jellyfish costume!

how awesome is this jellyfish costume?!

it reminds me of a certain activity i helped finished with without a certain little boy named james... :)

found via the amazing one pretty thing site - thanks rachel!

x

vampires & country victoria

so, i started reading that book last week & then i had to go & get the second one, & the third one & then i realised there was a fourth one! (final) so i read them all in about 5 days hence the lack of posting :)
needless to say, i enjoyed them & when they were finished i felt a little lost & bewildered without bella & edward around...

otherwise, we had a lovely weekend in daylesford - i would highly recommend going there if you're in victoria, it's only about an hours drive out of melbourne & i felt like i was in a different country almost - so pretty & green & relaxing

sunset over the roof tops

mmm...  interesting...

 

we stayed at a lovely little self catering place called chestnut daylesford which was just down the road from the convent art gallery (love it!) & was absolutely gorgeous - thanks lise!

we visited heaps of little shops, including an amazing treasure trove called wombat hill antiques - filled with all kinds of everything! B had to wait outside for me as it was filled with people but i persevered & dug around to find some ancient metal roller skates (with a key!), a glove template thingy (for cutting out glove patterns i guess) which i'm thinking of spraying red, a couple of old rusty chains just because i liked the look of them & two mail order sewing patterns from The Sun news-pictorial in melbourne dated 1969 - one of the patterns if for a wrap dress & the other a sweet dress with a tie detail around the neckline (photos to follow)

we got chinese take away friday night after we arrived (dropped the kids at nanna & pa on the way up) & i enjoyed a very relaxing spa bath before hitting the sack (to continue reading) :)

on saturday we went shopping! yay! saturday night we went to the farmers arms for dinner - yum!  i had steak, roast potatoes & salad (& beer) & B had crumbed flathead with chips (& beer) - "it was good" :) afterwards we saw a sign for "a day on earth" & went to investigate...

 

 

 

 

 

(rocket ship, with sunset & moon = me trying to be creative)

needless to say, we were sucked in! so sunday morning we went back to this incredible place called a day on earth - utterly gorgeous & i can't find any good photos to show you so mine will have to surfice!

 

yes, that's a sand castle :)

 

i want everything in this place! love, love, LOVE!  i should have taken more photos but (a) i didn't know if it was allowed & (b) i was so gobsmacked i couldn't concentrate properly :D

i will do some more research & update as i do - just do yourself a favour, when in daylesford - go there!

they apparently also have a shop on chapel street, prahran but i don't know what that's like in comparison with this amazing warehouse filled with wonders & the incredible paintings & sculptures of david bromley :) (i might have to investigate to do a follow up post)

oh how i wish i had about $18 000 (or more!) spare cash around about now... sigh...

this was my favourite -

it immediately made me think of my boys :)

after all this wonder, we went to the mill market & i don't think B really understood what he was getting himself into...

i started browsing & he said he was going to have a look around - when he came back i was only in the second stall!  so off he went again & came back & i wasn't much further :D

so i told him to bugger off go & get something to eat & do some shopping for his parents (thank you pressies) and he said "i'll be about an hour" to which i replied "i probably won't be finished" to which he replied *eye-ball roll* :)

when he came back i was about 3/4 of the way through so he went off again & got me another book & lunch & sat in the car to wait...  two hours later i emerged! victorious! although, if we'd had a trailer it probably would have been more victorious but anyway...

i got some wooden industrial thread spools & some battered metal numbers (photos will follow) possibly from score boards (cricket/footy) or petrol stations (petrol prices?) - not sure but i like them :)

anyway, that's about it for now - i will leave you with a photo of pink & grey galahs on the side of the road - we also saw cockatoos & a black cockatoo (i think) - pretty!

later alligators

x

a sunny day

not much crafting has been happening here lately, i am a little bit obsessed with fabric bird houses however, ever since seeing these beauties a while back - so i've been attempting one for myself ;)

otherwise, today was a beee-utiful day - sunny & a little hot (we will ignore the gale force winds) & the kiddos spent the morning outside in their "pool" - all in all, a fun day & a nice long nap which is always a bonus!

molly supervising the swimmers

she loves the boys :)

an old friend rediscovered

("my friend little snake")

anyway, i'm off to bed early tonight, i've just started reading this book (i know, i know, i'm late to the party as usual) & just feel like reading for a while again.  i have always had a love affair with books & devour used to devour them in one sitting but those days seem long gone for now i think,  i also think this will make a nice change from all the crime i love to read too :)

later alligator!

