Pretty Things

5 Years Old

2011-11-03T21:22:00.003+11:00

My little girl is now 5 years old! We've had a party, in fact we've had 3! We like to party and she has got lots of friends (Mothers Group, kinder, family)! Here is a pic of her 'castle cake'!

Courthouse Steps

2011-10-05T10:04:00.004+11:00

Emma has advised me that the quilting is a variation of log cabin called Court house Steps. All the fabric strips were 1 1/2 inch width and I would sew them either side of the block and cut their length as I went along. 1/4 inch seams.

I am actually a little stuck as to how to convert this to a cushion without losing my width on the very outer border. I have a feeling I should have cut 2 inch (or more) strips for that final border.

As promised, I am including a picture of the pendant I am making while following the annekata tutorial:

Log Cabin cushion

2011-10-03T22:05:00.003+11:00

I choose the following fabrics..

And starting making a cushion top for a cushion for my daughter (or me if she doesn't want it!!). This is only half way through.. I've done even more strips!

Apologies to my quilter friends - I don't think this is a log cabin design but I do not know what else to call it..

Inspiration and sewing

2011-10-03T21:21:00.005+11:00

My inspiration of late has included this piccie:

http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
I am seriously thinking about those gorgeous little rainbow cupcakes for DD's 5th birthday which is coming up very, very fast! Jesyka also has a fantastic idea for making the party bags which I'd love to try as well.

I have started to put together a cushion for DD. Its not log cabin but very similar.. the name eludes me right now. It was lots of fun to throw all the colours together and although it was slow going, I really enjoyed it. I will rummage for a photo..

I absolutely love this pendant that vlijtig has made and have followed annekata's tutorial to make one of my own.

Carry All Bag

2011-09-11T15:24:00.004+10:00

I love this style of bag - I just throw in my magazines, my Sudoku puzzle, snacks, a drink bottle and maybe some sticker books for the kids and I'm ready to take off and amuse myself (not often in mummy-land). I've just made one of these bags to give to a friend as she's going to have a lot of appointments to go to and hopefully this bag is as handy for her as its been for me. I made a special trip to the fabric shop to find some coordinating fabrics to make this bag. I wound up getting the Amy Butler Lotus fabric for the main panel and a spotty fabric for the inside lining. I would have gotten coordinating AB fabrics but the shop only seemed to have the one fabric in this range - boohoo.

One grey elephant balancing..

2011-08-17T13:58:00.008+10:00

"One grey elephant balancing, step by step on a piece of string.."

Following the SewHip elephant tutorial, I made 5 of the little brooches and got to try out a few different accent fabrics!

The following one is the one that went to my friend.

Something is happening here!

2011-08-05T14:55:00.007+10:00

I am trying to source my sewing mojo and get back into the sewing world. I'm planning a small felt brooch project to start with. Here is piccie of my work in progress - yes, something is happening here!!

I'm following instructions from the June 2011 issue of Sew Hip magazine.. so if you've got a copy of this mag you might be able to work out which project I'm doing. Otherwise I cannot say anymore as it is a present for a friend so you will have to wait until after they receive it!

Pretty dresses

2011-06-15T14:04:00.004+10:00

I joined a sewing class last term and had lots of laughs with a lovely bunch of ladies. There's nothing better then spending time with a group of like minded people. This is the dress that I made for Sarah. Its got pleating in the front and ric rac accents on the sleeves and across the dress.

Spotty Dreaming

2011-06-15T14:02:00.002+10:00

Its amazing how a very cute spotty cup can help lift your mood!

Mini Nappy Bag

2010-12-16T23:09:00.004+11:00

I wanted to get some doll accessories for my daughter but when I saw the little nappy bags in the shop, I knew I could do something just as good myself. So I sat down last night and cut out fabric and then put it all together tonight. I pinned the main fabric and lining together, inserted the arm straps and said to my husband - "I'm either finished this in 5 mins time or I've really stuffed it up" and TA DA - I pinned it right!!!

The defining moment - before the final sewing:

Christmas Pins

2010-12-09T16:46:00.005+11:00

I have had a lovely time putting these Christmas pins/brooches together. We are giving them to kinder teachers and child carers.

The finished product included attaching them to some cardstock to give them a little more form.

Fairy Garden Party

2010-11-02T22:05:00.006+11:00

We had a Fairy Garden Party theme for my daughter's 4th birthday. I made felt mushroom decorations to put in the garden but as it turned into a very rainy day, they wound up as table decorations instead. There was a rainbow colour theme, chocolate ladybugs scattered about and many paper butterflies in different colours and sizes. The cake was 2 fairies walking along a path and I coloured and created the chocolate dots for the path (easier then I thought!). I got a lot of inspiration from the Hostess with the Mostess blog and Bella Grace Party Designs - both fabulous blogs full to the brim with party theme ideas.

Decorations:

Table:

Birthday Cake:

Birthday Girl:

Pixie:

There must be lollies:

Any fairies need a new home?

2010-10-20T11:39:00.002+11:00

My Creative Space

2010-10-19T15:42:00.005+11:00

This little beauty is on my agenda at the moment. I had a failed attempt a while ago where the toadstool pattern just didn't work but Karen has passed on a much better tutorial which is working out really well. Too cute!

Making superheros

2010-06-22T18:48:00.005+10:00

There probably comes a time in every mothers life where they have to come up with a superhero costume. It wasn't my daughter but my nieces who asked for them - one wanted Wonder Woman and the other wanted to be Bat Girl. We found some foam bat masks in the shops so I just needed to make a cape for Bat Girl. For the wonder woman outfit I made a cape, 2 arm bands, a crown and a blue sparkly mini skirt. My daughter is modelling the WW outfit in the next picture and is a bit short for it all. I used the Curly Pops tutorial for the crown shape (Karen - thanks for heading me that way!) I got a lot of inspiration from the crafster website which provided an array of different WW costumes that people had made and I could pick and choose ideas from that. I fashioned the cape myself - I cut one large piece of fabric to use for the cape then cut a narrow strip (at least 4 inches wide) to make the collar and tie (its basically a thick piece of home made binding). I then inserted the gathered material into part of the collar and stitched the collar and ties in one go.

Check out the finished costumes below!

Massive thanks to a very wonderful lady at the fabric shop who gave us the end of the bolt for no extra charge which meant I had enough fabric to make an extra black cape for Boo! After all the excitement with the other girls, she wouldn't have wanted to miss out and I'm sure we can think of MANY different uses for a black cape!

