He arrived and he's wonderful!! A beautiful little bubby nephew. I hope he likes his mobile - I had a hard time thinking of an animal that starts with 'n' to make this mobile - I didn't think newt or numbat really fitted with the 'jungle' theme. I ended up making a bird sort of looking like a toucan but I'm pretending it's a nightingale in a nest.
and the 'h' is a hippo!!!
My nephew is due any minute but if not tonight, then he'll definately be here by lunchtime tomorrow, hurrah!
This Golly is for Ethan when he arrives, along with a box of goodies I've been making. Right now though I have an apple pudding in the oven that I have to attend to as I've never made an apple pudding before. It's certainly the weather for puddings though - and I can be a baking Aunty!!
Oh, and I got the job!! YEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAA!!!!!
I have discovered two things recently - number one, when planning to applique shapes, don't make them too small or intricate and number two, Australia produces fabulous films and we should be proud of this one in particular...
Samson & Delilah. Don't miss it, it's brilliant.
Singlets with (small) applique for Ethan.
Happy Friday!! I made a promise to post each Monday but I had a job interview this week that I had to prepare for so I am a little late in blogging. Fingers crossed for the job... now I have a two-week wait.
Speaking of waiting, my sister Megan is expecting bubby boy shortly and I am enjoying waiting for my nephew Ethan to arrive. I am a bit chuffed I will be an aunty with a nephew as I have a neice but not a nephew yet. Ethan will be a little brother for Amelie. The scary thing is he is due in a matter of weeks (unless he arrives early!) and I have loads of ideas for things to make. I would have started earlier but life has been full of other things... like work (sigh!). One thing I have bought for Ethan is this lovely print by artist Mati Rose McDonough from her Etsy shop.
Photo from Suspect Shoppe.
I am a big fan of giving children art and when Amelie was born we gave her this print from Carla Sonheim's "Girls" series (I made the teddy bear for her too along with some other pressies).
I hope Ethan likes his print. The artist said the little lucky elephant was a symbol for luck as well as strength, solitude, wisdom, intelligence and a strong sense of loyalty to the family, which are all lovely things for a bubby boy! Now I must get crafting. Have a lovely weekend!
Good Sammy rocks! It seems to be more popular since the global financial crisis, but how great is op shopping?? It's just such a great way to re-use unwanted goods - things that someone else decided they'd had enough of and gave up for charity get to have another life with someone else and the goods don't go to waste or end up in landfill and it helps a charity at the same time. And although some people have no choice but to shop at op shops, there's such a nice sense of community at my local op shop - people of all ages and backgrounds shop there - immigrants setting up house in Australia, elderly friends out for the day, groups of teenagers looking for retro fashion, little kids buying recycled toys and giving them love all over again. And the fabrics that can be salvaged! Like these sheets and a scarf, all for the measly sum of $3.00.
Matilda didn't come from the op shop of course, she just had to be in the (not so great) photo. Am looking forward to using these fabrics. Hurrah for Good Sammy!
Well, it's Thursday rather than Monday but I've had a hideous cold all week and have been tucked up in bed so I missed my Monday blogging day - blob! Oh well, here's a Thursday post and I should be back on track this Monday... touch wood. I've been thinking how it's strange that we don't give ourselves time out just to do as we please - like lounging around in bed for an entire day (well, some people might but I don't!). I have watched Matilda happily sleep all day sprawled out on the bed with her paws in the air. The only time I'm lying in bed for a day is when I don't feel well, otherwise I'd feel guilty that I'd wasted a whole day - what a shame that it's seen as a waste, rather than a chance to rejuveinate and recharge. Time out is so important really. I've also been thinking about immunity and how at this time of year I always get a cold - is it the change of seasons? At least this year I will have my annual cold out the way in time for...
The RSPCA Million Paws Walk! Hurrah!! It's only a week and a bit away and there's still time to register, or donate if you can't attend. We have our sneakers ready, we've sold the raffle tickets and we've started to prep Matty on good dog manners when out with hundreds of other pooches - although she will no doubt forget her manners when we get to the bbq breakfast tent and barge through all the other dogs waiting for tidbits. No doubt we'll get home after it all, full of yummy food and exhausted from all the fun... and Matty will be straight on the bed to sleep it all off. She's got it all worked out. No wonder dogs don't get colds!
