I made some things to remind me how to be

Ella at work said I should make some Bible verse prints to auction at the trivia night last weekend (which went really well, by the way). I am nothing if not open to suggestion, so I gave it a go. And here we are.

I rather like what I came up with, and they sold at the auction with several bids each, so obviously others liked them too. So I decided to put them up for sale on society6...so if you like them too, you can get your very own gorgeously printed copy.

Randomly

I keep thinking I need to marshall all my thoughts and write coherent blog posts before I post anything, so then weeks go by where I don't write because I either don't have the time or haven't worked out what I want to say. But as the always inspiring Pip Lincolne reminded me with her blog post this morning, sometimes you can just blog random things and that's fine. So I'll do that.

I used to blog random things a lot more, in the part of my blog that you can't read anymore because I kind of lost it. Well I have bits of it. But it's really not worth the time it would take to fix it up and re-import it.

I remember when people started saying 'random' a lot (yes kids, there was a time when they didn't). I teased my friend Bek, who was a uni tutor at the time, because she started saying it so much as a result of being around uni students who said it all the time. "That's so random." Even when it wasn't random at all.

Very much enjoying the weather cooling down. Soon it will be cool enough to wear my Bootmakers boots again!

The camellia hedge out the front of our house has exploded in pinky white blossom. It's such a generous plant; it demands hardly any care and gives in abundance.

I find the tyranny of routine frustrating, even though the things that I have to do are great. Every week mapped out like the one before it. Get up. Get ready for work. Drive 50-60 mins to work. Work. Drive 50-60 mins home. Go to thing in the evening. Come home, want to do other things but need to go to bed so I can get up and do it all again.

I think that's why I don't like committing to courses and classes and regular things because that's your Monday night taken, that's your Tuesday night taken, etc. I like having blank days/nights that I can fill with whatever I find, depending on energy levels and how I feel. I'm not Gen Y so I won't say it's Gen Y, and it's certainly not waiting to see if something better comes along...it's just I don't know how I'll feel on any given evening after work.

The two things I've committed to this year are growth group, which means I get to spend time with great people getting stuck into the Bible, and bellydancing, which is fun and exercise. I don't get enough exercise. I would love to box, but realistically it's not me. I'd love to be the sort of person who could just lace up her shoes and run, but that's not me. I'm not saying I can't do these things, because I can, it's just they don't hold my interest long term. But I keep coming back to bellydancing. It's gentle and fun and the women in my current class are great and I always leave with a big smile on my face. So it's worth it.

my jingly jangly bellydancing hip scarf

I will write more about why at some point but I've started studying relaxation massage with ACM, by correspondence. I've got a whole bunch of books and DVDs to work through, at my own pace, so I don't have the pressure of filling up more nights or weekends with classes, but I can just slot it in wherever. I have to do a certain number of logbook hours, practising massages, and the final task is to go in and be assessed. I gave my first two massages last week, to mum and Georgina. I'm finding the whole thing quite fascinating, and giving the massages is quite rewarding; it puts me in a peaceful, calm state of mind to focus on someone else and their wellbeing. It's also good exercise, incidentally.

she was a daytripper

My weekends have been so busy lately, and this past weekend I completely cleared so that I could have some time to rest and repair. And I ended up photographing (a whole bunch of TalulaMei stock I had made but hadn't gotten round to Etsying yet) and sewing (but not for TalulaMei, for myself). I watched lots of Freaks and Geeks and finished The Newsroom and made myself a Daytripper bag (from a Dog Under My Desk pattern). It took me a long time but I absolutely love it. I wasn't planning to add it to my regular TalulaMei repertoire, as it does take so long. But it got a very positive reaction. So maybe I will make a couple and see whether they sell.

Wow this got quite long once I got started. I really need to write more.

Why handmade?

I went into Typo the other day and saw a laptop messenger bag for $15. My heart sank. If you could get something like that for so cheap, why on earth would anyone buy my handmade messenger bags for $65? (and many handcrafted bags sell for a lot more than that)

Then I remembered I was in Typo, where absolutely everything mimics a vintage/handmade/hipster type look for as cheap as possible. Typo is owned by the same people who own Cotton On... so it would be like looking at a $15 jumper and wondering why anyone would buy a hand knitted jumper for many times that amount.

So why would you buy anything handmade?

Well I don't know about you, but I know why I would and do. Here are some reasons:

• The object itself will have had every bit of it pored over, thought about and put together by another human (usually the person you are buying from) - I mean this as distinct from an object that has many, many people involved in its creation and distribution
• The object will be unique, even if similar to other objects in the maker's range
• The materials used will often be ones that you wouldn't see in a mainstream store
• I'm supporting another creative person in their creative pursuit
• I'm encouraging that person that spending time on something creative is valid, and giving them the juice to keep going
• Even though it is purchasing another Thing, so it is not breaking the cycle of materialism, it is actually putting more of a value on a person's time, and on the object itself. Yes, I can buy a mass-produced sweater in a chain store. But will I appreciate it and value it as much as as a jumper that Karen, for example, might have made for me? Of course I wouldn't. 
• You don't have to go into malls
• And now, knowing the joy I get whenever I hear the little Etsy cash register noise on my phone when I make a sale, I know that for the maker, it is really exciting to know that your creations are finding new homes

Looking at that list, though most are reasons why I buy handmade things, they're also reasons why I make handmade things. I've still got lots of stuff from market I need to photograph and put in my store, but do have a look at my TalulaMei Etsy store for my handmade bags, pencil cases and pouches. Yes, I made them all, mostly while watching Gossip Girl, Suits or the Newsroom - Suits and Newsroom are for when I'm cutting out and pinning; Gossip Girl is the best for when I'm actually sewing, because I don't have to pause it when I run the sewing machine (it's not like I'm going to miss out on anything crucial...). Though I've watched all of Suits now, and am rationing the Newsroom. So I've started on Freaks and Geeks, which so far is pretty fun.

