Sunny Sunday

Bec and her Little Miss popped in for a crafty playdate thisafternoon.

We had a wonderful time drinking cups of tea and eating home made (by Little Miss) raspberry bundt cake with double cream.... mmmmm


I dragged out all of my vintage self covering buttons kits and Bec made these cute little animal buttons for me.

 
I gave Little Miss her new brooch which she loved, and then decided to make a few more in random colours.

I also managed to do quite a bit of cutting to whip up some Gadget Pouches and Sunnies/Specs Pouches...

including some beautiful new Kokka fabrics that I bought at The Retromummy Shop last week.

....and in super exciting breaking news, Liz emailed to let me know that she spotted one of my brooches in The Age - M Magazine today in an article about Dear Gladys. I didn't buy The Age today - did anyone else see it?

Found....

I was having a quiet day at home yesterday so I thought I'd sort through last weeks mail that was still piled up, and pay some bills.

I'd somehow completely forgotten that amongst the pile of mail was some sweet fabric!

Little Red Riding Hood print from The Retromummy Shop.....
I'm going to make some baby bibs with this one.

Just for me.....some Birch on Fuschia from Lara Cameron.

Hmmmm decisions, decisions on just what I'm going to make. My photo doesn't do justice to the actual colour which is a really deep pink. It's gorgeous!

Retrofitting

These cute little corduroy overalls are for my twin nephews. They had ugly Baby Club patches on the pockets that needed a little bit of a retrofit...

Some sweet little robots from The Retromummy Shop came to the rescue.....fashion disaster averted!

Love Fridays & Blogtoberfest & Stencils

It's a beautiful day today...the sun is shining and its time for Love Fridays. Quite a while ago I signed up for the Hoppo Bumpo stencil along. Liesl did all the hard work of researching the correct techniques and scouting out suppliers of freezer paper etc....and I basically did nothing. I promised I would give stencilling a go and then failed miserably!

Then yesterday, an envelope arrived in my letterbox, and lo and behold.....its freezer paper! Liesl very kindly has sent me two different types of freezer paper so that I can get my behind moving and actually stencil something! I'm going to try to find some plain t-shirts today so that I can have a go. I have a very simple design in mind for my first test run. I do have a question though...can the stencil be re-used?

If you'd like to check out some of the participants who have actually managed to keep their stencil along promise, then Liesl has a listing in her side bar.


Another lovely little package also arrived yesterday. Some beautiful fabrics from The Retromummy Shop......don't you just love online shopping! So much for de-cluttering my house.
I'm pretty sure that Corrie is still having a sale on all fabrics as she is also moving house.

For all of you Blogtoberfesters, keep checking out the giveaway list on my sidebar. I've added another thismorning over at Bowerbirdz blog that involves vintage buttons.

I'm off to enjoy the sunshine....have a great day!

Even more fabric

This sweet little package arrived in my mailbox on Friday from the Retromummy Shop....
I'm dreaming of all the lovely things I'm going to make....the robots are definitely my fave!
Thankyou Corrie...

Incoming and Outgoing Mail

It's been a bit of a crazy mail week this week with lots of little packages zooming in and out of my house......

I'll start with the incomings:

This absolutely gorgeous Sunnyboy Quilted pouch that I bought from Michelle's Etsy Shop Buttontree Lane.....made using Aunty Cookie fabric for the exterior and a vintage sheet for the interior.

....and my pre-ordered copy of Mixtapezine

I don't want to give anything away but I love the cover design and the print format of this issue.....needless to say that I sat straight on the couch and read it from cover to cover to cover to cover. Once you get it, you'll get it. I'm sounding very cryptic!

Hopefully Corrie has received the little parcel that I sent up for the twins (due Monday morning). You'll notice that the fabric squares that were on my desk last Wednesday are now jingly baby blocks....one for a baby girl and one for a baby boy.

Of course, I couldn't resist whipping up a couple of matching bibs...one with pink stitching and snap, and one with blue stitching and snap.

I'll be back later for Love Friday......

On my desk..........on a Wednesday

On my desk today is yet another work in progress........ it's a gift for two little bubbas who are due to arrive very very soon (so I'd better hurry up and actually finish this one).

Check out who else is playing along over at Kirsty's blog..... you can also sign up and play along!

Twins Update

I spent the day with the twins today (Zane on the left, Noah on the right).......and they were wearing the gorgeous appliqued tops that Corrie gave them...they looked so sweet!

They spend most of the day asleep so it's very hard to get a photo of them both awake together at the same time.

Twins Pressies

I promised a photo when I posted last week..... it took a while but here it is....
This is the gorgeous pressie that Corrie made for my sisters twins who are now due to arrive on June 10th.

Beautiful appliqued singlets and nighties....aren't they cute!

Knitting

My sister and I met up with Corrie and Kiera for lunch on Friday in Williamstown. It was a lovely day so we sat outside in the sunshine and fresh air.......

Keira was wearing the beautiful pink jumper that Corrie had knitted......she looked so cute!

Corrie had also made a beautiful gift for my sisters twins (I don't have a photo at the moment), and I was finally able to give her the knitting pattern book that she won in my giveaway! I can't wait to see what she whips up with her knitting needles!

After lunch, my sister and I popped into Vinnies in Newport where I found another couple of craft / sewing books........

......and knitting needles and wool for Brown Owls tonight!

Jackpot

The postie arrived yesterday with two lovely little parcels.......

The first is this excellent book...
Justine and Nichola (the lovely ladies behind MixTape Zine) were having a giveaway on the Mix Tape blog and I was the very very lucky winner! If you have been living under a rock and haven't heard about their ace zine, then get on over and buy one (or all 4)!

I had a quick read of the book yesterday.......if you love beaded jewellery, you will love this book. It's the most comprehensive book on beading that I've ever read and there are soooooo many great projects inside ranging from simple to difficult. I can't wait to get the beads out and have a go! Thanks so much girls!

The second package was some lovely Retromummy fabric that I bought from the Retromummy shop.
.....and a little bit extra (thankyou so much Corrie)! The twins are due on the 30th May so I'd better get cracking and whip up something right away from this little stash!

Eat Cake - part 2

I had a very happy happy birthday yesterday. Thankyou so much to everyone who left me a birthday comment or sent me an email. You all made my day!

I spent most of the day eating! I started off with coffee and cake for beakfast at home (very nutritional I know). I met up with my mum and my sister for lunch and we went to the Mambourin Cafe. I had Thai Chicken Patties for lunch and then Orange and Poppyseed Cake for dessert.

Then for dinner, Mr CurlyPops and I went to Josephs at the Mansion Hotel. I had a Roasted Chicken Breast with Prosciutto, Asparagus & Sun Dried Tomato and then Hazelnut Semifreddo with a Caramel Sauce. The food was absolutely delicious!

I wish it was my birthday everyday!

In other news, I've finally finished some WIP bibs that have been waiting to be finished for a few weeks. The fabric above and below is from Retromummy. I'm going to enter them in Corrie's Fat quarter giveaway competition.

The vintage puppy print below is from my soupy win over at Pip's.

I'll be back later in the day for 'On My Desk'.

Giddy Up!

I've tested out my new bias tape makers and they are fab!

It's so much easier than making the tape manually just with the iron. So I managed to finish two Giddy Up blankies for the twins and I finished the spotty blankie that I started earlier in the week.

I couldn't wait to use the fabrics from Retromummy, and luckily I had a few spare t-shirts lying around so I quickly added some Jack and the Beanstalk and some Funky Monkeys to the fronts.

I also had a scrappy bit of skull & crossbone leftover for this one.

These three are going to my nephew Moo Moo (it's ok, that's just his nickname - his parents aren't crazy folk).

Mr CurlyPops has just left the building. He's off to Hong Kong for the weekend to watch a rugby tournament (and buy me lots of presents). In his absence, I'm hoping to get lots of crafty things done, and I'm planning to drop in to Meet Me At Mikes tomorrow so I can snap up a Mirabel Heart before it's too late.

Anyhoo, have a lovely crafty weekend!

More lovely mail!

Look what the postie delivered today! Some gorgeous fabric that I ordered from Corrie at Retromummy. She's having a sale until Sunday so get in while you can.

I'm going to use the blue Jack & the Beanstalk fabric to make something for my twin nephews who are on the way (maybe some small snuggle blankies). I think I might applique the monkeys onto some t-shirts or use some as a feature panel on some bibs.

The polkadots are all for me me me! Just have to decide what I want to make for me me me!

Also in todays mail were the Clover Bias Tape Makers that I ordered from Clegs on Monday.

Now I can start on the flannel wraps using this huge stash of fabric!

I wonder if the Postie is sick of delivering parcels yet???