apron, pint and pixie

i've never posted a pic anywhere of the stunning kitchen themed swap i received.... i wore one of the aprons on christmas day - so here it is - how completely utterly gorgeous is this apron??? made by the delightful becci who organises many of the swaps on that particular group - thanks becci... i'll get greg to iron the other apron and post a pic of that soon too!!!

theo finally got his pint - it's pretty darned cute - a tad more fro than his sumner-milleresque hair but how does one do s-m hair??? thanks megsie - we love it - and it fits beautifully.

and the only item i managed to sew for ally for christmas this year - and i'm so incredibly proud of it!!! i smiled like a cheshire cat for days after finishing it - i used the portabello pixie pattern "analise" size 6 (available at my store http://www.ozebaby.com.au/product.php?VP=15183 ); i did the simple version (ie. not the quilted skirt) and used an amy butler print for the skirt, and 2 co-ordinating (well i think they do) joel dewberry fabrics for the bodice and trims. it's a wonderful fit and great for twirling - it reminded me of a very expensive dress my mum bought me as a girl - it was white with multicoloured spots and 2 or 3 frills around the skirt - man did i wear that thing! ally adores her new frock - and i hope she wears it heaps too!

more soon about the best family christmas greg and i have ever had!!!

t'was the season for handmade decorations

had lots of fun this year making decorations

the last 2 years i've participated in a decoration swap - there were only 4 of us this year so i made 2 stars each - one wire and bead star with a cloisonne (?sp) bead as a feature amongst lots of wire and seed beads and one felt star - plain red on the back, yellow with a star bead/stitch detail on front edged in gold thread blanket stitch and stuffed with polyfil

on our cutest little tree (it's about 70cm high fibreoptic) you can see lots of handmade stars (3 felt ones, one is mine, one from megsie at pint and one by di - who also did the stocking and red/green paper wreath - as part of the aforementioned swap); a hand detailed house, 3 paper flowers and a blue bird by marnie of onewetpants; lots of wire/bead shapes that ally and i did together and ally's little paper/peg deorations. i did the star on top reusing the beads off some wine charms i'd been gifted by kathryn shaw (see ozebaby.com.au) before she found out we don't drink. i did buy the red balls and tinsel from coles as the first decorations of this season as greg doesn't know where all our old ones are and i didn't want to leave the tree bare for my 5yo.

the gold/pink wire and seedbead ball was done for the school tree - i shaped the wire around an inflated balloon then spent about 4 hours wrapping wire and feeding hundreds of tiny glass seedbeads onto it - each family at the school was asked to make a decoration - i think only a handful did. as we are moving ally next year we wanted to give a piece that would remind them of her - so it's gold and pink (her favourite colour); handcrafted and unique - just like our bear!

a couple of recent customs

the first is a set of 6 longer pads - approx 30cm but varying due to the amount of hand work during construction - have a hidden 3 layer bamboo fleece soaker; hidden panel of 2mil PUL and stunning prints

the second is a set of 6 liners - approx 22cm long, bamboo velour top, panel of hidden bamboo fleece and gorgeous quilting cotton prints on the back - perfectly reversible if the owner is feeling whimsical

customs are so much fun...