Rainbow Comfort Pack happiness!

I went to Eltham this morning to give out some Rainbow Comfort Packs to some under 2's!
It was my first time seeing the delightful faces of little ones (and their mums) when they opened their very own pack of goodies..... so heart warming, that I had to take a couple of photos to show you how you've touched so many in this thoughtful way!

A mum from Kinglake, who lost everything in the recent fires, took it upon herself to organise this meeting with her own mother's group. There were 10 packs in total (8 for 16 to 19 month old toddlers and 2 for 5 week old babies).
There are 8 families in the group. 5 lost their homes and 3 were fortunate to have theirs spared (but think how it would be to live amongst what was left and the clean up afterwards too, it would be very hard). Most have found somewhere else to live for the moment and contemplate future plans.
I found I knew 1 of the families in this group, but have not had contact with them since early on and through this family, had met some of the other mums too! Plus a couple of mums were customers of bpab! How special is that!

My little ones also got to see who got some of these 'mysterious' bags of fun! I took the opportunity to tell Chai (4) that these are some of the kids that have no toys because of the fire..... I've been telling her about it for so long (every time another donation package gets opened and we inspect the goods inside). I think she gets it....

Anyway, this mum's group want to say THANK YOU to you for bringing some magic into their children's lives at this time. It really does mean a lot.

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Eye Spy... a work in progress

If you've been following my blathering for a while, you may be familiar with this picture.
It's the very back corner of our large yard. The old guy who blessed our yard with amazing wonders when he called it his own, left us with these metal beds which we think he used to house all his orchids on. We have since grown a passion fruit vine on it and paved the area, hoping to turn it into an entertainment spot with the chiminea and cushions to laze around on the metal wire beds. It has never been the perfect spot for real entertaining and since the kids have come along, it's been used as a jungle gym and place for exploration..... which is all well and good, but i still yearn for that spot to entertain!

Hence this work is now definitely in progress! Yay!!
We've cut the vine back a bit (don't worry, it needed a good prune), taken off all the wire bedding and wire roof, raised one side of the roof area (as it's too short for me to stand straight under and will create a run off effect for when it rains... water should go onto the garden) and taken down the 'decrepit shack' that housed the wood pile.

The boys have been working on it for the past week and solidly this weekend (right now they are researching how best to put the roof on.....) We are planning seats and a table too. Making everything, recycling where we can and thinking beyond the square to solve those 'if only we had a million dollars' problems.
Will post once all is finished. Now to crack that whip! hehehe


Thanks to Hugo and Elsa for this weeks theme!
Visit Bugandpop for others playing Eye Spy Sunday too.

Next stop for Rainbow Comfort Packs is....

Yesterday 19 packs went to the Yarra Valley area.
There will be a community meeting tonight at Yarra Glen and these packs will be given out to kids and babies affected by the bush fires in the Yarra Valley, that are at the meeting.
We just packed for newborn through to 6 year old boys and girls for this delivery. The bag in the middle has balloons and packs of lollies (that were donated to us... probably by you!) to be handed out to kids on the night too.
I thought it would be better for those type of things to be shared generally and with adult supervision!

The Yarra Valley Girls Unite group are managing many projects for the Yarra Valley area and I'm delighted that we've formed a friendship with these lovely, caring gals who have taken it upon themselves to help their own community.

We will be sending more packs their way once we get ages and numbers of kids who did not receive a pack at the meeting. There will be on going contact with Yarra Valley Girls Unite, so more packs will get out to kids in their area.

I've been told that many families have not returned to the place they once called home and are scattered around the state. It has been hard locating many, so this is a very slow process.
There are some who keep quiet and don't ask for help, which is understandable. I feel this would be a very private thing and even though many want to help you, sometimes it's hard to accept charity.

If you belong to a group that has lots of contacts in your area and are able to locate those that need comfort in your community, please contact me.
So far I've been working through the councils, so this is the first time I'm working with a group that is actually part of the extended community. They are living amongst it all and are able to give these packs out to many people they know. (Just so you know, a council representative is also working with this group.... but it's mainly people power!)