A-line skirt set

2010-06-07T12:18:00.002+10:00

An A-line skirt:

I've actually had some fun with the tracing paper (AKA baking paper roll) and drafted this skirt based on skirts DD already has. I've made some amendments to my pattern and should be able to make another one much better next time. I'm surprised at how easy it was to work it out.

The skirt completes a set with the matching appliqued tee:

My new bag

2010-06-06T10:05:00.002+10:00

I put together this bag last night. I was finished by 9.45pm which was very exciting! Its a simple box shape on the bottom with a sash and handles. I was worried about doing the top stitching but my new sewing machine worked perfectly going through all the many layers of this bag without a hitch.

Progress shot of new bag

2010-06-01T14:06:00.003+10:00

The fabric has been chosen and cut out - denim and Wildwood and Michael Miller Dazzle Daisy as the lining (the greens/lime match perfectly).

It begins

2010-05-29T21:10:00.000+10:00

Last night I helped my Mum out with some quilting squares. It was one of those moments where she bought her project around with the hope of using my sewing machine and then said she was too tired and we wouldn't have time. I ignored this (teehee) and set up the sewing machine for her and put out the cutting mat.. and soon enough it was 10pm and she was completing the final square. Whoopie! I must say that it is *wonderful* to sit around with someone else while you're sewing or doing some other craft. I egged Mum on, helping with her cutting, ironed her fabrics for her, helped her make decisions like what width seams to use etc.

I felt sooooo motivated afterwards and set about doing some sewing today and I made some appliqued tees for DD. I had an old tshirt which was too stained to wear so I cut out the unmarked designs and attached them onto a new tshirt. The tshirt comes from a matching tee and skirt set, so now we still have a matching tee for the skirt! The second tee is a simple square of fabric and I have used blanket stitch as the border. I have used double sided interfacing for both tees.

I'm keen to make some dolls clothes for DD and to give as presents to friends with young kids. So I have started with this little nappy. I've used an offcut of fabric from the remnants bin at the fabric shop - probably sheeting fabric.

Task completed

2010-05-09T20:51:00.002+10:00

I signed up for a Pay It Forward a long time ago and finally got it together just before heading off on holidays. Parcels went out to Emma and Car and have been received.

Happy 1st Birthday!

2010-04-05T20:01:00.003+10:00

1 month old:

6 months old:

12 months old:

Our dear little boy is now 1 year old. The year has gone so quickly and he has learnt to do so much. Jem is now pulling up to standing on almost anything and getting quite interested in climbing all over us and gets upset that he can't get himself up onto the couch. Jem has always known what he wants, whether that be sleeping, eating phenomenal amounts of food, or something that he needs RIGHT NOW! This has been good as his messages have been somewhat easy to read. You've always been a very placid baby, very easy going and because of this, you probably get a bit more spoilt. Jem loves to hear me singing and thats often the easiest way to settle him to sleep when he's overtired. He loves to dance and he sways to the side whenever music is on and this is always accompanied by the biggest smile you could ever imagine :) He's always been interested in my rings and my jewellery, touching everything and trying to claim it as his. He adores his big sister and loves to see her first thing in the morning when she visits him and entertains him until there's more movement from Mum & Dad. The 2 will loll around in his bedroom - Jem in his cot and Sarah usually sitting on the couch making music on her toy laptop. Matt found Sarah actually in the cot with him one day last month (eep!). The 2 kids can play better together now - Sarah's favourite thing being to give Jem a big bear hug and then roll around on the floor with him. Jem seems to love it although his poor Mum is often shrieking away in the background.

I still remember when Jem was a newborn and we kept him in the bassinette in the hallway. The bassinette was on wheels and he would sleep in the lounge room overnight but we'd tuck him into the hallway to get him out of the main thoroughfare during the day. He's always been a really good sleeper and this did not phase him. His real bedroom was too far away for me to hear if he woke up, so it was nice that he was happy with this arrangement. It was sad when he grew way too quickly and couldn't fit in the bassinette any longer.

I can barely believe that you are now 1 year old. You have learnt to do so much in this amount of time and are really making yourself known in the family now. You love to have fun and we love to have fun with you. Can't wait to see your relationship with Sarah grow and see more of your personality shine through. Loving you very much, Mum & Dad.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

2010-03-02T15:16:00.001+11:00

A little felt and stitching project to get me back into the swing of things.

New digital sewing machine!

2010-03-02T15:14:00.003+11:00

Check it out! I got a new sewing machine for Christmas - my first digital sewing machine.. I was a bit hesitant but I finally had a chance to check it out last month and I love it! Its so smooth to run, very quiet, and the stitching looks sooooo good! Its the Janome they are selling at Costco if you are interested (and if they still have stock).

Santa Sack Addition

2009-12-19T23:34:00.001+11:00

A Christmas tree and a Christmas bauble:

Truffles

2009-12-12T21:55:00.002+11:00

My creative space..

I made variations to a Family Circle cookbook recipe:
Macadamia and cranberry Truffles
--------------------------------
60g macadamia nuts, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped cranberries (craisins)
2 teaspoons orange juice
2 tablespoons cream
90g white chocolate
30g white chocolate, grated (for rolling)

1. Heat cream in microwave bowl until boiling. Add chocolate and stir until melted. Add macadamias, cranberries and orange juice. Refrigerate until firm enough to handle (roughly an hour).
2. Roll teaspoons of the mixture into balls. Roll in grated chocolate. Refrigerate until set.

Dolly cake

2009-12-09T09:52:00.003+11:00

My niece is obsessed with Barbie (& my daughter coming a close second with that obsession) and so it was almost natural that she would ask for a Barbie doll cake.

We had a very full-on weekend with a wedding, Christmas party and then my niece's 4th birthday party.. so I was feeling a bit stressed about this cake (when aren't I??). I was about to pull out of doing the cake when I opted to "phone a friend" and she encouraged me to try doing the cake with ready-made icing. She made it sound really easy so off I went to the cake decorating shop, hired the Dolly Varden tin, bought some ready-made icing and colouring paste. My friend had warned me to use thick kitchen gloves to knead the colour in with - good advice!! The basic premise was to roll the icing out into a large circle, then drop it over the cake.. it made its own skirt ruffles.. I then used extra icing to make a bodice to cover up where the doll went into the cake. I warn you now that Barbie does NOT fit into the cake skirt, so I needed to break off Barbie's legs.. yes, queue crying.. They do not look like they go back on.. so we have had to convince the kids that she is a special "cake Barbie" and will be used on all future cakes and funnily enough, I have an order already from her older sister for next year! Hee!

