little mod cord skirt..

I know I've mentioned that I love jeans.. but did I mention that I love cord almost as much.. well, I've had a little play over the weekend and finally decided on the next kasiabear design.. this skirt will be available in a few colourways so keep an eye out.. in the meantime I thought I'd share the design...

It will be available in my madeit and etsy shops for $35 as soon as the colourways are finalised..

shop shop shop...

Getting RSI from loading up items onto both my etsy and madeit shops.. here are a few items we had a ball doing a little photoshoot with Lell..

etsy love...

I've just stumbled onto the cutest shop.. dazeychic.. its filled with beautiful prints.. some with quotes and images.. here are some that made me smile..

project studio...

After a very productive couple of weeks.. I can happily say that the kasiabear studio is happening.. slowly but it is.. I now have almost a pallet of bricks for a little border and patio area in front of the shed.. the area is cleared.. shed is cleaned out and I now have the coolest looking rainwater tank to collect water off the shed.. here are some progress pics..

life is wonderful...

before i was a mum..

I get many forwarded lovey dovey emails throughout the day and week but I love this one.. so I thought I'd share it with all the wonderful mums out there.. love the time you have with your kids and who really cares about the puke.. thats what washing machines were invented for.. 

Before I was a Mum

I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby..

I didn't worry whether or not 
my plants were poisonous..

I never thought about immunizations..

Before I was a Mum

I had never been puked on.. 
Pooped on.. 
Chewed on.. 
Peed on.. 


I had complete control of my mind 
and my thoughts..

I slept all night..

Before I was a Mum

I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests or give shots..

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.. 


I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.. 


I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep..



Before I was a Mum

I never held a sleeping baby just because 
I didn't want to put them down..

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.. 


I never knew that something so small 
Could affect my life so much..

I never knew that I could love someone so much. 


I never knew I would love being a Mum.

Before I was a Mum

I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.. 


I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby..

I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child..

I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy..



Before I was a Mum

I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay..

I had never known the warmth, 
The joy, 
The love, 
The heartache, 
The wonderment 


Or the satisfaction of being a Mum..

a movie that inspired me..

I recently got my 'Stealing Beauty' dvd back from a friend, which mind you I completely forgot about as it's a movie I always watch when I need to be re-inspired and re-motivated so I guess I must be chugging along alright. But in saying this.. its back in my hands so that must mean something.. it must be watched again. 

I've lost track of how many times I have seen this movie but its travelled along with me through my life and each and every-time I watch it, it gives me a little boost and I get something completely different out of it. Some scenes I once loved, no longer have that same effect and in a sense have lost their meaning, while others I never really noticed, stand out and teach me something new. It's a movie with a quite a few different characters, of different ages and from different backgrounds but somehow all play an important role in the movie. There is the main character of course.. being Liv Tyler but there are so many other amazing stories and lives that its just spectacular. Bernardo Bertoluci is just an amazing director and the cinematography in this movie just seems surreal. Beautiful.. beautiful Tuscany!!

I am an artist and designer and although have slowed down a little in the 'me' area for a bit, while completely focussing on becoming a mother, my kids and my family.. things are getting a little easier and I am getting back to the old 'me' during my down times of being a mum. I am currently taking over our little run down back shed and converting it into a studio. We're not rich by any way, shape or form in the money department but we are rich in health, ideas, inspirations and most of all being true to ourselves. My husband and I support each other in our dreams and always strive to provide a rich balanced lifestyle for our kids with what we have. We want to teach them that money isn't everything and that you can still follow your dreams with a little hard work and smart thinking.

This weekend almost gone, we had the opportunity to salvage some building materials from a house that is being knocked down pretty soon, so we jumped at the opportunity. Everyone else took a look at this house and saw a bessa-block house that was about to fall down itself and thats about it.. we saw materials that would have cost us a LOT of money which we don't have and with a bit of hard work could be ours... so now they are. I now have almost a pallet of old, matured red bricks which will make a gorgeous border and patio area out the front of my little studio.. My hubby now has a whole kitchen to use as storage in his work area and soon we'll have enough wood to finish of his work area. We have gorgeous antique doors to replace our old sliding door to our outdoor office area and bags and bags full of succulents to liven up our garden and not to mention a fantastic galvanized iron rain water tank to gather water from my studio so that I can teach our kids how to grow veggies... I could go on but I'm rambling as I often do when I get passionate about something...

Going back to my favorite movie of all time 'Stealing Beauty'... I always remember the serenity.. the handmade objects.. the slow simple life.. the art and how I always dreamed of creating my own space rather than buying it or getting someone else to create it for me.. and now I can and it will be from a lot of recycled materials and it will be mine and completely unique. If it wasn't dark and the mosquitos weren't around I'd be out there now.. but I must take my time and still remind myself that I'm a mum and although the kids are asleep.. they still need me to be there if they have a bad dream.. hence I am here writing about it instead.. I think its time to pop the Stealing Beauty dvd in and gather some more inspiration..

500 who like kasiabear on facebook giveaway

OK.. so I no longer have fans.. I have people who like kasiabear.. which is kinda nice really.. and 502 of them.. WOW!!!

We'll, January 2010 I had a little pipe-dream of reaching 1000 followers/fans/friends by the official launch date of kasiabear on 4th of July 2010.. it really was a pipe-dream and reaching 500 fans really is amazing and I feel a little blown away at the moment.. thanks guys n gals!!

I promised a little giveaway and here are the items and winners below..

winner of the jeep printed tee is....

Mikila Roberts

mikila.. please message me with your postal address 

and your little mans tee size

and i'll print him a little jeep tee

winner of the strawberry printed 6x12'' fabric is...

Irene Aboul-Hosn

irene.. please message me with your postal address

winner of the little eco-party bag is...

Maree Hamilton

 maree.. please message me with your postal address and

choice of boy or girl party bag

and thats it from me for now guys.. congrats to all the winners!!

and thanks again for all your support guys!!

beautiful quotes

"there will come a time when you believe everything is finished. that will be the beginning." louis l'amour
For me this means celebrations are over and its time to start celebrating what I have around me on an everyday basis.. time to start enjoying my kids a little more.. time to do some gardening and plant some veggies.. time to get kasiabear kids on track.. time to get the house organised.. time to start eating healthy and god forbid.. *time to start doing a little bit of exercise and eating a little less chocolate (*note.. it said a 'little')..

back to normality...

Easter is over.. Zaccy's party is done and dusted.. house is back to normal so back to normality.. or reality...

Working on a few more designs for kasiabear kids and now trying to get my shed organised so I finally have a little studio or at least a worspace.. I managed to clear it out and clean it, so time to try my hand at insulating and lining it with some wall panels. How exciting, I don't know if I mentioned that I love renovating, but if not.. I do!! Its kind of a joke really as I have absolutely no idea about it, it doesn't run in the family and my arm span is really faaar too short to do half the things I would love to. But nonetheless.. I love it and I can't wait for another trip to Bunnings.

Here are a couple pics of Zaccy's party (his amazing cake by Belinda and the classic eating the cake shot).. still can't believe how fast this year has flown, but so proud of my little man and feeling so blessed to have two such amazing children..

tags and packaging..

I'm finally happy with my little tags, placement and how I am attaching them to the tees and my little creations... still working on the packaging as I'm still waiting on a few more bits and pieces to arrive... but getting there...

the best easter present..

Before I even begin, I know that this could be a long post, but this one I'm writing for myself before I loose all the fine details out of my memory bank.

This time last year (easter saturday) I was extremely pregnant and I mean 'extremely'. I went to bed knowing my body was feeling very different from what it had the last nine months and that tomorrow was going to be an eventful day. Ella went to sleep relatively easily compared to normal, but as always, relocated into our bed sometime through the night.

At 4 am my contractions started with my daughter and husband next to me. I paced around the house trying to let them sleep as long as I could but knowing that we had no family in Australia at that time and were relying on friends to look after our daughter during the birth I had to make sure we gave them enough time to come to our house so that Ella could settle in with them before we took off. I rang the midwife to ask how close she thought I was and despite my contractions being only 16 minutes apart she said to take a panadol and try and get some more sleep. So I did.

At about 6.30 am Ella was up so I quickly nudged at Eric to get up so we could organise the Easter Egg Hunt for her. I did very vaguely mention that the contractions had started and that the midwife said that all was good for now. This was Ella's first Easter Egg Hunt so I wanted to make it special. She was petrified of the thought of a rabbit in our backyard so it took her a good hour to brave the steps to look for eggs. When she realised that they were chocolate and that it was relatively safe up there as the easter bunny was no longer there.. she wondered around in amazement collecting the eggs into her little basket.

The contractions started to get a little more painful but still bearable so I made the call to drive Ella to a friends 3rd birthday party. It seemed like the perfect set up, Ella gets distracted by the party, the jumping castle and our friends who were to take care of her would be there. Eric reluctantly agreed and just gently begged me to get going quickly. It was about a 45 minute drive so by the time we arrived I could safely say that I was in labour. What better way to have an active labour I thought casually to myself.

About an hour into the party and the inability to sit I gently prodded Eric to drive me to the hospital. I think it took him all of 3 seconds to have me packed into the car and drive off. I could tell he was a little anxious so I tried to reassure him that we're good and not to hurry. I at this point didn't feel comfortable sitting as I felt my pelvis stretching and kind of hovered above my seat a few centimeters for the duration of the hour trip down there.

When we pulled up Eric was about to drive up to the emergency drop off point, but I knew it was close and he may not have enough time to drop the car off and come back up so I asked him to just park the car in the car park so we could walk in together. During the walk from the car park to the assessment area I had about 3 whopping contractions and the tears started.. on the bright side it was kind of nice as we were taken straight up to the delivery suite and didn't have to wait. The midwife bought me a wheelchair to take me up to the delivery suite but I declined.. I wasn't going to squash my babies head.. was she nuts?? She just asked that we walk 'fast' in-between contractions.. so we did..

