A little bit of Kaos

Have you looked at Fave Quilts?

2012-01-26T23:41:00.005+11:00

At the start of the year I got a lovely email from Jessica from Fave Quilts saying that they had featured one of my patchwork tutorials on their web site. Fave Quilts is a great resource if you are into patchwork and quilting. Lots of links to resources and ideas. They also do a newsletter, so go ahead and sign up to it.

The one that they featured was the Sixteen Patch Baby Quilt. The result has been a rise in the hits of my blog (but not comments .. what is going on!).

It was great to get feedback from someone about what I blog about, as often it feels like you are putting it out there and no-one is reading it (although the stats say a different story).

So have you tried our tutorial?

Can you take a few minutes to give me some feedback?

Back to work style ideas

2012-01-25T23:13:00.006+11:00

I lost myself in Polyvore a few nights ago and had fun building this up as a storyboard for what I'd love to be seen in this year.

I've never been a fashion follower, but in the last few months I have spent more on shoes than I think I have in the last 5 years. I am enjoying the 1950's Mad Men, Pan Am style that is coming through the shops at the moment.

In a few weeks time I am hoping to have a go at making a 1950's dress, so I am on the hunt for fabric that will suit my aesthetic and yet be true to the 1950's statement.

We have Golden Orb babies!

2012-01-22T13:10:00.004+11:00

We had given up all hope of this Garden Orb Weaver (Nephila Edulis) nest hatching but this morning as I went out to check on my garden I noticed that the nest had indeed hatched.

Breathtaking!

Not as dramatic as Charlotte's Web, but still quite magnificent. I'd like to think that they are the reason why we got the 150 days settlement. Hard to believe that it will take another 12- 18 months before these guys lay their eggs.

As you can imagine, the size of the spiderlings are about the size of a pin head (the old pins without plastic)

Finished "Come and get me" Quilt Top

2012-01-19T00:38:00.003+11:00

I still have to put the eye in the ghost, but hopefully it is obvious the pop culture reference this bit of patchwork is making.

I am particularly proud of the rounded corner on the ghost.

I am hoping to steal an hour tomorrow to applique the eye in place and then start to quilt it.

Updating Etsy with Pouches

2012-01-17T13:00:00.002+11:00

I am busy updating Konstant Kaos Etsy Shop today with some pouches and pencil cases that I have made. My goal was to get all my stuff on etsy by the time I go back to teaching (we'll see!).

All of them use high quality zips and are machine washable.

Come and get me patchwork block 1

2012-01-16T10:39:00.004+11:00

I had a play around with the first block of the cushion. The yellow patches are from my scrap box.

I am still ambivalent as to whether to make it 5 rows or 7 for the pillow.

If my cold manages to clear today, I am hoping to sew this up properly.

Come and get me patchwork pillow

2012-01-14T11:11:00.004+11:00

On the Curlypops blog last week she posed the question about her Pacman inspired design, whether she should be able to sell these craft panels.

It got me thinking about other projects that I have seen around the blogosphere. There are plenty of products that hint at the genre of computer games in the 80's, I am sure that not all of those products pay a fee to the original creators of Pacman or Space Invaders.

So I sat down and sketched out my idea of a patchwork "come and get me" pillow. I have some Pacman inspired fabric that I bought from Fat Quarter shop a while back and I am itching for a small project to start and finish in the one sewing session for Nicholas' room.

I suspect when I create it, it will be a bit more refined and a bit more patchy! I'm going to make it to fit one of the Ikea pillow inserts (feather of course).

What do you think of my "Come and get me" pillow, fair use or break of copyright?

Why I haven't been on twitter lately

2012-01-14T10:33:00.003+11:00

I can't believe that in one month my little boy will be turning 1.

Since we got back from Sleep School, he has gone from strength to strength. We are now crawling and cruising and clearly saying Dadda. We are giggling and doing "happy dances". He wants to stand everywhere which makes bath times fun! His crawling speed is now quite fast, so you need to make sure that everything is out of reach, including cat food!

He has just started Childcare and I can't believe how easy he has settled in. My daughter had separation anxiety most mornings when I dropped her off, but Nicholas just crawls off into the distance and doesn't look back. When I pick him up he looks up, smiles at me and then goes back to what he was doing. I finally feel that the universe has given me a "break", 2012 is going to be a good year.

I am gearing up to go back to work. I start prep work next week and then we are back the week after on the 25th January. I am hoping to set up my desk next week and have my first week of lessons sorted and the unit timelines done.

As for crafty stuff, I have been busy de-stashing via Pin, Cut, Sew etsy shop where I will be putting fabric and patterns for sale. I have also re-opened Konstant Kaos etsy shop and I am busy taking pictures of my stock for that shop as well. The chances of me doing markets this year is quite remote, but I still want to create and sell.

If you have a minute please "befriend" both Pin, Cut, Sew on Facebook and also Konstant Kaos on Facebook and share the link with your friends.

Blast from the past

2012-01-11T11:05:00.003+11:00

I managed to get my act together and actually catch up with a few people for coffee this morning, before heading down to Gleaners Inc for a spot of crafty shopping.

The cafe had an eclectic collection of furniture and I found myself getting all excited over this chair!

My Mum used to have a dining setting like this! I remember it well, but I couldn't remember whether it had a glass or wooden octagonal table that went with it!

New Kaos Cap

2012-01-10T13:01:00.003+11:00

I love Vistaprint. Their business model is to encourage clients to try their new products with the hope that they will return and buy more!

One of their specials was a cap. I've been running with one of my hubby's caps on, so I thought I would order one and see what the quality would be like. The cap cost about $15, including postage and printing on the back (my URL). I haven't taken it for a spin yet, but it's pretty good!

Over the years I have gotten business cards, notepads and t-shirts done through Vistaprint. Lots of fun!

To print or not to print

2012-01-09T21:34:00.003+11:00

I've been busy researching whether it is worthwhile to produce patterns in PDF or paper based.

I have a few ideas kicking around my head that I would love to put into print. I personally don't have time to make lots of things at the moment, but I would love to see others make my creations.

So what are your views? What are your experiences? I would love to hear from you.
To print or not to print?

Sometimes I swirl!

2012-01-08T11:14:00.001+11:00

I came across this shop on etsy while seeking out some new artwork for my walls. I love the freedom in the design and the detail.

Isn't this gorgeous! I love this hoop art.

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And this drawing is gorgeous!

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It reminds me a little bit of the Zentagle work that Beky from PivX was doing.

Day 7 #JANPhotoaday - Favourite

2012-01-07T15:07:00.001+11:00

Hmmm Irn Bru is one of my favorite drinks, especially with vodka.

Inspiration for a quilt

2012-01-05T19:33:00.001+11:00

Mum has this towel hanging on the line. The colours are gorgeous, but I can see it being an appliquéd quilt. What do you think?

Summertime Quilting

2012-01-03T15:49:00.001+11:00

It has been quite hot here in Melbourne this week, ideal day to quilt in an air-conditioned room. How do you handle the heat? What do you do?

Day 3 #JANphotoaday - Something you Adore

2012-01-03T10:52:00.004+11:00

The theme for today is "Something you Adore", and while I adore my children and cats, it's probably my hubby that I adore the most at the moment.

We have been together since 1990, and I loved watching him grow and evolve into a loving father.

Day 2 #JANphotoaday Breakfast

2012-01-02T10:57:00.002+11:00

Most mornings consist of only a cup of tea before I get Nicholas and Tori sorted out. Once they are set I grab my breakfast. I'm not an early riser, so the whole "getting up before the kids wake" doesn't really work for me at the moment.

I've playing around with making "blogging on the go" easier, so I trialled the Blogger App for my iPhone this morning. Took a pic, wrote up some bits and pieces and then refined it when I had a moment to myself. How do you make blogging easier?

Staged, but you get the picture!

Are you playing along? Head over to Fat, Mum, Slim and let her know

How are you getting organized for 2012

2012-01-02T08:42:00.002+11:00

How did you organize your family in 2011? I want to know!

We had a monthly calender on the wall, our iPhone Calendars and then a weekly planning sheet that we filled out on a Sunday night. But this year the game will be changed with me going back to work part time. So on top of this, I will also have a teacher lesson planner diary.

What tools do you use to organize yourself?

Do you use something like this cute desktop calendar by Missy Minzy

Or perhaps something like this, a downloadable planner and diary from CrystalWilkerson.com

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Comment and tell me how you are getting organized for 2012 ... please!

Day 1 #JANphotoaday Topic "Me"

2012-01-01T19:07:00.007+11:00

This blog has become quite barren in the second half of last year. So to jump start things I have decided to attempt to participate in #JANphotoaday that Fat, Mum, Slim is running.

So the topic for today is "Me" ...

