Giveaway Winner...

Thank you to everyone who celebrated my one year blogversary with me.

The winner of my little giveaway is

handmade romance

I will be back with more later, as I am not very well right now...

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Happy Birthday Mum! Thanks for everything. I love you.

I love mail...

Look what came in the post yesterday....

A signed copy of

Amanda Blake Soule's "Handmade Home".

While Cohen was napping, I was reading.

After dinner, I was reading.

And then?

I finished.

I finished reading the whole lovely, inspiring, beautifully made book.

And now I am thinking about all the projects I can make...

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Edit: Don't forget to enter my 1 year blog giveaway...

Sunday Stash...

These little pieces of fabric were happy finds in the lovely town of Montville...

While the brooch is one of 'Elk's' gorgeous range and I love love love it. Sadly the glue was not happy with it's station in life and gave up, splitting up with the brooch front. A bit of super glue should fix that problem so that I can wear it.

The sweet Marnie from Elk has already offered to repair or replace it for me, but I think the glue should do the trick! After several years in the jewellery business I know these things do happen.

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Do you see the fabric underneath? It is a vintage feed bag courtesy of my father. I saw similar bags the same size in an antique store in Maleny for $12 each. Maybe one day I will have enough to make a quilt...

My Creative Space...

Piles of cut out doll parts.

Ten bodies, ten heads, twenty legs and twenty arms...

The beginnings of a pile of felt hair...

Making gifts for Christmas begins.

Am I too early? Have you started any Christmas presents yet?

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More creative spaces and lots of red work over here.

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Don't forget the give away!

It makes my day...

It is the little things isn't it?

Like a kiss good bye in the morning.

Finding shapes in the clouds.

A photo that reminds you of a happy moment.

The satisfaction of a basket of clean laundry.

Cooking something new.

Laughing with friends.

Someone telling you that they love you.

Holding a baby to sleep.

Being followed by a cat.

Finding some thing that you thought you had lost.

Learning something new.

Buying a cake stand at an op shop and being given the ice cream scoop for free.

What little things make your day?

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Don't forget to enter my little blogversary give away ...

Giveaway...

This is my 224th post.

This is the day, one year ago, that I started my blog and made my first post.

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I want to thank all those who have commented and encouraged me, thanks to all the other bloggers I have visited who have inspired me, encouraged me and made me laugh. Thanks for those who have sent me things, whose give aways I have won, who have mentioned me on their blogs. It means alot to me.

In celebration of my one year blogversary I have put together a little crafty giveaway, containing a patchwork house pincushion made especially for the occasion, buttons, vintage sewing notions, cotton, fabric and a little bit of this and a little bit of that...

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To enter, just leave a comment on this post and tell me roughly how old your blog is.

Are you new to blogging? Have you been blogging for many years?

Or if you don't have a blog, tell me if you prefer emails, or letters in the post?

Convenience, verses the tactile nature of opening and reading mail?

For extra entries you know the drill! Follow me or blog about this and come back and comment again, so I am sure to count all your entries.

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This giveaway is open until the 30th of September, as that is a special persons birthday, so even more reason to celebrate.

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Open to national and international commenter's.

Super...

Hi, I'm Super Cohen and I like to go on super adventures and cheer people up. See my super cape? Helps me fly...

I'm really good at packing and never forget a thing...

I always wear my seat belt. Safety first...

I like walks along the beach and trips to the country...

I care about the environment and animals. Here I am at Obi Obi Creek in Maleny...

I love to catch up with my friends at Baroon Dam...

And I will always be grateful to Laurel for letting me come and live with Cohen and his family...

Thanks to the lovely Laurel, who made and sent this gorgeous teddy to Cohen so he would get better super fast. Super Cohen, Cohen and ourselves had a wonderful weekend at Maleny.

I love mail...

Yesterday hubby was on his way out when he checked the mail box. He held up a rather large 'United States Postal Service' envelope for me.

What could it be?

My gorgeous Doll Quilt Swap 7 mini quilt!

Complete with a lovely card, a crochet magazine, a sewing kit in a tin for crafting on the go...

(How clever is the magnet in the lid to hold your needles?!)

Amazing 30's reproduction style fabrics...

And of course, a gorgeous mini quilt, made by the lovely Quilty Bee. It is so sweet!

(Never work with babies and animals, or babies and quilts? Cohen would not look at the camera and stay still at the same time...)

I'm afraid you may have to have a peek over here to get a better photo of the gorgeous mini quilt. You see...

I took these photos after having taken some of Cohen covered in banana. It seems he put little sticky banana finger smudges on the lens.

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Thanks again Quilty Bee! I love it!

