If you’d like to support our current auction to raise funds for Softacare, you can view the auction items here.

Clearing has now begun for the well, and building will be underway soon! Thank you again for all of your support.

Stay tuned for details on another auction later in the year.

100% of the money raised will be making its way to the Bonga Feeding Centre in Ethiopia (via World Families Australia) to fund essential nutrition and community projects. I will report back on the blog in the coming weeks and months so that you can share in the progress of the centre, and see how your donations are making a difference!

I would like to send a warm and sincere thanks to all of the businesses who donated their time and their gorgeous products to the auction. The full list of sponsors can be found here. I hope you’ll all stop by and visit them to help us in thanking them for their generosity.

Thank you to our lovely major sponsors:

My Child Magazine

Bub Hub

Style Collective

KID independent

Ruffled Bazaar

Moo Woo Handmade

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Thank you to our fabulous prize sponsors:

41 Orchard

Pretty Pickings

Furious Kingston

1 Puddle Lane

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Thank you to our wonderful supporters:

Last but certainly not least, thank you to everyone who has placed a bid, joined the Facebook page, shared the link with a friend, or just taken a moment to send your thoughts and support! We hope you’ll continue to follow us on Facebook and keep your eyes and ears peeled for another auction later in the year.

Natasha is a sewing extraordinaire with a passion for all things vintage. She is a Mum of two (Ruby and Grace, after whom her label is named) and loves to re-purpose vintage goodies into something special. Each one of her creations is one-of-a-kind and has it’s own little personality, with a touch of whimsy on the side.

One lucky auction bidder will have the opportunity to work with Natasha to create a custom doll, with a choice of yarn hair, moveable arms sewn on with vintage buttons, removable clothing, colours, and detailing. Stitch by stitch, your imagination will come to life, creating a wonderful keepsake for your daughter (or yourself).

What a truly magical experience!

>> Click here to visit the auction and place your bid!

*Bidding ends at 5pm on Sunday 25 March, 2012

>> Place your bids! We’ll also have one more surprise listing tomorrow…

My name is…
Ann Martin and I am the owner/designer at 1 Puddle Lane.

My business is…
1 Puddle Lane and I create girls and boys wear from ages 1 to 6 years, Ladies Blossom Party Skirts and now my new line of ladies Blossom Party Dresses.

My creativity is influenced by…
The fabric I use.  I usually buy the fabric and then get creative from there.

I like to daydream about…
A beautiful big work space.  I love where I work now… spare bedroom… but I love open spaces and it would be lovely and free to have a bigger space.  I also love to day dream about sitting on a cane chair overlooking the ocean on Santorini Island… where we were last September.

Three things that make me smile are…
1. When you can’t hear anything but the rustle of leaves on a warm balmy day. 2. My pussy cat – Peaches – how she can just sleep all day and just know how to relax.  3. Being in my favourite fabric store and buying more fabric, just because.

Three things that make me frown are…
1.  The news at 6pm.  It’s funny how they say ‘good evening’ and then proceed to tell you why it’s not.  2. Being in traffic… I love working from home as I don’t have to get in the traffic jam. 3. Bad customer service that seems to be happening a lot in big department stores.

I decided to support Cuddle Craft Collective because…
I love what they do and stand for.  Helping people in need who are less fortunate than us and that makes me very happy that I can help out.  And very honoured to be part of their project.

>> Visit 1 Puddle Lane online

>> Join 1 Puddle Lane on facebook

Well, apart from the comfy chair, this couldn’t be further than the truth. In fact, the Bub Hub – Australia’s leading independent pregnancy and parenting website – is run from a small home office in Brisbane’s inner north. There is only a handful of staff members and the bosses are sitting right there with them – their chairs are only slightly more comfortable.

The Bub Hub crew are owners/founders Hilary and Brad (also marketing manager), BH Sales, BH Admin and BH Tech. Also on board are BH Editor, who works from home, and forum manager Veve who fits her Bub Hub duties around her teaching job.

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Here’s a typical day on the Bub Hub…

5.15am - BH Editor is the first to log on. Her toddler has woken early and she decides it’s in her best interests to also be awake (last time he got up earlier than she did the laptop lost nine keys). She checks her emails and appeals for sympathy via a ‘how early does your toddler get up’ post on the Bub Hub Facebook page.

