new day, for you

A sunrise on a stormy morning is like a beautiful song. Both fill my heart with joy and bring tears of happiness to my eyes that something can be so simple yet so complex at the same time.

The changing colours, the intricate patterns in the clouds, the contrast of light and dark - all joining together to form a wondrous melody that makes me want to twirl around the garden like a little girl : )

Wishing you all a beautiful day x

simple living: thermos love

Recently I bought my first ever thermos. And now I'm wondering what took me so long, I'm in love!

The thought of a hot cup of tea on a cold winter's day while sitting at a market stall is quite appealing. But I'm discovering so many other uses for the humble thermos.

I do love a good cup of tea, particularly while sewing, but more often than not I forget I've made said cup of tea only to rediscover it an hour later when it is cold and disappointing. So, what to do.... this week I've been filling my thermos up in the morning and sitting it next to my sewing machine. Voila! Hot tea whenever I want it. I can fit 2 cups of tea in my thermos so it also saves on electricity as I don't have to boil the kettle twice : ) Plus it helps me make sure I'm drinking enough water - 1 thermos in the morning and another in the afternoon is almost enough water for the day. Win win win.

I have the green thermos for my tea, image courtesy of IKEA.

I've also been trying lately to eat more fresh cooked meals, which got me thinking about how I could achieve this when I need to take a packed lunch with me. After a bit of searching (thank you google) I discovered..... the thermos lunch!

It seems pretty easy - take your favourite spices and fry them for a few seconds. Add some lentils, some rice and some chopped up veggies, cover with boiling water and cook for 2-5 minutes. Pour into your thermos, seal tight, and leave closed for 4 hours to cook everything through. I'm going to give it a try this weekend, I'll let you know how it goes! For those wanting to try this recipe, apparently it's better to have a good quality thermos with a wide opening, I bought myself a 'Thermos' brand one last night from the shops.

Image courtesy of Chris Ferebee.

Do I now have an excuse to start a vintage thermos collection?

diary date: craft hatch this saturday

Image Credit: Craft Victoria

We're gearing up again for another market this weekend - you'll find us this Saturday in the City for Craft Hatch:

Craft Hatch

Saturday 17 March

11am - 4pm

1000 Pound Bend

361 Little Lonsdale Street

We hope to see you there!

studio snapshot on a sunny day

It's a lovely sunny day in Melbourne and I'm happily working away in the studio. Well, mostly happily, I'm having a bit of Monday-itis and knowing it's a public holiday is not helping matters. But anyhow, onwards and upwards - I feel lucky that I am working in the sunshine, with the blinds open, a view of the garden, and the ability to take frequent tea breaks (with my favourite red & white polka dot mug, as you can see in the below picture).

Today I am working on zip purses and pencil cases.

There is always lots of ironing to be done. So much so that I have ironed a hole in my ironing board cover which is growing larger every day, despite trying to iron on different parts I always seem to iron in the same spot. Perhaps it's time to buy a new one?

How many rabbits can you spy in this image?

Have a lovely week!

simple living: the joy of ice cream

Image Credit: Yellow Owl Workshop

Oops, a couple of days late with this one but there's still plenty of time this weekend to try out this simple living tip.

Here it is: Take 1 cup or waffle cone of ice cream, one shady grassy spot under a tree + some good company. Sit and enjoy : )

PS. How cute are these stamps by Yellow Owl Workshop? I just purchased this set myself and am looking forward to stamping icecream cones on all Rabbit & the Duck orders that get sent out : )

simple living: just breathe

Breathe Doormat by ggoetz on Etsy

It's been a hectic few days, I think I need one of these doormats to remind myself how important it is to stop and take a deep breath every now and then : )

Happy weekend x

missing in action

Oops! I just realised it's Monday which means that a few days ago it was Friday which means that I missed my weekly 'simple living' post. We'll be back on track this week I promise!

I've been away in Sydney the past few days showing the latest Rabbit & the Duck wares at Life Instyle (that's our hexagon shaped stand above!). Four days of meeting stockists (both new and old), chatting to lovely stand holders and looking longingly at the Telegram paper goods stand that was directly opposite me.

