Aunty Mum

The Great Reveal and Lots of Tea

2012-01-29T19:43:00.001+13:00

It’s taken just over a month (40 hours of crochet time) and it’s complete. I’m so hoping my Mum will love this as much as I do. The colours are better than what I thought. I only have one issue, and that’s the placement of the squares. I followed the guide from the pattern and have ended up with a row of dark brown. If I were to do it again, I’d probably assemble them differently. Maybe that’ll teach me to join as I go.

I can just see Mum throwing this over her legs as she has a read/snooze on a cold winter afternoon. Wish it were mine!

And now for the tea cosy. I am shocking at making anything for myself and getting it finished. I seem to have much more integrity about completion of projects when they’re destined for another home. However, we’ve had a lovely afternoon on Nanny and Granddad’s beach and while we were down there I made this . . .

It’s just a little big for my teapot but I’m certain it’ll still help keeping the tea hot enough for a second or even third cup. I got the pattern from here if you want to check it out.

The best part is the little teapot button I had just waiting patiently for a project such as this. I will have to move the button over a bit for a tighter fit on my pot, but that’s a small price to pay. I think I may even do it now so I can head outdoors to work on the grey blanket for the school gala. In fact, I’m stunned, that’s two projects down this week and only one large one to go . . . except . . . I think I’ve found myself another blanket project to keep me busy. More about that soon!

The brink of exhaustion

2012-01-28T19:05:00.001+13:00

It was a pitiful sight in my home last night. The children were all in bed in tears (they were rescued from their bed shortly after and given dinner before being settling down for the night . . . I’m not that cruel) and I was cowering in my shower with the bathroom door locked also in tears.

It’s been no secret that I’ve found this six week period particularly difficult and last night seemed to be the bottom of the barrel. I think I even ruined my parent’s lovely dinner out as they rang at 10 to see how we were and I was in floods of tears again.

Thankfully, once you get to the bottom of the barrel there’s no option but to claw your way to the top again. So this morning, puffy eyed, shattered and more than a little battle weary I realised I was too exhausted to go through another day of tantrums, fights and battles. So with a quiet voice, quiet spirit, I set the table for breakfast and the day began.

And although it hasn’t been a perfect one, it’s been a whole lot better than those preceding it. I set the children up with some painting, which they stuck at for over an hour. Janae (and lunch) put an end to it when she’d had enough and started attacking the others with yellow paint.

And this morning I treated myself to a bit of lady-like time to myself.

I got out the beautiful tray I was given for my birthday, the tea pot, the blanket and hid myself away around the corner. The only concession I made was the Whinnie the Pooh mug as I’ve accidently smashed about three of my china ones in the past week. Tea always tastes better from a stainless steel pot into a china cup but beggars can’t be choosers. Of course, this lovely morning highlighted one important flaw . . . I don’t have a tea cosy. I know I started making one in the winter, but it never got finished. So I’m determined that I’m going to make one in the next few days.

The children are now tucked into bed (sans tears), I’m about to fill the teapot once more and carry on with the final stages of the blanket. I’m dying to show you but it’s just so gorgeous that I want it blocked and beautiful and laying proudly on my bed before I show it off. It will only spend but moments on my bed before being bundled away safely for March 24 and presentation for mum.

So it’s with a slightly lighter heart that I start my evening and am filled with hope for another slightly better day tomorrow.

Learning New Skills

2012-01-27T17:08:00.001+13:00

If you’d been listening at our key hole this morning you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a lesson in soft porn. I’ve been trying to teach Kayley to knit and we’ve had to devise a language that we both understand.

The basic knit stitch goes something like this:

1. Front poke (that’s put the needle into the stitch from front to back).

2. Slip (slip the yarn between the needles from back to front).

3. Back poke (bring the back needle under the slipped yarn from the previous step through to the front).

4. Flip it off (take the stitch off the left needle onto the right one).

Thankfully a nine year old was completely oblivious to my filthy mind and the sniggers I had to keep to myself as we talked through each step on each stitch. We started with 30 stitches, now we have 29 in total but we’ve only managed to knit through 22 thus far. Ah well, we’ll try again tomorrow.

I am quite impressed with my composure actually. More than once I wondered to myself why on earth I’d undertaken this task in the second to last week of the summer holidays. Not once did I raise my voice, lose my temper and often we giggled and laughed. I quite enjoyed myself, and hopefully she did too. We’ll have to wait and see if this turns into the scarf she thinks she’s making.

One down . . . two to go!

2012-01-26T19:12:00.001+13:00

It was a mad rush towards the very end as Kayley was on her way home with Nanny and I was sat at the sewing machine sewing the front to the back but we got there in the end.

I have to admit to putting this on my bed and having a very brief thought that perhaps I could make Kayley something else and keep this for myself. However, when I think of all the love I tried to put into every stitch, this is entirely her cushion. I can’t wait to see it on her bed when she turns nine.

The back in an upholstery fabric that was given to me by a dear family friend. I used this for the back of Janae’s heart cushion, and knew it was perfect for Kayley’s Summer Garden Cushion.

But now for a game of

Spot the Difference

I’d have had the cushion finished yesterday but for a wee glitch with the bottom flower. I’d made a fundamental boo boo which meant I couldn’t use it and had a wee tantrum, shoved it all into my bag and left if for the day. Thankfully I felt much kinder towards the errant flower this morning and set to making another for the last square. Let’s see if you can spot the error!

There are no words left in me today

2012-01-25T23:07:00.001+13:00

So today I leave you with the latest three squares and the links to their patterns.

Tri colour Square

Sweet Dreams Square

Friendship Ring Square

Quote of the week

2012-01-25T22:48:00.001+13:00

"You know those days where you look at your gorgeous children and are full of complete infatuation for them?.......... Yeah, well today has been like the opposite of that!"
My friend Meg . . . I so understand where you're coming from today Meg!

I’ve been a bit naughty

2012-01-24T16:57:00.001+13:00

I’ve been working on my grey blanket today. I know I mentioned that I might give it away on the blog but I’m still a very long way from 500 posts so I have said, if it’s finished in time, I’ll donate it to the school to raffle off at the school gala. But that’s not the naughty part.

I have decided that I would like not to repeat any squares and have it a true sampler blanket. This means quite a bit of research into ideas and patterns. Well, today I had a good look at Crafty Minx and her square a day challenge from last year (probably where I pinched the idea from).

I’ve already made a square from a link she gave but today I completely pinched ideas and patterns straight from her pictures. Shame on me! However, one of the benefits of crochet is that it’s relatively easy to figure out how things are put together. The square above was one I pinched. It has turned out completely different from the original but the guilt is still there a little.

This is the other square I pinched. I quite like this one. I’m not sure if I’m going to use it though. I’m trying very hard to make sure the squares are all of the same size and have the same number of stitches across the sides to make joining easy when the time comes. I usually join as I go, but because of the huge range of patterns I want to be able to lay them all out first once they’re complete and figure it out from there. This square may be a little more difficult to put together. We’ll have to see.

Now we’ve got to prepare some vegetables and salad. Our lovely friend Mrs Hale is dropping off a roast chicken for our dinner in half an hour. We are so blessed by her. About once a month she turns up on the doorstep with a meal for us and they’re always delicious. Yum, roast chicken without having to cook it.

There are some days . . .

2012-01-23T19:17:00.001+13:00

When I realise that I’m am, in all honesty, a bit thick. You see, I have a moan, on a constant basis that no one listens when I tell them I want a gazebo to go over my patio for my birthday or Christmas. And this morning we were all sweltering in the sun and I had a private moan to myself.

Janae had taken her kitchen outdoors to mix up a concoction of juice, water and weet bix (her daily cereal of choice).

Rogan brought out his little marble run that he’d made and tried out Janae’s drink (without much enthusiasm it seems). Meanwhile I sat on my swing seat realised I needed to get the kids some shade.

Out came their manky old paddling pool gazebo, which totally did the trick. But where was mine I kept asking. I knew I had a patio in shade around the other side but kept thinking I needed a table and chairs out there to really enjoy it. Suddenly I looked up and there, in bright sunlight was an outdoor table and chairs that we never use because they’re in full sun.

So, without further ado I marched them all round to the other side of the house, still in cool shade and made up my home there for the morning.

I feel so silly that I hadn’t thought of it way back at the beginning of summer and that I’ve suffered from sun burned knees for weeks now. Oh well, the upside is this . . .

I managed to get four more squares done for Kayley’s birthday cushion. Actually, it’s turning out huge so I may have to call it a pillow soon. I just makes me think of a summer garden (belonging to a gardener rather than my summer garden).

And while the children were in the pool this afternoon I made a couple more of these. I still kick myself that I didn’t think of the whole grey and white combo being stunning. It’s difficult to leave these alone long enough to make more of the cushion/pillow. Ah the dilemma of having too many exciting things to make.

I did, however, go to bed very late last night having stayed up making the square on the right, thinking I’m bordering on obsession now. And to think, a few years ago I hated granny squares with a vengeance. What was I thinking?

Yarn Shortages . . . always a dilemma

2012-01-22T20:18:00.001+13:00

But not today as I have two birthdays to plan for now. I suddenly realised that while I’m beavering away on my mother’s blanket for her birthday and mentally planning Kayley’s it’s Kayley that birthdays first so I need to be doing some serious multi-tasking.

So when I realised that I was almost out of the light pink yarn for Mum’s blanket I wasn’t too disturbed that I’d not get into town for more until Thursday. I am a little disappointed that I’m so close to finishing the squares (only seven more to go . . . which at 45 minutes per square is still a while in real time, but not long in crochet time).

And I’ve been browsing through Pinterest in my spare time looking for more Granny square ideas. I was totally inspired by this blanket . . . from My Sister’s Knitter blog. I’m totally in love with the greys and whites and decided I NEEDED a blanket just like this.

So I went to my second favourite site (apart from Pinterest) Drops Designs on Garn Studio. They have some amazing patterns (mum’s blanket is from there). I trawled through so many patterns that might do the trick and settled on making a mono-chromatic square from here to see what I thought.

This is my result. I think I’ll need to make some more squares in varying shades of grey (don’t you love having a yarn stash?) before I make a decision. I’ll also need to find some different square designs too. So if you know of some I’d really appreciate links etc. I was toying with the idea of making this as a 500th post give-away. Again, any thoughts? So, it’s off to keep beavering away . . . no rest for the wicked my mother would say. Catch up soon!

A New Square Pattern

2012-01-20T17:28:00.001+13:00

I’ve been wracking my brains about what to do for a cushion for Kayley’s birthday bedroom makeover and finally the inspiration took hold.

Fair warning, however, it was a bit confusing writing the pattern so I hope, should you chose to try it, you won’t find it too confusing to follow.

Here goes:

Using colour A, Ch 6, join with sl st to make ring.
Rnd 1: [Ch 1, sc, ch 3] 7 times. Join with sl st into first sc (8 ch 3 spaces).

Rnd 2: slip into first 3 ch space. [sc, hdc, 2 dc, hdc, sc] in each ch 3 space. Join with sl st into first sc.

Rnd 3: Chain 4, sl st into the two stitches behind petals (as shown) around. Join with slip stitch into first 4 ch space. (8 ch 4 spaces)

Rnd 4: Ch 1, [sc, hdc, dc, tr, dc, hdc, sc] in each chain 4 space. Join with sl st into first sc.

Rnd 5: As round 3.

Rnd 6: ch 1, [sc, hdc, dc, 2 tr, dc, hdc, sc] into each chain 4 space. Join with sl st into first sc. Fasten off.

Rnd 7: Join colour B between petals at back of flower (as pictured above). ch 4, sl st into same place as joining. *ch 4, sl st between and behind next two petals. Ch 4, sl st between and behind next two petals. Ch 4, sl st into same space. Repeat * around. Join with sl st into starting space.

Rnd 8: sl st into first 4ch corner space. Ch 3, 2 dc cluster (ie. make 1 dc but only pull yarn through first two loops of stitch, make another dc, pulling yarn through first two loops then pull yarn through remaining three loops on hook). Ch 2, 2 dc cluster in same corner space, ch 3, sl st into corner space. *5 sc in next two chain 4 spaces, slip into next 4 ch corner. Chain 3, 2 dc cluster, chain 2, 2 dc cluster, chain 3, slip into same corner space. Repeat * around. Join with sl st into start sl st. Fasten off.

Rnd 9: Join Colour C into any corner. Ch 1, sc, [Chain 4, *skip four sc, dc in next. Chain 4, sc into corner 2 ch space, ch 3, sc into same space. Ch 4] 3 times. Sc into starting corner, hdc into starting sc.

Rnd 10: Ch 3, 2dc into corner space. [Dc into each dc, 3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc in corner] 3 times. Dc in each dc across, 3 dc in corner, hdc into top of starting ch 3.

Rnd 11: As Round 10. Fasten off.

Materials Used: Thoroughbred 4ply acrylic yarns: Hot Pink (A), Green (b), White (c). 4.5mm crochet hook. Darning Needle.

I’m quite certain that there’s bound to be some complete confusion with this pattern so, as always I’d appreciate any feedback on how you find the pattern and any suggestions to how it might be more user friendly.

Now Rogan and I are off to have junk for dinner as it’s just the two of us home for the first time in six weeks. What a lovely afternoon we two have had!

The things you can achieve . . .

2012-01-18T15:33:00.000+13:00

When there's no telly in the house. We've had a lovely day. The children have managed to find all sorts of things to amuse themselves, even if it's meant getting the vacuum cleaner out at least once. And I've had a lovely time getting to the almost half way point on my mum's birthday gift.

I can't tell you how much I'm loving this. There is still a long way to go and probably some points of getting frustrated, but I just know that this will knock her socks off and put an end to the quiet mumbling I hear about all the lovely things I make for other people and not for her.

And, with a quieter day it's given me some headspace to think about how I can spoil my eldest little darling after what has been a difficult few weeks for the both of us. I have a cunning plan for her birthday in March.

She's almost nine and I think she might be a little old for the fairies and butterflies that currently decorate her room so I'm planning on a bit of a makeover so that when she comes home from school on her birthday she'll come home to a "tweeny" room instead of something I put together for a six year old. Some involves sewing, some crochet and most of it involves lots of love. I think that's why I'm so enthused about mum's blanket because I'm eager to get it finished so I can start on all the treasures for Kayley. I'll keep you updated as things progress.

The Ultimate in Child Discipline

2012-01-17T19:26:00.000+13:00

To say that this school holidays has been difficult would be a massive understatement. I've struggled from the day school broke up. Last night I warned the children that, should more fights break out over the television, I'd pull the plug, turn it around and that would be the end of any telly for the rest of the holidays.

By 8.30 there were two children screaming at each other, a bowl of cereal face down on the floor and me, pulling the plug, turning the set around and putting the remotes away. Amazingly I didn't lose my temper despite being bombarded with begging and cowering and today has been a far more pleasant day than I can remember in a long while.

My friends are concerned that I'm disciplining myself as well as the children; however, I rarely watch television so it's no skin off my nose. I'm hoping this might be a turning point for the last few weeks of summer hols. I'll let you know!

My poor addled brain

2012-01-16T20:54:00.001+13:00

I don’t quite know what’s wrong with me today but I just can’t turn my mind to anything for more than five minutes. I’ve started and/or worked on that many projects I am astounded. (I think raising children during summer holidays may be playing it’s part.)

This morning I tried to amuse the girls and we taught Janae to make these lovely cut out paper things . . . don’t know their right name.

Then I put the tent up in a bid to keep them amused and sat down to work on my latest dream big project that I’m not willing to share in detail until I know if it’s worked or not.

I couldn’t focus on that so I started on something I discovered while on holiday. This didn’t last long as the girls were fighting again by then. Thankfully this was also about the time my mum came to rescue me and took them home for lunch. (Rogan spent the day out and about with Granddad.)

I then decided that I’d start on some knitted lace that I also found on holiday. After casting on 138 tiny stitches and working through my first row (talking the instructions aloud so I didn’t mess up) I found that somehow I’ve read the pattern wrong and didn’t have the heart to cast on 138 stitches all over again. Maybe that will wait for tomorrow.

Finally I dug around for some green yarn and started this. I did the ripple first, but true to form today I didn’t stick at that for long as I didn’t like it. Then, while the children were swimming, I started the squares, which I’m loving and which go well with the ripple, but now the ripple isn’t going to be wide enough so I’ll have to do that again.

So the summer light is waning, it’s cooling down and there’s the most beautiful sunset outdoors so I’m off to catch the last of the light with a cold drink, my greens and my crochet hook and hope that tomorrow may be a more stable “mind” day. We’ll just have to see.

A Great Time Had by All

2012-01-15T17:49:00.001+13:00

I can’t believe it’s all over so soon. It’s been a busy day with lawn mowing, washing and heading down to the beach for a very quick play before we decided it was way too hot and came home again. But we are still talking about the fun things we did while on holiday.

This is the Cape Egmont Lighthouse that just went out of use in 2000. Now it’s attached to the little local boat club and restaurant. We dined here on our last night in South Taranaki.

Much of the weather was wet and blustery but that’s all good. It’s kind of what you expect when you head to the “Naki” as the locals call it. This is looking out over the heads towards Australia.

There was also fun for the children while they waited for their dinner. I’m almost ashamed at what a little poser Janae is turning out to be. Still, it was fun.

And I found this beautiful book while staying with Donald and Julie. I’ve read most of it but didn’t have time to finish it. I wonder if I’ll find a copy in the library. It’s so old, that I’m sure it went out of print decades ago. Look at what was inside the front cover . . .

How cool is this. The book was awarded to our host’s mother way back in 1925 when she was about 12. I wonder if she read it with as much relish as I did. Well, if I don’t find it in the library at least I know it will still be there the next time we visit.

And due to all the terrible weather I managed to get this finished. Right now it’s laying, damp upon the floor being blocked so it’ll look way better than this when I hand it over on Tuesday. And, even better, while I was making this I was helping Julie rediscover the love of crochet. I’m hoping she keeps up with it now that we’ve gone as she was getting so much joy out of it.

And true to holiday form the sun came out on our way home. We had the immense pleasure of stopping off to see my cousin David and his partner Moira at their new venture. The Waiau Estate is a tiny little winery and cafe that they are turning into wedding venue extraordinaire. If you happen to be passing through Urenui on your way South please stop in. They have the best coffee I’ve tasted for a very long time, and the yummiest treats too.

They were setting up for a wedding while we were there. I mean, who wouldn’t want to get married here? I think I’ll be stopping by to see them every time I’m driving past.

So I think it’s safe to say we had a fabulous time. It was lovely to have my Dad come along with us and see how much joy he got out of taking Kayley target shooting and exploring over the farm. I’m looking forward to see what adventures we can discover next summer now.

And I’m working on a little project I dreamt up while I was too awake to dream properly last night. Hopefully I’ll be able to show it to you by the end of the week . . . assuming it all goes to plan that is.

What's on your bedside table?

