Thursday, December 10, 2009

A heady story...

Have you noticed? Well, have you?
Yes, that's right ... I have a header! A beautiful vintage Christmas card type header!
I am so happy about the way it looks. It is the one thing I have really struggled with since starting to blog, but after discovering "Feeling Stitchy's Craft Blog School", I found a way of uploading a header that I really like. Thank you so much floresita for this wonderful series of posts to help beginners like me make our blogs interesting too...

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

A little stitching...



I have been inspired by the beautiful embroidery you see everywhere on creative blogs. For the most beautifully, artistic embroidery do go over and vist Tiny Happy.


This was the first bit of embroidery I have done for ......... mmmmmm..... let me think? 20 years or so .. (the colours are not great, and I am sure a very young child could have done better, but there it is). Since those horrid days of Home Economics where you where forced to do ghastly patterns within a certain time limit. This embroidery was done of a picture of a snail that I drew for my 2 year old and then I just wanted to practice some other stitches so came up with the flower tendrils. I really like the green and yellow combination, but not much else!

I am so pleased with the renewed joy and calmness that I have found in making these pretty little stitches.

P.S. I am working on a little something for someone very special this Christmas, and it is really looking very beautiful. Will let you in as soon as it is safe to do so!


Monday, December 7, 2009

Pillow case dress ... version 2

I have done it! I made another Pillow case dress, and following these instructions more carefully, it came out so much better. It is fuller and prettier and a lot twirlier....

She likes it too!
I still didn't line it, as it is just too hot in these parts, but overall I am very happy with the outcome!
My very best friend is moving to Zanzibar this week (who wouldn't want to go there?), and so I made 3 of the exact same ones... One for Jessica and the other two for my best friends girls...


I can just see them on one of those shiny white beaches in these dresses, playing on the sand...
We will miss you dearly... and hope you are going to love every moment of this wonderful adventure!

Her Nursery School Christmas Party...



There was swimming (at 2 years old she is a real little fish in the water)




and more swimming...





There was jumping





a puppet show





Balloon bending




A nursery rhyme concert with little angels as the stars of the show
and...



a Christmas gift  of course....

We had such a fun day! Packed with busy babies and some awesome moments....

Hooray for Christmas time and the time we get to spend together!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

What do you think???

So I have reverted back to the original template that I first started my blog with.

What do you think? I think I prefer that it is a bit more substantial than the minimalistic look that I had.

I would really like to hear your opinions?

Monday, November 16, 2009

Some sewing to share...


As part of the previous post (that I lost when trying to save), I wanted to share all the other bits of sewing I have done in the last while..
I made this sunny, green and yellow dress from this Butterick pattern:


I love the bright yellow, and it is such a light dress for the summer!

Then I also made my Sweet Little Girl a Pillowcase dress, using this tutorial from A Little Loveliness. Except, I did not read all the instructions, and in my haste to get it done, I did not cut the fabric wide enough, and so it lacks that beautiful fullness, that makes Melissa's dresses so gorgeous.


I used a pretty print, and it turned out a fresh sun dress...
(Can you tell it is Summer in South Africa?)


I have a few other things that I would like to share, but have to take some more pictures first....
To all of you on the other side of the world whom are just awaking to this day, I hope your Monday is fantastic!

Sewing Weekend Fun!

So I am terribly frustrated as I have just written a very long post and when I tried to upload it, I received an error message, and of course the entire post was lost!!

So in a nutshell....

I brought my sewing machine down from our bedroom to our dining room on the weekend so that I could do some social sewing whilst watching the kids play in the little baby pool we had put up on the grass...

My Granny let me scratch around in her stockpile on the weekend, and I found a huge amount of fabulous fabrics... some dating quite some years ago...


Jessica fell in love with two of the shiniest bits of fabric, and so I made her two very simple twirly skirts:

See the ghastly '70's shiny blue metallic one? Well, she loves that one so much she went to bed with it.. I kid you not!

Monday, November 9, 2009

A new (old) addition..

So this arrived on Saturday... and I am totally in love with it..

I have waited 3 weeks for this old cane back rocking chair that I bought online. Although the experience was not a pleasant one, I have at long last got my chair and it fits perfectly in this corner of the house. It rocks!!!

And... I am not the only one that loves to sit in it. I had to fight to get to sit in it any length of time as the smallest member of the family loves the swaying motion .. naturally.

