My sort of Twilight

You can keep all those werewolves and vampires.  My ideal twilight is sitting with old friends in the evening sun (ah, the joys of daylight savings) in a local park, listening to a jazz concert.

Yesterday was one of those magical spring days that Sydney does so well when she sets her mind to it. Fourteen of us gathered at Wahroonga Park to settle back for an evening of fun and music.  

Mind you, we were not alone.  A few of the neighbours took advantage of the stunning weather to join us.

There were picnics ...

... and lots of red balloons.

Local-girl-made-good Monica Trapaga kicked off the evening with a wonderful selection of old time classics.  I had a dress very similar to hers when I was a lot younger and actually had a waistline.  Sigh.  The last time I saw Monica was back in June at the Etsy Success Sydney conference.  She was in the audience and I was making cringing memories to take with me to my grave.  

Then we were wowed by The Rat Pack, who had the adults tapping their feet and the munchkins dancing.

Mr Fudge was so happy to be seen in public with his new nose finally unbandaged.  He's mightily pleased with it.

As the evening set in we walked slowly back to our friends' home for a delightful dinner.  What a perfect twilight. 

Isn't She Lovely

Isn't she lovely?

Isn't she wonderful?

Isn't she precious?

I know Stevie Wonder was thinking about his own little bundle of joy when he wrote these words, but he could just as easily written them for this little princess.

Californian photographer Sara of Boutique Baby Photography has a wonderful affinity with her little models and I am thrilled with the results.

Christmas is not so far away now and you can order this dress by going to my Etsy or MadeIt stores.  There's currently a two week delay, so don't leave it until the week before Christmas!

If you are in Sydney, I will have a limited number available at the Corpus Christi School Spring Fair (see here).

And now back to the machine.

It's coming

How do you know when Christmas is coming?  When the supermarkets start packing their shelves with Easter Eggs of course.

Here at Hot Fudge Headquarters the machine has been working overtime preparing for the approaching season.  My Christmas Tree garlands will be hitting my Etsy and MadeIt stores on Monday 29 October.  They usually sell fairly quickly, so it might be advisable to mark the date in your diary.

However, on Sunday 28 October I will be selling them at the Corpus Christi School 40th Annual Craft & Fun Fair, along with lots of my Hot Fudge children's clothing.  So if you are in the area, why not drop by and say hello?  The address is 17 Link Road, St Ives.  Bring the whole family, as it promises to be a day of fun for all.  The hours are between 10.00am and 3.00pm.  I'd love to see you there.

Whoosh

That's the sound of this week - whoosh.

Last Saturday the clan descended on the Brenda May Gallery at Waterloo for the official opening of the  Art + Food: Beyond the Still Life exhibition which features some of our daughter Maz Dixon's works.  

I don't know much about art, but I know what I like. 

No, this gentleman and his companion are not part of our clan, but it's good to see that some canines do enjoy visiting galleries.  Or perhaps he was expecting more food and less art.  Here are a few random shots taken on the day.

The next day our three year-old grandson came to our apartment to mind us while his parents and two older siblings attended Cirque du Soleil - OVO.  I think we had more fun than they did.  He even brought along his all-time favourite food - bacon and cheese rolls followed by chocolate chip cookies.  Last time he came he insisted on cheese and honey sandwiches, so it was an improvement.

He gave me tips on how to improve my dressmaking skills.  What a boy.  And you can ask me anything on the creatures in Minuscule, because I know them all, frame by frame.

The weekdays were taken up with dress orders, so thank goodness I had my new-found techniques fresh in mind from Sunday's lessons.  If I am not heard of in the next few days, I can probably be found under a pile of fluff from the sewing and overlocker machines.

To complete the week, today my candy stripe top is featured on the front page of MadeIt, which makes me very happy.  

So where did the week go?  Whoosh.

Food and Art

Two things I can't live without - food and art.  One nourishes the body while the other does wonders for the soul.

As part of the Crave  Sydney International Food Festival, Brenda May Gallery is presenting an exhibition Art + Food: Beyond the Still Life.  It opened  on 2 October and our daughter Maz Dixon is one of the featured artists.

Holiday Attractions # 13

Here's a taste of what she will have on show.  The whole Fudge clan will be there on Saturday for the official opening, so if you are in Sydney, why not drop in to the gallery?  You will be in for a feast for the eyes.  That just about covers all the food puns, so here are the details:

Brenda May Gallery
2 Danks Street
Waterloo  2017
Tues-Fri 11.00 - 6.00, Saturday 10.00 - 6.00, closed Sunday
Exhibition runs until 20 October

Delicious.

