It's 7.00 on a Sunday.....

This Saturday we smiled as Paisley was a ray of sunshine in her annual ballet recital.

She had been telling me for weeks that she was going to be a stingray.

I wondered why a stingray would be wearing an orange and yellow tutu.

There was only enough of this vintage fabric for two bikinis.

The other is a size 10 and will be in the shop some time this week.

Mornington's Twilight Market on Saturday was cancelled.

It will be rescheduled for a few weeks time.

Today I was at the Mulgrave Makers Market.

The weather put a bit of a damper on things.

There were a few people out and about

but it was definitely not bikini weather.

Look at that forgeous face!

Last Thursday was spent at the Werribee Open Plane Zoo.

I highly recommend it.

The puddles made for an exciting safari tour.

See that animal out the back window?

Isn't he beautiful.

I wish I could have taken him home.

Harold, or was it Henri? He loved posing for all the passers by.

This cheeky guy would strike a different pose after each photo.

Such an exhibitionist.

Three weeks till the next market.

Dec 19th Mulgrave Makers Market

Then it's Red Hill on New Year's Day

Should be a busy one.

Lot's of new stock will be in the etsy store over the next few days.

I'll keep you posted.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Where Have I Been?

I have been busy.

I am taking a 10 minute break to put dinner on and catch you all up on where I'm at.

While dinner is cooking, let's have a little chat.

What have I been doing?

I have been sewing bikinis..... of course.

I have been filling out market applications thinking I would not get in till next year..... BUT

I hope to be at Mornington Twilight market Sat 27th Nov 3-8

I will be at Mulgrave Makers Market Sun 28th Nov.

I will also be at Mulgrave Makers Market Dec 19th

Then there is Red Hill Market on New Years Day..... FUN.

And another Mornington market later in January.

There is also another Rosebubs in January.

I would have liked to pace myself more but swimwear only has a limited season.

I am feeling a little overwhelmed

The joy and excitement I felt at first has gone AWOL

It has been replaced by feelings of doubt and exhaustion.

Am I doing the right thing for my family?

Am I being selfish?

Is there any financial benefit from putting in so much effort?

I would love to hear from you....

I would love to hear your thoughts on crafting for a crust....

And anyone with market experience,

I would love some advice....

Sorry no photos...... it would only be more bathers.

Vintage Swimwear and a Lovely Gift

I love this fabric!

It is a vintage fabric that my mother in law found for me.



The bluebirds are to-die-for!

Wendy from The Textured Leaf very kindly gave me this over sized pin-cushion.

I have been putting it to very good use.

She will have them for sale at the Mulgrave Makers Market Sunday week.

See you there!



My Creative Space

Of course with this coming up

I am madly sewing these.

I also plan on making some more simple sundresses.

I found a really nice denim-look linen that will make a fantastic sundress.

There are other things on the list too,

they might have to wait till the next market though.

I am on my third cup of coffee already this morning.

I have been burning the candle at both ends.

Better take some vitamins to make sure I don't succumb to any lurgies before the market.

Here are the fabrics that the reversible bikinis are avaible in at the moment.

There will be more choices available soon.

I think that I will keep gingham as the contrasting fabric though.

A bit of a signature thing..... you know.

I have been so busy

I need a babysitter and a housecleaner

any volunteers?

To find out what others are up to check out Kootoyoo

Girls Reversible Bikinis

I should be making bikinis for the Mulgrave Makers Market.

Instead I have been filling etsy orders and trying out new ideas.

These are reversible.... but I forgot to take photos of the other side!

As you can probably guess, they look the same, but in a different fabric.

These are now for sale in my Etsy store.

You can choose from three different colours,

green, red, and blue.

You may also choose any size between 2 and 12.

Thanks for dropping by.  Sorry about all the photos.

I was going to delete some but I can't decide which ones.

.For a bit of a tom-boy she's becoming quite the poser.

I will have to make the next sample in a size four for Paisley

Something Green

Here is a little something I am working on.



I couldn't sleep very well last-night.

I was wondering what I was going to do about the material I bought that was see-through.

You see I just couldn't resisit it.

I would have to line it,

but that would take too long,

cost too much,

and there would be no significant improvement.

I have been up since 5am.

first I cleaned.....

then I sewed.....

And now we have reversible bikinis!

2 for the price of 1.....

sort of.

Happenings

Alot has happened in the last couple of days.

Firstly, we will be here...

on Sunday November 28th.

And the oh-so-nice

Steph Bond

has featured MonetPaisley Swimwear on Bondville

I have made my first etsy sale

a red check bikini.

Will have to list more red.

It doesn't sound like much

but its kept me busy.

And the Winner is.....

First let me explain how I picked a winner....

I had to write down each entry and allot it a number

because some comments contained more than one entry.

Facebook likers were further down on the list. Nothing personal.

There were 66 entries in total.

Then I popped over to random.org

entered the parameters

and clicked generate.

And the winners are...

