Things that are making me happy...

Still settling into our newly renovated house, so no time as yet to get back to my sewing (and I have a bag all cut out and ready to go, so I'm absolutely itching to get it finished).

However, I have made time this week to quickly take snaps of some of the things that are giving me a little lift every day - once I started looking around, I realised that there are so many things....but here's this week's top picks anyway:

Finally I have a big bare wall on which to hang my prized painting (before renos it was on a very small wall that was painted blue - not the best backdrop for it). It is by Alesha Cox, an artist who lives on the Sunshine Coast, and it is called "Inner Peace". It reminds me to slow down and be calmer every time I look at it.

This is a small and slighly scrappy bunch of jonquils, I know. But I LOVE jonquils - I love the way they pop up out of the ground every year down south, I love the smooth stems, and the delicate star shape of the waxy flowers. But most I all, I love the smell. Most people I know either love or hate the way jonquils smell, and Matt insists they smell like wee, so we never have them in the house....usually. But this week at the market, the lady we buy flowers from gave this little bunch to Lee. So this week, we have jonquils. And I'm loving it!!

And lastly, a sneak preview of our kitchen:

Ok, I know it's not much of a picture, but I don't want to take any photos of the whole kitchen until it is all finished, and we are still yet to tile the splashback. So in the meantime, just a small picture of the island bench. Actually, this picture incorporates two things that are making me very happy at the moment. For one, the corian benchtop was a big splurge, that Matt and I are SOOOOO happy we indulged in, as it is every bit as lush and tactile as we had hoped. And the green bowl was a Mother's Day present from the kids (and Matt) this year, and I finally have somewhere to show it off. It is by Dinosaur Designs, and is another deliciously tactile object made of an almost luminescent swirly green resin - yum!

Here's to happy things!

No-sew improv.

We went to a 3 year old's birthday party yesterday, and I decided to dress Kate in a top she was given last Christmas. It is a size 0, but the straps were still ridiculously big on her (14 months and still not fitting into a 9 month old's clothes - sheesh!). I contemplated taking them up, but as usual we were running late, so I grabbed a ribbon from my stash, and just tied them up at the back. I think it actually looked pretty cute, so maybe I'll just leave it that way until she grows into the top properly.

Oh, and on an entirely unrelated note, here are the pics of the zip pouch I made for mum to go with her lunch bag. It is similar fabric - both a lovely toile from Sis Boom.


It turned out ok, but I think the heavier fabric I used on the one I made for myself worked better for this type of pouch. This here is mine:


And lastly, no pics of the kitchen yet. We have the rangehood being installed today, then all we need is to put up the splashback, install the pantry shelves, and wire up the oven, and we will have a fully functioning kitchen. I'll post some pics once everything is done and dusted.

a little space

...something we haven't had much of lately. Well, actually, on the one hand we have a lot more physical space now, as we have FINALLY moved back into our house, after four months of renovations. But as for mental space...well, no room to swing a cat so to speak. Obviously, all things crafty and fun have been put on hold for a while as we try and get ourselved established in our old/new house. But I did have time to quickly whip up a zip pouch for mum to keep her purse, phone and keys in while she's using her lunch bag. I will post a pic as soon as I find where we packed the camera....

Anyway, things aren't quite finished (although hopefully the dishwasher will be installed today - yay!), we still have tradespeople coming and going each day, and we still have all our food in tubs. But now, after three days of complete chaos and slightly overwhelmed kids, I am happy to say I am sitting on our back deck, watching the treetops swaying softly in the breeze, and enjoying a little space...