2012-01-05T21:40:00.002+13:00

I know I've already posted today, but this is probably the last chance I have to share a couple of things before we head off on holiday early Saturday morning. The house is quietly full of sleeping children, I've escaped the dark and the biting bugs outdoors where I've been crocheting away the last of the day and I just wanted to do this before I settled down for the night.

I was given some book vouchers for Christmas and these usually freak me out because there are just so many books out there that I want and can't choose between them. This time, however, there was no competition. I put my vouchers towards Julie Goodwin's latest book. I've spent the afternoon taking quick flicks through when I've had a moment but tonight it's beside my bed waiting for a proper peruse.

Beside my bed I also have a Ken Follett novel that was given to me (another pass-it-along book). I've never read one of his before but am quite enjoying it. I quite love books of intrigue and mystery (I have been known to secret a Miss Marple in my handbang from time to time). And beneath that is my trusty old student Bible. It's way easier to read than the fancy pants New King James that I have, leather bound, red and glorious. There's a story to why I even have one but that's for another time. So that's my current bedside collection. What treasures do you have beside your bed?

I also wanted to share an update on the baby blanket I've been commissioned to make. Now you must accept the fact that it's currently higidly-pigidly as it's very much in the process of conception and will look far better on completion (I'm hoping), but I wanted to share a couple of little things I do when making a granny square that apparently aren't necessarily common and they make life way easier.

1. Unless I'm putting a whole lot of stitches into a starting ring, I don't even bother making a ring. To make this flower I chained 7 which is equal to a double crochet and 2 chain. Then make a double crochet into the first chain stitch make (ie 7 chains away from the hook), chain 2 and do this six times. Chain 2 and slip stitch into the 3rd chain of starting chain 7. Slip stitch into the first 2 chain space, chain 1 and make 1 sc, 1 hdc, 1 dc, 1 hdc, 1 sc and repeat these stitches in all eight 2 chain spaces ending with a slip stitch into the first single crochet and fastening off. The centre of the flower is tiny and so much neater than a big hole in the middle of a flower.

2. I always start and finish my squares at a corner and there's a truly simple way to do this.

Let's assume you're making a granny square without a flower:

Ch 4, 2 dc into the 4th chain from the hook. [Chain 2, 3 dc into the same chain as previous shell] 3 times, you will have three corners and one loan shell.
Now the next part depends on how many chains you put into your previous corners. Because I've specified 2 chain the last corner (joining where you originally started) is a hdc (half double crochet) into the 3 chain of starting chain 4. If you had 3 chain in the corners then you would make a double crochet and 1 chain would be a single crochet and so on.

To start the next round, chain 3 and 2 double crochet around the hdc you've just made to finish the previous round.

I prefer to make my granny squares this way because it means than I don't end up with a kink one side of the square when I fasten off. It's neater and less fuss.

If you haven't used either of these methods, try them out. You may find you'll never go back.

Well, that's all from me for now. Hopefully I'll be able to share a beautiful and complete baby blanket when I return from our holiday (one of the key reasons I'm dragging my mum and dad along is so that they can amuse the children while I work . . . no not really, but it'll sure help). There will be the usual plethora of holiday snaps to go through and share one or two of. I wish you all the best until we meet again.

xx

Liebster Awards

2012-01-05T14:32:00.000+13:00

I was a very blessed recipient of this award this week. Anna from Esme Rudy was searching the net for crochet headband patterns and came across my blog. I was even more blessed by the lovely comments she left and had to hunt her down to see all the delicious things she made. I'm so glad I did. I've added her to my reading list so keep an eye out for her updates.

As with blessing, there always comes responsibility and it's now my pleasure to pick five blogs, with less than 200 followers and award them the Liebster too. The first of these is:

Life and Yarn or Graceys Goodies. We've been following each other for at least a year and I love to pop in to see what the latest project is. She always has something exciting and is constantly updating her yarn collection (which makes me very jealous) with the most beautiful colours and textures.

Char's Crafty Days is another lovely blog. Poor Char has been having a rough time of late, but one thing I love about her is that there's an honesty in admiting life is not a bed of roses (or maybe it is with all those nasty thorns) but there's always something to that makes the silver lining slightly more visable among the clouds.

Second Hand Maid is one of the blogs I'm very excited to see a new post. The most beautiful items are made and/or found on budget, which is always good news to someone like me. And she inspires me to make more of what I have lessening the need to go find more "stuff".

Felt Like Stitchin' was a blog I discovered when I took up sewing earlier this year. It has taken me three years to be okay with taking ideas from others. I used to view it as stealing, now I see it as inspiration. This is a blog full of inspiration to new projects and challenges.

And finally there's Mel's Encounters, which is not a craft blog at all. Melanie is a dear friend I met while doing my DTS on the Pacific Ruby taking medical supplies, doctors and optomotrists through the South Pacific islands nearly 20 years ago. Mel is new to blogging, and her tales are narratives of quite profound encounters with her Lord. These are worth a read, as they're goosebump giving and heartfelt. Keep it up Mel.

Again, thanks so much Anna for awarding my little blog. As I'm sitting in the sun working on my latest project I keep smiling and feeling so happy that Kate, from Greedy for Colour encouraged me to start writing a blog almost three years ago. Blogland is a wonderful place to be!

And when I’m not crocheting squares?

2012-01-03T18:04:00.001+13:00

I’m working on this. I have a friend who is the epitome of a “lady” and loves all things girlie and lady–like so I’ve been wondering what I could make her for her birthday that would appeal to this side of her but that wouldn’t be such an overwhelming undertaking that I never got it finished.

I decided on a doily yesterday. I made this particular doily for my mum three years ago and was one of the last fine work crochet projects I did until making the angel before Christmas. Even now, when I’m in my mother’s bedroom I have to have a close look at the work. I am still amazed it was made by my hands. I know this friend will truly appreciate the work that goes into making something like this. And it’s modern enough to not be an old-fashioned and horrible gift.

I forgot to photograph the front cover of the book I’m making this from, and will try to post it tomorrow. It’s a book I got from a second hand bookshop a few years ago and it specialises in crocheting from graphs rather than the written word, which is something I find much easier to follow. I highly recommend it if you’re interested in crochet lacework.

Now it’s dinner time and I have manic children flying about the house (sounds rather like a quidditch match, but not quite so entertaining) so I must off and feed the hordes. Early nights all round as it’s been a rather harrowing couple of days and I think an early night may make tomorrow a little more bearable.

And another headband complete

2012-01-02T21:35:00.001+13:00

I had promised Corleah these headbands well before Christmas and just didn’t get a chance to make them. Then feeling very guilty when she asked me about them the other day I decided it was time to just get on with it.

As with all things that we put off, it really didn’t take long to make and was quite enjoyable too. I just had to remember that, as a family, we’re all quite big headed (that’s not meaning we’re full of ourselves though) so I had to show some restraint as the recipients of these have lovely petite heads.

I made this from the same yarn as yesterday’s headband, but using a beautiful pearl colour. It’s difficult to see from the photographs but it’s lovely and glossy and Corleah has the most beautiful dark brown hair so it’s going to look fabulous. I wonder if she’ll let me take a photograph of her wearing it tomorrow. I also used at 3.5mm hook instead of the 2mm one.

Now for the pattern:

Chain 3, join with a slip stitch to form a ring.

Rnd 1:
Chain 1, 16 single crochet into ring. Join with a slip stitch into first single crochet.

Rnd 2:
Chain 7, single crochet into same stitch as starting. *Chain 3, skip one single crochet, single crochet in next stitch. Chain 3, skip one single crochet, single crochet in next stitch. Chain 7, single crochet in same stitch. Repeat from * three times. Chain 3, skip 1 single crochet, single crochet in next, chain 3, skip 1 single crochet, single crochet in first chain of starting chain 7.

Rnd 3:
Slip stitch into Chain 7 space. Chain 1 *6 single crochet, chain 2, 6 single crochet (corner made). 3 single crochet in 3 chain space, chain 1, 3 single crochet in next three chain space. Repeat from * around. Join with a slip stitch into the first single crochet. Fasten off.

To join motifs
6 single crochet into 7 chain space, ch 1, slip stitch into 2 chain corner of completed motif. 6 single crochet into 7 chain space. 3 single crochet into 3 chain space, slip stitch into 1 chain space on completed motif, 3 single crochet in next three chain space. 6 single crochet into 7 chain space, chain 2, slip stitch into 2 chain space on corner of completed motif, 6 single crochet into 7 chain space. Complete the motif as per Round 3 above.

Border
Rnd 1:
Join yarn to any 2 chain corner. 1 single crochet, chain 2, 1 single crochet into corner, *chain 5, single crochet into 1 chain space, chain 5 single crochet between corners**, repeat *-** along each side, making 1 single crochet, chain 2, 1 single crochet in each corner. Repeat from * around and join with a slip stitch into first single crochet.

Rnd 2:
Slip stitch into 2 chain corner space. *1 single crochet, chain 1, 1 single crochet in corner, 8 single crochet in each chain 5 space. Repeat from * around. Join with slip stitch into first single crochet. Fasten off and tie in ends.

I made twisted ties for this headband too, but used two strands rather than the one for the child’s headband. Again, if you have head measurements, elastic sewn to both ends of the headband would be great too.

And finally today, I want to share another challenge I’ve decided to take up this year. Our minister challenged us to read the Bible in a year. One thing I’ve always been keen to do is read the Bible chronologically as it’s quite a fascinating story when read in order. So I Googled it last night and found a great 1 year plan to read it chronologically. So, just in case anyone else is interested in taking up this challenge, each Monday I will put the week’s readings at the bottom of my Crafty Monday post. If you’re anything like me, you’ll probably read three days worth in one go and then skip a few days. That’s all good too.

So this weeks readings are:

Mon: Gen 1-3; Tues Gen 4-7; Wed Gen 8-11; Thurs Job 1-5; Friday Job 6-9, Sat Job 10-13, Sun 14-16. I was so interested in it last night I did all my Genesis readings and now I’m up to Job already. But, going away on holiday on Saturday with my parents and three children means I’d probably better get a bit ahead of myself or I’ll be behind before I’ve even started. Oh dear . . . that was all a bit of female logic.

Hope your week is treating you well. xx

So much to share . . .

2012-01-01T18:09:00.001+13:00

And it’s only the first day of the year.

I’ve been hinting at a big challenge I’ve set myself for this year and now it’s time for the big reveal. I have decided that I want to crochet one square a day every day of 2012. Some days, like today, I’ll crochet many more than just one, but during those times that I’m knitting or sewing or some other fun thing, I still want to keep to my challenge. I also would like to not buy yarn for these squares, but that may be pushing it a little bit. I’ll let you know how that goes.

And, when I’ve made up a square pattern myself I’m going to share it with you.

This Junior Headband pattern is just such a one. I’ll post the pattern at the bottom of the post. Be warned, however, pattern writing isn’t my forte and none of them will have been tested so if you’re trying one out and it’s not right please let me know so I can make any corrections.

We’ve also been giving the new Kenwood cake mixer a workout today. Kayley wanted to make cupcakes and while I absolutely adore standard icing (or frosting) I wanted to try something new. So we made up a marshmallow recipe. It’s way easy: Dissolve 1 dessert spoon of gelatine in one cup of boiling water and allow to cool to room temperature. Bung the cooled liquid into the mixer with the egg whisk attachment and add one cup of sugar. Beat the living daylights out of it then add approximately half a cup of icing sugar and keep beating until it’s thick and glossy. Pop it in a piping bag and away you go. We had so much of the stuff we put the rest into mini cupcake pans and they’ve set into soft and delicious homemade marshmallows that the kids are going to have with their icecream after dinner.

We also whipped up Julie Goodwin’s chocolate cake again. We dropped half of it up to Tony as he’s such a gem and mows my road front grass with his super-dooper ride-on mower with giant grass catcher attachment. He’s a retired man living alone so we thought he might struggle getting through a whole cake. Here’s hoping he loves it as much as we do.

And now for the pattern for the headband:

Materials Used
Bella Baby Layette cotton (4 ply cotton)
2mm crochet hook

Junior Headband
Motif
Chain 6, slip into 6th chain from hook to form ring.

Rnd 1: Chain 6, (= 1 dc, chain 3), 1 dc into ring. *Chain 3, 1 dc into ring. Repeat from * six times. Chain 3, slip into 3rd of starting chain 6 (8 3 chain spaces).

Rnd 2: Slip into first 3 chain space. Chain 1, *sc, hdc, dc, hdc, sc in 3 chain space**. Repeat *-** in each 3 chain space. Join with slip stitch into first single crochet (8 petals).

Rnd 3: Chain 6 (= 1dc, chain 3), dc in same. *Chain 4, dc between first and last sc of next and following petals. Chain 4, 1dc between next and following petals. Chain 3, 1 dc in same (corner made). Repeat from * around. Join with slip stitch into 3rd chain of starting 6 Chain.

Rnd 4: Slip into corner space. Ch 1, *2 sc, chain 2, 2 sc in corner. 4 sc in next two 4 chain spaces. Repeat from * around. Join with slip stitch into first single crochet and fasten off.

To join motifs
Follow Round 4 instruction across the first side of the square. When you get to the second corner:

2 sc, chain 1, slip stitch into 2 chain space of completed motif. 2 sc into current motif, 4 sc into four chain space, slip stitch between both four chain sets of completed motif, 4 sc into next four chain space on current motif. 2 sc, chain on into corner, slip stitch into 2 chain space in completed motif, 2 sc into current corner.

Complete the rest of the square following instructions from round 4.

I made four single thread twisted chains of equal length and attached them to the four outer corners. Be sure to attach them firmly so they don’t work loose during use. Alternatively, you could sew some elastic between the ends, but head measurements may be best for this so you end up with the correct size.

If you’re going to give this a go, I’d love some honest feedback about how it goes.

Tonight I’m going to be working on an adult headband and will attempt to write the pattern to go with it too.

On my next post I’ll share our first 2012 upcycle challenge. This one’s going to be real fun!

Happy New Year!! May yours be full of fun crafty challenges too!

No wonder I couldn’t find the camera

2011-12-28T23:09:00.001+13:00

My little darlings stole the camera and got merry with it yesterday. They had returned it to the computer table . . . along with lots of other stuff that should be there, so finding it was a bit of a mission.

However, it’s difficult to be too grumpy (something that’s not difficult at all for me at the moment) when you see these pictures.

But there were some very exciting things I wanted to share and I really didn’t want to wait until tomorrow or the big thing inside my head that is filled with holes (I call it my memory) would have lost it.

This has been the best, and easiest read I have in a long time. It’s by a Kiwi author and is a lovely little chick lit book for a summer holiday. I highly recommend it. It’s one of those “pass it along” books we all have pass by our bedroom tables from time to time.

And this. It’s the start of the blanket I’m going to make for my mother. I am currently in the middle of my baby blanket job but ran short of my lemon yarn yesterday so I had to fill in the time between Spotlight visits somehow. The blanket I’d based my colours around was more dominated by brown, which I totally loved, but I know my mum and she’ll love something lighter and brighter. You’ll find a link to the pattern in yesterday’s post, however, I do have a warning.

With the utmost respect to the designer of this beautiful blanket, I found her instructions quite difficult to follow. In the end I sat down and went through round by round writing my own brand of crochet shorthand. I’m absolutely certain that my scribble is even harder for someone to follow than the original pattern, but whatever works. And in her defence, it’s such an intuitive pattern that once you’ve made the first block you’ll be away laughing. I’m just sad I have to fold this up and put it away until a later date. Of course, I’d like for it to be a surprise too (if I can keep the children quiet) so I won’t be taking it away on holiday with us.

And Christmas Has Gone

2011-12-27T09:34:00.001+13:00

We had a long but enjoyable day filled with sunshine and laughter. Thankfully there were plenty of things to keep the children amused so Granddad could have his afternoon nap.

It turned into three generations of crafty girls. I cannot quite believe that we’ve finally (after eight years) found something that will keep Kayley focused and amused for hours. Nanny gave her a Knitting Bee and it was a huge hit.

In fact it was such a hit that I think we need to get Nanny one for her birthday in March.

Janae even looked like she wanted a go. Unfortunately she’d just fallen off Nanny’s new swing seat (Granddad’s gift to Nanny) and bumped her head so she was covering herself with a cold and wet cloth as a pain killing measure. (I love that children can be healed with water and fabric, just like magic.)

And I spent the day making this lovely rainbow of colours. The pattern for this can be found here. It’s simple and so effective.

I have been commissioned to make a baby blanket for a baby whose gender will remain a secret until it’s born and I wondered if this might do. However, Corleah has decided she likes the original idea of white, lemon and green. This will have to keep until we go away on holiday and the baby blanket is complete. I need to make Nanny something for her birthday so maybe this might work. Although, I would love to make her this blanket because it’s just beautiful and will fit with my big 2012 challenge, yet to be revealed.

Now’s it’s a case of coping with the come down from all the sweets, hype and excitement of Christmas. We’ve experienced four year old tantrums since six this morning and these have only been distracted by the training wheels going on Rogan’s old bike so Janae can ride it (he got a new shiny one as his knees kept bumping the handlebars on the old one).

And I want to keep playing with my new Cake Mixer but the blanket is a priority so we’ll have to make do with the fabulous chocolate cake I made from Julie Goodwin’s first cook book yesterday.

I hope Christmas is treating you well and you’ve been blessed.

Christmas Has Arrived

2011-12-24T21:07:00.000+13:00

It's Christmas Eve here in NZ and it's been a hot but restful day. We've had a lovely time, just the four of us, hanging out and waiting for Santa. We wrapped some gifts for the childrens' big brothers and grandmothers. Here they are safely under the tree waiting for Santa's gifts to be added.

The girls logged on to You Tube and checked out some of their favourite Christmas songs.

Rogan has had his stocking hanging on the door handle since early this morning.

We got our Santa Stop Here sign up and plugged in. The downside of having Christmas in the summer is that the things that light up just aren't as great in daylight.

And I spent the whole afternoon here making this . . .

This is the cushion my mum asked me to make for our lovely friends that we'll be staying with on our holiday. It is the first time I've made a cushion and preferred the back to the front. Unfortunately, by the time I got it finished the sun was going down and the colours just don't look so good under flash. Perhaps I'll take some pictures tomorrow.

So it is with sunburned knees, weary eyes and a joyful heart that I wish you a very merry Christmas and an extremely happy New Year. I have some exciting plans for 2012 so tune in then and I'll fill you in. You never know, I may even have a challenge or two for you to join with me in.

God Bless!

Belinda

Meet the newest member of our family

2011-12-22T22:51:00.000+13:00

This is Humphrey, Town Crier Extraordinaire. It's this little chap that's kept me busy for a couple of weeks making sure he's complete for Christmas Day as he's the gift the children are giving Nanny.

My mum fell in love with Camrolyn and was very disappointed that she was promised to another. So we flipped through the book that Andrea had given me for my birthday and she said she liked this little fellow the most.

