Bits and Bobs

I designed this little camera case a while back for Daughter No.2.  Well No.1 requested one for her holiday and I needed one for my camera too of course.  So I got sewing the other evening and I'd forgotten just how quick and easy they are.  Of course I had to use my favourite fabrics for mine.  And one of Aunty Liz's precious French antique buttons.  Well it just wouldn't be complete without one!

And now I can enjoy my favourite things anytime I wish now.

And just look what I picked up at the charity shop yesterday.  I think the woman thought I was a little mad not wanting the whole box of threads.  I explained in the end that I was only interested in the wooden spools.  Of course the silky thread will be lovely to use, if only most of them weren't purple!   Still they are looking lovely on my buffet in one of my rose bowls.

And then there were three!  Yes little Rosie was born on Sunday night.  She's preparing to leave the burrow already sadly.  A certain little niece will be receiving her for her birthday.  Thank you all so much for your kind comments regarding my little bunnies.  I even have a bunny swap lined up now with the lovely Amanda from Amanda Makes!  Several of you have suggested I make a pattern to sell.  We'll certainly think about that! 

Yesterday our weather was the best in months.  Summer really has been here for a couple of days.  We even visited the beach in the afternoon.  What a treat to have the sand between our toes once more and the warmth of the sun on our skin.  May it continue for the rest of these school holidays. 

There is something very special about a beautiful day.  It really gets you going and puts a smile on everyone's faces.  I hope you had a great day where you are too.

Handmade Christmas Challenge 1

I've been wanting to design and make something sweet and simple for a little while now.  I was hoping that this bunny might be something I could produce lots of to sell.  But I just don't think I'm cut out for mass production. 

Greta doesn't think that she wants too many sisters either.  She likes special attention, and you just don't get that with having to share with lots of other little bunnies do you?

Poppy quite agrees.  Although having one special sister to play with is very lovely indeed.  And they are the best of friends too.

A big bonus is that they are the same size, so they can swap dresses if they want to.  And dressing up is something they both like to do.

They just can't believe that they used to be a pretty pile of fabric like this.  Gosh isn't life amazing?!

Well... maybe a few more friends might be fun.  We'll see.  Pop on over to KnickyKnacks for more Christmas Inspiration if you fancy.

A for Anita

Hello my lovelies!  I know you've probably already seen my stocking swap makings if you've popped over to Anita's blog, but I just wanted to post some photos on my blog for future reference.  You know how it is!  Please bare with me.  (Oh gosh Floss is that the right bare?!!)  No apparently it's not the right one!  Oh well you get that.

Sorry the photos aren't the best, but when you finally finish a swap parcel you just want to get it wrapped and sent.  Taking photos means having to wait 'til the next day, and that's not always convenient. 

However rushed I sound, it doesn't mean this project was a rush job.  Certainly not!  No I enjoyed every minute of it.  Partly because Anita seemed to have the same sort of taste as me in colours and fabrics.   And how wrong can you go with Christmassy colours?

Another of my crochet rolls, which I must make a tutorial for one day.  I've had people asking for the pattern.  It's really dead easy but instructions never go amiss do they?  I loved making that pincushion so much and now I just can't stop making them!  Perhaps I should sell some?   Of course then I'd have to worry that they may not be made well enough, and then there's the pricing... and on and on it goes. 

I love the tape measure trim that I received from another lovely swap I did some time ago.  It's nice to be able to use swapped goods to use in another swap isn't it?  Makes it even more friendly.

At the moment I am busy making myself an evening bag for an upcoming family wedding.  It's purple!!  Good grief!  It's a bit of fun really.  I've made a couple more camera cases too.  Oh I tell you, it's all go around here these days.  Must be off now.  Have a fun day and do something that makes you happy.

Christmas Has Begun!

Would you like to see what I sent for my part of Selina's Stocking Swap?  Pop on over to the lovely Anita's blog and see.

It was so much fun making all the goodies for her, but best of all I now have another lovely blogger friend to visit.  And for once I was the first one finished their swap!!  Yay for me, a big first and not last for a change.  A big thank you to Selina for thinking up such a neat idea too.

And now I am off to kindy to do mother help.  Imagine me playing with the play dough.   Bye!

Jam and Doilies

Today's lunch.  Freshly made strawberry jam on freshly made bread.  I found the bargain of the year last week.  1kg bags of frozen strawberries for only $4!!  I'm off to buy some more next week.  Seven lovely jars are sitting in my storage cupboard now.  Delish!

And look what arrived in my letter box today...

I won a special prize last week at Ted and Bunny's blog.  How exciting is that?  I need lots of these little doilies and mats for a bed cover I'm planning to make for our bed.  I have quite a growing pile of them now.  They are looking very pretty on our buffet in the meantime. 

Just look at the beautiful work(wo)manship.  These surely must have taken ages to make.  My grandmother and great grandmother used to make such things too.  I am quite sure I would not have the patience to be a doily maker.