14. Kate from Two Little Banshees

8. Jelly Bean Books and

13. Nadia

Congratulations, I will attempt to contact you via blogger and facebook to discuss sizes and fabrics.  I shall also need your addresses.

Thank you sooooo much to every one who participated.  A special thank you goes to those that twittered without even being asked.

As a result of someones tweet

We have been featured on Bondville Kids and Bondville.

Websites devoted to Australian Designers.

Again, without you all I never would have thought this was possible.

Thanks for all your supportive comments

and all the hard work everyone put in to get our name out there.

Don't forget

if you didn't win

you can still bag a bargain in our etsy store.

Prices are currently $25

but won't stay that cheap for much longer.

Last Chance....

Don't forget

You only have until midnight tonight to get your entries in

for our giveaway.

See here for how to enter.

Some French Inspiration

Doing a spot of reading this afternnon.

I have learnt a little about French fabric design and history. 

I love this traditional French Provencal cotton by La Souleiado

You can still purchase this print in a range of colours and it is quite affordable.

I love these chairs.  My parents have some reproduction ones from a place that specialised in reproduction French Provencal furniture. Not sure if the company is still around.



Another glorious French Provencal cotton.

Wouldn't you love to have a picnic on this cherry-patterned boutis (from what I can tell it's a quilt)



That's what I am up to this rainy Saturday Afternoon.  What about you?

(the pictures are all photographs from Pierre Deux's French Country)

I've Been Tagged

The very delightful Nessa from NessaKnits has tagged me in a 4x4 post.

Unfortunately I have already written one of these.  I didn't know that you had to wait until you were tagged.

Everyone else was doing it, and I felt left out.

So.... During Blogtober when I was really struggling for ' material' (hehehe, pun intended).... I posted this

So now that I actually have been tagged.... I need to tag four others.

Here goes....

The Textured Leaf

A Childhood of Nectarines

Dorothybills

Just Joyce (Joyce Lives Here)

My Creative Space and Three Days Left to Enter the Giveaway

Today I finished this order of a size four in the blue and yellow floral.  I didn't take enough 4's to the market.  I still don't have enough 4's.  Not really very creative I know.  Other than that I have just been running errands and doing the grocery shopping.

Don't forget there are three days left to enter the giveaway.  You could win one of three pairs of these cotton bikinis in the size and colour of your choice.

For more creative spaces check out Kootoyoo

Swimwear Giveaway

Finally!

I have opened an etsy store!  It took all day!

It's not all I imagined it to be.  But it will improve as I get more familiar with the setup.

So what did I promise? A GIVEAWAY!!!!!

I am giving away three pairs of girls cotton bikinis.  I have sizes 0-12.

You may enter more than once. What can you do to enter?

1. For your first entry you can become a follower of my blog and leave a comment HERE  letting me know that you have done this.

2.  For your second chance to win, LIKE the MonetPaisley Swimwear page on Facebook and leave a comment ON THIS POST to let me know.

3. If you would like another chance to win you can blog about this giveaway.  Again, leave another comment HERE to let me know that you have done so.

4.  If you make the MonetPaisley Swimwear Giveaway the subject of your status update on Facebook you have another chance of winning.  Again, leave a comment ON THIS POST to let me know.

5.  For a fifth and final chance to win, add the picture below to the sidebar of your blog and link back to this post.  Please let me know by commenting again.

6. But wait there is more.... you can favourite my etsy store for yet another entry.  Then comment here to let me know.

So if you have three daughters and enter three or more times, perhaps you could win all three!

Thanks soooo much guys for all your blog love.  I am so sorry to make you jump through hoops to win some bathers.  I would love to give all my followers free bikinis but i am trying to spread the word so other little girls can enjoy cotton swimwear this summer.  Live the dream.... You know the deal....

Oh and entries close midnight Sunday the 14th November.  So that's almost one week to spread the word.

Ready..... Set...... GO!!!!!

Rosebubs Market and MonetPaisley Swimwear

 I was quite happy to get this shot where we both look quite ok.  Thanks to the lovely Sara.

During the down time I managed to take some quite staged shots of my swimwear range.

I have set the price for this first range at $25.  I think thats pretty competitive with the other local retailers.

 I love this sign that we ran up at 7 this morning, its made from a cornflake box.

Wendy managed to finish handstitching the binding on this postage stamp quilt at the market.  It has only taken her 10 years to finish.  I love that every square of fabric has its own little story.  My favourite was the small sample of the first ever patchwork that Wendy made for her eldest daughter, it makes a couple of appearances in this luxurious quilt.

And lastly some more staged photos of my latest obsessions....... kids cotton bikinis!!!

I am busy listing the leftover bikinis on Etsy and completeing some extra orders I had because I ran out of size 4's... note to self... make lots more 4's and 6's!

Post Script: Wendy's quilt only took seven years to finish.  I did know that and kept telling myself "it's not 10 it's 7" but isn't that always the way....