What an absolutely amazing response to our 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS giveaway and you all went absolutely all out for the final day. We were so overwhelmed with the response!!! It has taken us all morning to scribble all your names!

And the winner is (insert Ewan MacGregor handing me the envelope, oh and whilst we are at it giving me a peck on the cheek for good measure)…..

is.

It’s the final day of the DOWN TO THE WOODS  12 days of Christmas blog giveaway.  We have saved the biggest till last! For our final day you can pop your comment on the blog below to be in the running to win our beautiful Little Lamb, 100cm Freckle Rug valued at $400!!

Here’s your chance if you’ve  been coveting one.

Just leave a little comment below to be in the running to win today’s prize. Look at the terms of entry on the blog post below.

One last thing we will need to moderate your comments so don’t fear they will appear but with a bit of a delay.

Thank you to everyone who’s been entering, we hope you’ve enjoyed it! Even though it is a lucky draw we have loved all your comments over the past 12 days and hope you all have a lovely Christmas and Summer Holiday.

From the Woods Folk xxxx

It’s the second last day of our 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY and we have had so much fun with this!

On the 11th Day of Christmas DOWN TO THE WOODS gave to me one of our brand new Vintage Toy Lamps from our lovely HEICO range. Valued at $180 and just so cute, we are sure you would love to take this little one home.

Just leave a little comment below to be in the running to win today’s prize. Look at the terms of entry on the blog post below.

One last thing we will need to moderate your comments so don’t fear they will appear but with a bit of a delay.

After taking yesterday off we are into the final few days of our 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY and we’ve been saving the BEST till last!

On the 10th Day of Christmas DOWN TO THE WOODS gave to me a dazzling SILVER Airplane. A toy a cushion and uber stylish we will have you flying high with this prize valued at $180!

Just leave a little comment below to be in the running to win today’s prize. Look at the terms of entry on the blog post below.

One last thing we will need to moderate your comments so don’t fear they will appear but with a bit of a delay.

Yesterday’s winner is the final comment on Day 9, CONGRATULATIONS to IRENE!

On the 9th Day of Christmas DOWN TO THE WOODS gave to me one of our immensely popular dolls PRAM. This great pram ended up in the woods because of the huge popularity with the little girl woods folk. It really is the coolest of prams not only great for wheeling a dolly or teddy but doubles as excellent storage for toys and blocks when it’s not being endlessly wheeled around the house.

Just leave a little comment below to be in the running to win today’s prize. Look at the terms of entry on the blog post below.

One last thing we will need to moderate your comments so don’t fear they will appear but with a bit of a delay.

Yesterday’s winner is the final comment on Day 8.

Nearly at the end and our prize value has gone over the $100 mark, with some really BIG ones on offer over the next few days.

On the 8th Day of Christmas DOWN TO THE WOODS gave to me a BEAUTIFUL wreath perfect for the table or door and just in time for Christmas.

Just leave a little comment below to be in the running to win today’s prize. Look at the terms of entry on the blog post below.

One last thing we will need to moderate your comments so don’t fear they will appear but with a bit of a delay.

Yesterday’s winner is the final comment on Day 7.

Loving all your witty comments!

On the 7th Day of Christmas DOWN TO THE WOODS gave to me a Hugg a Planet valued at $59.95. We are the world! How amazing are hugg a planet, educational, eye candy that’s ready to squeeze.

Just leave a little comment below to be in the running to win today’s prize. Look at the terms of entry on the blog post below.

One last thing we will need to moderate your comments so don’t fear they will appear but with a bit of a delay.

Yesterday’s winner is the final comment on Day 6.

Over half way there with some wonderful things to come!

On the 6th Day of Christmas DOWN TO THE WOODS gave to me a Cadillac Cushion valued at $44. Today’s prize brings to mind Billy Ocean’s hit song Get Out Of My Dreams yeah baby!

Just leave a little comment below to be in the running to win today’s prize. Look at the terms of entry on the blog post below.

One last thing we will need to moderate your comments so don’t fear they will appear but with a bit of a delay.

Yesterday’s winner is the final comment on Day 5.

The next few days will see you pushing around the world past your adorned front door, taking you to the skies, lighting up your life and them finishing up with the sweetest prize of all.

On the 5th Day of Christmas DOWN TO THE WOODS gave to me CUDDLE Suzie! Super stylish and uber cool Suzie is sure to impress this Christmas.

Just leave a little comment below to be in the running to win today’s prize. Look at the terms of entry on the blog post below.

One last thing we will need to moderate your comments so don’t fear they will appear but with a bit of a delay.

Yesterday’s winner is the final comment on Day 4.

Lots of wonderful things still to be won, many BIG items in the days to come! GOOD LUCK. x

Just leave a little comment below to be in the running to win today’s prize. Look at the terms of entry on the blog post below.

One last thing we will need to moderate your comments so don’t fear they will appear but with a bit of a delay.

Yesterday’s winner is the final comment on Day 3.

Just leave a little comment below to be in the running to win today’s prize. Look at the terms of entry on the blog post below.

One last thing we will need to moderate your comments so don’t fear they will appear but with a bit of a delay.

Yesterday’s winner is the final comment on Day 2.

It’s DAY 2  of our 12 days of Christmas giveaway, with over $1100 worth of Down To The Woods product to be won.

Todays stocking filler is one of our teeny-tiny ceramic Deers, delicate and enchanting and full of Down To The Woods whimsy and rather festive to boot!

Just leave a little comment below to be in the running to win today’s prize. Look at the terms of entry on the blog post below. One last thing we will need to moderate your comments so don’t fear they will appear but with a bit of a delay.

Yesterday’s winner is the final comment on Day 1.

TODAY is the day, Our 12 days of Christmas giveaway starts off with over $1100 worth of Down To The Woods product to be won. Wow-we-bumblebee!!

Just leave a little comment below to be in the running to win today’s prize. Look at the terms of entry on yesterday’s blog post below. One last thing we will need to moderate your comments so don’t fear they will appear but with a bit of a delay.

Let’s start small today’s prize is the perfect stocking filler – the very pretty sequinned Cat Mask

So with that in mind we have put together 12 wonderful prizes with a total value of over $1100!!!

Each day we will put up a new blog post with the daily prize showing in the TODAY box. To win the TODAY prize just pop  1 comment on our blog for that day.

Easy Peasy.

Even if you’re a winner on one day you can come back and have a go on another day! We will announce the winner on the blog the following day and let you know by email as well.

The prizes can only be sent to an Australian Address to ensure it makes it in time for Christmas.

The giveaways start tomorrow Friday 9th December and will run through to Tuesday 2oth with the final days winner being announced on Wednesday 21st December!

BEST OF LUCK

Image from Pinterest

Council Clean-Up. Is this familiar to you? The once a year collection of ‘hard rubbish’ from the nature strip out the front of your house. I’ve just learnt our neighbouring suburb misses out. I feel sorry for this suburb, to me it’s a bit like being the kid in class who’s folks told them at 5 that Santa is a big fraudster. The poor kid, all glum and knowing while the other kids get swept up in the mystique of the big bearded guy.

Council clean-up is ace and I’m ashamed to admit it but I anticipate it a bit like the kid who still believes. Ok, Christmas is bigger but I think I actually enjoy clean-up more. It’s not too different really, except you don’t get a massive credit card bill come January. Also you only end up with things you really want and get rid of all the crap you don’t. Actually I can think of a few Christmas gifts that have ended up on the clean-up pile resting under the telegraph pole which really is just a big Christmas tree that has no branches.

So each year we pile up all our junk that has at some point during the last year become surplace to need. Our clean-up falls annually in October which is a nice little motivator to do the spring clean and coincides with the re-emergence of the neighbourhood. People step out of their cabins, bleary eyed, pasty and wooly all over from the long winter… well not actually as the winters in inner Melbourne are not that arduous but the mood is high and the place comes back to life. People chat, kids ride the suburb once again and cars curb crawl looking to spy a treasure. A treasure they will sheepishly shove into the boot of their scrap metal van/ European 4-wheel drive before edging away slowly on their continued quest.

