Boys bonding and fairy fun

This weekend Julian took Kalem and his cousin Joe to their very first game of rugby to watch the Christchurch team the Crusaders. They went out for pizza first so it was a real boys bonding night. They had such a wonderful time and Kalem came back a very tired boy brandishing his very own (foam) Crusader sword and a face covered in red and black stripes, the team colours. I had painted couple of stripes on his face before he left home as having been brought up in a family of very keen football supporters I know the importance of showing your 'true colours'... Go the REDS....

Of course as my mother-in-law likes to say 'there's no show without punch..'. Talia had to have a sun and a heart on her face before we settled down to our girlie night in with a big bowl of popcorn and a Thumbelina DVD.

Talia had a fairytastic time last week, here she is making some flower fairies. We actually had a kit, but they would be super easy to make with just a few fake flowers and some pipe cleaners.

The eeny weeny flower fairies having a rest after a busy day flitting around...

Talia also had a visit from her little fairy friend 'FIZZY' who lives at the bottom of our garden. We arrived home from school and found glittery fairy dust all over the doorstop and well everyone knows that means that there has been fairy mail!!! Talia rushed to the mailbox to find a little bunch of flowers, a toadstool card and a little parcel all for her...

Inside the parcel was a little flower fairy trinket box with this little bracelet inside. A magical day indeed..................

Are there any fairies living in the bottom of your garden?????? X

A NEW BAG!

Okay so it's official I am becoming obsessed with making bags.... This is my first attempt at sewing a bag for myself and I am really pleased with it!!! I used this fantastic tutorial from Melissa's lovely blog Tiny Happy. It was really easy to make although due to getting the sewing machine out and then putting it away again a million times (pesky kids...), it did take me a few days to complete. Oh how I long for a craft studio....... dream, dream, dream!

I went hunting the second hand shops specifically for something to make this bag with and was really thrilled to find a lovely old curtain with gorgeous leafy/fern pattern. Probably not to every ones taste, but I really love ferns. The material is nice and thick too which gives the bag shape.

This is a rubbish photo, but just trying to show that the inside is perfect for storing your knitting! I love this bag, it is such a great shape and size, I already have the material cut out for bag no. 2!!

Here are my little puddings learning to play the recorder. Lola was having great fun making some noise and thought that she was really funny!! The recorder actually belongs to Kalem and he is trying to teach himself with the aid of a booklet. The noise is HIDEOUS, seriously I know that I am supposed to be encouraging his musical creativity, but it is REALLY hurting my ears!!!!! I am determined however to grin and bear it and that this item will not be thrown on top of the kitchen cabinet along with all the other irritatingly noisy toys. Lets just hope that he is a fast learner..............

EDIT - I have now sorted the problem and the link to Tiny Happy blog should now work....!

Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes....

The weekend before last we took the kids and went tomato picking. You would not believe how much fun they had, the boys thoroughly enjoyed throwing the rotten tomatoes at each other (boys huh???). The aim was to pick as many tomatoes as possible so that this very clever daddy could make some lovely sauce and chutney. He really does make some yummy relishes and sauces, it requires an awful lot of kitchen time so rather him than me..... We enlisted the help of one cousin with the promise of ice cream and the park afterwards and off we went.

Lola was chief taster, she did a great job!

A job very well done, they definitely deserved the yummy real fruit ice cream that followed.

So all last week Julian has been cooking up a storm and now we have quite a lot of tomatoey goodness to see us through till next summer (and possibly even the summer after that). Now I just have to find somewhere to store all of these bottles and jars.

More sewing.....

I have been doing some MORE sewing, just can't seem to get enough. Really though you should see the state of my house (my mum would not be pleased), but I figure my need to create is far greater than my need to do the DUSTING........

Talia was really pleased with her bag and as it was my second attempt it turned out much better than the first!
I just love this toadstool fabric, just perfect for my little fairy princess!

I also made this little owl from the book 'more softies'. The kids have been fighting over him all day so he has now found a new home in the garden. I am pretty sure that he will be much happier sitting on this branch in the PEACE and QUIET, lucky, lucky owl........

Family Drawing time......

Drawing is a favourite pastime in our house. Taking the idea from the wonderful book 'The Creative Family' we had family drawing time yesterday afternoon after school. We all sat down with our art supplies and paper and got creative, even Lola had a go on her own piece of paper.
It all went swimmingly for about 10 minutes everyone was calm and creating their masterpieces quietly and happily until .... this little TERROR went on the rampage!
Honestly you should have seen her, she was a girl on a mission and that mission was to cause as much mayhem as possible. There were crayons flying around, paper being ripped, drawings being drawn on by chubby baby hands, children screaming and all the time the TERROR had the biggest grin ever on her face. Oh yes she sure knew the trouble she was causing and she was LOVING it!!!!

I also have to write and tell you all of my amazing morning. I got out of bed as usual this morning, but as soon as I got into the lounge Kalem directed me to the couch and covered me with a blanket. Then he got Dad to light some candles and put on some lovely music and told me that I was to sit and relax. Hmmmmmmmm great idea, but relaxing IN THE MORNING, unheard of! He was such a sweetie though and went into the kitchen to put the lunch things together and got Lola out of her cot when she woke up. I even got a shoulder and head rub, it only lasted about 30 seconds, but I mean come on the boy was pretty busy! Apparently he thought that I needed some rest after being up with Lola every night. I really am blessed with the most sweet, thoughtful, kind, considerate and wonderful boy, what a lovely way to start the day......... X

Bitten by the sewing bug...

