Pop-Up Shop Ballarat & luvfromamy Product Range

Yesterday was the final day of trade for the Pop-Up Shop Ballarat - we took down the bunting and packed up our stock (..to be honest it was a little sad to see the wonderful space go!)

Images courtesy of Kate Healy, the Courier

But seriously, what a fantastic experience participating in the Pop-Up Shop has been.. The response to our products was overwhelming and I cannot thank the organisers (Deborah, Laura from Learn 2 Screen-Print/MESH and Lisa from Deer Little Parties) enough for allowing luvfromamy to be part of this high quality, first time event. I was extremely nervous as the Pop-Up Shop would be my market/pop-up shop début, but I left feeling even more confident, inspired and planning for what's next :-) I can't wait!

Thanks again to my friends, family and my lovely partner who visited and listened to me ramble on about stamps and crochet for the last couple of months haha, to the organisers (such a superb job!), to the other markers - your products were amazing and such high quality, to everyone who spread the word of the Pop-Up Shop, to our lovely customers (hope you like your goodies!!) and an extra special thanks to Laura, who has been a massive, massive motivator and inspiration with all her hard word and small business success!

If you missed out this time (shame on you! Haha only joking) Pop-Up Shop Ballarat will be an annual event so make sure you keep an eye out this time next year! :)

As this post is quite picture heavy I'm afraid I haven't included many images from the shop.. But I highly recommend you have a look at the fantastic makers that were featured here and here). 

I've shown you bits and pieces of the luvfromamy product range via this blog and facebook, but haven't introduced my handmade and stationery items  officially.. So without further adieu...

♥ Crochet bow adjustable rings. Available in red, pink, white.

♥ Crochet hair bows on an alligator clip. Available in pink, white, grey, purple, red, orange, teal, black.

♥ Crochet bow headbands. Available in red, dusty pink, teal, pink.

♥ Crochet bracelets. Available designs blue navy, red navy, black skull, grey stud, black stud.

♥ Crochet Christmas decoration 4 packs (2 wreaths, 2 love hearts).

♥ Alphabet and number stamp set.

♥ Lovely Animal stamp set.

♥ Small ink pads. Available in blue, pink, purple, red, green, orange.

♥ Cotton bakers twine. Available in 15 different colours

♥ DIY fabric tape. Available in a variety of colours and patterns.

I also have a collection of 8 x 10 prints and greeting cards which I adore, but am yet to photograph :)
 
At luvfromamy, I not only make my own products, but also love YOU making your own goodies too ♥  I hope to ignite and inspire creativity with my stationery and DIY products. I pick products that I, a self-confessed craft geek, LOVE so you will hopefully have a crush on them as well!

I'm excited to announce my *online store* will be open for business within the month, so keep an eye out for all these items (plus regular additions). If you'd like to be the first to know of the my store opening, email: hello@luvfromamy.com and I will add you to my mailing list!

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The Pop-Up Shop is a great addition to the Ballarat retail scene and I've been lucky enough to meet some wonderful, creative and inspiring ladies and gents. I hope to participate in more markets with them in the future :)

Featured designers and markers: ♥ MESH/Learn 2 Screen Print ♥ Deer Little Parties ♥ Sago on Tuesdays bindery ♥ Margie Balazic ♥ Le Mutt dog accessories ♥ Trunk & Orderly ♥ Steph Wallace from Red Brick Gallery ♥ Bok-Bok B'Gerk ♥ Sillee Billee ♥ Morgan Wills / Crafty Squirrel ♥ Chloe Harmon ♥ Melinda Muscat ♥ Emma Bulpit ♥ Earnest & Joe ♥ Jodie Lee ♥ Red Echidna Studios ♥ Made by Truly, Bread & Butter pottery ♥ Angela Hayward ♥ Pauline O'Shannessy-Dowling

Ballarat Pop-Up Shop

In 28 days I'll be making my luvfromamy market debut at the Ballarat's first Pop-Up Shop! Located at the Backspace Gallery, the Pop-up Shop Ballarat presents 7 days of retail bliss, bringing together the best of regionally made independent art, design, craft and hand-made products. A shopping experience never seen before in Ballarat!

When: November 30th - 9th December, 12pm - 4pm

Where: Backspace Gallery (Huyghue House, Alfred Deakin Place, Camp St, Ballarat. More info here).

Elsewhere: Pop-Up Shop Ballarat's facebook and tumblr page

How amazing is the below invite??? The gorgeous paper cut artwork is thanks to the super talent Steph Wallace of Red Brick Gallery

I'm so excited to be a part of the Pop-Up Shop Ballarat!! I have been a busy little bee of late; creating product, designing my business cards and organising the small (but very important) details such as packaging.

Here's a little sneak peek of the products I will display in the Pop-Up Shop Ballarat :-) Not only will my handmade crafts be for sale, I'll also showcase lovely stationery items and stamp sets to keep you inspired and DIY'ing!

