Birthday Party Fun

As I may have mentioned in Wednesday's post, yesterday was my birthday and I got a lovely surprise when I arrived at Sarah's place and saw that she had set up a gorgeous little tea party!She even put up some super cute bunting around the windows:

On the menu for afternoon tea were a dozen delicious cupcakes from Poppy Cakes. The Red Velvet cupcake was totally amazing; the buttercream icing wasn't sickly sweet like so many cupcakes can be and the contrast of the red cake and white icing looked so pretty.

I also got some lovely presents and what with having Italian food for lunch (my fave) and tasty cupcakes for afternoon tea, it was a great day all 'round. Thanks Sarah! (And Mum and Dad too for buying the cupcakes!)

What's Hot & What's Not Wednesday

My oh my how long it has been since I last did a What's Hot & What's Not Wednesday! Or an actual blog post for that matter....(*hides in shame*).

So, getting straight to it! (Written in festive colours of course).

What's Hot:

- The super cool embroidery patterns at Sublime Stitching. They're just so fab i'm going to order some and give it ago, despite the general awfulness of my past hand sewing attempts. Dodgy sock monkey anyone?

- My birthday on Sunday. Who doesn't love it when their b'day comes around? Presents, food and cake! What's not to love?

- Our Christmas tree! It's over 2m tall with twinkly lights and is decorated with ornaments that have been in our family for years. (Altough the weight of said ornaments are now giving the tree a lovely forward lean). There's nothing better than the feeling of putting up all of those familiar little ornaments and decorations on the tree and around the house every Christmas. And adding new ones too of course!

- Yankee Candles. A recent and lovely discovery. They have an absolutely huge range of scented candles and tonnes of yummy Christmas themed ones. The Christmas Biscuit and Cinnamon Sugar ones literally smell good enough to eat.

What's Not:

- The sad neglect of our little blog! New Years resolution- blog way more often!

- Oh, and people hacking into my email account and spamming everyone I know. Aargh!

Check out what else is Hot and Not at Loobylu.

What's Hot & What's Not Wednesday

Yet another Wednesday and another What's Hot and What's Not from Loobylu! My, how time flies when you're studying for an exam!

So, What's Hot?

- Getting my Uni exam over and done with on Monday. Although summer semester starts in a couple of weeks, it still means I can get back into crafting and blogging which have been somewhat neglected while I was studying!

- Having a long lunch with Sarah and Sean on Tuesday. It was a great way to celebrate the end of exams and Sarah and Sean leaving for their much anticipated holiday to Japan. Stay tuned for Sarah's upcoming post showing off all the fabric and crafty things she's picked up over there! Can you tell that i'm a teeny bit jealous?

- The Box. A really cool and unusual movie that keeps you guessing through 'til the end. It also gets you thinking- would you press the button? You can tell the story was originally on the Twilight Zone and is directed by the same guy who did Donnie Darko- much retro sci-fi music and weird atmosphere abounds!

-Plus, Cameron Diaz rocks some really great 70's hairstyles (and outfits) in it. Observe:

And What's Not?

- The fact that i'm not going to Japan to search for Geisha and Hello Kitty.

- Not being able to craft or blog in the last week because i've had to study for an exam instead.

- Blogger constantly changing the layout of my posts so the published version looks different (and much messier) than the draft version! So unbelievably irritating!

- Not being able to buy Cath Kidston's new book or the Food Safari cookbook because I have to wait until my birthday or Christmas to get them. (Insert a childish sounding "Aww, not fair!" here.)

Finders Keepers Brisbane

After a few weeks of saving and excitement the Finders Keepers market has finally arrived in Brisbane.

and boy where the crowds out in force....

the Old Museum was filled to capacity with eager market goers of all ages and persuasions. This was just the view outside on the verandah.

Inside was just as busy and unfortunately it made it quite hard to actually be able to see what was on display.

Frankie Magazine had a fantastic little stall of their own and I was able to pick up these vintage inspired goodies. I managed to score some great wrapping paper, a vintage pillowcase, and a gorgeous 70's inspired Christmas card. What's with the hairspray you say? Well it was actually a lucky dip prize given to every customer. I can't remember the last time I dabbled in a lucky dip. (I did not realise they still made this stuff, I might have to use it with caution).

One of my favourite finds of the day were these beautiful Christmas tags from paper boat press . They are going to look great as decoration on bottles of Jam or simply as decorations for the tree. For hand made ceramic gift tags, they were very reasonable at only $15 a pack.

I also found these great packs of Christmas Cards from Blossom Creations. I can't wait to break them out for Christmas this year.

Overall the market was a lot of fun but some of the stalls were aimed at higher end buyers and quite expensive. It was however great to see Selvedge House, Rebecca from Edward and Lilly and the other girls from BrisStyle all displaying their amazing creations. I would have to say that the BrisStyle Markets are still more my cup of tea with vintage inspired creations and less mainstream high fashion kind of style. Now I just have to hold on till the BrisStyle Indie Designers Market in December to get my market fix.

Loving Right Now...

Here are a few cool things we here at Shary Bobbins are coveting right now:

1. Made By White's gorgeous wall stickers.

2. Able & Game's super cute and quirky cards. The card below was inspired by a hilarious 80's dating video that you watch on their blog. Gotta love those hairstyles.

3. Victoria Mason's Nice biscuit necklace. An Australian afternoon tea icon! Plus this one won't get soggy and end up in the bottom of your tea cup. All we need now is an Iced Vovo and we're all set!

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas...

I must admit that I absolutely love Christmas and all of the associated Chrismass-y things: Santa, twinkly fairy lights on the front of people's homes, Rudolph and his little red nose, Christmas carols; but one of the things I love most are Christmas decorations! Which is why I was rather excited to go a special Christmas preview at Unique Gifts so I could get a sneak peek at all of their seasonal goodies! Here are some photos of the decorations I just had to buy:

As soon as I saw the ice cream decorations I had to have them because they're so sweet and unique. I also got a little shimmery gold bird because it was cute and the same goes for the toadstool candle. Yes, I know toadstools don't have anything to do with Christmas but I just thought it was adorable. The tree the decorations are displayed on is a nifty little thing that slots together and can be laid flat when you're not using it. I think it would make a lovely table centerpiece on Christmas Day!

Hot 'n' Not

HOT!

- Only two more days until the Finders Keepers market comes to Brisbane! I can't wait to head into the Old Museum at Herston on Saturday to look at all the handmade goodies. It will be great to see all of Brisbane's creative talent in the one spot.

- Holidays!! Only two days left of work, thank god and only one week till Japan.

- Reading the new Frankie magazine and the latest Matthew Reilly book.

NOT!
- Being so busy with getting work sorted out that I have not had much energy to anything else, much less anything crafty.

- Sore throats. Fingers crossed I don't get sick before my holidays.

- The fact that it is almost the end of strawberry season.


Find more Hot's and Not's here at Loobylu.