7.30am – Veve is awake and has managed to find the kettle. She heads to the bedrooms to wake her 6-year old (who’s decided that one-and-a-bit years of school is MORE than enough) and her 4-year-old (who has decided that night time is WAY more fun than daytime and is therefore Mr Grumpy until lunchtime!).

8:00am – BH Admin arrives at the office first. It is dark. She turns on the lights and the computer, ready for a busy day.

8.15am – BH Sales arrives, logs in to her computer and shares her morning coffee experience – why it is so hard to get a decent cup of coffee?!

8.18am – Brad pops downstairs to say ‘hi’ to the team in the office. He thinks about how much better it would be if Queensland had daylight savings and everyone could start later!

8:20am – Veve drops her 4-year-old off at the babysitter’s and arrives at school. Her 6-year-old sits down with his paper and pens, so she can set up the classroom for a busy day ahead.

8.25am – Brad starts work. Hilary walks their three kids to school, mediates arguments about nothing and listens to a group of Grade 2-ers read books.

8.30am – BH Tech arrives at work. He is sweating from his run so he has a quick swim in the pool to cool off, then puts on his shorts and shirt and starts work.

8.50am – Veve gets hugs and kisses from her 6-year-old before he heads up to the grade one classroom. Her students are just about to arrive.

9:00am – Hilary is back in the office and there is a quick meeting. Then everyone returns to the business of checking their emails.

9.05am – Brad remembers it used to take a lot longer to check his emails. He loves that he can now access emails 24/7 using his phone. He also hates that he can now access emails 24/7 using his phone.

9.30am – BH Tech is trying to get the forum to display a new local posts list in search results. BH Sales is on the phone to clients and BH Admin is making free listings live on the site.

9.45am – BH Sales and BH Tech have a laugh and joke in the office while they treat themselves to some delicious treats.

10:00am – Hilary replies to emails, checks the Bub Hub Facebook page and resolves to go through accounts.

10.30am – Brad calls clients to touch base and make sure everything’s running smoothly.

10:50am – BH Sales waits for Brad to stop hogging the phone.

10:55am – Hilary resolves to go through accounts – she makes a cup of tea instead. She warns the team that she’ll be cranky as she has to go through accounts.

11:00am – BH Editor is congratulating herself on achieving the almost-impossible feat of getting both kids napping at the same time. She settles down for a solid hour or two of checking emails, reading blogs, organising competitions and perhaps writing an article if there’s time.

11.01am – False alarm. The Baby is awake. Typical.

11.05am – BH Editor check emails/posts on Facebook while feeding the baby. Thinks about how much she loves her iPhone …

11.10am – Brad and BH Sales have a meeting to discuss response to new review system for the listed businesses, a new feature on the site for smaller advertisers.

11.20am – Hilary starts accounts.

11.30am – This time both babies really ARE asleep. BH Editor gets working!

12.30pm – Lunchtime. BH Sales is eating at her desk while attempting to empty her inbox – she sneaks in 5-10 mins of “shut eye” while no one else is in the office.

1:00pm – Hilary makes a new feature live on the forum so members can chat more easily with mums in their local area.

1.15pm – Accounts spread out on the floor – Hilary is entering them into system and filing.

1.30pm – BH Admin is going cross-eyed organising sales and newsletter schedule.

1.45pm – Finish accounts.

2:00pm – Brad chats to parenting expert Pinky McKay about an article for next month’s newsletter.

2.32pm – BH Tech is stuck on hold on the phone

3:00pm – Brad and Hilary collect the kids and embark on afternoon filled with homework and three different afternoon extra-curricular activities!

3.42pm – BH Tech is deleting old forum styles, trying to figure out where an old google 300×250 ad is on the site.

4.30pm – Home time for the office staff.

5.30pm – Veve’s boys are showered and dinner is simmering. She pops online to check her Bub Hub emails and to see what has happened on the forum through the day.

7.50pm – Both kids are in bed so BH Editor starts up the computer for some more work.

7.51pm – BH Editor notices that The Toddler has removed more keys from the keyboard. B is gone and H is also missing … sigh.

9:00pm – Veve is having the last say. She logs back online to process emails and to make sure everything is ok on the forum.

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The Cuddle Craft Collective crew would like to send a huge thank you to all the staff at the Bub Hub, not only for supporting our charity auction, but also for providing a wonderful website and forum for the Mums of Australia!

