Crafty Kids

On Sunday I decided it was time I spent a little quality time with Julian as he seems to be overlooked sometimes, being in the middle. Anyway, I asked him what he wanted to do and he said he wanted to sew. Yes, you heard right, my gun toting/crimefighting/karate kid son wanted to sit down and sew. I wasn't entirely sure what would be appropriate, and in the end I set him up with some cloth and embroidery thread and with the help of me and his big sister, he made this:-

Admittedly he ended up doing big stitches - because 'it goes faster then' - but I think the result is quite gorgeous.

Emily has been busy too - making this:

It's a little elf's shoe made out of white felt and hand embroidered - isn't she clever too!

And at school she made this rather cute elephant cd holder in tech.

She loved making it too.

Finally, I was invited by Gina to take part in PIF. I will be lucky enough to receive a hand made gift and in return I will continue the exchange. So here are the rules:-

1. Leave a comment on my blog to join in the PIF (pay it forward).
2. The first three comments who wish to participate will receive a handmade gift from me within 365 days.
3. Those who choose to participate return the pay it forward by making the same promise on their blog.

I will promise to try hard to make something beautiful for those who wish to participate!

cheers
l
x

Storms and cubbies

After almost two weeks of very warm - one could say hot - weather, a cool change blew in. Unfortunately it blew in a little too hard and the result was this:-


It was such a waste! Poor David - he had lots of seedlings and indoor plants (recovering from being indoor plants I should say) in there. Unfortunately it's beyond repair :(

The cool change also brought a little rain. I was doing housework inside when I realised that I had not heard from Louis for a little while. I found him outside.....



He was having a lovely time, singing and chatting to himself and keeping those whole 18 drops of rain off him!

I left him waiting for more rain - it would have been nice if it had rained more, but unfortunately it was not to be.

On the crafting front, I have made a couple more bags which I will post about later. Things are hectic at the moment - the year is coming to and end - I don't think I'm the only slack blogger out there though????

cheers
l
x

Busy, busy, busy

I hadn't realised it had been a week since I last posted! I have been quite busy - mainly reading blogs and catching up on emails - but that's no excuse really!

I've had a very productive weekend. Today I re-arranged my lounge room to it's summer position. We have a winter room and a summer room - one that takes advantage of the heater and one the air-conditioner. Next week it is supposed to get to 36C degrees so I thought it was time to change it around again. It's always good to do as everything gets a good sorting and dusting etc...

Yesterday I managed to sew the bag that I had cut out ages ago. It never ceases to amaze me that if I follow the instructions properly I can actually make something beautiful. It's such a wonderful feeling. Anyway, here's my latest bag:-


I appliqued the flower on and found an old (or should say, vintage) button from my mother's button collection which she kindly donated to me.


I used denim and some really cute fabric that Em and I found at Spotlight one day. It was one of those quick shopping trips where I just needed to buy one ball of wool and I came out with a little more than that! The bag was so much fun to do - I want to make more now! Lots, lots more.

On another note, one of the biggest novelties in our household is picking carrots. Last weekend I made vegetable soup and I asked if anyone could pick me a carrot - they came running out as fast as they could.





On the same night I asked if anyone could set the table............can you hear the silence?
No enthusiasm there.

cheers
l
x

ps my lovely and talented niece, karen, has just set up a blog - please drop in and visit her blog and perhaps leave a comment. i find the comments really inspire you to blog more!

Afternoon Tea

Once upon a time I used to do lots and lots of baking - it was so much fun. Now, I only bake for special occasions and today David's sister and her family are coming over, so we have a (hopefully) lovely lemon yoghurt cake for afternoon tea.



Oh - and I finally managed to finish the bag - yipee. Well, almost - I have to buy a wooden toggle for it - but that means going into town which is a bit of a hassle.



And, on Friday I felted another bag which now just needs to be lined and have the handles put on. Maybe, just maybe, I could do a stall before Christmas after all!


In between this, I've managed to make a few more granny squares so I might just get my blanket finished before next winter! Here's hoping.

cheers
l
x

ps the cake was delicious - so easy to make and not too decadent - perfect :)

It's Raining, it's Pouring!!

It's so lovely to see the rain, to hear the rain, to smell the rain and to feel the rain.

And just the perfect weather to do the fortnightly baking for school lunches.

Next I will get the sewing machine and finish the bag.

And then it's time to put on the evening roast..... mmmm I'm getting hungry already.

cheers
l
x

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String.....

Well, maybe not, but a nice big envelope with lots of lovely stamps all the way from Holland with a present for me inside!


Corry had posted about the 'moo cards' she had received in the mail that day and in the comments I asked her what they are (still being new to blogland). Anyway, she offered to send me some.


And, she also sent me this lovely bag that she had made which I not only use for shopping, but I have also used for inspiration (see post below).



And she made a lovely card as well - how lucky was I?


It was so nice to get a parcel in the mail - much nicer than bills! Thank you so much Corry, every time I look at the bag I feel happy!

On the crafting front, I am trying very hard to line my recently felted bag and am having difficulties - so, I wont be posting about it this weekend. We have also had a busy weekend, so not much time for crafting :(

But the good thing, we are having a nice weekend. On Friday night we went to Cafe Komodo to listen to Vincents Chair. We had a lovely night - the atmosphere was great, the music was great and the kids had a lovely time too! We might just have to make this a regular outing and I would urge others in Adelaide or visitors to Adelaide to have a look -buy a cocktail and sit back and relax.

Cheers
l
x

Louis Starts Kindy!

This is little Louis - four months old.

This is cheeky Louis in Summer 07

Louis started kindy last week.
He was not looking forward to it.
Louis is shy.
Aggressively shy.
He gets angry if strange people try and talk to him.


So, as you can imagine, I wasn't particularly looking forward to him starting kindy either. I had images of him trying to escape, or hiding, or crying and not being able to be consoled by the kindy teachers because he was too scared of them. But, he did really well. He spent the whole two hours there and he quite liked it. He was really, really proud of himself - and we were proud of him too. I wasn't sure if I should leave him or stay with him so I called the kindy and they told me to leave him for a while and then check to see how he was going. So we did. We came back after an hour and he was happy to stay until the end! Perfect.

On the weekend, to celebrate, I made him a library bag so he can borrow books from kindy. He's very happy with it - and I enjoyed making it. Thanks should go to Corry from Dutch Blue, for her ingenious bag! So simple to make and yet so effective.

Here's mine

Made with the lovely Dick and Jane fabric from Michael Miller Fabrics. And yes, I'm old enough to remember the reader!!!

I'm starting to craft again after the chaos of the holidays. This is my latest bag to felt:-


I will hopefully post the finished product soon. My friend and I are hoping to have a market stall one day so we are busy making things - bags, brooches, whatever we can think of. It was our intention to have a stall just before Christmas, but I have a funny feeling that it's just not going to happen - seeing as I only have two bags to sell at this stage. Perhaps an autumn stall??? With lots of beanies and scarves and matching bags?

Cheers
l
x