Family Traditions and Handy Dandy Purses/Bags

Well the holidays are over and it has been back to school and work this week for the kids and I. Last week was so much fun with lots of outings, catching up with friends, sleepovers, and of course extra time to sew and bake! I made up a batch of Anzac cookies for ANZAC Day. We accompanied my 89 year old Grandfather to an afternoon service, and their were four generations of our family represented.

I was quite nostalgic when I saw some lovely Chicken Scratch Embroidery over at Kerri’s Blog. My grandmother taught me how to embroider like this when I was about 10 yrs old– it was my first introduction to a love of stitchery. I have started making up one of Kerri's gorgeous bookmarks and will show it off next post. I hope to teach Sarah how to do this soon.

On the weekend I was helping my Mum sort through my Grandparents House and came across my Nan’s apron collection. One was a lovely cross stitch apron that she used to wear at Christmastime. 

I found a couple of short zips recently when I cleaned out my haberdashery supplies so used them to make up some coin purses.

I recently received this great bag pattern from Tania at Jet Designs. I made it up using some sturdy fabric from IKEA and lined with some black and while dotted cotton. It is such a handy size for shopping, and I am making a big effort lately to take my own bags shopping.

Posted By Lisa

Tissue Flowers and Bath Salts

On Thursday my friend came over for a sleep over. We made some bath salts together - Here is the recipe:

1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup Epsom Salts
1/2 cup of Rock Salt
10-12 drops of essential essence
food colouring

Mix all the ingredients together for a few minutes. Then pour the Salts into a jar.

Hint: Bath Salts are great presents.

On Friday morning we made some tissue paper flowers. 
This is how we made them:

Tissue Paper in many colours
Florists Wire
Florists Tape
Beads

First cut out flower shapes. You need about 6 for each flower. Then thread them on the florist wire, put on a bead and bend the wire around so the bead won't come off. Then tightly wrap the florists tape around the wire to make the stem.

Posted by Sarah

Introducing Anouk.....

….the Eskimo Girl. She is made of warm and snuggly polar fleece (perfect for arctic temperatures), quilting cotton and wool felt. She was fun to put together yesterday.

I was inspired by this sweet Eskimo print fabric that I purchased from Retro Mummy. I have used it to make another coloured pencil roll.

Sarah and I have been busy on some secret projects this week but we will have to wait to show you until after they have been gifted in a few weeks time. Here are some sneak peaks.....

The school holidays are going way too fast and we have been kept busy catching up with friends and family, and taking time to relax at home without the usual hectic schedule of school, work, and activities. Bliss!!! Sarah and I have been spending time each day curled up on the couch watching Season 7 of the Gilmore Girls (we are big fans and have been eagerly waiting for this latest season to be released on DVD).

Posted by Lisa

New Fabric and a Tag....

I am now officially on a weeks leave from work (yayy!!) I have spent this morning reorganising my sewing space and have plenty of plans for the week ahead (although the kids also have many plans for the rest of their school holidays that involve seeing their friends, sleepovers, movies etc ) so it remains to be seen how much sewing will actually take place! In any case it will be nice to hang out with the kids!

I have made a few fabric purchases lately. I love the new Cake Rock Beach range by Joelle Hoverson. I bought some here (I was impressed with the speedy service – less than a week from USA to Australia) in lovely brown, earthy tones. Perfect for some new cushions. (because you can never have too many!)

I also purchased some lovely spots…. ‘cos you can never have enough dotty prints.

I made a trip to my local quilting shop yesterday and came home with these for a project that I am working on….

I made up a Coloured Pencil Roll today using some bright cheerful fabric from IKEA.

Now on to the tag. We were tagged by the lovely Kellie from Don’t Look Now. Kellie is a wonderful quilt designer and maker, and uses a lot of appliqué in her work. You should check out her fabulous work.

1. Why did you start your blog?

I only discovered that the world of sewing/craft blogs existed in January 08. My New Years resolution was to find more time for myself and doing things I loved. I wanted to make good use of the lovely new overlocker that I got for Christmas. Sarah and I love to work on craft projects together. She loves computer applications and was keen to set our own blog up to showcase the things we were making. I agreed because I thought it would be something fun we could do together.

2. How did you come up with the blog name?

Sarah and I love to cook, and usually bake together each week. The name popped into my head and we decided to stick with it.

3. Do your friends and family know about your blog and what do they think?

Only a small handfall of people know about our blog. My mum (an avid crafter) checks it regularly to see what projects Sarah and I are up. We haven’t told most of our friends as they aren’t really into the craft scene.

4. How do you write posts?

I usually sit down at the computer when I get a free moment and write about my latest project. Not a lot of forward planning goes into it.

5. Have you ever had a troll or had to delete unkind comments?

All comments have been great – we are pleased that anyone comments at all!

6. Do you check your stats or care how many people read your blog? If you care, how do you increase traffic?

My husband recently installed a stat checker. We enjoy seeing how many countries our visitors come from and have been amazed at the amount of traffic as we don’t really do anything to increase traffic. 

We are supposed to tag a couple of others. Most of the sites we visit regularly have already been tagged many times. Two people we would like to tag are Collins from Collins Creates who makes some adorable bags and clothing; and a recent find, Jen from Frazzy Dazzles who makes the most beautiful dolls. Play along girls if you wish but don’t feel under any obligation.

Have a great week,

Posted by Lisa

And the winner is...

