Autumn in Australia

Hello hello peeps :: guess i haven't been here for a while! 

Well life has been 'all systems go' over the past few months...in early April, we were partaking in the Make It show in Edmonton, which was the first big time show for Sparky Jones..triple ekkkkks. Everything went well - i was a lil nervous but ending up meeting lots of amazing crafty folk with the best part being...I learned so so so much (might get into that another day!) about the tradeshow side of things. 

Then due to perfect timing + the Mr working in Alberta - he was able to met up with us toward the end of our stay, so we decided to a few extra days and actually have the Easter season with family.

Late April was all about Businessing Tax time, which i am very happy to report that this year.... is the first time i have actually done my taxes on time - YIpPY! A huge thanks to my Mr who is a lover of spreadsheets and my new accountant who is a complete number crunching rockstar in a suit..i do love her ever so muchly! 

In between all this madness, there were a couple of special babies about to be born, so it was the perfect time to tweak a couple of design features on our Mama Jones diaper bag to make her even bigger + better - zip closure included ::  mission accomplished! (i'll be showing her off very soon, so keep popping to catch a sneak peek of whats new to the Sparky Jones range)

Then the 'big one' - early May brought our 2nd huge adventure....solo parenting to Australia (the Edmonton trip was just a test drive) - the 15 hour flight with a 18 month old went really well, luckily we left in the middle of the night, so lil Bea slept most of the way - phewwwwwww! I had so many plans for my trip, i was going to do this + that, visit different places, catch up with old + dear friends....and well none of that really happened. Sometimes in life you just need to disconnect + do absolutely nothing. I didn't really go near the computer as i wanted to take advantage of the present moment, i went for walks in the autumn air, spent time with my family, ate lots of chocolate and watched awesome Australian TV (we don't have a TV so this was a complete luxury). Our 2 1/2 weeks flew by + just like that, we seemed to be back on the plane headed for home. Was sad to say goodbye to my family, but the lil person + i were very excited to see one handsome Mr waiting for us at the Vancouver Airport.  Home again home again hippity hop, we are getting used to different time zones yet loving all the Springtime goodness.  I'm slowly picking up the pace + will be showing off new goodies as soon as possible...see you soon!

Beatrix Betsy :: 17 months

Well i was going to wait till she was 18 months...but i just think this snapshot is perfectly Bea! Baby blue eyes, tongue poking out + no hair! What she does have, is so light(in colour) that you can't really see it! So glad warmer weather is on the way too, as now she can show off her Spring wardrobe, instead of all those cute outfits hiding under her winter coat + pants.  

She has changed so so so much over the last few months, walking, lots of teeth (some big molars have been showing up of late) + talking...so much talking, that i'm starting to feel very nervous! Everyday a few more words pop out, she'll say words in songs or point something out. I kinda think WOW you really have been listening to my constant chatter for the last 17 months :: giggle! She's a lot of fun these days, not that she wasn't before but i found the 12 -15 month mark...was a bit messy. Crying, tantrums + all over the shop short naps, and i just couldn't understand what she wanting. But we made it through, now i realize she was probably frustrated, bit sore from all the teeth coming at once + throw in some cooties here and there.

Anyways all is good + busy in our lil house, + daytime naps are back on schedule...phhheeeewwwww!  Lucky for moi, as we are about 3 weeks away from the Make It show in Edmonton!  I've been working like a squirrel to get lots of special lil hats made for the occasion!

Meet SummerSnowflake...

Oh this lil beauty had been in my ideas notebook for a while + i had stumbled on the most topnotch trousers + lining to do the job! 

An enjoyable read :: Hilary was quite the particular woman. She always looked well maintained, hair neat, ironed outfits + owned her very own sailboat. A pair of her beautiful quality white trousers were snipped + stitched in a unique way, to show their past...note :: her ironed creases may still be seen!! This light coloured number aptly named 'Summer Snowflake' is just that, a perfect character for summery days on the beach or on a cool winters day wearing your cozy grey woollen sweater. The interior is the most exquisite french vintage floral cotton, whilst the Paloma grey unique flap + big white button on the outter, matches the underside of the brim! So fancy, gorgeous + particular...just like Hilary!

