wine, it was time to watch the race.

As every living soul in Australia knows, the winner was Americain, an American bred horse, trained by a Frenchman, ridden by a Hong Kong based French jockey and owned by Australians.  Tres jolie!  My horse ran in second, so I came away with a little more than 100 billion Zimbabwean dollars.

After all the excitement of the race, dessert was a welcome diversion.  The lemon meringue pie was followed by some of Joy's baked cheesecake.  Mmmm ....

Where would you rather watch the Cup from?  Melbourne ...

... or Brisbane?

I know - it's a no-brainer.