eissua

It's a Girl!

2011-02-24T12:47:00.000+11:00

We welcomed our little girl into the world on Friday 4th February 2011!

A delightful, gorgeous little munchkin & very much loved by her big brother, Quinn.

Sienna Jayne, 4.4kg, 52cm long.

Mum & bubs doing really well.

xxxx

Taking a break...

2011-01-17T13:32:00.000+11:00

With bubs due in 2 weeks - give or take - I'm taking a break from blogging, crafting & swapping.
It will be a busy time with 2 kiddies under the age of 2 for about 6 or so weeks, then my little man will be turning 2! Growing up much too fast.
I hope to return back to blogging a few months down the track all going well. In the meantime my Etsy store - Eissua - will be open as usual - so please make sure you check it out, would really love your support!

Here are some of my handmade items I made prior to Christmas to share with you:

Fabric Draughts set with storage bag - made this as part of my family's handmade Christmas present giving for my little sister - tutorial can be found here.

My husband made this for our brother in law for the same handmade Christmas present - a luggage tag - he even used the sewing machine for the first time - was super impressed!

Made these Lavender tea bags for a swap I was part of where we had a year to make a gift for 4 people in the group. I teemed these lavender bags with my tea wallets, a tea cup trinket and tea bag cup holder.

And lastly I made 'Magic Reindeer Dust' for my niece and nephews and family friends kiddies to sprinkle on their lawns Christmas Eve!

Hope everyone has a wonderful 2011 & thanks for your support and reading my blog during 2010! xxx

Little little Elves

2010-12-15T09:35:00.001+11:00

Here I am blogging about my last YOE swap, December's theme was Elf - what a year of making enchanted Christmas ornaments all year long! These themed swaps have really expanded my crafting abilities and especially the packaging of the gifts as well. All my partners have been based in USA, with me been the only Australian. Our wonderful host was Val from Yarni Gras! She did an amazing job each month keeping us all on track, not an easy job I'm sure. Thank you so much Val for creating this year long swap!

Onto my Elf - this one challenged me the most, I really wanted to make something where I didn't have to cut out fabric or felt to sew. After much thought, one afternoon I got out my beading supplies and away I went - improvising as I went & here is my little sweet Elf I made - I just love her!

Complete with felt booties, felt elf hat & a jingly bell! I really enjoyed making this!

Here's some of the other goodies I sent to my partner Courtney:

So now all my swaps are finished for the year, I am taking a long well deserved break from crafting & swapping & now preparing for baby #2, due in 7 weeks! With lots of rest and enjoyment over Christmas, I just love this time of year - & extra special this year as it will be the first time in a long time that all my brothers & sisters (there's 6 of us kids) will get together on Christmas day & with 2 new babies too experiencing their first Christmas!

I do have a bit of cloth nappy sewing to do & nesting - lots of cleaning, cooking & preparations to be enjoyed before bubs comes along! xxx

Christmas Cheer

2010-12-13T11:28:00.000+11:00

In my post before our QLD holiday here I had some hand sewing projects to work on & realised I hadn't posted about my finished pieces - I only got 3 of the 4 complete (still have the embroidery to finish!)

The owl pennant was a lot of fun & is now hanging up in our family room and is been used to hold our Christmas cards we receive:

Next is the advent calendar I made for my darling son - it's day 13 (he's 21 months old today!) and he is loving all the daily pressies!

DS and I did some Christmas baking for our MOPs breakup last week - Gingerbread men! YUM!

And here's our Christmas tree: DH & DS have started their own Christmas tree tradition, taking the drive to Daylesford Christmas tree farm to select their own freshly cut tree!

Christmas is nearly here! What family traditions do you do & enjoy at this time of year? x

Oh Deer!

2010-12-10T19:22:00.000+11:00

Gorgeous sweet little DEER was our theme for November's YOE.
My partner for this month was out Host, Val from Yarnigras - always a little daunting to make something for the host of swaps, but Val is delightful and so incredibly creative that I knew she would like what I made.

I made a sweet round deer ornament out of felt with beading and embroidery:

And sent him off with a Koala softie, a bell reindeer making kit, another deer ornament and a fat quarter of deer material.

Now, in return I was thoroughly spoilt by Val, she sent me the loveliest things including some baby rompers for bubs #2 due in February 2011, take a look:!

Just gorgeous hey!

Now we are onto our final month of our year long Year of Enchantment swap - the theme is 'Elf' and I need to get it shipped in the next week so it arrives in time before the Christmas break. Eek!

Calico Angel

2010-11-28T12:46:00.000+11:00

I was inspired by this beautiful Calico Angel that our MOPs organiser showed me last week, she actually left the Angel with me as I would love to create one - but this may have to be a project for 2011.

I then found a tutorial for another Calico Angel, that was a lot simpler & just what I needed within the busyness of sewing orders to create. The tutorial is from Melissa Goodsell's blog & was easily made within 30 minutes. I am shipping this Angel off to Cathy as part of a Christmas ornament swap over at Craftmad.

Introducting my Etsy Store

2010-11-25T12:53:00.000+11:00

Here it is my Etsy store - gone live worldwide yesterday!

Eissua

I have been wanting to do this for awhile now, but needed that gentle push which I got from a wonderful friend!

Please pop over and have a look & even buy - would love your support and recommendation to your friends and family too!

I will be adding items regularly & hope you enjoy my new store! x

Swap with a Difference - received 1st swap

2010-10-27T02:26:00.001+11:00

Back in February this year I signed up for a year long Australian craft swap run by Naomi on her blog Nomes's Brag-a-long. We each had a year to make something for our group of partners (I have 4 to make for). I just can't believe it's nearing the end of October & I haven't started on my making for this swap yet - but last week I received a beautiful package (first one) from one of my partners Sue over at I-Purr-Furr to Craft.

She sent me a beautifully knitted Rose brooch, 2 fat 1/4's of material, a piggy measuring tape & a material ring.

Very spoilt & has inspired me to get cracking on my crafting for these lovely ladies. Will keep you posted when they are made, sent & received! xxx

Hoot Hoot

2010-10-25T14:03:00.000+11:00

October's YOE Theme = OWL's

Here's a peek of what I made for my partner Michele

This sweet felt owl which you saw on my earlier post here (**add link**)

Pattern from 'Australian Homespun' Vol. 11 No. 7 Issue 86 Magazine, there are cute little felted Ornaments called 'In the Round Ornaments'.

I couldn't resist embroidering a sweet little owl hanging too

And to keep with the owl theme - I bought Michele this vintage card & an owl charm & also included a doily & candle.

I can't believe there are 2 months left of our Year of Enchantment (YOE) themed swapping. It has been so much fun & a challenge each month to make something new & different to what I would normally make. I also feel very special to be the only Australian in the swap as the other ladies are Americans & have welcomed me warmly and have lovingly shared with me their talents & crafts.

