Dream Cake.

It’s been something playing in the back of my mind for a while, to have a go at designing my own fabric. And recently I had a very clear picture in my head of a project to make, and I knew exactly the fabric I wanted. But of course I couldn’t find it, so I put pen to paper, mouse to screen, and soon created my very first fabric collection – Dream Cake by LittleWhiteDove. I received the samples back this week, and am beyond excited to see MY designs in print! I’ve even taken a chance and submitted the cupcake one to a hand-drawn fabric contest.

The range centres around two central prints – a cupcake at around 3/4″, and a small co-ordinating cloud print, at 3/8″x1/4″. The range is then fleshed out with co-ordinating basics in red, grey, and aqua, with a “fancy basic” double stripe. I have another THREE collections in mind, I just need to find time to sit and create them!

So, without further ado, I introduce “Dream Cake”

For now, the collection is available here as yardage, and I hope to soon have a little storefront up and running to offer precuts.

My mind today has been filled with fabric designs and beads, as I work on some new collections, and a bracelet commissioned by a friend for mothers day. Somehow the day has slipped away without any real amount of crafting occuring, but I caught up with good friends, cuddled my baby and hung out with my dad for a bit, plus of course the usual mum’s taxi duties! The night is closing in already, and promises to be another chilly one, so I hope to get three small people into bed early, and then get busy in the studio. Tomorrow will be a home day, and there is a dolls quilt cut ready to sew, so I’ll likely be rocking the studio with some Wiggles and a small boy. Tuesday’s done, Wednesday is knocking. A new day, a new start on the to-do list. Maybe.

noteworthy

Every afternoon, the routine is the same. Walk in the door, wrangle with baby on hip as I try to make afternoon without her grabbing the food and/or knife, while chatting to the boys, and cajoling them into getting their chores done. Have you put your shoes away. Have you unpacked your lunch box. Is it in the drawer? Come on, bag away and wash your hands for afternoon tea. Do you have any notes for me?

 

That last one seems to bring forth a forest of paper every afternoon. Newsletters, book club forms, notes about plays and dressup days. A multitude of bits and pieces, all requiring my attention and likely return to school. They have been, until know, living on a corner of my kitchen bench, but at last, the mess was too much, and so I called the boys to me, raided the stationery and scrapping supplies, and we soon got to cutting and glueing. Some scrap book paper, an A4 envelope, and a pad of post-it notes, and I was feeling slightly more organised.

 

 

Somehow the week is getting away from me. Thursday today, and we are hanging out at home, taking it easy. Baby girl is a bit off, so we’ve been cuddling this morning, with a few stories thrown in. Baking a cake. Playing with the chicken. Picking fresh tomatoes from the garden. I’ve been rocking the glue gun for the finishing touches on a Humpty Dumpty costume. The afternoon is stretching out, to be filled with errands and tea parties and craft. A nap wouldn’t go astrat if I could swing it, but that’s looking less likely. Toilet training, housework, playing with my babies. The usual Thursday busies. Let’s do this!

 

tutu cute

She spins around, hands above head, creating her own music “da da dum, da da dum” the little voice tinkles, until she twirls to a stop, one foot pointed to the side. At 16 months, she is too small for ballet lessons, but, inspired by a friend and my little dancer, we had our afternoon craft sorted. The boys slept as she delightfully helped me rummage through the fabric tub, and the scraps I knew were in there quickly surfaced, and to my delight, matched perfectly with some larger peices in a bag at the top of the tub.

 

We sit side by side on the loungeroom floor, and I lay out the fabric. A shiny piece of teal organza catches her eye, and she twirls with delight as it billows behind her. I call her back, and roughly measure the length I’ve chosen, to ensure it will fit right. She squeals and runs of as I begin looping layers of organza around the elastic loop on my leg. Her breathy giggles are warm in my ear as she runs back to me, and tries to pull it away from me. Run, pull. Run, pull. And at last it is finished, and she snatches it and runs away to inspect it. As I call, she reluctantly returns, and I help her step in, before she floats off in a puff of orange and pink.