There is one lil special 'SummerSnowflake' in the shoppe

The new Hardware.

Well i'm all about the longevity of goodies, so i thought i'd change up the hardware i use. I'm now using strong as an Ox metal zippers in snow white...so sturdy + good-looking don't you think! These lil Minty Pinks Hello Jones clutches will be in the shoppe tomorrow, just finishing them up today!

The new Sparky Jones website is up!

The new Sparky Jones website is up + this my friends is supa duper - ultra - completely out of this world exciting....because i built it myself!!!
Yes thats right the girl who is totally computer illiterate (funny how i always have to spellcheck that word...as wouldn't that be the most embarrassing thing to spell incorrectly! yikes!) managed to build a classy lil website!. Now i've tried a few different website building sites out there, Wordpress got me frazzled in under 3 mins(not a good start), Weebly i tried for a while, but it just wasn't totally what i was going for...and then luckily through my blog hopping, i read that Yvonne over at Yvestown had mentioned SquareSpace! As soon as i checked them out...i knew it was the right place for moi!

They have so many beautiful templates to choose from, but Montauk was the one for me! I loved that most of their designs are picture based (perfect for scrumptious snapshots),  divine simple + effective layouts and what i really appreciate about SquareSpace is they have peeps to assist you 24/7! They were so so so helpful + i would totally recommend these guys to anyone building a website! NB:: i did have to get a lil computer geekery help with the domain name transfer...that stuff is way over my head! Anyways i still have a touch of tinkering to do here + there, as you do...but if you have any feedback about the new website...i'd love to hear it!

Sparky Jones is getting techno

Yes Ma'am,

I have finally given in to getting techno-fied!  This lil baby is my first cell phone in....well 14 years!  When i left Australia in the year 2000, i left behind my family, friends + being attached to a cell phone, yes i did have a couple of regrets, but definitely not about the phone.  It's always been pretty freeing i found to not be 'on' 24/7....and to live in the moment, not to be looking constantly down at a phone.  I 've always been fond of those retro gadgets called a landline +  would  be that old biddy saying 'i just don't get whats wrong with an answering machine?'

Well i have caved + i think i'm going to like it! (i think thats because i have an addictive personality type..ie coffee, fabric, paper goods, coffee fabric, fabric :: giggle!)

Actually i've totally been loving using my fancy camera over the past year, but... it is quite time consuming to take the perfect shot, download, resize, tweak a touch, upload + then post to the various social media outlets.  So i figure, if i can cut down on, some time here + there....i will hopefully have more time for creating - Hooray!!

So check out SparkySnippets on Instagram

and just because i'm getting so technologically advanced...i've actually started to use my twitter account

i'll still be flickr'ing here + there too, as i do love pretty pictures (although i have been slack in that department).   But as ' to get better at that Social Media stuff' was on my 2014 Sparky List of things to accomplish, i figure we are doing pretty good + still have another 9 months of the year to iron out all the kinks!

Happy Mondaying everybodies!

Made it to MAKE IT!

Make It Show in Edmonton, Alberta

Well the last 24 hours i think has been the craziest of my life (minus that whole childbirth thingy!) I'm pretty sure it all started... with my first official wholesale order, then moved on to being a nominee  at the 1st Annual Penticton & District Arts Awards which all went down last night (fun night, lots of deserving creative peeps + cute community oomph)...and finished with the bestest email, which started a lil something like this ::

This is just a friendly 'lil email with some exciting news for ya. Would you like to hear it? Good.

Sooooo about that Make It shows you applied for...you still want to come right? Great.

Cause…


…YOU ARE IN!

(i'm not joking, i just did a copy + paste...how fantabulous is that for an acceptance letter!)

There has been a lot of screaming + happy dancing going on in this place + not much sleep. I feel like a (tired) kid in a candy shop.  Honestly ever since i put my 2014 Sparky List out there for the world to see, good things have been happening, evolving + growing organically....which i think is how this businessing life is supposed to go.

Check back on Monday too...i've been busily working on some Top Secret shenanigans behind the scenes here, can't wait to tell you about it!