Help!

Tomorrow the girls and I are going to Wet and Wild on the Gold Coast. Now to be truthful, I don't mind a little bit of water slide action. The weather is suppose to be hot and fine. I'm sure I'll find myself a nice tyre tube to float around in and soak up some sun.

There is just one bit of a problem. My eldest, Cait who is ten wants me to got on the new Kamikaze ride with her. I am desperately trying to come up with excuses why this is a very bad idea. Yes, I am a true sooky la la when it comes to rides that have "extreme" written in front of them. Just the name of the ride makes me want to wet my pants sitting in my lounge room. Its alright for Cait for she's a gymnast and has the whole body flying through the air, crazy stunt, fear thing all capered. I on the other hand definitely do not. Fear is not something I really need to experience in my life at the present moment.

I have also brought myself a bikini for the first time for this trip. I'm in my 30's and have never owned one. I quite don't know why after three children and the profile of an ironing board I though this would be a great idea. I also brought myself a nice pair of board shorts and a swimming top to go over them. More sooky la la action there too, I know.

We should have lots of fun and hopefully all come home in one piece.

Beautiful Children's Clothing on Etsy

I am quite amazed going through etsy of all the beautiful and unique children's clothing that is made locally in South East Queensland. I'm always on the look out for something new for the girls, that doesn't make them look like every other child around. All the clothes below are beautifully made, individual, and have more than a little bit of something special.

Pretty Sundress, Garden Party by HotFudge

Vintage Chenille Little Girls Skirt by Bubbachenille

African-Inspired Girls Patchwork Wrap Skirt by ogekko

Red Delicious - Apple Baby Booties by Pedrosprout

Blue Gingham Baby Doll Top by BlossomChild

Butter Wouldn't Melt in Her Mouth Sundress by madebymiffy

Fab Fuchsia Jitterbug Twirl Skirt by TikiBoo

The Sophia Tie Top by mimoo

MMMM Yum

Notice to all fudge and chocolate fudge lovers: check out this Brisbane Etsy Fudge Shop. It is the only one of its kind in Brisbane. I do admit I have a vested interest in this shop, as I work with the owner of this shop and I have been the very lucky recipient of some of her legendary fudge. We have had the odd fudge off at work and all I can say is wow! She also happens to be one of the nicest people I know.

Little Moo's Shop

DUE TO THE DISMAL PERFORMANCE OF THE AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR, ALL MY ITEMS IN MY ETSY SHOP HAVE BEEN REDUCED TO REFLECT THE FALL IN THE DOLLAR.

AUSTRALIAN CUSTOMERS CAN RECEIVE FREE SHIPPING UNTIL THE 15TH NOVEMBER 2008. I HOPE THIS HELPS SOME AUSTRALIAN BUYERS OUT FOR A WEE WHILE, BECAUSE I KNOW HOW HARD IT IS AT THE MOMENT.

And The Winner Is:

The winner of the bag give away was drawn this afternoon. Congratulations Drewzel the bag is all yours. Just pop me an email with your address and I shall send it on its way tomorrow before work. A huge thank you to all who posted, I very much appreciate your lovely comments and thank you for making me smile.

Little Stormy

I'm a Brisbane girl through and through, I have never lived anywhere else. In fact I work in the same hospital I was born in. Very boring I know. I don't do change well. I have always loved when the storms roll through Brisbane. I love the change in the air and the relief from the suffocating humidity. The photo above was taken from my deck on Tuesday afternoon. We were all tucked up inside when the lightning came so its only of the dark clouds as the came across.

Don't forget the bag will be drawn this afternoon!

Lovely Suprises

On Sunday morning I had the most wonderful pleasure of being contacted by McHats a Sydney estian via an Etsy convo. Sue (McHats) is an absolute delight and extremely generous. Sue made my Sunday. If you are looking for a hat pattern she has some beautiful and classic patterns for sale. I can't wait to one out when I can find the time.

The lovely badskirt has this great post about her first market experience. There are some great tips here and oh so nice of her to share.

Not so much crafting happening at Little Mary Moo's Place due to a phenomenal amount of ironing that has been lovingly created by the little Moos.

Thanks For The Smiles

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my give away post. I came home to three over tired very cranky and just more than a wee bit naughty girls last night. To top it off I had a bit of a crap day at work. So thank you all for putting a smile on my face . Much appreciated. I'm currently having a disagreement with my sewing machine so I'm hoping that a warm cup of tea and some nice company on the crafty blog scene will fix all my woes.

These pictures are of my littlest. They were taken down at the local creek when we were catching tadpoles. They had so much fun. I was sitting a fair distance away with the zoom on so I could catch the excitement and the giggles. These photos are some of my favourite. Looking at them again reminds me that the girls can be so much fun and the grumps do pass.

