When it's all about me...

which lately, it has been. 

But first, before I get to the birthday, here's a sneak peak of the sewing room. It's coming along...

Sunday afternoon saw me  saving sanity filling boredom by getting my helper in. Off came the old Dymo labels ( that were sticky taped on as they didn't stick well to this kind of plastic)

and on with the new. I had most of these boxes anyway, originally paying $2.98 a box from Big W, they hold 3 patterns each. I went back for a few more, reduced to $1.98 each. Now THAT'S what I call a bargain...

And they completely fit in with my obsessive compulsive side!

And then on Monday it was my birthday. Filled with extra lovely tweets and texts and Facebook messages from all my bloggy and some real life friends; guys, without you I would be in the corner rocking in the fetal position, my big bloggy family are the bomb!

Dinner was with a girlfriend and the kiddies;  they made me feel spesh with drawings and cards, and lots of hugs from my main man Jai.

yummy cakes which I chopped up and shared;

and some awesome shopping skills from the Little Miss. Thanks to 2 awesome friends that picked her up and took her shopping, she then wrapped by herself, wrote on the card etc. I've trained her too well!

(ok, I may have shown her which books I wanted, she ain't that good yet!)

So, another older, lots of stuff undone (I really wanted to clean the fridge out last year, hmm, maybe this one) and a sense of who my family is and getting on with life without the old stuff around my neck. Still hate birthdays though!!

A sunny weekend

Wasn't last weekend beautiful?

We were lucky in that we had a party in the park on Saturday afternoon,

down at Altona Beach.

There was a donut cake;

games;

a play on the beach, no matter how cold the water;

cartwheels through the seagull posse;

and a really funny pic!

Sunday meant babysitting and a walk to the local park;

and learning to walk the dog! (He only let go once teehee)

We were pretty tired at the end of it all. But such nice weather....

Blogtoberfest '10 day 24

The day came out beautifully for some pics- of my new 'couch/cuddle' quilt. Actually, a 'because I like

jelly rolls' quilt. It looks a tinge orange-y in this pic;

this is a better idea of the colours. I used my gifted piece of FMF, and the

purple-y one above it was extra, too. I wanted it a bit bigger than the last one.

The purple chenille backing is thick and cosy;

 Today was another babysitting day, as this boys mum's had a birthday! She was taken out for lunch, so I had my sewing helper and his sister; after helping me with some binding on a quilt, I added a handle to a pre-made bag, and he was set!

Perfect for his hat, sunnies and drink. (I love these man bags, but didn't have the time!)

                                

 The girls liked it!            

We did go to the park, but the small one- I wasn't risking a heart
attack by carrying a 3 yr old up 'Death Hill' again!

EDIT: Nearly forgot to add my Blogtoberfest giveaway! Actually, each day I keep forgetting, so I went back and remembered:

I am 2 followers off 100! Yay! So whoever becomes a follower by Wednesday the 27th October will be in the running  for a mystery prize! If I don't reach 100 by Wednesday, the giveaway won't be on! Yes, blatant bribery at work, my blog, don't care!

So 2 or more followers and one of you wins a prize!

Party time!

Our little mate Jai turned 3 last week. Little Miss and I were invited (by him!) to his b'day

afternoon tea. We excitedly gave him his present....

he seemed happy with it ....

but refused, despite all tricks and bribes, to put it on. I think every adult did it, but not him!

Oh, well, when I'm not looking maybe.....(thanks Curlypops for the tutorial, excellent as usual!)

Party games included a game of quoits, eating lollies (and watching him fade into meltdown). Don't know why, but he didn't appreciate me singing 'It's my party and I'll cry if I want to'...)

Being adored by the older children!

Happy birthday Little Man!

Testing, testing.....

Ok, there is something weird going on with blogger, it's refused for 2 days now to let me post any pics of the quilts I finished for Cam.

So some pics of what I've been doing, actually, random shots to see if this post works!

baking cookies (and eating them);

playing tag with the Venus cat trap;

and funny notes again on the child's door. Oh, I knock or just come in and wait?

What good options!

A really busy weekend

So, the first day of school holidays started cold and rainy, but that wasn't going to stop us! I taught Little Miss this little ditty, anyone remember it?

