Up In The Clouds

Three sweet cloud craft ideas.

Sew4Home

Bugs and Fishes

Cloud Mobile from Mikaela Danvers



Sunday Listening

Get My Crochet On

I've been thinking about learning to crochet for a while now. I feel like time (and energy) eludes me with two kids but I'm so inspired by the awesome Pip at Meet me at Mikes and her crochet tutorials. The possibilities are endless if you want to do something a bit different so I'm off to the shops this weekend for some crochet hooks and wool.


Image via Ohdeedoh

A Message from Santa

I can't wait to see Michaela's face when she watches her special message from Santa.
All you need is 5 minutes with Santa's elves to create a message for your child. Just click here to enter the Portable North Pole.

Owl Calendar

Artist- Stephanie Coleman

A beautiful owl illustration for every month of 2012 available at the lovable My Owl Barn


Artist- Jinjerup

Sunday Listening

Just a beautiful song

Feather Crush

I am crushing on feather clothing and accessories at the moment. I realise that I may be the only one with a fascination for plumes but these are just gorgeous.

ASOS



ASOS - Out of stock :(



River Island Bangles- who now ship to Australia!!



Plates Revival

Don't you love the re-invention of decorating trends?
When opening the pages of this month's Home Beautiful it was as if I was looking into my Nana's dining room. She has a collection of plates just like this and I find myself imagining a similar collection in my home too. I think what also makes this arrangement look modern is the absence of those kinda tacky metal plate hooks. I'm guessing that one of my best friends, the 3M velcro tabs, were used to suspend these plates. 

Where to stash Santa's loot

Conversation around the house is starting to focus more and more on Santa. "What's Santa doing now, Mummy?" "Can we write to Santa today?" "Can we leave a hot chocolate for Santa when he comes?" The questions are full of excitement and I can't wait to see Michaela's face on Christmas morning after Santa makes his midnight visit.
And so all these questions have me thinking about not only gift giving but Chrissy projects to do in the lead up to the big day. One of the easiest sewing projects is a Santa sack. Forget the last minute wrapping on Christmas Eve, Santa sacks are eco-friendly and can be used every Christmas for years to come. They can be as simple or as detailed as you like too.
I plan to make two for the girls (there are loads of tutorials- this one from Spotlight, or this one is quite detailed.)
However, if you're a bit time poor, as many of us are at this time of year, here are my festive favourites.

Screen printed alphabet Santa sack

Screen printed linen sack

Christmas Owl

Birdie Sack


There are also some lovely vintage Santa Sacks available at the recently launched Down That Little Lane- lots of gorgeous goodies to browse here too!

Cross Stitch is Cool

I enjoy the hand stitching I do on softies and other crafty projects, french knots, blanket stitch, chain stitch, whatever stitch it is, I find it relaxing. Little faces come to life and decorative details take on  new dimension.
Cross stitching is one of the many crafty things I've tried my hand at over the years. I did a few when I was in my late teens and although they were never framed or hung (and I have no idea where they are now) I loved seeing them finished.
Now you can wear your cross stitch work. Perth based Osmosis Design offer these bamboo canvases to create your own pendant/brooch. (Also available in acrylic)

Also, Delilah Devine have a kit with everything you need to make a necklace- bamboo canvas, needle, threads, silver chain and pattern. These make gorgeous and unique Christmas gifts.

Harper's Nursery

I have been adding to Harper's nursery bit by bit since this first nursery post. It is 99% complete, I'm still eyeing a personalised wall sticker for above her cot. Harper graduated from the bassinet alongside our bed to her own room about a month ago and I'm happy to say that she's enjoying her new digs.
The room was always going to be painted grey; it's my favourite colour and is in keeping with the rest of the house. I went with Taubman's Grey Comfort and decided on white, pink and coral/tangerine accents.
The cot was on sale at Ikea a few months ago (don't think it's available anymore....) and I decided to 'hack' it after seeing this nursery. The fabric panels were made using Heather Bailey Lindy Leaf in Tangerine.
The bookshelf is also from Ikea. On it there are a few ornaments and practical items; bird house (Thingz), tree photo stand (Officeworks), framed birth announcement (Etsy), a lamp and white baskets (Ikea) filled with singlets and shoes and the 'H' I made by wrapping wool around the paper mache letter.(via Ohdeedoh) Mirrored bird cage which is above the cot is from Target.

The chest of drawers came with me from my parents' home 9 years ago.
Paper Lanterns (Gone Bizarre), change mat cover (Etsy), white rabbit and bamboo owl (Typo). Art work is from here, here, here and here.  Rug (Spotlight about 18 months ago). Growth chart (Target)

Bookcase and pink storage cubes (Ikea)
Glider (Ebay find for $30- I have some fur fabric protecting the re-covered cushions from my pukey baby. The glider isn't perfect, the arms get in the way while nursing and I have to sit on an angle but it's a lot more comfortable at 3am than sitting on the floor which I did with Michaela.
Cushion (Spotlight with a few vintage doilies stitched in place), lamp (mentioned here), LOVE print (here) and bamboo bird mobile (Typo)

Fit for a Princess

One of Michaela's friends turned 3 yesterday so we made her a little something to keep her clips (and crowns!) in order.

My little 'Princess' enjoying the party

Fave Finds- Jewellery Trees

Polli

Future Shelter

Top 3 by design

Bird of Play

Sushi Inspired Baby Shower Gift

What a creative idea for a baby shower gift! It's a great reminder too that sushi is back on the menu when bubs arrives....

4 months

Harper's fourth month milestones:

Giggling ~ she giggles when kissed on the chin
Hair pulling ~ improved hand/eye coordination and grip means all hair must remain tied up!
Sleeping through the night ~ she has slept from 7.30pm til 6.30am 3 nights in the last week- massive woo hoo and happy dance!!
Name recognition ~ she will respond (by turning her head) to the person calling her name
Sitting forward ~ no longer content to chill out in the swing, she leans forward so as to not miss out on the conversation.

Don't you just love chubby thighs?!

Not the most natural of smiles from Michaela but she was trying......

Santa's getting organised

There's no denying it, Christmas is just around the corner. Every year I promise to get organised with the gift giving side of the celebration but inevitably leave a few things to the last minute. So in an attempt to keep track of and on budget, I'm going to print off this gosh-darn-cute printable. I'm a sucker for list making and who can refuse cuddly penguins?! (There are also some gift tags in the same design)

Sock Monkey Love

Sock Monkey goes to Hollywood came home the other week after a trip to the local library. I love a story for kids which is fun for us parents to read too. (There are only so many times I can read a Dora story......) Here is the link for the author, Cece Bell's, blog page. There are a few more books in the Sock Monkey series so here's hoping Santa puts them on the list.
I'm also considering this tutorial so that a sock monkey can live with us too.

Happy Weekend

via

Hand Sewn Cards

I started making some thank you cards last night whilst watching tv. I referred to this tutorial (found via Li'l Magoolie) to make them and plan to make some Christmas cards the same way.

Now I know my ABC's

An Alphabet Print is the quintessential piece of nursery art. I have this one framed in Harper's room. Here are my favourites to Buy, PIY and DIY. dafont.com is also a great site for downloading unique fonts and creating your own poster, this Circus font is my pick.

Etsy

Sweet William print

DIY using a stencil and fabric or card stock scraps

The Handmade Home

From My Poppet

Sprik Space