o' christmas tree...

... is up, but still needs quite a bit of work on the 'dec-a-ations'.

sparkling moments

I've been on the look-out for 'sparkling moments' this week... they can be anything, an experience, an interaction, or even an acquisition. The important thing is not how long it lasts, a few seconds or a few minutes, the important thing is to stop. and realise that this is it, this is a 'sparkling moment'.

I wasn't sure where my 'sparkling moment' was going to come from this week, or why it would be better than all of the other moments, but today I found it.

Mum and I took Angus & Daisy to the toy store so that Mum could purchase a gift for a friends little boy. When we got out of the car there was a store that sold balloons and other party supplies ~ immediately I vetoed any balloon action, and we hot-footed it to the toy store; after the toy store we had a quick look in the bead store, but as any mother of small children will know, a bead store is not a good place for kids; there was just too many things for them to accidentally break or knock over...

So I tempted them out of that shop by offering up a look in the Balloon store...

... and I am so glad that I did.

We had such fun looking at all of the jars of balloons, trying to chose one each... looking at all the little pictures and imagining what they would be like when the were blown up; trying to choose the right colour. Every time I said to the kids, what about this one {Thomas the tank, a princess balloon, a jungle animal?} They responded with an excited "Yes!"

After much consideration we left the store with two helium inflated balloons; one green jungle balloon, and one pink princess balloon.

An afternoon of revelry followed, including many 'parties'... for the 10 minute drive and $4 outlay, I'll be keeping this one in mind in the future.

six months

Six months already my love, and look how far we've come.

You're rolling everywhere now, as soon as I put you down you're off... usually under something or into something ~ and lately you've even managed to reach the blocks out of the baskets, just so you've got something different to chew.

Daisy is very particular on what you are allowed to play with, and what you're not! If she catches sight of you with something that does not belong to you, it is quickly taken from your hands and replaced by one of your very own toys.

You've started to eat your solids, after a month of trying, a day before you turned six months it finally clicked for you and I can tell that we are now off on a new adventure together.

Your very first tooth made an appearance last week, soon followed by another, and just like your brother before you, you 'snuck' them out; no rosy cheeks, no swollen gums, and no other signs ~ just one day there they were... and of course now that you have some teeth we are all eagerly awaiting your first words.

You are fascinated by nature, especially the grass, whenever you get the chance you happily dig your toes in, or take lovely big handfuls to examine.

Already you adore your big brother and sister and try to be near them while they play, watching on completely fascinated with their antics. Thankfully they find you just as entertaining, and we all love to listen to the big belly laughs that you give us when Daisy rocks you from side-to-side, or when Angus growls at you in his biggest voice.

You smile at everyone, and I often find myself having conversations with complete strangers who have stopped to make ga-ga-eyes at you ~ not to mention those of us who you see everyday, you have a grin that is so contagious, and I love that you bring a smile to all of our faces.

and of course, I love that you are my girl, a complete Mummy's girl, just like your sister was.

Happy six months my baby....

crochet garland anybody?

What to do with Christmas fast approaching and the urge to crochet still running strong?... a christmas-themed-crochet-garland, of course!

Originally inspired a while back by this beautiful example by emma lamb, I found myself sitting down to eat my cereal each morning, hook and yarn in hand, creating some shape or other.

This star I had already made, before I caught sight of the garland... the inspiring Lucy posted about it, and the tutorial is from the royal sisters... but then all of this started something...

First there was this shape, copied from emma's garland; I didn't write down the 'pattern' but I just crochet along and worked it out as I went, trying something, unravelling it when it didn't quite work, modifying as I went along... and eventually, this was what eventuated.

Next came the flower, again the same process of nutting it out as I went along, but this time I had to learn a new stitch; the double treble crochet {I think that's what it's called?} I needed to find a 'longer' crochet to make my petals a little pointier in the middle. I think that it worked out ok?

and then this evening, while I was supposed to be making a start on dinner, I went a-googling and found a pattern for this snowflake, which although lovely as it might be, and well suited to my slowly-but-surely-taking-shape garland, I thought the the first two rounds were just perfect as they were ::

... a little six-pointed-star.

So now in my fickle mind I am seeing a simple garland made up of these little stars, or maybe even a small Christmas tree decorated with this here handcrafted crochet goodness?

I'll be sure to keep you posted.

welcoming a new arrival and a big sister

A couple of weeks ago my dear friend Julia rang me to say that she was in the early stages of labour, a few days later I spoke to her again and found that she had given birth to a wee little girl named Isabella ~ it was the news that I had been waiting for... it was a girl! now I could finally choose the fabrics to make her a gift.

I decided to make this grab ball for Isabella, following the link supplied by Christie some time ago; but most of my sewing time last week was spent making a sweet little Poppy Doll for Isabella's older sister ~ I know from experience that making the transition to older sibling can be a little challenging, and it's hard for the littlies to stomach all these people arriving in their house and making a fuss over the new arrival, and all those presents {which are generally for the new baby too}...

So I decided that I would make a special little playmate for Si, and make a big fuss about her becoming a big sister ~ because as we all know, that is very important too.

[you can click on each picture if you would like to see them bigger]

The Poppy Doll pattern is available through Fiona from Hop Skip Jump, it is a beautifully written pattern, really easy to follow, and a pleasure to make. I ran into a few glitches along the way, but all of them were my glitches, and nothing to do with the pattern {mostly because I read the pattern as I go along, instead of reading it all first}... just in case you decide to make her too, I shall elucidate:

The first time that I made her I used a wool fabric, not doctor flannel, and I found that it stretched too much; my first attempt was soon discarded and I ordered a meter of doctor flannel from the Creswick Woollen Mills. It was definitely worth the money, it is so nice to sew with, and you could tell that the doll was made with quality fabric.

I also had a couple of issues with her hair, the first time her part was too high, and her hair sort of disappeared into the seam allowance. My second attempt was better {you can see her in the little pictures above} but I decided that I would like her to have some pigtails ... so one evening, after the children were tucked up in bed, I took her head off, un-stuffed it, un-picked the side seams and added the pigtails, re-sewed her up, re-stuffed her, and stitched her head back on. Much better!

Then I noticed that my felt was pulling through the stitches; I had stitched too close to the edge of the felt and it was rapidly coming undone, so I hand stitched all the way around the hairline in coordinating thread to secure her hair better. Then I added some ribbon elastics to each pigtail, and a little rouge to her cheeks.

So the vitals ::

The pattern is available here.

The doctor flannel is available online here.

The wool felt for her hair is from here.

The fabric for her tunic was a scrap from this lovely lady.

The fabric for her jeans was from my favourite jeans.

The 'rouge' was provided with our Bamboletta doll {penciled in to be Daisy's 5th birthday present!}... I think it is red bees wax, but I think that a little blush would work too?