Finished Brea Bag....

Yippee I have finally finished my Brea bag which I blogged about here. This bag knitted up pretty quickly, even the cable wasn't that difficult, but finishing it off was a different matter.. Firstly I was supposed to crochet on the top edge of the bag, but I seriously can't seem to get my head around crochet and after various attempts I decided that it actually looked fine without and left it as it was. I was also supposed to join the bag with a crochet seam, but I just sewed it up as normal and even this took a couple of attempts.

Then I needed a handle for my bag, I scoured charity shops, car boot sales and even looked on line to buy new, but found nothing suitable. I eventually decided to give up my search and used a scarf of mine which is a perfect match colour wise. I actually quite like it like this, but Julian has just told me about a shop in town that could put a leather strap on it, so perhaps I will look into this.

Next up was lining the bag which I had no idea how to do. Honestly I spent ages just looking at the bag trying to figure out how to line it, hoping that something would click. I eventually figured it out by watching a youtube clip and YES it's actually pretty easy when you know how. I ended up sewing the lining in by hand as I still seem to have this irrational fear of my lovely new sewing machine. I was supposed to have some spare time this weekend to actually sit down (in peace and quiet) to finally figure out how to use it, even turning it on would be a start, but never got round to it, AGAIN!!!

So from start to finish it has taken a while, but I LOVE it and am very pleased with the finished product. I learnt a few new skills along the way and even managed to crochet a simple chain for the button loop. I never thought that I would knit another one, but I think I probably will as it would make such a great gift. This one though is definitely all MINE....


Lined with lovely fabric from Spotlight...

I couldn't resist buying these yummy pieces of fabric today at the Spotlight sale. I have absolutely no idea what I am going to do with them, but they are lovely don't you think......

Vintage Beauty...

Yesterday Talia found this lovely OLD nightie that belonged to me when I was around her age. My Nan saved it for me as she thought that it was too pretty to throw away, Talia loves and it looks so cute on her. I am glad my Nan didn't get rid of it as I don't have too much from my childhood as we emigrated to South Africa when I was 11 and got rid of a lot of things before we left. I remember going with my parents to a local orphanage to give them a whole loads of toys and games. I also have a vivid memory of it being a windy day and the lid of a game blowing off causing a whole lot of paper (perhaps it was Monopoly)money to escape and my Dad running after it. I wonder if I have remembered that correctly.........

I'm going to send this photo to my Nan with her Christmas card, wonder if it will remind her of me at that age....... X

A day of FELT....

Yesterday I had a FELTastic day..... For starters I received my first ornament from the Christmas ornament swap, isn't it fantastic!!! A gorgeous felt Kiwi slice to hang on our tree made by the very clever Helen whose blog you can check out here. She is super organised getting them done so quickly and it's just the kick up the bum I need to get started on mine. I have done a couple of testers, just not sure which one I am using yet, better get my skates on though....

I also received this lovely package in the mail from the wonderful paperandstring blog where I was recently lucky enough to win one of her FAB giveaways. Look at that fantastic pile of lovely wool felt in all the colours of the rainbow, I have a million ideas of what to do with it.....

I could not resist the cute make your own owl ornament kit and sat up way past my bedtime making this little lovely.......

Yesterday I also made a trip to our local $2 clothing warehouse and picked up a bundle of pure wool jumpers to felt. I am planning on making some pencil rolls for Christmas presents and I am also going to try to make a bag. Here is the pile of already felted green jumpers......

I am having a bit of a felt love affair at the moment and have just ordered every book on felt imaginable from the library. I am also planning on doing a needle felting tutorial, hopefully sometime this week if you are interested. Looks like my crafty week is off to a pretty good start... X

Getting crafty...

I found this book by chance at the library last week. It is a great read, lot's of tips, hints, advice and even patterns written by crafty bloggers from around the globe. I love reading about other crafty people, learning how and why they do what they do, probably why I love reading other peoples blogs too. It's great to get a look inside other peoples lives, especially for someone as nosey as myself!!!

Now that I have read this book there are at least another 5 things to go on my to do list. I have not been getting anything done recently and have not even been knitting. I have got so many ideas floating around in my head, but can't seem to get around to starting anything. I am determined to get crafty next week and I am going to get on to doing my Christmas ornaments for the ornament swap I am involved in. I have also promised the kids that we will make some little paper stars to hang on the Christmas tree this afternoon, so it's time to get creative. I love this time of year and there are some fantastic Christmas ideas out there in blogland, check out this blog for some great inspiration...

LIONS and Sports Day..

This morning Kalem has his sports day at school, so Lola and I went along to cheer him on. Talia was not with us as she was going off for the day to Orana Park a wildlife reserve with her Kindy. It is the first time that she has been on a day trip and she was very excited, in fact she was awake most of the night. I sent her off with her lunch box sun hat and strict instructions to stay with the adults..... Of course they will look after her, but as a mother it is always a worry when they are out of your sight, especially if you know that they are off to a place with LIONS!!!!!!!!!!

Kalem's sports day was great and he did really well, even won the egg and spoon race, yay!!! I managed to get a few good action shots of the morning. Here he is doing high jump, but there is no pole as they are apparently still too young for that.
About to win the egg and spoon race, what an athlete.....

Sack Races...............

............ and funny faces!!!

That is a bit of crumpet stuck on Lola's nose, she still is not really into eating solids, but she does like to smoosh them all over her face!!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND............ X

CAMPING....

