Swap Bot - fabric post card swap

spoiler alert if you happen to be my swap bot swap partner...

this weekend we've been cleaning the house in preparation for our move north in 3 weeks time. to break up the utter boredom and to give myself a rest from the chemical warfare, i joined this cute little swap.

the task is to make a fabric postcard and this is what i made...



Looking for ideas, i found this tree stencil in a xmas craft book.



found some suitable fabric from my stash.



used double sided iron on to place the pieces.



blanket stitched around the tree... and...



hand stitched my message... then...



Added some sequins.



made the back with calico & stitched the lines, and finally



the finished postcard...

now ... back to some more cleaning... sigh

the green way...

since having our 3rd child i have been a sahm, this is the longest ever that i have not worked and being on one wage has taught me many things...

I now write lists before shopping and even have a cute menu planner to help me organise our weekly meals. this not only saves money but keeps me organised. for one, i hate shopping, no really, so the faster i can get in and get out again with everything i need for the week the better.

not long ago i came across this fabulous blog. this lady is my inspiration. i just love how she has has her life in balance. a rare thing indeed.

so in my quest to be more kind to the earth and because i do enjoy making things now that i have the time... i thought i'd give her home cleaning recipes a go. we were using a rather expensive brand that came in 3kg packages, it was very good and lasted for months but now after making the heavy duty washing powder i am a total convert... you should give it a go, it's ever so simple...



grate a bit of soap...



looks so yummy



mix it up with the other stuff



and there you have it!



ta da... should be good now for another 40 washes.

My Place & Yours - My Collection

Thought i'd join in for a bit of fun...

I have a few collections, the first is our fridge magnet collection, daggy i know, but it reminds us of all the awesome places we've been...



Then there is my tea cup collection, it's super hard to find this pattern, i'd even say rare. My great nana started me off by leaving me a gorgeous cup & saucer, i loved the pattern so much i've been collecting it since...







My husband collects Australian stamps.. he has nearly all since it swapped from puonds to dollars. Such excitement to be had when you find stuff that's super hard to find :)

slowly slowly

Off to a slow start this week... On tuesday I suffered a sporting injury of sorts... running races in the back yard with the kids... oops.... A quick trip to the hospital and it turns out I have plantar fasciitis. Not fun, that's all i'm saying.

It's not all bad though.. . I had a lovely parcel arrive this week. It's from THIS gorgeous shop on Made It... for my little boy for the Northern migration later next month.



Isn't it sweet? you know you can win one? But hurry... the giveaway ends tonight!


It's so hard to find cool stuff for boys. Handmade cool stuff for boys that is!

Pretty stuff for girls is everwhere, but when it comes to boys there isn't much around really.

I think that's why I decided to make things, because I didn't like the stuff in the shops and I feel it's an injustice for the poor boys.

Having boy/girl twins has fuelled this with my obsessiveness to make sure both get an even amount of everything so the other one doesn't feel like the other was favoured more.

SO my quest for cool boys stuff continues... if anyone knows where i can get some... well anything please please let me know... x

The Machine that started it all

Hi there, i'm new to the world of blogging, love reading them but when it came to having my own it seemed somewhat overwhealming to begin with. So... what should I put in my first post? Well i though it fitting that I show you my beautiful machine and what she has helped me make so far.



She's an old Janome that was bought from an oppy 9 years ago. Since then we have made bathers, pijamas, my wedding dress, fairy dress ups, batman capes etc. and just last year I decided I would start quilting. I figured if I could make my own wedding dress then quilts would be easy right?



So I made this Quilt for my cousin's little boy Jack. Then I made a heap of library bags for friends and family...



The twins needed School library & chair bags



An most recently I finished Dmans Pirate quilt. I started not long after I finishe Jack's quilt last year. It was an UFO until motivation struck me down in the form of a nagging husband who was in my ear about making something for our own kids for once...



So happy when this baby was completed. And Dman just loves it too.

So now i'm in the process of making xmas quilts for the Twins. Connor chose the quilt I made for Jack but i'm making it bigger for him And Meeka is getting a flower quilt. Will show more later.

And that's it for now. Thank you to the lovely Bianca for making me get a wriggle on and convising me on how easy it is to blog :)