New design - Mariella

When I discovered this retro orange and brown fabric the possibilities it presented seemed endless. Today it evolved into 'Mariella' who will happily skip along collecting flowers wherever you decide to take her.

Brighten up a bag

Freshly grown on lyssymay.com felt brooches featuring handmade resin buttons + little miss bags in organic denim that can be teamed with each design.

Lessons learnt

Hello from Adelaide! I have been here a few days with great ideas about visiting fantastic stores and seeing the beautiful sights but I have been totally out of action suffering from a bad cold and flu so have only ventured to do one lap of the mall and then the rest of the time has been spent suffering in my hotel room.

I am trying not to view it as a wasted trip but rather an opportunity to spend a bit of quality time doing some big picture thinking and I can thoroughly recommend Lessons of a Lipstick Queen by Poppy King. As a young female hoping to start her own business the rise and rise of Poppy King in the 1990s was truly inspirational to me and her story has continued to be one as rich as the beautiful matte lipstick shades that revolutionised make up when she launched her brand.

Her book is great in that it covers both business basics and then applies it to the lessons learnt through her own story. If you are starting out on a journey in your own business or just want to check in with how things are doing in a business you've had for a while I can recommend this as an easy to read business book.

Just a touch of sparkle

This a sample clutch design which was promised to a fabric store way back at the Melb Stitches and Craft Show and it was finally made today. It is always fun to experiment with different looks and I used to have an aversion to evening designs but am finding them a lot more fun these days. The best bit was discovering this handmade toggle style button by Heather Meyer which worked beautifully to add a sparkle that worked well with the tones in the silk.

There's a new groove in the neighbourhood

The first new 'Off to Brunch' designs have just been loaded onto the website (well just 3 but one must start somewhere). I am excited about Cafe Groove (seen here on location as modelled by Minnie May who will one day be the proud owner of a skirt or pants!). This fabric was a real find - original 1970's cafe curtains in a fantastic pattern. The top of the curtains was just begging to be incorporated into the final design so I have used them as a feature external pocket. Definitely a limited edition but will be an inspiration for similar designs happening very soon.

Memory Lane

I am often asked about my previous designs so I have recently set up a flickr gallery on the lyssy may website. These can be used for inspiration for made to order designs or if I have enough fabric I may be able to reproduce a favourite! Unfortunately I no longer have enough of the vintage fabric featured in 'Country Estate' (above) which was a special piece I collected in England which still makes me smile when I remember discovering it.

Kreativ Blogger

The lovely Thea has passed a Kreativ Blogger award to me - how nice is that!? The hardest task though is to narrow down just 7 things I love so here are some that I thought I'd share that are beyond my obvious love of craft and handbags...

Family and Friends...
I am a very lucky girl to have such support around me - I wouldn't be who I am without my amazing Mum and Dad who have been behind me in my crazy plans to run a handbag business when I could be quite sensibly working my way up some corporate ladder somewhere! They were there when I was setting up market stalls at 5 am in the freezing cold when I started out 15 years ago and will still do anything for me today.

Plus of course this little business called Lyssy May would not function without the encouragement and interest of my friends - from those who've been there since day dot to those who have been customers or suppliers and are now very special friends. Above is one of my favourite pics from the best ever day at Lyssy May - the Think Pink party.


Fishing...

Here I am with a massive catch of the day. Be assured that all I catch is to eat and anything else is returned to the ocean to fight another day!

Travel...

My travel bug has been kept in a cage for way too long - hopefully a nice little jaunt will be happening in the foreseable future. Above is a snap taken in a craft and trim store in Seville...heaven.

Mangos...

The smell that summer has arrived - fresh or in my mum's mango cream pie is best. All year round though I can get my fix through Weis bars (originating in my home town of Toowoomba).

Music...I love lots of music but I really love good old rock and especially Australian made music. Here is Bernard from Powderfinger at the Arena in Brisbane a few years back. My first love is INXS but don't get me started or this will soon become a Michael Hutchence tribute blog!

Afternoon tea ...

...or morning tea, or anything that involves tea and a yummy cake or biscuit. The lovely Shannon gave me the Frankie afternoon tea book for Christmas - it brings back the home ec student in me.

Laughing

My most favourite thing to share with people is a good laugh (and I have been told mine is rather distinctive!). When its not coming from a joke shared I love throwing on some Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, 30 Rock, The Royale Family etc but the funniest person I know hands down is my brother - he is a wasted talent in the accountancy scene.

Well onto 7 creative types who I'd like to nominate to share their loves who have great blogs (apologies if this has already been bestowed or if you are not into this type of thing!)...

Bits of Toffee
Peg and Kate
My Girl
Candice Herne
Ruby 2 Go Go
Silke Savran
Spin Spin Handmade

Back to regular tuning in my next post! x

map magazine

Map magazine is out today - I love this cover for May. It is such a great mag and I am glad that I can keep up to date online (plus of course I still love to advertise in it!). I am yet to find anything similar in Melbourne so would love it if any locals to let me know if there is any great independant street press around.

More bales of wool...

2 new 'bale bags' have just been added to the 12 bags full collection for winter. This chunky knit on denim adorned with a kilt pin I think is my favourite to date - particulary as it has a sweet lining of some retro seersucker recently op-shopped in Fitzroy!

More sisters of sushi

Due to popular demand 2 new chopstick designs featuring Japanese fabrics have been added to the Sushi Sister range!...

Aria

Sonata

Studio & Sale (two great words together)

Yesterday I mozied along to the designer studio sale at the Nicholas Building in Swanston street and snapped up a few little pieces for crafting, had a drool at the Peta Pledger garments (am especially loving the 'Sara' nautical shirt, above) and also had the opportunity to meet the lovely Anna of 'Anna Laura' fame. Her fabulous brooches are so individual and quirky that it took me quite a while until I settled on Rita, below.

I also love the range of quirky cards (including brilliant Mother's Day ones) that Anna designs with her partner under the label 'Able and Game' . I was particularly taken with the Little Shoes range like below. So taken in fact I just had to have a splurge on one of her screen printed bags with this design. Thanks for the great chat Anna - it is fantastic to meet the designers behind the blogs and the websites in the flesh!

Jill Bliss

One big thing I miss about my retail space is picking out beautiful handmade things from talented people to share with my customers. I especially miss indulging in buying from Jill Bliss (California). I love her style of illustration of the natural environment and her recycled fabric goodies...