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!

You did WHAT??!!

My parents are off travelling Asia again for a couple of years. They spent almost 2 years away just after Poppy was born and have just gone again in November. I had planned to go over in September to see them in Vietnam but as it turns out Steven will be away. I was pretty devastated to say the least.

He is coming in Easter to see the children so Mum suggested over Skype last night , "why not come then?" Of course I said "no way, it's too soon, I can't get everything organised, I can't afford it." But after they generously offered to pay for me to go (I know - it's like winning LOTTO) and Steven's parents wonderfully offered to have the kids for a week - I booked tickets today for TWO WEEKS away!

Oh my... *panic stations*. So I am off in 35 days, with the extra hitch of: an expired passport, no visa or up to date innoculations....... *meep*

I can't believe it really. It's just one of the most random, spontaneous & wonderful things to happen to me! So I've been away from Asia for 13 years and I am so so thrilled to be heading back. I'm already thinking of the photos, food & fun in store for me with two weeks with my Mum. To top it off (as if it needs icing) - I get two overnight stop overs in Kuala Lumpur!!! I am grinning so wide right now & feeling more blessed than I can articulate.

First stop - Births, Deaths and Marriages for a Marriage Certificate. Isn't it funny - our divorce papers are being organised & I'm off to pay $70 to prove I'm married.....

Jam Drops

I used this recipe which I found through Tiny Happy's Blog...

I followed the recipe exactly and got delicious results. The biscuit is melt in your mouth with the slightest firm base to bite through, and the jam goes wonderfully sweet and slightly chewy... Mmm... I got 29 out of my batch and we ate all of them in one afternoon. The dough does feel soft and you have to work reasonably swiftly but I managed fine with two little 'helpers' and the results speak for themselves...

Next week I will endeavour to find my Lemon Loaf recipe to show for a beloved friend :D

Clean Bathroom, Bake Muffins....

My to-do list today was pretty simple, with wonderful results! I'm going to revisit some of mine & other people's favourite baking recipes each week and post the recipes, photos and reviews here, sound good?

This week is my all time favourite basic muffin recipe from Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion. I personally think every person who moves out of home should get one of these. Not only does it go into detail about every imaginable ingredient, how to buy them, when & how to use them, but the recipes are failproof. From old familiy recipes to modern masterpieces for your mouth! I am a pretty experienced cook but I still go back to this lovely for information on a pretty regular basis. Anyway - onto the:

Basic Muffins

Ingredients

Butter

220gm Self Raising Flour

1/2 cup Castor Sugar

3/4 cup Milk or Buttermilk

1 Egg

3/4 cup Vegetable Oil

How To

Preheat oven to 180ºC and grease muffin tins well with butter (I use patty pans/muffin cases for easier clean up).

1. 
   
   Mix sifted flour and castor sugar and any other dry ingredients you intend to use (I used cinnamon).


2. 
   
   Combine milk, egg and oil in a seperate bowl and any other wet ingredients (I used vanilla, two small mashed bananas and a little handful of frozen raspberries).


3. 
   
   Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour in liquid and mix lightly.


4. 
   
   Spoon batter into muffins tins/cases until 2/3 full, then bake for 20-25 mins until brown on the top. (I also added a sprinkle of brown sugar & oats to the top & pushed in lightly)


5. 
   
   Remove tins from the oven, cool for a minute then put onto a rack to cool completely.

Makes 12 regular sized muffins, or 6 muffins & approx 12 mini muffins - which is just enough to share :0)

If using this recipe for savoury muffins, simply omit the castor sugar.

I have NEVER had a batch of these go wrong, no matter how many additions I make. Cheese, bacon & zucchini muffins are wonderful!

So now I have a clean bathroom and something to nibble at the computer until school pick-up!

Linky List

Well, after Christmas is drag financially. Even though I have a Christmas savings fund, the extra meals out, functions and unplanned events quickly add up to deplete the budget. Add that to birthdays on the 11th, 15th, 25th and 28th of December, it's easy to see how by the time school's back my poor bank balance is screaming for a rest!

I've decided 2010 is my year to find some breathing room financially & live more frugally. To do that, I figure one of my biggest expenses apart from ones you can't do without, is presents, believe it or not! With Jaynie at school, and Cameron & Poppy at Kindy, we are getting a lot of lovely (and expensive) Birthday invitations. School's been back three weeks and we've had three party invites. After deliberating - I've decided to try and scale back costs by making at least part of each present handmade. Cards alone can range from $2 to $11 - we've got lots here at home to handmake them.

