Shop Swap & Blog Part 1

The first of my partners packages arrived on Monday all the way from Australia! WOOHOO!! Before I show you the amazing items Rachelle sent me, here is more about Rachelle and her amazing shop.

About Rachelle:
I am married with two children, Mia (14) and Henry (8), we live in Ocean Shores at the moment, but we are moving back to Sydney in about 3 weeks.

Craft wise I have done many things, all sewing stuff. I started out making aprons, went on to cushions, the blankets and now I am on to dolls. Over the past year I have realized that i need to do my craft on a project type basis, so I do one thing for a few months and then move on. That way I don't get bored. I think I just want to try so many things!

Business Plan:
At the moment I am in the beginning stages of Project Dolls. I have made my own pattern and plan to do a small series of six dolls each from a different decade so that should be heaps of fun. I can't wait to design the outfits for them! I have two future projects in mind. Project Digital Prints and Project Recipe Book. I don't know how all this fits in to making a living but that is not really a priority for me. My hubby and I also have another business, byronbay.com and that keeps food on the table, thank goodness!

Blog:
And then there is blogging. I love blogging, it's such a wonderful thing don't you think, that we can all share so much and express ourselves. I think it can be so empowering. I have "met" some wonderful women through blogging.

Motivation:
Finally, my motivation for doing any of this is firstly to show my children that you can be self-supporting, you can follow your dream and be independent. Secondly is to raise money for other women and children in the world who don't have the opportunity to live this way. I have been able to raise about $500 in the past 6 months or so. With the money I have been able to sponsor a woman, Xhemile from Kosovo, through the Women for Women Sponsorship Program and I am currently having a give away/donation type thing on my blog to raise money to send children in Sudan to school. So all is ticking along nicely!

Favorite Online Shop:
One of them anyway! I just got two great prints from Berkley Illustrations on Etsy.

Having said all this we are actually taking a 5 week holiday to visit family in the US in December so I will be taking a long break from everything! W will keep blogging to stay in touch but won't have a chance to make anything until next year. Plenty of time to design those outfits!

Places to Find Rachelle!
Online Shop: http://miahenry.etsy.com
Blog: http://miahenry.typepad.com


Now for the Package I received from Rachelle! It felt like Christmas!!
First - it came in a large white envelope, and this is what I pulled out. (love the raffia ribbon - will have to remember that!)


Directly under the ribbon was a plastic envelope with two blank cards and two blank tags. Aren't they wonderful? It's going to be hard to use them :). There was also a card with a lovely Thank-you Note.


Wrapped in the pink tissue paper was this wonderful apron! Red is one of my favorite colors! Now I have no excuse to be full of flour after making pies. LOL


In the blue tissue paper was this wonderful pillow! It's the perfect size for using while I'm reclining on the couch watching TV!! Can you say "Nap Time"! :)


Thank-you so much to Rachelle for the amazing swap! It was a lot of fun learning about you and your shop. Love that you have named your shop after your children! And a huge thank-you to Ladi at Structured Chaos for putting on the Shop Swap & Blog! She did an amazing job of coordinating everyone and I would strongly recommend that everyone join the next one if they can!