The Craft Revival

family outing: melbourne museum

2012-01-30T06:50:00.000+11:00

This is a Product Talk by Nuffnang which means that I was given complimentary passes to the Melbourne Museum in exchange for an unbiased review.

Yesterday I found out that I weigh as much as a freshwater crocodile. Comforting? Not so much. But fun? Indeed!

We were lucky enough to score some free passes to attend Melbourne Museum as part of their school holiday program which included watching a performance of Tiddalik the Thirsty Frog.

I was a little concerned that Jaxon would be bored with the performance, but he giggled and participated throughout the entire 20 min performance. And my husband and I walked out of there with grins on our faces - enjoying just as much as our 6 year old. The two Aboriginal performers were engaging, funny and highly entertaining as they narrated, danced and joked their way through the family-friendly story.

watching the entertaining performance of Tiddalik

Unfortunately, Tiddalik the Thirsty Frog is only running until this Tuesday the 31st of January, so if it's something you think the kids will be interested in, I recommend scooting along to check it out before it wraps up.

After Tiddalik, it was time for a bite to eat. Being pregnant I was wary of whether the museum cafe would have some safe and friendly options for me (not being able to eat pre-prepared fruit salad, sushi, salads and deli meats). I was sure my options would be limited to one or two unsavoury menu items. But I was wrong.

As tempting as the cake display looked, I opted for a spinach and ricotta pastry which was delicious. Jaxon was satisfied with a dinosaur kids pack which contained a vegemite and cheese sandwich, pop-top fruit juice, sultanas and caramello koala. And the husband? Well he went for a meat pie. Perfect! Lunch sorted. Onto the rest of the museum.

Where to start? There's so much to see! With my baby-brain (read: lack of common sense), I let the husband take charge and he suggested with start down one end, and make our way through all the galleries on that level before proceeding onto the next. That made sense.

penguins floating through the foyer

tiny fish surrounding a large fish

There is so much to see that you can quite easily spend half a day at the Museum exploring, eating and enjoying watching kids faces light up as they see things they've never seen before.

Jaxon spying some birdies in the Forest Gallery

I lost count of how many times Jaxon screamed "mum, dad, look at this... mum dad look at this" whilst at the museum. We would barely get to where he was and he'd be off to the next thing screaming it out again.

wouldn't you love to have a pet dino?

just like a crystal pom pom!

this crystal formation looks like it's out of a sci-fi flick

We definitely didn't get this level of excitement from him last time we visited Melbourne Museum. So it just goes to show you that you shouldn't discount it if you've been before. This time around, it was a whole new experience. Not just for him, but for mum and dad (that's us) also!

the chimney reconstructed in the rainforest following Black Saturday
stands as a symbol of the devastation bushfire can cause

up close and personal with a room full of amazing animals

you wouldn't get to see this gorgeous creature up close in real life

the boys wishing we could ride a tram like this one!

I saw so many things that I don't remember seeing last time around. It could be that I wasn't paying as much attention, or that I was paying too much attention to where Jaxon had run off to and didn't get to experience it properly last time.

colourful tapestry adorning he museum walls

enchanting illustrations in Cole's Funny Picture Book

It's definitely fair to say that we all had favourite parts in the museum. Jaxon's was seeing all the creatures (dead or alive) up close in the Science and Life Gallery. Mine was also the animals, but I also quite enjoyed a trip down nostalgia lane with the historic installations in the Melbourne Gallery.

goofing around in a pyramid of mirrors (Children's Gallery)

vintage advertising

more amazing tapestry

couldn't resist this 'typewriters through the ages' installation

just one more colourful tapestry

So if you haven't been to Melbourne Museum before, or haven't visited in a while, I highly recommend that you re-acquaint yourself with all that it has to offer. It really is a great day out for the whole family. And adult tickets are only $10 PLUS kids are FREE!

Now listen up my lovelies. I have one FREE Melbourne Museum adult pass to give away. And remember, kids are free so it means that you can take yourself and the kids along for zilch (parking and food not included)! The pass is valid until 30 June 2012, so you'll have plenty of time to take advantage on a weekend or even the next school holidays.

To enter, all I need you to do is leave me a comment on this post. I will randomly select a winner this Friday the 3rd of February. You have until 8pm on Friday to leave a comment.

neapolitan dreams

2012-01-27T09:21:00.000+11:00

Neapolitan dreams granny stripe blanket

Thanks to the crochet workshop which Katie and I participated in last weekend, I now have the crochet itch. We each received goodie bags care of Spotlight which were full of supplies to get us started such as crochet hook, knitting needles, haberdashery scissors, yarn, tape measure, wool needle and instructions. Thanks Spotlight!

