happy new year!

Magic bunny's going to try real hard to make sure you all have a great night, to start of 2010 in a good way - I know a lot of people who are super excited and have big plans for next year! Hooray, because I am one of them.

I was going to do a long, reflective, essay-style post about 2009 and my hopes and dreams for 2010, but I won't. Instead: thanks to everyone who came & met me at a market, purchased some of my goodies, helped me out, read my blog, or was just generally cool & inspiring.

I have lots of ideas for 2010 and am super organised (so far!), I'm very excited to build up my business and share everything with you all!

xo Penny

new fabric designs!

A little parcel of goodness arrived this morning (thanks lovely postman) - new fabric! Three new designs, and they all worked perfectly.

So, more purses & pencilcases in pretty new designs coming soon.

soapie love

For Christmas I gave many people (including myself) soaps from gorgeous Inner Earth Soaps. It's so lovely to buy fresh, natural soaps, handmade in Australia - I'm super excited about mine! Erin from Inner Earth is so lovely and helpful, mailed my order straight away, and clearly is running a fabulous business. Hooray!

My lovely mum gave me this box of goodies from Est. Est is a favourite role model business amonst a few crafty friends, we even love their string.

Squeaky clean, jelly bean!

holiday entertainment

I was pretty happy with my Christmas gifts this year. Amongst them were these gems - Infinite Jest from my parents, 2 seasons of Arrested Development from my brother (nice one!), People of the Book from Chris's parents, and the sweetest little cup & saucer that Chris found at Bob Boutique. Little Red Riding Hood!!! It's little, but a good size for me given the amount of half finished mugs of tea I leave scattered around the house.

Tea, gingerbread, books & dvds. Perfect.

time to relax

Phew! Christmas is over for this year, and it's time to take a little breather. I'm using the next couple of weeks to get organised, rested and inspired for next year. Lots of time to spend on the couch drinking tea (and pink champagne), reading and relaxing.

I received these pretty cushions from my cousin Alice for Christmas... beautiful, right? The rainbow floral ones are from Oxfam, made in India and Fair Trade.

The beautiful wool cushions Alice made herself. I was so pleased when I opened the wrapping paper because they are amazing, and so so so impressed when she told me she made them for me! (Especially given that she's just had a baby, who is gorgeous!) They're made of wool jumpers from op shops, which she felted, and then she hand stitched them.

I especially love the pockets on the white one. Chris thinks they're a good place for a handy chocolate stash, I am not so sure!

Thank you, Alice!

happy holidays!

Hooray! Hope you're all having lovely holidays, and spending lots of time relaxing and making merry. I've spent a lovely couple of days with friends & family, eating and drinking, giving and receiving gifts, and having a great time.

Thank you all for entering my giveaway, your comments are super helpful. The two winners are: Melinda and Ange. Congrats! Please email me your details - penny @ pocketcarnival.com.au

The third winner is: holes and strings. Look out for pretty gift tags with string soon!

giveaway and a question

Hooray! Let's have a giveaway! But first I need your help.

So, I got a gorgeous parcel in the mail today from Carley (aka Vanilla Pixie). It's a sweet little Christmas gift for an adorable little baby I know, so I'm very excited. I was particularly taken by the gift tag Carley sent with the parcel, the multi-colored trees are gorgeous! I love the randomness of the way it's cut (it's the one with scalloped edges, so sweet!)


I decided to design something a little similar, with my birds. I've been very happy with my Christmas tags, and want to have something festive for all occasions. They're not available for sale yet, but will be in a week or so (I'm just figuring out packaging and pricing).


The giveaway!

To enter, please leave a comment answering my question for you all - when you purchase gift tags, do you prefer:
1 - no hole,
2 - hole punched, no string, or
3 - hole punched with a string?

Please remember -
1 entry per person, and don't leave your comment anonymously!
Open until the 24th.
Two lucky winners will receive a lovely bundle of cards & gift tags.

