and another...

Hmmm - another cute and smiley rabbit in my garden...

Seems to be a plague of them at the moment.
Let's hope it's seasonal.

Something for me

Seems you can teach an old dog new tricks...

Echino pink planes patchwork fabric from a few seasons back

With lots of great hints and tips on how to get a professional finish from Nikki, here it is, my new satchel bag.

The small kid strutting her stuff

As anyone with small kids knows, being able to have your hands free (to hold theirs at the lights) is a very handy thing - so an over the chest bag works best for me.

Ta Dot -a pop of colour is a bit of fun for the lining

This bag has an adjustable strap so when I am out pretending to be a grown-up I can shorten the strap so it is a shoulder bag.

Black stretch denim base and an adjustable black web strap

I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.
There are one or two things I would do differently, but that's just part of learning, and as this is my first 'real' bag I am more than pleased to figure some of those things out when I make the next bag.

Rectangular brass fittings from Nikki M

Even though Lara has made lots of bags, this was her first course with Nikki and she said she learned heaps.

She also said that it is a good idea to do a course at the start of your bag making career so you don't pick up bad habits you may have to correct later!

The same under the flap

I think a bag is a great gift.
Practical and 'pretty' at the same time.
Also you can really reflect the person and their essence in the style and colour of bag that you make.

Zip pocket for keys and a magnetic catch to keep it closed

I have plans for a few more later in the year.
I think Lara's idea of giving them as a gift to the teachers is a really great one that I might just 'adopt' - if she doesn't mind!

I did plan to put extra pockets in the lining of this one, but got all excited about nearly being finished and made up the lining forgetting all about them!

Nikki's bag making courses sell out quickly - so keep an eye on the schedule here or on her Facebook page.
Definitely money very well spent.

Rabbit season

I've been seeing a few cute rabbits around these parts lately.

Keep an eye out for the cheeky varmints around your place...

Old dog, new tricks

We'll see if you can teach an old dog new tricks tomorrow when I get to spend a day luxuriating in the company and talent of these three lovely ladies, as well as meeting a few new sewing aficionados.

Nikki will, of course, be teaching me how to actually make a start on this project that I have had planned in my head for most of the, oh, about two years, since I bought the pattern from her...

She has assured me that it is not scary and will, in fact, be fun!

Wish her luck!!

A gift of love

Gifts to the girls this year from us consisted of books, scooters and Lego in the largest part, nothing much handmade - just one small thing from me.

Nothing I would ever have done could compare to the amazing gift my Mum gave them, their own hand-stitched quilt with matching pillowcase, each adorned with fairies and in their favourite colours.

Each appliqued panel has hundreds of tiny hand stitches on it.

To say these quilts are a gift of love would be an understatement.

They have taken mum, literally, hours and hours.

She has worked on them at various stages for almost a full year.

Worked into the more than 300 tiny two inch squares that surround each panel, are remnants from dresses, hats, rompers, pants and skirts the girls wore as they have been growing up.

There are fairies hovering over little flagged tents, elephants and butterflies...

There are hand-stitched frogs, dogs and bees and a cute snail!

The top left corner square is an old dress belonging to Miss L

Making a quilt is a tradition Mum started for the oldest of her eight grandchildren - and now she has only one left to make - on which she has already well and truly started.

Each flower is sewn on with blanket stitch then had the stem added!!

These photos in no way do them justice, they are really incredible.

And, importantly, the girls adore them...

They each got a matching pillowcase with an embroidered centre panel that features the same imagery as the eight panels on the quilt.

Strictly just for looking at - not sleeping on!!

The fairy on the right has a dress made of one of Miss L's favourite fabrics - it's in her Feliz party dress which she wears all the time.

They like these two cheeky fairies jumping on the beds, must remind them of someone!!

And to top it off, each quilt has a hot air balloon embroidered with their name (I've removed it here of course!!), and on the back a hand-stitched label telling them from whom and when they got them.

The night they got them, Miss A was poring over it examining the details and said to her dad; 

"Grandma must love me more than anyone to make this quilt for me."

He said "I love you twice as much as Grandma".

Her response; "Well  you can't - you haven't made me a quilt."

As my Mum said - they were made with love; each and every stitch.

They really are the most precious gift.

Thanks Mum.

Recovering!!

It always seems to take me a while to recover from the girls' birthday!!

Considering it was over a week ago now, here's a brief rundown...

Friday night was magic - the night of their birthday.

We took a trip through the city in a horse and carriage - which they loved. Rode the teacups at Moomba and there was a short fireworks display to top it off.

Saturday was a play at the park with four good friends and new birthday scooters.

One child made what I consider an unusual request - she wanted an artists palette cake.
An unusual choice for the book, fairy, princess obsessed kid that she is.
But more on that another time...

The second request was a lot of fun - Lola!

The guy who lives here did the coloured rolled icing and so ended up with the coloured hands - nice!

There was a chance to try out the new scooter...

Time for swinging with friends...

And as with most outdoor parties - trouble lighting the candles!!

and keeping them lit ready for blowing them out!

And of course the trusty and faithful parachute made an appearance for some games.

It's even more fun when you fill the centre with 30 ping pong balls too!

On Sunday we did it all again with all four grandparents for lunch - and hence more cake!

Fake earrings a birthday gift from the grandparents!

Very basic cakes done in a heart-shaped tin that belonged to my Grandmother, who shares her middle name with Miss L as well as my mum (after whom we named Miss L).

Sweet and simple with a fairy and flowers on top.

It was a lovely couple of days spent with good friends and family and a fitting celebration for our two gorgeous girls.

Birthday tradition

We have a tradition of marking the girls' height on a door frame each year on their birthdays.

Here are the figures for this year.

If we ever make up our minds about renovating/moving we will certainly be taking this piece of timber with us.

It has the height of each girl since birth - and they love standing there and checking themselves against what they used to be, or comparing where their little sister is now.

They are both still tracking nicely to be models, basketballers or, as there is a great interest in words and reading here, very tall librarians!

I wish they'd be six forever and ever!

Today these tiny babies turn six years old!!

Miss L on the left and Miss A on the right - so adorable!

How did that happen!!??

This is them at three weeks and one day old - the day they came home.

We've already had great excitement - scooters, Friends Lego (check it out - it's the new 'girly' range), Beanie Bears, books (of course!) and lovely cards made for each other and from their little sister.

Water babies from the start!

We have a big evening planned, a play at the park with friends tomorrow and lunch with all four grandparents on Sunday.
It's quite an event!
I will be back later on to share some of the celebration.

Needless to say I love them with every fibre of my being and cannot think of anything I'd rather be than their mum.

The big book list

There used to be a time when I spent considerable portion of each day happily ensconced in a book.

The" thirty minute each way daily train commute" was a little piece of heaven at the start and end of my day, and more than once a good book resulted in me missing my station and having to catch the train back a stop to where my car was parked.

Becky is keeping a reading list and it got me thinking that I should do the same - to encourage me to take the time to pick up a book here and there in my day.

In the last few years it seems Alison Lester and Stephen Michael King have been high on my reading rotation, and it's not that they are not fabulous authors - they are - it's just that reading things a little more age appropriate might be a nice change.

So here is the list to date:

The Help - Kathryn Stockett
The Retriever - Keith Schafferius and Grantlee Kieza

Not much to show I know.

Now it's off to bed for me to hopefully finish book number three, possibly my favourite so far depending on how it ends.