dropcloth lucy dress

I just finished sewing up a few more 'flutter sleeve' Lucy Dresses and I have to say, I am sooo in love with this fabric! It's Jay McCarroll's Drop Cloth print from the Habitat collection. I've been hoarding this fabric for a while and I'm not sure if it's even available anymore. But seriously, isn't this the best print for an adventurous little girl?!? A modern, funky print that camouflages any spills or stains that might occur in a busy day's work :) 

I also made a couple more chevron print Lucy Dresses with the 'puff sleeves'. 

These dresses are on their way to Beansprouts, a very fun and fabulous kids' clothing shop on Main Street in Vancouver. I probably should mention that I recently started selling my dresses and skirts there, which is why my etsy shop is looking a little bare right now.. So if you're local and are in need of a sweet little dress to take your mind off this rather gloomy weather, head on over! (By the way, these layer really well over leggings or jeans and long sleeves.) And if you're not local and would like a dress, shoot me an email and we can work something out. 

melissa x

sunny day sale

(ok, so I wrote this post this morning and totally forgot to publish it. DOH! Well, here it is..)

Sunny winter days are few and far between here in Vancouver, so I thought I'd have a random sale! 30% off everything in the shop as long as the sun keeps shining here (which is looking like probably just until tomorrow, then rain again..) 

I just added a few new pouches and still have more to add.

Happy shopping! :)

ramblings, a GIVEAWAY and an end of summer sale..

(fyi, giveaway and sale info is right down at the very bottom of this rather drawn out post so if you don't care to read through my ramblings, just go ahead and scroll down to the bottom. I won't be offended :)

Hello friends! I had a super busy but very fun couple of days. On Sunday, I was back peddling my wares at the Blim Community Market, only this time, instead of in a back lane on a cool evening, it was right smack downtown in the afternoon of probably the hottest day of the year so far. We were lucky enough to have the shelter of a tent but even so, we were meeelting! But, it was still a great turnout and a fun time!

view from my booth

On Monday, it was all play and no work at the PNE Fair here in Vancouver. I love love LOVE this fair and I haven't been in a few years. So this time, I selfishly left the kiddos at home with the grandparents and went with friends. There are a few 'must dos' for me when visiting the PNE. 'Oooing and awwing' at the Superdogs show, watching live 'infomercials' at the marketplace, purchasing gadgets that you 'really hope will work but know that there is a 50% chance they will not' at the marketplace, eating a bag of those little donuts all warm and sugary, and playing a few of those silly and often impossible games at Playland. My favourites are Roll a Ball and Wac a Mole. Seriously, I LOVE Wac a Mole. I think it's quite possibly one of the most fun ways for a mama to release some stress!

 Me looking a little crazed with excitement! (and I won!)

Me in action but lost to the guy on my right :(

So in Vancouver, the PNE pretty much signifies the end of summer. It goes until Sept 5th and then, whattaya know, it's back to school for the kids, the air is significantly cooler and the leaves are falling from the trees. (actually, with our strange summer, the leave have already been falling off the trees for a while now..) So, even though I don't really want to admit that summer is coming to an end, it is. So I thought it might be fun to do a little giveaway and to have a bit of a sale in the shop.

First, the GIVEAWAY. I've been having a super fun time whipping up these little zippered pouches. They are made from a textured vintage cotton fabric and lined with really fun and colourful prints because, well, I love having little secret bursts of colour and fun prints! The zippers are a hint to what you'll find inside..

Would you like to win one of these? If so, then leave a comment on this post. Anything is fine, but if you're feeling chatting, you can tell me a bit about yourself, if you like the fall or if you're sad about summer ending.. OR, if you have a good 'knock-knock' joke cuz kiddo #1 is all over these and I'm running out of good ones to tell him. Contest closes on Sept 5th and TWO WINNERS will be picked by the good ol' random number generator. Winners can choose from any of the black or white rose pouches available. One comment per person please.

 BUT, you can get bonus entries if you
1) follow my blog
2) follow @ohhellorabbit on twitter
3) tweet about this giveaway mentioning @ohhellorabbit
4) 'like' this blog post Just realized I don't have a 'like' button so change that to 'share this post on Facebook'
Please leave a separate comment for each of these bonus entries. Yup, I know it's pretty much bribery, so if you're against that, then a simple comment below with some way for me to contact you will suffice.

Now, on to the sale..

From now until September 12th:
ALL CLOTHING in the shop will be 25% off (with a few items at 40% off!)
ALL POUCHES will be FREE SHIPPING (in North America only. Discounted shipping for International)
No coupon code required. Prices and shipping have already been adjusted. Now go on, have a look!

xo mel

I survived my first market!

On a gorgeous and thankfully sunny and summery evening last Saturday night, I hauled my two suitcases full of stitched up goodies and set up a mini-shop on 3 feet of table space at the Blim Night Market in one of Vancouver's alleyways. The market was part of an event put on by Livable Laneways which in their own words is a "non-profit organization dedicated to transforming the overlooked laneways and alleys of Vancouver into pedestrn-friendly zones."

I shared a table with my friend Joanne who bakes amazing nostalgia-inspired goodies such as ding-dongs and old-fashioned cinnamon-sugar doughnuts! Yum!

When we first entered the lane (alley) to set up, there was a pretty bad stench of pee. Yup. Gross. But of course somewhat expected in big city alleyways such as this. Luckily, our table neighbour was a lovely woman who makes the most amazing smelling natural soaps so the whole night I was breathing in nothing but lavender, rosemary and peppermint. Heavenly!

Here are a few other random pictures of the market.

cool hoops 

 set-up

 lovely fashion

 crows overhead

laser lights at the end of the night

 Here is the new owner of Clarence the Bear! He was one of the newest additions to the Oh Hello Rabbit shop, along with Ned the Bear and Lucinda the Rabbit. I'll be adding more of these critters to the shop soon.

And here's Stanley the Worm. I had him at the market for a giveaway as he's quite the attention grabber (very debonair with his bow-tie!) So he's off to his new owner soon but I think I'll be doing another giveaway on my blog soon so stay tuned...

So overall, I felt pretty good about my first market. I have to admit that it probably wasn't totally my target audience (note to self: back alley night markets don't yield high family foot traffic), but it was fun to get to hang out with other 'makers' and 'crafters' and it was really great to see how people reacted to my creations (another note to self: people love little skirts and well-dressed animals). So overall, I'll mark this down as a success! 

colourful carrots and some new skirts

We made it out to the Thornton Park farmer's market today BEFORE the rain hit this time (ahhh, gotta love these West coast summers...) Lil' C and I stocked up on beautiful cabbage, beets, yellow beans, tomatoes, raspberries, strawberries, apple chips, and these awesome colourful carrots! (please ignore the pile of dishes in the sink. I tidied those up right after I took this photo. Honest!) Then I proceeded to cook a lovely supper of farm fresh veggies and organic chicken which, by the way, MY KIDS ACTUALLY ATE (after slathering it in ketchup..)! Yay! We are making some progress on the food front. By the way, after writing that post, I read this book to my kiddos and it made me smile! Feeling pretty lucky that I only have two silly eaters and not seven :)

Also, I am slowly but surely adding some new things to the shop! 

A girl can never have too many skirts!

(FYI, some 'ready to ship' items are now on sale in the shop. Go on and check them out!)

hello birdie

New style UPcycled shirt dress with flutter cap sleeves in the shop.