FuShMuSh

Project52: Week 15

Thu, 23 May 2013 07:10:18 +0000

Sydney / Melbourne: Sunday arvo
"Evie has well and truly reached the independent toddler stage. She likes to "help" a lot around the house. Whenever I try to do some sewing at my machine she asks to sit on my lap so she can help. I usually have to give up my attempts at this time because little fingers and pointy needles don't really mix.

There are two ways where she can actually help with my crafting. She makes an excellent softie stuffer. She has helped to stuff many a lambykin. Her little hands are perfect for reaching into the opening to shove stuffing in.

She also very good at road testing all the things I make. I don't think there is anything I make that leaves the house without being played with or cuddled by Evie. She thoroughly road tested Elliot's car caddy before we gifted it to him on his birthday. I know we should probably be saving these gifts for the recipients. However, I figure that if Evie likes the gift then the birthday boy or girl will too. It's been given the toddler seal of approval. "

Check out Tash's day at jouljet.

Handmade: Car Caddy

Mon, 13 May 2013 09:48:29 +0000

For the handmade part of Elliot's present I made a toy car caddy. Elliot's really into his cars at the moment. I used this tutorial from homemade by Jill to help me figure out how to make it. I wanted to make it more than just a road though. So I expanded the mat and put some different destinations on it for Elliot's cars to visit. There is even a little fuel bowser where the cars can fill up.

Happy Birthday Elliot

Thu, 09 May 2013 22:38:45 +0000

We celebrated Elliot's second birthday with a lovely gathering in a local park on a beautiful, warm, sunny day. I love how summer has decided it isn't quite ready to leave yet.

The theme of the party was Hats inspired by the children's book Go Dog Go by Dr Seuss. Clare organised a hat making activity which the kids loved. Evie really got into the hat decoration and still wears the hat she made (almost 3 weeks later). The hat even got an outing to Johnson Park the other day. Evie was jazzing up JP! We don't do a lot of craft at home, apart from play doh and drawing, so I'm glad I have parties, play group and day care to fill the void.

We managed to get a photo of all the kids together with their hats. I made a dodgy photoshop one to get a photo where everyone is looking at the camera. I think it belongs on photoshop disasters though.

More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

Handmade: Sock Monkey version 2.0

Fri, 03 May 2013 02:27:36 +0000

I made a Sock Monkey for the handmade part of Leo's birthday present. The monkey's name is Floyd.

He's sock monkey version 2.0 as I've found a different way of doing the ears and eyes. The ears were super fiddly but I think look more monkey like. I like the button eyes better too although they wouldn't be suitable for a younger recipient. I used to embroider the eyes on using satin stitch and they always came out wonky.

Project52: Week 14

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:53:37 +0000

Melbourne / Sydney: Sunday lunch time
"Happy Birthday Leo! I joked with him that it was really the Festival of Leo as he had a party for his friends on the Saturday, an extended family party on the Sunday and then an immediate family celebration on the Monday, his actual birthday.

I generally volunteer for dessert duty so had offered to make Leo's birthday cake. We had such a busy weekend planned so I decided to make him a trifle birthday cake. Trifle is pretty easy to whip up and Leo loves it. I knew it would be a winner with him (he's definitely a Daley when it comes to desserts). I personalised it with an L made out of the leftover jam rollette and chocolate finger biscuits. We also decorated it with some sparklers at Happy Birthday time. Leo was a bit disappointed he wasn't able to blow out the sparklers. "

Check out Tash's day at jouljet.

Project52: Week 13

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 10:57:05 +0000

Sydney / Ballarat: Sunday morning
"Here is a happy Evie on Easter sunday with her bunny Flossie.

To get Evie to smile in photos now I say "Smile! Show me your teeth!". In the beginning we would get her to say "cheese!". She would concentrate on the CH sound and end up with a strange expression on her face in photos. Then I started to say "smile!". That only resulted in her repeating "smileeeeeeeeeeee!" and still no smile in photos. Show me your teeth seems to be working at the moment. Although recently Evie has started to point to her teeth when I ask this. I will have to try a different approach soon I think. "

Check out Tash's day at jouljet.

Easter Bunnies - Flopsy and Mopsy

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 03:39:56 +0000

I couldn't resist making Evie a bunny for Easter. She has lots of soft toys already but this pattern floating around on Pinterest was too cute to resist. I'd also bought a really sweet fabric which reminded me of little Easter eggs. It seemed like the universe was telling me to make bunnies. I made one for Audrey too.

