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My oldest, dearest friend took his own life.
The world will never be the same again.

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Today, the last apron is finished and ready to be posted, there are eye catching sentiments in old issues of Country Style magazine and more gardenias in bloom in the garden. Today, there are swings to be swung on, packages to be posted and little Summer pants that want sewing up. Today, the sun is shining and all is well in our little world.

My Creative Space...

There are three pairs of finished toddler oven mitts in my creative space today, to accompany the toddler aprons. Like the aprons, they are small and sweet and I can't help but love small and sweet things. I hope they inspire many hours of imaginative play amongst the recipients.

I made the mitts using the scrap fabric from the aprons, 6.5 stitches free pattern and tutorial, as well as some iron on pellon, which I 'borrowed' from my Mother's sewing room (thanks Mum). The pattern is really good, but never fully able to follow a pattern, I decided to add some simple binding to the cuffs - using three inch wide strips of the scrap fabric folded and ironed to form the binding - as well as adding a little fabric tape loop for hanging.
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More Creative Spaces here.

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My birthday was a lovely day indeed! Cohen slept in, which offered me the very rare chance of a sleep in too. My sister joined me for breakfast and present swapping, followed by shopping, lunch and a BBC Jane Austin movie. There were phone calls, emails and text messages all day long too. Dave took Cohen and myself out for a seafood dinner last night and there's still more to come this weekend! What better way to spend the day than with those I love and with the warmest wishes and thoughtfulness of friends and family.

And presents? Books and shoes of course! There lies the way to my heart. (Plus of course fabric, jewellery and craft supplies.) I even managed a Frankie hat trick, with Frankie's new book Spaces, the 2011 Frankie Diary and the latest issue of Frankie magazine. 

Thanks for all your wonderful birthday wishes. I'm looking forward to making the most of my last year as a 20-something! But first, I think I will start with a cup of tea and some more time with my three Frankie's...

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years old today. Happy birthday to my twin and myself! 

I will report back tomorrow with more details.

A little more sewing yesterday. A quick and quirky 'Cuddle Kitty Toy' from Amy Butler's cute book, Little Stitches for little ones. Though mine certainly does not look as cute as the one in the book!

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I manged to squeeze in some early morning sewing today. I made these two toddler aprons using this great free tutorial, by Meg of Sew Liberated. 

The finished black apple embroidery is now a pocket on the first apron, made for a friends little girl. While the second apron, made from a fat quarter of American Jane fabric, is for Cohen. Both aprons are lined with navy cotton and have elastic in the neck bands and velcro closures for the waist straps. Such great design ideas to make them more toddler friendly.

Now, I think I need to make some little oven mitts to go with these aprons.

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As a few things have been crossed off 'the list of things to make and do for birthdays and Christmas' of late, I couldn't help but take a little detour. Even though I thought I should be finishing some of the projects I have started, this black apple embroidery was too difficult to resist.

Hope your having a lovely weekend.

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Hi, my name is Ethan. I'm really super in love with puzzles and building forts under the dining table with sheets and blankets. I really can't wait to meet up with many, many other softies before finding my one true home. I'm super excited about that. 

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Ethan is my Softies for Mirabel contribution. 'Softies for Mirabel' is a project organised by Pip, in order to give a handmade gift to children who have been orphaned or abandoned, due to their parents drug use. You can read more here and there is still time to make a toy and donate it, as toys have until the 7th December to make it to 'Meet Me At Mike's' in Victoria.

This is yet another project of late that has been stitched madly while the toddler slept. The pattern is Jodie's great Kinder Boys sewing pattern. Ethan is sporting a pair of green undies, tie up board shorts, a velcro shirt and removable hat. I hope that he will bring joy to the little person that takes him home with them.

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Thank you for your sweet comments yesterday. I have amassed a small collection of knitting needles this week from three different op-shops. Each time I paid for my plasticy goodness the staff member behind the counter asked whether I was planning on doing some knitting. All three ladies seemed a little surprised and amused when I replied that I had plans to make knitting needle bangles. And each time they asked me how to make them and invited me to come back when I was wearing the finished bangles. Bless their little cotton socks.

