New fabric and cake!

New fabric about to hit the shop. Lovely yarn dyed mini plaids in pink and chocolate are part of the Charleston V range by Judie Rothermel. Mix them with the rest of the Charleston range or use them on their own to make up some of our children’s wear patterns.

Wee one turned three last week. Now not wee so much- maybe more midi. I think I’ll keep working on a new nickname.

We had a lovely party for him on the weekend to celebrate. Bouncy castle, helium balloons, gourmet Greek food as far as the eye could see (courtesy of my mother in law) and a Makka Pakka cake (as requested by the wee one himself) and lovingly- if not skillfully- made by me.

As always, it’s not a proper party without my Nigella cupcakes…

We were so busy with the party we didn’t take many pictures. Luckily a special friend deployed her husband to be our event photographer.

Fabric, quilts & birthdays.

Oh, it’s been too long between posts. Crazy, crazy sale, thank you to all the lovely customers who shopped ’till they dropped. We now have loads more room for the next round of goodies. Can’t wait (she says, rubbing her hands together in glee).

Super sale stash.

Also recently decided that the new Red Letter Days and David Walker Rockets ranges were far too yum to disappear without hacking into them for my own stash. The result?

A cute kinder nap time binkee for my pumpkin…

Tomorrow my wee one turns three- full of attitude, sleeping in a bed and giving up his dummy all by himself.

No more babies.

Sigh.

Sisters’ Market.

Ok- my life is so mad that this is the first chance I’ve had to relay how the Sister’s Market went (almost 10 days after the fact). It’s been hard to keep on top of things with the wee one being settled into what I am from now on going to refer to as “Baby kinder” to help alleviate some mummy guilt. Settling him in and trying to find bits of my house under mounds of washing (both clean and dirty) have become consuming tasks, never mind a little thing called THE SHOP!

So here is the story of Sisters’ Market in pictures (it was fab, come and visit me in June!)

Let’s start with the day before- Elliott helped me get organised. Good boy!

A small selection.

Delicious Fat Quarters, waiting to be snapped up. And they’re fat free!

Handmade birdie brooches by Pia Handmade.

Handsome hanks of hand dyed knitting yarn made by USA girl, Knitty Dirty Girl.

Hand finished, oiled and painted (sustainable) Tassie oak knitting needles.

Hand knitted baby booties (made by my mum!)

Birdie key chains. Hand made by me!

An enticing selection of our goodies on display.

More boo-tee.

A small selection of our ace craft books. And some teeny weeny cheeky matryoshkas peeking out too.

A fun day was had by all.

Home Economics.

We have an abundance of apricots at the moment.

So I baked. It’s something my mum used to make with grated apple, but this version is a little more country.

Easy Apricot Pudding.

Cream 1 dessert spoon of butter with 1/2 cup sugar. Add one egg and mix well. Add wholemeal self raising flour gradually until mixture is stiff.

Spread 3/4 of mixture onto a small, greased lasagne dish. Place apricot halves over mixture. Sprinkle apricots with 2-3 dessert spoons of brown sugar.

Thin down remaining mixture with milk until it resembles pancake batter. Pour over the top of the apricots.

Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 45mins (up to an hour). Check after 25 mins and adjust baking time to suit your oven. Eat warm- it’s yummy with vanilla ice cream.

We should sell these.

I came across these Keep Calm rugs last night while surfing about and how much do I want one???

A LOT. I’d stock them in the shop but for the fact they’re so pricey and kind of tricky to post. You’ll have to make do with a tea towel, poster, tote or apron I’m afraid.

Pumpkin went to a pirate party today and I just have to give my totally nuts friend an honourable mention in the birthday cake department. This is a birthday cake par excellence, as was the fabulously hand painted invitation with singed “treasure map” inside  and the bespoke, totally realistic with flashing lights Ghostbusters outfit she made Pumpkin for his birthday . She is incredibly talented and creative. Yay Annabelle!

One more shout out for creative excellence goes to our lovely customer Kristy, who made this Birdie Sling and then took the time to share it with us.

What a clever girl! Thanks Kirsty, it looks great with the martini and the poppy fabrics. 

It’s just so lovely to see the finished creations our customers make and hear snippets of your lives. We’ve only been around a little while, but you are all so generous with your time,  giving us feedback and keeping in touch that I’m getting to know some of you already.

One wedding cake.

Lovely Ruthie was married yesterday in Ocean Grove. She looked just lovely in her red dress.

I made the cake and was quite proud of the way it turned out (although I must say that you can’t go too wrong as far as decoration goes if you use real flowers.

After the wedding we stopped in Geelong and had a look at the waterfront.

Life in a Northern town (I know it’s not, it just feels like Manchester or Liverpool or somewhere, quite cool and industrial)…

I love Flickr.

Ok, I’m a bit obsessed with Flickr. My husband shouted me a pro package because I used all my upload in one day. I once spent a whole day on it (much to the detriment of my parenting!)

But you have to look at these gorgeous, whimsical photos I found by Moline.

She’s on a mini Vespa- how sweet!

Beautiful Blythes Nicely Knitting.This is from Moline’s etsy store. She sells all sorts of Blythe lovelies.

I really need a Blythe Doll, I’ve decided. Seeing as I have sons and no daughters. Also, a dolly seems about just the right amount of effort… what with a two and a four year old.

Heather Ross quilting fabric.

Check out these beauties, the new Heather Ross for Free Spirit fabric range Mendocino. Now in store.

Birthday Prep.

Little Pumpkin was really into his dad’s birthday preparation this year. We made wrapping paper to wrap the pressie he chose for him and his brother to give their dad (funnily enough, apparently all dad’s ever wanted is a collapsible Thomas bridge for the boy’s train set, but the sentiment was there- somewhere).

Then we made the cake and it was completely decorated by Pumpkin. I LOVE it, it’s totally Zandra Rhodes circa 1970- something. Very punk.

Today we cleansed ourselves of all of the wee baby goods the boys have outgrown at a second hand market to ready ourselves for the launch of the business. I was most teary to let go of the baby bjorn and found myself quite emotionally attached to it. Now it’s all sold however, I feel rather excited for my new baby, the shop! Hopefully this one will allow me to sleep through the night.

The festival of Mother’s Day

Today was Mother’s Day morning tea at kinder. Some smarty pants had signed me up for cupcake duty- and having been in quarantine all last week with feared measles brewing in my two little petri dishes (not measles after all, I’m pleased to report) the first I knew of it was yesterday- aaaarrgh! Still am self proclaimed cupcake queen and am v impressed with what I acheived at such short notice.

Made wee ones as little devils never do more than lick off frosting and eat lollies off the top, so could have just frosted small rocks and they would have gone down just as well! What do you think, don’t think we’ll have any problems getting the wee one to go to kinder- he seemed right at home!

No posts last week as home with sick ones, so consequently no life.

Cupcake Madness

I have just spent all morning at a 6year old’s fairy party, which was madness. I spent all weekend baking, frosting, decorating, piping (you name it!) hot pink and bright green chocolate and vanilla cupcakes for her birthday cake. They looked sensational and most importantly, they tasted great too. My poor little pumpkin was so completely overwhelmed by all the chicks in pink fairy dresses, he clung to me and refused to join in. he’s at another party right now (2 in 1 day, not a great idea!) so he should be well and truly sugared out by dinner time.