 

 

It’s been a quiet day in the nest today, with three little people and their mama recovering from a tummy bug. Movies for them, pottering about cleaning interspersed with snuggles and Facebook for me. Thank goodness for iPhones. A story or two, long naps, a bit of craftiness. Slowly beginning to reassemble the bombsite formerly known as my studio. Taking it slow and easing into the weekend. Show weekend. Getting our tummies better so we can abuse them with chips and pluto pups and way too much fairy floss. Where’s that ferris wheel? Plenty of fun to be had, the weekend’s here at last. Bring it on!

Ribbon Board. In Ten Easy Steps.

Step One. Walk into your daughter’s room and stare at the jumble of clips in dismay.

Step Two. Go to office, collect disused photo frame, length of ribbon, and piece of suitably hot pink fabric. And masking tape.

Step Three. Dump the haul on the kitchen table. Cuddle baby doing a koala impression around legs.

Step Four. Open frame and remove glass. Lay glass near fabric.

Step Five. Fold fabric so it’s kind the size of the glass plus some decent overlap.

Step Five B. Cuddle baby. Answer incessant questions from four year old about what you are doing. And WHY?

Step Six. Take piece of ribbon. Look at it. Look at glass. Fold in half twice to see if you get a decent amount of overlap. Cut at folds with kitchen scissors.

Step Six B. Don’t tell husband you used his good kitchen scissors got craft purposes.

Step Six C. See step five a.

Step Seven. Lay ribbon at roughly equal intervals. Lay fabric on top of that. Lay glass on top of that.

Step eight. Fold over fabric and ribbon on one long side. Use masking tape to hold in place. Repeat for other long edge, then short edge.

Step nine. Lay in frame. Attempt to close frame. Realise it’s too fat. Bite tongue because little ears have big mouths.

Step Nine A. See five a, six c.

Step Ten. Realise glass is just misaligned, remove, reinsert carefully, close back and fill with clips.

Step Ten A. Wonder how a bald 8 month old has some many clips.

Step Ten B. Wonder where the rest of the clips have gone.

 

robot duck

Among the masses of presents the boys received at Christmas, there were two small flat parcels. One might even go so far as to label them unassuming. But inside, was a brilliant little project… rolled paper tubes, and instructions to make:

 

quack, quack!

Today has been a lovely relaxed type of Saturday. Small boy & husband went hardware shopping, so I popped baby girl in her pram, and big boy and I went for a walk. Toy store, library, book shop, and topped it off with a vanilla milkshake at our favourite cafe. Stories and craft. Sandput & swings. And a lovely late afternoon walk in the park while the boys scooted on their scooters ahead of us. Next week is back to real-life, so we are making the most of what’s left of the holidays. Painting for him, sewing for me, fun for them. Hooray for holidays. Monday is too close. Happy weekending everyone!

Little House.

There is one tradition that we have establishes in our little family. As Christmas draws closer, a parcel arrives from a dear friend. The box is quickly placed in prime position in the kitchen, the troops are gathered, and the contents of said box are spread across the counter. Biscuit, check. Lollies, check. Icing, check. And it’s time to get bulding.

Yum yum, gimgerbread house! I’m always hesitant to start eating it, but it never seems to take more than a week for a house to disappear… we must have gingerbread-loving mice, because it’s not me, I swear!

As I type, I have a semi-conscious toddler on my lap. I’m hoping he drifts back off to sleep, as the short rest he has had doesn’t qualify for a nap. Not liking my chances, but hopeful nonetheless. After a productive day yesterday, I have a mile-high mountain of washing to fold. I have big plans of a coffee, a movie, and daydreaming my way through it. Maybe a break or two for some blog surfing. Or some craft. I think my big plans are about to come crashing down around me. He stirs, I rock, we snuggle. Ahhh…let’s do this!

Fresh…

A new year dawns, heralding a new decade. The “noughties” are behind us, and the not-so-noughties shimmer with the promise of future delights. A fresh year, like a blank canvas. Or maybe a journal, crisp & clean, with the faint smell of the papermill still wafting from it’s pages.Waiting for history to be written on it’s pages. History yet to be decided. History that is mine to create.

And as I give thanks for the year that was, I pray for the year ahead. For courage to face the battles that will inevitably come. Strength to ride out the bad times. Hope for the good times. Thankfulness for all that with which I am blessed. Wisdom to confidently find my path, to safely & surely guide my little family through the year, that we may sit here, a year from now, and reflect on what a great year it was. I pray that I may make this history that I write the best I possibly can.

