This Friday's Freebies!!

Hello Hello!

Just so we are all informed... This week's Freebie will be as follows :)

For every All In Two Nappy purchased, you will receive a free snap in booster pad. (it already comes with one too, so you will have an extra one on hand for when the shell is dry before the booster!) That's for every nappy purchased too, so buy 1 AI2 and get 1 extra booster, buy 15 AI2's, get 15 extra boosters, you get the idea. (The offer DOES NOT apply to bulk packs though) This is on top of your already existing Nappy Hunt Discount of 20% Good reason to register if you haven't already. 

PS, something I never realized about the nappy hunt before I actually registered the first time... ITS FREE GUYS!!! 

And don't forget that for every purchase from the shop this week and also every newsletter subscription you will get an entry into the lucky draw. (this week the lucky draw will be drawn on Saturday Morning as I am working night shift on Friday night, the cut off for entries will still be Friday though!!)

For more info and all the T's and C's head to this post and have a read, any Questions send me an email :D

Some Info for Friday...

September is usually a big month for us. There's a few reasons, such as the nappy hunt, the cloth nappy expo in Casey, we come out of general hibernation as springtime hits and its more inviting to head to markets, and usually reusable nappy week is on during the month also. So in light of all of this, I thought, what a better time to celebrate and have decided to run a promotion for the month called Freebie Friday!

The basic idea of Freebie Friday is that you guys get free stuff! Not rocket science, but there are a few details to Freebie Friday that I thought I would outline...

On Freebie Friday, customers of WeePantz can get Free Stuff in 2 ways...

1. For every purchase on Fridays during September customers will receive a FREE GIFT! 

The gift will change each week, and will be limited to one per customer, per week. You may need to purchase a particular item to redeem your gift (e.g. buy a, AI2 nappy and receive a free extra booster etc)

2. I will also be giving away a FREE GIFT every Friday during the month of September also. 

The gift will change each week, and the winner will be drawn by my little miss 6yo out of a hat on Friday evenings at 6pm. To get an entry you simply have to buy something from WeePantz during that week or Sign up to our Newsletter during that week.

I'll announce on Wednesdays and then remind on Thursdays what the free gift will be and also what the giveaway will be.

All the Conditions:

Each week, the free gift and also the giveaway prize will be decided upon by Amy (that'd be me).

The free gift will only be redeemable on Fridays from 12.01am until 11.59pm.

The free gift will only be able to be redeemed once per week per customer ( no cheating guys! ) and will be automatically added to your order (you wont need to click a button etc)

The free gift draw will be conducted on Fridays at 6pm via being drawn from a hat and will be filmed and the video uploaded for viewing with the winner announcement.

The free gift draw can only be entered via the ways above. The free gift draw can be won by someone who has already purchased and redeemed a free gift from the store on that day.

I reserve the right to change the rules of the competition at any time during the month.

The free gift cannot be claimed by a known retailer of WeePantz products and cannot be resold at retail price for personal profit or gain.

It's that Time Again..

That's right, it is nappy hunt time again! Be sure to head over to their site and register to hunt so that you can have a chance of winning some of the awesome prizes!

We are sponsoring the hunt again, and having a huge 20% off at the website (excluding bulk packs) and also running a promotion called Freebie Friday! 

(More info on freebie friday will be on our facebook page and then again on here later in the week)

Fab Friday...

Today I am finalizing a mending job for a lovely lady I met through the Australian Nappy Network.

It's okay Katrina I haven't forgotten you, the elastic in your nappies is nearly finished!!

I am also working on some of those things I said I would do for my week off.

I bought this pattern a couple of years ago at the op-shop, its an old spotlight "get creative" pattern. 

Its a very basic pant, and once I've tested it out and know that it fits well, I will add pockets, belt loops and other lovely pants essentials that aren't included in the pattern paper. I have enough fabric here for 3 pairs of pants and have one pair cut, interfaced and ready to sew up later today.

I also have to re-make a batch of mini cheesecakes. I decided (and mentioned on facebook) that I would make some mini cheesecakes for calisthenics morning tea (for the mums) on Saturday. The Mr stole 3 from the batch for himself and the guys at work yesterday and today took the rest of the batch cos they all wanted more! So I'm looking forward to making a bunch of little cheesecakes today too. I also bought an awesome tool to help me when I am baking them (trust me, when I tell you about this, you will be excited and want one!)

What are you guys up to this lovely Friday? Are you mending? Baking? Sewing? Painting? Relaxing? I'd love to hear what you are up to!

Market Wrap - Up...

A few photos from the market in Bulleen on Sunday. It was a great day out and I was so pleased to have been involved with a gorgeous market day at Fairy Floss.

Thanks again to Kirsty and her family for another fantastic day!

I'm Playing my guitar tonight. There's something exhilarating about singing along to a song for me. It releases everything inside and I truly express myself. It's like riding a roller coaster! If I am ever sad, my guitar and singing will help. 

Car is 100% packed for the market tomorrow, can't wait! Master 2yo has had gastro for 2 weeks and Miss 6yo came out with red spots / blisters last night (chicken pox?? other random virus??). Cant wait for a day out, not worrying about who's nose I have to wipe for a few hours :) 

DO come visit me in Bulleen I will be at the WeePantz Stall!

Product Feature - Wetbags

I have been busy working on a wetbag design for a while now. It's taken me a while to pull my finger out on this one but at the beginning of the year I made one for Master 2yo to take with him to daycare so that they could put a whole days' worth of nappies in there to go home to be washed. 

I have always designed my products on things that I cannot live without. 

My nappies were designed to hold more wee than the other nappies I had tried with my son as he simply outwet EVERYTHING. They were also designed to be really simple to use and importantly, DAD FRIENDLY. I followed this with an All In Two design coming onto my site late last year to assist with the drying time of cloth nappies in Melbourne Winters. 

My bibs were my son's clothing's saviour during the beginning of the self-feeding stage. As they covered so much more surface area than any other bib I had tried using!

Now back to the wetbags.... I LOVE THESE WETBAGS!! I seriously would be lost without them and definitely would be using far too many plastic shopping bags for my dirty nappies (very smelly as plastic shopping bags don't seal very well!).

The wetbag design works wonderfully and importantly, can be used whether I am out for 1 nappy change or for an entire day. I think that maybe they might be the most practically sized wetbag on the market (but then again I am very very biased!)

I send these off to daycare and they hang it on a hook next to the toilet in the nappy change area ready for the staff to put my son's dirty nappies in ready to be taken home to be washed at the end of each day and being a basic plain PUL fabric, the wetbag dries really quickly, so I can hang it out on the line, clothes horse, or even over the back of a chair to dry and in the morning it is always ready to go. I also have a cotton panel sewn on the front of my wetbag that I write my son's name on so that when the childcare is overrun with cloth  nappy users, they can tell who's is who's. (Enter the cloth nappy revolution I am ready!)

They are really easy to fold up and pop into your handbag as well which for me is always important, as I never take a nappy bag with me ANYWHERE anymore unless we are going out all day.

And speaking of all day...

I can go out for an entire day and the wetbag is always big enough. In the images above there are 7 small sized nappies inside the bag with enough room to fit one or two more in at a squeeze. So with nappy size being relative to how many nappies generally are used in a day (you go through more newborn nappies in a day as your newborn goes through more nappies than a toddler who might be wearing the large size) they are most definitely a must have for every cloth nappy user.

So now that the website is all stocked up, and ready to go be sure to head over and grab your essential weepantz wetbag and never carry around lots of little plastic bags again!

Wordle

I discovered Wordle today... Basically, it creates funky looking word clouds for a piece of text that you input, isolating key words and such.

I decided to see what it would look like using the WeePantz Homepage text, see if Im getting the point across. Apparently Nappies is my most dominant word... this is a good thing! 

You can play with the colours and fonts and shapes and make your word cloud however you would like it :)

Here It Is!

That thing I have been stitching away on for the last week is finally complete, and it is just too darn cute!

Take a look at the gorgeous custom named nappy I made for my little man!

Its got gorgeous designer fabric from the front, beautiful dark charcoal minky through the body of the nappy, and a gorgeous embellished back panel.

Yep! All of those letters are hand stitched with blanket stitch for something extra special for my little man.

And there's two little elephants, also hand stitched onto the wings.

This is also just so cute, the I is dotted with a hand embroidered elephant.

I have taken some beautiful photos of Mr 2yo wearing his new nappy, and I hope to upload them soon for you all to see.

Keen on getting a custom embellished nappy for your little one?? Send me an e-mail and we can organize getting one made up for you!

