Creatively Inspired by Life

New Toy, New Space

2010-08-25T05:06:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-10T03:12:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-18T06:23:00.000-07:00

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

2010-03-29T13:58:00.000-07:00

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

2010-02-13T18:25:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-25T13:30:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2010-01-25T00:56:00.000-08:00

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.....

2009-12-04T14:48:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-11-14T01:44:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-12T13:07:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-10T23:54:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-10-30T17:54:00.000-07:00

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.

Multipurpose Super Hero Capes (how to make them sound boring when they are so not!)

2009-10-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

Super special capes are required for Miss Soon-to-be-Five's special day which I have heard will require all manner of Super Hero's to attend (shhh!) Just because I could, I picked up some cheap but awesome patterned velour and satin from Spotlight and made up these universal capes....should be able to use these as multiple costumes - super hero's, magician's, red riding hood - you name it the list is endless, let's not forget just normal play - how wonderful is it to wear something that feels soft and silky and that can twirl, fly and disguise as well :) I even took the time to give them little hand slots in case they wanted to be very elusive ;)

And just in case you are wondering, special instructions that won't self destruct will be going out in the form of mask cutouts that the superhero's can decorate themselves with a piece of magical cape ribbon that will transform any pillowcase, tablecloth or teatowel into a super hero cape!!!

Purple Butterfly Shirred Dress

2009-10-29T13:15:00.000-07:00

I made this very simple and gorgeous frilly dress and love that you don't need a pattern, just a tape measure to get the top part the correct size. I have never attempted shirring before and definately need to tweak my technique, but I could see this being the only thing I do! I just think I had the tension too tight and will muck around with that later.

All you need to do is cut up 6inch strips, or smaller if desired (I loved the smaller contrast fabric)and stitched up the lengths together (make sure you have about 6 lengths of each fabric...you may need more material for the bottom rows) , I overlocked the edges and worked out what size I needed for the top part and started shirring (approx 3 times the childs chest measurement)

With the remaining material, I stitched across one edge and had the tension set to gather it as I sewed so that cut out a lot of time. Each layer you attach the gathered side to the previous layer until you have reached the desired length, than sew up the back seam (inspired by this tutorial), hem the bottom edge and attach ribbons for the straps ensuring that you have sealed the ends of the ribbon with a lighter.

Embellish it as needed....

One very cute, simple, and very twirly dress!!!

I've been featured :)

2009-10-28T18:09:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to find that Miss to-be-five's special denim dress has been featured today on 'Ruffles & Stuff'....so cute to see her smiling aussie face on an American blog..how very international :)

I have had an enormously busy weekend with magical capes (for Miss soon-to-be-Five's superhero birthday party in a weeks time), revamping a plain lampshade and whipping up a very cute twirling dress with my first attempt at shirring....

pictures coming....

Refurbishing Kid's Sofas

2009-10-22T01:25:00.000-07:00

From this........

To this.......

Just a bit of pulling apart involved and a staple gun :)

Recycled Shirt - Gorgeous Dress :)

2009-10-18T16:42:00.000-07:00

Day two of Daddy shirt make-overs.....I attempted Miss Six dress using Dad's unusable Polo Ralph Lauren business shirt. Let's just say that when I bought this shirt at DFO I bought it for the fabric, it was so smart and almost silken in texture, so although Dad never got to wear it due to the washing incident (now I know why they were on clearance) I am so grateful to have reused it for a much loved dress for Miss Six.

As mentioned on previous post that my inspiration came from here, and lets just say that it was the easiest dresses to put together, even with having to draw up the pattern via hand from a 2 x 2 inch photo - somehow the dimensions worked.

I did have to remove the pocket from one side and you can only vaguely see that there was one there, though I would assume after the first wash you may not even notice it.

I finished it off with a complimentary belt and a couple of attempts at fabric flowers with some funky floral fabric, which is usually not my style but I really liked the colours on this pattern. Note that the top flower is covering a hint of the wash disaster that snuck into the cutting zone, but just as well it was in that spot...almost like it was planned for a gorgeous flower!

