or not…

St Nicholas’ gift for our Butterfly – a little Seedling kit with a decorate-yourself butterfly. Super cute. Less so when you find red glitter glue streaking the dog’s fur. A good idea after all?

 

 

A quick post today, as it’s holiday mode and I’m holding my babies close. They are happy playing lego at the minute, so I’m hoping to make the most of it and get cracking on an i-spy quilt. Lots to blog, but not enough time! One more quilt camp giftie, what I received, what I made, the great jelly roll race progress. But for now, my babies await. Three little chickens in my nest to keep me company. Have I said how much I love holidays yet??

a useful gift.

We started when Bear was tiny. Every week, I’d strap our 6 month old little boy in the car, make the trip across town and spend half an hour among friends singing and clapping and playing. Then Boy2 arrived, and he attended his first music class at the ripe old age of 2 weeks. Admittedly, he slept most of the time. Butterfly was a tender 6 days old the first time she joined us, nestled in her daddy’s arms as I sat with the boys and sang along.

For Christmas, we wanted to give a small gift to acknowledge the wonderful job our teacher has done over the past 5.5 years. With two small children of her own nearing holidays, I thought the idea of “cookies in a jar” that I’d been seeing all over Pinterest would be perfect.

We used a double recipe of our favourite choc-chip biscuits. I forgot to pack down the layers as we went, so it didn’t look as pretty as it should, and I think this recipe has too much flour to really “work” in this format, but I was happy how our first try worked out. I used a border template and some digital papers to create the label with the baking instructions, ran it through my Xyron and attached it to the jar, which I found at a local homewares store and can double as a small cookie jar.

Our usual Tuesday craziness is on hold today, our groups and activities on holidays already. Which leaves me and Butterfly with a whole day ahead of us. Yesterday I joined a jelly roll sew-a-long and now I have the bones of a lone star quilt set out on my loungeroom floor, so I have a trip to the fabric store on my agenda to buy some homespun for the background. Depending how the heat plays, maybe a trip to the park to feed the ducks. Or maybe we’ll just hide inside under the fan. Fun time. Two days until holidays – can you tell I’m a bit excited?

 

{linking up with Essentially Jess for I Blog on Tuesdays}

teacher gifts and bargain shopping

I’ve been eyeing them off on various blogs and Pinterest for a while now. So Tuesday afternoon, with two grumpy small children, I popped on Playschool for the grumps, and Bear and I raided the tip affectionately known as my studio. With the various bits and pieces in hand, we set ourselves up on the craft table. Bear picked the fabric and the post-it pad, I helped him glue it, and quick as a wink, two little clipboards appeared. A little bit of ribbon to pretty it up, and done.

I then had to scoot and get dinner organised, but Bear wanted to keep crafting. I cut the piece of fabric he asked for, and then left him to his own devices. He chattered away to himself, happy to be pottering and creating. Just as I was serving up dinner, a little hand tapped me on the leg. “Mummy! Close your eyes, hold out your hands!” A small parcel was placed in my hands, and then I heard the command. “OPEN!!” and the first thing I saw was a small face, beaming with pride. The second thing I saw was his own little interpretation of the clipboards. “it’s for you mummy, to write your shopping list, or make notes, or, you know, just for whatever you need to write down. It’s good to write stuff down, isn’t it mummy?”. It seems someone knows his mother’s memory too well

Adorable or what?

Today we headed out to coffee with friends, then off to the library for story time and Santa Claus. Boy2 was hesitant at first, upset that Bear was upset that he wouldn’t get to see Santa. He kept saying he didn’t want to see Santa without Bear, because “he wants to see Santa and I want to see Santa with him.”. But the promise of a lolly bag was too much, and won out over solidarity as he climbed up and told Santa he wants “three horn Lego” for Christmas (the new Lego range includes a set with a Triceratops that Boy2 has been coveting for months). A table of books for sale caught my eye as we were leaving, and a  quick browse saw a spine jump out at me.

