HAPPY HALLOWEEN

A big thank you to all you lovely ladies who commented on my last post, it's great to be part of such a wonderful mummy network..... X

Tinkerbell and a cry for help...

I haven't been keeping up to date with my bogging this past week as I am so darn TIRED..... My beautiful little Lola is really bad at sleeping through the night, in fact if she sleeps for 3 solid hours it's a bonus. Lately she has been waking hourly and this is sending me pretty loopy, I feel quite delirious from lack of sleep and I am pretty sure that I have been a wee bit grumpy!!!! If anybody has any advice for me please fell free to pass it on. I do put her to bed awake and she is good at going to sleep in the day. Advice so far has been to give her a bottle and to leave her to cry, neither of which I want to do. I must admit that I am considering giving her a bottle before bed to fill her up. Mind you I am quite sure that there is nothing wrong with my milk supply and she is just waking for the comfort, oh and I have tried not feeding her when she wakes and just rocking her and cuddling her, but doesn't work. HELP........

Okay enough of that, I have just sent my mum a very long moany old email about being tired too, seems I'm on a roll......

Anyway this weekend Talia helped Daddy to make a run for Tinkerbell, don't they look adorable in their matching ear thingies... She loves hanging out with daddy in the garden, she is a real daddy's girl (just like me hey dad......)!




Tinkerbell has been making herself at home, she comes in at night and runs around the lounge and is very tame and friendly. The kids love her, but the cat is terrified of her, it's very funny watching the tiny bunny rabbit chasing the huge fat ginger cat (very like Garfield) around the lounge....

Hello Lola.......

Hope you are all getting more sleep than me............................. X

A PRESENT FOR ME......

I am very excited to show a photo of my latest purchase, which is a joint birthday/Christmas present for ME! I have actually wanted a sewing machine for as long as I can remember, but have never been able to afford one. In my very first post on this blog I mentioned that one of my goals this year was to learn how to sew and now I can...yay! I have been dreaming about all the lovely clothes that I will be able to make for myself and the kids, not to mention the bags, curtains, duvet covers, purses, cushion cover, etc, etc, etc!! Just one little thing standing in my way and that is I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO USE A SEWING MACHINE. I keep looking at my beautiful new machine, but I am actually too scared to use it. The lady at the shop did give me a quick demonstration, but too be quite honest I was buzzing so much with the excitement of actually buying the machine that I didn't take in a word that she was saying. I'm hoping to get my lovely mother-in-law on board as she has offered to help me, silly her.... I'm probably going to drive her round the bend!!

Isn't she gorgeous............ a good all round basic machine for first timers, or that's how the sales pitch went anyway!!!!

So of course it was off to the library for me to get plenty of sewing books. Look at my stash, Christchurch libraries are amazing, they have the best selection of craft books. I did flick through these last night and found it all quite confusing, but am looking forward to giving it a go. Wish me luck...... X

KNITTING, FLOWERS AND WINE....

Ahhhhhh the birthday week is over......... Talia's little party on Friday went really well and she had a great time with her little pals. It is quite good actually as the children that were here on Friday are all kids of my friends. Between us all we have got quite a number now, my house seemed to be full to bursting with excited little ones and that is not even counting the school kids in the group. Sure makes for fun, loud, messy BBQ's I can tell you............

Last week I also finished Lola's Tikki Rainbow dress which I am beyond happy with. The watermelon yarn knitted up like a dream and I LOVE the way the colours have pooled near the top. I know that some people don't like pooling, but I love the effect it has had on this little dress...... what do you think??? I still have to block it, but I am not actually sure what that means, I think that it is going to stop the moss stitch edge from curling up though. You can see my finger holding it down in the photo. Not sure what the sizing is like as my little Lola has been unwell and definitely not in the mood for modeling. I am so pleased with it and it was really easy if anybody is thinking of giving it a go.

Thought that I would also show another of my WIP's, a soon(ish) to be jumper I am knitting using Cleckheaton Vintage Hues. I saw this jumper knitted up at Knitworld and knew I had to try to knit if for myself. This is what Gabes calls a 'knitting in the dark project', very easy to knit while watching telly. No hurry for it though as won't be needed until Autumn (I am being very optimistic about having a fabulous summer..). I'm finding the yarn a bit of a pain to knit with as it keeps breaking, it's such lovely colours though that I am going to stick with it.
I had to post this photo of Talia, my friend brought round her very first bunch of flowers. She was really thrilled and felt very grown up. They are the most beautiful bunch of Gerbera's in different shades of pink, gorgeous! What a wonderful sweet thought....

Oh yeah, and the same very kind friend also brought me this yummy bottle of Savvy as a happy (surviving) being mum to Talia for 4 years pressie. It's going on top of the cupboard until I can actually drink it as I am still nursing and then it's mine all mine!!!!!!!

