Pay it forward

All weekend I have been planning to blog all about Easter, well that is going to have to wait a few days now, because something happened today that got me thinking....

Sometimes I just put things in the post, no payment required, just for the love of having made something or the thought of how happy something I have found will make the person on the other end. It's not a big deal, it makes me happy and there is no intention behind it. Today, however, I received this in the mail from Tea For Evie (sorry Be, I suspect I have embarrassed you terribly by now, but yes I am going to continue to bang on about it, because it made me so happy!):



A beautiful piece of hand cut vintage Holly Hobby linen. I wasn't expecting this package to arrive, and it left me entirely speechless at the time (though obviously not so much now!)... and quite teary too... because a week or so ago I had mentioned that I would love to find some, and now, here, I had this gorgeous piece in my hands, and did I mention that I have never even met the sender in person! It made my day.... week... month, and it's something that I will now forever look at and smile..... and now it's got me thinking.....

Pay it forward. Not a new concept. But I think that if even one person reading this post is inspired to send something on to someone with out reward or agenda, then a very good thing has happened. Go on, do it! It will make you, and someone else smile:)

Verri Vintage

I recently told the story of the first time I bought a vinatge item, I was 10 or 11 and it was a very old set of candles from a long gone shop down in Victor Harbor called "Junk and Disorderly" and so became my love of all things vintage..... I think at the time I thought I was going to uncover something worth millions for only 50 cents, but the love grew and grew. Even more so since I met my husband Luke. Prior to the girls we spent alot of time trawling through antique shops, op shops and markets to find unique items for our home... we so love to look together.

When I first began Verri Charmed, I realised that by encorporating this love of the old I could make my items more unique.... and so began the hunts for vintage crochet, buttons, fabric and trims. I started small, and I have learned as I have grown, all the while accumulating more than I could use, but still loving the hunt, as does my husband, and so Verri Vintage was born, a way to share our finds with others who wish to make their crafty delights unique.

I'll leave you with a pic tonight of one of my latest VC creations, a perfect example of vintage upcycling.... what was once a crochet table cloth, is now a unique hat:)

Three

This gorgeous girl turned three today. It just blows my mind how fast three years has gone, how much life has changed, and just how amazing this journey of parenthood is.

You may remember that a year ago my not quite 2 year old insisted that she have a cat shaped birthday cake,,, well this year it was a dinosaur, and no sh wouldn't budge. At one point she even found one of raptors for me, that happened to have a smaller dinosaur in it's mouth, and brought it to me saying "When you make it mummy, it hasto be like this, it has to be munching on something...". Well I didn't stoop to that gory a level, bt I did oblige her the dinosaur.... two infact.



Her party went well. 19 kids, totally out numbering 14 adults, but in a good, chaotic kind of way. Pass the parcel was an absolute shambles, but a fantastic laugh, and I uselessly forgot that for the first time ever I had made party bags, until half the guests had already left!

In the afternoon we did some drawing, played some games, watched some Toy Story and set up her new telescope (another thing she has been quite randomly asking for for months!). We had a visit from her Nan and Pop and her aunty and uncle and cousins. generally it was an all round perfect day... and as usual the weather absolutely brought it, so we finished up the day with a drink in the back yard while the girls dug in the garden.

Perfect:)

Sisters

What is not to love about the closeness of these two? I hope they continue to love each other this way forever:)

Break

I'm taking a Facebook break.

At the moment I just feel like it's doing my head in. I am seeing so much negativity and slanging matches, and it makes me so sad. I want to smile more, not get caught up in controversy.

Lately I have also been finding that reading every status update of friends and aquaintances, as well as the "Look what I made" business posts can be consuming in an unrealistic way..... it's hard to explain myself eloquently.... but lets put it this way, FB is not real life, it's a highly edited snippet of one's existence, and at times I find it suffocating.... it makes me judge myself unnecessarily. I have talked before about my struggle with feeling "not good enough" and I feel that it's exacerbated by others fantasy worlds...... I am not blaming anyone else but myself here, I'm just trying to explain how I feel, and I think it will be a good reminder in the future when I inevitably get sucked back into the online world (which I do so love). I think I'm not alone in feeling this way, I know of others who have deleted their accounts because they became so depressed seeing what everyone else was up to. If I'm going to be realistic, I know that I certainly get alot out of 24hrs, and I don't have any reason to be hard on myself..... but hey, there it is.

I am also taking a rest because I think it's time to stop and smell the roses and enjoy every minute with my girls, because life is short, and they are more important than anything online could possibly be.

So for now, A quick VC check in the morning and evening, and nothing else. I think I will feel better for it.

Now onwards and upwards..... Delilah is turning three on Sunday, and I have a dinosaur cake to think about:)

Sick:(

Sitting here feeling a tad sorry for myself today, gastro has hit the Verri household big time, last weekend it was Mackenzie, yesterday Delilah came down with it, and today it's my turn....

So while I have two munchikins sleeping soundly I will take the opportunity to update a little.

Little Miss M is now almost 16 months, she doesn't walk, she runs. She loves to feed the "Gogo's" (dogs) and music makes her move and smile, she often walks around the house with anything she thinks is trumpet like yellng "Toot, Too!" through it. She is a genuine little fire cracker.



I took this pic on monday, she's in a Verri Charmed "Sesame Street" outfit, featuring vintage SS fabric (oscar the grouch) and a matching furry green vintage chenille skirt.... I will have some of these for sale at my nest market.

Miss D is turning three next week, and while she is mostly delightful, she has hit a defiant, do what I want, patch. It will make for an interesting few months to come I think. As I type the poor little thing is curled up next to me, this gastro has hit her for a six.



This is a version of the set I made for her, featuring the same awesome fabric and pink vintage chenille.

Before I go and enjoy the last few minutes of quiet, Luke came up with a new business idea the other day, it is something that we will be working on together, if you pop over to the left of the screen you can be directed to a sneak peek of what's in store for the Verri's...........