Holidays...perfect for hand sewing

2010-10-23T00:00:00.003+11:00

We are off this weekend to Cairns, QLD for 2 weeks - our first holiday since our honeymoon & since having DS in March 2009! I can't wait - some nice warm sun on our skin, relaxing by the pool, checking out the local attractions including the Daintree Rainforest & spending a week with my husband's brother & his family - 3 little boys under the age of 3 - Quinn is going to have so much fun!

So of course I have to take some sewing with me - I've got 4 projects I'm taking where they can be completed or started with hand sewing. I've got my sewing machine in for a holiday too - a good service, haven't had it serviced since I bought it 3 years ago!

These are the projects I'll be working on;

1. Hanging Laundry embroidery - I have started this, hoping to finish it - as is for a Christmas gift

2. Owl Pennant - I'm sewing 3 of these banners which I will use for Christmas - it's part of our October YOE challenge. The 3 separate banners will spell, JOY, LOVE, PEACE.

3. Advent Calendar Pockets - I'm making these for Quinn for a countdown to Christmas - he's still too little to understand Christmas but I'm sure he will understand opening one of these pockets each day & finding a treat, trinket, gift inside! And I plan to hang them across our new loungeroom (which I'm hoping will be done by Christmas - come on renovations!) to keep little boys away from them!

4. Felt Christmas Ornaments - In the Australian Homespun Vol. 11 No. 7 Issue 86 Magazine, there are cute little felted Ornaments called 'In the Round Ornaments'. I made this Owl one for our October YOE owl theme for my partner

So I plan to make another one; then there is a reindeer, santa, angel, snowman to make as well. Will see how many I get done!

Now to get packing & to limit the amount of toys we take to just a few! Oh & I've scheduled in a couple more posts to load up while I'm away. xxx

Notebook-Annie

2010-10-22T09:07:00.000+11:00

I have to share this 'Annie' doll with you that my older sister gave me for my birthday.

I LOVED the Annie movie growing up - I still love it now and once a year pop it on and watch it.  So I'm sure my sister thought of me straight away when she saw this loved Annie doll in a local op shop!

She also made me this gorgeous Moopy Notebook Cover

She used a pattern from the Meet Me at Mikes book - isn't it just adorable!

Late last year I joined a swap on Swap-bot called 'Found the Swap' - you might recall me collecting papers off the streets whereever I went for a few months.  We were to fill a journal - well at least 20-40 pages & my partner ended up flaking on me, so I never got one in return.  Then I received a delightful email from Ramie, who was my partner in January's YOE - saying she would be happy to do one for me with her cute little boys.  And 2 weeks ago I received the notebook all the way from USA filled with papers & bits n pieces she found when she was out for walks, the shops etc.  Here are some snippets:

Have you ever done a project like this? Next time you are out & about look around you and see what papers you can find, help clean up the streets and create a little scrapbook that you can send to someone - its so interesting seeing what other people find & I loved how Ramie wrote next to each paper where she found it & what she was doing.

Breast Cancer Bags

2010-10-19T20:37:00.000+11:00

Our October sewing swap over at Craftmad was to make a Breast Cancer Bag. These bags we make as a group will be sent off to Breast Clinics in Australian hospitals by the lovely ladies over at BagMakingPatterns.com
These bags will house 2 drainage bottles which patients are sent home with usually in a hospital pillow slip. To make life a little more pleasant for patients, these bags we are helping make will be used to carry the drainage bottles in. The pattern used for this bag is relatively simple.
Here is my finished bag:

If you want to get involved and make 1 or more bags for this wonderful project please drop me a line by commenting here & I will email you the details & pattern instructions (NB. I only have details for Australia). You can add your own personal touch and include a short message with embroidery or even make a patchwork bag - the more individual the better (please don't make your own bag/s, there is a specific pattern to follow as it's been designed to house 2 drainage bottles) - to help brighten the day of a Mother, Sister, Aunt, Grandmother, Friend or Cousin who's in need of a little pick-me-up.

I have been busy...just absent from blogging!

2010-10-10T14:26:00.000+11:00


September YOE was a MOUSE theme. Here is my Mouse, but it kinda looks a bit rat like too - made using a bright sock, some buttons and my very first attempt at applique! My partner Sandy loves herbal teas and pumpkin seeds, so I sent her the kind you can eat & the kind you can grow.

My August Octopus arrived a little later - but my swap partner Kim did a beautiful job on her Octopus for me, and check out the seashell seahorses hanging she made for me too! I can't wait to hang this in my bathroom.


And here are some other goodies she sent me: ribbon, material, Santa apron, cute birdhouses. Feel very spoilt!

I have also been kept busy making Christmas and baby gifts. I'm getting in early with my Christmas and gift giving organisation as by Christmas I will have 6 weeks left till baby #2 is due. And I know I will be hot, tired & uncomfortable by then. So sorry can't share with you just yet what I have been making as my family & friends read my blog.

It's Spring here & the past 2 weeks have also kept me busy in the garden, weeding mostly - after all the glorious rain we had over Winter & now some sunny days the weeds are popping up everywhere. My DH is busy rendering our planter boxes at the moment - he too has been inspired by the sunny warmth on his skin. It's too hard to resist been outside during Spring - my DS & I spend most days outside now, he loves roaming, playing in the sandpit, emptying my weed bucket and filling it back up again, playing with our Golden Retriever and following me everywhere!

So I have a couple of swaps to finish up before the end of the year too - in particular 'Swap with a Difference'. I have 4 partners to make for & I finally found what I want to make, so I've got my material & about to start making.

Have you been busy getting ready for Christmas? Any great gift ideas to inspire me some more with, particularly for men...always hard to buy/make for.


We have also been enjoying some weekend drives - this shot was at Lake Eppalock, Victoria that quickly rose to over 50% with the recent September rains.

This was taken at Trentham Falls, Victoria. It was overflowing for the first time in years! We had a lovely picnic there with my parents, it was still a bit chilly then.

Octopus fun!

2010-09-01T14:30:00.000+10:00

The month of August for me was filled with Octopus making & also feeling better now I'm into my 2nd trimester of my 2nd pregnancy!

The theme for August' YOE was Octopus. Niki, my July partner shared with us this great softie Octopus from Moda Bake Shop here, called 'Oopsie'!

I decided to make one first as a trial & it turned out so wonderfully cute that I gave it to a friend for her new little daughter - here's my first Oopsie:

Oh, look I can even stand up!

Oopsie teemed with a nappy/wipes fabric bag and some breast pads I made made a gorgeous baby gift:

So knowing that my first 'Oopsie' turned out great, I made my 2nd for my August partner Kim:

I posted off 'Oopsie' with some sewing/crafting goodies:

Next - onto August challenge of making 'Sigmund the Octopus' using Future Girl's pattern here.
It actually took me awhile to make as I got bored with making it & found the tentacles a pain, but when Sigmund was coming together I grew to like him: cute hey!

A Ute Picnic

2010-08-04T09:20:00.000+10:00

Today I welcome a guest, Lorraine Marwood to my blog - not only is Lorraine a children's author and poet, she is also my mother and it will be interesting to see the parallels between the creativity of craft and the creativity of writing.
Lorraine's latest book of poetry for children, 'A Ute Picnic and other Australian Poems' is released this week into all good bookshops.

What creative things do you do in between writing?

I like to sew, bead, garden, read, make cards. The first two make a mess - a bit like a draft in writing. There are so many crafts I'd like to try and that's the same with stories and poems - lots of projects remain UFO's or unfinished projects - so a deadline in writing or a birthday looming for crafts means that a particular project will get finished. I believe that all these crafts feed into each other and certainly satisfy this strong creative streak I seem to have. Before I knew I wanted to write in grade 4, I was already making little gifts for my sisters, my mother, my grandmother. In fact I still have a pipe cleaner doll that I made for my grandmother when I was very young. I think my skill for hoarding and treasuring comes from her - before she died she passed back that doll which she had kept safe in tissue paper.

My blog site covers sewing as a creative output, is the process of writing similar to craft work?

Yes, there are many similarities in that I have to have a passion to follow a particular idea, to develop that idea into a satisfying story or poem. Of course there are many stories that will not be published and also there are many craft projects that just don't work. But I believe that any skerrick of writing or any craft work is not wasted in that it leads onto the next project which might be truly successful.

Your book 'A Ute Picnic' is based on years and years of poetry when you were raising 6 children, how did you find the time and discipline to write during these busy years?

That's an interesting question! Often I snatched time to write and the poems would not be finished but I had an extraordinary passion for keeping writing journals and every partial idea or detail was entered. For this collection ('A Ute Picnic') I was able to trawl those journals and recreate the atmosphere of an incident or layer the poem further through the details I'd written down, just as if I was viewing the incident for the first time again.

I know my life was super busy, but it was crowded with unique happenings, I had more energy and certainly passion to write, no matter what. And really it comes down to that - the need to write.

How do you plan and structure your day now that you also have 5 Grandchildren and a busy writing career?

It doesn't seem to have changed that much since I was busy on the farm, I like to write early in the day - I seem to have more focus then. And on days when writing doesn't seem to happen there are still many hours on the computer catching up with details such as my blog site, web page, getting ready to take workshops, answering queries.

I think many years practice of snatching at writing has paid off. If I know I want or need to write a poem then after a few drafes I can write a poem I am fairly happy with on that day. The patterning of years of practice has made a routine for me when I actually sit to write.

My life seems just as busy, although there is less noise and no one else to blame for creative mess that happens. I believe in having a go, and being constantly surprised by the created piece that results.

Thank you Natalie for letting me explore creativity in another way on your craft blog site.

For more about Lorraine's books visit her website www.lorrainemarwood.com

The blog tour continues tomorrow with a visit to Sally Murphy's blog site www.sallymurphy.blogspot.com

Knotty Ladies

2010-07-28T11:45:00.000+10:00

I've joined a local stitching social group, Knotty Ladies. Our first get together is tonight, a crafty group run by the Bendigo Sustainability Craft Group & my darling sister, Tamara Marwood.

The group is going to be working towards making a unique textile art work or functional item from sustainable or reclaimed materials to exhibit and sell as a fundraiser for women based charity.

My project: as I love to embroider I chose this pattern from 'So September'. I have been looking at it for awhile, thinking this would be just beautiful to embroider, so I happily bought the pattern and can't wait to work on it!

While I was ~~shopping~~ looking on Etsy I also came across this embroidery pattern & just had to have it:

It's from 'a little sweetness' Etsy shop & is so adorable - I know just the person I will make this for!

Can't wait for tonight, although have come down with a cold last night - but my homeopath tablets do work a treat!

Snails

2010-07-24T10:53:00.000+10:00

No, not the ones that eat all your vegies and plants in your garden, these are friendly, cute ones!

Our July YOE theme was Snails - I used this wonderful tutorial from Resurrection Fern - all I needed were scrap bits of felt and material, length of rope and some recycled ribbon I had for the eyes.

They are ever so adorable and would look good in your indoor pot plants or even for garden party decorations!

My first Softie

2010-07-15T12:14:00.000+10:00

Here is the first ever softie/s I have made! A cute baby gnome, in fact I made four - two for the June YOE theme and one for the Toy Society and a spare...

Stitchings

2010-07-02T13:13:00.000+10:00

Some recent embroidery

I really enjoy embroidery, such a nice way to enjoy the evening in front of the TV especially on these cold nights we are having in Victoria! These were all for swaps, to be used in quilts or hangings.

All things Mermaid

2010-05-29T16:56:00.000+10:00

You guessed it! May's YOE theme was Mermaid's. And the challenge was paper. Have you ever done Paper Quilling before? I haven't & never knew about it until I googled paper & mermaid's and came across a great idea of making a paper quilled mermaid.

Here she is - took me 2 attempts, but she is very cute & I hope my swap partner Robin lurves her!

Here are some other Mermaid goodies I popped in the package to Robin. A Mermaid cookie cutter, Mermaid magnet, Mermaid inspired stickers, a Mermaid motif and a beaded Mermaid bookmark I made.

Here is what Robin sent me. An embroidered Mermaid to hang - isn't she sweet...

And Robin also made all this felt food for my darling son - how kind & thoughtful was that!

Can't believe 5 months of the year and YOE have gone by now! I'll have to start planning Christmas presents soon! :)

Australia's Biggest Morning Tea

2010-05-27T13:16:00.000+10:00

Today at my MOPs group we celebrated and fundraised for Australia's Biggest Morning Tea run by the Cancer Council to help in the fight against cancer.

I organised the craft activity for the morning. I decided to make all the mums a Tea Wallet. A cute little wallet to pop in your favourite teas and stash in your handbag, car or at work - so you always have your favourite teas on hand. I found this great tutorial over at Christyscreations and whipped up 20 wallets, well whipped up is slightly exaggerated, I really should have given myself more time to make them as my house and son didn't get much attention over the past 2 days of making these in time! LOL! The things we decide to do...but I knew the mums would love them & it was so worth it!

This wallet holds 4 teabags and I added a snap for closing them, or you sew a button on if you like.

I also made up some tea cards and put the health benefits on the back of each tea.

Silly me in my haste this morning forgot to photograph them all as I made 20 but here are the few that were left over, ready to be used as gifts! This is a really easy pattern/tutorial to use and they make such lovely gifts for Mother's Day, Christmas, any occasion really. Enjoy!

Pear crazy

2010-05-24T15:46:00.000+10:00

I have been eyeing off Pear doorstops for a few months now - I found them on the Better Homes & Garden website, but one thing was missing - there was no attached template - so it made me finally go through all my past copies of the magazine I have & wouldn't you know it, the first one I picked up had the project in there, and yes the template too!

These Pear doorstops are so pretty, I made one for a darling friend, one for my darling sister and two for darling me! They are filled with rice, the stork is a skewer and the leaves made out of felt and sewn onto florist wire so you can shape it.

I have also been eyeing off these Tilda Pears from Tone Finnager's book 'Sew Pretty Homestyle' & I have now made oodles. The last two I made I filled with Potpourri for a gift to my beautiful Grandma.

They make such a great centrepiece decoration on your kitchen table, kitchen bench or living room shelves.

mmm...now doesn't that make you want to eat one! Lucky for us here in Australia, they are now coming into season. :)

All I need is cream...

2010-05-12T11:13:00.000+10:00

To go with my beautiful bright red strawberries!

My felted fruit - so easy & fun to make - check out the tutorial here from mr.monkeysuit to make your own.

So relaxing to do in front of the TV of an evening.

Fabric Leaves

2010-05-07T10:40:00.000+10:00

Fabric leaves I made for a Garden Swap for a lady in America, Kim.

These were really easy to make, a pattern I used was from a Get Creative magazine (would love a subscription to this DH if you are reading this! LOL!)

You can use any fabric colour you like to brighten up any area of your home, they are sew onto florist wire so you can shape them anyway you like too.

Songbirds!

2010-05-05T12:55:00.000+10:00

Whenever I think of Songbirds I think of Bernard Fanning's 'Songbird' song.
If you want to hear a great Australian artist - click here to listen to this song! Anyway...getting sidetracked!

Our April Year of Enchantment theme was 'Songbirds'. And the challenge was to use embroidery. Two things I just LOVE - birds, not the real fluffy ones, but ones I can use for decoration & make in crafting; and embroidery! I was in my element.

I made 3 birds and tied them together with ribbon & had beads as spacing along the ribbon. My emboridery was the wings - a bit hard to see in the photo as I used blue thread.

Then I got to making this mobile phone holder for my partner:

I love the stitching in this and of course the design! Found in Doodle Stitching, by Aimee Ray I just love this book! Great for beginners embroidery.

I also packed in with my birdies some napkins & a fat quarter of material, of course with birds on them.

And then I made a CD for my partner Niki with 'Songbird as the song title'. Found a lot of Australian artists who have songbirds in their songs, just like the Bernard Fanning one above!

Hope my birdies made their way safely, they had a lot of miles to fly from Australia to America!

More peas please

2010-05-01T11:19:00.000+10:00

Felted Peas - don't they just look delish! I've been wanting to make felted food for a little while now.

Came across this great tutorial from mr. monkeysuit and just had to make some. Hopefully my little boy will come to love them & enjoy playing with them!

Felted fruit to come!

Missing in Action

2010-04-17T10:15:00.000+10:00

I have been so mindful that I haven't been posting as much as what I would like. My sewing & crafting has slowed down some what over the last 4-6 weeks mainly because I have let my house cleaning slide & also my attention to my DS & DH. Now that I have got our house under control, thanks to a great iphone application (yes, I'm now an iphone junkie! - have no idea how I survived without one!) and really only spending the evenings crafting I can show you what I have been working on recently including some great finds at my local op shops!

Firstly & most importantly in my eyes are Modern Cloth Nappies:
Have only made 2 recently, have tried out my own pattern & needing to perfect the elastic casings & topstitching - all with more practice I'm sure. I'm also a fan of sewing in an internal soaker & snap in soaker, just for added absorbency for my little man.

This blue one is made with my pattern, longer & narrower wings.

And would you believe during my recent Op shop touring this week I came across a brand new PeaPod MCN - for $1.50 - I couldn't believe my eyes when I found it, I quickly snatched it up! These retail for $19.95! What a bargain!

My Mum & Dad flew to London last week, their very first overseas trip to visit my younger sister & her husband who are about to have her first baby (any day now!) For their trip I made them a Passport holder each, this was on my February Project List, but didn't get done till April!

I have been doing quite a bit of Embroidery lately, will save that for a later post though as finishing some off.

But on my same op shop trip this week I found this sweet handbag - I just love the embroidery!

So don't worry, I am still around - just getting priorities right first! xxx

Mushrooms anyone?

2010-04-04T19:12:00.000+10:00

Mushrooms were the March theme for YOE. To create a mushroom/toadstool ornament, my lucky partner was Kerry.
I made the very cute mushroom ornaments photographed above using the Fa La La La Felt pattern which you can download from thelongthread. They were such fun to make & my first version went to my DS, who couldn't wait to get his hands on it!

Here are the rest of the goodies I popped in the parcel to Kerry; chocolate, ribbons, tea & coffee sachets & fluffy Moo socks!

Now to what I received from Kerry & I tell you I was completely spoilt beyond belief!

She is a beautiful crafter & sent me such lovely gifts along with this mushroom ornament:

It looks like its made using a chess piece as the stork & beautiful beading on top.

A pack of mushroom pins, made using Sculpey which you bake in the oven.

Notelet scrolls that she made, these are so adorable. Everything was packaged beautifully.

And my very own YOE memories scrapbook - this is beautifully made, so much time & effort has been put into this. There are 2 pages per month inside, one side is for a picture of what I sent to my swap partner and the other side is for a picture of what my swap partner sent me, so here's the March Received side filled in by Kerry:

So you can clearly see I am a spoilt chickee, Kerry also popped in some mushroom fabric & some candies inside a green mushroom!

March Mushroom enchanting goodness!

My recent winnings

2010-03-26T17:57:00.000+11:00

Isn't it a buzz to wake up in the morning, check your email and have one waiting for you saying 'You are a winner'! Well this happened to me twice over the last 2 months. What a lucky chickee I am!

Firstly back in February you may remember the world One World One Heart blogging event I mentioned here on my blog, well I was lucky enough to win a gift from Sew-Funky! Yes, me!

It was a mystery gift as she wanted to make something custom. Look at the beautiful gifts I received in my letter box this week:

A cupcake tea wallet
A sock monkey brooch
3 'Little Miss' cards

How spoilt was I! Here's a close up of the tea wallet - will be great to use for short trips to pop in my green tea bags.

And here's the sock monkey brooch

Now to my 2nd winning...loving this he he...

Natalie from Cinderberry Stitches had a recent giveaway of her new pattern "My Market Baguette" on her blog. All we had to do was leave a comment & then voila! I won! Another lovely 'Your a Winner' email in my inbox.

So this is her new pattern, all ready for me to stitch, she even included these beautiful red leather handles & a pack of flower head pins. Spoilt, spoilt, spoilt is all I say!

1st birthday party

2010-03-24T12:37:00.000+11:00

Here's the Birthday boy! Yes, my darling son turned one earlier this month, so all focus has been on his party & making decorations & getting the sandpit done as he had a sandpit party (I was on the decorations and DH was on the sandpit!) It was a beautiful sunny Autumn day & even had festivities in the park behind us, so we had free musical entertainment!

I made some party bunting & a name bunting to hang up outside:

Here's the sandpit! It is so awesome, we designed our backyard around the sandpit & raised planter beds - the sandpit has a beautiful deck around it, with red brick steps stepping up to it and a circle grass area below - our son is sure going to love this outside area!

And what party isn't complete without a cake!

A banana flavoured, banana shaped cake for our cheeky lil' monkey!

mmm...cake! Loving the cream cheese frosting!

Some Fairy Goodness

2010-03-06T10:17:00.000+11:00

February's YOE enchantment theme was Fairies! With some glitter!

I'm not a fairy person at all, I do find them cute and my little niece just adores them, (and have been known to play fairies with her) but I've never made one. So challenging - where do I begin! One night I was getting so anxious over it and I sat down and decided I wasn't going to bed until my fairy had been made. I experimented with some pipe cleaners to get the wings happening first, cause every fairy has wings! Then sewed and stuffed the body, popped on the head with some pipe cleaner arms and glued on a cute flower hair piece! Voila! Here she is with glitter sparkles around her ready for shipping to Melinda in America. Trust me it didn't happen that quick - just sounds like it did, and it may have been a wee late night!

I also couldn't resist making these fairy themed ornaments - I love embroidery and enjoyed using felt for the first time too!

Here is my parcel ready to be sent to Melinda.

And here is what Melinda made for me:

I feel totally spoilt - the package she sent me was never ending! What a generous, kind lady.

She made me a button fairy and 2 angel glass ornaments along with a beautifully painted star!

Just look at all these goodies! Thanks Melinda, I love everything! Simply enchanting!

It's a wrap!

2010-03-02T14:14:00.000+11:00

See how you can turn a dull old terracotta pot or plastic pot for that matter

Into this

Simple hey! It's called a reversible flowerpot wrap - tutorial from So September can be found here.

So easy to whip up - I made up a few to send to Mandy for a swap on Craftmad. And as we are now in Autumn (yay! so glad summer is over!) I used some perfect Autumn material.

Front or back side

Back or front side

Whatever takes your fancy.

I love things in 3's for decorations and plantings - how good would 3 pots look as a table centre piece decoration with these wraps on the pots. So easy to change the look of a tired old pot. Easily washable too.

Street paper

2010-02-27T20:56:00.000+11:00

How many of you collect paper from the streets, supermarkets, parks - bits and pieces of people's life left behind to litter our streets, like receipts, tram & bus tickets, grocery lists, reminder notes?

I don't normally - but for the past 3 months my eyes have been glued to the ground wherever and whenever I walked! It was to compile a journal full of these bits of papers that normally would be left to litter the streets, for a swap of course, my only motivation for picking up used bits of paper!

Now my mum is a writer and she has been collecting papers like this for years, especially people's supermarket receipts, what better way to discover what people buy and what a wonderful resource to write from!

During my obsession with paper on the ground, my husband was so embarrassed to go walking with me, everywhere we went I was like 'Quick, can you pick that bit of paper up, quick before anyone sees us!' I even got my family in on this picking up paper frenzy, thanks mum and Tam!

So do you, do you pick up bits and pieces of paper to discover what has been left behind?

The front cover of my journal I covered with newspaper! Hey it's recycled!

Now how will I spend my days walking without obsessing about picking up paper? Maybe I will still pick up paper to create more journals...

Colouring in...

2010-02-21T15:06:00.000+11:00

Another project for February is complete. Yippee!

Child's Colouring Wallet

Pattern from JCasa

It's so very cute, complete with crayon holders, memo pad holder and a little pocket in the middle to pop all your children's drawing masterpieces inside!

Winner of my OWOH Giveaway

2010-02-15T15:39:00.000+11:00

Wow! What a magical event, One World One Heart (OWOH)!

Sadly, it has now finished - over 3 weeks of meeting and greeting bloggers from all around the world.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by my blog and for taking the time to post a comment so lovely to meet all my new followers!

Now this is the fun part, I get to announce the winner of my Giveaway - 3 handmade breastpads and 1 handmade fabric nappy case....drum roll please....xlxllxlxlxlxlxl

Using the random number generator, the number chosen is 57!

Nela!

From her blog cut, nela, cut - Nela is from Serbia.

My beautiful gifts are coming your way very shortly Nela!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Thank you to everyone who stopped by and posted a comment, this has been a wonderful blogging event. And thanks to Lisa from A Whimsical Bohemian for hosting! What an awesome achievement - over 1000 bloggers joined up.

Hope you all continue to stop by and visit!

xxx

One World One Heart

2010-02-14T21:35:00.000+11:00

Blogging event January 25th - February 15

One World One Heart! Says it all doesn't it?!

Lisa from 'A Whimsical Bohemian' has created this wonderful blogging event! Created in 2007 this event was to bring bloggers together from around the world who may never meet ordinarily. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people, and in the process possibly win a prize or many prizes along the way. 2007 had roughly 85-90 participants and many connections were made because of it......friendships that are still going strong.
There was a strong showing the first year for sure, and then in 2008 the event had just about tripled that number. In 2009 there were 911 participants, 28 countries were represented in the 2009 event as well!

"If only it took a simple giveaway to create PEACE everywhere, in the mean time here we give from our hearts. We are not solving the worlds problems nor are we curing anything nor are we changing the world. We are merely generating a closer community between humans through blogging".

"Hello to you and thanks for taking the time to stop by 'eissua', to read my blog. I'm taking part in the 'One World One Heart' event for the first time! As a thanks to all my supporters and new friends I have some beautiful handmade gifts to be won - and yes I will send internationally if you are the lucky winner. A winner will be chosen using a random number generator and notified by email.

Now to win my delectable goodies - you have to leave a comment, so I know you have visited, and you must have a BLOG yourself (as this IS a blogging event). Please either leave a link to your blog or leave your email address at the end of your comment so I know how to contact you.

My beautiful Giveaway to you - my blog readers and friends are these handmade gifts by me: For mums, as being a new mum myself these are the handiest things to have on hand at all times!

Fabric Nappy Case - designed to fit a travel wipes container and a couple of disposable/cloth nappies. Great to pop into your handbag, in your car or for short trips out. Made with 100% cotton with a snap closure.

3 sets of cloth breast pads - made with 100% cotton outer on one side, soft white microfleece on the other (side closest to the skin) and 2 layers of bamboo material sandwiched in between.

Entries close 12 midnight on 14th February 2010, so be sure to leave a comment before then. Be sure to check back at eissua to see if you are the lucky winner or to congratulate the lucky winner!

So jump on board my magical carpet and enjoy the ride through my blog and future blog posts.

I look forward to meeting each and every one of my blogging friends who drop by, with or without me knowing. The beauty of blogland! Enjoy muchly and remember 'One World One Heart'!"

Want to be involved in the event through your own blog? Just click on the One World One Heart logo to the left on my sidebar!

Announcing My Green Nappy.org

2010-02-08T22:30:00.000+11:00

Do YOU Have one? - That's the simple idea behind this new environmental initiative being launched on March the 1st. Discover eco-friendly disposables and the modern cloth nappy. My Green Nappy is a site promoting 'Green' nappy options as a collaborative network featuring links to over 300 shops offering modern cloth nappies in Australia and New Zealand.

My Green Nappy has been created by Charndra Josling, a mum living in South Australia, who combines modern cloth nappies with eco-friendly disposables and baby pottying to reduce the environmental impact of her two young boys, aged one and four.

If you pop over there now you can join an Announcement List and be get a sneak peek of several of the unique resources of My Green Nappy, including the 100 Green Promise Nappies Initiative, Modern Cloth Mini Trends and the Welcome screen.

You'll also be invited to an Early Bird previewing as soon as the site is ready, but before the official launch on the 1st of March. As MyGreenNappy.org is an extreme sponsor of the Cloth Nappy Hunt, you can enjoy following a mini-hunt during March to win great prizes; including two green nappies donated by My Green Nappy!

To check it out, visit: http://www.MyGreenNappy.org

5 nappies achieved

2010-02-07T21:12:00.000+11:00

Yep - first accomplishment of the month!

These have been on hold for months, what with other crafting, sewing and of course Christmas and New Years. It felt great to sew my nappies again - I even splurged on some more nappy material! How can I not with all the beautiful minky and print PUL available. These are M size for my son. Made with PUL outer, soft microfleece/seudecloth inner (closest to skin) and hidden soaker 4 layer bamboo sandwiched between. Finished off with some neat topstitching and snaps, which makes for super easy use (husband friendly!) and super easy washing. Custom orders welcome anytime! :)

Year of Enchantment - January Ornament Swap!

2010-01-30T10:21:00.000+11:00

January ornament theme for Year of Enchantment (YOE) is The Acorn or Pine cone.

My January YOE from Ramie has arrived! YAY! Here is the parcel... I sooooo patiently took a photo - when really all I wanted to do was RIP it open!

And there inside was this:

Then this:

Ooh...so many beautiful packages to open! Where to start - so exciting!

Ta da...!

Look, look, look - can you see what I got! :)

How divine are the 3 acorn ornaments - all a bit special!

Some yummy teas - can't wait to try

Notecards - gorgeous!

And wait for it - 2 nappy covers for my darling 10mth old boy!

Here is a close up of the ornaments:

Ramie!!! Thank you so much! You totally made my day, heck month! Love it all - you are so clever and so incredibly thoughtful. xxx

Had to share this with you all too:

Sporting one of his brand new nappy covers!

And now - here is what I sent to Ramie

I made 3 ribbon ornaments after searching and changing my mind soooo many times as to what to make & I think they came together nicely, you can also make them with paper. There's lots of tutorials out there for these. Will be making more come Christmas time!

I came across a great idea to make some felted leaves to use as scattered decoration, the idea I saw was for Maple leaves. So I drew up a template for Acorn leaves (as this was our theme); cut them out and sewed midveins on all the leaves. These worked a treat!

I'm looking forward to February's theme for Year of Enchantment (Fairy) and to a brand new swap partner.

Some patchwork

2010-01-20T22:23:00.000+11:00

I've never done patchwork before or even had an interest in it until our December/January Swap challenge on craftmad. I was a little hesitant in signing up for it - but as we had 2 months for this swap thought I'd give it a go and expand my sewing and mind capabilities! And wow was it challenging!

Since Christmas I searched nearly every day on the internet for a pattern that used patchwork but that wasn't your typical patchwork quilt and a lovely gift my swap partner could use. I finally found this great idea and pattern on my all time favourite website ETSY - the Quilted List Taker. Then I borrowed a book from the library about basic patchwork to read up on how to arrange my patchwork and how to sew it, what materials to use etc. My first one was nowhere near the quality I wanted to be sent to my swap partner so I designed another one and sewed this up a lot quicker than the first. Then 1 slowly turned into 3 and I know for sure I will keep making them to give away as gifts - such a great way to use up scrap material and so pretty too!

Commission Commission

2010-01-17T20:41:00.000+11:00

I have been very lucky to be asked to do some commission work! So lovely to be asked to sew and make gifts that other people want to buy.

So far have had two separate orders for 6 Fabric Nappy Cases and 6 Christmas birdies.

Notice a little tag on each of the cases? YES! You say...well they are my new 'Eissua' labels that I made to put on a few of the things I make & create.

Oh gee...how did those photos get there?!
This is my delightful little boy - he so lovingly plays around me as I sew, craft and work away! Well most of the time anyway! :)

It's all about Ladybugs

2010-01-15T22:09:00.000+11:00

Such a beautiful swap to post about - my recent Ladybug Parcel on Swap-bot. Here are my goodies I sent to my swap partner in USA. We were to swap 5 things Ladybug (I like to call them Ladybirds - or maybe that's just what we call them in Australia?)

Sticker sheet
Magnetic Wooden Clips
Keychain - from Jane Davenport
Lucky Ladybird Pen - from Jane Davenport
Beaded bookmark handmade by me
Handmade friendship pin by me (remember the good ol' days when these were all the rage!)

Thrifty Bag

2010-01-12T13:19:00.000+11:00

I found this delightful bag this weekend in a local thrift shop - $2! It's never been used, it doesn't have a label on it and looks too good to be handmade - but the fabric is just divine! I initially thought I might use it for Q's nappy bag - but then I may just use it as my current handbag - what do you think?

Some Blog Candy

2010-01-09T20:37:00.003+11:00

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Want to know what I'm talking about - 'Some Blog Candy' - then head over here to check it out!

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Beauty of the wall

2010-01-07T10:39:00.001+11:00

Some Christmas gifts here to display - some from Santa for Q and some from my DH!

Q's Bedroom - a beautiful tree growth chart

On our Kitchen wall - our slogan for 2010!