This is actually the easiest cake I have ever made! The ready roll icing is so no-fuss. I love the idea of being able to mold this stuff into various shapes, just like play-doh, and having a LOT of fun with a bit of sculpture on future cakes - yippee!

3rd Birthday

2009-12-07T22:22:00.000+11:00

Cupcakes!

Little fingers!

Big smiles!

Heart joy

2009-10-19T22:02:00.000+11:00

New lined bags:

A heart using the Sew Pretty book - I adore this book and think I might make up every idea in it!

Boo loves her new heart ornament (on bed post behind her):

Fabric Flower Brainstorm

2009-10-01T11:29:00.004+10:00

This is my attempt at a fabric flower. I have been checking out heaps of tutorials and blogs of late and not quite found quite the right thing for me. This is closer to the type of thing that I want. I need to play around with different types of fabric and see how they fall/gather.

Fabric Flower Tutorials and Ideas:

Felt brooch flower (Cat Morley - catmorley.com/blog)
Felt Heart Pins (Gorgeous)
Button brooch (Artsy Crafty Babe)
Fabric Scraps button (BelleandBurger)
Lace Carnation Brooch
Ribbon Brooches
Ribbon Brooch 2
Ribbon Carnation Brooch
Glass Brooch
Flower Pin - wires
Double sided yoyo flower

Jersey Knit fabric flowers
Kanzashi Flowers
Melting Organza to make flowers
Using fake flowers and covered buttons
Rosette Tshirt
Paper Flower

Sew Pretty

2009-10-01T11:23:00.001+10:00

I bought the Sew Pretty Homestyle book recently. There are so many gorgeous little projects in this book. Cute bags, makeup bags and fabric roses..

Here is my attempt at a makeup bag. I haven't put in as much effort as the beautiful embroidered bags in the book.. maybe one day when I have more TIME.

Zippered Cases

2009-09-28T15:43:00.002+10:00

The most useful thing in the **universe** has to be zippered cases! I whipped one up for my daughter so that she could put her polly pocket pieces in one spot. I then used thicker denim, heavier weight fabrics (interface if needed) and chunky zips to make the ones pictured. This second lot were lined as well - the spotty lining material went well with all the fabric combinations - whoopie!

I am really enjoying doing some embroidery at the moment. Its really portable as well - something you pick up and put down which is what I need at the moment.

Embroidered House

2009-09-23T16:17:00.000+10:00

Today I have been working on a little embroidered house. Its lovely working on some itty bitty things. The tutorial is from Pimp Stitch - "Little House Ornaments".

Felt to choose..

Embroidery House..

Baby boys to tickle..
(5 1/2 months)

My Creative Space today

2009-09-23T16:16:00.001+10:00

* scissors
* cutting mat
* felt
* embroidery thread
* coffee
* glasses!!

Felt Hair Tie

2009-09-21T19:58:00.000+10:00

This weekend I've followed Vlitjig's Felt Hair Tie Tutorial

It took me a while to catch on to blanket stitch but now I love it. I loved making this, its awesome.

Work In Progress

2009-09-16T19:49:00.002+10:00

I have a pile of fabric waiting to be turned into fabric baskets. Can't get enough of making these, they are so cute.

I had a play with making an appliqued tshirt with the following results.

Inspiration

2009-09-14T15:38:00.002+10:00

I happened upon the most inspiring blog on the weekend at Vlijtig It has given me so many ideas on things that I can do myself and Vlijtig has created some fantastic tutorials and linked to many other great tutorials on the web. I have done Vlijtig's tutorial for fabric baskets and I am very impressed with the outcome. I think I have used the perfect heavyweight interfacing and it sits really well following these instructions.

Fabric Basket:

I have also made another drawstring bag - another children's present for carrying around those many little things that children do.

Drawstring Bag:

Fabric Flowers III

2009-09-09T21:24:00.004+10:00

I followed the frayed flower tutorial but folded my fabric in half to get a nicer edge.. so, not frayed at all.

I bought the Burda EASY 9885 pattern which was used in the Get Creative article to make the following fabulous dress:

The dress on the pattern has used a unflattering see-through fabric and buttons which really don't do it justice.. I'm so amazed by the Get Creative article and how if you select the right fabric and make slight alterations, you can turn a dowdy dress pattern into something amazing. I can't wait to have a go at this myself.

The cutest little fabric box

2009-09-09T21:21:00.002+10:00

Today's project was making a fabric box. I followed the tutorial from All Buttoned Up.

I put it to good use storing sewing notions as suggested by ABU:

Fabric Flowers Mark II

2009-09-06T21:49:00.001+10:00

Today I am making rounded flower petals from the fantastic Pink Paper Peppermints tutorial.

This is my flower. I'm un-decided on the final colourway - thoughts are welcome.

For many more flowery ideas, check out the whole 31 days of flowers thread

Fabric

2009-09-05T14:13:00.001+10:00

My fabric from Pink Chalk Fabrics arrived on Friday! I got the fabric during a great sale they were having - I wish I could have got more, its so gorgeous. I also got an Ottobre magazine - I love the thought of having all those patterns at my fingertips and its got some great photos of the outfits inside.

Fabric Flower

2009-08-30T22:04:00.003+10:00

Simple and very sweet Frayed Flower tutorial.

The flower lasted all afternoon before it was pulled apart by its wearer. We started hearing "ow.. ow.. ow.. ow.." from the backseat of the car.. I turned around to find that DD had pulled opened the safety pin and was learning about sharp points..

I brought a new blade for my rotary cutter.. I knew it needed changing but what a difference it is to have a fresh blade!! Its so much easier to cut fabric - it just glides on through and I only need to cut once! Bliss!

Repurposing metal tins

2009-08-30T22:02:00.002+10:00

Inspiration from here and here I used a baby formula tin and I'm hoping to make a few more of these.

Tissue Tuesday

2009-08-25T12:12:00.003+10:00

More Tissue Cases:

I'm going to make a pile of fabrics pre cut for these cases as I love to start off sewing something simple which gives me more confidence and then I can move onto more complicated sewing.. not that I'm up to too much of late.. I have plenty of ideas though.. ;)

I grabbed some lovely magazines on the weekend which I thought would help with some inspiration. It always helps to see what other people are doing and it always inspires me with fabric coordination.

