applehead

no glue involved

In between peeling gel medium off my fingertips and picking scraps off paper up off the floor ( I'm a bit of a mess when I'm making stuff) I have managed to finish embroidering this fish.
I am happy with the shape of the bag and the handle but just need to decide how I wish to attach the strap.
So close......

Oh, and I get to write my very first note to the teacher today! Poor Rose had a stuffy head cold and I thought it best not to infect her whole class( gee, that would make me a popular person). So, she is home to day for a bit of a rest and I get to write the aforementioned note.

Dear Teacher,
I felt it best to keep my runny nosed, germ sneezing  bundle of  joy at home yesterday as it meant that we could all stay in our PJ's until 10am and watch Playschool together.Oh, and we had pancakes for breakfast.
Kind regards
Rose's mama.
xxxx
( a bit of sucking up never goes astray, I'm thinking)

This note writing gig is a breeze.......

Here's a book I finished putting together the other day.

Vey satisfying, indeed.

caped crusader.....

I am so making myself one of these for winter...

....and best of all the pattern in free! Go take a look at Fitzpatterns here...
Now, I'm dreaming of a red cape but do you think it's a bit too Little Red Riding hood?
Whatever fabric I choose, it will have to have a satin lining!

A  little doodle I've been working on lately for the ATC doodle swap. Once you've got your finished doodle, you cut it up into ATC sized pieces and send it off. How easy is that!

Note: an ATC is an Artist trading card - the dimensions are 2.5"x3.5", or 64x89mm.Click here to access a page that gives you a run down on exactly what an ATC is. If anyone wants to give the ATC format a try, let me know and we'll organise a swap. Its a great format size to work with - and  easy on the postage. I love it when one of these little cards turns up in my mail!

For a bit of beauty in your day, go visit the scent of water....photos and poetry, what a combination!

think pink.....

had a date at a four year old Piper's  birthday party on Saturday...so off we went to the birds, butterflies and bees gala dressed ( quite appropriately) as a bird and a bee.The two girls that is, not me.

Charlie was the bee.( And no, I didn't make this cute dress- it was a gift...)

I made tiny butterfly cakes ,with a bit of pink sugar on the top because Piper's philosophy is that you can never have enough Pink, Frills or Pink!

(that's Charlotte's sticky little hand quietly removing a cupcake!)

And what do you give a girl who loves Pink, frills, all things girly and of course, Pink?

This of course....

A Pink, frilly, girly apron.

But is it Pink enough????

We're really enjoying the spot of fine weather that is with us at the moment. Long ,lazy days spent swimming and just doing nothing ( nothing of course,after you have finished the morning run of washing, cleaning and cooking and before you start doing the afternoon/evening routine of washing,cleaning and cooking!). Love it!

In between times, I have been having a bit of a play with constructing fabric bowls based on a pattern found in this book ISBN4-579-11088-9.( highly recommend this one by the way!)

 

I  felted an old cream baby blanket for one bowl and used a heavy blue linen for the other ( it has been tipped over in the picture below,so you can see the stitched base). Here is the cream bowl at the almost finished stage.

A few french knots and a bit of running stitch and you have a bowl!

I still get emails ( and photos, thank you very much) from people who have made this felt box. I had been planning to make a few more and then came across the fabric bowl pattern. I decided to try those instead. They are a little more wobbly looking than I expected ,but in the end I have decided that I quite like the whole effect.Sort of soft and sculptural looking.....

These bookmarks, also from the same book, are on the to- do list.

In my world, you can never have too many bookmarks and I think that these are particularly appealing.

it was the night before Christmas....

and the girls have hung up the tiny felt stockings that I sewed very,very late one night this week.

That was about the only time spare in a very busy but lovely week. My best friend Carla and husband Matt arrived from London early on Wednesday morning and we headed out for an amazing dinner at Tetsuya's that night. Shopping and getting ready for a get together with best friend Steph and her family the next day...busy and noisy but fun!
Friday morning, Carla and I managed to squeeze in a 7km run, where we finally had the chance to just talk and catch up on bits and pieces. We could talk underwater ,so running and chatting was a breeze!
Then it was out to the airport so that Matt and Carla could catch a flight to Adelaide to spend time with family there. I will see them hopefully for one other day, before they head back to the UK and work, just before the New Year. A super quick and full visit but so wonderful to have them in the same country again for a few short days!
I am busy cooking for the family feast tomorrow and finishing off a last minute gift for Damian.He is off to Paris for a month's work on the 27th off this month, so we have also been trying to make sure everything is packed and ready to go! I think next week will be lots of lazy mornings sitting around in our PJ's until late morning......
A very safe and peaceful Christmas to you all - thank you for all of the comments and feedback this year - thoughtful, funny, supportive and just plain friendly! I consider myself lucky to have made some very special friends through this blog- you know who you are!

An early gift from the lovely Pip from "Meet me at Mikes" -
a happy applehead that plays a cheery tune!  Makes me smile just looking at it!

no hustle in my bustle...

