newborn wrap top

It's the baby shower today, and I got inspired to make a top to match the little booties.

I worked out the pattern from an old top of Thomas' with some modifications, and making it much smaller. The wraps are secured with a press stud on the outside and a button and elastic loop on the inside. I'm pleased with the result and that I used only stuff we already had, some organic cotton I'd bought ages ago, and I made some bias binding from a Japanese chirimen cloth - one of several I'd bought in Tokyo years ago and have been hoarding ever since.

The only downside is my dodgy sewing skills, so that up close the stitching on the slippery bias binding leaves a bit to be desired, especially on the back. Anyway, it definitely has that handmade touch!



Here it is all wrapped up and ready to go.

Bitty booties

These are the bitty booties from Heather Bailey's pattern. They are very quick and straightforward and very tiny! At least the 0-3 month size is.



They aren't lined, so are made with just two pieces each, plus embellishments. It is hard to believe that little feet will really fit into these, but I always forget how tiny newborns are.

I think when I make these again, I might try lining them, and perhaps think about some kind of elastic closure to make sure they stay on.

Still, a good exercise for getting back into making things and turning the sewing machine back on.

Mr Sandman

Just a quick post to thank everyone for your lovely comments, so nice to have all that support out there from you wonderful creative women. I am still under the weather, but I have a good friend who is having a baby very soon, so I am feeling the need to make something quick and fun - Heather Bailey's bitty booties look like they might fit the bill, I'll let you know how I get on.





We finally got around to getting a little sandpit for the backyard for Thomas, just one of those clamshell types. At the moment our sandplay is not very sophisticated, just filling a bucket or flowerpot with the shovel, but it still provides lots of amusement.

Thanks again for all your kind words and thoughts.

Still alive

Sorry to have disappeared for a whole month, I have been here, but a bit unwell for a while, so I've been too tired to do much other than working and looking after Thomas. I've really been missing all my favourite blogs - I haven't forgotten you and will be back soon.

Thomas, on the other hand is bursting with energy, and learning words at a great rate. He has also become very affectionate in the last few weeks and has been showering me with very sweet kisses and cuddles.



We had a nice trip to our friends' farm yesterday afternoon, and Thomas had an up close encounter with cows.



It was great to have a change of scene, and some lovely fresh air - it is a beautiful property near Braidwood. Here is Thomas again in that cable knit I'm still squeezing him into this year.



It was great catching up with friends and sitting around the fire until it was time to take Thomas home again.



We also had a lovely visit from my parents last week. Thomas adores them, and my mum is happy to sing 'bananas in pyjamas' and 'twinkle twinkle' as many times as Thomas can say "More peese." It was so wonderful to have them here, and we miss them already.

Well that's it from me - sadly nothing creative at all to report, but I am getting interested in knitting again, must be the chill in the air.

Hopefully I'll be back again before the end of the month!

Thank you!

Just a quick post to say a big thank you to everyone for your lovely comments on my jewellery experiments. They are really at an early stage, but your feedback has given me the confidence to keep going with it all. I would love to do some more enamelling one day (I put a couple of my pieces in my first blog post here), but at the moment with a toddler, hot kilns and leaded enamels seem like asking for trouble, so for now shrink plastic seems a fun and safe material to try.

But the biggest thank you goes to the wonderfully talented Leah for the beautiful hand knitted washcloth and handmade soap which arrived at my place yesterday. The washcloth is so beautiful and intricate, it would have taken me months to knit. I'm not sure I can bring myself to use it as a washcloth, I think I will just admire it for a bit longer first!

Back soon.

Experiments with shrinky dinks

I have been experimenting with shrink plastic for a while, using the plastic which you can ink-jet print on, and also screen printing with gocco screens on the plain plastic and colouring in with prisma colour pencils. The pendant on the bottom left has a polymer clay frame which worked ok, but still looks a bit chunky.



My latest experiment is screenprinting on the underside of clear shrink plastic, so that the design shows through the base. I quite like this effect, like looking through glass. It seems a bit less 'plasticky'. One day I hope I might get myself organised to make some jewellery in quantities I can sell at the markets, but things have been a bit too busy here lately. I'd be very keen to get any honest feedback anyway! The next step is to get working on some screen designs.



We went to the Canberra show with Thomas last weekend, but the only photos I managed to get were of some lovely dahlias in the flower exhibition.



Poor Thomas is recovering from an ear infection which I thought was just grumpiness for a few days. He is still a bit grumpy but getting back to normal now he's on anti-biotics.



And my last exciting news is I discovered that I'd won Leah's bloggiversary competition and will be the very proud and lucky owner of one of her beautiful knitted washcloths. I'm so thrilled - I love this blogging world.

Favourite things

I was browsing in Flickr when I came across some amazing themed mosaics (here).

I was so delighted that I had to have a try putting together my own simpler collages of favourite Flickr photos using mosaic maker. I think they'll be a great source of inspiration for other creative projects.