I have been quite busy sewing recently and am starting to get the hang of my sewing machine at last!! I made this sweet little tote from the 'Bend the Rules' sewing book yesterday. It is for a little friend of Talia's who is having a birthday party this weekend. I am determined to make as many presents as possible this year, I am going to pop in some eco-pencils, but that doesn't count as they come from a gorgeous little local shop that sells fabulous handmade things. Of course Talia has requested a little bag of her very own, but that's okay as I actually really enjoyed making this.....


Not a great photo, but look a little pocket inside, it's my favourite part. The back of the bag is the same spotty fabric as the lining.

My lovely little model

I also made a little wrap around dress for Talia's doll 'Tilly'. I drew up the pattern myself so it's a bit rough around the edges and a little on the large side, but Talia loves it and that's all that really matters. She has now requested that I make Tilly some pyjama's, hmm not sure how I am going to manage that, but apparently Tilly is starting to get cold at night and we can't have that now can we........

Right am off to do some more sewing, it's quite addictive isn't it!!! X

Being in the Kitchen...

Cooking to me has always been a bit of a chore and I am definitely not a natural cook. I need to follow recipes EXACTLY and am seriously lacking in culinary creativity! Luckily for me I have a fabulous hubby who loves to cook, last night he made an amazing veggie lasagne, yum... Anyway he usually cooks at the weekend, but in the week it's down to me -yay-. I have found however that when using my beautiful 'thrifted' pans cooking doesn't seem quite so much of a chore. This is very sad I know, but what can I say I like pretty things!!!!!

On the subject of pretty things, here is my sweet budding musician playing a tune on Kalem's keyboard.....

Hope that everyone is having a great weekend, we are off for a walk in the forest now and then coming home so that Julian can make some tomato sauce. See I told you he loves being in the kitchen and I am a very lucky girl!!!

MOSAIC

I finally got around to finishing my mosaic piece, just need to paint around the edges and it's all done. Couldn't resist posting a photo of it though as proof that my creative mojo has returned. I really enjoyed working on this piece and it reminded me how much I love this art form.

It's not a great photo as the blue is not showing true and it looks wonky, when it is in fact a perfect rectangle. I am thinking of adding another 2 pieces either side, continuing with the circle pattern. This would require many more hours of being absorbed in the wonderful world of mosaic, but in reality I'm not sure I'd be able to find the time. We will see... X

MONKEY LOVE.....

Look who arrived on our doorstep yesterday!!

This adorable little cherry guy was sent to me by the very lovely Millie, I was beyond lucky to have won her blog giveaway recently. Millie sells these gorgeous little guys on Felt and around NZ, go check out her blog for more info. They are so adorable and really quite tame, so far this little cherry guy has been behaving himself and there hasn't been too much monkeying around....

Well it was LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT for these two and they have pretty much been inseparable since.
Monkey is still waiting for his name, Talia can't quite make up her mind, so at the moment he is affectionately know as 'monkey'. So far there has been a lot of kissing...

... some necklace making...

...but mainly there has just been a whole lot of hugging. Yes I think that 'monkey' is going to be quite happy and very loved in his new home!

THANK YOU so much Millie for your wonderfully generous giveaway you have made one little girl very VERY happy....... X

Sun, Sun, Sun...

We have all been thinking that Autumn is on it's way here in NZ, but this weekend we were treated to glorious sun filled days. We spent a lovely afternoon on the beach, it was so warm even I ventured into the water. Needless to say the kids had a blast.............

'little surfer chick in training...'

I really hope that we get to enjoy some more lovely warm kiwi days before Autumn really does come a calling!! X

Paper planes....

Blimey it's like a war zone at our house at the moment and for once I don't mean because the kids are fighting..... Kalem has been spending a LOT of time making paper airplanes, then he and Talia have been flying them all over the house. You can't go anywhere without being hit on the head by a plane or accidentally standing on one and having to quickly hide the crumpled mess in the bottom of the bin so that you don't get told off!!
A few of the fighter jets lined up and ready for battle....

At least somebody in our house is making something. I seem to be spending a lot of time reading about making things, cutting out patterns and fabric to make things with , talking about all the different things I am going to make, but actually not making anything at all. Can you get 'crafters block"???? If so I definitely think that I have this, I can't seem to concentrate on anything.

I am quite tired so I am putting it down to this, yes Lola is still waking all night long. On a good night she only wakes 4 times, but the other night it was 8, she quite often wakes hourly and the only way to settle her is to feed her, SIGH!!! It's completely my own fault for letting her get into such a terrible night time routine and I know that I need to be a BIT tougher with her, but I am TOO TIRED!!!!! I am going to try not feeding her every time that she wakes tonight, fingers crossed.

Here is a photo of the little monkey and her big sister especially for their grandparents.... X

Crafy Business

Lucky me living in Christchurch once a month I get to go to the Crafty Business group. The group was set up by some very clever peeps - Millie of Pink Paper Pinafore, Amy from the Loop Knittery and Lucy from Felt. The aim of the group is to get like minded craft lovers together to exchange ideas, network and get some great business help and advice. Last night was the second evening, I did go to the first, but did not blog about it as it was jut before my friend arrived from the UK.

What a fantastic evening, Lucy gave some brilliant advice on business planning and it was really cool to meet so many talented people. I mean what could be more fun than hanging out with so many funky, arty, crafters in a pub on a Monday evening???? I met so many cool people who I am really hoping to get to know much better over time. The highlight of my evening though was meeting the very lovely Millie, I have gotten to know her through blogging and it was such a treat to meet her in person.

If you live in Christchurch and fancy heading along to the next meeting then check out the Crafty Business blog. Maybe I'll see you there next month, I am already looking forward to it!!! Thanks heaps to Millie, Amy and Lucy for organising such a fabulous evening!! X