So here he is in all his glory. He's been such a delight to make. However, I think my fingers are over knitting for the time being. I've got a bandaid on my right pointer finger as I've got stab marks, cuts and even bruises from all the knitting I've been doing of late.

Thankfully the next project, that's well under way, is a crochet cushion cover for the lovely people we'll be staying with on our holiday under Mount Egmont/Taranaki in a couple of weeks time.

All the plans are complete for Christmas, all the gifts are wrapped (except for Humphrey of course), the food is bought and now it's a waiting game until the big day. Goodness, I think this might be the most organised I've ever been. I hope all your preparations are going well too. xx

All projects are a joy but . . .

2011-12-16T20:13:00.000+13:00

Some are more joyous than others and this angel was just such a project. I have to be honest, I did for a split second, think, oh no, not another thing to do. And last night I didn't even get the head finished. But this morning, I came home to an untidy house and remembered it was my last day of freedom for over six weeks (summer hols) so I'd better make the most of it.

I sat down with the instructions and, four hours later, had this beautiful lady.

Actually it's really more like about ten hours later because she's been drying in pieces on the window sill today and I've just compiled her all into one angel.

I'm so in love with her that I really think she needs to be at the top of my tree. Unfortunately she's promised to Kim and I'll take great pleasure in dropping her off tomorrow morning. Kim is now expecting me to teach her how to make one. Hmmm, it's a bit optimistic of someone who has never crocheted before. I think we might have to start with something easy like a granny square. Although, if you're a crocheter and you want to make her, you'll find the link to the pattern in yesterday's post.

Thanks Kim, for the inspiration. Now I've got to go get inspired by my hedgehog again!

Still Beavering Away

2011-12-15T22:31:00.000+13:00

I haven't been blogging much about my craft lately as I've been totally consumed making the Town Crier hedgehog for my mum for Christmas and he's a long way from complete.

Then today Kim sent me this image and asked if I knew how to make it. Hmmm. Well, a bit of research later and I've found the pattern online here and now I've got to whip up one for her (her words). Sigh, and only one school day left of the year.

But I also had to pop back in tonight to share this lovely image. My littlest has been gifted lots of lovely things from her friend Taysha lately. I'd hidden these particular items away so they could be wrapped up and given to her on Christmas Day along with her new two wheeled scooter. Obviously my hiding skills weren't up to much. It's difficult to tell, but they're Tinkerbell elbow and knee pads. She'd snuck into my bed, donned her pads (inside out if you can believe) and fallen fast asleep. Bless her. My only dilemma now is whether to move her back to her bed or not. I think I may have to because I'm into a fabulous book (which I'll share soon) and I want to read some before sleeping. Let's just hope I don't wake her.

With Friends Like These

2011-12-15T20:28:00.000+13:00

It was Kim's birthday last week and upon arrival to help her celebrate you'd be forgiven for thinking it was one of her daughter's birthdays instead. However, it was a fabulous afternoon.

Kim's husband is an owner/operator bouncy castle man and has an amazing array of bouncy castles. This was the one he chose to keep the children amused while the mums were upstairs chatting.

This picture was taken from the upstairs balcony and the children were on eye level with me. I don't think I'd have been so keen to throw myself down this slope but my three had no trouble whatsoever.

There were a number of friction burns on elbows and knees but the laughter, shrieks and hilarity coming from outdoors was proof that burns aren't all that when there's fun to be had.

Thank you Craig and Kim, we had a fabulous time.

So Much Fun

2011-12-13T10:34:00.000+13:00

Here's proof positive that we indeed braved the bitter easterly winds and the Christmas on the Domain event was fabulous.

And this is us . . . (L-R) Peter, Rex, Alison (or Oma, as we all call her), Jo, Carolyn, me and Anna on the keyboard.

Thanks to the amazing sound crew all the way from Taupo, you were fabulous. Here's looking forward to next year!

The Great Picture Frame Upcycle Challenge Reveal

2011-12-12T13:58:00.001+13:00

The lovely Carolyn and her asthma friendly Glass Chalk Board.

Corleah and her very stylish traditional chalk board.

Andrea and a fabulous Christmas tree.

We had so much fun making these and all of them came in at under $10 each for the finished product. We enjoyed a fabulous morning tea with some lovely ladies who help us out in our various events throughout the year and now we're looking forward to the next one once the children have gone back to school in February. (It's probably important to point out that the children haven't even finished school yet so we're getting just a little ahead of ourselves.)

Well done my friends.

Christmas is coming

2011-12-11T07:57:00.001+13:00

It's been a flurry of preparation and celebration here this weekend. Not only did I get the grass cut (something I've been moaning about for days . . . just ask my friends) but I also got the Christmas stockings made.

One of the Nana's gave me some stockings for the children a couple of years ago. I'm grateful but they were so big that Janae (now four) can fit inside hers, and it was posing a few problems with regards to the need to have a mountain of toys just to go in the stockings.

When I was a child we had one of my Dad's work socks hung from the mantle. Barbie would sit under mine and Action Man would sit under my brothers so that Santa would know which belonged to each child. Well, I think we've moved on from work socks so I whipped up these yesterday. The children chose their own material and now they're looking forward to hanging them up in anticipation of Santa. They're only about 40cm high and are much more practical.

And last night we had our Christmas on the Domain event. Thankfully the rain stayed away, the wind, however was bracing. But we all had a fabulous time.

Now you have to check out this local band. Kokomo are a local group that would probably come under the genre of Blues but are so much more. I absolutely fell in love with these guys and am rushing out to get an album. Very toe tapping, bum wiggling tunes that you can't help but sway along to.

Now I've got to get everyone ready for the Sunday School prize giving this morning. Kayley's very excited about getting her chance to sing for once. Go Kayley!

More Heavenly Headbands

2011-12-09T21:18:00.001+13:00

I dragged the children into Spotlight this afternoon, against all my better judgment because they have half price yarn this weekend. Well, it was a success all round really. The children behaved beautifully I'm so pleased to say and I found this gem for a mere $4.

It's Bella Baby Layette bamboo and wool blend. I had been wanting to get some cotton to give another headband a go, but with Christmas coming up the budget is a bit tight so I didn't think I'd be getting any this soon. At $4 it was a bargain I couldn't miss.

All through Kayley's volleyball game this evening I was secretly looking into my bag at the variagated loveliness and as soon as the children were tucked up in bed I whipped it out and got started. This headband will be for Katie, should her mummy love it too. Corleah mentioned colours such as pink, purple and lime green, and I'd originally had a vision of blocks of different colours. But I think the variagted looks pretty good really. I'll just have to wait and see what the verdict is.

I've also been asked to make a "cuff" which can be found here . . . on Pinterest. Now that's going to take some working out to make a pattern as pretty as that. Greta (who asked for this) has a wedding to go to next weekend and I've given her a dress I loved too much to give away to charity, and I'd love to be able to make something to go with it, but I just don't think I'll have the time unfortunately. Oh well, maybe in the New Year.

It shouldn't be this hard

2011-12-08T22:14:00.001+13:00

I commented to a friend the other day that we spend all year telling one another how busy our lives are and then BOOM the first of December arrives and life goes into overdrive. Really, it shouldn't be this difficult.

The children are exhausted, I'm exhausted and we're all just a little grumpy. But thankfully, there are always little things that make us know we can cope with another day. This bowl of baubles sitting on my kitchen bench has been winkling at me all day and makes me smile when I walk past.

Last night was the final Crafty Girls session of 2011 and the first that I have been allowed to be in charge of. I did confess to the Lovely Carolyn, that I'd felt a little bullied into having a Christmas Crafty Girls; I think I was a little nervous that those attending might hate my craft idea (i.e. making these baubles), but by the end of the night I was rejuvinated by the laughter, the delicious treats and a lovely cup of coffee. Oh, and the craft helped too.

Thankfully, by 10pm Saturday night my Christmas commitments will be virtually at an end. We have the annual Christmas in the Park and I'm singing with some lovely people. But we have some fabulous bands this year too so I'm only required for an hour of the whole evening which means I'll have some time to sit on a rug with my family and enjoy the atmosphere. We do have one carol service next weekend that I'm required to sing at, and then it's cruising in to Christmas. Bring on the school holidays when I won't have to drag myself out of bed at six to make packed lunches and force unwilling children from their pajamas and into school clothes.

So between now and next Friday it's a case of deep breaths, lots of "help me please" prayers and reminding myself to give the love along with the discipline. I hope you're coping with your pre-Christmas preparations and are remembering to give the love too.

Introducing "Camrolyn"

2011-12-07T12:02:00.001+13:00

Here, at last, is the gorgeous girl my children have named Camrolyn. Why? Because she was a gift for the lovely Carolyn as a thank you for all she does for Mainly Music. She works hard and takes no credit for it, while giving praise to those of us who assist her. This year I decided that she'd have something lovely too.

It's plain to see she's a Jean Greenhowe pattern, but I've made one or two adjustments. The sunglasses were supposed to be blue on the outside but Carolyn has red framed glasses so we had to personalise those. The skirt too was a different colour but she loves red and pink and floral so it was essential to have something in keeping with the real lady.

The backpack, in the original pattern housed a thermos flask and sandwiches, but I decided to turn the flask pattern into a spare camera lens, for those lovely landscape shots the real Carolyn takes.

And the umbrella was blue with a duck head handle. However, every real photographer needs a sliver light umbrella so that's what we gave her. Little Emily was almost as in love with the doll as her mum, but Carolyn made very sure Emily knew it was her mummy's toy.

This little Christmas tree was my gift from Anna who has an obsession with drift wood this year. (Last year it was river stones.) So she has made each of us a mini drift wood tree. I love this tree and it has a place on my bookshelf at my front door. But today I've hung my baubles on. We have Crafty Girls tonight and I was up late (again) making these so everyone could see what they'd be doing on arrival.

And finally his is a sad sight to share. I love this fabric and I love the headband that I was making for Kayley. However, at the almost complete stage my machine threw another tantrum. I'm pleased to announce that it is under warranty since the new motor was put in, but I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't realise that I'd probably have to add some oil every time I used it, so it's had a wee sieze up. I'm taking it in tomorrow and hope that they can fix it while I wait as I want to make more of these for my girls. And I have to make Christmas stockings too so I need to be able to use my sewing machine.

Now I can see where my first child free week has gone. I had a vision of having the house to myself each day and getting lots of jobs done and having lots of time for craft. Hmmm, I've only spent one full day at home and I shared that with Daniel Craig . . . no not for real. But Monday morning was a bit yuck so I grabbed a DVD off the shelf, grabbed Mrs W's christmas gift in progress and enjoyed a lovely peaceful morning. Oh well, there's always next week to have five days at home.

Heavenly Headbands

2011-12-04T19:36:00.001+13:00

I pinned a lovely crochet headband on Pinterest the other day and my dear friend Corleah quickly responded to it asking when I'd be ready to take orders as she wanted one for her daughter and one for herself.

Well, this got me motivated (and distracted from other pressing tasks) and I "clicked" down into the pin to find the pattern on Ravelry. Hmmm. You can imagine my disappointment when I discovered that it actually linked to a book of lovely crochet patterns to buy. Now what was I to do?

Only one thing for it . . . design my own. So this afternoon while the children swung between playing happily and overtired induced tantrums, I made this. I'm really quite pleased with it. The reason I had to make it so quickly was we were seeing Corleah at a shared dinner tonight and I wanted to see if it would meet with her expectations. Thankfully it did so now I need to go and get some lovely cottons and make some for real.

The picture from Pinterest . . . found here . . . has an elastic join. As I've completely run out of elastic I decided to do a twisted cord tie instead. This also has worked really well, but my ties may be a touch on the long side.

The thing that truly amazes me about this is that a headband, particularly a crochet one, is not something I'd have ever made for myself. But I've had it on since I finished it and I'm completely in love with it. It's comfortable, looks pretty good, light around my head and keeps my hair from my face. I have a feeling I'll be making quite a few of these in the future and may become part of my signature wardrobe. Well, in truth, it may be the start of my signature wardrobe as I haven't yet (even at 40) discovered what my signature is.

And now it's Sunday night. The children have passed out in seconds as they're so tired they're unbearable. It's the first day of kindy tomorrow, school day too and I have five . . . yes five . . . whole childfree days this week. I can scarcely contain my excitment, but I have to or the little cherubs may feel unloved. Wow, what other treasures can I come up with in five whole days? Let's see!!

Happy Birthday my Beautiful Four Year Old

2011-12-03T18:54:00.001+13:00

It's been a long day with lots of highs, a few lows and much laughter.

Now it's time for bed. Sleep well my darling!

Brithday Prep Madness

2011-12-02T12:03:00.001+13:00

How glad I am that Janae is at preschool today as it's given me all morning to sort out her birthday preparations.

This pink monstrosity is her bithday "cake". There's a giant cupcake in the middle surround by standard cupcakes. As pink is her favourite colour I felt I couldn't make her cakes any other shade.

And remember me telling you she'd also requested a heart cushion for her birthday?

I was up late last night putting this together. It was quite fun to make really.

When we went on our Op Shop tutorial with Andrea a couple of weeks ago I got a huge stash of pre-cut squares of varying shades and patterns. Some of them were perfect for this job.

I sliced each square into 4cm lengths and stitched them together in blocks of five strips then sewed the blocks together in random ways. Once I had a piece big enough to cut the heart out of I drew up a template and cut around it on the patchwork piece. A plain piece of fabric for the back, a bit of stuffing and hey presto all done!

So the pass-the-parcel is all wrapped and ready to go. The baking is all done. The sherbert is in an air tight container just waiting to fill little icecream cones and have lollipops dipped into it. Now I can put my feet up for half an hour before racing out to music practice. Boy, I'm looking forward to the summer holidays (and the end of birthday and Christmas preparation) so we can all relax and chill out at the beach day after day. Bring it on.

Seriously Gifted

2011-11-30T19:23:00.001+13:00

Unfortunately the title doesn't speak for my design skills. Last night over dinner Janae informed me that she was getting an elephant for her birthday. Well, I knew I had this lovely striped fabric sitting in my box that would probably never be used for much and I had a vision of a soft and squishy elephant.

Having no pattern I decided it couldn't be too hard to draw one and go from there. An hour and half later, and late into the night, I was putting this together.

I have dubbed her Ellie the world's ugliest elephant but I'm sure Janae will love her. Then this morning she informed me she was getting a heart cushion for her birthday. Now that, I feel confident, shouldn't be too difficult.

Now this gift I can only show snippets of until she is gifted next week as I don't want the recipient to guess it's for her. This has been a mammouth task but I've so loved making her and all the little things that come with her. How cute is this camera?

She even has groovy red sunglasses.

And check out this back pack. It has something special in it too. I'm really looking forward to giving her away. I have a feeling there's a daughter that might love this as much (probably more) as her mummy but that's okay too.

Now there are only a few gifts left to make for teachers and we're almost done on the creative front for Christmas. Whew, then I can get back to the baby throw I'm supposed to be making!

Some days you achieve so much

2011-11-29T17:25:00.001+13:00

And today was one of those. I started out this morning making this card for Anna's birthday. As she's the resident song writer we are going to get her a lovely mechanical pencil and scripting paper so that she can properly script the songs she writes. We're also going to give her a $5 petrol voucher. You see, like many of us, Anna runs around in a car that has the "fill me up" light going. Hence, her husband is investing in a petrol can for her. Knowing this we decided that we'd ensure she has some gas in it for the next time she runs out. How cheeky are we!?

So I made the card while I was waiting for the lovely Carolyn to come by so we could make the gifts we're giving our faithful Mainly Music helpers. For the ladies we're making coffee cup sleeves. They're supposed to be for take-away coffees but we've discovered they fit equally well around a standard coffee mug too. If you're like me, you get half way through a cup of tea or coffee and then find it's gone cold while you've been distracted doing something else.

This is the finished product and I LOVE it! I'm definately going to make one of these for myself. And, we have enough materials over to make some more that we hope to sell to our MM mums. If you want one, let me know . . . they're only $10 and are made with much love and laughter.

Finally today, I've completed my frame upcycle project. I painted the ghastly brown frame cream and then, this morning, I "papered" it with a lovely textured tissue like paper I found while digging around for card ingredients to make Anna's card. I'm not totally in love with it, but it's not bad when I take into consideration that I've spent a grand total of $4.95 on the whole project. That's got to be good. I will let you in on a secret . . . it's no where near as good as the other two I've already seen. I'll post those pictures when we've had our big "reveal".

As for the coffee cup holders, you don't have to buy one. As soon as I remember the link I'll post it and you can make your own!

Now it's time to finish off the dinner as there's quite a lot of hair pulling, screaming and fighting going on. It's fair to assume that my two girls haven't had much to eat today so they're not very happy right now. Better go!

So much to do

2011-11-25T20:54:00.001+13:00

And really, so little time, but it's still loads of fun. Here's the almost complete picture frame upcycle project. I know it's not square in the frame and it's a little rumpled, but I've only placed it in the frame to see the effect thus far.

Of course, the truly amusing thing about this is that, so far, I haven't even done anything to the frame. I intend to paint it cream on Monday and, once it's dry, sand it back so you can see some of the brown through it and hopefully achieve a somewhat distressed look.

And on a completely different note: I was given some cash for my birthday so that I could get what I really wanted. As my little handbeater gave up the ghost a couple of weeks ago (this being my only tool for beating ingredients necessary for cake making) I realised that I needed to invest in a cake mixer.

I grew up with a Kenwood (I believe these to be the Rolls Royce of cake mixers) but they're HUGELY expensive and I've never dreamed I would own one until my mother left me hers; of course, she's never going to die so I'll never have it. Well, with my birthday money, and a top up from mum for Christmas I'm now the proud owner of a Kenwood cake mixer. Unfortunately Mum has decided it needs to stay at her house until Christmas day so I can't make anything yet. However, it did force me to clear out my pantry so that when my lovely mixer arrives home there's a space for it.

Are you the kind of mother who lobs everything she doesn't want the children to get hold of right at the top of your pantry? Yep! Me too so clearing it out was a double blessing. Any hooo, I cleared it out and found this:

This is an Italian glass ccoffee cup that was given to me by my employers when I left my publishing job many years ago. I'm ashamed to say that, at the time, I decided they can't have liked me much because I considered it hideous. However, when I got it out of the box and set it up on my bookshelf yesterday (the one that is currently my display case for my lovely kitchen things) I realised that I am now, totally in love with it. I do hate the idea of drinking hot beverages out of glass as my tender little fingers get burnt, but it's still fun to look at.

So you can see it's been a productive couple of days. Now I need to knuckle down to my current Greenhowe project as I've a million other things I need to make before Christmas and it's one little girl's fourth birthday in exactly one week. Arghhhhhhhhh! Too much to do!

Making Progress

2011-11-23T18:35:00.001+13:00

I've been busy chugging away at the embroidery for my Frame Upcycle challenge and have finally finished the main part of the image. I'm starting to really love this with the swirly roses, the polka dot basket, the satin stitch leaves and even the sneaky little butterfly.

