Gimme Gimme!!!

Do you want to see some sunshine? Check this out! GIVEAWAY!

It's so puuurrrty. I love it. I want it. Dare I say, I neeeeeeeeed it...

Haberdashery Swap.

Valentines Day was swap opening day. I was so excited when the day finally arrived! My swap partner was the lovely Ingrid from Lottielulu. Ingrid sent me a gorgeous package full of lovely pink goodness. I received some pink ricrac, pink ribbon, pink velvet ribbon/trim, pink binding, pink buttons including some very cute Hello Kitty ones, some pink fabric with sweet bunnies on it and a pink tape measure! I must say, I am very excited about the pin tape measure because for some reason all my tape measures seem to disappear into some kind of abyss. Now with my new pink tape measure I can see it clearly on my table (the white ones that I have blend into everything) AND I know that DH wont 'borrow' it ;).. It's MINE!!! ALL MINE!!!!

Thank you so much Ingrid. I love everything that you sent and I really appreciate the lovely handmade card you made as well. It's nice to add a special little touch like that. Here is a photo of the lovelies that Ingrid sent me. Thanks again Ingrid :)


My swap partner was Natalie from GoMama. Silly me forgot to take pics of what I sent so I hope that Natalie managed to take some to share.

This was a fun swap. I really enjoyed this one. Many thanks to Karen for organising it.

EB Haby swap...

My likes:

• Colours pink (I love pink ANYTHING!) and green.

• I'm a girly girl.

• I sew all different things (children's clothes, clothes for me, bags, quilts, lots of things). This year I plan to get more creative and try new things.

• Vintage anything.

My dislikes:

• Fluro colours.

I'm so excited to be part of this swap. Thanks so much Karen for organising!!

New Years Eve...

I've changed the background on my blog again. Now It's a bit 'loud' and it's making me feel a little claustrophobic. I'll see how it goes for a couple of days and I'll reassess then.

Well, it's 8:30pm on New Years Eve and I can hear fireworks going off. I am guessing from Wet'n'wild as they have a childrens new years eve party on. I must admit, I don't 'get' the whole New Years Eve thing. I much prefer to be sleeping well before the clock strikes midnight. In fact, I am about to head off to bed in just a moment.

Had a busy day today digging out the mulch and weeds in the garden ready for the new mulch to be put in. We have filled a mini skip bin and have a trailer load of stuff to take to the tip. Lots of work happening in the next few days. I am tired just thinking about it!

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to leave a comment on my blog. It's nice to know that I am not talking to myself in here ;). Thank you for taking an interest and encouraging and inspiring me through your own work. I love reading and seeing the creations that others have made.

Anyway, for those that are out celebrating, I hope you have a nice time and keep safe on the road. Wishing you all a safe and happy 2009!

See you next year!!!

'twas the night before Christmas...

Can you believe that it's Christmas Eve already! It doesn't feel like it. It felt like any other ordinary day actually. Now that all is quiet and we are waiting for the older kids to go to bed (so we can do the Santa thing) it's starting to feel like it. Just a bit.

We've left a jam 'bizik' (biscuit) and some water for Santa... thank you to my husband for his 'assistance' in the photo...



We've left a key out for Santa to get in...
We've sprinkled reindeer sparkles so the reindeer can find their way to our house. I hope the kangaroos don't eat it!



And we've left a carrot for the reindeer to munch on.
We were planning on going to Carols by 'glowstick' tonight but it started getting darker and darker. (Another) severe storm on the way. The forecast says there's more to come in the next few days. Anyway, we decided not to go to carols.
Storms building...

Christmas this year will be a quiet one. Very different to what I am used to. Coming from a large and close extended family, Christmas has always been HUGE. This year, it will be just my parents, my brother and my family. The rest of the family are still in Sydney. It's going to be different that's for sure. Don't get me wrong, it's still going to be lovely. I'll be with my family and that's all that really matters but it's just going to be hard to 'do' Christmas without all my Aunts, Uncles and Cousins/second cousins around.

On that note, I'll sign off here by wishing you all a safe, happy and joyous Christmas xxx.

Mr Postman...

Tuesday started like any other day. Running errands etc. Got home to find the postman left a pickup slip in the letterbox. When DH got home with it later that afternoon I got a shock when I saw that it was for me (I thought it was for Emily from either her Grandparents or her birthday swap partner). I was half right.

It was from a VERY GENEROUS friend of mine from my online parents group. Emily received a gorgeous 2 piece set made in the delightful 'Sandi Henderson- spring dahlia & spring stripey' fabric.

