Parenting stuff, Lego & Red skies

The Dman (our 3 year old) has been driving me nuts lately with jumping from one thing to the other and tipping out the whole box of Lego or Thomas just to find one thing then leaving it all in a mess. I know this is what kids do but it doesn't mean i have to like it. Trying to teach the little one to only grab what he wants and leave the rest of the stuff in the box. We will get there.
I guess the randomness is partly my fault. It turns out the poor kid was most likely bored. We rotate his toys and put stuff away then bring it out. But that totally lost it's charm and the toys were not getting played with after only a day. Dman really enjoys playing with the duplo Lego and has been making all sorts of planes and the like. So we thought we'd add to his tiny collection and this is what we got. Lets just say, we should have done it sooner, he's been so happy creating all sorts of things with his Lego. Even copying the pictures on the box and matching the numbered blocks with the right number group. (so proud of his brilliance) :)



The big Lego man is actually a torch that i really wanted but it looks like i have a fight on my hands for it. It's definitely a winner and Con, my big boy already has plans to use him in one of his Lego movies. He's already made a few but sadly our graphics card died and we're still waiting to get another good one, so that project is on hold. I will post it when he's done. It's really cool.

And here's a gorgeous shot from the weekend. It has to be the prettiest sky I've seen in a long time. I'm still getting to know my new camera, but I think I'm getting better at choosing the right settings.



Beautiful night Skies over Townsville

Finally something for me

while i do enjoy making stuff for all the lovely people in my life i thought it high time i make something for myself. And finally it's done. It only took 2 weeks to complete so it didn't take that long really. I just had a crash course in getting to know my new machine better after it ate a side seam and was determined not to let go of it I read the instruction manual and performed some maintenance. To my horror the little oil bottle that came with the machine had never been opened. So after a quick clean out and a bit of lube she was ready to purr again.

I should now mention that before I resorted to the manual I got my old faithful Janome out and could not figure out how to turn her on. I felt like I had betrayed her after she had been so faithful to me over the years. She helped me make my wedding dress for goodness sakes, how could I forget. But something worse had happened. It seems like out jealousy she has given up. Yes my old Janome is broken. Sob. I wanted to give her to Meeks so she could learn to sew on it but I'm not convinced she has fully given up though, I think she just needs her electrical cord checked so I'm crossing fingers it's not over between us.

I originally wanted to make it all out of the patterned fabric but it's very thin and snags easily so when I cam across the tshirt material in a matching colour from the oppy for $1 I knew it was a sign.



So needless to say i'm pretty impressed with myself and keen to get some more me made garments happening. Just not sure what to do with the meter and or so of pattern fabric that i'm not really impressed with. I bought it from spotlight and it was not cheap so i'm annoyed that the quality was not a reflection of the price. Nevermind, i'm sure I'll think of something.

Hope you have a super weekend. We're doing a big house clean, you know the one where you end up cleaning out the kids rooms because you can't stand what their version of clean is any longer. See you later... if I make it out alive! xox

my creative space

Every wednesday morning i meet up with a bunch of crafty girls and a very lovely lady takes care of our kids while we get our craft on.
At the minute, apart from dreaming about what kind of quilt i'd like to create my other project is making some clothes. But not wanting to carry my machine to and fro, I thought i'd attempt to make Morris the sensitive Panda from Pip Lincolne's Meet Me at Mikes book so I had something to do this week.



Check out what's being created in crafty blogland this week right here with Kootoyoo

Next...

So my little sister (hi ren, love you x) has been on my case to blog more and to be honest I have lots to blog about Iv'e just been preoccupied with life. You know.

My next project is to make a king size quilt for fox & I. Iv'e made pretty stuff for everyone else so now it's our turn. I have been eyeing off this fabric range for alittle while and when our dollar went above the 90 cent US mark I took the opportunity to grab the whole range from etsy.



It's hilarious to me that I can buy designer fabric and get it shipped from US for less than what it costs to go to the local big chain fabric store. I'm still unsure what design i'm going to use or even if i'll design it myself but i don't want to mess it up.

I like this style from Make it... A wonderful Life. but i'm not sure it will work with the straight lines in my fabric.

What do you think?

P.S. I am still working on that top, my machine and i have had a few misunderstandings that started when the feed dog decided it was hungry and ate a chunk of material. I'm still working on it but just in very slow steps.

Check it out!

My beautiful purple bag arrived this week all the way from Spain!

I took a quick pic of it next to the Buzz Lightyear Backpack before moving on in. I raced around the house getting all my girly bits and pieces together before promptly stashing them inside. My face just beaming.



The inside is equally as lovely as the out side.