She was rushing around like a mad woman when we got there so I thought I would prompt her that she should probably check how dilated I was.. she just replied with "oh.. I don't need to love.. you're ready.."

"Do I need to take my pants off then?" I asked..

"That'd be a great idea" she replied..

So on the bed I hopped.. pushed.. asked for gas.. was refused.. pushed again.. eric got ready to catch.. pushed again.. eric missed (as I later found out).. then I was handed a little tiny boy.. Zaccy Zac..

I all deliriousness.. it was the most amazing, funny, eventful, painful and wonderful Easter Sunday I had ever had in my life!!! I had my little tiny boy, and the whole labour was just a laugh (in between contractions) really.

Don't know if I could ever beat that Easter Sunday but at the same time, I am so looking forward to tomorrow when I will have two beautiful little monkeys running around our backyard looking for eggs.. and I will be walking around a lot more comfortably with them.

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

where to put the tags...

having a ball making little eco-goodie bags for zaccy's first birthday party..

the theme is 'planes' and colours.. navy, red and white.. 

there are a few girls and few boys all different ages so I'm making specialised bags for each person..

only bit is.. can't decide on the placement of the kasiabear tags.. 

happy easter...

happy easter...  enjoy..

happy easter...

wishing you all a beautiful easter

i'll be spending mine chilling out with my family

xxx

we have a winner for a little green tee...

'my trike'
was by far the most popular design getting 72% of the votes
so this is the little green tee that will be given away today... 
and the winner is... 
drum roll...

comment #18 - mummy2jj

thank you to everyone who entered!!! 

and good luck next time.. yes there will be a next time..

bowerbird bazaar..

Last Friday I managed to sneak out for a little while into the big smoke.. well Adelaide, so little smoke really... Anyway, I went to Bowerbird Bazaar :: a bazaar for designer makers to sell their art and wares to the public all under the one roof. a place for shoppers to buy unique design driven products. an event for networking, socialising and shopping :: It was sooo fantastic with so many fantastic wares and designers that I took the little man again on Sunday for another sneak peak.. I got some gorgeous fabric from 'Cloth Fabric' and I also got my first ever henna painting on my hand by the gorgeous 'Humna'. 


Being a photographer I also fell in love with these little gadgets that you can pop photos straight into and swap around and around instead of having to frame them. The company is called 'the curator' Great little idea for mums too that want to continuously update their kids pics.. I'll be getting some pretty soon I'm thinking.. 


Here are a couple of pics of my hand.. good night for now...

here comes easter..

So.. as an older sibling you kinda get the short end of the stick sometimes.. I wouldn't know from first hand experience as the youngest of two, but it sort of seems that way when I look at lil Lell. Easter is just around the corner so why not get the food colouring out and sneak in some easter egg painting I think to myself.. and then shortly after that... laugh at myself... as I look at my very very red hands..

Lil Lell had a ball though.. after almost exploding from trying to blow the guts out of the eggs.. she made a gorgeous little set... love you Lell..

ok... so i may have jinxed myself..

So I said it would be a month of madness.. but kind of hoped it would be a productive type of madness not one spending a night in emergency with my little man who is having difficulty breathing. It seems Zaccy is taking after his dad in the health department as a baby and when we arrive at emergency in our hospital the nurses greet us with "so we meet again.. looking gorgeous as always Zac.. what can we do for you today.."

It was a quick 6 hour visit this time.. but it still meant that I only just beat the sun home and got a total of 45 minutes sleep. So simply said.. production levels of any kind were at the lowest low and with Easter creeping up and Zaccy's birthday the weekend after, I think production is being put on hold..

Happy to say that our little man is responding to ventolin and breathing well again..

loving mr mushroom..

Printed some gorgeous fabrics last night.. pic to come soon..

Just thought I'd excuse myself for the next month or so from the facebook and blog world as I take over my shed and turn it into a little studio.. this unpacking and packing up around kids is proving faar too time consuming and I so need a workspace after Zaccy took over mine almost a year ago..

As I create my little space I will try to do a few posts of the transformation of the currently very run down shed at the end of our block..

Have Fun!!

the month of madness..

I thought once christmas was over for the year, it would all calm down around here for a while.. well.. with continuous sicknesses, the big boy taking on a couple enormous projects, me itching to get at creating for kasiabear kids, easter approaching, zaccy's first birthday creeping up and now me wanting to take over the shed so that I can have a little studio.. its madness here again.. but good madness.. its just a little tiring is all..


Feeling a lot better now that I have quickly put together Zaccy's invite... ready to print and post tomorrow...

off to see some beautiful cars...

soooo extremely excited.. going to check out some gorgeous cars tomorrow with my little girl... new t-shirt designs here we come.. "sorry zaccy.. you'll have to wait till next year". loving some of these flyers too...

a little sneak peak.. cushion covers...

It's pretty straight forward.. I love cushions.. and therefore love cushion covers..

Here is a little one I made today inbetween hanging out with my little guy.. washing.. cleaning.. cooking and taking Ella to a Wizzy Wizard birthday party...

front of the cushion.. 

front detail..

back of the cushion..