MissyMuh

why do i torture myself?

i thought to myself this afternoon that it would be good to make up a quick new dress for charlee. I had nothing else planned for the day, and didn't want to just waste it on the puta, or in front of the telly. So i went through my collection of Enid Gilchrist vintage pattern books and picked out what looked like a pretty strait forward dress. I drafted up the pattern onto some tracing paper, and picked out the fabric. Cut out all the bits and started.... almost 4 hrs later i finally finished.

.... i was ready to burn it no less than three times during the creating process... god-damn confusing vintage patterns...you shall be the bane of my life...tempting me with such prettiness yet making it oh so difficult to complete *sigh*

The stitching is very messy...i only had red cotton left -i didn't realize how much viable stitching their would be at the beginning- which doesn't exactly go well with the yellow and blue but i was really just experimenting and seeing how the pattern worked out. Anyway i got there in the end, and charlee wanted it on her imediatly and has not taken it off all afternoon so that must be a good thing. It passed the "swirl" test and looks sufficiently "princessy" for her to be happy. I took my camera on the way to pick up koby from school and headed to one of my favourite locations on the way to take some photos. The sun was a bit uncooperative but i still got some very sweet shots. I think i was channeling the producers of "the little house on the prairie" at the time LOL....

Typepad decided to redesign it's normally basic uploading and formatting tools and it is now very hard to get the photos to come up at the right size, and they are always a little pixley and over sharpened. Really annoying. Why couldn't they have just left it how it was... humpf...












 

Two posts in two days...

must be close to a record LOL...

Just wanted to come in and show off some photos of my girl i took today. She is getting so very big, and is such a feisty little thing at the moment. Every request is responded to with a big fat "no" and she is getting SO sneaky, especally when it comes to pinching bickies out of the cupboard. This first one was the face she decided to give me when i asked her to sit still for a second....


i then had to bribe her with "mash-ellos" (i.e marshmallows) to get this one of her looking very intense and serious LOL

she has the supermodel pout completly under control now....

I also found a few more scrapping pages that i don't think i had shown here...
here's one i did for the Aussie Scrap Music Blog


and a few more new ones







Speaking of scrap booking, since it is up in the newsletter i can now say that the Blue Bazaar DT will be no more as of June :( I was a bit sad to find this was happening because i haven't had the chance to be there that long (about 12 months i think) and i was really enjoying myself, but i do understand Lu's reasoning. It seems like the whole DT thing is kinda becoming redundant as everyone begins to fall into their own groove and the scrapping industry has kinda changed a bit in the past few years. Even i have found that when i first started i would spend hours searching through DT galleries searching for inspiration, where now when i do get the urge to scrap i usually just sit down and get on with it and do my own thing.

I understand though that there are a lot of beginners out there who still crave that inspiration so it's a bit of a double edged sword. Anyway i will still be making up a few kits and classes in the future with BB which will be fun. And i still have October Afternoon and Scrapniques to keep my busy of course. I might even have more time to scrap for myself now too which will be nice.

Anyway, Luke is out at some cricket meeting so i should really be making the most of an early night. 

almost six

 


....and already planning the party of the year which is still a month away. I have managed to narrow his guest list down to 12 (it started at about 25). So far we have decided that we are having the party at home (fantastic, much cheaper than sending them all to a play center)..he wants to hold a treasure hunt in the back yard (weather could be slightly problematic but I'm sure the twelve 6 year olds won't be as concerned about the rain as their parents)...he wants to play musical statues and have lots of chips and little sausages (what party is complete without them?!).

He is doing so well at school. His reading is fantastic, and has started trying to sound out the words he is unfamiliar with. Of course it makes simple tasks like picking a video or book, or even ordering food from somewhere take twice as long now because he is determined to read every single word in front of him, all on his own. He is also beginning to make the connection between certain words and their meanings. And how words may look like other words but not mean the same thing. And by putting things like "ing" and "ed" on the end of words you can make them into different words...it's all fascinating to him.

He is also getting really good at writing. We have finally established after many years of confusion that he will most probably be left handed from now on. He is able to do a lot of things with both hands and always has. He would sometimes pick up a pencil to color with his right hand and then after a few min swap over to his left and hand continue coloring without missing a beat - so we were never sure which side we should be encouraging him to use. But the teacher has narrowed down that he does write better with his left hand and it is also more comfortable with it. It is hard trying to teach him proper pencil grip though, because it's the opposite to what we do.

His social life has also increased and he has heaps of friends that he swaps and changes on a daily basis (hence the reason it was so hard to compile the birthday invite list). He gets a long well with everyone (boys and girls) and comes home with very amusing stories about what goes on at playtime. I'm rather surprised at how quickly the "boyfriend girlfriend" thing has started up. There is already talk of who he loves and who so-and-so wants to kiss. Thankfully most of the time he still seems content to just play star wars or some random "good guy vs bad guy" game and is of the opinion thankfully that kissing is "way gross" and should be avoided at all costs....

Story Journal

Thought i'd come and show off the pages from the story journal i did for Fiskars. They will be using some of these in their new advertising campaign..i have no idea which ones or how many, but here they all are in all their glory.

I was a little peeved that they managed to not only spell my name wrong (it's not that hard people) but i now apparently come from NSW and not VIC...hopefully the changes can be fixed before any printing happens but I'm not holding my breath . . .

Scrapping show off and a recent family session

Just thought i'd come in and show off some of the layouts i have done for Blue Bazaar lately. I always forget to show them here because once i pop them up in the gallery over there i kinda forget about them LOL...surprisingly i tend to do a lot more Koby layouts for BB than anything else. I think it's just because the topics kinda lend themselves to being more boyish.. anyway here are a few from this year.

And here are a few of my favourite shots from a recent session of mine. These guys were so cool and gorgeous and fun. I spent a lot of time chasing their little pocket rocket of a son around but it was worth it in the end lol

got another couple of sessions coming up this weekend, that's all i really have to say for now though. Time to get the kids out the bath and start cooking tea.

Tag, you're it

I have done this particular tag before but not for a while so i thought i'd have a go while the kettle was boiling,

I have been tagged by Cassandra, whom is a delightful Sydney photographer friend of mine. 

The rules are:
- Link the person who tagged you
- Mention the rules on your blog
- Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
- Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them
- Leave a comment on each of the tagged bloggers blogs letting them know they have been tagged. (i SO won't get around to doing that part PMSL)

Here we go:

1. I can't stop thinking about having another baby...i want one..now...right now...six months ago...one more month before we can officially have "the talk".

2. I often drink my coffee cold. I don't like hot hot coffee...when i make it i always add lots of milk to cool it down and it usually sits next to me for a good 15 min before i drink it.

3. I am a tracky-dack kinda girl. Luke hates it, he is very image conscious and wouldn't dream of walking to the letterbox in his trackies let alone around a shopping center like i do. I've just lost all pride in myself i guess, and comfort has well overtaken my fashion sense LOL

4. I don't like calling people on the phone. Answering calls i can do, but i always get really nervous when i have to call someone. Doesn't matter who it is. I am getting better at this now i am dealing with clients, but i still have to psych myself up to make a call...i don't know what i'm so worried about.

5. Back on the telephone thing i always have to wait for three rings before i pick up...even if i am sitting right next to the phone (which i usually am because it's on my computer desk). I guess i don't want people to think i just hang around the phone waiting for it to call LOL...so i make them wait three rings...if it takes more than three rings for me to answer then i am genuinely not near the phone at the time.

6. I talk to myself. A lot. In the car especally...i even make myself laugh sometimes.

I now tag the following people:

Dannii Best
Lisa Barnes
Felicity M (i'm not even gonna attempt to spell your last name this early in the morning lovely LOL)
Jesse Broome
Amanda Hall
Donna Wild

If you have already done this recently then i won't be offended if you don't do it again this time.

Happy mummys day

I was woken this morning with lots of cuddles and kisses which was lovely. Koby gave me a sweet little bathroom bag with a wash cloth and little soap that looked like a cupcake. I must say he did very well, it is VERY me and he even picked out my favourite colour.

Charlee gave me several hand made treasures, including a painting she did at kinder and also a coaster with her hand print on it which she made at playgroup.

I have some things to show off. I finished my very first cabled beanie last night, i am really happy with how it came out. I have never made anything with a cabled pattern before because it seemed very scary, and it was LOL...a little too fiddly to be honest but i got there in the end and i'm really happy with it. I now have to make one for Koby in Blue and Luke also requested one in white (how boring huh?!)...

anyway, here is charlee modeling hers in the front yard.

and being a bit cheeky throwing leaves all over mummy...

I also wanted to show off some of the vintage knitting books i picked up at an op shop the other week

An i am also very proud to say that Koby was announced as the VIP - very important prep - at his school this week. He gets to have his photo up on the window in his class room, and also help out the teacher with various tasks during the week. he was very proud of himself. They are also going on an excursion to the zoo on Tuesday...i'll admit that i am just a wee bit nervous sending my baby all the way into the city without my constant supervision...what if he gets lost? separated from the group? hurt? eaten by a lion?! ok so maybe the last one is a little over the top but the rest are all quite reasonable fears of mine...

And finally, one more bit of news. I was contacted by Fiskars the other day to let me know that i was one of the two winners picked to be a part of the Fiskars advertising for the year. The story journal i made at the start of the year was chosen to be used in the adverts that will run in all the major scrapping mags. I was very chuffed...the other winner was Ngaire Bartlam who is a fantastic scrapper as well so congrats to her. Can't wait to see the adds up in print.

that's all from me..off to sit in front of the telly with my feet up enjoying some chocolate and a coffee. Hope all you other mummys out there are doing the same.

Two new collages....

...are up for sale over here.

Both are 8x10 acrylic on canvas and use a selection of new and vintage papers. If you can't see them in the store when you get there it means they have already been sold.

"once apon a time"

"The Cows"

And i have also discounted the birdies that are currently listed. From $30 down to $25.

Happy National Scrapping Day

Yes, seriously...there is such a day...it's a very American idea but there is nothing wrong with us Aussies embracing the idea as well. There are lots of wonderful things happening in the scrapping world this weekend. Blue Bazaar are having a mega sale and crop tonight and Scrapniques is also offering 40% off old papers stock and kits.

I embraced the day by making this mini journal/album and decorating some of the pages. Charlee unfortunately got to it before me and decided to add a few of her very own - rather amusing- caricatures of fellow family members. But i just embraced the additional art work and made it part of the book. The journal was made by just gluing a whole heap of scrap bits of paper together in a glue bound margin. It has held together surprisingly well actually and looks like a proper bound book you'd buy in the stores. I also used up some of the pile of printed yet un-scrapped photos i have accumulated over the past few years.

there is about 30 pages in total so i haven't covered them all but it will be an ongoing journal of general day to day things.

I also thought i'd share some photos of charlee i took yesterday. My little snuggle-puss.

i was also surprised to discover the other day that i was featured on Todays Creative Blog. It's always nice to feel appreciated and get some praise from complete strangers. And if you are hear visiting my blog for the first time thanks to that article then hello and welcome :)