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Bye bye plastic bags

A few months back I was given two big boxes of fabric!

Free, by a friend of a friend. (Thank you so so much Bec!)

Going through each box, and we are talking big boxes, I was in heaven.

Terry toweling, jersey, felt, linen, calico. All things I work with and only a few pieces of tulle got left behind.

Throwing out fabric is a big deal for me, but TULLE?!!

I simply had no idea what to do with it.

Off I went to do my weekly Preston market shop and even on my way home - I was still thinking about the lonely tulle sitting in the bin!

And then I had an idea!

I hate using plastic bags and when you go to the markets or supermarkets here, you always get everything packed into plastic bags.....ugh!

If you don't you get annoyed looks from people working at the cash register trying to keep them all together on their scales! I know - I'm sorry but I really don't need those silly bags!

So when I got home - I pulled the tulle out of the bin (don’t worry it was absolutely fine) and here is what I made!They weigh absolutely nothing and I use them for everything veggies, fruit, lentils, nuts.

I made around 8 of them, different sizes and they always sit in the shopping bags so I won't forget them!

Now I'm happy and the ladies at the counter are happy too. They think it's a great idea!

No more plastic bags for me...thanks.

Vi forældre - Paul & Paula in the press

We are pretty excited to have our bat hoodie featured in the latest edition of Vi forældre - a danish kids and parent magazine.
Mage tak! ( that's about all the danish I know!)
Thanks for making our day!

...oh hello again!

I've been pretty absent from the web these last three months - and I just can't seem to find time to respond to emails let alone writing a post on here.
I check my emails every day but never get anything out other than work related emails, etsy messages or ending up on stupid facebook! BIG FAIL!
I miss you all so very much... and even if you haven't heard from me in the last 6 months, I'm still kicking around thinking of you all time.

There have been lots of birthdays in our house.....
I turned 30 (.....bloody hell!) at the end of March and senior Iggy celebrated his first birthday on a sunny day in the park in late April!
He is growing up so fast and sometimes I wish I could make it all go just a teeny little bit slower!

We finally got a bike seat for him and after the first month he has given up ripping off his helmet. ( for now!) It's so much easier, quicker and so much more fun than driving in the car!

The label has been really busy and there has not been one day which I didn't end up behind my sewing machine.
Sadly Iggy has decided to skip his morning naps these last few days - which resulted in late night coffees and some crazy hyperactive sewing sessions....haha!
We had some awesome features in May and were so stoked to be part of the latest tiny & little issue. It's such a great magazine and if you haven't had a look/read through it yet - make sure you will!
Oh and here is a little post about Paul&Paula on my pals Cinti's blog MyPoppet from the other week. Check out her hot water bottle covers - they are amazing and exactly what you need on these chilly nights here in Melbourne.

A rare Sunday off for the three of us meant a hike into town to eat some yummy Taco's from the Taco Truck (their potato taco is amaaaazing!) and browsing through the stalls at Markit!

All in all - I've been pretty damn busy - in a good way!
Hope it won't be too long to my next post. I've got lots of new styles to share with you - just need to find time  and a willing model to make some pics!

Oh and if you are in the area around Richmond Church/Chapel Street .....make sure to stop by and check out the absolute beautiful pop up store from the girls at Mrs Dalloway tomorrow!




 

summer - holidays - and doing absolutely nothing!

Taking time off and getting away from it all doesn't usual happen that often in our house!
Running a shop means working on weekends (which is totally fine) but yeah that leisure time is rare! Even on our days off we are normally always doing something which in someway has something to do with the shop!
So after a quick overhaul and some renovation in the back area of the shop ( pics will follow soon) it was time for a little summer holiday!

