13 months!

wow! it's been nearly 13 months since i last posted on this blog - bad!

i guess life kind of got in the way along with another drop into that hole that is depression but i'm feeling back on top of things now and hopefully in the new year i'll be able to start posting more regularly again.

james starts 5 year old prep class next year, he's SO excited and has even tried on his school uniform to show dad ;)  

(miles too big for him!)

matthew is on a waiting list for 3 year old kinder, fingers crossed he gets in so i can get some crafting done!  i've signed up with a driving school today, got to get my license and some freedom!

anyway, off to pick thing 1 up from kinder now (my life is so glamorous isn't it?) ;)

later alligators
x

great news!

my lovely husband has accumulated a few frequent flyer points with work trips etc & today he booked a return flight for me to my home town, cape town!  he also booked & paid for a flight for james to go with me so he can see his great-granny (ouma) & his aunties :D

we thought about me taking both boys but it's just too long a trip with the two crazies on my own, plus i had such a nightmare the last time i flew that it's kind of put me off doing these long flights to be honest...  it had nothing to do with james, & EVERYTHING wrong to do with qantas - a whole other story that i could probably devote an entire blog to...

anyway, i'm pretty excited - we're going in march in his kinder school holidays for two weeks & there probably won't be nearly enough time to do half of what i'd like to do!

knowing myself, i'll start making lists tonight too ;)

i took some photos of the boys yesterday, hopefully i'll get around to doing another photo book for the overseas family connection for christmas again - i'll probably fixate on that for a while now as i still don't have my crafty mojo back!  nothing...  nada... weird...

 

 

 

matthew was making a getaway - not surprising as one of his first words was "cheese" because of all the photos i take of these kids :)

34C forecast for tomorrow, i'm melting already!!

x

PS do ya like the new header or should i change it?  it bothers me how it doesn't fit in the box thingy properly... sigh...  i make my life harder than it needs to be really...

big photographer, little photographer

still not much on the crafting front folks, i seem to have lost my mojo at the moment, i really don't feel like doing anything actually...  it's really weird, sometimes i go for weeks obsessed with my current project & then it all just fizzes out to nothing for a week or so & then suddenly i'm back with a vengance & can't stick to just one thing!  crazy...  kind of like a menstrual cycle, no? ;)

i am almost finished this little birthday present for a certain little girl who is turning 4 soon - james can't wait to go to her birthday party because it's fancy dress & he wants to go as a pirate :)

i used this pattern from Runo, a cloth doll artist who generously shares gorgeous patterns - i tweaked my version slightly (can't help myself) & just want to sew a necklace onto her neck but need to wait until i can get some pretty beads - green or red?

anyway, today matthew went to nanna & pa for his overnighter so it was just me & james which is usually a much more laid back affair than when it's me, james & matthew  ;)

we did train tracks, pirates & treasure, i drew pictures which he coloured in or he dictated what i should draw & i did so, we wrote a letter to santa & he wrote his name almost completely by himself & we went for a walk in the evening to the local pizza joint for his "favourite" which is chicken & chips & a chocolate milkshake :)

on the way there, he was taking photos which i encourage even though it makes the journey double the length of time - i just love seeing his perspective of the world - here are some he took today along with some i took

  

 

  

 

 

 

 

this is the letter he dicated to santa

and lastly here's a not-too-shabby one of me by james

i like that it's slightly blurry, it's kind of how i'm feeling :)

so that's it for tonight, i'm off to look through some mags before i hit the sack, it's a big day tomorrow - a play date at Roo's house! :D

later alligators

x

PS HAVE YOU BEEN TO THE BRIGHT SIDE PROJECT YET?

GO!

GO NOW!

jellyfish costume!

how awesome is this jellyfish costume?!

it reminds me of a certain activity i helped finished with without a certain little boy named james... :)

found via the amazing one pretty thing site - thanks rachel!

x

vampires & country victoria

so, i started reading that book last week & then i had to go & get the second one, & the third one & then i realised there was a fourth one! (final) so i read them all in about 5 days hence the lack of posting :)
needless to say, i enjoyed them & when they were finished i felt a little lost & bewildered without bella & edward around...

otherwise, we had a lovely weekend in daylesford - i would highly recommend going there if you're in victoria, it's only about an hours drive out of melbourne & i felt like i was in a different country almost - so pretty & green & relaxing

sunset over the roof tops

mmm...  interesting...

 

we stayed at a lovely little self catering place called chestnut daylesford which was just down the road from the convent art gallery (love it!) & was absolutely gorgeous - thanks lise!

we visited heaps of little shops, including an amazing treasure trove called wombat hill antiques - filled with all kinds of everything! B had to wait outside for me as it was filled with people but i persevered & dug around to find some ancient metal roller skates (with a key!), a glove template thingy (for cutting out glove patterns i guess) which i'm thinking of spraying red, a couple of old rusty chains just because i liked the look of them & two mail order sewing patterns from The Sun news-pictorial in melbourne dated 1969 - one of the patterns if for a wrap dress & the other a sweet dress with a tie detail around the neckline (photos to follow)

we got chinese take away friday night after we arrived (dropped the kids at nanna & pa on the way up) & i enjoyed a very relaxing spa bath before hitting the sack (to continue reading) :)

on saturday we went shopping! yay! saturday night we went to the farmers arms for dinner - yum!  i had steak, roast potatoes & salad (& beer) & B had crumbed flathead with chips (& beer) - "it was good" :) afterwards we saw a sign for "a day on earth" & went to investigate...

 

 

 

 

 

(rocket ship, with sunset & moon = me trying to be creative)

needless to say, we were sucked in! so sunday morning we went back to this incredible place called a day on earth - utterly gorgeous & i can't find any good photos to show you so mine will have to surfice!

 

yes, that's a sand castle :)

 

i want everything in this place! love, love, LOVE!  i should have taken more photos but (a) i didn't know if it was allowed & (b) i was so gobsmacked i couldn't concentrate properly :D

i will do some more research & update as i do - just do yourself a favour, when in daylesford - go there!

they apparently also have a shop on chapel street, prahran but i don't know what that's like in comparison with this amazing warehouse filled with wonders & the incredible paintings & sculptures of david bromley :) (i might have to investigate to do a follow up post)

oh how i wish i had about $18 000 (or more!) spare cash around about now... sigh...

this was my favourite -

it immediately made me think of my boys :)

after all this wonder, we went to the mill market & i don't think B really understood what he was getting himself into...

i started browsing & he said he was going to have a look around - when he came back i was only in the second stall!  so off he went again & came back & i wasn't much further :D

so i told him to bugger off go & get something to eat & do some shopping for his parents (thank you pressies) and he said "i'll be about an hour" to which i replied "i probably won't be finished" to which he replied *eye-ball roll* :)

when he came back i was about 3/4 of the way through so he went off again & got me another book & lunch & sat in the car to wait...  two hours later i emerged! victorious! although, if we'd had a trailer it probably would have been more victorious but anyway...

i got some wooden industrial thread spools & some battered metal numbers (photos will follow) possibly from score boards (cricket/footy) or petrol stations (petrol prices?) - not sure but i like them :)

anyway, that's about it for now - i will leave you with a photo of pink & grey galahs on the side of the road - we also saw cockatoos & a black cockatoo (i think) - pretty!

later alligators

x

a sunny day

not much crafting has been happening here lately, i am a little bit obsessed with fabric bird houses however, ever since seeing these beauties a while back - so i've been attempting one for myself ;)

otherwise, today was a beee-utiful day - sunny & a little hot (we will ignore the gale force winds) & the kiddos spent the morning outside in their "pool" - all in all, a fun day & a nice long nap which is always a bonus!

molly supervising the swimmers

she loves the boys :)

an old friend rediscovered

("my friend little snake")

anyway, i'm off to bed early tonight, i've just started reading this book (i know, i know, i'm late to the party as usual) & just feel like reading for a while again.  i have always had a love affair with books & devour used to devour them in one sitting but those days seem long gone for now i think,  i also think this will make a nice change from all the crime i love to read too :)

later alligator!

x

miss molly mermaid

introducing miss molly, my mermaid prototype

i had an idea last night when i couldn't sleep, perched on the edge of the bed while B did his starfish impersonation so when matthew had his unusually long nap today & james watched finding nemo for the gazillionth time, i maid made a mermaid :)

james has claimed her but is perfectly willing to share her with matthew much to my surprise - she & pirate william are good friends already apparently but james insists that she needs a pirate eye patch so i'll have to see what i can do about that i suppose :D

i've got big plans for more molly's, i'm not entirely happy with her & my mind is reeling with ideas but i'm procrastinating as usual & the internet is being a pain in the rear end this evening so i might just go to bed early & browse through my habitat & muji catalogues my friend andrew kindly brought back from paris for me when he was over there recently...

g'night girls 'n' boys
x

jumping jellyfish

so i ended up making the jellyfish on my own as mr james didn't seem very interested in helping (but took all the credit mind you!)

anyway, here's a little tutorial if you're interested in giving it a go yourself :)

ingredients:

plastic drink bottles, ends cut off

(you could use yogurt tubs or similar)

different types of ribbon/string/yarn

different sizes bobbly things

(i got mine in a kids craft kit from kmart)

piece of net curtain*

pair of girls opaque stockings**

shiny stickers

sticky tape (for just in case you need it)

hole punch

scissors

steps (from left - right, reading across)
(you can click on the image to make it bigger)

• cut the ends off of the bottles & punch holes around edges
• cut one leg of the stockings off & then cut into strips (you could use the other leg to make a snake hand puppet or a snake softie perhaps)
  
• remove the toe end & pull the strips so that they go thin & curly
• separate your yarn & cut your ribbons, net curtain etc
• tie the pieces through the holes you punched
• sew your bobbly bits onto a long piece of thread
• (i sewed through once, then back through again so they wouldn't slide down/off the thread)
• i stabbed a couple of holes in the top of my jellyfish to hold the string it would hang from & threaded that through, tying it off with a knot (see close up below)
  
• i then tied the thread with the bobbly bits onto this string on the inside of the bottle base (inside the jellyfish head)

• stick your shiny & sparkly sticker things all over the jellyfish head
• hang it up & you're done!
  

 

you could use any colours or pieces of ribbon/fabric scraps that you have on hand, i happen to have a son whose favourite colour is blue & i had everything else in my craft drawers

 

*  the net curtain is from when i used to make my own felt from scratch, i used to roll it up in the net curtain & a bamboo blind but that's a whole other story!

**  i got the girls opaque stockings at the salvation army shop, two pairs for 50c so i got lots in different colours for you-never-know-when

the main thing is that you use your & your kids' imaginations & have fun together :D

 

james' jellyfish

(i'm just happy he tried)

have a great weekend kids!

we're going to look at yet more houses so fingers crossed something comes up that we'll like :)

adios amigos

x