Tuesday, June 29, 2010

SCATDesigns - Funky Stuff


The lovely Marni Telford has started up her own childrenswear business, and she makes and sells the cutest, funkiest little things.

Check out this little jumpsuit she sent me for Levi, with hand-stitched detail and a great boys design. Also the jumpsuits she embellishes are super cosy, and of such nice stretchy fabric - so soft on little ones skin.


Here are a couple more images of things she makes and sells. How funky are they? :-P



You can contact Marni here or here, for any enquiries or purchases.

Friday, June 25, 2010

1,2,3...A Layout

I scrapped!
...
...
...
Ok, so now you've picked yourself up off of the floor, I'll share :-P

I really wanted to create a layout of Levi, and then the 1,2,3 Challenge Blog re-launched and I thought why not have a shot at the June Challenge.

The new format over at the blog is very cool - it consists of one dominant colour, one word to use and one technique to try each month.

This month it was :
Colour : White
Word : New
Technique : Paint Smeared Background

So, here's my take on the challenge....photo by DQ


And a couple of close ups...machine stitching, paper bunting...


And here I used flocking powder to add texture, as well as some hand-stitching...


There is still a few days left to submit an entry if you feel like having a go. I must admit this was fun, fun, fun! I might even scrap some more very soon :-)

Five


My little boy is not so little anymore - 5 years old now - unbelievable! School next year which is even crazier.

Here's a few things about Jude at 5 :
* Still loves all things Star Wars, Transformers, Lego and Robot-based
* Uses words like 'awesome' and 'cool' to describe things he likes
* Eats cornflakes or rice bubbles for breakfast everyday
* Loves playing with his big sister, and gets bored when she's not around
* Nearly every night when Roh gets home, he utters the words 'play something with me daddy'
* He can't sit still! Even at dinner time he's monkeying about on the chair, or while watching a movie he'll be climbing all over the couch...it's frustrating to watch, but also quite funny when you think about it.
* Loves having stories read to him
* Can count to 20
* Still sneaks into our bed most nights for snuggles
* Adores his new little brother, and loves to chat to him while he's having his nappy changed


Look how cheeky (and adorable and spunky..he he) they look...they'll be up to mischief together in no time, I'm sure!

xx

Thursday, June 24, 2010

My Creative Space..

Is mainly dedicated to sewing today..hopefully anyway, if Levi plays happy baby :-P

I've had this softie idea in my head for a few weeks now for this monster..my sketch makes him look a little menacing, but he's not going to be - more like a big, goofy, friendly monster with a quirky grin...we'll see anyhow..


And I'm planning on making some little aprons and/or bakers hats for party pressies for Lana's friends who are coming to her cupcake party in July. I've just ordered the invites, and I think I really better get onto this otherwise I'll never get them done...


I always have a thing for polkadots..can you tell? he he

More Creative Spacers over here

Madness


All creative people have at least a little nice madness in them, don't you think? he he

xx

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

My Homemade Sausage Rolls

One of our more recent additions to the weekday lunches, are my homemade sausage rolls. The first batch I started using a Donna Hay recipe, but ended up changing and adding ingredients all over the place, so now the recipe is truly mine....and the family love them!


Ingredients :
1 kg mince
2 eggs
1 granny smith apple, grated
2 cups stuffing mix
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
salt and pepper
5 sheets of ready-rolled puff pastry
1 egg, lightly beaten, to brush onto pastry

How to :
1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.
2. Combine mince, eggs, apple, stuffing mix, soy sauce, tomato paste, salt and pepper.
3. Cut your pastry sheets in half. Do this as you go, so as not to waste extra pastry. Amount
used will vary depending on the size you make the individual sausages.
4. Roll your meat into a long sausage, and place on the long edge of the pastry. Make sure your
sausage goes end to end.
5. Roll pastry over the sausage, sealing and squishing the pastry edges together. Slice into four
equal portions.
6. Place on baking tray with pastry join sitting flat on the bottom of the sausage roll.
7. Continue repeating this until all mince mixture is finished.
8. Brush with the egg, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Makes approximately 32-40 sausage rolls.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Two Cuties


Lana and Levi..chilling together on Sunday morning.

My Boys Baked Bread


So on Saturday night, Roh decided to give bread-making a go. It's been on my to-do list this last week, but I never quite got around to it, so Roh jumped in, with a little help from Jude. (above photo is a little out of focus - sorry! I'm going to blame the bad lighting..he he)


There is just something so yummy about bread fresh from the oven, especially on a cold winters night...mmmm

Thursday, June 17, 2010

My Creative Space..

is a mess!


It started out innocent enough - I thought I'd do some scrapbooking (there is a layout in the photo..camouflaged a little maybe, but definitely there :-P). Then while sorting through some alphabets, I thought - why not have a big clean out, sort through, etcetera so that's what I've been doing, and will continue to do today. It's always good for the creative mojo to do some de-cluttering...well, I think so anyway..

