6 Random Things

My first ever "tagging"! I have been tagged by the talented Hoppo Bumpo to write six random things about myself.

Here are the rules ...
1. Link to the person who “tagged” you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know your entry is up.

So, for those who want to know...
1. When I met & started dating my husband he lived in another state but we worked for the same company. I was our interstate staff's co-ordinator and we joke he shacked up with the boss. He got a transfer to Sydney within 4 months of us dating. I figure it worked out fair since I paid for all the airfares to go visit him every 2 weeks while we were apart.

2. When the Princess and the Monkey were born, they looked the same. They even had the same mohawk. (The Princess is 1st then the Monkey)


3. I like to be organised. I have numerous lists and always have my Blackberry with me. I hate having unfinished projects and would rather stay up until midnight to get them done.

4. I'm terrible at shopping online. It takes me forever to decide what to get and procrastinate so long normally whatever I'm looking at goes. Then I REALLY want it. I'm getting better thanks to my new sewing buddies, especially this one.

5. My favourite holidays are always to beaches even though we live 5mins from one. My favourite's so far were to our honeymoon in a Jacuzzi Villa at the Banyan Tree in Phuket and a Retreat Room at Hayman Island. One day we would like to go back to both with the kids.

6. I love babies far too much. I'd happily have baby after baby after baby if they stayed babies. Not that I don't like the toddler stage, gee it's fun, but I love the snuggly/nice smelling/portable/happy to go shopping all day/sleepy baby stage. If I had my way we'd have 1 or 2 more babies, but hubby thinks I'd be pushing our luck after the problems after the deliveries of the Princess and the Monkey. I think I feel the need to re-populate my family after being an only child!

This was fun! I think I could do more.. but that'd bore everyone even more.

So, here is who I tag, just 6 of the many many blogs I'm always reading. I hope you'll play!

1. PinkLizzy
2. Emma
3. The Clampetts
4. Kreatives Chaos made by Andrea
5. Bon Souvenir
6. Simply Marns

Playtime

The Monkey turned 10 months old yesterday... so far he & his sister still love each other.

10 days and counting...

Late on a Friday night 2 weeks ago I must have been delirious with tiredness. I decided that the next morning we would get up and try toilet training the Princess. Talk about forward planning!

So we got up, abandoned the nappies and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally about 4 hours of holding it in alleluia we had pee. IN a potty. And I'm happy to annouce that since that hovering-not-letting-child-out-of-sight morning we, sorry I should say SHE is STILL accident free! We've braved the outside world a few times, three times for a whole day and had a whole day at daycare. If we're home, she just takes herself to the bathroom and let's us know when she's done and if we're out, she just tells us she needs to go to the bathroom and off we go.

We are so proud of her. Her paediatric gastroenteroligist didn't think she would be close to toilet training for up to another year, so he will be estatic when we see him next month. Still nappy-ing for naps and night time of course.

Sorry for Too Much Information, continue on with your day...

This is... My 100th Post

This week's "This Is.." from Three Buttons is a free theme, and it works out well because "This is... my 100th post" since my 'lil ole blog started in January this year. Apparently I like to chat alot. It still freaks me out that people are coming to see what I'm up to, and get all gushy when someone comments.

So for a while I've been thinking what can I do to "celebrate" having 100 semi-interesting-to-me-that-I-thought-I-should-share-things to show? How about a giveaway? I thought maybe I'd leave comments open until Midnight Sunday(August 3rd) and then pull a random comment out and send something to them. I'll leave what you get up to you, something maybe I've done before, or heck I like a challenge, if you have seen a free tutorial around for something I'll give it a go! I'll be using fabric & bits from my stash but if there are particular colors you like/dislike let me know, oh and if it's for a little one, whether it's a boy or a girl and their age/size. Be sure to leave a way for me to get back to you in your comment incase you're picked. Oh and I will ship outside Australia.

Here's a few things I've done so far to get some ideas ...

1. Ottobre Kimono Jacket 2. Bend-the-Rules Artsy Clutch 3. Habitual Kimono 4. Melly & Me Toffee Apple Bag 5. Reversible Wrap Skirt 6. Round Neck Sundress 7. Pincushion 8. Ottobre Blouse 9. Reversible Head Band 10. Polly Softie 11. Cord Dress 12. Bibs & Booties 13. Beanie 14. Amy Butler Small Portfolio 15. Bend-The-Rules Pleated Beauty Tote 16. Overalls

Thank you to everyone who has commented on my 100 posts! I read them all and occasionally get time to snoop around your blogs too.

Note: No responsibility is taken for the shoddy-craftmanship of the handmade gift you may receive. Remember I'm a newbie sewer :-).

Tutorial List Update

Just a quick note... just added a whole bunch of new tutorials to this list. Enjoy!

Ottobre "Kukerrus" Kimono

Me 1 : Jacket 0. It almost was the other way around.

I think for every stitch I sewed I unpicked 3. No idea why, just silly little mistakes. One of those days I just should have left the sewing machine alone. Anyway, this is the Kukerrus Kimono from the Ottobre 4/2008 magazine which just arrived for the Princess. She seemed very excited I was making her a jacket and made me promise she could wear it tomorrow. I have some red cord for a matching skirt too.

Happy Birthday Lara

>What do 13 year olds like? I have NO idea but still wanted to make something for my 2nd cousin Lara who is having her birthday next week. So here it is, the Artsy Clutch from the Bend-the-Rules book. 13 year olds like cupcakes right? I figure it suits a whole heap of uses so she should like it. Right??

This is... what makes me happy

My family, all happy, healthy and together having fun. If I had nothing else in the world, these three would still keep me warm and a belly full of laughs.

I have seen the "this is" pop up on a few blogs, and tracked it back to the threebuttons blog the other day. Each week is a different theme picked by someone. This weeks "this is what makes me happy" came from Jacinta.

Next week is a freeform "this is"...

Baby Kimono

For one of three little girls due before Xmas. I just love this mushroom fabric. The kimono pattern is this one again from Habitual, but it has been revised for up to 8T!

Toffee Apple Bag

The EB Newbie Sewing Group has a bag challenge going that I am part of and bought this Toffee Apple pattern from Melly & Me for my attempt. Overall happy with the outcome but some of the instructions (or lack of) just did my head in. I'm definitely not a bag maker. I am not patient. I am not a precise cutter. I am also horrible at picking colour co-ordinations. Picking the three fabrics to go in this bag took me over an hour of staring at a wall in Spotlight. I was literally walking out the door when the strawberry print caught my eye. The inside is the same chocolate brown broadcloth as under the red twill tape casing the drawstring.

Next up is this Amy Butler laptop cover for Dean once I organise some stablizer and the Melly & Me Pussycat bag for Bella.

Super comfy pants

These pants are sooo comfy. They were supposed to become these pants but 1 cut into them and I had already made a mistake. It could be fixed but then I started worrying about the Monkey who has a tendency to grab at my pants with an almighty tug and also climb up your leg to stand. Not good with open seams on the sides. So these are the same size but made like "normal" pants with an elastic waist. The bottom and waist trim is leftover Amy Butler Dots in Lime, one of my favourite fabrics but almost all gone.

Floor cushions

Our new floor cushions, 1 for the Princess and 1 for the Monkey when we sit and read our stories every day.

Originally I was going to use my new Anna Marie Horner Drawing Room fabric on some lounge cushions, but the large print on them is so pretty it was a shame to not fit the whole design on each cushion side. So after a shopping spree yesterday I finally grabbed some floor cushions and used the fabric on these instead. I love that you can see the whole pattern now. I got 1.5 yards and have not an inch left, it basically got cut into four squares and nothing left.

Under the photos I finally organised into matching frames and put up last night with Dean's help. Getting them all to line up is a bit hard on your own.

Pay it Forward

Edited 23 July, 2008 : All spots are gone, thanks everyone!
Edited 20 July, 2008 : One more spot left!

I had a new visitor to my blog tonight and when I went sticky-beaking at her blog after a lovely comment on my new dress, I read about the "Pay-it-Forward" gift exchange she was taking part in. So I have signed-up to play through Hoppo Bumpo's blog.

How does it work?
The first three people who comment on this post will get a handmade gift from me sometime in the next 365 days. All you need to do is "Pay-it-Forward" to 3 people on your blog in exchange. Just leave me an e-mail address or blog link so I can contact you for your address to post your gift, oh and some idea of what type of thing you would like. Maybe checkout what I have already made before as an idea :-)

(No responsibility is taken for the shoddy-craftmanship of the handmade gift you may receive. Remember I'm a newbie sewer :-)).

Visit here if you would like a bit more information about the ideas behind Paying-It-Forward.

New dress

The dress I made tonight from the McCalls M5516 pattern. I love the neckline and sleeves. Tempted to also make it but as a top. The pattern called for Rayon which I haven't used before and rayon thread. Definitely prefer cotton over rayon.

A fish and a cushion

This little guy was looking for his mum. She went over here for a swap I did a few weeks ago. We thought this little guy got thrown away in a moment of frustration at him, but we found him hiding, fixed him up and off he went to live with his mum.

A pin cushion for a sewing buddy. I claim her responsible for encouraging all my online purchases. We seem to have the same tastes in fabric and patterns so everytime she makes something new/buys a new fabric I want to try it out! You are a bad influence PL...

New wrap skirt

A new wrap skirt for Bella from this tutorial. She picked out this fabric and it has ballerina's on it. Of course trying to get a photo of her NOT twirling like a "ballallallarina" is impossible.

Little Miss Green Thumb

This morning we had breakfast at the beach with some of Bella's buddies.

Then we all headed off to an activity our local Flower Power nursery runs during the holidays for kids 3+. They got to do some drawing, then a tour around the nursery finding plants from all over the world. Each received a pot which they got to decorate with stickers and then plant their own flowers. Finished off by some face painting.

We came home via the post office where we received lots of lovely parcels.

Mummy's fabric from quilthome.com. I picked up some really cheap cushions while at Flower Power this morning so our lounge cushions are now ready to be made...

