Making an ass of oneself?

No, I didn't really, But I did win this gorgeous little donkey softie from Helen over at Stitcharooney . He ( I say "he" even though it's a pink donkey and Master 4 keeps correcting me saying " it's not a boy mummy, he is pink!" ) is beautifully crafted and his amazing features have all been handstitched perfectly! I love his pink and black mane and plaited tail!

I shall call him squishy and he shall be mine forever :)

Actually I've a bit of a fight on my hands as Miss 6 saw him on Helen's blog and proclaimed straight away it was hers, Master 4 has given him a cuddle here today and wants him to live on his bed and mummy has said ( like a spoilt little girl) " No way, he's mine, he lives on my bed! But you can give him cuddles whenever you like!"

Plus cleverly used as the fastener for the wrapping was this cute little felt flower & butterfly hair clip

Guess which mummy is going to look cute at this afternoons school pick up?

Domestic Goddess?

I think not!

But with the awesome "Emmeline" Apron I received from Mandy in the Crafty Mama's September swap at least I can pretend that I am.

And see, when this side gets dirty, I can just turn it around and voila~ a whole new apron

It's gorgeous Mandy, thank-you. It's already had a lot of use! ( even hubby gives it two thumbs up )

My swap partner was Helen from Stitcharooney .

A sneak peak of the fabric used in the bib style apron

I used vintage inspired fabrics to create both Aprons Helen received. The first a bib style apron in which instead of leaving it as a halter neck, I sewed the ends of the straps to the waist ties so you slip your arms through the straps. When I tried the apron on myself it just didn't sit properly and I think that Helen is a similar shape to myself so thats why I made the adjustments to suit.

The second apron was the same style as the bib apron, minus the bib, in these fabrics

I'm sorry I haven't got any photos of this one, you'll just have to wait for Helen's photo's.

Wordless Weekend

(I'm being sneaky, this was actually taken a couple of weekends ago.....)

Wordless Weekend

                                Mt Beerwah as seen from the Lookout near Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve at Maleny

You get the best of both worlds....

I couldn't think of a catchy title for this post so I decided to use the words that have been in my head for the last 2 weeks.  

It's the Hannah Montana theme song and without fail every Saturday my girls are watching it ( and ok I'll admit I watch it too~ Billy Ray Cyrus -mullet= REOWWWWWWWW!!!)

Lately I have been feeling rather Blergh and my sewjo has definitely left the building. But lately that itch to craft is slowly emerging again.  Of course that may be helped slightly by the fact I have some new toys to play with.  

Firstly I have a new Overlocker~ A Janome MyLock 644D............Hmmmmmmm noice, very noice :)

Next I bought myself a snap press from Snaps Australia.  I had all these ideas of uses for the snaps before I bought it, now that it is here however, I can only think of one or two things.  (will post pictures soon of what I am working on)

Then we finally got a new printer~ thank goodness, I was going mad not being able to print off anything and I think we used a whole pack of paper the first day we bought it!

After being inspired by a post on crafty mama's I put my sewjo cautiously into drive and started off by printing some designs for my girls onto plain white shirts.

For the Hannah Montana fan in your life..........

I am thinking about making some funky pyjama pants OR a nice  twirly skirt to match.

Miss Pink

We've just recently celebrated Miss Imogen's 6th Birthday.  Naughty mummy wasn't very organised and although I had already bought some outfits for winter I hadn't yet picked out a few special little items to add to her presents. 

So when it started raining and raining and raining and raining I was very worried we wouldn't make it out of our street to go and get something else.  I was right too- we were flooded in the very next day.  

Luckily for me I remembered Imogen had asked me to make her a soft toy way back when I had made the Love Rabbit for August.  

I scoured my patterns and my books and settled upon the Little Red Riding hood softie from the book  "More Softies."

I used a gorgeous girlie fuchsia stretch velour and various coloured felts. Plus some lovely strawberry themed Japanese linen I got from retromummy's store a while back.  I also used some pink dotty ribbon and green checked ribbon to jazz up her dress a bit and her hand bag.   

There you have it, one Miss Pink- cousin to Little Red Riding  Hood.

She is a bit wonky but just perfect for cuddling and Miss Imogen loves her to bits which makes me one very happy mama!

We were flooded in for the three days preceding her birthday. Luckily on the day we woke up to sunny blue skies and not one grey cloud!  So off to school the proud little miss went with cupcakes to share for all.

*Just a baby update: Master E is now 15 weeks old and still as cute as ever.  He is a very happy smiley baby and a mama's boy too thankfully :)

Redondo~ a WIP

I decided last night that I would make my two girls a skirt each to wear to my mums today when we went for a mothers day afternoon tea.  I've had this gorgeous pattern for awhile now, tucked away in my sewing cabinet until I felt confident enough to try it out.  This was another pattern I thought would be difficult and fiddly.  Well I was right, it was fiddly, but difficult- not really.

I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly it came together too.

 Unfortunately I didn't get them finished in time for my girls to wear them , I still have to put the elastic in and hem the skirts ( rolled hem on both I think would suit just fine) 

Hubby caught me photographing them earlier and said " Hey, you can't blog those yet, you haven't finished them!"  But I am bored, there is nothing on tv, I am too tired to sew tonight and too sore...  So here are my WIP redondo skirts

plus here is the 2nd pair of shorts for Fletch- another WIP as it still needs to be hemmed and the waistband put in.  This was made from 2 fat quarters I picked up at a local quilting store last year.

little funky side tag made from farbenmix ribbon

Speaking of fat quarters......

I participated in the April FQ swap over at Crafty Mama's and this is the lovely package I received from "a little spunkiness" -Claire

Thank-you so much!  I can't wait to craft something up with them.