applehead

the elephant grows....

A quick and easy guessing game.
What do chiffon, ruffles and tiny crystal beads have in common?
 

If you said a wedding dress, you are absolutely correct.
Now, you might be wondering what a wedding dress and our big move to the UK in a little more than five weeks have in common.
Me.
And before anyone offers me well meant,supportive advice suggesting it might be time for me to learn to say 'No' in a big firm voice, be aware that it is my one and only little sister that is the bride to be.
It is an honour and a pleasure to be able to make such a special dress for her. Perhaps not the most ideal time, but it would never have occurred to me not to offer to make it.
She's my sister. End of discussion.
( If I begin to complain about being stressed or tired or overwhelmed, you have permission to be blunt and point out that this was my choice.)
Bearing that it mind, I have still affectionately named the dress, 'The Horror'.
Not because it is ugly( it's actually very beautiful and romantic) but because it involves my arch nemesis, Silk Chiffon.
I hate Silk Chiffon.
A word to all brides out there who have the good fortune to have a mother, sister, aunt or friend of a friend who will help you out with your Dress for the Big Day - do consider a lovely stable fabric such as velvet or duchess silk. Calico,perhaps.

Anything but silk chiffon.

The Horror is all cut out and waiting to be sewn up. All going well, I hope to have the dress ready for hand sewing of the tiny crystal beads, by this time next weekend.
I love my sister.
I am very happy that she is getting married ,that we will be here for the wedding and that the girls will have the fun of being flower girls.
But I still hate silk chiffon

what to do...

when you have a house to sort and pack up and the girls want something fun to do?
Teach them to blow eggs of course.

Charlotte got the hang of it quickly - Rose was a little too enthusiastic and ended up with a handful of egg and eggshell.
Quick wash and dry of the  eggs shells, bit of glue and crafty bits and pieces and there you go.

Egg people.

Glamorous egg.

Middle egg toppled over and came up a little worse for wear.
Nothing a bit of sticky tape can't help, though.

As for the eggs...cinnamon butter cake seemed the sensible option.

And the final tally?

Eggs blown: 5 in total with one casualty

Egg people made: 3 whole and 1 a little cracked

Cakes made and eaten: 1

Boxes sorted and packed: ........not many really.
Actually none to be precise.

Oh well.

the sorting begins...

I decided that my craft books would be a good place to start sorting and culling in preparation for the Big Move. Books went on the pile, off the pile and back on again.

This is what I decided could go...

 

 

I was going to list them on Ebay but thought I'd offer them up to the crafty community first...all of them are in new or practically new condition (with pattern sheets intact if they are meant to have them).

Drop me a line if you are interested in any of them- all of them going at the same flat rate price ($15 AU) plus postage. If you want any information on a book (ISBN, an idea of what is in it,etc) please ask.

I will update as soon as any are spoken for.

Or of course, I change my mind and move them back to the 'keeper' pile...

The following books have been spoken for...

24/09

Collage unleashed

ATC workshop

Bag ( top row, left) 

25/09

1,2,3 bag with stripes chair and table ( 2nd row right)

bag,bag,bag ( third row right)

handmade zakka

Links with photos and information on two of the remaining ones below

cafe craft and linen ...gone 8th Oct

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/CRAFT-CAFE-LINEN-COTTON-Japanese-Craft-Book_W0QQitemZ190205630902QQihZ009QQcategoryZ3119QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262

Point

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/POINT-EMBROIDERY-BOOK-Japanese-Craft-Book_W0QQitemZ170164429224QQihZ007QQcategoryZ28143QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262

eating elephants...

Spring already.
A few warm days and the old oak tree in our back yard is covered with bright green tips.
Summer will be upon us before we know it.
Meanwhile, I'm busy knitting. 

Warm things like a grey silk,alpaca and merino cabled neck warmer and this irresistible red cape for Charlotte (or Grace more likely at the rate I am knitting it!).
Odd?
Not really when you are about to head from one winter into another.
Our family is on the move in December from Sydney to London for two years.
Two years.
I know it's exciting.

A wonderful opportunity to travel.

I'm sure after a while, I'll love it.

At the moment though I'm sad. Sad to be leaving family and friends. Sad to be leaving behind my home and the wonderful lifestyle we have here. Sad that Grace won't get to spend her first summer lying bare bottomed on a blanket in the shade of the oak tree.

The excitement will come later, I know. For now I am daunted by the task of packing up our life and relocating to the other side of the world. 

They say it's best to do it one bite at a time.

Sigh.

It seems like an awfully big elephant so I guess I better start eating. I just wish I was a little bit hungrier....