My goodie bag contained a ball of pink and a ball of chunky orange yarn. I pulled apart the granny square that I was practicing on during the workshop and thought I might attempt a granny stripe blanket instead using the pink yarn and some white and coffee coloured yarn which I'd already had in my stash. I quickly worked out the pattern for the blanket (thank goodness because I'm not really one for following instructions) and then it was all about getting the tension of the stitches right.

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram you might have seen me tweeting pics the other day.

Yesterday I spent the day crocheting, watching Mad Men (I'm up to season 2), sucking on Zooper Doopers and eating a delicious BBQ meal cooked by my beloved in honour of Australia Day. I have made much more progress on the granny stripe blanket than the above image leads one to believe following yesterday's crocheting marathon.

I'm hoping that this will become a blanket for the growing bump, but as we don't know the gender yet (another 5 weeks until we find out), I am just crocheting it for the sake of crocheting. My beloved says that we can gift it if we find out we're having another boy.

Head on over to Katie's place to see a photo of me "concentrating" on getting my granny square right at last weekends' workshop and more photos from the yarn bombing installation in Melbourne's City Square.

a good old yarn

2012-01-23T06:55:00.000+11:00

Yesterday my lovely cute-as-pie friend Katie and I headed into Melbourne's City Square to partake in some yarney goodness. Katie booked us into one of the workshops so that we could brush up on our crochet skills. We both fumbled our way through granny squares (with a little help from the lovely teacher Andrea) and with a little more practice and some tension adjustments I think we'll be crocheting like pro's in no time.

But before the workshop, Katie willingly obliged and allowed me to indulge in my 2-week craving of churros and a shake. I'm sure it was rather painful for her as she of course had to join me in my indulgence and listen to all of my pregnancy complaints. Thanks Katie! You're a real pal.

We also took a moment to delight in the yarn bomb installation in City Square whilst waiting for our workshop to commence. All that marvellous colour, creativity and effort to transform regular overlooked trees into crafty wonders.

If you didn't manage to get along yourself, you can still pop by City Square and take a closer look at the bombed trees until the end of Feb.

Yarn bomb Melbourne [Flickr]

2012-01-22T02:57:39-08:00

The Craft Revival posted a photo:

Yarn bomb Melbourne [Flickr]

2012-01-22T02:54:04-08:00

The Craft Revival posted a photo:

Yarn bomb Melbourne [Flickr]

2012-01-22T02:46:04-08:00

The Craft Revival posted a photo:

Yarn bomb Melbourne [Flickr]

2012-01-22T02:41:53-08:00

The Craft Revival posted a photo:

Yarn bomb Melbourne [Flickr]

2012-01-22T02:39:06-08:00

The Craft Revival posted a photo:

a new life in 2012

2012-01-17T06:55:00.000+11:00

So I've been keeping a secret. One which has had me itching to share for the past few weeks. I'm actually quite proud of myself for how long I've managed to keep my lips sealed despite wanting to burst at the seams.

I have no doubt that more than one of you reading this will already suspect that you know what I'm about to say. Or maybe you too have been itching to find out what I was rambling on about back in December. Read on.

The universe has a very sneaky way of throwing you little curve balls. Just when you think you're on track to getting things the way you've dreamed, something comes along which stops you in your tracks. Now there are one of two ways you can choose to deal with unplanned situations.

Option 1. Kick, scream, wail, go on a rant and rave about how unfair your life is, post a very sourpuss update on Facebook about woe is me, get upset and act like you belong on an episode of tantrums and tiaras

OR

Option 2. Embrace change, see the glass as half-full, work through the options, believe that everything happens for a reason, take it in your stride, make the most of it and appreciate the opportunity to be challenged

So after option one, I of course move swiftly onto option two. Shock and surprise can often make you think irrationally so another good one is to sleep on it. Things are always clearer after a good sleep (and some long thinking time in the shower).

So by now you're probably thinking to yourself, has this lady lost her marbles? Is she on some new self-help regime with the commencement of a new year? For goodness sake, what is she talking about!?

It could be the hormones or my new outlook on life, but I can assure you I am not crazy. Not just yet. At least not until the Alzheimers kicks in (prediction alert).

Now that I've used up all my words, I'm just going to leave you with a visual aid.

taken 5 Jan (bump) and 11 Jan (baby)

melbourne's biggest ever yarn bombing project

2012-01-13T07:00:00.000+11:00

via Peppermint

Oh my goodness Melbourne peeps, this looks like so much fun! Get your organisers (digital or paper variety, either's OK) out and mark these dates for a yarn good time. The Yarn Corner is Stitching up the City... Melbourne city, that is, on January 21-22!

There's a yarn installation (think granny squares and plenty of yarn-bombing all over trees), experts to talk about yarn and their yarn-ey obsessions as well as knitting and crochet workshops!

