..another dress

seems i'm a bit of a roll with the little dresses so i'm just going to go with it for a while. kinda want to make one for myself but that's a whoooooole lotta fabric and i'm stingy :) i'm really happy with this latest one. i bought the fabric at least a year ago, intending to make myself a skirt and it's been sitting very patiently in the cupboard until now. occasionally i'll pick it up, only to put it down again and go with something else. i'm glad i finally used it because it didn't look very exciting against all the other fabric but it was perfect for this little dress and now i wish i had bought more. it's 100% japanese cotton and very light and summery. matching knickers are definitely in the works.





it's lucky it fitted her since i did it all without trying it on her once. normally i would put it on her before determining the strap length and position however i didn't want to disturb her beauty sleep.

cherries cherries cherries!

some dresses i've made this month for gracie.





i adore this cherry print. the cherries are so round and perfect looking. just like my gracie. hope you had a wonderful christmas. i did and ate way too much!

she will be wrapped up and placed under the christmas tree for gracie

i'm sewing something

well i thought i was going to be showing you something really cute and cuddly tonight but here's a pile of cut out pieces of fabric instead. i'm too tired to finish it tonight. it took me ages to choose the fabric. i ended up going through every bit of fabric i had. i have a habit of doing a whole bunch of sewing right at the last minute before christmas. starting this project a week before is actually pretty good for me. i'm often still sitting at the sewing machine late christmas eve, am i mental? most certainly. i hope to bring you a much nicer photo tomorrow of the end result. nighty night!

so it's been a bit crazy around here lately with appointments, end of year concert, christmas baking, christmas present making, lots of sales in the shop... crazy! but good. almost every day i'm dragging the little ones down to the post office with packages to deliver, i love it! next year i'll definitely be more prepared for this time of the year with more things in the shop.

i made a taggy scrunchy toy thingy for gracie, might have made it before she was born actually and she looooves it. i always make sure it's attached to the pram or the car seat and it keeps her entertained for quite a while. it's very simple but very stimulating for a small baby with all the different tags and ribbons and high contrast colours. she loves the scrunchie sound it makes, her eyeballs almost fell out of her head the first time she heard it. so i made a bunch for the shop and the first lot sold like hot cakes! so i made a few more and sold those too and now i'm down to four left and then that is IT for that particular fabric. no more left :'( i'll keep my eye out for any floating about on the net but i don't like my chances. the animals are soooo cute, wish i'd bought more! so if you want one, go and get one pronto. only four left peoples! i like 'bucky beaver'.

my computer is sick. i can't upload photos, so that's why no blogging lately. i can still check emails for sales on this other computer though. sigh.

choc chip cookies

do not make these cookies. you have been warned. and here's the recipe:

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes approximately 48

180 g butter softened
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup NESTLÉ Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
250 g packet NESTLÉ Dark CHOC BITS
1/2 cup NESTLÉ White CHOC BITS

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Beat butter and sugar until creamy, beat in NESTLÉ Sweetened Condensed Milk. Add flour, stir until combined. Add NESTLÉ Dark and White CHOC BITS, mix well. Roll heaped teaspoonfuls of mixture into small balls, place on greased trays, press gently with fork. Bake for 15 minutes until golden.


i got the recipe straight off the carnation sweetened condensed milk tin. so if you get that brand you might get the recipe too. don't be alarmed about the 'makes 48'. i found it made around half that amount. they'd have to be very tiny to get 48. also, they freeze wonderfully so i would strongly suggest freezing half of them unless you're giving them out to your friends and family. otherwise you might eat many. too many. believe it or not these babies are not calorie free cookies. also, i found they only needed around 10 mins in my oven. the first tray i baked were almost burnt so keep a close eye on them. eat one (or two!) for afternoon tea with a tall glass of skim milk. the goodness of the skim milk will surely cancel out the sugary buttery cookie. right!?

beachy birthday

my harrison has turned 2! actually his birthday was the weekend before last but we celebrated it this weeked. and what perfect weather it was for his beach party! in keeping with the beach theme i made him a sandcastle birthday cake....



complete with crab and shells. delicious chocolatey shells. i was surprised how much it actually looked like a real sandcastle?! and the crab looks totally real huh? ok, maybe not :) the cake was chocolate and under the 'sand' is chocolate icing. i tried to cut out turrents but it was a bit tricky to ice. here's the birthday boy wearing and sitting in his birthday pressies....