Oops, the giveaway is now closed!!!

christmas cards

I've finally sent my cards! I'm never usually (or at all) a big Christmas card sender, but this year I did. Why?

• They're all 100% post consumer recycled,
• I make them, so it's a bit tight if I don't send them to people...,
• I want people to buy them from me, so should therefore lead by example,
• The more you send, the more you receive (it's like a pyramid scheme that way).

I'm just crossing my little fingers & toes that they get there, despite the rather worrisome postal strike. Eeek!

back in stock + holiday shipping

Just in time for Christmas! I was thrilled at how well my new fabric was received, and amazed at how fast the orange pencilcases were snapped up! I reordered the fabric in organic cotton this time, and I love it!

The specifics:
Organic cotton pencilcase, lined with recycled cotton,
Fabric designed by Penny (that's me!)
Purse handmade in Melbourne by me
Awesome gift idea!

Get it:
On Etsy, or
On Madeit

...Holiday shipping...

We are shipping items purchased on Etsy & Madeit right up until 4pm Melbs time, 23rd December.
It's a bit late for Christmas shipping international (non-Australian) orders, sorry.
Australian orders - try to purchase by 17th Dec.
Express post is available for Australian orders, email me for details.

Hooray! Almost there.

almost here...

I didn't really intend to have a tree this year, but then last night I was making some more gift tags, and some more little stars, and it got me in the Christmas mood (about time!) So, Chris and I wandered into our back yard with some scissors and picked the best branch overhanging from our lovely neighbours pine-y tree, and voila!

We couldn't find anything lightweight enough to sit on top, so Chris made a paper star and stuck it to the wall. Nice.

Little decorations - when I make my gift tags I am very careful and position them so as to have the least wastage of paper - even though it's 100% post consumer recycled we still have to be careful with our resources! So, for every 14 tags I make there are some tiny paper scraps, plus enough stripey / spotty paper left over for 4 stars. Pretty! I think they look like shooting stars. A very little bit perhaps.

And some gifts underneath the tree - mostly handmade, lots from Etsy & Madeit, all good choices I think!

Of course, you can get your own pretty tags
On Etsy, or
On Madeit.

Hooray for Holidays!

pretty little things

All work & no play makes this blog a tad devoid of new posts - sorry! I've been sewing and tag-punching and card-folding as fast as my little fingers can go, and thank you all so so much for buying my things and reading my blog and saying hello at markets and generally making this holiday season very happy & exciting (and a little mad).

Some pretty new things made with gorgeous Ink & Spindle fabrics - these are mostly one or two of a kinds, available for sale on Etsy. Hooray!


I've also been trying to fit in some business decision making and bunny soul searching and navel gazing, which this is probably a bad time of year for, but sometimes you can't ignore the million ideas in your brain. I think I have some good ideas, and more on these soon, but for now, a teensy sneak peek...

melbourne design market tomorrow!

Such a frantic time of year! I've been very busy in my little business, but a bit quiet on the blog!

I've been sewing up some pretty thinks for the Melbourne Design Market tomorrow - pretty purses & clutches made of Ink & Spindle fabrics, and vintage & new cottons. Yay!

Ink & Spindle are at the market selling their beautiful fabrics and homewares, and a few crafty people (Shannon, Matt & myself) will be selling gorgeous things made with Ink & Spindle fabrics.

So, if you're in Melbourne tomorrow, come say hi!

Melbourne Design Market
10am - 5pm
at the Ink & Spindle stall
Federation Square Carpark,
Flinders Street
Melbourne CBD

Hooray for excellent almost-ready plums on my little plum tree (birds not welcome!)

Such a frantic time of year! I've been very busy in my little business, but a bit quiet on the blog! I was happy to get a copy of Homespun, which is a super sweet magazine full of crafty projects & news - this issue they had a little Toadstool feature and included one of my prints - thanks Homespun!!!

You can get your own copy here.