RamsdenDesigns

Things That Surprise Me

1. That designing packaging is an ordeal. Pantone colours, CMYK, embedding images and outlining fonts. The poor design guys from various printing companies are holding my hand every step of the way.
2. That some companies will drive all the way out to your house, show you a piece of paper that you then sign and then drive all the way back into the city. And they’ll do it with a smile on their face.
3. That other companies have forgotten the art of customer service. Like the company I rang today about getting a freight quote and heard “bugger off” down the line instead of “hello”, all before I even got a word in.
4. That no other client has beaten my personal trainer to a pulp yet for being the most evil woman on the planet. Actually it’s no surprise, it’s because they’re all like me, hobbling along like an old person, feeling pain in muscles they never knew they had and unable to lift their arms above their shoulders, let alone take a swing at someone.
5. That I’m always shocked when the kids do a half-hearted job at a chore. I really need to just expect a ‘near enough is good enough’ attitude.

And one thing that doesn’t surprise me…that I really really want a dressing table like this:

And I found something quite similar in IKEA and will be buying it immediately (in the next few months!!).

New Items in the Shop

Just in time for summer pampering or for holiday gifts, I've created a handful of skin loving products which will be ready to ship in the next week or two. Soft, soothing and lovely...

Body Butter Balms

 Deliciously Rich Body Butters

Salt Scrub

Empire of Delight Officially Launching

It’s coming, this Monday 7th December at 9am.

Sure, some of the packaging won’t be ready (Sydney, just how far away are you? And why do things take so long to arrive from you?) but it’ll all be up on the website awaiting your orders.

Until then I have a mountain of work…advertising to organise, press releases to write up, a market to do and of course the final products to make.

Why Break and Enter When You Can Go Through The Front Door

We go walking quite often, there is always plenty to see and it stops the flies from being lonely. There are always birds and kangaroos and wildflowers to look at and one of our neighbours has a peacock. He is simply divine and if someone were to buy me one as a present I wouldn’t be upset in the slightest.

Yesterday we went out and low and behold the peacock as out in his back yard. Little J noticed he’d dropped a feather and was desperate for it. But, being hideously proper and well mannered I wouldn’t let her climb the fence to get it. Instead I told her to go knock on the front door and ask nicely for it. You must understand dear reader I was absolutely certain she’d chicken out but her desperation for a multicoloured feather drove her to the front door.

Amazingly they didn’t set the dogs on her but rather sent her out the back to retrieve a feather where she promptly stood on a thorn that went through her thong and into her foot.

This is where my little girl gets brave. She pulled it out and while gushing enough blood to make Quentin Tarantino wince proceeded to collect her feather before hobbling back to me to be pushed home in Little C’s stroller. She told me later there was no way she wasn’t getting her prize.

There he is. Catch of the day.

He looks like he’s moving at a masterful pace but really was just dawdling along and casually showing up my photography skills.

It’s a Pretty Joyous Occasion Here Tonight

And that's because I got an enormous parcel in the mail today. It’s my super dooper, flash as anything bath bomb maker.

That’s right, all it makes is bath bombs. But oh the bath bombs I’ll be making. They will be perfectly round, all exactly the same size and all the same weight, fizzing in your baths and making your skin as smooth as silk. Laden with jojoba oil and shea butter they’ll be far too decadent for the kids…but you’ll let them have them anyway as it’ll keep them quiet for a while…and we all know how wonderful that is.

So tomorrow, as well as visiting printers I’ll be bath bombing to my hearts content, getting ready for markets this month as they are always a runaway success.

What’s Hot + What’s Not

Business wise things are ramping up. The launch date of the product line has been decided and it will be 7th December 2009. Freaking me right out!

As things are made and ready I’ll be adding them to the web shop and I have a feeling it’ll all be happening the week before launch.

Hot

The woman above – is my style icon. She’s so amazingly chic and fresh. I have no idea how old she is but her daughter is about 18 yrs old which makes me like her even more.

