Party cakes part 2

Vintage Lucy's
Chic Baby Rose
I love these cute little cupcake toppers, both of these etsy stores are well stocked with gorgeous vintage inspired "girly" goodies. Click on the link under each photo and have a look around! Have a happy Wednesday! Leah

Time flies!



Hello, I can't believe that it will be April tomorrow and our baby will be one in less than 2 weeks! Birthday parties are very exciting at our place. I have been thinking about the cake, (very excited about making a girly one!!) All of my kids love cupcakes so I searched on Flickr and found so many gorgeous cupcakes, these are just 2 of my favourites. Thanks for dropping in! Leah

a right family banner...


i had a moment of crafting madness yesterday...it all came about when i realized my walls lack any family photos. i seem to almost have an aversion to displaying the residents of our shed and i do not know why... perhaps it is my fear of the 'school photo' look, that has kept me from doing so.
in our last house i had a nice collection going up the staircase, featuring black and white shots taken on a trip to San Diego when the kids were little...we travelled along the coastal highway up to San Francisco, for two weeks we lived like gypsies and it felt so good.
every time i see these photos they conjure up a time for me that tugs at my heart strings, where does the time go and where have these babies gone. they stand before me now, on the verge of spreading their wings and it makes my little heart ache to know my nest will change over the next few years...
so armed with the photos, a thrift store bed sheet, a few scraps of lace, a cup of tea and Miss Ethel, i set to work with making a 'family banner'...

very simple really,
1. take some photos.
2. cut fabric large enough to leave a border around the photos.
3. wash and dry fabric pieces so you get a nice frayed edge.
4. place photo on fabric and stitch around edge with sewing machine, leaving threads for a 'crafty look'.
5. after sewing all the photos down, add some lace and doily bits for added detail.
6. lay your photos on the floor, rearranging until you get a pleasing display.
7. one by one attach to a long length of lace or ribbon with the sewing machine.
8. hang on a wall and feel your heart swell.



she's wondering if it will ever warm up ~ Tif

Another blog giveaway


Pop in hereto enter. Have a happy Sunday!Leah

Hello!

Hello, no picture today and still no crafting. I have been in hospital for a few days with complications of Glandular fever, so frustrating!! I do have quite some time off work now, so I should catch up, good excuse for some computer time anyhow! Have a great weekend! Leah

what she really wants...

nellie knows what she wants and what she wants is 'chickens in the backyard' but alas nellie doesn't have a backyard to call her own. she lives in the city in a high rise block and dreams of life on the farm. on the weekends nellie discards her conservative office clothing and dons her apron skirt along with a sweet cardi, headscarf and bashed up biker boots. she pulls her patchwork vintage drapes over the window to shut out the world, settles herself down on a midcentury modern couch and watches re-runs of 'little house on the prairie'...some may say nellie is a dreamer, but nellie just shrugs her shoulders and says "at least i know what i want"


this sweet apron skirt is upcycled from
a cotton thriftstore slip (dyed a pretty soft tealy seafoam color)
an antique traycloth
a thrifted cotton blouse
an antique collar
a vintage lace doily
a button
scraps of fabric
and
vintage lace
you can find nellie in my little store

she's wishing you a lovely spring weekend (ever hopeful) ~ Tif

thrifty thursdays...

hurrah...it's the start of a regular feature on my little 'space'.

thrifty thursdays is where i will show you the evidence of my thrifting from the night before.
i am thinking this might be quite interesting because quite often as i wander the aisles of my local thrift store i glance at other carts (i am quite sure we all do that and then wishing we hadn't if we see something we really wanted for ourselves). more often than not i am thinking "oooh, well they must be an ebay seller" or "ummm, are you quite sure you want that" and in turn they gaze upon my little 'haul' and are quite possibly thinking "what a load of old crap" but of course i like to think they are admiring looks with a hint of envy

anyhow we will soon see...as i show you my haul from week to week, you can judge for yourselves dear readers.
there are two lines that come to mind
"oh Tif, that's just totally grand, what a steal"
or
"oh Tif, that's total tat, what were you thinking"
so i shall leave it up to you, my discerning readers...

1. a lovely chinese robe which i added a bit of lace to...


2. a patchwork quilt not unlike ones in japanese craft magazines, that quite honestly made my heart skip a beat

3. a sweet little plate, perfect for tea and biscuits, and perfect for my vivant store


4. a head scarf from Liberty's of London...enough said


i am thinking it might be interesting to film a 'thrifting' excursion and pop it on YouTube...our #1 and our #2 however are thinking NOT, as our #1 commented to my 'brain storm' of an idea late last night
"oh no mum you can't do that, you'll end up getting loads of hits but not for the right reasons, you'll be one of those YouTube people that are ridiculed"
and then our #2 added "and of course do you really want the world to see the 'real you' in your bi-focals"

she's thinking it over, whilst you decide if it's a load of 'tat' or 'treasure' ~ Tif

where are the elves when you need them...

i am struggling of late to get any 'crafty' time in with Miss Ethel...


it is becoming glaringly obvious that i need to be more organized with my life if i am going to juggle 'it all'...no easy feat for a lot of us, i am quite sure...

and so dear readers last night i left out some work in my studio hoping the elves would hear my cry and do their thing. ("insanity Tif...it's just a matter of time")

i awoke to happy chirping coming from my studio but alas, on close inspection it was not from little elves busy sewing but my little chicky peas saying "Tif, where are you, we are here and ready for our morning ritual of cleaning, feeding, watering and learning our names".

i did manage to steal one hour of the day and finish up a cushion cover before my motherly duties were required from me ...


she is off thrifting tonight and quite excited to see what little treasures are waiting for her ~ Tif

Another Giveaway to enter!