Evie's was made with brown corduroy and Audrey's in white corduroy. I embellished each bunny with a little felt flower. The pattern was really easy to follow and the bunnies came together quite easily. I picked up some new techniques too which might assist me with other doll patterns (Like the Wee Wonderful's pattern I used for Susanna's doll Alice. I've had such trouble with that pattern.)

At first I nicknamed the bunnies Flopsy and Mopsy after the bunnies in Peter Rabbit. We've since renamed Evie's to Flossie and I think Audrey's gets called Bunny.

More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

Easter

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:03:36 +0000

We had such a lovely Easter long weekend.

I had cocktails at Button Bar and dinner at MoVida with the girls on Wednesday night. While we were out we realised that we had accidentally fulfilled an Easter tradition of ours. Way back in the before time we used to go out for cocktails on Maundy Thursday each year to celebrate the beginning of the Easter long weekend. We were a bit chuffed that we were out drinking cocktails once again (pretending like we didn't have kids. Although inevitably the conversation returned to the topic of kids. You can't help but talk about them.)

We loved Button Bar. It wasn't too crowded, granted it was a Wednesday, and it had lots of cosy nooks and crannies to sit in. The cocktail menu was extensive too, more like a book than a pamphlet. I think it might become our regular predrinkies venue when we're out in Surry Hills (every 6 months or so....).

MoVida was tasty. Sue and Sarah liked the Patatas Bravas best. I'd like someone to please explain what faux bacon dust is. MoVida lose points for their sucky, sucky website though. It's really hard to navigate and information is difficult to find. Another example of form over function.

We then spent a few days with Grandma and Grandpa in Goulburn. Evie loves hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa. She goes on lots of walks and does fun things like crunch through Autumn leaves. I get to have a nap so really it's win-win situation (ugh, I feel like I should apologise because I want to have a nap instead of hanging out with my girl. I hang out in parks A LOT. I don't get to nap much anymore. See the attraction?) I also got a chance to pop down to Canberra to see Toulouse-Lautrec at the National Gallery.

On Easter Sunday we hung out with my family in Pyrmont. I made a Cadbury Creme Egg chocolate pudding for dessert by combining two recipes (here and here). Next time I'd only use mini creme eggs instead of regular ones. The large ones were a bit sickly.

More photos (slideshow) on Flickr.

Project52: Week 12

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 04:43:20 +0000

Tash has been busily blogging our Project52 and is completely up to date. Me... not so much; I'm terribly behind. I figured it would be better to just start blogging again and catch up the missed weeks later. I couldn't resist blogging this one. When I put these two photos side by side I had to laugh. Cocktails and embroidery... couldn't be further apart.

Dehli, India / Sydney: Saturday night
"Last year for Wilson secret santa I asked for a ticket to Urban Stitches. It's a craft conference held at Darling Harbour. I spent the day hand sewing and chatting with other ladies who also love to craft. We were given a few projects to do and were told that we could probably finish all of them by the end of the weekend. I picked the embroidery project as I can usually multitask enough to talk while embroidering. I didn't even get halfway through this project though. Obviously I'm still a newbie.

I love crafting and was hoping to meet some other like minded ladies (or guys... boys craft too... I think) from Sydney. There is quite an active online craft community but not much happening in real life. Unfortunately all of the ladies at my table were from out of Sydney (Dubbo, Newcastle and Nowra). Maybe I'll have to start a Dully CWA chapter to get some irl craft action (although would that have to be the UWA - Urban Women's Association - as Dully is hardly the country). "

Check out Tash's day at jouljet.

Handmade: Lambykins

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 11:51:34 +0000

There has been a lot of lamby sewing recently. The baby boom continues. It's only March and so far we've already welcomed Max, Hamilton, Lucy, Adam and Cameron. I like traditions so all the new bubbas are gifted a lamby. It's not super exciting craftwise so I don't generally post each lamby on here.

I do like to take a photo of each lamby as a record and so I can remember which fabric I used for each baby. It's a good thing that I've started to embroider initials on each lamby's ear otherwise it might get a bit confusing.

I captured this funny series of photos the other day when I was photographing Adam's and Cameron's lambykins. Evie likes to get involved in whatever I'm doing and decided that the lambykins needed a cuddle. Evie is a good sharer!

And here are some photos of the beautiful bubbas who received these two lambykins: baby Cameron and baby Adam. Welcome new bubbas!