Workshops (Sunday, Jan 22)
11:00am - 11:30am Kids Learn to Knit
11:30am - 12:30pm Learn to Knit
12:30pm - 1:00pm Learn to Yarn Bomb
1:00pm - 2:00pm Learn to Crochet

If you'd like to book into any of the workshops, make sure to email quickly before spots fill fast (if they haven't already).

And lastly, if you can't make it into town that weekend, don't despair, the display will be up in the City Square until the end of February, so take your time and enjoy!

holiday shenanigans

2012-01-11T10:02:00.000+11:00

Since my last post back in December, I've been thoroughly enjoying some time off from the day job. This is the last of three weeks of my annual leave and I'll be honest if I say that I'm not really looking forward to going back next week. It's always so difficult to go back to reality after such a long period of lazing and free time.

Nonetheless, bills need paying, so I will go back to work.

This week I'm reminiscing about the fun things we've been doing the past couple of weeks while the kiddo is on school holidays... There's been:

picnics
swimming
making creatures out of play dough
duck (and pigeon) feeding
movies (Puss in Boots and The Adventures of Tintin)
parks
making peg people
spring cleaning the kiddo's room
baking
colouring in and baking shrinky dinks

We've had some fun together, but sadly it all ends next week. I'm back to work and the kiddo is off to school holiday program for two weeks. Until school's back the first week of Feb.

Did you enjoy a little break over the Christmas/New Year holiday? Bet you got up to some fun things?

quick little catch-up

2011-12-11T08:49:00.001+11:00

Yes, right, so I know it's been a few weeks since I last posted. Sorry 'bout that. I have not forgotten to write, no no. I have just had many other things taking priority of late. Hope you didn't miss me too much. Here's a quick catch-up on what's been going on.

I had my shop (Betty's Place) opening. You can read about it here and here and I will be posting some photos also this week.
We put up our Christmas tree (the three of us) and had family movie night - Christmas themed of course
Two blood tests, a wee test, two GP appointments and a specialist appointment later and I found out I have a thyroid issue
Been doing a load of washing every day the past week as Jaxon has 2 weeks of intensive water-safety classes through school. Ergh, wet boardies and towel every day.
I travelled to Sydney to attend a really important and grand celebration at the Sydney Opera House for my work's 250th anniversary
I got a viral infection of the throat kind and had some time off work
I caught up with some dear old friends from interstate over dinner at the delectable Chin Chin
I have considered starting my Christmas shopping

Betty's Place housewarming launch party

Chin Chin on Flinders Lane, Melbourne

our humble Christmas tree

watching fireworks on Sydney Harbour

I'm back to writing more regularly now, so expect to hear from me consistently again! I also have some other news that I'm dying to tell you, but that will have to wait for the moment.

christmas on a shoestring

2011-11-14T22:40:00.001+11:00

polish paper chandelier (pajaki), originally uploaded by The Craft Revival.

I've been wanting to make a paper chandelier for some time now and on the weekend I finally got the necessary supplies and got to it.

Yes, it does take some time to make one of these beauties, but it is well worth it when you're finished.

I'm thinking about teaching classes on how to make these traditional Polish paper chandeliers called Pajaki (pronounced pa-yon-kee) - translated it means "spiders of straw".

Originally used as Christmas decorations, these elaborate creations were made by families out of straw, scraps of paper and fabric to bring some cheer, colour and festivity to poorer households.

If you think you'd be interested in learning how to make pajaki, do leave me a note. If I get enough interest, I will consider running a class next year.

And if you're interested, check out this article I found on Polish Christmas traditions. You could do some of these with kidlets (yours or someone elses) or even on your own, to bring some festive cheer to your home for the upcoming Christmas holidays.

feelings

2011-11-11T14:03:00.001+11:00

A Little Lesson on Feelings from The Mother Company on Vimeo.

Feelings. We've all got them. Sometimes we don't know what to do with them or how to change them. And sometimes we shouldn't (change them). But we should all talk about them. And we should definitely teach our kids about feelings. I do with my son all the time. Talk about them that is.

Watch this little video (it only goes for 1:57) with littlies. Or just watch it on your own. It's a super cute stop motion animation by Hine Mizushima. He's a super talented Japanese dude living in Canada.

And while you're at it, check out some of his other work

via here

Have a happy Friday and enjoy the weekend lovelies. I'll be doing more work in the shop and going to my son's 6th birthday party. Yes I said GOING to. No clean-up for me!

the simple life (aka pink lemonade)

2011-10-31T07:02:00.000+11:00

via Pinterest

On Friday I was handed a lovely big shopping-bag of farm-fresh lemons from a gentleman whom I work with. He's fortunate enough to own a farm with cows, lemon trees and dozens of different types of roses (amongst other things).

Immediately my head started to conjure up images of lemon tarts, lemon curd and home made lemonade. So when I got home with said lemons, I googled pink lemonade recipes.