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My sister and her fiancés engagement shoot, by the lovely Lizzy C, has been featured on Polka Dot Bride. I love the subdued look of the grey sky against the bright green grass as the love birds dance in the rain.     

My Creative Space...

Fiona's Christmas present has inspired me to finally attempt knitting needle bangles. They are one of those little bits of lovely that I have seen floating around blog land for awhile and always wondered about. The thought of a little gift to accompany the earrings emboldened me to rustle through my knitting needle collection and remove any wobbly or lonely needles. These were ceremoniously dunked in boiling water as per Zephyrama's tutorial. So quick, so easy and I have to say, I like what I see. 

Yay for thrifty fun Christmas presents!

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More Creative Spaces here.


Edit- Thanks to Liana for letting me know that she was the original creator of knitting needle bangles. So credit for the original creation of knitting needle bangles goes to her with my apologies.

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A birthday present for a friend's big boy who is turning four. Made using Pip's great Where the Wild Things Are Christmas stocking tutorial yesterday while Cohen slept. 

There will be a little gift inside too. I hope he likes it!

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I remember playing with paper mache as a child. I can't remember what we made, but I remember the smell of the glue and the layering of the paper. This is my first attempt at a piñata. These separate pieces will be joined together to become a dinosaur for Cohen's party. In theory at least. Body, head, legs and neck. Next up, a tail.
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I used this tutorial and glue recipe. 

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It was a joy to spend some time in the sewing room this weekend. Cutting, pinning, sewing and quilting. The picnic blanket incorporating Kitty's vintage sheeting fabric is all but finished. The stripy binding needing only to be hand stitched, then the blanket is ready for use on the next picnic outing.

The binding is a Spotlight find that I've had my eye on for awhile, waiting for the perfect project. The wadding was the exact width I needed, but had a little more loft than anticipated, making a cushiony soft blanket that you could sleep under, just as well as sit on. However, quilting a rather thick 1.5 x 1.5m project on my little Jem Platinum Janome sewing machine was a difficult endeavor. The backing is a sweet vintage sheet from my stash, in the same tones as many of the fabrics incorporated.

I'm really happy with how it's turned out and will share more photos soon. An excuse for more picnics, if ever an excuse were necessary.

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I just can't seem to help thinking about Christmas right now. Regardless of the dino party in the planning and the possibly absurd decision I made last night to make a dinosaur piñata myself. I am still drawn to Christmas crafting. I mean, how adorable is this Christmassy decoration at {scissors variations}? (Not to mention all these sweet non-Christmassy tutorials.)

Then of course there are advent calenders. I'd like to start the advent tradition at our house, as we had a vintage advent calender when I was a child. How I wish I knew where that was. There's a lot of inspiration out there. Maybe something like this, or this, this or these?

Do you have any decorations or Christmas crafts planned?

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Edward and Lilly stall

Liana Kabel knitting earrings

Bespoke Press gift tags

What a lovely market! While my sister and I perused the stalls, bubbly in hand, Cohen had his Daddy chasing him all around. Fiona pointed out her perfect Christmas present earrings. We are quite hopeless at keeping gifting secrets from each other. (Which works out swimmingly for us. We always get a gift that we really love.) While the gorgeous tags from Bespoke were much too hard for me to resist. Who doesn't love pretty letterpress? 

Although we walked around the market a few times, we still weren't able to see everything, as there was quite a number of people there. I would have loved to have had a better look at a few things, but Cohen was tiring Dave out. We made out way into the Mall for dinner and more shopping. I even managed to buy myself two dresses. I love having sisterly advice when trying on clothes. Twin sisters never lie about clothing, in case they want to borrow it one day.

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Thank you for all your lovely comments yesterday. You never fail to make me smile. Can I share a flower as a thank you? Our gardenia is finally in bloom. Such beautiful, fragrant blossoms too. The buds have formed each Spring these past three years, then promptly and mysteriously fallen off. So discovering the buds opening this year and flourishing was a joyful moment indeed. It is the little things in life, isn't it?

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And I have to say that I am super excited about the Gallery Store Twilight Christmas markets in Brisbane this evening! I've read that paper boat press and edward and lilly will be there, among others, and I am looking forward to doing some Christmas shopping while supporting handmade.

