Where does the time go....

Well today we have enjoyed the pleasure of helping

 this gorgeous little boy

celebrate his eventful arrival

into our lives.

He is a gorgeous boy with a very wise head.

He loves life ,

 challenges,

family,

 fun,

learning

playing

experiencing

testing

achieving

and

technology.

He is a real treasure ,

cheeky, funloving,

energetic, inquisitive,

thoughtful,

driven,

sensitive,

clever,

easygoing

just to mention a few

and we love him to bits!!!

He is loving his first year of school and is thriving

with all the stimulation and opportunities to learn.

Happy 6th Birthday Bear.

Love  you xxxxxx

PS Apologies Ive been gone so long- my familiar technology has gone so now just braving other options. Hope to be blogging lots of creative stuff real soon.

Quiet Sunday arvo....

After an exhausting morning

and feeling tired and sorry for myself

decided it was time to make my new pj pants

So I can put them on and relax!!!

Yes I should have ironed them for a photo

but in too much of a hurry to get them on!!

Flannelette was from Spotlight last year when it was 99c per metre.

I stocked up or overstocked depending on your view!

It's come in very handy.

Whilst busy in my sewing space today

 Bear and Moo came in and were busy playing

 with a big tub of beads

 ( required for projects inspired by this clever lady).

PS Cath they are from a car seat cover.

 They started out threading them to make necklaces

Bear decided that wasnt for him

so used them to play marbles..

Love it when the kids are creative in my space!

And now...

This week Bear was off to a Stars Wars party.

Now boys I find are just not as easy to made things for,

so given the birthday boys interest in Star Wars I came up with this... 

A Star Wars pillow case which matches his other bedding.

And on a bright note I'm now able to do a bit of this again

Hooray it feels like a very long time

since my hook and I have been busy

( about 8 weeks but who's counting).

Very keen to get my ripple blanket finished

( its getting very cold) the end is in sight!!

Check out other creative spaces....

Done...

A while ago I did a small injury which has resulted in me

 being unable to crochet for a while : (

But I still need a portable project so returned to the stash

 and found this pattern and wool.



 Thought this may be a useful but reasonably quick pattern to ignite my knitting mojo.

It is knitted as one piece with only underarm and side seams to be sewn up

 ( I really like the limited sewing up option!!)

It knitted up quickly and I love the colours.

Most suitable for Moo who surprise, surprise, is a big pink and purple fan.

Once completed she very quickly claimed it would fit her and was keen to wear it.

Dont you love it when they love what you have made them- I certainly do!!

( Excuse the tattoo on the leg - thats what I was asked to take the photo of!)

See what others are doing over at our creative spaces.

The Joy of Craft....

Being crafty, creative or whatever you want to call it has many pluses.

You can made great things, meet great people, learn lots of stuff and

have a lot of fun and laughs along the way.

Recently I was reminded of these in a number of ways.

I had the pleasure of meeting a gorgeous lady at our local crafty get together SAY.

We shared many interests and had lots of fun.

She had to move interstate and a few of us girls decided to create something special

to commerate her time with us.

It was decided to do a quilt in her favourite colours.

Now as you may know Im not a quilter and was a little concerned about what I could contribute.

With the help of these clever friends we all made this lovely quilt.

Shes looking keen

 Now shes excited...

And happy!!!!

We all had a great time making it and thought about you alot in the process- wishing you could join us without spoiling the surprise.

Thanks to the girls from whom I learnt lots which gave me the courage to make this.

Check out their blogs also to see more of the action.

Great friends, great fun and great sadness,

look forward to catching up at SIT....



I did it....

Well its official.....

I can now say I have MADE A QUILT!!!!

I love quilts but feel like I dont have time to get into quilting yet.

 I figure once Moo gets older and isnt as keen on Mum made stuff

 ( I'm hoping she loves it forever but I remember not wanting my mum to make things

and asking for shop bought stuff) then I will have time to get into quilting.

Recently I wanted to make something for a close friends significant birthday and the only thing I could think of was a quilt.

