Olifant

And baby makes four...

This past year has seen many wonderful and exciting challenges in our family, but the loveliest moment was welcoming our fourth and (last) child into our world. A lovely little boy named Luis Charles...born on the 18th March 2010. (9 weeks old tommorow)

My pregnancy with Luis started when little Hugh was just 4 months old...so balancing a newborn/infant with pregnancy was somewhat of a hardship...and although this little bundle, was a surprise for us, we are delighted to have such a sweet little man join our family...my blogging/crafting adventures were definitely put on a lengthy hiatus during this time....and we are more or less, just finding our feet now...I'm certainly going to try to resurrect some 'mummy' time and once again prioritise blogging and crafting, whilst juggling this busy family of four children.

Welcome to the world baby Hugh...

On february 26th of this year we welcomed our newest little family member (our third child) a beautiful baby boy named Hugh Luis...

So far the nights seem to be going pretty well, with this little guy preferring daylight hours to let us all know he's well and truely here. As we enter his 6th week of life, we are rewarded with sweet little smiles, and lots of cuddles. So far his temperament is gentle and placid, though I prefer to call it the calm before the storm.

Needless to say my blog absence has been lengthy, largely due to the new fella. Pregnancy and myself are not easy companions, and the overwhelming fatigue won me over. Thankfully, all is well, as our littlest member settles in, I'm already planning the crafting projects I want to throw myself into, and i'm really looking forward to returning to my blogging adventures too.

 

 

Kids in the kitchen...

A few months ago, we tossed a bunch of ingredients together, to make a yummy banana cake, and today we decided to repeat the adventure. Having some very ripe looking bananas in our fruit bowl, we thought it was time to turn them into something infinitely yummier.

This recipe is actually our own one, and is made up of the usual things you would expect to find in a cake, which is how we came to put it together.

Ingredients:

1 cup SR flour

1/4 Cup milk

30-50gr butter

2-3 eggs

1/2 Cup white sugar

3-4 large very ripe bananas

Honey (to drizzle)

raw sugar (to sprinkle)

Method:

Cream the sugar and butter in bowl, then add the eggs. mix together.

Mash the bananas with a fork till pulp like, then add to egg mixture.

Sift the flour into the mix and stir in the milk till the batter is thick and creamy. If too dry add a little extra milk

Pour into a cake tin, then drizzle honey over the top of the batter and sprinkle raw sugar onto honey. pop this in the oven at 180 degrees for about 50-55 Min's, cake is cooked when the skewer comes out clean.

Careful what you wish for...

It seems this is especially the case when you crave colder weather. Last week whilst groaning about all the warm weather we've been having, Winter has decided to now return with a vengeance. The weather is biting, and we are once again, enjoying the fun of being indoors. I think we are all missing the fun of afternoons outside, but yay for crafting, because now we are back on a crafting roll.

Due to this colder weather, I've been lured back to the sewing room, and here is a little doll I made for Hannah. I tried to create her, in Hannah's likeness, but this doll looks peaceful and calm and I almost never see Hannah being either of those two things. The fabric is a vintage flannel, so she is super snuggly, and perfect for wintertime hugs. I kept her the same as my Jemima doll, but gave her embroidered facial features instead of the pirate look that jemima sported, and socks instead of shoes.

I've really been enjoying reading all your wonderful blogs lately, and I keep discovering many new wonderful ones all the time. I keep updating my list to the right, and chances are if your not on it yet, then I probably haven't found you, so leave me a comment, because I'd love to pop over and visit you. And thank you to everyone who has left such lovely supportive comments, I feel very welcomed and it is so funny to have you commenting here, because I have been lurking around the blogging neck of the woods for awhile now (before getting the gumption to start my own), and alot of you already seem a bit like mates sortof, (in that weird blogging way). I'm a big fan of all of you, and It's great to finally meet you guys...so thanks everyone :)

Selina from the gorgeous blog WildThingsOfNoosa Tagged me, so here goes (my first ever tag)

Q1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

Firstly It's scary to be at an age where I can break it all down into decade by decade. Wow time flies and ten years ago really just seems like yesterday. I was 22, and just started an arts degree at UNSW which I was destined not to finish. (halfway through I developed a passion for natural therapies),  and finished a course at Naturecare college Sydney, in remedial therapies, a couple of years later instead.

Q2. Five snacks I enjoy in a perfect, non weight gaining world

If only!!

creme brulee is my favourite desert`ever!!

Just baked scones with jam and (lashings) of fresh cream

peanut brittle, actually any nut brittle...

crumbed lamb cutlets with mash potato, or roast lamb with baked veges/baked potato (especially in winter)

chocolate

Q3. Five snacks I enjoy in the real world

probably the same as above, just less often than I'd like :)

Q4. Five things I would do if I was a billionaire?

Get a personal trainer so I could enjoy more activities involving question2 :)

volunteer to help kids, being a billionaire I could donate my billions to children's charities.

I'd really like to travel, so there would be plenty of that.

I'd really like to set up a vegetable garden that is self sustained, and pesticide free to grow our own everything

lastly I'd go shopping, and take all my friends with me.

Q5. Five jobs I have had

Waitress in a pizzeria

worked in IKU a macrobiotic kitchen,

Retail clothing store manager

spent a few years studying, left my arts degree at UNSW, finished remedial therapies course at Naturecare college and followed this into a Bachelor of Traditional Chinese Medicine at UWS,( I deferred this halfway due to starting our family). I plan to return to this when my children go to school, as I adore TCM

Currently I am a mum of two little girls, and I am working partime as a carer for disability /special needs, where I have been working for 6 years now.