Of course, fate decided that the day before I left to go to Sydney I would catch a rather unpleasant cold, so most of the show was spent in a bit of a haze. I also manage to lose my voice each time I get sick, which may have been a blessing in disguise because I cannot remember some of the things I said under the influence of cold medicine hehe.

In good news, I'm back in the studio today and feeling much better. I'm listening to the sound of the rain falling outside and am about to cook myself something delicious for breakfast before tackling the pile of emails that awaits me. I have lots of lovely new stockists to introduce you to over the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

Happy Monday x

simple living: yurt inspiration

A beautiful story of a man and his yurt.

Happy Friday xo

simple living: the art of doing nothing

Phew! It's Friday! Another busy week winds to an end. Normally the weekend is time to relax, but somehow or another I have ended up with an enormous list of things to do. And my list keeps getting longer - within the next 6 weeks I will go to Sydney, Ballarat and Adelaide for Rabbit & the Duck events! I'm already in 'will I get everything done - what do I actually need to get done - have I already forgotten to do something important (like order fabric so I can make things to sell hehe). Add to that a few social events and some other commitments and I'm wondering if my next day off will be in April sometime.

Amongst all the busy-ness I sometimes forget to remind myself that it's ok (and necessary!) to have time where I do nothing. To just sit still and allow the mind and the body to slow down. This is easier said than done for me - usually my mind is going a million miles an hour and taking 5 or 10 minutes time out is just long enough for the 'I should be doing something productive' thoughts to creep in. But they say practice makes perfect, so I'm going to give doing nothing a try every day and see what happens.

To read more on the art of doing nothing, click over here.

PS. I love doing nothing while I'm in the middle of the bush, or at the beach, or watching a beautiful sunrise. How about you? How do you practice doing nothing?

simple living: shop local

There's a lot of talk in the news right now about the ongoing price war between the two big supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths. First it was milk, and now they've gone to battle over fresh fruit and veggies, slashing many prices below cost in an effort to win a greater share of the fresh food market.

I won't go into too much detail here about the price war - for more information there is a good news article in today's newspaper that covers the topic. What I do want to talk about is why I am trying to move away from shopping in supermarkets, and some ideas that I am going to implement to help me achieve this.

So, why avoid the supermarket? For me, it is a combination of factors, such as a desire to support local businesses and growers, a desire to eat less processed and more fresh food, and wanting to cut down on the amount of packaging that comes with my food.

Over the past year or so I've been slowly cutting down on the amount of things I buy from the supermarket. Some things were easy - I am lucky to have a great local green grocer who also sells fresh bread, nice cheese, and many other tasty treats. But I still find myself popping in to the supermarket on a regular basis, and I feel it's time to get organised to break this habit.

First up, I'm going to write a list of all the things I currently buy from the supermarket. I'll divide my list into essentials and non-essentials. Essentials might include laundry detergent. Non-essentials might include snack foods. For all the essentials on my list, I am then going to research alternatives. Can I buy the product at the local health food or organic store? Can I make it myself? Can I buy it in bulk to save on packaging? Armed with this information I'm going to start some new routines, like doing one big shop each month for all my essentials, so that the only things I need to buy in between are perishables like milk, fruit and veggies.

I'd love to hear your ideas and actions for being more conscious about where you spend your grocery dollars : )

Happy weekend x

simple living: the great outdoors

There's nothing like some time away from the noise and busy-ness of the city to remind you how good it feels to keep things simple.

Some lovely moments from my mid-week camping adventure:

• Falling asleep to the sound of the rushing creek right next to our campground.
• Waiting for the billy to boil for that first cup of tea for the day.
• Sitting around the campfire at night telling jokes and stories and sharing random observations.
• Staring up at an endless sky filled with twinkling stars.
• Swaying back and forth in the hammock we strung between two trees, with a good book to keep me company.
• Taking the longest time to get dinner ready & enjoying each moment of the process - building and lighting the campfire, chopping up the veggies, cooking on the fire, and then sharing the meal together.