I roped my mum into helping me chose the border fabric today as I was struggling to decide what would look best. We've made a decision to use the same fabric as the heart. It's choclate brown with lovely pinky flowers, which seems to go well with my lace and rick rack that I'm pairing with it.

I also laid the empty frame over the two fabrics to be sure it'd be okay. I still have a few jobs to do, such as painting the frame and deciding if I'm going to do any treatment to it, but I'm feeling like I'm making headway at last.

And I've even found a home for it once the challenge is over. A dear old family friend, Rosa, bestowed on me lots of fabrics, laces, and other sewing goodies when she was packing up her home to move so I am going to give her this, once it's finished, as a small way of saying thank you. And, because it's been so much fun to make I'm wondering if there might be a market for these. I've been trying to work out how I can make a living once all my children are out of the home all day and I have had feedback about those headbands I made as party favours . . . remember these? Apparently people have been asking the wearers where they were purchased and where they can get some for their daughter. So, desipte my lack of faith in my own work, maybe there is a living to be made. I'll have to keep researching I think.

But now I need to send some children to bed as one is flashing his behind in my face to check his wiping skills while the other two are fighting on the trampoline. Yes bed time once again!

Time Flies

2011-11-21T17:31:00.001+13:00

I was just browsing through some of the first posts I ever wrote and cannot believe how much the children have changed: how much I've changed for that matter.

Once my whole life was about them. Now it's easy to see that my life is more balanced and is as full of creativity, craft and friends as it is of children and their needs. Just check out these "Then and Now" photographs:

Janae at 12 months (about two weeks after I got her)

Janae this weekend aged almost 4

Kayley at five modling one of my more disasterous crochet designs when I first started crocheting

Kayley at almost nine being a very helpful girl

Rogan at three finally mastering how to climb up the slide steps on his own

Rogan at almost six, looking very cool with his face paint and sparkler.

Where did those three years go? How did the children grow so quickly without my noticing? What images will I be posting in three years time? They might be hard work but boy they're rewarding!

Blissful Respite on Crafty Monday

2011-11-21T13:51:00.001+13:00

It's been a fun, full and festive three days celebrating turning 40, however, today it was quiet, constructive and restful.

My six hours are almost up and they've flown away but it's been so lovely to have some quiet time after so much activity. I started my morning by organising my pretties that were given to me over the past weekend.

My tray is looking so lovely on the bookcase with just one or two things on it. Now I have to remind myself not to put other things on it as I go by.

I put some roses I picked from my garden in my bedroom and as I walk past the door they make me smile. Plus, each time I go in there I'm greeted by a faint but lovely smell of fresh roses. Mmmmm. Can't beat real blooms.

But I've also been busy working on Crafty Monday today. The date for our Picture Frame Upcycle Challenge is drawing nearer and I've changed my mind as to what's going in my frame so many times I can't even remember half of the ideas I've had.

But browsing through the magazines Corleah gave me on Friday (while being papmered at the hairdressers) I came across a gorgeous hand embroidered/applique/quilt picture in a lovely frame and realised that's what I had to do for my frame.

Here's the original that I'm copying. I'm adding a couple of bits and the fabrics are completely different, but that's all good as it's lots of fun. I do, however, have to put it reluctantly down now as it's drawing nearer to school collection time and then the chaos will prevail until bedtime, but that's the bliss of children.

Here's hoping your week is crafty too.

What a Day!!

2011-11-18T18:09:00.001+13:00

Being two days out from my official birthday I wasn't feeling at all in a birthday mood today. I had a date to go for coffee morning with the lovely Carolyn, and didn't really feel like that. I wanted to stay home and work on my latest Greenhowe doll. But, I'd committed to it so I would go.

Well, I got home from the school drop off to find something red and dazzling on my doorstep. The gorgeous Kate had donned her Angel wings and left me this beautiful gift. I never cease to be amazed how, just sometimes, the desires of our hearts are given to us.

I had seen some silicone cake moulds just like these yesterday and longed to buy some. But being on a pre-Christmas budget drive I put them back on the shelf. Imagine my glee as I opened the fabulously spotted cake tin to find these inside. I also had these beautiful speciments to put in a vase . . .

They are simply divine. If you haven't already popped over to Kate's blog you need to go now and see all the fabulous things she makes. Now I had to telephone Kate first thing and thank her for her gifts. She asked me all about my plans for the day and ooohhed and ahhhed in interest. Not once did I think she was hiding a dark secret!

I arrived at our coffee morning to a sea of faces (some that don't usually attend on a Friday morning) a very loud chorus of "Happy Birthday" and I promptly burst into tears. How silly of me. Kate had known all about this surprise party and didn't drop one hint.

The table had been carefully laid out with all manner of delights, the chairs adorned with beautiful organza, a fresh fruit punch and a hot cup of Lady Grey ready for me. I was overwhelmed to say the least.

And then I was handed a large, rose wrapped gift. I was still so overwhelmed that I couldn't get the ribbons off. Rex was quick to the rescue and I was showered with the most delightful things and I was, one by one, reminded of conversations I'd had with various friends over the past couple of weeks.

"I don't have a tray" I announced to Corleah as she explained how she was upcycling her frame to a tea tray. "I love this hedgehog book" I said to Andrea in Spotlight one day. "I need to see Mrs M and ask her to make me a necklace to go with my lovely new dress" I said to Carolyn just the other day. It brings tears of joy to my eyes just thinking of how loved I felt to know that my friends had taken my throw-away comments and turned them into the best gift EVER!

And, the only way to sum up how blessed I am to have these friends is to share the card they gave me with the gift. This says it all!

Thank you ladies (and gents) for an amazing morning and one of the best birthdays I can remember. Now I want to plan all the ways I can make your next birthday as special!

I'm not sure what it is

2011-11-16T12:21:00.001+13:00

I'm not sure if it's the fact that I'm turning 40 in a matter of days; or if it's that I'm over tired, run down and have a raging sore throat; I'm not sure if it's the big barney I had with my dad last week or the mountain of work that keeps piling up around the home; what ever the reason I've spent quite a lot of the week in the "I'm feeling blue" basement of my heart. I don't like being here much as it's a long climb back up those stairs and I've got my birth mother and grandmother arriving in two days. But, never one to let a sad mood keep me down, it's been a very productive week also.

I've finally got all my Christmas swap things ready to go and I'll get them posted off tomorrow. Yeah, it feels good to have these finished. I tell you, if you're looking for a cathartic, pleasurable, quick and beautiful craft to do, make some of these baubles. I couldn't finish them last week as I'd run out of pins and had to ask the lovely Carolyn to get me some more on her trip to Spotlight yesterday. But now it's all done, and before the deadline, which is quite astounding really.

These are the lovely decorations I've received in the post so far. I'm looking forward to dusting off the Christmas tree and getting them hung up. Still a few more weeks to go before we do that though.

I've also made a start on this little lass for a Christmas gift for a friend. Yes, you all know I'm addicted to Jean Greenhowe and Andrea dropped off the "Red Nose Gang" books last week. I'm not sure what it is, but I cannot have a new stash of Greenhowe patterns and not start something. These patterns are slightly more complex than others I've done of hers, which just makes them more interesting. And there's a million little elements to go with it (aside from the obvious, like arms). I will be making an umbrella, a backpack with fun things like a thermos in it. A skirt with embroidered flowers. The list goes on. So I keep picking up my knitting needles and plodding on. It's a good thing it's reasonably good weather so I can spend the afternoons outdoors on the swing seat knitting, while the children charge around the garden doing all sorts of exciting things with hoses, paddling pools . . . oh and let's not forget the daily bee hunt (thankfully no one has been stung yet).

And while I eagerly await my annual hair cut and pamper session on Friday afternoon, I have this gorgeous dress to admire. I was dragged out by my mother the other day and we went shopping to find her some new summer tops. I was admiring some of the lovely dresses when she forced (yes forced) me to try this on. It's not only lovely to look at but lovely to wear. It's cool, it's stylish (well I think so) and it's one of those items of clothing that I will love to wear. I will have been out in the heat mowing lawns, I'll have had a cool and refreshing shower and I'll throw this on and feel bliss. I just know it!

But that's enough chatter for one day. I've still got floors to hoover (before the kids get home rather than immediately I think) and I need to keep on with my doll. I have a fence to mend around the vege garden and maybe even a nana nap to fit in before 3pm. Boy that'll keep me busy.

More Decorations

2011-11-10T17:57:00.002+13:00

One of the teachers at pre-school came rushing up to me the other day to show me her latest creation. I was overjoyed that she shared it with me and vowed that I'd make some for my Christmas swap.

So this afternoon I was sitting blissfully at my desk making these (until I remembered that I'd promised to help the lovely Carolyn with her Photoshop Assignment). These are sooooo easy to make and very cathartic too. It's been a bit of a bummer week so sitting in the quiet sticking pins into something was exactly what my soul needed.

Basically, get yourself a polystyrene ball, some flat head pins, some sequins and some ribbon. Place the ribbon in a cross around the ball and secure with a pin at the top and where the ribbons cross at the bottom. The start pinning on the sequins.

It took a while to work out the most effective way to place the sequins but now I pin sequins around the outside of the wedge created by the ribbons then fill the inside in rows from bottom to top. It seems to maximise coverage of the ball.

I had a whole lot of the hanging bits at the top left over from the glass balls I made my wreath out of. Actually, confession time, after seeing Donna's balls I came home and dug through my rubbish bin to find them because I'd thrown them out never thinking I'd have a use for them. Thankfully I hadn't dumped any awful kitchen rubbish on top so it wasn't an awful job. But Donna assures me that these can be purchased quite cheaply from craft shops.

I've threaded some matching ribbon through the loop, tied it off and it's all set to hang from a tree.

I've also decided that I've been far too ambitions (and probably a bit show-offy) and making three decorations for each person was going a little over the top. So, I have six knitted decorations and am well on the way to having six sequined balls so I'm fairly sure that the recipients will be quite happy with one of each (I hope).

It also leaves some time to work on another Christmas gift. Andrea has loaned me some Jean Greenhowe books of the "Red Nose Gang" and I'm attempting to make a hybrid of about three dolls for someone our family loves. I can't say too much as I think this person checks out the blog from time to time.

Now the children are gathered around, Kayley is waiting for the computer to do some homework, Janae's just being noisy and Rogan is just hanging about because it looks like he's missing out on something. Thus, it's time to sign off for today.

Busy busy busy

2011-11-08T22:30:00.002+13:00

We had a lovely time shopping for our picture frames on Monday, and we visited lots of opportunity shops. I am not a frequenter of op shops as I walk and and behave like a stunned mullet at the array of merchandise available then leave again. But with Andrea as our tour guide and teacher I found lots of little wonders. This is just one of them. A huge stash of pre-cut quilting squares. I've counted them and there are over 90 for a mere $2.50. Fabulous. Can't wait to figure out what to do with them.

I also found a big bag of assorted balls. This is perfect for my ball loving Rogan for Christmas. It has made me realise how we, as mothers, plant seeds of what children actually want for Christmas: and sometimes it's not very subtle. Yesterday afternoon when Rogan was hunting for his flashing smiley ball I said "Perhaps Santa might bring you lots of little balls for Christmas," and Rogan thought this was a wonderful idea and rushed indoors to write it on his Christmas list. Tick, that's one gift sorted.

I also purchased a frame (of course) and a couple of quilting magazines that were about 10% of the retail price and still had all the templates in tact. I was over the moon. I can't believe that I spent a day out shopping, even had some lunch out and came home with $3 left over from my $20 budget. I need to shop like this more often.

But since then I've been beavering away on my Christmas swap gifts. These will be the last of the knitted ones as I have new ideas. These three treasures are for someone who has told me her favourite colour is yellow. The Christmas tree is incomplete and it will have yellow and red balls on it.

On Thursday I intend to get the supplies I need for the next project so I'll let you in on that secret once I've got the first made. You're going to love this crafty treasure as it's super easy and super gorgeous. Bet you can't wait now.

Guy Fawkes

2011-11-06T16:59:00.000+13:00

I'm not entirely sure why we as a nation still celebrate the attempt to blow up the English parliament in 1605 but we do and the children love it! We followed tradition and joined some friends down on the beach in front of my parent's home. We set out our explosives at intervals along the low tide mark, waited for darkness to descend and then the men got busy setting them off.

Little Janae was terrified. Before we even got to the beach she was asking if she could go home to bed. We got the sparklers out and she refused to hold them. The fear didn't last long. She was tucked up on Nanny's knee as it was FREEZING down there and after the first firework was over she was calling out "one more Granddad". And before you know it she was begging for sparklers quicker than I could get them lit.

The other two were in raptures too. Rogan bouncing about like a bunny and Kayley taking it all in her "I'm almost nine and too cool to get excited" way. Needless to say it was a fairly late night and there are three tired and ratty children this evening but it's all worth it really.

And today I came home from church in the brilliant sunshine expecting to be mowing lawns. By the time the five minute journey was over it was pouring with rain. So I had no choice but to finish off this Christmas decoration. It has been fun to make but I'm pleased it's finished. There are just so many elements to this that I doubt I'll make another one. Now I'm busy making yellow and purple baubles (knitted of course). But I have three monsters racing around the house like mad things so I'd better go feed them before herding them into an early bed.

Oh, tomorrow is our shopping trip to get special things for our frame upcycle. Can't wait for that! I'm sure I'll end up with treats that will have nothing to do with picture frames. I'll let you know!

It's all about Christmas here

2011-11-04T19:58:00.001+13:00

As you know I've signed up for a Christmas Decoration swap and I was Pinterest-ing the other day and came across these gorgeous wreaths made from baubles for Christmas trees. Not being particularly bright these days (due largely to a lack of sleep, too much to do and desperate need of a holiday) I thought I'd make some of these for my swap. Hmmm. A couple of major problems:

1. They are so fragile that there is almost no way I could put them in the post and expect them to get there in one piece;
2. They're quite expensive. I've used over 45 baubles on this wreath and it's only a little one. I had imagined I'd do a big one for my front door, but I think this one will have to do.

Now I'll have to rethink some other ideas for my swap. I have my decorations that I've knitting but I really wanted to mix it up a bit. Oh well, thinking cap goes back on.

And I have a confession to make about the creation of this wreath. My darling girl came home from volleyball tonight (she'd won and played brilliantly apparently) and I fussed over how clever she is before sending her off to bed with a book and a promise that I'd be in to say goodnight shortly. I got completely sidetracked and by the time I got in there she'd turned out her own light and was sound asleep. I'm a dreadful mother.

But Christmas Swaps aren't the only Christmasy things going on in our house. My Rogan and Kayley have been through my Jean Greenhowe books and picked out gifts they want me to make for their teachers. This little red breasted robin on a log is the start of Miss T's gift. There's one more holly sprig to make and then a square of snow for them all to sit on. The robin isn't attached yet and he will have feet (hopefully making him look more like a bird than a mouse with a red nose and a swollen tail). I should complete this one tonight and make a start on Rogan's gift. And Janae has just been given a place at a local kindergarten and will start on December 5 so I'm feeling that I really need to make some lovely gifts for her gorgeous pre-school teachers that have been so good to her for the past year.

No more procrastinating. Back to work I go making gifts. Enjoy your weekend!

Finished at Last

2011-11-02T13:04:00.000+13:00

My first ever dress is completed at long last and Janae was eager to wear it to Mainly Music this morning. Everyone was very gracious and said it was lovely, but all I could see where the errors and the things I'd do differently next time.

But it fits, she looks gorgeous and she loves it so I'm eager to go pattern hunting and find something else to make. I'm loving this summer's maxi dresses so I'm thinking I may need to make a few of those for myself. We'll just have to see.

Starting the Decontamination

2011-11-01T15:38:00.000+13:00

This morning, as the rain was pouring down I set Janae to some painting while I began the decontamination process.

No, we haven't been ill, but the room where I do my sewing has, until today, been known as the toy room. Really it's just the MESS room. My children are almost past the stage of playing with lots of little toys. Now they're more into sports, the great outdoors and hut making.

So while Janae was happily creating a few masterpieces I got to work. Unfortunately it wasn't a case of starting and finishing in the toy room, but I had to clear out a couple of bedrooms so that some of their most precious treasures could have a home there.

Consequently it has taken me all day just to get to this stage . . .

It's my little corner of the world and I love it. It's still not perfectly ordered and tidy but at least there's a clear path across the floor to it now. Yesterday, while making Janae's birthday present I had to clamber over a pile of videos (yes videos, not DVDs . . . very strange phenomenon). I had to dodge a couple of beach chairs that Rogan and Janae use to sit on when watching their videos. Then I had to sift through a mountain of trains, cars, planes and other paraphernalia to get to the green machine.

What you can't see is the big pile of things I'm going to sneak out to the rubbish collection on Wednesday mornings. Shhh, don't tell the children, because I have a feeling that unless they're informed of this, they probably won't even notice the absence of things they never play with.

Now I want to sit down and carry on with another project but it's too close to dinner making time so there just isn't the time or head space to sew. Maybe tomorrow after Mainly Music.

Crafty Monday

2011-10-31T21:58:00.003+13:00

I have spent most of my day creating this little number for Janae's 4th birthday coming up in just over a month.

Of my two girls she's the one who loves her dolls and playing house and when I saw a quilted hold out dolls house tutorial on Pinterest I knew I just had to make it for her as part of her birthday treats.

She's also my guinea pig, because if it all comes together and she loves it, it will be my standard birthday gift for little girls next year (unless I find something equally fun to make instead).

This is what I'm hoping the finished product will be. I got this design from UK lass in US blog here. But I have to be honest that I didn't really follow her instructions and kind of worked it out in my head. I've figured out some things I'd do differently next time I make it, but I'm still really happy with it so far.

I love the covered buttons on UK Lass's picture and I've been given a whole lot of cover-your-own-buttons recently so I'm definitely adding those.

It's almost too difficult to wait until December 3 and see what she thinks when she opens this gift. But I still have lots of little dolly bits to go inside it too.

So it's just a case of finishing and hiding it until next month. I wonder what wonderful things I'll be doing next week. Check this out. I don't think I'll be making this next week but I'm going to make sure it's something I do before the year is out!

Baking Day

2011-10-29T12:13:00.000+13:00

School camp is coming up on Monday and I am required to send Kayley along with some baking. No, not all of this is for camp, but while the oven was on I decided to make up for not having done baking in over two weeks.

My poor children have been living off store bought biscuits for the past two weeks and I've felt very bad about it. Today I've more than made up for it.

These are some mini vanilla cupcakes for Kayley to take away on camp. There are enough for one each for the children but the adults may miss out.

However, I'm working on the premise that all 33 children will be taking baking so there's going to be more than enough goodies for everyone. I love icing mini cupcakes because it's one quick squirt with the icing bag, a dip into some sprinkles and presto, you're done.

We're off to Nanny and Granddad's for a roast beef and yorkshire pudding dinner tonight so I thought I'd take these chocolate cupcakes along for afternoon tea. The last time I made these it was a disaster. I think my baking powder was a bit on the old side as they puffed up ENORMOUS and then fell flat. They're perfect this time.