Frankly I wasn't happy with the results of the search as I was quite specific in the ingredients which I wanted to use. So I made up my own recipe and thought you might like to try it for yourself. I've since emailed the recipe to B-Fab and she's made it and tweeted me to say she's glad she'd made a double batch!

Pink Lemonade Cordial

It should be noted that the following measurements will make a cordial which you should then mix at a ratio of 1:1 with sparkling mineral water or just plain old still water. Good luck to you if you attempt to drink it un-mixed!

Ingredients

2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
8-10 fresh strawberries

Method

In a saucepan pour in the water and heat until boiling. When it reaches boiling point, add the sugar and stir until all dissolved. Set aside to cool. Crush your strawberries with a potato masher or in a small food processor (you may add some lemon juice if using a food processor). If so desired, strain the strawberry mixture through a sieve to remove any large chunks. I left mine in because I don't have a problem with small delicious pieces of strawberry floating in my drink.

Add the lemon juice and strawberry mix to the cooled sugar water, pour the entire mixture into a sterilised glass bottle, give it a good shake (after popping the lid on of course), and chill for a few hours.

Delicious and refreshing. And full of sugary goodness.

P.S. it would also be nice with vodka.

P.P.S. I had all good intentions of styling a beautiful shot of my home made pink lemonade, but with everything that I've got to do over the next few weeks, I'm trying to eliminate any non-essentials. In times like these it's fortunate that we have Pinterest to turn to. Upon entering my search term of 'pink lemonade' I was instantly presented with the cream of the crop of pink lemonade shots.

P.P.P.S. I didn't get to making any lemon tarts or lemon curd. But I still have about 20 lemons left, so it might even happen in between the great big shop tasks list. Which is where I'll be today. And tomorrow.

Make Hey!

2011-10-28T10:36:00.000+11:00

Last night I went along to Pip’s book launch at Readings in St Kilda with my dear pal Katie. That’s her down there. Katie. Not Pip. There were lamingtons, melting moments and ginger beer, lots of crafty folks and of course it was all centred around Pip’s new book Make Hey!

Katie = cute-face

the lovely spread of sweet treats

Pip welcomed us all and during her Q&A I asked her how she comes up with the ideas in her books. Pip said that she thinks about things that she’d like to give to friends and family and gifts and then she figures out how to make them. While she’s out on a walk, she might see an interesting building and will think to herself that would make a beautiful quilt pattern. And that’s it my friends. It’s that simple.

lovely folks gushing over Pip's book

If you are a crafty type like me, then I’m sure you’re already familiar with Pip’s work. She runs the Meet Me at Mikes blog, has written not 1, not 2, but 3 books AND a crafty journal, runs Softies for Mirabel (now in its 5^th year), writes for Frankie magazine and is a general all-round handmade and craft advocate. I feel really lucky to live in the same city as Pip because it means there’s an increased awareness of handmade in Melbourne.

Brianna, Pip and Ari

I can honestly say that I have never before met someone as inspirational as Pip. She has so much enthusiasm and positivity to share with anyone willing to listen it’s truly a breath of inspiration listening to her speak.

lovely photography and styling inside

Pip's books are easy to follow and made for practically a beginner right through to more experienced crafters. Make Hey! is shot and styled beautifully and the projects within it are things you could easily make for yourself or to give as gifts. Such as the first project I'm tackling out of Pip's book: I heart you necklace.

the first project I'll be attempting out of Make Hey!

I am also very lucky to have such a lovely friend. Because my dear friend surprised me and bought me Make Hey! last night AND got Pip to sign it for me. We all need friends like that. We do.

Katie getting Pip to sign my surprise!

Following the book launch a bunch of us went and had a picnic in a nearby park right next to St Kilda’s Luna Park. And what a perfect evening for a picnic in the park. It was balmy and full of good food. Unfortunately I didn’t snap any photos of the picnic because it was already getting dark.

Thanks again to my lovely pal Katie, but this time for allowing me to use some of her photos from last night. You’re a true pal xx

evidence that Pip is truly ace

P.S. if you head over to Katie’s blog she has a wrap up of last night’s event along with more pics. I believe she is sharing a photo of me from last night too. Oh dear.

P.P.S. if you haven't had the pleasure of owning one of Pip's books, I highly recommend you go and get yourself at least one of them. It's the perfect time with Christmas just around the corner. You could be making all your gifts instead of spending oodles of cash on mass-produced ones! It's so much more personal and meaningful.

good kitty, bad kitty, pretty knitted kitty

2011-10-24T10:02:00.001+11:00

Let it be known that I’m not really a cat person. We had a cat or two when I was growing up, but they were rare cats in that they acted and though they were dogs, not cats. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t despise them. If I see a cat at a friend’s place I will give it a nice little pat. I just think they are evil and vicious little critters. That look on their face when they’re slowly fluffing their tail against the ground in a half-reclined state; you can tell they're scheming. And those claws just prove that they’re up to no good.