Christmas shopping – is there anything better? Spending money on stuff I HAVE to have makes me so happy.

This picture – it makes me want to get married right now.

People art – this art installation has apparently been annoying people. But I can’t see what they wouldn’t like about it.

Soap making – making soap makes me happy. And that makes me happy!

Bella Sara – is back on the what’s hot list for Little J.

Not

Shoe shopping – which sounds like I’m betraying all women but you’d hate it too if you had feet like mine. What I need to do is pretend I’m a drag queen and go shop there because I’m sure a shop like that will have my size.

Children making a mess – it’s been pretty rampant this week but really I should just put this on the list for every week.

The heat – is blah! No other descriptive words needed.

I Wanna Be Kat Macleod

When I become wildly successful and my luxury products are sold everywhere I’m going to commission Kat Macleod to design the packaging for a collection.

Deck The Halls With Baldy Positioned Ornaments

Doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.

But it certainly suits our house at the moment. Our tree is up (and I’m sure Big B is relieved to have not been part of that circus) and the above pic is Little J’s attempt at hanging decorations. Proportion and a sense of space are not her strong points I’ve discovered. While the picture looks nice…and whoa our carpet looks like it’s never seen a 2 year old, the surrounding branches had nary a bauble on them.

And so it went. Bunches of ornaments and then giant spaces of undecorated tree.

Mummy will fix that later.

The best bit about our tree is the two presents already underneath it. Both of which are mine. One from Little J and one from Big B…which I picked out, purchased and wrapped but as we’re both happy about the situation it’s all good. I did balk a bit at the price but justified it by saying it was also a graduation present and an investment piece. And who knows, perhaps Big B will feel it’s worth it as it saved him the torture of shopping for my present and spending time in a place he compares to the depths of hell…a shopping centre.

And he’s totally going to win brownie points with his family for such a thoughtful gift.

While taking pictures of just mentioned gifts Little C saw an opportunity to be a star. I feel compelled to mention she isn’t participating in Movember but rather just indulged in a Tim Tam.

Does she look like my kid or not? She definitely gets her eyebrows from daddy. Poor thing, but not to worry, I’ve started up a ‘eyebrow wax’ trust fund for when she notices and demands they be gone.

Some other rooms in the house got the Xmas treatment as well. Big B wasn’t too impressed however when I told him the master bedroom is now decorated in pink fluffy Christmas lights.

Dearest Reader

I’ve had a hard day today. The children were possessed by the devil and proceeded to whine, complain and mess their way through the day, guaranteeing my tittering close to insanity tonight.

To cheer myself up and keep hold of my sanity for one more night I bought myself a bunch of flowers.

Because even us mad mothers need flowers.

What’s Hot & What’s Not

Yeah baby…that's me alright!

Lets all rejoice and have a little bit of Loobylu in our lives.

HOT

• Soap making. I’ve got gallons of ingredients and some of it is right now as I type being turned into soap. I love how the house smells right now too.
• Housework. Yes it made it into the hot list because finally, after what feels like an eternity, my head is clear of uni and there is room now to think about other things…like sweeping the floor, which right now is nice to think about.
• Graduation looming. All things going well in the final exam I took earlier this week I should never have to think about university again (unless it’s in a paying of student fees kind of way).
• Home cooking. Cheaper than take out and I can watch Bold and the Beautiful or Pride and Prejudice while slaving over a hot stove.

NOT HOT

• Toilet training. Not for me, for the two yr old. This is not fun…not fun at all.
• Tiger the cat. He’s been a very naughty boy. Tiger is a proficient hunter and can catch birds almost with his eyes closed. We just bought a special bib for him to wear which apparently stops four out of five cats from catching birds. Tiger it appears is that one in five. Back to the shop for the bigger size.
• The rain. Big B loves it, I hate it because it messes up my laundry.