Confession

Hello, my name is Anne and, well, I'm a bad blogger. It has been 88 days since my last blog post. Oh dear.

I've thought about blogging, honestly I have. I've even got several draft posts on hold behind the scenes. Life has been busy, with extra Winter lurgies thrown in for added difficulty. I am very glad that tomorrow heralds the beginning of Spring.

So, lurgies aside, I've been busy preparing lots of new stock because Spring and Summer are going to be BIG for Flibbertigibbet. Just check out that ever growing list of markets over there on the sidebar ------->

Pretty impressive list, huh? There's more to be added too.

But in just thirty days (believe you me, I'm counting!) I will be manning a stall for nine days straight. First up is the fabulous two day Handmade Market at the National Convention Centre on the long weekend in October (1st & 2nd) where I will be sharing a stall with my usual Handmade Market partner, Goosey Gander. Then I'll be moving across the road to the 'A Taste of Handmade' pavillion at Floriade (Floriade! So exciting!) where I will have a stall from the 3rd to the 9th of October. Then, a brief break before heading back to Old Bus Depot Market and also gearing up for a Handmade Market Christmas on the 17th of December.





So please forgive my silence on the blog front - I am busy, busy, busy! Hopefully I can make it back into blogland soon to post some sneak peeks of what I have been working on.

Last minute market

I had a stall at Old Bus Depot Market last Sunday. It was a last minute decision, but I've been spending up big on supplies lately and needed an injection of funds before the credit card bill arrives. So, 'to market, to market' it was.

And brrrr! It was cold! I've learnt to take my camera when heading out in the early morning in Canberra because there are often marvellous photo opportunites to be had - crystal clear blue skies with hot air balloons near Black Mountain reflected in a tranquil Lake Burley Griffin, for example. Last Sunday was not one of those days.

This was the general feel of last Sunday morning at approximately 7.45 am:

Not very inspiring. Things didn't improve on the way, either:

And ten points if you can guess which famous Canberra landmark is hiding in the fog in this photo below:

Just after I took that photo above, I heard on the radio that it was -3° C. See, I told you - Brrrrrrr!

Even though I was indoors, it was still mighty cold. Fortunately I was wearing my boots bought specifically for attending winter markets in Canberra. They are rated to something like minus 32°C. They aren't pretty but I love them.

This was my first Flibbertigibbet stall on my own (Mama Goose from Goosey Gander is so busy with custom orders at the moment that she has to save her stock for her space at Shop Handmade and the upcoming Handmade in Bloom market on September 11) so my one trestle table seemed a bit lonely (as was I!)

The above photo is dark, but I had to include it to show the little patch of sunlight that I stood in to defrost and tracked for as long as possible as it moved across my stall space.

This one shows my stall a little better:

Despite the chilly start, it turned out to be a beautiful day (as frosty mornings in Canberra usually do, thank goodness!) and was a great market day too. My new styles did very well, people just loved the googly eyed ladybirds (see my previous blog post) and I am busy making more. I'm also making lots of fabric flowers in new colours and patterns - they'll be just the thing to coordinate with Spring and Summer frocks.

I had a lot of fun and I hope to be back at Old Bus Depot Market very soon!

A fork in the road

Do any other Gen Xers read the phrase 'a fork in the road' and immediately recall the scene in The Muppet Movie where Kermit directs Fozzie Bear to "Turn left at the fork in the road" and there is indeed a fork (and a huge one at that) stuck in the road?

Thanks to Muppet Wiki for the photo

No? Just me? Well, it obviously made an impression on me - I think The Muppet Movie might have been the first movie I saw at the cinema. It might have also contributed to my appreciation for the banjo but that's another story, I've embarrassed myself enough for today.

I've just returned from a trip to Sydney and while I didn't see any such forks in the road (more's the pity) I have been working on a new line for Flibbertigibbet which reminded me of this turn of phrase. It is quite a change from what I've produced so far for Flibbertigibbet, that's for sure.

I tend to get a bit too excited when I see things I can craft and think "I can do that!" and jump around from one project to another, often leaving many and varied UFOs (UnFinished Objects to those scratching their heads) in my wake. This particular project has been on the list for several years and I've been collecting various components during that time. Finally it is all coming together - hooray!

Intrigued yet? Sneak peeks to come, my camera is charging ...

In the meantime, Baby Boomers can reminisce about taking their children to the cinema, Gen X can jog their memory (you know it's in there somewhere ...) and Gen Y can be educated:

After this walk down memory lane, you'll probably find me humming The Rainbow Connection at Kids in the Shed at Old Bus Depot Market this Sunday. I hope I don't annoy Mama Goose too much.

Under the big top (and some exciting news!)

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Today Mama Goose and I baptised our new marquee under a short and sweet sprinkling of summer rain. We've had the marquee for quite a few months now, but a low hanging tree branch above our allocated spot has thwarted our attempts to erect it. Fortunately the weather has been kind to us and all the protection we have required thus far was a hat and some sunscreen - during summer anyway, winter is a completely different matter!

Last night we dutifully checked the BOM website for Sunday's forecast:

Mostly fine until scattered showers and possible isolated

thunderstorms develop in the afternoon. Cloudy with

moderate east to southeast winds.

Hmm. We decided to take the marquee along, and due to some renovations going on at Hall, we were able to move a few feet to the side of our usual spot and - voila, up went the big top! Well, with a bit of help from our friendly neighbouring stallholders, who had much more experience with marquees than we did and took pity on us!

It was a very quiet day at Hall. I'm not sure if the threatening (but otherwise quite pleasant) weather kept customers away, but even the number of stallholders seemed fewer than usual. Mama Goose and I whiled away a very pleasant day chatting with customers, eating freshly popped Classic Kettle Corn from the stall next door (keep an eye out for their cheerful red marquee at a market or event near you, their 'slightly sweet, slightly salty' popcorn is absolutely delicious!) and discussing plans for our stall at the fast approaching Mathilda's Market.

With the 'moderate east to southeast winds' in mind, I secured

the tags in place with some ribbon and these gorgeous little

ladybird pegs. I've been hoarding them for, oh, about ten

years now - just waiting for the perfect use for them.

I think I've finally found it!

Here you can see one of Mama Goose's gorgeous new Pinny

designs hanging in the background, and some of the quilted

and denim handbags too. These bags are made exclusively

for Flibbertigibbet by my lovely and very talented

mother-in-law, Mary. I added a few new magnet designs

to the range too, and there are lots more to come!

The pegs were a great success, everything stayed

exactly where I intended.

Flibbertigibbet and Goosey Gander will be taking a break from Hall Markets for a few months. Mama Goose and I are very excited to announce that we have recently been accepted as stallholders at the Old Bus Depot Markets at Kingston, and we will be booking in for our first market there very soon. However we still intend to make further appearances at Hall from time to time. Our list of upcoming markets is on the right hand side of this blog and is updated regularly.