coffee break

I came across this tutorial via Car’s blog a while back. My sister has a pretty decent coffee addiction, so I made her a coffee sleeve to match the study portfolio I made for her a while back.

Just a random little “just because” type gift. It’s Saturday, and we are all systems go around here. Husband is busy with power-tool-related tasks. Boys are happily playing outside. A little girl is just about to go back to bed. A studio that needs cleaning, a dress that needs sewing, a crochet birdie that needs finishing. A big pile of scrapping to catch up on. Swings to push, games to play, stories to read. Busy in the best kind of way. Have a great weekend everyone!

leaving, on a jet plane…

… don’t know when I’ll be back again!

With the Bear beside me, I rummage through the fabric box, searching for the remnants I know are hiding in there. “Are we going to make an aeroplane teddy bear, mummy? A green one? Because green’s my favourite!”, says the excited little voice beside me, as one scrap of fabric, and then another, appear on the desk above my head, along with a small square of batting. He stands beside me, stretched up on tippy-toes, as we cutthe pieces we need. Four body. Four wing. Two tail. I sit at the machine, and he eagerly clambers into my lap, ready to help. The wings rapidly take sh, and with just a small amount of top-stitching, assume the appropriate level of sticky-outie-ness. The tail follows, and we begin piecing the body. Turned inside out, stuffed, a quick topstitch to close, and one little boy is very happy with his new teddy bear.

Ever since our Europe trip, Bear is fascinated by aeroplanes. So with Bubba Boy & Butterfly sleeping, rest time became sewing-with-mummy-time, and what a success it was.

Today, Bear is at preschool. Bubba Boy & Butterfly are asleep. I have two or three sewing projects on the go. A blog post or three to catch up on. A mini-book to finish. Some Christmas Windows-XP-shopping to do. Some crochet-mojo tickling my creative juices and some cute patterns firing my inspiration. The busier I am, the more I seem to get done. And the less time I waste on the internet *blush*. We started out with a big whack from the Monday stick, but we are back on track and ready to whack Monday back. My mind is busy and my fingers are itchy. Let’s rock this Monday!

organisation central

The hours I spend sitting and feeding my tiny 11-day-old daughter are some of the most special. With two small boys playing at my feet, or bringing stories to read, or happily playing in the toy room, the hours pass in a haze of bonding and adoration. Who cuddles Butterfly next. Who picks the story. What game to play.

The practical side of extended hours of feeding involves, for me at least, the collection and storage of various bits of baby “stuff”. Nursing pads. Lansinoh. A cloth nappy for wiping possets. Small wipes and a spare nappy or two for emergency changes in the night. Hand santiser post-emergency-change. Large water bottle.

Within days of her birth, the “stuff” accumulating on the window sill behind my favourite feeding chair was driving me bonkers. So with husband still home, and enjoying every minute of hanging with his two small companions, I secluded myself in the studio.

One piece of curtain fabric and half an hour or so of sewing, and I had a little fabric box to keep my bits and bobs in order. I used the same fabric as the curtain tie-backs, so the box doesn’t look *too* far out of place.

 

 

Today is more “finding of the feet”. Maybe five or ten stolen minutes in the sewing room as a softie nears completion. Colouring. Lego. Stories. I think I’m getting the hang of this three children business. Maybe. Ask me again next week.

sweet & sour

Laden with fruit, the lemon tree begs to be useful. With a basket in one hand, and a small little boy clinging to the other, we answer it’s call. Bare feet cushioned by grass invigorated by unseasonally rainy weather, warm spring sunshine beating on our backs, we fill the basket. One. Two. Three.

Traipsing inside, I assume the captains position, and issue directives as the lemons are sliced opened and juiced. Flour. Butter. Sugar.

In goes the butter and sugar, the beaters go on… And the baby wakes. With Baby Butterfly in her sling, we start again, but apparently she’s starving. No one *ever* feeds her, dontchaknow? Eventually we get the batter made, into the tin and in the oven, and the smell of fresh lemon cake wafts tempting through the kitchen as we have lunch.

Butterfly is 10 days old, and growing quickly – our MCHN visit earlier in the week showed she’s put on 240g in a week. She sleeps well, feeding every two-ish hours during the day and three hourly at night.

This week, husband is back at work, and I think we’ve just about found our feet. Today has been a gloriously sunny day so far. A picnic for morning tea. Stories in the sunshine. The house is clean. The cake is baking away nicely. Baby and toddler are sleeping. Our visitors aren’t due for another two and a half hours. I see lunch and then a spot of crafting coming up. Bear has requested an aeroplane softie. And then I might try and make *something* pink. Anything, really. If I get a chance, a quilt and doona set has just about finished designing itself in my mind – next step, the paper version. A pile of scrapping is calling for attention. As is the folding pile. Eh, go fold yourself, washing. Wednesday already, where is the time going?

It’s a girl!!!

Two days late, and in an awful hurry to arrive, our precious little Butterfly was born last Sunday, weighing in at a petite little 6lb11oz, a mere hour after my first contractions, and less than 20 minutes after arriving at hospital!

 

Life with three is crazy, but we are slowly finding our feet, and I hope to be back on the blogging/crafting bandwagon in the next week or so. I even managed to do some sewing today! I’ve got big plans for quilts, clothes, a softie or two. Lots of little things for stolen moments. But for now, the most precious moment in my day is the 40 minutes sitting on the lounge at midnight, as I sit with my feet propped on the opposite chair, my daughter in my arms, bathed in the glow of the softly murmuring television, and I gaze down at this tiny little creature that has joined our family, and suddenly, I can’t imagine life without her.

old-fashioned

It’s been a while since I’ve done anythign for Illustration Friday, but when the email landed in my inbox a couple of weeks back, a little sketch that had been sitting in the back of my mind seemed the perfect fit. A sign, maybe, to do something about my lack of creativity. So, texta & pencil in hand, I sat at my desk, and just for five minutes, forgot the housework, withdrew from the world, and did something that was just for me.

 

 

Today, I am childfree. I am 40 weeks pregnant. I am surrounded by a messy office that I need to clean. I want to scrap. I want to sew. I want to clear out some work before this baby comes. I want to get out and take some photos. I want to try to make the block of Tropical Pineapple chocolate my mum just gave me last more than 30 minutes. I want to meet this cheeky little person who refuses to come out and play. Come on baby, we all want to meet you!

 

Happy Friday everyone!