how green is my valley

You may not have noticed but I have been away for the last few days. My op-shopping pal and I headed north. Let's say a trip that should have taken about 3 1/2  hours going slow took about 8 with numerous detours.
Yesterday I got to meet up with Anne who is hopefully going to do some special work for me. It's taken ages to get time organised to meet face to face and chat about new projects but I am excited. Then we head off a bit further and got to have tea and cake with Miss Charlotte at her beautiful valley home. We were packed off with biscuits and the yummiest wild blackberries for the trip home.
Now it's Shopgirl Saturday (how does it come around so fast??) and I have to get the stuff collected in the last couple of days packed away so customers don't trip over  it all.

intruder alert

Jethro and I awoke at 4.15 this morning to the sound of raowling on the landing outside the bedroom.
We had an intruder in the house.

A couple of weeks ago a little cat started sitting outside the back gate calling and calling for Jethro, amazingly Jethro just sits and listens, he doesn't growl or hiss or raowl back. Of course it's in the middle of the night so I have to go down and scare her off by knocking on the gate. We can hear her run off into the night, little bell tinkling.

Last night she managed to squeeze under the gate through a 3" gap and made her way upstairs, she sat and raowled about a metre away and Jethro just sat at the end of the bed and looked at her. When I turned the light on she scooted down the stairs, I followed and managed to see by the flashlight one little stripey leg as it slipped under the gate and into the night.

I don't know whether I am more astounded by her daring or by Jethro's calm attitude to having a stranger-cat in the house. After she left he had a wander through the house then came back to bed. He's one weird kitten. Perhaps he likes having a feline groupie.

it's tally time!

Dear Friends
Jethro and I would like to thanks everyone who helped out with the Cottage Industry Queensland Souvenir Tea-towel Cushion Fundraiser.
We have been very moved by your response and are proud to announce that 19 cushions were sold. We are going to round that up to 20 and that makes a total of $1,200 that will be transferred over to R.S.P.C.A. Queensland.
A huge thanks you to 4 shop customers, Katherine, Brooke, Kylie, Vanessa, Patrice, Juliette, Carly, Lyn, Karen, Beck, Bryony, Jo, Mona and Sarah. and to everyone who sent through messages of support and encouragement.
Much love Jethro and Pen
xxxx

the end and a bit

The Queensland cushion fundraiser was meant to finish at 6pm last night but there are still emails coming in........ so it will continue until 6pm tomorrow night 24th of January when sadly I will have to finish it up.
You can email or phone through an order up until then.
And tomorrow night I will unveil the total..........

almost the end

So here we are, the Queensland cushion fundraiser ends today at 6pm. It's been an exciting week fossicking for Queensland themed tea-towels in the stash of thousands at the studio, going out to the Mother-of-all-Op-Shops to do a quick grab and heading up to Fryerstown yesterday to see if there was any treasures amongst the piles of detritus and crap at this annual 'antiques' market.

This enamel set was a bit stunning but it was far too matchy-matchy for me. I can see it in a Russian dacha! I went for some enamel plates and bowls instead and am regretting not buying a Metters enamel pot and lid in a really unusual shade of chartreuse-y green. Jen scored a fabulous tablecloth that I may have to break into her house and steal. By the end of the day we were pretty hot and dusty but it was certainly not the crazed 40ºC+ weather up there that I have experienced in the past. I'm quite knackered today and could happily sleep until 2pm but I am up and about ready to be shopgirl (well perhaps not quite ready).

I have three more Queensland tea-towels to show you. Not made into cushions yet but if you are interested in one as part of the fundraiser email or call today and they will be ready to send out as cushions on Monday. And a big thanks to Geraldene for sending through the Darling Downs version!

I'll be posting the finally tally in the next couple of days.

Ok, I'd better scoot, things to do!

two more cushions, two more days

A bit of 'dumpster diving' this afternoon, a pile of fabrics, some embroidered stuff and a few more tea-towels. I photographed these ones before ironing them, an Airlie Beach/Whitsundays one and a Queensland map/giant flora/fauna one.
We only have two days to go.
More parcels to go off to the post office tomorrow. I had better let Jethro know we have wrapping to do tonight.
I have a drive up country to do tomorrow, hopefully it won't be too hot. Next week I need to get head down and get work underway. January is a strange month, discombobulated, half lazy holiday time and half kick starting the year.
So two more Queensland cushion fundraising days people! Thanks so much for helping out!

giddy

Seriously giddy.
My head is spinning.
Every evening Jethro helps with the wrapping of cushions ready to go off to the post office the next morning.
The post lady at the Gore Street Business Centre asked me how my eBay sales were going- I've been in every morning this week with parcels wrapped in brown paper- I explained it was a flood fundraiser, she was nicely surprised.
Three days to go people!
I'm hoping to score a few more Queensland tea-towels in the next couple of days so keep tuning in.

