New Toy, New Space

These last couple of weeks have treated this little munchkin well. I have finally scored my own little laptop to have a bit of fun with (and work, but we all know that comes after play for those creative ones out there) Only problem with new toys is they don't seem to have all the programs that you become comfortable with.....hence i have not been able to upload my new photos as the SD card reader is NOT reading the photos that I need to upload :(

I have finally taken photos of my wonderful craft space....the girls and myself call it the Craft Cave as it is so much more creative than 'the back shed' and we have to walk down cute little winding stairs to get to it and it feels like your walking to another little universe down there in amongst the flowers.

The Craft Cave has one of those amazing vibes that oozes relax, you seem to forget that it's used to be our workshed where welding and mess prevailed. The walls are fully lined and I share it with a pool table which now has a 'girly' cover on it to fit in with my colour scheme but I have found that the pool table is ideal for cutting material on and working on large projects without laying it them on the floor. The old sofas have been revamped with aqua and coffee coloured throws and pillows and my children love to sit in there doing their homework or little craft projects.

I've invested in some cute cubicle style shelving - enough to have all my craft items in a systematic order that enables me to actually put my hands on anything that i need within seconds, which has been delightful over the last couple of days.

I have also placed an old flannel back tablecloth hung up over one of the garage doors (good disguise technique) which is now my quilt design board and I'm in love! At the moment I have an art deco design up, it's been there for nearly a week and hasn't fallen off yet - over this time frame I have been able to calmly sew it together in the afternoons with my children crafting around me without the fear of losing the design or having little feet walking over it or needing a super clean floor to work from - it's been rather refreshing and I don't have to pack it up.

The other little bonus of working within a previous workshop is that my darling husband being an electrician he has installed quite a few 15A hanging powerpoints so even with my table being placed in the middle of the room I have a powerpoint hanging directly over where my sewing machine sits - and this makes this little munchkin feel like she's finally found her happy place - this shed was meant for a craft room :)

When I went through our house finding all my craft hidey holes (I had craft projects in every corner of the house) I discovered lots of little bits and pieces of craft items for the kids and was a bit iffy about having these 'tacky' items in my space - but we discovered a gorgeous old cane basket that fitted all the little fluffy baubles, plastic string, paddle pops, glitter, stitching activities and the odd french knitting tool....the girls know that they are allowed to access anything in the basket on the provision that they pack it up afterwards and it is so exciting for them to have their own little special basket that they leave mum's goodies for mum :D

Will post photos as soon as I can get them uploaded to my computer.

A DAY OF SEWING & INSPIRATION

Today I had the pleasure of a full day patchworking course learning to sew curves using the drunkards path template. It was at a beautiful quilting shop that is run from a residence that has been turned into a B&B quilting retreat so just being within the grounds was peaceful enough let alone in a room full of people happy to be there. I've chosen material in my favourite colours though the normal colour tones were floral I have used teal, coffee and chocolate tones with geometric patterns so when i started playing around with patterns it's looking very art deco. Will post photos soon.

I've also been inspired to take over the back shed and create my own design craft area within the large shed. It's already been lined but just has the pool table in and some old sofa's so I have thrown a couple of throw rugs and cushions around to revamp and brighten the place and will start to but some shelving in soon so that all my craft stuff can be stored there. The clever part will be creating a 'wall' of shelving (cheap white shelving from discount shop that I'm in love with for it's clean lines and affordable price) that will hide basic household storage behind it.

In the meantime we have had our first successful market with another one coming up the end of this month I have my hands full.

Keeping Busy....Markets soon

Wow, things in full swing here. Belisse Designs has been developing over the last couple of months (in amongst looking after munchkins both big and small) We have been flat out sourcing supplies and creating products to sell at our first market in 6 weeks, but this time round we are very focused on ironing out some background issues instead of flying by the seat of our pants as we normally do. Feels good to be organised and knowing that all this hardwork will definately pay off for us. We have already had a bit of interest in our products with this week bringing some money back into our pockets with our first informal sales....the reaction has been phenomenal!

Just about ready to take a heap of photos.....won't be too long and you get to see what we have sourced.


Until then, take care

Cute Felt Handbags & Hairclips

I invested in some felt for some little hairclip projects and I think I'm in love... how easy is it to use this stuff!!!








The hairclips were nice and easy, using fun little flower templates combinations I have at home and using my button supplies up :)





The handbag design was inspired by an adorable little handbag my children got given, and with felt I just had to use simple sewing stitches to put it together...mind you it still took me 2hrs to handstitch and finish so I might have to look at an alternative to cut the time factor down....and so many more ideas for colour combinations and finishes! btw I actually took photos of all the steps for my own use but I might just be able to do a tutorial later ;)

Early Bird... or... A Little Late

Well I might be a little late for last xmas or I could be efficiently early for xmas this year :) This is part of my dedication to completing jobs that I have started, no matter what season it is...well almost complete anyway, just need to add a fabric border, padding and framed. At least I now have 10months to get that part done LOL

On completion of the bigger xstitch last night I started a little stitchery and thought I might as well get into the spirit at the same time and actually completed it within a couple of hours....what a pleasant change for me!



ps...in love with this hand dyed fabric, pale lilac infused with glitter...one more little piece left for another project..mmm what will it be?

Unfinished Projects

Kid's Door Hangers.....one down, one to go. The perfectionist in me won't let the girls do it by themselves...not this time anyway ;)



The start of Miss 6.5 new crocheted jumper...thought I would start it BEFORE winter this time ;)

I remembered my password!!!

Life hasn't been easy on this crafter for quite a while now, instead of starting AND completing jobs in one day I have fallen into 'a little bit of everything' category....and finalising nothing! LOL

I haven't even fully finished the xmas placemats & x-stitch I was madly working on...when the roast is crackling you sort of give up putting the pressure back on ;)




I have relocated my craft room yet again...and it is now sharing an A/C'd room with my hubby's study - nice to know that all the little storage concepts makes it very easy to relocate...and I realised this morning that my craft room has touched every single room in the house! (bar the parent's retreat, though the craft itself has been known to move in for the odd night relaxing on the old bed watching a couple of DVD's - my version of multi-tasking) So I guess my family have to get used to my nomadic workspace....I truly just like sharing it around.

But as a mother foremost, it's nice to know my children are going to school with delightful new library bags...completed in 1hr, ironed on decals...and No, I'm not sharing these basics! But the children think they are perfect, and that is all that matters!!!!!

I am tied to fulltime work for the next 6 weeks as I train a couple of delightful ladies to take over my jobroles and allow me to craft to my heart's content ;)

Still crafting.....

No I haven't dropped off the face of the world, but I have been very caught up in business affairs this last couple of weeks....

In saying that I have also got a few projects happening to keep my sanity but haven't quite finished everything yet

I have been making some gorgeous baby change mats, started a xmas xstitch which I attack while waiting in the car for school pickup. I have also started a very cute verigated pink crocheted jumper for Miss Six for when I need something I don't have to think too hard to work on ;)

This week I have also started working on some very cute xmas placemats, a full set of eight, nearly completed!

Unfortunately at the moment my camera battery is flat and I can't seem to find the charger and so the photos will have to wait for the next post ;)

Fashion Parade in Feb...

A friend of mine who loves what I've been creating with the girls clothes, both new and refashioned, has put me forward for a fashion parade for a local show for the Childrens section....I am both honoured, but very nervous now as I have to produce enough clothes between now and then to pick the best ones to put on show, I will also have a market stall as well - the markets was something I was working towards, but now I guess I have a date to get started towards and what a way to promote my products :) So I guess I'm going to be very busy now and have to start putting the ideas down into fabric!

Theatre Feature

I was thrilled and honoured that Somewhat Simple wanted to feature our little Goldilocks Theatre holiday project today on her "Things I Love Thursday" with all those amazingly talented people...

Truth be told that it was the easiest project on my behalf as I cut the doors out and let my 6yr old paint the background scene and when the kids went to Grandma's for a holiday they finished off the project with Grandma and Aunty Mel. I think Aunty Mel really loved cutting out and creating all those lovely pieces of furniture and bowls of porridge, she even made gorgeous little paper pillows :)

The kids have had endless hours of fun putting on shows for us and visitors with such a simple little story, and for the little ones, this is a great way for them to get their brains ticking as they try to remember and recreate the story!

Thankyou Somewhat Simple for showcasing our little family project!

1 x Fancy Dress, 1/2 hour and a Roll of Ribbon

My latest challenge was to convert one of my dresses
(loved it but the colours just didn't work for me) into a cute little dress for Miss Six.

I cut off the top to the shirring waistline, pulled in the back seam allowance to fit Miss Six and added ribbon shoulder straps. I had been a little liberal
with the sizing so that she will get many years out of it, but it gapped a bit at the back so I improvised and put in extra straps across the back which makes it sit flat on her back with plenty of movement for her. I also left an inch of ribbon on each strap to enable expansion later on.



I finished it off with a ribbon around the waist and some simple camilla inspired flowers cut out of the bodice section and finished off with a couple of peals.

I was lucky enough to discover this red lampshade on the clearance trolley for $3, normally I wouldn't go for red at all but I needed a new lampshade for the girls and as luck would have it I have a quilt in the processes of being created that will have lady bugs on it (at some point)
I was struggling with how to make it special and decided on stamping it with my roller stamp with navy ink to soften the brightness of the red (these photos don't do it justice as it is Tomato red)I than glued the yellow gathered ribbon around the bottom and rick rack top and bottom


I spent so much time trying to decide on how to decorate it with, I had buttons and ribbons in so many colours, but I am happy with the result and know it will look amazing with the new quilt.