There is a fabulous girl's dress in the Get Creative magazine which I am absolutely in love with:

Fabric selection

2009-08-24T21:54:00.008+10:00

I just completed the drawstring bag tutorial on the sewbunnybum website. The funnest thing in the universe, to me, is fabric selection - picking matching fabrics and selecting contrast colours as well.. its a challenge and there's so many different paths you can take - love it! What process do you go through? I used some pink Michael Miller (Dandy Damask?) and pink gingham with a light blue ric-rac splash of colour.

The bag is intended to keep a set of figurines in.

Sneezes and Mushrooms

2009-08-18T21:49:00.002+10:00

I had some sewing time today and I made a tissue case (Look in list for tissue project). A simple little project and a really good one to get me going again. It is good fun to pick the fabrics to coordinate together!

I also embellished a fabric shopping bag. My daughter started using this bag a few days ago and it had a boring supermarket logo on the side.. so I've made it more kid friendly and hidden the logo away.

Sewing in Miniature

2009-08-15T17:36:00.002+10:00

I love this.. sewing little things.. I actually drafted a paper pattern, ironed out a few bugs, and the first material dress worked out really well. The button holes even worked really easily too - whoopie. I made a very similar dress for DD 2 years ago and was working off my memory of that one.

Been baking..

2009-08-12T13:32:00.005+10:00

On 5th April 2009, we welcomed a very cute little boy into our family.

(2.5 weeks)

1 day old piccie:

Sisterly love:

(5.5 weeks)

Beautiful quilt made by this talented lady. Sorry Emma but in those early days I could only get crying (screaming) shots because all he ever wanted to do was feed and laying alone on a quilt is not feeding!
(5.5 weeks)

August Birthdays

2009-08-12T13:20:00.003+10:00

Every year I make a cake for my niece, Claire. This year she wanted a number '7' and the only cake she was mildly interested in the WW cake book was the photo one with the lollies all over it. So, this was my best effort at putting lollies all over the cake without going too overboard with it. I used mini m&ms for the outline border and a sliced licorice strap for the name.

I also made a bunch of cupcakes for her to share with her friends. I have used Smarties and mini m&ms and assorted soft lollies. I highly recommend the Black&Gold lolly selection at IGA for cake decorating - they are small bags and lots of variety to choose from.

Trivia: Niece of 7 went for the face cupcake first and niece of 4 went for the mini m&m flower cakes. Cute!

There's a bear in there

2009-08-12T13:06:00.005+10:00

Hello bloggy peeps! I have been inactive for a little while and we have a new little one in our family now. I will post pictures of the new bubs in another post.

For now, I really, really wanted to sew **something**, so I got some material out this morning and just kept pushing myself to go-go-go, no time for contemplation, just do! It means there was dodgy sewing, no pins and no measuring anything out. I used some patchwork squares that I had left over from another project, I tried to incorporate some ric-rac edging (not so good) and its just got some simple flannel backing. So, voila! A little teddy bear quilt for my dear daughter. I need to make a few more and hopefully she will stop nicking all the face washers in the house!

With a bear in there:

Cutie

2009-03-25T12:28:00.002+11:00

Cute advertisement for those FP Little Mommy dolls?

Matching outfits! Who does that?! ;) Purely coincidence..

Quack, Quack

2008-12-13T21:17:00.001+11:00

Here is the duck appliqued:

And here is the finished dolls quilt:

OK, wow, a project completed within a matter of weeks - awesome! I recycled some flannelette sheeting for the backing which came from MIL.. it was nice to use something with a bit of history.

Slowly does it.

2008-11-29T22:10:00.000+11:00

Wow, I have had a very busy sewing day today. My main project was to make a library bag - I used a beautiful lightweight denim that I bought at the fabric store today. It really is a gorgeous fabric to work with - really smooth and soft. I made a basic little applique for the front and I may just gift it to one of the boy's in my mothers group - I have been wanting to make something for the kids and this would be my first chance.

Then I finished off the stitching on some appliqued tshirts that I made a little while ago. It was slow and steady all the way as I find applique stitching really difficult. Isn't all stitching difficult? ;)

I will give a sneak peak of my final project for today and shall update again soon.

Yum.. been cooking..

2008-11-29T22:08:00.001+11:00

Last week I finally had some energy back and I did some cooking. I made a baked cheesecake from the latest Good Food magazine which turned out absolutely divine. I love baked cheesecake! I also made a lovely chicken korma curry from the Jamie Oliver Ministry of Food book (sorry, no pic) over the same weekend. I am not a brilliant cook, so this was quite an achievement for me. It ended up totally delicious and I would highly recommend this book to any starter cooks.

Three Wishes

2008-11-08T20:57:00.002+11:00

Surprise! Yes, I'm still here and I apologise profusely to anyone who's been after an update from me. We've been through a few ups and downs which have kept us very busy. I am bursting to share this - we are pregnant with our second child - very excited about this, I can tell you! I am currently 16 weeks, and I just started to get my energy back the week of Boo's birthday which was a godsend as there was so much to do!

We wound up having four cakes for Boo's birthday -- she is seriously partied out!! :) She needed a cake for Day Care, a cake for Mothers Group, a cake with the family on her birthday and a cake for the party we had on the Saturday. Boo had taken an attachment to birthday cakes and candles at her niece's birthday in August and had started to learn the birthday song and practice blowing out the candle at the end. She did a brilliant job blowing out the candles on her cake(s)!

The most I have done in regards to sewing over the last few months is to have sewn a new zipper into one of our couch cushions. We did receive a lovely PASS IT ON parcel from Karen The package revealed a beautiful tunic top for Sarah to wear, along with an appliqued tshirt, a tissue holder and a set of fabric coasters. The colour combinations are fantastic, the stitching is perfect and the detail is absolutely amazing. The little whale buttons are just the cutest thing (see detail below). So a very big thankyou to Karen for such a wonderful treat! Boo insisted that she get to wear the top straight away, so over all her clothes it went!

Birthday Cake

2008-08-08T21:19:00.000+10:00

I made this cake for my niece's 6th birthday.

And for the fun of it, here is my cutie:

A new cushion

2008-08-03T15:33:00.001+10:00

From this:

To this:

I've wanted to make up a special cushion for ages. The patterned panel is a canvas material from Ikea, then there is a black corduruoy and a beige woolen flannel. This was all done in an afternoon! How wonderful to finally have a product with a start and end date :)

Do-ing

2008-07-27T16:00:00.002+10:00

OK, I was going to go to the Craft Fair . Its a FABULOUS fair - my favourite in Melbourne. But at the last minute I decided I would be better of to spend the time working on some crafting/sewing using LAST year's fabric purchases rather then buy a whole heap of new fabric to sit and waste away in my cupboards. So the theme here is to get something done!

