More summer fun

We've done so much these past few weeks I can't keep up to tell you all about it, so let the pictures do the talking...

Gorgeous interstate visitors came to stay...

they played with small children, swam with them, read to them and generally let them crawl all over them...

Two of my favourite people making fruit salad for dinner

They also pulled some pretty funny faces when playing with the best 'Man' Christmas present ever.

For the record, she held this catch and bunch of other ripper ones too.

Just make sure that the small folk are not in front of said toy before you throw, and no we didn't use her for target practise.

We also didn't let her build a cubby under it as she wanted to.

Brilliant for big kids and small ones, one player or many.

We've done a lot of bouncing...

Smiling and posing...

Could eat this kid at the moment... well,  most of the time

And the guy who lives here and the girls built a much anticipated vegetable garden, filled with lots of goodness we are looking forward to enjoying.

It won't quite yield crops like these, but will do for now!

They proudly built it from scratch and it was painted wearing hats, shoes and knickers - perfect painting attire for minimal clean-up (that's what the kids wore - the man was clothed!).

Decorated with a plate we each painted and the tiles our two kinder girls of 2011 made for Fathers Day last year.

There actually has been some sewing going on - but I keep giving things away, zip pouches and hats among the gifted items to family and friends.

And there's another gift winging its way to someone lovely, so once it arrives I will reveal all.

The Emperors New Clothes

The three year old has new slippers.

She's currently wearing them and marching around the backyard with her sisters playing a toy piano, celebrating Chinese New Year apparently.

Would you have guessed we saw a band, complete with Chinese dragon, at a local shopping centre last week?

Did I mention that you are looking at her entire outfit...

Life is interesting here sometimes, last week it was nude trampolining!

Chick magnet

What more can I say - the boy knows how to draw the 'women' in!

Oh, I could say 'YUM!' because this little man is completely adorable.

Sharing the fabric love

Who would have ever thought I'd say I have too much fabric - but I do this time!

Now I am not one to use my blog to 'flog' things off but I consider this to be sharing the fabric love with some friends!

I found a knit factory that is closing down and got two full bolts of striped cotton/lycra, you could only buy it by the bolt, so i had no option really but to do it.

It's superior quality - has a lovely rebound, is soft and drapes beautifully.

It would be great for leggings, long and short sleeved T-shirts, dresses and skirts and also sleepwear.

The first one is very dark navy and cream stripes. (It does look black and white but it is not!)

The stripes are 1.5cm wide.

The bolt is 150cm wide. 

The next is a pink and white stripe - the pink is a real bubblegum or candy coloured pink - not salmon as it looks slightly.
These stripes are 0.5cm each and the bolt is 130cm wide.

This will be getting a good workout in my place I can tell you!!

I can't wait to make up some Oliver +s Hopscotch dresses and tops and Olivia dresses by Farbenmix.
Stripes are also great when mixed with solids for Make it Perfect long-sleeved T's.

To make things easier (for me!) I'm keeping the price on both the same, so it can be yours for $10 per metre plus postage.

I'm happy to send however you prefer - Express, registered, regular mail or pick up if you like and I will give you a price once I know how much you want.

So leave me a comment and make sure it links to your email, with how many metres you want of each or if you want to ask questions then feel free and I will email you back.

Thanks for looking.

Oh, and it's first in best-dressed of course, I'll deal with requests in the order the come.

But wait, there's more...

Come on, I made one so you knew there'd be two more to come didn't you??

Admittedly, they've been a while coming - then I made three in two nights, they really are that easy.

(One is set aside for an upcoming birthday, how's that for organised!)

Very happy to have a nightie like her sister!

These are perfect for hot clammy summer nights - so cool and comfortable I am told.

Both these fabrics are really soft.

I had to convince her to change when we were going out, no mean feat sometimes.

I have, literally, metres of this sweet blue floral print and it's hard to tell, but it has little purple flowers on it that match the contrast trim.

Her sister likes to do her hair at the moment! Can you tell?

In other news, I acquired some fabric today that is way too much for my stash (yep, even I know it's too much for just me!!).
So tomorrow I'm going to post some details and sell off a bunch of it, come back if you're interested.