Sitting at the computer with a cup of hot tea in one of my gorgeous Nicola Cerini Mugs. Last year I decided that life was too short to sip tea out of crappy mugs with cracks in them. So when Myer had a sale on we stocked up on some lovely mugs in each of her designs.

If you would like to join the movement, simply blog, twit or FB a picture of you with the hash tag #JANphotoaday. Check out Fat, Mum, Slim for more details. And it's "ok" if you don't do it each day.

The end of 2011

2011-12-31T11:04:00.004+11:00

I am not quite sure where this year has gone. It has zoomed past me so quickly, I have hardly had time to do the things that would normally make me happy.

We had another baby, Nicholas
We sold our house
We made plans to build next to my inlaws (or outlaws)
We coped with 4 months of a screaming baby until he was diagnosed with reflux
We coped with another 4 months of shattered sleeping until we went to sleep school
I started my M. Ed (Teacher Librarianship) .. was I mad? probably
I have been trying to get back into running as time out and regular exercise.

In amoungst this, there wasn't much time for doing what I love .. sewing and crafting.

Next year I return to work and in addition to my two classes of teaching, I am doing one "class worth" in the Library. So excited about this change (giddy like a school girl). As for Konstant Kaos ... I have been doing lots of thinking and planning lately and my first task is to run down my stock levels and then I have a few ideas how to move things along. But it might happen after we move house in April.

via KikkiK

But my New Year's resolution is to take it one month at a time. At the start of the month, set the goals and see how that goes. I found this cute little pad in Kikki K to build good habits which I might use to make sure that I am eating well, exercising well and also getting some sewing time in as well!

My Creative Space: Aunty Cookie

2011-12-15T08:08:00.002+11:00

I got this print a while back and it sat on my wall attached with blue tac while I contemplated how to frame it. I liked the fact that the edge of the picture was ripped and that added a sense of authenticity to the original piece of artwork.

I bought a frame from the swedish super store and I looked at the print the mount and I thought, no ... it needs something extra.

So I hunted up some red fabric and mounted it onto that then into the frame. I think that it looks good on my sewing room wall. I managed to pick up another print from Aunty Cookie and I think I will do the same.

If you are looking for any more creative spaces ... hop on over to Our Creative Spaces.

Gift Wrap the Aunty Cookie way

2011-12-14T20:14:00.001+11:00

I love the ritual of wrapping gifts for Christmas. This year I bought the Aunty Cookie gift wrap PDF via her etsy shop. Really, really cute!

The PDF is only A3 in size, so ideal for small gifts and I have used it as a wrap accent on large pieces. I love the statements like "of course, yes. I honestly love it."

Go and get yourself some Cookie Christmas Wrap.

Snowflakes

2011-12-13T22:12:00.004+11:00

I like to decorate my Christmas Tree's with wooden ornaments with a red/silver/white scheme. I am not much into plastic tree's, I love the smell and look of the real tree.

This year I stumbled across Urban Timber Woodworks on etsy. They do laser cut snowflakes for the Christmas Tree. I thought that they were gorgeous and took a gamble and bought a few sets. When they arrived they were even better than I thought and they had this lovely smell about them as well.

Nice and crisp design.

Here is one of the sets.

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And here is a cute cat photo posting in front of the Christmas Tree!

How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?

Link below in comments!

All aboard the Gosling Train ..

2011-12-12T18:55:00.005+11:00

I'm a bit slow at the moment. I finally got around to seeing Crazy, Stupid, Love and have discovered Ryan Gosling. The movie was quite enjoyable and Steve Carell did a wonderful job as the middle aged father going through a divorce. I am not a large fan of Julianne Moore, but she did an alright job of the role.

After mentioning that I had discovered Gosling, a friend posted this site, Handmade Ryan Gosling, to Facebook. So for your enjoyment (and mine)...

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*sigh*

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I can imagine Ryan saying .. "Hey Girl, let me sort those fabric scraps into colour groups for you". Or, "Hey Girl, Order as many Jelly Rolls as you want, I will still love you .."

Cushion for Kerri

2011-12-12T11:02:00.001+11:00

I'd been wanting to make something from Elizabeth Hartman's book for ages, but study and house preparations have kinda got in the way.

A friend was turning 40 and said "no presents" so I decided to make her a pillow. I got a handful of fabrics from my favourite fabric store.

And I had a go of my favourite pattern of the book.

I had a go at the pattern as a "sampler". The square of fabric that I used was a little smaller than the one that she recommended, but I really enjoyed the process of placement and sewing of the leaves. I cut them in bunches of 4 so that it wouldn't take as long to cut the leaves. The applique was easy and effective to do.

On the back I cut 4 1/2 inch squares and patched them together. If I were to do this one again, I would probably make the pillow larger and sash it.

Elizabeth writes clear and concise instructions with lots of little tips and hints along the way. I also love the way in which she lists "alternative ideas" at the end of the pattern, sparking the imagination even more.

I look foward to making more from this book when I get some time.

10 months

2011-12-08T08:23:00.004+11:00

We coming upto the 10 month mark with Nicholas and I am not sure where the year has gone. It is already that time to be talking about returning to part time work next year :(

I haven't gotten half of the crafting done that I wanted to get done. But we have put a house on the market and on Saturday she goes up for Auction. It is amazing how much physical and emotional energy selling a house takes.

At 10 months he is a strong little boy, doing things that his big sister never did. Like standing in the cot and shaking the sides of it, whilst screaming. He has started to try and climb the stairs in the hall and likes to pull himself up on everything; Me, stools, couch, cat ..

His sleeping is so much better since we visited Mitchum Private Mother Baby Unit. We now have the techniques to get us through those horrible days and nights where he is restless.

I have abandoned any plans for a crafty Christmas this year, making minimal gifts. With the lack of sleep and house plans I was just making mistakes all over the place. What I have done is organised a craft box for when I sit in front of the telly. Full of projects that don't require lots of brain matter.

Do you have a crafty box? What is in it?

Mr Kammel's Modern Steam Engine

2011-11-26T08:38:00.001+11:00

Any excuse to share a gorgeous picture of my hubby.

Take in the Engine room of the Steamboat Wattle, moored at Docklands. Photo taken by the very talented Kerri Valkova.

Christmas for Cats

2011-11-25T10:31:00.010+11:00

Life has been a bit full on, but we are through our first two "Open for Inspections" on our house, so I can almost feel that a sense of normality is returning (except for the fact that now my house is sparkly clean and has to stay that way!).

I've started to start thinking about Christmas and found myself looking for things for the kittens. Most of these finds are "in an ideal universe" presents because most are incredibly expensive!

I hope you enjoy my finds!

Raindrop Drinking Fountain

There are lots of cat drinking fountains around, but this one is quite stylish and also comes in stainless steel.

Sleepypod Cat Carrier

This sleepypod cat bed is gorgeous! I love the fact that you can buy a warmer. When the furballs are in the cattery you can unzip the bottom for them to sleep in it. It is also a lot less bulky than the cat carriers that we have at the moment and comes in some lovely colours!

ModKat vertical litter box is so cool! Not sure if this would work, I would be tempted to hack one from an old plastic box to see if my furballs would use it. The design is lovely with not too many corners for the dust to settle. Looks easy to clean and I love the idea of a washable liner.

Cool Cat Climbing Tower

I like the fact that this one can stack together if you needed to put it away. Cool concept.

Hollywood Franklin Cat Tower

I love this concepts and there are a few hacks around that have tried to do something similar. But this one is so stylish and I can imagine it in my backroom! The tower uses ikea parts, Stolmen components. You could probably buy components like this and attach them to the pole as well.

Finished Backyard .. my creative space!

2011-11-12T09:13:00.002+11:00

We have been very busy at our place clearing out and getting things ready. The backyard is done and I can't wait until the pumpkin takes hold and makes the backyard look look luscious.

I am so pleased with how it has come together, especially the $13 glazed saucer under the tap (below next to the garage) that works well as a bird bath. In the morning I often come down and look out the back windows and see a bird washing itself in it. The cats love it.

My wisteria has taken off as well. There are still a few things to do here and there, but we are pretty much done.

And if you are wondering why the pictures look so swish, that is because our house goes up for Auction on the 10th of December. We had the "official" brochure pictures done the other day and the house scrubs up quite well! It was interesting to learn all the tricks that they use when taking pictures and the techniques that they use to do dusk photography.

We are moving closer to the parental units across the other side of the city. It should make the commutes each week easier and also provide Tori and Nicholas with more contact time with their grandparents. Even though I am sad to be leaving Northcote, I am looking forward to re-decorating another house again as I have caught the bug!

So I might not be around much over the next 4 weeks, too busy cleaning! I have been doing lots of crafty things, but not much time for blogging and even less time for projects that don't enhance how the house looks.

Through the eyes of a four year old

2011-11-04T20:39:00.003+11:00

My daughter has claimed my old battered digital camera and spends lots of time taking pictures of odd things. But every once in a while she takes some gorgeous (in focus) shots of Nicholas.

On the change table, the picture previous to this one was a close up of the inside of Nicholas' nappy ...

In the high chair.

Then mummy had to grab the camera and take a picture of the both of them. It is true what they say that you take less pictures of the second born. Not because you don't want to, but because you are so bloody busy running after the first born!

Zen and the art of painting

2011-11-01T22:38:00.002+11:00

I am trying for a Japanese inspired garden outside my bathroom window. We had an interior designer do a walk through of our house the other week. The most interesting 2 hours I have ever spent.

One thing that she recommended was to paint the fence a darker colour so that the green plants "pop". And so, I did this afternoon and I am rather pleased. I still have to go over it again to get the gaps, but at least the first coat is done.

And then there were two

2011-10-29T08:54:00.004+11:00

I've been sitting on this blog post for some time now. It is quite an emotional one and I guess it has stopped me from regularly posting.

We got Anastasia in November of 1995 and on the 10th of October 2011, she passed away. She was effectively our "first born".

She was always quite reserved and hated to be picked up. Probably due to being picked up as a young cat, she strugged and landed on the tiles and fractured her front paw. So if she wanted to smooch you, it was entirely on her terms. She was never a lap cat, but would happily sit next to you.

This photo was taken when we lived in Noble Park. Not long after we got Boris he instantly fell in love with our Russian princess. Boris was a street cat that we found a home for. Battered and bruised we brought him into our home and instantly they became a couple. Whenever I look at this photo, I hear Lionel Richie and Dianna Ross' Endless Love.

Ana and Boris are together again under the rose bush in our front garden. I miss her terribly, but in the end her kidney's had shut down and whilst we could have put her on a drip and prolonged her life for another month, it wouldn't have been fair. So we had to make the call, and it was such a hard one to make.

At least Natasha has Vladamir. It makes it easier on them to have someone to play with. I caught Tasha washing Vlad the other day the way that she used to wash Ana, he wasn't too thrilled with the experience but I suspect he liked the attention.

So that is what I have been upto ... not much craft happening, lots of interior decorating, Nicholas and I did sleep school and he is sleeping much better. But I guess I haven't felt like blogging much and now you know why.

My Green Room

2011-10-06T21:10:00.006+11:00

I have been enjoying the colours in my Green Room lately.

This rose is called Cardinal.

I think I grabbed a cutting of these daisies from someone ... they grow like weeds!

We have Gerbera in a pots out the front and they are older than our house!

I love the way that the freesias grow up through the African daisy.

We only ended up with one tulip this year.

What does your green room look like?

Just in time for Summer

2011-10-05T19:36:00.003+11:00

Lots of things have been happening at our place lately, just in time for summer! Garden bed borders, paving and then tomorrow morning turf arrives.

I can't wait to feel the grass between my toes on a hot day, or to lie down on a picnic blanket with Nicholas. Victoria is chuffed about the paving out the front of her cubby house and is already planning red and pink flowers in pots to decorate the front!
Are you playing along with Blogtoberfest? Head over to Tinniegirl and check out what others are posting about.

North of the Yarra Quilters Guild Exhibition 2011

2011-10-04T20:46:00.001+11:00

If I have a moment to spare, I am hoping to zip along to the North of the Yarra Quilters Exhibition on Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th October. Open from 10am to 4pm at the Eltham Community Centre - 801 Main Rd, Eltham, Melways Ref: 21 J6.

I keep an eye on their blog and there always seems to be something interesting posted. On my to-do list is to complete a quilt that is "show worthy", preferably one of my own design. Until then I will lurk around quilt shows and dream of achieving that goal when I get a little time to indulge in sewing.

So if you are not up to anything on the weekend, head on over!

Playing with Goo

2011-10-03T14:12:00.005+11:00

The theme for Camera Club this month is "Fluid in Motion", so we took the opportunity to play with Goo this morning. When you leave it, it hardens, but when you pay with it, it goes liquidy. My hubby could tell you scientific name for it, for us it was just fun!

Ingredients

1 packet of cornflour
1 cup of warm water
Food Colouring

Instructions

Add water with a few drops of food colouring slowly while mixing to get the consistency needed. The water doesn't have to be warm, it is just easier on your hands! If the goo dries out, add more water! For something different, you can make it white and then experiment with food colouring.

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Thank-you to the emails about Nicholas and his sleep (or lack of), last night was another shocker with him waking every 45mins or so. Sleep School can't happen fast enough for me!

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Why don't you join us for Blogtobergest? It's not too late to join, head over to Tinniegirl and sign up and start blogging. What? You don't have a blog? Then sign up!

Welcome to Blogtoberfest

2011-10-01T22:58:00.002+10:00

We are nearing the end of the year and blog entries have become far and few between. Blogtoberfest occurs at the right time to heart-start your blog again and hopefully score a few giveaways along the way.

Party Bunting from Lark that I got for Tori's Birthday Picnic

So why has my blog been so empty? I have a matter of days remaining on my first Teacher Librarianship subject and I am frantically trying to finish my second piece of academic writing. It has been tough going. Nicholas *still* isn't sleeping or settling like he should at 7 months and we are booked into sleep school in the next month (don't worry, I have a strategy for Blogtoberfest). My reward at the end of all this is a nice facial massage which I will book once I hand in my essay.

I have been compiling of crafty projects to finish once my sewing machine is allowed to be switched on again. I keep on telling myself that it will be worth it when I am fully qualified to be in the school library. At the moment things seem doubly hard due to Nicholas being so temperamental.

Why don't you join us for Blogtobergest? It's not too late to join, head over to Tinniegirl and sign up and start blogging. What? You don't have a blog? Then sign up!

Etsy Friday Finds

2011-09-23T14:10:00.001+10:00

Some new things from some old favourites ... enjoy!

London Bus Cot Blanket by Sally Nencini

Sally's work is just gorgeous, check out her cushions!

Venus Necklace by Zippan Designs
I got one of their butterfly pendants a while back and everyone comments on it. This will be my next piece from them!

OOAK Imagination Ring by toolis jewelry

This ring costs a fortune, but can't you see why? Toolis Jewelry have an amazing selection of different contemporary rings.

ABC Pillow Cover by Helen Rawlinson
I have noticed this fabric popping up everywhere at the moment.

Fish and Chips Teatowel by Mr PS
I think that this would make a gorgeous wall hanging, if only the tea towel was in red!

Have a great weekend guys!

Over the Rainbow

2011-09-20T16:44:00.004+10:00

She wanted a Wizard of Oz party for her birthday. But we were not too crash hot on a big gathering. Birthday #5 can be big, but the rest can be smallish. So she was given the opportunity to identify a handful of friends and we held a small afternoon tea in the local park.

Even though not many came dressed up, she had her Dorothy dress and that is all that mattered.

The difficulty was actually getting a picture of her, she kept on running away to play on the huge playground.

But we did get a few snaps of her!

I had the most amount of enjoyment with the baking. Making a cake for her on the theme Wizard of Oz. I'm no good at the fondant stuff, so I opted for a smartie rainbow and a meadow of flowers on a vanilla cake with cream and raspberry jam

Outfit Notes:
The blouse and petticoat was from the German Dirndl outfit that I made last year. I popped some light blue Ric Rac on the blouse and I unpicked and sewed up the petticoat so that it was more flouncy. The dress was a simple pinafore style dress with an invisible zip up the back and interfacing in the waste band. the pinafore used about a metre and a half of fabric. The skirt was just a length gathered, no fancy half circles or anything. The top is similar to an apron with straps that crossed over at the back.

Happy Birthday Victoria

2011-09-16T22:50:00.004+10:00

I still can't believe that my baby girl turned 4 today.

The last 6 months have been jam packed with learning curves for her and now we are having full intellectual conversations with her. Now she is a little girl and this time next year we will be preparing her for school in 2013.

We picked her up early from Kinder, washed her, dressed her and decided to take a few photo's early knowing that she probably wouldn't be up for it later on in the evening. She has been battling a low grade fever for the last few days and was understandably tired. This is not unusual, we always seem to be sick around her Birthday. Two years ago she ended up at the Royal Children's with dehydration due to a bad case of gastro that we all ended up getting.

She has been wonderful with Nicholas, rarely showing jealousy. She sings to him, gets down on the floor with him and is quick to put a dummy in when he cries. She takes her big sister responsibilities seriously and likes to help at nappy change times.