We obviously do good junk, we put our first pile out last weekend and by Thursday every single thing was gone including the spider infested birch log. These were things that filled my life until a week ago and I am now at pains to remember a single item. A few kid bikes, basketball hoop, bent chairs and a filthy white ottoman that died in the face of little people.

Last year I scored some fantastic timber fruit boxes that are now our side tables perfectly at home in our living room. This year I snaffled up a single bed – exactly what we need for the studio for styling and a cute as button letter holder that is also studio bound.

Even as I type I can hear the rustlings of people combing through our pile in the darkness. I can’t wait till tomorrow morning to rush out to my giant branchless tree to ponder what has been taken. Will it be the big Ikea shelf, the perfectly good wire racking with the mouldy canvas cover or the broken Dora trike covered in what suspiciously looks like poo but in reality is chocolate? You see it really is more fun than Christmas.

I’ve travelled to many parts of the world but I had never been to anywhere like Kathmandu, it was by far the least western of any place I’ve travelled and the most third world. It makes the small bits of China I’ve visited and South East Asia seem like very polished distant cousins, yes there was poverty, hunger and sad sights at many turns but it was the medieval-ness of the city itself that was striking.  From the moment of exiting the airport where we were confronted with a happy crowd pushing a very old car followed by a cow and hordes and hordes of people, we knew we were not in Kansas anymore.

The people were immensely lovely and their gentle greeting of ‘Namaste’ is forever endearing. We were so fortunate to have such access to this amazing place and with our makers taking extremely good care of us it was hard not to fall in love. Getting to dine in a home in Kathmandu with a family is not just a highlight of this trip but of my life. Standing on their 4th floor rooftop terrace, peering into the darkening Kathmandu sky and into the suburban evening rituals half a world away from my own was a pinch myself moment.

The food in Nepal is delicious and reflects the geography of this small country nestled between India and China. My taste buds adored momo (nepalese dumplings), cinnamon yogurt, bitter melon curry and my favourite new taste sensation black salt.

The sights and sounds were equally a feast for the eyes and ears. The incessant honking of horns only silenced in the dead of night, bizarrely a sound that was pleasant to listen to – more of a conversation between road users than their agressive use at home. But again it was the overwhelming colour of the place that really captivated us. The city vacillates between being wet or dusty and with these two majority states of being, you would think it could be rather drab but colour is everywhere. The people, buildings, food, markets temples and everything in between is vibrant and completely saturated in colour.

What is really lovely about Kathmandu is that I knew I didn’t have to experience every square inch of it at once. I know I’ll be returning to continue working alongside our clever crafts men and woman, this trip has just inspired me further to create more and more fantastic product that I hope to share with you soon.

Pictures convey what I experienced so much more than any essay I could write about the place, here is a rather excessive collection of my favorites images.

THE TOURIST

THE LOCALS

DAILY RITUAL

THE CITY

THE STREETS

THE COLOUR

I wanted to dive into the massive mound of felt balls!

A Tall Ottoman being made.

Firstly we got to see the rugs and ottomans being made and talk to the lovely makers through our translator. We always marvel at the perfection in the work but to watch a piece come together was very exciting. It also answered a few questions that had always puzzled me. Having mended a few damaged rugs and also having pulled a few apart in the name of research the stitch pattern is really unusual. I’m an embroider so love mastering new stitches but after watching these clever folk I think I better leave it to the professionals!

The wool being made into flat felt.

We then got to see how the felt was processed, dyed, boiled and wet felted which involves a lot of soap. As you can see the lovely ladies are just as colorful as the beautiful product they make.

Eye popping bright felt being hung out to dry.

After watching the felt being made we then got to spend a lot of time with the product makers, these are the people who make an array of amazing things, for us they make our garlands, acorns and our new Christmas range. Heidi and I were like kids in a toy store we could not believe our eyes, the amazing assortment of felt in every shape and size was intimidating. Everything was so bright and colourful, even the floor! A lot of felt product requires hot glue and I have a few glue guns for when we construct samples. Our makers used candles and heat the glue stick under the flame and then stick. I asked if they had guns and apparently they did, I started to worry about the basic method and decided to offer more guns (maybe they didn’t have enough to go round?). But pretty quickly it became apparent it was my gun method that is clumsy  and lacking control, from now on I too will use a candle for hot glueing.

After a day spent exploring how our felt products were made and working on our new Christmas products our heads were swimming, we really were like little children and were desperate to get back there. The following day I dared to ask if we could just hang about and snoop around the workroom, we still had a fair bit of work to do but having got our foot in the door a whole new world of potential product opened up before us and we were keen to collect lots of bits and pieces. The makers were so lovely to us and more than happy to share their methods and talk about their daily routines. It’s not very often you get to spend time in someone else’s workplace let alone a workplace in a culture that was so new to us. They were as interested in us as we were them. I’m sure they thought me snapping away was hilarious and our squeals of delight at finding a new pieces of felty wonderfulness very odd.

Watching the felt start from raw wool and be transformed into beautiful pieces was an amazing privilege, we already love our felt wares but now they mean so much more to us.

]]> http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/heart-felt-1457.html/feed 6 http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/meeting-our-makers-1445.html http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/meeting-our-makers-1445.html#comments Sun, 18 Sep 2011 22:57:13 +0000 amber http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/?p=1445 Today I’m off to Nepal with my fellow woods folk Heidi. We are both extremely nervous and excited to be making the journey to a part of the world I can safely say neither of us ever dreamed we would venture to. All our Little Lamb product is made there and we are off to meet our makers. As we all know the world has become a very small place and I have weekly if not daily communication with my counterpart in Nepal, I feel like I know them over there but in reality all communications have been done from the other side of the world and the time has finally come to go and shake hands and say “Namaste“.

Why now?

Well we have some wonderful Christmas product about to be delivered to us and some finishing touches are needed to get it absolutely perfect.  Rather than have the samples yet again boomerang back and forth  we have decided to be the boomerangs and make a very quick trip. It’s an amazing opportunity, we are so intimately involved with our product at this end and we can’t wait to watch the whole process unfold before us.

So we kiss our partners and children goodbye, leave Down To The Woods in the hands of Sasha and set off later today. I can’t wait to report back and to hopefully share some images with you next week when we return.

I couldn’t resist this little dolls wardrobe, coat hangers and all for my little heavenly creature.

Not for our little family, thanks to me having some surgery last week we decided to postpone Father’s Day. It just didn’t seem right for me to be perched in bed demanding tea and toast on a day dedicated to Daddy. So we decided to put it off by a week, it’s just an arbitrary date anyway. So this morning Benji got breakfast in bed made by  junior Masterchef Willow, a handmade card and a new bike to zoom around on. He also got a book on fashion since the former present will probably see him clad in over revealing clothing championed by Olivia Newton John in the early 80′s, hopefully the book will right those wrongs.

]]> http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/fireside-friends-1403.html/feed 1 http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/recharge-1377.html http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/recharge-1377.html#comments Sun, 28 Aug 2011 12:59:51 +0000 amber http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/?p=1377 I’ve just had a lovely weekend and I hope you have to. Isn’t it funny how blank canvas weekends with few or no plans can turn out to be the best. I’ve been working a lot of late which is great but I really can’t remember when I had a full day off let alone two in a row. Everything was starting to fray, my nerves, the girls patience and the house, well the house has been a disaster zone for months and needed some serious attention.

The only plan was a kiddy free Saturday evening at the schools annual trivia night and auction. We had a great time and I was so excited to see people bidding away on the Down To The Woods auction items. I came home with a new pair of glasses and eye cream, odd yes but very much needed.