Take Me Home - GIVE AWAY

In the spirit of all things lovely and nice in the crafty blogosphere here is my first give away. She's a simple tote bag made with a soft red stripped stretchy denim. Inside is lined with a crisp white cotton. The front of the bag features a pocket made from Kokka's Doll fabric. There is a small magnetic clasp in the facing at the top.

I will be drawing a winner randomly on the 23rd of October 2008. All you have to do to be eligible for the draw is to leave a comment about what made you smile today - hopefully something you are grateful for. Please make sure I can contact you through a link when you comment just in case the winner is you.

Ok what made me smile today was a crazy dog I saw when I went to pick up my groceries. He was having a lovely roll in something that was probably very smelly while the poor girl walking him was trying in vain to pull him away. I was grateful that I have one dog who is to lazy to go for a walk and another who is to manic to take out in public because I am sure one of them would of done exactly the same to me.

BrisStyle Market

Go check out this post here for more information. Very exciting indeed and much more fun than shopping in any crowded shopping centre a week and a half out from Christmas.

Grateful

In the latest issue of Frankie I was thoroughly intrigued by the "365 grateful" article. The article featured photographer Hailey Bartholomew's Polaroid photos that she takes everyday of what she is grateful for. Her 365 Day's a Grateful pictures can be found here as well as others from the group. Definitely beautiful viewing and well worth a peek.

I would love to try this kind of project and it is definitely on my list of things to do. I know there is plenty of inspiration out there. Maybe just adding some of by gratefulness to my blog would be at least a start. In the spirit of Blogtoberfest, I am most grateful to the most lovely Big Cat's Emporium for hosting such a fun event. I'm am very much a Blogtoberfest wall flower (story of my life) and I love to sit back at watch and listen. Through Blogtoberfest I am very much grateful to find the following wonderful crafty blogs:

Sparkly Green Knickers (how could you not love a blog with such a fantastic name!)

Poppy Lane

Snailblazer

Leni and Rose

Just Perfect

(Photo from etsy listing)

Look at the great note book I picked up this morning from Jellygnite's shop on etsy. This is just perfect for my youngest moo who is doing dinosaurs at school this term. It will be great for her to take on her trip to the museum for drawings and little notes. Just like the pirate theme we don't have many dinosaur inspired paraphernalia, so this will be fantastic. It will also be nice to put away and keep for her when she is older so she can look back at what she wrote and drew when she was six.

Today I'm taking the girls shopping for their summer clothes, hopefully we won't have to many disagreements about choices in clothes. Maybe find somewhere nice for lunch too. I love a girls day out.

Doll Love

Market Tote

Messenger Bag

I adore the Matryoshka Dolls fabric by Kokka. These are two bags I have made over the last few days with some new fabric from Kelani Fabric. Matryoshka Dolls fascinated me as a small child (they still do to be honest).

Look Who's at Little Mary Moo's Place

(photo courtesy of ebay listing)

Frank from the Softies for Mirabel auction arrived at our house yesterday. He is very loved as hasn't had a quite moment since his arrival. He has even been taught how to do back flicks. Is there nothing Frank is not capable of!

Planning Ahead

Well 2008 is flying by at a cracking pace and its time to start planning for the next year. There are some etsy shops with some wonderful calendars and planners. Below are just a few of my favourites:

2009 Letter Press Calendar by paperedtogether

Doodles Birds 2009 Desk Calendar by Valentina Design

Vintage Collage Style Bird Calendar by Petit Pear

2009 Calendar: Her Month by Month at Sarah Jane Studios

We love cookies

This was meant to be my Blogtoberfest post for yesterday but last night as much as I tried blogger wouldn't let me post, so here it is a little late.

My girls adore Aunty Cookie fabric. My eldest is especially fond of the fabric and will spend ages looking at all the Cookies. Perfect for a ten year old's sense of humor. Below is a little mobile phone pouch I made the other morning for my eldest. I just can't believe she has her own phone sometimes as I was well in my twenties before I got my first phone. She has been very sensible though and has kept it for necessities. In three months she has only spent two dollars worth of credit (got to love pre-paid).

Etsy Love

Look what arrived in the post for me today to add to my stash. I brought this fantastic fabric from summersville on etsy. It is wonderful and vibrant, I can't wait to use it. Lucie's shop is beautiful and well worth a visit.

For More Than Washing Faces

There is many a Nan, Gran or Aunt who will tell you that there is many a crafting activity to be done with the humble face washer. I was the recipient of many a crochet around the outside face washer at Christmas time as a kid. I have to admit, I do have a love for face washer craft and this is my fave:

The drink bottle cover!

