Chronic Pin{ !!!}

Is there anything worse then seeing something cool and being told you cant have it. I got involved in pinterest today having heard about it and reading about it over at Tarisota. While looking I thought hey lets join and I have been declined - how mean! Now I am in pain and I just want it more.

The demise of the patchwork shop.

I have been meaning to do this post for a while but there has been so much happening here. Late last year I was deeply saddened when my favourite patchwork shop A stitch in Time Fullarton closed down its walk in store and went online. Now my less frequented but still liked The Patchwork Apple is closing down too. Taking with them any chance of my ever working in a Quilt shop fantasy. (I have always wanted to work amongst although those colours and quiltiness like a sugar free candy shop). South Australia is about to face a Quilt shop shortage forcing us to all spend our money online and make AUstralia Post smile. Only problem is where we will go to stitch and chat and share and learn. Sigh

Still Hip Hip Holiday crafting

Yesterday we ventures to the big shops for New School shoes and sandshoes - now that we are impoverished we were forced to entertain ourselves with the shoe box - so many possibilities. I had been intending to do this with Sir TP so one Marble Game was made and with strict rules to play only on the carpet the kids are having a great time with their 8 marbles. I have never bought marbles but at the childrens after school care they can earn lucky dips for helping out with jobs. Sir TP and Little Miss B are right on this and often come home with a little bag of 3 marbles or a hairclip. Sir TP thought drawing or painting the box would be too time consuming when you could just play with it as is. I am sure Little Miss B will put some flair to it later. You never know I might get some jobs done now - or a nap or some sewing - or Maybe Days of Our lives is on soon.

Cheers

Warrawong Wonders

As you can see my children are very brave -but gosh it felt interesting! She was very friendly -which is more than we can say about the other animals who all hid out for the day. Still we had a nice walk, picnic and catch up with friends even if we didn't see many animals or find the geo cache (mummy not quite as good at the game as Daddy).

More Blythe sewing

Alittle trial sun dress for Angel -although I am in trouble for not making the pillow yet I will get there Miss B. She is so impatient and I sew very slowly. I have felt quite weary after a day out at Warrawong sanctuary yesterday fresh air is so exhausting. We just need to find Angel some shoes that stay on she has some converse and boots that slip off so if anyone knows of good fitting Blythe shoes let us know.

Cheers

Yay Half finished

I hve finally finished stippling around this Christmas quilt - I know it is a bit late or maybe it is just really early. I have never done this before -so dont look too closely I am sure in ten years time I will look at it and think yuck But right now I feel very proud. Next up is binding. It is just a little warm for that at the moment so it might not be a finish this month we shall see

Bubbles in my Garden

This was the toy John West rejected as I forgot to give him a mouth - so he sat in my sewing box for quite some time until I finished his mouth. Little Miss B is now very happy as is Bubbles because he can now smile and breathe.

Blythe Dress Disasters

I downloaded this pattern from Puchi Collective - I guess the scale was wrong and it made up very big -we put some pin tucks in the neckline a low pocket and a matching headband and Little MIss B is happy - back to the drawing board for me though!!

Guest Blogger - Angel

When i woke up this morning look what I found the most pretty little quilt just for me. Made whilst I was sleeping and tucked around me to keep me warm -it is awesome. Now Little Miss B has suggested I might like a matching pillow although I am far too polite to ask for anything plus i have already had so many nice new things. Little Miss B and her mum have bben looking at a new shop on Etsy this morning called The stitched Bluebird and now ther is some big saving up underway. I am very spoilt.

Bye for now.

Hip Holiday Crafts continued

With so many crafts to choose from and only so many crafting days available today we have made starts on some Of Mel from Day by Days crafts. Little Miss B has been using some beads she got for her birthday and some sparkly pom poms and making a necklace - this is good as she is afraid of sharp things so the big needle (blunt) I have given her is kind of desensitising her to this and she has to push a little to get it through the pom pom so her hand strength is developing. We found sewing through the felt last week a little hard so this is good too.

Sir TP thought he would have a go at a car play mat so here he is working away at gluing down the roads. Again he is benefiting from squeezing that glue bottle for hand strength which he really needs as he will hardly do anything that requires holding a pencil! It is drizzling here today and is supposed to reach 30 (although I suspect it wont). We like everyone else are expecting more significant rain in the next 24 hours this is the strangest Summer ever.

Cheers

PS I have a couple of Blythe projects to show next.

Floods and food

This afternoon I was like everyone else anxiously watching the news of the floods in our very strange country which can have us unable to water a school oval for 7 years and then canoeing on the oval the next summer. Unfathomable. Having had a high tide line on our house ( one bricks worth) in December 2010 - i had forgotten how anxious my littlies might get so I quickly had to pull out a distraction. Thankfully we had just hired Disneys Alice in Wonderland and thanks to mel at Day to DAy and her Hip Holiday crafting we made Wagon Wheels, Sir TP liked watching the Marshmellow lose its form in the microwave and Little Miss B well she liked licking her fingers and eating it. Floods forgotten for now and I will just have to pray for our friends in Queensland alone tonight -although I am sure there will be others praying everywhere tonight.

