So, mamas, so? Who wins?

Okay gals, the results are in! The winner of the Sew Mama Sew giveaway prize is number 16. That's Kristy QP!!! I will be sending you an email in just a minute to grab your details. A huge thanks to everyone else who responded, I now have some great ideas for desserts for family get-togethers this Christmas. Both on here and on a lot of other blogs this week I've seen a lot of hoo-ha about pumpkin. Pumpkin lattes, pumpkin eggnog, pies, puddings, tarts. It's not usually a done thing here in Australia but my interest has been piqued so I think my family may be turning orange around here these holidays! Again, thankyou to all you ladies who played and I hope you win a giveaway elsewhere in blog land! Merry Christmas :)

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!

Hi there everyone! I love this giveaway day, it's a brilliant way to check out other people's craft blogs and get inspiration for your next project (oh, and to win cool stuff too) So what am I offering? A softies pattern from the brilliant Australian designers Melly and Me. If you've ever read my blog before, you'll know how much I adore their softies! This one is Penguin Parade, a group of super sweet little penguins just waiting for you to make them and love them.

Of course you'll need some fabrics to make these little darlings, so the winner will receive these also:

I am quite happy to ship internationally so entrants from all countries are welcome. Now you'll need to know what to do to be in the running for the prize! Simply leave a comment telling me your favourite Christmas dessert - traditional or modern. For a second entry, become a follower and leave a second comment letting me know. If you're super keen, you can leave a third comment with a link to your favourite Christmas pudding recipe as I'm still searching for one! Good luck everyone and don't forget to go back to Sew Mama Sew's giveaway page to enter more blog giveaways. Merry Christmas :)

Christmas Stockings. Done. Finally.

 I cannot begin to tell you how glad I am to have these stockings finishes. They have taken several attempts and stitch unpicking until I am finally semi-happy with them. I tried them without the ricrac, which I wasn't happy about, and with embroidered names, which I was also unhappy with since embroidery is definitely NOT my forte. I was inspired by these gorgeous polka dot stockings over at living with punks. I decided to go my own way rather than follow the tute. Big mistake, but oh well, they're done now. Five identical Christmas stockings. So now I have to get wrapping the stocking stuffers and hang the little buggers up. I'm almost certain I won't like them next Christmas and will have to make new ones, but for now I am pleased. They match my felt tree decos and will match the wreath once I have actually
made it. I love being on holidays and actually having time to craft!

So busy!

I wish I had more time to blog. Really I do. I envy all these lovely ladies with their booming crafters blogs, but I just can't seem to find the time. This weekend I have put up our Christmas tree and made some cute felt decos for it. 
My son loves the lights and is adamant that they go on IMMEDIATELY after dinner each night. Hubby took a day off work on Tuesday so that we could go do our Christmas shopping. Over a grand later, (six kids plus large families) our Christmas shopping is done! Because the smallies were at daycare that day, I also finally got my new tattoo which I am super pleased with. If anyone has clicked on, yes I am LDS and yes, tattoos are frowned upon in the eyes of the church, but I just can't help myself. My husband's name needed to make it's way onto my skin, so here it is. So as well as all this Christmas prep (which has barely begun) I have also been making things for my Etsy shop - makeup bags and wristlets. I have finally mastered how to insert a zipper so I am taking full advantage of that along with my other freshly learned
skill of raw edge applique. I adore making wristlets, they are super easy and super cute! Any way, I should stop blabbering because there are still so many things left to do... make stockings and bunting and a wreath, make fruit mince pies and sugar cookies, as well as wrap all these gifts. So until I've achieved some of these things to blog about, happy holidays!

Happy Birthday to my gorgeous son!!!

My darling boy is three today. It is the first birthday which he has been mature enough to understand that it is coming and to ask for things which he wants. For the past few weeks he has asked repeatedly for a scooter and a Woody (from Toy Story) so that is exactly what he got! (Along with a few other things, mostly Toy Story themed of course) he was so excited about his presents today and told his Grandma all about them on the phone, it was really cute to see how grown-up he is :) Also in big news.... I got my Uni results for this semester. I got two credits and two distinctions so I am super pleased with that. It was a nice pick-me-up from the blaaahhh of this week. It has been so hot, I haven't had the motivation to do anything. But tomorrow is a new day which is forecast as cooler, so I have my fingers crossed for an active day!!

Another busy week

 I really have to get into the hang of blogging regularly (not that I have any followers yet, lol) but I am just so busy. Next week is my son's third birthday so yesterday I spent a day spending up my husband's cash. It was a nice day out without the kids and I even managed to get to Spotlight for more fabric and supplies! So also this week I have finished a couple of stuffed animals, some shabby chic napkin rings and this really cute pair of cushion covers which are appliqued with Christmas baubles. I listed them in my Etsy shop and they have sold already! It was my first Etsy sale so I am really pleased with that :) It was also my first attempt at raw edge applique which turned out to be an absolute breeze, so I will be using the technique on EVERYTHING. My darling hubby's wallet also bought me some new seedlings so today Mr nearly Three and I potted them up. We have been trialling hydroponic growing and so far the plants have been growing well. We simply cut the top off of  Coke bottle, rinse it, fill it with Perlite, plop the seedlings in and fill it with a water/ grow chemical mix. After a while the bottle grows some algae but hubby likes the way it looks! Anyway, it was really nice to do something one on one with my son while little miss was aslepp. Hopefully we can keep gardening together :)