Another long weekend - WA had a public holiday today for ANZAC Day. The weather was beautiful and we painted a new trim colour on our house and planted a couple of plants - it was lovely to be outside. We also caught up for friends for dinner and family and went to our friend George's 90th birthday celebration - yes, that's right, 90. I really like that we have a friend who has just turned 90 - we met George and his lovely black labrador Laddie at our local park where we walk our westie Matilda. There's a group of us who walk our dogs at the park and George's dog-walking friends were at his birthday party, along with friends of his from church, lifelong friends and loads of family - kids, grandkids and great grandkids. George is Irish so there was an Irish singalong - Danny Boy and other tunes and lots of good jokes. It was a really nice gathering of people but the best bit was listening to George. Several people gave speeches about George and shared stories. George gave a lovely speech too. He's always played Scrabble and cards and had family dinners and singalongs. He looks about 75 or maybe 80 - nowhere near 90! It was really nice listening to someone with a lifetime's worth of knowledge and experience - he would have been born at the time of the Great Depression, lived through the Twenties and Thirties and Jazz and the Second World War, he would have been alive for Gallipoli. He's lived in Ireland and Canada and Australia. He's one of the happiest people I've ever met. He has really lived life well. He really gives off the vibe that life is what you make it and he's always smiling. What a legend. Happy Birthday George.
Well, there's been a lot happening in the past month. I'm stunned that it's April already and May is approaching quickly. Thankfully I've been on holidays for the past three weeks - just pottering at home and having a break, which has been lovely. Some nice things that required crafting activity in the past month...
My lovely niece Amelie turned two...
Not such a great photo I'm sorry but here's one of the dresses I made for Amelie with a matching doll's dress - I'm trying to find the pic of the yellow dress still...
And she now has a "big bed" so I made her some owl cushion friends for her new bed...
They're meant to be owls!!
And our friends had a beautiful baby girl - Sienna Allegra...
I bought the singlet and used a Japanese pattern for the bloomers and made a matching brooch - not sure if babies can wear brooches but it can be unpinned easily.
The nice thing about the bloomers pattern is the elastic can be adjusted in the legs and wasit as the baby grows - I think they're a bit big for Sienna at the moment! There were seven Rebecca's in my year at high school - I think there might be a few Sienna's for the 2008-09 years.
And I'm still sorting out my craft room since swapping the study and the spare room around. It's nice in here though as there's a bigger window and a few visiting birds in the tree outside. I am hoping Mondays will be my blogging days from now on - that's the plan anyway. And there really is no excuse, surely I can manage Mondays at least - will give me something to look foward to about Monday!! :D
Yes! I am back online - it's been weeks!! We had phone line and internet dramas but now it's sorted and I've found the cable to connect the camera to the computer too, so happy! It felt weird to be disconnected for so long. I will be back with some pics shortly... hurrah!
Well, I have finally completed a month of acting in someone else's job - a job which I would never desire to have as my own - and now I'm back (almost) to my regular routine (is there such a thing?) but I have changed craft rooms and have managed to misplace the cable that links the camera to the computer so I have no pitctures for show and tell. Really, I haven't been up to much in the last four weeks or so except work. I have three weeks off at the end of March and they can't come soon enough. One of the things on my 'to-do list' was to swap the spare room and my craft room around. Unfortunately I have had back problems in the past and can't lift things like I used to (yes - shifting about wardrobes, bookshelves etc own my own was never a good idea and now I pay the price...) but, lucky me, my hubby came to the rescue and shifted most of the big stuff and boxes of small stuff for me and the rooms have been switched. The (new) spare room is smaller but a much better use of space - rather than having a large spare room, which just became the dumping ground/storage area for the rest of the house, we now have a small spare room and I have a large craft room - well, at the moment I have a large mess, a VERY large mess, which will shortly become my craft room... when I get to my holidays and sort out the mess... and find the computer cable...
I just discovered this pic in my emails - here is a photo my sister sent me of my beautiful niece Amelie in her little yellow dress I made her for her birthday (yay, it fits!!!) and her friend Matilda, who also had a birthday. So cute!
Now I must get to my mess - while focusing on holidays just around the corner! Hurrah!
Perth, Western Australia |