And then for something completely new. These are instant pudding choc chip cookies. Andrea brought these over for our shared Crafty Monday a couple of weeks back. So she's kindly shared her recipe with us. My children have declared this their all time favourite so let's hope they go down well in your house.

Ingredients
150g softened butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 packets Greggs Instant Pudding mix
2 teaspoons baking powder
mini M&Ms or choc chips

Method
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs beating well after each one. Add dry ingredients and combine well. Add Chocolate (as much as you like).
Roll into balls and place on baking tray, flatten slightly. (You may wish to put the mix into the refrigerator as the mix may be sticky).
Bake at 175 degrees C for 12-15 mins.

I baked mine for 12 minutes because we love the slightly gooey centre. Also, I made my balls way too big and they almost all merged into one large biscuit. We got about 40 of these out of the mix so there's plenty to go around!

Enjoy.

Too Busy to Create

2011-10-28T12:18:00.002+13:00

I love the warmer months of the year. I love the night breeze that comes through the open door when I'm falling asleep. I love the way the children race out to play after dinner because it's still light. I love waking up and bouncing out of bed ready for the day because it has started before me, unlike the winter months. I do not, however, love the way the outdoors requires more attention leaving less time for creating.

I love fresh beans in the summer, but I'm not so fond of going through the epic drama of creating a bean frame each year. Hopefully this sturdy bamboo number will stay put for a few seasons to come now.

I love a mutton roast with my family, but I'm not so fond of the tedious job of pulling off fencing battens to make way for a new fence to keep the sheep in.

I love the way the birds sing from dawn until dusk. I'm not so fond of the cheeky Kingfisher bird that sits on the swing set and dive bombs the windows for some unknown reason. I keep threatening to take the air rifle to him, but he just laughs at me.

There are so many jobs to be done that I'm kind of glad it's wet and miserable outdoors today. All I have to do now is get on top of the indoor jobs and I'll be ready to get started on something fun. Here's hoping that all the chores can be complete by this evening and I'll have the weekend to watch the children play happily while I keep on with my baby blanket.

Crafty Monday

2011-10-24T15:00:00.001+13:00

It's the very last day of the school holidays. It's been quite good but I'm hanging out for it to be over tomorrow. Still, I've managed to get some crafting done today while sitting out under the umbrella.

I put the rotary cutter to use this morning and churned out a bunch of squares. The only issue is that I felt like I had an enormous pile of squares to be sewn together and when I got to the sewing machine and started putting them together the pile disappeared very quickly.

Still, only three more rows to go and I'll be ready to do the border and then put it all together. I'm really starting to love this quilt and can't wait until it's hanging off the back of the sofa. As I watched the All Blacks narrowly win the Rugby World Cup last night I thought "hmmm, a little chilly. What a shame I don't have the quilt finished" so I think it's going to be handy as well as colourful.

I have also been commission to make a baby blanket and I've made a start on this. It's been strangely difficult to get started as I've trawled through most of my books, loads of online patterns and pictures. You see, the new baby isn't born yet and its parents don't want to know if it's a boy or a girl. Therefore, I have to make a "genderless" blanket. This is almost impossible to do I've discovered. So I've finally decided on white as it's so neutral, and a soft green for some of the borders and a yellow flower. The flower squares will form a diamond within the collection of squares. I'll finish it off with a yellow frilly border and hope that this isn't too girly if baby turns out to be a boy. But then I keep reminding myself that it doesn't matter if baby is a boy because babies are just gorgeous and blankets are gorgeous and they both go together regardless of gender. Let's hope the person I'm making it for feels the same.

Now the children are making my headache worse by playing up because it's time to head off to Nanny and Granddad's house so I can throw them in the deep end of the pool. (It's pool cleaning day and there's only about 40cm of water in the pool so they're not likely to drown. I am thinking I might secretly stash an overnight bag into the car for Janae and see if I can con the folks into keeping her there for the night so I can have a quiet morning tomorrow once the older kids are safely at school. We'll see how that goes!

Crazy Cranium Girls

2011-10-21T16:06:00.000+13:00

It's that time again. It's the last Friday of the school holidays and we mums are celebrating by having a Cranium and Calories night.

Here's my offering for tonight. I LOVE making this cheese cake because it's so simple and yet it's so show-offy (if that's a word).

You know, I can't quite believe that we've survived this holiday. I think I say this at the end of each school holiday, but this one has been different from all the others in that one of the Nana's has taken herself out of the family equation for the time being so I've been surrounded by three children for much more time than is usual in a break from education. It's been okay apart from our tummy bugs but I'm looking forward to next Thursday which will be my first child free day for three weeks.

So tonight we'll crack open a bottle of wine, lift the lid on a box of Cranium and spoon some pudding on our plates; we'll let the laughter flow, the tears of giggles flow and let our hair down. All I have to do is scrub the loo, wash the floor in there, feed the kids and get them to bed at a decent time for the first night in over a week and it's all on. Yeee Haa!

Tell you all about it tomorrow!

New Obsessions

2011-10-20T16:55:00.000+13:00

The second week of the school holidays didn't start well I'm afraid. Three of the four of us were struck down the a nasty tummy bug. We usually have cast iron constitutions, but we succumbed this time and I even spent a day in bed.

However, we're all back to our usual selves now and ready for the close of the holidays. Until today I've still been feeling squimish but I've discovered that it has more to do with dehydration rather than bugs. I've discovered this in a lovely way. I've been child free this afternoon and had the opportunity to catch up with The Lovely Carolyn over a cup of coffee. Then I had a cup of tea with friends who took Rogan and Kayley out to a puppet show this afternoon and I've downed a couple of glasses of water and suddenly I'm feeling much better. Note to self: make sure you keep drinking (not wine unfortunately).

But amidst this fog of unwellness I've virtually finished Janae's outfit and have managed to make headway on what I'm calling my "My Life" quilt. I've spent the past couple of weeks pouring over quilting books from the library and browsing the web for colour combinations and all those lovely things. I have so many little off-cuts of fabrics and am totally in love with Fat Quarters (now that I know what they are) so last week I decided to make a start on a very basic quilt for the back of our old sofa to throw over ourselves if it gets cold.

I've called it "My Life" because I had thought I had some old clothes in my closet that would go lovely in this quilt. I have, however, discovered that I've given them away to Good Will over the past year so it may mean a name change.

And today I got some more fabrics. The top is my absolute favourite. Paisley has become another obsession of mine lately. The Lovely Carolyn bought herself a paisley top that I coveted and I realised that I NEED more of this kind of fabric in my life.

Now that I'm feeling so much better I'm going to keep going on my quilt because it's easy to cut a few blocks, sew them together and then get on with something else, without it taking over my life. Speaking of which, I've got half an hour before I need to get the dinner on the table so I might put myself at the table and cut a few more.

I also need to whip up a cheesecake for our Crazy Cranium night tomorrow night, but that can wait. I'll keep you posted on how the quilt is progressing!

Crafty Monday

2011-10-17T22:43:00.000+13:00

What I really wanted to call this post was . . .
WHO'D BE A MILLINER? But as it was Monday and I'd managed to do some creating I thought I'd better stick with my assigned day.

Here's the hat I've struggled with for hours that is to go with Janae's new dress. The times I've unpicked it because my seam was so wonky I caught the brim of the hat, etc, etc, drama, drama, drama. But it's complete and it's okay. I know Janae will love it even if I don't. Note to self: Think twice before making another hat from fabric!

You know, there are some days when you just know God is on your side. Today was one of them. Kayley awoke complaining of a sore tummy and, in what I have discovered is normal mummy fashion, I dismissed it telling her she'd be right soon.

I dropped Janae off at preschool and while there Rogan organised a play date with a school friend and off he went. Kayley reiterated her stomach complaint (after trying to organise her own play date) and I very unsympathetically shoved some kiddy paracetamol at her. Well, 20 minutes later I heard some alarming sounds from the bathroom (along with lots of sobs and tears) and my precious girl was quite sick. Boy, did I feel a huge dose of the guilts. Thankfully she was the only one home so she got lots of love, back rubbing and assurance that all would be well at some point.

Then this afternoon she agreed that she'd lay on the sofa watching Sky kids programs with Nanny while I took the little ones for a swim. We made it to Nanny and Granddads house, Rogan promptly took himself off to bed and then dashed off the the bathroom to follow Kayley's example. How was God on my side? Because Kayley was past the vomiting stage, Janae was a box of birds and I knew I could cope without losing my temper or my mind. Imagine the state I'd have been in with two children sick at the same time and our littlest trying to mother everyone in between.

So, amid the drama I've almost completed Janae's dress . . .

And yes, I'm patting myself on the back. You'd have laughed if you'd seen me after I'd laid it out on the table. I was speechless at first (odd for me) then just laughed because it actually turned out looking like a dress for an almost four year old. I've taken on so many things I'd never thought I'd achieve in a million years. There are still a number of things to do but I think she'll be wearing it to church on Sunday morning (assuming we're not all chained to the nearest loo by then).

And before all the drama set in . . . at the very early hour of 7.30 this morning, the doorbell went. Now, no one rings our door bell. They either just open the door and call down the hall, come through the garage if that door is up or come round to the living room and in through the slider. So we three girls looked at each other in alarm. A 7.30am door bell ring surely couldn't be a good thing.

It was BRILLIANT! My iron on vinyl has arrived. It's my first purchase from Fabric Online and I have to say it was a painless and very speedy process. I'll be keeping my eye out for other bargains there from now on.

I cannot make any more bibs until I have this outfit finished but it's safely tucked away until then.

Oh and I have to share that my mother, oh she of infinite patience admitted she's just a little sad that I've learned to sew because she's worried she may be put on the back burner for all the sewing jobs. NEVER! My mum is the whizz at knit fabrics and keeps us in summer stuff so she'll always have work from our family!

What is it about the sunshine?

2011-10-15T20:44:00.000+13:00

We arose this morning full of beans and ready for some housework. Now, I don't usually expect help from my children . . . they usually duck out the side door and run for the hills. But this morning my girls thought cleaning the bathroom would be the most fun in the world.

They did a fairly good job too, and I tried not to dent their pride in their work by going behind them to add some elbow grease to the mirror that was looking more than a little smeared. I don't think they even noticed.

Janae spent about half an hour on this one wall of the shower. I'm not all together sure why they cleaned this shower as it's very rarely used. I despise cleaning shower glass so I mostly make the three of them shower in my tiled shower but nothing was ever harmed through a thorough clean (at least I don't think it has, Rogan and his neck may disagree from time to time).

And then I was concerned that all this sunshine would mean that I'd have to get out and mow the lawn. But, the Spring season was on my side and once lunch was over the heavens opened up and I felt obliged to get started on Janae's dress.

Under the watchful eye of my mother I carefully cut out the pattern. Because of my complete dread and trepidation it took over an hour. I have to say Mum was very calm and patient and didn't tell me to "get on with it" once, which is what I'd probably have said had the shoe been on the other foot.

Because Rogan was out gallivanting with Granddad and the girls were playing so nicely elsewhere I also set to with the sewing part.

How is it that I have managed to avoid falling in love with sewing before? Beats me, but the bug has definitely caught me. I even got back to it once the children were in bed, but realised I need elastic for the pockets and don't have any so I've had to reluctantly stop. Ah well, good thing the rugby is on tonight or I'd be very upset.

I kick myself every time I blog as I never get around to taking my pictures until night time and you just can't see the colours properly. But, once it's finished I'll be sure to photograph my girl wearing it, outdoors.

It has been amazing to note that, as with my learning process in knitting and crochet, I am following the directions to the letter and have absolutely no idea what I'm supposed to be doing. But, the faithful follower will find the prize in the end and this is the case with sewing. I have just completed putting the contrast down the skirt fronts and my mind had this as the top of the skirt instead of the opening. I doubted the directions right through to the completion and then realisation dawned on how it fits together. Silly me!

Okay, the kettle is on, the anthems are about to be sung any moment and the first semi-final of the Rugby World Cup will be underway. What a nice way to take our minds off PSA kiwifruit virus and a very large ship leaking unknown amounts of oil into the sea at our local beach.

See you next week!

Children's Crafty Day

2011-10-14T19:05:00.000+13:00

This morning was our kid's craft day organised by Corleah. And much fun was had by all. The children had great fun decopaging these cardboard flower pots and then raced around the garden (on a rare fine day) while they dried.

While they dried we sat around the table (in a rare moment of peace) and chatted and made some paper flowers to go in the pots once they had dried.

And here's the final product. These will look gorgeous on Katies windowsill.

And I got the Green Machine back today. I needed to apologise profusely for ever wishing her gone because it was bliss to sit at her again this afternoon and finish off another of my new mother gifts. It's lovely and smooth and quick as lightning (well, not quite lightning) and smells of oil and all those glorious things.

And here's the second of my Christmas Decoration swap items. I quite like this little fellow. I especially loved making his broom. I can't believe how frightening twisted cords have been for so long and yet, once you have a little faith in yourself, they're super easy and very effective. Just a little patience required.

Now the children are watching Mary Poppins and I haven't the heart to send them off to bed, even though I'll regret it tomorrow if I don't. Now all I have to figure out is which thing to make this evening. I have done nothing on the top-secret-project in over a week because I have all these other things that need to be done. And I've had Kayley drawing up a list of chores to get done tomorrow morning so I'd better get on with something tonight.

Here's hoping your weekend is a good one, with great weather and full of entertainment!

Making Gifts, Giving Love

2011-10-12T10:33:00.000+13:00

I was feeling very much like I had cabin fever last night so I couldn't bear the thought of being in front of the telly knitting. I sat in front of the sewing machine instead. It was SOOOOO much fun.

I now have my first "new baby" gift complete and can't wait to give these to Sonia who is due any time now!

This is the new and improved bag pattern. I'm hoping to improve it more and if anyone's interested I can share how I've made it when I've got it completely sorted out. This one is much more light weight than my first attempt. And, having made the square "ball" I've learned how to ensure that my seams all line up, so the next bag will be even better

This is the "ball" I found a pattern for last night. London Mummy is a fabulous blog (she's now on my reading list so check it out) and she has amazingly simple to follow tutorials etc. I'm going to have to check out more of her stuff to see what else I can make.

And this bib you've already seen. I've just got around to putting the velcro on so it's wearable. I'll get some lovely ribbon tomorrow to put it all together with and that'll be one of three complete.

Now I'm desperately trying to keep the children from killing each other after three days of rain. I'm fed up with the sound of my own voice, certainly fed up with the sound of the children's voices so we're just waiting for Kayley and Nanny to get here and we're taking a road trip out to the Katikati Library. The beauty of living in a large rural area is that we can access libraries all over the place. Our little one is great but Katikati is bigger, has better toys, larger selection of books and DVDs so we should be able to amuse ourselves until lunch time, then I'll let them fight over which DVD to watch first, shout a bit and they'll hopefully settle to something so I can have some peace. Ahhh, only one and a half weeks until the school holidays are over. So near and yet so far!

The Christmas Swap has started

2011-10-11T15:42:00.000+13:00

The first of the Christmas swap decorations is complete . . . amid a hubbub of children playing indoors on a rainy day.

This little angel is much cuter in person (so much so it's tempting to keep her for my own tree). I'm going to have to hide her from our knitting theif . . .

. . . Janae. But now that the first is complete and I've figured out the hair and got some braid for her halo I'm sure the next ornament will be quicker and more easy on the brain.

Can't stop to chat today as Janae is running her own bath and is heading for the kitchen to put "bubbles" in. Not sure dish washing liquid will be the healthiest bubbles.

Crafty Monday

2011-10-10T18:29:00.001+13:00

Being the first day of the school holidays I hadn't expected to get any crafting done. However, it seems my cherubs might be growing up a bit and I did find some time to make this bag. (Don't get me wrong, there were still rows and arguments, but nothing too difficult to defuse).

I've been talking lately about making gifts for some of my friends who are expecting babies, and I thought a bag to throw over your shoulder with a few bits and bobs you might need could be a good addition to my gift so I made a start on working out how to make one and what would work best.

My rows aren't exact and I had a few issues with the tension of the borrowed machine so my stitching isn't perfect. However, I'm pleased with where it's going and may just have to go out tomorrow to grab some fat quarters (I just love the sound of that) and keep working on how I want it to look. So this is the other side (I wanted to say backside but thought I might giggle, as having children at home all day toilet humour gets into the blood.)

I know it's all a bit girlie, but I am sure I'll be able to find some "boy" fabric around too. And I've managed to source some iron on vinyl in New Zealand (I'll blog the address when I can remember where I put it) so I'm also thinking the lining on the inside should be vinyl incase of spills etc.

And here's my gorgeous mum helping me sort out the tension on the machine. Anna didn't drop off the manual or anything and I have a feeling it's been some time since its last use as there are a number of knobs that appear to do nothing, not even turn.

However, between the two of us we worked out the tension issues. The only downside is that we can't get the bobbin winder to work so I'm having to wind bobbins by hand. But that's a small price to pay.

Hopefully the Green Machine should be home safe and sound by the end of the week, which leaves just one week of the holidays to wait until some time to do some child free sewing.

Now I need to get the children to bed so that I can get on with making some Christmas decorations for a Christmas Swap I heard about from Megan over at MouseHouse. Thought it might be a good idea to get on with them so they're ready to go by the postal date.

Enjoy the rest of your day and will catch you soon with some more goodies I hope.

So patience isn't my strong suit

2011-10-09T20:03:00.000+13:00

It was such a "doing" day on Saturday that, once the washing line was full and the lawns were mown I just couldn't resist putting our swing seat together. I now call it "our" swing seat as I've only sat on it twice since putting it together.

I was a little concerned that I'd fail because the beginning of the assembly instructions told me "assembly may require two persons". But, one person and two children who were so patient and helpful, got it together in a couple of hours. And here are the little cherubs all snuggled up on it at half past seven this morning. Gee, if only they really were still asleep at half seven.

Tomorrow is card making day for Grandad's birthday later this week. Can't wait to see what awesome creations they'll come up with. Oh . . . a GREAT idea to get together with your friends and their children over the school holidays has been come up with by Corleah. Get all together for "Kids Craft Morning" and set the children to something simple yet fabulous and help them out while chatting and drinking coffee. We're having one on Friday morning so we're really looking forward to that.

My prayer is that if you have school holidays occurring at your place that you're enjoying the little darlings, and that you have space for a quiet cup of tea and a flick through your latest favourite craft magazine at least twice a day.

Belinda

PS: The darling old Singer can be repaired, which is great news, if a little disappointing that a fancy new machine is now at the bottom of the 40th birthday list. The Green Machine should be home by the end of the week, but until then, Anna has loaned me her old darling. Yeah . . . more sewing tomorrow!

Celebrations and Thanks

2011-10-06T18:54:00.000+13:00

My darling little boy has just about completed his third term of school and it's been an interesting journey this far. It's been quite astounding to see all the horrid things he's been through in his very short years start to come out as he's had to develop more in-depth relationships with other children and his teacher.