Again in the kitchen - love a good cuppa

Oh, and I found a home for my birdies from the Secret Ornament Swap.

Happy day...

Soak It Up!

2010-01-06T07:52:00.000+11:00

Breast pads is what I'm referring to

These lovely bright handmade ones by me

For some lovely mums to be!

Material used: 100% cotton outer, microfleece on outer (which will be close to skin) and 2 layers of bamboo material inside

Useful recycling - paper & cards

2009-12-31T17:43:00.001+11:00

I was over looking on thelongthread blog the other day & she posted about uses for recycling your Christmas cards so inspired by this, today I took down all our cards and used the good old compass to make circle gift cards for Christmas 2010!

I've also got around to my filing which was has been piled up for a good few months & came across this beautiful bright, colourful catalogue that I didn't need anymore - so I got out my Envirolope (Envelope template) and made the 8 pages into envelopes.

Gifts I made

2009-12-24T16:11:00.001+11:00

Fabric Nappy Case

I recently purchased a Fabric Nappy Case on Etsy for my own use, now I have a little one. The cases can fit one of the small Huggies wipes containers and 2 disposable nappies or a cloth nappy (in my case!).

Then I got to thinking, hey I reckon I can make one of these - how good would they be for gifts to new mums! I adapted the case I had to make my own pattern and used snaps instead of velcro for closing and after a few sewing mistakes finally came up with a beautiful case!

Then somehow they started to multiply:

They make the perfect gift. This Christmas I gave them to my darling mums in my local mums group and a few friends. I have also made one for my sister in law who is due in January as part of our making gift Kris Kringle.

Today I made some beaded bookmarks for my Aunties and same sister in law (left it a bit late) as hadn't thought about a present for them.

And then baked some Peppermint and Chocolate Shortbread for my cousins (we are all getting together on the 27th).

Phew, think I'm all done now - perhaps some wrapping still to be done. Then later tonight we will go Christmas light driving and take our 9mth old baby boy with us (his first Christmas) - but he will be asleep. Merry Christmas to you all! xxxN

Special Christmas Baubles

2009-12-22T19:53:00.000+11:00

Now that we are a little family I wanted to buy some special Personalised Christmas baubles with all our names on it, including the dog! I searched and searched as didn't want the usual glittery ones, but really special ones. I came across Kew Ceramics based in Melbourne, Victoria and ordered 4 baubles instantly as fell in love with her designs and craftmanship! 4 baubles - Dad (Rudolph), Mum (Angel) (how appropriate! he he...), Quinn (star), Bella (dog). Here they are suspended from our kitchen ceiling, that leads into our loungeroom - I'm kinda tempted to leave them hanging after Christmas and New Years, as they are gorgeous! My photos don't do them justice, but do check out the website.

Secret Christmas Ornament Swap

2009-12-20T21:26:00.000+11:00

Another Christmas Swap gifted! This time the Secret Christmas Ornament Swap wonderfully arranged by Valerie. My swap partner I bought for was Christi over at Polka Spot Farm. Here is my little bundle of ornaments I sent Christi:

I made her 7 Christmas birdies, 1 for each of her children and her and her partner, a beaded lantern ornament my Mum beaded and some love heart ornaments.

From my lovely swap partner I received the most gorgeous Birds! I am in LOVE with them & am going to have them on show all year round - aren't they just delightful!

Secret Santa Pressies

2009-12-18T09:36:00.000+11:00

I posted a little while back about a Secret Santa swap organised by the lovely Kelly & Victoria. Well I can now post all the lovely goodies I received and the ones I gave. My recipient was LissyLou and you can check her beautiful blog out here. We have a cute shop here in Bendigo called the Rose Emporium (unfortunately can't link to the shop as they don't have a website) where I went to buy LissyLou's pressies - as after reading her blog I knew things in this shop would suit her to a tee; (my mum and I go to this shop regularly for a good old cuppa and savoury scones, then the chance to wander around the shop).

An emery board, love heart ornaments, birdie notebook, Girl fragrant sachet, small tin full of beads

My Secret Santa was Liz (unfortunately she didn't put in her blog address or any contact details, so I can't write to her & thank her for my lovely gift)!

2 balls of green knitting yarn, beads of all sorts, floral parfum wax, bracelet, brooch, ribbon.

Mega Christmas Giveaway on Handmade Kids

2009-11-25T14:44:00.000+11:00

My lovely little sister linked me into this beautiful giveaway from Handmade Kids. Take a peep and enter for yourself - you could win a special boys or girls giftpack - while your there check out the businesses websites/blogs - some clever people there!

NJM

Grandmother's Flower Garden Giveaway

2009-11-25T14:37:00.000+11:00

Who wants to win some divine fabric? Head over to Retromummy for her very yummy fabric giveaway!

Oh the things I could make with this fabric...off to day dream now.

Oh & Goodluck!

NJM

Christmas Birdies

2009-11-23T14:46:00.000+11:00

I decided to make a few Christmas ornaments this year, getting into the spirit of Christmas early. I found these gorgeous birdies in 'Sew Pretty Christmas Style', Finnager Tone. I busily cut out all my birdies:

Then sewed them up, filled them with stuffing & decorated them with some ribbons & attached another ribbon so they can be hung on trees. Tada:

I have sent these out as gifts for some Christmas swaps & so far have been lovingly received.

Alphabet Swap - goodies arrived!

2009-11-11T09:16:00.001+11:00

Oh YAY! My Alphabet swap package arrived a few weeks ago & mine recently arrived at my swap partners address in Florida, USA. So I can now post about this - my first swap via Swapdex and created by Emily.

Our letter was 'M'. It was a lighthearted, fun swap and took me some time to find things to send from Australia that begin with M! Check out the photos to see what I received and then what I sent:

This is what I received, and my partner also made a beautiful tote bag for me:

Magazine, Marble stationary, Monkey material, Marker fabric pens, Merry Christmas blocks, Mango teabags, Moo cow ornament.

This is a collection of 'M' things I sent:

Milo, Marble chocolate, Magazine, Manicure set, Moisturising socks, M&M's, Michael Jackson CD, Monique Brumby CD, Muffin & Mousse Recipe, Minties, Measuring tape, Monkey softie pattern, Material, Museli bar, Moxie sanitary product (was going to put in the Matches, but then thought perhaps that was a bit dangerous!)

Couldn't have asked for a better swap partner!

My Place & Yours: Secret Weapon

2009-11-07T14:36:00.000+11:00

Okey, so I got in early this time for the meme series on Meet Me at Mikes, this week hosted by Bricole is to show a view of my secret weapon, something I turn to that never lets me down: After a bit of thought as nothing sprung to my mind immediately - it occurred to me it was these 3 things I never leave the house without: water, tissues & lipbalm! I am a complete mess if I don't have these things at my easy disposal!

My Place & Yours: Blog HQ

2009-11-06T22:07:00.000+11:00

A bit late on posting for this meme this week, another fabulous idea from Meet Me at Mike's Blog.
And tada! Here is my blogging space (top picture) and then my sewing/craft area.
Love our Mac & don't you just adore the vase of beautiful roses, from my darling Grandma's garden.
Do love this space, but struggling to share it with my husband atm as he has been home all day with me of late. So we fight for the computer all day long!

Sewing Potty

2009-11-06T20:15:00.000+11:00

My first sewing swap on Craftmad for October was to make a potholder! Yes, very new to sewing anything other than MCN's so thought I needed to extend my sewing abilities. So where to start with a potholder? Firstly, I wanted to make one that wasn't your traditional square one, so googled potholders and came across this cute pattern from Keyka Lou. Isn't it just gorgeous!

Next a trip to Spotlight to pick out some divine fabric, my swap partner wasn't phased with colours, so chose red & black colours.

And then voila, here is the potholder finished! Bit rough around the edges, but cute all the same. And all lined with cotton batting and the Bright-Insul material (so you don't burn your hands).

My Place & Yours: Bedside

2009-10-24T21:28:00.000+11:00

Not one to have done this before, am playing 'My Place and Yours' with Pip from Meet Me at Mikes and this weeks theme is - bedside, so here is mine - bit plain & boring, but does the job:

A lamp
My Casio digital alarm clock
Simmons Paw Paw Salve - great for lips
Purl Australia Foot lotion - I religiously put this on my feet whilst pregnant during our Australia HOT summer
Hand lotion, goes on every night before nigh nighs
A nice candle - love candles
My journal, write in it every night
My Find a Word puzzle - daggy I know, but sometimes numbs my mind before sleep
And my bible - read it every night too.

Secret Santa

2009-10-19T20:51:00.000+11:00

The latest Swap I have joined up to is Secret Santa hosted by Kelly & Victoria
Such a great idea and as is international I hope to get someone not here in Australia. Join in - you know you want to, and have some fun at the same time.

Something so simple...

2009-10-18T20:27:00.002+11:00

Small simple pleasures like this little vase of Lavender sitting on my kitchen windowsill are what I enjoy. Picked yesterday from my sister's new garden, they make the kitchen a much brighter place & make me feel happy! Oh & I took a cutting so I could propagate for my own garden which my husband is landscaping.

Oh and while I'm here telling about my simple pleasures...here are 2 new nappies made for my little 7 month old boy that I finished this morning. The one on the left is made with PUL outer, bamboo hidden and beautiful soft black microfleece on the inside (means I don't have to use a cover for this). The one on the right is a gorgeous paw print fleece with a hidden bamboo insert, bamboo lining, and the black microfleece used again on the inside.
This time around I have used elastic casing and top-stitching, I've found this gives the nappy a nicer finish and makes them sit alot better.

Pay it Forward

2009-10-10T09:46:00.000+11:00

I met Grace from Whimsy Loft online at Swap-Bot, she has a great blogsite where she was recently awarded a Pay-it-Forward from another blogger. And now I was lucky enough to get a Pay-it-Forward from her. For those of you who are interested in this great idea, this is how it works:

You will receive a personal, handmade gift from me, and all you have to do is “pay it forward” and agree to do the same for three people. I have a few ideas already of what I will make.

Now I need to find three people to accept my offer.

If you would like to receive a handmade gift from me, and are willing to make and send a handmade gift to three of your blog readers, please let me know in the comments section. Once you accept, you will receive something from me within 365 days. In turn, you will have 365 days to fulfill your end of the bargain. For the lucky 3 I would like to link your blogsite on my site & for you to do the same for mine. I know I don’t have many readers… but if you will, please join in the fun!

Make me a Handmade Bookmark

2009-10-06T15:13:00.002+11:00

My first ever craft swap on swap-bot is now complete! The swap was 'Make me a Handmade Bookmark' and my swap partner is a lady from Virginia, USA. The idea was to make a bookmark and send it to your partner and then your own partner sends you one too. So I could have one coming from anywhere in the world. How special!

So here is my bookmark - I incorporated the butterfly trinket and the colour blue into the design as these are my swap partners favourite things and wanted it to relate to her tastes.

I tell you what it wasn't easy trying to find the bookmark hook, my local newly fitted out Spotlight didn't have any and as am in a regional city there aren't any other craft stores, so purchased from a fabulous online bead store - Bead Needs.

22.10.09 My bookmark arrived at its destination - took about 10 days to get there. And my swap partner just loved it!

And this week my bookmark arrived from Alyssa in Canada, here is what she made me. Such lovely Autumn colours!

Swaps

2009-09-27T20:39:00.001+10:00

I'm into Swaps at the moment. Never done one before, but always loved the idea and now I've gotten onto 2 wonderful swap websites - Swap-bot & Swapdex. So far I've joined a handmade bookmark swap - have a lovely lady in USA to make one for; chocolate swap - yep sending chocolate & a chocolate recipe and also the Secret Christmas Ornament Swap.

How exciting! Just the thought of receiving these things in the mail too, from someone anywhere in the world will be special!

Over the coming months I will be posting my things I make & buy to send for these swaps...

New Fabric

2009-09-24T17:59:00.000+10:00

Oh, a lovely parcel awaited me today when I got home from an appointment. YAY! A box full of nappy fabric from GreenBeans. So this is my stash of nappy fabric - to begin the medium sized nappies for my 6mth old baby boy. I have beautiful seudecloth, funky petterned PUL, microfleece, bamboo fleece, & fleece.

Can't wait to share some cute nappies (when complete) with you.

Secret Christmas Ornament

2009-09-23T21:05:00.000+10:00

Yep - Christmas thinking already! And what a better way to swing into the wonderful season than with a Christmas Ornament Swap. Have a look at the link and jump on board - closes late November.

My Making Site

2009-09-15T21:04:00.000+10:00

Thought I'd start a blog all about me and my creativeness through craft (sewing, embroidery, card making, modern cloth nappies, baking) and through my love of plants and gardening. So my first post is all about Modern Cloth Nappies (MCN's). I was introduced to MCN's by a wonderful friend, Penny. During my pregnancy I bought the Darling Diapers nappy pattern and sat down with mum to start making newborn and small nappies to get me through the first few months. I ended up making 20 of each and 6 months on he is still fitting the small size, but need to desperately get on to making the next size up. Found I now need more absorbency, been a boy he is a heavy wetter!

I used polar fleece for the outside of the nappy, flannel for the inside and a type of PUL for the hidden layer. Then I sewed together 2 layers of bamboo material with flannel for the snap in soaker. Then I also made up a few PUL nappy covers to go over these nappies. So here are some pics of my process and end result: