Sharing the love

Those of you who follow my Facebook page or visit my store regularly would have noticed that in recent months I’ve started to introduce a range of new and exciting items, in addition to my own handmade goodies.

This is something I’ve been tossing around for a long time now. I love to shop – anyone who knows me will tell you that – and I LOVE to share fabulous finds. In a perfect world, I’d be the proud owner/operator of a quaint little handmade boutique – complete with workshop space for social gatherings and classes, a play area for the kiddies, coffee and homemade sweets. But for now, while my children are so young, I have to be content with my little webstore.

Little Toot Creations has been in operation for a couple of years now. I will confess – I never really had a ‘business plan’. When I started out I considered Little Toot more a self-sustaining hobby than a way to earn a living.

Demand for my products has gone through many peaks and troughs. There have been (many) times when I’ve thought about giving the whole thing away. But at the end of the day, I love to create. And I love to share my creations with others.

I’ve always said that at Little Toot Creations I would only ever make and sell products that I myself would purchase for my family. And that, my friends, will never change.

For a long time I was steering Little Toot down the path of the bigger brands – a seasonal collection, planned and executed ahead of time that allowed me to submit items for consideration to the long lead-time magazines. I’ve been lucky to be published a few times now (which with a background in PR was always one of my personal ‘goals’), but doing things this way has been quite limiting for me creatively, and has led to my store becoming quite stale mid-season. So, as part of this new direction, I hope to get back to doing smaller runs of a larger variety of products.

So why am I telling you all this? Because I know there are some people out there who will be questioning this new chapter in the history of Little Toot. For me though, there is no question. I’ve always enjoyed bringing my customers a wide range of fabulous handmade products. But to become a profitable business, and maintain some work/life balance, I can no longer continue to make them all myself.

You can be assured that each and every item available at www.littletootcreations.com.au will be tried, tested and a personal favourite of mine. Where possible, products will be handmade. Some will be Australian made. And some may be ethically made offshore by small, Australian companies.

And I look forward to having you along for the ride!

Facebook lists - a how-to

I know LOTS of people (especially page owners) have been having trouble adjusting to the recent changes to Facebook. Gone are the days when you saw status updates from ALL of the friends and pages you're connected with.

Instead, Facebook has begun selecting the status updates and information that IT thinks you’re most interested in, based on a complex algorithm (that doesn’t seem to work very well, let me say!)

So, if you want to go back to the Facebook you knew and loved, here’s the easiest way I have found…

YOU NEED TO MAKE A LIST (or lists – whichever you prefer).

To begin:

- Hover over the LISTS heading, then click MORE when it appears.

- At the top of the page click on CREATE A LIST.

- Give your list a NAME.

- You should see ‘Add friends to this list to see their updates’. Click on ADD FRIENDS.

- It might take a while for you list of FRIENDS to load but be patient… they will. Once they do, go to the little drop-down menu at the top left of the screen that says FRIENDS (with an arrow down). You should also get an option for PAGES. Click on that. Again, depending on how many pages you follow, these might take a little while to load.

- Once you can see the thumbnails of all your pages simply scroll through and select each one you want to add to your list (or you can also search for pages by name).

- When you're finished, click DONE.

To make sure you receive ALL status updates from your friends and pages, you need to do one more thing. Click on the list you want to edit. At the top right you will see a drop-down box that says MANAGE LIST with a down arrow. Click on it and then click on UPDATES TO SHOW. If you make sure there is a tick next to every item (which I think is the default anyway) then you won’t miss a thing!

And finally, if you have more than one list (for example Friends, Family, Businesses) you can add your most commonly used lists to your FAVOURITES on the left menu pane of your homepage. You simply go back to LISTS and MORE then click on the little pencil icon next to the list you want to add as a favourite. It will give you the option ADD TO FAVOURITES.