fish and chippies were eaten at the beach followed by birthday cake. the cake was placed in front of harrison and he immedietly shoved the crab in his mouth thinking it was edible. his face expression after feeling the fuzzy felt in his mouth was priceless.



sandcastles were built and decorated....



it was a perfect day, even warm enough for a swim. the water was beautiful and clear. gracie had an excellent first time at the beach, sleeping the day away.




happy birthday my darling harrison! xxx

mathilda's market show and tell

got up bright and early sunday morning for our girl's day out at mathilda's market, norwood. i'm happy to say it was well worth the long drive and i'm soooo glad i decided to leave the boys and pram at home! i took little gracie and picked up my mum on the way. there was lots of lovely things to look at, only a couple of dodgy stalls. it was jam packed full people, snooty mums, bored dads, babies with the 'i'm over it' look on their face (including gracie!). they really should have an area set up for the poor old dads and children that get dragged along to these events. they could be playing pool or video games and socialising while we ladies shop til we drop. anyway back to the market, i came away with a georgous crocheted hat for gracie which i hope will fit her next winter. sure i could make one myself but for a measly 10 bucks.. meh! i'll let someone else do the work! i looooove the feather on it. so cute...



... and this darling playsuit for gracie for next summer by sebastian and sienna. how utterly sweet and girly is it?! i'm a total sucker for vintagey kittens. i became a 'liker' on their facebook page after being impressed with their lovely children's clothes at the last mathilda's market so it was lovely to see them again and meet the girls behind the label, peta and vanessa. and frankly, they had the best clothes by far. check em out here: http://www.sebastianandsienna.com/



and that's all i bought. yep, the boys got squat. after a couple of laps around the market we stopped for some lunch on the parade, had the yummiest veggie burger ever, and then headed off. gracie was well behaved and put up with being carried around in the sling in the market hall, she started to complain but decided to fall asleep instead, good choice. it was a lovely day, especially since i rarely get to spend time alone (err, almost alone) with my wonderful mum. love you mum!

a dress for some bunny special

as you can see gracie's turned out a bit on the large size, it's meant for 6 months old but since she's only 5 months and pint sized i'm not surprised it's a bit baggy. bunny is loving her matching dress. she's a bit of a show-off don't you think?! cheeky little rabbit. i love the kitten print. i thought i was very brave to cut into it. i like to hoard my fabrics, but i'm getting better at using them.

a bunny dress and a cushion

i decided to cook a special dinner for stu tonight, just cos i love him. we had a nice juicy t-bone steak with mashed potatoes and steamed green beans. mmmm. twas very nice. the boys had veggie and bean burritos. those boys will eat anything as long as it's wrapped in some kind of bread or tortilla. avacado, lettuce, you name it. if it's in a wrap, it's a snap. did you like that? i did.

so i've had this paper pieced hexagon thingy hanging around the sewing room for a few months now and i finally did something with it yesterday. i threw it in the bin. noooo i didn't do that. i made a cushion cover for the rocking chair in harrison's room. i hand sewed the hexagon 'thingy' (ok, let's get real, it's a flower. don't tell harrison) on by hand and i'm happy with the results. it matches his curtains. awwwww.

today i went nuts with housework until lunchtime. lachlan hates it when i mop the floors. i had to make believe we were in boats as we sat on the lounge waiting for the floors to dry. i rewarded myself for doing such a darn good job cleaning the house by doing a bit of sewing in the afternoon. i made a little doll's dress. the doll for which it was intended for was a bit too small for it but it fits the bunny perfectly. she already had a nice dress on but a bunny can never have too many cute dresses now can she? she kinda looks like she's been sent to the naughty corner in the first photo. i don't know if she liked the dress. you see, she's japanese and i don't speak a damn word of it. the dress is reversible so all the photos are of the same dress. i'm thinking matching gracie and dolly dresses later on...

tonight after dinner i announced to the boys that there would be a treat for them tonight and before i have even told them what it was harrison has said 'yaaaaay!' and has scrambled into his highchair. ummmm no, not that kind of treat. instead of reading stories tonight we would watch 'the gruffalo'. so we all watched it together. have you seen it? i love it. heck even stu liked it. i love the music and i love that it's just a tiny bit scary for them. lachie and i just about know it word for word. we've read that book a gazillion times, it's one of his favourites. ok mine too!