My Creative Space...

Back at the jewellery bench today. I'm working on some more cloud earrings for the shop, as well as some repairs and ring resizing for family. While washers/hot pads were hooked on the couch last night.

More Creative Spaces here.

Today we observe Remembrance day, in gratitude to all who have made sacrifices during times of war and to mark the official end to World War I.

Lest We Forget.

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These are a wee bit addictive. My first finished Christmas presents.
(White border inspired by this version.)

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New Maeve magazine is out, a lovely free online mag. I'm loving Rachel's 'pictures eat people' contribution. A big congratulations to Rachel too!

Super cute blog dedicated to kids parties.

Bringing tears to my eyes, here.

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Thank goodness for baths I say. Nothing else seems to relax both Cohen and I as much as the quiet that bath time generally involves. It's a time for talking too, a time to reconnect and a time for laughter. Cohen loves a warm bath and a few toys. He splashes around safe in the knowledge that I will be sitting beside the bath the whole time. He knows I will always smile back when he looks at me in amazement after making a new discovery. Like, look Mum, I can drink bath water from my  toy boat, or look Mum, I made all the bubbles float up to this end of the bath. And I love being able to share his new discoveries. I love that he wants to share his amazement.

I'm so grateful for this time in our day, especially after a difficult day with a headache that just wouldn't budge and my patience being tested time and again by a little one who throws everything, even throwing his toys at strangers. 

If only he enjoyed getting dressed as much as he enjoys having a bath...

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I brought some lovely Panda Cotton today, crochet washers and a glass of wine await.

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Above is my first attempt at the Crochet Flower Hot Pads, inspired by Kate's lovely washers. 

I was apprehensive at first. They do look a touch complicated, don't they? But the pattern really is quite simple. I think I will add a few more rows to fill in those gaps in the petals and add a loop for hanging. Great for a little Christmas gift too I should think.

And, a little surprise found beneath the cover of my current read, Cohen's trio of dinosaurs.

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The craft and mothering aspects of my blog are precariously balanced at the best of times. Presently, craft seems to be tipping the scales in it's favor. To remedy the situation, here's Cohen testing out his new metal cart. 

It was supposed to be for Christmas...

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These dino cookie cutters arrived in the mail a couple of days ago. I thought they were super cute and absolutely necessary for Cohen's dinosaur party come December. And cookie cutters should be high on the list of party priorities, right?

I quite like these free printable dino chalk party favors and of course I will be attempting to make a dinosaur cake. Which should be interesting. But first up, dinosaur invitations.

Do you have any suggestions for a second birthday dinosaur party?

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I definitely have a Summer project to work on now! Look at all those lovely vintage sheet fat quarters that arrived in the post today, along with some cute jigsaws for Cohen to colour in. All from the wonderful Kitty of Kitty's Kaboodle. Have you ever visited Kitty's blog before? She is a crafty, crocheting girl who has a gorgeous little boy, Huckle, who has the kind of cheeks you just want to pinch (gently of course!). She also shares her life with her handsome man and their cows, ducks and dogs. As well as having craft room to be envious of!

I have plans for a vintage sheet picnic blanket with these lovelies, a la Amanda's Beach Blankets To Go.

Thank you so much Kitty! 

My Creative Space...

A somewhat cooler little boy this morning and a lovely cool overcast morning to start our day. While the weather still permits, the crochet basket will be at hand, ready for a few quick stitches or the joining of rounds. But knowing what a Gold Coast Summer has in store, I'm contemplating crafty projects for the warmer months ahead, when crocheting beneath a blanket won't be a very good option. Embroidery perhaps?

Do you have any plans for Summer craft projects?

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More Creative Spaces here.

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Loving...

Swatch Diaries

Tiny Happy's Chamomile

One Flew Over's washers

Dottie Angel's Happy Hangers

I have a feverish little man much demanding of cuddles today, so only a quick post. The Doctor says for Mama not to fret, Cohen may just be fighting a throat infection or perhaps he is teething. Either way, cuddle duty beckons.

So many beautiful finds in my blog land travels. What are you loving at the moment?