But when I stumbled upon this furry little kitty I must say my softie-loving-heart melted. And how could you resist. It’s knitted AND it’s a two in one softie. Inside the good kitty lives a dormant bad kitty just waiting to strike. A lot like the slow-tail-fluffing-kitty which I mentioned earlier.

via Flickr

This clever lady is responsible for the bad kitty creation and if you (like me) have fallen head over claws for this knitted softie, you can purchase the pattern for a mere $6 (US) over on etsy. Now I just wish I could knit.

For the record, I am an animal lover. I’m just more of a rough-and-tumble-cuddly-dog-person than a claw-your-eyes-out-and-world-domination-cat-person.

Betty's-a-bloggin'

2011-10-21T09:36:00.002+11:00

If you’ve been reading my blog for the last couple of months, you might have picked up that I’m opening a shop. “A shop”, you say? “Whaa? How did I miss this news?”

Well, never fear because there’s two simple things you can do:

Click on the shop link which will take you to the posts where I’ve mentioned the shop
Click on Betty’s Place blog to be magically teleported to where you can now find all things related to the shop.

I will no longer be posting about the shop here. Ok, maybe that’s a small white lie, but the majority of updates on shop progress (which is opening in a matter of weeks) will take place on Betty’s very own blog over there.

So if you’re remotely interested in shop shenanigans I suggest you consider subscribing to keep informed.

Ta-ta for now dears.

my creative space: quiet book

2011-10-20T07:00:00.000+11:00

A few months ago I completed an ordered which I was commissioned to do for a friends god-son. I took lots of photos with the intent of sharing them, but unfortunately, something possessed me to erase them all by hitting the format button on my DSLR.

Fortunately I've since received the quiet book back because my friend had gotten the DOB wrong, so I offered to fix the embroidery to the correct date. So I can finally share the photos of the project I completed some months ago.

Plenty more creative spaces to check out over here

1987 flashback

2011-10-14T13:10:00.000+11:00

I don't usually share videos on my blog, but this one was too much of a pearler not to share around. If I were 10 years younger I would be saying "ROFL" but I'm sure there's many of you that wouldn't understand what the heck that means (FYI: rolling on floor laughing).

It's Friday, I'm wearing jeans at work, had a good giggle at this video and I'm considering instigating slippers to work Fridays. Life is good.

Have a great weekend lovelies.

betty needs you

2011-10-13T07:00:00.000+11:00

It's true. Betty needs you. Betty's Place is the name of my shop which is opening in November. I say November because that feels comfortingly a long time away. I'm definitely not going to say next month. No, I'm not. That would just freak me out.

So back to Betty. She needs your help. She's filled her place with lots of lovely wares which she's been accumulating, but she's in the mood for more unique, quirky, upcycled and handmade wares to fill her space.

So this is where you come in. Do you make lovely wares that would fit in a studio apartment themed shop? Think quilts, clothing, illustrations, prints, jewellery and general gifts... basically anything that you'd expect to find if you walked into a stylish, environmentally conscientious, 30-something gals place. Betty is looking for consignment rather than wholesale.

Betty would prefer to support Australian designers (due to carbon footprint incurred with posting things around the world), but will consider items made or sourced in other countries, as long as they are truly unique and super special.

So if you're interested in submitting your treasures for consideration, you can drop Betty an email at betty [at] thecraftrevival [dot] com [dot] au. Oh, and if you want to follow the progress of Betty's Place, you can jump over here and sign up to receive news and updates via email.

So go on, spread the word. Betty needs you!

things to do on the school holidays

2011-10-10T21:57:00.000+11:00

We were lucky enough to send Jaxon to Brisbane for school holidays. I say lucky enough because with the way things are financially these days, you're lucky to fork out enough money to do anything remotely entertaining with kids during school holidays.

We have family who live in the sunshine state and they don't get to spend nearly enough time with their only grandchild, so he's always spoilt rotten whenever they're together.

So I'm not going to tell you about what to do with kids on the school holidays. Oh no. This is a rather different story about how to spend your holidays if you're lucky enough to be child-free. Maybe use it as a things to do and things NOT to do kind of guide.

