Grab a bag

This is today's creation. It's a mini shopping bag I can throw everything in to with a seconds notice and be out the door. It holds my wallet, keys, phone and sunglasses perfectly...no buttons, zippers or never ending pockets. Not much to it at all actually. That's why it's perfect.
I also made Miss Milly a mobile but it's a surprise, so you'll have to wait for that one. It's been a great day for getting things done because it was way too hot here in Sydney to be out and about.
I even had time to have a wee search around and loved what I saw, especially this lamp shade from ah-yi, these sweet mongolian slippers found via Angry Chicken and lastly this Stylish Dress Book over at Japan Craft Journal.
Have a lovely weekend. We're off for a mid morning picnic at Nelson Park tomorrow. xo

Needlepoint heaven

We took a trip to Newcastle on the weekend and ended up in Edith's lounge room. I thought I'd died and gone to Needlepoint heaven.
Edith's house is incredible. The decor is all 1960's original and very European (a tribute to Edith's Hungarian background). It was like stepping back in time, to a remote chalet, somewhere in the European Alps. I was waiting for Tom to walk in wearing leidenhosen and offering us butterscotch snaps at 10am.

I wish I'd taken more photos of Edith's amazing handy work (I envy her patience...if only I could complete one of these needlepoint pieces, I'd be happy) but I'm sure you get the jist from the images in the background. Thank you Tom and Edith for sharing your lovely home and making me feel I was somewhere a little more remote than Newcastle!

I got gifted

I'm so very lucky. Look at these amazing gifts. The tea towel was made by Suzy and it looks great hanging in our kitchen....I love it. The L.F. has been told it's not for use. The last lovely tea towel I hung up, a Third Drawer Down creation, was used to bring a meat tray in from the barbie...can you imagine my horror! I'm still trying to remove the stains.


The clutch was a birthday present from the Ladle. It's a Naughty Agapanthas and it seems to be premanently strapped to my wrist, even when it doesn't quite go with my outfit.

This Green to Grow bottle was a gift from Mel at The Hip Infant. I looked for these...pre Ziya...and couldn't find any in Australia. So here we have it. These Green to Grow bottles are made from PES plastic, giving them a natural golden glow. The bottles are Bisphenol A and Phthalate free (suspected hormone distrpting chemicals found in polycarbonate plastic)! So, we now have complete peace of mind that there is no leaching of nasty chemical into Ziya's milk. Thanks Mel!!
The Future Earth has written a great post on Plastic Baby Bottles without Bisphenol A and You can find the Green to Grow bottles here.

Thank you all for your generosity! Each gift is very much loved and appreciated. xoxo

bits and birds

My sister-in-law, the lovely Janan, made me a couple of Spool birds for my birthday. I've sewn them onto a branch I found down at Rushcutters and they're so sweetly sitting on our sideboard. Thank you Janan. They're so much nicer than the Ibis that parade up and down on our balcony (I'm positive I heard one squawking expletives the other day... is it true they can mimic?).



This is a sweet mobile I made for Ziyas room this week (not the best photo sorry!). His room needed a little TLC and finally it's sorted our with hand made tags for all of this clothing draws. I made it out of scrap paper from magazines, postcards and postage bags, sewn together on my trusty machine. He loves looking at all the colours and shapes. So, it's quite a winner.

I did it. I have sewn the zipper into the sleeping sheet with great success thanks to Rudolf. It's all ready to go... however, due to a lot of fitfull sleeping we've had to go back to basics and start swaddling the little man. So, it's not currently needed. He's 6 months old today, I can hardly believe it.

We had a night out and went to see a film last night, Caramel. It's set in Beirut and it's a playful tale of 5 woman who work in a beauty parlor. We both really enjoyed it and enjoyed the time out....at night...on our own....with time to sit and sip tea in the Berkelouw Books Cafe, pre film. Bliss.

(P.S. I so loved Rudolf's course, aside from the side splitting laughter and stupidity....no, I've never sniffed a chair before or made a poncho quite like Jane's...., I learnt to sew in a way I've never been known to sew before. It's a lot of fun and I'd highly recommend the course to anyone thinking of up-ing their sewing skills...even Colette from Tessuti is taking a class with Rudolf. He's a total whiz.)