A VERY BIG THANK YOU FOR ALL THE LOVELY BIRTHDAY WISHES LEFT FOR TALIA................................... XXX

BIRTHDAY PHOTO'S

A very excited birthday girl about to open her pressies, she looked at the cards first isn't she good. Personally I am more of a present first, card later kinda gal.

Mama and child dolls. These were supposed to be fairies, but I ran out of time and didn't finish the wings, so now they are just girly dolls. Talia thinks they are really funny, must be those googly eyes and those ridiculously long arms and legs.

The tutu turned out well, I used purple and 2 shades of pink tulle. It looks really cute on her. It was slightly time consuming to make as I did not have a rotary cutter. I actually have no idea what a rotary cutter is, but I am assuming it is something that makes cutting tulle a whole lot easier. It was really easy to make and if anybody wants to know how to make one let me know as I can't remember the site where I found the instructions...........

Talia's new special fairy friend ' Fizelda' (Fizzy to her friends..) who lives at the bottom of our garden left her this little box full of fairy treasure.

Inside the box (found at the bottom of the garden) there was a fairy necklace, a magic wishing stone, a little wooden container from the tooth fairy, a letter, some hair clips, flowers, petals, pine cones and a sprinkling of fairy dust. MAGICAL, Talia loved it........

Blowing out the candles...............

................ and this is 'TINKERBELL' our latest addition to the family and a big surprise for the birthday girl. She is a beautiful Rex Rabbit also know as velveteen rabbits as their fur is so silky soft. She was a bit scared the first day, but she seems to be getting used to us and is presently hopping around the lounge having a great old time. I am of course keeping my eyes peeled for those little raisins.....................

The birthday girl is having a little party tomorrow, so I have to come up with another birthday cake, better get in the kitchen................ X

4 YEARS OLD

Yesterday my baby turned 4.............................

Our sweet girl, without you life would be dull indeed. Even though you can sometimes be 'slightly' (splutter, splutter, cough, cough) challenging... you bring so much joy and laughter to our family. You are loving and funny and chatty and LOUD, you make your mark wherever you go and everybody knows your name. You keep us busy and often drive us crazy, but we wouldn't have you any other way. You are an amazing bundle of energy and light, to know you 'Talia Buttercup Boo' is to LOVE you.............

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY BABY................... XXXX

A QUIET HOME.....

The kids went back to school and kindy today and the house is so quiet......... I will miss them as we had lots of fun over the last 2 weeks, but so far I am completely enjoying the peace!

We have just had a glorious weekend, the weather has been amazing. On Saturday we went to the local farmers market (where by the way they do the most amazing fudge....) to stock up on lovely fruit and veggies (and fudge...). In the field next to the farmers market people have started to set up little stalls to sell their bits and bobs. Some junk, but also some VERY talented people there.

I met the most inspiring woman who was selling seriously fabulous felt wall hangings, scarves and little needle felted creations. I could have spent all day talking to her, she was fascinating and gave me lot's of great tips for when I finally get around to doing some wet felting. Boy you should have seen this woman's arm muscles just from making her wet felting hangings and she also told me that she had lost a stack of weight since she started felting. I mean if this is not the motivation I need to get to it then I don't know what is!!!!!!! For those of you who do not know the muscles come for the rolling the felt in bamboo over and over again, pretty hard work, I know as I made one very small piece of felt for a card once. Her work was selling for around three to four hundred dollars a piece and man was it worth it. The lady said she is having real trouble selling here in NZ though, as people just see the price tag and run a mile. I guess that they just don't know the time, effort and love that go into each and every piece. She did say that she was having more luck selling on Etsy which was good to hear, so all of you out there who are thinking about setting up an Etsy store go for it....

I think that it is really sad that this amazing artist can't sell her beautiful creations, but people are more than happy to spend double that on the latest crap gadget on the market that lets face it they don't need and will probably need updating next year anyway!!

I am actually not really supposed to be blogging right now, I am supposed to be checking out the internet for birthday cake ideas as my little Buttercup is going to be 4 years old tomorrow. I also have a few bits and pieces that I am making her that need to be finished off, typical me leaving it till the very last minute. I am making her a little tutu, not sure how it is going to turn out yet, but I will blog the final result. Righto birthday cakes........... bye for now X

LUCKY ME......

I was recently lucky enough to win a giveaway on the lovely and very talented Abi's blog .Yesterday the adorable little crocheted heart bag arrived in the mail and Talia was beside herself with excitement. I really wish that had taken a photograph of her face when she opened the package, biggest smile EVER!!! Talia absolutely LOVES it and has not let go of it since it arrived. Along with the bag there was a lovely little card made by Abi's beautiful daughter Maia for Talia. Talia was really thrilled with this and I later overheard her telling Kalem that Maia was her new best friend which is adorable as they have never met.....well not yet anyway! I also overheard her saying that Maia is coming to her birthday party next week, think you can leave the UK a bit earlier Abi?????

THANKS ABI, we love it............................... XXXXX

MORE CRAFTY BUSINESS

This week we have been busy doing a bit of this....