Stitch - Stitch - Stitch

This is nearly finished now and is complete with some very cute embroidery to go with this appliqué. 

I hope to finish off the gorgeous item tomorrow with its final finishing touches and get a pic up for you all to see!!

Updates...

A little update on what's been going on around WeePantz H.Q. lately. 

I have been very busy sewing nappies for the stocking that I had on the website the other day. (of which there is still stacks of stock left **hint hint**). 

I've made a bit of this...

and this...

And have added a few more basics colors to the regular range.

 I've been spending alot of time being mummy, making lots of coffee at my "other job" and also doing HEAPS of markets. Although the May market scene for me will be quiet as I'm going to suss out some new markets that I might like to attend for the coming months, and also work on building up my stock levels and attempting to increase my website sales and focus on stocking up some of my wholesalers.

It's also "that time" of the year again with loads of calisthenics costumes to make for the little miss and I am helping out a couple of the other mums this year with their costumes as well (I'm hoping to do a sneaky peek on some of the stuff I'm up to with that later).

So head on over to the site, and give me a reason to keep sewing nappies and bibs and get yourself some gorgeous WeePantz Products to put on your bub. 

If you have any questions about my products, or simply about cloth nappies in general, drop me a line here.

My Creative Space

Tonight, in my space, I have the pins out and am doing the final piecing together of a custom order from the market last week.

I am loving how it looks, and can't wait to hear what my customer thinks when they receive it.

Hunting?

A lot of you might know (or not) about the Cloth Nappy Hunt that happens bi-annually here in Australia.

How it basically works is you register for the hunt and then during the month of March you hunt around sponsors' stores looking for the much coveted hunt icon and click on it. There are various prizes for collecting icons that are distributed daily. Basically you have to be the first person to find them all!

There are also LOTS of discounts on sponsors' websites to be had during the month of the hunt.

Anyway, the reason I am talking about the hunt? WeePantz has been approved as a sponsor for the hunt in March 2011. Hooray! So I will be donating a Red Minky AI2 Nappy as a prize as well as having 15% off store wide for hunters (you will receive a special code when the hunt starts if you are registered).

So head over to Diaper Decisions and register to hunt as the sponsors of the day (special pre-hunt hunting!) has begun today!! 

My Creative Space

Today I am very busy working on some customer orders and some stock for the Fairy Floss Market in St Kilda on Sunday.

Due to still being alone... I have lots of time to work which is lovely. 

I have been spending the last few hours working on a custom nappy for a customer. It was a tough muse, but I think it is finally coming together.

Just a little sneaky peek there. 

Now I'd better get back to sewing the midday movie is over so I am free haha... (don't worry, I was working while I watching it too... kinda...)

What are you creating today?

For more creativity head over here...

Which is YOUR Favourite?

I hope its me!! WeePantz has been nominated (and not even by me!! :p) in the Babble Best Cloth Diapers List. 

I feel stoked that someone else has nominated me, and would love it if you could all spare a few seconds to find me on the list and vote for me also :)

Thanks very much!

Market Prep Friday...

I feel like I am a day ahead of myself today as my market is tomorrow rather than on Sunday this week so I am busily cutting, snapping, sewing and re-threading.

Okay so the re-threading I am really procrastinating as I have to re-thread the upper looper on my over locker with Wooly Nylon... ugh not an easy task!

 (okay so it doesnt look like there are many bibs here, but trust me, there are!)

Ahh anyway... so I am busily preparing for the market tomorrow at Werribee Park. I have given the weather a stern talking to that it is not to rain tomorrow as I am doing my first outdoor market since November.

The Market is at Werribee Park, which is on K Road (its where the zoo and the werribee mansion are) and it runs from 9am til 2pm. The weather tells me that its going to be a lovely day too :)

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So make sure you head on down to the market, there will be lots of beautiful handmade goodies on offer as well as some great specials at the WeePantz Stall!

See you there!

Alone...

Ever since I had Oliver I have never been alone... I am forever chasing children, telling them to stop doing what they are doing, and trying to mould them into little human beings and even when I am left without them for a short time, I generally spend time thinking about when I have to get them back.

Today, however, I am alone...

Oliver started childcare today. 

