My life lately has predominately revolved around children, domestic concerns and Finders Keepers Market preparation, (but not blogging, it would seem). It is the life of a stay at home Mama, with a small creative business. Full of routines and surprises, satisfaction and drudgery, creativity and preparation. My little darlings have certainly been keeping me occupied. While my precious 20 month old Emerson discovers the joys of stealing caster sugar from the pantry, or flinging drawers full of clothing on the floor, my almost-five-year-old Cohen has been testing his independence, and practicing the art of selective hearing. (A friend once said that you can tell when children are ready for school, because at least once a day you wish you could send them. Oh, how I understand!)
Apart from Mothering, I have managed to read a few books - and can recommend The Yarn Whisperer (for lovers of knitting) and The Forgotten Garden (an easy, enjoyable read). I've planted a few seedlings in the veggie patch - silver beet, onion, rhubarb and beads - while the self sown tomatoes are going strong, the parsley has taken over the compost pile, the capsicum is fruiting in large quantities and the sweet potato is threatening to take over more of the garden that I had anticipated. I've added some delicious new meals to our meal plan, after falling in to the habit of cooking the same ten meals over and over. I've caught up with some of the amazing women in my life at book club and a crafty morning tea. And of course, I've washed basket after basket of laundry, wiped up cup after cup of spilt milk, prepared approximately 2,000 meals, picked up several tonnes of toys and worked on stock, packaging and all manner of other things related to market prep.
Which leads me to the pictures above. While cuddling Emerson to sleep recently I decided I needed a lower price pointed product for the Brisbane market. Something sweet for everyday wear, that would also make a great gift or stocking stuffer. I mulled over several possibilities before hitting on the idea of making brooches from the same art clay I make the beads from. As soon as Emerson was asleep I started experimenting with clay, doilies and lettering. These new 'Beautiful Day' brooches are the result. Affordable cuteness at $12 each. I'll be bringing them to the market with me and updating the shop in the aftermath. There's a mixture of embossed doilie patterns, marbled clay designs and text, like 'knit', 'maker', 'quilter' and 'craft'. Though I'm happy to take custom orders too.
Oh, and look, here I am on the Finders Keepers blog.
