Where did the year go?

Do you remember when you were little and time seemed to go so slowly?  Oh how I miss those days!

This year has flown by too quickly but it's been a great year nonetheless.  Miss 5 started school and had a fantastic year - she settled in beautifully, made lots of new friends and learnt to read - something she is very proud of (as are we).  Master 9 had a good year too.  He says he enjoyed Year 3 because his teacher "had a sense of humour" - a handy thing to have when dealing with a bunch of 8 and 9 year olds!

For me the year was filled with the juggle of looking after things at home, driving the kids to school, dancing, music, swimming, soccer and birthday parties, finding time for friends and family, late night crafting, doing the Hide & Seek Market and taking on a part time job so that next year we can build this!

Phew - I think I need a holiday!  I'll be taking a little break from my blog and my Etsy store for a while but I'll look forward to getting back into it all in the new year.

So ... to the lovely people who have taken the time to visit my little corner in the world I'd like to say thank you and wish you a Merry Christmas and a safe, healthy and happy New Year.

Take care of yourselves.
Love Jenine xx

PS: Had a bit of a Martha Stewart moment with the kids the other day - here's the result!


Gingerbread Christmas Cookies



New stuff on it's way!

Today my little Miss 5 and I had a lovely time wandering around the St Ives Heritage Craft Fair.  This monthly market is held not too far from where we live here in Sydney - how lucky are we?  After such a busy few weeks it was so nice to relax and take some time to check out the handcrafted goodies - the weather was gorgeous too - sunshine at last!  We even caught up with the lovely ladies from Applecart Co - they had the stall next to mine at last month's Hide & Seek Market - you can check out their "Handmade Lovelies for the Littlies" for yourself here.  Anyway I got all inspired and rushed home to take some long overdue photos of my Altered Clipboards and my NEW Altered Magazine Files.  I'm hoping to list lots of items on my Etsy Store this week - well that's the plan anyway.  In the meantime here's a little peak at what's coming!



Some cool stuff for boys!



It can't rain on our parade!

Thank you to all the lovely customers who visited the Hide & Seek Market on Sunday.  Despite the miserable weather it was still a great day and I'm happy to say that lots of my memory boards did indeed find homes as I hoped they would!   I was only left with two to list in the SALE Items section at Made by Jenine - so hop on over to grab yourself a bargain!

I'm hoping to list lots of new items in the coming weeks so stay tuned for more Party Packages, more Altered Clipboards and with Christmas just around the corner - some new stuff too!!

It's market time again

This week I'm looking forward to the Hide & Seek Market on Sunday (24 Oct).  Lots of new stallholders have joined in the fun and there's now 3 rooms full of unique handcrafted goodies to check out.  It promises to be a lovely day.

During the recent school holidays I was finally able to clean up my craft space and take a good look at my inventory.  In order to make some room for new items to come to life I've decided to drastically reduce the price of my memory boards.  So .... anything not sold on Sunday will be listed on my Etsy Shop under SALE Items - although I'm secretly hoping they will all find happy homes with Hide & Seek customers!




Unfortunately, Tracey isn't able to join me at this month's market - she has a good reason though - it's something to do with family, cake and hopefully presents!  Happy Birthday Trace x

My Monday Must See

In a previous post I mentioned that I was very excited to receive a custom order via the Hide & Seek Market.  This particular request was for some bunting and 2 dozen cupcake toppers for a baby girl's Christening.  I was thrilled to receive some photos from the family's special day and thought I'd share them with you.  By the way - this gorgeous little girl has 4 big brothers!  I think you'll agree her lovely Mum did a fabulous job with the dessert table.  Take a closer look at the cake - it's pretty special too!

Master Nearly 9 is now 9!

Our baby boy turned nine yesterday - I can't quite believe how quickly the time has gone.  It's been a truly amazing 9 years.  He's grown into an energetic, inquisitive, funny, sensitive, mostly quiet, sometimes gregarious but always entertaining and loving young man - Happy Birthday beautiful boy!

I always try to take a photo of the kids' birthday cakes and I must admit that although this year I took the easy option and bought an icecream cake - I did "borrow" some inspiration from Kiki La Ru and attempted my own little bit of bunting - here's the result!  I might post some of my other homemade creations another time.

