My Darling Rabbit

Ah, the firstborn. They're always at a disadvantage as they're the one you 'learn' on. I expected things of Anna-Jayne I never would of Poppy as my parenting style has changed and I've become much more relaxed and realisitic in my attitudes.

She is an official 'Aspergian' and with that comes many challenges and special talents.

She knows all about Echo-location, more facts about animals than you can poke a stick at, and can sit for hours playing Nintendogs on her DS or cataloging her Littlest Pet Shops into 'groups'. She also is fond of tissues, rocks, shells, sticks, leaves and all types of other natural matter and I will find 'homes' for her Littlest Pet Shops made of the above materials in every conceivable nook and cranny in her room. Organisation is not something she'll ever come to naturally I'm afraid, despite lists, picture cards and cranky Mum routines. There are so many other things about her that I will share in the coming time but they're just a couple of little Jaynie-isms....

We have had so many break throughs in the past year which seemed to culminate in a wonderful weekend. She had been invited to a schoolmates Birthday party. She had such a lovely time, as soon as we got there, she was off with her friends. There was a 'Guess the Lollies in the Jar' game. I asked her if she'd like to guess. She said "No, I'll just get it wrong anyway and not win" as a Mum, my instant reaction was "well, you've got to be in it to win it" but I let it go as I'm learning more and more when to 'let things be'.

I went to take the little ones for an icecream and when I returned to pick her up, lo and behold, she ran up to me "I WON! I CAN'T BELIEVE I'VE WON!!" Her first ever prize!! She was so very proud. I have no idea who got her to enter but I'm so glad they did. She never wins.... she's not very co-ordinated, she'd rather gallop like a pony in a running race than be competitive. But in this, she did! She'd also won 3 other 'prizes' in games (I think due to a very lovely Mum who's seen her in the past come away empty handed). She proudly went around to everyone and shared her Lolly jar (which incidentally had 109 lollies). *Bless*

She was showing me all her loot when she saw her little friend had not won anything. I mentioned to her that she didn't seem to have anything and perhaps it would be kind to see if she'd like one of Jaynie's prizes? Albiet a bit confused, Jaynie dilligently asked if she'd like her glow-in-the-dark stars (no thanks)? Her special soap (again no thanks)... but she said - oh I'll have your skipping rope. Instantly - I could see on Jaynie's face, that she wanted that BADLY. I was instantly stuck. She'd been so giving & kind to her friend and now it was kind of backfiring. I quickly jumped in and said "Oh Jaynie, what a lovely friend and a wonderful person you are, I will get you the loveliest most beautiful skipping rope this week"... and with that, situation defused.

So my beautiful girl will be the proud owner of the most beautiful skipping rope I can find on pay day... and she's reminded me about it 154 times and counting since Sunday...........

My Marvellous Three

We had a Birthday party this afternoon - the invitation was in the shape of a mask - a Masquerade Party!

Yesterday afternoon, we cut, painted, glued & hot glued up a set of masks ready to party. On the way there Anna-Jayne had a nervous moment as 'everyone else will have store bought masks'...

I suppose it had to happen eventually. The realisation that home-made is 'different'. I explained to her - we're a creative, crafty family by our choice and I think - the hour or so of fun and mess produced making our masks makes them more beautiful than the most gorgeous store bought product. She kind of agreed with me and lo and behold, when we arrived, there were quite a few hand made masks anyway.

I grabbed a few photos and looking at them on the screen, it amazes me at how fast they are growing. No longer babies or toddlers, I definitely have 3 young people. Anyway, enough talking. I hope you had a lovely weekend!

Troublesome Tuesday

The wheels have well and truly fallen off this week! My eldest daughter Anna-Jayne received her 2nd and official diagnosis for Aspergers on Friday. It has brought mixed emotions to the fore.

Guilt for what I may have done wrong in my ignorance, subsequently making things more difficult for her, sadness that she's never going to 'grow out of it' and she will always struggle with certain things in life, anger that I am the only one who deals with this on a day-to-day basis and relief that I have some answers and can now get on with finding ways to help Jaynie sort through things and help her be the best person she can possibly be.