Sweet weekends...


Our weekend was filled with sweetness.... from real sweetness in terms of delicious dessert decadence (will tell you some more a little later), to sweet cousins visiting and a seriously sweet Saturday spent with 4 generations of ladies (in the pic in the middle (right), there are 4 generations of eldest daughters)!

We spent a wonderful day at my mothers house, with my sister, gran and my mom's youngest sister. Mss J took to her cousins (whom she had never met) and they were absolute darlings! It was a day of splashing in the baby pool, lots of cuddles and love shared between family members....(as featured above between Miss J and my darling sister)...

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Inspirations....


"The human soul has still greater need of the ideal than of the real. It is by the real that we exist; it is by the ideal that we live"
(Victor Hugo French romantic Poet, Novelist & Dramatist)

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Dreamy Dresses!


I am in Love with these gorgeous Pillowcase dresses that Melissa Lester and her Granny had put together... they make little girls look like angels and are simple to make! Her instructions are clear and conscise and easy to follow... even for someone with my sewing skills! I have already sewed a dress this week, although I didn't make it wide enough so it does not have as much volume as these. It has turn out to be more of a sundress than her beautiful flowing dresses...
I am however bent on making another one this weekend that I would love to turn out full and flowing like her girls' dresses ....
Have a little trip around Melissa's blog - A Little Loveliness, it really is choc-full of lovely ideas, recipes and some other inspirations. It is indeed a privilege to read her letters to her family whom she clearly holds very dear... we can all take a leaf out of her book...

Monday, October 19, 2009

All done!




TA-DA............. So there it is.......
I actually finished the dress last week already, but did not have a chance to get Little Miss into it to  take some snapshots! I am totally thrilled with the way it came out. Added a little head scarf for added cuteness. I just love the little heart applique with cute button...
It is really supposed to be a tunic that ends sort off mid thigh, but the pattern was only from 3 years up, so currently it is a twirly dress. I think she will probably get a lot of wear out of it! Great on it's own, with jeans, or a little top underneath!
I love it!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Serious about swimming....


Swimming has been the predominant theme in our house for the month of October so far.... The littlest (?) member of our household has been so excited about her pending swimming lessons (which started today). Of course, last night when I got home with the various bits that go with swimming lessons (e.g. the swimming cap and goggles) her excitement was completely uncontained... the cap and goggles was worn for dinner, bath, and to bed (only after much begging and bribery would she take it off).
So, with all this lovely swimming gear a gal is in need of somewhere to put it, and that is what I was doing last night.....
 
A little drawstring bag was created.....

Upon waking in the morning, Miss Jessica was delighted with the little bag that mommy made to keep her swimming bits in...

Not quite completed, as I would like to add some detail! Hopefully next week when it is time for her next swimming lesson, it will be a lot prettier!

Will keep you posted!

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

September = Spring in South Africa (Volume 3)


So in the last of these posts on the last day of September, I will show you what I have been busy with on September evenings...

I made this very cute pincushion from the Heather Bailey Downloadable pattern. I made it from some scraps that was lying around the house and was tickled pink with the way it came out! I had to ask my hubby to help with pulling the thread that holds the buttons in place through the entire thing, so really, it was a team effort.

Okay, I am really having trouble uploading photo's to show you the rest of my sewing, so will try again tomorrow ( it will count under this heading ... even though, of course, it will then be October :-)).

Have to dash to pick up my little junebug!


..... Ok .... so as promised... the rest of this post that was meant for September but is now in October ....

This is one other thing I have been working on... I mentioned these Butterick patterns before and have actually gotten around to cut the pattern  and I started to put it all together this month... I have this lovely fabric, and although you can not really tell from this picture, it has alternating red and blue flowers. I decided to make the top panels in red, which seems very bright against the vintage look and feel of the material, but I have decided that I will put some applique on the red panels once it is finished, and hopefully it will break the very "redness" of it.... This really was more tricky than my "beginner sewing" levels can easily handle, but I think we will get there. Little Miss P can not seem to wait for it to be finished, so I really am hoping to get it done sooner rather than later....

There is one more thing in the making........ will reveal all soon..........