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An update on the state of things here at head quarters:
* We (meaning you) have made approx. 500 hand made bags!
* The floor space at the bpab 'mini shop' is full of boxes split into age groups, containing donations of handmade softies, clothing, stationary, toys and lots of things in between!
* Slowly making up packs as we need them and extras so we are ahead when we get a call out. I haven't organised a packing bee yet, as there is no way we could get more than 2 people into the area. I will be looking at storage options soon - for packs ready to go.
* We are only needing handmade softies and groovy bags for the 11+ age group at the moment.
Always look at the right hand side bar of this blog to keep up to date with what's needed and going on.
* Also just want to say how grateful I am for your ongoing support of this project, in believing that this could be achieved, in being so creative and charitable. You rock! Yeah you do.
* Lastly.... you may have noticed that through this project not many people have been named or publicly thanked. I've kept it this way, in an effort to preserve the community spirit which has evolved from everyone pitching in and genuinely wanting to help others less fortunate than themselves. Every pack that has gone out, is anonymous. Those who give them to each child are told it's a gift from the community at large. I act as the middle man and do not credit myself or bpab for anything, but delivering. Just thought you'd want to know that.... it's your project as much as it is mine. So feel good about what you have done and believe that there is a lot of good in the world!

A little bird told me... about this giveaway!

To celebrate her 100th blog post, Christina is giving away this awesome craft pack!
If you love to get crafty - this is the giveaway for you!!

-vintage knitting needles
-needle gauge
-vintage craft magazines
-knitting pattern books
-donkey softie pattern
-vintage tin of vintage buttons
-11 pieces of fabric - new and vintage
and a rabbit softie made by Christina herself...

Head over to her blog A Little Bird Told Me to enter.

Eye Spy... a magic elixir

I must warn you - this will not be pretty.
Mr bpab has always had this thing for the magic of garlic... he even made juices with garlic and red onion in it! Blahhh!
Anyway I have to give all the credit to him for this 'magic' elixir.... he made it up and it works a treat!

To ward off any signs of colds / flu / things that ail ya:

Garlic and Chilli Vodka!

This bottle is almost empty and I can swear by it personally. Actually I was coming down with a yucky cold on Friday afternoon. Took a shot of this with some juice and I was feeling much better come Sat. morning.
To make this:
1 bottle of vodka
1 red chilli (yes, the chilli you see here WAS red)
4 0r so garlic cloves (skins off)
plop it all together and let it infuse in a dark place for about a week.
Then off you go! Not a yummy drink to whip out at cocktail parties........ but a life saver when you feel sick. Enjoy!!

Thanks to Badskirt for this weeks theme. Join in on the fun very Sunday - click on the EYE SPY link on left side there.

These are my Besties markers ever!

Micador have had these in their range for years it seems.... but I've only discovered them in the last year or so and now I have them in my hot little hands!
This are my favourite set (Underwater Besties) out of the 6 we stock.
They're play mates and texta markers rolled into one!
Twist off their heads to draw up a storm. Non-toxic, washable and tough, means they're friendly for the littlest of folks to use.

Other Besties sets are: Fairy Tale, Puppies, Barnyard, Dino, Jungle. $13.00 per set of six.
They come with collector stickers too.

Win a pack of Besties!
1. leave a comment here telling me which Besties pack is your favourite and why.
2. become a public follower of the rainbow blog (this one!!)
3. promote about this post on your blog for 1 extra entry (leave a comment that you've done this here too.)

Winner will be drawn randomly on 1st of May 2009.

Eye Spy... a surprise!

More of a surprise for the girls than me!
Some bunny's hiding in the tree.....


A softie bunny for each for Easter. How lucky are they to catch their very own bunnies!
Will they produce chocolate on call do you think??

Here are the bunnies I finished making on Friday while the girls were away at nanny and poppy's for the afternoon. They're a hit! Yay!

Thanks Miss Muggins for this weeks theme. Hope you had a very bunny Easter too.
Come join in on all the fun! Click on the Eye Spy button on the left.

Find bob the bluebird for your chance to win $1700 worth of prizes! Go! Go! http://ping.fm/gVQEH

April Colouring Competition! Yippee!

Okay. Here's the dealio:
1. Choose any of the pictures below (or all of them) and click on the one you want. It should come up nice and big. Print it out onto paper.


2. Colour the picture any way you like, using anything (crayons, pencils, textas, glitter, coloured sands, torn paper....). Have fun with it!

3. You will need to scan it back into your computer and make it a file that you can then email to me and I'll upload it to the colouring comp. photo album on our Facebook page. Please include artist's name and age.

The winner will get a $30 gift voucher to spend at beyond pink and blue!

My 2 little girls will be the judges.....
*Closes 30th April 2009, drawn 1st May 2009.
*Winner's name will be posted here with their picture and be the title photo of our album on Facebook. I will email the winner with gift certificate.
*Open to children from 1 to 10 years of age.