Lots was achieved around the house, the garage was tidied and culled so we can now open the door with confidence the contents won’t collapse cartoon like on top of us. The girls play area was straightened up and my poor pantry got a really good going over. The pantry was beyond out of control and below are the pictures to prove it. I’m always scrounging around for jars to store things in and had the embarrassing brainwave that I literally have thousands of empty jars ready to provide a home for our garlands and acorns. So a quick trip to the warehouse, a box of jars and my trusty label maker made me feel a little less Hoarders and a little more Carol Brady (or maybe that should be Alice) in one fell swoop.

BEFORE

AFTER

The girls got a family bike ride, lots of stories, a play at the park and a night at grandma’s. Tonight they were exhausted and asked to go to bed.

Early this morning I scored a trip to my favourite local market, thanks to years of conditioning  even with no kids our built-in alarm clocks got us out of the house early. A Sunday morning trip to the market never fails to lift my spirits. Ben grinned and beared it and even did a good job of feigning enjoyment.

Todays finds were: A vintage cotton sun dress that I willed to fit me and hooray it did!

A nice stack of old golden books for me and little T and some Dr. Seuss for Wills.

and some truly delightful vintage fabric.

I feel so much happier knowing those around me are happy and if my house could speak I’m sure it’s happier too, so much joy can come from the mundane.

I personally don’t make the Little Lamb products but over time I have delved into the world of Little Lamb  construction for repairs and for sample making when I design a new product. I had two carcasses of our low pixel ottomans laying around the studio and knew from the day I pulled them apart that they had the bones for great dog beds. Being a dog lover I also know how hard it is to find a nice place for the pooch that is also nice to look at. I really enjoyed constructing the bed and hope that a happy little hound will love it too.

This is the finished product modelled by our dog Cushy who told me it is exactly what she want’s for Christmas.

When I first looked at her work I fell in love with it all but her illustration on one of the Rabbit lamps just tipped me right over the edge.

Down To The Woods is really excited to announce we will be taking part in the next Magnolia Square in Ivanhoe. We loved the last one we took part in at St Kilda and can’t wait to do it all again in next weekend. Magnolia square brings together the best of independent fashion, homeware & textiles, jewellery & accessories, paper products and quirky craft, food, art & design & cute things for kids. Its great to see ‘Mag Square’ heading north and setting up stall in this great area of Melbourne!

With the theme ‘its all about colour’ we can’t think of a more appropriate place to showcase new products from our Little Lamb range.

As usual my favourite thing is chatting, chatting to designers, architects, current stockists and potential stockists but most of all I love chatting to other exhibitors and sharing tips and stories of our experiences. There are some extremely clever people taking part, who are full of immense passion, that energy is obviously catching as this event more than my wonderful holiday has energised me to jump back into work and produce lots of wonderful goodies!

and some other people’s lovely stands

makeKit and the very lovely Shelley Panton

our friends Lilly & Lolly (spy our custom red rug)

and my pal Morgan Wills

I could complain about the stuff we miss from home or about how exhausting it is to travel with kids. Actually the kiddy exhaustion is a very real reason for not posting. I imagined we’d spend the evenings much like we do at home; sitting back relaxing, reading, chatting, doing a bit of work but the reality is we are spending it guzzling a stiff drink (actually pacific north-west micro brews which are just so yummo) and collapsing overwhelmed and bone tired only moments after the girls have fallen asleep.  Spending 24/7 with the kids is just not something we are used to doing week in, week out. Spending it out in the great outdoors or in the car adds a whole new dimension. But we have been having great fun with them most of the time. The most enjoyment for them is doing things outdoors enjoying nature, walking or riding bikes or just kicking back in a park. Which is lucky because we like those things the most to.

The other thing that has been firmly cemented in our minds too is the enjoyment of country over city.

Here is a few images of random things so far:

Disneyland really is the happiest place on Earth

A Cabin in the Woods beats 5 Star

Diners are full of yummy junkfood

but the farm fresh strawberries are the yummiest of all

Practice makes perfect

Close encounters of the Buck variety

The panoramic function on Willow’s camera is cool

]]> http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/5000-ks-and-counting-1288.html/feed 4 http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/roadtrip-us-yay-1283.html http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/roadtrip-us-yay-1283.html#comments Wed, 08 Jun 2011 15:52:24 +0000 amber http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/?p=1283 Unlike a bear I’ve ventured out of the woods for winter. So, um, more like a duck we’ve flown north for summer. Ok enough of the crap analogies. Cut me some slack I’m jet-lagged! No hibernation for us. I find that, since moving to Melbourne, the winters are way too long and cold – my only dislike of my adopted home, oh that and the AFL obsession. Discover the Rebels people.

Anyway back to the point we’ve gone on big USA road-trip Griswold style. Clarky, me and the kids, oh and my mum in the role of Aunt Edna (just don’t cark it Mum),  for the first two weeks are going to venture through the West Coast with even a trip to Wally World on the agenda. Actually Disneyland.

We plan to travel all over the place in the next 4.5 weeks. I’ll try and keep you updated on our travels and attempt not to bore you stupid.  Our first stop is L.A to recover from our jetlag. We hit the ground running and operating on no sleep ventured out, cranky sleep deprived and obviously extremely tired.

I love Googie Architecture and transferring to our hotel I spotted Panns. Think Jetsons:

Anyway more discoveries as we go.

Back in the Woods is our beautiful Heidi – isn’t that just the perfect name to for someone who works for Down To The Woods?

So she will happily take care of all your woodsy needs.

Corner Store has been a stockist of Down To The Woods since our very first trade show in Sydney at the beginning of 2010. Having three stores in Western Australia they know their stuff and they really know ours, stocking nearly everything in our range.  I just love the picture  they’ve shared with us. Our rabbit with the Nordichouse bunnies and that beautiful puppet theatre, no wonder they want to take everything home with them!

Tell us a little about your store? We first opened our doors in Fremantle in 1999 and have since expanded to three stores in Western Australia. Born from a desire to create a mini department store for the discerning shopper, we’re constantly searching for unique homewares, apparel, accessories and furniture from all around the globe. Everbody needs a little bit of Paris!

At Corner Store what brings you the most joy? Having customers gush when they walk through our doors and inspiring people with colour: Rice homewares, felt freckle rugs, Cath Kidston, Liberty prints.

What’s the biggest challenge at Corner Store? Not taking everything home with us.

What are you currently excited about ? We are currently renovating a shiny new store in Fremantle and are very excited to be  opening the doors this week. It’s so so beautiful.

We love music, what’s on high rotation at your store right now? Our favourite song bird Arthur Lyman, Serge Gainsbourg, Tenniscoats, Francoise Hardy and Sally Seltmann are our current favourites.

Tell about one of your favourite products that you stock? Nathalie Lete, it’s hard to pick a favourite but we adore her puppet theatre.

What’s your favourite Down To The Woods product? Freckle ottomans, too cute! We can barely keep them in stock.

Forrest or Freeway – i.e wilderness or city lover? An endless balancing act of busy city life with wilderness escapes.

To pay a visit to Corner Store or Store visit their site for full address details.

I was a huge Twin Peaks fan when it came out all those years ago. So much so that on a holiday to the USA when I was a teenager we even went and visited the town of Snoqualmie Falls where it was filmed. We stayed at the Salish Lodge, ate at the diner and tried to have a David Lynch quirky time of it.

One of the characters in Twin Peaks was the ‘Log Lady’, like all the characters she was great, rather crazy and referred to only as the ‘Log Lady’ nothing more nothing less. A succinct description. Since I started wholesaling the Heico Lamps I’ve often been called the ‘Lamp Lady’ and now almost default to it if I call a stockist and the person on the other end draws a blank when I say Down To The Woods – ‘you know the lamp lady? ‘, is always met with an ‘oh yes, we LOVE your lamps’. Well there not mine they’re Heico’s but I chuckle at being called the lamp lady.

Anyway I digress, the lamp lady has a new shipment in. Us and all our lovely stockists have rabbits, scotties, toadstools and squirrels aplenty. We also have the beautiful new fawn/Bambi, no tut tut mustn’t call it that! I will put up some pretty pictures very soon.

