Oh the perils...

In my haste to prepare for Mathilda's, I just sewed through my finger. Actually, I attempted to sew through my finger, but my fingernail did a pretty fair job of stopping it. Go fingernail. It hurts. Waaah.

My current top 5...

Things are descending into madness (ha - I just typed madeness - makes sense) here at the moment. Mathilda's is on Sunday and I am rushing around like a mad thing, running my sewing machine into the ground. Have I got enough shorts? Hmmm, couldn't hurt to make some more. Enough singlets? This design is so cute, better make some more. Enough shoes? Hmmmm.... You get the picture.

So, I thought I would tell you about the top 5 things that are getting me through this week:

1. China Jasmine Tea from T2.

So lovely, so refreshing - it's becoming like water to me at the moment.

2. Taking Back Sunday - Live From Bamboozle.

This band have been a favourite of mine forever. Listen if you are into poppy-punky-catchy tunes with vocals that battle each other to be your favourite. Turn it up loud, sing even louder.

3. My wonderful husband.

My dishwashing, house cleaning, kids breakfast getting, understanding, comforting, break giving husband. What would I do without you?

4. Breakfast.

I love breakfast. If everything else throughout the day falls down in a heap, it's ok - coz I had a decent breakfast, which always consists of: multigrain toast, a poached egg and the all important flat white (made by me with freshly ground beans from the Farmer's Market in Noosa). Ahh.

5. My boys.

They completely interfere with how much work I get done. But they make me stop, think and bring me back down to earth by making me laugh.

Next week will hopefully bring some sort of normal back (whatever that is), but for now, I'm off to have a meeting with the Janome. Again.

So what's your tops 5 this week? Share.

Buy Handmade This Christmas

Some red-themed lovlies discovered over at the treasure trove that is madeit:

Red Babushka Skirt by Skye Rocket Sews:

Peach Flower Bobby by lulu froufrou:






Giraffe Soft Toy by allana C:





Buttercup Bag by Vision Handbags:





Red Writer by Lino Creative:

A sneaky peak at BabyBird: Era

This morning I have been making garlands out of little plastic cowboys and indians. Why? Well, inspired by the new range, I'm creating a retro theme for my table at Mathilda's Market on Sunday.

Getting the shorts ready to roll:

New range? Oh yes! It's called BabyBird: Era and is my new favourite thing. Along with all the funky shorts and singlets that make up the BabyBird range, there will also be some new pieces, created from tablecloths, doilies, lace and all things retro. So don't forget to come and visit me at King George Square on Sunday, along with all the other sellers of beautiful things for children.

BabyBird: Era - Breathing new life into doilies and table runners

New life into table cloths:


New life into ties:

My Space

Here is a picture of our dinner table, as of this afternoon.

Non-remarkable, eh? No sir! It is entirely remarkable, because it is not piled high with fabric, thread, patterns and a sewing machine. I am quite embarrassed to admit we have not eaten dinner on that table for a good six months or so. I know, I know, I'm a terrible housewife.

I am absolutely chuffed to announce that I now have my own sewing room! We have a little room off our back deck that has always been the spare room, but I wasn't able to work out there, because our deck lacked a proper roof. Well now it has one, as well as a childproof gate, so the boys can hang out there while I work. I've already been slaving away in there...

Three Little Words...

There are three little words that every mother loves to hear whispered by her husband at 6am on a Sunday....

'I'll get up'.



I heard them not only this morning, but yesterday morning too. Love you Brain.

xx

Buy Handmade This Christmas

You can do it! I know you can! Now, I know what you're thinking, but handmade doesn't have to mean tea cosies, bookmarks and macaroni necklaces. There is a handmade revolution going on right under our noses, so go on - support your local hamdmakers, they will love you for it.

Here are a few of my favourite treasures, found on madeit:

Retro Swimwear by Miss Fancypants. Oh my goodness, I love them. Funky with the ability to eliminate muffin-top. Did I mention that I love them??

Wonderland Peppermint Shoes by little chillies. Quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen.


Lovely custom hand-stamped sterling silver heart by Lovestamp. Jo from Lovestamp creates such beautiful pieces and is a pleasure to deal with. I treasure mine.




Fishy Fisherman Pants by Chunky Chooky. How cool are these?



Little Bird Walking by Rancho. What a cute little print - would go well in my kitchen...

Go on - go spend up on some beautiful handmade things for Christmas. You know you want to.

Motivation - I haz it...

So, as you may have read, I went to a couple of weddings, a hens and had a holiday in Noosa lastweek. Lovely. The downside? So many gorgeous people! Truly! All fit, fantastic and hot. One of my best friends (the bride of last saturdays wedding), has recently lost 30kgs. Yep - about a third of her body weight. She is now a size 10 and looks amazing - really amazing, not that 'I've just lost a pile of weight by not eating' look (ewww). She did it over two years with good eating and the help of a personal trainer. She is toned and buff. I want that, but having babies wasn't kind to my body (I have the works - floppy tummy, stretch marks and lovely caesarean scar), so I will settle for losing 15kgs, which will put me back in the size 10-12 zone.

