This is...what makes me happy

Thanks so much to Jacinta from One Little Acorn for a brilliant This is... theme this week. So. What makes me happy? My goodness, so many things from the huge stuff to the tiny little things I am lucky enough to take for granted every day. But to keep things simple, here are just a few things that have made me feel very happy lately:


Kate's second birthday. With eighteen extended family members. Watching my kids feel so happy and loved, surrounded by both sets of grandparents, and all the people who love them best. Oh, and seeing both Granddads wearing birthday tiaras to please the birthday girl - now you don't get much more happy than that :P


Yummy pudding made by my sister, with beautiful crispy-on-top meringue...


Followed by gooey meringue underneath, with lemon curd, blueberries and custardy filling....mmmmmm..... happiness in a bowl!


Making puppets of our family with the kids (the puffy white-haired person is apparently 'Dad'...he he he... and for some reason, the 'Kate' puppet had to be a 'superhero baby', complete with a cape!).


And then, of course, sitting back and enjoying the puppet show. Kate and I were the audience, and Kate sung along and clapped with gusto. And at the end the puppeteer came out and took a bow. And that was ear-to-ear happiness my friends.


Finishing a project.This particular one is for the shop, but really, it doesn't matter if a project is for the shop, for myself, or for someone else - just 'finishing' something always feels so great. There are not a lot of jobs involved in a stay-at-home mum's role that ever get 'completed'. Raising happy, healthy, beautiful kids, doing housework, cooking food....these things are always 'works in progress'. Which is fine. But it's also nice to be able to tick things off a list sometimes and get that short-term sense of achievement. It makes me feel happy :)

Thanks again Jacinta for reminding me to walk down happy lane and appreciate all the good things along it. And now I'm off to enjoy more happy moments from everyone else's blogs. Cheers!

One for the boys, one for me, and one for Sharon!

This is my latest new creation. After making a few 'Little Lady bags' for little girls, I decided it would only be fair to have a crack at doing some boy bags too...or as I like to term them - 'Little Man bags'. He he he, always makes me think of Kel from Kath and Kim.


So here is Jack. A mini-messenger bag with a velcro flap closure, made with vintage denim and vintage airplane fabric, and he's currently sitting in my shop.

On an entirely different note, and with no groany segue whatsoever (and as sighs of disappointment echo all over the bloggersphere...) I have a lovely award to pick up. Just let me sashay down red carpet and pull my speech out of my cleavage (yeah right...as if I have cleavage)...


"Ahem...the lovely Sharon from Iris and Lily has very generously bestowed upon me a lovely blog award, which is very flattering coming from such a talented sewer, crafter and blog-writer. So firstly, I'd like to thank my Mum and Dad..and oh I just can't believe I'm standing here...and oh my goodness I'm so not prepared for this, um....oh yes to my husband, thank-you...and oh oh, the wind-up music already..just one more thing...um my kids ....um....can you shut that damned music up?...."

Sorry about that - I think I fell into a 'Scrubs'-like daydream sequence there...

OK, so I am in turn passing this award to the following blogs:

1. Charlie and Grace - because I love reading about all the wonderful creative things Ali has been up to. And she has just done a great tutorial on making a book/journal which has me all inspired.

2. Hey Harriet - because it is always an entertaining read, and Tracy is the founder of 'Shadow Shot Sunday' which is a very inspiring meme where participants take photos of cool shadows.

3. Great stories - because it always takes me at least two days to compose my comment for each of Paula's posts. This girl really makes me think....and I like it!

4. Hot Fudge - because her blog is so full of colour and beautiful things...and I don't just mean the photos. Robyn describes her sewing exploits (which are stunning) and her family life so well - everything is always so vivid. And she makes me look forward to one day being a grandma!

5. Kimono Reincarnate - Not only does Melanie's creative talents appear to know no bounds (her bags, her jewellery, her paper/fabric folding - all beautiful) but she writes as an Aussie living in Japan, soaking up all the cultural goodness that is to be had there. Always inspiring!

6. Stripy Sock Studio - Helen's posts are honest, raw, and ridiculously beautiful. She is a writer and poet who also knits and crafts, making endless beautiful things. I like that I feel transported to a different world when reading her blog.

7. Fabric Fantastic - Kara Smith is an amazing designer, and also a really nice person to boot. I always love reading about how her business is going (and booming) and about her idyllic life in the Blue Mountains. And of course, her design aesthetic is to die for!!!

8. Leni and Rose - If you haven't checked out Michelle's posts on technical bloggy tips and tricks then you are definitely missing out. Not only that, but you are missing a whole lotta crafty inspiration too, as Michelle knows her way around a sewing machine as artfully as she does a computer!