My god-daughter Luci's 8th birthday was on Monday, so she was first cab off the rank for the handmade experiment. We bought $15 worth of Lip Smackers and then made:

a fabric basket

yoyo hair clips

headbands

a pencil roll

to make it a wonderfully full gift. Amazingly I didn't take a photo of the end result but I have included links to the tutorials I used for each part. The online crafting community is so generous to share ideas and tutorials, it's a wonderful resource.

I have been looking, coveting, dreaming around the interwebs (what was I saying earlier about being frugal?! A girl can dream can't she??!!) - just look at this eye candy from new blogs I've found:

Crocheted Pillowcases from Rosehip

Delicious cupcakes from Baking Addict

Fabulous interiors from Making it Lovely

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*

Fantastic Friday

I have my first 'proper' photo shoot this afternoon - twins who belong to my dear friend Michelle. They're still in NICU after being born at 31 weeks but we're hoping to capture some of those delicious newborn scrumptious moments. I am so nervous - I just want to be able to re-create the images in my mind's eye for this wonderful family!

Change Your Perspective!

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!

Got Plans?

I have TAFE journals to get up to date before assessment week, truffles to make, a cardboard chair to manufacture & find some time to do housework & play with the kids. I hope you have a lovely, safe weekend!

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)

Being true...

I haven't been here for so long! For lots of reasons really, but to be honest, a lot of it is due to shame & embarrasment. I have avoided coming on here to post a cheery, upbeat post because, truth be told, I have been feeling far from it. I have not wanted to post my real thoughts & life experience as I was frightened of expressing myself in words - putting it out there for the www to see. But as I am sitting here this morning, reading all my usual blogs, gaining insight & inspiration, I feel the need to share in the blogging community, because, who knows, there maybe someone somewhere going through a similar feeling.

As I posted, my husband and I seperated in October last year, I packed up the children and moved 2000 - odd kilometers back to South Australia. The reason I did that is because I discovered he was in a relationship whilst we were married. Now, we had both done things to contribute to the demise of our marriage: I am not blameless, but when I read the phone bills - detailing multiple phone calls to her on my 30th Birthday, and whilst Poppy was in hospital being operated on, the early mornings, middle of the night messages - I just knew - I had to maintain some scrap of dignity and walk away. Despite being in love with him, I just couldn't go through it.

Now, I have been told I should have stayed, but believe me, with all the things that had transpired in the past - I thought - he has truly moved on & I should just LET IT GO. I had poured almost 12 years of my life into this relationship: borne 4 children, given up my career and moved all over Australia in support of his career, spent the majority of my parenting with an absent husband, cooked, cleaned, maintained our finances, encouraged him, pushed him to go that bit harder and attend RMC... the list goes on. And he chose a single woman he works with, who has no children, ample finances and the freedom to go & do things I won't have for a long time... I was devastated. Heartbroken. Empty.

All my dreams, hopes for the future - dashed. My immediate future is a single mother's pension - 2 weekends off in 7 months and 3 damaged children who cry for their father. He's off to Europe with her in 2 weeks for a 'holiday' - whilst I am here, trying to maintain normality & sanity for my children. I am angry. I despair at my financial situation - not having spare money to pursue my love of craft has made my mental situation so much worse. Although, thank God I live in Australia & I am able to have food in the cupboard & a warm home thanks to said pension. I appreciate that I have so much more than so many other people.

It sounds so self-pitying - and for a long time I have been, to be honest, which in itself is embarrasing as I know it could be so much worse...

He won't come to his 'senses'. He has given up his family, his responsibilty & I can't let myself be disrespected or lower my worth anymore... I am worth more - his children are worth more. Even if he has washed his hands of us, I can't. I need to heal, regain my pride & give the children as much of me as possible.

I am still at TAFE, I have been a bit slack at going in recent times, I find being around such talented young people, whilst inspiring is also kind of depressing - they have their whole lives starting out - and I am restarting mine at 30 and feel behind the eight ball!

So, there you have it. That's my life in recent times. I just try to get up every day & put one foot in front of the other. Some days I trip - other days I get into bed at night & think "today was pretty good".

Thanks for listening WWW, and I hope I haven't scared you off! Now I have got this off my chest, I am hopeful I can kickstart my happy-go-lucky vibe & get back to doing what I love - bringing pieces of sunshine into my little blog & sharing them. :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!

Fat Quater Swap

I received my fat quarter swap from Joanie today! A beautiful collection of oriental fabrics that are just perfect! And I smelt the parcel before I opened it, a heart filled with UK lavendar to make my day extra special. :0)

Thanks again to Katy for co-ordinating this swap - and she has a little something from us to say thankyou in the post!

Birthday Surprises

My god-daughter's Birthday is on Sunday so I have been busy stitching a little something for her room. Sequins, pink & pom-poms make it a perfect Princess Pillow!

I hope she'll like it!

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)