She also received some cute covered hair elastics and a gorgeous handmade card. I absolutely LOVE this outfit and so did Emily who asked to put it on straight away (she was dancing, again, in the photo).

So, here I am sitting all confused as to why there is so much stuff inside the box (there was no senders name on the box so I couldn't figure out who it had come from and why there was so much in there!). As I went through it all I came across things with my name on it saying happy birthday. I was blessed with some beautiful goodies. There was, a 'Homespun' mag pack, a booklet, some thread, a Portabellopixie- Gracie pattern, denim, a WHOLE HEAP of FARMERS MARKET fabric and a gorgeous glass jar filled with buttons and cotton. (all buttons and cotton in coordinating/matching colours for the fabric).

I just couldn't believe it. I was seriously holding back the tears. It was a total unexpected surprise.

Here is the totally cute little jar. She's even stitched buttons on there, awwwwww! You can see a bit more of my yummy fabrics in the background..
Anyway, after drooling over all my goodies and recovering from the shock of receiving such a thoughtful gift, I did a bit of detective work and figured out that the beautiful Leoni sent this awesome package. Unfortunately Leoni doesn't have a blog but she really should!! You should see some of her craft work! Talented is an understatement. I don't know how she fits all the craftwork in whilst looking after her 4 young children.

Thank you again Leoni. As I've said before, this is one of the most thoughtful and personal gifts anyone has ever given me. Saying thank you just doesn't seem like enough.

So now I am thinking of what I can make with all my lovelies...

Surprise number two will follow in another post.. Stay tuned (again). I'll be back!!!

It's my birthday today! Happy birthday to me...

No, not my birthday (that was last week). Today is my baby girl's 4th birthday. 4 years old.



Trust me to get sick for 2 days beforehand as well. She wanted a pink cake and this was the best I could manage. Emily didn't care. It was pink and that is all that matters.

And I think the poor baby is coming down with what I had :(

Happy 4th birthday my beautiful Princess...

For all those bloglines readers. I've changed my blog layout to 'Christmas-fy' it (Christmas-fy? I don't know.. I told you I was sick!). It's a bit 'in-ya-face-kinda-pink' but it's different. I'll change it soon. PROMISE!

I've got lots to tell so I'll be back shortly to share all about my birthday surprises. Yes, I said SURPRISES.. Stay tuned...

2 Posts in 2 days.. I'm on a roll!!

Here is Emily 'modelling' her new quilt. She loves it so much and insists on having it on her even if the weather is too hot. Oh well, at least I know that my efforts are appreciated.

I just thought I'd show what 12 months can do. The first photo was taken in Dec last year ('07) and the second one was taken in Nov this year ('08). I am surprised that the headband has survived at all! LOL!!!

I really should keep up to date...

I've got so much to catch up on. I really should get into blogging more regularly but I can't find the motivation or inspiration. So, here I am with LOTS of photos. Lots has been going on here. Sewing, landscaping, bargain hunting and lots more but this is all I have time to share at the moment...

The 'Lily' Dress(es). I love this pattern so much. I've made about 7 of them already and 4 of them reside in Emily's wardrobe! Below are 2 that I made for Emily. I liked the blue fabric but she liked the pink so I had to give them both to her LOL!

This one is a present I made for a daycare friend for her birthday. Unfortunately the presents weren't opened at the party so I've no idea what the reaction to it was. Emily did get a thank you card a week later thanking her for the dress and pencil roll set so that is something at least. I absolutely LOVE this fabric. I would like to make one for Emily but really, how many dresses does one girl need??

Here is a brand new sewing table that I found at KMart (not a 'Horn' cabinet but it'll do the job). It was on the 'throw out' table for $30! All that was wrong was the box was damaged on the corner. When we got it home and set up there was nothing wrong with it at all. So, sewing table in fantastic condition for $30! Mind you, I don't actually use it as a sewing table at the moment. I have a sewing area all set up in my family room. I have a large solid wood table (family heirloom, was my Grandmother's. I remember when I was little they, my Grandparents, would have their friends over and they would play bridge and other card games. I remember the sounds and the smell like it was yesterday.. but I digress...) and I have shelving and cupboards next to it so I don't use the new sewing table as a 'sewing table'. Maybe a craft/scrapbooking table?? Not too sure. At the moment it has my Nativety Scene set up on it!