I was intent on starting him in daycare for 1 or 2 days this year as it will give me more time to do WeePantz things, and also give me a little time to myself as well as giving him the chance to develop socially and learn things through activities I can only rarely be bothered cleaning up (such as painting etc). 

I then had the opportunity to go back to work 20hrs a week so Olly will now be away from me a little more often as well as giving me the opportunity to earn money for the things that all women crave like shoes. WeePantz will still continue, I just crave outside time as well, and this job will pay for the childcare as well!!

So today, I had my first shift back in a cafe (I didn't break anything so thats a positive) it was lots of fun, and I cant wait for my regular shifts to start :) So now I am alone, no one to tell to stop picking their nose or to get out of the fridge. I can go to the toilet on my own and can have a shower without an audience.

Loving it! I can also work uninterrupted on some big orders I have also had and a little idea for the shop (I'll keep you updated for that).

So until tomorrow, I am going to go and enjoy my solitude, sew without one child as the "pin lady" and the other being the "reversing button boy" and get some work done!!

And don't forget the February special on the website 20% off orders over $50 when you use the code BIRTHDAYBASH.

Time to Celebrate!

February is the month that I celebrate WeePantz' Birthday. 2 years ago this month, I set off on what I didn't know at the time would be one of the most difficult, but rewarding ventures I have ever done in my life. 

I have learned many things in the last 2 years. 

I have learned how to be more accurate when I am sewing. 

I have learned a lot about cloth nappies!

I have learned to manage money better.

I have learned to sell myself and my product.

I have learned to believe that I can achieve what I set out on.

I have learned to multi task with great skill.

I have learned many ways to distract my kids while I am busy.

I have also learned to defeat many of my vices

and I have beaten depression.

This, for me is definitely cause for celebration! so I've decided to have the usual birthday special over on my website.

So for the month of February if you use the code "BIRTHDAYBASH" in the checkout you will receive 20% off purchases over $50.

The Weekend...

Today I am doing alot of market prep. After not doing a market for a whole month, I am really looking forward to tomorrow's Monkey Markets in Eltham, but I also have alot of work to do to get ready such as re-washing and pressing my table cloth, and as I discovered this morning, pressing my bibs.

After sitting in a box for a few weeks they were pretty crumpled, so today I am VERY thankful for my Elna Press. It doesn't make the process any quicker, but it does make it possible to multi-task because while one bib is pressing, I can be doing something else important like making a cup of tea :p

One, two, three... 

Nicely pressed bibs for the market! And I got 2 loads of washing one while I was doing it, and afterwards had time to get some more bibs as well as some nappies pinned together and partly sewn. Better get back to it actually... 

Hope your weekend is lovely, wherever you are. If you are in the neighborhood (or not, I'm definitely not against travelling) make sure you head into the Monkey Markets tomorrow in Eltham.

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The last few days

A few days off here this week, I've been busy being a mama and girlfriend as well as cleaning and getting ready for our new couch which was handed on to us from Mick's sister on Wednesday.

We got together with some of our family on Australia day and had a BBQ, in true Aussie style.

We had sausages in white bread with tomato sauce, gorgeous marinated rump steak which was massive and delicious apparently (I didn't end up having any). And sat around watching the kids play cricket and tennis and soccer.

The kids jumped on the trampoline, ate donuts with yellow and green icing and played under the sprinkler having a great time! Mick's dad got his camera out and of course took some lovely photos of the kids playing under the sprinkler. I wont post any of Oliver as he didn't have any clothes on.

Ruth, when Mick was squirting her with the sprinkler

and after squirting Oliver with the sprinkler, check out the evil face!

It was a wonderful day out, and was great to get out in the sun (yes there was a small amount among the overcast grey clouds) and the kids had a great time playing together.

As you can also see from the button on the right hand bar, the auctions and raffles have all finished now as well and we raised such a wonderfully large amount of money for Queensland. I am so proud to have been involved in this initiative and its wonderful that we raised so much money! Thank-you to all who bidded in auctions and entered raffles you have helped make such a big difference.

Mick is back at work after his super long weekend and I am back working on WeePantz stuff again, getting ready for my first market of the year which is on this Sunday in Eltham.

Oh and I've run out of pins, this must mean back to the sewing machine, oh and the snap press too. It's funny how the idea of snapping nappies makes me think of all the other things I need to do like wash the nappies, vacuum and mop the floor and bake muffins, cookies and slices.