♥ Crochet bow ring - $3 ♥ Lovely Animals stamp set - $12 

♥ Varieties of korean fabric tape - $3.50ea or 3 for $9 ♥ Crochet collar - $38

If you're in Ballarat on Friday, 30th November why not call in and say hello at the special lunchtime launch or gala opening night - I'd love to see you there! :-)

Spooky Halloween reads

With only 3 days until Halloween I can't think of a better time to pick up a spooky novel and give yourself a little scare! I love horror movies but unfortunately my partner doesn't (:: sad face ::) so books are the perfect alternative; only one of us is scared senseless and it's by my own choice haha.

Despite my bubbly exterior I've always been a little.. "morbidly inclined" - a lover of vampires, demons and macabre. I remember often  flicking through a lovely illustrated book that my father owned, The Encyclopedia of Horror and later, Picture book of Devils, Demon and Witchcraft when I was around 10 and thinking "gee this is the bees knees." - haha I should have been reading the Saddle Club! 

My favourite spoooooky books/series through the ages

♥ In early childhood my first "horror" book was The Werewolf of Fever Swamp from R.L Stine's Goosebumps series. I don't know any 90's child who didn't love Goosebumps. I remember taking Fever Swamp to school when I was around 6 years old and comparing which titles each of my friends owned. R.L Stine's books were fantastic in the way that they got children reading, collecting and then talking about their favourite stories. I wasn't a massive book-worm but I owned 20+ Goosebumps books and used to read them quite a lot at school. Goosebumps were the first books I remember being "cool to own" (in the same way as Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games - but of a much younger age-group of course!) Other favourites from the Goosebumps series include: the Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, Vampire Breath, Monster Blood, Night of the Living Dummy.

♥ Pet Sematary was the first Stephen King book I ever read and oh what a cracker to start with. I read Pet Sematary while on a family holiday in Mildura when I was in year 9 (ish). I stayed up extra late and ended up reading it REALLY quickly. If you haven't read King's Pet Sematary I would definitely, definitely recommend it.. I don't want to give away too much but it's very creepy but not scary enough to give you nightmares and the ending is amaaazing. I have since read the following Stephen King books: Salem's Lot, Carrie, The Tommyknockers and The Green Mile. With such an extensive bibliography I would like to read more Stephen King books in the future starting with The Shining. What other books would you recommend?

♥ Edgar Allan Poe, ah you have to love this cheery fellow! An author/poet fascinated by all things dark and supernatural often wrote about death, mourning, heart break and mental downfalls. My favourite tale by far is The Masque of the Red Death. With Death and disease on his doorstep what is Prince Prospero to do? Host a party with one thousand of his closest and light-hearted friends of course! But when an uninvited guest appears, Prospero's masquerade ball turns into a chilling blood bath. This short story (that can be read in full here) quickly takes you into Prospero's world of luxury and excess, but will leave you numb by the time the story concludes. The Masque's closing paragraph is one of my favourites, I'll simply say "He had come like a thief in the night..."

Image found via tumblr, if anyone knows the correct source I'd be super appreciative!

I'd love to start a new-to-me horror/supernatural book over the Halloween holiday - Do you have any spine chilling, blood curling recommendations? 

Some spooky tunes to get you in the Halloween mood! 

Colour Love: the yummy edition

I'm loving pastels, and I'm in luck as this colour scheme is everywhere at the moment :-) What lovely delicate colours! Pastels are feminine, calming and kind on the eyes - I love pastel nail polish and home decor... Oh! and don't let me forget sweets of the fairyfloss colour spectrum!

Today's Colour Love post goes out my fellow candy lovers.. WARNING your taste buds will get a little excited

 

♥ Macaroons

♥ Sugar candies ♥ Layered cake ♥ Meringues

♥ Bubblegum birthday party

How delicious!! Hopefully you're suffering from a delightful little sugar high after all that yumminess, hehe but don't feel bad for indulging; take note of Emma Stone's sweet advice... ;-)

My wish list - 20/10

♥ HIM: XX Two Decades of Love Metal CD & Singlet bundle - $19.99 (already ordered this hehe!)

♥ These gorgeous cuddly critter themed scent-portables via My Owl Barn - $4
♥ French knitting bee, you can buy these at your local craft/fabric store - $14.99 (I've always wanted one!)
♥ American Apparel disco pants in black - $122 (I must admit I wish I could buy the figure too!! :P)

luvfromamy sneak peek

There's something brewing behind the scenes at the luvfromamy HQ (aka my lounge room ha!) and here's a little sneak peek!

I've been a little quiet on the blog front for the last month or so, but it's for a really good reason trust me :P
I've started to develop my first line of handmade crafts (yay!) and sourcing stationery and other cute DIY goodies that can be found in my soon-to-be online store and at various local markets.

My personal branding has taken a new leap into business cards, product cards and market visual merchandising. It's an exciting time for me and I can't wait to show you the full deal within the next month.