We have a few birthdays coming up and I've had the idea of making up some tshirts for the Mothers Group kids. To my great horror, I canNOT find my craft book within which I have stored all my GOOD IDEAS! No tears were shed, I just tried to think up some NEW ideas. I've wound up going very basic for these applique designs - just using pictures already within the fabric and a simple heart shape. In this photo they are not yet appliqued.. I will get to the sewing in the evening.

And just for a bit of fun, here is a piccie of the dissarray that is my dining table right now while doing all this creativity. To make these 3 simple tshirts, I had to go through this:

Pay It Forward Winners

2008-07-22T22:33:00.002+10:00

Emma and Car, you are both winners in the Pay It Forward that I am participating in! So my promise to you is that I will create something hand-made which you will receive within 12 months of this date! Please contact me with your address details when you get a chance.

Beach

2008-07-22T22:27:00.002+10:00

Boo and I recently took off to Qld for some much needed sunshine! These photos are in Hervey Bay where we also got to see some whales! Seeing the whales was such an amazing experience.

Sewing Update

2008-06-28T12:58:00.001+10:00

I've been so sleep deprived of late that my last few baking posts have been the most creative pursuit that I've been able to concentrate on. Boo has been sick with a cough, then an ear infection and has been up in the night for about the last 4/5 weeks. She is all good this week and I've finally gotten some sleep which has been an absolute godsend.

The few times that I've attempted some sewing, I've seriously mucked up what I've been working on. One thing has been a cute little pinafore dress for the doll's I'm making. The dress required some buttonholes and I had to do 3 takes before I managed to get it right. Thank goodness that the clothing pieces are so small! Now I have to try and find some nice buttons that will coordinate with the other clothing before I can take a photo. The other item is the baby quilt that I've been making. I have *tried* but my quilting is so incredibly dodgy, I really think I have mucked the whole thing up. I am pretty sad about that. I don't know if it is *me* that is the problem or if there is something wrong with my machine. I have a feeling the material should just glide past the needle but my experiences have been horribly clunky... I suspect it is more my level of patience though!

The most exciting thing thats happened to me in a long while was when I was visiting a fabric shop a few weeks ago and encountered a filming session of the Australian "Project Runway". They allowed me to enter the store while they were filming. It was pretty exciting stuff to see the crews of people around each of the "stars". I was pretty strapped for time and really just wanted to get some interfacing and get out of there though! If I wind up in shot in the background, I hope I don't look too ungrateful! The store I was at was Rathdowne Remnants on Victoria St in Brunswick(?). Its about a block from AJ Fabrics on Lygon St. They have an array of fabrics - I particularly like the denim, corduruoy and suiting fabrics. They also have a small selection of quilting fabrics (very small - don't go just to see quilting fabrics!). The staff there are fantastic and the prices are really good. They stock a good selection of haberdashery which is heaps cheaper then SL.

Muesli Slice

2008-06-27T21:38:00.002+10:00

This is a very yummy muesli slice that I have made twice in a manner of weeks. It is that good!

I've taken the Recipe from the Women's Weekly Babies and Toddlers cookbook and made some modifications.

Muesli Slice
125g butter
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup dessicated coconut
1/2 cup sultanas
1/2 cup dried cranberries (craisins)
(original recipe asks for 1/2 cup each of chopped dried apricots, dried apples, sultanas)
1/2 cup self raining flour

1. Combine butter, sugar and honey in a large saucepan; stire over medium heat, without boiling, until sugar dissolves. (I microwave butter and sugar). Remove from heat; stir in remaining ingredients.

2. Press mixture into greased and lined 20x30cm pan. Bake, uncovered, in moderate oven (170C fan forced) about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan; cut into squares to serve.

Fun in the kitchen

2008-05-31T20:09:00.000+10:00

Lemon Meringue Pie:

Inside:

Recipe taken from a lovely baking book I bought in the US when we travelled through 4 years ago. I have also made the easy brownies from this book which turned out fantastic. I have quite a few pages ear marked for future cooking endeavours!

Hot Pink

2008-05-13T22:24:00.001+10:00

Happy Mothers Day to all the Mums out there. Aren't hand made presents WONDERFUL??! Boo's childcare made up a little plaque with her handprints and a photo of her on it and I absolutely adore it. I will treasure that one forever.

Here are some beautiful flowers that I received:

I have been back working on the baby quilt. I think I am doing something wrong with the quilting part.. the lines aren't straight, the stitches just don't look nice and there is so much puckering.. sounds ominous doesn't it? Hope I'm not scaring too many quilting people..

About Time!

2008-05-12T20:55:00.003+10:00

Okee.. I have been a bit slow in popping this on my blog b/c I was waiting until my blog hit the stratosphere and had won a few awards.. Ah-huh.. not likely! So... after winning Karen's Pay it Forward a while back, I am finally putting my own Pay It Forward up. The PIF goes as follows:

"I will send a handmade gift to 3 random people who leave a comment on this blog post. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog."

Hand Quilting Lesson

2008-05-03T14:04:00.004+10:00

Just recently, I attended a lesson on hand quilting. There were six of us and we sat around working on our stitching and had a lovely little chat about many things. It was so nice and casual and relaxed, as any get together should be. Here is a picture of my piece of hand quilting including the basting stitches that are weaved through the piece in purple. I didn't get very far and have not sat down with it since. I'm amazed at what an art form hand-quilting is. You have to move the tiniest little needle in a special rocking motion in order to get through the batting and to create the smallest stitches possible. You have to get used to using a thimble or you will wreck your fingers. All, in all, a lovely day out!

Special fabrics

2008-05-03T13:55:00.001+10:00

I have received some thrifted sheets which I think are absolutely adorable.

I also received the following three aprons. I will keep the second one in the stack as an apron - its a gorgeous shape/design. I'd really like to make something with the fabric from the first. I am thinking of making a case with it or maybe keep it simple and just edge it as a tea towel. There is not very much usable fabric so it will be a challenge.

Beautiful Knots

2008-05-03T13:43:00.003+10:00

I have been so inspired by the wonderful knitting on blogs like retromummy and Kylie's, that I have bought some wool and knitting needles! I went to the Bendigo woollen mills as recommended by retromummy. This is my sampler. My mother in law helped me get the hang of it. She is a fabulous teacher and taught me how to read a pattern so that I can get started on a project. I am going to start off knitting a hat which will hopefully be sized right to fit Sarah. She desperately needs a hat for winter. I have been looking in the shops and have not seen many winter hats which is disappointing but which is good as its motivating me to have a go at making one of my own.

