My Swap Present to Michelle

I just thought I would pop in and post a picture of the swap present that I made for Michelle (Toffle). I actually only took a picture of bag though, as the apron was hard to photograph.

I am now half way through making another 5 of these bags as it was such a hit when I showed my friends. Two went off to friends today, and I have 3 left to finish....one for my sister-in-law for Christmas and one for my sister for Christmas - and one for me (just because I couldn't miss out). The past week and a half since the market has also seen me make 13 pencil rolls; 5 appliqued singlets; 4 appliqued t-shirts.......and I am still going!!!

So if I haven't been around much lately, it is only because I am busy. In fact, I haven't done the ironing in probably 6 weeks now (I am so embarrassed), and I have barely cooked. Not sure if it is really worth it in the end, but I guess I am enjoying it to a certain extent.

EB Christmas Swap

Once again I have participated in the EB Christmas Sewing Swap. I sent a parcel to Toffle, but I don't think she has opened it yet, so I won't post a picture of what I made for her yet.

And I received a lovely gift from Ingrid. Thank you so much Ingrid.

I received some Christmas and other 'boy' printed fabric, a CD wallet and Christmas CD, a Dr Suess book for James and blog of Greens Dark Chocolate (how did you know I loved dark Chocolate Ingrid??)

To Market, To Market....

Gee, I wish I could get that song out of my head - unfortunately it is one of James' favourites.

Tanya and I were invited to have a stall at a small "Carport Christmas Sale" on the weekend. For weeks we have been 'building up stock', as this was our first ever market stall.

It only went for 3 hours but it went really well. We both sold stock and came away with orders. It was something that we both enjoyed and I know that we will do it again.

I was also really excited that a blogger (whose blog I read) was there - Cheeky Beaks

Heaven....

I have been meaning to post about this treasure of a place for some time now, but also slightly reluctant, as I kind of don't want everyone to know about it. But since it is really only my sewing buddies reading the blog, I think I can risk it.

There is a little chocolate shop that I read about in our local paper a few months back which is just out of this world. It is set up just like a little French cafe and everything about it just works...the food, the chocolate, the music, the furnishing, the courtyard...it is all perfect.

They supply chocolates to David Jones and the cafe side of things is just an aside for them. I guess I should tell you the name now.... Blackamoor Confections

If you are ever in the area, please let me know and I will meet you there for cake and chocolate....

On Saturdays they also sell bagettes, brioche (the only brioche I have tasted outside of France that tastes 'French'), beautiful fresh flowers. I could take about this place for days. Instead I will just show you a picture of the chocolates that we took away last week (I visited with my Mum and Oma). Can you believe the noodle bowl??? The whole thing is edible and filled with Prunes and Port.

Testing, Testing, 1,2,3.....

Just wanting to test if using Firefox is better for blogging with a Mac, and so far so good. I can see that I now have lots of preferences like colour, italics, bold, and various fonts to play with.... not to mention text size. How exciting!!!

I am also guessing that I can link to other website and blogs without too much trouble. Here goes..... My Art is My Outlet
Thanks to Dizzy Jadey for posing the question about blogging with a Mac and for getting answers that I can use.

That is all for now, but trust me, I will be blogging a lot more often now that it is so much easier for me. You have no idea what a drawn out process it was using Safari.

Last Two Hats....sob, sob...

I am finishing up my 2 year TAFE Millinery course this week. I am a little sad, as I don't think I will study anything next year and am already feeling a little lost. Anyway, the TAFE Fashion Parade is on tomorrow night, and our hats will be on display (on a display table). I will take some pictures of that later, but for now......




OK sorry I may as well try to get the other pictures in tonight. They are just some pictures of how the hats were displayed tonight...




and my dress.....

Smurfs T-Shirt for James

Just had to post a picture of James wearing the Smurfs t-shirt that we bought from Lottielulu. Thank you Ingrid, James loves it, and so do I!!

Here Comes the Bride....

I wish!!! I would love to have a reason to get all dressed up again. Anyway, I just thought I would pop in a picture of my latest 'complete' millinery project. It has been 'in progress' for quite a few months, but since I saw an advertisement in our local paper for our TAFE fashion parade which will be held on the 20/21st of November, I have started to freak out. I have to complete the 'in progress' headpieces quicksmart!!

So, this is my major bridal headpiece. An off-white silk flower headpiece (using a raw silk, silk satin and a silk chiffon) finished with champagne coloured crystals, and a veil finished in crystals. The flowers were all hand-made using French flowermaking tools.