It's meant that he's had to have some counselling and he's had lots of encouragement such as a chart on the wall of the classroom to indicate his ability to interact without hurting his friends. If he gets five "cars" in a day he has been sent home with a banana sweet. And his little friends have stood by him, helped him and encouraged him.

So I thought it might be nice if Rogan shared a morning tea with his class as a way of saying thank you to them all. This afternoon has been a flurry of cupcake baking, fondant colouring (my hands are as yellow as the stars) and sprinkle scattering. He's very excited about sharing this with his friends and I hope it will help to reinforce the message that friends are for loving not thumping.

Good work my little Rogie!

I've never thought of myself as lucky

2011-10-05T16:47:00.000+13:00

I have been feeling a little bombarded by fund raising efforts lately and I've smiled sweetly at the lovely ladies selling raffle tickets at school so that the Year 7 kids can have a rip roaring camp this year.

Then they wore me down and I parted with a whole $3 for a ticket. I made it very clear that I only wanted second prize as I already have a BBQ which was first prize.

It was all a big joke and I never thought I'd win. Even Kayley kept asking "what would you do if you won first prize?" My response, very tongue in cheek was "I will ring up who ever won second prize and see if they want to swap.

Well, no need! I got a phone call this afternoon with Kim laughing saying, you wanted it and you won second prize. I was astounded as I have categorically NEVER won a raffle in my life. Now it's sitting, in it's box in the garage waiting for a time when my three little helpers are away from home so I can put it together. I even have decided to put it on my secret patio off my lounge so I can sit out on it with my knitting and no one can see me.

I've offered Carolyn a share of one side of it and a glass of wine if she helps me to assemble it. She seems quite open to that offer. So hopefully, I might have it put together by the weekend and be outdoors knitting Christmas stockings on it. I'll let you know!

Poppy Came and Went

2011-10-04T12:40:00.000+13:00

I knew it! Poppy is only just finished and . . .

She's been claimed by someone else.

Ah well, that's the life of a crafting mother I suppose.

You know, I remember now why I LOVE wet Mondays. Yesterday was pouring with rain, howling with wind and my friends and I were gathered in the warmth and much fun was had. Today the sun is shining, the breeze is light and I've achieved so much because I feel revitalised and renewed.

The washing line is full of clothes, the house has been hoovered from one end to the other, beds all made and one little girl has been playing happily all morning. I've managed to finish Poppy and now we're waiting for Nanny to come by to pick us and the sewing machine up to see if it can be renewed and revitalised too.

Would you think me a terrible person if I confessed that there's a secret part of me that hopes the darling old Singer cannot be fixed? I love that old machine and it's been such a blessing to have it, even for a short while, to build a love affair with sewing. But now the mourning period is over (it's remarkably short for machinery) I keep imagining sitting at a new machine that has one or two more bells and whistles than Singer. Actually, Singer is so old she doesn't have any bells or whistles so anything would be an improvement.

Well, only time will tell and I'll let you know the outcome. We're also off to fleece an old woman of her furniture. Not really. A lovely old family friend is giving up her gorgeous home to move into a gorgeous new home of much smaller proportions and she has some furniture she wants us to have so we're going to have a look at her wares and see what we can collect. That's very exciting for me. Now for a quick sandwich before we head off. I hope your Tuesday is beautiful, successful and rewarding too.

Crafty Monday . . . and then some!

2011-10-03T14:20:00.000+13:00

Well, what fun was had this morning. We ate lovely baking, a nice cup of tea and chats then into the craft. I was teaching a couple of the girls the decoupage canvas so I didn't do much myself, but I'm always crafting so it didn't really matter.

We had crochet, decoupage, sewing and lots of ideas flying about the room. The Ottoman was littered with craft books and magazines, and a great time was had by all.

But even better . . . we've come up with something I'm very excited about. Corleah had a great idea about choosing a craft and a budget and all doing something similar as a bit of a competition. I have a feeling that this could blow out to something quite big.

So I take great pleasure in announcing the inauguration of the Great Omokoroa Picture Frame Upcycle Challenge which has a maximum budget of $20 and we have until 12 December to complete it. Basically it's all about finding a cheap old picture frame and doing something marvellous with it. We've already had ideas thrown about like making a square wreath, using it as a photographic medium and I want to make mine into a kitchen chalk board where I can leave myself little notes. Each person can do whatever they like with their frame so long as they don't exceed their $20 budget. I can't stop thinking about it and want to get started now. But we're going to go Op Shopping after the school holidays to buy our frames and, if applicable, any supplies we can find dirt cheap. Can't wait to see what ideas come out of this and who joins us in this adventure.

Now my Crafty Monday is at an end and I need to collect my little treasures and think of ways to keep them entertained on a cold and wet Monday afternoon. Now there's a challenge.

Multi-tasking? Surely Not!

2011-10-01T20:21:00.000+13:00

Due to the unexpected demise of my sewing machine I've been guilty of multi tasking today. Meet Poppy . . . my single limbed and slightly skew polar bear. She's yet another of Jean Greenhowe's lovely creations and as soon as I saw her I knew I had to make her just for me. Hopefully, by the end of the weekend she will have all four limbs and a very delectable looking ice cream cone. I know my children are champing at the bit to claim her but she's mine, all mine!

And because the weather, which until today has been glorious, is not really conducive for all the outdoors adventures we had planned for today, I also started my "top secret project". Here's a sneak preview. Be warned, it's only in the very early stages, is quite an undertaking and may be some time before I can show you the finished product.

The children have been treated to hot dogs and chips for dinner in front of one of our all time favourite films Nanny McPhee and are now tucked up in bed peacefully slumbering. I am going to throw some bread in the toaster and put the kettle on for my own dinner and I'm going to settle down to Sex in the City 2. I have only one problem: which craft do I choose? I think it might have to be knitting as I can watch and knit at the same time. Embroidery is very much a head-down-bum-up kind of craft. But who cares which I choose, they'll both be fun and I'm sure the film will live up to it's reputation. There's nothing like a bit of self-obsessed girlie rom-com entertainment for a Saturday night in.

It's Turned into Crafty Friday Here

2011-09-30T11:56:00.002+13:00

Remember I'd said I was going to hand embroider some bibs as gifts? Well, I've found some beautiful fabric that my rusty embroidery stitching wouldn't come close to so I decided I'd just go with this design instead.

I've taken the template off one of Janae's old bibs and got the technique from the She Sews blog which I must remember to add to my reading list. I am so in love with this I almost wish I had another baby (that's almost wish). And they're SUPER easy. All I need now is to get some velcro to stitch on and we're away.

I also want to find out if I can source iron on vinyl here in Tauranga because, being cotton, these bibs are going to get a bit grubby. And, being cotton, they're probably going to need ironing, but don't tell my mum's-to-be that.

This was the project I was going to start on today. But, being a reformed "bull-in-a-china-shop" I sat down and carefully pulled out the instructions. I got to Step 2 and realised I didn't have any interfacing left. Then I looked at the cutting out layout and lost my nerve. I'll wait until Mum is back from her little holiday to the Lakes and get her to assist me laying it all out I think. I'd hate to make a huge mistake that can't be fixed before I've even started.

And I was up late last night finishing off Sonny. I started this little guy because I had no other wool related projects to be getting on with. I had no idea what was going to be done with him but I started. The day after he was conceived I ran into my friend Jo who was furiously filling a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child and only needed to find "something to love" as she put it. Quite conveniently I had Sonny stashed in my bag and I whipped him out, mid creation, and asked if she'd like to send him off to Fiji. We thought the boxes had to be handed in today so I was furiously knitting until midnight to get him finished. I've now discovered there's another week before the deadline so he's safely stashed away in Jo's shoe box.

If you're interested in sending some gifts to children who wouldn't normally receive any gifts then check out the link and find out where you can get a shoe box. It's a great way to teach your children that there are little ones out there who are not as fortunate as they are. This year I'm going to make a few bits and bobs and the children and I are going to head up to the Children's ward at our local hospital to give some gifts. Nothing fancy, nothing expensive, just lots of love.

Now I'd better clear away my sewing clutter and find some lunch. I was so eager to get on with creating I completely forgot about breakfast and I'm starving. Have a great weekend!

OH NO!!!!
I was just proof reading this post and hear some strange noises . . . I rushed into the other room to find my beautiful old Singer Sewing Machine (the very one I've just been working on) furiously puffing with smoke. It's now out on the patio (don't want the house to burn down) so that's the end of my sewing for a bit. Better move "New Sewing Machine" up to the top of my 40th birthday wish list I guess.

Crafty Monday

2011-09-27T21:54:00.000+13:00

Crafty Monday was a little bit low key this week, due to the winter cold. In fact, I did something I haven't done since becoming a mother of three . . . I plucked a DVD off the shelf, loaded it into the player, plonked myself on the sofa and knitted beside the fire. Actually, before I became a mother of three I only did the DVD part because I didn't know how to knit. It's amazing what can be achieved in three years.

So, here is Grandpa. He's the first of the Scarecrow family to land in our home. I can't believe just how many elements there were to make him. And, there's one that I just didn't have the energy or the patience to work out . . . his walking stick. Rogan (Grandpa's new owner) was a little disappointed about this until I pointed out that Rogan's own Grandpa was so fit and healthy he didn't need a walking stick. He seemed happy with that.

And, to top of working through the "nasty cold" quickly has been the start of a little bit of sun kissed skin today. I've been outdoors cleaning out the paddling pools ready for long and warm days, tending the garden as the vegetables grow quickly promising fresh goodness, and putting the sheep into the paddock ready for shearing time. I'd like to be able to say that my lovely little Janae was by my side learning the arts of horticultural and animal husbandry but alas she had stolen off to her big sister's room, gotten into said sister's make up and was merrily plastering as much muck as she could fit onto her little face. And, just prior to this, she had given herself and Barbie matching leg tattoos with my marker pen. Ahhhhh, the sweet bliss of childhood.

And Crafty Monday next week will be a shared event, where some crafty friends are coming by to enjoy my dining table in the sun, eat cake, drink coffee and craft together. Can't wait to see what photographs I can share next week. I haven't had a chance to get the last of the fabric for Janae's dress, and I haven't had a moment to start on my top secret project either but I have decided that I need to make some hand embroidered bibs for my cousin's baby that's due in the next couple of months so hopefully I'll have some more fun things to share in the next week. We'll just have to see if the sunshine gets in the way of the craft!

When you're ill and need a pick me up . . .

2011-09-24T21:30:00.000+12:00

I've been feeling under the weather this week and it's culminated in a very nasty end-of-season cold today, and just when I was thinking I'd beaten the winter chills for the first time ever.

So it's Saturday night. I braved the great outdoors and took the children to the Family Movie Night down at the church and then battled to get three tired bugs into bed late.

The rugby is on: it's the grudge match between New Zealand and France that's been four years in the making. While this is a huge event in NZ life, the All Blacks are winning well and I'm off to bed. But I had to share this delicious treat that I've made for myself to try and feel a bit better.

This Chocolate Chip Cake in a mug is delicious, but it's VERY filling and very sweet. I'd also recommend mixing the ingredients in a bowl and then pouring the batter into mugs because I think one serving of this could easily feed two.

So the belly is full of deliciousness, the paracetamol is wearing off and my eyelids are so heavy I'm having trouble even typing this. Pray that my children do at least one of two things . . . stay asleep until 8am, or call a ceasefire on sibling arguments until at least 8am tomorrow morning.

I am battling my way through Grandpa's body parts for Rogan (a knitted scarecrow doll, not a real grandpa) and I have a secret project hiding away in my drawer in the sewing room that I really want to make a start on as soon as Grandpa is done and I'm feeling more human. More on that next week. Until then, enjoy your weekend and for those of us in NZ, Daylight Saving starts in the morning so don't forget to put your clocks forward!

An Angel at my Door

2011-09-20T16:33:00.001+12:00

The children and I had been away for the weekend and when we returned home on Sunday we found a box sitting outside our front door. In this box was a collection of children's toys, puzzles and games. And, there was also a Jean Greenhowe knitted doll book featuring a family of scarecrows.

I have been coveting these in Spotlight every time I go in the hope that the $20 price tag has magically become $2 but alas this hasn't happened so far and, as much as I love her patterns, they are way down on the craft purchase list of priorities.

So, needless to say, I've been cajoled into making three of the scarecrow family for my children. As Rogan is usually the last to have anything made for him purely based on gender and his lack of love for pretty little things, I'm making Grandpa for him first of all. It's all going rather well so hopefully I'll have him complete by the weekend.

I have a sewing project to start on Monday. Last week I got a dress pattern for Janae. It's the first sewing pattern I've ever purchased so I'm taking my time over even starting it. I need to get some buttons and a little more fabric and I'll be ready to start on Monday morning.

This week's Crafty Monday was a bit of a blow out. I seem to be suffering from that nasty lethargy that sets in just before summer arrives. So instead of being creative I went out to lunch instead. But I did have a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon where the children were all playing happily and I snuck into my newly appointed sewing room to make this . . .

It's a little handbag that I'd found on Pinterest and reserved some of my left over fabric to make sometime. The instructions weren't all together clear so I had to kind of figure it out but I'm still pretty happy with the finished product. The pattern/instructions can be found here.

What is becoming apparent quite quickly, is that if I'm going to continue sewing I may have to add an overlocker to the top of my birthday wish list. As it's going to be my 40th birthday I'm hoping the birthday fairy might be generous enough to provide more than one thing off my wish list. Here's hoping anyway.

Right, back to the real world. The roast mutton is in the oven and the house is filled with the scent of roasting rosemary from my garden. The children are screaming at each other over some squabble or other and Grandpa is wanting more work done on him before the real grandparents arrive for dinner . . . not to mention the day's play residue all over the living room floor that needs clearing up too. So I'd better leave cyberland now and head off home again.

Hottie Heaven . . . Tutorial

2011-09-16T07:12:00.000+12:00

I had so much fun making a hot water bottle cover for Janae that I just had to make more and then realised that it's such an easy and quick thing to do that I'd share how I do it. So here goes:

Step 1: Get the hot water bottle you want to cover and make your pattern around it on some paper. It's really important to leave a generous seam allowance as once the bottle is filled it is fatter and I had trouble getting Janae's into the completed case.

Pin your pattern to your fabric. I've made one front and two back pieces so that it's just like a slip cover.

Step 2: Pin down the top opening flap of both the front and the back. And turn over 2cm of the two back pieces and sew these all down.

The top flaps will give some strength to the top opening of your cover and a neater finish.

Step 3: With right sides together pin the two back pieces to the front and sew around leaving the neck open. I used a generous seam of about 3 cm because I dont' have an overlocker and wanted to be sure that the seams were well situated.

Step 4: Turn the case inside out and press. That's all you need to do. You can use some kind of device to close your cover at the back but I haven't yet decided what to use. I'm currently debating between press studs or velcro. Buttons would be great, but I need to practice my button holes a whole to more before I do them for real.

And that's all there is to it. I made two in about an hour last night. The Cars one is for Rogan's little friend . . . it's his birthday party tomorrow and he's mad on the Cars 2 stuff since I took the boys to see the movie. He's also the kind of child who has everything he could wish for so I can almost be certain he won't have a Cars Hot Water Bottle. Here's hoping he likes it.

Crafty Girls

2011-09-15T12:09:00.001+12:00

It's been a while since we had our last Crafty Girls get together and last night we re-did a craft that we did a couple of years ago.

I just love this craft because it's quick, it's easy and it's sooooo effective. In fact, I love it so much that I thought I might have to do a tutorial on it.

I have to pop into town tomorrow so I'll grab a canvas and then make one, taking photographs throughout so that you can follow the step-by-step instructions.

I love the pohutukawa flower the best of the two I did last night. (A pohutukawa is a native New Zealand coastal tree that's often called the New Zealand Christmas tree because it flowers over the summer/Christmas months). But I love the cupcakes too.

I have this bare space above my kitchen cupboards that needs some colour and action. I do think these two canvasses might be a little small for up here though.

And this morning was the first time in what feels like ages that the wind hasn't been howling and the rain gushing down at right angles to the ground so I snuck outside to look at my spring bulbs. This tulip was a mothers day present from Mainly Music. And I think God meant for us to get up close and personal with some of His creations, because flowers hide away most of their beauty on the inside.

And I couldn't resist this happy little bee pinching pollen from my lavender. Yum, yum!

Now it's raining again, the washing is hanging limply and wetly on the line and I have two new fabrics begging to be cut out and sewn together so I'd better sign off, get the groceries put away where they belong and get crafting in what little I have left of my day.

Crafty Monday . . . on Wednesday

2011-09-14T17:53:00.000+12:00

Well, it's been a busy ole time here. Trying hard not to thinking about having a cigarette means that I need to keep busy. And busy I've been.

I started out with this little cushion. I'm continuing to work on my zip skills and added a ribbon down one side too. I love this cushion, but I haven't shown you the back. Due to my complete ignorance of sewing it wasn't until I'd assembled it that I realised the two ends of the ribbon don't meet in the same place. Ah well, I'll know for next time.

I also whipped up this hot water bottle cover for little Janae. She has, until now wrapped her Hottie Hot as she calls it, in a spare pillow case. Again, I'm not going to show you the back. Today I attempted to do button holes. I'm very ashamed to say that they're about an inch difference in height. Also when I assembled to two backs and the fronts I put the button hole side below the button side and then, once I'd sewn it all together the two backs don't even quite meet in the middle. I had to laugh because I don't have any patterns. I'm just following my little brain where ever it wants to go right now.

I can't show you Janae's little top as promised as it got covered in dinner and is now in the wash. But this fabric on her hottie cover is the same as the top.

And finally, it's Crafty Girls tonight and I'm helping Carolyn to run it. It's kind of mandatory that the hostesses provide something yummy for supper so I've turned out these chocolate cupcakes. I found the recipe on the New Zealand Woman's Weekly website here and they're just divine. And the centre cupcake is covered in cupcake paper carnations that match the cases. Hopefully this will bring a smile to someone's face tonight.

No more procrastinating tonight. Four hungry children waiting to be fed and a face to slap on before heading out the door so I'll bid you good evening and catch you again soon!

I knew that silicone muffin tray would come in handy

2011-09-11T17:20:00.000+12:00

I was really inspired by this blog HERE and decided that I'd give it a go. Unfortunately, it was a little more difficult than I'd anticipated.

I blew up my balloon, filled it with water and bunged my warped old candle in a pot. Very excited once the wax had melted and I'd rescued the wick I got dipping. And dipping. And dipping. At last I felt I had enough wax on the outside of the balloon and left it to cool. But what to do with all the left over wax?

Ahhhh, I remembered the silicone muffin tray I'd bought many months ago. I've only made muffins in it once as it's a bit of a pain because it's so floppy and getting the muffins in and out of the oven is so much easier in traditional muffin trays. So they've sat in the back of the drawer for a long time waiting for a use to be found.

