Kaffe Fassett...

Purchased these gorgeous Kaffe Fassett fabrics today.  It's just like looking at a lolly shop.  I don't want to cut them up, but I will anyway as they are going to look great for my Australia  maps.

Hello Monday..

Big weekend over.  Little Mister 8 turned Big Number 9.  Thirty-six cupcakes gone in 60 seconds.

Today I have washed, tidied, sewed, been out & about and framed a couple more creations.

Dog has not been taken for a walk.  Cat has harrassed me to get out of my comfy sewing chair so she can sleep on it all day.

Mister 9's favourite football team Essendon Bombers didn't play too well this weekend, however he is still optimistic his team will play in the finals and this little fabric word art I made for his birthday will inspire him to keep on singing the club song!

Hope you had a great weekend.

custom orders..

I make quite a few custom orders which I love doing.  It's nice knowing how much a customer likes your work and then asks for it to be personalised to suit their situation.  Sometimes a customer will want something a little different which isn't what I usually do, so I challenge myself to try to do it.

This week I had a special request to make a framed word art for a classroom using 'eyes and hands'.  Mmmm..eyes are not easy to draw or sew so I had to find some images to get ideas from.  I looked through my kid's story books but they were all too cartoonish or just black blots.  Anyway, after searching through good ole google I found a few images.

This is the finished result. (moving QQC means quickly, quietly, carefully).

Luckily there is a great little embroidery shop not far from where I live and the lovely ladies there gave me some tips on how to embroider eyes.  It's good to have a go rather than say 'no I can't do that'. And a big thanks to my girlfriends at our coffee catch up for giving me their tips on doing the hands!

Cool boy's rooms...

As a Mum to an eight year old boy who wouldn't love one of these climbing walls for their bedroom.

Leading to a quiet secret space..

or what about these cool bunks with that awesome wall map

(love the cushion too)

Call the kids for dinner and they'll come straight away down this slide..

This beats the slides at the playground

I would have loved a cubby under the stairs when I was little..

via apartment therapy

Inspiration at Do Re Me...

Last night I was fortunate enough to join internationally celebrated sculptor & fibre artist Emma Davies as she hosted a workshop at Do Re Me.

First of all I have to tell you about this little hidden gem in Elsternwick, Melbourne. Do Re Me is the brainchild of Madeleine Grummet who believes creativity matters.  This gorgeous shop has lots of light and colour and is filled with all the inspiration you will need to tap into your creative soul.  If you think you're not creative, think again.  It's inside all of us and Madeleine helps you tap into yourself by the vast array of workshops she has on offer. Art is not just for kids.  Take time out to revive and nurture your spirit. Which is exactly what we did last night.

Emma had us using our creative thinking as she provided us with all the materials to create our very own 'feathered vessel' using a light and lacy polypropolene cylinder.  We were able to weave our vessel using an array of different materials.  Wool, ribbon, threads, felted balls, beads, whatever took our fancy.

Here's the lovely Madeleine..

Click here to read Emma's biography.

comfort chicken soup for a fuzzy head..

I've succumbed to the dreaded winter cold, the one where your head feels foggy, and your nose & throat are making you feel crappy and miserable.

This is the one thing I always make for my family when we are sick - the good old chicken and corn soup.

This recipe is from my Mum's 'Women's Weekly Chinese Cooking Class Cookbook' which is about 25 years old. An oldie but a goodie!

If you would like to make it, it's super easy.

In a large pot add a small chicken or chicken pieces (1kg), cover with water.

Add an onion, cut into quarters, some parsley, a few peppercorns, some slices of fresh ginger and bit of salt.  Bring to boil and simmer for an hour, covered, skimming the top of any scum if needed. After an hour,

drain the chicken stock into another large pot and put the chicken aside to cool. (Discard the onion,parsley & ginger used to make the stock).

To the chicken stock add a can of creamed corn, a teaspoon of chicken stock powder, 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger, salt, pepper and a splash of sesame oil. Stir well.

Mix 4 tablespoons of cornflour with 4 tablespoons of water in a small jug, add to soup, stir until soup boils & thickens (about a minute).  Take 1 or 2 eggs (the recipe says egg whites, but I use the whole egg to save wasting the yolk).  Put in the small jug with 2 tbspns water and beat lightly.

Using one hand to stir the soup with a wooden spoon, pour the eggs slowly from the jug with the other hand, adding to the soup in a thin stream, stirring well.

Remove the meat from the chicken bones and add to soup. (You can shred chicken finely or make it chunky). Season to taste with salt, pepper, and I like to use a bit more ginger & sesame oil.

I hope that doesn't sound too hard - you need about 1 1/2 hours to make it, but it's the yummiest soup when you're not feeling well.  (Even better if someone can make it for you. Unfortunately I'm the only one who does the cooking in our house).

I need to get better soon so I can enjoy the school holidays and take the kids out & about.  They've been really good, quite content to make cubbies in their bedrooms, which has given me some peace and quiet. And I have some new custom orders to make, which always makes me feel cheerier.

I come from a land down under..

I came up with this idea of appliqueing a map of Australia using pretty fabrics and I love they way they've turned out.  The kids asked me 'Mum, why is Tasmania an apple?  Well, Tasmania is know as the 'Apple Isle".  For many years it was one of the world's major apple producers. Apples are still grown in large numbers, but modern agriculture is more diversified.

Tasmania's apples recently gained distinction as the first to be approved by the Japanese government for import, due to their verifiable pest-free status.

I love these fabrics - I have used the colours to describe each state.  The rich colours of brown & orange represents Western Australia's colourful desert and rich mining resources, yellow & brown for the desert in Northern Territory, purples & greens for South Australia's wine country and Queensland's greens for the rainforests and blues for the Great Barrier Reef.

Had just enough time today to take a couple of quick snaps before rushing down to deliver these to my favourite little shop - Davies & Son - 520 Hampton St, Hampton, Victoria.

It was so much fun making these, I am looking forward to making many more.

time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time..

It's the start of our school holidays and after a busy day out with the kids I decided I needed some chill out time in my sewing room to listen to music and finish some custom orders.  But what have I been doing instead?

I will post some pics tomorrow of my lastest projects..