Choose Handmade this Christmas

Have you done all your Christmas shopping yet? Or rather, is Santa organised at your house? If not, you have to check out madeit.com.au

Support people in Australia that make handmade stuff. There are lots of great things available there & you can do more refined searches if you are after something to suit a particular person. Here are some of my favourites!

This is a cute variation on a bus scroll poster. I like it!

These superheroes are just cute as can be... pity Santa is too organised here, else I would need these right now.

Check out all of Halle Jay's customised jewellry. The picture here is of my customised necklace. I got it last year, but recently had the additional child added. It also got cleaned & looks like new when it was away. It looks terrific! If you would like to see some terrific keepsakes check her out as she has a variety of different styles to pick from.

These bus destination posters are all the rage these days.

I just love this necklace. What more can one say - it's cute!

I still have my shop open & will list a couple more sets of blocks too as soon as the boys allow me a second to do so! Check there soon for a couple of new sets!

Octonauts Treasure

Well finally BJ's long awaited special gift arrived, well after his reward chart was finished with what he needed to achieve for the gift. But he doesn't understand time like that so it was probably more of an issue to me than him. But it was well worth the wait. The Gup-A is prized possession right now. In fact, it is sitting right next to him in bed so he can see it right away when he wakes. It really is great! He is super impressed that it came especially to him in a plane from a long long way away.

Also whipped up some cute pants for DJ this morning. I just had to make use of this fabric. It is the cutest ever. It is from a range called World of Susybee. If you click that it will take you to the website for her gorgeous artwork & textile collection. Wow! They are totally terrific! I am in love with the murals she has done on bedroom walls! The dolphin room at the Sick Kids Hospital is gorgeous! Then check out the textiles. This is Lewe the sheep range of fabric.
We have part of the range at work & I had to get this stuff for sure. I am still thinking who I could make the cot quilt for. DJ has enough really so he sure doesn't need one. I will get the panel anyway as I am sure it won't last long.

I really like the growth chart for Zoe too. How cool is that giraffe? For anyone that likes giraffes this one is for you. The cot panel, the growth chart, the stripe, all totally gorgeous. I love the cot panel for Zig too. We only have the sheep at work though so I had better stick with that for the moment. The pattern for the pants anyway are from Made By Rae again. Too easy. Two pieces of fabric & a wee bit of sewing! It took me longer this morning to put the elastic in than to sew them up, that's how quick they are! DJ isn't going to fit this pattern for long though. I have added inches to all sides & about 3 to the length!

Have a great weekend! I will, although a wet one by the sound of it!

Coffee 'n' Knittee

Yep, a bit of coffee & knitting. I dropped the big boy off at day care this morning & then went to a nice scenic spot for a pram walk with the little boy. At the turning point of the walk I stopped for a latte & a bit of knitty time. Working away on my Hitchhiker scarf & loving it! Of course the wee one wanted a feed inbetween there too so I just got to sit & enjoy the scenery...

But who could complain with scenery as pretty as this today! One direction & then the other direction had a couple of tugboats at the mouth of the river waiting for a ship to come in. Oh & King Neptune on the right was hanging out waiting to make sure all was good in water world! lol

More creativity is going on over here.

Sleep Stories

I am constantly amazed at the imagination & thoughts my 3­½ year old has. Everyday something else he says or his play acting really amazes me. I swear I will remember each & every moment but I know that is not likely. A video camera is on hand but still doesn't catch those sudden moments that are just that - sudden & unexpected. This morning in the car on the way to his Gran's place he was telling me about his Sleep Story. (Something about Daddy & his face doing weird things! hmmm...) We got to Gran's & he started on about his Sleep Story again. I just find this fascinating. What a great name for a dream that is. I am wondering if he has seen it on some TV show recently that I have missed it. But it is a good name. If he saw it on TV & he worked out it is a dream then that is pretty cool. If he has come up with the name all by himself I am not sure, but it is a pretty cool thing if he did! Anyone know what it may have come from if on TV?

We have been enjoying a bunch of great books from the library lately. So many cool books out there for kids & for shaping their minds even more. I have so many books myself to read at the moment though it's crazy! Got 2 at Kmart today for just $4 each - bargains! You may remember recently I was reading this one...

I really enjoyed it. A nice chick lit book with inspiration in the embroidery details at the start of each chapter. I thought this was too nice a book to keep & there are plenty of people out there that would appreciate the embroidery parts in it as well as an easy read. So I thought I would have a giveaway for it. I really hope that whoever gets it that they themselves will pass it on again when they are done with it. But that's up to them of course, but it's a nice thought. So if you would like to have a read of this book leave a comment with some info about a good book you have read recently & I will give it until Saturday & BJ can draw it for me then. Probably it will only be mum that will end up with it (Hi mum!) cos she's about the only one I know that reads this regularly anyway. But as long as I can share it with someone somewhere I don't care! lol Sorry, but I need to keep it within Aussie.

Discovering "Color Issue"

I Love it when I come across lovely blogs via a bunch of blog hopping moments. This one is really nice! Really really Nice.

Colour is such an important thing in our daily lives & also in craft things. My work involves lots of colour, helping people find their perfect fabric combinations, or even threads to co-ordinate with a current project. It's all good! It's all colour! This blog is really gorgeous with all sorts of colour inspirations. Even if you don't read it all, look at the pictures! I really need to brush up on my photography skill next. Mine are crap.

What are you waiting for? Go check it out...

Loving Spring

Finally we have some action on the chicken coop! Stuart got a bit of a start today with a little help from BJ of course.

I had a little creative play time. I was actually doing the ironing & then had it in my head to find something & ended up pulling fabrics out to make a pair of pants instead for DJ. I had actually received an email regarding one of Made By Rae's patterns & I hadn't looked at her blog for a while so off I went to browse. Well that was it as I found the free pattern for baby pants. DJ is in desperate need of something cooler right now. I have lots of clothes for him from BJ but they are all turning into the wrong season clothing. Bother. He is going to miss out on wearing some really nice stuff! Anyway, I used this pattern for her Basic newborn pants & these are the first result.

They are quite tight on the chubby & long boy. So I made another pair & cut them about an inch wider & about 2 inches longer & ended up with a perfect fit - for now anyway! At the rate this boy is growing they won't fit long. They are roomy enough for the cloth nappy underneath though so that is good. The first pair will fit better with a disposable.

I have pulled out some more left over fabrics that I have enough of to make a couple of other pairs & I think he will be right for a wee while in the pants department. Yay, it was nice to have a little play, it was nice to be (easily) distracted from the ironing, & nice to have a finished piece.

This one is just for the cute factor.

Reminiscing

Did you watch The Waltons way back in it's hey day? I have series 1 & have been watching that lately, just for the sake of something to listen to while working away on blocks. I've actually really enjoyed watching it again. It's nice, simple easy watching stuff. Nice to have a bit of that now & then.

I haven't had much craft time as I have spent all my in between moments & evenings most of all working on blocks trying to get them done. They are almost so I will be pleased as I have been itching to start the Hitchhiker scarfy thing over on ravelry. In the meantime, I will have a restock of sets in my madeit shop in a few days so stay tuned for some great Christmas ideas. Poky Little Puppy is my most popular set & it will be there too. It seems to be the most popular Golden Book for a very long time to a lot of people!

What was your favourite Golden Book? I don't remember having Poky Puppy but we probably did have it. Can't remember it though. It isn't in the collection I have now though that I have kept all these years. I think my favourite was The Golden Egg Book, not that I remember what it was about. I will have to read it to BJ sometime. I also remember The Wait-For-Me Kitten. Must read that too. We have a large collection of these books now as we have mine & Stuart's on the shelf in BJ's room so there is no shortage of variety either as we both had quite different tastes! Guess mine were girl tastes & his were boyish types. I will have to dig a couple out for bedtime reading for BJ. I find reading to him quite a nice relaxing part of my evening these days. Happy reading!