It's gorgeous quality cotton/lycra - with fantastic stretch/rebound.
It could be used for all sorts of things (leggings, dresses, long-sleeved T's, regular T's).

I'll give you all the info tomorrow.
Dark navy and cream stripe and pink and white stripe - it's good stuff, really!

Ch ch ch ch changes

New school haircut!

I like it like this...

She prefers it tucked behind her ears.

I wonder who will win that ongoing battle...

You may also have noticed the tooth fairy came to visit over the summer

This chick thought she'd have a short 'bob' but changed her mind once there and stuck with the longer one.
So they have ended up with the same haircut - again. *sigh*

One of the girls enjoyed the process as much as the end result - the other, not so sure!

Smocked up

Starting school is fast approaching - the leisurely days of summer are slowly coming to an end and I have started making school items, best not to leave it to the last minute...

Miss A chose bright and colourful for her smock, I was not so sure about the scale (and brightness!) of the print but when I produced it for her the next morning she declared it to be "so beautiful Mummy" - so I no longer cared if it was a print I really loved - she clearly does.

Miss L chose a gorgeous linen with raspberry baushkas - much more 'me' in colour this kid!

This piece of fabric was part of a giveaway I won from the lovely Belinda a while back and was the perfect size for this smock with contrasting sleeves.

I lined the front with interfacing as it was a little light for potential paint spills.

The pattern is from Oliver + S 'Little Things to Sew' book - which I had on my wish list for Christmas in 2010 and 2011 and my birthday list for last year - I treated myself post-Christmas and bought it as well as the new Colette book - since Santa didn't bring them!

As is usual - the finish is lovely - with a bias-trimmed facing at the neckline to make it all sit beautifully.

I made the medium and chose to lengthen the sleeves and also made it so it had no opening at the back - thus it slips straight over the girl's head.

I figured a prep teacher has enough to do without having to fasten the snap/velcro on 20 art smocks!

Next up - library bags, then perhaps a large tissue holder, for me of course! ;-)

Catching up...

Umm - hello again.

Well I have failed abysmally at the photo challenge haven't I!!

We've been having too much fun.

Doing this:

Fairy Park at Anakie - a HUGE hit!

The Frog Prince and one of our Princesses

and this...

We made our annual pilgrimage to the Botanic Gardens to see Wind in the Willows.

I put my feet up while "The guy who lives here" took the girls in for a close-up

Action aplenty lakeside as always.

And of course a photo with the cheeky rabbit

and also this...

Then it was off to the movies so a friend and I could relive our childhood, under the guise of taking the girls to see The Muppets.

It didn't disappoint.
Mr "The Frog" and his friends provided the same corny laughs and sarcastic wit as always, with a few ripping dance numbers thrown in and guest appearances by everyone from Mickey Rooney to Selena Gomez.

Did you notice Miss G's new constant companion - her new puppy, Pepsi

We've also had trips to the beach and the pool, playdates and BBQ's with friends, lots of time to play with cousins, trampolining, throwing balls, building gardens, family bike rides and we also enjoyed Alice in Wonderland at Ripponlea - another great show.

A few more weeks to go then my two older girls will be off to school, but more on that another time...

Are you enjoying having the kids at home to play??
What have you been up to??

PS - come along to 'Stitch and Yarn' tomorrow night if you'd like some crafty relief from the hustle and bustle of holidays. We'd love to see you.
If you can't make tomorrow then put Feb 6th in your diary now.

Hello 2012

I love holidays.

Sleeping in, no regular routine, nowhere we HAVE to be.
Time to play games with and read to the girls.
Time for them to play ball, jump on the trampoline, run around the garden semi-clothed throwing water at each other.

We had a lovely Christmas and New Year spent with friends and family.
Celebrating all that we are grateful for in our lives;
our health, living in a safe and free country where we have the right to an education and the freedom to express our thoughts, having a loving family.

I thought I might join in with Fat Mum Slim's photo a day challenge.

I'm already a little behind but here's day one - a dodgy photo of me taken with my new toy (Santa delivered big this year!!).

Oh dear check out the frizziness and that cow-lick!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad