Christmas Trees

Today we are setting up our Christmas tree.  My philosophy is you can never have too many lights or too much tinsel.  Clark Griswald is my hero.

However, I realise not everyone shares my tree enthusiasm, so I have made some garlands for those among us who can't stand all that packing away and sweeping up truckloads of fallen tinsel in the New Year.  Not every household has a Mr Fudge who LOVES this chore. 

The Christmas Tree garlands were a big success at last Saturday's BrisStyle market and sold out quickly.  If you would like one of your very own, you can buy it here or at the BrisStyle Christmas Twilight Market on 17 December. Each garland measures 2 metres, with 10 trees which are backed with light green spotted fabric.  No two garlands are alike, so why not buy a few?  They make ideal gifts for those difficult-to-buy-for people in your life. 

Where's Noah when you need him?

I love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains,

Of ragged mountain ranges,

Of droughts and flooding rains.

I love her far horizons,

I love her jewel-sea,

Her beauty and her terror -

The wide brown land for me!

Many years ago when I was a mere slip of schoolgirl, every child in Australia knew these lines by Dorothea MacKellar off by heart.  It was virtually our anthem.

Well, we have come out of years of drought only to plunge straight into the flooding rains - no pause to catch our breath - straight into it.

Of course, it didn't auger well for the BrisStyle Indie Designers Market yesterday.  Perhaps that's an understatement.

This was the view from our car at 6.30 yesterday morning as we pulled in for fuel on the way to set up for the market.  I wasn't what you'd call confident.  However, Mr Fudge had checked out the radar over Hamilton and assured me that all would be well.  And true to his word, the rain had stopped by the time we arrived and stayed away for the best part of the morning.

I love arriving at the early hour to be welcomed by fellow BrisStylers, full of warm greetings and enthusiasm for the day ahead.  Outside marquees were being erected, cars unloaded and inside the hall we plunged into getting our stalls ready for the start of business.

My lovely neighbours were Melanie of Kimono Reincarnate, Renee of Renee's Artwork, and Eliza of Warm Sigh Soap.

Kimono Reincarnate

Renee's Artwork

Warm Sigh Soap

Poor Eliza had a bad dose of laryngitis, but in true spirit she made the best of the situation.  She had printed out a stack of signs guaranteed to answer just about any question thrown in her direction.  It was so funny to watch the customers' reactions when confronted with a printed sign suddenly thrust before their startled eyes, explaining the situation.  The frown of concentration would turn to a smile of recognition and sympathy.  Any question on the variety of soaps for sale had a ready response.  I guarantee if someone asked her who was the first man to conquer Mt Everest, she would whip out her Edmund Hillary sign.   What a trouper. 

The shoppers were a happy lot and were enjoying the BrisStyle Market experience.

I quickly sold a couple of dresses and this Christmas Tree bunting sold faster than the proverbial hot cakes.  In no time at all they were completely sold out, even my display garland, which was quickly replaced with my everyday bunting.  (Mental note to self: make Christmas Tree bunting for the Twilight Market on 17 December.)

The little children were fascinated by the lights decorating my table and I must admit I was a little mesmerised by them as well. 

Then the heavens opened up and things looked a little bleak.

The rain poured down ferociously; however, the hardier breed of shopper simply wrung out their rain-sodden hair and kept on shopping.  In the end it was decided to close down the outdoor section of the market for safety reasons.  

I take my hat off to those girls.  Inside they must have been devastated, but the cheerful front they presented was nothing short of heroic.  Some of them told me that up until the nasty downpour it had been their best market day to date, so at least that's some consolation.  It was indeed heartwarming to observe the stall holders helping each other out with plastic sheets, umbrellas, anything to keep the rain off their stock.

Not long after that, the decision was taken to close the market entirely, as it was obvious that the rain was going to hang around for quite some time.  Despite all the dramas, it was a truly lovely day, full of Christmas spirit which was helped along by these carolers who entertained the shoppers with some beautiful Celtic carols, as well as the better known Christmas carols and songs.

We Fudges had a nice bottle of wine waiting for us at home which we put to good use last night, along with a couple of delicious cupcakes from Enticing Icing.  An unusual yet strangely comforting combination to finish off the memorable day.

The winner of the Gold Medal goes to our brilliant co-organiser Helen who buoyed us all up during the day with her usual positive spin on everything.  She also took out the 100 metres freestyle, splashing from one marquee to another with words of encouragement and a lot of good old-fashioned kindness.  A class act.

Saturday Market

Only a few days now to the BrisStyle Indie Designers Market and we are all keeping our fingers crossed for a bright sunny day.   Come rain or shine, it will be the perfect time to get cracking on that Christmas shopping.

These bright dresses are hot off the machine and will be for sale at my stall.   They are perfect for the holiday season.

I've taken a peek at some of the other stallholders' goodies and I know it's going to be a bumper day.

There will be music, food, face painting and lots of other attractions to keep you happy.

Saturday 4th December 9am - 4pm

St Augustine's Church

Racecourse Rd

Hamilton, QLD

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!