Long grass, Long days and Long Dresses!

I love these maxi's!

I am even thinking I might make myself one!

I love the colours in this one, they're bright but earthy! And this style of dress its fun and summery!

I love summer, but was watching the news the other day about the snake invasion in NSW's backyards, so as pretty as the dandelions and wet the bed flowers are, we are going to buy a new lawn mower, and I am going to look outside of my own backyard for photoshoot locations!

Cant believe the weekend is over already!

Tomorrow is mine and Tim's 10 yr anniversary of being together, I have to take 2 x 4 yr olds for their 4 yr old needles, I hope they 'do' them both at the same time! So cross your fingers for me, no temperatures or adverse reactions, and we might get to sneak out for dinner!

pURPLE sPOTTY dRESS

Ally wanted to know if I could do the green Spotty Dress in Purple with a white flower?

Well, yes I can!

I think it looks pretty good too!

These dresses are so sweet and comfy for the littlies to wear, but i am going to make some in bigger sizes and get photos, because I think some of the bit bigger girls might like them too!

I have just listed this dress at madeit

http://www.madeit.com.au/detail.asp?id=179469

If you would like this dress in a different colour combo you can email me @ metcalfe.lee@optusnet.com.au

Enjoy Your Sunday :)

Bloopers and out-takes

Jack and Jayden sometimes want to get in on the photo action. So yesterday while taking photos of the Retro Maxi Dress they grabbed a hat each (made by me) so we could have a Hannah Banannas Designs product shoot which included them. Well if we were big enough to have a catalogue, we wouldn't be using these shots! I dont even think Nanna would hang them on her wall, but I will print them, and smile everytime I look at them in the photo album, and Jayden, Jack and Hannah, they'll laugh together at each other!

Do you get your photos printed and put them in albums or do they stay on your computer or memory stick?

I wait for the 10c print sales and get 500 printed at a time! No-one will ever want to come to a slideshow night at my house!

For those who prefer Etsy, I have just listed the Retro Maxi Dress

retro maxi dress at etsy

Thanks for stopping by, I'll see you tomorrow!

New Retro Maxi Dress

I have finally caught up on all my orders and so my plan for today was to make Tiffany's outfit which she won on the blog giveaway. I dropped Jayden off at school, Jack and Hannah at preschool, went to start cutting out Tiffany's purple apron top, only to realise I didnt have enough mauve gingham!

So no mauve gingham and no car, off I trot, 2 feet and a heartbeat to spotlight! Side tracked by the Old Lolly Factory on the way (they dont sell lollies anymore, but lots of really cool retro goodies!) bought myself a really funky shirt for $6.00!

Finally got to Spotlight found the gingham I needed, and then because you have to browse while you're there, I spent too much money, but came up with this....

LOVE love this fabric! and the dress style would suit a 2 yr old or a 7 yr old!

I have just listed this dress at madeit, so you can find it here

$40.00 each

Tiffany your parcel is on its way, I hope Poppi loves her new outfit, and I hope you and your family have a great holiday!

Teddy Bears and Tea Party's

I remember when I was little, we had a casette tape with Anne Murray singing kids songs. It had inch worm, animal crackers in my soup and teddy bears picnic! I loved that cassette and still remember most of the words to the songs, I wish I could find a copy for the kids!

Here's Hannah's teddy bear's picnic

Love the Green Spot Dress!

I have just finished the last pages of Jacks Book, uploaded them to Big W, and am now going to wait very patiently for it to arrive! I wonder if I can hold out till Christmas Day to give it to him???

Hannah Banannas at the Beach

Which silly mum took fully dressed children to the beach?

They were never going to stay dry! They did have fun however, lots of it!

The purple apron top looks pretty good with the blue ruffle pants too! (well it did when they were dry!)

Some Monet Paisley bikinis would have looked great!

Family Camping Trip

We have just had a brilliant weekend away!

1 Family, 3 generations so much fun!

I will just share a couple of photos with you.....

 The weather on Friday was shocking! Pouring down rain, blowing a gale and we were going away camping.. in a tent. My Mum rang at 8.30am and said "I hope you dont mind but I've just rang up and booked you a cabin" Mum, you already know how much I love you, but Thank You!

Come Saturday, the weather was gorgeous! It must have been, because even I went swimming!

Jack and Hannah were a talking point in the pool, they were the only flying 4 year olds!

(you will have to excuse Hannah's wedgie, it was a permanent fixture in all her swimming photos!).

This is some of the family who were on our trip. My cousin Isabelle and her boyfriend James, so oblivious to all the slightly tipsy going ons around them! Oh to be young and in love again!

 Cant wait till next year to do it again!

The Bargain Bin!

Not really a bin, obviously! But its time for out with the old, make room for the new!

This little set would be perect for a garden party! Or just great for picking flowers in, or looking for dandelions (our yard is full of them! They may be a weed, but much prettier and so much more fun than grass!). These photos dont do justice to the outfit, too much green, but Hannah wore this to school this afternoon and quite a few of the mums commented on how pretty it was.