Unlike the logs I don’t share a phychic connection with the lamps but I do love them so.

Oooh I can spy a Freckly rug and a few jars of garlands up the back!

Lilly & Lolly’s have been stockists of Down To The Woods since mid 2010, they stock both lamps and our Little Lamb Rugs. They also get us to produce customs rugs just for them to provide their customers with something unique. It’s a great time for Lilly & Lolly with the opening of their new uber-cool store in Sydney.

Here’s what founders Megan and Ashling had to say?

One of Daylesfords biggest draw-cards is Lark who are our friends and stockists. It is a store that  Melbourne folk are very envious of, why can’t we have a Lark in Melbourne, Allison? Never mind, that is what online’s for. New to the Lark fold is the Lark House. What a perfect spot to spend your Daylesford weekend. Having been their family home for many years it’s perfect for a family visit but with the addition of a sewing studio and all those lovely rooms I think it would be the best spot for a girls crafting weekend.

Don’t forget to mosey down the road to the Lark store where you’ll find  a store to behold including our Heico lamps and Little Lamb range including the Freckle rug pictured below.

LARK HOUSE

Image from Pinterest

Happy Belated Mothers day ya’ll!

How was yours – kindy made cards, crumbs in the bed and a day full of daddies saying ‘be nice to Mummy it’s Mothers day you know!’? Mine had all of that and a little extra this year.  Well a little extra box with something very special inside. I was treated a beautiful new ring with a diamond to represent Ben and each of the kiddies.

It was a lovely surprise that has had me dreamily staring at my hand all week. I feel so lucky just to have my  girls and Ben and don’t need diamonds or an electric blanket (last years prezzie) or a snuggly dressing gowns (the year before that) but all of them – husband, kiddies, ring, electric blankets and dressing gown but they all leave me feeling very warm on the inside.

*Willow has taken to calling me Mumsie over the past few weeks, I rather like it!

We’re really excited to have all this goodness in store. Especially the trams which we’ve had to break open to keep all the little kiddies out from under our feet when they come to visit.

We are continually updating  the store (almost daily) so to say to keep checking back regularly would be an understatement! There are so many ideas flying through Amber’s and my heads….through mine, back through hers, rebounding off Cushla the dog, then back into Ambers, and with Mothers Day approaching fast, it opens up a whole new bag for us to explore.

Do you spy something in our store that YOU would like to receive for mothers day??? Instead of plastering its picture on the fridge, email me (heidi@downtothewoods.com.au) and tell me about it, along with the persons email address you would like to buy it for you…I will (try to) work my magic on your behalf!!!

Here is a peek at a few of our favourite items in the store:

I really hope you enjoy our place…I’m honoured to be part of it!!

Heidi

It’s my favourite instrument with second place being the steelpan drum, harmonica and harpsichord in equal third place and fourth going to double bass. Imagine a band made up of all those instruments, I’d buy the album. Or download it, or whatever is this weeks method of acquiring new music.

But back to the banjo. I think it would be rather ace to play it well and not in that kinda – sitting on the porch using indoor furniture as outdoor furniture while tongue kissing your brother kinda way. But in the modern Sufjan Stevens, Crooked Still and Gillian Welch ilk. You might call it alternative banjo.

Maybe I’m just better off listening to others and looking at this pretty picture called Folk Explosion. Easy on the eyes and gentler on the ears.

Image from Etsy Store Pintameldia

It ‘s well overdue that I write about Bonjour Mills in Albert Park, Cecile and her beautiful store ooze French chic. Last year Cecile painstakingly spent most of her time readying to open, sourcing the most beautiful product from around the globe and throwing herself into the immaculate fit-out, right down to the shelving hidden away in her store room for nobody but her to enjoy.

I knew it was going to be something special from our initial phone conversation where she enthused about her plans and talked in depth about which Down To The Woods products she wanted to order. I think by the end of the conversation she had ordered our entire range. I knew it was going to be even more amazing when she had to place two follow up orders before she even opened the doors!

Stocking nearly everything in our range it’s the perfect place to go if you’re in Melbourne and wanting one of our products. After visiting the store pop round the corner for lunch at Donovans in St Kilda where Cecile supplied three of our beautiful geese to greet you at the door.

It is such a pleasure to supply a store with a passionate and dedicated owner who loves what she does and what’s more loves all things Down To The Woods.

I dragged Mrs Bok with me because this is right up her alley. Alas I’m not that talented and anything living in our house – bar my own family tends to shrivel and die as soon as it’s brought within my care.

What I do share with Rob is the love of small business and the loving hands it takes to grow one.  Over a drink we love to chat about thrilling things like accounting software, merchant gateways and bookkeeping. All things that new business owners need to navigate. We also talk about the slightly more exciting things like logos. My pal Andy did our logo and Rob has used him to do Bee Sustainables branding, and a lovely job too!

Now all Rob needs to do is start a black thumb rehabilitation course and I’ll be set.

I’m not a TV person, we have an second hand one, a DVD player I won over ten year ago and a broken set top box most of the time all are gathering dust or if lucky featuring Yo Gabba Gabba. Replacing it all is on the priority list but the accumulation of devices that ‘connect’ are at the top of my acquisition list and I think alway will be. But hey none of this is news and chances are if you’re reading this you speaka-my-language, ce?

My recent discovery..well again not recent and not revolutionary is reading online magazines. They are super duper ace for so many reasons. Like the whole book debate they won’t replace real life touchy feely ones but boy they have some good points to them. Just today one of those touchy feely numbers turned up in the mail and it got wet, so now I have a mangulated wet brick with pages that are stuck together. But I find the real joy with the online variety is the click-thru ( I have no idea if this is the real term I’m sure it isn’t). I love finding something and clicking on the images and being whisked off to the store that it comes from. Just the thought of this makes me hyperventilate just a little.

My first introduction to the world of the online mag was LONNY and I was instantly spellbound by its preppy goodness.

Since then I have enjoyed reading a steadily increasing stream of e-mags and am thrilled we now have some homegrown ones that are absolutely world class.

Here are three:

Papier Mache

My first local love. Here’s the funny thing they started online and now do print too, so it’s nice to see the migration isn’t one way. I will declare Down To The Woods does advertise in Papier Mache and proudly so, any association with this fine mag, even a paid one is fine by us!

MOTIF Magazine

This is a newy, having just released their second issue. Again I will declare we advertise with them too. What I love about MOTIF is that its thematic, an indulgence I don’t think many news-stand magazines could afford these days no matter how much the editor desired or begged. This means a lovely and thoughtful exploration of their chosen theme, which makes for very contemplative reading. Our association with them was a bit of a no brainer, their latest issue is titled Into The Woods. They are clever cookies!

EST

This is another new one and its caused a fair bit of buzz since its recent launch with some of my favourite bloggers breathily enthusing about it. EST borrowed our garlands for their first issue featuring them in their NOMAD story when I saw their clever styling I was all a bit breathy too! Take a look at the shots below aren’t they clever?

]]> http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/online-love-1120.html/feed 4 http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/happy-campers-1106.html http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/happy-campers-1106.html#comments Tue, 12 Apr 2011 08:11:50 +0000 amber http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/?p=1106 Do you like camping?
People don’t seem to be indecisive about camping ‘love it’ or ‘hate it’ or the very occasional ‘never been’, seem to be the standard responses. I’m a ‘love it’ person which shocks people. This I don’t know why. Admittedly I do love a bit of luxury travel and ogling the SLH site for me is a bit of a guilty pleasure. But as a friend summed it up ‘five stars or roughing it and nowhere in between’. I get equal pleasure out of both and not much in between!
Anyway we went camping last weekend and had a great time. It was real camping, tent, air-mattresses, dinner on a camp stove, leaky tent, weeing in a bucket during the downpour (hmm maybe those ‘hate it’ types don’t embrace weeing in a bucket?). It was our first time since we had Tilda and toddlerdom is perfect age to introduce her to the joys.

