My Creative space...

Okay I'm just going to come right out and say it, granny squares look pretty yes but what a pain in the but to make. I had grand plans (again) of doing a granny rug but it quickly changed in to a pillow after it took longer to sew in all the threads than crochet the squares. I think in future the two tone version will be just dandy. My hat is off to the grannies and granny makers.

Some more creativeness can be found right here at Kootoyoo.

and the winner is...

Wow, let me start by saying a big thank you to all you lovely people who have donated to this Appeal. If I could hug each and every one of you I would, really!

My sister & I are happy to have been able to raise $170 from our auction & raffle. Hooray.

Now to announce the lucky winners...

The Bunny Raffle that ended today at midday was won by Rachael. Thanks to Random.org. I have sent you an email to sort out the details.

The Pillow Auction that finished up on Midnight 24th Jan was won by my super grogeous Canberran cousin. I was so suprised when I realised who had won. I didn't even know my family read my blog!

I'm sure both will be well loved in their new homes. x

time flies... yes it does.

This year marks the last year of primary school for my babies. It wasn't that long ago that I sent them off to their first day of kindy, they were SO excited to finally be kindy kids after watching their friends hop on the bus from daycare (was a fulltime working single mama back then) they were over the moon it was finally them getting on the bus.

This was their first 'family' school portrait - Darwin style. The black tooth was from his sister pushin him off the couch. It has gone now... thank goodness.

We moved from Darwin to Perth and this was their First day of Pre Primary. We stayed in Perth for another 4 years and they have very fond memories of this time.

We moved to Queensland 3 years ago and boy how quickly they have grown during this time. We have had to buy complete new wardrobes every 6 months for both as they have taken off like bean shoots. They are both taller than me now and have size 11 mens & 12 ladies shoes and still growing!

They are equally excited about going to high school next year and have never had a problem with changing schools as they've always had each other. I have to admit this has helped me too.

xox

I'm grateful for...

Being blessed with twins.

These guys turned 12 on Monday and I can't even begin to explain how very awesome they are.

They don't look like twins anymore, well they haven't really looked alike at all.

Everyday they tell me how I'm the best mum in the world and i answer them with... how would you know because I'm the only one you've got, there could be others more awesome. I'm cheeky like that.

Going to miss the company when school goes back but not the bickering.

This photo says it all... someone blew all the candles out first... can you guess who? lol

From this day forth there will be two cakes to prevent any future birthday caketastrophies!

Bless x

What are you grateful for? Come along and play with Maxabella Loves

My Creative space...

This new year i have hit the ground running trying to finish off projects that were started a while back, then i decided the get some granny action happening seeing as i signed up to 'a granny a day' last year and well failed big time.

So I thought I'd start small and do a little cushion cover, i seem to be gravitating towards cushions of late... finishing off with grey edging and i might even try attaching a zip to the crochet... walking on the wild side hey!

Now I'm not the only creative person in this house, my husband Fox has made a massive scalextix table and track in the garage over the school holidays. It's been a perfect project to keep the boys busy while we've been house bound by the rain.

Trying to get a good shot in the dark of the lamp post because Fox made it ! I'm so impressed he's really trying to be creative and make accessories for the track by himself. He now has a production line happening in the shed and his track should have a bunch of street lights up by the weekend.

Now head on over to Kootoyoo for some more crafty inspiration :)

Flood appeal raffle

EDIT - This Raffle is now CLOSED. Congratulations to Rachael.

My sister has kindly offered to donate one of her lovely handmade rabbits. She doesn't have a blog and has asked me to raffle a rabbit on her behalf.

This is my daughter's rabbit, she will make you your very own and has said it can be either a BOY or GIRL rabbit, it's your choice.

I have made this raffle available for anyone who donates to either The Qld. premier's flood appeal, The Victorian Red Cross Flood Appeal or The Australia Zoo wildlife warrior flood appeal.

Here's the deal...

Donate $5 for one ticket for any or all or these appeals and leave your receipt number with your comment entry. This raffle is open worldwide and I'll throw in fee postage too.


***ALL RAFFLES END AT MIDDAY, WEDNESDAY 26TH JANUARY ***


The lucky winner will be contacted by email on Thursday 27th Good luck!!

