Instagram love

Long time no blog! I have been so busy lately with markets and custom orders galore that my poor little blog has not been shown any love!

The lead up to Christmas is always busy but the orders seem to be coming in earlier this year. There have also been lots of exciting new developments with Ruby Two Shoes, including that  my products are now stocked  in two stores on Brisbane's Northside - Jolie at Brighton and the Billycart Store at Sandgate. So if you can't make it to market to see my goodies you can pop by these gorgeous stores anytime.

Hubby is away for a few nights so I swapped my work days this week so that I could have a day off for myself today and catch up on a few things while the kids were at school and daycare. As usual, I didn't get nearly as much as I planned done but I did manage to create this on my bedroom wall:

I have had these instagram photos printed and sitting on my bedside table for ages and then a few weeks ago I saw this idea on the Seven Cherub's blog and knew I had to create it in my own home. I am so happy with how it turned out. Little miss Ruby Two Shoes loves it too - she sat in my room for about half an hour lying on the floor tonight gazing at the photos!

Have you got any other ideas for how to creatively display instagram photos? I would love to hear your ideas as I have hundreds of other photos I need to display!

Em x

Markets, Markets, Markets

Well it's the last day of winter, which means it's the end of my 'market hiatus'. I purposely slowed down Ruby Two Shoes during winter to spend more time with my family, plan birthday parties and get ready for the busy months ahead.

One of the things I love most about having my own little business is attending markets as a stallholder. I have always loved shopping at handmade markets and since I was a little girl I dreamed that one day I would sell my own products at markets. Although market day, and the days leading up to that day are usually a little bit crazy, I love to meet customers, catch up with all the other stall holders and of course do a bit of shopping too!

You can see me at three markets in September:

• Mummy Tree Markets - Everton Park Hotel on Saturday 8 September (9am - 1pm)
• Billycart Markets - Sandgate on Saturday 15 September (3pm - 7pm)
• Mummy Tree Markets - Morningside on Sunday 30 September (9am - 1pm)

I am busy making summer t-shirts, crayon and pencil rolls, hair accessories, garlands and lots of other goodies in preparation for the busy weeks ahead.

I hope some of you can come along and say hello x Em x

We survived!

We survived! Only one more sleep until Mr Ruby Two Shoes gets home - less than eight hours to be precise. When I wake up, if he gets through customs with no hassles, he will be home! Can you tell that I am just a little bit excited?

I must admit that when I found out he would be away overseas for almost two weeks straight I was, to say the least, a little apprehensive. He goes away a bit for work, but never for this long, and never overseas. The time he was away also coincided with my lovely sister-in-law (who is my go-to person for help with the kids) also being overseas with her family.

But to my surprise, I have actually loved spending the last two weeks with our three kids on my own. Don't get me wrong, the kids and I missed my hubby like crazy, but being able to spend such a period of time with them on my own has allowed me to 'enjoy' them more, has shown me what good kids they really are and has also given us all a greater appreciation of my husband and all that he does for us.

Just like other mothers, my life is constantly busy, and I always seem to be juggling lots of different things at once. However, with my husband being away, I made a conscious effort to just focus on the kids and forget everything else for a while. So Ruby Two Shoes orders were closed and I took time off work. I let my son have a few days off school and I went out of my way to do fun things with the kids. We went to more parks, watched more DVDs, played more games, read more stories, played more in the backyard together and caught up with friends more frequently.

And guess what....we had so much fun and, dare I say it, the kids have been better behaved than usual. With Daddy away, my two older children have shown greater responsibility, have been eager to help and have been showering me with cuddles, kisses and constant professions of love. Mr Two took to Daddy's absence a little harder - he is a Daddy's boy and didn't really understand why Daddy wasn't here. There were a few days of tantrums and violence from him (but he is typically an over-achieving terrible two so this was expected!). However, with a bit of extra TLC from me and his brother and sister, he has been much easier to live with the last few days.

So tomorrow my life will be back to normal, back to work, Ruby Two Shoes will be back open for orders, I can begin to prepare for the upcoming Mummy Tree and Billycart Markets, and I will have to share that block of chocolate I have been devouring each night with my husband. Importantly however, if the last two weeks has taught me anything, I will also make an effort to spend more time with the kids and my husband just doing what makes them happy - to keep us all happy x Em

What's with the name?