The Parrot’s Theorem {disclaimer – affiliate link. I receive a small commission on books purchased using this link.}

The blurb sounded alright, so I thought for $1, it was the perfect addition to my 13/13 list. There was another there, an anthology of mini-biographies of inspiring Australian women, that I’m quite keen to go back and grab too. Might put that on tomorrow’s list.

Here comes Santa Claus…

Christmassy activities abound a the moment. As we pulled out the decorations, a wreath was uncovered, made with Bear when he was just a wee chap – a circle of cardboard, and red and green crepe paper stuck on.

So with the Christmas carols playing, we parked ourselves on the loungeroom floor, my box of scraps between us all, and the children dived in and pulled out all the green scraps they could find, as I measured out a length of wire, and twisted it into a circle shape. With a few snips, and twisting and tying the fabric, we soon had a wreath coming together nicely.

 

The boys were chuffed to see it hanging up on the tree, and there I think it will stay. We have a few more Christmassy crafts up our sleeve as well. First on the list though, get this Secret Santa parcel out the door, and find my cute little matchbox advent calendar. I know I’ve put it somewhere very safe…

 

{blogging today as part of Car’s Advent Blog-a-long}

A little bit of this and a little bit of that…

And shake your butt, na na na na… C’mon, don’t tell me you weren’t doing a chair boogie just then. So, moving on in the Quilt Camp gifty parade, this gifty belongs to the delightful Miss Carrose. You may recall in my previous stamp carving post, I referred to a completed stamp? Well, it was the chicken you see below, but I didn’t dare show it because it would almost guarantee Carrose would know what I was up to. Yes, the chicken jokes are that pervasive. As are the “doosh-hund” jokes. The sheep is supposed to be a ewe, and while the inspiration for that one isn’t our usual #comedygold, I still couldn’t stop giggling the whole ruddy time I was carving.

I also took a punt and mounted them on wood blocks, graciously provided by Running Bear. And by graciously I mean “I can’t cut these with my saw, I’ll need to by a new one”. Yeah, right. Nice try. I think he’s spent too much time around me, with a flimsy new-toy justification like that. Despite the lack of new saw though, he did a stellar job, and after I swiped each edge with a bit of sandpaper, I was chuffed with the end result.

The chicken *giggle* was completely my own design, the doosh-hund *snigger* was drawn freehand using this image as inspiration, the sheep/ewe was drawn freehand loosely based on this image, and the chevron stamp was inspired by this Etsy listing that she had pinned and referred to a time or two. And of course, due credit must go to this tutorial, which was super easy to follow (for my Aussie followers, I found all the bits and pieces I needed at Eckersley’s).

I have another little stamp in the works, which I hope to finish tonight so I can use it for a gift card. My secret Santa goodies are slowly progressing, though I think there may be a trip to the craft store on the cards for my afternoon. A busy day means my crafting time is limited and stolen. Tonight, I plan to write. The chapter to which yesterday’s L&P snippet belongs is begging to be attended too, and I also need to finish unpacking from quilt camp. There is always tomorrow for decent crafting time. Boy2 is begging for dinosaur digger craft, so it seems that will be the extent of my creativity for today, unless I can convince him to do it himself while I craft alongside him…

WIP Wednesday :: stamps

I may or may not have found a new addiction. Stamp carving. I have completed one, and am working on another at the minute. I promise I’ll show off the finished one as soon as I get a chance to stamp it up into something cute. This is my currently work in progress:

I thought I was close to finished, my I’m not thrilled with the thickness of the lines, so I’ll keep fiddling for a bit longer. Next step is to learn how to mount them nicely – I have a couple of ideas in mind, it’s just a matter of if they turn out or not!

I’ve also been crafting away on some quilt camp gifts – two done, two more in progress and the remain three, I know what I want to do, now to just find the time to do them! Nine sleeps, so so excited!