Queensland Flood Relief Auction

I have up for auction a gorgeous 16 x 16 inch pillow made by me using beautiful light blue linen and machine appliqued syko birds in Amy Butler's soul blossom and love fabrics. Framed with Heather Bailey's Bijoux at my husbands request.

Edit - This Auction is now CLOSED. Thank you.


Fly Away, hand stitched as I hope the owners troubles will do just that.

The reverse side has three snaps / press studs to close.

Please note... Due to the high cost of International postage the Cushion Cover Only will be posted. Australian residents will receive the Cushion Cover & Insert.

How this auction works:
1. Bidding will start at $30 (Australian).
2. You can place a bid by leaving a comment on this blog post with your bid amount and email address. Please make sure that your bid is higher than the previous bidder.
3. Your bid must be in whole dollar increments.
4. This auction is open to everyone.
5. The auction begins NOW and will END at midnight on Monday 24Th January 2011.
6. At the close of the auction, I will contact the winner (please make sure your bid comment includes your email address). The winner will pay the winning amount directly into the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal and send me proof of payment via email. Once proof of payment has been received, I will post your book and slippers to you.
7. Thank you for participating and happy bidding!

Auction Sneak Peak

Nearly finished making the pillow I'm offering for Make It Perfect's Qld FLood Appeal Auctions.

I hope to have it finished tommorrow and up for auction shortly after.

Keeping busy indoors

Like the vast majority of the country we've had rain daily since well before Christmas so when normally we'd be out and about exploring the place we've been bailed up at home.

Cut off by flood waters but not directly affected by them. We have family and friends in Brisbane who are all fine so far, just one has water coming up their street but others are pitching in with sandbagging etc. It's heartbreaking to watch it all unfolding on TV and we have no clue what's happening anywhere else right now, it's 24/7 flood coverage. So I do hope you are all well.

It really puts in to perspective how small my troubles are.

The mothering skills have been well tested these holidays. My youngest got around in nothing but jocks for weeks and refused to get dressed, he is such a homebody and also a socialite, so he has been in his element having the whole family at home. He will be lost when they all go their separate ways when school and work go back in a few weeks and then I'll really have to get on my game.

Trying to find things to keep the kids occupied I came across Hip Hip for the Holidays, a joint effort between two crafty ladies. What a great way to keep us all occupied toward the end of the holidays.

The kids just loved doing this especially the boys, the painting...



the hammering...



The twins chose the same shape, as they do.

Dman chose a love heart as his shape and once it had the string on he got around the house strumming it like a guitar humming the star wars 'darth vader' tune...

My kids love going to the museum, It's always very hands on and interactive so you can really spend hours here.

So brave holding a leafy stick insect.

View from the balcony of the museum with the Ross river and Castle Hill in the background. I took this picture for the patch of blue sky, it didn't last long, by the time we left it was raining again. It is the wet season afterall.

How do you keep the kids busy on rainy days?

How to help Queensland

Make it Perfect is rounding up the crafty blogging community to auction items where the proceeds go to the Queensland Flood relief appeal.

If you are wondering how on earth you can help as I was, well here's your chance!

If you don't have a blog or online shop you can still donate HERE.

Thank You x

Gluten free doesn't have to mean flavor free too

I'm going off topic for this post as i thought it was time to share my secret gluten free favourite products. I'm usually not one for advertising a particular brand but when you are new to the world of gluten free (GF) eating it can be an expensive lesson to try out new products only to find they taste horrible.

These brands will mainly be found in Australia and perhaps New Zealand also, so I apologise to my overseas readers if this doesn't relate to you. Maybe you can keep these tips in mind if you are coming here for a holiday and perhaps you'd like to share your favourite products for those who visit your country. I know I'd love to see what's available in your town.

I have been gluten free for 2 years now and have tried nearly every product available to date. How it works in my house is everyone makes there own breakfast & lunch but any shared meals are made gluten free. Anything I cook is made entirely GF, birthday cakes the lot.

So this is a bit of a link festival, I have all my faves saved to bookmarks.

