Celebrating Mothers' Day 2013

Bonjour! Oui, c'est moi. Just popping in to thank you so much for your heartfelt responses to my last post. Please know how much your words lifted my spirits. However, it threw the cat amongst the pigeons for some so I edited it and some comments - life's complicated enough right now.  Anyway, onto lighter news. Here are some highlights of my Mothers' Day 2013.

Having a photo of me with the pixies is such a treat. Bed hair and all!

They helped Mr PB whip up some scrambled eggs and bacon. Mmm!

Here's Joshie's card spelling out Mothers' Day. Bless him. I've never been called awesome before!

Miss India's card gave me a huge hug!

They raided my Liberty stash and wrapped my pressies in it.

I was treated royally. Here's my lucky haul. So much goodness there. The Liberty handkerchiefs were the most amusing part. Mr PB had managed to nab some fabric from my stash and get a friend to hem it for him!

Some bubbles were duly poured.

Then our parents came over for lunch. Here are the three mums being toasted.

It was a glorious autumnal Hobart day so we enjoyed spending it outside. Simple pleasures.

And that, sweet Planetarians, is a wrap. How did you spend your Mothers' Day? Do tell.

Feeling tired and tongue-tied

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Hello lovely Planetarians. I am really struggling here. This popping-my-head-back-over-the-parapet business to restart blogging is confounding me. For the first time ever, I don't know where to start. The challenges life has been throwing us lately have left me unsteady on my feet. And this bloggy caper, which always came so readily to me before, is no longer familiar territory.

I miss it.

And I miss you, too.

I don't mean that in a melodramatic, overly familiar way. I mean it most genuinely. I treasure the support you Planetarians gift to me, in so many ways and places. I have only been visiting your blogs fleetingly of late and am missing sharing your latest tales.

Most of all, I am missing being a good friend to so many of you who have been just that to me in recent times.

I wish I could offer all you more but right now, I need to conserve my energy to focus on our family's immediate needs.

I am really tired. Bone-achingly so. Long-time Planetarians will know just how challenging the last 7 years have been since we arrived on Planet Baby. The pace has been unrelenting. And the hurdles keep popping up. I loathe running and hurdling is even less my style. But those hurdles continue to appear, just as I'm gaining some momentum.

And so I raise my right leg yet again, trying not to trail my ankle, straining forth to mount yet another one.

At the moment, I feel like I have more problems than I could poke a stick at. I've struggled to work out how to articulate this to you. I don't wish to whinge or make out that my problems are any greater than anyone else's. Far from it. I guess it's just part of my 'keeping it real' motto.

But, and there's the rub, I also feel tongue-tied. There are so many things I'd like to share with you about how we're faring right now but so many of these tales are not my own to tell. So I can't.

Here's a snapshot of life on Planet Baby at the moment:

Mr PB

Mr PB's job hunt continues. He's still working his casual night job. It helps but he's been taking on extra shifts. He's tired.

Finances

Life is very challenging right now.

The pixies

It's school holiday time. The days are getting shorter and cooler. That means more time indoors for the pixies. The issue of the appropriate amount of screen time for them is vexing us no end. 

Planet Joy

Planet Joy is tootling along nicely. But I have so many more ideas and hopes for it. It has so much potential that I long to fulfil.

I'd love to find a business mentor to help me write a business plan and help me find the people who have the skills I lack in photography, styling, merchandising, social media and marketing. The whole small business caper, actually.

Hmm, no wonder I'm tired. Thankfully, I am thoroughly enjoying the challenges of Bikram yoga. I've been attending 4-5 times a week for the past 6 weeks, thanks to Romy's encouragement. It's starting to work wonders with both my body and mind. Will fill you in soon about it.

This post is a bit of a meander. But it's where my mind's at right now. I hope I've filled in the gaps a little without disclosing too much.

Finally, thankyou for all your kind words and actions in recent times, especially all the emails which I've been struggling to answer. I can't express how grateful I am for every effort you make to contact me. I am trying to catch up on the backlog.

So I am back blogging. Please just bear with me a little longer while I get my rhythm back!

Celebrating Easter 2013 on Planet Baby

Bonsoir, you gorgeous Planetarians. Thanks so much for your enthusiastic responses to my last post about Planet Joy. I'd love to bottle your enthusiasm! And speaking of which, that's how Easter was embraced here this year. We had brunch here with a couple of families with youngsters - there were 6 adults and 12 under 12! Much hilarity ensued. I'll let the photos do the talking.

The Great Easter Egg Hunt

Here's Miss India with her bounty.

And Joshua.

Followed by Sam, saying "Cheese!" as only he can!

Here are the assembled hunters.

Sammy found eggs in the unlikeliest places.

Here's India's basket, early on in the hunt. They all had a hoot!

The Grand Tugs-of-War

Then we followed up with some good ole tug-of-war races. Hilarious. Just look at the concentration.

And then the kids beat the dads easily!

My Easter craft

The pixies loved the Liberty bunny ears I made them.

Still smiling on cue for his Mum at age 7. Long may it last!

And this little chappy was getting tired after a long day.

My three little bunnies hit the sack early. And just like that, another Easter was over. More memories salted away - love it! How was your Easter? Do share - I'm all ears!