So with the help of some clever friends  I embarked on a quilt.

Here is my finished product!
Im pretty happy with how it turned out
and was tempted to keep it ..
at least to be able to see how much I hopefully improve in years to come.
But.. it was well received and loved by the person for whom it was intended
so I shall just have to enjoy seeing it when I visit.

A big thanks to Mum who finished off the binding as my annoying injury
was not enjoying the hand stitching process.

What have you been up to?
Check out other clever works at our creative spaces..

Knitting, by default...

A little while ago I rediscovered my love of crochet.

So it has nearly all been crochet for portable projects.

Recently I had a mishap playing sport which has resulted in me

not being able to crochet but I can still knit, albeit a little uncomfortably at times.

This lack of freedom to craft is extremely frustrating.... I have a looong list of things I want to finish, make, start or try and being injured and limited in options does not fit the plan!!!

So finding crochet hurt I tried knitting and it is better so needed a project.

Moo (as nearly always) is going to be the lucky receipient of a red mohair cardigan from this cute vintage pattern book.

 Im not loving knitting it up for some reason and nearly gave up on it but have started to find my rhythm and its better than not having anything to do. Hopefully I will get lots done before I resume crochet otherwise it may become a UFO!!

And the quilt you ask???

Well it has been quilted by machine....and I managed to keep it pretty neat on the back!

(Amazing considering my dolls quilt effort).

Last bit of hand quilting to be finished tommorrow,

then bound and off to its new owner on Saturday. ( If all goes to plan).

Who else is joining in at our creative spaces.....

Connections...

On the weekend we had the pleasure of taking my Nanna to her SILs 90th birthday.

I love to catch up with all the great aunts of which there are still four,

 all ageing gracefully and so gorgeous.

( In this family we still have a 100th in May and another 90th in December- tough old girls in our family).

Happy Birthday Auntie N

 who is renowned for all the wedding dresses and cakes she has made for all the family.

Due to the drive we decided to stay with family on the farm which was run by my grandparents and passed onto an aunt and uncle. Great decision!!

So many happy memories, beautiful views and really felt like I had reconnected to our gorgeous countryside and why we are the lucky country.

Bear and Moo ( such city kids) had a brilliant time

watching the cows be milked, seeing the tanker come to collect it,

having a ride on a motorbike , feeding the ducks and chickens,

 going in the tractor to feed the cows, visiting the horses and playing

on a massive pile of wood chips destined for the calf pens.

We also had a great time with family,

exploring the farm again through adult eyes on the motorbike

and reconnecting with my family heritage. Precious!!!

All keen to get back to visit soon.

What have you revisited lately?

P.S. A little crafty did get done along the way will post later...



Here's a first...

Well I decided to make something for the upcoming significant birthday of a close friend and decided on a quilt for the couch.

Only problem with that is I'm not a quilter, love them and interested but just not the time as yet.

Once Moo decides its no longer cool to wear things Mums made

I figure I will have the time to get into quilting....I hope!

So with very little idea ( I've made a dolls quilt but that doesn't help me feel like I know what Im doing)

 I decided a jelly roll quilt may be a good place to start.

Well  so far i have joined all my jelly rolls together...Yay!

( Although I suspect thats the easier bit).

Okay it definitely wasnt square but it certainly wasnt as out as this photo makes it look.

( Note to self check you have a decent photo to post!!)

And using my clever embroidery machine a personal note on the backing.

Okay tommorrow I will attempt putting it all together.

Wish me luck as anything could happen from here!!!

Head over to Our Creative Spaces and see what all the clever people are making.

PS. BIG Thank you to Cath who has come over and helped me improve my blog.

Its gradually growing into itself.....!

Monday Magic.

Monday morning I was woken by the excited cries of Bear and Moo

"Mum come and see"

Begrudgingly I got myself out of bed to see this!!!

And some more...

And it was a bright crisp morning.

What a beautiful way to start my week.

Thank you Bear and Moo it was definitely worth getting up for.