Breakfast favourites :: Woolworths freefrom gluten free buttermilk pancake mix (a weekend & camping favourite). Hans small goods make gluten free bacon, sliced meat etc. If you are a tea and toast person try Golden Hearth seed loaf. We use Nuttelex butter and Black & Gold (from IGA) jam is GF. Carmen's GF muesli is my latest fad topped with Nestle vanilla diet yoghurt and blueberries.

Lunch :: to me is always the hardest meal of the day as it usually requires preparation which is not always easy if you're out of the house. I usually make wraps, Old Time Bakery Wraps (IGA or Woolies) are the business, they don't crack and fall apart when you roll them and they taste awesome. Copperpot make nice mini GF hommus that fit in a lunch box with veg sticks et al. If not wraps then I go for salad of some sort that has protein in it to get me through to the afternoon. I'll share my favourite recipes in a later post.

Dinner :: is always interesting, I have served up some bizarre stuff to my family and yet they still eat it and say thank you...well all bar the youngest who is known to protest daily anyway. We usually go for fresh food and steer away from packet sauces etc. I like to make from scratch because then I know exactly whats going in our mouths. But you always need a back up plan for when things get busy, again Old Time Bakery have beaut Pizza Bases that you can top whatever you have in the fridge, they aren't the thick type which makes them crisp up on a pizza stone, which i think is yum. McCain Healthy Choice frozen fries/chips are GF you really have to check the ingredients in stuff like this though as companies love to add in wheat flour i guess for added crispiness. I'll share dinner recipes later too.

:: Baked Ricotta & Thyme Pie - 4 Ingredients GF book

Desert :: is a weekend treat in our house unless it's a special occasion and Ice cream what is normally called for. We go for Peter's Vanilla Ice cream. This is where it gets a little tricky trying to figure out if there is wheat in the ice cream or not. Glucose syrup from wheat is totally fine for the GF diet as all the actual wheat has been driven off through the processing although the source of the glucose is from wheat. So companies put in the ingredients list CONTAINS WHEAT even though it is really GLUTEN FREE. That being said you still need to check through the other ingredients to see if any wheat is in them. Anything Malt or cookie dough related is sadly never going to happen but that's fine because there's plenty of other options like the Creative Gourmet French Style crepes. Found in the frozen desert section, enough can't be said about their awesomeness.

Out & About :: for on the plane, road trips, to have in your bag if you get stuck somewhere longer than you thought (and if the kids don't get to them first). Artisse chewy coca aribar, Eskal tea biscuits and St Dalfours chicken, duck or salmon with vegetables, these are especially good for plane flights and camping. I normally get around with a snack cup full of dried fruit & nuts and a banana in my hand bag too.

:: St Dalfour - Duck & Vegetable - Lunch while camping at Paluma.

Back when I was diagnosed I joined the Qld Coeliac Society as my nutritionist told me they had members discounts on GF products at Coles. Monthly the specials change and it's usually 10-20% off certain GF products. To be honest I haven't used it all that much but still think it's worth having. After i joined I bought This low GI GF living, since been updated with THIS book, which I found to be awesome. I especially like the lentil & feta salad, Italian rice & lentil soup (kids love this) and the tangy tuna rice paper rolls mmm. Funnily enough some of these recipes have popped up in Weight watcher's magazines too. Joining the society had other benefits though and they are so helpful with helping you know how to chose GF and also if you are having to travel.

I'll leave it there for now. These are my own recommendations, I don't think the society likes to recommend specific brands I guess due to sponsorship butI know this type of post would have helped me save a bunch of cash so I hope you find this helpful if you are newly diagnosed or have a friend that is GF.

Scandinavian Stitches

Finished my Finnish herring 'silakka' pillow.









Totally in love with my new craft book Scandinavian Stitches made by Syko, it has the sweetest little projects.

I made this pillow as a present but after completion I really really want to make one for myself. Or keep it even.

I picked up a few new techniques making it. The first was pulling the top thread through to the back and tying off. It really does make the top look neater rather than reverse sewing back and forth etc. And the second technique is using an embroidery thread to top stitch around applique. I didn't realise how much it would affect the look of the appliqued fish.

This pillow has been entered into Stitched in Color's Bloggers Pillow Party.

Wish me luck.