Today

The LF & I started a 10 day detox yesterday...it's only day 2 and I'm exhausted. I'll make this post short because right now all I can think about is fatty food, a glass of wine and a strong coffee. It's crazy. I don' even eat that much junk food but do you think I can stop thinking about it now...no!
Ziya and I took a walk from Potts Point around to the Andrew (Boy) Charlton openair swimming pool (where I had a peppermint tea!). Sitting in the cafe there is just lovely on a beautiful day like today......watching all those amazing bodies doing laps and sunning themselves on the deck below is strangely relaxing.
We then walked onto the Botanical Gardens(where I ate my bean and brown rice salad) and mustered the strength for the return trip home and that hill up from Woolloomooloo.

Now, the couch.

PS. Still no zipper action.

Sleeping Sack

I've been working on a summer sleeping sack for Ziya. Practicing my new sewing techniques from Rudolf's course. It's coming along a lot faster than my projects normally do, which is a good sign. But I've come to a little hitch...the zipper!
We have yet to do zippers in class and prior to this sewing course I was blissfully unaware there was even a foot dedicated to zippers.
When they asked how I normally sew in my zippers. I replied that 'I just plough through....a little like someone driving mono on the footpath.....or else I avoid them like the plague'. So, it's obvios I'm no sewing efficionado. I'm just hoping that with a little more practice I wont be such a total novice.
It's been fun getting to know my machine. I usually treat it like a hijacked car, driving it as fast as possible to get to where I want to go before everything ends in one big disaster.
It's quite silly to be terrified of a sewing machine really... so I'm very pleased we're starting to get along a lot better these days. Now for the zipper!?

This is an image from Arthur's Circus, a lovely store in North Melbourne which I recently visited. They specialise in vintage toys and handmade goods. You're guaranteed to find something you'll fall in love with in their store. Natalie and Nicholas run the store, which is named after their three year old son Arthur. The whole experience is very fun. I'm itching to get back there.

Last night I was invited to a Sydney crafty blogger get together in Newtown. Evening outings are few and far between these days so it's always nice to take a break and head out for some adult conversation. It turned out to be a real treat because I was fortunate enough to meet these amazing ladies:
Suzy from Floating world
Bianca from Sadie and Lance and the Toy Society.
Bettina of BKH Design (website and blog)
Belinda from Taylor Street
Jade from My Art is my outlet
and a long time fave, Belinda, from Tutti Frutti.

I've spent every second of Ziya's nap time today jumping from blog to blog checking out all of the wondrful things they've been up to. It's terribly inspiring....which is why I should get off here and make hay while the sun shines.....so to speak. Enjoy your weekend. xoxo

Home town goodness

Well, it's just shy of two weeks since I last blogged and boy did the time fly.
To fill you in on what I've been up to, it goes something a little like this.... I started the sewing course with Rudolf Ramseyer. It involved a lot of theory, all the facts and practical tips I've never previously bothered to learn (which could be the root of all my sewing mishaps to date).
We then headed down the coast for a weekend trip to Bundeena.
Later that night my Dad arrived in town for a couple of days. There were plenty of sights to see, coffee's to be drunk and Poppa Baz raspberries to be blown on baby Ziya.
Celebrated my birthday with a night out on the town while my lovely cousin AJ babysat.
........and lastly, we took a flying visit to our home town, Melbourne. Dear old Melbourne. It was so lovely to be back visiting family and friends and discovering a few new friends along the way.

A highlight of the trip was taking a sneak peek of the tour Danielle Pumo and Lyn Gardener run A Vintage Outing with my friend Sheriden. I wont give too much away but you do tour around in a chauffeur-driven Fiat 1500s with old-time music playing on the radio. It's packed full of wonderful places to visit and...I must say, a yummy lunch pack (and to set the record straight, I didn't quite eat the whole pack before we'd reached home! Oink, oink). Sheriden's story will feature in The Age on October 18th, so keep an eye out for it.

Another highlight was a trip to Amitie to stock up on fabrics for....just a couple of quilts but more on that later.

Ahhhhh, we're now breathing a sigh of relief and lying low, so the little man can recover. The trip totally zonked him out and he's been 'sleeping like a baby' ever since.