I have 1 x size 2 and 1 x size 3 left and to buy the whole outfit (pants and top) is $24.00 including postage.

Shabby Chic Dress

1 left

size 3

Its pretty and girly, a little bit twirly!

I thought I had 2 of these left but Hannah has claimed one!

 $26.00 including postage

More bargains to come next week!



Stocktake Sale

I have been cleaning out my sewing room again, going through fabrics and ready made stock! So keep an eye out this week you might snag a bargain for Christmas!

The Paint Splatter Dresses I have 2 left in the purple/orange combo

1 size 3 and 1 size 6

$20.00 delivered to your door!

They are fun and bright, great for dancing and twirling,

cool and light, they're even great if you just want to pull them over your head and show everyone the pretty yellow fairy undies you're wearing, like Hannah did!

(I have photos of this, but thought best not to post them here! They were pretty fairy undies!)

I am off to bed now, to those who are also sleepy, sleep well!

If you're on the otherside of the world and just waking up, then I hope you have a wonderful day!

Jack's Pirate Book

Hopefully finished and printed in time for Christmas!

( 1 double page to go) here's the story so far

The Front Cover for the Book!

I think Jack will like it!

I used High Four Designs, A Pirates Adventure
available at http://www.deviantscrap.com/

Vintage Top

I have 1 of these tops left in a size 3! Very pretty isn't it? I will have to find some new fabrics to replace this top!

$25.00 + $6.00 postage

Back to the sewing machine for me, I hope your all having a great day!

The winner?

is Tiffany!

Congrats Tiffany you have won the purple Apron Top and Pants!

You can email me at metcalfe.lee@optusnet.com.au with your preferred size and postal address.

To all who played along thankyou, I will do it again soon! Let your friends know!

(random.org picked no 6 which was Tiffany's comment. I have been away for the weekend and I am pretty tired and couldn't work out how to show the widget that said no 6!)

I hope you all had a great weekend! Ours was beautiful, so much fun!!!

Green Spot Dress

Free Postage for Facebook fans till the 17th November!

Its very cute!

$28.00 each

Yummy Light

Yesterday the light in our backyard was so pretty, so I dressed Hannah in the Shabby Chic outfits for yet another photoshoot!

The hat with the shabby chic top and purple ruffle pants make a really nice outfit, dont you think?

This maxi is sold out now! But again what a gorgeous outfit with the hat! I have made a new maxi, its in the madeit store! Love the beauganvillea, a perfect photo backdrop and the yummiest light, too!

I just wanted to say thanks to Marion from Germany for her lovely comments! Its quite exciting to think that people on the other side of the world enjoy my photos and ramblings, and like my clothes! To all you followers, thanks and have a great weekend!

Jayden's Photos

I made the hat and Jayden took the photos!

I am going to teach him tomorrow that if you push the button down halfway it focuses for you, and once he knows that, he's it, chief photographer!

He had Hannah laughing so hard (he told her Mum's bum is soooo big it doesn't fit on the toilet seat! Lucky Mum's skin is sooooo thick!), she posed and played and hammed it up for Jayden! It was great! So many photos, some a little too blurry, but he loves taking photos, so lesson no 1 will be auto focus.

Jayden's school is adopting a sun safe policy which now excludes caps, Jack and Hannah's preschool has had this policy for a year or 2 as well. Jack wears his fedora to preschool as it provides sun protection to face, ears and back of neck, and Looks pretty good too!

I have been working on wide brimmed hats for the girls, something for sun protection, but still pretty and girly! These ones are for lovers of shabby chic,

A few great competitions!

There is of course my blog giveaway, win an out fit of your choice by leaving me a comment!

(you can click on the photos to get to where you need to go)

Go on, I love comments!

Monet Paisley has a great competition going too! A chance to win a pair of her adorable swimmers! There's 3 pairs up for grabs! Ends sunday night at midnight!

Jelly Bean Books are having a sale tonight at 9.30 aest

1100 likers ~ 11 books ~ $11.00 ~ 11 minutes

Congrats Christine on reaching 1100 likers on Facebook!

You can also win a personalised book from Jelly Bean Books on the Bub and Moo blog

http://bubmoo.blogspot.com/2010/11/mmmm-jellybeans.html

Have Fun and Goodluck!

Hand Dyed Heaven

Once upon a time, I used to dye nearly everything I owned! I used to dye nearly everything Zac (now 17) owned! His nappies were tie dyed and so were his bond suits! I used to raid the op shops for long johns and petticoats... so I could dye them!

I thought I had grown up and gotten over that, until the other day I was at the chemist and spotted the Dylon stand! Well that was it, the seed was planted... I just had to figure out what I was going to dye, and after that what I was going to make out of it?

Such simple pleasures in life, so much fun!

The back corner of the yards a mess and Tim keeps telling me we need to clean it up! But the photos are better when there's dandelions and wet the beds, even thistles!

