More new brooches

 Up over here now!  Same price, $11 includes postage x

In nature

We went for a short drive in the weekend, and ended up in Marahau.  How lucky are we to have this beautiful spot so close to our home?  Very lucky.

It was a hot day and we just went for a short walk.  Unfortunately the babe didn't really enjoy the car ride as she was feeling a bit under the weather, but she did enjoy looking at the birds.

She had a great view from her perch up on dad's back.

New stock

A new item I've created for my markets, born from playing around making my pebble brooches.  I think these hair pins are super cute for mamas or little ones!!  These are headed to market, but if you'd like to buy or swap do let me know xo

Wardrobe Wednesday - my last one

What!!? Yes, you read that right.
This will be my last Wardrobe Wednesday, for a while.  Perhaps for ever.
I'm just a bit sick of 'having' to find an outfit (without repeating myself too much) and getting organised to post it on time every Wednesday.  And if something is not fun anymore - I'm not doing it.

Dress - Me

Brooch - Me (get your own here!)

Cardi - favourite thrifted one

Shoes - favourite birkenstocks

If anyone would like to take over hosting everyone else's links in their comments then be my guest and feel free to organise this.  Otherwise ~ just carry on posting on a Wednesday!

I am really happy with what I have gotten out of Wardrobe Wednesdays - it's really helped me feel more like 'me' again, after having my baby.  I hope you've enjoyed it too x

Christmas present idea!!

Go buy one of my pebble brooches!!  $11.00 (includes postage!) what a bargain!!

I'm nothing if not subtle.  Get yours here. 

I had so much fun

I've been makin' felt things this weekend, and I've had a blast!!  It started with these, which I took along to a new stitching group on Thursday night.

Initially I was making them for myself and family...but then I decided some might go down well at market, so I made a few more.  And then a few different colours, for those who like to 'theme' their Christmas tree decorations...

Can you help with pricing?  I think I'm just going to say $5 but my Mum reckons that's too cheap...opinions please.
I was having heaps of fun, and decided to make myself a new brooch.  It then morphed into many, many brooches.  I've decided to call them pebble brooches.  I'm thinking $10???

I worked on these at the stitch and bitch I hosted today.  It's been a great and very crafty few days...

Very easy dinner idea

Grease oven proof dish and pop in some rice (approx 1 cup for 2 people) a tin of Indian flavoured tomatoes, curry powder to taste, salt and pepper.

Stir, add water to cover and a knob of butter.  Should look kinda like the above pic.

Pop into the oven at about 180c, WITH THE LID ON.  Cook for a while.  Check, stir and add more water if its getting dry.

Check again.  Cook until the rice is soft.  Can add a tin of chickpeas 5 min before serving if you want.

Serve with natural yoghurt, or sour cream.  Also good with broccoli or salad. (Does anyone else just dump lettuce on the plate and call it salad?)

Meat in a can

The spam bots have found me.  Comment moderation has been enabled.  How annoying :(

Wardrobe Wednesday - Ball Photos

Yes.  That's me right there, pouring a glass of punch.  Check out the blue and orange awesome-ness.

And again, full length, to showcase the outfit, because that's what it's all about.

Wow.  Can't believe I just did that.

Sorry about the cropped pics, but they were all I had.  I wasn't about to go putting old friends up in internet-land without their permission, they might come after me...

PS.  Contrary to what it might seem from yesterdays post I am not a domestic goddess (HA!).  Ask my husband.  May I point out what did not appear (and could go for weeks without appearing) in my daily yesterday...changing the sheets, cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming, mopping, picking all my clothes up off the floor...I could go on.  But I will admit I do try to keep on top of the day to day chores.  I just can't relax and enjoy my crafting if I know I have a big stack of dishes getting crusty and dry, I'd rather do them first.  It's genetic, I can't fight it ;)  Goes hand in hand with the OCD organisation and desperate lack of spontaneity I'm afraid...

PPS.  Wicked cool giveaway up here.  Just sayin'

Daily

7.20am  ::  Baby is crying.  Husband goes to get her and brings her into our room for a cuddle.  He has a shower.  I'm a bit tired as babe was up twice in the night.
7.35am  ::  My turn for a shower.  Get dressed quickly, as I'm staying at home all day.  Don't brush hair.
7.45am  ::  Take babe into lounge.  Change nappy.  She plays.

 7.50am  ::  Turn on the radio, boil the jug.  Make toast, porridge and tea.

8am  ::  Eat breakfast.
8.20am  ::  Hubby goes to work.  I check email, fb, news, while baby plays round my feet.
8.30am  ::  Put dishes away from last night.  Play with babe.
9am  ::  Change nappy.

