The last few days

A few days off here this week, I've been busy being a mama and girlfriend as well as cleaning and getting ready for our new couch which was handed on to us from Mick's sister on Wednesday.

We got together with some of our family on Australia day and had a BBQ, in true Aussie style.

We had sausages in white bread with tomato sauce, gorgeous marinated rump steak which was massive and delicious apparently (I didn't end up having any). And sat around watching the kids play cricket and tennis and soccer.

The kids jumped on the trampoline, ate donuts with yellow and green icing and played under the sprinkler having a great time! Mick's dad got his camera out and of course took some lovely photos of the kids playing under the sprinkler. I wont post any of Oliver as he didn't have any clothes on.

Ruth, when Mick was squirting her with the sprinkler

and after squirting Oliver with the sprinkler, check out the evil face!

It was a wonderful day out, and was great to get out in the sun (yes there was a small amount among the overcast grey clouds) and the kids had a great time playing together.

As you can also see from the button on the right hand bar, the auctions and raffles have all finished now as well and we raised such a wonderfully large amount of money for Queensland. I am so proud to have been involved in this initiative and its wonderful that we raised so much money! Thank-you to all who bidded in auctions and entered raffles you have helped make such a big difference.

Mick is back at work after his super long weekend and I am back working on WeePantz stuff again, getting ready for my first market of the year which is on this Sunday in Eltham.

Oh and I've run out of pins, this must mean back to the sewing machine, oh and the snap press too. It's funny how the idea of snapping nappies makes me think of all the other things I need to do like wash the nappies, vacuum and mop the floor and bake muffins, cookies and slices.

Out with the Old....

... and in with the new...

Apparently there was a very very secret squirrel mission going on around here for my birthday. I had mentioned to a friend that I had intercepted some calls and eavesdropped so I knew there was something coming and thought it was for my sewing room...

BOY WAS I WRONG!!! On Saturday afternoon, my lovely boyfriend called me into the other room and there stood a new oven. I was completely shocked! And also taken by surprise as I was expecting something else, I don't know what I was expecting, but a new oven, I wasn't expecting that at all!!

My old oven still cooks stuff, but it needs a new element in the grill and a new thermostat as that has never worked and I am constantly burning things in it. A new oven was on the bottom of my needed things list as I knew we couldn't afford it, so I was just making do. 

I can't even begin to express how grateful and spoiled I feel to have a new oven. I LOVE to bake so I will most likely do a lot more of that from now on! 

Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou to my lovely family for getting this for me, I am a very lucky lady.

As for the old oven... not sure what to do with that... I'd love to donate it or give it away, all it needs is a new thermostat and a new grill element. Not sure where to even start looking to do such a thing, might look into it :)

Don't forget about the auctions either... Links in the far right side bar :)

Holidays!!

Finally, we are back from our 2 week break away in Queensland. It was great to catch up with family and oh my my children were AMAZING!! They didn't whinge about being in the car, and were so well behaved. 

I am still amazed as to how a 2 year old and a 5 year old didn't drive me completely insane with whinging and whining on a trip that was 2 full 12 hour days each way! It was an interesting drive for us as we saw first hand the flood damage in Central New South Wales as we drove by fields which had been turned into inland lakes and encountered a few closed and damaged roads along the way. I thought I had taken a few photos of this, but for some reason cant find them...

I am so very blessed to have a beautiful partner who loves driving and during the whole trip only had to drive for an hour. I really am not a very good long distance driver as I tend to fall asleep, but lasted my short driving stint with the help of a coffee, a bottle of water and interesting stories on Triple J of people's already broken New Years' Resolutions.

On our way to Queensland, we got to stop at "the dish". I have been there before, but Mick and the kids havent so it was pretty informative, and we played with the whispering dishes as well. 

Myself, Ruth and Oliver with "the dish".

Ruth with the Whispering Dish at Parkes

Christmas was great as it was the first time that Oliver really understood the present giving and Santa thing. His excitement at all of the presents he got to unwrap really only half made up for the fact that Miss Ruth was off with her dad for Christmas Day for the first time. I missed her from the second I woke up until I went to sleep every day she was away. I always do, but thankfully I have her back with me now and I can give her as many cuddles and kisses as I want. 