It was exactly what our little family needed, after too many days in a row of working on all days including those that start with ‘S’ and the real threat of a need to start wearing a name badge for the older one and introducing myself each evening ‘hello my name is Mummy’ for the one that can’t read yet. Some serious family time was in order and what better way to reintroduce myself to my kids than by being no more than a few metres from them for 48 hours with no distractions of home or work to get in our way.

We had a blast – setting up; ok no need to dwell on the necessity of car headlights for this as a result of an unplanned stop to buy bedding for the forgotten child and husband. Sorry. Cooking yummo camp stove meals, I find not much more enjoyable than coming up with tasty camping meals: burritos, pancakes, rustic pasta, rustic pasta disguised in canned tomato soup and the obligatory bacon and eggs. Cooking with play-doh: hamburgers and chips. Walking round the rockpools, exploring the area, frisbee and time spent in the tent doing a bit of art and playing games.

Ok, there was a teeny tiny stockist visit but it really didn’t count since the kids love them and their shop and there was no work chat. Just random outbursts by Willow of sharing information on her life – always a trusty sign you have a fan in Willow. Plus a slobby dog for slobby Tilda to play and share slob with.

The star field of a night was amazing and so was the first 24 hours of weather, the kids slept better than they do at home: a phenomena I can’t explain but one that might mean we move into a tent on a more permanent basis.

We had the spot basically to ourselves metres from the beach in a protected little cove, an absolute find and one we will hopefully visit for years to come. Camping is great but I know I’m wasting my time with all you doubters but I’m more than happy to preach to the converted or at the very least swap camp recipes with.

Sunrise

Whats a campsite without garlands?

Wet weather games.

Clair and the girls at Curio & Curio

On the Bedside Table

Two easy reads this month The Slap & Mia Culpa. Nothing is nicer than falling into bed at night and escaping into a good book – preferably one that makes you laugh. I’m not sure if you’re meant to laugh at The Slap but it did have me laughing and blushing in equal measures. And as for Mia Culpa it was like having a one sided natter with a girlfriend – very funny indeed.

Papier Mache 1st print addition, the online version is so lovely and this first print issue even lovelier (I rather like our ad in it too!) a very lovely addition to my bedside table.

Taking advantage of the last of Daylight savings and the warm weather:

Eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at the park with the fam and friends. I love those long twilight evenings in March the days warm and the nights chilly.

Soundtrack to March has been:

Listening to Florence and the Machines a few too many times!

and Gotya Eyes Wide Open way too many times.

A month has to have a trip somewhere:

Doing a quick dash to Adelaide to visit new stockists and potential stockists plus scouring of antique stores in Strathalbyn for little finds.

Whilst in Adelaide a blink and you miss it trip up to the hills to visit family – in particular my very little sister. Who rivals her ‘nieces’ for being adorable.

It’s the little things that can make your month: A walk in the family forest and look what we found!

What’s a month without a mother-daughter bonding experience?

This month Willow and I visited the RMIT Gallery ‘Japanese Characters Come to Life’ exhibition, so the culture was very low calorie but it was fun since we are massive Hello Kitty fans in our house. We thought we’d keep the Japanese theme going and went for a Japanese lunch afterwards. We both reflected on the terrible disaster in Japan; Willow asked if Hello Kitty had been killed. For an adult the scale of the disaster is hard to grasp and even more incomprehensible if you’re seven.

See I even have a Hello Kitty phone cover!

The proudest moment of the month: Was cheering Willow on in the Tryathalon. She trained and actually carried through with it, all with a massive smile on her face. We were so immensely proud of her determination!

Now I’ve finished writing this I can see exactly what happened to March! And this hasn’t touched on all the BBQ’s, sniffly nose blowing, champagne drinking, trips to the market,  Finders Keeper -ing, baking, story reading, swing pushing, box packing, stockist chatting, Magnolia Squaring, studio designing, storage emptying, warehouse cleaning, cafe lazing and we’ll you get the picture.

Phew – Think I might hibernate for April.

]]> http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/marching-on-1042.html/feed 1 http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/magnolia-square-1004.html http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/magnolia-square-1004.html#comments Fri, 11 Mar 2011 22:08:38 +0000 amber http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/?p=1004 It seems like an age ago but last week Down To The Woods took part in our first Magnolia Square. I wanted to write about it at the time but a nose that streams onto the keyboard and eyes spinning in different directions thanks to cold and flu meds wasn’t very conducive to writing.

I had a great time – lots of lovely fellow retailers, friendly public that heaped praise upon the stand and better yet shopped with us and angels of organisers (Nic & Metka) who not only gave us the very-most-ace stand in the venue, those gals really know how to run an event! It was so much fun and being located right next door to the yummy food by Ed Dixon really was more than just the proverbial icing on the cake.

Here are some lovely pics – as I said the posz we were assigned was simply amazing – I wonder if the St Kilda Town Hall would rent it to me? I would happily live in that amazing alcove! Actually for a moment there I thought I was going to own it after a near disaster – sorry Nic! (insert an extremely red-shamed face here).

All our goodies from the online store: paper goods, garlands furry animals. Look at that ladder – isn’t it fantastic and marvel my bravery for climbing it.

Me putting the finishing touches on the stand I love the new Giant Hugg-a-planet.

We launched our lovely Easter range and well – its nearly all gone! We’re trying to get more but it seems even our supplier has a bare cupboard.

Now for some silly awards….

Best Dressed…

Awarded to Magdalena from the Craft Revival

I wish she could have stayed all weekend as a prop - believe me her top half was as pretty as the bottom half but the dress was just so enchanting. Maybe she would swap the dress for a lamp or something?

Favourite Item for sale….

A heavenly skirt by my pals Kelly & Heidi from Heavenly Creatures . Girls can you make one in my size?

Fave stand was Naughts & Crosses (but I didn’t get a pic) and Sweet Williams

Working by myself meant I didn’t get much of a chance to look around but when I did I kept running over to look at their enchanting stand.

I also have a photo of my favourite food it was a chicken, celery and lemon mayo sandwich but I’ll spare you. I think it was all the meds that made me take that one.

Well now we are no longer market virgins and am already looking forward to taking part in more Magnolia Squares down the track! Next time I’m going to drag along more Woods Folks so I can get more shopping time in.

]]> http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/magnolia-square-1004.html/feed 2 http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/thursday-i-love-you-996.html http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/thursday-i-love-you-996.html#comments Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:39:48 +0000 amber http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/?p=996 What a day! After a really rough nights sleep – thanks Tilda..a crammed morning at the studio, dispatching orders and trying to get a days work into 3 hours it was off to Magnolia Square for ‘bump in’ and a night of trading. More about Mag square later…

At kiddy bedtime I got a teary phone call from Wills – she’d jammed her finger in a draw OUCH and was missing her mummy poor girl.

The mummy guilt sunk in.

By the time I left late last night I was exhausted and keen to get home and even happier when I spied this scrawled on the pavement over our driveway.

After a really great day and night – this just topped it off.

Thanks Willow you made my day!

We have a whole pile of things that we’ll be launching for the very first time – a brand new Hugg A Planet, some furry creatures and lots of paper goods but my favourite is the Easter Range. It’s early I know but we’re busting to share these finds with everyone.

Like Life Instyle we have worked very hard to put together a really fun stand. Lots of work has gone in behind the scenes but over the weekend it will be just lil’ ol’ me , so come along and say hi!

This year saw a move to Life Instyle and a nice big stand to show off our Little Lamb range and lots of other goodies to share with everyone. It was also time to say goodbye to the wall to wall woods theme – if one more person asked me if the lamps ‘were for the garden’ I was going to dissolve into tears amongst the astro turf and artificial flowers. Even though they have been mothballed it is only a short term hiatus with some rather unusual plans to put them to use in our work space. More on that later….