One Old Favourite - One Happy Girl :)

2009-10-18T15:26:00.000-07:00

After checking out Dana's fantastic pattern here for converting an old faithful shirt of Dad's into a funky little girls dress I was inspired to attempt refashioning myself i than went through Dad's hoard of shirts he never wears but can't give away and found a Roger David chambray shirt from many moons ago - I remember this shirt from our dating days :) just perfect for Miss Five-to-be

I thought I would attempt the pattern on the Chambrey shirt as a test, but the pattern is generally used on a pocket-less business shirt and when I attempted to remove one pocket the original prewashed colour showed......so my brain went into over drive and I envisioned a concept, cut quickly and started putting it together.....you could say it evolved as I sewed with inspiration coming every couple of stitches. At first it was going to be an overall style, than I discovered the special design on the back of the shirt and knew I needed to keep that, to tie it all in I reused the cuffs as the shoulder straps with buttons and buttonholes already prepared for me (gotta love that) than it was just a matter of prettying it up, a bit of rickrack to start and a bit of quilting fabric just waiting for this project....

As I sewed late into the night on all the beautification (that was the longest part, the main dress was incredibly simple to put together) I kept trying it on Miss Five-to-be, who struggled with the concept of a half finished dress with pins in it....."I will like it better when it is finished" - I love her honesty :) This morning as I lay in bed I was rewarded by her little voice whispering from the dining room where it hung - "I just love it, It's just what I thought it would be!!!" I love her gratitude :)

So even though it doesn't even begin to look like that pattern I originally started to do - I am so happy with the results and love that I didn't use a pattern at all....all my own creativity!!!

Tooth Fairy is finally coming - we are ready!

2009-10-18T15:07:00.000-07:00

Miss Six has finally got her first wobbly tooth :) I was a late (7yrs) tooth loser so this is definately not out of character for our family....but as I came from a family that the tooth fairy never visited, I knew something extra special was in order for my children's first encounters with the tooth fairy!

Fabrics......

2009-10-15T04:27:00.000-07:00

I got sidetracked when purchasing elastic yesterday - but check out these gorgeous colour combinations.....lot of ideas......

Black, White and Red

Salmon Pink through to Sage Greens

Funky Aqua blue combos

Mid pinks to purple tones

Ruffled Jumpsuit

2009-10-15T04:17:00.002-07:00

How cute has these ruffles turned out....I found this simple tuturial here, but altered the design slightly so that it curves around to a neat point on each side.

Such a simple gift for someone, though this time around I practised on my friend Gabby's preloved baby's clothes....what was a simple outfit is now very special :)

PS.....by the way I had an over abundance over strips of fabric from the Spring quilt, what a perfect way of using it up :)

It's all about the Tassle....

2009-10-15T04:11:00.002-07:00

All the sewing has been completed on Felicity's spring quilt, it's been a busy couple of days with hubby away and a couple of long nights while I didn't have to work the following days......almost like a holiday LOL! So the quilt is finished and I have started to work on the tassling of the border - here's a photo to show my technique...this is rather theraputic as you pull each horizontal thread out until you reach the base border sewing....

Father's Day Gift

2009-10-15T04:04:00.000-07:00

Ok so it's not crafty at all, but I really am creatively inspired by this...I decided to purchase these little Willow Tree figurines for Father's Day as true depiction of my hubby and my 2 daughters bonding with our pet cat....They are actually two figurines, Father & Daughter and Compassion (I think) depicting my youngest who is always holding / torturing our pet cat Baxter with an abundance of love :) I love the way they sit together like they were meant to be! I hope that this inspires others as much as me to always remember the sweetness of children and those bonding moments ;)

The Idea Room: Visor Beanie with Flower Crochet Hat

2009-10-12T13:49:00.000-07:00

The Idea Room: Visor Beanie with Flower Crochet Hat

Hot & Bothered :)

2009-10-12T04:29:00.002-07:00

I sewed a quick seam around the very edge of the last border before throwing the quilt into the washing machine to soften and age the raw edges. This enables you to maintain a neat edge for the tassled border.

You know your in love with the colours of a quilt when you can sit there and watch it evolve, spinning in the washing machine, and I'm grateful it survived the ultimate test for any form of sewing.....the dryer test - yes all seams held and in place and when you opened the dryer the most amazing quilt greeted you....check out those gorgeous fluffy edges!

Hot & Bothered :)

2009-10-12T04:29:00.000-07:00

And now for the tassled edge.....

Sweet and Innocent.....

2009-10-12T04:22:00.001-07:00

I have finally got the borders attached, and can start to see it coming to it's finale...last border still to come though I needed to wash it first as the border that will be tassled works better unscathed...looking all sweet and innocent at this point :P

Personal Touch........almost there :)

2009-10-11T13:57:00.000-07:00

Another little sneak peak......I'm almost there - I have finished the machine quilting on the last panel of borders, including Felicity's name for her personal quilt...nice to know it's always going to be there :) I am hoping to have it completed today!

Patternless wool projects....somehow they worked :)

2009-10-10T18:01:00.003-07:00

I knitted this simple little shrug-shawl for the girls by knitting a large rectangle, folding it over and joining it part way up the front, finishing off the edge with tassles and rolling the collar down and sewing it into place, and adding a button for decoration.....very cute!

I crocheted this little summer jacket finished off with a very frilly, lacey edge around the collar and sleeves, including ties at the front for something a little different.

This is my latest crocheted bolero, using a full shell pattern that bubbled out with each row. I finished it off with simple chain edge. This pattern style used a lot of wool unfortunately but looks amazing. Luckily I was able to find some more balls of wool two years after finding the first batch :)

Gorgeous Bag patterns by Tiffany

2009-10-02T03:30:00.000-07:00

Check out this page for the most gorgeous bags...loving the pink and chocolate and the aqua....my cup of tea - and I normally don't like cloth bags :)

http://http://makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-sponsor-and-giveawayare-you-ready.html

Sept School Holiday Project....funky girly diaries

2009-09-30T05:04:00.000-07:00

The girls made these amazing personal diaries today as their craft project for the school holidays, obviously with help from mum. Started with a simple little book from BigW and some various scraps of paper which they eagerly covered the book with...and than let them decorate the front via raiding my scrapbooking supplies, finished off with a few ribbons.....way too cute :) psst...they are that special they have made it to the 'special secret drawers'!!!

shhhh....sneak peak at Spring Raggy Quilt

2009-09-30T04:58:00.000-07:00

I have machine quilted these beautiful funky flowers onto each square...

This is the quilt for my youngest daughter, based on gorgeous glittery flower fabric which I was able to bring out the most beautiful bright colours with. I am very close to being finished so watch this space....

The best floppy sunhat - reversible!

2009-09-30T04:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I had an idea.....
I sat down one morning and drew up a pattern from a material hat that was a little too small and within an hour I had this amazing hat that as I finished it off I discovered that I had made a fully reversible hat...gotta love that fluke!
I just need to tweak a couple of things for the next one but feel I'm on a winner here - the kids love it and it has an amazing style to it - and very protective. I have made it out of 100% prewashed fabric so NO shrinking :)
So now I am in the process of colour combo's and different sizes - watch this space!

Fairy Quilt

2009-09-30T04:24:00.000-07:00

This is the quilt I have just finished for my older daughter. One request - purple and a whole range of sparkly fairy fabric...gorgeous! Threw in a bit of lime green and voila a bright cheery quilt perfect for the winter weather.

I practised free machine quilting on the borders and incorporated my daughters name in amongst the daisy chain.

I finished the quilt off with a hand tassled border which I am so in love with!

Patient Painting

2009-09-30T04:18:00.000-07:00

These are my first attempts at painting....I was always over shadowed by some amazingly talented family members and so I never thought I could paint....being a mother taught me the patience I needed to pull a painting off ;)

Goldilocks & The Three Bears - Kids Theatre

2009-09-30T04:11:00.000-07:00

Winter school holiday project inspired by a fantastic book called "The Ultimate Kids Craft Book"...has so many cool amazing things to make and most of the material required is found within your home...this theatre was made out of a large shoe box. The kids just love acting out their own little play - beautiful to watch :)

Log Cabin Cot Quilt

2009-09-30T04:07:00.000-07:00

2009-09-30T03:54:00.000-07:00

My cute little bumble bee...

This is one of my favourites...it is actually a tapestry but used various embroidery techniques within the flowers. Just so bright and cheery :)

I cross stitched this onto a thick quilting material with an embossed diamond pattern weaved into the fabric which looks amazing as a border. I used the back of the material as the picture base as it also had a raw linen style weave which enabled me to cross-stitch evenly.

Van Gogh Iris - Cross-stitch

2009-09-30T03:47:00.000-07:00

Waves at T....do you remember this cross stitch in it's transitioning stage??? Well I finally finished it and love it :) It hangs proudly on our bedroom wall...used a bit of artistic flavour to it and changed some colour tones...just because ;) this was a preprinted tapestry which I cross-stitched using embroidery cotton. I had to painstakingly re-poke each hole through the paint - but it was worth it!

The Begining....

2009-09-30T03:35:00.000-07:00

These are the quilts that started it all - and started as an obsession...My first quilt took me 3 days to sew up and 6 weeks to handquilt...this was obviously BC! Absolutely loved the Debbie Mumm fabrics out at that point and the kids adore them to this day :)

2009-09-29T04:08:00.000-07:00

Rose Pictorial Quilt

2009-09-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

This quilt was made for my mother as an avid rose lover. Each of the 1120, 1 inch squares were painstakingly placed in their correct position. There are 7 shades of pink and 10 shades of green. I handquilted as I usually do and incorporated stippling around the rose fabric border.

Cathedral Windows

2009-09-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

I desperatetly wanted to learn how to do cathedral windows and so I created this wall hanging. Unfortunately times change and I no longer have mediteranean influences in my home but have thought that I might remove the inserted applique and reuse the cathedral windows on something else instead of it sitting in my cupboard.

Wedding Gift for a Dear Friend

2009-09-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

This quilt pushed many boundaries for me as I made it up from the smallest little photo in a quilting book, learnt how to work with triangles and luckily it all came together :)

Nephew's Nursery

2009-09-27T16:27:00.000-07:00

Made this quilt up for my sister when she was pregnant with her first child. She chose the fabrics to be both boy & girl...if you look really closely you will see the red has cute little cars printed on it.

When we found out a nephew was expected I made this wall hanging to tie the quilt in with her nursery colours...

Country Friends

2009-09-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

Appliqued this wall-hanging for a gorgeous friend as a xmas present many moons ago.

Poppy's in France - X-Stitch

2009-09-27T16:23:00.000-07:00

Poppy's in France - x-stitched for my sister's engagement present

BC Projects - Little Boys Outfits

2009-09-27T15:17:00.000-07:00

These little outfits were made for my 15mth old nephew. They were surprisingly simple to make and oh so cute on. Somewhere around here I might have a photo of the kids in them.....
Found it!!! - How cute are these kids :)

Very smart short sleeve shirt to complete the set :)

Very cute toddler pants with belt hooks and quick pull apart clasps in the legs for all those unpleasant duties. I believe I even found a cute little tan belt for this ensemble!

Long sleeve check shirt - believe it was of a flannel material for those warmer days. It's been many years since I made this so the brain is struggling. Note the extra button on the pocket to finish it off!

BC Projects - Little Girl Dresses

2009-09-27T15:02:00.000-07:00

I have discovered some pre-digital photos in an album and thought I would add these projects as a reflection of where I started....most of these have been gifted so it is nice to have an image to jog the memories :)

This gorgeous velvet dress was made for a little friend. Note the little matching headband....very cute :)

This Green and white dress was made for my 2yr old neice. I made the pattern up and fell in love with the gorgeous green material with the cutest little white daisies embossed onto pale green and white check. I have finished it off with a row of small daisy lace below the bodice. I am sorry the photo is not clear enough. It still amazes me that this dress has been through 3 little girls and my 4yr old is still wearing it and loving it - and that is all that matters!

Summer Dresses

2009-09-26T21:03:00.000-07:00

Designed and created these simple dresses for the girls perfect for swirling around and feeling pretty in :) Made these up in simple xmas material. Hubby was away one night and the girls and myself were having a sleepover in the loungeroom. The girls fell asleep before I started and awoke the next morning with the dresses hanging ready to be worn......very happy girls!

Xmas stockings with a difference....

2009-09-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

Chook's, Fizz's xmas stockings - and we couldn't miss out dad! Had the idea to ask him to pick out a Harley Davidson iron on patch of his choice while out riding one day, when he asked why I said that I wanted to make him a xmas stocking, he actually came home with one which surprised me and insisted that it be in Harley colours....on completion of his stocking the thought came to me to ask him if he had ever had a stocking and the answer was "No"....find it really sweet that even the blokiest of blokes need to be nurtured sometimes with handmade things made with love ;) (and it also teaches the children that xmas is not just for the kids - Santa gives stuff to adults too)

~Xmas Papercrafts with the Kids ~

2009-09-26T20:26:00.000-07:00

I made these fantastic paper snowflakes last xmas with the kids using double sided scrap paper. They looked absolutely amazing hanging from both corners of the archway into the lounge and used to spin around with the breezes. Very inexpensive xmas decoration that can be updated each year as the in-colours change.(pattern DEC08 Better Homes & Gardens)

Olde World Santa

2009-09-26T20:20:00.000-07:00

Created BC (before children) when I had a little more time on my hands...

Mosaic Tabletop

2009-09-26T17:50:00.001-07:00

Created nearly 2 years ago out of friends and family's old cast off tiles - inspired by Earth & water elements. If you look closely you will see the oceans, rivers, mountains and natural gemstones depicted. Just waiting on Hubby to create the legs and base for it so that we can start using it as it was designed..... This was so soothing to design and make!! Smashing tiles is great for those stressful days :)