But I digress. My point is - buy handmade! You know, if you want. :)

The autumn Spire Market

I've been meaning to recap the Spire Market all week but haven't been too well so it sort of slipped off the list.

We had a few new stall holders this time, and learned a couple of things. Because we're such a small market, we don't want to have too many of any one kind of stall; we want to maximise every stallholder's chance of making sales. But this time there was an accidental emphasis on jewellery (we had a last minute cancellation and accepted someone new who knew another new stallholder...and they both sold jewellery). We had also accepted an application from a candle maker so turned down a few other candle makers (and I didn't bring the candles that I had made)... and then she didn't show up! So we have definitely learned not to tell someone they have a confirmed place until their money is in the bank (I know, I know, a pretty basic lesson, but still).

Because of our missing stallholder, we had a bit more space to set up tables and chairs, with camellia flowers from our garden, so that people could sit have a pleasant Devonshire tea. Mum made scrumptious scones, and the Fairtrade tea and coffee came from Margie's stall, The Honourable Teapot.

Becky and Rachel, our lovely tea ladies

I was worried in the days before market as I hadn't had much time to sew. But when I was going through stock the night before I realised I had quite a lot of stuff that I had packed up after the Glebe market and not unpacked. Win!

I used an Expedit bookshelf that was in the hall to set up my stall, which I liked better than using a table. It meant I could have things on different levels and it looked a bit more shop like. I think my things looked quite lovely, and I made quite a few sales, so it was a good day for me.

My cheerful bags

 Here are some of the other pretty stalls from the day:

Claudia's intriguing coffee pod jewellery

Larissa's delicious necklaces, which I think looked rather edible!

Laura's prints (and there were second hand books on her stall too)

Gin's cards - love the orange/teal colour combo

Mariana's Peruvian rings

Sammi's delightful dolls

Margie's yummy tea

We had more people through the door than the first market, and not just friends and family of the stallholders either! I had tried to put ads everywhere I could think of, which had a mixed result - quite a few people got there way before 10am, seemed to think it was a garage sale and were a bit miffed that it wasn't one. But nowhere in the advertising had we said it was a garage sale...so it just proves that people don't really read the details.

We decided that in the future we'll probably go from 10-3 instead of 10-4. It's a long day, and there weren't many people who turned up in that last hour. But thank you to everyone who popped in throughout the day!

If you want links to any of the stallholders, head to our website. And you can like us on Facebook too. The winter market will be on Saturday 28 June - put it in your diary!

Vote for me!

Hello! If you don't have time to read this, just click here and vote for me. :) But if you want to know what it's about, keep reading.

It's been a busy few weeks. Work is full on at the moment, in that unrelenting way that it sometimes seems to have. I'm trying just to do my work in bite sized chunks, rather than being overwhelmed by the whole of it. I never seem to have a 'down season'. But then, as mum pointed out to me today, at her work (also a not for profit Christian organisation), they have three full time people and one part time person doing my job.

I don't know if that makes me feel better or worse.

On the creative pursuits front, I did Glebe Markets with my TalulaMei stuff - it wasn't a financial success, but it was a worthwhile experiment, if only to teach me that just because people like your stuff doesn't mean they'll buy it if it's in the wrong context! People wanted bargains at Glebe Markets, not handmade stuff. Well, at least I know that now! As Guy would mutter, when people commented that Sammi's dolls at my neighbouring stall were cute: "Cute don't pay the bills!" So now I know that not just any market will do. It has to be the right market.

But the reason for this post is I need your help.

I've made a 2 minute video answering the question "How does my creativity contribute to the world?" as part of my application to get a Big Hearted Business conference scholarship (worth about $500). I'm not sure I know enough people to get the max number of votes required for the peoples' choice award, but it doesn't hurt to try, right? (and who knows, maybe I'll win one of the other scholarships!)

Even though details of the conference haven't been released yet, I know from what I've seen of last year's event that it will be inspiring, nourishing, exciting, challenging, and I really, really, really want to go. Making the video was a good exercise - I am assuming that the reason behind asking entrants to do something creative and with only a couple of weeks' notice was to get people making things, exploring the reasons they do what they do, and not getting hung up on perfectionism. I had different ideas for the video but in the end just had to do it. I wrote something, filmed it and put it on youtube in a little over an hour. Just got to get it out there!

Voting is on Facebook, so if you have a Facebook account, please watch my video (it should be the top one on the page) and click the little vote button! Voting is open until Sunday and you can vote once a day, so...you know...vote often!

After Sunday I'll put the video up here, but I'll send you to watch it via the link for now so as not to confuse the voting issue.

Thank you in advance!

Vote for Bec!