Victoria is quite crafty and loves to create things and then play with them. Her craft desk is always a work in progress and once when I was doing hand sewing she came up to me and asked me to teach her. So I hope when she gets a bit more dexterous I can teach her to hand stitch and crochet.

And of course she loves to sing and dance. She has wonderful memory recall for songs and wants us to sing to her each night. She is always excited to learn a new song. Her favourite CD's are the Justine Clarke ones at the moment.

For my reference, here are the blog posts for her Third Birthday and Second Birthday.

My Creative Space

2011-09-15T15:42:00.003+10:00

Life has been a bit frantic this week leading up to the 4th Birthday of my daughter. Lots of creative things happening including a moment of quilting indulgence using some vintage Sesame Street Fabric.

Baking has also been high on the priority list, playing around with making gingerbread pops for my daughters birthday.

More creative spaces here ...

Finalist in the Concept Radical Art Competition

2011-09-14T19:46:00.005+10:00

I was very excited to receive an email to say that my picture, "Going Down" is a finalist in the Concept Radical Art Competition. I received an email from Diane, a reader of my blog telling me about this competition and decided to enter one of my Decay images from Camera Club into it.

You can see my image on the web site and in November it will be on display with the other finalists. Take a look at the other entrants and if you my interpretation of Decay then please vote for me (please!).

My favourite image is the Theory of Aging entrant.

Exhibition Details

Where: George Paton Gallery, Second Floor Union Building, University of Melbourne
Dates: 2nd – 9th November 2011
Time: 11am - 5pm Monday – Friday

Wedding Favours

2011-09-13T16:07:00.004+10:00

It is amazing what you find in boxes at the back of cupboards. In an old Tunnocks Snowball box was the left overs from my wedding favours back in 199 5. I had forgotten that I still had them and the chocolates were well past their due date.

In 1995, there wasn't as much flexibility with printing so we got a stamp made with our names and date to stamp the attached cards.

My grandmother in Scotland wanted to contribute so she made 100 of these little favours and in this box are left over doilies, prototypes and flowers. Of course she then came out for the wedding and we added the chocolates.

Edit: According to my Mum tonight, my grandmother made them all just weeks before the wedding AFTER she arrived in Australia. I always thought she did them in Scotland!

I am thinking that I might want to make a brooch or something from the left over doilies. Probably dye it red or black.

Any other ideas for what to do with the left over little doilies?

Tori discovers Photo Booth

2011-09-13T00:36:00.005+10:00

A while back we got ourselves a brand new spanky iMac. Initially it was for my hubby to do Photoshop on, but since then he has discovered World of Tanks and it has therefore become my study Mac for Uni given I can't get near the PC.

We are a mixed family, with both PC's and Mac's and I see the merit in using and being familiar with as many operating systems as possible. Not just because my background is in ICT in schools, but because each OS has it's own strengths and weaknesses. I believe that students need to be familiar with both environments as it allows them to be more flexible when they get out into the workforce. After all, we don't just teach students to write with pencils, they learn with a variety of tools and they learn the strengths and weaknesses of each one.

Anyway, I digress ... Tori and I were playing on the Mac this afternoon and she discovered Photo Booth. Here is a selection of what she created ...

Look Mum! It's me on the screen!

What if I make a funny face?

And another ..

If I close my eyes will it still work?

Oh look, special effects!

I'm a ghost!

We are all underwater!

The house that Margaret built

2011-09-10T09:31:00.004+10:00

It is someone's birthday next week and I have been playing around with baking in the kitchen. When I told Tori I was going to be making a Gingerbread House, she said "Just like Masterchef?"...

A while back we made some cookies at a friends place from a recipe in the Nursing Mothers Recipe book and so Tori and I decided to give it a go.

Tori and Dadda picked out the lollies and with a great deal of mess we put the house together. Being held together with bowls and cans until the Royal Icing set.

My first attempt and I am pretty happy with it. The next one will be a bit larger and I might venture into using some chocolate.

Have you ever made a Gingerbread House? Advice?

Etsy Friday Finds: Elephants

2011-09-09T09:50:00.007+10:00

I have some friends who are mad for elephants, these finds are for them!

Wax Seal charm by RQP Studio

Safari Decal by BubbaAndDoodle
I can't see my friends with this on their wall, but I think it would be a cute for a child's bedroom.

Elephant artwork by rachellelevingston
Check out her other pictures, especially this cute one.

Elephant Sillouette by ArtiiCraft
Even though they like Thai elephants, this is kinda cute and stylish.

Elephant Pillow by Petette
These guys have some gorgeous pillows.

What have you found online this week? Anything interesting?

My Creative Space: Sewing Room

2011-09-08T12:11:00.001+10:00

I am slowly getting there with the sewing room. I was chuffed when the letters went up on the wall and even more pleased when I noticed that my Flowerpress Hottie fitted on the wall next to the window.

My larger space was way overdue for a sort and chuck, things that I had been hoarding for decades. Consolidating things into a fixed space has been a good exercise for me. The space still looks like a bomb has hit it, but it is slowly coming together.

I ended up purchasing some Ikea wardrobe organisers to put my fat quarters into in black, however I still have to properly colour sort and press my collection. I still have to get some blinds to put in the room and a few other things up on the wall next to the window. The coloured noticeboard that was in the old room is shorter than the shelf above it. That is going to annoy the crap out of me, so I will be making a new one!

On Tuesday, with Nicholas strapped to my back in the ergo, I tackled my costume box and chucked half of it. Most went to the op shop, but some hats gloves and skirts went off to childcare. I have kept a few costumes for either sentimental or rarity reasons.

I guess to sum it all up, if it is not functional or beautiful, I'll be finding a new home for it. For more creative spaces, head over to Our Creative Spaces.

In other news, our old cat Anastasia has spent the week at the Vet. She is 16 years old, has kidney disease and a tooth abscess. So things are a bit tense here at the moment. She has had a good life, but I am not ready to loose her yet.

Some time for me

2011-09-03T10:33:00.004+10:00

Another crafty friend has organised a craft day today. What a lovely day for it. It has been ages since I have had a few hours of uninterrupted sewing time just for me. So what is on the to-do list?

Believe it or not, I have the final blocks for Tori's Paintbox Quilt to finish and then I have to lay it out and decide where the colours will be positioned. Best done in a room full of other crafters!

I've been chipping away at this project and it has probably taken far too long, but I am happy with the block choices and every few weeks I would come across another great monochromatic fabric that I wanted to include in her quilt.

I also have a great idea for some scrappy patchy monogrammed pillows for her bed from some gorgeous Jelly's that have been sitting for far too long on my shelf.

I have no expectations of achieving anything except sewing and chatting.

Etsy Friday Finds

2011-09-02T09:22:00.001+10:00

I am still in home decorating mode this week, but I have come across some lovely things that I might be tempted to get.

Robot Letterpress by sweetharvey
Letterpress is on my "crafts to learn" list .. I am only presuming that this is a "sorry card"!

The Intrusion by UntamedMenagerie
This range of jewelry is just gorgeous, you must check it out!

Turquoise Block Print Cat Quote by cursiveart
Gaiman quote .. enough said!

Peacock Butterfly Pillow by Pillowation
Love the colours on the basic grey

Robots in Love screenprint by mengseldesign

I just thought that this was cute!

What about you?

Have you found anything interesting this week?

You must share!

Good Luck Danielle

2011-08-29T09:48:00.004+10:00

A friend of mine goes in for a 9 hour brain operation this morning to remove a tumor. Luckily it is non-cancerous, but there is still risks associated with a 9 hour operation.

Picture Source

She was getting headaches and stroke symptoms, numbness down her left hand side. The doctor who was very sharp, recommended her for a MRI thinking it might be a tumor. And it turned out it was and they have just "caught it in time". She could have ended up having a stroke.

So if you have a moment today, say a short prayer for Danielle who is probably under the knife as we speak. She has a week in ICU afterwards and then another week in at the stroke ward and I am hoping to visit her when she is able.

Etsy Friday Finds: Window Shopping

2011-08-26T08:13:00.001+10:00

I must admit that I am a daily checker of the etsy front page. I love to click through and go on little shopping adventures to see what I can find. My Friday finds are always compiled from a week of etsy surfing.

My print of the two Koi "swimming towards happiness" arrived this week and it gorgeous. Can't wait to get it framed and up on the wall.

Here are some selections from my window shopping this week!

Star Wars Print Typography by handz

I love the simplicity of this "fanboi" print.

Obi Belt by LoobyLouCrafts

This would look great around a corset or tight dress.

You want it when Pillow by alexanddraferguson

Lingerie Long Earrings by gemagenta
The pieces on this site are simple, yet complex.

A-Z Alphabet by boldandnoble

I've been looking for some nice images for Nicholas' room, I love this one because of the camel!

Have you come across anything in your window shopping this week?

