Our Local Billy Cart Race Day

Awesome : Spending some time among our local community, watching the mostly home-made Billy Cart's race down our main street

This morning we headed to our little main street and met up with Nathan, Reeze, Bodie and Michael to watch the races.

Roh has a keen interest in the history of the Dandenong Ranges, especially Upwey, as he has lived here for over half his life, so when we saw the Historical Society set up with a stall, he became quickly involved in a chat with an elderly man, about the old roads, and where they used to go. He also just loves to look at the photos :-)


Lana, Jude and Bodie enjoyed watching the races, especially when Alannah saw a couple of her school mates race.


Isn't he cute? This is Jack, one of Alannah's school mates, in his first heat, about third race in.


And some more shots of my adorable nephew Bodie...




I think the plan is for our family to enter a billy cart (or two, apparently) into next year's races...I've been told a Star Wars inspired Tie Fighter billy cart and a X-Wing billy cart, are the way to go....we'll see :-P

Joint Felties Project

Awesome : Spending time with Alannah, creating a little feltie dog


I picked up the above book from The Book Depository a while ago, and yesterday Lana and I sat down and picked out one to make. Lana picked the design, the fabrics and even cut out some of the pattern. I did the majority of the sewing, with Lana having a turn when the mood striked her..lol..oh to be a kid again! I think he turned out pretty cute...he only measures about 7cm in height, and apparently he is for Levi :-)



It was definitely a nice way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon.

xx

P.S - He's suppose to be a chihuahua ...just in case you were wondering what sort of dog..

A Work In Progress

Awesome : Creating a little critter for a pressie


So far, so cute :-)

Robots Are Among Us

Awesome : Popping up some Robot window decals in Jude's room - he loves them!

A Bit More Paint

Awesome : Being able to see the end of the renovation with the nearly last (one colour to go!) paint purchase


So, I've just finished the first coat of the laundry ceiling. We've only got 4 rooms left to finish - Laundry, Ensuite (nearly all tiles), Rumpus and a refresh of our Master Bedroom. Sounds like a lot, but it's not really with two of those rooms quite small.

This green (Wattyl Nikau Palm) is the colour of the apexed wall in our bedroom, and where Levi will be set up with his cot and cupboards. I'm hoping to make a cute little bunting to hang near his cot - another thing on my to-do list :-P. I love the freshness of this colour.


And I picked up a sample pot of this orange (Dulux's Bright Delight) which we are considering for the rumpus room, mixed with two Iced Woods walls, following through with the colours from upstairs. It's actually nearly the same colour as the knitted throw I made. We'll see ...


So, needless to say, my daily activities will be fitting in quite a bit of painting, among our everyday commitments.

I've also started another little crochet critter - an owl this time. Hopefully I can share it in the next day or so.

Keep smiling xx

May The Craft Be With You

Awesome : Stumbling upon a crochet pattern designer who has little amigurumi Star Wars characters patterns - so cute!




So I'm pretty sure most of you know how Star Wars obsessed Jude is, following in his dad's footsteps of course, and definitely with his encouragement, so I am always on the lookout for Star Wars inspired creations/art/decor.

I found this very talented Etsy seller : Lucyravenscar Crochet Creatures : via flickr, who designed these little critters and I love them! I think I will definitely need to purchase at least one of these to try. Maybe the Ewok..I've always had a soft spot for Wicket :-P

Sunday Funnies

Just something light-hearted for a Sunday evening...
Images taken from here and here.

Quick Quote

Awesome : Laughing at my son, who's giving his sister attitude

So, quick story is :
Alannah was telling Jude to do something he didn't want to do.
As he walked away, she kept following him, hounding him.
So he turns around and says 'Oh Lana, blah blah' all full of attitude and turns back to what he was doing.
Me - I was laughing out loud - how could I not?

I think we'll be hearing this type of quote a lot from Jude, towards Alannah, as they grow up together.

xx

A Jude Shoot

Awesome : Having a willing subject for photos...if only for a few minutes :-P


And as you can probably tell, I've been having some fun playing on Photoshop Elements. I had some free-to-download actions from CoffeeShop, that I've been meaning to play with for a little while, so today I finally messed around - and it was so much fun!

Jude's eyes mesmerise me - they are just like his Grandma's - deep chocolate brown - lucky boy!

Oh, and I finally learnt how to tie a tie....Roh usually does Jude's ties when we are heading out, but today I found a great tutorial website here and they have both picture step-by-step instructions as well as a youtube video to demonstrate the different techniques. It was so easy to follow, and I'm proud to say that I got the hang of it quite quickly - yay!

A Revamped Blog :-)

Awesome : A fresh new look for my blog, created by my multi-skilled sister Danielle Q, with a couple of additions by me (with Dan's help, of course...he he)

Of course, if you read my blog through Bloglines, or Google Reader, you won't notice, BUT it has been completely re-vamped and refreshed with a clean up of links, the addition of new blog links and widgets and a funky black & white polka dot background...love my spots!

What do you think?

A Little Playlist

Awesome : Listening to great music from favourite artists


A little bit of Jamie



'New Soul' Yael Naim


A new way with one of my favourite tunes 'Romeo & Juliet', originally by Direstraits, then covered by The Killers and now Lisa Mitchell


And of course, a bit of Counting Crows


Followed by some Clare Bowditch...