Detox update #2: on the home straight!!

Well nearly.... have started week 4 (our final week) today.
Week 3 was a toughie because we were fasting. It was a liquid fast for 7 days.
Our daily menu went a little like this:
Upon waking: veggie juice
Mid morning: herbal tea
Lunch: veggie soup
Dinner: veggie juice and small salad
Before retiring: miso soup
We could have a small salad at dinner if we wanted to and a piece of fruit with morning juice.
It was really hard by day 5.... thinking of what we could chew on, looking at what others were eating!
I suggested to Mr bpab that perhaps we could shorten the fast a day, but he said no.
Then yesterday, Mr bpab was complaining about having to eat another miso soup etc..... he was really struggling too. I felt rather weak yesterday and just wanted to chill out watching movies. Instead I went food shopping for the next few days worth of food and then drove 40 minutes each way to see my very sick Vovo (grandma) with my sister. (It was her only day off....)
Also was very edgy during the week and the kids were tipping me over the edge.

I've come out to the other side and have lost 5kg in the process. We had a beautiful lunch today of brown rice, homemade tomato sauce, steamed tofu, carrot, corn on the cob and seaweed. I enjoyed cooking it all too! Lots of love went into our first meal!!

Welcome to new brand: Red Chalk

How fun are these??
Red Chalk is a Queensland based clothing label, imagined by graphics designer Kate Perry.
This Winter the collection of hoodies, jumpers, dresses, leggings, tracky pants and skirts are exploring the joys of food and why animals love what they eat!! (Well.... not too sure if oxes eat spinach, but the littlies won't know that!)
We've got hoodies in charcoal and red and crop jumpers in charcoal at the moment. More stuff coming in over the months ahead.
Proudly Australian made!

Eye Spy... a new development

I have some shocking news to share!

I have officially started sewing again! It's been a few years and I have mended things and dabbled in an odd project here and there, but it's been so hard in the past to keep going. The girls are older now and I can concentrate on crafting in bigger blocks. When Chai was a bubba, she was on my knees while I was busy sewing Carmon & Chiley stuff, it was a juggle and that was what I did as a 'job'. Many of you reading this do it now.... it's amazing what we can do when we have to just do it.... as well as not give up doing something we love.
I got to the point of it being all too hard to juggle and my heart wasn't in the business any more. I think I needed a rest from constant sewing and selling at markets etc! So that was it! I stopped sewing and Carmon & Chiley was no more.
It was such a relief!

Years later.... we are here and I see so many of you sewing and crafting. I'm so inspired by everything I see going on around me. My creative juices are flowing again and I yern to sew and create!
I've been 'waiting' for the right time to set up my sewing area (thinking this is what I need to do to get sewing again... so I don't have to pack up all the time and keep things out of every ones way.). Well my mini-shop/warehouse/rainbow comfort packs storage area is full to the brim at the moment. My idea was to have the sewing area in there as well..... so I have been waiting for things to clear up in there and then I'd set up the sewing area.

Stuff it! We've worked out a little corner of the dining room for my 'temporary' sewing area. It's out of the way of everyone. Soooo, I started sewing yesterday and the above photo shows my first project!! Yay! I'm making the girls a chenille bunny each, from fabric I've had stashed away forever. We'll give them to the girls for Easter (cutting back on the whole chocolate thing a bit me thinks!).
Feels so good! Will post again when they are finished.
So that's a new development for me!! (Wow... I think I've just had some therapy there! Sorry for rambling on.)

Thanks to A Little Bird Told Me for this weeks great theme.
Join in the fun by clicking on the Eye Spy button on the left.

Time for new Winter shoes.....

If your kids are anything like mine, they'd be complaining about their current shoes: "mummy they hurt!" "mummy my feet are getting wet!". Yes? Sounds familiar??
Sounds like baby needs a new pair of boots!
Here are my favourites from this Winters range of boots and shoes from Yunginz:

Girls: Red Pocket Boots $85.50

Boys: Brown Tartan Trims $53.95

The great thing about Yunginz is the fact that they last. After one child finishes with them, which is often in the same season (!), you can save them for the next child or pass them on or even sell them. Kids need footwear - there's no doubt about that! (Although my 2 yr old refuses to wear anything other than her too small sandals at the moment, but she's also a nudist...)


Check out the whole range of Yunginz here.

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We are offering up this gorgeous bird mobile to one lucky person!
If you want it, better enter:
Enter our competitions and win with Style Collective

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