Trip to the Dentist

2011-08-23T12:32:00.003+10:00

In anticipation of Tori's first trip to the Dentist next month, she went along with me yesterday for my regular teeth clean and check up.

She got to ride on the chair, wear a bib and sunglasses. The dentist then got her to sit still (!!!) and counted her teeth. While all this was happening, Nicholas was helping the ladies out on the front desk!

When I got my teeth cleaned I had about 25 minutes of no kids to focus on and it was the most delightful "switch off" feeling given the last few days and the mad rush to get my first Uni essay in.

I've been going to this dentist for about 15 years and when I first visited him I was a nervous patient who sometimes needed Valium to calm down. Now I can get my teeth cleaned without gas and for the first time yesterday I enjoyed it.

Passing of Boris

2011-08-21T12:42:00.003+10:00

I was so busy doing stuff yesterday I forgot it was the anniversary of the passing of Boris our beloved Russian Blue three years ago.

Her was very much a loved cat and he left a hole in our hearts when he passed away from old age in our arms. We burried him under a rose bush in the front yard, a red one called "Cardninal". Today the rose bush has a healthy bud on it and it will probably flower this week.

We used to call him "lardo the wonder cat" as he had the uncanny ability to sleep wherever he wanted to. He would sit on the edge of the couch and wait for Andreas to come home and then run to the door to greet him. He was very vocal and in the end he was deaf and very loud.

He came to us a "dumped"cat and within a week of having him we discovered he had crystals in his urinary tract and for a while he also needed Valium to calm him when going to the toilet. He was the most expensive cat we have had needing many vet visits in his stay with us to fix his digestive tract and also remove rotten teeth. He loved his bravery bandana's from North Fitzroy Vet Clinic.

The one thing that I remember about him is that he had so much love to give, to anyone who would take it and in the end Anastasia and Boris were so close. We have had Vladamir for about a year now, and it was just the other day that I caught him washing Anastasia. It has taken a year for her to get used to another male cat.

Ode to the weekend

2011-08-20T08:25:00.003+10:00

I am looking forward to the weekend starting as I have so much writing still to finish for my first uni essay (Master of Teacher Librarianship).

I would much rather be outside gardening or sewing, but once it is finished I will pleased at my achievement (regardless of quality). Our garden, despite the weeds, is exploding with daffodils at the moment. We planted the bulbs years ago and we don't dig them up each year, they just keep on multiplying.

Although I am glutton for punishment, I actually find the process of writing an essay weirdly soothing. It forces me to shut off from the day to day stuff. That ability to disconnect allows me to sleep better and to be a calmer person in general (even though I am anxious about this essay).

Nicholas did his first night last night without a night time feed. He roused at 4am, but I got him back to sleep quickly. Here's hoping we can replicate that for a few nights in a row.

Etsy Friday Finds: Something about Trains ...

2011-08-19T09:40:00.001+10:00

If you know my hubby, you'll know that he is into trains, the small ones with little engines.

He turns weak at the knees when he see's a real one and when we went to Maldon for a birthday a while back he was like a kid in a candy store. So honey, this is to make you feel better because you have Man Flu (tm).

Steam Train Papercut by ArtiiCraft

Steam Train Cross Stitch by nichestitch

Choo Choo Train Vinyl by House Hold Words

Train T-shirt by locomotive

Train Sign by Finny and Zook

What makes your partner go weak at the knees? Keep it clean ladies!

What a ride the last 6 months has been ...

2011-08-17T23:14:00.003+10:00

On the 18th, Nicholas will be 6 months old. Although some days have been excruciating long, the 6 months has flown by.

As it was expected, he is such a different baby to Victoria. We thought he was never going to smile, but then he did. Since being on Losec reflux medication (4 weeks now) he is smiling more and more. The down side to having reflux has been his inability to be on the ground for long periods of time, he would much rather stand or be seated upright. So although he knows the mechanics of rolling and moving about, he would much rather be standing.

Most days he is quite serious, almost deep in thought. But every once in a while you catch a joyful look upon his face and if you are lucky you even get a picture of it!

His first two teeth came through last week, a full 4 months earlier than his sister. He seems to like solids, throwing himself at the spoon when it approaches him. But breastfeeding .. well, we ARE breastfeeding, but it has been a battle. Breastfeeding was more enjoyable with Victoria and we did it until she was over 2 years of age. Nicholas is a lazy feeder and a poor latcher which means that there is more work for me to do to make the breastfeeding relationship successful.

A good night of sleep is when Nicholas does a 4 hour block. Again, different to his sister who was sleeping 6 to 8 hour lengths by this age. We have his weigh in on Friday at the Maternal Health Nurse. But I can tell that he is long and large and wearing clothes that Victoria was wearing at 11 months.

ROAR Bag

2011-08-14T10:16:00.005+10:00

It was late.

I was high on chicken 'Twisties'.

I had already made a dinosaur tail for the birthday party we were going to ... but I wanted to sew more ... it had been so long since I had sewn.

I started with some precut components of my tote bags that I found in the big clean up and this is what I ended up with.

I used Curlypops technique for the lettering, but rather than print out the lettering on the computer (because my hubby was playing World of Tanks), I drew the letters freehand.

When ironing on the applique I couldn't help myself but include a Tyranosaurus Rex peeping up from the edge of the flap.

Inside a pocket and a clip for things. Bag hardware from Nicole M. The strap had some custom made bias sewn onto it for effect.

I think I am going to develop this Child's Satchel Bag a bit more if I have another opportunity. Perhaps this time with a bit more interfacing for structure.

A Hottie just for me

2011-08-13T09:12:00.002+10:00

I was excited this week when my Hottie arrived along with a lovely thank-you note from Cam for my support to the Challenge *warm fuzzies*

I didn't buy one on the night as I always intended on going back at some point by myself to choose one. Time disappeared and all of a sudden the exhibition was over. Then Cam put up all the pictures of the remaining Hotties and I knew which one I was getting.

If you want to know how Susie from Flowerpress did the letters, she has done a tutorial on her blog.

Did you miss out on a Hottie? Fear not! There is still a handful left. Go on .. support the Margaret Pratt Foundation.

Etsy Friday Finds

2011-08-12T09:00:00.001+10:00

I'm in a bit of a nesting mood at the moment. Changing the space around me to better reflect who I am and where I am going. I found these gorgeous things on etsy and thought I would share.

I can see myself with these placemats, by Reglisseetleszouzous

House Rules by urbanwalls. They come in any colour, a solid coloured wall with the rules in white would look good as well.

I think that this would look gorgeous in my daughters window, design by Living Glass Art.

I love this pillow, simple yet effective by ireckon.

This print of two Koi swimming is lovely, by Tiger House Art.

Have you come across any lovely homewares on etsy?

My Creative Space: Slow and steady wins the race

2011-08-11T09:20:00.004+10:00

Moving the sewing room is happening slowly (perhaps too slowly). I've been down with a cold this week so energy levels are unpredictable.

An impromptu trip to Ikea last night resulted in some more storage containers for my *stuff*. Did you know that Ikea sell pretty good pinking shears in their textiles department for just $10?

De-cluttering has been fun, but has lead to arguments with my daughter. I've been dropping off my excess fabric scraps, ribbons and bits and pieces to her Kinder to use in craft, but little miss doesn't really want to share! I have explained to her that there is plenty of fabric for her to play with at home .. plenty!

This week I have finished putting my scraps into tubs (see on the bookcase!) and have acquired some pre-loved wardrobe organisation containers for my fat quarters. I am still not convinced that this is the way to go with the fats, but it is a workable solution at the moment.

We have another Billy to put up on the wall above the computer desk and pin boards to take down and re-locate. The old sewing room is starting to look a bit forlorn with empty bookcases and 60 litre tubs full of material ready to go into "storage".

I've got some more presents to make this week, so there should be lots to post about next week! Check out Our Creative Spaces for more ...

Camera Club entries for August: Decay

2011-08-10T08:54:00.005+10:00

The theme for Camera Club this month is decay.

I took these outside the old dilapidated Britannia Hotel in Williamstown.

The lovely Kerri helped me to crop and highlight them given that I had the camera settings wrong (oops!). I am still quite green when it comes to Photoshop. Even though I have been on courses, I find that unless I am fiddling with it each day, none of the skills learnt seem to stick.

It should be interesting to see what the judges think of my concept of decay.

A little sunshine in my day

2011-08-08T17:58:00.003+10:00

I have been feeling absolutely horrible today. Head cold, stuffy nose and yucky ears. I have spent most of the day sleeping rather than doing the readings for my Uni assignment.

But a bit of sunshine in my day came in the form of a teatowel I ordered online, and delivered by my friendly express post guy, Simon.

