Lalaloopsy and turning eight.

This year has been all about Lalaloopsy dolls for my littlest girl, so when we starting throwing around ideas for her birthday cake, I wasn't surprised when Lalaloopsy was mentioned :)

They really are the cutest little dolls, and I was spoilt for choice with colour schemes...there is a Lalaloopsy doll to match any combination I could think of! Pink is still  her favourite colour, so I teamed it with orange for a more older girl look...she is eight now, after all.

 The girls worked with the pre-made icing to make the buttons...they coloured, kneaded, pressed  them out and made the holes...such fun. The cake was a layered butter cake, with purple, pink and orange layers and lots of cream...yummmm!

Can I admit how much I loved selecting all the lollies for the table? Colour co-ordination makes me happy :)

What started as a small afternoon tea for just our little family turned into something a bit more, when our friends arrived with a gift for Merryn...perfect timing! Lots more voices to sing Happy Birthday to my girl...

...even our dog Clancy wanted to be in on the fun!

Happy Birthday for yesterday, sweet girl xxx

TTFN xxx

Project Life 2012 - Week 28 and presents to share :)

Hello Week 28...and hello documenting the first week of the school holidays....

 ...a  week where my husband was away at work, and my son was away at school camp, so it was all about the girls! Thankfully, I had more photos to work with this week...more than I could put into a double layout, even! I'm hoping to scrap more individual pages to add, but for now, we'll call it good  ;)

 Today also marks the last day of my 5 in 5 Challenge, which turned out to be a very achieveable target. Presents to share was a quick block to complete...

...only one block left to stitch...WOOOHOOOOO! Probably a good thing, as the start of my next big project arrived in my letterbox today...watch this space :)

Hope you are having a wonderful week

TTFN xxx

Family

Block 4 (out of 5) in my little self challenge now completed...which takes me into August on the stitching program. Love how that feels :)

I fussy cut the strawberries because they were just too cute, and it hopefully adds a bit more interest to an otherwise fairly plain block :) Just one more day to go...and only one more block after that and my hand stitching for this quilt will be complete! Seriously...where has the year gone?

TTFN xxx

Project Life 2012 - Week 27 ...and some sunshine.

Hello Week 27...and another week closer to being back on track :)

 This weeks spread was inspired by stitching, simplicity and stash busting :) 

I've been stitching along happily in the last couple of days (no internet will do that to me!) and doing a bit of tidying in the craft room. When I came across some stitchy-inspired paper called Honey Pie by Cosmo Cricket ...that I had two sheets of...it seemed like a great choice for the background! Simplicity was needed to let the paper show through...

 ...and I wanted the effect across the middle of the layout...like matching patterns in patchwork :) I journaled this week like an ongoing story, rather than snippets for a change. There are several single layouts that I'd like to make, to tell some of the stories in a little more depth, but they would go in a different album.

My 5 in 5 challenge is going along well...having a plan really helps me focus! Todays block is called "Sunshine on my face", which goes perfectly with the weather today.

Enjoy your Sunday! I've emptied both the washing AND ironing baskets this morning, so I think a bit of stitching in the sunshine might be in order this afternoon :)

TTFN xxx

Project Life 2012 - Week 26

Hello Project Life Week 26...so nice to see you in my album :)

 For this weeks pages, I was inspired by some of these...

  ...yep, they are nearly-used-up sticker sheets!  I have so so many sticker sheets in my stash, and many of them have only one or two stickers left...do you have the same?  So I started with a sheet that had just one sticker left, and worked my colour scheme around that...it was orange :)

 The background papers are Neopolitan by Dear Lizzie from American Crafts, as are the tags....love stash-busting!

 I used a few saved bits and pieces in this week...like the tissue paper that Riley's Vans were wrapped in ( Vans are canvas shoes, by the way) and some ribbon that a gift was wrapped in.

And that was Week 26, which also marks the completion of the first half of 2012, AND the completion of my first ever Project Life album...WOOOHOOOO!

Six months seemed like a logical time to start a new album, and call the other "full" before it got too heavy to lift :)

How are you going on your 5 in 5 challenge? Are you playing along? Here is my Day 2 block, called Birdsong in the Morning...

...completion is getting closer...I can feel it!

I'm still having some internet issues, but have discovered it's sporadic...grrrr! So I'll be back tomorrow...fingers crossed!

TTFN xxx

Challenged :)

How are you going with the 5 in 5 mini challenge? I'm going great guns, but have encountered some major problems with my telephone/ internet connection... so no photos from me today :( Hopefully things are being fixed, and I'll be back to normal blogging mode soon, with lots of show-and-tell. It's amazing how much you can get done when you have no Internet! Until then TTFN xxx

5 in 5...a mini challenge!

Today I have a little challenge...for me, and for you :)

 It occurred to me just this morning, that today is the 20th of July. The 20th! Only 11 more days and we will be at the end of another month! Now, I don't know about you, but my crafty goals for the month of July haven't even made it to the sidebar of this blog yet, let alone been achieved LOL.

So I've set myself a mini challenge. Over the next 5 days, I am going to complete 5...yes, 5...of my Some Kind of Wonderful quilt blocks. I'm lucky...the blocks for this month are quite small.

All about the size of this butterfly block, in fact...which I will call Day 1. The blocks for next month are quite small too, so I tacked a couple of extra onto my challenge...because how good would it feel to be ahead for a change?

And here's a little challenge for you...why don't you do a 5 in 5 challenge too? If you're participating in the SKoW Stitch-a-long group, you could stitch your July/August blocks alongside me. If you are doing Farmers Wife blocks, maybe you could make 5 over the next 5 days. If you're a scrapbooker...go for 5 layouts. A cardmaker? 5 cards. You get the idea :)

What do you say? Are you up for the challenge? Leave me a comment so I can check out what you're up to :)

TTFN xxx

A beautiful beginning :)

Red and aqua. Aqua and red.