And thanks to all those involved in the Doll Quilt Swap and my swap mother Lynne!

Can't wait for the next one now.

My Creative Space...

It's best not to try and rush things when crafting.

Even if you only have a little bit of time to fit some sewing in while the baby sleeps, rushing it will only lead to problems....

Like wonky strips in the Chinese Coin block.

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More creative spaces here.

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PS. Sunday will be my 1st blog anniversary... wonder if I should do a giveaway....

Fingers uncrossed...

I've got a coffee, a slice of banana cake and Cohen is crawling around on the floor, laughing.

I want to thank you all again for the kind words and well wishes Cohen received.

The infection has gone and we are quietly celebrating his recovery.

Sleep, hunger and laughter have returned and we are slowly finding a routine.

Cohen is so thankful to Millie for her kitty love and generosity in asking her friends to pray or purr for Cohen.

These photos were taken before the infection and it is possible that these will be the last pics of him with a dummy. He has given it up so far since he couldn't use it with his sore lip. Although we wonder if he will want it back when he is teething....

So far there have been no more tears.

MRSA...

Thank you for all the thoughtful, kind and supportive comments on my last post. It has been a difficult week for Cohen and for us.

A week of sleepless nights, tears, Doctors and hospitals, medicine, sore tummy's and lots of extra hugs.

A week made all the more manageable thanks to my darling Mother.

Without her I would have no clean clothes, the floors would be dirty and the kitchen unmentionable.

Thanks Mum, I know you understand what it is like to have a sick and miserable child and your help meant so much to us.

Unfortunately we received the results at the hospital from the test today and the infection is Golden Staph.

(Also known as "methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, commonly referred to by the acronym, MRSA".)

We have a third type of antibiotics to try now and we can only do our best and keep our fingers crossed again that these will make our boy better.

And that there will be no more tears.

Absent....

The hardest part of parenting for me would have to be illness. Nothing affects me as much as watching my baby cry in pain and knowing that there is nothing more I can do. And you would do anything, wouldn't you?

A small red lump that unsuspectingly started to swell. A swollen lip that got infected.

A Doctor calling to the house. A visit to the Doctors. A speedy trip to Emergency.

Pricks, swabs, tests.

Insect bite? Scratch? Golden Staph?

Another appointment Saturday.

Fingers crossed.

DQS7...

I was hesitant at first. This was my first swap and I wanted to make something my partner would love. I had an idea in mind and I experimented a bit.

Then I procrastinated a bit.

Did some more.

Procrastinated some more...

Now it is finished, and I hope my partner likes it.

'Coffee for two'...

Doll Quilt Swap 7.

Fathers Day...

From my arms to yours, when you first held Cohen, he was only minutes old. His face wrinkled, puffy and bruised. His right eye clamped tightly shut, only one tired eye looked into yours. We had waited so long to hold him, yet we held him only briefly and then the nurses took him away to the special care nursery. I cried for you to go with him so I knew he would be safe. I knew you would not leave his side.

I saw you, as you first held him. Your eyes shone.

It was then that you fell in love with him. It was then, I think, you became a father.

I love you Dave.

Happy first Fathers Day.

Here's to...

Here's to my gorgeous nephew - congratulations on winning the semifinal...

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Here's to having wonderful family and friends.

Here's to having support and understanding.

Here's to having fun and laughter.

Happy Birthday....

Dear Sausage Baby,

Thank you for inviting me to your 1st birthday party. I had lots of fun and loved my party hat and the bubbles that came out of that little bottle. I hope you likes the kitty softie Mummy made for you, and that your Mummy likes the silver sausage pendant Mummy made too.

Happy Birthday!

Love from Cohen.

I'm sorry, it's just that..

I'm tired.

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I'm tired and there is no milk.

No milk means no coffee.

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I have no car.

Well, I do have a car but it is getting a new bumper.

I may have been involved in a car park bingle.

It would be my first accident, if such a bingle occurred.

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Tired. No coffee. No car.

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So no car to get the coffee to stop me being tired.

No coffee to stop me being tired and get me to walk to the shops.

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Damned milk.

I love mail...

(I have been stalking the mail man again.)

I love mail...

... especially when I have won a Beckybean bag from the Small Stuff giveaway in celebration of the opening of Nook!

And...

... especially when it is adorned with gorgeous stamps like these...

... wrapped with brown paper, coloured string and buttons...

... and contains a Beckybean bag, a bookmark...

... handmade wooden buttons...

... gorgeous Seeds in Olive fabric...

... and a sweet brooch!

I recycled the funky string immediately when wrapping gifts for a new friends birthday party...

... while some one else tried to unwrap them...