Cheers

Little Peoples Sewing

Having noticed so many people getting there little ones to sew and craft I thought I would show you these. I bought these at Spotlight last week for 99c each - Bargain. Little Miss B picked the Panda for herself and she thought her friend Amazing J would like a pink one so she is getting a pig. They are little retractable tape measures (there was also a frog and one other). Amazing J's mum and I are both thinking about putting together little sewing kits for our girls - they may just have to have an animal theme now!! If you see any other little things for little girls learning to sew let me know.
Cheers

Sir TP'S big finish

You can definitely see the joy in the achievement here, but Sir TP has just finished painting and stickers on his Woodworx Jet Plane model. Here is a close up. Sir TP said he didn't know how they expected him to paint it like the box because they didnt give him the right colours or enough to do mixers and I think he was quite right. I am so proud of him doing this and driving the project because generally he isnt very crafty or motivated. This afternoon we are doing some cub badge work. And Miss B might do some painting we shall see!!!

Loving this Book

Interesting Photo -sorry about that. Just before Christmas I ordered this gorgeous book and I have been reading it whilst I am feeling too hot to craft or too sick. I am loving it I cant wait to do so many of the little crafts inside and not just for Christmas - some of the little birdies I want right now. I ordered it from the Book Depository who are my new best friend. They are so quick - delivery is free worldwide (I hope that is right) and a top range. I also ordered and read another John Burke book called No Perfect People Allowed. We did this as a group study at Church last Year but I couldnt get a copy at the time. It was interesting to fill in the gaps and has given me a lot to think about. Hope to show you some crafts from the book soon

Cheers

Dont Forget my 100th Post Giveaway

Angel (the Blythe doll) is presenting(but not part of) my giveaway - some Christmas fat quarters and a Leeannes house bag pattern. My giveaway will close on January 13th and is open to anyone who comments on a post since my 100th or who is a follower or becomes a follower(if I dont know who you are I cant give it to you!)

Working through his List

Last holidays we started a little tradition of spending the first morning thinking of all the things we wanted to do while we were on holidays. This was to help Sir TP who spends vasts amount of time not knowing what to do once his media time is over. This holiday he did this by himself after Christmas so yesterday when he had absolulely nothing to do in the whole wide world he looked at his list and remebered he had this Woodworx model to put together. So he and Little Miss sat down with the instructions and off they went. Today we will be painting it after a little relax as we have been to church and then a gymnastics party and we are all quite tired. I am still packing up the Christmas decorations -but hearly there now.

Cheers

Under my Machine

With the children home I have moved my machine out to the family room for companionship. In between little Blythe sewing I am working on Machine quilting the background of this Christmas quilt. It is slow and laborious -I have never done this before but it does look good so far. I hope to have it finished maybe for next year. We have had a quiet couple of days swimming with our cousins, a vacation care day at the gymnastics and today Sir TP has worked on a wooden plane model and Little Miss has played quietly with her dolls. I seem to have had another set back with the flu I have had but have slowly been taking down the Christmas decorations. What a job!!.

Day 2 of our Hip Holiday Crafting

OK I know we have a little time lag here with this but other life does get in the way of holiday craft plus all the new presents we have!!! So this day we set about doing another of Tamar from Tarisota Crafts. We made hand and finger puppets. With a little heads up notice (the advantage of working a day behind) I purchased some crayola fabric markers - at less then $10 for 10 colours quite affordable. The colours were vibrant too. I set the kids up and let them go - encouraging them to plan first. Sir TP went for a collection of Moshi MOnsters. Miss B for a collection of Princesses and a Babushka. Sir TP was quite excited I let him sew his together -he did quite well but kept forgetting to put the pressure foot down to my chagrin. We had some friends drop around for a play and they made some too how fun!! And so simple. The kids are keen to make a felt playmat from Mel's blog I just need to think about the cost on that one. We have a few other plans for the next couple of days so we will see what happens

Cheers

Blythe Pyjamas

Little miss B said thanks for the skirt but she needs to have pyjamas - of course why didnt I think of that. So I looked thru the pattern and made a top a bit longer to make a nightie. Miss B picked the fabric, runnage for some ribbon , run to the shop for some mini ric rac ($100 later at Spotlight man that ric rac is dear but that's another story) and VoilA (my new word obviously). One Blythe nightie (almost too pretty to wear to bed). Miss B is so enjoying Angel -I had thought she might be too young but she has really made her into a companion. Miss B is responsible for the photo and she has even asked if she can have her own blog. I do think she needs to wait until she can do the typing herself though. Will be back soon with our next hip hip holiday project success I do like it when things go to plan

