Pom-pom bombed prezzies. Yes!

It's Thursday and we're in market prep mode.

It's been a little while since we've done a market and I must say this before part, where we're talking about what to sell and how to make it look pretty, is a lot of fun.

This afternoon we've been pom-pom bombing copies of my book. It's been a lovely indoorsy thing to do on this freezing cold summer's day and I think they look super cute too.

In fact I thought you might like to make some of your own.

Here's how we did it;

Gather

• your prezzie
• plain wrapping paper
• sticky tape
• wool
• scissors
• a pom-pom maker/cardboard ring

First wrap your prezzie in plain paper.

Then tie some wool around your package a few times.

Use your preferred pom-pom making method to make three different sized pom-poms. Or two of the same and one different. Or all the same. Whatever you like.

Fluff your pom-poms out and give them a little hair cut if you need to to neaten them up BUT leave the two strings you used to tie them up long.

Tie one pom-pom at a time to the middle of the present using the long strings you left on your pom-pom. After you have tied them up, you can trim them off too.

You are done! Simple pimple, right.

Sit back and enjoy your pretty pom-pommed prezzies.

Oh and instagram them too. Of course. They look so pretty, how could you resist?

Let me know if you make some, I'd love to see.

You can buy these ones we wrapped with a bonus book inside at The Dumbo Feather Christmas Fete this Saturday from 8am-1pm. Yay!

And I am super thrilled to be linking up with amazing Kirsty again at my fave meme My Creative Space. 

Happy making!

Lotsa love.

xx

Coffee and paste...x

I think these last few weeks have been amongst the biggest of my life. The book, the interviews, the feedback, the film, the signings, the reviews and of course the Daylesford launch.

I have been so overwhelmed, I have been humbled and I have been grateful. I feel like I've been running on adrenaline for so much of it. It really has been huge.

And over these big book weeks my blog words have woken me up at night whispering descriptions and explaining goings on and feelings. My nighttime blog words always feel so articulate and honest in the dark.

And yet my days have been so full that I haven't had a second to get those words down here. 

And now that I finally have a little bit of time, they're gone. Actually I don't think they're gone but I think there are so many of them that I don't know how to make sense and order out of them. I feel like they're all jumbled up and all over the place.

I hope I will get all that stuff down here soon because it is important and because I want to remember it, but for now I thought I'd try something completely different. Something I found on Pip's blog. Something I feel might help me take stock and ease my way back in.

So here goes;

Making : Another crocheted hot water bottle cover, knitting a looooong scarf and squares for a blanket.
Cooking : Wintery breads and soups and cakes and bakes.
Drinking : Freshly picked beetroot, carrot, kale, ginger, orange and lemon juice.
Reading: The List Of My Desires. The publisher sent it to me. I've only just started but I love that she's a blogger.
Wanting: Warmth in the air and a bit of sunshine on my skin.
Looking: At the chooks through the mist in the forest.
Playing: A feeding a plant game on my phone that tracks how much water I drink during the day.
Wasting: Time on facebook. I resisted for so long. Then I joined to keep an eye on Indi. And now I think it's fun.
Sewing: Buttons on a knitted onesie.
Wishing: I had more time to knit. And cook. And garden.
Enjoying: Reading chapters of The Famous Five with Miss Jazzy every night.
Waiting: For asparagus and the start of the spring veggie season.
Liking: Photos on instagram.
Wondering: how much our lives will change now we've made the decision to scale things down here and homestead instead.
Loving: That my folks are just at the bottom of the hill.
Hoping: Miss Indi feels better soon. Hate the flu!
Marvelling: That Miss Pepper can stand on her head for minutes at a time.
Needing: To go out and collect the eggs, but it's toooooo cold.
Smelling: The Daphne blossom at the front door.
Wearing: Jeans!!!! It's been years.
Following: An exercise plan. True story!
Noticing: The first signs of spring. More daylight, almond blossom, jonquils...
Knowing: That I shouldn't wear my shoes inside the house but I do anyway.
Thinking: That the bunnies are super messy.
Feeling: Calm for the first time in a while.
Bookmarking: Recipes. I need to menu plan again.
Opening: The stove door to add more wood. Constantly.
Giggling: About Miss Jazzy's suggestion that I should write a book called BUMtastic.
Feeling: Like I could sleep for three weeks if I had the chance.

So how about you? 

What's going on in your life?