Whew!!! OK, now lastly.....these were baked a long time ago, so I'm sorry Sharon, they may be a bit stale by now - but these are for you :) In honor of the gorgeous apron you sent me the kids and I whipped up these yummy afghan biscuits, and the aprons are all nicely christened with butter and chocolate stickiness.

And for everyone else - if you got to the end of this long post and you're still awake - then you deserve a bikkie too! Oh go on, have two. The ARE really yummy :)

This is ... what scrambles my brain when I try to understand it

Thanks to Juddie from Flightless Boyds for this week's This Is... theme (and to Angela from Three Buttons for hosting). This week's theme was easy (and it was great to have two to choose from). Whenever anyone asks me what my husband does for work, I have an awful time trying to explain. I basically have a spiel that I recite, that I have learnt by rote, and which I really don't actually understand. Or sometimes I just pop a few words like 'Ethernet' 'D Slams' and 'dark fibre' into my sentences, and once I see the eyes glaze over I know I've explained enough. According to Matt apparently I get a bit overexcited and start throwing in other terms that are not actually anything to do with what he does....but I really like saying 'fibre to the node'. I always feel like pulling a gangsta pose after I've said that one.

It is a running joke at Matt's work that they should just put this sign on their office door and be done with it.


I gotta tell ya, if this cat came to my door selling his internets - I'd buy two!!

* data centre image by Wirenine
** cat image from lolcats.com

This is...a bit of a catch up...

I've had so much trouble keeping up with blogging lately, so here's a catch-up from the last two 'This is...' themes.


Last week's theme, as chosen by Betty Jo from Lino Forest was My Best Op Shop Find. And basically I was paralysed by the choices, as I've found so many great things over the years. In the end, I chose my favourite most recent find, which is this little embroidered tablecloth (sorry, I really should have ironed it, but hey, I think I may have confessed here once or twice already that I'm lazy like that!).


I just love the little Scotty dogs around the edge, and the little matching napkin (shown in the middle of the cloth). It's in perfect condition - looks to have never been used!

And this week's theme, as chosen by Danielle from Teacups on Treatops is My Most Treasured Childhood Possession.

Again I have lots of things from teddies, to plastic jewellery, to poems written in Grade 2.


But the thing I love most is this tin. Looks pretty unexciting really doesn't it! But it used to belong to my Grandma, and it was always filled to the brim with buttons. I would spend hours at her place playing with this tin, or rather with the buttons within. I would sort them by colour, then by size, then by pattern, or even by interestingness. I even loved the feel and the sounds of them.....are you starting to get the picture of where my button addiction may have originated? Anyway, this button tin became mine a long time ago, and before I discovered sewing, it just sat in my special meatsafe cupboard (another treasure that once belonged to Grandma and Grandad - it is a rickety old thing with a stained-glass window in the top cupboard door, with wire mesh at the sides. Grandma used to keep her potatoes in it. But I digress...).

Anyway, once I discovered sewing, I realised I could actually start using the buttons I had loved so much for so long. And then I realised that I actually had an excuse to start a button collection of my own, adding to Grandma's stash.


And of course my button collection fast outgrew this old tin, and is now sorted (by colour) in glass jars by my sewing area. But this tin still has pride of place. It now contains pieces of elastic, because I like to think it would still prefer to be useful. And I never tire of looking at it. If I am stuck for inspiration, this tin always takes me back to a childhood filled with colour, texture, and imaginative wonder.

All this from a tin eh?....who'da thunk it!!

Aprony goodness!

A little while ago I was the very lucky winner of a giveaway being run by Sharon from Iris + Lily, as a celebration of the opening of her new Etsy Shop.

Today, a parcel arrived.


Beautifully wrapped. My son was very excited (as we all are when parcels arrive in the post) and kept asking if it was something for him. A little guiltily, I said "no, I think it's for mummy".


He very helpfully assisted me in unwrapping it anyway. And inside was not just the giveaway apron I had won (although I was already squealing with delight at the sight of it alone, a beautiful package in itself!).


There were two other little apron bundles - again, each tied up so beautifully. That hand is my son pointing out which bundle he thinks is his. By now there were two of us squealing!!!

I can't tell you how absolutely stoked I am by Sharon's amazing generosity. She whipped up two little aprons so my children wouldn't feel left out. Not just any old aprons either - both are matching to mine, with their own screen printed vintage spoons - and the ties are adjustable through the neck and waist so they are super easy to get on and off and can be adjusted to fit just right, while still only having one tie at the back. They even had their own little loops for hanging them up. Just beautiful!