Our First Hip Holiday Project - Pencil tins

Yesterday we started some holiday crafting you can click on the badge on my sidebar to follow the link to Mel and Tmar who are running two weeks of childrens holiday crafts yay. Miss B of course chose the harder of the projects. She did a great job of managing my big grown up scissors and then a few big squeezes of the old school glue.I had to use pegs to stabilise it because Miss B doesnt like pins - she managed half of the sewing component before she got tired. A bit more glue and VOILA

One finished flowery pencil pot. Well DOne! and a big thanks to Tamar and Mel for organising this - onto day two.

Blythe Fashions

I have orders coming thick and fast - Angel needs this - angel needs that -I cant sew fast enough here is a little skirt I made Angel on Sunday as a starter using some of Rosalie Quinlans latest fabric range. Next she needs Pyjamas. Dont forget my giveaway -just look at my previous posts!!

Relaxing School Holidays Start

I don't know about other families but In my home and as a girl the Summer Holidays never really begin until after Christmas and New Year. School stops in the middle of a haze of Christmas preparations , santa visits, baking, cleaning and shopping /decorating. Then you eat too much waddle around for a week stay up too late and feel jet lagged. Then darling hubby goes back to work - and the holiday begins, the normal stuff, playing, crafting, movies, play dates. So today our holidays begin although we did have a taste of it yesterday. Miss B worked on painting a stripey plate and cup set and Sir TP hit the internet to do beyblade battles (virtual spinning tops). I pulled out the machine to do some quilting on my Christmas quilt and to fill orders for clothes for the new doll. Lets hope the housework doesnt fall behind!

Secret Santa 2010

This gorgeous little angel was the ornament part of my Secret Santa present this year. She came in a teeny tiny box so delicately wrapped - sorry no photograph every one was too excited and quite sick that day. The rest of my gift included this gorgeous blue table runner or shoulder wrap ( I can choose) and a little angel stitchery.

I huge thankyou to Yvonne from Butterfly CHristmas

For my special gift and also to CHooky Blue for organising it it is so much fun. Here is the present I sent my Swapper

Our Christmas and New Years Ideas

Because I know I would like to see yours - here are some photos of

our christmas table setting

the children on their christmas play night

our new Arrival -Angel Miss B's first Blythe doll (apparently she already wants more and this is all because she is a fan of a blog called Bella and Blythe!!)

and lastly my little giveaway presented by Angel - please comment on my previous post or become a follower or both and I will enter you into my draw to celebrate I have done more than a hundred posts. Prize consists of three Christmas fat quarters and a Leeanne Beasley pattern - for little gift bags.

To finish with this is my New Years Resolutions

1. Blog more regularly - I always seem to blog lots stop, blog lots stop. I can do better.

2. Do more - I need to get up and do more - cooking, crafting, running, photos 2010 I lost my mojo I think I was lonely with Little Miss B gone -time to get over it and enjoy the possibility.

3. Give more - I am so blessed from God and more people should feel it.

Where did Dec 2010 go?

Where did Dec 2010 go? As we patiently and prayerfully awaitedou Christmas day blogging fell to the way side again. I really need some tips to avoid this as I so loved reading every one elses celebration and so many of my favourite bloggers even blogged on Christmas day -Insane. This year my children lit their own advent candles on our homemade wreath and we sang to remind us to wait. For it is waiting that makes everything worth it.We did most of our usual Chriostmas traditions despite all of us being unwell. I have had a very debilitating fluleading up to CHristmas and I am still coughing and feeling lethargic. Sir TP had fortunately a very mild chicken pox in the week before Christmas and Little Miss B of course had a very mild chicken pox to bring in the New Year. This of course made our celebrations a little interesting but we persevered and did most of our usual things just a little slower.

This year the children did the tree nearly completely by themselves with all of the house getting decorated in record time. this was neccesary as all of our other pre Christmas activities were somewhat later then usual. Our scouts breakup was mid December and was roller skating. I dragged out my old skates and got out there with the kids

And early December saw what I would describe as one of the best Dancing concerts I have ever seen. Here is Miss B in her first proper Ballet costume We were proud of both the children but this costume was a definite favourite as it was also my fist time as first costume mummy and I think it all turned out very well. My spec from the teacher was that she wanted the children to look innocent and fresh. and I think on stage they looked perfect. I will show a little more dec and a resolutions blog very shortly. As I have just past my 100th post I am doing a little giveaway - If you follow me or comment on this blog post I will draw a little New Years Gift for you. I will post a picture of it on my next post later today but it will include some fat quarters and a pattern for my sewing friends. Sorry I have been away - we will call it sick leave. happy New Year from me.