wk 7 :: 52

a portrait of my boy

once a week

every week

for 2014

week 7 of 52

a play at the park with some mates

PS - photo credits go to this sewing lady .... great pics

ruby's nest

love handmade of course

and i adore seeing friends 

make their dreams become reality

i met anna back at the sydney sit

i remember meeting her very well

full of funny stories about her stay in the 'other' youth hostel

& other adventures, i remember i couldn't stop laughing

there have been pop up shops, the act sit

& her hens & tom phat lunches

well ..... anna (Polly Pratt) 

and her creative side kick jay (Finki)

are to be congratulated

on the opening of their gorgeous

spacious light filled quirky colourful

Ruby's Nest

159 Sydney Road Brunswick

 its brimming with all sorts of lovelies

amazing resin accessories, scarves, treats for littles,

and an amazing range of beautifully hand sewn ladies clothes

including the famous 'Wendy' dress and now also

appropriately the 'Ruby' as well ....

opening night was last friday

went out with a few fabulous friends

L-R :: me, anna, karen, bron & nicole

and caught up with a few other faces whilst there as well

lucky me as i'll be sewing some

special handmade pieces for ruby's nest

stay tuned

 fun times in the red sports car

rubys, then thai & a hit of sugar frozen goodness

ever queued for gelato before?

enJOY your journey people xo

five

 5 years

its been since i started writing this blog

i honestly had no idea where it was going to take me

been looking back at those very first posts

i remember how excited i was about getting back to making again

actually making time to make

it was at a time when i'd stepped back from a leadership role

to spend every moment i could with our growing baby boy

in starting my blog i think i had the idea that it might help 

to ground me in my role as a sahm

but it also opened up a community

of real people whom i have a lot in common with

 at first i really admired the more predominant os creative bloggers

now i'm more about my blogging friends

people i now know & have spent real time with

the meeting real bloggers really began with this amazing patch-worker

as she responded to a block swap i organised

i should thank her for the kick to go on

a bloggers weekend in Sydney

where i met a stack of girls ..... 

now i'm not great at grasping names straight off & you know

some were more memorable than others hey! (cheekily said!)

from there well .... i made an incredible friend

and have spent a few wonderful weekend retreats

with more creative minds

love being part of this wonderful community

.... here in the world of blogs & on FB & also IG

love your work lara, tan, kylie, anna, annie, 

jodie, nikki, nicole, cath, gina, kathryn, rach & kathryn

& lots of others xo

part of my online 'village'

its been a fabulous 5 years

i have wondered a bit lately as to why i still blog

i think its now as much for me as it is the few people

who read along ... yep

so if you do read along

i'd love a comment or so along the way xo

enJOYing our journey

 a few pics that tell some of our

journey of late

the blue & pink fairies at our Playful Market

mother's group friends

family holiday escapes

 a plane does a fly-by over the sheep gathered in 'the stable'

pattern wrapped parcels

love my pink christmas tree

 precious little baby Amy May

hand on my hand

 some summer time beach sunshine & reading

lost teeth

enJOY your journey

xo

heide grey scale

a grey day at heide

with pops of colour

....chase you round the rabbit hole?

see art works just simply can't be

just .... black & white

its a sliding grey scale isn't it?

 and can you make yourself tall

like this lady?

... have always loved the amazing architecture

that is heide

for its story, is interior and exterior spaces

... sculpture below is titled : "Seed"

it did plant a seed a long time back for me

can a visit & a 'play' in the sculpture gardens

plant a new seed in young minds?

maybe?

 oh & i have always adored those cows

.... quick noted lesson on perspective!

spring sewjourn

 seriously love going to sewjourn

besides is being a sweet australian cottage

& the wonderful light filled space that is the studio work room

its about people & making together

started out way back going along with a couple of real life friends

but now i feel like i know everyone somewhat

you know its that time forged thing that carves out friendships

Lara has summed it all up perfectly

all part of my village now

 go on wear a chunky belt & some acid yellow beads with that

show your curves

 some garments were made

yay .... tops & dress finishes ... 

& a new quick and simple 3 piece top pattern that i adore

 so i sewed up x10 smocks ... about 2/3 the way

a black & white stripey quilt binding

half square triangle quilt was worked on .... wip

that means i've started on the 544 hst's that i have

that is going to be a marathon as every single

mini hst block needs to be carefully pinned so the corners line up

but you know ... i live for the journey!

 another chunky oversized scrappy stacked coin strip

ready for another double sided quilt top

and

some free form blocks for shannon

because if i lost my home & the things in it

that are special to me i'd love a quilt too

enjoyed making these alongside annie

spring thrifting

weekend just past

went to our riBer

with a couple of girls

with whom i have shared the journey

of what is motherhood thus far

lovely time lisa & cassy & we missed you naden
 saturday morning just 'had' to be
an op shop hop

yes that would be quite the haul hey

included here is a new-to-me 1980's

heavy metail janome sewing machine

that no ... was not found in an op shop

but my 'personal shopper' found it for me

on buy-swap-sell

lucky me hey ....

oh & there's an embriodery hoop in there as well

might come in handy  ..... for something circle-y

thanks for an awesome weekend girls

penguin parade

lovely time at Phillip Island

last week with friends

one chilly evening spent

waiting & watching for the little penguins

sensational

just pretending for a moment that i am
andy warhol ....

i am the Lorax. i speak for the trees

 "at the far end of town

where the Grickle-grass grows

... is the street of the Lifted Lorax"

there is a favourite story about these parts

its Dr Seuss' "The Lorax" 

(in case you hadn't quite picked that up!?)

its so well loved that it was the theme for

Oscar's 5th Birthday celebrations held recently

  "..... I came to this glorious place.

And I first saw the tress!

The Truffula Trees!

The bright-coloured tufts of the Truffula Trees!

Mile after mile in the fresh morning breeze."

 the Onceler was there, seeds planted

a game or two  .... pin the mustache on the Lorax

some dancing to the "bad song" .... & others from

the soundtrack to "The Lorax" the movie ...

 "But those trees! Those trees!

Those Truffula Trees!

All my life I'd been searching

for trees such as these.

The touch of their tufts

was much softer than silk.

And they had the sweet smell

of fresh butterfly milk."

 the party table was set

with a valley of green

mini truffula trees

made with pom poms & skewers

party food to match

with barbaloot bears & humming fish

  "UNLESS someone like you

cares a whole awful lot,

nothing is going to get better.

Its not."

  i so love the multiple messages within the story 

of the Lorax ....

with hindsight, the Onceler is regretful about his greed

there is an environment that we are given to care for

you, me ..... it always starts with the 'little' people of the world

 & there is always hope

it reminds me that really so much of what we have

we really don't NEED ....

  lots of lovely little friends joined in the fun

for in our village, there is always time to celebrate

these small kids & their families

are all part of our heart-felt 'village' & we love you
oooh ... check out this spunky Lorax dress made
especially to be worn to this party!!

how time flies - blink & your baby has turned 5 years old!

a No.5 cake, which when cut, was all 

green & orange & chocolate swirls

with some green-grickle-grass 

& 5 carefully picked Truffula Tree Red Velvet Cake Pops

mmmm .... yum!

  there were party loot bags with goodies

& truffula seeds & more barbaloots

special spontaneous moments with a grand-fatherly 'reading'

 we love you so much Oscar

so while you are slowly 'biggering' & 'biggering'

we hope you grow & learn & love & enJOY

... its your journey & we love having fun with you!

 all quotes are taken from the Dr.Seuss reference: "The Lorax"

first published in 1971