Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Stuff I made for Christmas

Ha harrrrr now I can blog about the stuff  I made for christmas. My blog has laid idol as there were a lot off top secret projects going on that just couldnt be spoken about, now the gifts have been given Im free to show pictures.
I made the three youngest nieces a photo board each

This was for Tillie, she picked the fabric
Pink Babushkas of course


This was for Maddie, some lovely ladies dressed with flowers


and my personal favourite went to Lexie
 Glad they are all done as there was quite a bit off work in them and especially having to sew all those buttons. I hope they enjoy them.



Lexie got lucky with the next creation, I adapted a pattern I found in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine.
I had to hand draw my own pattern  and made her twice as large as she was meant to be, I redesigned her feet from silly felt, flat boots to some lovely big feet with buckle up shoes. I also added a frill to the bottom of her dress and a hand cut flower to embellish her hair.



 and finally I made Kelsey a pin cushion from some reproduction prints I bought to do Esther a quilt but the fabric was so lovely it was just asking to be used. I liked it so much I wanted to keep it myself, I guess I will have to make myself a similar one. Well one day when I get around to it.



Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Nothing new

Not much crafting gone on over the last couple of days, Princess Whiney has been constipated, I must admit its been terrible for her but I think she is liking all the attention from Mummy and now she is just putting it on so to speak so I drop everything and run to her, waiting and hoping that the little pebble poops make an appearance. I have been giving her brown sugar in water which she is liking a lot and its definatly helping her situation but it dosnt get my crafting done. I know that sounds selfish and mothers arnt meant to be selfish but Im trying to make christmas presents and stuff for the up coming market in February.
I did get a little pair of shorts made for Bob yesterday, Tillie found some very cute jersey fabric in Spotlight on the weekend and I thought it would make a lovely pair of pyjama shorts for Bob, it took me a day to lay the pattern out, a day to cut it up and another day to get it sewn. No Im not a slow sewer but as I said earlier Princess Whiney as she is now known has had a bottom issue, actually so has Bob but at least you dont hear him whinging about it, he is ok now though, just a bad couple of days. Personally I think its the water, the town supply changed to bore water and the water is brown and most of the time smells like sewerage.
Anyway the shorts are done, I changed the pattern a bit as there where four pieces and I adapted it to just two. I hate sewing jersey as I dont have an overlocker and when I started sewing I remembered why I dont like sewing. They turned out ok but I think I will stick to cottons from now on. They are in the wash as we speak so the photo will have to be taken another day.

I do have a couple of promised shots of the baby bunting though




The kids had a bit of a play in the ball pit the other day, well Esther was in there first and Bob just couldnt bare it so he hopped in to, it was pretty funny really. Esther quited enjoyed all the pretty coloured balls and when she layed down Im sure the balls sounded funny on her ears. Bob did a funny jiggy thing on the side, he seems to ride it like a pony, obviously his newest latest trick he has learnt all on his own.


Ohhhhh preddy!


Bob getting jiggy with it


Mum kept putting balls in Bob's shirt


Sunday, December 12, 2010

Spotlighting

Went Spotlighting again today, mercy dash for some ribbon and embroidery cottons of course, my excuse anyway. Nabbed some satin ribbons for ten cents a metre and the cottons were thirty cents so all round a pretty good spotlighting expedition.
 Last night we went to "The Barn Steak House" for Stephens work christmas dinner, I was sooooo tired I couldnt stop yawning, I had no craft to keep me awake and I was with some pretty boring people except for Stephen but he had nothing to say either. Well while my brain was wandering between tired and food I came up with this brilliant craft idea for the market, I couldnt wait to get home, go to bed and wake up in the morning so I could give it a go. I came up with "Baby Bunting" yes the pretty flags you hang around your kids rooms only this was for dolls houses. I got up at 5.30 am with Bob and after reading up on all the overnight blogs I got Bob his breakfast and then hit the fabric pile, I got my antique pinking shears and snipped away then sewed all the little bunting flags onto some satin ribbon. It was so cute I had to go staight to Mary's (sisters) house so I could try it on her kids dolls house. It was beautifull and the girls liked it so much they have ordered another one each so they can tie them onto their bed ends. They were a hit as far as they  were concerned  and I trust those little girls because Lexie is very honest and would say if she didnt like it and Tillie is a fashionista come interior decorating specialist of all things lovely. I also made them a fabric lined felt box each so they were pretty pleased with their mornings bootie.
When I got home I started cutting some more bunting flags until the pinking shears wouldnt cut anymore.
Bummer.......now I will have to go spotlighting again for some new pinking shears.
Anyway that was the extent of my crafting today because we also had our street xmas party to go to. The kids were asleep until 4.30 so we only made it to the last half hour but that was still ok. Then we had fish and chips for dinner and then after a little play Bob had a bath and then went to bed, he must have been tired because we never heard a peep from him.
Then I watched a bit of recorded TV but was very tired and couldnt keep my eyes open so I got up and vaccumed both lounge rooms the kitchen the dining room and our bedroom, still have the other half of the house to go but Bob was asleep so I couldnt go down there, might wash the floors in the morning because Bob and I get up very early and at least the mop is quiet so I can still use that while the rest of the house is asleep.
Anyway I dont have photos of the baby buntings because I was too excited and forgot to take photos but I will definatly take some when I have done the new lot, thats if I find some pinking shears that work.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Crafternoon with Tillie