I'm going to wait and surprise you with the tally.

a plump of cushions

The collective noun for cushions?

I'm voting for a 'plump of cushions'.

I remembered to pick up the zips this morning and the inserts will be arriving tomorrow, so I'm just waiting to get stuffing. I've photographed all (I hope!) of the cushions and here they are- sorry for any dodgy shots! 

If you like a particular one then you can 

a. paste a copy of the cushion photo and email me 

or 

b. call the shop after 11am tomorrow and let us know which one you would like 

(probably best to count down from the first photo 1, 2, 3, etc and describe the cushion).

I know some of these will be sort after so it's definitely going to be who ever is first in ( physically or virtually) flashing their cash/credit card/transfer will get the cushion!

The new cushions will be in the shop tomorrow afternoon after the inserts arrive.

Thanks!

And yes that is Steve Irwin down the bottom of the photos!

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

SOLD

monday morning coming down

SOLD

I've been busy wrapping and mailing off Queensland cushions. There are more left and I am hoping that I can get into the studio this afternoon to sort some more out.

I really don't know what to do with myself at the moment. There is too much to be started, I haven't finished cleaning and I am still sitting in half a mess at the studio and a full mess at home. It probably my mixed up sleep patterns that are causing havoc with my brain. I woke up this morning thinking how this Wednesday was Australia Day and I could somehow justify staying at home, it took until about 11am and two buckets of tea for me to work out that I was a week ahead of myself.

The final box of Douglas sandals have arrived so we are now fully stocked, although we are seriously low on the size 3s. We have a lot then we have none- arrrggghhh.

I've spent the morning doing stuff and answering emails and I better hurry off now and get some other things done. 

love is a cushion

A huge thank you to everyone who has contacted us about the Queensland tea towel cushions and a big kiss on the cheek to all our friends who have re-posted about it. I have to admit I almost cried when the emails started to come through from interstate- thank you.
As they disappear out of the window I will make new ones to replace them, we have a week to go as of today so do let me know if you want a picture sent through to you.
Also I forgot to mention that if you want one mailed to you the Cottage will be paying the postage so all you have to cough up is the price of the cushion..... and it doesn't matter where you want it sent, intrastate, interstate or overseas.
Also if you aren't big on cushions made from tea towels I am fossicking out a few tea-towel shoppers that have Queensland themes on them and the same deal will apply, I may not have them in store 'til Monday however.
I'm in the shop today so if you want to ring and talk Queensland souvenir tea-towels please do (although I may need to take your number and call you back if I am busy).

sandal scandal!

Three fifths of the new sandal order has landed!
We have red, blue and green in, black and white will (hopefully) arrive on Monday.
You better be quick! we are working our way through the requests book but we have limited numbers in some sizes. We now have in size 7 (euro 42).
So hot-foot it down so you can cool-foot it!

cushions for queensland

The cleaning has progressed- slowly- now the clean areas are making the uncleaned areas look really really grotty. Hate that.
Whilst I cleaned I tried to think of something to do to help flooded Queensland. To me donating is something quiet and personal, it shouldn't be sung from the rooftops, it is not about the person giving but the cause receiving. As I cleaned up I noticed all the piles of tea-towels, how Queensland always makes the brightest and cheeriest (and a little bit cheesiest) and I realised I couldn't in all good conscience sell Queensland tea-towel cushions with everything going on up there. I decided I could sell them though if we donated 100% of the retail price for every Queensland themed cushion sold from now until the 22nd of January. I got to work and sorted and stitched and we now have a whole new batch displayed in the window- and there is some absolute stunners in there.
So if you've been umming-and-ahhing over a Queensland cushion now is the time. You'll get to go home with a cushion and a warm and fuzzy feeling and we will send through a donation of $60 for each cushion sold. Jethro has chosen the Queensland RSPCA as the beneficiary of the donation. The RSPCA managed to find foster homes for all 500 animals at their centre and have been setting up animal 'creches' at the relief centres but they have lost everything in the flood.
If you are interstate or overseas and are wanting to get one of these cushions email or call and we can send through some photos or attempt to vividly describe them over the phone.

(There is even a Goondiwindi one in the window......)