This one has a cloth backing and would look lovely on a dresser.

And this square one is absolutely wonderful.  I love the dots scattered around it.  It reminds me of a butterfly.

Thank you so very much Mrs Ted and Bunny!  I will enjoy using these precious doilies in my bed cover.  Still not sure how I'm going to do it, but do it I shall.

To Me...

Perfection is...

No.3's brand new shoes

My Great Grandmothers table cloth

A stack of new tea towels

A little project in the making

The sweetest little girl's dress ever

Just having my daily fix of red gingham!



I Love You!

Hello all my lovelies!  Do you know just how much pleasure it is to sit down at my computer (yes darling hubby it's mine, just ask the girls) and see a flood of emails coming through for little old me?  Do you know just how much I adore seeing all your very kind, supportive comments you write to me?  Well I can tell you it's huge.  It's right up to the sky and back and then some.  I enjoy writing comments on blogs too especially when you see how much of an achievement someone has made.  You just have to stop for a min and say "good on you".  So thank you all so very much!

My sewing class at school is going quite well although some of the students are getting a little too familiar and starting to misbehave a little - tut tut!  But mostly we have fun. 

Do you also know, I had no idea just how tricky they would find making yoyos?  Seriously I thought they would take about ten mins to do.  Try an hour!!  Good grief if only I'd known I would have made it a class on it's own.  They were however, impressed with what you could make with them.  I gave them an extra round of fabric to take home with them and one sweet student ran up to me today and said she'd made it last night.  It's so nice that they want to sew out of class.  It means that it's been successful and we now have a few extra sewers in the world.  And that's what it's all about.

And what have I been sewing?  Well I made these little Tilda birds last night.  I've got a wee idea up my sleeve, so no peeking up there.  It might work out and it might not, we'll see.  Anyway it got me thinking.  It seems many of you have a project you make that you enjoy and it's very you.  Some make bunnies, some make bags, some make aprons and the list goes on...   But I don't seem to have one of these signature projects.  I think I'd like one, but then I'm not too good at sticking to one thing because I get bored with doing things more than once.  But I would like one all the same.

The littlest one was itching to go outside and play today after the rain stopped.  She put on her jacket and shoes and off she went.  Several minutes later I caught a glimpse of her out the window.  Just look at how much fun she is having...

I just cracked up laughing at her.  She sure knows how to have fun that girl.  I could hear her prattling away to herself as a fourth child does without company.  Unfortunately she's since given up holding on to her trousers now.  I do hope those shoes were taken off before the first adventure.  Her boots are still soaking from the walk to school this morning.

I have a wee confession to make to you.  I am addicted to the purchasing of lemons.  Yes it's true.  Every week, for weeks now, I have come home from the fruit and veg shop with at least one, sometimes two bags of the little yellow balls.  I make lemon cordial with most of them and sometimes I make lemon curd like today.  Their little lids are popping as I type.  I must say though, I have mastered the art of making lemon curd to perfection!  Yes I rule in that area, the crown is mine. 

And now my darlings I really must go and see what the little one is up to now.  It's a bit quiet for my liking!  See you next time!

Snuggly and Warm

My oh my, have I been a busy bee at the sewing machine this weekend.  I made the two dresses out of the fabrics bought a short while ago.  Got to love it when you actually use fabrics you buy.  Of course there was a bit of pressure from the girls over that one.  No photos yet as they are already in the wash!  Added another tier onto a favourite twirly dress to make it the right length once again.  Ummed and arghed over turning my new dress into a tunic.  Still haven't decided.  I am so not a dress kinda girl!

I made these little slippers last night and popped them on the little one's feet while she was sleeping.  So sneaky.  She took them off as soon as she got up as she thought they were her sisters ones!  Now she is in love with her slippers once again.  These are her third pair.  They are the best little slippers in the world.  They do wear holes in their soles, but are so easy to make I don't care.

Isn't this just the cutest fabric?  Loving my yoyos at the moment.  Angela asked me what else you can make with yoyos.  Well I could tell you hundreds of ways to use these little beauties, but probably a few will do.  These are double yoyos which I like...

These ones are glued onto old clips to give them a new lease on life... (great for recyclers too!)

So cute in a sweet little girl's hair and it means they will actually want to wear them.  These would make lovely little presents too.  Great for advent calendars or when just a little gift is necessary. 

They can be used to decorate fabric for a scarf or blanket, joined up to make a cushion or quilt, add a pin and they become a brooch, on a hairband, around the hem of a dress, anywhere really when you want to personalise something.

We are into fabric flowers in our house too.  No.1 surprised me when she asked for a flower to be attached to a headband to match her new dress.  Oh look there's a bit of her new dress!

And my mother wanted one for her wedding outfit.  This was much fun to make with the help of a candle and some fabric circles.  Here's the tutorial for them.

