dressay

House of G provided the inspiration for Jada's dress I made for her to wear to her essay award presentation this morning. I liked the oversize frill around the top on the dress on the right.

It was dead easy to make - just 5 rectangles (tutuorial anyone?). I might even make one for myself for summer.....
And yes, (cos I like to pretend I'm a rockstar mother), I made a matching one for her doll too :)
She spoke so well using a microphone and reading her essay out.
So, so proud.

When we got home she rediscovered a book we had read together awhile ago and announced she was going to read it again (by herself!). We'll see...

mini-boho hair

did you see this on A Beautiful Mess yesterday?

(we added the 'rosette')

Jada won an essay competition and has to read it out at an award ceremony on Saturday...

I thought this would be a perfect style her hair.

I'm making a dress for her tomorrow.

So proud! (of her...and myself - it seems I may not be such a shabby substitute for a 'real' school teacher after all :) )

oh, and 50 points if you can spot a major difference ;)

(at laaaaassst!!!)

phew!

Make my Week #43 - newborn portraits

Some delicious little boys were born last week.

My sister's:

(my sister's photo)

and a dear friend's:

(Danny LOVED the baby - he reacted with the same enthusiasm he does when he sees an animal! haha)

welcome to the world sweet boys

xo

boys of mine

God knew i needed 3 sons.
it had to be 3 so I'd sit up and take notice. If it were just 2 sons they be lost in the frou-frou of my cute little accessories daughters.

and so, 3 it is.

having been brought up with sisters* i have precisely ZERO clue on what-on-earth-it-is that goes on in boys' heads.

what is acceptable behaviour? (and what is just "boys being boys"?).

what is normal behaviour? (how concerned should i be that even a pipe cleaner becomes a gun?)

what is necessary behaviour? (here, i refer to the physical-ness of boys)

and so, because i cannot tolerate ignorance, i have been reading a book called 'Bringing up Boys' by Dr James Dobson**. after reading the first half i felt a) FREAKED OUT!, b) overwhelmed and c) a little (a lot) terrified. but it provided some very necessary info on why and how boys are different from girls. and, oh boy, do i have a heads-up now! (you boys better think twice before playing this mama for a fool! muahahaha)

but then....the second half of the book. boy am i inspired. how precious these boys are - and such a constant bad rap they get from society and culture. how much they have to overcome and resist and prove and provide and be. i hope and pray that these 3 sons God has given me (in His infinite wisdom) will grow to be just 3 more men in the world who defy all society's expectations of them.

*

i'm on a mission to bring the postive back for our boys. (who's with me?)

watch this space!

xo

* i do have a brother...but not your average adrenaline junky kinda bloke :)

**(available in nz from www.goodbooksnz.co.nz for $25, free shipping)

waihi beach

"Great things are done

by a series of small things brought together."

-Vincent Van Gogh

happy labour weekend! xo

Make my Week #42 - (more) wall art

well, we did run away. and it was fantastic.

major refocus and exhale (and even some sunburn!!)

it's madness from now until March for our family...! :)

***

i'm really enjoying making these little girly wall art thingies. it feeds my creativity well.

not sure what to do with them now though. i'd like add them to my Felt shop i guess, but as usual am stumped on $$. help?

Make my Week #41 - tea towel bag

remember this tea towel?

...

in an impulsive snip n sew this week it became this:

oversize gingham and ric-rac...oh my!

i left the "pure cotton" visible on purpose as i find text simply irresistable...

inner is a vintage sheet and the pocket is from the scraps. perfect!

xo

see you in a week's time...we're off to Waihi beach.

(really looking forward to spending some time with the family away from the daily grind and catching up with this inspirational lady, BellaBree )

Local Talent

when i first encountered the delightful whimsy of Denise Fort's whirly-gig doodlings, i assumed the artist was a guy.

they were entirely covering a bbq table outside Raglan Roast and i was immediately mesmerised.

so when i stumbled across her stall at the Raglan Creative Markets last Sunday i told her i was surprised the doodling graffiti artist was female. turns out she is from Germany and is really very popular internationally (i don't blame her for making Raglan her home though.../sigh)

(how cool is this car she customised in LA??!)

I couldn't resist getting myself a little doodled piece of Manu Bay whimsy to bring home.

i said "little"!! ;)


(first 3 images are from Denis Fort's blog...check it out here.
more here)

wardrobe wednesday

this week i wore vintage.

one of my mum's old maternity frocks to be precise (although I don't know how anything pregnant could possibly fit into it.... unless of course fetuccini can be pregnant!)

oh yes, there's the billow for the belly:

(wave "hi" to one of the Donkey Ear twins who wanted to be in the shot...it was a bad hair day.)

oh, and i finally figured out why my camera could never focus properly in the WW shots. ummm, clean the mirror!!!! ewww.

(and you all just thought i had some fancy-schmancy photo editor blurring thing going on huh??! soz, just a dirty mirror.)

Royal Society for the Protection of Condemned Fabrics

I've elected myself as the national ambassador for a new society that liberates fabrics which have been condemned to a life of darkness and mothballs, waiting for some "spare time" to be given life.

(in my (youthful) experience, life doesn't give Spare Time - Spare Time must be made, or even, when necessary, stolen.)

and so, from the dark recesses of sewing cabinets around the country I am committed to ransoming fabrics!

and from the stacks of banana boxes 7 storeys high in the small side room of the local St Someone op shop, I will save them!

gorgeous metres that were originally bought with great hopes and intentions but pushed aside by life (you know how it is).

and now, the babes without Pumpkin Patch it was bought for are grown and it's moment to shine has been and gone.

or has it?

:)

make my week #40- fabric wall art

i've been trying something new

that has been in the back of my head for awhile



it involves as many pretty fabrics as possible

and some lace too.

i'm not quite sure what it is, but i think i like it.

i might go try another....

(is there really only 12 weeks left in the year??!!)

xo

wardrobe wednesday - no black, no demin!

the challenge was set: no black, no denim.

thankfully it wasn't the heart of winter when such a challenging challenge was set and my lily-white limbs had had approx 1.5 days to adjust to the light before taking this picture (phew!)

*

(both items of clothing are hand-me-downs from my older sister, xo)

*

more non-denim, non-black wardrobe ideas here :)

men at work

i, for one, could never understand why exactly the feminists back in the 70s decided they'd like to do their work as well as the mens'...

i, for one, am more than happy having my men do the work!

(lucky for me a have a good handful of men around to work for me! muahaha)

train em young i say!!

ok, so this wasn't exactly helpful...but pretty creative:

Make my Week #39: Custom Doll

this week has been me forcing myself to Finish this custom doll...

...of this delicious 2 year old:

this one's going all the way to Florida, USA!

xo