Naturally inspired

Image found via pinterest

Do you have a selection of talented ladies (bloggers, artists, writers) that inspire and ignite your creativity? Me too...but I'll let you in on another lady who is a huge inspiration and a constant muse of mine... Mother Nature. While my work doesn't always reflect the organic nature...of well, nature, I do find myself searching for picturesque scenery (snowy landscapes, forests and mountain tops seem to be my favourite at the moment!) when I'm feel a little creatively drained. Beautiful scenery is so exhilarating.

 When looking at amazing places like this it's hard not to feel revived!

Source, Visit Finland youtube channel

Northern lights (aurora borealis) in Lapland, Finland. Original image source, Visit Finland flickr stream.

Why Nature is a fantastic source of inspiration...

♥ It's beautiful ♥ A never ending source of seasons and colours ♥ Always changing ♥ Often surprising

Next time you are feeling a little depleted why not use Mother Nature as your muse.. Take colours from your favourite photograph, create a pattern inspired by falling autumn leaves or use motions and strokes that represent different landscapes... Mother Nature can open doors to areas of creativity you may not usually access.

Have you used the natural world around you as inspiration? Feel free to post a comment, I'd love to see what places inspire you! :-)

Lovely love...

♥ Source here, personally pinned here

♥ Personally pinned here

♥ Source here, personally pinned here

Love is well and truly in the air can't just feel it? I'm a bit of a romantic and love collecting (and pinning) cutesy "luuurve" quotes, the collection brings a smile to my face as it makes me think of my sweet boyfriend when he's not around... Speaking of my Mr..This month we celebrated our 3rd year anniversary! ♥ time flies when you are in love ♥ How terribly lucky I am to have someone so kind, lovely, sweet, quirky, entertaining (and may I say, foxy! ) to share my life with. 

Ok, ok I'll stop with all the sappy stuff now! hehe

Happy Hooker - my new obsession...

I haven't blogged tooooo much about my newest obsession... but if you follow me on twitter or instagram (add me! @luvfromamy) you'll know I am one happy hooker... hang on... saw WHAT?? Yep, you read correctly.. I'm a happy hooker, but don't get too worked up - it just means I am utterly addicted to the lovely art of crochet.

I first learnt to crochet at a local Stitch n Bitch meet up, and have since explored new stitches, tecniques and made a few projects that might tickle your fancy!

♥ Learning the basics from a "Learn to crochet" booklet I purchased from Lincraft.

♥ Red & blue headband... Self declared Master of the chain stitch!! My first "creation."

♥ Starlight headband - made from single crochet band and buttons I purchased from my local Spotlight. I really like how this one turned out and it's not too bad for one of my first attempts; I often wear this to work.

♥ Granny square love! One of the first granny squares I made - it's pretty messy but I was really stoked with my progress:-) I used Meet Me At Mikes, Granny Squares 101 video tutorials to learn the basics. 

♥ My first attempt at crochet flowers... as you can see something is errr... missing? Haha I didn't count correctly so my little flowers were missing a petal!! They still look quite sweet though don't you think?

♥ A be-dazzled 5 petal flower. AH so this is what they are meant to look like! These flowers have to be my fav, they can be used on so many things and I can't get enough of making these little babies. I made this be-dazzled flower (I adhered hot-fix rhinestones) to go on a headband for my niece's 3rd birthday.

♥ Mustard and hot pink bow. I love this mustard yarn, it's such a nice colour and very "in" right now. This bow was really easy to make, I'm planning to attach it to a chunky, hot pink double crochet headband.

♥ I was feeling a little fancy one day and thought I would (attempt to) make a crocheted collar. BOY was I chuffed when it turned out really well! This was my first try at scalloped edging; fairly certain I've found my new fav technique!! Progress shot and the finished result. I'm toying with adding some rhinestones/pearls/beads... what do you think?

♥ Up until this week I've been using the same affordable (aka cheap Kmart branded) yarn and thought it was time to branch out on some new supplies. I stocked up on bamboo hooks and Panda Magnum soft 8ply yarn (I purchased red relvet, dark grey and white). It's magical to work with, so soft and luxurious!
♥ Heart - I've wanted to make a heart for aaages but found the patterns a little daunting, but last night I sat down and gave it my best shot! Happy with the results ♥ and the pattern was a lot easier than I thought it would be yippee!!

Hehe not entirely accurate but almost :P haha jk

Are you on ravelry? If so, let's be friends :-) My profile can be found here, I'd love to see what projects you are working on!

Diy Round-up: Working 9 - 5!

Working in a corporate environment can visually (at times) be a little lackluster for the creative eye... so if you're itching to personalise and add a little DIY charm to your office surroundings these projects will be perfect for you!

Make your own coordinating office supplies
via Allison's crafty and inspirational blog Dream {a little BIGGER} 

DIY notebooks via Gabi's blog Bee-inspired  - these would be super handy as I'm always writing to-do lists

Personalised sharpie mug via Elsie's popular blog A Beautiful Mess - now this DIY isn't directly "office" related but I think it would be super to personalise ("Amy's germs"?? haha!) your own work mug... I don't know hoooow many times my coffee mug has been pinched by a work colleague and used multiple times.

Corked covered containers via Design Sponge

Will you be trying any of these DIYs? :-)