Announcement

It is with some regret and a lot of sadness that I announce that Possum Pouches will close its doors in October, due to a number of personal reasons.
Future orders are closed and this week I am endeavouring to complete what orders are still outstanding , and list on my Ozebaby store any finished items that I may find . The following week I will be divesting myself of any left over fabric and bits and pieces, with a view to having everything gone by the middle of the month.
If you are a wahm wanting nappy making supplies by all means contact me and tell me what you are in need of;I prefer not to sell as nappy cuts, so whole metres only please,minimums may apply.There may be some hand dyed wool but I will not know until after this week exactly what is left.Keep an eye on the wool and fabric page of the Possum Pouches website to see what is available,but the site will close in a couple of weeks.
I would like to take this opportunity of thanking those of you who have supported me over the last 6 or 7 years;I have always been and still am a strong advocate of cloth nappies.

Week 3 and 4 prize vouchers for hunt

The $50 vouchers for weeks 3 and 4 will both be drawn at the end of the hunt, so you still have 2 chances.Please remember you have to enter this draw separately from the hunt;having found the icon does not automatically enter you in the draw.

Orders

I am endeavouring to finish current orders by this weekend, albeit slowly;however at the moment I am unable to accept further orders. I will be emailing people with info over the coming days and I apologise for the delay.

Belated updates

As many of you will be aware life has been a bit topsy turvy in the Possum Pouches family. Consequently I have not been able to get any stock up and am still trying to finish KK orders. I head off tomorrow, I may get back for a few hours early next week before heading off again, in a different direction, for my stepfather's operation. The result of that operation will determine where I go next but given he has had a heart attack and a stroke in the last couple of weeks and now is to have a general anaesthetic,probably followed by a course of radium it isn't going to be an easy time, especially for my mum.
If you have KK orders in place I have started them but can not complete them before I go;I hope to have them ready for posting next week, just not sure which day.
Promos promised for the hunt will now continue into October to compensate for the late start.
Congratulations to JF who has won week 2's $50 voucher . To those who didn't win, I am including you in the next 2 draws as well so you still have another 2 chances to win.Anyone who finds the Possum Pouches icon is eligible to enter but you do have to send me the relevant information, as per my earlier blog post. The voucher can be spent at any of the stores participating in the current hunt.
Those of you still hunting- take heart, finding the icon is achievable and there are clues in the hints thread; plus this one- clue 4 is not an anagram.
Please use the PM system at Diaper Decisions to ask for extra help as that way I can help each of you individually depending on what you have already found.
Some of you have probably seen the picture on my site of my grandson Jacob playing with his cousin Amittai;Amittai's little brother was born early today our time. I don't know his name yet but can't wait for photos. His grandma(my sister) arrived in London last Friday and just had enough time to get over her jet lag before bub made an early arrival.
Jacob's little brother or sister is due in February.Photo here is of Jacob in his Cat in the Hat "costume" which he recently wore at Day Care.
With luck I can catch up on sewing in the next couple of months if and when things settle down.

Nappy Hunt begins.

I have just returned from holidays but unfortunately some major issues have arisen that need to be attended to before I do anything else.
I therefore will not have stock for at least the first week of the hunt .
After that it will be a case of play it by ear but am planning to have red spot specials at random times; watch the home page of the site where I will post the info whilst the special is on;if nothing is there then there is no special so do check again later.You can email orders for KK AIOs (ML and Lge) or knits at any time and I will let you know the approximate waiting time.
As I keep my prices as low as possible all year plus give part proceeds of all sales to charity I am not offering a set discount but will have random red spot specials which may last an hour, or a day or a week.
I am offering a weekly prize, drawn 8th,15th,22nd and 30th September from the hunters who have found my icon in that respective week.
The fine print:
To enter you need to email me (from the PP site-no PM's or posts ) and attach a full screenshot of the websiste showing the icon(not a cropped version,must be complete screen)(this means the extreme hunt icon,it is not a different icon for this prize,you must have found and registered as having found my hidden extreme icon) using the email address with which you are registered to hunt and telling me how you located the icon
From the entries for each week one will be randomly drawn and that person will be eligible for a $50 voucher to be spent at the store of their choice, from the list of sponsors. The winner will need to nominate the store and I will pass the payment to the store owner;it is not a cash payment to the individual so you need to place an order with the store of your choice. It may be split between no more than 2 stores. You must be registered hunter and you must prove you have found the icon to be able to enter.
For those of you who have emailed whilst I was away I will be sorting through emails over the coming days and will reply as soon as I possibly can. I may get called away at very short notice so if I disappear it just means I have not had enough warning to get anything up onto the blog.

August bits and pieces

PP remains closed for August to all except knit orders.
I am away for the latter half of the month, with no internet access, while DH takes a much needed break. We will be tucked away near a river with nearest town about 30 to 40 minutes drive away.

Things will start to pick up again in September, when I take part in the nappy hunt this time as an extreme sponsor.

The prize is a minkee KK nappy with matching knitted soaker and some wipes.
I will be offering some specials during the month; this will vary throughout the extent of the nappy hunt; but rather than just giving a % discount at hunt time, I prefer to give you the discounted prices all year round.
Possum Pouches main aim is to get cloth to everyone, so it is important to give you great products at the lowest possible price.All products continue to be made here in Australia , one wahm for nappies and beading and 2 of us for knits.