On mentioning to friends and family, I have dealt with a lot of disbelief and questioning with her being 'labelled', resulting in me personally being unsure and questioning the lady doing her assessment. She said in her professional opinion, Jaynie is very 'subtle'. She doesn't believe there is 'mild' Aspergers - Autism, yes absolutely - but not Aspergers. You either have it or you don't. She said Anna-Jayne definitely has it, but because of her being a) female, b) intelligent and c) lovely natured, she presents very 'subtly' and has learnt to 'copy' certain behaviours to help her cope and 'fit in' to a certain degree. All of this is very new to me and I am relaying the conversation as it was said to me so it is confusing?!

We have a long road ahead. But I am actually looking forward to helping Jaynie understand herself and enable her to use her wonderful positive attributes in new ways. I am going to update on here too so hopefully we can look back & see the progress we made and who knows, perhaps help and connect with other families in similar situations?

I made a wholly home-made gift on the weekend for my god-daughter but forgot to photograph it! Oops! I will come back tomorrow to share the links I used for lovely hair clips, headbands, gift basket & pencil roll.

*sorry about how difficult this is to read - blogger is being a poo & ignoring my formatting*

Re-organisation

Now, there is no way I am going to post before pics... I couldn't stand the shame! But I would like to share some after pics of the results of a couple of weeks' decluttering & organising that I did during the Christmas holidays.

I love going to bed in a clean & tidy room - it doesn't happen that often, my room often tends to be the dumping ground for clean washing, crafty & sewing things! I have been making an effort to make my bed each morning , open the curtains and ensure the under-bed area is swept and tidy to allow good feng shui. It's amazing those small differences can make! I don't cringe going into my room during the day & like to see at least one room is relatively organised when I go to the bathroom. Isn't that curtain ugly?! I have plans to sew some pretty binding to try and allieviate that hideous 80s peach.

Staying true - it still doesn't look like Better Homes & Gardens, spot Poppy's Dora bag, but it's a massive improvement! Hehe. The bookcase got removed from the lounge where it was constantly being 're-arranged' by the kids & now is a neat & tidy entry point to our home.

The living area is still rather bare, but it does make it easier to do a big clean up at the end of the day. I'm trying to train the children to keep their toys in their bedrooms and only bring one out at a time. The Christmas stuff is down & away now, so that helps to make it look a little less messy as well!

I hope you're enjoying your day!

Sewing Catch up...

I'm back again! Today I thought I'd show you a peek at some sewing I've been doing:

Firstly I made a nursing cushion for a wonderful Mum I know who's just had twins after a long five year wait! I used Kellie from Don't Look Now's wonderful tutorial to have a hidden zip along the back for easy removal & washing.



Next I thought I'd have a try at a string quilt after seeing so many wonderful creations.

I had made a table runner as a Christmas present and had some fabric left over, so I tried it with a few fabrics to start with. I reallly like how it's turned out although, I think the brighter, multi-coloured quilts pop more. I would love to participate in a swap of string quilt scraps if anyone knows of one happening or is interested in a private swap?

I am so excited about the impending release of Hunky Dory by Chez Moi for Moda. I just LOVE this fabric & have a quilt in my mind already :D The colours are so lovely & feminine, not to mention the florals!

M.I.A....

Hello? *taps computer screen* You still there? :D

I am so sorry for just disappearing there for a while! Life got hectic, and blogging hit the bottom of a mile long list of things I would love to but just ran out of time to do! I apologise to anyone who actually reads this especially my bloggy/net buddies - I have been looking at all the wonderful work you've been doing & feeling very inspired.

It's not all been lazing around on the grass & house-workly duties! Once TAFE and Christmas was out of the way, I finally got back into doing some creative things around home that I'll be sharing over the next few days.

The first thing I have to show you is a 'display' for my buffet in the lounge. As part of my Cert 4 in Visual Arts & Contemporary Craft, I had to do a drawing class. One day I did a charcoal drawing of Darcy that I just fell in love with. So I built a little frame & sign display - it's quite in time for Valentine's Day - being a XO kiss hug.

I used Heather Bailey's Freshcut rub ons for a super simple, very effective result. So now I get to display a piece of my 'art' everyday.

See you tomorrow!

Drawing on the positive...

Can I start by saying THANKYOU to each and every one of you in your response to my last post. You have touched my heart & uplifted me beyond belief - I have been walking on air since your lovely posts, emails & conversations. Things like this bring out the wonderful side of some people (and the nasty in others) and I am so grateful to you all.

I have managed to verbalise my feelings and felt the weight of the World lift from my shoulders. I had an Oprah-esque 'lightbulb' moment - I had given away my power to another person and that was not healthy. I may not be able to control others or situations - I can only control my own response to the things that I encounter - I had been giving much too much importance to other people's actions and directly related that to my own self-worth. How could I have let that happen? It's often the case in life - but once the realisation happens, it's up to me to stop that from happening. I have to KNOW I am worth more, worth respect, an important part of the World - a child of God, no less or more important than anyone else. And once I know that deep in my soul - then nothing and no-one else can make me feel otherwise. I think, finally, after all that has happened - I have finally learnt that lesson! :0)

Onto creative endeavours - I feel at this new high point it's about time I put myself out there a bit more - Here are two sketches I've been working on for my final assignment in drawing. The first one is Darcy & the second one is my dear friend Fiona's boy Joshua who died 3 months after Darcy from HLHS as well. I just put my ipod on and drew on the feelings I had at the time - and surprisingly despite the dodgy drawing abilities - they came out with an aura of peace & tranquility which was obviously the opposite to what I was feeling at the time?! But I suppose now, 6 years down the track - I do have more joy in my heart than pain...I can think of those days & feel the keen intense grief, but it's not the overwhelming feeling... I mainly just feel joy & lucky that I have a son like him, waiting for me, when it's my time :0)

Week 3....

I have been focusing really hard on my drawing skills - or lack thereof... I did a pencil sketch of Darcy on the weekend and really concentrated in class on Wednesday whilst we learnt new ways of manipulating charcoal to gain extra effects... The first is a 'proper' copy then the bottom one is having some fun with effects to produce a more abstract feel.

In Ceramics today I made a Tea Cup with a teaspoon for the handle, a cupcake with a flower on the top & a pea pod with all the peas with different facials! It was a really fun and creative day.

Getting there

Week Two of my course sees my confidence increase ever so slightly. I had Colour Theory and 2D Design on Monday which was quite interesting: Dealing with hue, tone, intensity and texture are more my line - I just pictured every colour in a quilt!!

Then onto today and back to Drawing class. Remaining on the Still Life Fundamentals bored the pants off of most of my classmates, however to me, it is all very helpful & explanatory to someone like me who's never ventured beyond stick figures, daisies & lovehearts. We used a pencil to transfer angles with our eye (very artist-like I thought) to paper to ensure correct composition and proportion. I think my 2nd effort was an improvement, albeit slightly to my previous week! At least everything seemed reasonably similar to the actual objects - ha ha. The working lines are meant to remain to create interest and to show the teacher where my thought processes were at.

Back to Sculptural Ceramics tomorrow, we have to make 5 clay figures inspired from things in the Garden. Pity the whole of Adelaide pretty much resembles a dust bowl - I think there will be plenty of sticks & maybe a gumnut or two - there were remarks made about my desire to have a pair of Kath'n'Kim-esque Gumnut Earrings.... Some people have no taste..... ;0)

I'm an Artist....

Saturday found me crying into my pillow about how my life lacks direction and I'll never get anywhere, combined with self-pitying wails and thrashing amongst pillows....(Slight exaggeration - but only just)

I got onto the interwebs on Sunday with a mission to find 'something' to do. It'd been on my mind for a while and I couldn't seperate my need to study something practical (and money generating) with my desire to see how far I can stretch this crafty part of my personality. I found a pleasing middle ground! I have enrolled in Certificate IV in Visual Arts and Contemporary Craft. It is only 18 months part time and held at TAFE. At the end of this time, the kids will all be in school or full-time Kindy and I can increase my workload. I will also know if I have what it takes to take my fledling love of art and all things crafty and make it work for my future financial security. If I don't cut the mustard, I've spent 18 months learning the fundamentals in Art History, Colour Theory, Sculptural Ceramics, Photography, Glass work and Drawing to enrich my hobbies.

As I've come to find recently - it all just unfolded, in an almost unconscious way. I rang on Monday morning to enquire about the course and next semester chances and got told there were places starting this week! So I dashed up there and 2 hours later I was enrolled for two and a half days a week, the children were found places in day care and OHSC and I was sitting like a stunned mullet with my head spinning!

I had my first class this morning (I missed the first day on Monday which was Colour Theory) and it was drawing technique. Let me start by saying - I CANNOT DRAW..... So the idea of getting busy with charcoal in hand was quite scary and laughable. But I tried and even though the result was exceedingly less than perfect - it felt wonderful. I got to interact with adults that don't know me as Leah the Mum, housekeeper and all round dogsbody and I can be another being, learning and laughing. I can't wait until tomorrow - Sculptural Ceramics!