NB. Not as much craft going on here and I would like due to a recent injury to my thumb, hopefully I'll be back at it asap!!!

Welcome to our family...

Yesterday we had the joy of going into the hospital to welcome a new member (niece/cousin) to our extended family. Welcome Charlotte!!!

In anticipation of her arrival I was inspired to make something a bit special. 

Saw this amazing blanket on Lioness Lady and was in love I just had to make one. I also consulted  The Royal Sisters who had a great pattern also.

Decided something this gorgeous needed to be made with something lovely and having a bit of left over Bendigo wool Bendigo it would be!! My mum is up[ that end of the world so put in an sos call to pop in and grab me a range of colours. ( At this point I started to get very excited!!)

When my wool arrived it was great but a lot of purple which was one colour I already had a bit of so whilst I started my blanket camping on our lovely Victorian coastline I decided I would do a small version for the new girl we were all looking forward to.

Here are the beginnings of a blanket for Charlotte.

And here is they finished product.

Very happy with how it all worked out now looking forward to finishing a larger version for us.

Whats got you excited lately??

Marvellous Melbourne....

Yesterday we headed in to Moomba.

What can I say "we had a great day"!

The weather was great, the crowds were manageable ( pays to go in early) and lots for the little people to see do and experience.

 I know I'm biased to the crafty side of life but we ventured over to Art Play. 

That was a great idea!!

They had free workshops making pom poms.

I thought yeah a bit of fun for the kids but wow they had these fantstic plastic gadgets to make pom poms ( I'm probably behind the times I still make them with the cardboard donut shape!!).

They were really easy to use for Bear (5yo DS) and Moo (3yo DD) and a lot quicker. I even spotted the man of the house busily making the one abandoned by Moo!!

The blue and yellow was the work of Bear and he was very pleased with this. I made the pink and white using white wool and cut up strips of pink tulle. Lots of good ideas.

They were also making the lovely tissue paper flowers

Photos dont do them justice.

All in all a lovely way to end a fun family day!!

What new gadgets or shortcuts have you discovered?

Where does a week go...

Okay I'm back with a few photos of my creative space. This is the tidiest its ever been and unlikely to stay like this for long!! So the good old Ikea shelves many more would be great I'm sure I could fill them too. The kids dummy is displaying a hat and a very special slightly damaged lacy type scarf made by my great grandmother.

 Room for the essential iron and ironing board.

Yes there are lots of bits and pieces "stored" at the end of the table and in tubs under the table. Love the old sewing boxes on the floor at the end of the table but Moo ( 3yo ) states she needs these for her things ( and mines not safe from her there) so she keeps her material wool etc in them.

Love my space in the ideal world would have a higher table to cut on (and obviously more storage) but grateful for what I have !!

Hows your creative space? What do you wish for?

So here I am....

So here I am with some trepidation , finally getting my blog up and out there. Welcome. I have been contemplating this for over a year and have found many excuses, umm reasons for not getting started not least being my minimal technological skills and seriously that adds up to alot of lost creating time!!

Admittedly I have spent many hours enjoying the creativity and great skills of others in the blogging community being inspired, encouraged and blown away by the ideas, craftsmanship and generosity of others sharing their experiences, knowledge, creativity and wise words.( Along with some great photography and presentation). I have laughed,  cried, smiled, learn't, been challenged, shocked and delighted and enjoyed the rollercoaster ride that life has delivered along with you.

 THANK YOU  THANK YOU THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 I can only hope that others will find things which do the same for them here.

Well no longer am I just stalking lots of great blogs (cause I couldnt work out how to reply) but now I'm hopefully able to contribute also to the wonderful community of people blogging away about the things they love.

Above is one of my excuses/ reasons for not doing this earlier...

This is where I used to do all my sewing much to DPs frustration as I over took the study but it also extended to multiple other places such as

this.......and

this.

Finally the day arrived that our youngest was no longer requiring us close by overnight and a space was vacated which became mine!!!!!!

( Will blog it as soon as I get some photos done.)

Have a great day......