 

winter icecream cake...

actually quite good at any time of the year.
The day started with pancakes and presents then it was off to spend a day with the family, bike riding and eating chocolate cake.
And what better way to finish of the day than with another cake- this time raspberry chocolate chip icecream cake which is fast becoming a family birthday tradition.

Easy to make and even easier to eat.
Rose loved the birthday quilt which was completed late yesterday afternoon.
Now that I have finished sweeping up all of the cotton threads from this one, it's time to get started on Charlotte's.
I have exactly 10 days so it could be a close call...snip, snip, snip.

serene...

the first word that came to mind when I saw the beautiful print that Tiel sent for Grace "just because"...
( you can get your very own here...)

And for my happy vomiter- bibs. Grace goes through an awful lot of them so I decided to make a few using a few favourite bits of fabric, lined with organic cotton terry towelling found here.

I think that I made the neckline a little too big-the one I used for a pattern had cotton ribbing around the neck but I didn't have any.
Oh well, Grace will grow into them.
And in the meantime, she'll look decorative while she quietly throws up.

 

just stuff....

I'm not doing much besides feeding and washing baby stuff (Grace is a happy vomiter!) - Rose however has been studying frogs. Charlotte is busy being a big sister ( and doing a fine job of it).
My head is full of ideas but for a little while that's where they will have to stay until I find a bit more time and a lot more sleep.

bears and baking....

No, I haven't finished Charlotte's cat but in the meantime here's a panda bear that I did manage to finish for her last year!
I am in serious nesting mode, if the amount of baking and freezing I am currently doing is any indication. That and I have developed a hankering for serious comfort food. This week is biscuit week or more correctly cookie week. A year spent working for Mrs Fields, a long, long time ago when they still mixed up the cookie dough from scratch ( not that awful frozen dough stuff they serve up now) has honed my cookie making skills to perfection.
No under  baked grey sunken cookies here or rock hard overbaked ones either. Just right semi sweet choc chip ones or tonight's batch of cinnamon cookies.Some for now and the rest frozen for later when I have neither the energy or inclination to cook.
A few weeks ago it was waffles.....

It took me ages to find just the right recipe for a Belgium style yeasted waffle (makes a stiff dough rather than a batter) but I did and they were delicious. So much butter and sugar though that I can only really make these for a very special treat.The girls like theirs with melted chocolate on top because you really need just a bit more sugar!

On the baby front...well, it looks like she will arrive sooner than later as I have not really gained any weight in the past four weeks. At the hospital twice a week now for heart rate and movement monitoring which is showing that she is still doing well and not in any distress. I had to have steroid shots this week which will help mature her lung function a little faster just in case it is necessary to delivery her early. Off for another scan to check all functions next Monday and I guess we will just take it from there.

Looks like that baby blanket won't be quite ready....probably doesn't help that I got a little sidetracked and started a pair of fingerless mitts for Rose to wear to school during colder weather... one down, three to go because naturally Charlotte will want a pair too!  I really liked the look of this pair with their cute frill cuff

but have made them a bit longer as Rose has very long arms! ( the pattern if you need it is free, here)

Japanese mail....

A wonderful surprise parcel from Alex in Japan....Pocky, two Japanese craft books and the wool ( and pattern) to make this beret which I once admired on her blog! Lucky me ( I really must finish the baby's blanket before I  indulge in crocheting myself the beret...)

And for those of you who have asked, a look at the 34 and a half weeks in progress project....not the best shots but it's a lot harder than I thought taking pictures of your own belly! ( The haircut only happened last night- usually I cut off all my hair at about week 16- I just got so bored with pulling it back .Time for a change!)

All goes well although I have reached the stage where Charlotte stopped growing. So it's weekly foetal heart rate monitoring and regular scans for me to keep an eye on things. So really , it could be anytime from now on depending on the scan results.
Oh well, my bag is packed even if the blanket is only halfway there....by all accounts she is going to be on the small size so maybe half a blanket will do!

my small space....

I needed to send Pip a photo of my workspace for her in -the- works-book project.
Yes, well......
Now usually when people come to visit, I make a point of keeping the door to my 'office' shut. It's not so much that I am a messy person - it's just the that the amount of stuff in there far exceeds the actual space available to store it neatly.

Add to that the fact that when we moved in over three years ago, I was about 33 weeks pregnant with Charlotte ( who then arrived at 36 weeks) so I wasn't really able to sort it all out to begin with. It is really only in the last month that I have found the time to start organising it a little more efficiently. Basically this meant pulling it all out and then putting it all back in ( less quite a few boxes that went off to the op shop.)
I really should have taken a before photo but didn't bother as I knew I would never post it for all to see ( and be horrified by) anyway!

So all you get to see is the after....