I cut my rescued wick into smaller pieces and then began to pour wax into the muffin tray. I dipped in the wick, held on while the wax cooled enough to hold the wick and started on the next one. I wasn't sure if they'd turn out of the moulds properly so I only made four. They worked a treat and look pretty good too.

This morning I added a bit of blue crayon to my left over wax to try and colour it. I'm not so happy with the result though and I can't even show you because the dreaded camera has got flat batteries once again.

I'll show you when I've recharged them. This time to got my pyrex glass bowl and lined it with oil. I selotaped the wick to a knitting needle and let it hang into the hot wax. By the time Janae and I got home from our morning swim it was all set. The big question was whether it would turn out of the bowl okay and it did. So now I have lots of little candles. I'm hoping that I get the gazebo I've got on the top of my birthday wish list in November so that I can have these lovely candles glowing as I sip my evening cup of tea.

And then today I raided my mother's fabric stash. I came home and drew up a basic shirt pattern on a piece of newspaper. Cut out the fabric, sewed it up and made Janae a little top. It was certainly an interesting experiment as each time I made her try it on I whipped it off and added some darts to the back, then to the front. I'm really pleased with the result and now I need a pattern for some shorts so I can make a matching pair. It's going to be the perfect summer pre-school outfit. Again, I'll show it off when the camera's charged.

As it's crafty Monday tomorrow I'm going to make some more of my little make-up bags. I also raided my mother's zipper stash too while I was there. She's going to be a very useful resource in my new venture into the sewing world. Thanks mum!

She might be vintage but she works a treat!

2011-09-10T09:53:00.002+12:00

Look at this gorgeous old darling. This was what my mother got for her 21st birthday. I can't believe it still works, and I can't believe I can work it.

I was going to put this little sewing project off until Monday morning when the children are out of the house and it's all quiet but for some strange reason I just can't seem to resist sewing something.

So this morning I lumbered the "new" old machine onto the table, logged on to my computer and found the blog to make this make-up bag, and got started.

I have had one or two issues, mainly the zip, which I've never done before. The corners were a bit tricky too and my zip was a little be too long. But, with a bit of fudging, I've managed to get it looking pretty good and make it work too.

It has a contrasting lining and interfacing and all sorts of fun and scary bits that I thought I'd never get done, but I'm really pleased with it as a first attempt.

Now I wish I'd got a few zips as I want to make another to get right all the things I did wrong. I think these are going to be great little Christmas treats for my girls and my friends. I think I'll make these and get some glorious little hand creams, nail files and other mummy treats to go in them. I doubt I'll even wrap them . . . maybe just a bow.

Now my only problem is . . . what am I going to do on Monday morning? I'm sure I'll find something.

As it's only 10am on Saturday morning, and as I have only one child at home this morning I think I might melt down the candle that's drooping in my dining room window and try another new trick. I'll keep you "posted"!

Finished at Last

2011-09-09T17:55:00.000+12:00

Well, I didn't get it done by Thursday but one day late isn't too bad. Things are a little slow around here due to a new medication. I'm a dirty, rotten smoker and it's time to quit so, with the help of ground breaking drugs I'm on my way. Only trouble is, they're playing havoc with my memory a bit (to be honest, memory has never been a strong suit of mine).

But, drugs aside, I've got the cushion finished at last. I'm much happier with it complete than I was with it half complete. I'm not all together sure how I feel about the back but the front is just lovely.

So, instructions:

With centre colour chain 4 and then make two dc into the first chain.
Chain 3 and make 3 dc into same chain as previous dcs. Repeat twice (4 3dc shells and 4 3 chain spaces). Join with a slip stitch in top of starting ch 3. Fasten off.

Join second colour into any corner space. Ch 3 and 2 dc in that space. 3 dc, ch 3, 3dc in each corner space. Join with a slip stitch in top of starting ch 3. Fasten off.

Join third colour. Ch 3 and 2 dc in that corner space. 3 dc between shells. 3 dc, ch 3, 3dc in next corner space. Repeat around, Join with a slip stitch in top of starting ch 3 and fasten off.

Join fourth colour in any corner space. Ch 3 and 2 dc in that space. 1 dc in each dc and in the space between shells. 3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc in corner space. Repeat around, Join with a slip stitch in top of starting ch 3 and fasten off.

Repeat last round two more times.

That's your basic square. I join as I go so once you've completed the second square don't fasten off once you've joined with a slip stitch. Place both squares with right sides together and slip stitch between the front loop of the facing square and the back loop of the rear square. This means that you won't see any joining when you turn the squares right side out.

It's probably important to note that I haven't tested this pattern, it was just sorted out as I went along. But it's pretty straight forward. Hopefully, it works.

Now, while I'm watching the first match of the Rugby World cup tonight I'll be making these gorgeous little darlings. They're roses made out of crepe paper. I found the idea here. I had a few issues getting my flowers to look like hers so I've made a couple of changes and have decided to make a wreath rather than a ball as it'll hang better in my home. These are surprising easy to make and quick too. Should have it nearly complete by the end of the first game tonight.

Now I'd better go make the lone child at home on a Friday night some dinner before she starves to death.

Can there really be too much of a good thing?

2011-09-06T21:49:00.000+12:00

Today I was blessed to borrow a friend's sewing machine, as I've still not hauled my very old, very green 1960s singer sewing machine in to be serviced.

I have been dying to make these flowers properly and today I got the chance. I had decided that I would leave the machine away until the little cherubs had gone to bed, but having the backbone of a jelly fish, I took it out immediately and got cracking.

I'm cheating a bit because I'm showing you my favourite thing from today. This is the most beautiful flower and it's so easy to make.

Now a HUGE note here . . . this is NOT my pattern. I got it from Issue 3 of the Mollie Makes magazine and they have all their templates on their website. It's certainly worth checking it out. You can go to the Mollie Makes website and get the templates here. T

I have a nasty habit when I'm sewing. All of my lose threads I just throw on the floor beside me and hoover them all up once I'm finished. My little table has such sparse space that I don't want to clutter it up with unnecessary rubbish. Although as I look over at it now there's a dolly, some homework, a drink bottle and all my sewing gear. Hmmm, it's a good thing we love our kids.

And this is the flower I made that I hate. Thankfully, as with all the things I make and don't like, Kayley is smitten with it and has claimed it as her own. I don't think she will ever wear it (just like all the things I make for her) but she will stash it away in her desk drawer with all her other "treasures" and proudly show her friends. I'm glad she'll get something out of it. It's a shame all projects don't turn out perfect but failure is okay too.

Now tomorrow I must knuckle down and finish my cushion cover that keeps being pushed aside for quick and easy projects. I am determined to finish it tomorrow so that I can blog it and then give it to it's recipient on Thursday. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

More Gorgeous Paper Flowers

2011-09-05T11:11:00.000+12:00

Oh no! Another crafty addiciton . . . and no, it's not flower making . . . it's Pinterest. Oh dear, just when I thought things couldn't get any worse. If you haven't been there, this site is a must-see. It enables you to share ideas, tutorials and all sorts of other things we women love. Now it's an addiction for myself and my lovely crafty friends.

So, I decided that Monday needed a name change after spending hours trawling through gorgeous paper flower crafts. Monday is not longer "My Day Off" it is now officially "Craft Monday". And these beautiful carnations were my very first Craft Monday project.

You can find out how to make them here. I cannot tell you how easy they are to make, how absolutely gorgeous they are and how I just want to keep making more. Because I'm not a cake decorator at all, I have decided that these would be awesome on top of a yummy cake that's covered with fondant and then these little gems. Isn't it funny that I don't like carnations as cut flowers, or growing in my garden but that I'm totally in love with these? Maybe it's because I made them. Hmmm, makes you realise how God can love each of us I guess.

Anyway, Craft Monday is under way, so look out for next week. Who knows what will be in store. And the best thing? I've discovered this day far enough out from the next school holidays to be really excited about it.

Oh, and did you see the photo montage??? Thank you, thank you, thank you to Carolyn who sent me to this blog HERE and this wonderful lady shows you how to do it, what software to use and it's so user friendly that I'll be montaging everything for a while. The program also has some great editing tools too. Check it out!

Is it really Saturday Morning?

2011-09-03T10:07:00.000+12:00

I am surprised that my children allowed me to sleep until 7.30 this morning. I did consider getting out of bed when I heard them up at six but my eyelids were stronger than my legs and the next thing I know I have two little faces looking at me . . . "when are you going to get up?" they asked. Hmmm.

So, knowing I have visitors for morning tea, I hauled myself out of bed and got things sorted so I felt more human than sack of potatoes.

Once the muffins were cooked, washing out and beds made I turned my attention to the tissue paper I treated myself to a couple of weeks ago.

It's no secret how much I love flowers and I've spent the winter knitting them and crocheting them. I've also spent the last couple of weeks going out on to the patio to encourage my spring bulbs along in flowering. (They've responded very well to a little encouragement.) So this morning I wanted to make some tissue flowers.

This was something of an experiment as I'd like to make some big ones for the girls' bedrooms. I have, as yet, no real plan as how they'll adorn the bedrooms, but I like the idea of them.

So I found my Martha Stewart page I've been saving in my favourites list and made these beautiful gems. The link is here if you fancy making some too. They're dead easy, very quick and wholly satisfying.

Now I'll set the table for morning tea around these lovely jonquils that Nanny bought me the other day. They sit with pride on the kitchen table and make me smile even when I don't feel like it. They're the best kinds of gifts aren't they?

Playing Around

2011-09-02T21:42:00.000+12:00

It never ceases to amaze me the things I can find to do when I should be going to bed knowing my children will be up by 6am and arguing over something by 6.30. Tonight my bedtime procrastination has been trying to create a photographic montage.

You see, my job, when I used to be more than a mummy, was to design book covers, photographic manipulation and typesetting. My favourite computer program is Photoshop and, while I have all the Adobe packages on my Mac, the computer has finally got to that age where it just doesn't like high speed internet and I can't do fun things like blogging etc. Alas, my laptop has just the basic programs, which is probably a good idea with the children using it too.

So I've been wracking my brains on how I can create lovely snapshots of my works in progress, past projects I've loved and ideas for the future in one image. I've used Paint today. Not the most successful, but what can a girl do on a budget?

So, if anyone has any knowledge of cheap or free software out there that will do a good job on basic photographic projects I'd love to hear about them.

Enjoy your weekend!

Tip of the Week

2011-08-30T17:26:00.000+12:00

I had to clean the silver this morning and I thought . . . hmmm . . . I wonder how many people know this effortless method of silver cleaning.

All you need to do is place a peace of aluminium foil in the bottom of your kitchen sink. Sprinkle a liberal amount of salt in the bottom and then fill with boiling water. Place your silver in the hot water and watch the tarnish disappear before your very eyes. I am amazed every time I do this.

I decided that I'd make a traditional sponge cake this morning and if you're making a sponge then you need posh friends to share it with. So I called my mum and asked if she'd like to bring our posh friend Ann Marie over for morning tea.

Then I took a look at my cake forks and knew it was time they had a clean. You can't entertain a posh friend with sponge cake and then expect them to eat it with tarnished silver. Of course my mum, who is not posh, showed me up by having a ding dong with the road contractors as they scraped away half my road front lawn with a giant digger. Ah well, you can't win them all. Go Mum, that's what I say!

Some Days are Just Bliss

2011-08-28T17:56:00.000+12:00

Sometimes there's a day, out of the blue, that just warms your bones, your soul and makes you glad that you're alive. This afternoon turned out to be one of those days.

I had to pick our little man up early as Nana wasn't feeling well. I had thought that might put the kybosh on my cruisy afternoon. It was, however, brilliant as he and our little one played for hours and they played well.

I dragged the sun umbrella out of hibernation, got the outdoor seat covers out of hiding and grabbed my crochet bag out of the car and settled down for a wonderful afternoon.

Rogan and Janae made up a game called "Don't get touched by the ball" where they bounced Rogan's ball on the trampoline and tried to avoid being touched by it. I'm not sure the neighbours appreciated the noise, but it was music to my ears after a week of fights, tantrums and crying. And I was quite impressed with the game . . . very inventive.

And I made that pot of tea I'm always banging on about, but never usually get around to making, settled myself at my favourite summer spot and created. Now it's not really summer, and I think the halter neck top I put on was probably a bit optimistic as within half an hour I had a cardigan on too, but it was the promise of the long months ahead that blessed me the most.

I love summer because we all live outdoors as much as possible and I can let the children feel that I'm really a part of what they're doing but they're still doing their own thing.

Unfortunately the weather started to close in, I got colder and colder and I had to retreat indoors. But it wasn't long until my neighbour turned up with her two girls, a bottle of wine and lots of laughs. Now I'm tyring to get through the last ten minutes before bedtime. I'm sure such a fabulous day will get me through!

It's all about Mollie Makes

2011-08-26T18:23:00.000+12:00

Do you know it's been two weeks since I've been to Spotlight? I know . . . almost unbelievable. I decided that I needed to Cold Turkey Spotlight as it was becoming a bit of a Thursday morning habit. But this week they had a sale on fabric and I've been wanting to make these fabric broaches since I got my Mollie Makes magazine.

So this week I've been starching, ironing, cutting and stitching by hand these petals. As you can probably guess the hot pink is not my usual colour pick but I have lots of plain black tops that always need some shot of colour so I thought this might do the trick.

I have only one issue, and that's the size of the finished product. It's missing one round of flowers because it was getting so big but even so it's quite large. But, I need to get over my fear of large adornments because it seems to be the "thing" right now. I'm going to try this out on Sunday morning and see what response I get.

Then this morning I caught up with the lovely Carolyn and her brand new Mollie Makes mag. I can't believe that she gave it to me to read over the next few days. I warned her that there's a slim chance she may never see it again; but as she knows where I live it's more likely she'll sneak in and steal it away again if I refuse to return it.

See these lovely strawberry pin cushions? Carolyn is currently researching where we can get emery sand to stuff them with and then we're going to make some. I currently keep my pins in a dull plastic container so I'm really looking forward to having their colourful balled ends sticking out of a strawberry instead.

And now I think I need to get on with making some more flowers. After a coffee visit with my mum's friend the other evening I've been tasked with making lots of my headbands so that Chris can sell them at market for me. I've refused to do markets as my convenient excuse is that I sing most Sunday mornings. The truth is, I'm just not a sales person. Chris is very comfortable selling and she has volunteered my mother and herself to sell them for me as Christmas treats for little girls. She is even scouring the town for all the headbands she can find. Here's hoping she manages to sell them or every girl I know will be getting one for her birthday next year.

Now it's Friday night and I have one little girl begging to get to bed so I'll leave it there for the weekend. Hope your's is enjoyable!

Never Discount the Healing Properties of a Cup of Tea

2011-08-22T09:13:00.000+12:00

I needed rescuing from my children this morning. Boy, what a whirl-wind start to the week. Little Rogan has been coming into my room two or three times a night for the past couple of weeks, so you can imagine how tired I am. Added to this is the tension that usually arises when the children are gearing up for a visit with their mum. This morning it all came to a head and I thought "if I don't get out of here I'm going to hurt someone". So I bolted for the door and two minutes solace.

Poor little darlings got quickly on the phone to Nanny and Granddad and they came racing to my rescue. Isn't it strange how our parents can drive us potty but they're always there when we need them?

Anyway, Granddad loaded the kids into my car and took them off to school and pre-school while Nanny gave me a big cuddle, sat me on the sofa and made me a cup of tea. It's just the British way, but it works. Now the house is quiet, the washing is on the line, the floors are hoovered, the beds are made, the toilet and toilet floor are sparkling clean and I'm waiting for Andrea to arrive with her vibrant personality and funny stories.

Thank the Lord for grandparents and cups of tea!

Try this . . . you won't be disappointed

2011-08-20T08:36:00.000+12:00

I just had to share this recipe that I've posted on my "Confessions of a Wannabe Chef" blog. It's based loosely on a traditional Rendang recipe but with a few Belinda twists.

If you love Malaysian or Asian food then this is the one for you. Next week on shopping day I'm going to indulge in some prawns and make a nasi goreng. I'll share that recipe then. It's also to dye for.

My New Toy

2011-08-17T17:04:00.000+12:00

Look at this gorgeous combination of wood and steel. The wonderful Rex has loaned me a guitar so that I can practice and get back up to speed in playing. We found ourselves short of a musician this weekend and had to sing with cds. Boy that's much harder than it seems. So I finally admitted to playing once and that if I owned a guitar I'd be able to practice and think about playing in public. Well, Rex quickly piped up that he had two spares and I was welcome to one.

I looked at it when he brought it around and panic set in. I could only remember the G and Am chords. Thankfully he brought around chord charts too and this morning after Mainly Music I printed off some sheet music. I have spent the afternoon sitting on my bed and now I can play three songs. I fingertips are raw from the unforgiving steel strings, my wrist aches from bending around the fret and my fingers don't span as far as they used to, but I'm feeling very positive for day 2.

And when my fingers have been too sore to keep playing I've been working on this. It will, when it's complete, be a doily that I intend to send to my lovely 91 year old aunt in Canterbury, England. She's a crafty girl from way back but her hands and eyesight don't allow her to make things like this any more. She was diagnosed with cancer a couple of weeks ago so I thought I needed to send something lovely to cheer her up. Hopefully this will work. This is an almost complete motif and I will need to make about six. I will join them together with smaller yellow motifs to give it a brighter finish.

Because it's been snowing nearby (we had sleet on the orchard yesterday) it's been too cold to get out in the garden so it's been the perfect opportunity to work on something like this.

So crochet and music. Ahhh, it's almost the perfect life!

Sometimes I'm a spineless Mother

2011-08-14T17:02:00.000+12:00

Yesterday Kayley had the whole world running about after her trying to figure out where the best jolly was to be found. As a discipline measure I informed her that there were no post-church playdates today. As I write this lovely Brenna is here and they're packing away the blocks they've been playing with. But that's not all they've been up to today . . .

I've known that the day of letting Kayley get going on a recipe without my constant instruction was coming and it arrived today. The girls got the "kids cookbook" off the shelf and picked out a simple cupcake recipe. Apart from a little assistance in working out that 1/2 was half, etc they did a fabulous job.

I put the trays in and out of the oven and whipped out a couple of batches of icing, filled the icing bag and let them go to it with the decorations once the cakes were cooled. I'm not sure how appetising they look to me but the kids love them.

Rogan is seen here on his third I think.

So it seems that even though I backed down on my disciplinary measures I'm kind of glad I did. The girls have tidied up Kayley's room and they are clearing away the mess in the toy room so they have space to make a hut. Brilliant. That's one job off my list of things to do tomorrow.

And, I was so inspired by the girls trying something new that I've made a flaky pastry for dinner. I've always been a little afraid of anything other than short pastry because all the cooking shows I watch tell me pastry is a difficult thing to do. I can bash out a short pastry in my sleep so I felt the fear and did it anyway today. It's currently chilling in the fridge ready for the final roll out and filling with left-overs from dinner last night. I'll let you know how it goes.

