Lazy but productive!

We had a nice lazy Saturday morning.

I made a chocolate cake with my helper.



She had the best job...



mmmm yummy!



Lucinda was as usual feeling crafty and had been asking to do an applique canvas.



She drew up a design and gathered her fabrics. I started the first stitch and off she went.



All finished...



And hanging on the wall!



I was fairly productive too. A cushion for Lucinda to give to her friend for her Birthday today.



The Birthday girl's favourite colour is blue!



And this afternoon I started to put together this which is a long overdue present for a union jack loving nephew!!



Tonight I'm quilting it and hopefully will have it all put together in the next couple of days. Love ticking things off the list!!

Just chilling....

It's school holidays here and so far we haven't done much which is quite nice really. I realised on the weekend how relaxed I was feeling for a change which just goes to show how stressed out I have been. The weather is also cooler and a little wet which is just lovely. Perfect for pulling out those knitting and quilting projects.

Today was my dear friend Christina's Birthday so we had an afternoon tea to celebrate. A little champagne and cake is very nice on a Wednesday afternoon!



Especially if it's one of Helen's gorgeous passionfruit sponges!



Happy Birthday Christina - thanks for being a couple of weeks younger than me!!

Christina's daughter also celebrated a Birthday last week and we popped in for a bit of cake and a dance after school.

Sophia's present from her Mum and Dad this year was a bedroom makeover and the theme was red and white and a bit of High School Musical. So I made her a cushion and bought her a matching fleecy blanket for her bed.







I enjoyed wrapping the present - check out the ribbon!!



Chloe also made Sophia a 'Mixtape' full of their favourite songs so the kids had a ball in Sophia's room and gave us a few hilarious dance performances!!



You definitely needed long hair!



I also have some sneaky peeks of my latest creation for the Four Seasons Quilt Swap which is hopefully not far away from its new home.



This was a monochromatic challenge and one of my partner's choices was yellow. I had an idea floating around my mind for several months but was side tracked by the huge volume of work I had to complete in the last couple of months. By the time I got to make the quilt I actually didn't like it any more and even Chloe and her girlfriends told me they didn't get it! They are usually gushing in their opinions and they just looked confused.



So I pulled it all apart and made this one. I like it so very much more and hope that my partner does too. It will be a little later than expected but I have put in a few bits and bobs to soften the blow.



I now have to work on my Doll Quilt Swap 6 quilt and I have a really cool partner whose work I have always loved. I have another great idea for this one - hope it works out this time.

Hello.... anyone out there??

This won't be a long post even though it could have been incredibly long given the gap in communication. I just thought I would start by saying hello and give you a brief run down of everything I have been up to and then I will do smaller posts about each of those things. Is that good?

So when we last met, I was preparing for Chloe's Birthday party and the Stitches and Craft Show. I also had several projects to work on but I can't tell you about those or I'd have to kill you.

Kidding!! I will let you in on those as they pop up in the magazine world. I have also created another Audrey and Maude pattern but more about that later.

And my computer died on me! But I'll save all those stories for another day.

This post I will devote to a little photo run down of Chloe's 9th Birthday party and I will continue with other stuff later this week.

So...we started with a little cupcake decorating and much finger licking!



And they made a few chocolates.



Next I took out my fabric scrap boxes, some stamps and some paper and asked them to design their own placemat to use at the dinner table.



They concentrated very hard on this and came up with a heap of gorgeous ideas. They used them for dinner and then took them home.



Lots of yummy nachos and heaps of giggling.



After dinner fun with some silly string.



And of course... yummy icecream Birthday cake.



Happy 9th Birthday my gorgeous girl!!



The next day we went and had her ears pierced! Ahh so grown up already. Where did all that time go?

I promise you will hear from me again soon!!

The third is three!

My little Daphne turned three last Friday. I can't believe how quickly that has gone.



We had a party on Sunday afternoon. Nothing too much, just afternoon tea with our families and a couple of friends.

I did make a special cake though.



We all gave three cheers.



We cut the cake.



And ate it!



Happy Birthday my little girlie girl!

We have also done the yearly trip to post letters to Santa.



So now he knows what to bring!

And on the crafting front I have been mucking around with a few bits and pieces. I made this cushion for one of Chloe's girlfriends for her Birthday.



She was hoping for something made by me.



There's a few other finished things to show you but you'll have to wait for a day or so. And if you are in the UK, go and check out Issue 2 of Sew Hip magazine - I have pattern in there!

Six for Six

A while ago I was tagged to do a 6 things about me meme by Fi of sixteen bluebirds. I decided to do it instead about my gorgeous Lucinda who turned 6 today.



1. She laughs like Bart Simpson mostly at her own jokes!

2. She has a terrible screaming hissy fit loud temper.



3. She is scared of heights, swimming and won't use lifts.

4. She HATES scratchy labels and makes me cut them out of all her clothes. And she hates all her socks!



5. She draws beautiful pictures.

6. She loves playing with the boys but at heart is very girly.



Happy 6th Birthday my funny girl - you are quite a challenge for poor Mummy but a really adorable one!

A little bit of this.........

Well we're in the home stretch now with one week to go before school starts. Good timing too as the girls are getting a little restless.

We've done a little baking....



And a little eating....



And a little shopping....



I wouldn't normally buy such girly shoes but these are just divine on and I HAD to have them!

And I have done a little bit of sewing.

A small quilt (about 12" squarish!) for a couple of Lucinda's little soft toys - Fred and Cindy.



Do you like the back? It's very Denyse Schmidt don't you think. You get that look by not basting before you machine quilt to get it done really fast!!!



I kinda like it!

The girls had a very nice picnic dinner in the garden with lots of friends. My husband organised this and apparently everything was eaten which just goes to show how important the venue and company is!!



Little Daphne is making us laugh with her new style of dressing. Lots of bling and a backwards hat! All her own doing I swear!



Tomorrow is her first day at day care with Mummy along to see how we go. It's my first time putting any of my children in child care and I have the best reason for doing so because as of Feb 5th I am going to be working at Amitie every Tuesday - yippee!!!

There's a Fairy in the Garden

A very Happy Mothers Day to you all for yesterday. I hope you had a bit of spoiling like I did. Lemon Souffle Pancakes made by my husband, served in bed on a tray with a rose. I didn't leave that bed until about 11am which was fantastic! The girls spoilt me with lovely gifts made at kinder and bought at the School Mothers Day stall and Chloe read a very sweet Greek poem to me about what a lovely Mummy I am. I also received a gorgeous book which I am dying to get stuck into. She sounds like quite a character and the designs are just stunning.

I've got to say I needed that rest after Lucinda's party. It was exhausting but I really enjoyed it and Fairy Sarah was absolutely perfect.



She fluttered in and charmed everyone, big and little, with her gorgeous fairy dress and stunning wings and her wonderfully enchanting stories and magic. Then while I fed the hungry little people she did the most amazing face painting. And best of all, Lucinda loved her.



Lucinda asked for a Fairy Castle cake....



and looked resplendent in pink fairy frills.



A huge success! But I'm glad the next one's not until December....

PS. I have been tagged by Pip but will leave that for tomorrow when I can think of 7 riveting things to tell you about myself!!