I love creating a stand but have to heavily resist the urge to create an art installation – if I had my way the stand would have consisted of nothing more than white walls, the stark concrete floor and a dozen unlit Rabbit lamps clustered together cords trailing behind them with one lit rabbit cleverly illuminated but not plugged in…a girl can dream?

In reality the stand was a homely crazy mash of colour that brought smiles to peoples faces. I was happy with how it looked and even happier I incorporated chairs this time – so much more comfortable than sitting on a log! Not only did they provide a great spot for us to rest our weary feet but it also meant others could put their feet up while we had a chat.

Ben did an amazing job of constructing the ply boxes, lettering and all the heavy lifting – the added bonus is a new found love of woodworking. I’m so happy with how all the colours of the boxers turned out, even garnering praise from my furniture pin-up-boy Mark Tuckey. Ben also cleverly constructed power boxes that will make life so much easier – a dozen power cords is not a pretty site!

Here you can spy one of our new products – the Little Lamb Ottoman, this one’s not the right colours but you get the idea!

In my ‘Ode to the Woods corner’ is the new fawn lamp, it will hit stores mid year – it’s fawntastic! The hand coloured vintage postcard turned into a wall vinyl made the space and now is happily nested on the wall next to our home office.

I often wish I was little Tilda, bundled off to bed at noon each day for an afternoon nap-nap: soft blanky, favourite toy at hand, a pat on the head and a few kindly words from a loving adult…ahh how nice. Yawn again. But in reality I’m a strung-out-mad-lady with a million things to do, not enough hours, arms or braincells to cope.

Life’s not hard – just busy. It’s the pre/post trade show merry-go-round that I am exhausted by. We’ve just got back from Life Instyle Sydney. I was tired before I even arrived, more tired when I set up and dead on my feet by the time the air-con was switched on, mood music turned up and doors flung open. I think it showed, sorry if you chatted with me and I seemed dazed, confused, forgetful and absent minded. I was all of those things.

I had a lovely time there, I always do but more on the loveliness later. This is a through and through tiredness whinge and I don’t want to distract from that with talk of loveliness.

There’s stock to allocate and dispatch, online store to take care of, product to design and the list goes on. At home there’s a car to sell, front yard to renovate, ceiling to paint, plants and pets to take care of and most importantly children to nurture – even feeding them would be a good start, oh and remembering to brush their teeth.  These are all things I love doing and really want to do (maybe not the kiddy tooth brushing), just not all at once and just not while I feel like an extra from Shaun of the Dead.

Maybe this weekend I will pretend to be Tilda and take a nap-nap too. Who knows I might even wake like she does – eyes sparkling and a broad grin, ready to charge into the afternoon with a fresh set of batteries.

Image by Leila Battison

*Did you know that if you yawned when you read that, according to Dr Carl you are an empathetic person?But hey you already knew you were empathetic didn’t you?

Romance – is that what it’s all about? But who’s version of it? Not mine. Actually that might be untrue the gesture itself is lovely, it’s the forced celebration on an arbitrary date that’s not for me. What significance does February 14th hold for me/us? None. For us it’s ‘THE 9th’.

‘THE 9th’ for us started many, many moons ago – when a boy kissed a girl and declared her, his girlfriend. It was 9th June. This boy and girl smitten as can be marked the ‘THE 9th’ every month by a romantic dinner out at a restaurant neither had dinned at. Many 9th’s  (and dinners out) past which resulted in a marriage on another 9th June, five years after the first. Once babysitters factored into ‘THE 9th’ equation the monthly dinners faded and now the major gestures are an annual event,  but not a single 9th ever passes without a heartfelt text, a chocolate or flowers or even a sweet whisper of ‘Happy 9th’.

Image courtesy of Etsy - Paper Polaroid

Back to romance – when I was in my final year of High School we had to do a spoken piece recorded onto tape . I decided to read a letter that was written by an American Civil War soldier Sullivan Ballou and featured in Ken Burn’s Documentary  The Civil War. This letter for me – then and now is the most romantic and heartfelt piece of writing I have ever read. It is romantic, wistful, heartbreaking and poetically tragic all at once. Enjoy listening.

Sullivan Ballou Letter

Although one of my favourite days was straying a little from Melbourne and following the well worn path to the coast to visit one of our newest stockists Curio & Curio in Flinders.

Clair and Nick opened up their little store just before Christmas and we were very chuffed to supply them with our Heico lamps and our Little Lamb Garlands.

Image supplied by Curio & Curio - Jack, Nick and Clair out front.

If some of the product and the very cruisy style looks familiar that’s because the shop has touches of their own ranges; Two Ruffians by Nick and Clair’s Curio & Curio, Clair is also an excellent interior decorator and magazine stylist which is patently obvious when you see how succinctly she’s put the shop together.

Images supplied by Curio & Curio

Not being Melbourne natives a visit to Flinders was a first for us, having crawled over most of the Mornington Peninsular we had managed to miss this most exquisite corner of the state. Is there anything better than when rolling farmland meets the ocean? It‘s a landscape that makes my heart sing! Flinders itself is equally as perfect as it surrounds with a smattering of nice stores and places to eat and stunning peninsular estates to ogle at.

The day we went Curio & Curio was buzzing with all those Melbourne escapes. It was a big blue-sky scorching summers day and after nattering for a bit we took the kids for a picnic down at the beach and then for a swim. On the way home we stopped at a cherry farm where the farmer kindly took Wills and I into the grove to pick the yummiest cherries we’ve ever tasted.  It’s amazing how sometimes just venturing out for the day can leave you feeling re-charged and like you have been on a little holiday.

A big congrats to Anne-Louise from Belrose NSW who won our Christmas giveaway! It was so exciting to draw our prize winner out of Mrs Clause’s hat. Everyone who spent over $100 from Mid November to Dec 20 was in the running to win our gorgeous Scotty and uber cool Santa Sack. Who says a pet for Christmas is a bad idea?

I love the take on this one featured on ohdeedoh – just a simple bookcase turned into an apartment style  place – how coool!

So now we will get out the tree – it isn’t a real one, It just isn’t practical. I collect Christmas decorations and real ones just wilt under the weight and I don’t like pine needles or trying to get rid of a scorched brown tree come February when I finally muster the will to pack it all up.

Here is a pic of my two favourite things we are selling this Christmas – The Christmas ABC Book and the amazing Santa gift tags. Come to think of it don’t buy the tags as I want them all for me!

Our wholesale boxes are HUGE and it is amazing how skilled you become in measuring and weighing by eye, we have even been known to compete to see who guesses the correct weight. But since we set up our online store a few months back we have an ever increasing stream of little one-off orders marching out the door in the lead up to Christmas. The big boxes in all of their unwieldyness are looked after by the warehouse but the online orders I lovingly pack, popping small extras in and wrapping in pretty orange tissue paper all finished off with our little airmail sticker address label. I then take them down to the post office and get to have a chat to my cheery postman who reminds me that business for me is good business for both of us. Here’s a snap of todays ‘little boxes’.

I couldn’t think of a better treasure to give our beautiful little lamb – Tilda – on her second birthday this week. Caitlin’s pieces make the perfect keepsake present for any little girl and the packaging is just as special as the piece itself.

NOVEMBER 2010

We introduced our Little Lamb Garlands a few months ago now but with the festive season upon us they have really come into their own.

The elves have been very busy packing these lovelies into our glass jars. Speaking of elves I’ve been employing child labour. Before you get on the email and rightfully jump up and down, it is in the form of a certain 7 year old. She loves to pack garlands, she loves the pocket money, she loves helping out and like me she loves looking at each string as they go into the jar.