9.20am  ::  Feed babe and put her down for a nap.  Put away breakfast stuff, do dishes, write a blog post.  Make coffee.  Check letterbox, water vegie garden.  Fold washing.  Browse library website and reserve books online.
11am  ::  Baby still napping.  Prepare our lunch.  Cheese sandwiches, orange and banana.  Set this aside for later.

 11.15am  ::  Baby up.  Change nappy.  Play in 'peg-pit' (sandpit that we haven't got sand for yet, and has pegs in.  So far is much cleaner than sand, so I'm tempted to stick with pegs).

11.30am  ::  We both have an early lunch.  Cup of tea.  While she finishes her lunch, I write ideas/lists in my notebook.  Read a recipe books and decide to make cupcakes for stitch and bitch on Sunday.

12noon  ::  Babe plays.  I check email etc.  Chat with my associate on fb.  Do some work on the side project.
12.30pm  ::  Fold more washing.  Put another load in the machine.  Baby follows me, climbing in washing basket, against washing machine, and on me.  Play peek-a-boo.

 1pm  ::  Go for a walk round the neighbourhood.  She babbles at full volume most of the way.

 1.30pm  ::  Home.  Change nappy.  She plays in the peg-pit again, I hang the washing out on the airer on the deck.
1.50pm  ::  My Mum drops in after work.  She reads stories to baby while I go and get lettuce and red onion from the garden for salad for dinner.
2.30pm  ::  Feed baby and put her down for a nap.
2.35pm  ::  Have a cuppa with Mum.
2.45pm  ::  Mum goes.  Check emails/blogs.  Tidy toys.  Put washing away.
3pm  ::  Turn on sewing machine.  Start sewing stockings.

3.05pm  ::  Baby starts crying.  Try to convince her to nap longer.
3.10pm  ::  Resume sewing.

 3.15pm  ::  Baby cries.  Turn off sewing machine.  Read stories in her room.  Change nappy.  Play her favourite games 'climb all over Mama' and 'whack Mama in the head with stuff'.

 4pm  ::  Both eat cruskits.

 4.10pm  :: Cup of tea.  Baby plays with her wagon full of cans.  Would usually be thinking about dinner, but have leftover lasagna for tonight.

 4.20pm  ::  Change nappy.  She's getting grizzly so carry her around while I tidy lounge, and get things ready for her bath.
4.45pm  ::  Early bath for bubs.
5.15pm  ::  Clean, dry, moisturised and soothed.  Plays while I check email etc again (I do this A LOT huh!?) 
5.35pm  ::  Get baby's tea.  Mashed potato, mince and veges, which I have portioned out and frozen for nights when she doesn't eat what we're having.  Also broccoli.  Feed her dinner.  Have a wine.

 6pm  ::  She plays.  I upload some pictures.  Hubby home, she plays with him.  Put the telly news on.  Make salad, heat up lasagne.  Put the nappies from the day on to wash.
6.30pm  ::  Put the baby to bed.  Sit down to eat.

6.35pm  ::  Get the baby up because she's crying.  She sits in her highchair and eats a few bits from her dad's plate while we have dinner.
7pm  ::  Put baby to bed.  Have a cup of tea, and a bit of chocolate. 
7.35pm  ::  Baby cries.  Listen to see if she'll go back to sleep.  Edit photos.  All is quiet.  Write the longest blog post ever (this one!)
8.15pm  ::  Do dishes and hang out the nappies from the wash.
8.35pm  ::  Lay on couch, thinking I should be sewing.
9.05pm  ::  Go do some sewing.
9.45pm  ::  Baby wakes up.  Feed, change, back to sleep.
10pm  ::  Check email etc, turn off computer, clean teeth, PJs.
10.20pm  ::  Bed.

Dailies

I somehow found myself over at Design for Mankind the other day.  You know what it's like, a few clicks and suddenly you've found somewhere interesting you've never been before.  I came across her dailies features where she asks other bloggers/designers to do a post about 'a day in the life' type of thing.  I find these kind of posts absolutely fascinating.  For some reason I love reading about what time people get up, what they have for breakfast, how they get to work etc...I can't work out what it is that I find so absorbing.  I also love those posts where people show what is in their handbags.  I think I am just nosey.
So I thought I might start doing a few dailies of my own.  I think my life is fairly mundane, and most days it seems like I don't get much done.  But I found it all quite interesting once I started writing it down.  Maybe you will too?  First installment later in the week.  Maybe even tomorrow.

Ho ho ho.

