Time for the annual Holiday...

On the weekend we're off to Northern NSW for our annual beach holiday so this will be my last post for a couple of weeks. We're really looking forward to it as Hubby has been pretty much working 7 days a week for the last few months - so it will definitely be a hard earned break. Here's a couple of pics from last year:




We go away with my family and a couple of other families so it's always lots of fun with swimming at the beach, swimming and playing in the river, ice cream, food, drinkies (probably way too many!!) and lots of laughs.

But seeing as the girls start Kindy (Pre-Prep) when we get back I thought I'd better check the list of what they need. Backpacks - check, lunch containers - check, sheet sets for nap - not yet, hats - check, drink bottles - check, library bags - not yet.

So I'm ready with most things and I've still got plenty of the girls cot sheets around so they will be perfect for their sheet sets - I'll just use the pillowcases as the sheet bag and add a strap and maybe a pretty ribbon to make them a bit nicer.

Then for the Library bags I thought I might try making some and finally use some of that gorgeous Oilily fabric I bought recently.

So here they are - I'm really happy with the way they turned out and the girls love them. Although I did their names in glitter glue so I'm not sure if it will stay on but if not I'll just scrape it off and use some proper fabric puffy glue or something. (Sorry for the bad photos but I'm in a hurry)



Ciao to you all and can't wait to catch up on everyone's blogs when I return (I'm sooooo getting addicted !!).

Anyone for tea ??

I was just downloading some photo's and I just had to show this one. My daughters and their friend were having a "tea party" when my son Harry decided to join in. They promptly left and Harry sat there happily for about 10 minutes having his own tea party....

Yippee ! I won.....

I just got back from spending a lovely couple of days catching up friends at their farm out near Jimboomba and hopped on the computer to catch up on emails etc and there was an email that I won the calender giveaway from redblackbrown.


I had not got around to getting myself a desk calendar this year so it is just perfect - and gorgeous too.

P.S. Will post some pics of my girls on the horses and my son driving the ute when I get a chance.

Swimming/Beach Bag

Have you ever tried to find a nice swimming or beach bag that is reasonably waterproof? One that you can chuck the wet swimmers and towel into after swimming lessons or the beach and not have whole bag go soggy ! I've been looking around Brisbane for something along these lines but all I could find were the ugly vinyl ones.

So on popped the light bulb in my head.... Why don't I try making one!! Now, as usual it's not as easy as I first thought but I'm plugging away at it! I couldn't find a pattern for the bag I wanted, let alone one that was plastic covered, so I've had to combine a couple of different patterns and also adjust them to my liking - not an easy task.

I quite like sewing with the plastic, although it can get a little stuck on the sewing machine if you don't hold it the right way and of course it sticks to itself like a velcro !

Anyway, I quite like how it's turning out so far (I've got two on the go - both with Amy Butler fabric) but I just need to find a way to finish it off - and that's not proving easy... Here's my progress so far.. (the blue one isn't as far along but I like it better as it's a bigger and better style than the first)



I'll keep you updated on my progress.

Introducing.... Fabric Scrap Flopsy !!

My second attempt at my idea for using up fabric scraps definitely worked much better than the first - the trick is don't bother trying to sew round things (I can never get them smooth enough), just go square !!

So here it is - the affectionately named "Flopsy" :



In case you are wondering exactly what it is, I found it actually has a few different purposes. The main idea at the start was to make a toy with lots of floppy, taggy things as my 21-month-old son still loves playing with and holding tags, especially when going to sleep. However, I thought it would also be a great pin cushion as you could also keep your needles on the little floppy bits.


And thirdly, it actually makes quite a good frisbee !

Let me know what you think and do you think I should make some to sell ? If so, what should I actually market them as?

Trying to do some good by using my fabric scraps...

I've been thinking the last couple of days (and yes it did hurt a bit....) that I should really do something with all my scraps of fabric. I have quite a bundle and although a lot are really too small to do anything other than cover buttons, some are definately large enough to use.

So, I came up with a new softie. I won't show you a photo yet as the first attempt was nothing short of dodgy (he he he) although my youngest is currently sleeping with it so obviously he doesn't mind!! However, I have come up with a better design and am off to make one now. I should really be heading to bed for an early night, but once I have an idea in my head I can't sleep anyway.

Will be back tomorrrow (hopefully) with a photo...

See my interview on Aussie Kids Boutique blog...

Just thought I'd let you know that the lovely Kathryn from Aussie Kids Boutique has posted an interview with me on her blog. Thanks Kathryn...

Kathryn also has a couple of giveaways on another of her blogs, Tikiboo, so make sure you check those out too.

Also, here's a little peek at some of the fabric I've recently ordered - I just love these Oilily prints but not sure what I'm going to do with them yet !



Each piece of fabric is only 33 x 50cm so not enough to make dresses unfortunately. Any ideas ??

Happy Belated New Year...

Happy 2009 to everybody. Sorry the blogs have been a bit light on lately, but no doubt this time of year is just a crazy for you as it is for me. Anyway, here's a short run down on what's been going on here.

(the girls are wearing dresses that I make as part of the Little Diva range)



Christmas was great - Charlotte was awake bright and early at 6am but unforunately Riley decided that was the day she'd have a really good sleep in and slept until 7.30am !! And that was only because we sent Harry in to climb all over her. Poor Charlotte had to wait all that time to see what Santa had brought her. Actually, I couldn't believe how patient she was and by 7am I let her open a little present from us.



We had our usual Buttermilk Pancake breaky before heading over to my hubby's parents for a couple of hours and some more presents. Then off to my Mum and Dad's for Christmas lunch with my family and many more presents - the kids were so spoilt that I've had to put some of the presents away for a bit...


(christmas carnage...)

Lunch was divine and the kids had lots of fun playing with their cousins and swimming in the pool (thank God for that as the Brissie heat was definately up there on Christmas Day). Very tiring as usual but we all had a fantastic day.

Then the day after boxing day we headed down to Kingscliff for a few nights which was really nice. The weather was just beautiful although there was some rain on a couple of the nights and the river was absolutely freezing !! Alright once you were in though - probably because you body was numb! The kids don't care though and it was much easier than going to the beach (although we still went there a couple of times as it's just across the road from where we stay).




Now it's back to the norm with my hubby back at work today. Only three weeks though until we head off to Evans Head (northern NSW) for a whole two weeks at the beach - yay !

By the way, sorry the first Newsletter isn't out yet but I'll be sending it out soon and I'll also be posting some pics of my latest fabric purchase on the blog - I can't wait to receive it as there's some really gorgeous fabric I haven't seen around before. So stay tuned....