Leopold is up for auction, over here, along with some other great softies. All proceeds go to the Mirabel Foundation, so pop along and see if there is a lovely Cuddly you’d like to give a new home to, and support a wonderful cause at the same time.
Please excuse the blog’n’run. I just wanted to show you Jane’s gift to me, from mixtogether while I have a ‘spare’ moment (not that it really is. Is it ever?) Anyhoo:
Jane sewed this lovely ‘portfolio’ for me – on the inside, there are journals left and right, and a spot for things to write with:
On the left side is this journal, a compendium of different bits and pieces (music stave, graph paper, vellum, recycled photocopy paper) bound together by Jane. I love this idea, it makes a wonderful eclectic little book. Great for doodling bits and ideas in:
And on the right (not actually pictured, because the camera battery ran flat just at that moment!) is a larger size Moleskine journal – my very first ever of the ‘legendary’ Moleskines. A nice big unlined Moleskine definitely demands something more classy than doodles or todo lists as long as one’s arm (which is what I have today)… I shall have to take up watercolour painting or something!
Also. While I am showing off gifties, I must apologise to Barbara, who sent me this wee little floss tag a little while ago as a Thank You for sending her a chart. Aren’t these just the cross-stitch ‘thing-of-the-moment’? I love it, and I am definitely going to have to make some more of these. Niamh snaffled it the moment it arrived, as you can see:
(This was an ‘experimental-bed-in-the-loungeroom’ day. Did I mention already I was not coping with the demise of the Afternoon Nap?)
Also, just very quickly (because this has turned into less of a drive-by blogging, and more of an essay!), a little snap of my toadstool pincushion from Brown Owls on Monday night. You might have seen them doing the blog rounds already, but here’s mine. Complete with ‘ten-minutes-left-to-go-what-shall-I-do-now’ ladybird addition (which is also out of focus, I am just now noticing. Pfft).
One of the things I love about Brown Owls is the spontaneity of the projects. Normally at home I will agonize over materials and details for way too long. But once a month or so on a Monday, there’s a whole lot less ‘how should it look’, and a whole lot more ‘let’s just have some fun’ (and some tea and some biscuits and some gossip chatter). Cool.
Some time back I signed up for a blog meetup – ‘Mixtogether’ – held by Nichola & Justine (aka the crafty girls behind Mixtape Zine). Sounded good – come up with a crafty gift (the theme this time being Creative Journals), turn up, meet & greet other crafty-bloggy girls, eat & drink yummy stuff. Yay. Only we know how good I am with deadlines, so it’s probably not terribly surprising to you that – with the Mixtogether on today – I was just starting my gift two days ago!
Anyway, long story short (too late!). I got it all done in time with only a few moments of panicky stress and swap anxiety (would it be good enough? would I be laughed out of Amitie in shame?) I’ve been meaning to have a go at some bookbinding for ages (Dermot gave me this book for Christmas – it came in handy). This binding is a Japanese stab binding, with a hinged front cover. I’m pretty happy with the outcome, and I’m pretty sure Nichola liked it too 🙂
Here’s the inside of the journal so you can see the funky end papers (it’s difficult to photograph a book that by design does not lay flat):
And to go with this, I whipped up a pencil roll which is a slightly more grown up version of the crayon and pencil rolls I’ve made before. This kind of just evolved from fabrics I had in stash. It’s a little bit reminiscent of the aesthetic of two of my very favourite bloggers, I think (Tree Fall and Soulemama).
Here’s the inside – Finn helped me to pick out floss colours to match all the coloured pencils (they’re watercolour pencils, in case you’re wondering about the paint brush there in the middle):
And a close up, coz I just can’t get over those little circles! They were fun to stitch while we were watching the Olympic opening ceremony last night:
Despite me feeling less than perfect (random virus #27 (or so) for the year is still hanging about, and I have an ongoing headachy thing), the mixtogether afternoon was lovely. I received a beautifully made portfolio from Jane, but that will have to wait for some morning light before I get photographs. I’m dragging me and my sore head off to bed.