Around 4 years ago (not skinny, but definitely littler):

Inbetween there was a bit of expansion
(I treasure these photos, taken by Alicia at Savvy Studios):





Now (not a whole body shot, but I'm not doing that to you):

After I had Eddie, I got all motivated and lost 7kgs, but then I stopped losing weight and got bored. So yesterday, super-psyched me reviewed my details on Calorie King and realised why I have't been losing weight - I was still listed as breastfeeding, which I am not. So there goes 600 calories a day - boo hoo. Oh and as a side note: Not everyone loses weight breastfeeding. I actually put it on, breastfeeding makes me hungry. Whoops.

Why stacking on the kgs was totally worth it (times two):

Why am I telling you all this? Well, if I have someone to answer to, I am way more likely to stay on the wagon, so here are my aims:

1. Eat well and record everything on Calorie King
2. Exercise everyday except Sunday - which means running up a storm on the treadmill 3-4 times a week, weights twice, one balance class a week and th Wii Fit on the days I don't go to the gym.
3. Lose 15kgs. I've given myself 6 months to do it in. Plenty of time (I hope).

If anyone is keen to join me, let me know and we can do it together (in spirit, obviously).

Holidaying with Bird...

While I was away, BabyBird was never far from my mind, in fact it was on my mind constantly. But that's ok, you know why? Because I love it like it's my third child. Seriously. And when you love what you do, it's not a chore at all - even on holidays.

So, with that in mind, I dragged my mum around to so many Op Shops while in Noosa. It was fantastic, I found some great things. Tablecloths that will be reborn into shorts, doilies that will be sewn onto singlets for little girls, ties that might become belts or dog collars and for my own personal collection - old pyrex from the 60s, perhaps the first ever shapewear by Berlei (so, so cool) and an old slip that will be dyed to give it new life.

I also decided (at the very last minute), that for my friends wedding present, I would paint them a portrait of their cat, Missy. More heartfelt than some cash in a card, which was what I was going to do originally. So after a mad few days (and around 15 hours of painting), I wrapped the portrait up and delivered it to the brides mothers' house on the morning of the wedding. I was cornered by the bride at the reception, she told me she couldn't resist, unwrapped the painting and then re-wrapped it - and to not tell her husband. And she loved it. Hehe - I would have done the same!

For those of you that aren't aware, I paint pet portraits too, although not as much as I used to, because my time has to be split amoung so many different things these days. If you are interested in seeing my work, you can check it out at Redbubble.

Anyway, time for me to either clean the house, start on the orders I received while away or continue on with my tax...

Refreshed, revitalized, rejuvenated...

We're back from our little break. While it's nice to be back in our own bed, I would give that up to spend every morning at the beach. I had such a great time while we were away and I still feel like I'm floating around on rainbows and fairy dust, so please forgive me if this post is a bit all over the place.



I ate, I drank, I was merry and am now darker shade of lily white. Ollie totally discarded his fear of the water and by the end of our holiday, was running fearlessly into the surf, which was quite scary. Eddie was just Eddie, our happy little camper. He did grow the beginnings of a bottom tooth while we were away. Brain dedicated a morning to washing and polishing the car (hoorah for no water restrictions!), after it was turned red by the recent dust storms. Whatever floats your boat.

Brain and I attended two wonderful weddings, child free, which was a refreshing change. I also went to an old friends Hens Night, where many cocktails and much fine food was consumed. The dancing came later. I must admit I was quite chuffed with myself when I managed to walk up Noosa hill in my highest of high heels, considering I am very high heel unfit these days.

Today was a steady fall back to reality, sorting through emails, doing mounds of washing and eyeing off the sewing machine. I had to cook dinner tonight after 10 days off, that was painful. Now I'm off to the gym, which I imagine will be even more painful.

Bird and the Babies and Brain are off...

We're all having a little break as of tomorrow. Can't wait. I can't tell you the last time we had time off... There is always the usual over Christmas, but other than that, Brain has used all his leave looking after me when I had the babies. I had two emergency caesareans, so needed him at home for a bit longer than anticipated.

Anyway, we are heading 'home' to Noosa, which is where we both grow up and where both my parents and my inlaws still live. I've spent the day madly posting off orders, cleaning and packing, so we should be ready to go as soon as we have all had brekky tomorrow. Ollie tends to eat three brekkies at the moment, so that may delay out departure.

When we're up there, I plan to do a morning run along the beach, to combat the eating and drinking I will be doing at the two weddings and one hens I am attending. For anyone that's interested, the Couch To 5k program is excellent. I am so not a runner, but am slowly getting there by following the C25K program. My dog Harry will love me, he is an excellent running partner, Lolapug, not so much.

Speaking of Lolapug, I bought her a life jacket this week from Wagsalot Pet Services. I was super impressed with the customer service and the fast arrival of the lifejacket. A lifejacket? You ask. Well yes. Lola loves a swim, but does it about as well as a brick, which means I am forever rescuing her. Now though, she will be able to paddle to her hearts content.

Anyway, my internet access will be limited while I'm gone, so it make take me a while to reply to emails etc. Please feel free to still send through your orders, just be aware that they will take longer than usual to arrive. And if I don't answer emails, it doesn't mean I'm ignoring you, it just means I am finally on holiday!