Poppet show - My Poppet in the media this weekend

As you all know I am becoming a fan of blatant self promotion, so for those of you that haven't seen the feature on My Poppet/me in the Herald Sun Home mag yesterday, here it is for your reading pleasure...
I love the tagline that they have used under the heading "Crafty creations that boldly go where no beige has gone before". I'm a bit of a closet Trekkie (Next Gen not Original series), so I really got a chuckle out of that one.

If you are new to the blog having discovered it through said article, I sometimes talk about things other than myself, although not lately. I hope you stick around, leave a comment to introduce yourself so we can all get to know each other a little better.

And if you actually want to read the article just click on the link here which will take you to some bigger images of the text.

Herald Sun HOME magazine feature...

For those that don't live in Melbourne and have asked to see my home feature in the Herald Sun HOME magazine last sat (23/7), here it is.
It's a bit hard to read the article from these pictures so I have uploaded some close-up shots on flickr - link here.

As you can see Emma has nearly photo bombed every shot!
I wish my house still looked this tidy. Unfortunately it has descended into chaos, but at least I have proof that it once looked good. I'll need another photographer to come around just so I have the motivation to tidy up again.
You can see what happened behind the scenes at the photoshoot here...

More tidy corners...

Thanks for all the lovely comments about my tidy sewing room, it feels really good to hear that I've inspired and motivated some of you to tidy up your crafty space as well.
So today, I'm continuing with the tidy theme, this time my 'shop space'. When the lease ended for the shop front last year, it was a little bit of a challenge to absorb all of the shop fittings into our home. Some of the shelving went into Emma's room and the sewing room, other bits into the shed, but my favourite piece, a vintage Danish style wall unit fit perfectly into an empty space in the dining room.
This is where I keep all the bits and pieces that are stocked online, just like a mini shop. It's also where I pack up all of your orders whilst Emma napping or watching Play School. The photo above I took last week after the photographer left, the ones below were taken a few months back for Little Red Bus, that's why the lighting seems a little different.

You can read today's interview with me on Little Red Bus here...

It can sometimes be a challenge to keep the dining table clear of clutter, but I'm really going to make an effort to keep this space neat. It's so much nicer and more efficient to work in an uncluttered space where everything has it's place. We'll see how long it lasts...

Behind the scenes at THE photoshoot...

If you've been following some of my tweets you may have worked out that I had some special guests at my home yesterday, the kind that get you in a panic in the lead up to their visit. Yes a guy with a camera and a super stylish art director!
I thought you might like to see some of behind the scenes action at yesterday's photo shoot. No idea when the story will be published, but will give you a heads up when if I find out.

Left to right: Meisha (graphic designer/director for the day), cute baby belonging to Lou, Chris (Photographer), Louise (writer/journalist)
Emma started the day acting all shy and clinging to my leg but as the shoot progressed she became quite comfortable with the camera.

Chris was very kind and even let her take a few shots of her own.
I really struggled for 3 days to get the place looking decent, trying to clear my accumulated clutter was a big task. Chris, who has been here before was surprised with the transformation "where have all the piles of fabric gone?"
Tidying up involved a big spring clean and a total reorganisation of my sewing room (I'll share the sewing room photos soon).
I must give a big shout out to Pilgrim for helping me with boring task of fabric folding (and dust inhaling) and even a bigger thanks (and big hug) to Estelle for jumping at the chance to style my de-cluttered areas.
Estelle came around on Tuesday with 5 big boxes of cool stuff and an 18mo old who was booked into surgery the next day. I can't believe she didn't tell me to F-off, but she is a top chick and deserves a big fat styling credit. The team was very impressed!Down stairs took 1.5 hours, shots from this angle and that.
Then the upstairs. Poor Chris had tot get in some really awkward positions and that camera is much heavier than it looks.
A lot of discussion about how to shoot what. All up they were here for 2.5 hours, and were really disappointed they didn't have more time because they had to get to another shoot.

I was running so late as Emma had a big sleep in till 9am, she is normally my alarm clock, so you can imagine the chuckles I received when I opened the door in my pyjamas! Chris has shot lots of celebs (we won't drop names), but he likes pyjama clad real people the best :) What a great guy!

The team was even nice enough to tidy up my kitchen whilst I changed and brushed my teeth. Mr Man reckons we should have a camera team round at least once a month, the place has never looked this good. Although, there is lots of stuff just shoved in cupboards and under the stairs because I couldn't find a real home for them! I will try to tackle the cupboard clutter slowly, with the aim of having some order in this house finally.

