6 ways to stuff the blues down to your shoes.

Having a bad week? Can’t remember why you didn’t stay in bed? Do some stuff and then at the end of the week you can at least  write yourself a little mental list and say- “But at least I did some stuff”.

It helps.

Number 1.

Have a bake off with yourself- then you’ve got home baked goods to send to school with the kids. You get a Nigella buzz baking it and feel like a bona fide super mum packing their lunch boxes.

Number 2.

Take up a new hobby. Embroidery is something I’ve longed to be good at but didn’t dare try because it looks so hard. In reality, it’s really fun & easy and I’m working on something that’s suitably aggro to suit my mood. Which makes me smile. Which is good.

Number 3.

Take said hobby and give yourself a little budget blowout. $30 on embroidery floss was in actual fact- a little excessive. But it felt great.

Number 4.

Get a little mothering by getting someone to make you a hot drink. Even if you have to pay for it. The good feeling lasts as long as the drink stays warm.

Number 5.

At the end of the week, write it all down while listening to your favourite “sad feeling” CD.

Number 6.

Hug your pet. For the same reason pets visit aged care homes. Mine’s just come in from outdoors and smells like Melbourne in the winter. He’s purry and soft. He makes me feel better.

A facelift for Papa’s Chair.

I recently inherited my grandfather’s chair. He died when I was an infant, but the chair was in our house throughout my childhood.

I remember many a night curled up in it or lounging over the arm of it watching Monkey Magic and Dr. Who.

I remember our small (but oh so terrifying) silky terrier would curl up under it and growl any time anyone went near.

I loved the idea of being close to the grandfather I had never known by sitting in it as he had.

I love the shape.

I love the fit.

I hate the upholstery. Especially where it was ravaged by my parent’s cat.

Before.

It sits in the corner of my bedroom and is still a haven for me. Especially when I am on the phone, trying to get a full sentence out before the kids find me and start talking at me!

Most of these phone conversations end with Papa’s chair holding all three of us (the kids always find me- blithely unaware that I have been trying to hide from them- and end up on my knee or the arm of the chair).

It was a labor of love, but I’m so pleased with the results. Not brave enough to have a proper go at re-upholstery, I settled on making a loose cover to go on top. Complete with velcro down the back for easy undressing and laundering! The fabric is Amy Butler’s Dream Poppies in Tangerine.

After.

As soon as I finished it, I clipped Elliot’s claws.

More crafty inspiration.

It must be the spring air, something about this time of year really inspires me to get crafty.

I’ve been promising kinder some new art smocks for over a term now (I was going to get them done last school holidays, oops!) I made the first two fine and they are much loved and paint spattered by now. Well, finally here are the last two.

Plus, I have two quilts on the go (yes, now I know I’m just bragging, or rather confessing as I often start these things and then they don’t really get finished very quickly).

I hope all this creativity inspires you to begin a new project (or finish an old one!)

New season craftiness.

So much to share. I’ve been particularly crafty of late and doing my best to complete projects and not just start them and get distracted by making cups of tea, demands from the kiddies or distractions of little bits of fluff on my sleeve… oh sorry, now where was I?

I wish I was more organised and managed to ever take some before shots. If I had, this would be much more impressive.

These were little home made chairs that were sitting around my grandparents-in-law’s house. They were originally stained (a very pine-y yellow gloss) and had mustard yellow vinyl covers with these strange high backs. The new upholstery is a Moda Home fabric we sell in the shop, very durable heavy weave. I just love how they turned out (the kids are pretty happy too!)

As weak as it is- I do believe this constitutes an Ikea hack. Some Dulux spray paint in Volcano Orange and I’m very impressed with my glossy little kitchen accessory/ extra chair.

This one I did quite a white back, I just don’t think I ever got around to blogging it. I found the lamp base at Mill Markets in Geelong -oh how I love that place! The shade was a plain white one I bought for $2 (super bargain basement price) from Kmart which I recovered in some yummy Amy Butler Wildflowers fabric from the Daisy Chain range. It now graces the sideboard in my dining room.

It appears that I’m not the only one. The little guy has been painting to his heart’s content and is super keen to practise his newly acquired skill of turning one’s painting into a stamp (where you turn your painting face down and rub the back so that you get a mirror image). Only thing is, he doesn’t always have the paper lined up underneath.

Needless to say we did end up with some lovely reverse paintings directly transfered onto the table top.

My Craftwerk

I started quilting just over a year ago when I decided that making a quilt for my son’s first birthday present was a wonderful handmade heirloom I could give him that really meant something (we’ve been through a lot together, he and I) and would hopefully draw a line under what had been a very difficult year. The flip side of this was that taking the class was something that was also for me, a great way to rediscover the textiles which I had studied at uni and loved.

All of a sudden I was quilting any free chance I had and would carry it around with me in my nanna’s old knitting bag. I hand pieced my son’s “Lila” quilt top and had it machine quilted. I am so happy with how it turned out!

I have since hand pieced my older son the same quilt “Lila” in a different colour scheme (he loves green!). I just need to find that last push to finish it off so I can get it quilted!

I then made my brand new nephew Aden a wee bassinet sized quilt top with all the bits and bobs I had left over from the boy’s “Lilas”…

… my friend Victoria’s little girl a wee quilt (I’m addicted!)…

… my booba boy a wee quilt for his cot…

… my big pumpkin a wee quilt for his teddies…

… a couple for my etsy store…

… and one as a special commission for teeny tiny Owen (work in progress!)

All my other products have snowballed from these first quilts. I now make birdie mobiles, covered notebooks, rosette brooches, hair clips, button rings, flower rings, door stops and lots more products in the pipeline! You can visit my etsy store, where I send all my lovingly handcrafted goodies all over the world. I am also lining up some local markets to sell my products direct. Watch this space…

Welcome

Hi! My name’s Katrina

Welcome to my little corner of the world-wide-web, which is BelsizeSquare

This is where you’ll find pleasing handmade things for you to want…

If you wish to buy something, please visit my ETSY store. We ship our beautiful creations the world over!