Landscaping. It's very hard work! It's even harder when you are trying to deal with storms and flooding (which seems to be a regular thing up here on the Gold Coast these days). It started out with us digging up the rocks around the poolside. There were weeds and grass and roots growing out of the rocks and it was just getting far too hard trying to control them. We decided to just dig out all the rock, place some ag pipe down and then wash the rocks and put them back where we dug them out from. Sounds easy? Well, we started digging. Hmmm, this is a lot harder than we thought! The rocks were all matted down with weeds and roots. DH had to dig down so far and then lift them all out. That took a full day and we still weren't finished. Of course, that evening we got a massive storm. You can see in the photo below that the water pooled up like a moat around the pool (and also all under our patio up to the house!). So now we had a lovely muddy water feature beside the pool!
Anyway, we get the ag pipe down and we start to wash the mud/clay etc off the rocks. Well, that's not going to happen in a hurry! We admitted defeat and decided to go and get some new rock to replace it. With limited time (and money!) we found some new rock and organised delivery and got started right away (there was limited time where we could both be working out there as we could only do it when Emily was at daycare and that is only 2 days a week). I didn't want DH to be doing it all himself so we were trying to get as much done while she was at daycare. After a few hours I went to get Emily and came back to find DH asking me where I wanted the leftover rock. I thought he meant did I want him to put it in a bucket or something but no, for some reason we WAY overestimated and we had so much left over that we were able to finish off the WHOLE garden bed! I was so happy because the garden was so drab and boring.. Now it looks fresh and lovely.
There are a few plants that need to grow and get more established but I'm so happy with how it looks and I can see the potential. It's nice to be able to look out my back doors and be faced with a lovely garden instead of what we had before!
My favourite frangipani at the moment. There are 6(or is it 7?) different species in the garden at the moment. I can't wait until they get bigger!
Another Lily dress. This time in a Christmas fabric. I had originally made this for 'Breakfast with Santa' at the shopping centre and I was going to get some different fabric to make for her 'Santa photo' and her Christmas Day dress but after I had finished it I realised how much I liked it. I just used stuff that I had in my stash so I wasn't sure how it would all work out.
Don't you just love the poses?
My beautiful girl...
This is what you get when you grow up and throw your dummies in the bin (only had them for bed at night). A new glow teddy. I wasn't ready to get rid of them. One day I noticed a hole in one of them and I showed her and she said, "We'll have to throw them in the bin". I asked her if she would throw them in the bin and then have no more dummies. She was a bit hesitant but she threw them in the bin herself. I wanted her to see them gone so she knew there were no more dummies at all. I could see she was a bit torn about the whole situation so we took her out to the shops to choose a toy (or 2!) so she would have something to cuddle at night instead of her dummies. She chose an Iggle Piggle and an Upsy Daisy even though she is not really interested in 'In the night garden'. When she went to bed she asked for her dummies but we told her that they were gone now because there was a hole in it and the germs would get in and now she has lovely new toys to cuddle. She took about an hour and a half to settle (usually goes off to sleep within 10-15mins) but she didn't cry. She just talked to herself (and her toys). The next day we told her that because she slept a whole night without her dummies she would get a 'special' present. That is how 'Glowy' came to live with us. Now she doesn't even ask for the dummies and has gone back to settling reasonably quickly. It was easier than I thought it would be!
Mummy brag time. One day we asked Emily to write down the numbers 1-10. Well, she went further than that and wrote 1-12! All without assistance. I was blown away. She is not yet 4years old. She can recognise and write her own name. She can spell and write 'Mum' and 'Dad'. She can even understand and recognise words that we spell out when we're talking about things that we don't want her to hear (like 'iceblock') LOL! I'm so very proud of my little girl although it just makes me realise that she is growing up and is not a baby anymore...

Onto some more sewing news. I have wanted to make a quilt for ages but I've been to scared and I've always found it a little too daunting. But, I mustered up the courage and found a little bit of motivation and got started. I had no pattern as such I just grabbed a whole heap of fabric out of my stash and started chopping. I wanted to use up some of my fabric that I already had so I called it my stash buster quilt. I have to say that a quality rotary cutter and an extra large cutting mat makes this job much more enjoyable. I took the advise of some lovely girls in my sewing group and headed for Spotlight with my list. I ended up just getting some flannelette for the batting and some fabric on the clearance table. It ended up being a reasonably cheap quilt and just the right weight for the climate that we have here. I'm going to make a matching pillow case too. My first attempts at quilting were not too shabby. It helped that I have a walking foot and a nice sturdy machine too.

Here it is all finished (minus a label but I have to figure out that part!). the backing looks red but it is actually a nice watermelon colour. I didn't 'bind' it as such, I just brought the backing over to the front and stitched that to make a border.

