Sunny days

It's happened again.
All I can say is "wow".

Someone I've never met IRL has been kind enough to create (and send from overseas) a handmade gift for our new baby girl.

Charity is a very talented knitty-type girl from Canada to whom I sent a couple of sewing patterns a while back (yep she can sew too).

She has four children of her own, including a new baby, yet took time in all that she does looking after her brood to make this super-cute hat for Miss G to wear this summer.



It's the softest, silkiest thing I have felt in ages and it's the sort of vibrant colour that just makes you happy. The design is called "On the Sunny Side". How perfect.

It's a little big for her noggin at the moment, so Charity said it would be OK to use the pic she took for her blog.
Considering the current growth rate of our little lady it will be a perfect fit this summer.

If you're another clever knitty-type person who wants the details of the hat - check out Charity's blog entry here.

Experiences such as this through this blogging thing really restore your faith in people and provide a wonderful sense of community.
Thanks again Charity.

A wim-o-weh

In the jungle, the mighty jungle....

Miss G sleeps with her friends the lion, zebra and giraffe.

Isn't it great when you have talented friends who give you amazing gifts like these.

My good friend and old work colleague Jacki is a very talented graphic designer who creates children's artworks in her spare time.

She did some gorgeous little girl prints for L and A when they were born and came to visit recently with this fantastic trio for Georgia's jungle animal-themed room.

I know, I know I never did show you the bird mobile (which turned out pretty well I must say!), or the stuffed giraffe toy from Melly and Me that are now part of her nursery, but who cares - look at these!!

Having worked side-by-side with Jac for a number of years I know how much time and effort she puts into every illustration she does, so I can only imagine how long these took her to complete.

They're Miss G's first original artworks, created just for her.

Thanks again Jac, we love them.

Check out Jacki's other fabulous work here - she set up a business with another designing friend, Anita so you can all have some of her work on your walls.

The big picture

Now that the parcel has arrived at its destination I can tell you that Little Munchkins and Andrea were right on the money and the sneaky peek was indeed of a little girls' top.

With whale buttons on the shoulders.

You can see their versions in red and fairytale fabric by clicking on the links above (you need to scroll down a little to see Andrea's).

It was part of the very, very bleated final Pay-It-Forward and was sent to Juni for her little girl.
I also included a T-shirt appliqued using one of my favourite fabrics - Joel Dewberry's birds in pink, a little tissue cover and a set of coasters the same as I sent to Jen and Suz.

It's been a long time coming and I hope the two shirts fit well Juni.

There are more of these little tops/dresses on the way as it's a sweet summery pattern and because the design is so simple itat really shows off the fabric you use.

A day in the life...

of me!

Well part of today anyway.

What goes through a toddler's mind to make them do this when you leave the room to change a nappy???

To her credit she hadn't emptied the contents of the drawers - it seems she and her dolly were just looking for something...

(excuse the general clutter won't you!)

And these ones - well how could I not share.

It would be unfair to keep such loveliness to myself I feel (I know I'm biased!).

It's exhausting being this cute.

Keep 'em guessing...

So this is going to be in the mail tomorrow.

Any guesses as to what it is?

Having a ball

I am 171cm tall and my husband is 195cm, (or about 5ft 8in and 6 ft 5 in in the old scale), so it is probably safe to assume our girls will be tall.

Therefore, in our house that means they will probably indulge in their mother's passion and play basketball (at least until they express a desire not to!)

For this reason, the very kind Andrea could not have sent a more appropriate gift than Georgia's very first ball.

It's a taggy-ball with lots of colourful pieces of ribbon for her to grip on to, all attached to a soft and easy to handle ball.

Should be just right for those beginner ball drills, thanks Andrea!

A taste of Teppanyaki

Back in May I went on a fabric shopping tour run by Anne at Designer Stitch - and yes it is as much like heaven to a fabric junkie as it sounds.

One of the places we visited was Zigu Zagu where you can buy vintage Japanese textiles such as kimono, kimono textiles, obi silks and zabuton. It's located in the Kazari warehouse where you can pick up Japanese antiquities and furniture, to complement your textiles of course!!

My father-in-law had told me about Zigu Zagu just before we went there so I decided to pick up some Obi silk to make him a set of six placemats for his birthday last week.

With all that happened between May and September I only had two done ready for his birthday but delivered the remaining four a few days later.

They are a bit like mini-quilts with a layer of cotton batting between two layers of fabric - the sik and a red cotton on the front and red cotton on the back.

I decided to keep them quite simple and not cut the silk into small pieces and 'patchwork' it so to speak, as I wanted to maximise the amount of silk that could be seen.

The colours and design in the silk are really beautiful and I am pleased to say that he was delighted with them.

Spring has sprung

There's nothing like some spring sunshine, a water bubbler and a trip to the park to make you smile.

Nothing more for me to add.
Today I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Isn't she lovely

No it's not more photo's of our gorgeous new arrival - though I agree, it could well be, given the title.

I thought I should try to restrain my 'new baby' enthusiasm as you might be getting bored of looking at baby pics (though I never will be!).

This gorgeous creature is Georgia's newest friend, a gorgeous Waldorf or Steiner doll given to her by her Aunt, Uncle and cousins. She was made by this clever lady.

The older two girls have one of these lovely dolls, handmade by their aunt. If you wanted to have a go at making one yourself the lady at Special Friends Dolls runs workshops.

She's sure to be a friend for life for Georgia.

Life goes on...

Not much sewing or crafting going on here, though I have about 100 projects in my head that I want to do including some with this gorgeous range of fabric and others using these divine patterns (look at that Sunday Brunch jacket!!), but they will all have to wait for now as we settle into the new life we have.

I've ventured out of the house a number of times for morning activities with all three children, but today was a bit of a test, to all be fed, dressed respectably (not in park clothes!!) and at a set location at a set time. The good news is - we made it with time to spare.


This little angel slept peacefully throughout the fun and noisy Justine Clarke concert we went to this morning.

While there was no dancing from these two little Justine fans, at the end of each song four blue eyes turned to me and asked "more Mummy, more singing?", so I think it was well worth the effort.