I do love these very much as the days get hotter in Brisbane. The girls go to school with frozen drink bottle and these covers absorb all the condensation on the outside of the bottles so their books and Vegemite sandwiches don't end up wet and festy. The great thing about them is they are super quick to sew and can be thrown in the wash for a quick clean and be nice and fresh (unlike anything else that goes to or from school) for the next day. Below are my somewhat dodgy instructions for making your own if you so wish a bit of face washer crafting.

Choose a face washer, I made a bit of an incorrect choice with this one (it was the only new one I had). You are better of choosing one that isn't too thick around the edges for easier sewing and so it sits nice and neat on its bottom.
Sew a wee hem around the top edge of about 2 - 2.5cm should do nicely.

Pin together with the good sides facing each other like above. Sew a seam commencing at the folded edge at the bottom all the way to the start of the hem at the top.

Make sure to stop here so the two gaps at the top of the hem remain open for the tie to go through.

While the face washer is still inside out, take the corner where the folded edge is and pull to make a triangle to square off the bottom. Pin in place. Do the same with the opposite end of the bottom seam .

Sew a small seam about 1.5cm from the edge across to secure the triangle.

The seam should look like this when completed.

Now turn the face washer the right way out and the bottom should then appear nice and squared off like above.

I just had some cotton tape available today but you could use a pretty cord or ribbon if you wished. Just pop what ever you are going to use for a tie through the top. You can just tie off at a length just a little longer than what it takes to go through the top.

The face washes scrunches around the tie really well and will hold its form nicely around the top. Easy peasy hey! All you need to do now is pop in your frozen drink bottle and off you (or the kids) go. The cover will hold a bottle up to 750ml. Maybe you could even make a face washer stubby cooler for the man in your life(or maybe not I think!).

There are some super cute face washers out there so give it a go. I've shared my favourite face washer craft, so what's yours?

Luck She's Cute

Above is a picture of my dog Lilly yesterday afternoon. It was one of those moments you know you just have to grab the camera (lucky it was in easy reach of stash shooting). It is not the best photo in the world because I had to snap it through the glass door so I didn't wake her up. She was sound asleep with her paw wrapped around her teddy. Both my dogs adore their teddies. There shall be no more sleeping today though because after her marathon nap yesterday afternoon she spent the entire night barking at anything or anyone who came within 50 metres of the house. Needless to say I am a touch cross with her this morning after very limited sleep.

Spit Spot

This is the dotty part of my stash. I love their bright happiness, they remind me of fun and laughter, the girls and all things good.

More To Share

Above is the little selection of fabric I received from Tokyo Mommy on etsy. They are very sweet little prints on a canvas cotton. Just lovely for making purses and the likes. These were a great addition to my stash for the smaller projects.

Words to sew with

Common discussions I have with my sewing machine: "damn, bugger, bugger, bugger, gee whiz, crap, crap, crap, why did I do that...." That is the G rated discussion, there are some more colourful discussion I have with my sewing machine when the kids aren't in hearing range.

Just a little post to joining in Blogtoberfest at Big Cat's Emporium. I shall try and blog everyday for October, I don't know how successful I will be.

Super Stash Savings

More stash tales.

A few months ago I was very, very lucky to go to the Hearts of Africa fabric sale that was held in Albion in Brisbane at Hayes Upholstery. All the fabric was donated and then sold off. My favourite pieces are below. What a bargain they were selling most of the fabric for 40c a piece. I can't remember the last time I paid 40c for anything let alone pieces of designer fabric. There was some real gems amongst all the fabric and some of it was several metres in length. The most I paid was $2.00 for several meters of black canvas. I was a little possessed and the sale far outweighed my expectations for I was very unprepared. My poor girls were each sat down and piled with my finds. I did manage to find them several hours later after a bit of digging. If there is ever another sale I shall have a Nana trolley in hand.

This fabric above is my absolute fave. It is screen printed in the UK and has beautiful names like "Katie". Each piece is about 1.5 metres in length. I'm thinking of market totes for these ones if I can ever convince myself to cut it.

(The container full of finds, lucky it is on wheels because it is much to heavy to lift)

New Addition

This newbiee (the bag not my wee poppet) found in my etsy shop. Just right to take the essential toys for the day. I just have to make sure the little moo and ted don't hang on to it.

We all have one

Meet Me at Mikes is having a most lovely Share your Stash. These are a few of my favourites I though I would share.

Above is a picture of the half of the linen closet I have packed away in order to make way for the most favoured pieces of my stash. I live in a very little house and I love having all the fabric neat and stacked at my finger tips.

I see red... I love red at the moment. I think that the most wonderful Aunty Cookie and Pippijoe have had a lot to do with my obsession with red. How can you resist such fantastic original fabric.

I can't wait to see everyone stash.