Chris was very generous with his knowledge and gave me some hints to share with you all when you are taking interior shots:

Use a tripod, and if it's not a particularity stable one, it's best to use the self timer on the camera to avoid camera shake when you press the button.

Always shoot the highest res you can and if you have photoshop shoot in RAW mode (DSLR) as well as Jpeg, this means your shots can be print ready.

If shooting for the web, shoot your subject nice and tight with a shallow depth of field. You need to capture your viewers attention which is a fraction of a second, busy composition just doesn't cut it. Pick a stand out subject and focus on it.

Also don't be afraid to pump up the colour saturation for web destined shots, post production.

And this one is GOLD - if shooting a room with a chair or table, try to include at least one full leg to give a good sense of proportion.

So do you feel like you were right there? I'll take photos of the house whilst its still relatively tidy in the next few days so I can share them with you here.
Hope you enjoyed the behind the scenes action...I need a good lie down.

Open for business...

As you can see over on the left sidebar there <---- I'm now accepting ads on my blog. I like to call them sponsors, because it's not about revenue raising from random plugs for things that we can't relate to or don't want, it's about partnering with like minded small businesses that would like to gain some exposure.
If you have a little enterprise and enjoy reading my blog, why don't you consider becoming a sponsor. I have put together some really reasonably priced packages, and lets face it, when you have a little business every $ counts.
From my own personal experience with My Poppet, I have found that advertising on blogs has been a really cost effective form of promotion. I often get approached to advertise in print media and wow wee, its expensive! I'm talking thousands of dollars to have an ad in a glossy and even hundreds for a local paper! I'd rather spend that money supporting fellow bloggers to do what they love and reaching a really targeted audience that loves the things that I do. You can contact me on cinti@mypoppet.com.au for more information...

Now to everyone out there I truly value your readership and will do my very best to keep the sponsors as relevant to the values of My Poppet as possible. I will clearly indicate when a post or giveaway has been sponsored by an advertiser because I believe in full disclosure. No cash for comments here Lol!

Animation Friday by {KID} independent

You know that feeling in the back of your mind that keeps niggling at you that you've forgotten something? Well I had that today: "It's Friday, don't I normally have something that needs doing on Fridays?"
So thanks to Indie from {KID}independent for the reminder. It's Animation Friday silly Cinti!

Indie has created this awesome Rainbow song animation that I'm sharing here. Thanks for joining in!

Would you like to have a go?
It's really easy. Here are some simple instructions on how to make moving pictures...have a go, you've got all week. Post it to your blog and link here so we can all see. Remember to link back to this post so your other readers can join in to. Feel free to grab a little button for your sidebar

I ♥ Shop 4 Kids

What a lovely Valentine's Day present you've given me Shop 4 Kids magazine by featuring so many of my handmade goodies in your 'made with love' section. Can you spot which bits are mine?

Answers:
Fabric House Soft Toy $12 each
Felt Egg & Bacon play food $12
Felt Macarons each $9.90
Make Your Own Vintage Bunting kit $25

Happy Valentine's Day
xx Cinti

Priority Magazine...

My little business and I were recently profiled in Australia Post's Priority Magazine. It was quite and interesting exercise as it gave me the privileged opportunity to speak to Andrew Griffiths, an excellent small business consultant, about ways in which I could improve my online business, especially in regards to transitioning from a bricks and mortar store.
I've tried to really take his advice and implement as may suggestion as I could, and I think the experience has been invaluable.
You can have a read of the full article here, and if you have an online store you may find some of the suggestions helpful too...

Retro Christmas...

I was so excited when my fun Retro Stockings were featured on The Design Files today. I made them as a bit of a refreshing alternative to the masses of traditional red and green that we get bombarded with at this time of year. These little kids are just so sweet, the little boy on the bottom right reminds me of Emma for some reason, maybe its the hair.

I made Emma one too, this will be the first time I've ever had a Christmas stocking in my home. Never had one as a child, we celebrate the Argentinean way and enjoy a big meal on Christmas Eve with the presents all waiting under the tree to be opened at midnight. When you're a kid that wait till midnight is a killer. Santa was just a jolly man you were photographed with at the local shopping centre, he never really came to our house. Once or twice he left a sack outside the back door, but my sister and I were always suspicious.

In Spain and Argentina (and some other part of South America) the real pressie surprises are delivered by the Three Wise men on the 6th of January - The Epiphany, when biblically the wise men visited and delivered gifts to the baby Jesus.
My sister and I would polish our best pair of shoes and leave them out on the Eve of the 6th, then in the morning there would be presents.
I remember one year my sister wanted a My Little Pony and threw a tantrum when she got something else, a few minutes later 'magically' $7 was found under her shoe. Crisis averted!