Now I have a proper bag that does not resemble a crazed mother grabbing what she can to stash her purse in & some kiddie snacks and drink bottle as we fly out the door with hair everywhere and hoping to find a mint in the car because she can't recall brushing her teeth either!

None of that with this perky purple bag! Thanks again So Zo. I just love it.

My creative space

After watching a documentary on the throw away fashion industry and getting an insight on how the sweat shop workers live I really want to cut back on feeding this beast.

I don't really trust my skills to be able to grab an op shop dress and turn it into something beautiful just yet. So Iv'e bought a pattern with a few different styles so I can make some mix n match clothing. It's always summer here so this pattern will be perfect I think.

I'm making bathers for my big girl & a top for me. The bather's pattern I made myself using an old bevknits master pattern for bikini briefs and just kind of put a top on it, we'll see soon enough if it works out or not. wish me luck!

Find more creative spaces at Kootoyoo

Shorts from shirts

I saw this done somewhere and thought it was brilliant so I gave it a try when I found 3 long sleeve shirts in brand new condition at the oppy. Please if you know who's blog I saw this on let me know so I can thank her. Iv'e been trying to find her blog again since first seeing it probably a year ago with no luck. Our PC crashed & I lost all my bookmarks.



With Kwik Sew pattern 3398 I cut out the pattern using the shirt pocket on the back of the shorts.



Ready to get started. I don't bother with pockets on these short. really they are just for getting around in for play or daycare.



This is all that was left of the shirts.



Almost there, just need to hem & put the elastic in.



All done, and dman loves his new shorts.wearing RM Williams here.



Country Road shirt shorts



And Pierre Cardin !

Amelie's Blanket

This is for a very special friends baby girl who is now a month old. There was a slight hold up with running out of yarn and waiting for more to arrive from Brisbane. But now it's all ready to be sent to a precious little bub.

My creative space

Amelie's Baby Blanket

Nearly finished, just putting the edge on and it will be on it's way...

The camera (or me) makes it look shiny, but it isn't at all.

More creative space's right HERE

And the winner is...

Me! Still pinching myself... I mean I have not won a thing since my dad & I won a chook raffle at Tracy Village in Darwin nearly 20 years ago.

Last week I entered into a giveaway that was made by Zoe from So Zo. I came across her blog after reading Mixtape Zine. She makes her own clothes and is very good at it. I think.

So you can imagine my excitement when I found out I won this gorgeous bag.




I'm going to look so fine getting about town with my one of a kind bag. It sure beats the buzzlightyear back pack my purse has called home for a year now.

a few of my favourite things

Nana & Mum.

You can tell by her colour that she was very sick. She had Primary Biliary Cirrhosis or PBC and was on a waiting list for a liver transplant. This photo was taken in April 98 the last time I saw her, she died 5 months later, 2 weeks after having a liver transplant. I was 5 months pregnant with the twins.

Organ donation could very well have saved my mother's life, but she just had to wait too long for it. Sign up people!


Mother's Day is next Sunday here in Australia and for me it is a bitter sweet occasion. Sad because this year marks my 11th Mother's Day without my mum and Happy because this is my 11th Mother's day as a mum and I love love love how gorgeous my kids are on Mother's Day and every other day.

When we lived in Perth a few years back my sister and I heard about Trees for Mum. where you can plant a native tree in honour of your mum on Mother's Day. We went down there and it was really special. It's hard not having a mum on Mother's day so this certainly helped us feel like she was still apart of it. If it was here in Townsville, I'd be doing it for sure. I think I might get a special plant anyway, just for us.



I'm seriously not trying to sound misserable, the lead up to Mother's Day is just hard that's all. Mother's Day itself is always a happy day in our house, it reminds me of how lucky I am to have a gorgeous family who think I'm the absolute best. Even if I think I'm doing a terrible job they still think I'm awesome.

Now for the fun stuff... These are a few of my favourite things...


How cute is this necklace! I want it.



some Postcards by SYKO sure to brighten the day!




love this Parfait dress by Colette Patterns, check out how cute this one is.



The gorgeous Zoe has inspired me to start making my own clothes. She's going a whole month just wearing clothes she made herself! So I need to upsize my pattern department to include adult clothing and these Japanese pattern books look sweet. The scary part is they are only in Japanese but hey, who doesn't love a challenge? I need dresses and summer clothing, living in the tropics it's always summer here. I still have no clue why it never occurred to me to make my own clothes earlier! I made my own wedding dress 7 years ago, you think I would have realised then that it was a good idea...

I hope you get spoillt for mother's day and if you're lucky enoogh to still have your mum, squeeze her tight and tell her how much you love her.