Do you want to play Pip's game too? 

Coffee and paste the blank list from her blog.
And let me know so I can come and see what you're up to.

We're off to get the eggs.

Happy days my friends!

xx

Vantastic :: The film

FOXSLANE VANTASTIC from Big Tree Films on Vimeo.

Last week, or the week before, my beautiful friend Ilana made this film.

It's funny sometimes to look back at how life happens. The geography and the history of it. How childhood friends become adult friends. How a bond made after we'd each had a particular nasty break up took us from too many tears and tequilas, right up the coast to Byron and all the way back down again to where we are now, with our food-growing husbands and our daughters and our creative adventures.

I have so much love.

So many stories to tell.

And so much respect. Even more so after watching this film come together.

I could go on and on. But I really want you to go and watch the film.

Go and watch the film.

I hope you love it.

xx

square by square

I think I just started another blanket.

I've had this crazy mad urge to knit my way through all the patterns in this knitting book and then sew them together at the end. Square by square.

I saw that book in three different bookshops on three different days and resisted. Do I really need another craft book or another craft project? But in the end the urge was too strong and last week, on the day my own book was released, I gave in and bought it for myself as a reward.

I'm glad I did.

I have such good intentions.

I started with seed stitch.

Then I moved on to blanket check.

And now I'm on to little knots.

Each square is made up of different variations of knit and purl. Yet each square is so different. The textures, the shapes, the patterns...

It's a lesson in knitting.
A scrap busting mission.
Another blanket.
A winter warmer.
A way to busy my hands while the butterflies dance in my stomach as I prepare for another interview, another photo shoot, another bit of book publicity.

Square by square.

By square by square.

I thought about putting it out there and doing a knit-a-square-along with you guys, but unless you have the same book I'm not quite sure how. Let me know if you are keen and have any ideas though. I do think it'd be fun.

In the meantime I'll be knitting a row whenever I get a chance.

If you like, you could listen to a podcast I recorded with Rob from Dymocks here.

I wonder how long it takes for people to get used to the sound of their own voices. I'm so not there yet. I cringe every time I hear myself played back.

I hope you are having such a great weekend you guys.
Do you like the sound of your own voice on play back?
Do you fancy a bit of a knit-a-long?

Big love...x

Happy Vantastic day!!

Happy Vantastic day!!

Our baby is finally here and we are thrilled!

Our hopes are that she goes out into the big wide world and is loved and enjoyed and inspires others to take adventures of their own.

What a journey it's been for us since we left home just over two years ago.

Talking about it so much over the past week has inspired us to start thinking about another trip. This time up the East coast of Australia. Maybe in a renovated Airstream, does anyone have one for us?? We'll keep you posted on that anyway.

In the meantime it is my great pleasure to announce the two giveaway winners.

Knitgirl66 - Your book looks so beautiful - I love how your family feels a part of the creation of the your book. Is there a sealed section with a centrefold of Farmer Bren? ;)

Cityhippyfarmgirl - Oh Kate I love, love, love your book and I've only just seen the photos you've shown us on your post. Are you beside yourself, squealing happy, clapping, jump up and down excited? Jeez, I would be...it looks awesome!!!

Please email me your postal details girls and we'll get you your books ASAP.

And Karen with the husband Marty, could you please email me too.

As the great blogging cliche goes, and it's totally true, I so wish I could give every single one of you a copy. I could never have done this without you.

As of today you can now buy my book in all good book shops around Australia, other countries soon, and online here.

If you'd like another chance at winning my book, head over to instagram and snap a pic of my book somewhere, anywhere (in a shop, in a tree, on your shelf, on your bed side table...) and tag it #vantastic. We'll be choosing a winner next Thursday. And if you already have a copy, why not win one for your bestie, your nana, your favourite shop keeper, your postie or your aunt. Yay!

Ok, I'm off now to make celebratory pancakes for dinner. It's a birthday after all.

Big love and kisses to you all and have a Vantastic day!
xxxxxx

Making apple cider

A few nights ago, we were lying in bed when my farmer boy asked me how I am managing to keep my feet on the ground with all the book buzz going on around me. It was an interesting question and I had to think about it for a bit before answering.

In the end I realised that the answer is simple. There is so much gritty, real life stuff going on here all the time that I have no choice. None at all.