And this package I ordered from Stubby Pencil Studio in the US here. I got some soy crayons (which really draw lovely), watercolour crayons, crayon rocks, some monkey pencils (how cute!) and two packs of their blank cards. I really liked the blank cards as they are designed for kids to colour the front of.

All packed away in our art tray with our other pencils, crayons and derwents. Maybe we'll try some out this afternoon.

I read in a blog a little while ago about buying good quality art supplies and teaching kids the importance of treating them with respect rather than just getting to use them on "special" occasions. We bought Isabella a pack of derwent pencils a couple of months ago and let her use them and she knows she must treat them with respect. I'm a a little surprised how quick she picked the message up. So these new crayons and pencils are some more nice things for us to use that I hope she enjoys too. As a child I was a big drawer. I remember a treasured pack of derwents that seemed to have every colour in the rainbow. That was until I was in year 7 at high school and someone stole them from my school bag. I was devestated and always remembered them. This year for my birthday I bought myself another set, and while they aren't as big a set as I used to have, they are just as good as I remember. I secretly hope Bella gets the drawing "bug" like I had.

Round Neck Sundress

A new dress for Isabella. Just waiting to go get some buttons to finish it off, maybe tomorrow. I bought this fabric with this dress in mind and I'm so happy that it came out how I wanted.

Strange little man

Good news.. Liam likes his jacket. He wore it out today and figured out that the fleece is nice and soft on his cheek. He does look like a bit of a dag cruising around holding his head to his shoulder so he can feel it, but least he likes it!

After studying my boy for a few days I have come to the conclusion he is a tidier/cleaner. I don't know where he gets it from, certainly not me. Evidence:

1. He empties things. If there is anything on the coffee table he will do circles around it (our coffee table is 1.4m x 0.75m) and gradually throw everything that is on it, no matter what, on the floor until it is completely empty. No thing is safe. Great for cleaning the coffee table. Not so great for the state of the floor.
2. If he manages to get into the bathroom before we close the door, he will go through everything on the floor and if it is a bath toy, it gets unceremoniously thrown as hard as possible into the bath tub. This is kind of helpful. Except if someone happens to BE in the bath/shower. Nothing like a plastic octopus being hurled at you while your blinded by shampoo.

I will find a way to harness this cleaning ability to my advantage.

He also is apparently a drummer in the making, a future runner judging by the speeds he can now go round-and-round-and-round-and-round the coffee table, a music and TV critic (changes the station if he doesn't like what's on) and apparently a fairy according to his sister.

He is a strange little man. But we like him and think we'll keep him.

Photo courtesy of Tanya over here

Lot's of bits and pieces

It's been a very busy week around here. I've been flat out working and trying to fit little projects in where I can. Yesterday Dean was on kid-duty and disappeared with them all day so I could get lots of work done and then we met up for lunch at a local cafe at the beach. He's certainly tired today! Welcome to Mummy world :-)

Few snaps from our week..

Liam's first Cruskit. He really really likes them!

Isabella wanted me to take a photo of her teeth. 3 year olds are strange.

Another kimono top. I like the design of this one (from here), and it was super quick to make, but this fabric is from Lincraft (at $15 a metre mind you!) was terrible. As soon as I cut the pieces it started fraying terribly. Never again I tell myself. I have said that before though. I'm starting to think summer clothes for the kids (wishing away the cold weather I think) and these tops will be perfect. More of these to come.

A simple pin cushion from scraps. Like all my pretty buttons and ribbons in their new homes?

We have 4 yellow cushions that seem to just float around the place. They almost made it into the bin this week during a clean up because they just didn't belong anywhere. But they survived, got recovered with this beige fabric from Spotlight, gained ties and have become new cushions for the dining chairs. Much better than the old yellow icky ones.

Liam's new reversible jacket. It is sooo warm. This was made in about an hour using the Burda 9828 pattern an EB friend posted about. It's a great pattern, it includes the jacket, a jumper, pants and overalls.

I picked up lot's of lovely fabric at Spotlight on Thursday night. They seem to have got a whole heap of new fabric in since my last visit. It's all destined for specific projects. Hopefully I will knock some off this week.

Gladesville Marina Work

Gladesville Marina's website went live last week... yay! Another one down and about 6 more in a bunch of stages to go. Check out gbmarina here.

The Princess' First Bike

Every year our Mother's Group gets together and does a joint birthday party for all of the kids. This year we all packed up and headed to a local park for...

A play.

Some soccer. Although Isabella thought the goal posts made better sleeves.

I don't think your supposed to SIT in the goalposts if you're goalie Unkie Bruce.

Flying a kite. But Helena & Luke's version of running with the kite... round and round and round their daddy's legs.

That's more like it Alex.

And some yummy food. Somehow I have managed to gate-crash into a group made of very talented chefs. Hmmm sausage rolls, hmm rice paper rolls, hmmm sweetcorn fritters, hmmm pizza, hmm lemon and coconut cake. And that was just some of it!. I turned up with boring Honey & Soy chicken drumsticks. There weren't many leftovers of anything.

Liam had a ball.

Rather than getting 10 little presants, each family buys a presant for another child. This year Isabella got... her first bike!