Another good thing about camping trips is that they make me appreciate those things I have at home that often get taken for granted, such as a hot shower and comfy bed. Although it was hard to leave the bush today, I must say I am looking forward to curling up under my doona soon : )

Happy weekend xx

a camping adventure

{Image from Junkaholique}

It's Monday morning and instead of getting to work on the sewing machine I'm packing up the car to go away camping for a few days. Yay!

I am in love with this tent which belongs to Artemis & Nao of Rust Jewellery and Junkaholique blog fame. Alas the tent I'll be staying in is a stock standard nylon zip up type, but to cosy it up I have packed some pretty vintage bed linen.

See you in a few days!

simple living: on a budget

How cute is this budget tin from the 1950's -1960's?

I'm excited today as I have just opened a new savings account that I've nicknamed 'Yurt!' - I've been talking of living in my own yurt (or other sustainable dwelling) for a few years now, so I thought it was time to start putting my money where my mouth is, so to speak. Perhaps one day I will live in my dream yurt, perhaps not. But I am going to work it into my budget to put some money aside each month, so when the opportunity comes, I am ready : )

I used to be wary of the 'b' word - budget. When I had a fortnightly wage, I would just keep spending until the money ran out. Occasionally I would save something. More likely, at the end of the month I would also end up with a credit card bill to pay. Where was all my money going?

When I started working for myself, having a budget became essential. I had to know how much money I needed each month to cover the basic costs of living such as rent, bills, and groceries. I started keeping records of everything I was spending, and used this information to formulate a realistic budget. My budget is done on a monthly basis, and is divided into categories such as groceries, entertainment, and transport. I even have an Excel spreadsheet that calculates how much money I have left each month. I'm not saying you need to go this far, but it's certainly helped keep me on track.

One of the things I've found most useful is to set up several savings accounts for some of the bigger things I need to budget for. Each month I contribute to a 'Bills' account, which is there when I need to pay those big bills such as car insurance. I also have accounts for my business, such as 'Tax' (not my favourite one!) and other accounts for personal things such as 'Travel'. And now I have my 'Yurt!' account. These are all high interest earning savings accounts so the bank contributes to them every now and then also : )

Now I just need to start researching to find out how much a yurt actually costs.... : )

lucky dips are back!

Lucky dips are back!

This time around, receive $40 retail value of Rabbit & the Duck goodies for only $15, with free shipping to Australian addresses.

Hooray!

monday inspiration: pretty coasters

Ah, Monday always comes too fast! I spent the weekend clearing out my old stuff from the house, and um, bringing in some new stuff. Not a lot of new stuff, mainly a rug for the living room and also a cute little wooden dining table so guests don't have to eat on the sofa or in my studio surrounded by sewing mess.

The new dining table is painted white, and I got to thinking that it might need some coasters to brighten it up. It's hard to choose but these are definitely on my short list:

From top to bottom:

1. Crochet Coasters - Little Houses by Monika Design

2. Felted Wool Coasters - Branch & Berry by shmugusta

3. Red Apple Coasters by Monika Design

4. Crochet Coasters - Colourful by eljuks

All these cute things are not exactly helping with my downsizing philosophy! At least they are handmade, right?

simple living: inspiration

Most people dream of having more space, myself included. But how much space do we need? And is it more about being efficient with the space that we have, rather than having more of it?

Last night I watched this video and was so inspired. I was dreaming of patchwork quilts made from vintage fabrics to put on my bed in the loft. Of pretty flowerpots on the front porch. Currently, most of my income pays for rent and all the bills involved in living in a house. How nice it would be to not have to worry about those things.

While I'm not ready to downsize to a tiny home just yet I am ready to start clearing out the things that I no longer need. This week I've been going through each cupboard and making piles of things to sell and things to giveaway to the local thrift shop. I now have a few empty cupboards in the house and I hope to keep it that way.

To keep me inspired, I've been collecting more images of beautiful yurts. If I was going to move to a tiny house it would definitely be a yurt : ) I love this one with it's external bath house.

