Love what you do, do what you love.......

I was having one of those days.....you know, it's grey, raining, the dogs keep traipsing in and out bringing with them yet more samples of the sogginess that is the property, you just want five minutes to sit and read something of your own, have a cuppa, but the cherubs are having none of it, seem incapable of playing for a few minutes on their own without screams and tears emanating from the bedroom.....it's one of those times you question why you are a SAHM, 'Surely I should be making a wage and bringing more money into the household? Am I losing every intelligent brain cell I have?'

It's a tad early but, the crying is more than I can bear now, so I decide wee cherub is tired and needs to try to go for a snooze. Surprisingly after a feeble attempt at a refutation, wee cherub falls asleep to her beautiful Greta Bradman Forest of Dreams lullabies - this album has been wonderful for both cherubs, gorgeous to listen too, not stimulating but calming, I have to make sure I don't hang about too long or I would be out for the count too!

Toddler cherub has asked to watch a cartoon so I oblige....'gives me a few minutes to myself', I think. So I nip over to the computer with a cup of tea and check my emails. Now, I cannot for the life of me remember what got me there, but I ended up at a website that made me stop and take stock of what I was doing. Holstee, a design company run by young things that have a social and environmental conscience, have a manifesto that just makes you sit up and take notice......well done them!

click here to see their manifesto

So - I came away from the computer and asked toddler cherub to make that the last cartoon, she was reluctant until I said, 'Would you like to bake some cranberry cookies with momma?'

Well, she flew from the rug, switched the television off and squealed with delight, shot up onto a chair at the kitchen counter and was all smiles waiting for her apron to be put on.....

I looked at this bubbling bundle of excitement, my beautiful girl.

I kissed her forehead and put her apron on, it wasn't long before she had covered herself, the kitchen and the dogs in flour.......................perfect......................I just needed to make the change so that I was doing what I loved.

I know tiredness and frustration will get the better of me again, but I shall be getting a copy of these words to have in the kitchen to quickly shake me out of my self indulgence and remember just how lucky I am, life is short and I am living my dream..........................

I give up......

It's a wet, miserable Sunday and I have kiddies to read to, animals to feed and lunches to make for pre-school. I was going to try and get my cupcake vs muffin comparison on the go and make some cupacakes to rival the lemon muffins I made a while ago, but yet again time, priorities and energy have conspired against me.
I am not going to fight it any more - clearly for me, the cupcake is a less useful and more treat-like cousin to the easy to make, easy to bake and useful muffin that is fast becoming a staple in our house.
Today I made some cheese, cumin and pumpkin muffins so that toddler cherub has some variety to her cheese sandwich option this week.
SOOOOO easy and tasty. That's it, the jury rules in favour of muffins if not purely for practicalities for this SAHM momma.

Long live the muffin.

Sunday sewing......

It's Sunday, it's pouring with rain and the girls are busy playing in a pile of cushions. So I have a few minutes to play with.....

I decided to run myself up a sewing machine cover, as I really dislike the white plastic sleeve that came with the machine. It doesn't look nice and it hardly encourages me to cover the machine when not in use and so dust has been collecting (naughty me).

I pulled out some check material I had bought to recover my ironing board - a super quick, easy job. I simply pulled off the old one, cut around it as a template and then sewed the new cover onto the old one by folding the edge over and sewing along the inside of the pull cord so that the cord was still free and was able to still pull tight underneath.

Anyhow, I used that as a lining and pulled out two lovely fat quarters for the outer cover. Patterns that would somehow convert the sewing machine into an attractive object d'art.......well almost!

 

 I measured up the sides and length and width of the old plastic cover and used that as a template for the cutting of the new one, so the base length I cut about 16 inches with an extra 7 inches either side for the side panels. The height came out at 12 inches with another 5 inches for the top panel.

I sewed up the long sides first and then the top edges  - I did this from the inside and then I turned the material the right way around and ran over every edge to give it a little more form when it sits on the machine. It certainly makes me remember to cover the machine when not in use now and that corner of my room is a little more interesting than before.

        

So the wee ones are needing entertaining now - but my toddler has decided she needs mummy to sew her toy iron a cover now too - how cute is that!

Oh for Spring........

Let's get some Spring cheer into the house and with it a beautiful scent to fill the senses with a promise of what is to come.......

A Balloon ball to lift my spirits.....

My car is old and tired and is now in need of some major repair work to make it go again. I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. It' going to cost heaps to get it fixed.....probably more than the car is worth; however, I don't have four times the amount to buy a better second-hand car.
So........ it gets fixed and I have to deal with the bill.

And it is in the middle of this reality of cars and financial woes that I found myself reaching for some comfort in my fabric stash.

I looked online for a simple project that would be useful to my wee ones and provide me with a little happiness in a job well done.

So whilst toddler cherub was at pre-school and wee cherub snoozed in her cot, I launched into Emma Jones' beautifully simple Cloth Balloon Ball pattern and made one with tags, just for the fun of it.

There were three rounds of pleasure felt. One, immediately upon completion, I just loved how it looked - Two, when wee cherub woke up and her eyes widened at the colours before batting it round the room - and Three, when toddler cherub got home and squealed with delight at booting it around the house with her sister.

Cars will come and go, bills will eventually get paid off, although there will, undoubtedly, be others to follow in the future; but the moments with my wee ones and that balloon ball....free......actually, priceless and will be with me forever.

Mug Rug.....

I saw a free template, from Sara at The Split Stitch, for how to make these Mug Rugs at Wild Olive and I just LOVE them.

How cute is that?!

I was so excited that I ran for my fabric scrap box and pulled together my own version last night. It's a bit rough round the edges but not bad for a novice sewer first try :)

I didn't have any trim this time round for the front:

And I kept the back simple as the design is so lovely:



I shall take some time to design some embroidery side panels and get some nice trim to go down the middle too and I can see these shaping up as presents for family and friends coupled with a new mug and their favourite hot beverage, maybe some belgian hot chocolate and marshmallows...mmmm.......



recyclable, reusable, beautiful wrapping......

I am getting into wrapping presents in fabrics. I have long hated the huge waste of paper at the end of Christmas and Birthday unwrapping sessions. Totally environmentally deranged! But wrapping papers are gorgeous, I wasn't going to just hand things over in the bags they came in or heaven forbid completely unwrapped with no sense of occasion or surprise.

Then I found Bev of Flyingbags in Christchurch. She is big into Japanese wrapping styles and reducing waste.......

"In the tradition of Japanese furoshiki, Korean Bojagi and Chinese Baofu fabric wrapping is a wonderful and surprisingly easy way to dress a simple gift."

" 'Mottainai' is a Japanese word based on the idea of recognising the intrinsic value of something. Another way of understanding 'Mottainai' is to think about using something without waste."

 I have bought wraps from her through Trade-Me, which got me started and now I am choosing gorgeous fabrics and cutting them to size for presents. I am like a kid in a candy store when visiting fabric on-line shops, my eyes become organ stops and I can feel myself salivating! Ridiculous I know....

These wraps were from Bev. The small parcel is a flat book and I have pretty much followed a technique provide by Bev on her help sheets. The large box is a momma special for her wee one who is quite taken with wrapped sweets....she doesn't get any to eat so I thought I would give her one as a birthday present, her toy inside is so much more healthy than any sweetie !

But the recipients of these wrapped presents are loving them - it becomes a second present as the fabrics can be re-worked into something else or simply kept for it's loveliness (some wrapping turns into a mini fabric bag and so is easily used for other things like a pack bag for smalls or storing dry items). For those that don't want to hang on to them I get them back and reuse them. The ones within our own house get reused time and time again, and I know that eventually they may start to wear but they can be cut up and used in sewing and quilting projects, fabric labels........

In my opinion, one of the nice things about this craft is that you can make it up as you go along - if you get in touch with Bev she will be able to provide you with a myriad of techniques for wrapping particular items and I have found these fantastic, however.............you can play a little too:)

Like the bags I have made for the chalk mats I have sewn up for my nephews. Rather than wrapping their birthday presents in paper I have made long bags with fabulous 'boys toys' pictures, which is great to keep the present a surprise but then also becomes a way of carrying the mat and chalk bag around

Add a 'handmade' tag and it becomes a personal present made with love.