And just a quick share of a couple of finished projects, from my 'unfinished projects' pile.

First up, some pj's for my nephew Bodie - in size 3. Now, I didn't actually make the top, but I did add the dinosaurs onto it. I started making these a couple of months ago, but got stalled when I was short of fabric. Feels good to get these done.


And next up is a granny square scarf, that I have given to Dan. It uses 12 granny squares, and is finished off with a single crochet edge. I really like the way this one turned out..so I might make another one someday....


Other than the above scrap layout, I've got a couple of crochet beanie bands to assemble and I'm halfway through a striped crochet scarf, which are my projects currently on the go. I also have to start getting into the plans for Alannah's cupcake party which is in late July, and have a huge sewing to-do list.

There's always something on the go....just the way I like it

Head over here to check out more inspiring creative spaces

xx

P.S - Thanks for all your comments. I always love hearing from you!

P.P.S - And no, I haven't bought any of the below fabric........................yet! he he

Monday, June 14, 2010

Retro Fun

Last night I stumbled across this fabric range...


It's called Circa 50 by Birch Fabrics, and I think it is awesome...I just love it! I can picture fun boy accessories - bunting, bags, cushions - especially with the rocket and car fabric designs.

It's nice to see something so completely original, don't you think?

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Saturday Crafting


Yesterday the kids had some fun stamping with paint and apples and carrots - they found it hilarious at first, that you can use fruit and veg as stamps, but it didn't take them long to get into it.

As with most crafty type things, Jude only played along for a very short period of time, with a lot of random stamping, while Lana took the design from our craft book and spent a lot of time getting it right.



And while they played with paint, I started a new crochet project...


I'm in love with the colours I'm using, and its already 70% finished - yay! Will share when I'm all done.

Happy Sunday xx

Asleep...In the weirdest place


Jude - fell asleep in his wardrobe.....funny kid :-P

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Donna Hay Inspiration

In the Sunday Magazine, in our paper, Donna Hay shares recipes each week. This weeks recipes inspired me to bake something that very day..it just looked so yummy, and it was!


Here's the recipe for Orange & Poppyseed Loaf...

125g butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
1 tablespoon finely grated orange rind
1/4 cup milk
1 cup self-raising flour, sifted

Orange Syrup
1 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup water
1 orange, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 160/
Beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and creamy.
Gradually add the eggs and beat well.
Add the poppy seeds, orange rind,milk and flour.
Beat until just combined.
Spoon into a lightly greased 5 cup capacity loaf tine lined with non-stick baking paper.
Bake for 50 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer.
Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

For the syrup, place the sugar and water in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved.
Add the orange slices and cook for 10 minutes.
Allow to cool.

Top the loaf with orange slices and pour over the syrup to serve.
Serves 6 - 8.

Happy baking!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Something to keep the toes cosy...


Our new rug - picked it up at a bargain price, last Thursday, and it works fantastically in our lounge area...and apparently it even makes a great car racing track :-P

Friday, June 4, 2010

Winter Warmers

With the coolness of winter now hitting us, nothing warms the belly like home-made soup and fresh bread rolls. I'm a big fan of pumpkin soup, but after a couple of batches, my family asked me to do a different variation of it. So I did a bit of googling, and stumbled upon this recipe :

Vanilla Pumpkin Soup

and it was very yummy! I have a bit of a soft spot for vanilla flavoured things (ie, fav drink - decaf vanilla latte) so this recipe really appealed to me.

So along with the soup, I also decided to give dinner rolls a go myself. And besides a couple of small errors on my part (sometimes multi-tasking is not my friend :-P) they turned out quite nice too - yay!
This week I also tried a slow cooker Chicken & Barley soup which my lovely friend Kate recommended, and that was fantastic. I'm really getting into the soup thing at the moment...can you tell?...he he

What winter soups do you love? Please feel free to share any recipe links. I know I would really appreciate it!

A Little Bit of Levi




8 weeks old already!

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Crochet Beanie Bands

Just a couple of things I've been making lately...


And I have a couple more in the making for friends. Thoughts?

xx

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Curious about Curiouser?

Check out Danielle's new fabbo website 'Curiouser' here for a look at her beautiful photography and wall art.

Here's a taste of some of the beautiful photos she's taken of some of my loved ones ....


Dan has this amazing ability to capture the natural beauty of life... you can see that for yourself in the galleries on her website...FAN-TAS-TIC! Go on, have a peek..

If you live in Melbourne or Adelaide, why not book Dan for a family shoot, childrens shoot, sibling shoot, couple shoot, wedding, or anything else you may wish....she is wonderful!

xxx