It's called customer service

This is a tale of two fabric suppliers.  Let's start with the Good Supplier.

Hawthorne Threads is a business run by a lovely couple with a young family.  They started with a shop on Etsy and that's where we first met.  Right from the start Lindsay and Charlie offered superb service and before long they took the big step to open their own on-line business.  Charlie devised the web design and it is a joy to navigate.

From the fabric designers screen, it's a simple matter to click on the View Entire Collection button to take a closer look at the different colour palettes available.

For instance, this is a fabric I have used in the past.  Immediately the purchaser can see the price and, more importantly, how much fabric is available.  Some time back I uploaded an image of a dress I made using this fabric and it can be seen second from the right in the next row.

Anyone can click on the link and be immediately taken to my Etsy shop.  Excellent.

It's the personal service which I cherish.  I can put in an order and I immediately receive an email showing the items I have purchased, along with a payment acknowledgement.  Within 24 hours (usually sooner) I receive advice that my order has been mailed.  They make me feel as though I am the only person in the world and they are sitting by their computer just waiting for me to place an order.  So I have to admit when I hear others in my various quilting groups mention Hawthorne Threads in glowing terms, I have a slight pang of jealousy - it's like sibling rivalry.  I am not after all their only child.  But I forgive them, because they deserve all the success that is coming their way. They announced a sale the other day and their web site was so rushed that it collapsed for a few hours. Ah, the trials of running a good business.

Now for the Not So Good supplier, with apologies in advance for the rant.

I will not name this organisation, but it is possibly the best known fabric supplier in America.  I was in need of a particular fabric which was no longer available through Hawthorne Threads.  This other organisation was having a sale.  By a fluke I discovered the fabric I was after listed under a completely different designer and, against my better judgment, I placed an order.  Maybe it's just me, but I really have a storm cloud over my head whenever I have used this supplier in the past.  To fill out the order a little (to justify the cost of the shipment) I also ordered small amounts of three other fabrics.  I should have known better.

After completing my order, I waited in vain for two days for some sort of acknowledgement.  I knew the order had been received because they immediately booked the amount on my bank account.  I logged into my account on their web site to see what was going on.  It showed that one of the extra fabrics I ordered was on back order and my order had not yet been shipped.  It's a bit like Russian Roulette dealing with them, as invariably there are a couple of fabrics which they don't actually have and they are put on back order.  In the meantime, they book the full amount in your bank account, which I find a little shonky.  I sent a friendly email to Customer Service (ha!) requesting that if the back order was the reason for the hold-up, please cancel it so that I could receive the fabric I need urgently.  The response was rapid and rude - no salutation at the beginning and no name at the end.  I have to admit that it got under my nose and I committed the cardinal rule - I answered in haste, something I never do, but I was a tad put out by the response I received.

It took Customer Service Person two days to fire another rude email, telling me in no uncertain terms that they were busy with their sales and that my order would take 3-4 days to process from the time it was received    It is now six days later and the order has still not shipped, although I notice that the order is "in the warehouse", whatever that means.  My heart raced a little this morning when an email arrived from them, but it was to advise that the back ordered fabric was not available and they have cancelled it.  I know from experience that they will now take another bite at my bank account for the adjusted amount, while the original amount is still booked, effectively taking double the amount, albeit temporarily.  I know they will eventually drop the original amount, which ethically should not have been taken in the first place.

I would dearly love to introduce Supplier No 2 to Supplier No 1.

It all comes down to one thing.  It's called customer service.

Why I love Saturdays, apart from the supermarket shopping

After a week of filling in orders for dresses, Saturday couldn't come soon enough.  The Spring weather in Sydney is glorious, if a little chilly for my liking, after 21 years in sunny Queensland.    We hadn't been to the movies in such a long time, so after the supermarket shopping was stacked away, off we trotted to the local cinema.

If you haven't seen the French Canadian film Monsieur Lazhar, grab your tissues and find out where it is showing in your city.  It really is that good.

The last month has seen me virtually chained to the sewing machine, with orders coming in from my Etsy and MadeIt shops, as well as several local orders.  All it takes is a burst of sunshine for a week or so for people to realise that it's time to replenish their children's wardrobes, and I am more than happy to oblige!

This has been such a popular little dress and I have several on back order waiting for a new shipment of fabric to arrive in the next few days.  Here are some of the other dresses which have sold well over the past month:

Garlands also sold well.

With a market on the horizon, my poor Bernina will be in for some torrid sessions over the next few weeks.  Thank goodness for Saturdays.