lucky

Yay!!

I won a blog competition over at one of my favourite blogs.... habitual!

The prize is this gorgeous sundress that is a must in any little girls wardrobe.


Amy has a fantastic blog that is always such a delight to read. There you will also find the pattern for this beautiful sundress and also a pattern for making a gorgeous kimono top too.

I cant wait for it to arrive and to try it on- Brooklyn that is!

hokey's soy, choc & walnut vegan cookies- modified

I found this yummy recipe for gluten and dairy free cookies over at hokey's.
After peering in the pantry and not having all of the ingredients, some modifications had to be made. I really needed a chocky fix right there and then!


Ingredients:
3/4 cup Soy flour (I used 3/4 gluten free plain flour. FG Roberts brand)
1/2tsp baking soda
1/3 cup cocoa
1/4tsp salt
1/4 cup Brown sugar ( I didn't have enough raw sugar so I swapped the sugar quantities around. 1/2 c brown and 1/4 c raw)
1/2 cup Raw sugar
1/3 cup veg oil
1/3 cup soy milk
1Tbs Vanilla
1 cup rough chopped walnuts

Mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. mix in soy milk, sugar, oil and vanilla. Fold in walnuts.

(warning: fight the temptation to taste the uncooked mixture, raw soy flour is yuck)

Bake in 160 degree oven for 15-20 mins. Makes around 22 cookies.


When cooking, the mixture doesn't spread. So pile little tablespoon sized blobs on the tray.

They turned out to be very tasty little treats that cured my chocky fix.

a quick date

An eye mask whipped up in a spare 10 minutes I found somewhere in my day yesterday.


Not proud of the job. Very rushed. But at least my sewing machine got a little bit of (and long overdue) lovin'.

on my desk

Having been crook for the past week and a bit, not much creative work is happening on my desk.

I've been taking it pretty easy.

The desk is relatively bare.

There's some fabric I picked up in Mansfield to be used on.... um...don't know what yet.

A shirt pattern I'll make for Brooklyn- when I have some time.

The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail. Great Book- tough read.

And of course, the cuppa, with some scrummy gluten and dairy free chocky slice.

Head here to see who else is playing 'on my desk...'

tutorial tuesday

Bags, bags and more bags.

That's the theme for this week.

There are soooo many bag tutorials in the land of blog. Here's just a handful of them.


Sewing Pouch/ Bag- Mackville Road
This looks like a great bag for putting all you sewing do-dads in when traveling.



Linen Tote- Limon Verde
I have made this one before. A basic square tote bag with cute embroidery detail.




Shoulder Bag- U-handbag
One for my to do list. I just love this bag! There are also many other bag tutorials on this blog too.



Booty Bag- My Longest Year
Now this has to be one of the easiest bag tutorials getting around. If you have an old pair of pants that are just never going to be worn again, give this tute a go.



Bias Tape Bag- Belle Epoque
I love this tutorial. It's so quick and easy. And if you have your own bias tape maker, even better

Stay tuned for more tutorials next week.

this is...

... my favourite children's book.

Snugglepot & Cuddlepie.

Always has been and I think always will be.

Hopefully my daughter will love it as much as I did.



and this book is a favourite too.

Thanks to pottymouthmama for this weeks 'this is' theme.

tutorial tuesday

for the littlies.

This week I've listed six simple tutorials to create something adorable for your smallest member of the family.


Cloth Baby Shoes- Stardust Shoes
These shoes are super easy to make and make great gifts for those friends having new bubs. Leni and Rose makes these shoes in some stunning colours. Head over here to see her lovely shoes.



Girls Twirly Skirt- House on Hill Road
This skirt is just adorable, and looks so easy to make. Another on my to do list.



Kimono Wrap Top- Habitual
I have been wanting to make this top for ages. I just haven't found the right fabric yet.



Easiest Baby Hat- Radical Cross Stitch
Seriously- the easiest hat-ever!



Baby Tag Blanket- Craft Blog
I have made this blanket a couple of times. But instead of using chenille or baby fleece on the back, I use a satin ( or similar) material. I find babies love the feel of satin between their fingers.



Umbrella Stroller Blanket- Joy Bucket
What a great idea! No more cold knees! I'll be making this one too.


See you next Tuesday for more tutorials.

this is...

... how I like to spend my weekend.

This is not normally how I spend my weekend, but last weekend we headed off to Mt Bulla for some R&R without the 'littlies'.

We spent some time trying to learn how to snowboard, with not much success, and battled with some terrible conditions.

Photo credit: Travis Meredith

And then decided to spoil ourselves by meandering our way up to the King River Valley and stopping in to a few wineries for a couple of beverages, and to enjoy the views.


Oh- If every weekend could be this good.....

break

Lovely readers,

I am off on holiday for a couple of days, so you wont see anything posted from me till i get back on Monday.

Have a fabulous week in the 'land of blog'. :)

tutorial tuesday

I just LOVE tutorials!

My bookmarks list is just sooo huge with lots of craftilious tutorials I happen to stumble upon daily.

So why not share them around.
Every Tuesday, I'll post some of my favourite finds of the week.


Reversible Shoulder Bag- Lula Louise
I have made this bag many times. It's super quick and easy, and can fit tons of stuff in it!



Notebook Cover- Craft Blog
Isn't this just divine! It would make a great gift.


Lined Apron- Lululollylegs
Aprons for big people and little people.


Wristlet- Javajem
These look so cute too. Again handy little gifts. Maybe Christmas presents *hmmm*


Cold Pressed Soap- Birch Bark
This is something I have always wanted to try.


Pop back in next Tuesday for some more fabulous tutorials.

this is...

... a work in progress.

There is always something on the go on my desk. Correction- 'many things' on the go.
And it is so easy to get distracted by all of the fabulous tutorials in the land of blog, that one tends to forget how many projects are on the go already.

This skirt was started in about *now let me think* maybe May. As any mum will know, we always put ourselves last. And as this skirt is for me, creating items for the littlest member of our house tend to take priority.
And this is my new vege garden. I have been harping forever about getting a vege patch, and now that I"ve got one, the weather is too miserable to be gardening. Oh- how I long for some sunny weather!


Thanks to Debbie at Kept in a Jar for this weeks theme. Pop over to Angela at Three Buttons to see who else is playing 'this is...'.

dream studio

I currently don't have a studio, but long for the day when I do finally get my own space to create.

In the meantime, I drool over some of these divine studio spaces.



1. Stash corner, 2. The Posie studio, repainted and reorganized at last!, 3. A Place to Sew, 4. Studio 2, 5. Studio cleaning, 6. studio, 7. My new craft studio, 8. above my desk, 9. craft room 9.07, 10. studio, 11. my little studio, 12. anthropologie craft room window display 2

square bib tutorial

My first tutorial. Let me know how I go.

You will need:

pattern
towelling
126 cm bias tape/binding
13 cm twill tape
1 press stud kit
30 cm ribbing
matching thread
and your usual sewing supplies & machine

• Cut out the pattern.

• When it comes to cutting out the hole for the neck, I use as cup that is about 7cm across and trace around it. (much easier than trying to draw a circle).

• Pin bias tape/binding around all edge of the bib, except for the hole for the neck. Trim off any excess. Sew into place.
• 
  
  

• Pin ribbing around neck hole and sew into place.

• Fold twill tape almost in half, and tuck in all edges as shown. (This is where my machine played up, so sorry no photos of any more sewing from here). Sew around edge of twill tape.

• Attach one side of the press stud onto end of twill tape.

• Sew twill tape into desired position on bib.

• Mark on bib where the opposite press stud is to go. Attach onto bib.

My model was sleeping, so teddy had to do the finished demo.


TaDa. Bib is complete. Now how easy was that!

colour change

What do you think?

Does it work?

Hmmm, I'm not too sure......

this is...

... my trade secret.

My bias tape maker. I don't know how I would ever live without it now.

Photo credit: by IamSusie

Thanks to Amelia at bollewangenhaptoet for choosing this weeks this is theme.

candy stripe pants

After making the flannel flower dress, enough material was left over to make another creation.

So after much deliberation, pants it was.

Front

Back

The material is a lovely light-weight denim, and I teamed it up with some fun candy stripe fabric that I had floating around the place. They are a nice and baggy fit which is good for little people who are become extremely active.
And so quick and easy to make too. No more than 2 hours, I'd say. So instead of sitting in front of the telly at night, whip up a cute pair of pants!