Someone buy me: Meet me at Mikes

If you haven't seen this book by Pip Lincolne floating around in the Aussie blogs over the last few weeks I don't know where you've been!  I would LOVE to receive or purchase this one.  I have a growing list of lovely crafty books I'm wishing for, so i'm hoping that maybe sometime soon I might be able to get one of them ... 

If you want it too, then you can buy it here

Someone buy me: a giraffe please

I love giraffes.  Especially for kiddies.  I hope Ellie likes them as much as I do, although I think at the moment she loves puppies and birds more.  Oh well.  Maybe a Giraffe is a little too expensive.  I could get one of these instead:

Original Painting by Jessica Simanowski  'A Zoo Within'

Natural Giraffe by Happy Squash Toys

'All God's Children' Limited Edition Art Print by Robert David Bretz

Felted wool pouch featuring flying giraffe design from Out of the Box

New Donna Hay Store

Oh, Goodie!!  Look what I just discovered! I just received an email telling me about this new store from Donna Hay (thanks Greg!).  The store just opened a few days ago, so if you're in the Sydney area, perhaps it might be a nice place to visit? Sounds like it's not just full of Donna's usuals, but instead she's says "the shelves are filled with treasures I've collected from around the world.  It's everything I love, from hand-thrown artisan ceramics to a beautiful range of products for little ones and beauty for everyone.  Best of all, there's a confiserie with macaroons, truffles and more to tempt."  Sounds yum.  Details of the store are below or on Donna's website.

A thing for blue

Despite my recent love affair with red, I really do have a thing for blue, and I always have.   Here are some of my favourite purchases from March.  I don't know when I'll use them, but I love these fabrics from Leslie.  Check out the gorgeous double sided cotton/linen - the possibilities are endless.   I can't decide which one's my fave, I keep looking and gazing and looking...but it's been a month now, and I still can't pick.  Any ideas on what I could do with them?

I also decided to splurge on this art below from Jennifer at madebygirl (mind you, everything is a splurge at the current exchange rate!). It beautifully sums up the way many of us feel about this lovely world called blogs.  And you can never beat a good cup of tea - I feel particularly fond of it this year, because I had to give it up during my pregnancy due to terrible heartburn, and well, I come from a long line of tea lovers, so it is perfect.  I plan on putting it on the wall in our study/library/creative space/spare room (whatever you want to call it).  Cool huh? I love it.

Buttons by Lou Lou Giveaway

Hi folks, just a quick note to let you know about Lou's current giveaway over at Buttons by Lou Lou.

All you need to do is sign up to receive her monthly newsletter, and you're in the running for a great prize. Check it out here.

Run Scotty Run

I really love Run Scotty Run clothing for kids, and I found a great bargain recently. One of their gorgeous tshirts for Ellie at 50% off. It feels so good when you just stumble across a gem like this when it's on sale. Such cute embroidery and applique - I bought it in size 1 for next Spring/Summer and I can't wait for her to wear it! If you've never seen the gorgeous Run Scotty Run range, be sure to check it out - they sell nationally in Australia, and probably most accessibly in Myer stores. I found mine on a 'clearance' rack at my local baby boutique store. Click here for details on a stockist in Australia or NZ near you.

There is just something so sweet about little girls in red, don't you think? I love this jacket!

[ Last 2 images from Run Scotty Run ]

Hello again

Hello again friends, and happy April!  Oh how I have missed lovely blogland!   March was a great month for me - I became an Aunty for the first time, spent some quality time doing the things I needed to, and now feel refreshed and ready to face the rest of the year.  You know, I found that those 2 contradicting proverbs were both true - for some blogs it was out of sight out of mind, but for others, your absence made my heart grow much fonder.  March break was a wonderful way to find out which blogs I really needed to be reading, and which ones were clutter.  Try it some time - its a great way to get a little bit of head space back!

I have been busy with lots of things one of which is my very first attempt at a patchwork quilt for Ellie.  It's not complete, but the quilt top is finished, now just need to work out how to do the hard bits i'm scared of like binding and quilting.  I am going to investigate some classes soon, as I have a really nice little place to do them just around the corner from my house (anyone want to join me?) but these things take time to organise with a wee one. 

 Here are a few photos.  One of the quilt top, and the other some of my favourite fabrics used in it. 

Self teaching patchwork and quilting comes with some hard lessons.  I absolutely love the gorgeous Japanese purple corduroy I received as a gift with my purchase from Leslie's beautiful shop good-ness, however, this was a bad choice for my first attempt.    There was a little too much stretch in it, and meant I had to unpick, and re-sew things to make it fit.  Sigh, but lesson learned.  Start simple. (nb:  leslie has a great 30% sale in her store right now!! Good for the poor Aussie dollar.)

Do you know where the above fabrics came from?  I am scared to say...but I will.  Big W!!  I found a tiny stash of FQ's in the back of the store for $3.50 each.  Bargain!  And perfect for what I wanted for Ellie.  I was so pleased I found them.  Was hard to justify an expensive purchase on something I might screw up, so i'm glad I stumbled across it.

Anyhow, was lovely to chat again.  Sorry if it's a bit long today, but I missed you terribly!  x