Sewtember Day One.

I decided that September was a good month to challenge myself by sewing everyday. I know this is fairly common for me anyway, but usually I take a couple of days off every now and then, so this is a good opportunity to get some gift sewing done, among other things.

I was working on something today that I can't show you...I know, boring right? You'll see it soon, I promise! So in the meantime, I decided to share some work I was doing during the last week. If you don't know me yet, there are a couple of things you may not know about me:

First - I love colour!

Second - I love stunning contrast!

C - I love using up the little bits that other people throw out, there is no such thing as scraps!

and 4 - I love fabric!!!!! (most of you would have picked up on that last one at least)

So here is a picture of some of this weeks work.

These were some ideas for using up some little strip pieces I had in my stash.

This one is cool. I really like it.

I like the idea of this, but I'm not sure about how to do it. More thinking involved and maybe this could work . It's more fiddly because of the different sized pieces.

Like I said, I love colour!!

My assistant and I decided that coloured stripes looked the coolest and would be the easiest to put together. She also loves colour and helping to arrange fabrics for my stuff (it's late and I couldn't think of a better word...oh, maybe "projects".) Yeah, she loves arranging bits for my projects!

Stacked and ready to sew. Love it!!

First stripe done!

All the stripes done and trimmed and ready for joining.

This is it so far. I think my assistant needs to grow a little. Hold on...

There we go. It's handy being able to tie string to the walls for displaying this sort of thing.

I love the look so  far. I'm hoping to do some more of this in the next few days, but I do need to get a couple of other bits done. Maybe even something I can show you.

Oh, this is my assistant handing me pegs and admiring the tiny strips in each of the stripes. So helpful!!

Just a quick look at the back. Doesn't look too bad. I do need to trim some little thready endy bits off, but I was being a little lazy with this one. It was a procrastination time filler. I know others have them too, so I don't feel too bad about starting this rather than doing my other things.

It's really been inspired by the gorgeous weather we had early in the week. Shame now that Spring is actually here that so is the wintry cold...whatever...

See you tomorrow, hopefully with another project to show you.

Night!!

P.S. What did you sew today?

Monday Monday

Sorry I didn't get back with the photo of my dad's present. We had a lot of wind over the last couple of days (some snow too) and the internet wasn't particularly reliable. However, I do have some pics for you. First, the cake. This is the cake before I did anything to it:

And this is how it turned out afterwards:

(It's a Tardis from the show Dr Who, just in case you don't recognise it.)

I didn't want to go out too much with my sick kids last week, so I had to use the usual liquid food colouring and this is the darkest I could get the colour. A bit annoying but it was Dad's favourite cake (sorry Annelise, I thought your Jenolan Caves cake was awesome!) so as long as he was happy, that's all that matters really.

Ok, and then there's his present.

I think this turned out really well and given that I haven't watched Dr who for a really long time (about 20 years), I think it's pretty good. My Dad is so hard to give presents to because he has everything and buys anything else that he wants, plus, I don't really have spare money, so I had to make something and this was the best thing I could think of. I guess there's no risk of someone else giving him the same thing.

What do you think?

It was going to be a "Mug Rug", but it's really more like a mini quilt. I don't think he'll use it as a mug rug. I might put a little sleeve on the back so that he can hang it up, but that's up to him. What would you do with a mini quilt like this? I think I would have to hang it somewhere otherwise it would be damaged, my kids would probably take it as a dolly quilt or something, in which case it could possibly be dragged through dirt and other things.

Anyway, I can pop up the details of how I made it if anyone's interested (just leave me a comment), otherwise I'll see you soon with more things I've done, hopefully. I have such a long list of projects to complete, both for me and for other people's orders and presents. I love how blogging can make you more accountable...

See you soon!

Monday Mirror and Where does your joy come from?

Rain certainly doesn't help in my feeling joyful. I don't mind it really, but there's something about sun in the morning that seems to bring joy. So, on a rainy wintry Monday, a visit from our friends was a great mood lifter. My good friend and her daughter who is the same age as mine dropped in for a couple of hours and it was lovely to catch up. We have similar backgrounds and our main life choices are similar too, so we have a lot to talk about. It's really encouraging to have a friend who supports you no matter what choices you make and offers gentle words of conviction to open your mind to other ways of doing certain things. Whenever we catch up (not often, unfortunately) I always feel uplifted and I hope she feels the same. It actually gave us both joy to see our beautiful girls talking (with real understandable sentences) and playing so well together. I know they are a big part of our lives and I hope we are of theirs too.

So, where does your joy come from?

The photo for today is "mirror" and I love looking into our only mirror, which is in the bathroom, at night. If you look in it at the right angle, the reflection shows the lights from the road through the big oak tree which gives a gorgeous silhouette. It's really pretty...problem is, it's hard to get a good photo of it. I tried though and here it is.