Thrifty Goodness

I am desperately in need of new clothes, and so my best mate & I hit the oppy on Wednesday afternoon whilst the little two were at Kindy. For under $50 I managed to get 3 skirts, 4 tops and a bag. One of the tops I bought was brand new with the $34.99 price tag still attached. I was stoked! Even if I was a millionaire (oh, I wish), I think I would still go to Op shops, it's something about having lovely clothes for a fraction of the price and knowing that it will be loved just as much as it's old owner did :0).

I also managed to snaffle some china and glassware for my growing collection. Don't you just love this Pyrex Beaker Jug? It's huge! I've looked on Ebay & Pyrex Love to see if it's part of a set but I haven't seen anything even remotely like it? I thought of Ingrid as soon as I saw it as I know she hankers for Pyrex. And four little pansy bowls, perfect for nibbles or a Valentine's dessert, for the peeps and I.

I am kinda down around the mouth about this Valentine's Day. My first single V-Day for 12 years. Another adventure to go through I suppose! I have plans to make the kids some cards and a chocolate love surprise as well. I may not have a big guy in my life but my little man and 2 little misses just make my heart melt - and isn't that what V-Day is all about?! Plus I'll have a swap present to be opened as well, so not too shabby ;0)

Lap Quilt

I got some scrumptious Flat Fats I've been eyeing off at Spotlight while I was there the other day and used this pattern from the very talented Amy Butler.

I wanted a 1930's feel with the bonus of it being dark enough to live on the couch and deal with any stray spills etc (you hope it doesn't happen, but with a 6,3 and 2 year old in the house, you never know!). So a few hours of cutting and stitching I went from this:

to this! Viola!

I love the simple almost monochromatic feel to it. Well, I suppose that should be duochromatic?!

I would love to stretch myself this year and branch into risk taking colour schemes. I adore Helen's work as she's never afraid of colour and it always seems to work for her. I am coming to love quilting above all sewing and hope 2009 is the year for me to learn to fly within the craft. I have been drooling over Kellie's amazing work and I am completely smitten with her applique work. I am thinking of making something with applique next up...

I have my Fat Quarter Swap FQs ready to go, I am just needing my little niceties to finish it off and it will be in the post! My EB haby swap is coming together nicely as well.

We take the ocean with us.

When a woman makes a baby, she gives it water, inside her body, to grow in. The water inside her body is almost exactly the same as the water of the sea. It is salty, by just the same amount. She makes a little ocean, in her body.

And not only this. Our blood and our sweating, they are both salty, almost exactly like the water from the sea is salty. We carry oceans inside of us, in our blood and our sweat. And we are crying the oceans, in our tears.

¬ Excerpt from Shantaram, by Gregory David Roberts. An amazing work - please read it if you haven't already... I will go into more detail about my thoughts and emotions on this book soon, but I wanted to share the above excerpt as it prompted me to take this photo.

Wishing you a Merry and Bright Christmas. May you take the time to canoodle the ones you love and think of the ones who may not be here this year. From my little nest to yours, Merry Christmas. x*

Roar!

Argh! There's a tiger in my house!

Oh Cameron, it's only you -thank goodness!

Give us a smile Gorgeous boy! Come on!

Hey Cameron - I love you...

Too much for a manly tiger to take huh?! But I've not finished with you yet! Oh, okay then, maybe later?

Home Day

Between cups of tea and a little Bloglines, we are cooking trial runs of Christmas Cookies and a little glue & glitter action on pine cones.....

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients
250gms butter (2 sticks), softened
2 C sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
2 large eggs
1 1/4 tsp vanilla
3 C flour

How To
1. In a medium sized bowl, beat the butter for about 30 seconds on medium speed. Add the sugar, baking soda and cream of tartar, beating until well mixed. Slowly beat in the egg and vanilla until well incorporated. Beat in the flour 1/2 C at a time.

2. When all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour in the fridge.

3. Pre-heat the oven to 190ºC.

4. In a bowl, combine the *sprinkles* cinnamon and sugar. Take enough dough to shape into 1" balls.This is my kids' favorite part, rolling the dough into balls and then covering them with *sprinkles*.

5. Roll the dough balls around in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place on a light, un-greased baking sheet. Bake about 10 minutes.