WARNING: the following post includes some photos of food which may offend some readers. If you find food offensive, we ask that you look away.

ladybirds in jar (none were harmed)

IKEA ball pit

chicken roti at Queen Victoria Market

making polish pierogi

pierogi up close

zines at space invaders exhibition

space invaders exhibition

mixed berry, white chocolate and almond torte

Lindt cafe hot chocolate

Europa cakes through window on Acland Street, St Kilda

Travel interstate with five year old whilst you're sick with bronchitis and the flu (I had a photo to share, but it's not pretty so I left it out).
Wonder whether you're actually going to make it onto the flight or if you'll be stopped by quarantine or border patrol.
Cancel ALL plans in your home state because you're so sick you feel as though you're going to cough up a lung.
Attend your mothers' birthday party periodically wearing a surgical mask to protect innocent bystanders from catching a horrible deathly sickness. Watch for strange side glances from party guests.
Eat home made Polish Pączki for breakfast.
Spend four days on your mother's couch wishing you were back at home in the comforts of your own surrounds.
Catch a large pickle-sized-jar full of ladybirds. Ladybugs. Lady-beetles. Whatever they're called. Lots of them. Last count = 36.
Travel back home and go back to work for four days whilst preparing your home for the arrival of your mother and safe return of your child.
Watch a movie with your husband or significant life partner while indulging in some quiet, blissful and uninterrupted couple time.
Paint. A wall, a canvas or a piece of furniture. Whatever tickles your fancy. In my case, I painted a wall (in le shop).
Eat something strange and not child friendly for dinner, such as 5 bean mix and tuna. Because you can. And because you don't have to satisfy fussy little taste buds.
Don't do four loads of washing a day. I dare you.
Explore the new mega IKEA at Springvale and do something completely out of character like taking the child to the kids playground and watch them enjoy themselves in the ball pit without turning a thought to the possible disasters which line the floor of the ball pit.
Make pierogi with your mum. Or just let her do most of the pierogi-making while you go to the Space Invaders exhibit with your significant life partner (read: cash in on some free baby-sitting while you still can).
Take many awesome photos at the Space Invaders exhibit before being told that "you're not allowed to take photos in here". Oops. Sorry.
Check out the Queen Vic Market and peruse the many Ugg Boot, cheap plastic knock-off licensed toys, even cheaper looking clothes, fresh produce and bric-a-brac galore. Eat lots of yummy things including a chicken roti.
Get up really early and hit the Camberwell Rotary Market (read: the best flea market in Melbourne and possibly Australia). Pick up a brand new dusty blue mohair top with black velvet buttons for $5 with the added bonus of it's previous owner never actually wearing it since its original purchase.
Scenic drive to Tyabb to indulge in vintage wares, antiques and food including a splendid mixed berry, white chocolate and almond torte, buttery, crusty, ham and cheese croissant and english breakfast tea (not in that order). Yep. I said torte.
Introduce your mum to the delights of the Lindt Cafe
Visit the Europa Cake Shop in St Kilda and take in the scrumptious scents of sugary goodness.

And that my friends is how you spend two weeks of school holidays. I may not be in school, but school holidays are very much a part of my life now that I have a school-aged child in my company.

And today, the end of the school holidays, I have one more little luxury. A new modem arrived today which means connectivity to the outside world again. At high speed. So you'll be seeing lots more of me.

my creative space: handbag organiser

2011-09-15T07:57:00.000+10:00

I'm short on words today... or is that time?!

Here's the handbag organiser which I sketched a few weeks ago... now in real living fabric!

Lots more creative spaces over here

Friday's events

2011-09-12T10:28:00.000+10:00

My dear lovelies, do I have a quick story for you today. I seem to be having endless entertainment in my life of late.

On Thursday afternoon whilst picking up my monkey from school, his teacher asked if we were coming to the parents and children class breakfast on Friday morning. I didn’t think that it was a big deal, but apparently it was. So I put a quick call into work to tell them I’d be coming in later than usual so that I could attend the breakfast the next day. That afternoon we made some mini tartlets to take with us the next morning. All in a day, really.

We arrived at the breakfast all fine, but about 10 mins before I was due to leave, we heard a loud thud. Then I heard some crying. As I surveyed the room to see which poor kid had hurt themselves, I struggled to see through the crowd of parents who had nestled in around a child on the floor. Then for a brief moment, I caught a glimpse of my child’s head through all the legs. Of course it would be my child. Why did I think it would be anyone else’s?

I quickly shuffled my way over to him and as the sea of parents parted to let me through, one of the teachers said to my Jaxon “let me see” and pulled his clasping hands away from his head. Then all we saw was blood. More than I’m used to seeing with the usual scraped knees and cut fingers. Ladies and gentlemen we have ourselves an injury. The rest is a bit of a blur, but goes something like this.

Head straight to the infirmary, head bandaged (his not mine), stop on the way back to collect his school bag to chat with mums who had witnessed the episode, hop in the car and drive to hospital, run out of petrol a couple of blocks from the hospital, it starts to hail, nice man stops to help push my car off one of the busiest roads in Melbourne, walk in the rain with bandaged child, arrive at hospital and get told they don’t treat children there, but they make an exception and “glue his head back together” (in Jaxon’s words), leave hospital, husband arrives with a can of petrol, start car and drive straight to service station to FILL it up, drive home and exhale.

I have no doubt that this will be the first of many hospital trips I will be making with my very active (and even more clumsy) child.

