Addiction...

This week I am 23 weeks pregnant with my much awaited second beautiful baby. Unfortunately this pregnancy has come with the lovely symptom of reflux. I have been overjoyed to experience it since about week 7 of the pregnancy which left me very ill until I worked out what it was. It’s been managed well since then, but this week I’ve had to use the Zantac and Mylanta together which has left me looking at my diet and wondering if there was something (other than my increasingly active growing baby) that was causing it to worsen. I’m absolutely devastated to work out that it is chocolate. My beloved!

Now Wikipedia describes addiction as an obsession, compulsion, or excessive psychological dependence and in its most common usage these days for things like chocolate addiction it says the term addiction is used to describe a recurring compulsion by an individual to engage in some specific activity, despite harmful consequences, as deemed by the user themself to their individual health, mental state, or social life. I read this and it occurs to me, I do have an addiction, because despite this awful side effect of heartburn even when I use zantac…I still want to eat it.

Most devastating, is the fact that the Handmade Market is on this weekend. Alison and I have typically eaten our way through each market, conveniently we have had one of us pregnant at each market, and so eating our way through and supporting the food vendors at the markets has been easy.

I was gearing up this week to buy our ever favourite cupcakes from ‘Little Miss Cupcake’.

These Red Velvet and Cherry Ripe cupcakes are absolutely divine…(and chocolate!) and are just one of the huge range of absolutely delicious cupcakes that Little Miss Cupcake offers. At the first Handmade Market we attended Little Miss Cupcake sold out before midday...testament to everything I've said above and more.

And so, I have given this much thought and I have decided that the mylanta will be visiting the markets with us this weekend because I simply CANNOT resist the temptation of Little Miss Cupcake…and I highly suggest everyone try them. But I warn you, once you go there you quite possibly will never come back!

See you there

Heather

A day at the markets

Today Heather and I attended the Mathilda’s Markets in Canberra. What an exciting busy day we have had, so many people! – once again we ask ourselves ‘where did they all come from?’.

As much as we adore our little two year old boys, it’s always nice to leave the house to go and play with all things pretty at the markets. Today we had my little 6 week old Emma accompany us, and she was so well behaved! She certainly put on the perfect baby act, I don’t think people will believe me when I say I am sleep deprived…but really it was nice to have her with us particularly when we apparently bored her somewhat!
One thing contributing to Emma being the perfect baby was Heather’s mum- she cuddled her for most of the markets! Thanks Jan!!

As a stallholder it can be really hard to find the time and mindset to shop and spend at the markets, but this time I managed to do a little shopping and bought this gorgeous soft toy for Emma’s room from Sweet Sista’.

This cute giraffe caught my eye and I had to buy it as it reminded me of Emma’s Aunty Claire who is living over in the UK- her favourite animal is the giraffe and I have no doubt she would love this one too! The girls at Sweet Sista sell all sorts of lovely wares including other really cute animals made from gorgeous fabrics similar to this giraffe. You can see more of their products on their website http://www.sweetsista.com.au/

Once again, a big hit for us were the myMonkeymoo Pram Liners and Blankets, not surprising given these truly are something special. We have blogged about them before and the opportunities just keep arising, these babies sell themselves!
So we packed up (which is the worst part of going to the markets- a bit like unpacking after a holiday) only to be repacking this week for the Canberra Handmade Market which is just around the corner this coming weekend! EEEK!
We had a good response to our nappies also which is great, each market we go to we get the word out more about the benefits of using cloth nappies, so hopefully we've converted some people.

The talented West...

Handle With Care is proud to stock a number of product lines from Western Australia. Brusselsprouts, Woddlebots and Green Kids are big sellers at HWC.
Well, Alison and I have been on Etsy and Madeit...again and we have found even more talent that is now on its way from WA and I had to share them with you!

First up are Jingle Sox! It's that time of year again and the moment we saw these we wanted them...needed them in our store! Jingle Sox are the creation of Jenny; wife, mum of four beautiful children and grandmother with an obvious love of fabric, designing and sewing!
Deekie Belle Designs creates fun and funky Jingle Sox made from many fabulous high quality fabrics and quilts. We are so excited to have a parcel on their way to us which we will have at the upcoming Mathilda's and Handmade Markets - unless they sell out before!
Have a look at these gorgeous creations! don't you just love them as much as we do?!!

Our next show off creation Little Bean is designed and made by Emma Little, a mum of 3 girls under the age of 4!
Being mums of 2 year old boys, we are all too familiar with the need for ice packs.
These creations spell cute, fun and highly functional all at once!
These gorgeous children's cold packs by Little Bean have many more uses than for just those little (and not so little) falls! with summer fast approaching we are keen to use them to help keep our children's lunches cold, keep ourselves cool, use on our own aches and pains thanks to lugging toddlers around... the list goes on.
Emma's creation of a smaller ice pack to use on her pulled muscle after having a caesarean section quickly became a cold pack specifically for children. With some gorgeous fabrics to choose from and a high quality finish these cold packs are sure to be a hit (and easily beat any pack of frozen peas!)
We cannot wait to show them to our customers at the upcoming markets!

See you at the markets!

What we love...

Living in Canberra, we were fortunate enough to have a public holiday yesterday for Melbourne Cup Day. In a bid to avoid more housework that never seems to end anyway, I decided to finish unpacking our latest beautiful Ivy Designs order and hang them ready for our upcoming markets.

It is always good fun unpacking our latest orders and this one was no exception.

As Summer approaches we enjoy dressing our little boys in light and fresh clothing, and it is just as fun helping other people have the opportunity to dress their little ones in beautiful unique clothing too.