This afternoon turned into crafternoon with niece Tillie, she is 10 and also a mad crafter so today we made a babushka doll hair clip holder. For the non hair clip people or those not in the know of all things cool you hang this in your room and all your hairclips go on the ribbon so you dont lose them, I imagine they would also look very pretty. Tillie is also the Queen of hairclips so its going to the perfect home. We used mostly felt and a little fabric some glue  and some fancy top stitching also done by Tillie. I had some Babushka fabric that I had cut out so we also sewed one of those onto the bottom of the ribbon than added a few little jewels to snaz it up a bit.

We also made a very quick pin cushion because she dosnt have one at home, not the best bit of stitching we have ever done but we were in a hurry, there is always next time to make another one and a girl can never have enough pin cushions or crafternoons. Thanks Tillie for the entertainment and looking after Esther.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Thank god its Friday

Well here I am again, third blog this week, I dont know how I do it. Im always too busy or too tired and blogging is the last thing on my mind but I guess its a bit of a diary for what the kids have been up to interspersed with craft from the crazy woman.

Well Bob bit my finger this morning, not real hard, I think he was just trying to tell me he grew a new tooth this week. He does a lot of things these days, he stalks his mother and does all the things she is just about to do, if I change his nappy, he runs to the bin to open it for me, if I go in the laundry he opens the washing machine and shoves the laundry in and opens the detergent draw. When I give him his meals I point to all the food and tell him what it is, well you dont want to turn five and go to school and not have a clue what your food is called do you. Anyway as soon as I put his plate down he starts waving his finger over all the food and mumbles little words. Just what mummy needs, a little parrot repeating everything she says and does. Why dosnt he just speak already. Tonight just to surprise him I stood all his food up, I cut the round ends off the sausages and stood them up, I did the same with his cheese stick and his strawberries, I also stacked his spaghetti noodles into a pyramid, It all looked very trendy, of course by the time I took a photo he had knocked most of it over but I thought it was pretty funny. Poor Bob has a crazy mother.

The funny dinner

On the crafting side I stitched a couple of little things on to Esthers onesies this week, here she is wearing one with a little teddie on it. The other one was a vintage print fabric and I cut a cirlce and sewed it onto her onesie.



I also had a brain wave that instead of making a russian softie I could make a Japanese one, this is the proto type, now I have made it I realise the bottom half has to be a lot bigger, I also have lots of plans for the embellishments, including lots of pretty ribbons, I will keep you posted.

 The felt at the front is either going all together or in for a total redesign, on a good note I cut out the red felt flower by hand and it came out ok, well its not perfect but Im happy with it. I got a new pair of embroidery scissors from spotlight the other day for $5 and I thought "well for that price you cant go wrong" They are beautifull, Im going back to get another pair if they still have them because they are great for cutting small things

I also made a felt box and lined it with fabric and cut out a fabric flower for the front, again this was a prototype, the felt was extremely thin so it wouldnt hold itself up very well so I put some interfacing in the side walls, the interfacing I had was a bit too stiff, I bought it for another project but as it was only a prototype it was ok. I have some thicker felt which should work better and I will get some more appropriate interfacing tomorrow. I imagine making them in lots of different colours with cute matching fabric for the linings. I think red should go well because its pretty trendy at the moment anyway I will see how it all goes because I dont want to bite off more than I can chew and at the moment I have lots of ideas but I havnt actually started any of them for resale and xmas is coming and February 27th will soon be here and I dont want to leave everything until the last minute.

Lined felt box
 Not sure what you would use them for but Im sure they would look pretty in a little girls room with ribbons or hair clips in them. I guess I could also decorate them to suit boys rooms etc
anyway Im off to bed now, I have to get up early and go to Spotlight = )


Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Two days in a row

How bizzare that I hardly ever blog and now its two days in a row.
Well done Me!