x

miss molly mermaid

introducing miss molly, my mermaid prototype

i had an idea last night when i couldn't sleep, perched on the edge of the bed while B did his starfish impersonation so when matthew had his unusually long nap today & james watched finding nemo for the gazillionth time, i maid made a mermaid :)

james has claimed her but is perfectly willing to share her with matthew much to my surprise - she & pirate william are good friends already apparently but james insists that she needs a pirate eye patch so i'll have to see what i can do about that i suppose :D

i've got big plans for more molly's, i'm not entirely happy with her & my mind is reeling with ideas but i'm procrastinating as usual & the internet is being a pain in the rear end this evening so i might just go to bed early & browse through my habitat & muji catalogues my friend andrew kindly brought back from paris for me when he was over there recently...

g'night girls 'n' boys
x

jumping jellyfish

so i ended up making the jellyfish on my own as mr james didn't seem very interested in helping (but took all the credit mind you!)

anyway, here's a little tutorial if you're interested in giving it a go yourself :)

ingredients:

plastic drink bottles, ends cut off

(you could use yogurt tubs or similar)

different types of ribbon/string/yarn

different sizes bobbly things

(i got mine in a kids craft kit from kmart)

piece of net curtain*

pair of girls opaque stockings**

shiny stickers

sticky tape (for just in case you need it)

hole punch

scissors

steps (from left - right, reading across)
(you can click on the image to make it bigger)

• cut the ends off of the bottles & punch holes around edges
• cut one leg of the stockings off & then cut into strips (you could use the other leg to make a snake hand puppet or a snake softie perhaps)
  
• remove the toe end & pull the strips so that they go thin & curly
• separate your yarn & cut your ribbons, net curtain etc
• tie the pieces through the holes you punched
• sew your bobbly bits onto a long piece of thread
• (i sewed through once, then back through again so they wouldn't slide down/off the thread)
• i stabbed a couple of holes in the top of my jellyfish to hold the string it would hang from & threaded that through, tying it off with a knot (see close up below)
  
• i then tied the thread with the bobbly bits onto this string on the inside of the bottle base (inside the jellyfish head)

• stick your shiny & sparkly sticker things all over the jellyfish head
• hang it up & you're done!
  

 

you could use any colours or pieces of ribbon/fabric scraps that you have on hand, i happen to have a son whose favourite colour is blue & i had everything else in my craft drawers

 

*  the net curtain is from when i used to make my own felt from scratch, i used to roll it up in the net curtain & a bamboo blind but that's a whole other story!

**  i got the girls opaque stockings at the salvation army shop, two pairs for 50c so i got lots in different colours for you-never-know-when

the main thing is that you use your & your kids' imaginations & have fun together :D

 

james' jellyfish

(i'm just happy he tried)

have a great weekend kids!

we're going to look at yet more houses so fingers crossed something comes up that we'll like :)

adios amigos

x

10 years!

it's our tenth wedding anniversary today!
amazing how time flies, it certainly doesn't feel like we got married that long ago :)

i was really lucky to meet B, what an amazing man - i'm not very good with words especially when it comes to emotions & sentimental stuff but he's been the best thing that's happened to me & i love him dearly


what a day it was!  it seemed to go by so quickly, too quickly!
i had my dress delivered that morning, it was made by a lovely friend of my mom, she was incredible - did it in about two weeks!

lau helping with a gazillion buttons :)

thanks for the last 10 plus years baby, i love you!

x

cranky pants

so i'm feeling cranky today, mostly due to "womanly business" but also because it's been raining again (what happened to spring?) & the kids are going stir crazy - not helping my current "fragile" state (of mind)

anyway!  i was going to do a fun activity with them at some point today but didn't get around to it because i was finishing up more soft blocks for my shop & trying to take half decent photos in the kitchen at the table...  sigh...  rain is good, we need the rain (repeat)

so the fun activity will have to be postponed until tomorrow, at least i will just have one kid to entertain as matthew is going to nanna & pa for the day  :)  one is so much easier than both of them squabbling over the same toilet roll insert/raisin/piece of thread one of them found on the floor (can you tell i'm a leetle beet over eet?)

here's a little sneak peek of what we're going to do, i'm pretty excited about it i'm even thinking of doing another tutorial!  woo hoo!

i know the "e" is upside down,

the magnets were being freaky :)

check back tomorrow for more, gotta go now - james has done something & matthew is screaming his head off (again)

adios amigos

x

PS  thanks for stopping by if you found me via one pretty thing!