We are lucky enough that there is a beach house in the family for everyone to share. Packing the car for a holiday is quite a mission these days - once you add a baby, a dog, a pram, surfboards, wetsuit and all other things you probably don't need -there wasn't much room for me on the passenger seat! (our dog ended up with the most room out of all of us!)
Well- what can I say - we had four amazing days with lots of sunshine, early morning swims, surfing, catching up with friends and simply watching and enjoying Iggy.
I love this side of the coast. Andy and I always fantasize about living in Ocean Grove (if it would only be a tick closer to Melbourne).
If you ever find yourself down there on a Sunday be sure to check out the craft markets around the Bellarine Peninsula. We visited the Point Lonsdale market which is held every second Sunday of the month from 9am to 2pm at the Pt. Lonsdale Primary school. It's such a great little market and we ended up with quite a few purchases like these fantastic little wooden toys all handmade by a lovely elderly couple ( if I had only asked for their card!)

little blue bus

apple stacking toy

As with every holiday, it's over way too fast and life gets busy again!

Iggy has started childcare one day a week (he is growing up way too fast!) and I have a whole day working on orders and new styles.
While searching the net for some fabrics the other day I stumbled across this wonderful website. Uponafold is a shop from Sydney, where you will find an amazing collection of paper artistry from around the world. I'm a bit obsessed with paper goods and after receiving my order today I can tell you I won't be going to bed anytime soon tonight. Check it out here!

There is also some very exciting news in the pipeline and once it's all final I will tell you all about it!
Until then - have a great weekend!
xx

Queensland Flood Relief

The lovely folks over at Handmade Kids together with Rudy & the Dodo have organised an online auction of handmade things with all proceeds being donated to the Queensland Flood Relief Appeal.
We have donated our monster shorts - click here for more info.
Bidding starts today and ends at midnight on Monday the 17th of January.

thoughts of the day...

The last market for this year is over and done with - and I'm so glad it is all finished.
I might have slight market burn out and need some time to recover!
I love markets - don't get me wrong!
But something has changed - and I am wondering if imported wooden toys from Asia or a wholesaler of fresh water pearls- has still anything to do with the "handmade" pledge we all signed up for.
There are still so many fantastic crafters, designers and makers out there- but I feel like Melbourne might have become a touch saturated with markets in recent times.....

For now- I'm working on some new styles and spending some time with my loved ones.
I'm very excited with my latest addition to my hoodie range.
It's a ladybug!

Hope you are all finding some time out at this crazy time of the year....a cup of tea is always a good idea!

Austria - the land of cheese and cake!

Trying to plan a weekend away with your friends at home seems sometimes impossible - that's why I still can't believe this really all happened. Imagine the prettiest austrian mountain village- a sapphire blue lake - sunshine -  and some of your dearest friends from Australia, Germany LA and THREE! new little people hanging out with us! Seriously life can't get much better than that!!! After climbing a mountain - eating tons of cheese, cake and spaetzle - lots of fresh air - austrian beer and enjoying each others company we had to move on! Thanks everyone for coming. I had an ace time!!

Tannheimer Tal 

I'm back at my parents now and woke up to snow the other night. I'm talking proper snow- thick heavy snowflakes - it really felt like Christmas after three years of summer in Melbourne. Strangely it seemed that I was the only one getting excited about it ?!? Everyone else here is still traumatized from last years' long long winter.

As we are not really prepared for 0 degrees Iggy has been stuffed away in our old sheep skin sleeping bag from a wooden sledge. Haha - Classic! He loves it ! Still fighting a nasty cough - but he is though little man!

So - will go and eat some more cake now- and probably roll back to Australia.

Hope you are all enjoying the lovely spring days back home. 

xx

Springtime

Hooray spring is here! I've been busy making things which you can find here in my etsy shop.
Trying to get orders out the door as we are heading home to Germany soon. I'm so excited to see mum & dad and introducing the little man to them. But before then there is plenty of work to do!

Have an ace weekend xx

Shark Week & Market Day

Did you know last week was "Shark week"?

My etsy shop has been very busy and the shark hoodie is in high demand.
If you wanna know more about shark week, go here.

Thanks everyone who came out to visit me at the Sisters' Market yesterday.
I had a fantastic day and it got so busy I didn't even have time to miss my little man! (first whole day without him!)
I'm glad it's all over now- and life just gets a bit more civilized !