Posted in Other Craft, Sewing
Tagged bookbinding, craft, mixtogether, pencil roll, sewing
It has not been a great day. Let me just tell you two things which should never be together. Sand. And Laptop.
Yessirree… fun and games in the Sugarlemon household this morning. The F-word may or may not have been used 😳
Anyway, we aren’t going to dwell on that now, are we? (Fear not – I talked Niamh into a nap, and spent that time taking the keyboard apart and judiciously applying the vacuum and canned air. All is well.)
Instead, I have an actual post-with-photographs lined up! For starters, here’s the pic I grabbed yesterday with the intention of joining Kirsty’s On My Desk meme. So here’s my ‘desk’. Aka the kitchen table. Let’s be generous and call it a ‘workspace’ shall we?
This is pretty much all leftover cruft from Monday and Tuesday craftiness. Do you see that little sketch of an idea just there? And the pattern pieces, and the scraps of fabric? And that really looong needle? Well, lookee here:
Yay. I had an idea come to fruition for once! I’ve taken off the softy training-wheels. This here is Leopold – my very first ever original stuffed critter. I’ve had a couple of ideas rumbling around in my head for a while, and I finally decided to just go for it and see if I could make them work. You can see a bit more of how he’s constructed in this photo:
He’s basically four ‘2D’ components stitched together through the middle (hence that very long needle). After a bit of faffing around, I’m really happy with him. I’m really happy with the ribbon-tag mane.
King of the jungle indeed. How convenient that our backyard is looking particularly jung-ular (!) at the moment 🙂
Leopold is off to Pip, hopefully tomorrow, for the Softies for Mirabel cause. Niamh is not totally on board with this idea, and I have a feeling I’m going to miss his friendly face as well. I think there may well be a Leopold Mk II in my near future. In fact, I was also considering a hand puppet version…
Posted in Other Craft, Sewing
Tagged craft, lion, on my desk, Softies for Mirabel, softy
Guess who needed a nap after a (rescheduled) day at the zoo today. (Hint: not Finn!)
Seriously. I believe ‘herding cats’ is an appropriate simile. After a few hours of what shall hereafter be known as the bums-and-poo trip to the Zoo, (because what could possibly be more fascinating to six year olds than the rear ends – and what emerges therefrom – of exotic animals?) I was completely beat. I have renewed respect for the teachers of our preppies, I can tell you that. Oh, and never so pro-uniform as today – it’s far easier to locate one’s group when all are dressed alike.
It was loads of fun, though, and the weather this time was perfect. After lunch, our class had an hour at the ‘Zoo School’ learning about ‘Feathers, Fur, Scales & Skin’. I hear that the parent helpers of other classes weren’t allowed into Zoo School, and instead took a bit of a scones-and-tea detour. Scones and tea is nice and all, but hey – we got to go in and handle snakes. Soooo much cooler! :giggle:
I’m having an easier evening. Dermot out gallivanting, kids both off to bed easily (Niamh has recently abandoned her afternoon naps, much to my distress, though it does make bedtime more enjoyable), and I’m parked under a doona enjoying my umpteenth viewing of Love Actually. I swear I don’t love it just for Alan Rickman :giggle:
We’re all going to the zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow…
Yep, I’m off to Melbourne zoo tomorrow – I’m helping out with the prep excursion. Keeping a bunch of exuberant 6 year olds in line would be, um, ‘fun’ at the best of times, but check this out:
Forecast for Monday
Rain in the morning, then showers with local hail to follow. Fresh to strong
southwesterly wind developing in the morning.Precis: Showers. Windy.
City: Min 8 Max 12
Awesome.
Monday edit: Phew! Zoo trip cancelled, to be rescheduled soon. There were a lot of sad little faces, and I wouldn’t like to be the teachers keeping them inside all day!