And finish it off with a bit of Cat Power


Hope you enjoy maybe just one of these tracks xx

Laundry Progress

Awesome : The laundry is nearly ready for painting and tiling - yay!


Even since these photos were taken yesterday (around lunch time) Roh has put all the cornice up, and started laying the under-tile cement sheeting in the far end.

Apparently, my clever hubby tells me, that the entire inside of the house will be done by the Labour Day weekend in March. Now, wouldn't that be nice? :-P

31 Weeks

Not long now, and our baby boy Levi will be welcomed into this world.

C-section is booked.
Middle name is not yet decided.
To-do list is huge.

xx

A little bit of Jamie

Awesome : Jamie Cullum announcing that he will be bringing his new CD "The Pursuit" to Australia for a tour - just waiting on some dates...yay!



And this is just a funky little taste of one of my favourite songs from his last album, to get us in the 'Jamie' mood.. :-P

Jamie Cullum gigs are a bit of an institution among myself, DQ and Reeze, as I don't think we've missed a gig since his very first performance at Crown back in maybe 2004. The last gig we went to was at the Palais, we were only 8 rows back from the stage and Jamie came into the crowd, and sang a song acapella leaning against our chairs...very awesome!

In love with these....

wall decals....


Available from here. Onto my wish list they go!
xx

In My Neighbourhood

Awesome : Having a laneway of friends/neighbours who know the true meaning of being part of a community, and sharing our lives (and houses and cars and sugar :-P) on a daily basis


So obviously these furry critters aren't my neighbours...he he...but do you remember one of the songs from this show? It goes something like 'these are the people in my neighbourhood, in my neighbourhood...they're the people that we see each day...' which makes me think of our little laneway community.

We have about 4 houses that share school/kinder drop off's and pick up's (car pooling - good for the environment, and for the mum who's turn it is to say goodbye in her pjs :-P) and we have after-school madness with our open door policy for the neighbourhood kids, so most days don't go by without having at least one little visitor for some playtime, or some quiet time while my two head off down the lane to play with their little friends. There is a quiet laneway (off of our main road) where the kids can ride bikes and scooters, and have adventures among the trees.

It really is a good life, and I'm so appreciative to have neighbours who have become friends, and who have the same sense of community that we have. It makes for very happy children and a lovely environment to belong to.

xx

Beautiful Art

Awesome : My gorgeous friend & neighbour Jude, creating beautiful art in an environmentally friendly way (inspired by India Flint)

Jude is participating in our local Open Studio program this year, and asked me to take some photos of her work. Here are a couple of my favourite shots...




It's amazing the effects you can achieve with onion skins, wattle pods, eucalyptus leaves and many other natural sources. Wouldn't you agree?

xx

Lullaby

"Close your eyes
Get some sleep
It's too late now
To change anything
But it's alright
Get some sleep
It's so dark outside
So close your eyes
And feel the world turn round
If you're not lost
I guess that makes you found."

Newton Faulkner

A beautiful song from his 'Hand Build By Robots' CD. Love it!

x

Patterns, Patterns, Patterns

Awesome : The wide range of funky patterns available

So I'm a huge fan of patterns - to the amusement of my sister, and here are a few on my wish list, and a couple that I already own.

The fabulous Amy Butler....these two I have, with a 'want to make' list quite long but lacking on the time factor at the moment...

How cute are these stackable fabric rings designed by Heather Bailey...


Alannah would love this dress up and I think this would be really be fun to create - by Modkid


This skirt is beautiful, flirty and wonderful all rolled into one - designed by Pink Fig


And for the grown ups among us...something a bit more stylish by Bettsy Kingston..


And everyone knows how much I love bags...I might need to add this one to my collection someday...designed by Sew Liberated...


And one of my favourite softies designers (and she's even local!) - Melly & Me...


And I also love this weekend bag that Melly & Me have designed...I have some Amy Butler fabric just waiting to be used in a project like this....


Hope you enjoyed some Sunday morning eye candy, for all you crafters out there :-P

Happy sewing xx

Room Ready

Awesome : Finally finishing Lana's room, just in time for the new school year.

So after a few days delay with the carpet issues, Lana's room was finally finished and ready to be inhabited on Sunday night. Curtains went up, light fitting installed and of course, the carpet was layed. There are still a few finishing touches to go, but it's getting there and Lana is in love with having her own space.

Will finish off her bed-head this weekend, and she will finally get to have her mosquito net go up over her bed...a real princess room..

Enjoy your Saturday
xx

Great Friends

Awesome : Spending some quality time with good friends and my sisters

A Sprinkle of Friendship

Awesome : Having a twilight picnic dinner on the beach with some of my closest girlfriends - a fabulous night


Danielle arranged a fantabulous picnic dinner at Brighton Beach as a pre-baby girlie get-together for me. So much yummy food (prawn & scallop salad, roast veggie salad with persian fetta, chicken, fresh baguettes, berries and ice-cream) plus lovely drinks (champagne & virgin mojitos) and wonderful company made for a fantastic night. I loved it!

I am very lucky to have such giving, loving, true friends in my life. Mwah to you, my lovely ladies xx