As Block of the Month programs go, it really doesn't get much better than this for me :)

When I joined up for Fat Quarter Shop's  Mystery BOM several months ago, I had no idea how I was going to fit yet another project into my (somewhat overloaded) crafting schedule...but the lure of the new Bonnie and Camille fabric, Vintage Modern, was just too strong. Red and aqua. Aqua and red. Nothing more to be said, really :)

Block One completed. Block Two on it's way from the U.S.

Loving the anticipation!

TTFN xxx

Project Life 2012 - Week Twenty Five

Hello Week 25...better late than never, huh?

 I"m playing catchup with Project Life right now, after having a little break for a week or two (or even three?)...it's a bit of a struggle to get back on track, let me tell you :) When life gets busy I forget to take photos and write down stories, and then when I finally get back to it , I find myself toying with the idea of stopping PL altogether.

 Which would be a shame...but to be perfectly honest, probably a bit of a relief at this point too?

Anyhoo, here are the moments that made up Week 25...a very ordinary week in the life of our family.

The papers are mainly So Happy Together by Echo Park, which is very quickly becoming my favourite scrapbook manufacturer...love their colour combinations and accessories!

How are you going with Project Life? Are you still keeping up with it? Are you way behind? Or have you abandoned it altogether?

TTFN xxx

Let's go to Freo!

The school holidays are half over here in Western Australia, and my little family is finally all sleeping back under the one roof...hoooray! While we are used to my husband being away, this past 10 days have seen my boy enjoying the sights of Sydney and Canberra on a school excursion...what a life!

We took the opportunity to head out together today, and ended up here...

 I love Freo Markets. They are full of gorgeous produce, quaint stalls, lots of unusual wares, and the atmosphere is exactly what a market should be like! And what's not to love about a yummy cupcake stall?

 Or an even yummier macaroon shop?

 I tell you, it's no wonder I can't lose weight! I love that there are all sorts of different treats to try too, like these spiral potatoes with a hot dog inside...surprisingly good!

 And we can never...but NEVER...walk past a Cold Rock Icecreamery without stopping.

It was such a glorious winters day, that I even convinced the kids to stop for a photo or two under the magnificent pines in the park. My favourite photo of the day was not taken by me though...

...sigh. Love this one :)

Hope you had a wonderful weekend, and thanks so much for stopping by.

TTFN xxx

Sewing and Best Friends

Another quick update on my Some Kind of Wonderful quilt...

 I caught up on the May blocks (finally!) and am all set to start on the final strip of the quilt. Seriously, when you stitch along with a couple of blocks each month, the quilt seems to grow so fast!

This was the block I've been looking forward to completing...

 ...it has a bit more work than the other blocks, but well worth the extra time. Loving those itty bitty patchwork blocks :)

Best friends was stitched up in no time, once I got my motivation happening...that can take months!

July blocks here I come!

Have a great weekend...

TTFN xxx

Afternoon tea at the Cottage

There is nothing more pleasant than spending a sunny Sunday afternoon in the Swan Valley. I sometimes forget what a beautiful place it is...the wineries, the roadside produce stalls, the Margaret River Chocolate Factory...it is a food lovers paradise.

Discovering new favourite places to eat is almost guaranteed with every visit, and last Sunday was no exception :)

 I was invited to celebrate my dear friend Janelles' birthday with High Tea at The Cottage Tea Rooms, a quaint little house filled with  treasures, and atmosphere in abundance.

The gift giving was followed by bottomless cups of tea with fresh scones and homemade jam (yum!)...

...and then the 3 tiered trays arrived! Cucumber sandwiches, tiny carrot cakes, lemon meringue tarts, choc dipped strawberries, individually wrapped chocolates, macaroons....mmmmmmmmmmm....

 ...which were accompanied by trays of miniature hot pastries...OH MY GOODNESS! Tiny sausage rolls and mini quiches...so glad I didn't eat lunch before I went :) What a delightful way to spend a winters afternoon!

The card I made for Janelle was quite simple in design...

...but the colours were divine!

Thanks so much for a gorgeous afternoon girls...count me in for the next one!

TTFN xxx

Beyond Measure

It can be a bit of a dilemma, really :) 

Once a month (or thereabouts)  Linda, Tracey and I get together to make the monthly Label Crew project from the Sweetwater Label Crew Club...it's a get-together that we all very much look forward to. But what happens when we decide that we don't really want to make the current project?

 We have to come up with an alternative project...and quickly! This month, we decided to make a sewing machine cover using Mama Said Sew, a recent fabric release from Sweetwater, using a pattern called "Beyond Measure" by Ros Mirrington which was featured in Homespun magazine.

Only trouble is, once I opened the charm pack I realised that the fabrics were not really going to match my craft room decor. I was forced to do what any self-respecting crafter would do...buy more fabric!

I branched out from my current Bonnie and Camille obsession, and went with Gypsy Girl by Lily Ashbury....and I'm so glad I did! Just look at the colours....

 ...aqua, red, hot pink, apple green and candy pink...how they make my heart sing! They remind me so much of my favourite designers from Pip Studio...must google that to see if there is a connection there ;)

 Even choosing the matching buttons at Textile Traders had my heart fluttering...such rich jewel tones against the crisp white of the linen. Love. Love. Love.

After a productive night of stitching ( and lots of laughs in between), my sewing machine has a gorgeous new cover, and my head is exploding with inspiration...do I make the matching pin cushion/ mat/ thread holder, or do I make a spiffy new cover for my desk-top ironing board?

Right now...I make nothing :)  My girls and I are off to the movies to see Brave, so hopefully my mojo will still be waiting for me when we get back!

TTFN xxx