The amazingly talented Wynona and Anna of Ivy Designs design and handcraft all their gorgeous wares. The have once again created a beautiful range of girls clothing for summer.

This season features a lovely range of clothing and accessories that meet the light and fresh requirements of Spring and Summer!
The theme for this season is Tea Parties! and as you can see from the the photographs featured, the range certainly does bring back memories of tea time in the garden and picnics in the countryside.
The modern vintage collection brings together florals, ginghams and polka dots which are not only pleasing to the eye but look absolutely delightful on any little girl.

Ivy Designs clothing is so beautiful and is always made with close attention to detail and are superior quality- we can't wait to showcase Ivy Designs in the Canberra market.

Ivy Designs range is now available in store, online or you can visit us at the Canberra Mathilda’s market on Sunday 15th November, and the Canberra Handmade Market on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd November.

Heather & Alison

Emma Elizabeth

As promised some updated information on Alison's new arrival!

Emma Elizabeth arrived at 3.45am on 27th September 2009, at nearly 3.9kg with a lovely head of hair Emma is just stunning. She decided on a dramatic entrance with an intense and quick labour (well after weeks of start/stop) on a cold rainy Canberra night arriving a mere 10 mins after getting to hospital!!! Both Mum and bub are doing well and recovering in the comfort of home.

The photo below is of Emma at about 7 hours young - welcome to the world baby Emma!

Spring has Sprung at Handle With Care...

...With the arrival of Alison's darling little girl Emma! She arrived in the early hours of this morning so I'll provide more details as they come but I'm too excited to sleep after the news so thought I may as well get up and blog!!!

x heather

'Little Brown Mouse' is the newest addition to Handle with Care and what an amazing range it is!

Little Brown Mouse comprises of a daughter and mother team, and together they create these gorgeous clothes, bed linen and accessories in an extensive range of beautiful, vintage and whimsical fabrics.

I was so excited to stumble across the range from Little Brown Mouse and even more excited to become one of their retailers.

Unfortunately however we only ordered a limited amount, and once I received them and wanted more I found out that it is too late- they are no longer making these!! However I do know they will be bringing out a new range that will be just as amazing.

Have a look at this Scarlett Pom Pom Dress, just too cute for words!

Below is a picture of the 'Dainty Dress and Bloomer Set' which is my absolute favourite, do you think they look lovely in this picture? you should see them in real life!

We will be taking this range to the Canberra Handmade Market however at the rate we're going there won't be many to buy as we've already sold some in store. (Don't like my chances of keeping one for myself!)

I am sure all the mothers of boys are thinking 'there's just no cute clothes for boys out there' I understand, as I have a 2 1/2 year old boy myself I understand how frustrating it is to see racks of girls clothing and not much for those gorgeous boys in our lives. Well, have a look at this lovely outfit- just the cutest outfit for your little man!

Little Brown Mouse will be available online as soon as we get them up! however in the mean time if there is anything you are interested in or would like to see images of the other designs we have please email us and we will happily provide these for you. Alternatively if you are in the Canberra region, come along to the Canberra Handmade Markets on 12th September at the Yarralumla Woolshed- we will have a stall there will with their lovely range!

Little Miss Stitch

We are very excited to receive our latest Handcrafted Creation here are Handle with Care!

Sandra from 'Little Miss Stitch' has created these lovely tunics from printed cottons, denims and corduroys contrasting with gorgeous designer fabrics.

The dresses were beautifully packaged and sealed with a 'Little Miss Stitch' sticker and we could see the vibrant colours of the retro style dresses the minute we opened the parcel. As we delved further into our parcel the gorgeous buttons jumped out at us, they were all unique for the different tunics and nicely complimented each piece.

As there are only very small runs of each of the items available at Little Miss Stitch, you can be assured that you are purchasing something that is different and unique.

To see more of the 'Little Miss Stitch' range go to the 'Handcrafted Creations' section of our website: http://handle-with-care.com.au/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=78

Enjoy!

Swaddling the little one

This week with Alison's nappy stash finally sorted for her new arrival it was time to turn to swaddling wraps. Whilst we both have plenty of wraps from our first little boys there is something nice about using fresh new swaddling wraps for a new baby. Plus it seems our old wraps are all pilled, and a lot smaller than we remembered! have we forgotten how small babies are when they arrive?!?!
So we found ourselves in a pile of our beautiful Aden + Anais wraps comparing their size to our older wraps. I think we found a winner, Alison is keen to have a selection of these wraps for her little September baby.

Aden + Anais was formed by Australian mothers who moved to the United States and found the swaddling cloths made of the muslin fabric they wanted were too small for their babies, Aden and Anais.

Further, every swaddling blanket that was large enough was made with fabric other than the muslin cloth that is so readily available for swaddling a baby in Australia. So they began making their own, adding baby hooded towel designs and baby washcloths to their soft muslin creations.

Each of the wraps by Aden + Anais are 47 inches by 47 inches (120cm x 120cm), which makes them a perfect size for keeping any little Houdini gently wrapped. What we love about these wraps is that they come in such a large variety of colours and pack sizes which makes them not only useful, but affordable. It seems there is a colour for everyone, with anything from navy camo to soft pink stripes or solid white.




To view our range of Aden + Anais swaddling wraps please visit our store http://www.handle-with-care.com.au/ in the 'Swaddling your Baby' section.

New Website at Handle with Care

Yes it was well and truly over due, and is now finally here!

We were never entirely happy with our previous site, but it was better then no website at all and it served us well for over a year! We are so excited to see our new website live. We hope that it will allow our customers to find our products much easier and provide a better shopping experience as well.

Thank you to the wonderful support at Internetwork Solutions who have once again out done themselves with their patience and support during this time!
Hope you all enjoy it as much as we do!!!

x heather