It's off to market we go!

What a crazy few weeks it's been! Between doing the Hide & Seek Market and a local school market, starting a new part time job and the usual running around after the family - there's been very little time to blog!  There has, however, been some progress on the crafting front which I'm very excited to share!  I've received three requests for custom orders - one via Hide & Seek, one via my Etsy store and one via my lovely hairdresser!

So ... armed with that encouragement I'm off to market again this Saturday 11 September with my friend Tracey from Ben and Jess.  We'll be at the Meadowbank Public School Market Day, Thistle Street Ryde NSW from 9am until 3.30pm - hope you can drop by and say hello!  I'll be taking all my current Made by Jenine Etsy stock with me plus my latest Party Package - here's a sneak peak!

Hide & Seek Market

I'm looking forward to the Hide & Seek Market this Sunday 22 August - it's already spilling over into a second room so it will be even bigger and better than last month!

So .... to see quirky, unique handcrafted goodies, grab a coffee and be inspired by the handmade community - drop by between 10am-2pm at Wrights Road Community Centre, Cnr Harrington Avenue & Wrights Road Kellyville NSW.

The first 25 people through the doors will receive a gift bag filled with items contributed by the stallholders - including pinwheel present toppers Made by Jenine and Tracey's handmade gift cards.

My Monday Must See

I found something really cute the other day on Etsy and being a huge fan of bunting myself I just had to share it with you.  How cute is this?  Such a gorgeous way to decorate a cake for any occasion - you can see more fabulous cake bunting by Kiki La Ru here and read her lovely blog here.  Enjoy!

Just listed on Etsy

Last night while the rest of the house slept and the wind howled I finally listed some new items on my Etsy Shop.  As mentioned in an earlier post I've been wanting to put my Altered Clipboards in the store - well now I have - there are more designs to come though - so please keep visiting!

I've also listed three Vintage Inspired Dress Banners just to test the water and see if anyone jumps in - you never know until you try right?

Want to hear something funny?  My friend Tracey and I had exactly the same idea for a dress banner the exact same week as each other - spooky I know!!  So hop on over to see Tracey's version too.

My path to craft

How did it all start - this hobby gone mad?  Well it all started after the birth of our gorgeous daughter, Miss 5.  I searched everywhere for some "not too babyish" wall art to decorate her room.  One day I stumbled upon a TV show called "Embellish This" hosted by a very talented artist and designer, Dena Fishbein.  Dena's motto is "Embellish your Life" and boy does she ever - check out her lovely blog when you get the chance!  Well she certainly inspired me - off I went to get myself a hot glue gun, ribbons, rhinestones, glitter glue and lots of other fun bits and pieces.  I then proceeded to embellish some fantastic fabric within an inch of it's life - here's the result - not too babyish and a little bit funky - well I think so anyway!

Thankfully a few other people thought so too - I've actually sold a few of these long legged crazy haired girls at local markets!  It's funny how things turn out - what started as my handmade effort to decorate Miss 5's room has blossomed into a lovely hobby and now it's an opportunity to possibly earn a little bit of money whilst being a stay at home mum.

How did you find your craft path?  I'd love to hear your story!

I find it encouraging not to mention inspiring to hear how other people manage to combine their love of craft with their love of family - how do you do it?  Any tips gratefully received as it's always a juggle isn't it?

Hide & Seek Market Launch

I had a lovely day yesterday at the launch of the new Hide & Seek Market.  With MrJ's car full of our handmade creations and with the help of Nellie the Nav"Woman", Tracey and I made our way to Kellyville to spend a fantastic Sunday with some very clever crafters and craft loving customers.  It was great to finally meet Aloma who has done an amazing job organising this event and the other stallholders - all of whom were just as excited to be there as we were!  The new Hide & Seek Market website is now up and running - I think there might be some photos from the launch on there soon - hop on over and take a look when you get a chance.  In the meantime - here's my amateur attempt to capture the Made by Jenine and Ben and Jess stall.

Made by Jenine at Hide & Seek

Ben and Jess at Hide & Seek

Coming Ready or Not!