Oliver sure understood what presents are by the end of this massive stack!

There was also a gorgeous Christmas Lunch in my mum's true style which was DELICIOUS!! The only thing lacking was my sister's fantastic potato bake. She is very heavily pregnant and didnt want to stand in the kitchen peeling potatoes for it (might I add that this excuse was only just passable :p)

Christmas Lunch at mum's place

It was wonderful to sit around with my family as I hadn't seen most of them since Easter!

Me sitting waiting to unwrap Olly's presents with him... he opted to open them with Daddy instead lol!!

When we were in Queensland we saw a lot of rain... Not really the sunshine state that week!! and at one stage didn't think we were going to get home as the highway was closed in some areas due to flooding. Thankfully we were able to get home fine with a slight detour on the first day.

Oliver enjoying some ice cream with his cousins Emilia and Charlotte.

On the way home we also stopped in to spend a couple of nights in Bright with Mick's mum. I always love going to her place as the kids are free to run on her massive block and they just love following her around. Oliver in particular just loved spending time with his Granny and shafted both me and Mick on a few occasions!!

When we are in Bright, I can never resist heading into the fabric shop there. I picked up a couple of patterns and a little bit of fabric to keep me occupied until Saturday when I start with WeePantz again.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Holiday too, I hope to update with one project very soon!! Fabric is pre-washed and ready to iron and sew!

Groovy 80's (apparently I'm a youngen)

I was just reading Cam's blog, loving the old black and white photos from her childhood, I decided to share my own. (Although I don't think I have any black and white ones...)

as you can see, I was a cloth bub too :)  I swear my mother had those cushions until I moved out when I was 18 too.

I'm on the right here, doing some serious important reading.

And I was super glamorous!

and I only ever dined on the best cuisine.

I love the dress here (I'm on the left) I think that we were probably just sprung doing something naughty.

Glamorous me here, can't be seen in the bathtub without a hat!

Head over to Cam's to join in :)

The First of Blogtober...

Today is the first of October and marks the first day of Blogtoberfest, a month long festival of blogging. This year will be my first year taking part after reading all of the posts last year, and I am very excited! 

If you would like to join in, head over to tinniegirl's blog by clicking the Blogtoberfest icon in the top right hand corner of my blog.

The First of October is also a very special day in our house because it is also Oliver's birthday!

I can't believe that 2 years and 6 days ago, that this is what I looked like...

Yes, I was 37 weeks pregnant in this photo, I had to strap my belly daily so that I could stand. I later found out that I was actually 41 weeks pregnant in this photo and there had been a miscalculation of dates. 

I can't believe that 2 years ago we brought this tiny little person home to our house and welcomed him into our lives.

That this gorgeous, tiny, little person would become someone that miss Ruth would love, protect and play with constantly...

That he would teach me about being strong because he is...

That I would fall in love every single day with his crazyness and his beautiful blue eyes and the way he gives cuddles.

And that I would have my whole world turned upside down, and be better for it!

Happy Birthday Oliver, you are a gorgeous little man, and I love you very very much :)

And Happy Blogtoberfest to everyone! 

The Start of the Season.... enter the competition mama!

Today was miss Ruthie's first ever calisthenics competition. She did VERY well and was so so very excited about the entire day. She has just told me she wants to go do some more calisthenics now, but I think she is completely exhausted!!!

Some photos as promised from the day. I wasnt on the roster for dressing today so I didnt get many, and was banished from the room as every time she saw me, Ruth would cry from all the built up emotion and excitement. But she had a fantastic time in the end and her team got an honourable mention in one item which was great :)

The whole team, that's Ruth over on the far left trying to cover her streaked makeup from crying. 

Ruth in her alien suit. The hands are no longer being used (yes they were very frustrating to make too!) but because she couldn't do the correct actions in them I'm glad that she didn't wear them in the end.

All Ready for her free exercises. (Free Arm). Loves the camera now hey??? I may have shed a tear or two when she got on stage for this, her first, number. It was great to see her on stage and loving it!

Well that's it for this week. I am about to go make dinner and then collapse with a beer or 7..... Back to what I get paid for tomorrow. Nappy sewing!! I have selected some great new fabric combos and cannot wait to make them up :)

What did you get up to this weekend?

Naughty little Blogger!

I am currently the most neglectful blogger in existence. I do have excuses though which I will hopefully be able to shed more light on soon as I have been talking to some stores about stocking WeePantz. And very soon hope to be announcing my first official stockist.

I have also been accepted to start selling at a few new markets :) and that is something I am very excited about, but the last few months of the year are now OFFICIALLY booked out for me. Very busy, but busy is the way I like life. Especially since my PND I learned that if I dont get bored, then I wont give the depression headspace, very important for me, because (as my therapist put it) I tend to make the depression like a cd on repeat and struggle to move on once it is taking charge of my mind. So busy is GREAT!

So as I said, I am forever busy with WeePantz really taking off, so I dont make it into the forums much anymore. In fact at all, which is very sad, but I am still reading the blogs of my beautiful sewing friends when I can. And have met a few new bloggy crafters lately as well :). I hope all of my crafty friends still pop by here every so often as well. :)

A few things Ive been up to...

Well mainly sewing nappies, wetbags and bibs to be honest. I have a focus group sample to finish by friday of 14 nappies, and a market on Sunday so I hope to make at least 30 nappies this week. I am well on the way to completing that goal too. :)

Ive been doing alot of organising for Reusable Nappy Week. Not many of you know that I am the Australian Nappy Network coordinator for Victoria, so its also the business end of the year RNW wise and I am organising static displays and an information session.

I have been baking... yes... that is something I am constantly doing isnt it? Yesterday I made eclairs... DELISH!! Im not an eclair person, but I filled them with yummy custard cream and I think the fact that they were nice and fresh and crisp made them just delicious!

I tried a few recipes for this, but I found that winging it in the end and using my own judgement worked the best. I watched a video on making choux pastry, and noted their consistency prior to baking, so made the butter, water flour mix, allowed it to cool and then added one egg at a time until I reached the right consistency. I think the recipe called for 2 eggs and I used 1 and a bit, Im not sure if perhaps my eggs are just bigger than theirs...

I have been sequinning as well. Ruth's callisthenics competitions are about to start, so its the home run now with costumes with the first comp in 2 weeks.

I'll show you all finished photos when I have them. I may have to wait until after comps, as she is not really meant to be wearing them until then aside from fittings. But the costumes have definitely been an educational journey with sewing on my first sequins. The red outfit pictured above took me quite a long time to finish. I also sewed lycra for the first time. LOTS of googling before even putting pattern to fabric there as I was so afraid!

Amongst that, I have finished my winter coat, which I started a long time ago. It worked out so well and I will update the blog with pics soon I hope! 

I also completed (well my version of complete) the coffee date dress. I had to add so much to the pattern due to my height and also my bust (which is by no means ample) that Im not sure it still is classed as the original pattern, but I will give credit where it is due :) I was STUMPED by the all in one facing, it was slightly crazy, but now that I have figured it out, I am sure I will do this style of facing again as its easy once you know how!

I have also been doing the usual parenting tasks. Oliver is getting very cheeky now and is learning how to push his mother's buttons to make her cranky! Ruth is turning into a gorgeous, and very strong willed little girl and loves her callisthenics and also her reading. 

So I will tentatively say that I am back. I hope to attempt to be regular blogging when I can to keep you all updated. But for now, I am off to put the nappies on to wash, bake some bread and maybe eat an eclair hee hee. Then I need to update the website. 

Catch you all later.

Wordless Weekend (better late than never right??)

the real amount of candles might have burned the house down :p

A Very Special Day

Today was a certain little princess' first day at school. We awoke at 6am, yes very very early and then started the day. Got ready for school and off we went along with the other hundreds of preppies for their first day at school.

Ruth ready to go to school, complete with hat that is the size of a flying saucer and backpack she could fold in half and fit inside...

getting out of the car ready to walk around the block to school. I think the question she asked me was "muuum, why do you have to take so many photos of me??!!??"

doing puzzles with some of her kinder friends from last year (who have been cropped out for privacy purposes)

It was a very exciting morning for my little princess and a very emotional one for her mother. I was a complete cot case, but thats okay, I think all the mums were slightly emotional about their babies growing up. They did, however, all look incredibly cute in their school uniforms!!

So its reduced hours for the first week and no wednesdays for a month, but I am already planning my school hours as being major sewing project hours!! (yes thats right, the emotional Amy didnt really last very long, I immediately started thinking of craft in true sew-a-holic style...)

 I am super excited about not having to get snacks for a 4 year old who has hollow legs every 5 minutes. I'll just have to deal with my other little charge who loves sitting on top of the fabric and patterns as I am cutting or tracing...

Until next time...

Amy xo

Some new photos

I took these photos of Olly the other day at the park to use as product photos for weepantz. I just love them, so I thought Id share :-)

a couple of the new weepantz photos.

ruth on the swing...

me :-)

giving mummy kisses through the bars on the fort :-) Mummy felt very very special :-D

 okay so it ended up with me showcasing my beautiful kiddies. But who would blame me? they are of course absolutely gorgeous!!!

SURPRISE PRESENTS!!

Yesterday I was told to stay at home so that I would be here when my two birthday gifts arrived (in 2 separate packages). I sat by the front door all day... yes... literally, so no work got actually done yesterday, except cutting out one pair of little explorer pants for Olly. LOL!!

Anyway, so to my surprise the first gift arrived, I had  been told to be very careful when opening this one as it is delecate, so it arrived, and I opened it.... inside was this....

Clock made my my sister Carmel. Photos are of me, my partner and my kids. This will take pride of place on the wall above my sewing machines :-) what a talented sister I have.

I then waited once again (and very impatiently) for the second package. It actually looked like it wasnt going to arrive. I was about to leave my post next to the door and I saw a little Toll van drive into my driveway. I got incredibly excited, ran outside and almost mauled the driver!!

I was really really hopeing it was going to be an embroidery machine... wishful thinking I know, but a girl can dream!!! right?? Anyway, so I opened up the package and RIPPED out the invoice sitting in the top of the box and sure enough my mother had purchased me a new LAPTOP!! replacement for my old one which carked it a few months back!! fantastic new piece of equipment!! and means I can have my own special computer for my business which is great, I can keep all the **lovely things my partner downloads** off it!!!

Lots of squealing and phonecalls followed the arrival and consequent opening of the laptop and I now have it set up with some of my files on it. I just have to transfer a few from the desktop and Im set!!

a picture of my lovely new acer computer. has a built in webcam and lots of lovely HD features. Im just happy to have my own computer again!!

I feel soooo spoiled!!!!!

Amy xo

Happy 2010!!

Well... Ive missed a bunch of updating over the holidays, but that is because I was busy sewing and then went away... Good excuse right??

Firstly... Thankyou to my swap sender who sent me this beautiful apron and pot holder for my secret santa gift. :-)

Also, here is some photos of the gifts I made, although there were lots more gifts and I forgot to photograph them all... WHOOPS!!

Clockwise from top left:

Crayon Roll; Skirt (My own pattern); Messenger Bag (Burda); Rice bags.

So on for the new year!! :-)

Amy xo

Advent Blog-A-Long #11 (updated with Photos!

Fancy that! Its Friday already, and only 2 weeks until that day... yes CHRISTMAS is coming!! Ruth tells me every day that its nearly time for Christmas and Santa will be coming and oh we have the most beautiful Christmas tree in the whole wide world!

Last night I went to my gorgeous little girl's first ever christmas concert at kindergarten. I was a little teary, and my little show pony was the star of the show as per usual with all of the other parents commenting afterwards on how sweet it was that she danced and sang more than the other children. Apparently she is due for an oscar in 25 years' time! so watch out Julia Roberts!! :P

Anyway... so I will update with photos tomorrow as the little star is awaiting her mother to come and read Dumbo to her. I read a few pages of a book every night, last week was Tarzan this week is Dumbo... Who knows what will be next week... I hope Santa brings her something to read cos Im all out of new books!!!!!!

Happy reading and I will catch you all tomorrow!!

wash your face with orange juice...

nawwww so cute!!!!

Amy xo