And joy rushes in: the lowdown on Planet Joy

Ahem. Getting back into the bloggy saddle is proving harder than I anticipated! Life here is still a hard struggle at the moment so my energy reserves are finite. I can't blog like I used to. However, I want to resume regular life back here as I miss you all. So I'll keep up these shorter posts with that aim for the next little while, okay? Now, time to fill you all in on recent Planet Joy happenings! 

The past 5 months have flashed by. I've had some welcome successes, numerous efforts and a few disappointing fizzers. All part of the mix when setting up a craft business, I guess. I've learnt that you're always learning as you go. But all up, it's been a huge positive in our lives, especially during this tough time. Yes, joy has really rushed in - I'm so delighted I chose that name. I need more positivity in my life!

What I'm making

Fabric wrapped wire names and words 

The most popular pieces so far have been my hand-bent wire words and names which I wrap in fabric. Liberty of London Tana lawn is my favourite choice but I also have an ever-growing range of plain fabrics as well.

My top-seller is this yellow 'hello'. Keeping up with the demand is tricky!

Here are some of the names I've made - I love custom orders.

And here's a word.

This has proven popular as well.

Liberty wrapped wire phrases 

The possibilities I can create are endless.

Here's one I made for my *room of my own*, for example.

Liberty wrapped letters and words

A goodly number of you have ordered your initial. Love that. Here's Annie's.

And here are some words.

One for my fellow Francophiles.

And one for us all.

Let me know if you have any requests. I'll see what I can do!

Liberty wrapped decorations

I've also played around a little. Here are the results.

A brooch.

The French word for 'dream'.

Covered coathangers.

 And an ampersand. Blue and white to boot. Happy days!

Wreaths

I started off making beribboned wreaths which several of you snapped up.

Then I branched out to dupion silk - thanks for the suggestion, Sam!

I made one like this for gorgeous Romy.

This black one is so striking. And deliciously tactile.

The big ones use a metre of silk, if you can believe it. I've just found a fabulous source for it so stay tuned for some different colours!

My market experiences so far

I've attended three markets so far. The first was lamentable. It was in January, a notoriously (I since discovered) difficult time for craft markets as everyone has either maxed out their credit cards at Christmas and/or is on holidays. Here I am at the beginning of the day.

Fortunately, lovely Mel visited me with newborn Flynn which lifted my spirits, as did a surprise appearance from Anita who was holidaying with her family.

I then had a crazy weekend with back-to-back markets. Here's the first which was slightfully more successful. My fellow stallholders also had moderate days.

And the next day, I backed up here. This was a fizzer as well. It was a new market and only just finding its feet, publicity-wise. Most of the stallholders I talked to barely made the cost of their stall fees. I think the downturn in the economy is hitting hard down here in Tasmania - there's not much disposable income, it seems.

However, I am glad I had the chance to meet people, showcase my pieces and come up with ideas for improvements. There is a silver lining there!

Stockist offers

I am tickled pink that two fabulous local shops have asked me to make some pieces for them. I'll let you know once the ball is rolling!

Find Planet Joy on Facebook

Yes, I'm there! I'd love to see you over at Planet Joy's Facebook page. Many of you have already kindly 'liked' the page which I really appreciate. I've made new friends and connections there as well - just my thing. 

I am still learning the ropes about how to run a FB fan page, though. It's so different to having a personal account. After getting comfortable here over the past few years, I'm finding it challenging to have to start from scratch and assume no one knows anything about me. Building a community there will take time, I know. I just have to be patient and keep posting there regularly, something I haven't done lately.

Do share if you have any tips about how to run a craft business fan page on Facebook - I'm sure we all can learn something!

See Planet Joy on Instagram 

You can also see my work over here as well as other snippets from Planet Baby. I'd love to see you on Instagram - please say hello if you haven't already.

Oops! This was meant to be a short post. Hmm, old habits die hard. Time to post this and scoot to bed. Night!

Starting the new school year

Oh my word. Thankyou ever so much for your warm welcome back to Blogland. I have been staggered by your interest and kindness. It has really buoyed my spirits. I'll respond to your comments shortly - I'm still finding my bearings a little. So, the next catchup post is about the pixies starting school and daycare for 2013. I relish taking photos of them to mark the occasion. They'll be a treasured family series once they've all left school. So in keeping with my new habit of shorter, more photographic posts, I present these beauties to you.

Joshua was so proud to be the leader of the gang here, resplendent in his new rugby top with its turned-up cuffs! He was heading off to Grade 2. 

India was so excited about starting full-time Prep, after only 3 days a week Kinder last year. She wore big girl plaits and clasped old Tommy Dog tightly. She's had an enormous growth spurt lately, to her delight.

And Sammy brought up the rear, all ready for Daycare again - one day a week. His best buddy Mike the Monkey accompanied him.

Miss India settled in straightaway, bless her. Love that pencil grip ☺.

She was as happy as Larry when we left her on the mat.

Joshie, meanwhile, gave me a Mum-please-hurry-up-you-are-embarrasing-me look!

I then took Sam to daycare. Alas, there are no photos of his arrival. After talking it all up with him, it was disappointing to discover he had moved rooms (news to us), didn't know his new carers and his friends weren't there. All hard to take when you're 3½! Thankfully, he soon settled in, to my profound relief.

And so another year starts. Next year, I'll have all three of them at school! I can't imagine what that will be like. Right, short post over. Next time, I'll fill you in on Planet Joy's growth. I'm looking forward to that!