No more teachers

No more books

No more parents dirty looks

When the teacher rings the bell

Pack your bags and run like hell

(of course, then came a big d & m about hell, God etc and ruined my little joke.)

So Mr Jaigee and Little Miss started with bagels for breakfast, then we headed off the the market, picking up yummy treats and generally being out and about! Apparently I missed Gary Mehigan at Little Miss's uncle's stall, who liked their produce enough to get business details....

We also checked out the Spotlight sale-on-a-sale, and picked up this nifty pom pom maker, a new craze has been set in the house...

Sunday came up cold but sunny, and 2 years after making it, I finally tried on this number...wow, fits perfect, so comfy, and don't know why I never wore it before!

We checked out the Melbourne Showgrounds Farmers Market, small but up and coming, and then over to check out Thread Den's Nth Melbourne market. I picked up some great vintage fabrics,

bumped into other friends and bought this great scrap pack of this girl. As they say, one man's trash, another man's treasure (obviously changed to girl for this scenario).

Phew, we needed a quiet afternoon at Cam's to recover, some helping her out and borrowing books, a night to rest and the week starts again! See you on the other side (earlier, I hope!)

I'm Back

Gosh, what a long blogging break for me! A whole week! I have been a bit busy, as you will see below- this is the surprise for my friend, well, for her 2yr old, he's seen it and doesn't give a toss, so I thought I'd surprise her! I had it layed out, and toddled off to bed, to find in the morning....

cat help! Thanks, Ace. Back to it tonight.

I made this one for Little Miss today, as I put it on her I realised she hadn't grown THAT much and last years stuff will still fit- but it's fun making a new summer wardrobe! This was inspired by this chickie- the tea towel was too small for an adult apron, too big for a kids one. Perfect for a dress!!

With summery backing- making me wish it was here now!

I finished off a pair of leggings, and the school shorts got new elastic. They'll do for one more term, then I might splurge for next year and make her 2 more pairs. They were getting a bit "toight"- a bit more comfy now.

Oh, no REAL op shopping this week, but did pick these up- she SO needs a dressing gown, she might get one by next winter! And love the dress- I think I'll do a long one, but sleeveless, like a kiddie version of a maxi dress.

OK, back to reassuring my cat she IS a great help, but only when I ask.

A new idea

Another fun (but demented) kind of day, looking after this little rascal. He gave me mt first mini-tanty, very cute, but a sign of things to come, I'm sure!

He's right in to helping, so we got a bit of tidying done, he helped with a few blocks of his b'day quilt (it's a surprise for mummy, really, he couldn't care less!)

And I had an idea....a new product for me, to have at this months Yarraville market, on soon.

But the best fun was doing this- I wonder, who cleans execs keyboards when they spill a drink on it? Maybe they get new ones! I just hope I got them all back on the right way.

Market shots

I had a great time yesterday at Thread Den's inaugural handmade market. There is going to be another one, watch this space, or head over to there website and check out classes etc.

Here are some pics of my stand...taken from a 5 yr olds perspective, i guess.

There were kid activities, of course, face painting, jewellery and brooch making. Here is a great necklace with paper beads Little Miss made.

My friend Serena came and helped out at the stall, giving us both time to shop and craft! We became a big fan of the cross stitch brooch....

Unfortunately today I woke up with the old razor blades in the throat, my friend tonsillitis and I are well accquainted, having encountered each other about twice a year since childhood. So a quiet day was attempted with the boy. Some button play was a big hit!

Stuff

I sewed my first label on an item today, a shirt for the little boy I babysit. This describes him to a tee at the moment....

I wonder why I don't get much done when he's over!! We have a lot of fun...

The big orange thing is the colour of the curtains in my house (rental). It goes well with daggy brown carpet, but not the rest of the bedroom look, so, with the fabric I scored at IKEA

TA-DA!

Hem still needs to be done, and the top bit stitched over, but I highly recommend this- you keep the good, blockout curtains on their fancy rail, and we have a nicer room. Oh, there is a big pile of books under there too, they should be a bit flatter when I'm done with them. Not bad for a 21mth old's help, I thought!