...and just to prove a point here's some photos of Hannah in a dress I made today

gotta love the sneakers with the dress! Our yard is so full of bindis at the moment, and these were the only shoes handy for hannah to grab!

Yesterday, Jack and Hannah were out the back calling out to me to get them off the trampoline, but throughout the day, everytime they went to play out the back they wore a pair of my thongs. So they were on the trampoline, calling out, wanting me to get them and carry them to safety, but I had no shoes, they were all scattered around the trampoline... so I wore Tim's thongs! Waiting for friday, the end of the work week, and as usual Tim will ask me where his thongs are, and I'll know that they are under the trampoline.

More Hats, this time for girls!

You may have figured out I am a little hat crazy at the moment, It may have started due to the fact that every Wednesday morning, just when Jack and Hannah need their hats for preschool they can never be found, (along with their drink bottles) probably because they spend moday, tuesday, thursday and friday pretending they're at preschool! Any way this wednesday, they will both have the best hats at school, and they'll look pretty darn cool!!!!

This is the trial run and I am still working on the pattern, but I think its close! My mum actually wants one!

I just want to point out that this little Bo Peep, did not lose her sheep!

I have also been playing with this green lace as a dress, but its just not  striking me, so I am thinking of leaving it as the hippy chick lace top with ruffle sleeves? What do you think, input would be appreciated?

I hope you have all had a great weekend, Happy Birthday to Thijs and Jordan and Ben, we had a great afternoon, despite all the nerf guns being shot at point blank range!

Jaydo

I had to go to Kmart yesterday and Jayden wanted to come with me and spend some of the money he had made painting portraits and doing magic tricks. He decided he would dress himself in my designs so the people at the shops could see how "cool they are"!

Not so sure the orange hawaiian fedora goes too well with the green beach boy boardies, but it was a sweet thought, and a lot of people commented on the hat! Thanks Jaydo!!!

(can you guess were Aussies with a son nicknamed Jaydo!)

He reminds me of the dingle dangle scarecrow in these photos.

New Maxi

Check out the poses! I'm not sure what I've started? I've got no idae where she learnt how to pose like this!

Everyone who knows us, knows how after 2 boys I really wanted to try for a little girl, imagine how I felt at my 12 week scan and they told me I was having identical boys, aargh!!! It was the only time though that Hannah has ever been mistaken for a boy. She is definately the little girl I hoped for, and then some!

This maxi is replacing the one I posted a few days ago, as I have run out of fabric for the other.

This is 3/4 length on Hannah but can be made in full length, and is quite full and roomy, so little girls can still skip and twirl comfortably. I have just listed this in my madeit store for

$35.00 ea + $6.00 postage.

This little devil looks angelic in these photos, he's thinking about how much he likes to say bum and fart and other rude words!

He,s a pretty cool looking dude though! Love these hats and had to convince Jack to take it off when he went to bed last night, he then wanted to keep it under his pillow (along with the money he'd put there for the tooth fairy?).

I have listed these hats today in my madeit store for

$25.00 ea + $6.00 postage.

Off to work now, Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Hawaiian Print Fedora

 Jack looks so cool in this hat! Love the colours! Great for preschool or at the beach!

I was hoping to get photos at the beach but its pouring rain and its cold, and the weatherman seems to think its hanging around! A bit of a blugh weekend!

Anyway, Hannah has actually claimed this hat! She loves it! And apparently she is a fashion expert, always stylish! This hat is her new preschool hat.

Hawaiian Fedora Hat is available at my madeit store

http://www.madeit.com.au/detail.asp?id=164064 

We also have these great check fedoras very stylish!

The hats are $25.00 each + $6.00 postage

or you can leave a comment here

http://hannahbanannasdesigns.blogspot.com/2010/11/1972.html

and you could win one!

To the photographers who read this blog, how great are these hats as photo props?

More hats coming!

I have more hats coming, a blue check and a hawaiian print which is soooo cool! But I havent taken photos yet, so you'll have to wait to see those!

Because I,m so stoked with the awesome shots I got of my boys yesterday i am going to share some more!

 I made this top for Ally, she's been asking me for ages, so here it is Ally,

These are $16.00 each + $6.00 postage

Let's hear it for the boys....

Considering the bulk of my family are of the male variety, I thought I should make something to include them. I love hats, and have made many for Hannah, so I decided on fedoras! They are so cool, (Tim looked at me blankly when I mentioned my idea to him, he'd never heard of them before?)

Luckily for me, I can have these great ideas, because my Mum is amazing and works out all my patterns for me. Here are some photos of the prototype, Jack and Jayden are fighting over who this hat belongs to....

Jayden looks Super Cool! A real Dude with 'tude!

...and Bugsy Malone, well lets hope he grows into the hat and not the rap!

(Jack looks so sweet and innocent in this photo, he would never hit his sister over the head with a Calamity Bolt horse!)

Watch this space for some new awesome hats for boys!!!!

Have you left a comment below to be in the running to win an outfit of your choice?

blog giveaway

if you want to win it, you have to be in it!