What on earth am I going to do with a piece like this now????

Multicultural Day

And finally a picture to show you what we did today.....


James' daycare held a Multicultural day. He was dressed as a little Chinese boy/man (we picked up the outfit in Shanghai earlier this year). It is funny because whenever we ask him lately, "Are you Chinese?" he says, "Nooooo, no I not".
We had to take a platter of food each related to our cultural backgrounds. I made Anzac biscuits and had some Dutch Speculaas biscuits too. Well I am not Chinese, am I???

"The" Muesli Bar Slice Recipe

I won't keep you waiting any longer. My favourite 'snacky' recipe at the moment is the Real Muesli Bars recipe from Bill Grangers new (?) book Every Day. I actually really like a lot of the recipes in there, so it is worth buying the book.

Real Muesli Bars
3 1/2 cups Rolled Oats
1/2 cup Shredded Coconut
1/2 cup Flaked Almonds
1/2 cup Wheatgerm
1/4 cup Sesame Seeds
1/4 cup Sunflower Seeds
1/3 cup Chopped Dried Apricots
3/4 cup Honey
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil

Preheat the oven to 130 degrees celcius. Lightly grease and line a 35cm x 25cm tin. Put the oats, coconut, wheatgerm, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and apricots into a large bowl.

Put the honey, sugar and oil into a small pan and stir over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. Pour this over the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.

Press the mix into the tin and bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into bars (or squares) while still warm. Leave to cool before removing it from the tin.

Now, I don't have any pretty plates like Ingrid, so this will have to do.


P.S. I hope that my glowing recommendation of the recipe and the cookbook will override any issues that arise from copying the recipe!!!

High Tea Anyone???

Last Sunday the Sydney EB girls met up for High Tea at the QVB Tearooms.

It was just lovely. We chatted away and slowly made our way through the lovely sandwiches and cakes.

The day would not have been complete without a group photo.

From Left to Right: Ingrid, Corrie, Cass and Belinda

Thank you for a great day girls, I really enjoyed myself.

Cowboy Pants

I finally have something to blog - James' new Cowboy Pants. I pulled out the Michael Miller flannelette that I bought a while back after James took an immense liking to some Peter Alexander cowboy print flannel PJs that Alex picked up last week.
I was happy that I managed to whip them up in about an hour (I had already traced of the pattern to use before). And he loves them.


I have been working on a few other projects, but nothing complete enough to post here about, sorry.....

In coming blog posts, you will find a Muesli Bar Recipe that is just delicious, perhaps some sewing, and some of the "Me" answers for questionnaires that I have been tagged for. Stay tuned.....

Bag for Baby

This is a bag that I whipped up to give to our friend Amanda for her/her new baby boy Cooper.


We didn't know whether she was having a boy or a girl, so I didn't attempt to make clothes for the big day. But I am sick of buying wrapping paper at the moment, so I thought I would just make a bag to put the presents in.
I used a print from one of my recent Reprodepot purchases, and some medium weight denim. Amanda loved it. We actually visited her in hospital twice, and it turns out she had kept the bag, and a quilt and a little fabric book that my Mum had made at the hospital as they were special presents (all other presents were taken home daily).

For those who have been to the Blue Mountains, you will know that not trip is complete without a visit to the lolly shop in Leura. We went for a Sunday drive yesterday and ended up in Leura. I bought myself a special treat in the form of a Rosy Apple. Unfortunately as soon as James saw it he wanted it. So here is a picture of James with his first Rosy Apple lolly pop. It kept him quiet, that is for sure.

A Bag Swap and some Fabrics

I am involved in the Essential Baby Sewing Groups latest swap, a bag swap.
And before I have even finished the bag I am sending, I have received a package from Corrie!
It contained a lovely reversible black and white bag (I think Corrie has picked the fabric perfectly), and some fabrics from her RetroMummy store. Thank you so much Corrie.....


And the latest instalment from Reprodepot..... The funky stripe is destined to be some summery board shorts for James. The other fabrics are just for my 'collection'.

Lunar Eclipse

Just thought I would pop a picture in that Alex took last night of the eclipse.

A Dress to Wear...but Where???

I don't know where I will wear this dress. But I am really pleased with myself for finishing it. It took me about a day of work to sew it up.....on my new Singer machine with walking foot. Oh, I love that walking foot...I can see it getting lots of use.
I used Simplicity 4072. I bought it earlier this year, but it took me until now to find fabric that I liked enough to use with it.
Anyway, my first completed sewing project with spandex.