So what interesting things did you get up to on Friday or over the weekend?

snapshot in time

2011-09-05T21:47:00.001+10:00

via Pinterest

I'm outta steam today. Day 1 of a 3-day sales conference at the day job. And as I otherwise work part time it makes it all the more challenging to stay organised on the home front because the conference is for 3 FULL days.

Generally, after school on Monday afternoons we have a scheduled play-date. Another mum from school and I alternate taking turns looking after the boys, both of who are an only child in the family. It gives them some time to pretend for an afternoon that they have a sibling and for us, some time out (on alternate Monday's of course).

So screaming round to their house I went straight after the 2-hours-later-than-scheduled-finish-time at work. Then straight home to find that the husband had arrived home from work before me (that's a first) and already had dinner sorted (I didn't even care that it was just a frozen pizza in the convection oven). Phew.

After dinner, it's a quick shower, the usual reading of the assigned readers for that evening, brushing of the teeth, some monkey shenanigans, then 1/2 hour of "I don't wanna go to bed" before finally convincing him to go to bed.

Tonight when I took my boy-child to bed I offered to read him a bedtime story. As we flicked through the vast selection of accumulated books in his bookcase, we came across his Wiggles photo album filled with photos of him when he was an ankle biter. He chose this over a storybook. And I'm so glad that he did.

As we flipped through the pages filled with colourful memories, my heart filled with nostalgia. This little face that I know but somehow looked like a very distant memory. When was he ever that little? Look at those pudgy cheeks! I want another baby. No I don't. Eew, nappies. Awh, warm unconditional cuddles. I remember that cute outfit. I wish it still fit him.

All kinds of emotions came flooding in. I think he felt it too. He asked me where the photo of mum looking angry was. Just when I was about to say "what are you talking about, there's no such photo" he found the photo. He was right. I looked angry in this one photo. Why was I angry? Wait. I'm still angry. Some of the time I don't realise that I'm angry. But I am. My husband has recently been telling me that I need to loosen up. Relax. Not take things so seriously.

I get upset when he tells me that. Why? Because I don't know how to "relax". Because I wish I were carefree, loose and fun. Those words seem to have disappeared from my vocabulary. Sometimes I am more serious-mummy, preoccupied-mummy, cleaner-mummy, got-63-things-on-my-to-do-list-mummy and that leaves little time for fun and carefree mummy.

Being the pedantic person that I am (blame that one on the astrological sign of Virgo), I find it hard to just let things go which in turn means that I'm really hard on myself when I don't completely have things under control. And let's be real. Unless you have a nanny, cleaner and a clone, how can things ever be picture-perfect in all aspects of life? It's all good to give others advice, but I just find it hard to accept or take my own.

As almost six years have gone by since I became a mum, I'm still struggling to come to terms with losing control of what seems like my entire life. Trying to have a career, be a mum, an entertainer, cleaner, cook, a loving wife, friend, daughter and a home-maker whilst still trying to be me somewhere in between. It's a lot of shoes to fill and I'm not sure I can nor should I want to fill all of them perfectly.

Should I feel bad that I can't achieve everything I want? Definitely not. But do I? Absolutely.

Maybe one day I will read this and finally take my own advice. But for now, I will continue wishing that time would just stand still long enough for me to catch up.

free houses

2011-08-31T20:30:00.000+10:00

No, you didn't misread the title. I did in fact say "free" followed closely by the word "houses". No, I'm not rich and no, I'm not doing some freakin' fantastically huge blog giveaway. Sorry, if you were under the pretence that you were in fact going to win a home. I don't even own a home. No siree. So I definitely can't be giving one away.

Instead, I thought you'd enjoy some mini house projects. Little ones. Sweet ones. Cute ones. Paper ones. Fabric ones.

There's something about a sweet miniature that is really appealing to me. Maybe it's the fact that it's a bite-sized craft or that it's easy to clean up and store. Not really sure, but I have been really into mini-anything lately.

Here are some really lovely mini houses which you can download, print and make at home. A home for your home. You could even make a little town. The kid would have awesome fun driving his cars around a mini town.

fabric covered cardboard houses via Pinterest

sweet Christmas paper houses via Pinterest

vintage style glitter house via Martha Stewart

little felt light-up houses via Poopscape

You could make some with some kids - maybe your own, or maybe with your nieces or nephews, or next-door neighbours kids. Or hell, you could just make some on your own. I am!

If you know anyone who's giving away any homes you'll be sure to send 'em my way, won't you.

P.S. did I just mention Christmas in August? Oh dear. Shoot me now.

my creative space: oh deer

2011-08-24T20:15:00.000+10:00

The past week has been rather interesting, so I'm not sure how I actually found the time to do anything remotely creative.

I picked up two wooden chairs at the Camberwell Rotary Market a couple of months back with a view of recovering them. And they have sat all red and tartanny for that whole time until the other day; once I finally worked out which fabric to slather them in.

