My Creative Space - Pretty Hair Accessories

Today I'm linking up with ourcreativespaces.  What a great place to find inspiration to create.  I found inspiration there last week from here and here, so this week, in between school runs, housework, playgroups etc I was able to squeeze in a little creativity with these girly hair accessories.  It was lots of fun rummaging through my fabric scraps and learning a few new techniques for making fabric and crocheted flowers.  

With this tutorial  I learned how to make little fabric rosettes (see beige hair clip above).  I still need a little more practice to get the wrapping right, but I think it kind of resembles a rose!

This tutorial helped me to make a stacked fabric flower for the other clip, I haven't made one for a while, so couldn't quite remember how to, and what fun!

I was super impressed with how easy it was to crochet a rosette too, and I found the instructions in the Patons Learn How To Crochet guidebook (bought from Big W).
So once the flowers were made, I just glued them onto the hair clips, simple.

And the fabric baubles? I found a little tutorial for these in an old Handmade magazine, just fabric covered buttons attached to a piece of elastic and secured with a little glue.

These were all lots of fun and so quick to make, just the kind of projects I like for a quick creative fix! Might have to make a few more for Christmas presents now, they'd make nice stocking fillers don't you think!

So, did you get your creative fix this week?  You can go here to see what others have been up to.

xSam

 

Things I'm Loving - At Home

Linking up with Kristy at PaisleyJade today for Things I'm Loving, so here we go.. 

I'm loving spending time at home with my little one. 
 I'm so grateful to be able to stay at home and look after her..
Playing with blocks and chatting
Pasting and making collages

*These photos of my daughter children have been removed for internet security purposes.

Taking her to playgroup, she looks forward to it every week, and so do I.

Here I can relax a little, have a cuppa and a chat with other mums. 
There's plenty to keep her busy, and lots of other kids to interact with. 
 I was a little lost before I joined this group, now I've made some new friends and feel less isolated.  It took a little while to find the right playgroup, but I'm sticking with this one! 


Right now

my daughter is so little, but one day she'll be all grown up,

so I just hope she remembers hanging out with her mum.

I'm also loving seeing both of my little treasures playing happily together (at least sometimes) in the new space we've created in the spare room (it's neautral territory).

And lastly, we're all loving Donna Hay's Simple Lemon Cake (with sour cream). 
The recipe can be found in her Modern Classics Book 2. 

 Yum! It almost didn't make it into the oven, since the batter tasted like
lemon cheesecake (my favourite)!!
So moist and lemony, that it just didn't need any icing on top,
 just a sprinkle of icing sugar!

Hope your week has had plenty to love. 
 You can pop over here to find out what others are loving too!

xSam
*This post has been edited to remove photos of my children, for internet security purposes.

My Creative Space - Bunting & A Little Dream Comes True

This week I finished off my bunting for The Bunting Swap, which I'm pretty happy with, and all five were posted off yesterday.  This is my first craft swap, so it's a fun and interesting exercise for me.  I would have liked to have made more, but glad I didn't because time seems to be limited at the moment.  For the front panel I used some old Aldi shopping bags made from calico.  These bags have been sitting in the cupboard for quite a while now, just waiting for a new purpose.  I used various scraps of patterned fabrics for the other side and matching fabric scraps for the lovehearts.   

I didn't realise this was an international swap until I received my recipients list, so I was surprised to find that one of them would be going to Switzerland and one to Wales, I hope they make it there safely! 

I've received one of mine so far, thanks Alison of  Alison By The Bay for the lovely pale blue spot and check bunting, it's right up my ally!  The afternoons see me eagerly checking the letterbox each day for the remaining four.  I'm guessing the longer they take, the more intricate and elaborate they'll be (just kidding).  It's fun though dreaming up what they might look like and what I'll do with them.

Speaking of dreaming, I have been dreaming a bit lately, and one of those little dreams has just come true, nothing earth shattering or life changing,  but I'm a little excited because I've made a nice little creative space all of my own in our office/spare room.   I now actually have my own sewing table and my machine no longer has to compete with the computer or paperwork!   But more about that later, still decorating and can't wait to share. 

Have you had any surprises in the mail this week?

For more creativity and inspiration, go here.

  

xSam

The Beach

We went to the beach on the weekend, first time since last Summer.

I saw the ocean through the fresh eyes of our kids. 

They were jumping, splashing, squealing, it was pure freedom and joy for them (us too). 

