Take a Ride in my Beautiful Balloon

Never have I taken a ride in a balloon.


Not sure that I would like to, so I will stick with Balloon images.

The one of course is from Rabbit and The Duck.

So I dare say this little number is not in the Ready to Wear collection.   But it is a quirky way to use balloons and does present fashion as art.  

So for something a little more wearable....  I love a good t-shirt and this one is super cute.  From Steampunk.

Esbertscollection created this lovely cushion cover.  Beautiful colour and a very subtle image of a balloon. LOVE IT.


Happy flying

Jen and Row
www.shimi.com.au

Diesel Tanks for Women

There is something to be said for plan old t-shirts and tanks.  I must admit they are a staple in my wardrobe and I wear my plain clothing more then I do anything that I have in a print.

We have just added some great tanks and t-shirts (and dresses) from Diesel, which is a great brand for the casual look.

I really love this bright blue tank, because it is a really strong cut with lots of detail but still just a flat colour, which is easy to mix and match.

Blue must be their theme this season because this Drusti dress is also very popular, again in a strong cut and block colour, but lovely detail.

I am also a fan of the Caasty Shirt, which looks so comfortable.  Maybe that is because comfort is my first and only option at the moment and it is a great cover up for a huge baby belly.

All these and more in store today.  Something in a brand we carry that you can't find?  Send us an email at info@shimi.com.au and we will try to track it down for you.

Happy Shopping
Jen & Row
www.shimi.com.au

Kids and Work

• Isn't life funny. You work and work and work in order to be financially ready to bring children into the work, then children come along, and life just gets more expensive and you have to work harder. My dream, like millions of other mothers I am sure, is to have a career that I can establish from my own home, so I am available to my children whenever they need me. I can do the school drop off and pick up. I can go to sports days. I can spend mornings and afternoons and evenings with my kids and have a career that fits into my free (what little I have) time. Is it possible???

I hope so. I am working mighty hard to make it that way, but as with all business, this is not something that will happen overnight and it is a 5-10 year plan, but there are many many days where I am so discouraged. And it pains me that I have to worry about this instead of enjoying my children to the fullest. But now is the time that young families need money - to plan for the future and give our children the best chances in life.

I think this is a common problem with most families, and I don't think I will be surprising anybody by voicing this. What is the solution? I have had so many "offers" to join companies like Amway with the promises of wealth, but I am not interested in selling people promises. I love the work I do, and I am proud that we support ethical Australian made, organic products and I have come to the solution that no matter how hard I feel it is to invite success I have to stay true to my beliefs. And they are that family come first - what is the point of having a successful business if I haven't enjoyed my kids formative years, and to follow my heart. It would be very easy for Rowena and I to go the route of importing cheap t-shirts and homewares from China, etc. Not only would we be supporting the sweat shop industry, but we would be increasing our carbon footprint. By buying Australian made organic products we are lowing our carbon footprint, supporting ethical work standards, and supporting our Australian industry.

For the days that I am feeling not so positive, I still can feel very proud of Rowena and myself for the choices we have made.

If you would like to support these ideas, I encourage you to shop and www.shimi.com.au and visit our links to find like minded traders.

Happy shopping!!!

T-shirts

After nights of sitting up embroidering my goods by hand I am pleased to say I have or had should I say a small range of t-shirts based around my "bird" theme, with a small range of sizes. Unfortunately now I am down to only size 12 as my beautiful children took to some of the shirts with scissors. Oh well, a couple of friends have benefited from this misfortune, as while the shirts are not to my standard to sell, they are still wearable, with only the sleeves missing.

My fault though, who leaves their work out with young kids who like to snip and paste? This idiot. In the end I am still happy with the designs and I like to be generous with my friends so I am happy the shirts will still see the light of day.

This is not the first time this has happened to me though. Years ago when we went through the "21St's" party stage I was making my outfits as the parties came up. I worked all night on a lovely shirt and only had to put in the zip the next day after work in order to make it to the party on time. My lovely (and extremely good sewer) mother offered to help by putting in the zip. I reiterated several times that she needed to sew off the base of the zip so the zipper foot didn't come off all together making the shirt a throw-away disaster. Yes, Yes, Yes I heard. But - you guessed it, she didn't do it....... Needless to say the inevitable happened and I went out to a flash party in my nice new pants and .... a plan white t-shirt.

Perfect Winter Day

What a glorious day it was in sunny Brisvegas today. Cool enough to wear a cardi (one of my great loves) but still lovely and sunny. My day was spent fishing believe it or not and sitting in the sunshine eating fish and chips.

Although I don't love "killing" fish I do find fishing relaxing and quite therapeutic. I think it is more the water rather then the fishing, but me being me I have to actually be doing "something" to feel it is okay for me to relax. I am not one to just sit and contemplate, although I wish I could.

It was a fun day nevertheless and apart from G's pants falling down regularly (she is nearly 5 and still can't keep a size 3 pair of jeans up) we have no incidents. I did want to use today to debut my newest T-shirt design, but though better of it with the mud and whatnot. Although it probably wouldn't have matter as I have decided I now don't LOVE it, and to make and sell you must LOVE. It is cute, but looks messy and not the standard I would sell to the public, although let me tell you it did take some time - not that you could see that!! I opted for a very square shape with embroidery the same colour as the material. All that has eventuated is an out of shape square, with embroidery you can't see. Oh well. I would love your comments, but I can't even bring myself to put a photo of it upl!!!!!

Noosa Holiday and Australia Zoo

Well I am back today from a great holiday at Noosa with the family and some great friends.  And a wonderful, relaxing time was had by all.  I didn't take a computer which I was nervous about, running an on-line business and all, but it was the best thing I could have done.  Row did a fantastic job (as I knew she would) of keeping everything running smoothly, and I didn't work at all (accept for designing a few sneeky kids shirts - Noosa got the creative juices flowing).

On our last day of holiday's we packed the car up, said goodbye to our friends, and headed off to Australia Zoo.  It was a really great day, although the kids were scatty they were so tired from the week of swimming and sun.  In hind-sight, we should have gone at the start of the holiday, but regardless it was great.  We saw every animal in the zoo, and my 4 year old, who is normally quite timid around animals, insisted on getting her photo taken with an ENORMOUS python.  So we said yes, and nervously watched as the trainers wrapped with 5 metre snake around her.  She was unfazed.....  the most she had to say about it was that the snake felt heavy and slimy.

I would love to post some photos of our experience, but in our true style we forgot our camera and had to resort to using...... a disposable.  How quickly we forget the old.