introducing Beebee!

another wee wonderful doll completed. bjorn bjornson is one of my favourites so i was quite excited about making him, but mine's a 'her' and her name is beebee. i actually bought some really nice soft faux fur (expensive!?) to make her out of, but i sorta chickened out when i got home and did her with some yellow fleece that i already had. so she's kind of a practice bear but i think she turned out kinda cute. she has little black beads for her eyes and a wool felt nose. the fleece was slightly nightmarish to work with because of the stretch but other than that she was really fun to make. slightly wonky but charming. only took two afternoon nap times to get her done. she's going to be for gracie, but only for sitting on the shelf and looking sweet. i may allow her to come down for tea parties one day. maybe. since gracie's room is still bare (bad mummy) i took a photo of beebee sitting next to a pile of fabric which i'll be using to decorate her room, eventually. i'll definitely make another one with the fur one day, and i might just keep that one for myself!

rain rain go away

october is a funny weather month isn't it? so unpredictable. so warm and sunny one day and then cold and wet the next. we were looking forward to going to the clare show today but it's pouring with rain, so it's a no-go. i didn't mention it to lachie just in case the weather was bad, so he's not dissapointed. it feels like a good day to take a trip to the city on the train though. lachie has never ever been on a train so it will be soooooo exciting for him. we had to stop for a long freight train on the way to st kilda last weekend and that was thrilling enough for him! a real live train in action! yesssss!

anyway, i have completed another wee wonderful doll. this time i did doxie necklace. since gracie is only 4 months old it seemed a bit silly to make her one so i did a boyish one for lachie and pinned it on his bag. i picked out some pretty fabrics to make some girly ones too, i figured i might be able to knock out a couple. yeah right! i'm done with doxie for now! it didn't take tooooo long, it was just sooooooo freakin tiny and fiddly! i was so tense while turing it inside out i thought i was going to chip a tooth. i actually failed at the first attempt. i butchered the tail while turning it to the right side. it was such a mess. i think the final result turned out pretty cute though. i'm happy with it. we've named him 'floyd'. names like that should be reserved for pets and toys only.








have a nice weekend everyone and check out these amazing masks too : http://www.etsy.com/people/SundriesAndPlunder


i loooooooooove them and i want alllllll of them!

bed dilemma

the bed dilemma. i can't find one!? where are all the nice single beds in adelaide? well it's not so much that i haven't seen a nice one, just haven't seen the right one for harrison. i almost need to use a shoe horn to get gracie out of the bassinet so it's time to move her in to the cot which of course means booting harrison out of the cot and getting him in to a bed. i thought i'd just be able to browse a few bed stores and find what we needed but oh no that would just be too convenient and easy wouldn't it? i would have liked to be more organised and had harrison in a bed before gracie was even born but i just couldn't find one that suited back then. i don't want a white bed or a huge chunky wooden bed. i don't want anything too modern looking either that's going to look ugly and out of place in a couple of years. it also can't be too high since harrison is a very small boy for his age and also extremely clumsy. he has a gorgeous dresser and drawer set which is cream and his curtains are green, blue and off white. the best thing i can come up with at the moment is the ikea minnen bed, pictured below. however i can't seem to get any info about mattress size. i would rather just extend it to full length and whack on a full mattress then get the rather thin mattress that comes in three pieces. so if anyone reading this knows anything about the ikea minnen bed or has any other suggestions please comment!!!! please!!!

shop is open

as you might have noticed i have a new button over there on the right. yep, i've finally opened my shop! so exciting! there's already a bunch of stuff in there including sock monkeys and crayon rolls. tonight i've just made myself a cute bow. i shoved it on a headband but i think i'll put them on clips if i make them for the shop, easier to post that way.

had a nice browse around the norwood market yesterday. didn't see a whole lot worth parting with my precious pennies for but i did get a playsuit for gracie which was totally adorable with lil bunnies all over it and a steal at just 10 bucks. afterwards we had an ice cream and then took a stroll down the parade. managed to drag them in to one of my favourite shops, seed. ohhhhh i like that shop. so many pretty girls clothes. i'm ashamed to say i barely even looked at the boys stuff. then took those sticky ice cream faced boys home but not before stopping at the playground for a run around.

new books

a bit blog-happy tonight aren't i?! ok so i first came across this book a while back but i didn't buy it and always thought about it and wished i had. so when i stumbled across it again this week i wasn't leaving the shop without it! i'm not like a huge obsessed elvis fan who dresses up and goes to conventions or anything, i do however adore the photography in this stunning book. it's so personal, so romantic. and let's face it, he is quite dreamy don't you think?

and now for something completely different! happy gloves! cute duckies...

