The Grand Opening of Crago Mill

There has been a lot of luck coming my way lately. Meetings, opportunities and plans have all fallen neatly into place.

Leading up to yesterday, the grand opening of the renovated Crago mill in Bathurst, and a display of my hats in the jewellery shop, Gems Bathurst.

The gorgeous woman who owns the shop, Gail, has been amazing helping me prepare, giving me advice, encouraging me, and generally acting as mentor.

My grandmother Wendy offered her spare dressing table as a display space. Isn't it beautiful? And lots of her friends helped in transporting it, arranging it in the shop space and polishing it until it gleamed.

I was up late and sleeping badly the night before, and my evenings last week involved a hurried preparation of business cards, photo albums, sign and new hats, all having to fit around parent-teacher night and a teacher network meeting.

It was unquestionably worth it. I met lovely friendly people and had some great chats (tough work for me, talking to people, but I pushed myself (and Bennie pushed me too)).

Lots of people took business cards, people looked at photos, and tried on hats, and asked questions.

I ticked off and celebrated every happy moment. The first business card taken, the first hat tried on, etc.

I made Wendy and myself hats and we modelled them proudly.

This was the other hat I made during the week, a black felt cloche with bling and ostrich feather.

Next to my little sign and a hand mirror Wendy thoughtfully brought along for people to check themselves out in.

And here are some close-ups of Wendy's hat. Inspired by a vintage hat (I pinned it here if you're interested) and another great opportunity to use a cute vintage button.

The green cloche was the most admired hat of the day, but this one was probably second.

If you get a chance to be in Bathurst, I recommend checking out the mill, and not just so you can see my hats in person. It's a fabulous heritage building, the cafe food is great, you can have some local wine (which I'm sure is also great, but I don't drink wine, so I dunno!), drool over antique furniture, and get a range of handmade local products. Gail's jewellery is stunning, and she has a lot of great items from other locals too, including some adorable cushions with buttons. Plus the mill is just full of the nicest people you will ever meet!

Thanks to everyone who made this happen.