Kalem and Talia were very proud of these pictures made from foam sticker kits, bought very cheaply from Kmart. You would not believe how much mess they made doing these, but it's NOT about the mess it's about the FUN!!!

There was also a bit of this, painting on their very first canvas, I love to see my little artists at work.

....and even a bit of this from me! Last week we went for a picnic with a friend and her boys. This friend is pregnant and she looked fantastic, really glowing. I never glowed at all through any of my pregnancies, I was mainly just a lovely shade of green! Anyway my beautiful friend looked so lovely that I was inspired to make this felt doll in her image. Actually she's not quite that pregnant, she doesn't have pink hair and hmmm she also has facial features. Okay so not quite in her image but INSPIRED by her image. I am going to give it to her as a pressie next time I see her. Hope she likes it..... Photo's are not that great, don't quite show the gorgeous turquoise and orange colours, photography is definitely not my thing!!!!

Hope all you kiwi mama's are enjoying (surviving) the school hols.......... XX

MOSAIC FUN....

I have finally finished this mosaic DAISY POT which is a very late house warming present for good friends of mine. Thought that I'd stick with a simple design as I knew that I wouldn't have enough time to do something more intricate. I had of course forgotten that even a simple mosaic design can take AGES, especially when you have to steal the odd hour here and there at the weekend, not always an easy task. I really love to mosaic and am really inspired by the summer as those of you who have seen my mosaics may be able to tell as they are nearly all flower designs. I love how the picture comes to life once the piece has been grouted. Definitely going to do a few more bits over the summer.

While I was busy making the pot, Kalem asked if he could have a go too. Now I normally so NO as I work with glass and in my experience glass and children do not mix well!!!! Anyway he was very insistent and I thought why not, so I gave him a collection of pieces of glass that had already been either cut of broken and he got to work.

He really enjoyed himself and here is his finished item. It is a skull and cross bone (boys will be boys and all that..), you may need to use your imagination a little bit, but if you look carefully you can definitely make it out. Not bad for a first attempt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Of course now Talia wants to have a go, but I think I may need to put her off for a wee while yet.....

Missing Boo....

Well what a quiet day we had yesterday without Talia, it is amazing just how much noise an almost 4 year old can make......... We all really missed her though, even Kalem had to speak to her on the phone before bed. She had a great time at 'High 5' and even convinced Nana to buy her an outrageously priced sparkly wand. She did want to come home after 'High 5' though and phoned asking me to pick her up. Awwwww I know that we all want our children to grow up being independent and able to survive without us, but isn't there also something so wonderful about the fact that they miss you so much when they are away.

She was very tired so I went around to Nana's for a cup of tea to make sure she was going to be alright. She was so sweet greeted me like she hadn't seen me in a month, it had only been about 4 hours......... She also told me that she was fine now and that she did want to stay at Nana's house, especially as her big cousin Hattie who is 14 was also staying the night. I have just spoken to her on the phone and while talking to me she was also bossing everyone around ordering toast! Just a couple more hours and it will be me she will be bossing around, sigh!! The house feels really empty without her, can't wait to get her back actually. It is the same when Kalem stays out for the night, a guess that a house needs all it's occupants present to be a home.........

So yesterday making the most of the quiet, Kalem got busy writing/drawing and painting a new book and I finished making myself a set of stitch markers. Terrible photo I'm so useless at taking close up shots. This is probably due to the fact that I always have the switch on auto and there are another 20 settings on my camera, one of which is no doubt fantastic for close up shots! Note to self: find and read instruction booklet.....


Lola had a HUGE sleep and Kalem is so great at entertaining himself that I even got to start knitting the the Tikki Rainbow dress and look I got to use my new stitch markers...... I shouldn't really be starting a new project as I haven't gotten any further with my Brea bag. Does anybody else find once they have completed one part ie. front of bag, one sock, one glove, back of jumper........ it is hard to get motivated to do the other?????????

Day 2.............

Yesterday while Kalem went swimming with his cousin, Talia got her paints out and spent an hour or so making some beautiful pictures.

She also requested that we make cupcakes as she didn't get to go swimming today, so we did just that.......

Of course when Kalem came home and saw the paints out he dived right in and came up with this lovely picture of a tree and a sunset. He was very proud of it as am I, I love his use of colour.

He is such a creative wee man always drawing and making books, I often wonder if this will stay with him as he grows or will he be sidetracked by other more boyish behaviour... Not that I think being creative is in any way girlie, it's just that boys are often so busy running around being, well 'boys' that they don't often find the time to just sit and draw. Time will tell I guess.......

After dinner we enjoyed the fruits of our labour, these delicious little cupcakes (from Annable Karmel's the fussy eaters' recipe book..) They are actually very rich, Talia did not really like the frosting which was very buttery. Not too rich for me though.......................yes D.I.E.T is going reeeeeeeeaally well (splutter, splutter, cough)!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Talia is off to see 'High 5" in concert with Nana this morning, I can't wait to hear all about it, she was so excited, bless.....X