1. Vintage Kimono Fabric, 2. vintage kimono fabrics, 3. kimono fabric, 4. Japanese Antique Pattern Fabric, 5. kimono fabric, 6. vintage kimono fabric, 7. TIRIMEN Fabric, 8. fan kimono embroidery, 9. Japanese AIZOME Fabric, 10. Embroidered iris on a silk kimono, 11. kc_blackorange1, 12. kimono5, 13. Old kimono's strings, 14. Kimono pattern 1., 15. New Fabrics Arrived Today!, 16. kimono fabric



1. Frost patterns #3, 2. Frost pattern, 3. Frost on the window of my grandparents house, 4. window frost pattern, 5. Frost patterns on the car, 6. Frost patterns, 7. frost patterns, 8. window frost, 9. frost pattern in blue, 10. Frost patterns on our kitchen window., 11. Frost Patterns, 12. frost pattern, 13. Frost Patterns, 14. January afternoon frost pattern, 15. Frost on the Windshield, 16. frost pattern day


1. Opium poppy, 2. 05.06.2004 #2, 3. Opium poppy, 4. Opium, 5. Opium Poppy, 6. Addicted to Beauty of Opium Poppy, 7. Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum), 8. Opium Poppy, 9. poppy_2, 10. The Opium Poppy -, 11. 2004 Opium Poppy Square Crop 004, 12. poppy_3, 13. Red-opium-flower-bud, 14. Papaver Somniferum (opium poppy), 15. Opium poppy, 16. Poppy


There are a few more mosaics on my flickr page

Otherwise, we have been having a busy time. Thomas has become very interested in animals, and loves to tell us what sounds animals make. Sheep say Ba, Ducks say ah ah ah, and Cows say Boo! We took him to the Australia day concert in Commonwealth park, and he was mildly amused by the Bananas in Pyjamas, but was very fascinated by some animals they had there for the kids to pat. I guess it is an amazing thing to be seeing for the first time animals you've only read about in books - and to realise that sheep really do say Ba!





This weekend we continued the animal theme and went to the zoo, which was fun but very hot, and I gave up taking photos as most of the animals were too far away. Except for the scary emus of course.

Well that's it from me for now - off to read my favourite blogs while Thomas is napping.

New Year - new internet connection - finally!

Happy New Year! After several weeks of frustrating phone calls we now have a working internet connection - hooray!



We had a lovely Christmas break, soaking up the time with family - I wish we lived closer.



This is Thomas playing a piano duet on Christmas day with his cousin Manny.



And here he is in the lake at Toukley, getting used to the water. He wasn't keen at first, but relaxed pretty quickly. We will have to start the swimming lessons soon.

Thomas also took his first solo steps while we were staying at my parents' place with my mum clapping him all the way. He is now toddling about the place pretty confidently although he still reverts to crawling when the going gets tough.




I'm not sure if this little video will work. I wish I could edit out my voice on it, I sound ridiculous and very loud - I didn't realise our little digital camera was recording sound as well!

Well, that's it from me for now. Here's to 2008!

Merry Christmas!

What a busy and exciting time of year!



.

Thomas was only a couple of months old last Christmas, and didn't have a clue what was going on, but this year he is really getting into the Christmas spirit. He loves the decorations, the tree, and even the Christmas carols.





We are heading off for Christmas with family at the coast, and I know Thomas will love seeing all his relatives and being generally spoilt for a few days.

As always, I had great intentions to make lots of handmade gifts, but time got away from me, and apart from the secret blurb books all I managed to do was to make some homemade peach and apricot jam with cointreau - an adaption of Maggie Beer's lovely recipe from the Cook and the Chef - my first jam making experience, and pretty fun except when it took forever to reach setting point. Next time I'm going to buy pectin rather than just adding lemon peel.



It was a nice way to recycle some of those baby food jars (yes I confess we do sometimes rely on them!)



I think they look better with their little party hats on.


Well, that's it from me - better go wrap some presents- wishing everyone a very lovely Christmas break and a safe and happy new year.

Cloth book for Thomas

Sorry for the blogging break, but I have been busy, and for once actually have something crafty for show and tell. I made Thomas a cloth book with photos of us, and flaps that he can lift to see who is underneath. Thanks to Suzy for reminding me about SouleMama's cloth book for Adelaide it was very inspiring. I got some fabric sheets that you run through the inkjet printer, and the photos came out pretty well. The fabric is quite stiff, so good for this kind of thing. My book has heaps of handmade charm, aka wonky stitching and mistakes, but Thomas seems not to mind.

The text is very simple - just about who loves Thomas:

Mummy,

Daddy,

Grandma and Grandpa,

Pop;

And our cat Lucy

(actually it is not quite true that the cat loves Thomas, but he sure loves her - I'm sure one day the feeling will be reciprocated!)

I've also been busy doing a Blurb book - my copies just arrived in the mail, and I'm pretty darned happy with them. Can't show them here yet though because they are for Christmas presents.

We have just had an election here in Australia, and a change of government after almost 12 long years. We lefties here were pretty thrilled with the Labor victory. We had a few friends over and drank a lot and ate lots of veggie pizzas. A very good night indeed!

PS - thanks so much for all the concern and good wishes about the breast lump scare - I'm very glad that it is all ok.