Trove's Farewell Fire Sale over on Etsy

 As you now know, I've been making a move towards a simpler life these past twelve months. This has been a move that came about initially from a massive case of burnout while running my jewellery business, Trove.

In July last year I was at the absolute end of my wits trying to juggle work plus being a full-time mum plus running the house and managing a big renovation/extension plus being pregnant. I came to a point where I realised I was not committed fully to anything, and that I needed to make a massive shift in the way I was living.

Fast forward to now and I'm a fair way along that path, still hurdling obstacles but at least I have a clear goal in mind.

I've been slowly clearing our home of extraneous objects and things that have been weighing us down, but up until now I hadn't been able to open a few of the boxes in our storeroom. They hold the last of my Trove stock (around 300 pieces) and I think I was subconciously holding on to them, as selling them off would be to finally admit defeat.

But I've made a shift lately and I know that I need to clear the decks completely so I can keep moving forward, so here's my opportunity to you and anyone you may know who loves beautiful, handmade jewellery - at a CRACKING discount no less.

Over the next few days I'll be listing the rest of my Trove stock for sale on Etsy, and there is nothing over $20AUD. My retail prices used to range from $35 - $90, so this is seriously good shopping.

Go on, tell your friends, your mum, your kids and your work friends to pop on over to the shop. It'll be worth their while!

Rings $35 $10

Earrings $55 $18

Necklaces $66 $20

Statement Necklaces $79 $20

Neckplates $79 $20

Earrings $55 $15

Studs $40 $10

Necklaces $60 $15

Hey There, Distraction. Thanks for kicking my arse.

I whipped into my studio/storeroom just after the kids went to sleep, with all intentions of posting a quick, easy chocolate-chip cookie recipe to help use up your extra Easter eggs (cause if you're anything like us, they're still coming out the wazoo and any pleasure gained from eating them has been replaced with a bloated self-loathing. No? Oh, it's just me then. Carry on.) But I got sucked down the internet rabbit-hole and found myself reading my old jewellery business blog, Trove.

I honestly haven't given it too much thought since we closed the business down last year (a move I in no way regret. The timing was just bad for us to have such a big, involved business.) but reading over the journey Sparky and I (and Isy for some of it) have taken did make me feel...funny. I remember so many late nights, so many books scrawled with plans and calculations and figures and collections and sketches and logos, so many big big dreams. I don't think I realised until just now just how close we were to making those dreams a reality.

But that's the only bad thing about dreams becoming reality: the reality part.

The long, long hours, the crappy pay, the time spent away from the kids and Sparky, the hundreds of hours of stress and guilt.

Life is a constant see-saw balancing act, where you need to give and take to keep the overall balance there. Sometimes you tip one way, other times you lean in the opposite direction. Sometimes you even feel stable and balanced.

For us, Trove pushed the balance too far in one direction and made it really difficult to tip back. So, when I read about the excitement and promise that was in our business, I need to remind myself that this quest for a simple(r) life means there's plenty of time for everything, just not at the same time.

*And here ends today's diary entry.

Continue on for a delicious choc-chip cookie recipe, that allows you to use up your extra Easter eggs...

You'll need: 


125g butter
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup SR flour
3/4 cup plain flour
1/2 cup rolled oats (I often use muesli if I'm out of oats)
1 cup choc bits or chopped up Easter eggs
a handful of sultanas

1. Melt butter and peanut butter over medium heat. Once combined, transfer to a large bowl and cool for five minutes.

2. Add brown sugar and egg, mix well. Add flours, oats, chocolate and sultanas. Mix well to combine.

3. Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls, place on baking paper lined trays and flatten slightly with a fork.

4. Cook in preheated oven (180C) for 10-12 minutes or until golden. (By around 12 minutes they tend to go quite hard and crunchy. 10 or 11 minutes leaves them chewy.)

Delish, and calorie free when consumed for breakfast. (Not that I ate two.)

K.I.S.S: Decisions

Chucks by Nan Lawson on Etsy

One of my dearest friends is moving to London today, indefinitely. We had dinner last week (such a pleasure, let me tell you! Great company, amazing Italian food, delicious wine...) and I was struck by how calm and committed to the move she was - no nerves or cold feet or second guesses. Not that it would be warranted mind you, I think this is going to be amazing for her, but you could be forgiven for feeling a little jittery about such a massive shift.

It got me thinking though about keeping decisions simple and owning your choices. Sparky and I have made a lot of big decisions in a seemingly short amount of time - the decision to sell our house in the city and move to the mountains was made early one morning and we were looking for property the same day. We also decided very quickly to close down Trove, just as it was becoming very successful. Both of these decisions have been life-changers and choices we've never once regretted. We made the best decision for ourselves and committed to it. There's no benefit in second guessing after the fact because the alternatives were never an option.

It's such a welcome relief when you commit to a decision and then simply move forward.

I once read an article on happiness, and one of the suggestions to creating more happiness was to simplify our decision-making process. If you need new shoes you should visit just two shoe stores and make your choice. More options doesn't mean you're going to feel more satisfied once your decision is made, it just means that making that decision will take longer and likely be more stressful.

Now, I don't know about you, but I'd quite like to spend a day shoe shopping, so I don't think that that was the best example but I do like the thinking behind it!

Why?

So, a little bit of background and some understanding as to what this is all about:

I'm a stay at home mum of one very active and hilarious 18-month-old girl, with another bub on the way (due beginning December). My husband Sparky, Isy and myself live in a teeny tiny house in the Blue Mountains, about an hour out of Sydney.

An embarassingly old shot of us. (I'm a bit camera-shy.)

We're smack-bang in the middle of organising major renovations and an extension to our 1950s fibro cottage, and hope to start construction within the next 4 weeks. We hope (optimistically) to be finished the majority of the construction before baby #2 arrives in late November/early December.

I am a complete garden nerd. I love gardening magazines, shows, blogs, forums etc, and often find my bedtime reading consists of Organic Gardener or one of my numerous vegetable gardening books.  I have to admit, as excited as I am about the upcoming works on our house, I am a tiny bit more pumped at the idea of finally bringing to life my plans for a big vege garden and small orchard in our backyard and seeing just how much we can live off our little patch of land.

I used to own and run an independent jewellery label, Trove, but decided to close the doors earlier this year. (I am currently in the process of selling the last few hundred pieces, so do check it out if you are interested - the prices are pretty damn good.) After three years of building the business up - I had 40+ hand-selected stockists world-wide, showed my collections at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week and was on the verge of hiring permanent staff - I suffered major burn-out. I was trying to be an excellent full-time Mum to a very active, not-very-sleepy toddler, trying to run a busy jewellery label and trying to make every individual piece I sold (all production was down to me too) and it took its toll on me emotionally and physically.

As a result of the turmoil and angst we felt earlier this year, I started thinking about living more simply. Sounds twee, I know, but I can really see and really understand the value in living a life well, living a life wholly and living a life simply and naturally. And that's really where this journey, the Lavender Experiment, really begins.

I want to document the things I do (successfully and unsuccessfully) in trying to live life more simply and more naturally. I'm also keen on sharing the renovation process as it goes along, the garden's construction and other things that pique my interest along the way.

Hopefully you'll find it interesting. I know I will!

Brooke x