Anyway, my point is that Emma will probably grow up with a hybrid of Christmas traditions, Christmas Eve and Christmas day, Stockings and Shoes. Lucky her...

Does your family celebrate this festive season in a slightly different way?

Fresh Baked Feature...

Ok, so it's Tuesday which means I'm not exactly on the ball, but am still quite chuffed to discover that my little creations were featured on {KID} independent's Fresh Baked Friday last week.
The KID independent blog is a great read at anytime, but even better still when I'm featured, hehe!

♥ Small ♥

A lovely surprise in my inbox this morning, the Summer issue of Small magazine...and after much anticipation I was excited to see some of my handmade garments featured. Yay! It's always a little surreal when I see something I've made with my own hands in the kaos of my sewing room, photographed so beautifully and look so, um, fantabulous! All of these garments are one of a kind. Some a still available to purchase others, like the red dress featured below, have sold a long time ago...I'm happy to take custom orders if you would like a similar garment made.

The Tea Party dress and green Retro Shorts were featured here on the Smaller blog. If you squint you can just make them out...hehe!

This issue is also packed with other fantastic stories, illustrations, products and projects. My favourite is a small film called City Mice...delightful.

{Kid} independent...

Was lucky enough to be interviewed by {kid} independent, a great blog that loves featuring great indie style for kids. Found each other through twitter, gotta love that!

read my interview here...

A bit of attention...

Looks like my custom skirts are getting a little bit of attention...Babyology Bondville kids

Frankie love...

This put a smile on my face today...

Oh dee doh...

People can't seem to get enough of these little cups. Here is the latest mention of them in ohdeedoh. Still some available on Poppet in the Post

Summer clothing sale still on till the end of the month, a range of sizes still available, especially size 5 & 6. Autumn/Winter stock has already started to come in so I really need to make some room...

All Tied up...

My Vintage Tie tops and onesies got a feature on Michi Girl. Yay! A couple are still available on Poppet in the Post if babies in ties float your boat!

Happy New Year

Wow, 2009 already, how time flies...

Just wanted to share this little feature with you all, I came across it by chance and squealed with delight when i saw it. My mother-in-law thought i was going into early labour with all the high pitched carry on!

If you didn't catch it, it was just a little feature on Caulfield South in the Domain section of the Age 26-27/12/08

I was proud to be mentioned amongst the Top 10 spots in the area along with some great local businesses, let alone No. 1.

Got a nice little picture as well.

Taking a little blogging break for a few weeks - remember, shop re-opens on the 27th of January

All Poppet in the Post orders will be shipped after the 19th of Jan.

Happy New Year,

Cinti

Top 20!

Was thrilled to see My Poppet in the Sunday Age M magazine this weekend listed as one of Melbourne's Top 20 gift shops. Honoured to be alongside some of my favorite shops including Douglas and Hope, Cottage Industry and Hudson. Hopefully some more of you lovely people out there will come along to visit the store, I'm sure you won't be disappointed...By the way, I've had a couple of people ring saying that their credit cards won't work on Paypal checkout on Poppet in the Post. If that happens, please give me a ring and i can process your card over the phone to get your goods out to you the same day. I wouldn't want you to miss out on the goodies I've got in store.

Have also listed an under $10 and under $20 category which makes shopping for stocking fillers a breeze.

Online Magazines...

Wow, these online kids magazines are just getting better and better with every issue.

LMNOP magazine issue 5 is out now. it's free to subscribe and really worth a look if you haven't seen it already. Look how fantastic the small melamine cups look in this feature stuffed to the brim with Christmas treats.

I finally had a chance to have a good look at the current issue of Small magazine, and what do you know, a few friends of My Poppet got little mentions.

Can you spot Jhoanna's Woodland girl doll? And Monique's Look at the Wall collage? I have a few Look at the Wall collages currently in stock at the store, this owl is my favorite.

I love all this fabric play food. Very inspiring, now if only I had a spare hour or ten...

Parcel mania!

Wow the week has just flown by, I've been so busy packing Poppet in the Post orders and waddling off to the post office. (Don't know why I'm waddling, I'm hardly even showing!)

Why so many online orders you ask? Well its because of this sweet little article in the Sunday Life magazine this past weekend...

So I'm doing my best to keep Poppet in the Post up to date and well stocked, lots of new products listed every day. Quite a big job really, this online shop business is hard work!

Melamine cups are back in stock, lots of colours available

Market wisdom Part 2 coming next week

How cute are these Sheriff badges?