Little Projects

This week I have completed a few short projects for items which are in my Etsy shop. A trio of Christmas hotpads, a set of coordinating headbands and a set of napkin rings with purple yo-yo flowers. (So cute!) It was extremely painful to explain to my sixteen year old stepson what napkin rings are as the only type of napkin he has ever seen is a paper one from KFC/ Macca's and he didn't understand why it needed a ring! Anyway, here are the photos. On a different subject, hubby and I had our first night alone in three years last night!!! The afore-mentioned stepson is spending the weekend at his mum's and our two little ones slept over at my fantastic mum's house. Pasha is nearly three and has stayed over many times, but Lorna is only 18 months and tends to be super clingy at bed time so we were a bit wary. The whole night I was expecting a knock on the door, to have her handed back to me. However, she was a good girl for Grandma and had a great time. Hubby and I went out for dinner and then watched a movie at home. It was so nice to fall asleep on the couch together with no kids!! Then in the morning he let me sleep in while he cleaned up the house, so I am super grateful to both my mum and my husband. I am really hopeful that the kids will now be able to stay over a little more often, even once every month would be awesome. Anyway, I have achieved zero in the way of sewing today, so I had better get stuck into it!!!

Small pota-a-toes

To be honest, only mums who watch ABC for kids will get that title. But we do have some beautiful baby spuds thanks to our two and fourteen year old boys digging them up yesterday. Don't you just love the stunning array of colours? :)








I used some in the mash for shepherd's pie last night - red spuds are great for mashing. I have no idea what the type of potato is called but I love it anyway. On a different (but similarly coloured) note, my Ruby layer cake arrived so today I am constructing quilt blocks!!! After the floor has been swept and the shopping done...right!.

White Chocolate Christmas Balls (or blobs)

So my two little ones fought ALL day yesterday and I achieved pretty much nothing on my to-do list. Luckily they went to daycare today, so I've made and frozen a large batch of these scrummy white choc Christmas balls.

 For any of you who would like to have a go, here is the recipe:
Ingredients
200g glace cherries
1 cup of dessicated coconut
1 cup of skim milk powder
1 cup of icing sugar
9 cups of rice bubbles
1 packet of Copha (vegetable shortening)
200g white chocolate buttons

Method
1 Line 4 medium sized baking sheets with baking paper or foil.
2 Chop the glace cherries fairly finely, but not so small that you won't be able to taste them. I like to use the multi-coloured cherries for added visual appeal :)
3 Combine the cherries, coconut, milk powder, icing sugar and rice bubbles in a large bowl.
4 In a small saucepan, melt the Copha and then remove from the heat. Quickly stir in the white chocolate buttons, making sure they all melt. You can place the pan over the stove briefly if they are not all melting, just be very careful not to burn or seize the chocolate.
5 Pour the chocolate mixture into your rice bubble mixture and mix it all together with a spoon.
6 Using a dessert spoon, spoon balls of the mixture onto your lined baking sheets, then place in the fridge for a few hours to set.
Voila! You're done. These will keep in the fridge for about two weeks, if you can keep away from them that long. You can also freeze them as I have done for about two months in preparation for Christmas.

A few months ago I made a jelly roll tote bag, but I wasn't happy with the way it turned out. So yesterday I decided to unpick it and turned it into a new bag for my scriptures1 I absolutely love this fabric, it is the Bliss range by Bonnie and Camille for Moda. I've ordered a layer cake in their new range Ruby which looks even yummier if that were possible! I'm hoping it will arrive this week and I can get started on our new bedspread. I've also ordered a Kate Spain Central Park layer cake, it took me forever to find as Moda have stopped printing it, and that will be for my own quilt. I heart fabric! Today is a busy day for me, (Clean the bathroom, make and freeze White Christmas balls, make a pumpkin pie, and a beef and cheese pie, get my childcare organised and finish the jelly roll trivets I started!) so I'd better stop gushing about fabric and get moving.

New softie :)

Image courtesy of Melly and me designs.

I received my new package today! The Oz Material Girls have a softies of the month club which I adore. This month I will be making Pippi the Pony, courtesy of melly and me. I am loving the colours in this design and plan to make many Pippis :)  Of course this new pattern has come just in time as I now have all this free time on hands...

FIRST YEAR FINISHED!!!

I have just this past hour finished my final assignment for the year and I am super happy about it. I'm confident about passing all my units annnnddd... I'm on holidays until February!!! So now I can dedicate myself to sewing new things, growing my vegie garden and reading my scriptures. HUZZAH!

I have a blog?

Can you believe I actually forgot I started a blog? I have been so busy with my uni assignments all year, I forgot I had resolved to keep a blog! So what else have I been doing all this time? I  did end up making the hip hop quilt, but wasn't happy with the final shape so it is now hanging above my desk. I have also discovered a love for making stuffed toys - the Mrs. Perkins giraffe by melly and me is my absolute favourite. I have to say though the item I'm in love with at the moment is my new doona cover. the fabric is from a collection called Mermaid Garden from Spotlight. It was an exclusive line which is now gone, I really wish I had have bought more to stash :( Also, the  doona cover did have more yo-yo flowers attached but my darling daughter wrenches them off! I still love it though. It is the first bed cover hubby and I have had which wasn't plain. Anyways, now that I have remembered that I actually have a blog I have resolved to update regularly :)