Due to the great success of the auction, we have now revised our goal to $4500. This is a monumental achievement and to say that our hearts are full with the kindness of our generous sponsors and bidders would be an understatement. To keep your spirits high, I thought I’d share some information on how the additional funds would be spent in Bonga. There are are two urgent projects that need attention.

Firstly, the roof of the Feeding Centre (above where the kids sit to eat their meals) is in dire need of repair. This building also hosts school lessons, and with the damage wide spread, it’s quite a dangerous situation as you can see.

Secondly, Sr. Genet who runs the Feeding Centre is raising funds to build a well to provide clean water to the local community. At present, a long walk is required each day to collect water for everyday needs. When I think about the convenience with which I turn the tap on each day, I can comprehend just how much of a difference this well would make! The picture below is of the area where the well will be built.

If you’d like to help us pull together to reach our new goal, please head over and place your bid on the auction (or share around the link with some friends).

Have a wonderful day!

]]> http://cuddlecraftcollective.com/ethiopia-project/feed/ 0 http://cuddlecraftcollective.com/ruffled-bazaar/ http://cuddlecraftcollective.com/ruffled-bazaar/#comments Tue, 13 Mar 2012 23:47:55 +0000 cuddlecraft http://cuddlecraftcollective.com/?p=551 Hi everyone, if you’re in Brisbane this weekend, you might like to stop by and visit our lovely sponsors from Ruffled Bazaar Markets. They are holding their Twilight Market at Mt Gravatt Showgrounds this Saturday, 17 March 2012 from 3pm – 8 pm. Click here for more information.

Today in our Sponsor Spotlight series, we introduce Jess and Kellie from Ruffled Bazaar Markets.

Our names are…
Jess and Kellie and we are the Event Organisers of Ruffled Bazaar Markets.

Our business is…
We have two great market locations and each one is different Our Mt Gravatt Twilight Markets has been running for the past year is more a festival than a market and is a great night out for the whole community with free activties, local designers and gourmet food and our second location is at Racecourse Rd, Hamilton and is a small more intimate market dedicated to emerging designers.

Our creativity is influenced by…
Our amazing stall holders with out them we would not be pushed to make our markets bigger and better.

We like to daydream about…
Jess daydreams about shopping in exotic locations discovering great shopping finds in Morocco, Istanbul, Paris, Bali. Kellie loves dreaming of the USA and shopping for shoes in New York City. We both dream about starting up a ruffled bazaar market overseas somewhere exotic so had to go. LOL!

Three things that make us smile are…
1. Seeing people having a great time at our markets. 2. Our families. 3. The sun shining on Market Day.

Three things that make us frown are…
1. Rain on Market day. 2. Early starts on market day. 3. Not having the internet!

We decided to support Cuddle Craft Collective because…
We love being able to support the creative community and our stall holders especially when they are donating their time and craft to help raise monies for needy families which is such a worthy cause.

>> Visit Ruffled Bazaar Markets online

>> Join Ruffled Bazaar Markets on facebook

Today in our Sponsor Spotlight series, I’d like to introduce the lovely Kellie from MooWoo.

My name is…
Kellie Jackson and I am a business owner, teacher and mother

My business is…
MooWoo Handmade and I create greeting cards.  Unfortunately due to the growth of my once little store, this job is now outsourced to a very talented local mum. So now I create a bright, sunny place to shop in the Kimberley…with a unique selection of handmade products to pick from.

My creativity is influenced by…
Our amazingly diverse, remote, earthy and spectacular surrounds…our Kimberley home.

I like to daydream about…
Opening a bricks and mortar store in this remote area to offer locals a hands-on shopping experience equal to any city boutique store.  Oh and my dream home with space and light where I can sit on our decking eating chocolate and sipping Bailey’s at the end of each day!

Three things that make me smile are…
1. My BEAUTIFUL children, all day long. 2. My amazingly tolerant and loving husband AND… 3. A good girl’s night!

Three things that make me frown are…
1. My beautiful children when their choices are upside down and inside out. 2. My husband when he eats my chocolate AND… 3. The thought of having 4 children!!

I decided to support Cuddle Craft Collective because…
The children and families of our world need our support.  When you are in business you are often so bogged down in striving to achieve and survive that it can become very self-absorbed.  It is refreshing to have such a unique and valuable opportunity to contribute to something so meaningful! Thank you!>> Visit MooWoo Handmade online

>> Join MooWoo Handmade on facebook