I'm hoping to get more craft done tonight, so if it works out I might be able to show you tomorrow, but things don't always go to plan around here.

So I'd better go while both kids are asleep. Goodnight!

Thursday Things.

Today was beautiful! I started out not knowing exactly how it would go, but the kidlets and I picked up my Sister (Not-normal-great-Aunty-Anna) and drove to a big playground which we hadn't been to before. Being Thursday in the first week back at school meant that we were the only people there for the most part, which was fantastic as it enabled us to do everything at our own pace, slow. It was such a good way to spend a couple of hours. It was a good reminder that not everything needs to be over the top or expensive to be enjoyed. I think I'm going to aim to have a day like this every couple of weeks. It felt like we recharged ourselves a little, even though we are all exhausted.

Looking over the few photos and videos I took while the we were playing has given me a dose of what pure joy is. One of the videos is my assistant on a swing in fits of laughter. I don't think she thought it was funny, but wasn't sure how to express the rush she was feeling moving quickly through the crisp air, happy and free. It was so sweet. I'm hoping that I'll be able to show her the video one day when she's not feeling great and it might lift her spirits. (My sister took this photo, I think she was getting a bit sleepy by this point). It certainly has lifted mine this evening. I was feeling totally depleted when something I have wanted to buy for years became available locally and it sold before I had a chance to buy it. I was so disappointed. Then I watched this video and instantly felt better. It is one of the best things to see your children happy and enjoying themselves.

My little B-man was standing up holding a pole in the same playground for around 5 minutes, which is big considering he has only just started to stand up, and only really holding onto someone's fingers. The look on his face was pure pride in the fact that he was up on his feet and by himself. It was an expression that he repeated tonight when he repeatedly pulled himself up and sat back down again. Watching these little things happen is more precious than I can really tell you. Hopefully one day you too can experience the joy I did today.











Oh yeah, the photo for today was animal/insect/pet, so I thought this photo of my assistant riding the horse would pass for animal...

I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with something interesting to post. Night!

Sunday Lunch.

We had a picnic today. The weather was beautiful. We were doing some yard work and decided to stay out  in the sun to have a BBQ. It was lovely. I forgot how nice it can be to just hang out with the family doing bits and pieces around the house and chatting about nothing. We ate some biscuits for afternoon tea which the kids loved. What a treat!

"Finger" - Scotch finger that is...

I hope you had a lovely Sunday too! I'll be back tomorrow with another photo. Night!

Triumphant Tuesday Tears

I just feel down tonight. I had a pretty good day and got some stuff done, but still I don't feel happy. I couldn't think of anything for the photo today "my favourite colour" so I thought I'd just post a pic of the dolls seeing as they're all different colours. It almost seems like some racial comment, but really it's just that someone asked me to make ethnic learning dolls, so that's what they were, and since they changed their mind they're just dolls now. My assistant is pretty happy with the thought of keeping one.

Hopefully tomorrow night I will have my mojo back and won't feel so low. Night!

Monday Monday, A Big Break and A Big Deal.

Firstly to address the big deal and apparently putting hair on dolls is not a big deal. According to my Mechanic (hubby) anyway... I was so excited to show him all my hard work and all he could say was "It's such a big deal for you, this hair stuff, hey?"

Well, der! Of course it is. It's my sanity amidst hours of baby babble and toddler reading, between washing dirty nappies and pulling at matted hair. It's what I look forward to for every moment in the day when I need to do all the usual house-wife-y stuff that no-one really notices. It's productive, it's creative and it's ME!

Ok, now that that's out of the way, on to some other sad news...and the big break. While I was taking a few minutes to do something for myself today, I decided to get that last couple of stitches done on the 2nd doll's hair. I was working quickly and getting so into it and then......SNAP!!

There goes my needle. And not only did it snap, but it snapped INSIDE the doll. UGH!! I spent the next couple of moments thinking very hard about how I was going to rectify this terrible situation and then finally, with a lot of squeezing and mooshing, I got one end of the needle out. Yay! Then to the shorter end. And I thought it was hard to pull out the needle when it was full length. Man was I wrong. That wasn't hard, THIS was hard. I had a whole centimetre to hold and pull with a big bulky bit of yarn on the end, OUCH! My fingers will continue to remind me of that moment - or few moments - for the next week or so, I imagine. Ouch!

So there goes another Monday, sunny, warmish, coldish and over. And here's what I have to show for it:

I guess all the drama and pain was worth it. Only one more doll to put hair onto, then to trim them up, and finally I need to work out how to do faces. It might be a while before they get done though, I'm not too confident doing that sort of thing. I guess I'll get better as I go along. I hope so anyway. Plus, it's way more fun trying out different hair styles while I think about how to go about the faces.


Thanks for reading. I'll be back with another photo tomorrow.

Super Saturday. Garden.