Just a quick post today as I'm busy putting the finishing touches on my stock for the Hide & Seek Market this Sunday 25 July - don't forget to check it out here - it's going to be fantastic!

I've made lots of banners before - banners for birthdays, for Christmas, for new bubs - but I've never made one for myself!  Well last night I did and I just quickly took a photo before it started to rain to show you!

Thanks to Lorna from Paperbag Marketing Specialists I've recently learnt (amongst other things) that one very important part of any fledgling small business is to create your image or your brand - well I've got the business cards, the labels for packaging and now I've got a banner!  It's off to market we go!!

So come along to the Hide & Seek Market this Sunday to meet myself and my friend Tracey from Ben and Jess - we'll be sharing a stall together - having coffee and cupcakes  - and enjoying being a part of something very special in the Hills District.

Something New for Hide & Seek

I've been having a lovely time lately making these Vintage Inspired Dress Banners.  I'm hoping to have lots ready for Hide & Seek - which by the way is now only 25 days away!

Tracey and I had a practice run at setting up our displays at a market over the weekend - here's mine - I think it looked very pretty but there's always room for improvement!

Hide & Seek Market

The very first Hide & Seek Market is just over a month away!  I'm excited to be taking part - I'm also very busy working on new items to put on the stall.

Over the coming weeks I thought I'd give you a preview of some of the goodies I've already made and some of the new stuff as it gets created - this usually happens very late at night when MrJ and the kids are snoozing!

Here's today's sneak peak at one of my altered clipboards - I've just sourced some fabulous new paper and I can't wait to make more!

These Altered Clipboards will soon be in my Etsy shop too - but that's a job for another night!

Well Done Hannah!

It's always great to meet other people who share a love of craft.  Recently Miss 5 started playing soccer and that's how I met Joe's mum, Hannah.  We got chatting and it turns out Hannah has opened an online shop too and has already made a few sales - protective sleeve for your new iPad anyone?

I'm always encouraged by stories like this - so I wanted to say "well done Hannah" by featuring one of her lovely creations here.

Hannah makes these very cute hexagon pin cushions for her shop and she has some gorgeous ideas for kids too on her blog - I love the tooth fairy envelope she made when Joe got his first wobbly tooth.
 

Hop on over to Chicken Willow to check it out - it's very cute!

Some Exciting News!

A couple of weeks ago I received a lovely invitation via my Etsy shop to take part in a new market starting up in the Hills District in Sydney. I'm thrilled to share some exciting news - my application has been successful!

A very enterprising and creative Mum, named Aloma, has created this fantastic opportunity for avid crafters, many of them parents, to showcase their wares. Hop on over to Hide and Seek Market to check out her blog.

The first Hide & Seek Market will be held on Sunday 25 July 2010
from 10am-3pm
at Wrights Rd Community Centre Kellyville
(cnr Harrington Rd, opposite Kellyville Plaza)

Mark the date in your diary - it'll be fun!

My friend Tracey is doing the market with me - check out her Etsy shop at Ben and Jess - we always have lots of fun together on market days!

Craft Blogs - they're everywhere!

Craft Blogs - they're everywhere - everyone seems to have one!

What makes mine any different to all the rest? Well I'm not sure yet - the only thing I can say for sure is that it'll be mine - it's made by Jenine. I'd just like it to be a reflection of me and the things that bring happiness to my life.

Like so many of us out there, I love to make things with beautiful paper, fabric, ribbon, trims and embellishments. At the moment I'm concentrating on vintage inspired gifts and party accessories but I'm always thinking of new ideas and wishing I had more time to devote to making them come to life.

Since the birth of my second child, a gorgeous daughter (Miss 5) I've been selling my creations at local markets and I recently opened my own Etsy shop. It's still early days - but it's a lovely feeling to pursue this "hobby gone mad" - it's given me something special for myself in amongst the crazy chaos of family life.

I'm constantly amazed by all the wonderfully talented people on sites like Etsy and Madeit and I've lost count of the hours I've spent discovering sites and drooling over the gorgeous items that others have made - it's truly inspiring.

So my aim for this blog is to create my own little corner in the craft world - to celebrate the creativeness of others and to share the many treasures I know I will find along the way.

And who knows - maybe some other chaos juggling crafters might read it!!