Being handmade they are all very unique and each string can be very different to the next. Some are full of bright punchy colours, others have more pastal tones. I packed one yesterday that was full of red and green and really looked very Christmassy. Sometimes the colour combinations are so beautiful I just don’t want to part with them. Rather than have a ‘one for me one to sell’ approach  I’ve taken to photographing strands that I particularly love. I do have ‘my’ strand, they live next to desk. The hot pink, yellow and turquoise all in a row is what makes them mine. Wills has her strand that are draped over the pictures on her wall next to her bed. I’ve a friend with two – one set is a belt and the other adorns her walls. It is so nice to step into friends houses and see all the clever uses of them.

On the 1st of December we’ll put up the tree and festoon it with lovely garlands, I can’t wait to see how fantastic it will look!

Our little Ad that appears in the current issue of Inside Out Magazine

Willow approaches each year like a bride before a wedding – its a BIG deal with lots of planning and even more discussing of all the important things: cake, party activity, cake, invitees and cake. I have to say the party for her is way more important than the gifts she isn’t much big on toys but  party food well that could come wrapped in a box with a big bow and she would be happy. It’s all my fault I set the bar too high too young, and have gone completely OTT from that very first candle perched lonely on the One cake. Each year I vow next year it will be small, with no party.

This year was a crazy mix of worlds colliding – an archery party with a Hello Kitty Cake and an Asian inspired lolly bag.

The cake is the key. We all pour over the Woman’s Weekly Cake Book – the one with the train on the front, the same one we had when we were kids. Although this year the cake is a creation out of Willow’s head or more precisely her new found ability to do google image searches.

She gets the credit for the outside look and me for the rainbow inner.

My favourite part of the party is the invite, this year I did a very colourful one with lashings of influence from the beautiful paperware by Belle & Boo

The lolly bags were filled with all sorts of treats – asian lollies, soap and a colouring in sheet inspired by the invite. All this contained in cute candy striped bags from Lark.

Round two next week. More cake, more prezzies and then it will be a month to the day till Christmas. Now about that limit increase…

We moved into our house nearly a year ago and one of the most unusual features of this place is the cork floor. When we first looked at it on the net I saw the floors and instantly I thought the house was 70′s. Before we moved in I kept thinking of ways to deal with the cork – I researched white washing, replacing it altogether and opted for the cheaper and essentially only choice I had which was to live with it. I’m now very used to it and have come to love how forgiving it is and what an excellent choice it is for a house with small kids. Things just bounce off with no broken dishes or glasses in the year we’ve been here.

Years ago I fell in love with an antique French lamp from Camden Markets in London – with solid stone base, pitchfork detail and cork shade at the time it was a big investment both financially and because I knew inevitably I would need to lug it home to Australia one day. The whole lamp is pretty interesting but the cork shade has always fascinated me – it looks like the cork equivalent of gold leaf. Super fine cork shavings in squares make up the tiled appearance. I still love it.

Today I came across these rather cool pendant lights from Great Dane by Benjamin Hubert called ‘float’. I like the take on it and think they’d look great in our place especially if we get our way and extend up – imagine them in a stairwell hanging at various heights! ok time to stop dreaming and get back to work to afford them.

Some of the fab things I’ve done so far this weekend is play endlessly with our youngest Tilda who is getting to experience being an only child whilst big sis is off on a very special holiday with her grandparents. We’ve taken Tills out to dinner and had a great meal with her which was a shock, being a toddler sitting still is not a priority for her but the lure of a big bowl of chips and mummy and daddies undivided attention made it a good deal. Another thing we’ve done with her this weekend is pop her on the back of Ben’s bike in a toddler seat, she loved it and won’t take off her new helmet or as she calls it “my hommit”. The three of us went for a great ride along the river to Collingwood Children’s farm cafe for afternoon tea and might just do it all again this afternoon.

Getting along to Melbourne’s very first Finders Keepers not just on one day but on both has been pretty fantastic. FINALLY this great market has made it’s way here and I was so excited to have a very good shop and chat with some very familiar faces and make some great discoveries.

Being held in The Docklands a part of town I have just recently been discovering – thanks to Benji work’n 9-5 down there. It is nice to see some life in the Docklands other than that of construction and major corporates with their too-cool-for-school-carbon-neutral-headquarters. It’s also great to see something by the water in melbourne. I really hope that Shed 4 hosts some other cool things going forward!  I managed to do some great shopping and drop some serious coin. It is great to support the actual makers and to have a chat with the person who often actually made or at the least dreamt up what you’ve just bought.

My number 1 discovery was The Storybook Rabbit. Their stuff is rather charming and I came home with an instant collection for the wall. I think these guys are destined for big things.

A great surprise was seeing Christina from Made590..it shouldn’t of been any surprise at all since they are one of the sponsors. All the kooky animals were there along with her clothing range. Bagging a dress was great as I really needed something to celebrate the new season.

But the main reason for me getting along to Finders Keepers was to support one of my good friends Madeleine who has Made By Mosey. Her wares, like her, looked beautiful. Maddy painstakingly handmakes all her beautiful bunting, hanky blankies and mobiles herself so getting together enough stock to do such a market is a lot of work…they’re all fantastic and luckily she heartily ignores me and rolls her eyes every time I wail “outsource Maddy!!”,  ”That’s not the point Amber” is the reply and I know it isn’t!

Lots of very clever souls took part in Finders Keepers and I just hope they venture south again sometime soon…but not too soon as I’m feeling a little light of wallet!

Spring has finally sprung and this weekend I have really had the chance to stop and smell the roses.

This is a pic of our very fragrant wisteria and climbing rose wall – oh thank you neighbours for so kindly planting this on the north side of your place whilst you get the branches we get to enjoy this stunning show!

Row 1 Pony Rider, Row 2 Mae, Row 3 Ubabub, Row 4 Fawn & The Pink Room

It’s all well and good exhibiting at Life Instyle – as I talked about in my last post, but  the most fun is admiring everyone else’s stand. All that beautiful product and some people are so clever with their stand design! Obviously there are the exhibitors you’re mates with and catching up is great. Meeting new exhibitors and seeing their clever product is just icing on the cake.

The icing for me was Pony Rider, I loved every square inch of this great new range. So much so, I have one of these stunning quilts on order. For me it was the highlight  of Life Instyle Melbourne. Clever clever stuff! Not only did I find the quilt, I think I found a friend in Kelly its creator as well.

Mae is an absolute favourite at our place.  Willow came to visit me at the trade show one afternoon (she helps me plan the stand and is a great helper with Down To The Woods) I told her we could visit two other stands and asked her which ones would would it be, her two choices were Ruby Luxe for the bling and Mae. She LOVES Mae, right next to her bed is a little mini Mae collection that enchants her no end, she loves to re-arrange her little critters. She fell in love with the stand and I told her she could choose something from the range for herself…she picks the whole whopping tree and its associated critters, sigh. We’re just waiting for the next rainy day to put it up and bring the woods to their room.

Another new exhibitor was the amazing Ubabub – not only is it the best looking cot range I have ever seen, the founders are just the nicest people. They have an amazing eye for design right down to all the marketing material, it had me swooning. The cots are so good it tempts me to get one for Tilda who is nearly 2! How ridiculous is that?

Fawn and The Pink Room had the sweetest stand of all – gotta love a stuffed animal! The beautiful cards from The Pink Room are something we’re very excited about. So very sweet and made with love and care. When our shop goes live you can snap one up for yourself…if we don’t keep them all for ourselves!

One major favourite that is missing here is Made590 with all their amazing product. The truth is whenever I went up and visited I would get yacking with Christina and I simply forgot to take pics. We will chat Made 590 another day!

So there you go, Life Instyle Melbourne 2010. Look out for all these beautiful ranges or contact all these wonderful folk if you want to know where your closest stockist is or would like to stock their wares.

Not the best shot in the world – it is really hard to take good pics of the lamps all lit up, the shot does show our beautiful new rugs though!