First of all I saw the lovely one made and modeled by Nikkishell and I then followed her link to here ....and discovered the Miss Twiss Hustle Bustle skirt.After taking a look at what other people had made using her pattern i jumped right in and hit that "Buy Now" button. I actually received my pattern a few months back ( lovely heavy brown paper and too lovely to cut up so I just used the measurements instead) but have been too busy to make it. Then last night I had hit a brick wall with regard to my April calendar pages...they are so close to being finished but there is something missing. And I haven't yet worked out just what that something is! So I decided that the time had come for me to make my very own Hustle bustle.
The pattern is really simple and goes together very quickly. A few seams , a few button holes and a long tie and, voila, you have a Hustle bustle skirt. The only problem was, that when I tried mine on it just didn't look right. Too much fabric across the front and my bustle didn't look at all like the perky numbers everyone else was turning out.Did I have the tie threaded up correctly? Check.Was it , in fact on back to front? No. Definitely the right way around.It was getting rather late so I went to bed a little sad that my bustle was not all that it should be.
As soon  as Charlie went down for her sleep I hit the machine again as it had occurred to me that by simply changing the position of the buttonholes, I could solve the problem of the excess front fabric and hopefully the drooping bustle. And it worked. My bustle had found its hustle! ( I can't believe that I couldn't work this out  the night before....)
Here it is, in all its bustling glory. ( you can see by the photos that not only am I the model but also the photographer!)

If you have been thinking about getting the pattern and making one of these...do it now! It really is an ingenious little design and ( barring the slight issue with sizing) took me about an hour and a half from start to finish.....what's not to love about it!

on a roll.....

here it is , all finished complete with trim, button and a few bloodstains....I stick myself so often with needles and pins that I don't really pay attention anymore when I do.
Note to self: check to see just how much damage you did to your thumb before continuing to sew. Failure to do so may result in bloodstains on your nearly completed piece of work......

 

I managed to blot the bloodstain off so you can barely see it unless you look really closely (don't,please) and sewed on the button to finish it off.

No more fishing around for my size 2.50 crochet hook....

I went to post a letter.....

and came back with some wonderful old fabric and a piece of leafy goodness...the nearest postbox happens to be right outside a small second hand/vintage shop so I either need to find a different place to post my letters or remember to leave my wallet at home! Although the woman in the shop is most obliging about putting things aside for me....

The top piece is French vintage ticking which I probably paid too much for but had to have.The very bottom fabric is a huge piece of vintage linen or perhaps linen/cotton....it has the most incredible soft and worn in handle to it. And I know exactly what I'm going to do with it...

I will make a bag inspired by these pretties from this book .......the fabric had a loose weave that will make it perfect for adding a crochet trim.
And I am determined to actually make this bag as opposed to just thinking about it!
I went to put some fabric away last night and open up the cupboard- full.
Next stop, one of the big pull out baskets on the shelving in the living area - full. As were the other three baskets and wooden chest I put fabric in. That isn't even taking into account the stash in the roof space. So I have decided that in a week or too I have to do a big, big sort out. A SERIOUS ONE where I actually reduce the amount of fabric that I have. I'm a little scared by that one!

This pretty dish is not just an impulse buy - it has a purpose! I am currently working on my pages for the calendar swaps ( did I mention that I am actually involved in another one as well ?) I have decided on the theme for one calendar but couldn't quite decided on the second theme. And then I found it! I think that the line work and blocks of colour will work very nicely on what I  have planned......

There is a lot of creating going on around here at the moment..I am working on quite a few swaps, putting together a zillion paper packs ( or so it seems) and Rose is learning to French knit ( yours is here Melissa, just waiting for me to organise our little swap!) Loads of fun especially when the knitted tube finally emerges from the end of the little doll knitter.I remember making great lengths of it when I was a girl although I used a wooden cotton reel with nails in it - I made a few small mats, a hat for a doll and just played with the rest of it!
A good way to use up odds and ends and balls of wool.....and I have a lot of those as well. Best not to go there until I tackle the fabric.

Note of warning to all visitors to my house:Take care when opening any cupboard,drawer,storage space as there is a very likely danger of you being swamped by a falling pile of fabric....

the aliens have landed....

Objective: to make a one piece doll with very long thin arms and legs....

Outcome: one very alien like one piece doll with very long thin arms and legs....

maybe clothes will make all the difference!

This is my recently acquired old typewriter...Rose is fascinated by it and I am having a ball with it. I'd forgotten how much fun it is to use a manual typewriter after years of using the computer.

Actually I don't think that it was that much fun when I had to do a school assignment way back when on it,as my typing skills were dreadful ( and haven't improved one bit - thank goodness for spell check!)

Now, however It is the perfect tool for adding text to ATC's, swing tags and gift cards.....some are in the works and hopefully I will get a few pics up soon. Not much spare time at present as it's the last week of school holidays.Lots of cooking, visiting and kid's craft happening but not too much else!

Did manage to find a few beautiful vintage buttons though that have come in very handy for a small project that I have been working on for a friend......I'll let you know when the site is all up and running...

Where's my baby gone?.....

Just five days old and so tiny...now she's two!
Happy birthday Charlotte!
She has a wicked little sense of humour and a loud belly laugh. Very determined and quite independent but she doesn't like talking trains or buses with faces! Not one bit!

Adores her big sister and whatever Rose is having, Charlie is having too!

Charlotte is fascinated by the moon and stars...moon was one of her first words.

Love you and the smiles you bring everyday, little one!
(Don't grow up too fast)
xxx mama

not for the squeamish but I am in awe of this photo....