Edit two: The cancellation, btw, pretty much guarantees that the weather will be okay after all! That Murphy bloke knew what he was on about :giggle:
I’ve been a bit out of sorts lately. Too busy. Too much being sociable, making smalltalk with people I don’t know very well. (Funny it’s taken me so long to recognize my major trigger. Too much of a good thing, I end up feeling overwhelmed, like I need to hide back in my shell! Hmmm. Is it any wonder Finn’s socially troubled?!)
Sorry, got sidetracked for a moment there! Anyway, so Niamh and I ended up in the reserve yesterday for some time out after playgroup (not the naughty-corner kind of timeout, the good kind)
Not five minutes walk from us, there’s this bush reserve. It’s not big – just big enough that by the time we walk into the middle the sound of suburban traffic has (mostly) disappeared. It’s home to a couple dozen kangaroos (mob, I believe, is the collective noun), favourite hang out of all the native birds in the area, and in the summertime, hundreds of tiny skinks sunbathe along the path. I love it. I grew up in regional Victoria, so in some warm fuzzy way it’s like a little piece of home.
We partly headed there yesterday so I could get a picture of my paper crane:
This is for Eve at foldingtrees.com – she’s collecting 1000 ‘peace cranes’ folded from recycled paper and photographed in peaceful places or on peace monuments. (Read more here). Mine is folded from a 10cm square of paper cut from a security envelope – the patterns inside those envelopes are lovely!
So there we were. Photographing cranes, hanging out, goofing off…
I didn’t expect to come across the roos – they’re usually about in the mornings and evenings, and keep out of sight during the day. But there they all were – just chilling out, like us, not far in from the path. I managed to switch camera lenses, get close enough, and keep the wild child quiet enough to take a bunch of photographs. I counted seventeen – the most I’ve ever seen in there all together. Well… eighteen, if you count the little cutie hanging out in mum’s pouch there 🙂
So nice. Feeling better now. It’s good to have all that just five minutes away.
Posted in General Ramblings
Finn’s school had a dress-up day today to raise money for another local school recently damaged by fire. The theme was SUPERHEROES & CAREERS. I know. Weird combo. Don’t ask me.
Anyway, I spent yesterday on the sewing machine (pants, apron, super big toque) and today our little super hero went dressed as a chef. (Niamh decided to get in on the crazy hat action too :giggle: – told you she really liked it!)
I have another post lined up for you – almost as cute as this one – but I figure that you’d die of shock if I posted twice in one day… so you’ll just have to wait!
Niamh climbed into bed with me this morning, and I’m pretty sure, though I was still fuzzy with sleep, that she said ‘Wuv You’ as she gave me my first cuddle of the day. Cue ‘Awwwww’ 🙂
I could end my tale there and keep that warm and fuzzy feeling going. But…
As I was getting dressed later, she pointed to my midsection and informed me ‘Mummy yat’. Now I’m not altogether 100% positive, but I’m pretty darn sure that ‘y’ was an ‘f’! I was mortified! It may be true, but hey! does one really want to hear it from one’s 2 year old?
Must they really learn to talk?!
(Oh well. Off to pick up Finn and then go ‘wopping’ at the ‘oopymarket’!)
The big day. It dawned misty and magical, so after packing Daddy off to work and Finn off to school, Niamh and Mummy walked down to the reserve to get some Birthday Girl photos.
But. Hmmm. There was a lot of this:
(She’s about to yell!)
And this:
“No Wotos Mummy”
So Mummy took a photo of Niamh’s beautiful Soulemama-birthday-crown on a magical and mystical log, instead.
(Note – I made this yesterday. So much fun – It took me about an hour (and only that long because I was messing around with elastic casings). Niamh does like to wear it about, honestly. At her convenience, not mine!)
Then Niamh had to try out the very wet playground (of course she did):
(At least we got to show off the new shorter ‘do’)
Then we found out Mummy forgot to pack a playground snack. (Ouch). Whereupon we went home, and Niamh had a nice long kip:
And Mummy got the kitchen ready for this afternoon’s cupcake fest:
Finally… proof that there was both smiling and crown-wearing yesterday:
Happy Birthday beautiful girl!