Not so super, actually. I woke up sick today, so the morning is a bit of an uncomfortable blur in my mind. Then by this afternoon my assistant was sick too and did this...

...again. Poor Chicki-Boo.

The photo for today is of something that she picked (much to my disgust) out of our "garden", which is more weeds than anything else. I planted these a couple of years ago and for the last 2 winters we've watched as they raise their pointy little green heads further and further upwards and then turn into these awesome and beautiful creations.

Isn't it wonderful? One of the most beautiful flowers we've seen in our garden...ever!

And, talking about creations, I spent the afternoon working on one of mine.

You probably remember this doll, with this hair...well, I undid it all today and re-attached it differently.

There is still another layer of hair to add to make it thicker and more lush at the back, however the front is done. I think it's nicer the new way, so far anyway, and so does my assistant which works out well given the fact that doing it a third time doesn't sound all together lovely. I think I'm going to have to give this doll to my assistant, though as she's had such a big role in making her.

So, what do you think? Please let me know if it looks bad...I may not change this one, but I still have three to go, so I will consider your feedback when deciding how to do those.

It's bed time now though, so thanks for reading. Let me know if there is something in particular you would like to see on my blog, I love getting comments and I can always try to incorporate whatever into here.

Hopefully you are all having a great weekend!!

Goodnight!

Monday Monday.

Ok, so everyone likes a photo on a blog right? 

Well, I hope so, because someone has asked me to do a photo-a-day challenge for July. Unfortunately, I thought July started today. If I'd thought carefully enough about it I would have looked at the calendar, but oh well. I guess I'll just do 2 for today to catch up.

The first one is supposed to be a self portrait, but I'm not good at that, and also, I don't look so good today, so instead, I've decided to make it just a portrait of me...and now I can't decide...I think I'll add a couple. 

This is me(ish). I didn't like part of it, so i made it a little more modest.

I really didn't think it looked like me, until I put it with the real me...

 Ok, this is the real me. Yes I'm pale, and have long hair and am in pjs, but that's just me.

So there you have it, The first day of the photo-a-day challenge, a day late. 

Now, for the second day...

"Busy"

Well, I'm always busy, but here's something I'm busy with at the moment. 

I spend a fair amount of time teaching my little man to use this. It's much easier than nappies.

Happy Monday Everyone! See you again with another pic tomorrow!

Monday, Monday.

So we start another week with Hubby at work and the usual pile of housework to do. But for some unknown reason, it actually works out really nicely for once. Normally Monday is dreary and full of boring, but today was different. I mean, I still did the normal 2 loads of washing and some washing up, made brownies and dinner, but this time my assistant was really helpful. She loaded and turned the washing machine on both times and put the wet things into the basket to take outside, carried pegs, helped with brownies and dinner (we had roast beef, Yummo!!) and even collected all the dirty nappies and undies from B-man. I couldn't really have asked for more from her today. It made the day quite enjoyable and I actually don't feel as exhausted as I usually would. We even had both kidlets in bed by 8.05, which is really good for us. Plus, the weather was beautiful! Not really like winter at all. I just had the usual t-shirt and jeans, even outside and it was gorgeous in the sun! My first load of washing dried in just a couple of hours...What an awesome God we have to make days like today!!!

This is from last week sometime on a colder more wintry day, but you can see that B-man likes helping out too. Today was much more sunny and warm looking than in this day was. Normal Nana was here when we swapped loads outside today too, so B-man sat beside her on the grass in the sun and watched us get the clothes sorted.

Here they are both helping with the washing last week.

I think something else that may have contributed to my enjoyment of today may have been some stuff that went down over the weekend...my assistant had her first sleepover at Normal Nana's while Hubby and I went out for my older brother's birthday, so that was nice. 

This is the card that my assistant made for my brother. He loved it!

Plus, I designed and drafted my first clothing pattern completely from scratch and it worked pretty well, I just need to do a couple of minor adjustments. But I'll tell you the details later on in another post. But yay!

Did I mention I've introduced B-man to the potty? I think it's been a month or so now. Today he did his first poo in it and I tell you what, we all danced around like we'd won the lotto!

This is him quite happy with himself after doing a wee on the potty last week. It's so cute seeing him in the little teeny undies...

Oh, and someone ordered a tea cosy, Sweet! I'm back into things and I feel great! What an excellent end to a Monday! I hope you all had a good one too and you'll hear from me again soon with those new project details.

Goodnight!

Friday Fun One - 6

June! Winter!

We spent half of today clearing vines and other weedy plants from along our fence. The neighbours were doing it from their side and it was a good excuse for some outside time, so the kids and I helped clear it as well. It was good to spend some time with them too, they're so lovely!

I'm going to spend this evening overlocking around some dress pieces and hopefully starting to join them together...maybe. Both kids are asleep now, but in 10 minutes the whole situation could be completely different.

I'd better go and make the most of the time I do have.

Goodnight!