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

September = Spring in South Africa (Volume 2)

So, as promised... more on what we have done this past month...    The daycare my daughter goes to is part of this movement education group called Monkeynastix. In their own words:  'Monkeynastix is a broad-based, holistic programme that combines creativity, music and storytelling with basic training in flexibility, balance, strength, agility, co-ordination and body awareness. Your child will love each energy-packed lesson.
So that is how we spent one Saturday this month. A Monkeynastix fun day. They had it on a horse farm, and the children got to go for horse rides as well.

I was so very surprised to see how my little girl loved that horse. She was totally captivated with the experience and enjoyed it immensely.
She sat on that very tall horse so confidently and held her balance beautifully.

With the activity of the Monkeynastix and the calmness of the horse riding it proved to be an incredibly succesful and enjoyable day....


Monday, September 28, 2009

September = Spring in South Africa (volume 1)

September marked the arrival of spring in South Africa.... beautiful warm weather.... sunny days and blossoms on the trees .... it has been a beautiful month... Over the next few posts I will share some of the things we have been getting up to this spring...

This past weekend was so warm that Jessica and her new best friend from across the road Jason decided that they needed to cool down...

We had such a fun day! The sprayers were put on and the kids got to play in the water (at least watered the grass at the same time is the way I justified  the wastefulness of this little indulgence).

Some spring blooms seen in this collage just begged to be captured....

Oh!! How I love Spring and the promise it holds. Warm, sunny days and another winter past....

Friday, September 18, 2009

Wonderful woman share the world wide web ....

Sounds like a comic strip super hero News Headline, doesn't it?...
What it really is about is the amazing woman out there, that so kindly share their thoughts and goings on with the rest of us... They are the inspiration for this blog and can be found here, here, here and here.... and there are millions more that are just fantastic... amazing and so absolutely generous with sharing their wonderful crafts, sewing, doll making, child rearing, cooking, quilting, science projects, embroidery and many many more inspirations.... you are all fantastic!

Also see some more wonderful blogs in my sidebar to the left .... under "places I like to visit"...

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Restoring weekends.......

Our weekend away: these photo's are actually in the wrong order... so you should be looking at them from the bottom up, but I just didn't have the time to try and upload them again, these took ages to get on here as it is ....... happy viewing.....


Jessica in pensive mood ......... note comment about water and being calm lower down ......... great when you have a 2 year old :-)

Hubby very busy rigging the boat for the first time. Had to scratch heads a bit, but got it done in the end....


Mommy and Jessica on the paddleski late afternoon ......... the most glorious sunsets!

Daddy having a ball on the water ..... hiking out and sailing that little boat to the nines!!!!
YAY! We love it at the Dam....


That's it ... boat rigged and ready to go.....

Jessie enjoying the view .... the water had such a calming effect on her!

****
So back on the subject of Sunshine.... this past weekend was one of the best of examples of how nature just restores your soul....

We have this weekend spot where we go to recharge... we do a little sailing.... relaxing.... reading...

Lazy days on the water and under the trees....
It is what we do to stay sane.....

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

A few of my favourite things............



My hubby's mom brought me these wonderful old children's clothes patterns from her jumble collection.......They are an absolute treasure and I can't wait to get sewing.....

Note!!! I am starting out with the "EASY" pattern......... no button holes and zips. Just little poppers to fasten at the top, although I have a feeling I might try my hand at making some button holes as I have some very cute buttons that I would like to use.

I found this gorgeous fabric with the butterfly print at a small little sewing shop in our village, and what a find it was. They have the most beautiful fabrics and a nice little scrap basket, with off-cut pieces at a really good price.
So, inbetween trying to get my first quilt done and everything else, I am going to try and cut the pattern this week..... will keep you posted!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Sunshine ....




I love sunshine.....


Yes, I know everybody likes sunshine, but I love it! Iwas driving home yesterday, and this ray of light came through my windscreen and I realised I LOVE SUNSHINE! With our seasons changing and the winter chill fading, our souls come out of hibernation and Sunshine seems to feed that....


My happiest spaces are filled with rays of sun.... from happy days on sunny beaches, to quiet afternoons with a book and a ray of light shining through a window. From fun days sailing on the dam, to sleepy afternoons on a blanket under the trees...... they all have one common thread.... sunshine.......




Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Blogging .... me tooooooo


I am thrilled to be posting my first bit on my new blog! I have to say, I love it.... there are so many wonderful ideas out there and I think it is time for me to share .......
Well, as this is only my first post, I will gather my thoughts and post some interesting things (at least to me), tomorrow....