Q6. Three of my habits

Fabric addiction,

book addiction, usually buying books to do with fabric, or what I can do with fabric (see first habit)

I love movies.

Q7. Five places I have lived

Terrigal, NSW

Armidale, NSW

Neutral Bay, Sydney,  NSW

Hills District, Sydney, NSW

Q8. Five things to do today

cook dinner for the tribe

amuse the tots, using craft, pencils/painting/stickers or failing any of that then bribery

read your wonderful blogs,

clean the mess that my house becomes from the day

and sneak into my sewing room, to grab a few moments of quiet time to myself when they go down

Q9. Five people I want to get to know more about

I'd like to get to know everyone, everyone has a story, and people fascinate me :)

I would like to tag Marina from the lovely WinkDesigns blog :)

Morning at the markets...

Saturday morning, was spent perusing the wonderful vintage market that is Sydney's Surry Hills Market. For me this was a first time visit, and it was absolutely fantastic. This market was completely full of vintage treasures, that you can never seem to find in op shops these days, because these are the lucky people that have found them first.

This wonderful table was a delight, look at all that wonderful seventies eye candy. The lady mentioned that she spent years collecting all these gorgeous treasures and I wonder how she can bare to part with any of them.

On the way to the markets I discovered a lovely little textile store called Bird textiles, their online store is here . This store is in a lovely heritage listed building, and was the original pharmacy in Surry Hills. Inside the store all the original fittings for the pharmacy have been preserved, and there are many sweet little timber drawers that possibly once housed presciptions, now homes for fabric covered buttons and other textile wares. The old world feel of this building, beautifully complements the contemporary products inside, gorgeous!!

Zakka inspiration...

A few weeks ago at the Sydney craftfair, I found a delicious Japanese craft book of the ZAKKA variety, featuring beautiful ways to incorporate embroidery into everyday baby and children's items. Above is my attempt to stitch and applique some simple pictures, inspired from this book, onto some baby singlets.

Here is the book for anyone who may like to track this one down (recommended - as this book is absolutely gorgeous!!)

and here are some inspiring pictures between the pages:

For anyone that is interested, this book is from the Heart Warming Life Series, and the book number is: ISBN978-4-529-04493-6 I picked this one up from the Patchwork on Central Park stall, and here is their online store.

Hope everyone has been having a lovely week, the days have been just glorious here, so most  have been spent in the great outdoors for us, less crafting but more fresh air, reminiscent of early spring. As much as this warm weather is inspiring fun filled days with toddlers at the park, I'm yearning for the winter we don't seem to be seeing much of. The excuse to bundle the little ones up in woolly coats, eating pumpkin soup for lunch and mugs of hot chocolate for supper. Anyone else missing this wonderful season?

Hannah's new top...

Due to an unseasonally warm winter week, I've been inspired to craft a new summer top for Hannah. (made from a vintage childrens pattern). This is actually a dress for a 2 year old, but fits my two year old perfectly as a top. The pocket is a gorgeous patch from some thrifted vintage childrens fabric.

Here is a better photo of the vintage fabric.

and a clearer one of the pale blue which Is my favourite fabric in my stash:

I was fortunate enough to pick up two identical sheets of the yellow fabric. The pale blue fabric was one of those lucky treasures, you grab onto with a racing pulse and head straight to pay for it, for fear that it will somehow vanish before your eyes....

Anyway, have a great weekend everyone, and hopefully the warm rays will keep on beaming down.

Toddler crafting...

Today we started the week off with some potato painting fun. This idea came from the Golden Hands craft magazines I thrifted last week, and was a real hit with the littlies (we'll definately be doing this one again) - cheap, cheerful, quick and surprisingly not too messy which is obviously always a good thing with toddlers...plus it kept them quiet - nice!!

Goodies at the op-shop

 

Ok, so no prizes for picking the common theme here, I didn't even realise everything was orange until I got it all home...Favourites would definately be the orange/charcoal crochet lap blanket, very very sweet. I'm also loving the handmade beanie on Hannah's head, which is a perfect fit (I actually picked up a blue one too). Gorgeous orange (there's that word again) lace, apron, fabric and ball of wool. But the favourite of all are the shoes, exactly my size, unworn .... and ....only $5... Funnily I had spied an identical green pair in a magazine sometime ago, and have been on a green shoe hunt ever since.  I'm still looking for green, but am thrilled to have the orange pair now

Here's another shot without the busy toddler

Onwards and upwards I also found an entire catalogue of Golden Hands CRAFT magazines, in a white folder. As well as a whole heap of regular Golden Hands magazines individually. All this vintage crafting goodness is a bit overwhelming actually, I don't know what to start with first. The pictures inside are so wonderfully, very very seventies!! - and lastly a fresh lime woollen jumper...happiness!!

An olifant for Mia too...

Here's my little Mia, pictured with the little 'pink' olifant she asked me to make her...It's so sweet when they ask you to make them something...this one has been a real hit with her, behind her, is my little Hannah making sure the (not handmade by me lion) gets to have his picture taken too...so cute!!

here's a better pic of pink olifant (who is possibly looking more mauve here)

Thats it, quick one today...yesterday I went for an Op-shop adventure and scored quite well, so I will do a nice op-shop post of my goodies tommorow.