Of course you can guess what came next.....no, not baking....ahem...


PHOTOSHOOT OF COURSE :)


I thought adding a rolling pin as a prop would add to the domestic authenticity of the shot, but I look more like a domestic Tank Girl about to bop someone....hhhhmmmmm.


I've got to admit, I feel way cooler wearing this apron then when I am donning my vintage numbers - much as I love them as well, it's a whole different feel. I actually want to wear this one out!!!!


And have I mentioned the level of detail that has gone into this apron. From the hand screen-printed vintage spoon designs, to little button and ribbon details, and even a hand-embroidered label on the side. How cool is that!

OK, enough pics of me doing my domestic vanity thing. The kids were bouncing up and down waiting for their own go..


Lee decided to play air guitar with his rolling pin.


Kate was waving her whisk madly at me.


And they both wore their aprons for the rest of the day.

OK, make that...we ALL wore our aprons for the rest of the day.

Thank-you so much Sharon for such generous gifts. They are very well loved, and I now know exactly what I will be buying for my friends when their birthdays come around.

XXX
Bec

PS. I know I am ridiculously late with this week's THIS IS post, but I'll do a catch-up later in the week. This post DEFINITELY had to come first :)

I Screamo No Emo!

OK, if you haven't noticed the I Screamo No Emo pool on Flickr, I highly recommend a look. It's both hilarious, and faintly disturbing. It seems to have been a challenge that was set a while ago for people to do a week of 'I Screamo No Emo' self-portraits. And here were the rules:

THERE MUST BE NO:
1. looking at feet or the ground
2. being thoughtful
3. looking "cute"
4. cropped heads
5. tidying up your picture-taking space
6. trying hard to fit the "myspace profile picture" guidelines.
7. pigeon toes (we're talkin' faux-toes, not the real kind).
8. jazz hands

And this is where the disturbing part comes in, as I started thinking about the pictures I have taken of myself when showing off my various creations. Let's take a little walk down memory lane...


Oh boy, not off to a good start are we? Cutesy, thoughtful AND looking at the ground. EEEEKKK!



Hhhhmmmm, and here we have some pigeon toes....Kinda cutesy shot too.


Looking thoughtful here.... There's also a bit of head-cropping going on.

But most disturbing of all...


Looking at feet, looking thoughtful, pigeon toes...and gloomy grey/purples tones to boot. I actually made an Emo collage!

OH MY GOD, I AM REALLY AN EMO!!!!!!!!!

OK, just to clarify - I really don't have anything against Emos. In fact, I went through my own little Goth period at Uni (yes, when Emos were still just goths...am I showing my age?). But hey, I'm a 35 year old mum. I can't be an Emo!!!!

So to show off my latest creations in a NON-EMO way. Here ya go!


Can you tell I'm crying on the inside...just a little bit...hehehe.

this is...

OK, so once again I'm a day late. Just can't seem to get my act together on a Sunday lately. This week's this is... theme, as chosen by Kitty's Kaboodle, is this is... my most favourite outfit that expresses my individual style. And of course this picture is just a joke....no really... it is...really...ahem..

Anyway, this week I'm just going to cheat and show you some pics you've probably already seen before. Because sometimes I'm just lazy like that. And also, all my favourite outfits are summery, and right now it's too cold to put them on for a solo photoshoot. And trust me, you don't want to see me in my trackies, fluffy socks and pilled old turtle-necked jumper. Really.


If I had unlimited time and funds, my preference would be to make most of my own clothes. One of my favourite outfits is this dress that was made with op-shopped fabric and some old buttons. I used the Built by Wendy pattern. I love it!


I also love this top, also made with thrifted fabric and buttons. It's a happy top. Some might say 'clownish'. I say 'happy'.


The one part of my wardrobe that I do like to spend a lot of money on however is shoes. I like them to look great,feel comfortable, and not put too much stress on my hips. Hence, the selection of shoes in a previous this is... post.


But usually, I'm living in my favourite pair of wrangler jeans, with any old top thrown on. I love that I can wear a t-shirt, a handmade blouse, or a classy 'going out for tea' top, and the jeans dress up and down really well. They also have just the right amount of stretch and just the right amount of bootleg cut.


And of course, no outfit would be complete without a few accessories. And a nice bag.

And speaking of bags (I'm sorry - was that a bad segue or what!!!).


Here is one more for the shop.


The Briony reversible handbag. Made with 100% recycled fabric and buttons. I really love deciding on the button details on these bags - not sure why but it really makes me happy :)

And speaking of happy (yes I know, I should get a job on Today Tonight as their segue writer)....

...have a happy Monday all :)