Doll's Basket Tutorial

2008-04-18T23:22:00.004+10:00

This doll's basket is very easy to make. I've used the pattern from an old Family Circle sewing book ("Family Circle Treasury of Dolls & Cuddly Toys"). The instructions weren't very clear and caused me to make a jumbled mess before I realised where I was going wrong. I've now re-written the instructions and taken lots of photos while making the basket and I hope someone might find it useful. If you do use it, please drop me a line and show me your basket!

Materials:
I used denim and the book recommends garbardine.

Cut 1, 136 X 30cm piece of material for basket sides & matching interfacing
Cut 1, 136 X 4.5cm piece of material for reinforcing strip
Cut 2, 30 X 10cm handles
Cut 2, 52 X 27cm rectangles of material to form the base of the basket. The material base will have a 1cm seam allowance bigger then the masonite/cardboard base. The corners need to be curved.
Cut 1, 50 X 25 rectangle of heavy cardboard or masonite to use as the base of the basket. You will need to round the edges.

Step 1 - Cut out the basket pieces. Use heavy-weight interfacing on the basket panel as you will want the basket sides to be strong enough to stand up on their own.

Step 2 - Fold the handles in half and then fold each edge into the middle to create a casing. Iron these edges. Sew along the length of each handle a number of times to reinforce them.

Step 3 - Fold the basket side in half and iron it to mark a line that we will work off for the rest of the tutorial. Unfold the basket side panel and lay it flat on your work area. Allow for a 1 cm seam line at each end of your length of fabric, then mark half and quarter markings along the length of the fabric.

Step 4 - Sew the handles 6 cm on either side of the quarter markings and 1 cm below the fold line. Reinforce the handle stitches as you see fit.

Step 5 - Take the reinforcing strip and fold it in 1 cm on either side. Lay the strip right sides facing onto the basket side and match the upper reinforcing fold line with the basket side fold line. Sew this edge to the basket so that it will then fold down and meet up with the basket side fold line (and hence the top of the basket edge when everything is folded down later on).

Step 6 - Turn the reinforcing strip down and then sew the bottom edge of the reinforcing strip to the main basket.

The unit should look as follows:

Step 7 - Pin the edges of the basket panel together to form a large circle. With right sides together, sew 1cm from the seam.

Step 8 - You will work with everything inside out for the next few steps. Open the basket panel and place upright on the table to create a circular shape. Take one of the basket bases and pin it to the bottom part of the basket panel (the handles will point to the top of the basket, so the other end is the bottom). I marked quarter marks around the basket sides and around the basket base to help me distribute the base evenly. Sew all the way around - right sides are facing. Use a 1cm seam allowance. This part will become the basket's "outer" wall and base.

Step 9 - Turn the unit over and pin the other basket base to the top part of the basket wall. Only sew half way around this end. This part will become the basket's "inner" wall.

Step 10 - Turn the basket inside out by pulling the fabric through the hole you have left while sewing the base. Do you remember how we put a fold in the basket walls at the very beginning? Now you can use this fold to create the sides of the basket. You now have an outer and inner part to the basket.

Step 11 - Insert your piece of cardboard or masonite into the base of the basket. Hand stitch the opening in the inside of the basket closed.

Step 12 - Well done! You have finished your doll's basket!

Busy Bee

2008-04-18T14:10:00.000+10:00

OK, a bit of a catch up. There has been a birthday party - see pic. We managed to fit 9 people around our dining table which is the largest number of people we've ever had around it!

We have been busy doing some painting. Our lounge and dining were a glorious shade of orange when we moved into the house and its taken us near on 2 years to get that colour painted out. Admittedly we've been pretty busy fumbling our way through Boo's first year! So this is our new lounge room. To go from a dark colour to a very light colour really did make the room feel twice as big afterwards. I've always thought it very cute when bloggers snap their work and find "little helpers" in the shot afterwards. Boo, right on cue, grabbed a toy I'd cleared away and zoomed into shot.

Here is a teaser for a project I am working on. I've used some very heavy-weight interfacing for this project and I am wondering if I need to go and buy some stronger sewing needles before I start sewing.

I have another teaser for something special that I am doing tomorrow.

Muscling in on the action

2008-03-27T19:57:00.006+11:00

Here is part 2 of the dolls project. I finally got his face sewn on today and my niece helped me stuff him.

I hereby present the dynamic duo:

My first bag

2008-03-26T22:31:00.002+11:00

I am DIZZY with excitement at having made my first bag! Whoop-de-dee!!!

The most exciting thing is opening it up to see the lovely pockets that are included in the inside of the bag! I made them!! To *my* specifications!! Admittedly I'm not too specific as I just cut some rectangles and bunged them on! ;)

And here is the inside of the bag with my mobile phone in the "phone slot" and a space for my glasses and keys. Am I the only one incredibly excited at the thought that I can just make up my own pockets to go ANYWHERE I WANT rather then being confined to some other bag makers idea of where I should put my stuff? OK.. shall calm down now. :D

I followed a mix of instructions to make this bag. I intially had the Amy Butler Messenger bag pattern but I decided I did not like that the bag closure was narrower then the actual bag. I found these instructions at craftster which was more of the type of bag I wanted, so I loosely followed those instructions and referenced the AB pattern for when the craftster instructions weren't quite clear (bag straps and inserting the lining - I had already sewn the lining together so AB's turning out instructions worked better).

I have used a stretched denim and a nasty print from SL. The print is definitely a polyester blend and it was horrible to work with for this type of project. The material seemed to stretch when I ironed it which meant that when I put iron-on interfacing onto it, it then warped when it cooled! There wasn't much I could do about it. I soldiered on but would definitely only use cottons in the future.

Bib for Bubs

2008-03-09T22:17:00.000+11:00

The characters in this material are so cute! I bought the material ages ago to use for a quilt. I don't think I would ever use it nowadays though - its a little too bright for me, but it looks fantastic as a bib for bubs.

Potholder

2008-03-08T22:07:00.002+11:00

I don't think you call these things potholders, but can't think of what they are called. I put batting in the middle, made a quilt sandwich, put bias binding around the edge. Fun :)

Fun in the garden

2008-03-07T19:55:00.001+11:00

I was so chuffed with the tee that I gave it to Miss Boo to wear straight away.