Today was the christmas party for Bob's Kindergym and wouldnt you know it also the same day as our mothers group christmas lunch. We got to the kindergym very early and he had quite a good time, then about another sixty kids turned up, cant believe how many kids and pregnant ladies you can fit in one hall. Toys were at a premium by that stage so its lucky Bob only has a two minute span of attention. Some little girl stole his car off him, she was draging a petrol bowser behind her, pushed him out of the way and said "Thats my car" Bob gave her the Ninja look and just walked off. Way to go Bob cause I wanted to smack her. Father Christmas turned up and all the kids ran over to him to collect a present so that gave Bob a chance to take his pick of the toys again because he wasnt interested in getting a present. Then we sat on the floor and had some morning tea, Bob picked himself two pieces of chocolate slice, one for each hand of course.
He was pretty tired by that stage as he had been up since 5am so he then layed down and ate his slice. Soon every kid in the building was around the snack table and I cant believe how much food these little kids were putting on their plate and their mothers seemed to be encouraging it, surely they were not going to eat it all. (Greedy Greedy Greedy)
Once Bob was finished with his slice he got up and walked to the door because he was ready for home, I picked him up and took him over to Santa to collect his present ( a lovely little book about colours) thanks Santa and thanks Kindergym, then we collected our shoes and went back to work. He was very tired so layed down for a few minutes and drank his bottle of milk.
Alas by lunch time he was way to tired and grumpy to go to the mothers group lunch so I bought him home and put him to bed. Mind you I cooked little cupcakes this morning at 7am for our lunch party and bought a present for the chris kringle, I guess we will eat the cakes tonight and the little monster I bought for the chris kringle will come in handy for another party some other day


Yummy cupcakes
While Bob was at work he decided that Poppy Bob needed some help fixing a baler, it was obvious Poppy had no idea what he was doing so Bob had to take over and tell him what to do. I call it gingerising, this is what little boys do that have red hair and know everything. It was very cute though and Poppy loved it, he was very excited that Bob was interested in fixing things. Sorry Poppy but he is too young to be your next apprentice, I hope you have retired by the time he is sixteen.

I think this is broken Poppy

Poppy why arnt you listening, I know what Im doing
Both Bob and Esther are in bed sleeping now so thats fantastic, it gave me a chance to fiddle with some fabric and do a dummy run on a babushka doll, it was pretty rough but it was only a test run but it actually turned out pretty well so I put a rattly thing in it so now Esther has herself a cute rattle, its about 16 cm high and 5cm wide. Because it turned out ok it now opens the floodgate to perfect it, I will make a few and hopefully sell them at the next market. Babushka's are very trendy at the moment but I also want to do a similar thing but for boys, perhaps a pirate or a robot.

Babushka rattle proto type
Last night I also used some little scraps and made a little bunny, it was very cute but I didnt like the dangly ears so I tied them in a knot, of course Esther has another toy, it will go in her cot with all the other pretty little creatures. Its about 20 cm tall when standing but is the perfect size for a little girl to hold or chew on. Not sure I would make another one that small because the logistics of turning the arms and legs out the right way just does my head in but it would be very cute made as a bigger toy, another option for the market I guess.

A star is Born
Not sure what I will do tonight, should I tinker with these two proto types or experiment with something new? Oh the stress of it all. At least I have lots of pretty fabrics to choose from, Spotlight had a lot of fat quarters out for one dollar and then a lot of cheap quilting fabrics and Mrs Greedy bought a heap even though she didnt really need them. Also went in and bought a heap of felt this week, they had a new lot in so there were lots of colours to choose from, cant wait to cut them up into little bits.

Esthers new friends


Tuesday, December 7, 2010

To Market to Market

Well I certainly didnt buy a fat pig, didnt even see one unless I count myself but then I didnt actually see myself at the market. To explain, I participated in an arts & craft Market at our local library, Sara had made heaps of quilts and some very cute monsters and a few other bits and pieces so just to compliment her stall I made some felt food. Chocolate coated donuts, some felt biscuits and some cute punnets of strawberries and some gingerbread men and a couple of little cup cakes. Everything was made of felt and coloured thread, I didnt use any beads for embellishments because I wanted the youngest child to have a tea party and play with the felt food knowing they were safe in that they couldnt eat any beads off them so nothing would get stuck in any orrifices or cause any chocking hazzards. Everything was received very well and quite a bit of it sold so that was lovely. Now I have decided to concentrate on making little felt cupcakes etc to take to the next market with Sara which I think will be a "Mini Me Market" a new concept coming to town especially for babies and kids.
I dont enjoy sitting at the market all day or the selling part but I absolutly adore the creating and making part. I can create, snip, handsew, knit, glue, sew anything and Im happy, however I have terrible trouble just sitting still at night and watching TV, Im sad when Im not creating, not slash my wrists sad, but just not happy to watch TV unless my hands are busy, If Im not creating or making I usually fall asleep.
Ginger bread men and a few little cakes

iced vovo's and chocolate chip cookies to name a few

I wouldnt say I make something new everyday but if Im not making something Im thinking about what I can make and how Im going to make it or Im surfing the net for ideas and tecniques, this of course wastes a lot of my creating time but if my hands arnt working on something at least my brain is.
I hope everone who bought something enjoys it for a long time.
                                                     the chocolate covered donuts
                                                       And plenty of lovely strawberries

anyway Im off to create something now, well I have to feed a baby first and then Im off