Drop in here for a chance to win some lovely handmade prizes. Sophie lives right here in Mildura and has a lovely blog and etsy shop! Bye for now, Leah

it's just a chicken coop...

friday i rushed down to our local farm supply shop to pick up Orla and Little Eva...two speckled sussex chicks less than two days old.
as they are over a week younger than the other six i have set them up in a space of their own until they grow stronger. for the first eight hours they cried and cried...
used dog and Bingo were most perturbed by the wee chickies plight. i feared for their little lives and i feared for my studio turning into a mini petting farm.
after a whole day of 'distressing' on everyones part, i found the answer...Terry Wogan and his soothing tones, ever since we have Radio 2 playing day and night.

saturday we started the hen house...my main thoughts were about the color, my man's were about actually constructing a coop that would deter the predators that roam our neighborhood when we are tucked up in bed. he got busy with the 'how to' and i got busy with the 'umming and ahhhing' over a couple of paint chips...


"it's just a chicken coop, Tif" he remarked
"just a chicken coop" i spluttered..."it's not just any old chicken coop, it's THEE chicken coop for all my little chicky peas". that would be
Little Eva
Orla
Big Bertha
Pigpen
Fatty (from the Beano)
Polly
Billy no mates
and
No name
(can you tell the ones i was actually allowed to name and the others that were named by a ten year old?)


i then proceeded to tell him that all the books and websites have told me that chickens do not care what their dwellings look like as long as they are kept dry, clean and fed.
but i have decided that quite honestly how do we really know that, surely a chicken would appreciate a little extra in life, such as colorful bunting on the outside just to jolly the day up and i am thinking also a radio for company...


Sunday we started to put the sides together, i had painted the frames a lovely duck egg blue...i noted my man was not being careful with the paint work and more intent on getting the coop level. (which i do agree can be a tricky job and also quite important, but none the less my paint work was in jeopardy) as i was about to complain that my paint work was not being treated with the respect it was due, he looked up at me with gritted teeth and said
"it's just a chicken coop"...

Monday, my man leaves for work...i shout out to the chickies "oooh, daddies leaving"...as the door closes i hear him mutter "oh Tif, you really are turning into a right old mother hen"

she's hoping you will visit 'paper n stitch' this month ~ Tif

Little Sock Babies


Hello, I haven't posted in a few days as I still have the flu! I have hardly been out of bed so no crafting at all! I thought that I would share this gorgeous shop with you chickabiddybaby, please pop in, it always makes me smile. Have a great week! Leah

Brothers



I might buy Grace some hairclips for her birthday. Toby seems to think that she needs some! Grace had her very first morning at Day Care today and loved it, which is great. They will both be there all day tomorrow when I return to work. I really can't believe that I have just had a whole year at home and that she is almost one! I hope that you are having a happy day! Leah

things to note...

1. having wee chickies in the house chirping away, makes it feel like 'spring has sprung' be it day or night...


2. when the eye doctor starts a sentence with "well, of course your age isn't helping your recent eye problems" you know it's not going to go well...
3. if dottie angel wishes to open another shop on etsy that's all well and good, until Tif tries to make it happen. four hours later she is triumphant...but lacking any wares...
4. sewing with chickies chirping in the background influences the crafting process, leading to summer 'apron' skirts being created with 'feeding the hens' in mind...


5. a pesky squirrel can get up to all sorts of trouble including being on the home page of etsy
6. seeing this sweet yellow clock and having to come up with a justification 'to buy'...it took all of five seconds and it was in my cart...
7. the red heatlamp from the 'wee chickies' at night, makes it quite understandable if a passing stranger were to mistake our home for the local brothel...

she's been wondering why you have all looked so far away, soon to be fixed with a pair of bi-focals, gulp ~ Tif

Mystery solved


I have an identity for my sweet red berry plant! It's a Chilean Guava, also known (presumably only in NZ) as a New Zealand Cranberry. Thanks to Tom from Sydney on Flickr for providing the first diagnosis of the Chilean Guava, after which I googled and found that my plant matched the images and descriptions. Then my workmate brought in a sprig from her cranberry bush, and I was puzzled to see that it matched that too. She'd also brought in the plant information card from when she bought the plant, and eventually I realised that the botanical name was the same for both - myrtus ugni (I'm sure it means pretty)

So there we have it - it's a cranberry and a guava. Soon it will be dessert - if I can stop snacking on it when I get the mail, that is!