Applique Elephant

2008-03-07T14:20:00.004+11:00

I have finally had a go at putting an applique onto a tshirt. Thanks to Karen for all the advice she passed on to me. I have used vlisofix to attach the applique to the tshirt, then attached some vlisene to the back of the applique area to help with sewing the applique on. I have used various quilting books on advice of how to machine sew appliques in place. My Mum gave me the book that had this design in it - a US book from when she was in a quilting group there. I am very happy with the results and love the thought of being able to make one-off originals for my daughter! Plus, she needs some new tees!

Wishing

2008-03-02T23:06:00.001+11:00

Who said that every wish would be heard and answered
when wished on the morning star?
Somebody thought of that
and someone believed it,
and look what it's done so far.
What's so amazing that keeps us stargazing?
And what do we think we might see?
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection,
the lovers, the dreamers and me.

I was looking up some song words for my daughter as my memory is a bit lacking from all my childhood songs and I found the Kermit song and the snippet above.. how gorgeous are those words? If you want a link for the melody - try Rainbow Connection

Love Musk

2008-03-01T12:54:00.001+11:00

Two things in one day?

2008-02-23T14:41:00.006+11:00

Well, I have made another pouch. This time I did the stitching differently.

The closed pouch:

The inside of the pouch:

Spot the error? Its actually too small to fit the wipes AND the nappy in at the same time - its not quite wide enough to fold. I actually had plenty of material to make it properly but forgot to include the seam allowances, folded the side flaps over too far and thoroughly stuffed it up. Not to worry, its all a learning process and I had lots of fun trying to work this out - turning it inside and out and I used double sided interfacing, ironing the second side as I felt appropriate and using it to help me position the panel. It was all good fun! So now all I've got to do is work out what to use this pouch for! I have made progress photos and will try to write it up as a tutorial.

Thoughts for next time:
* include a fastener of some kind - either velcro or a snap tab

Not sure what is wrong with me but I am obsessed with making stuff today - I have so many sewing ideas and I have some cooking to do and I obviously do not have time for this! I will probably be curled up in a ball, chanting, by the end of the day and be surrounded by dodgy cutting, scraps galore and burnt food.

Nappy Pouch

2008-02-23T11:47:00.003+11:00

I have been wanting to make one of these for a while. I took some ideas out of a quilting book that I had and mucked around until I came up with this:

Its very simple, looks fantastic (love this Michael Miller fabric), and does the job I wanted - just a simple little pouch to take when we are visiting friends/ go to a cafe etc.

Here is the result of some baking we did during the week. Boo kept coming up and hanging around my legs waiting for another pikelet. I gave her two and asked her to give one to Daddy. She didn't understand, and went to eat both! I rescued it and I took the other to Daddy. The second time I asked her, she understood and would take Daddy's pikelet to him with her arm outstretched saying "Daddy, Daddy!" Sooo cute.

Luscious Books!

2008-02-04T20:17:00.000+11:00

I mentioned back in January that I was ordering some post-Christmas craft books. We got them through Amazon and they arrived about a week ago (slow-mail to keep it cheap!). It was so exciting opening this box of books - so much crafting to pore over! There were also some cool children's books that I'd ordered. Our fave book is Millie Moo which I've purchased a few copies of to give to friends as gifts.

Marvellous Blue

2008-01-29T22:36:00.001+11:00

I pinned the squares onto a pinboard and then started sewing the rows together:

I've been sewing the border on these last two nights. The quilt top is now complete:

So now onto choosing the colour to use as binding and buying some batting/wadding (sp?) and backing material to make up the quilt.

A quilting we will go..

2008-01-26T15:50:00.000+11:00

Cutting:

The pieces piling up:

The general layout:

A slightly alternative layout: (keeps the clouds upright)

This photo includes some space fabric which I have had FOREVER and I am keen as mustard to make a quilt with them but they are pre-cut squares (roughly 6 1/4 inch) and I have not been able to work out a design and coordinating fabrics to make it work. So I was just wondering if maybe it would work with this pattern. I love that I can take a photo to get an idea of how it would look.

Jumbles

2008-01-21T18:15:00.000+11:00

We gave our daughter a baby doll for Christmas and she has really taken to playing with her. Over the weekend, I gave DD a blanket to put on her doll and she spent MANY consecutive minutes placing the blanket on her doll, then taking it off, then putting it on the doll etc etc. I spied a little fabric baby doll basket in a sewing book of mine a few months ago and it seems that the time has come for this seed of an idea to grow. It would be perfect for DD so that she can put her baby doll to bed and she'll LOVE the addition of a mattress and pillow - more things to place and arrange! So yesterday I measured and cut (& then measured & cut again on a different fabric b/c I cut the original wrong!), then I studied the pattern, wrote new instructions, tried desperately to visualise what they were trying to instruct… then I finally set about sewing and manipulating my pieces of fabric. I sewed and sewed and SEWED… Unfortunately I have nothing but a jumble of fabric to show for it. :/ Why? B/c I sewed one little bit wrong which then created a problem - which despite my best efforts to work around - kept snowballing into a mammoth un-doable project :( There is just no way that I can attach the final piece without incredible, ridiculous efforts and it will still look wrong. I cannot un-pick because of the fabric I've used, the length of my stitch and the pure length of sewing that I've done.

Now that I understand what I've done wrong, I can see how easy this basket is to make. Alas, I do not have any fabric strips long enough to start again, so a trip to the shops is in order and that’s not very easy for me to organise. BubbleCats!!!!

My shmerpi

2008-01-18T21:15:00.000+11:00

Last year I was looking at the One Red Robin blog where ORR had announced she was going on a "break" and had limited stock at her Etsy shop. I followed the link to see the cutest little purple shmerpi called Sugar. I told my husband about this very cute doll and that I'd like to get it but then I ummed and arred, decided I'd spent enough recently and left it. However, I did keep track of the dear doll and updated my husband that it was "still there" and then another time "drat, its sold!, someone had bought it!". My husband did joke at the time that maybe he bought it for me but I didn't believe him and figured some other crafter had purchased it. Well... guess what turned up under the Christmas tree with *my* name on it!! Yes, my husband had bought it for me - how incredibly sweet of him! It is so amazing when someone does something so unexpected for you. My shmerpi is just the cutest thing ever. So much ingenuitive detail has gone into the craftmanship of this doll. I just love it!

Here is my cutie: (yes, my shmerpi, not my husband!)

Hummingbird Cupcakes

2008-01-18T21:04:00.000+11:00

I made a batch of Hummingbird cupcakes last weekend. Here they are with their tropical coconut decoration. Hummingbird cakes have pineapple, coconut and banana in them -- fancy schmantz huh? No idea who came up with that combination but they taste divine.