A new year. A new decade. A new start. Hello, 2010. Boy do I have some plans for you. I am excited by what is in store. And to record the history that you and I will create together, a new year deserves a beautiful new diary…

(please excuse the loose threads on the bookmark, I quickly snapped the photo before the children woke up).

I am a stationery nut. Diaries, journals, notepaper. My diary, I am especially particular about. Nice thick paper. Intuitive layout. And beautiful cover. If I have to look at it for a whole year, it must be nice. I fell in love with the soft pink texture of this little chap while out Christmas shopping… merry Christmas to me! This diary just begs to be filled with plans & dreams, the plottings of one addicted to creating. And creating I shall. I have a bag to blog. A quilt just waiting on a border. A gingerbread house. Some more toddler canvases. Look for a post a day for the first week of the year!

Happy 2010 everyone. May your year be as wonderful as I hope mine shall be!

Just a little something

For far too long now, the five kilos of keys I lug around with me have remained determinedly unadorned. A clip to attach them to my bag passed as a keyring. Devoid of any sign of who may own them, they existed merely as a clump of metal pieces attached, very ad hoc, I may add, by various small rings that the keys themselves had come attached to.

 

Last night, while watching Masterchef & lamenting my lack of culinary ability, I finally got sick of the multitude of rings, which, while varying in size, were all of similar cheap construction, and made myself a little keyring from some crystals and beads lying idly in my stash, purchased for a now-long-forgotten project.

 

The end beads are silver filgree beads, and the others are Swarovski crystals, threaded on beading wire. I’m not overly happy with the beading wire, so I think a trip to the craft store over the weekend is in order, to pick up a couple of earring drops to make them a bit sturdier. At the minute they are bending out of shape in my bag.

 

Today is a lovely lazy Friday. Item one on the agenda – sewing. A quick tidy of the studio, making a gift, possibly another couple of rounds on my crochet rug. Just easing our way into a hectic weekend. Let’s do this!

Could it be anything else?

With the arrival of winter, we also welcome the sickness merry-go-round that is a given when one has children, and quite social children at that. Winter is generally a dreary season for us, marked not by the passing of weeks, but by the cycle of colds & chest infections. *sigh*

 

And being the second week of June already, we were long overdue for a decent bout of sickness. And come Friday, it hit. Toddler Bear is not well. Four days of erratic temps have knocked the poor little guy about, so we were looking for something quiet & relaxed to do this morning.

 

A quick search through the drawers in the studio yeilded some air-drying clay, a gift that has been sitting in the drawer awaiting the perfect project. So with the baby and his “if I can touch it, I must taste it” tendencies safely tucked up in bed for his morning nap, I pulled out the clay, and, with my little assistant by my side, got to work. “What shall we make, sweetheart?” “A train, Mummy, a Thomas Tank Engine, wiv a short stumpy boi-yer (boiler), and short stumpy issel (whistle), and a short stumpy funnel.” Of course. What else would I expect, coming from a child who ignores his assigned craft at playgroup, turning it over & commanding his minions (ie, mummy) to draw a train or ten on the back. *sigh*

 

I think we ended up more like Edward than Thomas – Thomas has too many square edges, whereas Edward is much easier on a novice sculptor.

 

This is how the train is looking at the drying stage – sculpted & etched. It will now sit on my desk for the next 48 hours to dry, and then I’ll attack it with some acrylic paint.

 

Today is a laying low & recuperating day. With a small boy wanting nothing more than to be cuddled, how can I refuse? Everything will still be waiting for me tomorrow. Housework, painting, scrapping, creating. All trumped by a small boy’s snuggles. Back to our regularly scheduled crafting soon!

WIP Wednesday

With the gentle patter of rain on the roof, and a bleak, cloud-filled sky filling my window, I’m yearning for nothing greater than a cup of tea, some snuggly stories, and a moment or five to get messy, with a toddler at my feet.

On the agenda for today, a little painting that I started yesterday just needs the finishing touches. A gift for my sister with some bright cheery fabric to bring colour to our day.  A gift for a small boy, the pattern for which was also a ‘yesterday’ thing. I’m feeling the urge to make some pikelets & smother them with butter. Washed down by hot chocolate. Taking a moment to savour another chapter of my latest novel for the 50/50 challenge. A deliciously lazy, indulgent day with my two favourite small people. Let’s rock this Wednesday!