PPS  there is an awesome tutorial on there today for fabric alphabet magnets, definitely going to give that one a go!

PPPS  more soft activity blocks available in my shop now :)

hello thar!

hi gang!

i'm so excited to be on one of my favourite websites today!
in fact, rachel's site is such a favourite, that it's permanently open on my browser :)

if you're here for via oneprettything, welcome & thanks for stopping by & the tutorial is the next post down :D

i mentioned i'd get some photos of the pirates up so here they are in all their rascally rapscallion glory

they are in the shop now & i am taking custom orders too (hair colour, eye colour, facial hair, shirt stencil) so go! go now!  :)

been in the city this morning with matthew, we went down the road to the pharmacy & i had an idea for B's wedding anniversary present (on thursday, it's our 10 year anniversary - crap! where does the time go!) so we hopped on a tram into the city & i picked up his present, more supplies for sewing, a book for $3 from the Salvation Army shop & a toy shop register for the kids at Target (on sale) so all up a productive day :)

matthew asleep (hooray for nap time!) now & i'm going to finish up some more activity blocks so later alligators

x

finally finished & a little tutorial to boot (arrrgh!)

hi!

i've finally finished the 3 pirates, but as it's night now the photos i took are shockin' so i'll do more tomorrow

thanks for your feedback guys, i decided to keep all three types of facial hair & let people choose which they prefer, along with eye colour too :)

i also stenciled a pirate-y skull & cross bones design i came up with last night after trawling the internet for ideas!  another late night to bed (around midnight) & then i couldn't sleep properly because i was thinking...

anyway, i thought i'd do a little tutorial for the stenciling as it was SO easy & SO much fun :)

so, firstly we have a little list of "ingredients":

• a printer to print your image (or you could do a free hand drawing)
  
• fabric paint
• fabric item to stencil onto
• a small sponge (in this case, but depending on the size of your stencil you may need a bigger one)
• freezer paper (apparently this is readily available in the supermarkets in the states, i had to order mine from this quilting shop here in oz)
• a pencil or a marker to trace your image
• nice sharp scissors, i like to use these 
• an iron
• a clean piece of fabric for setting your image with the iron once paint is dry

i've done a photo tutorial, but it's my first so please let me know if something doesn't make sense :)  here goes!

trace your image using an

extremely high tech light box

well, it's not really a step as such but

here is your (my) traced image :)

carefully cut out your image

place your stencil on top of the item

you're stenciling & iron on with a hot iron

(not steam)

add any extra bits (in this case the

eyes & the nose are added)

once the stencil is in position,

insert a piece of cardboard

to prevent the paint seeping

onto the other side

again, it's not really a step, but here

is your (my) cardboard inserted behind

my fabric with the stencil on top

prepare your paint & sponge

take a small amount of paint onto

your sponge & dab in onto/over

your stencil - you really don't need

a lot for this small image & a little bit

goes a long way

stencil covered with paint

now wash your sponge etc & wait

for the paint to dry (i hung mine out

on the line as it was a sunny day today)

once the paint is dry, take your spare

piece of fabric and place it over the image

have your iron set to hot (no steam) & iron

the image over the spare fabric for a few

minutes*

 voila!

(my first time ever so please excuse the

not-so-good bones) :)

 here is one of the pirates

with his new shirt, terrible

photo but it's late & dark

and there ya go, i'll do more photos tomorrow hopefully (if it's not raining again as it did every other day i wanted to take some before) & the guys will hopefully be up in the shop in the next couple of days - hooray!!

*my paint instructions said the iron should be

at 100C but i don't know exactly what that is on

my iron so i just set it to hot, & then to iron the image

for 3 - 5 minutes to set it

i'll leave you with some photos from our day yesterday after we lost out on yet another house at auction (it's becoming quite funny now, i can laugh or i can cry & i think it's less exhausting to laugh)  :D

 

two happy crazies at the gorgeous green edinburgh gardens (result: a good loooong nap for both of them, yeah baby!)

night kids

x