Thursday 31 May 2012

a sneak peek of my latest craftiness.... i will have this on my table at the june home style market at sherwood state school - come along for a lot of lovely hand made goodness - chatty creators and family fun. 
sometimes on the way home from school the kids get out of the car at the top of our street (it's a cul de sac) and they run down to the house whilst i follow behind driving super slow with the hazard lights on... of course the one time nana was in the car poor old alex plummeted into the bitumen - twas a mighty fall as her elbow gives testament to
theo and i go to the brookfield produce about once every 2 weeks now it's not on our daily school run - he loves to see the animals - rodents, birds and fish. especially the fish who follow his finger along the glass. we have set up a fish tank in the kids room with guppies he loves to watch them as he falls asleep.

i will have to add some more of my face painting pics soon - it seems to be the biggest spike in blog traffic

welcome to winter
xox
karen

Saturday 19 May 2012

the last part of my birthday presents - here i am at the lone pine koala sanctuary in brisbane holding the most divine miss iluka - sea eagle extraordinaire - isn't she beautiful??? just under 3.5kg and not fond of bare hands hence my other hand behind my back. oh the thrill - it was so amazing to be holding something so graceful, so powerful and all whilst wearing one of my mother's day presents - piggie on a shirt by my son theo - brilliant for a not yet 5yo. theo is obsessed with piggie and elephant books and in fact any book by mo willems will get a squeal of delight. should find a pic of my hubby's birthday cake as it has gerald - the elephant - on it drawn by me. 
waiting in line for the picture was a tad difficult for the little man - so daddy did some way fun hanging upside downs with him - lol.
alex got to hold a guinea pig whilst we were there - this is what pom pom looked like before he chewed/scratched all his fur off. this was the day before our pom pom succumbed to the cold. ah cruel irony.
and finally for today - another gratuitous piggie image
xox
karen
p.s. girly bits now has a facebook page - come like me, tell your friends, check out the new products on the website and visit me at the markets
xox

Monday 14 May 2012

this is my gorgeous girl - Alex. ally was diagnosed with scoliosis in her back a couple of years ago and she has been doing exercises set by her physiotherapist jane - at movement solutions - for over a year now - her posture and strength have improved immensely. so as a reward i bought a photo shoot with enchanted portraits via living social.  the photos are beautiful. but what you must know if you get pics taken is that the "packages" that start at $229 aren't what i'd consider packages. it's not until you spend $895 that you get more than prints with the company name watermarked on them so you can't actually duplicate the pictures without their permission. fortunately what you get for the $895 is pretty impressive (hubby's not entirely sure of that but he didn't say no at the time so he can no longer complain). this year's grandparent gifts are taken care of however!
i know it's a bit late, but i'm very proud of the cards i did for my work mates from last year - i've used kaszazz products to make them - i'm a consultant so if you need anything kaszazz contact me and i'll give you great rates and fixed postage. the package at the top are the biscuits i gave them with the card - yes spice biscuits!


it's lovely to hand the camera to my kids and see how they see me - this was taken by my son at sea world - i see love in this face - so pleased he sees that 
xox
karen
p.s. go like girly bits on facebook - i need help to get the word out again
xox

Wednesday 9 May 2012

happy birthday to me
happy birthday to me
happy birthday to me.e.e.eeee
happy birthday to me


oh no - no longer 40year old mother of two
now i'm a 40something mother of two!


lovely evening - had butter chicken, rice and naan from our favourite indian scherezade in kenmore. birthday cake was carrot (packet mix by greg, icing by alex). then presents by the celebration tree. pj's from theo, a fantastic work lamp from alex - eco friendly, great light source and PURPLE! and from greg a resin bracelet making kit from Barnes' at woolloongabba and on sunday i'm going to have my photo taken with iluka on the glove at the lone pine koala sanctuary - iluka is a sea eagle and one the of the most beautiful birds you would ever see!


mum is coming to stay tomorrow night as i'm helping at ally's new school with the mcgrath foundation fundraiser. above are some of the prizes for best pink outfit for each class. we're doing a jellybean jar count, pink facepaint, pancakes, balloons and a silent auction of the cricket equipment i was sent by the foundation - we had a fundraiser last year at her old school - we raised $200 in a school with 55 kids. this year we have over 500 kids so i'm hoping for over $500. 




here's my stall from the mt crosby state school twilight market - went very well - my daughter helped by making balloon dogs and handing them out to the kids. i met a lovely group of stall holders around me and even met up with Jean again at the next one.
this was my stall at the IMBA baby bazaar - more lovely folk around me, but some unpleasant folk wandering around. can't win them all - don't think i'll have another stall in ipswich in a hurry.
and finally that's me and jackie french - the author - i'm looking a bit stressed as my son is trying to climb up my dress and jackie has another lecture to attend over in petrie. she gave a wonderful talk to the year 4-7s. highly recommend her at any school. she spins a good yarn, inspires one to write and talks of her struggle with writing, spelling and dyslexia and how she still became a writer despite teachers telling her she couldn't live off it - over 130 books later....

good night




Wednesday 2 May 2012

two days running!!!

who'd have thought it hey?
i'm back again - it's such an unusual occurrence to have the big computer on without one of the kids pinching it from me or hanging off me until i go bonkers!

so why so long - i was working for "the man" - lol. i had a boss, she was an nice lady, but i now know i really don't like working for someone else in retail!!!

i worked there way too long - didn't want to let her down - silly silly karen. i was working every thursday evening, every saturday and every second sunday in the end - really never saw my hubby and my kids didn't get to see us much together at all. 

anyhow life is MUCH better now i'm home again. although today's sinusitis isn't feeling like much fun. sneezing, mucous and vice-like headache.

so onto today's three pics...
hubby and i on our deck on christmas day - taken by our brother in law russell neuendorf. 

my mum and my son - this was at bribie island for mum's 66th birthday. i made the necklace she is wearing and the cake - it's a gluten free, dairy free, nut free, low fat chocolate cake - with all natural colours etc - it's basically a cake free cake - probably should have just taken chocolate - lol. it was lovely 'though. we took up a free-range bbq chicken from our favourite butcher - boutique meats at kenmore woolworths shopping centre. they have lots of lovely free-range meat and some of the friendliest staff around!!! that and some salad, rolls, cake and happy children. was a lovely day - the kids played in the playground and also did some hand-sewing with nana.
i reconnected with my mum this past year thanks to my gorgeous therapist - jane mcdowall - who got me to realise my mum is who she is and not who i think she should be. and i'm me and we can love and respect each other without being what the other wants - pretty obvious hey?
the currently available pads at www.girlybits.com.au - although the store is switched off at the moment as i've got another market this saturday, some stuff has gone into handmade highstreet in annerley, and i've sold a few of the meltys at friday night's market.

so that's another three for you to enjoy.
if you are out ipswich way i'm at the ipswich multiple birth associations baby bazaar from 7am (omg how will i cope getting up that early???)

xox
karen

Tuesday 1 May 2012

it's been a while.....


hello all,
it's been a while yes?
i have some pictures to share with you

first is my new business card - i love it thanks to my beloved greg for working with what we had as i had (unfortunately) deleted all the links the creator had sent me of our logo and all we had was that on the website.

i had a photo shoot done at sublime photography for turning 40 last year - here is one of my favourite images - my absolute favourite will not go here as it's mostly naked - lol.
the biscuits i made for the grade 7 fundraiser at ally's new school - how inviting do these spice cookies look to you?

ok so that's 3 photos for you to enjoy.
i will be back again this week to share more
xox
watch this space
karen