Last weekend was a long weekend here in NZ and we went camping with some good friends. It was Lola's first camping trip and I was a bit worried that her terrible nighttime sleeping would be a problem and I can't say that I relished feeding her on an air bed. Things however could not have gone better, she slept really well and even slept through the night for the first time in her short life. All of that wonderful fresh air must have worked it's magic on her!!!!!

What a fun time we had, the weather was AMAZING and we had the kind of weekend that I moved to NZ for. We camped with 3 other families and there were also another couple of families camping nearby from Kalem's school, so he was a happy boy and to be honest we hardly saw him unless he was hungry. He had a ball and totally enjoyed the extra bit of freedom given to him. The kids all went off in big groups making huts in the woods, riding their bikes around the campsite, playing Tball and playing touch rugby. The only rules were to stick together and definitely do not go to the beach without an adult. They all behaved so well and got on brilliantly. The older kids helped out with the younger kids and Lola got passed around to everybody, giving my arms a well deserved break........

The best part about the place that we go camping is that Julian used to go there when he was a boy, in fact it is the place where he met our good friend Monty all those years ago. Monty and his family were also camping with us, so now there is a second generation camping in the same place.... I LOVE THAT!!! Maybe even our children's children will camp here too!!

I thought that I would share some photo's with you, here are my sleepy headed little angels all snuggled up after waking at ridiculous 0'clock in the morning...

We celebrated a couple of birthdays while camping and had a wonderful day playing lot's of games and even the adults got to join in. Here is Julian in the very serious Dad's egg and spoon race. Kalem and Talia were beside themselves with excitement cheering him on at the side line, so cute!

My very first knitting in public........... For some reason my friends found this extremely amusing.

My little camp princess.......

Our tent......

Baby yoga..... oh to be that flexible!!!

I hope that you all enjoyed your weekend too. X

POST....

Last week I received the books that I had ordered from Fishpond the online NZ bookstore. They have a great selection of craft books and if you spend over $50 then postage is free. The Creative family by Amanda Blake Soule who writes the blog Soulemama is brilliant and I highly recommend it. She has great ideas for family craftiness.... I have actually had the book out of the library twice, but it is definitely a book to keep!! The other book I ordered was about sewing skirts, the patterns look pretty simple, so once I have actually been brave enough to turn my sewing machine on I should be able to give them a go!! I don't buy books often as they are expensive and I can't afford them, also we have such a fantastic library here, but there is nothing better than getting your very own lovely new books............................ I don't think that my mum would agree, but I know that my Dad would!!!!!

I was also lucky enough to receive this lovely piece of clay work sent all the way from Austria by the lovely Ingrid. She sent it along with a great article on Nano felting that I really want to do................ sometime. Thanks Ingrid, check out her blog, she writes lovely honest, thought provoking posts......

I finally took a photo of Lola in her rainbow dress, it looks so cute on her. In hindsight though I think that little dresses look better when babies are walking, I am hoping that this will still fit her then! She is on the move at the moment and has started to drag herself along the floor (a bit like a wounded soldier), unlike rolling she can get wherever she wants now. I guess that it won't be long now until she is crawling at a mad speed all over the place and I am running after her like a headless chicken. Time to start moving those breakables......

It is a glorious day here in Christchurch, hope that you are all enjoying the sunshine wherever you are........ X

THE BUSINESS OF BEING BORN....

I recently received my very own copy of the DVD 'The Business Of Being Born" which is an AMAZING documentary by the American TV presenter Ricki Lake. It is basically a documentary about giving birth in America and boy what an eye opener it is. For instance did you know that only 8% of woman use a midwife and that they have the 2nd worse newborn death rate in the WORLD...... It is the normal thing to have your baby in hospital with a doctor (no midwife in sight) and at almost every birth there is some kind of medical intervention. I do understand that sometimes medical intervention is needed and we are lucky to have the facilities available to save lives, but it seems that there is so much UNNECESSARY intervention being used. It is a billion dollar industry and woman are being convinced that giving birth is to be feared. This is a wonderful DVD and Ricki Lake is doing a great thing letting people know that there are other birthing options out there and that the miracle of birth is not to be feared. I had goosebumps watching this and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in birth or midwifery.

Watching this film re-ignited my passion for midwifery, I have recently been feeling that I will never get to study midwifery and even if I did how would I cope being so tired!!!! But where there is a will there is a way. Some people believe that midwifery is a calling and apparently it is very unlucky to ignore this calling. I am not sure that I believe the unlucky part, but I do believe that once a spark of midwifery has been lit it is very difficult to put out the fire.

So as I am pretty sure that I will never look like this again (unless I eat too many (veggie) pies of course) ..................

........Or ever again have that moment just after giving birth of holding my newborn child in my arms and wondering at the miracle of life. There is nothing in the world that can beat the first time your new baby looks deep into your eyes at your soul connecting you both forever, igniting an all powerful feeling of love and an intense need to protect and nurture this amazing new life, this gorgeous gift you have been given to look after......

............. I feel very happy that my passion for midwifery has been rekindled as I can't think of a better or more rewarding job in the world. Now if my brain would please start working again I would be very grateful!!!!!!!! X

GIRL TIME....

A perfect day....................... to me is sitting with my gorgeous girl having fun getting crafty together!! Talia made a bracelet with her lovely wooden beads (so pretty) and I got to work a bit more on my embroidery. This is my first attempt at embroidery and I am really enjoying it, it's taking ages though as it's normally hard to find time to concentrate around these parts....................

Couldn't resist putting up this picture of giggling Gertie, she is such a happy wee thing, a real blessing..... X