Tonight I drew out the winner for my Oven Mitt comp. We had some very exciting results  - the winner is …

…Kellie from Don’t Look Now

Congratulations on winning! You will receive Mitt Magic plus a few other little goodies. Please email us with your details and I will send it off to you as soon as possible.

Have a great weekend!!

Posted by Sarah

Practical Magic

There hasn’t been much crafting going on at our house this week (actually none at all!) We have my in-laws staying with us for the school holidays and they have been entertaining the kids with lot of card games (canasta, 500 etc) and board games (Monopoly, Pay Day, Rummikub). The kids love the school holidays when they have the time to engage in relaxing pastimes. I have been making use of the live-in babysitters and have been working longer hours to get on top of things so I can have next week off work!!!

Last week I played around with my own bag design and came up with this.

I found the focus fabric at IKEA, it was a furnishing weight fabric that lent itself well to a bag. I matched it up with some black canvas and lined in with a lovely black and white spot print. I used a heavy weight interfacing which means that it can stand up on its own. It is a great size and so much lighter than my leather handbag.

I was inspired by the lovely handbag organisers that I saw over at Blossom so had to whip up one for myself. Now that I have one, I am not sure how I managed without one before! I plan on making lots of different handbags and now it will be a snap moving my bits and pieces from one bag to the next.

Don't forget to enter Sarah's Oven Glove Giveaway. She will be drawing a winner on Friday. I might add that I was the inspiration for her design. I have a series of burn marks all the way up my arm from either not using over gloves at all or using the shorter ones which don’t protect the upper forearm. I need to learn to slow down when I am in the kitchen….


Posted By Lisa

Cushions

I have just completed a trio of cushions for my Living Room. This room is fairly simply furnished using predominantly natural earthy tones. I am going for a serene look, and we try and keep it uncluttered and ready to receive friends at a moments notice. I have been looking around for the perfect fabric and finally found it here.

I have used a variety of textures to add interest – the softest wool in mocha; natural linen; some chocolate coloured grosgrain ribbon with ecru detail; and the feature fabric, hand printed on a linen/cotton blend. I have backed the cushions with duckcloth and finished them off with some lovely buttons.

Posted by Lisa

Oven Glove Give Away

In 2006 I came runner up in the WA Young Inventor of the Year Schools Competition. I entered with my invention Mitt Magic - Oven Glove for the Junior Chef. It is an oven glove that goes all the way up to your elbow, is sized for children up to about 12 years of age, and is made of extra thick materials for safety. It also has a pocket for your cake tester. I won $500 dollars for my invention and have used it to set up a business. I am selling Mitt Magic for $10 each plus postage. You can find more details here. 

Me and WA Premier, Alan Carpenter

I entered the WA Inventor of the Year again in 2007 with Visor Magic and won $1500 for this invention. I will give you more details on it later.

Samples of Mitt Magic

I have decided that I will have a Random Giveaway to give away one of my Mitts that has been professionally maufactured. If you wish to enter, post a comment on this post, and specify if you would like a girls Mitt or a boys Mitt, and their age before next Friday.  

Posted By Sarah

Don't You Just Love Getting Mail?

Sarah and I arrived home from school and work today to a lovely package from our swap partner, Tania. We participated in our first ever scrap swap at Melly and Me. Tania sent us some lovely goodies – some luscious “scraps”, buttons, ribbons, and a lovely bag pattern that she designed herself. We felt really spoilt with all the crafty goodness. I am looking forward to making the bag and have some good ideas to use those lovely pieces of fabric. Stay tuned…

On the weekend, I made up a little book mark pyramid – perfect for holding those thick recipe books open at the right page (inspired by “Get Creative” magazine). You will see my Mini Lime Syrup Cakes in the background (from “How To Be a Domestic Goddess”) and they are full of sweet syrupy flavour. I thought I would make up a batch of the book mark pyramids for all the high school students I know – they are perfect for holding those thick textbooks open at the right page!

Edit: The pyramid was made using a triangle measuring 17 cm on each side, and it was filled with rice.

Posted by Lisa

Stationery Set

This week we got the Get Creative Magazine for April. I had a look through it and decided to make the Stationery Set in the tween section using some of my many sheets of scrapbooking paper.

Here is the inside of the set.

I didn’t have any thick Bazzill cardstock so I used thick card to reinforce it.
Get free instructions here.

Posted By Sarah

The Domestic Goddess Rides Again

We built our house nearly 5 years ago now. My extravagance at the time was to put 2 ovens in the kitchen, side by side. My friends thought we were crazy (some thought that one oven was too many!). However, I have been nurturing Sarah’s cooking skills and she is now a very competent cook in her own right (at age 11 years) and can cook up a 3 three course meal without assistance. This afternoon we spent a very companionable time baking, side by side. She whipped up some Fudge Brownie Cookies (most of her baking incorporates chocolate in one form or other) and I made up some cupcakes – vanilla and chocolate with some inspiration from Nigella. Our lunchboxes will be the envy of our classmates and colleagues this week…..

I have been wanting to experiment with some zippered pouches after seeing many fine examples over recent weeks. I made up this little cupcake number which Sarah is going to stash in her school bag to keep some handy items such as tissues, money, and lip balm.

I also made up this Gingerbread pencil case using some gorgeous fabric that I ordered from Retro Mummy.

Posted by Lisa

 

Miss Polly Had a Dolly......

I have been continuing with my current interest in Softies this week, and have whipped up Miss Polly. I find her quite endearing with her whimsical smile...... she is made from a mix of vintage and new release fabrics.

Posted By Lisa