{Images courtesy of Oasis Design}

For more information on tiny houses and downsizing visit here and here.

getting the ball rolling

{Simple Porcelain Brooch, from Mrs Peterson Pottery on Blue Caravan}

After a lovely holiday break, I'm back in the studio and ready to get started on my projects for the new year. I'm so excited for the year ahead - my year of simple living. When I first started Rabbit & the Duck in 2008 it was mostly a hobby that I thought I could earn a small income from. Since that time, I've watched the business grow and change and become an integral part of my life. Rabbit & the Duck is not just a way to earn money, it's become an all-encompassing way of life. What do I mean by that?

Without my lovely customers, I would not be able to do what I love (make stuff!). When I started selling at markets I met so many other great designer/makers also having a go at earning a living from their craft. From then on I decided to stay away from the shopping malls and support independent designers as much as I could. For me, it's important to know where my money is being spent. This philosophy has now started to spill over to other areas of my life - my fruit and veggies are bought from the local green grocer or farmers market rather than the big chain supermarkets. My skincare is from local producers who use organic ingredients and are truly passionate about what they do.

Switching to a home-based work environment has also seen many changes in my life. I eat healthier as I have the time and the opportunity to cook myself a yummy lunch. I walk more - to the post office in the mornings, or to the local shops in the afternoon to pick up ingredients for dinner.

My home is very important to me as I spend so much time here - I've been looking around each room recently and can see many ways that I could simplify things while still allowing for creativity and my own personal touch. Everything is so intertwined - home / work / self - it makes me smile when I take a step back and see how all the areas of my life seem to fit so nicely together.

So, where is all this rambling going? In 2012, I would love to dedicate more time to sharing my ideas, thoughts and inspirations with you. It is my goal to practice living a more simple life, while also having fun and continuing to be creative. Every Friday (just in time for the weekend so you can put things into action!) I will share an idea or a resource on simple living. I'm excited to get started!

There will also be other regular features and new things on the blog, so stay tuned!

Shannon x

2012. Simple.

Hello 2012!

Christmas has come and gone, and I am now in the midst of one of my favourite times of year - long days, warm weather, and not needing to be anywhere or to do anything in particular.

I have been wondering if it's possible to carry this feeling with me throughout the year. The feeling of taking things at their own pace. Not having 100 things on my to do list each day. Making time to do the things I love to do - walks down to the beach, tending to my garden, spending hours in the kitchen preparing and cooking a meal, catching up with friends, and generally just feeling happy and relaxed.

And I've decided that yes, it is possible - with a little practice, and perhaps a few changes to the way things are done. The key (I believe) is keeping it simple - both within and without. Keeping a calm mind - being in the moment - stopping negative thoughts in their tracks. Simplifying my life - clearing out the clutter - getting some new routines in place.

I was organising my wardrobe the other day (that's it above) and I realised that I have a LOT of dresses in there. Sure I love them all, but in honesty I have probably only worn half of them. It got me thinking about all the other stuff I have, and how necessary it is. So first on the agenda will be a big clear out. I tend to clear things out on a regular basis, but I'm pretty enthused to see just how much I can let go of this time : )

I also found this great link to other ways that you can simplify your life - the Simple Living Manifesto - I will be tackling a few things from the list once the great clear out is complete.

Happy new year!

an early Christmas present!

Here at Rabbit & the Duck we love presents.

We also love surprises, a good bargain, and all our lovely customers : )

So, we decided today that we will start our Boxing Day sale a little early! It's time to clear out the studio to make space for new fabrics that are on the way, so for the next 2 weeks grab yourself something cute at 40% off the regular price. Both our Made It Shop and Etsy Shop are on sale. Hooray! If you are shopping at our Etsy store, please use the coupon code 'SUMMER11' for the discount to be applied.

And as an extra treat, if you spend over $50 (after discounts & before postage) I'll pop a little surprise into your parcel : )

Please note, all orders will be posted off promptly, but I cannot guarantee delivery before Christmas.

Wishing you all a lovely festive season x

diary date: last market before christmas!

Only 11 more sleeps until Christmas! And only 2 more sleeps until our last market of the Christmas season....

You'll find us this Friday and Saturday at the Sisters' Market:

Brunswick Town Hall

233 Sydney Road

Brunswick

Friday: 5pm - 9pm

Saturday: 10am - 4pm

The weather is forecast to be warm and sunny - I can't think of a better or more relaxed way to get my final Christmas shopping done : )