Today’s been a crazy kind of day – glued to the TV watching the eclipse news feed, racing around town in search of a welding helmet to borrow to view it properly as we only got a partial here (though it was a pretty good partial), then running around with the various errands involved in life with three small people! Though I won’t complain too much – one of those errands was crepes and milkshakes at our favourite cafe. Such a tough life I lead! I’m pottering in the studio this afternoon, cleaning a bit, working a bit, if I can find the mojo I might pop up to the shed and finish sanding my craft cabinet. The big decisions of life, really.

some down time

With everyone still not feeling quite well, we had a home day again yesterday. We’d already watched enough tv, we didn’t really have enough energy to do “real” craft, or play outside. So I hit up Pinterest, and found some colouring pages that I had pinned. With textas, pencils, crayons for them, Copics for me, we sat together and merrily coloured and/or scrunched the paper, depending on age and enthusiasm for the task at hand.

{The mummy Copic colouring sheet above was printed from here.}

you’ve got owl.

The warmth of the afternoon sun begged for an outside activity. Boy2 begged for craft. Three pieces of paper, four bottles of paint, three sets of fingers. Happiness. Watching contentedly, I pulled out my Copics and a couple of small notecards I’d stamped up this afternoon, and got doodling.

I especially love the first one. It was lots of fun playing with my markers, even if it did reinforce my desire to expand my rainbow. Must. Collect. All. Colours. I plan on using these for little “just because” snail mail notes. But the little owls tickled my whimsy, and made me think of Harry Potter and the owl mail delivery, and so in my mind, I’ve replaced “snail mail” with “owl mail” when I think of sending these little chaps off.

Boy2 is on the mend, and so the time in the sun and fresh air was the perfect way to pass a warm afternoon. I managed to sneak a moment to cut some extra pieces for my dolls quilt top, and hope to have it all together tomorrow, ready to quilt over the weekend. I’ve also got a little L&P instalment rattling round my head. And best of all, it’s Friday tomorrow. And Friday is sniffing distance to the weekend and extra crafting time. But first, Thursday night requires my presence for some How I Met Your Mother and some embroidery. Doesn’t get much better than that.

blogtoberfest day 11 :: book binding

 

A little package was waiting on my doorstep when we returned from holidays, and I was keen to hook in and get started. I have a little gift book in mind, but couldn’t resist the temptation to bind up a little book for myself first, that I’ve been thinking of since I made Gail’s Dr Who book. I was lucky enough to receive, in the same package as the paper for Gail’s book, two little pieces of handmade paper from the seller, and I’ve been waiting to use one of them for this little book. at 3.25″ x 4″, it’s a little cutie! I did toy with adding some cross threading down the binding again, but it didn’t really work.

 

 

The rain has settled in for the day, and my mojo feels as low as the temperature. I’m thinking I might ignore that big pile of washing and get hooked into some sewing. Or maybe bake a cake. Or even just chuck a movie on and muddle my way through the folding. Rain rain go away, the weekend is coming soon to play.

All tangled up.

The page fills with lines, then pattern takes over the sections. The repetitive stroke, stroke, stroke as the black ink brings the pattern to life. Almost meditative, watching the design change and evolve, it’s quite addictive. Miss Bacoon has a lot to answer for in starting the Zentangle craze.

I had my little travel art kit from Car handy, and had a nice quiet moment yesterday, so I pulled out the watercolour paper and a pencil and got tangling.

I then added a splash of water colour.

Of course, this meant Bear saw the super cute mini watercolour set, and so I reluctantly handed it over, and a single sheet of paper for him to paint on.

Today we’ve been having a lovely day as a family, and three exhausted small people are overtired and ready for a lie down out of the heat of a day that has brought with it the promise of summer. I finished the blue section of the ripple last night, so I’m thinking I might make some in-roads on the red. Or work on Mr Dragon. Or maybe just lay under the air-con and read a book. Back to school and real life is going to be tough…

{blogging today for day 5 of Blogtoberfest.}