And my new dress/tunic needed something at the neck.   And I found the perfect coloured button in my button collection too!  I'm hoping it will have a nice frayed look after washing.  My button collection is dwindling rather with my sewing class using up so many of them.  Oh and we didn't have time to make the yoyos last week so tomorrow is the yoyo day now.

My swap parcel for the Stocking Swap is now in it's packet and ready to be sent this afternoon.  I have really enjoyed making gifts for my lovely secret swap partner.  I can't wait to start watching her blog for real and commenting on all her makings as well.  I'm also thinking that I might just want to start up a Christmas swap sometime too.  Imagine how much fun that might be?

And now my lovelies, I really must go and wipe the bench down, clean the basin, and find something in the freezer for dinner.  I am really good at forgetting about that meal.  Have yourselves a very lovely day.

Today...

I have been preparing for my sewing class session this afternoon.  I am going to teach them how to make yoyos.  I've made a clip to show them what they can be used for.  I have a couple of other examples too, yesterday's stocking included. 

I have made a double batch of lemon cordial and managed to spill some of it down the cupboards and all over the floor.  Nice and sticky I can assure you!   Dont' you just love it when that happens?

I have stitched a new pincushion from a book I was looking through at the bookshop yesterday.  Bit naughty really, but it was pretty easy to remember what to do.  I think it looks like a strawberry so maybe I'll make another one in suitable colours and add a few leaves.  I think I may need a larger pair of scissors too!  But a cute gift.

I think I overdid the ribbons on the back!!!  Looks pretty messy and actually quite awful.  Never mind, we learn from making mistakes don't we?  The one in the book looked lovely.

I have been emailing my sister in law about the earthquake in Christchurch.  They had another big jolt this morning as I was making the lunches.  Apparently it was a very similar feeling to the first big one, even though it was much smaller.  A different area moved so I guess it was new ground being torn apart.  The original fault line that moved wasn't even known about.  The ground has a scar 22km long across the countryside.  A state of emergency has been put in place for another seven days after today's shake.  

I've received some emails from overseas people concerned for their friends and family down there.  Here is a great news website that will keep you informed about what is happening.  It's updated regularly. 

Right, off to make lunch for my little coughing bunny and myself.  Roll on summer I say!

Rocking Rolling Riding

I'm guessing most of you would have heard about the huge 7.1 earthquake that rocked Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand.  I had several very sweet blogger friends worried about us, but we are far from that part of the country luckily.  My brother and his wife and daughter did live through this terrifying experience though.  Their house seems to be fine but hundreds of others didn't fare quite so well.  The central city is completely cordoned off with many beautiful old brick buildings destroyed or crumbling.  Other areas have huge damage to houses, some completely unlivable. 

But no one was killed!  Amazing really as there have been some very lucky survival stories and plenty of injuries.  Apparently if you are going to have a major earthquake, then 4.35am is a good time to have one.  If it had been during the day, it would have been another story.  The damage is just tragic to look at.  All that upheaval for a city is too much to imagine.  How long it will take for most people to get back to a fairly normal life is unknown.  Schools are opening tomorrow if all goes well.  Some workplaces will never open again.

Daughter No.1 went off to school today to try and organise a fundraising collection for the people of Christchurch, after thinking that her $5 might not make much of a difference.  I explained to her, if everyone in NZ gave $5 then it really would make a difference.  Every little bit helps even if it just buys a few bottles of much needed water.  Those people would be very grateful indeed. 

Now while all the news coverage has been on, I've been busy sewing.  What else would one do in a crisis?!!  Anyway, now you might not believe this, but I actually made myself a dress!!!  Shock horror I know, and with my white legs!  I was put off making myself clothes as they never seem to look good after all the work put into them.  And I'm not sure if this was a huge success either. But, perhaps with a little belt or tie around the waist it will be OK.  I'm not sure about the sack look really.  It will be lovely to wear in hot Australia in a few weeks.

I've also completed my stocking swap.  I've decided to get on with swaps at the beginning while I'm still excited about them.  So here is a little sneaky peak at it...

It's double sided just in case one side isn't really her.  It's a surprise swap (meaning we don't directly swap stockings) so I don't think I'll be spoiling it for anyone.  I've not known my swap partner before this so I'm sure she won't know me either. 

I really enjoyed making her stocking and using lots of lovely Christmas reds, which of course I have plenty of.  I have made two presents to put in it as well.  I must get it packaged up and sent off soon.  First I must buy some goodies for her children, I know they always like to get things too.

And if you thought I might sit back and relax a while, wrong!  The big girls picked out some fabrics for me to make them dresses too.  I rather like them.  Bet you know which is my favourite fabric.  Yep, the red spotty one of course.

I don't know about you, but my house is a complete tip.  Yes it usually is, but really I should at least hunt out the vacuum cleaner I think.  All those threads on the carpet are starting to look pretty messy.  I do hope you are having an uneventful week.  There is too much bad stuff happening in the world for my liking.