I love this design and a while back made a series of bags from Thea's fabric. Included in the package was a sample of her fretwork design in red. I am hoping this will become part of some nice pot holders for my kitchen.

If you haven't checked out Thea's work, then head on over to her blog and check out her lovely designs.

Etsy Friday Finds

2011-08-05T09:26:00.009+10:00

This morning's friday finds are an odd collection of things that I have stumbled across in my online travels this week.

Isn't this picture of a Galah just gorgeous! I love watercolour paintings. Check out the rest of Splodgepodge work, truely gorgeous.

Check out this Tailors Assistant. I am not too sure how practical it would be, but just the idea of it makes me smile!

Pillows like this Paint by Number Globe pillow really appeal to me.

Tori's Birthday is right around the corner and I think that something like this might get some use year after year. Carnival Bunting by Blue Moon Studios

I thought that this leather necklace was quite lovely by Love at First Blush.

Have you come across anything lovely this week? Let me know!

My Creative Space

2011-08-04T22:55:00.003+10:00

The relocation of my sewing room is happening so slowly. Nicholas is sleeping a lot better since he was put on Losec for his reflux which means that I am getting more sleep and therefore functioning better during the day. But he is still quite a high-maintenance baby compared with his sister.

I've started to sort through my scraps of material into colour stories. If it is large enough to be turned into a hex it stays, else, it goes off to Kinder for their craft box.

I feel like a real quilter having colour scrap boxes and I wondered why I didn't do this task sooner! I'm looking forward to grabbing two colour boxes and knocking up a scrappy quilt from what I have got.

More creative spaces can be found over here!

Sesame Street Bag

2011-07-31T09:44:00.003+10:00

It is important for me at the moment to find time to "switch off" from the kids and house, a task which I find hard as my mind is always going 100 miles an hour. Sleeping is not "switching off" but engrossing myself in an activity, whether it is baking or sewing provides me with enough focus to "switch off".

A friend asked me to do a custom bag for a present, so I took the opportunity to also knock this bag up for myself.

The fabric came from some old Sesame Street bean bag that my Mum passed onto me. I am not sure how the fabric will survive being on bags, so I am going to use this for the next few weeks and then wash it to see how the fabric survives. I was intending on selling this one, but I noticed a small imperfection in the fabric square that I used.

So providing the fabric stacks up, I have dreams for a few bags a quilt and some pouches.

Do you have any advice for working with vintage fabrics?

My Creative Space: Quilt Blocks

2011-07-21T16:48:00.005+10:00

I managed to steal some time yesterday in my sewing space and I allowed myself the luxury of blocking some of the fabric that I got printed by Spoonflower. The iPhone picture is a bit dodgy ...

I am happy with most of the designs, but will probably tweek them a bit more to make them a bit more workable. I am going to make a little dolls quilt for Tori and see how the Spoonflower fabric washes up.

To see more creative spaces head over to the Our Creative Spaces blog.

Winter has set in

2011-07-20T09:15:00.003+10:00

Winter has well and truely shown itself in Melbourne and we are all complaining about the cold and rain. Everyone except Nicholas, who seems to like it nice and cold at nights.

There hasn't been much happening on the crafting front. There is a layer of dust over my sewing machine, with half of my craft room moved into the study and the other half waiting to be packed up. Everytime I get into my space, someone screams and needs attention. So my crafty pursuits are limited to the afternoons when I am the only one home and I can completely engrose myself in sewing.

Nicholas seems to be much harder work than Victoria was, on many levels. We had a few good days of sleep and interaction and then the last two nights have been hell. And of course, also having a four year old means that you can't just catch up on sleep during the day!

I have found that chocolate agrivates the little man's gut, so I am on a chocolate-free diet (do you know how hard that is??). I think that this week's unsettling was the high tomato lasagna that we had two nights in a row. So back to boring meat and three veg tonight.

In other news I have started my Master of Education (Teacher Librarianship) at CSU. One subject at the moment, but professionally, this is the direction I want to head in. You can read about it over at my other blog.

Konstant Kaos fabric designs via Spoonflower

2011-07-15T16:02:00.003+10:00

I'm very excited, my Spoonflower order arrived today. I ordered a fat quarter of one design and little fabric samples of the others.

I am normally so excited when receiving new fabric, but I got so much more of a buzz from these samples! I promptly visited my local quilting shop to show them off and buy some solids so that I can make some sample blocks to see if the designs work.

New Craft Space

2011-07-08T23:10:00.004+10:00

My sewing or craft room is on the move. From the lovely spacious front room into the study which is half the size.

My current room is a patchwork of bookcases and storage units grabbed from other rooms in all sorts of colours. But every crafter longs for a nice organised space for their addiction. Materials nicely on display or stacked in tubs.

via

White isn't necessarily my furniture 'colour of choice' for my living area, but white bookcases look better when filled with coloured fabrics and can make a smaller space look larger.

via

I found this gorgeous idea of customising the fronts of these draws in this Ikea desk, BUT at the $1290AUD price tag for the unit, I might have to give it a miss!

I'm currently playing with ideas on how to store my fat quarters that are currently organised by colour and stacked vertically on bookcase shelves. Nice in theory, but I have found that when I pulled out a fat quarter it would disturb the neatly organised pile and then I would have to stack and sort the quarters once more. So I am looking for a more practical solution where I can remove colour collections and then I can put them back on the bookcase.

via Ikea

So I have been looking for CD or DVD Storage boxes as a way of storing my fat quarters. I can imagine that the rainbow of colours would look good in white boxes such as the ones above from Ikea. Alternatively, these plastic boxes from Officeworks might do the trick. The decision will probably come down to cost.

How do you store your fat quarters?

Hottie Exhibition Opening Night

2011-07-04T22:38:00.007+10:00

Last Friday night I stole a few moment to head on down to Opendrawer in Camberwell to the Hottie Challenge Exhibition opening Night. Not sure what I was more excited about, the exhibition or the fact that I got to take my Morris Minor for a decent run since she got new brakes.

Picture taken by Beky, her post on the exhibition is here.

It was very exciting, my first involvement in an exhibition and for such a worthy cause. I got a real buzz out of seeing my hottie hanging on a wall beside other Hotties that were created by other fabulous Melbourne crafters. Reflecting back, it was such a battle to get it finished, stealing chunks of time at weird times of the day.

I had quite a number of friends who turned up to celebrate and support the group of Hotties and some friends who also got involved and created a Hottie themselves.

There were lots of memorable Hotties, some with some obvious themes, and others were purely technical with some beautiful embroidery, knitting or crochet on show.

The TV Hottie (above) was done particularly well and sold quite quickly.

The George Clooney Hottie was lovely and Cathi's hottie (above, left) was so sweet.

I am hoping to get down to take a closer look again at the Hotties and the techniques that people have used. Truely inspiring! I believe that there is a coffee shop a few doors down that has some great cake and coffee.

A big thank-you to Curlypops for organising a group entry and for also featuring my Hottie on her blog the other day. There are more pictures over at the Flickr pool for this exhibition.

Etsy Friday Finds

2011-07-01T12:48:00.000+10:00

There are some lovely things out there at the moment ...

Vintage Typewriter Key Pendant by IvieRidge

Art Nouveau Ring by Spoonier

Skull Dangle Earrings by BellaLili

Preserved Spider Web by dollybirddesign

Streampunk Dragon ring by chinookhugs

Hope that you enjoy my selection!

Hottie Challenge Exhibition July 1 - 24 2011

2011-06-28T13:11:00.007+10:00

This friday marks the opening of the "Hottie Challenge" exhibition and I am looking forward to getting out of the house and talking about non-baby and kid stuff!

The purpose of the exhibition is to raise money for the Margaret Pratt Foundation ...

The Margaret Pratt Foundation Heart Lung Transplant Trust is a registered charity whose aim is to encourage, develop and maintain Australia’s world class expertise in the field of organ transplantation by supporting research that addresses the problems faced by children and adults after heart and lung transplant.

How can you help? Head along to the exhibition and either ..

a) buy one of the many Hotties for $50 or
b) vote for your favourite Hottie by putting money in the dedicated money box for each Hottie

Open Draw is open:

Monday, Wednesday and Friday 10am – 5.00pm
Thursday 10am – 7pm
Saturday and Sunday 10am – 4pm
Closed Tuesdays

Head on over to the Opendraw web site and forward the pamphlet to all your work collegues and lets see if we can raise lots of money for a worthy cause.

Kaos Hottie finally finished!

2011-06-20T10:13:00.006+10:00

I have to zip off the post office this morning to post my Hottie Challenge to Curlypops so that Cam receives it on time ..

I really enjoyed doing this and I feel even better that the money raised from this initiative will be benefiting others.