6. The cookies will not appear done. Let cool for a minute on the cookie sheet and then move to a wire rack. This will yield a soft, delightfully chewy cookie. For a crisper cookie, cook about 12 minutes. If the cookies become golden, they will be very crisp.

*I am so sorry, I cannot find the blog that I got this recipe from to add - my apologies and thanks to the original author*

I am also cutting out a fabric nativity scene to get ready to sew & stuff for this afternoon's crafting fun.

What are you up to today?

I'd like to thank the Academy....

Well, check it out! I got an award from the gorgeous Karin! I met her through MISS and was so excited to discover she has a blog.

Anyway, talk about make my week! I love to think I have people who read what I dribble about. To celebrate, I will be making a zippered pouch to give away filled with some vintage and new goodness to brighten up a sewing day! If you'd like to leave a comment and I'll pick a number out of the hat on Sunday.

My picks to pass this award on for this week would have to be:

Tsk Tsk - Tiel does the MOST BEAUTIFUL artwork and she is just so lovely to boot!

Cass - What can I say to Cass that hasn't been said already? She is a very generous, kind and wonderfully crafty soul.

Nikki-Shell - Her writing is uplifting and again, her craft is great.

There are so many others I could share, my Bloglines stands at 89 so far and they're all great. But that will suffice for now.

We made some Teacup biscuits for Jaynie to take to school today for her classmates. They were a huge hit and even Poppy could get in on the sticky fun. Although I couldn't buy Tic Toc biscuits or musk lifesavers - what is the World coming to when they stop making staples like those!

Have a great weekend peeps! Much love to you and yours. x*

Zippered Pouch

Here's a zippered pouch to go with the bag! I love the shabby-chic flower on the outside. Even though the fabriv has a very Japanese feel to it when it is in a big piece, with the applique, it becomes almost country?!

I ironed the cut-out flower to I have 2 birthdays coming up in the next 10 days so I'll be whipping up a couple more sets. I'd love to find some d-rings and key chain rings to make them a bit more professional. Anyone have any ideas/suppliers?

We took Poppy to the ENT last night, she is booked in to have her tonsils and adenoids out and grommits put in on the 25th of September. It's so quick but we'll be glad to give her the chance to put on some weight and have longer than 5 weeks between anti-biotics.

I made a Strawberry and now I wanna Eat her!

Not much doing here, I did get to make Princess P some new PJs as her old ones were ankle breezers! I finished off the sleeves and legs with a rolled edge to give it a more 'long john-ish' feel, she just looks thrilled huh? It was bedtime and she was in no mood to sit and pose for the camera. It's proof that she's not always 'butter wouldn't melt in her mouth'!

It's nice to see her growing for a change, she's such a little thing, her weight is at 11kgs now which puts her fair square under the 10% centile for her age. All that should change soon - she is having her tonsils and adenoids out, and grommits in, some time after the 19th of August, so we should hopefully see some height and weight gain in the next little while after that.

The weekend was spent doing chores around the house and loving on my DH who returned home on Monday after seven weeks away in Sydney. He worked on the preparations for the Pope's visit for World Youth Day. I think having him away for a little while gives us all a newfound appreciation for when we're back together. Although he has mentioned a few times about how quiet it was down there and how he got to eat in peace for every meal! I'm sure he really did miss us.... ;)

What have you got planned for your craft week? I am hoping to spend my day off tomorrow doing some more quilting on Poppy's quilt and cutting out some more PJs and a couple of sweet dresses.

A Stitch in Time.....

...Saves My Mind!!!

I went and got another piece of fabric to back Poppy's quilt after the other piece I bought was too small. To avoid my wonky sewing I went with two full length pieces in the hope that sewing along the selvedge would give me a nicer edge. It seems to have worked and as you can see by the photos, the fabric is a bit out there! I have to say, I think it really works - it takes the quilt from safe pastels/girly to a bit of fun and flight of fancy! I think so anyway.... *Quietly Prays it looks ok*....

I am just quilting in the ditch around the squares and then I was thinking of straight lines along the border? Any advice from expert quilters out there? I would love some input. I also have 2 nine patches leftover so they will make cushions. I am going to try piping around them.

I don't know why in the photo it looks so wrinkly - it's all ironed and pinned to within an inch of it's life. I hope it doesn't end up that wrinkly. The colours are a bit out too from the flash.

Anyway, time for calistenics! Later peeps!