We forgot the beach umbrella, but it wasn't too hot, it felt so nice to get out in the sun.
I forgot my togs, but it didn't matter, so I got a little wet, my clothes dried out eventually. 
 I forgot my diet too, and ate pistachio gelato without feeling guilty, so what? 

Stole a cheeky kiss from my sweetheart on the shore,
there's something about the sea, it seems to bring out my relaxed, spontaneous side.
I couldn't stop smiling!

Of course I forgot to take photos of all of this, guess we were too absorbed in the moment.

Yes, Winter is well and truly behind us now,
with Summer just around the corner saying, "I'm waiting!". 

I'm so grateful for days like this.

How was your weekend?

xSam

*This post has been edited to remove photos of my children, for internet security purposes.

My Creative Space - Sprocket Pillow

One of the reasons I love blogging is that it keeps me motivated to try news things and to find the time to create.  I'm fairly new to sewing, having only completed a couple of small projects, and this week I decided to have a go at making this sprocket pillow .  

Although my seams didn't line up in the centre, it didn't matter, because that was all covered up with the button! My first covered button too, who knew how easy that would be?

*This photo of my son has been removed for internet security purposes.

Mind you, it's a little hard to concentrate around here in between movies, playground visits, tantrums and tears on this first week of school holidays, but overall we're having a pretty good time hanging out together.  It's also nice to have a break from the usual morning routine and school drop-off.  

In fact, it's a beautiful day outside, so we're off to the park. 

To make your own sprocket pillow, just visit cluck-cluck-sew for a great tutorial.

Maybe you've already made a sprocket pillow, if so I'd love to see it!

There's also way more creative projects to check out over at ourcreativespaces.

xSam
*This post has been edited to remove photos of my children, for internet security purposes.

Lazy Hazy Sunday

Brisbane has been covered in a smoky haze for the last couple of days.  We're only just out of winter and it looks like we're approaching bushfire season already.   Yesterday it was 32 degrees, can you believe it?  It felt warm, but I didn't think it actually felt that hot.

I decided to venture out for some me-time, leaving the kids at home with their dad, just to recharge my batteries a little before the school holidays start tomorrow. 

So I headed off to one of my favourite spots, Old Petrie Town country markets.  It's a great day out for the family, but today, it was my day to browse at all the shops I wouldn't normally take my littlies into (you know what little hands are like).

I found this gorgeous zippered pouch at Billy Angel, I think the fabric is so pretty, and so soft too! Laura makes lovely personalised cushions for kids, handmade gifts, and also stocks jewellery and vintage treasures in her shop.   The shop is just gorgeous, I hadn't been for a while, and it was nice to meet a fellow blogger in person too!  I only wish I could whip up such beautiful things on my sewing machine.  Maybe we could trade sewing lessons for cupcakes? (just kidding of course Laura.. I think).

As I kept wandering through the markets, a few other things caught my eye....

a little needlecase and rose loveheart broach from Lilly Cottage, another shop full of vintage treasures and handmade gifts to drool, I mean browse through..

a basket of pansies to make our front porch a bit more colourful, sweet huh?

 

and some new lettuce seedlings to restock the veggie patch.

Later in the day I managed a spot of baking for our lovely neighbours too.  They were supposed to look like hydrangeas (hmpph), but that didn't quite work out (I was experimenting), so I tossed the piping bag and went back to basics, just simple cupcakes with sprinkles, afterall, it was Sunday. I'll try again soon, and with a new piping set.. they'll look beautiful if I can get it right.

I'll leave you with a glimpse of the sunset we watched from our backyard later in the day. The smoky haze had a positive side afterall, leaving a glowing red sun on a canvas of purply pink hazed sky.  I was a little late in getting the camera out, nevertheless, think it gives you an idea of how amazing it was.

  

How was your weekend? Have you noticed the change in season where you live?

Hope you have a great week.

xSam

Busy with Bunting

So many ideas and things to work on at the moment, yet so little time!  Was going to do some baking today, but my oven is smelling a little dodgy (think it's electrical), so better call up my handy electrician brother for help!

Have more important priorities anyway...thought I'd better make a start on some bunting for the bunting swap.   Lovely Rachael at Squiggly Rainbow is hosting this, so if you haven't already joined up and are interested go here.

What's keeping you busy this week?

There's plenty of creative business going on at ourcreativespaces today, why not pop over there for a squiz!

xSam