Happy Anniversary... well kind of...

The 'kind of' applies to the debate of whether or not it should be still considered an anniversary. The 'happy' definitely applies! On Thursday it was 12 years since my husband and I started dating. A dear friend of mine claims that once you are married, the 'getting together' date goes out the window - but I say 12 years is an achievement!

Usually we verbally acknowledge this date, and maybe have a nice dinner at home. This time we went out for a lovely dinner at a local Italian restaurant, with Miss Emily in hand. Sadly, no glass of wine for me, and my handbag was replaced with a bag filled with blocks, puzzles and a dolly for Emily. After a lovely dinner, we put Emily to bed and settled in to watch a movie together... however I passed out about 1/2 an hour in. That's what happens when you have a 19 month old, and are 23 weeks pregnant  :)  My how times have changed!

Some of our bigger milestones were celebrated in style. For the 5 year mark, we both took a week off work and jumped in the car with no destination in mind. At each major turn, we flipped a coin to decide which direction to take! It was one of the best holidays we have ever had. We went to places we never even knew about! And then for 10 years we went to Montreal & Toronto (living in California at the time). This was also our 'babymoon'  :-)

Did we ever imagine 12 years ago that we would be here? No way! We could have only dreamed about it!

Sunshine and Happy Days....

Pic uploaded from Nanagyei on Flickr

Well I just feel SO lucky! I have attended two Sunny Mummy events in the past week! If you are a mummy, please visit Stacey's website, check out her blog and definitely the facebook page (if facebook's your thing)! Plus there is a bunch of tool and info on the main site.

But what is it? It's all about 'enjoying' not 'enduring' motherhood! Realising that you can't be the perfect everything to everyone, and especially if you aren't taking care of yourself first! It's a very supportive and uplifting community that I am finding is not only online, but in person also! It's recently been dubbed the Sunny Mummy Sisterhood! I love it  :)

So the first event was the Buffet of Life breakfast at Darling Harbour on Saturday morning. I decided to make the most of my 'child free time' and caught the train into the city. And what do I do on this train... I read a book! A Sophie Kinsella book! Pure luxury...  So what was the breakfast about? Well all the things I mentioned above. Stacey spoke of the beginning of Sunny Mummy (read her blog for more info... I hadn't planned on crying), and spoke of her experience, and said so many things that really hit home. There was also a guest speaker Joanne Felder who spoke of her experiences which lead to her new book (soon to be released) 'When hungry, Eat'. She talked to the similarities between food/eating and life, and our tendency to over stuff our selves. Very funny lady! I was also very fortunate to have been sitting at the table that 'won everything'! I won a Health & Well-Being Journal as well as getting one of the jam packed goodie bags! You can check out Steph's Blog over at MooBear Designs who also attended, and got some WONDERFUL pics!  Sadly I forgot my camera. A new friend, Leanne has also blogged about the event here.

And this morning I attended the Mums, Dads and Bubs club at Castle Hill RSL. It was a wonderful morning out, hearing from Stacey about the stages of Motherhood, and getting to chat to other lovely Mums! (No dad's today) There were so many times that Stacey would say something, and I wished we could pause and break into groups to discuss. Although this would have made for a very long day  :-)

Has my life changed in the past week? Yes! How can I tell? Well I have taken two bubble baths for the first time in a long time, and I have deleted my series recording of Home & Away  :-)

Pic uploaded from Or Hiltch on Flikr

Do yourself a favour and put a ray of sunshine in your life today!
xo

New product - Mini Security Blankets with Ribbon Loops!

Well what a busy month it has been! I have been working on some new ideas, one of which is ready to be released today! In other news, my Nan has taken ill, which has resulted in some travel away from home, and also a small crash with my car (everyone is okay - but annoying all the same!), my daughter has been keeping me very busy, and the new bub is growing each and every day!

So here is my new product: The Mini Security Blanket with Ribbon Loops! I decided that if a baby needs a blanket, it should have an actual blanket. This is more of something small enough for a baby to play with: explore the patterned fabric, enjoy the sensation of the soft minky backing and develop their dexterity by playing with the securely sewn (4 times!) Ribbon Loops! I have a bunch of different patterns and colours available, but I must say that I love the Owls, and so does my Daughter!

Here is a pic of my Daugher Emily and I out for brunch on Mother's Day. Tell me... who else has been caught by the flat battery in the camera! Oh well, at least we got one shot  :-)  And who would have thought that later that day Emily would take her first steps! And then just half an hour later would be up to 10?? She was definately a little later in the walking department, but she seems to have picked it up so fast!

And what better way to end this post than by sharing a pic of our new bub, due at the end of Sept! We had a scan a few days ago, and I swear I have started to grow a new heart for all the love I have for this bub already!  xo

BTW - Just wondering, would anyone be interested in a tutorial on the new product?

Bedtime Story Pajamas!

I just made my daughter Emily the cutest pair of PJ's! I used an Oliver + S Pattern called... yes, Bedtime Story Pajamas. I used the Cypress Paisley in Mint flannel from the Amy Butler Love range for the main fabric, and also used a Michael Miller rich Pink Dot fabric for the trim. It always takes me a little while to work out new patterns, but this one was actually quite easy.

There are a few things that I learned along the way though:
1) If you use a directional fabric... make sure you really think about it! I only considered it as much as making sure it went up and down. What this resulted in though, was one sleeve where the direction of the fabric is up, and one where it goes down! Also the front and back of the top are opposite. They still look really cute, but definitely a lesson learned for next time.
2) The annoying little things are usually worth it! I was so frustrated with the time and fiddling involved in making the ties for the top, but they look beautiful! The pattern does suggest you can use premade bias tape, but it really does look perfect when it matches the trim.
3) I always forget this, but when sewing something really narrow (AKA the ties!!) it can be hard in the beginning for the feed dogs to catch the fabric and move it through. It is so much simpler (and gives a much better finished look) when you start an inch of two in and work your way to the edge, and then go back to your starting point and go the other way! For me this way is SO much easier. Must remember for next time!!!
4) And I am not sure about this one yet, but the pattern calls for a tie on the inside of the top, and the outside, which obviously is needed to keep the top sitting correctly. I am just wondering how comfortable the tie on the inside is if your little one is sleeping on their side. Might try to think of a less bulky option, or then again, maybe it's just fine.

Have to say, I LOVE the Oliver + S patterns. They are really great modern patterns for young ones. And... they have a difficulty rating on them, so it means I know which ones to go for!! BTW - I did plan on taking a pic of the PJ's by themselves, but they are all covered in Vegemite now!

On a side note, our playgroup went on an excursion last week to the Featherdale Wildlife Park in Doonside, NSW. It was fantastic!! So great to get so close to the animals. By far my favorite part was watching Emily feed the kangaroos leaves  :)  She loved it! Moments like these are priceless. Surprisingly... she was less sure about the sleeping Koala!

I'd like you to meet a friend of mine...

So there's a new rule in our house: no TV from 9am - 5pm! I came up with this brilliant solution for both myself, and my 17 month old daughter. It's actually working out fantastically as we have a new routine: take it easy having breakfast and catch up on news until 9am, then shower, morning tea, and then get out and do something for the day. Today it was going on a new walk to explore our local area, and going to bunnings to buy a hedge trimmer! Then comes lunch, and when I am lucky a 3 hour nap (AKA sew time)! After that it's pure playtime until 5pm, when on comes ABC2 and mummy can get everyones dinner, and we settle in as a family for the evening. Anyway, I digress...

This morning at 8am I had a real urge to finish off a bucket hat that I've been working on, so I put on a show for Emily (seeing as it's in the allowable hours) and headed downstairs. When I got there, I took a moment to appreciate my space!

No longer am I crammed in a corner of the dining room, but I really have my own space. I have my OWN table to spread out whatever projects I wish, but I also have a (here comes my friend...) a SewEzi table! This thing is truelly amazing. In the interest of full discloure, my in-laws (Just Patchwork) are the Australian distributors for this item, however I really do think it's a great poduct. It's a small table just for your machine. You get a template that matches your machine so it slots in perfectly, and then you have a greater flat surface to sew on. Plus it's seperate from your other piles on your regular table, so you don't have to be moving your machine constantly (or was that just me... dinner time, when visitors were over..)

The other thing I love is when I go to visit my parents, if it's going to be for a while, I can take my machine & table with me. It's so portable. I know this is turning into a blatent product plug, but this table has made my sewing life SO much easier. If you sew all the time, maybe it's worth looking at?? Anyway here's the link for those that are interested.

In other breaking news... Mothers all around the world have been advised to not leave 17 month old little girls unsupervised with crayons  :)

It's hard to tell from the pic where this lovely artwork took place, but it's one of the legs from my beautiful table in the top picture!

A special quilt for an amazing girl...

I thought I would share with you all my favorite gift that I have made for someone... although this post is about 6 months late! It's a quilt that I made for my daughter for her first birthday: it's made from her clothes (and one bedsheet) from her first year of life. I got the inspiration from this post one of my favorite blogs; Wee Wonderfuls.

I hadn't made a quilt for Emily yet, and wanted it to be something special. It was a diffficult decision to cut up my little girl's favorite, and most special outfits from events like coming home outfits, weddings etc. I am not sure that all around me agreed with my choice seeing as we will be having more children, however my theory is that now those clothes and memories will be caputred forever.

The design process took me a while, because that just comes hard for me. I wanted something simple though because I was going to be working with all different kinds of fabrics (and some were super stretchy), so squares worked a treat! I also wanted to keep the background fabric as simple as possible so that the clothes could be the star of the show  :) I missed this in the pics, but I backed the quilt with hot pink oh so soft dot fabric. I also added a large heart in the center out of one of her bedsheets, and some ducks from her first pair of jeans, and another special pair of pants.

A lady on my facebook fanpage said that the gifts that she likes making the most are those that are used, loved and enjoyed. I have to say that I totally agree. For now, Emily's quilt is mainly used for snuggling under with her mumma when she happens to wake in the middle of the night  xo

Mathilda's Market - Canberra!

Well... it's been a long time to say the least! I have been super busy gearing up for the Mathilda's Market, completing my first wholesale order, and also working with Snugglebug to create some beautiful bucket hats in their French Broderie Anglaise.... along with being a mum, a wife, and trying to find a little time for myself!

So I completed my first Mathilda's Market in Canberra on the weekend, and what a Market it was! There were almost 50 stalls there, each one just as amazing as the next. I was certainly in fine company  :)

I hope you enjoy these pics of my stand, and if anyone who was at Mathilda's is reading this.... HI!!!

BTW - We are about to jet off to San Francisco tomorrow, so it may be a little while before I blog again. However, when I return I shall be well rested (hopefully), and ready to go with some new ideas!!