 Well honestly.   I thought making a few stockings (for my daughter, niece and nephew) was going to be a walk in the park.  I had anticipated that the hardest part would be picking the fabric combinations and getting the right look.  This is always difficult, but I am happy so far.  I was trying to go for quite a classic Christmas kind of style, since other trends may come and go, and I'm hoping these stockings will be used for many years.  Well I tell you, after all the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into these so far, the kids better keep them until the head off to university (they are currently 12months, 16months and 2 1/2!!!)
I lost count of how many letter 'H's I went through before I managed to zig zag round one to a standard I was happy with.  I've never done applique before with that tight zig zag stitch and I thought it looked pretty easy.  It probably will be in the future, now I've had a bit of practise.

Sorry not the best colours in this pic, the white and red seem to blow out on the camera...

 Have you started any Christmas projects?  Or do you have any ideas to share?  Leave a link if you've made/found anything great.  And any present ideas are also very welcome, I haven't started my shopping yet and the panic is starting to niggle in the back of my mind....

current w.i.p.

You all know that stands for work in progress, right?  Thought so.

Pretty self-explanatory really!
Guess what!?  I'm going out tonight.  To a play.  With adults.  And wine.  At the theatre.  With no baby.  Eeeep!!

giveaway

Of epic proportions (well I think it's pretty sweet), coming up...
...over here...

Wardrobe Wednesday

Cardi - Thrifted

Necklace - Croutons by Toast

Top - was a dress, but I chopped it off, Glassons

Skirt - Shanton

Shoes - Number One Shoes

I like a good pop of colour.  Especially when you use opposites on the colour wheel.  Blue and orange are a particular favourite of mine.  In fact my ball dress in 7th form was a beautiful blue, orange and white 70's number, hired from the costume shop for the grand sum of $10.  Yes, I have photos.  No, I'm not putting them up.

Update:  Well, Rhiannon triple-dared me, so yes I WILL be putting those pics up.  Next Wednesday.  Photos from my 7th form ball.  Oh my.  Care to join me? (if you don't have ball pics, anything similarly dressed up and embarrassing will be fine!)

Grrrr.

I was visibly upset when I discovered that someone (more likely something) had broken through my defenses and invaded my strawberry patch. 

 The evidence was everywhere.

Oh well.  I have tightened up the fortifications and hopefully this will keep future intruders at bay.  On a happier note, the strawberry popcorn is heading skyward!

And the tomatoes?  Well I must say I am quite pleased with their progress to date...

These are Black Krim

And this giant is Brandywine Pink

So excited

Look at my new favicon!  Courtesy of Striking Keys! 
Thanks Angela, it's soooo cute, totally made my day!

(what am I on about!?!  Up there, up the top by the URL*, that cutie wee green button!!!)

*If you don't know what a URL is I can't help you

Revised goals

Oh it's never easy is it, this weight loss business...
I got within a kilo or so of my pre-baby weight - and I got lazy.  Now let me say that my pre-baby weight is still about 5kg from where I (and all those weight/height charts) would like me to be.  But I could get back into most of my clothes and I felt pretty good.  But I got lazy.  And a nasty little 1.3kg has snuck back on.  Harrumph.
I think it may be made up of birthday cupcakes, hubby's home brew and peanut butter on toast.
So even though I just feel like quitting, I am instead going to revise my goals, with an idea of hopefully loosing 3kg by Xmas - and hopefully not putting it back on over the festive season!
So that's me for today, off for a big walk and trying to keep a tight grip on my motivation and will power.
xo

Wardrobe Wednesday

Black top - Glassons

Necklace - Vanette

Skirt - Mariposa

Shoes - not today, thanks

Man, it's just hay fever central round here, and to be honest it's making me a bit miserable (and grumpy!) Poor husband.  I hope your week is going better!  Can't wait to see what you're wearing xo

I needed a side project 'cause I didn't have enough to do

Or something like that.  I've been working on a little something over here, you might like to check it out.   Do make sure you become a follower, as my associate and I are going to have some awesome giveaways coming up soon.

On an entirely different tangent... I just wanted to let you know that I thought I didn't like Florence and the Machine, but then this song got stuck in my head.  In a 'humming along' kinda way, not in a 'driving me crazy' kinda way.  So maybe I do like her...well, I like this song anyway.  Undecided.

a party

 A party was had over the weekend.  And it was good!  And now I have a cold, in typical fashion...
I must say having a child born between Halloween and guy fawkes day does not fill me with confidence when I think of the possibilities for teenage birthday party themes...ugh.  Teenagers+fireworks+scary costumes=a stressed out Mama!?  Oh well, at least I have a while to wait before I have to deal with that...