And another photo of James.... We had a grevillea tree fall over during the big storms that Sydney experienced in May/June this year. We have a lovely little bush ready to put in its place, but while digging out the hole for it, we have found some more of the roots from the grevillea. So it has become a little digging ground for James until we can get an axe to chop out the roots.

Keep it? Or give as a gift?

Well, I have been sewing for once. I am very happy that I have completed a project, rather than just thinking about it, and wishing it would 'make itself'.

I used one of the books that I got from Corrie and choose one of my Florence Broadhurst fabrics to make large shoulder bag. I added a little mobile pocket and another pocket on the inside (as I am always losing my mobile and keys in big bags). It took me a little time, as I was trying to 'read' the Japanese instructions (no, I don't understand any Japanese). But I finished it last night in record time (considering). I will definitely make more, as I really love the style. However, I may have to choose a different fabric, as the Florence Broadhurst fabric meant that materials alone were close to $40. Not cheap, but I love it anyway.

Not sure if I will keep it, or give it to my sister for her birthday next month...it is OK, I don't think she knows about this blog.

Japanese Goodies

We went off to Kirribilli Markets this morning. We got off the train at Wynyard and walked across the bridge. It is a lovely day, but a little cold in the shade of the Harbour Bridge. By the time we got to the other side, James had stopped protesting about being in the backpack and was starting to get very comfortable - ready to fall asleep.

We had a look around and then stopped by Corrie's stall with her friends. Definitely the best stall there, and very popular too. James took a liking to one of the bags for sale there so we bought it, and he carried it around all morning.

I also picked up my Japanese goodies from Corrie. Take a look at her new shop Retro Mummy.

Pictured below are the books and fabric and cute apple cotton tape from Retro Mummy and the bag from Claudine - she had MANY lovely bags there...I could have bought a few.


And two of my favourite projects from one of the books.



And finally, another picture of James from last weekend at the Aroma festival at The Rocks in Sydney. We found the supplier of the best hot chocolate in Sydney - just like being in Italy! We ALL liked it. If anyone is in the area, come over for a cup!

More Fabric.....

Well, I just can't help myself.....

The Signature Prints sale was on again today and I had the luxury of going alone! I managed to pick up 2m of a black print, and 40cm of a 'grey' bamboo print. And two pieces of wallpaper. All for $136....bargain (isn't it???).


Then I trotted off to Tessuti for some silk fabrics for my major millinery piece (a bridal piece with tulle veil). Well my eye was drawn to the 'clearance' table in the centre of the room that had the most beautiful cream fake fur on it for 50% off (pictured in the background of the photo).....I just couldn't leave it there (despite the fact that it cost more than all my millinery fabric put together).


And just to show off my husbands fantastic drawing abilities, I am going to post two pieces that he has completed. The BEST (in my opinion) is a picture of "David" that he copied from a postcard that we bought in Florence when we were there. I think he did a brillant job. And then there are just 2 cards that he completed last week for a friends twin boys for their 2nd birthday. James was distraught when we had to hand them over! I really wish he could spend more time drawing as I think he is fantastic at it.

Happy Birthday to Me!

OK, well it isn't really a birthday post, but I am going to post the pictures of the quilt that my Mum completed and presented to me for my 30th Birthday.

I bought the fabric for this quilt a few years back, with the intention of making a quilt up for our bed. I knew exactly what I wanted, just never got around to getting very far with it. I stumbled across the fabric about a year ago and decided to give it to Mum to work on in her quilting class (hey, she didn't have to pay for the fabric!!).

It took the whole year (she doesn't get too much time to work on her quilting), but it is now complete!!! I really love it. It is nothing fancy, but I think that the highlight fabric makes it special for me. In the end it became a large single bed quilt.....perfect to drape over a spare bed, or keep near our lounge (the colours work really well with the lounge).

Sorry for the average photos......the sun was a bit crazy that day.




And for something a little different.... While I was looking through the photos on the computer, I came across our photos from Europe in December 2004 (3 months pregnant with James). I will just post a few, because I can.....
All were taken in Paris. The photos that we have of this trip are very precious to us.......because Alex lost one of our Memory Cards (with 600 photos on it) at the end of our trip. We only have photos from the last 2 weeks of the 5 week trip (so so sad).