However I will have various specials to tempt you, including on Daddy Flats nappies which I make under a special licence. These are great instead of flats or prefolds, and I hope to have lots of options to tempt you.There will also be good specials on knits; these were very popular last hunt and kept both of us knitting constantly.It is wise to get your order in early.

Instocks will mostly be sold from the PP site;I hope to also have custom options available via my Ozebaby store.This will include the fabulous KK nappy.

Regarding the hunt, as I said we are an extreme site this time so finding the icon should be a bit tricky ;having said that I expect some people may find it relatively easy to solve,especially if you have participated in earlier hunts.

My best suggestion at this stage is to browse through my site before the hunt starts, to get an idea of the pages.As I am going to be away I have had to set the hunt up before I go but do not get a lot of time to make many changes to the site. I will be back just in time for the start.

The home page will tell you where to begin searching. Extra clues will not be available for the first week but don't forget to check the Diaper Decisions forum after that if you need additional help.
I usually find it easier if people email me or send a personal message via the forum,rather than posting your query on the forum itself. That avoids inadvertently giving away clues to those who do not yet need them.

If you contact me during the rest of this month please don't think I am ignoring you when I don't reply; reception even for phones is not good at this caravan park and they do not have an internet terminal. I don't drive the vehicle that pulls the caravan as I find it too big so am stuck in the caravan park which is the only place for miles; I am taking a supply of books, Harry's Rocky Road chocolate in large quantities and plenty of good wine; am not taking my sewing but will have my knitting for night time.
I do hope everyone enjoys this hunt, I have noticed a few new sites and quite a few different items this year.I am going to be watching for nice "little" nappies as Jacob is going to be a big brother in February.It is too early to know what colour we want but I am sure that won't deter me.

August- The next nappy hunt -and a request

Firstly-Possum Pouches will be closed during August for everything except knit orders.I have an enormous amount of paperwork to do,(its BAS time for DH again gggrr) plus visitors coming and going, and I am away for a full 2 weeks later in the month with absolutely no internet access or computers at all during the full 2 weeks.
The hunt is coming up and I am hoping to somehow find time to sew some stock before I go away as I am not taking sewing with me.
I will have some promos throughout the hunt month including a big one on Daddy Flats-which are a great alternative to prefolds for small bubs; these will be available as a really fabulous deal during the hunt.
I am not discounting my other products during the hunt; my prices are already at rock bottom and this is how they will remain; there will be brief specials for example where free postage is offered on certain items, a free gift included, a second item half price etc; but these will just happen randomly throughout the hunt.
I am an extreme site this hunt for the first time; last hunt someone made a suggestion that my site should have been an extreme;I disagree and I think whoever said that may perhaps regret their words after looking for my icon this time. On the other hand some of you will breeze through it, just as many of you did last hunt.By now some of you will realise that my site is not a template like most websites; and it is not easy to actually hide anything on it as people can chance on the icon without doing any real work to locate it.
Once you reach my age you will understand how important it is to keep those grey cells exercised just like any other part of the body, perhaps more so. Use it or lose it !!!
Now-I have avoided saying this for some time but feel the time has come.This is a gentle request to read, re-read and read again what you write on forums and blogs when mentioning nappy names ( ANY nappy, I am not talking only about mine); read it and put yourself in the place of the wahm who made the nappy and think very carefully about how that person may react.Perhaps rephrase it. Even if you think it wouldn't upset you if said about you, not everyone reacts the same way. I have seen several posts in the last week where just the choice of words can be less than fair publicity for the wahm/s involved (no names mentioned but this applies to several different products by several different wahms)and can be so upsetting to anyone who has worked very hard to provide a good product and give great service.Slipping in a negative remark about a product to help promote someone else's is plain bad etiquette.
If something is not working quite how you believe it should, you should contact the wahm and ask her why it might be happening, before you post saying in blunt terms the product has something wrong with it.99% of problems can be rectified easily with the correct advice. Also,waving a nappy over baby's bottom when the parcel arrives and then saying publicly it doesn't work is not really a fair reason for selling it on within hours or even days of purchase.If it is new contact the maker to see if a refund or exchange is available, if it is second hand you need to know how it was cared for and if it has been laundered properly, but still perhaps contact the maker for some advice.
Comments that "such and such a nappy is the only one that works" are totally unfair.Nobody can tell me the writer has properly tried every single nappy that is out there.A better way to say it would be "we find x,y and z work well for us at the moment".
If I see a nappy being onsold because "it doesn't work" and the time frame has been too short for a fair trial my initial feeling is the person bought it for alternative reasons !!!!!!
That's enough on that subject.Most people know by now how strongly I feel about people who try to ride in on the success of others, not to mention those who encourage others to cheat.
I hope everyone enjoys the hunt, they are always great fun. I suggest you don't stress over any site that is too difficult but make a note to come back when more clues are available.I don't usually have a lot of time to do any hunting but am hoping to try every site this time- because my brain needs that exercise!
In the meantime, retirement is always in the wings around here now, so if anyone wants to offer the right price for a great nappy business, well....???
It is a lot of work for one person.
Photo is Jacob's new cubby house and slide which grandpa helped his dad put up the other week;swing set is out of the picture to the right with his trampoline.You can just see his little face peeking over the front rail and that is grandpa(my DH) lower right of pic.