mini design dots

You can't go past Etsy for a spurt of design inspiration and examples of handmade with love. Sometimes the process of sifting through the... well.....bland stuff... can test your patience, but when you find a piece of "gold" it can lift the spirits. Then you pop that beauty in your favourites file to realise it is for looking only.... sadly and most likely not for keeps! sigh....

Never the less, go on, head over here and enjoy some faux shopping.

fede shop update

There's a handful of new toys (soft baby tools with rattles) available for sale here

big flowery brooch

I do try to make presents when I can. Sometimes it just doesn't happen, but last weekend it did!

This big orange brooch is for my friend Jac who loves orange. I know it's quite big but she has a super fantastic big personality to match. Happy birthday sweetie!

If you are in Adelaide and looking for something to do this weekend, you could see Jac (Jackie Yeo) performing as Janis Joplin at Woodstock Revisited 2011 on Sunday October 30th at Rymill Park. Get out your hippie gear and come along for a boogie!

my olive thumb

No longer a brown thumb, but not yet a green thumb. I'm describing myself as an olive thumb - according to wikepedia, olive is a kind of muddy green color. I'm learning to be a better gardener and thoroughly enjoying the process. I've lost my share of plants and there is sure to be more fatalities, but on the flip side, I can see some of my hard work thriving. Yay. I'm really appreciating spring from a new perspective and getting excited by the growth. I'm discovering that gardening is not for the impatient (unless you have loads of $$ to buy mature plants and trees) and also realising that I probably wouldn't want to do it that way even if I had the cash, as it has been rewarding watching it come together slowly. It's like a painting - evolving over time - responding to my moods and colour choices on different days. Several plants have already been moved or removed because they grow into the wrong shape, are too big, too small, or the wrong colour, or don't like the wind or not enough sun, or too much sun. Man! There is so much to think of! Ah.....so many wonderful things to learn.

Here's a pictorial journey of one of our projects in the south east corner of our yard. Our house sits smack bang in the middle of the plot so we have four distinct corners to landscape. We are slowly working our way around :)

february 2009 - looking back up at the house from the
south east corner of the yard

january 2009 - south east back corner of our yard

april 2009 - demolished the old shed and wall

july 2009 - new fences (not my favourite style but
to match existing)

may 2010 - new paving, retaining walls and turf

october 2010 - planting begins

september 2011 - planting continues

{ this moment }

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments at Soule Mama for all to find and see.

#39 Camp in our tent (at least one night)

If you have managed and/or bothered to follow the haphazard progress of my 40 before 40 challenge then you have done extremely well! It was very random I know. Anyway, this if another task that I can cross off the list. But first, I do need to fess up and be honest about things, you see, I am 40 now. Let that one slide by very quietly - life was a bit hectic with a new baby and all - so effectively the challenge is over. Finished. Completed. Have I reported the results? Nope. But I will! Just humour me for a little longer... you're so kind. Thanks.

So getting back to it. Number 39, Camp in our tent (at least one night). When I wrote this list I was pregnant and to be truthful questioned whether this one was going to happen - hence the "at least one night" clause which would enable the tent to be set up in the back yard for a trial sleep over. So that didn't happen before the end of the challenge, but a couple of months later we got to experience the real deal. It was awesome!

DH and I, in our previous life pre children, purchased a camper trailer and took to the road for 3 months for a super adventure. Not the seasoned campers at the time we learnt a lot along the way and by the end could proudly say we were converted. There is something about camping that leaves behind the stresses of everyday life and welcomes relaxation and a carefree spirit. Back to today and the big question on our lips..... would this still be true with 3 children in tow??

Absolutely! Why did we wait so long?

KCWC 2011 | Unicorn Dress

I did it! Finished Ruby's dress thanks to DH for giving me this morning to spend in my sewing room, while he cooked a yummy hot breakfast. This beautiful fabric has been in my stash for a couple of years in which time 6 year old daughter has been eyeing it off. It was a set of vintage curtains - rubber backed and all! I had planned to use it for toys or cushions but that would have broken her heart. So here it is, in it's glory, re purposed and brought back to life as a pretty girly dress, using the "Dress with Ruffle Trim" pattern from the book Carefree Clothes for Girls.

This was the most technically challenging item of clothing I have made and it taught me a few new processes. I had never lined a dress before, never created ruffles and never cut my own binding. In the past I would have avoided a pattern with this amount of detail thinking I wouldn't have the patience to follow it through to the end. I'm discovering that working from a pattern can actually be fun.

Thanks Meg for organising the Kids Clothes Week Challenge again this year. I (and my kids) are ever so thankyou for your "kick up the bum" every six months to encourage sewing productivity in our house... love yer work :)

KCWC | 90 minute shirt

This is the second 90 minute shirt I've made and sadly it didn't fit quite as well as the first version. I'm sure if I had the time and inclination to tweak it a bit more I could eventually get my pattern to fit better. The actual making of the shirt is really very simple and would take no time at all once you knocked out a few - it's getting the neckline shape that takes the time. Anyways, the boy is super dooper happy with the finished product (infact it could look and fit like a dog's breakfast and he'd still be happy because it has his all time favourite thing on the front). I've gone with a raw look by keeping the edges un-hemmed and purposely made my running stitch around the arms and neckline a little wonky.... seriously ...it's the grunge look!

So there's one day left to finish the KCWC and I have one more item to make for child number 3 which is very ambitious given the time, but I'll give it a go. Be back in a couple of days.

In the meantime check out what the other KCWC sewers have been up to in the flickr group.