My business name creates some confusion sometimes...a lot of people think I make shoes. The lady who works at my local post office is still convinced I am a shoe manufacturer - even though I have told her numerous times that I don't make shoes, every time I post of a Ruby Two Shoes parcel she comments 'oh you have been busy making shoes again', or something to that effect!.

My business name actually has nothing to do with shoes. It came from the nickname we called this little cherub when she was a baby.

I think we nicknamed her Ruby Two Shoes because it sounded like 'Ruby Tuesday'. She has a lot of other nicknames now and she doesn't let us call her Ruby Two Shoes anymore, although she is quite chuffed to see her name plastered everywhere on my market stall!

I named the business after her as she was the original inspiration (and model) for my designs. She is a bright, cheeky, happy and loving little thing. She loves to be outdoors and is always busy. She is also not really a girly girl - much preferring to wear shorts and shirts than frilly dresses and skirts (although this is slowly changing - much to my delight!).This is how my range of girls shirts began - I figured if she insisted on only wearing t-shirts and shorts, then they may as well be pretty t-shirts and shorts! A lot of my shirt designs have stemmed from her ideas - my deer, bunny, tree, teapot, elephant and owl designs have all been created upon her request.

I like to think all of the products I create evoke the spirit of my little girl - sweet, fun, colourful, playful, pretty and practical - the definition of my little Ruby Two Shoes and my business. Em x

How it all began

For as long as I can remember I have been creating. As a little girl, I remember always 'making' something. I would love to paint, draw, collage and sew. Name a craft and I have tried it. But most of all, I would love to make things for other people. Looking back, I am sure my aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins got sick of receiving my 'abstract' paintings, beaded necklaces, cross-stitched bookmarks and beginning attempts at sewing shorts and jump suits!

I come from a crafty family - both of my grandmothers loved to create - I still have samples of their sewing, knitting and crocheting in my own home. Although I never really knew them (one passed away before I was born and the other - Ruby - died on my third birthday), I like to think that my love of creating came from them. It was actually my step-grandmother that first taught me how to sew. I loved to visit her in my school holidays to sew up little creations for myself, my friends and cousins. I studied art, home economics, and fashion at school and at one stage thought I would pursue these fields in tertiary studies. However, I chose to study business and public relations instead.

I continued to create into my adult years though and started selling handmade jewelry for a while. I stopped this when my children were born but I still had an urge to make! I loved decorating my children's rooms as they came along and started to make curtains, bunting, garlands, mobiles, pyjama bags, wall art, softies and cushions to adorn their rooms. I also began to make unique outfits and accessories at their request - they and I get great joy choosing fabric together and turning it into something they can wear! I also made things for friend's children as gifts and then friends began to ask me to make them things by request. A lot of friends suggested I should start my own business and sell online and at markets but I was unsure. I have always loved attending handmade markets and secretly aspired to one day sell at markets but I didn't think people would actually want to buy things from me! Then in 2010, and at the encouragement of a friend who was having a stall at a local school market, I decided to take the plunge and took Ruby Two Shoes to market! To my surprise, I actually sold quite a lot of my creations and so my business was born.

Fast forward two years and here I am - running my own handmade business, selling my creations to people who love them and connecting with other like-minded handmade business owners both online and at markets, all while working at my own pace and fitting my 'creating' time around the needs of my own family. My life is crazy busy at times but I really am living my dream and love every minute x Em

Welcome

Welcome to the Ruby Two Shoes blog!

I have been meaning to start a blog for some time, but leading the busy life that I do, it has always stayed on the bottom of my to do list. However, after talking to the girls I work with today about my business, web design and a few other things, I thought why don't I just give it a go...it can't be that hard surely!

I won't promise that my updates will always be regular but I do hope that it can become a place to share a little more information about myself, my business, and my slightly crazy life that involves being a Mummy to three gorgeous kids (aged 5, 4 and 2), being a wife to a gorgeous husband of almost ten years (who is equally as busy as me with his job), working two days a week in marketing and communications for the Queensland Government (yes I am one of the lucky ones who still has a job!), and of course managing my little business, Ruby Two Shoes - a hobby which has turned into a successful little venture thanks to all of my beautiful customers who have found me through the Mummy Tree Markets, Billycart Markets and Facebook.

If you have any questions you would like to ask please feel free to comment. I love to hear from my customers :-) I look forward to sharing a little more about me and why I started my business soon x Em