Needless to say, there's been little crochet going on lately. Ah well, I have six hours tomorrow so hopefully it's pouring with rain so that I can't get out in the garden, hang washing out or do anything outdoors so I can make a few more blocks of my blanket!

All about Budget

2011-08-12T21:50:00.000+12:00

My friends have often said "oh I got this recipe from the Destitute Gormet" and I've thought . . . HUH? So I finally decided to research this enigma.

And I found this fabulous website. Most of us have to live to some kind of budget, and when you've got multiple little people in the house that budget can feel awfully tight sometimes. I know mine does on a weekly basis. So it's been wonderful to find this source of healthy, tasty and thrifty food ideas that kids will love too. I'm certainly going to try one or two out on them that's for sure.

The other huge blessing in my life has been a reminder that being a mother doesn't automatically mean you have to be a stropy mare (aka bitch) and that my children are well behaved or not depended more on my behaviour than theirs. My two school kids see a Councillor at school due to the myriad things they've been through with their biological mother and father and there's absolutely no shame in it. In fact, it's making awesome changes in their lives. But it wasn't until I sat down with her this week to chat about my gorgeous boy that I remembered to chill out, see the lighter side and to do a little more praising, a little less shouting and some more effective discipline.

So, I put on my happy face yesterday afternoon, I plugging in my positive vibes and I put a stool just inside the front door. I explained, very calmly, that the stool was henceforth the time-out spot (or the "naughty chair" as it's already been dubbed) and told them they'd get a warning and if behaviour didn't change they'd be put there for an appropriate amount of time. Janae decided she'd try it out there and then and climbed onto it, declared herself naughty and told us all to leave her alone. It was the most peaceful five minutes I've had in ages.

What a beautiful afternoon we had yesterday. The Naughty Chair didn't need to be used until this afternoon and I was amazed at the effect. Rogan screamed and shouted at me until he finally understood that the timer didn't start until he stopped yelling at me. I told him he could cry if he wanted but he needed to stop screaming at me. He did so and before the five minutes were up he was quiet and contemplative. I went down the hall after five minutes and he said "I'm sorry I shouted and was naughty. I love you." We had a cuddle and a wee chat and he was wonderful all the way to bedtime.

Of course, I'm under no illusions that I won't be in need of a good bellow because I can't contain my temper at some stage in the future. I'm also aware that my children have a tendency to be quite badly behaved when the mood takes them so the naughty chair may be frequented often but, as a parent, it's sometimes necessary to be reminded that it's a labour of love and not a dictatorship (well, I do anyway). Bless my little babies as they sleep. May tomorrow be bright, full of smiles, lots of kisses and plenty of laughter. May the same blessings fill your home.

All About Colour

2011-08-10T13:39:00.000+12:00

This morning was one of those where I didn't feel like getting out of bed, going anywhere or doing anything. You know those mornings at the close of winter when you're fed up with dark starts, cold weather and if you went somewhere hot and relaxing you don't think you'd ever come home? Yep, that's how I felt as I dragged myself out of my bed today. It's not been the ideal day with some tough family news, but it's all okay when you head out to the patio and find this little gem waiting to greet you.

I've watched these spring flowers for weeks anticipating their final arrival and this is the first one. If only you could smell it because it's just sensational. And there are lots more that are about to burst forth too. I'll have to wait a few days before I can snip some to sit on my kitchen table and keep me company.

So I laid this on the table instead this afternoon. Life, being what it is, hasn't allowed me the head space or even physical space do do any work on it in the last couple of days, but that's okay as I need to get some more yellow tomorrow. I think I'll try to get some more colours too. I think I'd like to add some greens and some purples just to make it feel a bit more complete.

Thankfully I'm still loving the look of it. I'm amazed at how the variegation in colour is working and how these colours seem to work together despite their brightness. Hopefully tonight I might get to completing another one but I'm not too hopeful of that. I think another early night is beckoning. But perhaps I'll be able to post a much more complete blanket next week. Fingers crossed!

I Love Kite Flying

2011-08-06T16:16:00.000+12:00

I arrived at my parents this afternoon to what was shaping up to be a stormy afternoon. The wind was blowing and Janae said she wanted to make a kite (or a hite as she calls it). I quickly remembered that we have some kites hidden away in a cupboard. We hid them away because the last time we used them both Rogan and Janae let go at the same time and they ended up attached to the neighbours roof. These particular neighbours weren't very impressed by the events so we haven't done it since.

Today I made sure that I had a firm hold of the string as well as Janae and we had a ball. As I'm particularly camera-phobic I made mum help Janae while I snapped.

But it hasn't all been fun and games today. Last night I finally finished my cushion cover . . . and here it is! My mother has this lovely and rustic looking seat at her back door so I made use of it to show of the colours in the cushion. This design is so far outside my comfort zone that I can't even begin to explain it to you. But I think I love it. It's also completely random which is also against the grain.

I didn't have to purchase one ball of yarn to make this and that's always a bonus . . . especially when showing a completed project to tight fisted mother . . . I am mean. I did, however, have to purchase some yarn for my second project which you can see sneaking into the bottom right of the picture. I've only done three squares and I'm already head-over-heels in love with it. I think, once I've shown it off over the sofa for a couple of weeks that it might live on my bed. I'm so scared of the children trying to drag each other round the lawn on it that I don't think I'll be letting them anywhere near it.

Tonight the All Blacks are playing rugby against the Springboks and as I don't have Sky TV I'm spending the night at my folks with the girls. Which means I'd better stop enjoying blogging and head down to the kitchen to prepare dinner. MMMMMmmmm wild venison on the menu tonight. No faffing about with it . . . sear it, rest it and eat it. What I'm going to put with it is causing some concern though. Any ideas?

What a Melting Pot of a Day

2011-08-04T16:29:00.000+12:00

I had to start with this photograph this afternoon because what had started as a pretty lovely day turned into a bit of shadowy affair really. I've never been big on confrontation but today I decided that it was better to have my say rather than just avoid a friend who had really upset me. I won't go into details but you can imagine how I was feeling on the inside when I arrived at school to hear this friend shouting out a telling off to my little Rogan across the play ground and then launch into a tale about his last sleepover there to the other mothers sitting with her, not realising I was standing right behind her. As you know, eves droppers never hear good of themselves so I didn't stand around to hear what it was all about and went across, got Rogan and left the school. In a very uncharacteristic move I went back to school and told her how I felt. I know Rogan is anything but the little angel he looks like; I know that he has issues with keeping his little hands to himself; I know that I'm in constant discussion with the school counselor and teacher about this; I also know that this little boy has been through a whole lot in his first five years. Thankfully the story has a happy ending in that I managed to talk my way out of a bitchy tirade into a constructive conversation.

So now I can concentrate on the more pleasurable things from my day . . . like a yarn sale at Spotlight. Wahh Hoooo! I stopped by for my weekly Thursday morning visit and grabbed a couple of balls for my up-coming project and a ball for a hat I have on order. When I got to the counter I discovered that my already very reasonable and favourite yarn was on special. "Wait," I uttered breathlessly. "Can you keep these here and I'll go grab a couple more?" The assistant had a sense of humour thankfully, and there was no one else in the whole store. So, like a mad woman I dashed across the shop.

And I got these two balls.

And these two balls. Talk abut a bargain. I was so excited about my purchases that I decided to come home and . . .

. . . organise my basked so it looks more like a basket of pleasure rather than a handbag belonging to a woman of ill repute. I keep popping around the corner just to gaze into this basket of promise because it makes me smile.

And then I thought I'd better be honest and show you my WIP bag. This is the bag full of bits that I'm making my cushion cover out of. I now have five rows complete and only have two more to go. As tomorrow is my other "day off" I'm planning to get a few chores done this afternoon (getting added motivation from the fact that my mother is coming over to babysit tonight and she'll frown if that giant pile of washing isn't folded and put away) so that I can drop everyone off tomorrow morning and come home to my faithful teapot and table. Hopefully tomorrow I might have a completed front to show you.

At last . . .

2011-08-01T19:32:00.000+12:00

my children are developing taste buds. I so wanted to post a picture of their delicious desert that I found in Donna Hay's latest Kids edition of her magazine but it was virtually inhaled after their dinner that there just wasn't the opportunity for a picture.

But their dinner was a great delight to me. I have all these gorgeous Asian ingredients since my cooking class a few weeks back so I threw a bunch of stuff in a pan and crossed my fingers. Janae refused to eat it but she is only 3, the other two had three helpings each so I was jumping for joy that they are finally eating food I enjoy too.

And I had to share this cushion cover update quickly as I'm starting to really fall in love with it. These little bursts of colour are just so friendly. I can't wait until it's finished now.

Inspiration and Stealing Ideas

2011-07-31T16:40:00.000+12:00

This has been a weekend where I've been getting inspiration for all sorts of things and from all sorts of places. Firstly, this cushion cover I've started (yes, I know I haven't finished the first one yet). Last night when I was procrastinating going to bed I checked out Coco Rose Diaries blog and clicked on her "crochet" link (you'll find a link to her blog on my blog reading list) and was once again mesmerised by the amazing colours of her work.

I tend to be such a mono chromatic person when choosing colours and yet I love bright and mixed colours in other people's work.

This is the cushion cover that has, over night, become a work-in-progress. Note the muted colours. I know this will be lovely when complete but it's just a little bit boring.

So, while I was browsing I saw this incredible blanket made from little granny squares. Being in cushion mode and still having three large cushion inners to be covered I realised I could modify this to a cushion cover. Unfortunately the pattern wasn't posted but I could figure it out quite easily. Sorry Coco, but I just couldn't resist.

So this afternoon I've been sitting in the warm winter sun at my table making dainty little squares. I do get a little frustrated with adding colours, tucking in tails and starting a new square within what feels like moments but it's certainly worth it when you see the finished result. I'm looking forward to tomorrow morning about 9am. The children are all back at school, my house is spotless (for the first time in a very long time) and I have a date with my teapot and my crochet!

I've also been inspired in cooking too. The other day our lovely friend Val dropped off a chocolate cake and a big bag of lemons. I just LOVE lemons for so many reasons. They smell amazing, they're so versatile and they are so shiny, yellow and fresh looking. I especially love cooking with lemons because they have that strong, citrus taste that goes well with so many things. Having a date with my friends and a cranium board I decided to whip up some lemon cupcakes. Now, I'm so not a cake decorator that I don't make cupcakes very often. But I had to walk past the Culinary Council the other day on the way to Spotlight so I called in to see if they had any pre-cut flowers. As they stock everything I was in luck and I got two packets of these beautiful little flowers. Now I feel a lot more confident in cake decorating.

And my last inspiration came from Junior Masterchef Australia. I had recorded the final for Kayley and I to watch and we sat down to it yesterday afternoon. These amazing little 12 and 13 year old's made an Adriano Zumbo dessert of pears, profiteroles and creme patisserie. I figured if these children could do it I could too.

Well, I almost did. I made these profiteroles for dessert tonight and made my first creme patisserie, which I injected into the choux buns then lashed choclate icing on top. I'd have put melted chocolate but we'd eaten it all last week. Rogan and I taste tested one while the girls were outside having a fall out (can you see the gap on the plate?) Delicious doesn't even cover it!

So tomorrow morning is my first Monday off in a long time and right now I'm holding my breath waiting for it to arrive. I have to bonus of My Kitchen Rules on telly tonight then early to bed so I'm up bright and early to get the kids out. Waa hoooo! Can't wait!

Holidays, Colds and Crochet

2011-07-26T20:14:00.000+12:00

It's the middle of the school holidays and I have two children down with nasty colds. I sent Rogan off to deal with his man flu with Nana. He was reclined on the sofa, cheeks red from a temperature, nose blocked and looked up at me through sleepy eyes. "Because I'm sick, does that mean you'll do everything for me?" He asked. Hmmm, thought I. It must be time you had a few days with Nana. Poor little lad.

But on the up-side, Nanny is back from England and she came home bearing gifts . . . most importantly my first issue of Mollie Makes. I've had it less than a week and it's plain to see that I've read it multiple times, it's dog eared already and I'm loving making the first little bits and planning the bigger projects. I have just one issue with this publication . . . it makes me want to do all sorts of very ambitious things like screen printing fabric.

The other thing I've been working on while the rain falls and the children cough is hats using more fun textiles. I found these gorgeous fluffy yarns for a very reasonable price and wondered how they'd work in a hat. Thankfully Janae is always willing to be my hat guinea pig so she's got a stash of hats now.

I promised the little girls down the road a hat each and have decided that the new and improved ones will go down a treat!

I'm loving this one for Holly. I got this ribbon the other day and knew that it'd look lovely round a hat. The flower is a pattern from the MM Mag.

And Sarah's flower has the new yarn around the outside. I'm not sure if I like it or not but I'm sure an eight year old will think it's pretty cool.

I have been so inspired by the little MM flower that I'm currently working on a cushion with that at the centre of each square. It's nice to be making something for myself again!

Needs Must

2011-07-14T17:51:00.000+12:00

It was such a cold, wet and dismal day that after a hot lunch I was finding it difficult to stay awake in front of the fire this afternoon. Expecting to have to stand in the cold and cheer on Kayley at netball, and having made it to bed by 10pm for the last three nights (a miracle in this house) I knew I needed a quick project to be sure I didn't fall asleep.

I whipped out my Stitch and Bitch - The Happy Hooker book and found this scarf pattern. You know, I really recommend this book for all crocheters because I've made almost half of all the project in there now and every winter I open it up and make one more.

The scarf in the pattern is only one colour but as I tend to dwell in black clothes over the winter months and because I've claimed my fushia flower hat for myself I chose to do a striped version of the colours of my hat.

Thankfully netball was cancelled as I hadn't finished it yet. I took the kids to Nanny and Granddad's for a hot swim and I sat watching and finishing the scarf. My fingers became more and more numb but I was determined to get it done. Needless to say, the minute the last tail was safely tucked away, never to be seen again, an eight year old tapped me on the shoulder and asked "Cool, can I have it?" Well, she can't "have" it but she did get to wear it for the rest of the afternoon. I think I'll be making another one very soon.

Phew, that was a busy week

2011-07-11T13:09:00.000+12:00

I spent the most part of last week and all of the weekend filling orders for hats. I finished off the last one yesterday afternoon and almost jumped with joy.

Please, don't misunderstand. I love to make hats but I finally got my Nicky Epstein knitted squares book from the library on Thursday and it's been calling out my name ever since saying naughty things like "Go on, Belinda. Making just one square won't hurt." Thankfully my resolve was firm and I got the paid jobs out of the way and now I have a week ahead where I can make something for me.

You will remember that I promised I'd make myself some cushions over the winter and as I will probably not be able to renew this book from the library I figured making a cushion cover was the most sensible use of the time I have with it.

And because of this I've fallen in love with I-Cords. I've made them before as stems of my flowers but to make one that's 76cm long to make a twirly heart and with five stitches instead of three, I've realised just how versatile and easy these can be. And how effective.

So this is the first of the squares now I need to go make some lunch and then get on with the next. Woo hoo. Can't wait!

Look what I've made Part II

2011-07-06T09:53:00.000+12:00

I sat knitting a tiny teddy with my feet up and a hot cup of tea last night. It was absolute bliss. I can't quite believe that I've made this. Well, I say "I've" made this but I had LOTS of help from my lovely building buddy.

The children are completely in love with it as it's just the right height to sit on the floor and colour in on it. Janae's been sitting on it all morning with various toys. I have to laugh though as my first prediction came true. I said to Building Buddy that there'd be a child on the sofa trying to watch telly and another would come and sit on this and there'd be a row because sofa child wouldn't be able to see. We had about four of those rows last night.

The more I see the fabric the more I get used to it and start to love it more. I guess, being practical, the best part is that it's hardy and durable so it should still look good in a week, unlike my first love fabric that was too expensive.

And it even served a practical function yesterday afternoon. I had a 'customer' come to place an order for hats and this was the perfect place to lay out balls of yarn, hats, flowers and all other paraphernalia so she could make all her decisions. I think it's safe to say I'm in love.

I'm also discovering my hidden child right now. Kayley brought home an Enid Blyton book Secret Seven last week. Oh no, thought I. I thought we were over story reading. But we get Janae off to bed, I make up a pot of hot chocolate and sit around the table together. We read a couple of chapters and even I have to be tough and say no to more because the story is starting to get quite exciting. I loved Enid Blyton as a child and used to tuck myself into bed to read chapter after chapter. My mother has a big suitcase of all my favourite books from childhood. I think I'm going to have to find it and get out some of my true favourites. I know Kayley would love Trixie Beldon and there's one an English teacher gave me once after I spent a term helping out the kids in remedial reading. It's called The Boundary Riders set on a big cattle farm in Australia. I've read it probably six times and have even re-read it as an adult. I really want to share it with Rogan and Kayley now.

But now I have work to do. The sun is starting to peek through the clouds so my table is beckoning me to get started. Catch you later.

Look what I've made

2011-07-05T10:46:00.000+12:00

Poor Rogan, he feels like every time I promise to make him something it ends up on the back burner as something more important comes up. That's exactly what happened with his fireman. Sorry Rogan.

But, I managed to get it finished this morning and am looking forward to him coming home to see his face.

Janae loves him already and I fear she may have to be reminded that he's Rogan's toy.

So now I need to find the next project. I'm just waiting on a text from my building buddy. She's off getting her dacron and foam so that we can finish our ottoman projects today. I'm eager to be putting my feet up on it tonight.

Kayley has ordered a teddy in a sack so I think I'll sign off now and go get that made while I've got some spare time. Hopefully I'll be showing you to ottoman tomorrow!

What a Weekend

2011-07-02T18:43:00.000+12:00

I got a call last night asking if I'd take a job whipping up some "uniforms" for a play at a local school. Sure why not? I had to take up and hem these polar fleece jumpers and then sew on the tape to make a replica of a uniform. It didn't seem that hard until I had to do the belt around the middle. With stretchy material and non-stretchy tape it was a bit of a mission, but I had to put my perfectionism aside and just get the job done. Thankfully, it's all done now and packed away for delivery tomorrow.

I finished Janae's dolly last night. I'm not that in love with her but Janae is and I guess that's what is important. Now I'm working on a fireman for Rogan. Of course, that may be a little longer in the making as I suddenly have lots of jobs to do.

I have the birthday party goodies finished so I can deliver those on Monday. Now Kayley has asked if I'll make her one. She has a headband so it's just a case of crocheting a flower.

I have quite a few children's hats made and ready for sale. Sonia is coming over on Tuesday to pick two she wants to give as gifts to her daughter's friends. She also wants one for herself so I've set aside the colours she's interested in and will make it once she lets me know exactly what she wants.

And tonight is my black hat making night. I've got to get this one done for delivery tomorrow morning. I'll be heading to bed as soon as it's finished as I'm completely shattered tonight. But it's a good shattered; there's nothing like being tired out from a hard day earning a crust!