So, there you go. Congratulations if you have managed to read through this entire novel. There is still heaps that I haven't blogged about but there is just so much going on between now and Christmas. Emily's 4th birthday is in a few weeks which means a party must be had. I admitted defeat on that one too and opted for a McDonalds party. Not something that I would usually do but there is just no time and we just don't have the space here for lots of kids running around. I'm sure she will have a great time anyway..

The kids finish school in 2 weeks so I'm going to attempt to get them into their rooms for a major pre-Christmas clean out. Hmmm... cleaning out 2 teenage boys bedrooms... What have I gotten myself into?? If I am not back out of there within a week, call for reinforcements LOL!!!

I love the Lily Dress!!!

I'm back! Did anyone miss me?
I've been MIA a bit lately. Not much happening around here. Well, there's been LOTS happening but not really much to blog about if you know what I mean.

I am happy to report that I have been doing some sewing. I saw this dress on Novy's blog and fell in love with it. It was so quick and easy to make.

Here it is without the sash.

And here it is with the sash.

I was a bit concerned about the colour combination on her because she has always been a pink girl (and she still is) but lately more and more green and purple have been finding their way into her wardrobe. I don't think it's a bad thing. I really like the colours on her.

I've got a whole heap of photos to upload later. I will come back with a photo-overload post.

It's a green bag...

Yeah, pretty pathetic title I know...

I was itching to use some green velvet ribbon that a friend had given me and this was the only fabric that would go with it. It's different that's for sure! It was a vintage pillow case that I had bought ages ago... I followed (roughly) the pattern from the Bend the Rules sewing book. I love the style of this bag. I'm sure I will make it again with a different fabric and adjust the pattern more to suit my needs.

Not much else to write about. I feel like I'm talking to myself in here most times anyway!

I can't think of something witty for a title!!!

First up is a photo of some of the gorgeous embroidered ribbon I got the other day. The ones that are wrapped up with a rubber band I got awhile ago at a car boot sale. Sorry about the quality of the pic. Just to the right of the ribbon was a little 3yr old girl who wanted to play with the ribbons so I had to act quick and take a photo before she swipped them all.

Here are a couple of photos of said 3yr old girl.
Looking adorable while playing dress-ups.

She wasn't too impressed about having her photo taken after awhile!

No other sewing happening here. Unless you count converting a long sleeved polar fleece jacket into a vest for DH to wear to golf as 'sewing'!

Gotta love a bargain.

On the weekend I stopped off at a garage sale. I managed to grab a whole bag full of fabric and lace, a bag full of clips and some GORGEOUS embroidered ribbon for $4!!!!!. I will get photos of the other bits and pieces soon but for now I will just share what I made yesterday.



I'll be back when I've got more photos...

Toolbelt and a WIP..

After watching Emily struggle to stick her 'tools' in her pants I decided to make her a toolbelt. Since my fabric is nicely sorted (you can see it here) it made it so much easier to choose some fabric for this project. It was made from stuff in my 'scrap pile'. I think the only thing I cut was some straps to tie at the back. Everything else was (thankfully) the right size. It took me about 20mins to whip this up and it's been a huge hit! If I were to make it again I'd make some alterations...

Here is a WIP. I am going to be attending my God-Daughters Confirmation soon and she asked me to be her Sponsor (Awwwwwwww!). Because I don't go out often (ever!) I had nothing to wear. I took an old dress out of my wardrobe and got a basic pattern from it (so far I have altered it so much it barely resembles the 'original' LOL!).. here is a sneaky peak..

That is all for now. I will hopefully be back soon with the finished product!

Oooh, 2 posts in 2 days!!!

Just thought I'd post photos of the pj's I made for Emily the other day. We are having crazy weather here in QLD. One day it's hot and the next we are all reaching for our jumpers. So I thought I'd make her some 'in between' weight jammies. I took an old tshirt and added some sleeves to the end of the tshirt sleeves and put some shirring elastic on the ends and then made some matching pants... and then, VOILA!! PJ's in half an hour!!!

I am really happy with these. I especially love the fabric. Emily loves them too and there is usually some sort of struggle to get them off her LOL.

I am thinking of using this idea to get more life out of some of her other old tshirts in her drawer. Most of them are still in perfect condition but it's getting a little chilly and she is running low on long sleeved shirts so this will be a great way to get more out of them (and save me money!)...

Please excuse the photos.. She is a cheeky one when it comes to having her photos taken..