I love the quirky look which the deer fabric gives them. It's kinda cute, kinda naff and kinda fun all rolled into one. Now I just have to get onto the other one.

So many more creative spaces over here today.

snap to it

2011-08-23T14:01:00.000+10:00

This month I've been enjoying following those awfully creative ladies over at the Creative Collective. Their focus for the month of August has been 'Life and Lens' or in other words photography.

They've covered Pinterest, online editing tools, how to mat your photos, cinemagraphs, bokeh, picnik amongst other photographic topics. A must-see for anyone who enjoys taking photos especially if you're a beginner or just want to pick up a few tips or learn some new tricks.

Having personally been an avid user and spruiker of Picnik myself, I have only just recently upgraded my membership to a premium account. Why would you pay for it if you can use it for free you ask? Well for a number of reasons...

Firstly an online editing interface this awesome and easily accessible warrants some form of thanks and I think that the $24 annual fee is completely justifiable. Especially since I've been using the free version for almost 2 years now.

Secondly it allows you to upload more than 5 photos at a time with a premium (or paid) membership. Bliss!

Thirdly you can do loads more with a full membership and it's certainly worth spending the money to have access to some of the things you can do without photoshop (that one's gonna cost you a pretty mint).

There's an awesome tutorial which Cinti shared with her readers over on My Poppet which just tipped me over the edge and sent me tugging at my credit card to dislodge it from my purse in order to upgrade my Picnik account. Actually Cinti has a few great tutorials which I think you'd enjoy, so you should totally go and check them out.

Oh and while you're in a checking out kinda mood, you should make your way over to the Creative Collective for some inspiration too.

Go on, snap to it then.

sharing: love, money and time

2011-08-22T14:00:00.001+10:00

Donate and you could win this

Words can't even begin to express the despair I'm feeling which I'm sure you're feeling too, knowing that there are hundreds of thousands families in East Africa who are losing their loved ones to starvation on a daily basis. It is incomprehensible that this can even occur. How does it get that bad and why does it get so bad before the world realises the seriousness of the situation? I can't even imagine going through something as disastrous as this. It certainly puts things into perspective.

If you're reading this post in your reader or via an email subscription, then you may not have seen the UNICEF button at the top right hand corner of my blog page. I have recently made a donation. It's not much. Only $20, but I feel that it's better than just saying "$20 won't change anything" and not donating for that reason. Every little bit helps however little it may be.

If you're like me and you're in a position where you can spare a little money maybe you would like to donate to UNICEF's East Africa Emergency Appeal or one of the other charities who are currently helping this cause. If you have a blog, you too can add the UNICEF badge to your blog page to help spread the word. Although I'm not sure if there's anyone left who hasn't heard about the devastating and desperate situation in East Africa.

Really makes you appreciate what you have.

Also, check out Madeleine's post over on Made By Mosey. She has made a delectable quilt which she's giving away to help raise funds for the same cause. It's made out of vintage Australian tea towels.

Depending on what position you're in, you too can help in some way. So share the...
LOVE: tell everyone you can and help spread the word
MONEY: donate to UNICEF or another charity
TIME: make something to auction off and donate the funds

Remember, every little bit helps.

a comedy of errors

2011-08-22T14:00:00.000+10:00

To say it's been an eventful week would be a gross understatement. As I try to recall the events which I know will make me giggle one day, I struggle not to rub my eyelids with the palms of my hands as it's all been a little exhausting.

Disastrous birthday dinner
Blood
A choking episode involving an octopus
Painting
Strangely coloured mucous
Searching for the "right" part at multiple Bunnings stores right before closing time
One chest infection
Exploding kitchen plumbing
Eye-shooting tomato sauce packets
Many soggy towels, tea towels and one swollen roll of paper towels
Tears
Exhaustion
Feuding stuffed toys
Lots of tissues and coughing

Not exactly in that order, but it paints a nice little picture of the saga of the last six days. I feel like I've been running around like some over-booked lunatic from one debacle to another with barely a breath in between.

And I can't even say that I've done anything fun or memorable. Actually that's a lie. The kid shooting himself in the eye with tomato sauce, squealing like a little piggy in acidic pain, then choking on a piece of calamari in a restaurant where we were celebrating my beloved's birthday, after the one we really wanted to eat at we found out was closed - was definitely memorable. But not the right kind of memorable. Shame.

If there's one thing I've come to realise this past week it's that if you can't see the humour in a time of crisis, then you've really got nothing else left to keep you from pulling the pin, falling in a fit of hysterical rambling on the soaking wet floor and potentially causing some concern for your loved ones.

That and looking at that precious little mug which pulls the cheekiest darn faces and makes you laugh when you think you're about to lose your sh*t. He really is priceless that monkey of mine.