Autumn leaves

Another week has passed and things are finally getting done. My stash for the upcoming market is growing and I pretty sure this time I am organised. (hahah - I wish)
Finally got my industrial sewing machine fixed yesterday by this lovely mechanic as even my engineering degree didn't help figuring out whats wrong with it! So now there is no excuse for not working - other than a very messy room and a tiny baby!
Iggy and I are enjoying each others company and we did a couple of big walks down to the creek where Yella (our dog) usually has a big swim. We made it all the way up to the Reservoir Recycling centre where I found this rad big yellow reels of Nylon yarn which will look excellent as stall decoration.

Taraa - and here are some new leggings I made this week. I struggle with good girls styles and I am very happy with these. Find them here. or come and visit me at the Sisters' market at the Brunswick Town hall Saturday 14th of August.

I'm still drooling over this fabric - but will never be able to afford it. Screenprinted by hand from Sweden- this would make wonderful pillows! 

rainy Wednesday afternoon

It's one of those dark and wet days out there, Yella is bored as bored - snoozing on her mat- and I'm finally getting some sewing done. Only 4 weeks left to the market and I promised myself it won't get as crazy as usual! I received a wonderful box of fabric this morning from South Korea, and I cant wait to get into it. Planned are lots of stripey kids tops, a linen bag for our bread and some denim pants for the little men.Tallking about bread - I'm experimenting with my sourdough starter at the moment and are crossing my fingers that we will be able to make our own bread sometime soon. If you got nothing else to do ( haha!) here is the recipe. The amount of bread we eat in this household is quite ridiculous, doesn't help that my german self eats half a loaf each day on my own.

With all this rain our garden is going bonkers and stuff just grows and grows. Anyone interested in some lemons...?

things I like

Since Iggy came along- I've sure spent a lot of time surfing the net - etsy, facebook, reading blogs, checking the weather....all those very important things.

Thought I might share some of my great finds...

Hand papercut Worldmap from Famille Summerbelle. Isn't it great!

 

Bought this cute little booties for Igster from Natural Star. Need something to keep him warm in these freezing winter temperatures. Hope they arrive soon.

 

And last but not least -first smiles by Iggy 

my first quilt

Well - I though I give it a shot - and with all this time on my hand while pregnant I sat down and made this quilt for Iggy. 

 

I had no idea what I was doing and thanks to dozen internet tutorials it kind of worked out ok. Mind you though it took me about 2 hours to figure out how to attach the binding.Here are the two tutorials I found most helpful -

how to make a quilt and binding

KEEP YOUR LITTLE ONES WARM

Keep your little one warm this winter with these super cute 100% Merino wool pants

.

I came across this fabric last week and despite the price tag- I had to buy some!

And I am so glad I did!

This fabric is amazing-  so soft, lightweight and warm.

And I love the colours!

Get in there quick- as I will be making only a limited number of these pants.

Find them here.

KID INDEPENDENT -PAUL & PAULA-

HOORAY!

Check out our feature on the KID INDEPENDENT blog here.

Thank so much guys!

Mandrake and Willow

We've been featured by our lovely friends at Mandrake and Willow.

If you are anywhere close to Yarraville - check out their shop on 66 Anderson Street.

New Kid on the block

Jackson and Dodge

When we first moved to West Preston 2 years ago...there wasn't much out here....

Lots of cars parked on the front lawn with 14 year olds trying to be though, lovely old ladies having a chat and giving tips about that vegie patch in the front yard...and last but not least a tram line ...that kept us in contact with the rest of Melbourne....

Naaah---it's great out here!

And Finally !!! that long awaited coffee shop has opened up....

Great coffee....awesome food....and lovely people running it.

Champion's  - I say! 

Getting organised!

As people just can't find me here on the world wide web by typing in Paul and Paula kids clothing or Paul and Paula handmade kids clothing melbourne- it is about time I finally got organised to register a domain name and hosting address.

Fingers crossed x this will be up and running over the next couple of weeks.

Till then - hopefully people find me through etsy or my lovely stores around melbourne and interstate

Paul and Paula can be found at

Mandrake and Willow, 66 Anderson Street, Yarraville

Poison City Records, 400 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

The Ruby Pear, 102 Wellington Street, Launceston

online at Whiskers on Kittens

Hi...there!

Just added a couple of new autumn/winter items to my etsy shop!

Lots more to come... so please take a look

http://www.hickeyclothing.etsy.com