Happy St Patricks Day!


I know, I'm a wee bit late, but I have been so sick with the flu, getting better now, just in time for my return to work on Friday! Whilst I was at the Stitches and Craft Show Faythe Levine admired and touched lots of my work, which was very exciting, but I wasn't offered any exciting opportunities, so it's back to Nursing again for me! I hope that you did enjoy your St Patrick's day, thanks for dropping in! Leah

I sold lots of these!


Hello, I don't have lots to tell about the Stitches and craft Fair and no photo's either! I have this terrible flu, so the car is not even unpacked!! It Rained and rained in Melbourne, so not many people were strolling around looking at outdoor craft stalls! We did have a wonderful time and I will tell you more tomorrow. I did sell out of these tags within the first hour. I will have to make some more. I hope to add more items to my etsy store over the next few days too. Thanks for dropping in! Leah

Mystery plant


Is this a cranberry? It grows at the foot of my drive near the letterbox. I kept noticing a sweet, sugary smell in the air when getting the mail and traced it back to this plant. I had just thought it was ornamental, after all, wouldn't a cranberry be planted somewhere near the blueberries or blackberries? After a minute's hesitation I ate one of the berries. It was very sweet and quite yummy. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with cranberries and actually thought they were rather tart, so I'm still none the wiser (not reeling with a stomach ache or anything though!)

So... does anyone know what it is?

I actually bought a small cranberry seedling at the flower show, it looks kind of similar but has redder stems. And no berries.

Also, on a gardening high after hearing a talk about compost, I assembled a compost bin this afternoon and nearly filled it. Worm farm is next. We still want to get chookies, but buying a chicken run turns out not to be cheap. I had hoped to buy one in kitset form so I could play builder and put it together but that option is $600 - plus chickens, food etc. Making them rather expensive eggs...

Time spent...





...cooking
...baking
...making relish and lemon honey

...digging oxalis out of the garden
...planting out seedlings
...planning tree and shrub removal
...researching chicken coops
...researching composting and worm farms
...attending Ellerslie (more to come in another post)
...planning my garden beds

...photographing a wedding
...downloading photoshop actions and brushes
...editing 600+ photos

...taking Lui to the vet as his emo (self harming) ways resurface
...buying a dining table and chairs
...arranging vignettes on windowsills and dressers
...lighting the fire and blissing out
...reading



...(not crochet)
...(not organising my craft room)
...(not fixing the letterbox)
...(not fixing the leaky washing machine)
Oh well... perhaps next weekend...

Happy little Chickens!


These little guys are all ready for the long trip to The Melbourne Stitches and Craft Show! I'd love to sew a few more of them tonight, but I have 4 children to pack for etc etc! Soooo exciting, I just hope that it's not raining!! Enjoy your weekend, see you again next week unless you are at the SHOW on Saturady! Leah

some sewing diversion



Hello, I felt that I needed a bit of diversion from sewing last night, so I sat down in front of the TV and created these. I love the cards, I used some of my old picture books for the headbands too, I just need to package them up today and they will be ready to take to Stiches and Craft! Those tickets were my latest etsy purchase from janesays She has such a cute shop, please drop in and have a look around! Thanks so much for dropping in, I really appreciate all of the lovely comments! Leah

Another quick post!

Hello again, I found another gorgeous handmade giveaway
right here it closes tomorrow, so pop in and enter! Leah

Excitement and surprises!

Hello, a really quick post today as I have been sewing as much as I can for the stall that we are having at
The Melbourne Stitches and Craft Show Very exciting!! The big surprise at our house was that Jack's little guinea pig Squeaky had a baby yesterday. He has been waiting for months and months, we didn't think that it was going to happen, then last night we found this little baby running around the cage! S/he is only tiny although s/he looks quite large in the photo. Jack has been sitting outside singing to it for hours! I must keep working, thanks for stopping by! Leah

A new habit!



Hello, we had a beautiful sunny day at home today, I thought that I would take some new photos of our Gracie girl, but she has this terrible new habit of having her tounge out all of the time! I couldn't capture a cute smile.
It's a long weekend here in Vic, I am planning on having a very sunny and creative 3 days! Enjoy your weekend! Leah

Back on line!

Hello, I don't have a photo to share today, I have been off line for a few days, so I have some catching up to do! Jack has chosen No. 32 for our give away which means that our winner is
threemoonbabies Thanks so much for all of the comments. I will return with something to share tomorrow! Bye for now, Leah

Extreme conditions!

Hello, we are all at home today as school has been officially cancelled due to the potential for extreme weather conditions.
This is how I'm feeling today, I was looking through my old books and found these gorgeous pictures, I think I will save this book for Grace, it's too cute to cut up!

I must be off, the local newspaper have phoned us, they are visiting our home to take photos of children at home from school due to the weather forecast.
Yes they chose us because we have so many children, wish me luck!

Please don't forget to enter my giveaway we will draw a winner tonight. Enjoy your day, thanks for dropping in! Leah