{handmade treasures} raindrops on roses and ticky tocks and bunting

curated by me! I was pretty proud of what I came up with. I had The Sound of Music on my mind and decided to do an homage to the great Maria. Who knew that Etsy was just filled with Maria's favourite things? Well, now you do.  PS I'm in love with the kitty cat ring (and yes, I know there aren't actually any whiskers on that kitten, but whatev)!

Curated by Osnat of Galleros, maker of hand painted goods. 

Curated by Betsy (remember her? makes cute bags?) of Spongetta

{handmade treasures} feelin' the love since Christmas

Mostly my ticky tocks have been featured in a few treasuries, but my Peace, Love & Robots bunting made it into one as well. Yay!

Curated by Betsy of Couple of Bubbles, a cheerful little shop of mostly bunting

Curated by Phyllis of Flissitations, an English shop for prints and posters

Curated by Sarah of Wish Upon a Charm, a sweet little jewellery shop

Curated  by Betsy of Spongetta, a shop full of creative purses, handbags and book covers

Also by Betsy of Spongetta

Curated by Vered of Tukon, a shop full of colourful everything

Also by Betsy of Spongetta

Thanks Betsy!

52/365

Grace in small things.

1. Dhari loves Where the Wild Things Are.

2. Sold a Raj bunting at the beginning of the week to a lady who seemed REALLY EXCITED!!!! about its impending presence at a party. Yay! I sensed the warm fuzzies in the purchase, so I threw in a little freebie. That's always fun.

3. Have had fun with this little up-cycle project:

So easy. I love a bit of immediate gratification. I did mine with the pretty decorative tape I bought at Renegade Craft Fair. Here's the finished product:

4. My mom and dad will be here this time next week.

5. Tenerife was awesome. I read a lot, laughed a lot, drank a lot, and basked a lot.

47/365

Grace in Small Things.

1. Finally getting back to doing this post again.

2. Barbecuing it up at the Cutting's on Saturday. I'm only a bit disappointed that I didn't manage to get Adele's Pay it Forward gift (from twelve-thousand moons ago) done in time to hand it over. It's still just two pieces of awesome fabric pressed and draped over my dining room chair. I think maybe I've subconsciously decided that I just like looking at the fabric all day and that's why it isn't done. Anyway, even without the gift, the BBQ was fab, complete with bunting and twinkly lights and lots of lovely new people to meet.

3. That paper chain is getting shorter and shorter every day. I know that's the point, but it still makes me happy. And Dhari loves it too.

4. Busting out the Wii Fit again after something ridiculous like 951 days of gathering dust in the corner of the room. The little animated Fit Board man had all sorts of cheeky things to say about that. Snarky little bugger.

5. Ticky Tocks. Dhari and I gave one as a birthday present to Jack, who loved it and gave me the perfect tagline for them. "It's just like my daddy's!"

45/365

Grace in small things.

1. I think I've finally mastered the making of bias binding tape. I used to hate it, but I'm starting to like it, especially the part where my custom made matchy matchy tape makes the rest of the bunting look so good.

2. Spending £1.30 and getting four "new" books for Dhari at our local FARA charity shop, whilst also offloading a big bag full of Dhari's old stuff in the process. Out with the old, in with the new old.


3. Being inspired by Dana (yet again - jeez woman, your awesomeness might one day become irritating) to take my lame attempts at being eco to another level. I am now constantly on the lookout for new ways to follow my three R's (mainly the first two, because "recycle" is just too easy). Today I cut a couple dry-cleaning bags in half, tied them at the end, and made new little rubbish bags. So now I can reuse them, and reduce my use of actual bin bags. Hey, I didn't say it was groundbreaking. Just better than before. Dana, meanwhile, hasn't taken the trash out in a month - not because she's gross, but because she actually doesn't produce that much waste. Amazing.

4. I have completed every last item requested by Karen for the opening of Beanies Cafe in Croydon! And I did it in a pretty respectable amount of time, considering the snail's pace I usually work at. I'll be dropping it off tomorrow and I can't wait to see how the cafe looks now...yay!

5. I got a new steam iron! I sent the old one to be fixed, because the drain plug had rusted shut (probably my fault, shh) and they just sent me a new one. Woot! This is what excites us 'round these parts.

Cowboy Bunting Facelift

My cowboy bunting is now a million times more special than it already was, mainly because the bias binding tape at the top is now handmade by me. Not scratchy store-bought beige boringness. Just look at the cute little coordinating polka dots! How cute are they???

These two little guys will be going on a great retail adventure in Croydon, at Beanies Play Cafe. But I assure you, I'll be coming up with at least one more improved, totally handmade version for Etsy. I just need to rest my back for a bit...

{handmade treasures} The fairground left town...

...but the circus stayed in. (a little Josh Weller reference...)

I made this treasury this morning, obviously with a black, white and red circus theme. Maybe not so obviously, all artists featured in this treasury are based in the United Kingdom. 

getting in on the action

Welcome to my first ever giveaway! The lucky winner will receive a £20 gift card to spend on anything in my Etsy shop. To enter, all you have to do is complete these two tiny tasks:

1. Leave a comment at the bottom of this blog post (include your email address please!), completing this statement:
If I win this fabulous giveaway, I plan to get _______________ from babybandito.etsy.com with my gift card.
2. Either follow babybandito on Twitter or like babybandito on Facebook.

That's it! This giveaway is open to everyone worldwide and closes on Sunday 8th of May at 8pm GMT. The winner will be chosen at random by my toddler (who is, I assure you, incredibly random), and announced by me on this very blog Monday 9th of May.

Good luck!

xo

*Please note, this giveaway is now closed. Thanks for playing!*

Support Comic Relief with babybandito

I've decided to embark on a special crafting project for this Red Nose Day. Every day I will work towards festive bunting that demands proper support for mothers and babies in sub-Saharan Africa (using Waterpenny's adorable "Protesting Animals" design). In keeping with the spirit of Red Nose Day, I will post a daily picture of a red-nosed me and my bunting-in-progress here, on my blog. In addition to this creative endeavour, I will also be donating 50% of my takings from any red item in my Etsy shop to Comic Relief. 


Please support me as your cash really can make a huge difference to the lives of vulnerable people across the UK and Africa. I have chosen my target as £182 because that is how much it will cost to pay for a maternity nurse in Tanzania to attend a seven day training course on child delivery care to ensure the safety and health of many mothers and their babies. Did you know that 40% of all child deaths occur in their first month of life? With properly trained nurses, maybe the little bubs will have a greater chance of survival. 


To donate, visit my Red Nose Day page. Thanks!

Celebrate the Boy!

Every cowboy needs some bunting, right?

beginnings of buntings

After dipping my toe in the etsy forums to seek out some advice on making my shop better, I have pounced on the suggestion that babybandito needs more. More is more! I've had plans in the pipeline for other products besides just my super-cute and incredibly useful bibs (ahem - then why hasn't anyone bought one yet???). One of them includes festive bunting, which I never would have thought of if I hadn't begun reading Bernadette's blog and tried out her tutorial for Dhari's first birthday. I love the 50s feel of it. Nostalgia rules. Anyway, I've changed the shapes to make it my own and have come up with Wonky Bunting. I have all the material I need, now I just need some scissors and my sewing machine. Watch this space!

In other news, I'm lucky enough to have Hazel volunteer her adorable little Sophia (monkey extraordinaire) to model my more feminine bibs. This is good, because the photos I took of Dhari with the pink bibs weren't that great anyway. It was a rushed job and there was no sunshine that day.