In amongst the interviews and the photo shoots and the articles and the blog posts and the small film and the gorgeous comments from you guys, is my real life and it is unstyled and not a bit glamorous.

There are the girls and Bren and their adventures and issues, the ever changing farm stuff, the house work, the bills, the crazy bunnies, the mud, the desperate list of garden chores, the running low on toilet paper, the hungry fires, the stinky fridge, the breakfasts, lunches and dinners...the list is endless and urgent and ignorant of any book I may have written.

Having said all that, last night after seeing my book in the windows of two book-shops in Melbourne, it did take me longer than usual to calm down and get to sleep. What a crazy ride. What an incredible adventure. I am grateful for this experience beyond measure.

But I'd best be off now and clean up the crazy sawdust mess the bunnies have just made and do last night's dinner dishes...blah!

Lots of love to you guys and thank you, over and over....x

an invitation, a broken blog and a great big fat thank you...x

An invitation - please see above and please come.

An opportunity to win a copy of my book - please see my last post.

A broken blog - for some unknown reason, the last 158 comments on my last blog post didn't show up on the blog. I have no idea why. I have written to blogger and await their reply. I feel a bit sick.

In the meantime, please write your giveaway entries on this post here.

But not all is lost, I have all the emails that go with your missing entries secured safely in my inbox.

We'll draw the two winners from ALL the entries, on the blog and in my inbox, next Thursday 1st August.

And finally, thank you, thank you, thank you all for the kindest, most heart warming and generous comments on the giveaway post. You have made me laugh (farmer Bren centre-fold), you have made me cry (I'm seriously such a sook lately) and you have completely blown me away. I feel super lucky and thrilled to have you all in my life.

Love Kate xx

WIN a copy of my book #VANTASTIC

The count down has begun. My book will be in shops and available to buy from next Thursday. That's six days from now!!

I really can't believe it. I cannot imagine what it'll be like to walk into a bookshop and see it there on the shelf. I can't believe that after all this time, after the phone calls and contracts, after all the writing and photographing, after the dead lines and edits and word counts, that the time is almost here. Wow!

So I thought just as a sneak peek we could take you through some of our fave pages and then give you a chance to win a copy for yourself.

Here goes;

My book, Vantastic, is all about caravans and road trips. It is for dreamers and adventurers. It is filled with tips and hints and stories. It has recipes and craft projects and other how to's. It shares bits of my family's road trip story. And it is so much more.

I am super excited to watch it go out into the big wide world.

And I am crazy, super excited for you guys to hold it in your hands and read its pages too. I really, really hope you like it. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!!

So would you like to win a copy?

Just leave a message on this post and we'll draw TWO winners next Thursday the first of August. The very same day it goes into shops.

We're happy to post anywhere in the world AND we're all more than happy to all sign the winning copies. Some of us may have even been practicing our signatures.

OK, comment away, you've got to be in it to win it.

xx

Please note; the comments are no longer showing up on this post. Please leave your giveaway comments on the post above. Thanks heaps. x

the book quilt

If writing my book was all crocheted up into the squares of the book blanket, then these few weeks before the release time is definitely stitched into the book quilt.

Each email received and sent, each room tidied and cobweb brushed away, each photo taken, each interview question answered, each time and date diarised, each little piece of nervousness and over-emotion, each big piece of excitment buliding, each ohmygoodness ohmygoodness I wrote a book!

Each time I cut out a bunting flag to advertise the book, I also cut out a tiny 9mm by 9mm square of the same fabric.

As I sewed and pressed the flags, I sewed the little squares into long strips.

And as I stamped the bunting, I took breaks and sewed the strips into a quilt.

There was never any plan beyond the current stage. There still isn't.

Sometime over the next little while when I am meant to be doing something else, hopefully I'll sort through my stuff and find an old blanket. Then I'll pin the little sqaures to the blanket and to a bigger piece of fabric. And then sometime after that I'll stitch it all together. Together.

It's not all that big so I don't know what will become of it or where it will go.

But I do know that this time just before the release has surprised me with its mixture of jumbled up emotions. It feels big and sometimes overwhelming to see my name printed in red on the cover and the photos that I took and words that I wrote inside. It feels like an acomplishment and through the nerves I am also really proud.

I also feel really lucky to be a crafter. For the therapy of the cut and the stitch and for this quilt that holds the stories of this time. It's such a blessing really.

Happy weekend my friends.
I do hope yours is wonderful.

xx