All of the hotties will be exhibited and be for sale at the

Open Drawer Art, Textiles & Learning Centre

1158 Toorak Road, Camberwell

Melbourne

July 1st - July 24th.

Proceeds will go to the Margaret Pratt Foundation

(research for heart and lung transplants).

Luckily for me I have some felted jumper left over so that I can make a nice cover (similar design) for my heat pack ...

My hubby the model ...

2011-06-18T16:32:00.001+10:00

I didn't take this, but I had to share ..

Two of my favourite things in the whole wide world ...

Autumn Leaves ideas in Spoonflower

2011-06-18T11:55:00.008+10:00

I've been bubbling away with some design ideas for ages in Illustrator, every once in a while dipping my toes into Spoonflower and then I let the ideas sit and ferment. I have been inspired by Lara's fabric journey, so I am going to take a leaf out of her book and see what happens if try and translate some of my ideas into fabric.

The lovely Mrs Beckinsale facebooked that Spoonflower have free shipping on Monday so I am excited about ordering some free swatches to see what the fuss is all about. Given that Nicholas wants to be held today, computer work is about the only thing I can do!

My hottie design, is the one that I have formost in my mind at the moment, so with that in mind, here are some ideas that I have .. what do you think?

I want to order a test swatch in the Cotton Voile for this one, as I think it would make a lovely baby wrap. No doubt there will be some refining to do when I see it "in the flesh".

And of course if you are quilting, the idea would be to integrate a denser design in with the more open design ...

Of course, no fabric collection is complete without some dots in the same colour way ...

Some refining still needs to be done, but I am looking forward to making things with my new fabric (shhh, did someone say Fabric Diet?)

My Creative Space ...

2011-06-16T09:52:00.006+10:00

My creative space as been filled with the obsession of felting an old jumper for the Hottie Challenge over at Curlypops.

The first jumper I got didn't really felt, there might not have been enough wool in it. All the tags had gone and it was only a few dollars, so I thought I would give it a go. I used my front loading washing machine on a 90 degree, heavily soiled wash.

I got a bit rough with the second one. Having used up all my dirty jeans for the attempted felting with the other jumper, I threw in a pair of Tori's old canvas shoes. I figured that the weight of the shoes would give the woolen jumper the pounding that it required to felt. I know that I could have felted over the stove top, but I have a 4 year old and a 4 month old ... the "hand" approach was never going to happen in my house.

Reasonably happy with the felted result, I have cut out the shapes and now I have to work out where to put my leaves and the embroidery.

Strings of Diamonds

2011-06-13T11:10:00.003+10:00

Yesterday morning we were up early and the morning was particularly foggy. Looking out of our back window, the Orb Weaver spiders webs looked like strings of diamonds.

We have one Orb Weaver still standing. Not sure where 7 of 8 has disappeared to, but her egg sac is still with us *sniffs*

We know that their days are numbered, but we have their spiderlings to look forward to in the spring.

Lunch Bag with Pear Applique

2011-06-12T22:22:00.003+10:00

We had a three year old Birthday party today and I decided to make a fruit bag for the birthday girl. But it arrived with books in it.

In my mind, it could be used when going shopping with Mum. A small bag, but still hardy enough to be thrown around and if it gets all yucky, it can be thrown into the wash.

The pear on the front was using the application method that I am using for the Hottie Challenge, Freeze paper designed and then transfered over onto fabric.

Long Weekends

2011-06-11T12:53:00.003+10:00

Long weekends are for sleep in's and watching TV in your Jimmy Jams ...

Hugs from big sisters on the couch while watching Playschool ...

Or kicking back and having some fun .. who is that gorgeous boy in my mirror?

What are you upto on your Long Weekend?

Hottie Challenge Inspiration

2011-06-10T13:04:00.009+10:00

I've been bouncing around ideas in my head for the Hottie Challenge and wanted to do something bold with strong colours and some embroidery. The colours that have appeared in my garden over the last few weeks is where I am taking my inspiration from.

Picture via Stan Zimney

I've been doing lots of applique lately and wanted to try Curlypops idea of using Freeze paper in my inkjet to make my applique shapes. I want my hottie to have lots of different autumn coloured leaves on it ..

Picture via Steve Greaves

I love the variations of colour from Yellow, to Orange and Red. I have a secret wish to make a quilt with these images for my living room .. I'll add that idea to the UFO pile ..

Process: Using MS Word and the Nature Bats Dingbat Font, I have a sheet of Maple leaves for my applique adventures ... What I did do differently, is change Font Style to "outline" so that I am not using up all my black ink.

I want to applique the shapes and then use perle to accentuate them, some soulful embroidery for those colder nights.

There are lots of gorgeous Hotties making an appearance in the blogosphere; I'm lovng the creativity that everyone is showing in this challenge. I'm not sure that my submission will be earth shatteringly creative.

I've been slow to start the Hottie Challenge as things have been busy in the Kaos household, with a big Furniture Tetris move underway.

Lots of shuffling and de-cluttering will hopefully result in Nicholas having his own room to scream in at night (which means he will be out of my room). But unfortunately it means that I will have to vacate my lovely sewing room .. but I will be relocating the machines to the smaller study now inhabited by computers and modelling tables.

So whilst I will end up with less room, I will end up with a new space to decorate and furnish! That has to be a positive, yes?

Upcycling old bathmats into baby changing mats

2011-06-06T11:27:00.005+10:00

A while back Mum passed onto me some old bathmats to use as changing mats. I had some time spare on Sunday for some therapy in my sewing room ... I needed a quick project!

I pressed them, then trimmed the large hem off the bathmat and squared it up with the rotary cutter.

Next, some bias. Two strips of 2 1/2 inches of fabric, sewn together to make a long strip. You can either run this through your bias maker or fold half, sew to the bath mat and then press and sew again (like you would for a quilt).

Next some applique ...

And some more applique ..

And now the finished product. Some funky changing mats for the boy, to either grace the changing table or something to be thrown into the nappy bag.

I'm rather happy with the result!

Farewell Autumn

2011-06-01T10:27:00.003+10:00

Can't believe it is June already, almost half way through the year ...

Tori is enjoying the show that mother nature is putting on at the moment. Collecting leaves and playing with them along with glue and paint.

Lego Shoes

2011-05-31T12:28:00.004+10:00

It has been ages since I have even thought about making baby shoes, but the opportunity presented itself to make some baby shoes for a special lady about to have baby number two ...

Shoes are a size 6-12 months, 100% cotton machine washable.

I cracked open the embroidery machine and did some labeling for the back of the shoes. Took me a few tries to get it right, given I had not done this in about a year!

Packaged them up nice and neat for the present. From the offcuts I made a toysaver with my bias maker.

I hope that she likes them and that she gets some good use out of them. Now I have to go and tidy my craft room again ..

My Creative Space ...

2011-05-26T12:32:00.003+10:00

Last night I started embroidering this Aunty Cookie Alphabet print. Intended on for Tori's room, I wanted to give it a bit of colour and depth.

The birds will be given feathers and the girls perhaps bows in their hair! A good activity for in front of the telly at nights.

Are you playing along this week? Head on over to our creative space ...

Melbourne Aquarium

2011-05-24T21:14:00.003+10:00

We found ourselves at the Melbourne Aquarium on Sunday to celebrate the third birthday of a friend. Victoria had been waddling like a penguin all morning ...

Tori and her friend with their "dolphin bouncy balls" ...

Afterwards we had cake near Enterprize Park and then Tori and her friend ran around like lunatics ...

Nicholas enjoyed the crisp autumn air, he has his three month Maternal Health Nurse check this week.

When we got home and did the bedtime routine, I had to sing many verses of "Old MacDonald".

Old MacDonald had an Aquarium, e-i e-i oh
And in that Aquarium, she had some penguins, e-i e-i oh
With a waddle, waddle here and a waddle waddle there ....

.. you get the picture!

Nephila Edulis, our very own Garden Orb Weavers

2011-05-23T11:52:00.007+10:00

It was with great sadness this morning that I noticed that one of our Garden Orb Weavers had disappeared. Every morning we go down and check on them out of the window near our living area.

We had two Garden Orb Weavers, one with seven legs, which the husband named "7 of 8" and a smaller orb with all 8 legs. Our girls ... The eight legged one spent the morning rebuilding her web after the rains last night.

Having watched Charlotte's Web the other night and then spending hours online researching Nephila Edulis, I headed out this morning with the "good" camera to take pictures of the remaining spider. Anxious to document it's existance.

I had a good look around the space surrounding the web belonging to "7 of 8" and I spotted it. A golden orb egg sac, hanging from the underside of the pergola structure .. and then I spotted "7 of 8" ... she was still with us!

How beautiful is this egg sac?

Tori and I are looking forward to keeping an eye on the egg sac to see when all the spiderlings hatch.

