wardrobe wednesday?

 A photo from last week( yep i'm a dork!) , dressed up for our wedding anniversary date. 38 weeks +6 days All Thrifted! A glassons maxi dress from the recycle centre, ditto the belt and the cropped jacket was from a flea market ($5) about 5 years ago! On my feet? leather jandals a friend gave me  at teachers college about the time I met my husband... 11 years ago?  married for 9 years now, and its all good. We've been through some challenges: poorness, post natal depresssion,  everyday life  with 3 young kids etc, but  as they say keep talking to each other, and we are lucky  enough to have heaps in common in terms of philosphy etc.

 And in other sharing, some dresses for the girls, using up old sock wool and fabric from op shops. cute and old fashioned I think? And adds a bit of warmth to the chest area, which seems appropriate due to the grey autumnal weather we've been having this week ( which I love), candles  at the meal table, cosy crafting inside and brisk walks outside ( haven't done that yet as I can't walk much!). The pattern is this one from ravelry, that I upsized by using bigger needles and for Anoushka knitting more increases and cms for the length. For Maaike I striped it to use up  what I had left from a pair of socks I made for my sister last year and missed out the lace pattern.

 I think I'm nesting... yesterday I made tomato sauce ( green, because of all the stink bugs!), two carrot and zucchini cakes and a fruit crumble from  fruit from my garden! Rhubarb, raspberries, blackberries and white flesh peaches that blew down in the storm last week. Yum!  The kids made pipecleaner fairyfolk, and painted the airdried clay gnomes they made last week,  and changed and made nature tables all over the house. Today I pickled garlic indian style, chased rabbits, made  yoghurt , finished two t shirts for the baby and a skirt for me. I am knitting a pair of socks for me and working on some autumnal decor for the house... and waiting ... patiently!?




 P.s struggling with techno stuff, heres the link for wardrobe wednesday

holidaying

A spontaneous roadtrip to Christchurch, lunch in Lewis Pass, a walk on new Brighton Pier, watching the buskers in Cathedral square... a not - needed excuse for a last fling in the summer holidays and a chance to pick up an old singer treadle sewing machine. more pictures later, I'm giving her  some  love at the moment, oil and treadling....

adventing

Crafting has been my refuge in the last few weeks, and in particular little hand stitches and repetitive crochet, little actions that require all my focus and are in and of themselves stilling and meditative. 

 We are enjoying all that advent has to offer in terms of baking, crafts and thinking of others ( yes its overwhelming at times but I'll get there, one tiny stitch at a time!). We have decorated already as we will be in Auckland  for the week before Christmas. 

 Our seasonal wreath bringing good tidings of great joy. 

Christmas bunting. There's even matching tablecloths and napkins!

 Enjoy the advent weeks!

secret squirreling and a celebration

(Maaike the gnome-fairy, modelling the gnome hat I finally made with my first art-yarn attempt from here ).

Our eldest daughter, Anoushka, turned six in the weekend, and we have been so focused on preparing for it that I haven't had time to post for a while, sorry! We have made a stand on commercialism-free gifts for the last three christmases(e.g, handmade or thrifted), and I often make somethingfor the children's birthdays, but this time the only thing we bought for her was handmade by the local Steiner/Waldorf school's doll making group as a fundraiser, so in other words, handmade by someone else. Of course this means lots of time investure instead of dollars.

 Anoushka had been asking for more farm animals,(waldorf style), so I made a family of cows using wool felt and tweed fabrics,using the book of patterns sew soft toys , and to complement the farmyard theme, my husband made fences from a branch donated by a friend, and a forest of trees, using patterns and instructions from Wee Folk Art,

We decorated the house with flowers and a ring with fairies and butterflies. I made her a red riding hood cape, in rainbow colours from  a living crafts mag, and a dress using bits and pieces, ruffles and lace and an old linen table cloth ( more photos to come maybe).

  We had  a whole lot of families here for her party, where we dyed some yarn as an activity, which the children ( and mamas) really enjoyed. Above are the results, drying before they all went home. I love how they were all different and  beautiful.

The Tomten

Today was a crafty day! A trip to Spotlight ( I wish we had a decent craft shop around here, some things I'm after it seems I'll have to  order online!), a play at the Tahunanui playground and a picnic snack and when we got home there were seven eggs , a new LIving Crafts mag and the book of the Tomten I had ordered, so we got right down to the business of making our own tomtens to tell stories with. And here they are! Maaike thought hers needed love hearts sewn on. Cute hey? Patterns for story table things mentioned on earlier post. I hadn't read the story before, and its lovely. A story about a gnome type thingy who has lived on this farm for hundreds of years and when night falls visits the inhabitants and talks in a silent tomten voice that the animals can understand, checking all is well.  A good bedtime story!
 And tonight we are to have a barbeque, with homemade burger buns and maybe sleep in the tent we have had up all week. My kids seem to be desperate for summer, swimming and adventures. Actually That sounds pretty good to me!

Of no fixed abode....

Well I have kind of resurfaced after absolute and utter complete chaos that was moving day, and now we are making do in a chalet in a holiday complex with breathtaking views and a spa! It s beautiful, a lot small and  a bit kid space short, but there are beautiful walks in the area, through forest and around sea sides, and five minutes from hubby's classroom, which is becoming a second space ( and where I am blogging from now!). Unfortunately, even though I packed our camera to take, said hubby packed the cord for down loading with computer at the back of storage container where it will remain for about six weeks!   I am going to try and borrow the classroom camera for some pics but I can't give any promises!
In the meantime I am also madly sewing for the easter fair in Mapua, because i lost a bit of time there, and quite happy with my kiwiana kitsch tiki collection really. There are sleeveless hooded vests with felt tikis on. Tiki brooches, and softies.  Come check it out 10 - 4 on Sunday 4 April at Mapua domain. Gold coin entry with proceeds to school and playcentre.
 Also very excited to draw your attention to  an almost family member's new blog: ♥ and sol, she has started down the craft journey and has a great eye for cool, check it out!

Sewing

A boat necked tshirt for a two year old's birthday, with felt squirrel hand appliqued on. T shirt fabric from op shop stash! pattern from ottobre magazine.

for a friend

A dear friend from my first baby days (we were introduced by our very wise midwife) came to visit today. it is a rare occassion when friends from Auckland pop in! i made her this bag, also from carefree clothes for girls (see previous post). A doily from my collection, the outer is an old tablecloth bought yesterday from a second-hand shop, the inner, a remnant of upholstery fabric from a friend, the handles, an offcut also bought at a second store.

Carefree girls

Thanks to the generosity of a crafty friend I have been able to borrow her copy of  carefree clothes for girls , and have been inspired!  I love the aesthetic of it  but haven't got the money at the moment to go and get beautiful linens etc.  So in the spirit of use what you have I whipped up these creations, the chemise (on Anoushka, right) the blouse with crochet doily trim ( on maaike, middle ( thats my monkey son in his grubby pyjamas, I'll get around to new clothes for him later)), and the quilted bodice dress  (below).  beautiful, now to customise some of my clothing in the same vein....

The fabrics I used were old cotton sheets, scraps of pink linen from the op shop, a remnant of the princess and the pea fabric, an old  tablecloth and some doilies from  my stash. buttons , a gift from gill .

sayonara supermarket

We are going to make a real commitment to spending as little as possible at big supermarkets and instead use the dollars we do spend at local businesses or  road side stalls. This includes cost cutting measures like trying to make our own eco friendly cleaning products etc.  Struan is dedicating his own blog to the cause here , and no doubt I will blog it too. struan is on teachers holiday (lovely) and is developing his own creative pursuits. I do find it hard to share my sewing machine and garden but maybe this will one day lead to a shared business venture! look at what he made to replace the falling apart cheap plastic peg basket. much cooler dont you think?

Giveaway results: Congratulations Susan: said...Lovely! Happy Birthday and Happy New Year!

DECEMBER 27, 2009 5:38 PM  

Susan could you get in touch with me with your choice of items and mailing address. thanks!