a new language

After a few hours spent on the lawn on a sunny Sunday with some of my favourite work friends, I am finally learning to talk in crochet...

I can't yet talk AND crochet, but have learned that I can crochet passably with one eye closed (which is lucky, given the state of my left eye!).

Hope you are having a lovely day!

mended

After the fun of mending her jeans, I turned to my own... and wondered why we both get holes on the same knee (the right one).


I have vague memories of wearing jeans patched from the inside, and how uncomfortable they were, so I went for an "outside patch" too, and then had some fun with wonky stitching.


Now I have a built-in reminder to check the mending pile more often...

I'm not sure what I was supposed to do today...

(and I still have a vague, unsettling feeling that there was something I was supposed to do...)

But I did...


... eat the last of our yummy "Cathie Cookies" (Fruity Oat Cookies, to be precise), one of the amazing recipes from Cathie's blog...


... play our girl's new invented game - "Backy Books" (basically you grab all your Golden Books, turn them over so you can only see their backs, and then pick and read a book without knowing what it will be)...


... and turn three old cloth nappies into a dressing gown, because I felt like doing some of my favourite kind of sewing (using old stuff, so there's nothing to lose, and making it up as I go along).



Hope you've had a fun Sunday too!

our creative space (vale margaret olley)

Today, we decided to celebrate the life of Margaret Olley - an inspiring artist and supporter of the arts - by making our own artworks.

(Terrie, the travelling kinder bear, sitting for his very own portrait)

I loved gathering and arranging objects for our still life... and in doing so, remembering my own art classes at school (still life drawings of flowers were always a favourite).


I also loved watching my girl having fun and getting inspired by using the "good" paints and the special palette and paper...

(yes, I took my chance to relive art class and paint camellias again...)

and wished the wind didn't blow up so we could have stayed painting all day.

I hope you've had fun being creative too.

library parties are the best...

because the invitations are fun...

because we could indulge my love of retro and her love of signs (thanks for leading us to these, Vic)...

because I had the perfect excuse to build more bookshelves...

because this was our menu plan...

because of story time (we love story time!)...

because it's fun to watch little hands creating...

because a cake shaped like a book is pretty easy to make...

because cupcakes featuring all her chosen books are not THAT hard to make when you have a food dye pen (thanks for the tip, Cathie!)...

because it's nice to give as well as receive...

because she loves books, and we love her.

(we had the BEST time, and are happily exhausted today... please excuse my continuing slackness with correspondence and comments...)

cushion swap - in and out

I was really nervous when I signed up for Vic's cushion swap - what if I stuff up my project and send my swap recipient a dud, or end up being really late sending it, and getting in trouble with Vic?

or... what if I really don't like the cushion I receive?

I think I've been lucky on both counts...

Here's the cushion I received - from the lovely Melissa. Isn't it amazing - and it fits our place perfectly. The big question is - do I add it to our vintage sheet bedding plans for our daughter's "big bed" - or do I keep it for myself? I'm keeping it for myself for a while as I make up my mind...

I was lucky with my swap recipient too - I got to spend some time "researching" on her lovely blog and checking out her Pinterest pics, and working out what she might like. I discovered that she loves books (and is fond of books arranged by colour order), likes flowers, and likes a bit of vintage...

so I made her a rainbow vintage floral bookshelf cushion! I really loved the process of making it, and found myself racing to finish it in excitement (instead of my normal hurrying to meet a deadline). I really hope she likes it too.

Thanks, Vic - this swap was fun!

my creative space

I am often late with presents for my family, so I'm a bit chuffed that I'm already on track for Mother's Day next week...

I made a couple of these little handprint flowers for Grandma and Nanny - using this tutorial by Wild Olive, but using full size handprints - because I am lazy, but also because I think the recipients will like to know they are "really" her handprints (I just cut the second handprint a little way up the palm to make the smaller inner petals).

Now I just need to remember to get to the post office on time...

For more creative spaces ...

avoiding the oppie - day 1

As I suspected, my daughter has taken my op-shop moratorium badly.

On the very first day, despite a clogged up nose, and a rather impressive sounding cough (well, if you are impressed by sickness), she insisted we needed to go to an Op shop to find a friend for Moby Dick, because he was lonely in the ocean...


(She also wanted me to tell her the story of Moby Dick - oh, maybe not quite the right story for a nearly 4 year old - so I told her to make up her own... sure enough, it was a story about Moby finding a whale friend...).

I started to have a "wants versus needs" conversation with her (all the time, thinking I was a pot talking to a kettle), but felt so sorry for my glazed eyed girl, and found myself saying "We don't need to go out for a whale, we could make one."


I took a rough pattern from Moby, cut into some old trackies from the rag pile, keeping away from the threadworn bits, and sewed - with one eye on the machine, and one eye on my little cheerleader dancing on the bed (amazing what a bit of toy anticipation can do...),


and made Teacle.




Teacle loves turning somersaults in the ocean, and eating shrimp, but mostly she loves spending time with her best friend Moby.


I wonder what I will resort to next time the op shop beckons? Christy and I are going to try and stay away for the rest of April - does anyone else want to / need to join us?

my creative space

This week, our space contains little snippets of creativity... I am thinking about big projects and plans, but so far haven't found the time (or energy or organisation or self belief) to get started...

...soon...

Until then, I am borrowing ideas...

(child embroidered hoop inspired by Soulemama)

taking inspiration from a challenge...

(made from sheet edges left over from making FQs for this swap)

and enjoying some early morning outdoor creative time with the girl...


For more than just snippets, pop over here.

my creative space

Lately, it feels like I have been alternating between just kind of inching along...


and being helplessly upside down, trying my hardest to move, but getting nowhere...

I've had a slow start, but I have high hopes for a bit more inching today.

I hope you're travelling well.

More creative spaces here.


PS: this is supposed to be a caterpillar - made after our girl tearfully announced that our original caterpillar did not look at all like Wooly Bear from the book (luckily, the original Wooly Bear is still going strong, just with a new name - Bluey...).


It's a bit short and stumpy, but it has stopped the tears, and every piece of green fabric in the house is now a plantain leaf, so I'm considering it a success...

my creative space - no bake cookie

I said "should we make something?"

She said "Yes please!"

The only problem was, I was thinking crafty thoughts, and she was thinking cookies...

We found a compromise - a softie cookie, (with a bit of inspiration from the works of Nikki and her girl).



Mmm, smells good...


For creative space inspiration, visit Kirsty.

my creative space

Guess where we are going today? With two softies finished just in time (well, actually, a day late for the window opening, but at least this way we get to drop off and window swoon at the same time...).


A big special mention to Susan, for the fabric for Bunny's "dress" (I won it, with some other vintage sheet fat quarters a while back), and for giving me a little bag full of toy stuffing as well! It was exactly the right amount to finish both softies - thank you Susan!

If you are a fast softie maker and want to join in, you still can - read Pip's latest Softies for Mirabel post here.

For more creative spaces, visit Kootoyoo.

Edited to add: there has been some conjecture regarding whether the brown softie is a dog or a pig... well... he was supposed to be a dog, but as soon as I turned him right way out, he looked a bit like a pig - so lets call him a dog/pig shall we?