I do hope this helps!

x Bec

Right of reply

Today I feel sad. Yesterday I was angry. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel tomorrow.
For 2 years now I have put my heart and my soul into building a little business and into building a reputation as an honest, professional business owner.
Two days ago, I was labelled a bully by a small number of women, in front of a group of my peers and customers.
I was given no opportunity to defend myself. No discussion was entered into. My name and my business has been dragged through the mud because... well... I still do not know.
As best I can tell, I have been targetted for nothing more than having spoken my mind about matters concerning me and my business. And because a small number of women have decided that they do not like me.
Their actions have been a disgrace. Unlawful even.
But I am proud, and I hold my head high, that I have ALWAYS acted in a mature and respectful manner both in my personal and business lives.
I am placing my faith and my trust in those peers and customers to make up their own minds about me - based upon their own experiences and what THEY know to be true.
Today I am sad. But because some things are out of our control, tomorrow I will move on.
I might even throw a little party!

Canberra: stage 1

So, we're here. The move from Port Macquarie to Canberra is over. I spent nearly four weeks on my own, with two kids, running a business and packing up a 4-bedroom house. So glad that it's finally over. Exhausted just doesn't describe how I was feeling last week. I have never been so tired in all my life. But I survived. We're home. A family again.

Needless to say one of the things I've missed about the capital region is the seasons - spring blooms, crisp autumn mornings followed by glorious days, winter afternoons by the fire.
We've come home to the most beautiful spring I've seen here in years. The drought is gone, the trees and flowers are making a comeback. And the yard at our modest little rental is just beautiful!

Even in this afternoon's rain, my girls have had a blast - playing on their new (gifted) slippery slide, riding their scooter, tossing the ball for Charlie and watching the little birds flit about the garden. They've already got their fairy garden set up again and are waiting for their first visitors.

Happy Father's Day Daddy

The simple things

It really is the simple things that make me most happy.
Today is Day 1 of my life as a (temporarily) single mother. Clinton left last night for Canberra to start his new job. The girls and me, well, we're holding down the fort here in Port Macquarie until we can sell our home and find a new place to live. It's a scary prospect - we won't see him for two weeks - and there is such uncertainty around just how long we're going to have to live this way.
I don't know how these FIFO (fly in, fly out) families manage. But I guess it's what you get used to.
But back to the point.
When Clinton left I made a pact with myself - to make the most of this rather ordinary situation. I want to spend more quality time with my children. To enjoy the simple things. To get out and visit the beach, the parks and all the great things that we love about our coastal lifestyle. One last time.
Today we sat on our back deck in the sun. We cracked open the big box of inkpads and stamps and went wild. It was messy, there were fights. But amongst it all I found myself just wanting to pick up the stamps and write something. I could have said a lot of things, but I reckon this sums it up...

Nanna's passionfruit pie

I love a good tart. A pie. A strudel. Anything sweet really. And it always tastes so much sweeter when it's made with love. My Nanna gave me her recipe for passionfruit pie when I was just starting out as an independent woman. I made it often for Clinton and our friends and for a while there it even rivalled his mum's lemon meringue. It has been years since I made one, and with an abundance of lemons and frozen passionfruit pulp that needed to be used, I decided to give one a go.
For this recipe you will need:

• biscuit base (packaged, or home-crushed)
• butter
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 can reduced cream
• juice of two lemons (must be fresh - don't substitute bottled juice)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups water
• 4 tbsp custard powder
• pulp of 4-6 passionfruit
  

Prepare your biscuit base and press into a pie dish or flan tin. Refrigerate. Combined a small amount of your water with the custard powder to form a paste, then slowly add your remaining water and sugar. Stir over a medium heat until the mixture boils and thickens (it will become translucent). Set aside to cool. Combine your milk, cream and lemon juice and beat for 2 or 3 minutes to give it some air (it will thicken a little, but sets in the fridge). Once base it chilled, pour in your cream mixture. Return to fridge. Once your jelly mixture has cooled, stir through your passionfruit pulp and pour over the top of the cream mixture. Refrigerate until set.