I feel very glad to have found her, but I know that once the Orb's lay their egg sac it means that their time on this planet has come to an end.

So for that, I am very sad as we have watched her grow and eat bugs since late last year. Farewell "7 of 8", we have become very attached to you.

No Time for Fear by Paul De Gelder

2011-05-21T00:20:00.001+10:00

In the last few weeks I have crossed baths with this book twice. I've been meaning to blog about this for a while, but alas ... sick kids have gotten in the way :-(

Anyway .. the first time I heard about this guy was on "The Circle". I had flipped onto the program and found the girls interviewing Paul De Gelder with great enthisuasm, giggling and swooning over the man with no fear of sharks. I was struck by his confidence in talking about his experiences.

The second encounter was listening to Richard Stubbs on 774 radio. Richard was also swooning over Paul, but in a "man crush" kind of way. Both interviews were so completely different and covered different aspects of Paul's experience. He has also appeared on Life Matters (radio) and Australian Story (ABC TV).

As a result, I am suitably motivated to tackle this book after I finish reading Kerri Sackville's new book (nearly there). When you learn about the challenges faced by Paul De Gelder, it really does put things into perspective. Two and half days with sick kids on my own doesn't sound that hard.

I am hoping to pop this book onto my bedside table for a bit of inspiration in the early hours of the morning when Nicholas wants a feed and play ...

More fairy shots of Tori

2011-05-18T11:10:00.005+10:00

A friend, Kerri, took my hubby's camera for a test run the other night. We dressed Tori back up in her fairy gear (no argument there!) and Kerri snapped away.

I think that the fairy costume looks even better with a black top, rather than the pink one that she had on at the fairy party.

We were rather chuffed by the results, Kerri is a talented lady!

I am hoping to get into my sewing room today to finish off some bags for a custom order. Pictures soon!

Hottie Challenge

2011-05-16T21:36:00.003+10:00

I have a hottie in my life so I decided to share the love and enter into "The Hottie Challenge".

The challenge is to create a Hottie Cover using any art or textile technique that takes your fancy.

Not only is this crafty challenge fun, it is for a great cause. The Hottie Challenge is Opendrawer’s first project to help raise money for the Margaret Pratt Foundation (Research for heart and Lung Transplants) our chosen charity.

I can't go through winter without my heat pack warmed up each night. Even though the cover doesn't have to be functional, I can't help but design something with my own needs in mind.

My sketchbook is open and I have a few ideas sketched out that include using applique and non-traditional quilting techniques.

So if you are up for it, sign up, donate and lets get sewing!

Fairy Party

2011-05-14T17:31:00.003+10:00

Never one to dodge the opportunity to get crafty ..

armed with some coathangers, a roll of gaffa tape, some elastic and lots of glitter tuille ...

we made an outfit for Tori to wear to a 4th Birthday Party today.

Tsar Rugs

2011-05-10T21:31:00.002+10:00

Fleur Harris, Melbourne Illustrator and Designer has just had her website re-vamped, so I thought I would take another stroll through some of her posts and I came across this one.

Isn't this rug absolutely devine .. not just because I am a patcher but because it is so different.

Her post lead me to the Tsar web site and many moments of looking longingly at their groovy rugs.

So many of the rugs in their geometric range could be quilts!

I love this one because of the flash of red and orange. We have a grey lounge suite in our family space, so any of these colourful rugs would go quite nicely with it.

Have you seen any inspirational rugs lately?

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T21:17:00.005+10:00

I loved the way that my daughter told me what was in my present as she handed it to me. The smiles from my little boy who is becoming more aware of the world around him. My husband for giving me some time to myself and the laughs shared with the grandmothers to whom I am indebted for the way they support, encourage and nurture my role as mother in my own family.

I hope that you all had a wonderful Mother's Day last weekend.

11 weeks

2011-05-07T10:36:00.000+10:00

11 weeks and it feels like more. Nicholas is sitting on the 95th percentile for height and the 75th percentile for weight. So we think he is going to be a big boy. Still not sleeping more than 2-3 hours through the night. He has one more week and then we bring out the big guns!

It's been a weird version of hell in my household over the last two weeks. With me suffering a migrane and then my husband got food poisoning and then in his weakened state, got the cold. Which then of course turned into something worse! He has been bed bound for most of the week, that is, when he didn't go into work!

So I am looking forward to next week. Looking forward to everyone feeling a bit more healthy and I am looking forward to spending more than 10 minutes in my sewing room.

Etsy Friday Finds

2011-05-06T09:18:00.000+10:00

It has gotten cold here in Melbourne over the last week .. so my thoughts go to keeping warm! Tori's baby beanie is multicoloured with a nice flower .. I'm thinking something different for Nicholas.

Earflap Beanie Custom Order by cathi518

Cute skull beanie by NinisHandmades

Green Hat with Braids by JustDandyCreations

Ladybug Beanie Pattern by BusyMumDesigns

Animal Hat Patterns by melunder8

The big question now is whether I buy one already made or make it myself?

Table runner finally finished

2011-05-03T12:13:00.000+10:00

Finally scraped together the time to finish the hand stitching on the table runner.

I love the colours in this Japanese Fabric and I am contemplating making a quilt for my family space with these colours. But I am still playing with designs and fabric possibilities.

If I do a quilt with this fabric, I will probably use the fancy binding technique that Patch Andi blogged about a while back. But for the table runner, I was happy with a simple binding in black.

Highway to the Danger Zone

2011-05-01T12:02:00.000+10:00

I had a lot of fun coming up with things to put on these button badges for a friend's 40th. For his birthday he took a joy flight in a Strikemaster in Tasmania, so it seemed appropriate to continue the theme when we were thinking of a present.

Did you know that it is Top Gun Day on Friday May 13th. Here is the Facebook link, and the twitter link. Along the same lines as talk like a pirate day .. but cooler!

What would you have written on your Top Gun badge?

My Creative Space ...

2011-04-29T08:24:00.000+10:00

I've been plodding my way through this quilted table runner this week. Doing a bit at a time, when Nicholas lets me. I wanted something nice and bright, but at the same time "me" for our dining table.

Unfortunately my sewing has been hampered by a migrane this week that knocked me out for a day or two, I am just now starting to feel a bit better with most of the heaviness that a migrane brings, gone. We are still sleeping in 2-3 hour cycles through the night as Nicholas hasn't realised that there is a difference between day-time and night-time sleeping. I had forgotten what caring for a screaming baby was like with a migraine ...

As you can see, I still have to bind it, but doesn't it look great on my Jarrah table?

I picked up a metre of this gorgeous Japanese print from the Kimono Girls at the Australasian Quilt Convention and I used some Jelly Roll Solids from Green Fairy. The orange band is from the Haunted House range of fabric. The grey/black polka dot is from Spotlight, and having worked with it, I dislike it! It will be interesting to see how it survives a wash.

For more crafty peeps, head on over to Kooyotoo

Another Butterfly ...

2011-04-27T23:30:00.000+10:00

Flipping through some of my iPhone pictures .. this one was taken at the recent "Black Market".

Victoria was so excited to see that there was a face painter there, and was even more excited when she saw her butterfly face. Some days I can't believe that she is almost 4 years old.

The Culprit

2011-04-27T19:59:00.000+10:00

Apologies for the non-crafty post, it has been a bit of a challenging week for many reasons!

It wasn't rocket science. I knew that my daughter had issues with food colourings and additives. I was just hoping that she was starting to "grow" out of it. For her first birthday we had ordered a cake from a bakery and we got them to put "iggle piggle" on the top of it. Unfortunately she broke out in hives that night. It was our first real experience of her reactions to food additives and colourings. Since then controlled experiments with all sorts of processed foods have often resulted in skin irritations such as eczema and hives.

I didn't think twice when I pulled out the packet mix for Baby Cup Cakes from the cupboard. Tori and I had a grand time mixing up the batter, making the cup cakes, then the frosting. We even had someone over for morning tea to help us eat them.

Unfortunately she had a reaction last night. Woke up with her "back burning" and lumpy .. hives. After a weekend of exposure to all things sugar and artificial, it was all a bit too much for her. The cup cakes probably tipped her over the edge and then we had to deal with a very upset 3 1/2 year old.

When she has reactions like this we generally treat it with Polaramine which gives her some relief. the hives get scratched and then we have to treat the skin irritation with her eczema creams which consist of both cortosone and non-cortosone based products. We also have a topical antibacterial to use if the scratchings get infected.

So just when we had her eczema under control ....

Does anyone else in crafty land have food colouring or additive issues?

More Butterflies

2011-04-25T09:31:00.001+10:00

Isn't this just devine?

via

Made by Luly Yan, more butterfly evening dress goodness here ..