So what do you do to cheer yourself up when you need a lift? I gave myself some flowers and some for a friend and a bunch for my eldest daughter too. I think all three of us are starting to feel the drag of winter and it is stomping on our usual cheer. I couldn’t go past these immensely cheery orange flowers that I hope will remind all three of us; the days will lengthen, the trees will return to green and we can strip off our winter woollens….soon. @

I‘ve got some great stuff on etsy – the most unusual being the wallet for Ben made out of gaffer tape & body bag. He was a little squeamish at first but I did assure him the body bag was unused. Anyway, Etsy is my go-to spot when I have 5 minutes to spare and would just like to do nothing  - not read a blog or catch up on news but just browse. That’s what I was doing tonight when I came across Pour Toujours Etsy shop.

I usually look at new stuff and tend to skip the ‘vintage’ wares but this store is great, made all the more perfect by its Canadian cross French-American uniqueness. The images are nice too, it is good to see someone present ‘upcycle and vintage’ so well and I think they obviously have a wonderful eye as everything is a winner. Alas the only bummer is ‘pour toujours’ doesn’t ship outside of North America*. But in a funny way that makes it even more delightful because all I can do is look. When we launch our online store I aim to have a little vintage section of our own, but I will save that for another post. I just hope I can make ours look half as good as theirs.

* The lovely Louise from Pour Toujours has got in touch and she ships everything but the furniture to OZ, yay!

Also check out her blog http://pourtoujoursblog.blogspot.com/ just as delightful as her store.

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I’ve never had to buy anything for her out of necessity and not really even out of want. Her 1^st birthday was the only time I thought some duds all of her own would be nice. There is so much great stuff out there but the decision was easy – a beautiful reversible Knuffle Kid dress in red, white and black. I love this dress which 8 months on has been a not so fleeting item, it’s still worn now but as a top with little wide-leg jeans and a skivvy underneath.

Today she got more clothes all of her own and once again they were from delightful Knuffle Kid. As soon as the parcel arrived she was into them.  We knew she felt very special all dressed up that sitting at home seemed a waste so we all went for a walk to the park.  Beautiful duds for a beautiful girl don’t you think?

Knuffle Kid – ‘Dame Washalot dress’ and ‘Moonface Cape’ – The Magic Faraway Tree reference is really the icing on the cake for me. Her owl necklace is from Shanghai Ruby.

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But this seriously lovely bike by Papillionaire is a  temptation and I have a little puddle of drool on my desk.  They are so cute, so romantic and affordable too. I also love the website, it’s great when you can customise a product and it shows you your choices.

Now how do I justify buying it?

My bike is sitting forlornly chained up on our little porch longing to be taken for a ride – currently this is an annual event, don’t laugh this is not an exaggeration…actually maybe it is maybe I only ride it every other year.

Would this pretty number entice me to ride more? Maybe.

I can see myself riding up to the school to collect Wills. Who (big news in our house) leant to ride her bike on the weekend. Watch it here. I would look just like all those lovelies in the Sartorialist’s Bicycles category, don’t you think?

Would a baby seat be an option?  Probably Not. Bummer

BUT maybe this could be my bike for days when I don’t have the baby with me. In that case I can see myself riding it to the café notebook, laptop and phone in the basket…ok, so then really it would be a work purchase… Yup, the bike is for work!

Now then, which colour?

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]]> http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/justify-my-love-386.html/feed 1 http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/absence-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder-381.html http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/absence-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder-381.html#comments Tue, 15 Jun 2010 07:09:29 +0000 amber http://www.downtothewoods.com.au/website/?p=381 Early into being a parent I had an epiphany; You can travel with small children but you can’t really have a holiday.   I mean the type where you truly relax, take a break and return home batteries recharged ready to dive back into life. I wish I had the epiphany before lugging a small infant on an international flight and back. I remember coming home from that trip in shock, not only did I not feel sparkly and new I felt more exhausted than before we left! Since then we have had lots of adventures with children in tow and have had a great time but we haven’t had a real break. I find travelling with kids is just like being at home but often harder.

But just the other day Ben and I got our first real holiday together in eight years. A childfree one, where we got to actually finish sentences, catch flights stress free and most importantly sleep in! We also got to eat at non child friendly places at non child friendly times, hike, hop in and out of cars without lugging car seats and didn’t have to pay oversized luggage any visits. So our week long holiday was had in Bali and would not have been possible without Ben’s mum very generously babysitting for the week (yes we are lucky and we know it!).  We had a really good time and spent much of it talking about the children – as we knew we would. We also spent a lot of time declaring how much Willow would have enjoyed herself and are already planning a return trip with her. The very best part of a child free holiday is coming home, we were so looking forward to seeing the girls that coming home was even more exciting than leaving in the first place.

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This image is from doubleparlour – traveller

There‘s all different market browsing styles. The day waster – who inspects every item at every stand. The Mr Methodical – Hello Paul, who systematically walks past every stall following a strict method so as not to miss out on anything. The power walker – motors through, a possessed look in their eye as if looking for their lost child. This is me, woman possessed on a mission. I never know what that mission is but I know it when I see it! These days I tend to take Wills with me, I can’t help but be infected by her delight at things I wouldn’t normally take a second look at. We have our little routine – the children’s book stand, hot doughnuts, the bonsai man and the hope the lady with the collector dolls will be there.

Willow’s $10 goes a long way, invariably for me I remember the size of our house and come home with just sugar on my fingers and a few happy snaps. There are the things that I kick myself for not getting – the Tyrolean dolls house. But then other things become lifelong treasures, my vintage rabbit fur jacket bought to wear to a 21^st many years ago being my favourite. Right, how many days till the weekend?

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The soundtrack is so very important. Invariably it will be whatever our current discovery is. But there are a few firm driving favourites. No long trip is complete without Fleetwood Mac ‘Go Your Own Way’ and more often than not Michael Brooke is featured as his is music you can do anything in life to. It’s in the car that I do my best thinking and that we have our best chats. We are really lucky that both the kids love a good road-trip too. We are sticklers, no DVD’s or hand held games allowed. They can listen to the music, daydream out the window, play car games, eat and sleep. A few weeks ago we had to make an unplanned trip to Sydney. We flew – the hour flight and the airport faff time was hell. So much so that we cancelled our return tickets, hired a car and drove back to Melbourne. I don’t know being strapped into a car with a toddler for 10 hours is somehow more tolerable but for us it is. It was the right decision; as usual we had a great time. Taking a detour (as we usually do) this time to Beechworth for a pie and a stroll through a car collectors fair.

I didn’t miss the safety demonstration or complimentary headsets one little bit!

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This weekend we have done just that and finally gone for a little drive to Daylesford to spend 2 nights at Shizuka Ryokan.

Firstly the Ryokan – it is in the traditional style of a Japanese Inn and you leave the western/modern world behind at the front door, along with your shoes. It’s beautiful, relaxing and a total escape. If it wasn’t for the Rosellas screeching overhead and the lack of jetlag I would have sworn we were in Japan. This place made time stand still. The traditional room with futon, tatami mating and no TV forced us to relax. The sake also helped.

Daylesford itself – I could really go on and on and on to the extent that you would start to wonder if I spent this weekend courtesy of Tourism Victoria.  This town is amazing and if you don’t know about it I’m almost loathe to share it. If you do know about it, why didn’t you tell me about it sooner?

It has everything I want in a town. It is pretty – stunning in fact, close enough to home that I can make it without a loo break, accessible via dual highway, has seasons, picture book lakes, fantastic food, some very good shops, great coffee, interesting locals and tree changers, a book barn, a thriving art scene and good markets! What more could you ask for? It had me nosed-pressed against every real estate window dreaming of all the properties that could be ours.

Highlights were a blissful drive through the countryside stopping at the Chocolate Mill. Visiting the Lark Store and picking up some goodies for Wills. This is a great store owned by the very clever Allison who wholesales and retails some of my most favourite things . Going to David Bromley’s Studio 4 and seeing his creations and finds from China and getting along to the towns Sunday market where we got some produce and more ‘stuff for Wills’.  Daylesford it’s nice to have met you, I am sure we are going to be firm friends.

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