Cherry Dress

2008-01-07T19:48:00.000+11:00

I think that hand basteing the zip is the easiest way to set it up:

Sewing in the zip:

The finished dress:

I absolutely love this dress - love the ruffles, love the material, love the yoke and all the gathers. Everything is turned in under the yoke at the end to make it all look very neat inside. The only downside is that it is very short and I will need to make some matching pants to go with it. I have got another pair of pants that I really like and would like to emulate them which is guaranteed to be an interesting exercise!

Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go and order all the craft books I didn't get for Christmas! The interest rate to the US is fantastic and there are some great deals on Amazon!

A sewing day!

2008-01-02T21:36:00.000+11:00

Today I have had a very special sewing day. I was hoping to work on a few things but spent all my time on one dress. This dress has frilly sleeves, a gathered bodice, little pockets on the front, an internal bodice (?) and a zipper. So its been a lot of little features to work on all at once. I even made my own binding to go around the armhole. I spent 5-6 hours on it today which included tracing the pattern and cutting the material. I still have one sleeve, the internal bodice, the zipper and the hem to go.. so I'm still a little ways off! Am I too slow? Should I give up sewing?? I don't want to be taking three times as long as everyone else..

Fairy Wings

2007-12-31T20:06:00.000+11:00

Every girl has to spend their first day as a fairy at some point in their lives and today was the day for our little Boo. Hee!

PVC Mayhem

2007-12-23T22:20:00.000+11:00

I am so excited about this little project. I got the inspiration from dearfii's website. (Unfortunately I cannot remember how I linked there to begin with) I've had the Pooh print for a little while and I thought it would make a good pencil case. I've used interfacing on the Pooh fabric, then lined the inside of the pencil case. I love the added dimension of using PVC because the final product looks so incredibly professional. This item is something that I would easily buy in a shop. I am very happy with it :)

Kisses to my darling for going to bed early again tonight so that I could get some sewing time.

Santa Sack

2007-12-22T21:54:00.000+11:00

Oooh Oooh.. I can do that! I was at a friend's place today who had a Santa bag monogrammed with her son's name. I thought it looked great and felt I could have a go at that myself. I sat down tonight at the drawing board and worked out what I would do. I haven't done much applique before so I kept it very simple. I was surprised at how easy it was to sew around the shapes. I am definitely getting better at it! So here is Boo's first Santa sack:

Christmas Dress

2007-12-20T15:51:00.000+11:00

I whipped up a Christmas dress for Sarah last Friday for her childcare Christmas party. Whipped??? LOL.. It had been sitting around cut for a while and I finally sewed it together in the morning on the day. Working under pressure is clearly a good thing for me. I've used the same pattern as another dress I've made for Boo - I've realised what a simple and easy pattern this is and everything else I've looked at has got 20-odd steps to do while this one has approximately 4! Can't beat that.

And because I love Christmas and toys and love the collection of toys I've amassed as Christmas presents, I present, my Christmas Cupboard!

Dress Teaser

2007-11-30T16:25:00.000+11:00

Ahhh, bliss...

2007-11-27T16:27:00.000+11:00

Bliss is carrying a sleeping youngster from her pram to her bed and watching her sleepily snuggle up with her teddy bear.. This is a *moment* I have been waiting a long time for! Its so different knowing she is exhausted and not going to wake up, so different to when she was a baby and asleep in my arms but where the slightest jolt could un-do it all. Exhausted toddler is GOOD! :)

Stash it away

2007-11-17T17:05:00.000+11:00

I went fabric shopping today! :)

Fat quarters:

A bag of zips:

Pretty purple drill fabric:

I also bought some denim and some terry towelling as I want to make some pencil cases and some baby bibs sometime in the near future.

Happy Cards

2007-11-16T23:13:00.001+11:00

Tonight I have been making cards for a birthday celebration we are going to tomorrow.

Pretty Notebook Cover

2007-11-14T22:17:00.000+11:00

I have made up a reversible notebook cover by following a free pattern from the Kirin Notebook website

It was very easy to make so a pretty simple project (still took me all evening though!). The final product is really cute! What a nice way to fancy up a notebook :)

Notebook cover:

Inside pocket:

Side view:

Reversible side:

More cakes

2007-11-11T22:26:00.000+11:00

Of course, it wasn't just one birthday party that little miss had - there were THREE all up! I made up a batch of cupcakes which I divided between a dinner with our immediate family and one for a celebration with friends.

Birthday Party!

2007-11-07T16:46:00.000+11:00

It has been a little quiet here on this blog partly to do with returning to work and because we've all been very sick lately (I blame childcare bugs!!). My little girl has now turned one and we threw a big party to celebrate. It was a great excuse to catch up with all our friends and family, some of whom we haven't seen as much this year! It was a wonderful day and well worth all the effort we went to in organising things. I "decorated" the cake myself and wouldn't have it any other way despite my husband urging me to just buy one to save us the stress.. Time was getting short but I soldiered on, I cut corners (pre-bought sponge) and I re-used a design that I'd made earlier in the year for Sarah's cousin (see earlier in blog) but I got there in the end and her cake was made by ME!! Yay!!! I think making party cakes is a super special bonus of being a Mum!! :)

Boo wore her special dress on her party day. It was the perfect dress for the day and it suited the weather really well.

Lots of love to my little girl who is now ONE!!

The party girl:

The cake:

The aftermath:

Great Granny

2007-10-17T15:19:00.000+10:00

This entry is a tribute to Sarah's Great Granny who passed away recently. She made it to the grand old age of 93 and she had a truly wonderful life surrounded by people who loved her and she made the best of every opportunity. We will miss her terribly. The funeral was a lovely tribute to Granny and I only wish we'd known earlier about a few of the wonderful things that she did with her life. If you've still got grandparents, next time you see them, ask them about what they did at this same stage in life - were they working, were they raising the kids etc etc. I'm sure they'd love to tell stories, they just need their memories jogged!

Vanilla cupcakes

2007-10-02T21:32:00.000+10:00

This is my first batch of vanilla cupcakes. The recipe says 24 and I've made 30 with my patty pans! I wound up using our biggest cooking pot to do the final mixing in - these are real catering quantities! I was only doing a test run and I didn't need 24 and I am not sure what I'm going to do with 6 extra! Terrible of me to complain really :) I'm hoping to freeze half of them if I can fit them into the freezer and we'll eat them next week :)

These are the 6 left to go: