Sunday 31 March 2013

Soft bunnies!

Happy Easter to you!
just wanted to quickly share the bunnies I made for my kidlets. I showed the Faux chenille one I made the other week and I was going to make faux chenille ones for my boys too, but I found a cool flannelette fat quarter bundle at Lincraft and they had 30% pre-cuts .... so I made there's using the same pattern, just no faux chenille! My big boy got the Transformers one and little man got the dinosaur one, very cute and they all cuddled them and were pleased, they didn't even complain that they only got one egg in their 'nest' with the bunny and then just a few others around the house that they had to hunt for! They got lots of treats from grandparents too and also an auntie, plus school/joey scouts and playgroup too, so they did not miss out, but I was pleased to be able to give them something they liked without it being food-related!

anyway, hope you are enjoying your weekend :)

Thursday 28 March 2013

Birthday gift for a boy

A friends little boy is turning 3 and we were invited to a party for him this week. We don't normally do gifts between our kids, but because we were seeing him for the occasion I figured it would be nice to have a gift for my little miss to give him. I had a look through my supplies and realised I had the right thing sto make an Eye-Spy bag, so that's what I did! It's one of those bags filled with beads (the ones you can use in doll/bear making) and a few little toys mixed in so then when they look through the window panel in the front they can try and find all the things in there.

I meant to take a picture of all the things I was about to put in there and print it out as a little reference for him, but I forgot :( Oh well, he will still have fun looking for the things and he even came and sat a couple of times and had a look again which was lovely considering we were at a playcafe and he left the 'fun stuff' to come and play with it!
And you can also see the little card I made to go with the gift - love the pinwheel die!

Monday 25 March 2013

Ripple update ....

Slowly, slowly ... I haven't got as much done this week as I had hoped because I've had a few busy evenings, but any progress is something I guess :) Here is a photo ....
Look at all those ends that need darning in! I should sit and do that one night instead of another row to make it look tidy ;) Loving how it's keeping me warm now too as it grows, perfect for the cooler evenings on their way! Back soon :)

Sunday 24 March 2013

Cute as a bunny!

I spotted this cute Faux Chenille bunny tutorial a couple of weeks ago and thought it would be a perfect non-chocolate gift for my kidlets this easter. don't get me wrong, they will get a bit of chocolate too! ;) ..... however, I like to give them something different as well.
I decided just to use some scrap fabric from my stash, it probably won't be quite as soft not being flannel, however the chenille effect will be the same. I also did one side with a piece of towelling instead of chenille on both sides. 
As you can see, this is the material after I stitched all the lines and then I had a bit of fun with my rotary slash cutter ;)
and then my cute little bunny! I added a button each side for eyes too and as I type the poor little creature is in the washing machine! That's how you get the material to fray and become soft and fuzzy like chenille. I look forward to how it looks once it dries and then I will share a pic of that too.



Saturday 23 March 2013

Nananananananana ....

Batman!
Pow! Thwack!
My firstborn is turning 7 in a couple of short weeks and although we normally do parties every other year, I caved and said yes to one this year ;) He so enjoyed the Pirate party last year and we had a lot of stuff happen last year as a family, yet he has been so good this year, so I really felt he deserved it (can anyone say 'softie'? ;)) Anyway, he Requested a Batman party, so I have been busy making and sourcing some Batman party supplies .... a bit difficult considering they have discontinued the current design and the new design is due in store 'about mid-March' .... I finally pointed out to one place on the 13th of March that the middle of March was 2 days away! That comment was met with a blank look! Argh!
Sigh, so I made the invitations myself (I would have done that anyway) but annoyed with myself I forgot to take a photo. Will have to make up the spare and get a photo of that to share. And then I have been sorting out a few other things like prizes, etc. Keeping me busy and especially when I see other stuff that I want/need for A3's 1st birthday party in August and buy that too! Oops! Oh, well, I guess at least I should be organised for that!
Off to try and get that little one to sleep and then a few more ripple rows done so I can share it again with you this week .... happy Saturday night, people!

Monday 18 March 2013

Rippling in the car

I managed to spend about half the trip yesterday getting stuck into the Ripple blanket and here it is so far ...

Just over half-way! Well, that's if my calculations are correct! lol! I'm happy with how it looks and it will be a nice little either baby cot size or kids lap size when it is done ..... I think my little miss has been eying it off, actually! Was glad I didn't get car sick trying to crochet in the car this time as it was definitely good use of the time and I learned that I can play Eye-Spy and crochet at the same time!
I also made a start on a beanie for A1, I'd found a ribbed pattern online (need to find the pattern again so I can link) and he had been asking for one, so that was a nice change for my fingers on the way home.

Sunday 17 March 2013

Road Trip

So, today we drove 3 hours to go to the christening of our nephew/cousin (on hubby's side) and then 3 hours home again! Sigh! I was not looking forward to that much time in the car as A1 doesn't really sleep int he car anymore (he's almost 7), A2 has never been a good car sleeper, usually falling asleep 5-10 minutes before reaching our destination and A3 looks to be following in his sisters footsteps. So, I packed snacks (fruit, crackers, water, sultana and seed mix, plain popcorn, and finally a couple of prepackaged snacks if we got desperate!) and I thought about what would keep them busy on the trip. Well A1 and A2 being 6 and 3 I decided to pack the MegaSketcher. I figured it was less messy than colouring in the car and we wouldn't need to sharpen anything! lol! And I also decided to pack a clipboard with some travel games. I printed them off on cardstock (some from the RACV website and various others) plus some blank A5 paper and I decorated an A5 clipboard for each of them. I also packed a few crayons (figured this was simpler than pencils re sharpening) for them to complete the bingo sheets or draw with.
I covered some cute wooden clipboards (from Officeworks) with some scrapbooking paper (love the Tombow multi-adhesive!) and just sanded the edges a little where the paper overhung. I will probably sponge them with some matching ink, but they were fine for the moment.
I wondered how long until they asked for Daddy's phone (they know he can play videos on there!) but I was pleasantly surprised!

Saturday 16 March 2013

Baking day!

'Days' actually ;) lol!
I am loving the cooler weather (even though it's still in the high 20'2, but that is cooler that the 30's, that's for sure!) and have been enjoying cooking meals and snacks this week. I also discovered the reason for some of my recent baking fails :( is my SR flour isn't right (long story but hubby is a flour miller AND my supplier, so there were words spoken!!!) my cakes and cupcakes lately have been flat and taken AGES to bake and I thought I was doing something wrong or had grabbed the plain instead of SR, but when my Nanna's Cream Cake recipe did not turn out right I KNEW there was something wrong! So, this week I have added some Bicarb soda to the flour and, boy, what a difference! Still not quite right as I need ot work out how much i need depending on how much SR I am using, but MUCH better! Yay!
So, yesterday I baked Cheese and Pumpkin Scones and a Pumpkin and Sultana Cake (this is one I had a fail with a fortnight ago, much better this time!). and today I made curried chicken triangles (with pumpkin and cauliflower) for lunch then made a Banana Loaf, mmmmm! It's great that I am able to add these to the freezer and I plan to make a couple of Zucchini Slices early this week to add to the freezer too.
Sorry, I didn't think to take any pics, but I will try to remember next time :)

Thursday 14 March 2013

Going slow :(

I started off going really well with my blanket last week, but my ezcema has fared up rather badly on my hands so I have had to stop for a bit :( not happy Jan! I think it was all the hot weather we had here (in Adelaide) and even the cream isn't helping much as it's cracked the skin, so need it to heal so I don't bleed all over the blanket!
Hoping to be able to do some on the weekend as we are heading out to the country for a christening, so if hubby will drive I am hoping for 6 hours of crocheting! LOL! Umm, I think that's probably a bit much, but even a couple of hours solid would be good!
Back soon with some photos! :)

Sunday 3 March 2013

Week 1 : Ripple-along progress

I have a couple of other projects to share pics of later this week , but tonight marks the end of the first weeks of One Crafty Mumma's Ripple-along so we are sharing pictures of our progress. Here are my first 14 'bands'!

I got to 13 1/2 by Thursday night then got caught on other things the last 2 days so got stuck back into it tonight and have now done 2 more 'bands'. As you can see, mine is not a pattern with 2 rows/1 band per colour. I was recently gifted some wool, so I decided to use colours from that stash instead of buying more. I had 3 balls of the yellow, 2 of the lavender and 1 of the cream, and after I crocheted 2 rows I weighed what I had done (I figured the foundation chain weight would just give me a little bit of leeway) and then used that weight to plan the pattern for my blanket. It remains to be seen whether it will work out correctly at the end!!! I hope to do 8 repeats of the pattern (yellow, lavender, cream, lavender) and then finish with another section of yellow. If I have enough I would love to have 9 repeats, but we shall see how it goes ....
See you again next week with a few more rows!