...little frog....

...and a chipmunk...

hope you're having a fabulous weekend. we had a super fun day at st kilda playground today and i'm hoping to check out the norwood baby and child market tomorrow.

love

just wanted to share this photo of my children. i wanted a photo of them all together but i ended up almost giving up because there was always at least two of them not looking at the camera whenever i took a picture. this photo i think is just perfect though and it says so much.

it was a beautiful day for the auburn market on sunday. it was lots of fun and i even sold some stuff. yesssss. there was a lot of interest in the drool bibs and crayon rolls and lots of ooooh's and ahhhh's over the baby shoes. i want to say a big thanks to stu, lachie, maurice, mum, and verena for helping me on the day and also thanks to everyone else who came along and supported me in which ever way they could. also thanks to my dad (happy b'day dad!) and hazel and to my dear niece eleanor who spent her pocket money at my stall on some clips xD. i couldn't have done it without you guys so thanks!

it's been such a busy few weeks i've hardly had time to think! i've turfed the boys off to daycare today and gracie and i are gonna get a whole bunch of stuff finished for the market. well, gracie is hopefully going to have a couple of decent sleeps but i'm sure she'd help if she could. sewing music is about to go on. it's usually 'air' but i think i'm gonna have to pull out the cleaning music today. empire of the sun will get me through it! the overlocker is untangled and rearing to go. can't you tell i'm trying to rev myself up here :/. getting slightly overwhelmed but i don't have time to have a break down. new ideas are coming to me all the time, my little journal is almost full. i'm excited to start my little shop on the 'madeit' website so i can start making stuff from all these ideas at my own pace. even though it gets a bit stressful doing a market i must admit i do feel proud when it all comes together in the end. hope you have a wonderful weekend!!!

'sergery'

i choose to laugh at this......

crayon rolls

here's a bunch of crayon rolls that i'm about to topstitch. it would be tempting to just set them aside and go to bed. hmmm. i'm thinkin' about it. i'm already soooo behind in my sewing though. sigh. i'll do it tonight. i love the top one the best. the fabric is much brighter than this terrible photo shows. i love the one underneath it too. robots sitting around a camp fire. it works for me. harrison has scored himself one cos i kinda don't write stuff down as i'm making stuff and i forget the next time how i made it the first time. so i sewed the button on in the wrong spot, fail. i feel kinda bad that my children get all the testers and the rejects, bad advertising for my brand really. i hope you appreciate this post as my 'y' is not working well, i have to bash it to make it work.

good morning!

it's tough when you have to wake up and see this sort of thing while you're having a cup of tea in your lounge room.

these guys were grazing at the back fence last week and now this is them again but at the front of the house. this time i actually got a couple of decent photos, only through the window. the boys saw them too, i get more excited though. they're a bit more country than me i guess. as you can probably tell we're having a stare-off. i think they heard us before they saw us. they didn't jump away though, they continued grazing after i won the stare-off. oh dear, i must get stu on to cleaning the windows in his spare time :)

baby mj's are here!!!

...well they're on their way! i've been working on a pattern for these for quite some time, started it over a year ago and recently decided to finally finish it and now i have my gracie to test them out. she loves them. she said so. i'm really really pleased with the result and guess what? they don't fall off! yay! the other great thing is they are completely reversible so i'm going to have a lot of fun choosing fabrics for these babies. i hope to get some done for the market, however they are very fiddly and take a bit of time so i'll see how i go, i think the results are worth all the effort though, what do you think?

in other news, gracie has started laughing. it's so funny. i have to start a fake laugh to get her started but once she starts, it makes me laugh for real, and then she laughs more and you get the picture... two sillies laughing at each other!