summer dress on a winter's day

It is a cold winter's day here where I live, one hours drive north of Sydney on the east coast of Australia. The temperature reached a high of 14 degrees Celsius. I know you Northern Hemisphere folk must be laughing at the notion of that being a cold day, but it has been grey & threatening to rain all day. It may sound all very bleak, but alas the wattle tree is flowering at my front door & all is screaming out golden & sunny in my view.

I just love wattle with it's cute little fluffy balls of yellow & it's tiny weenie buds ready to burst. It really does cheer me up & bring a lot of life (bees & native birds) into the garden this time of year. All that yellow provides a great backdrop on which to hang one of my latest dresses that I have designed & made. It's a little girls (size 3) summer dress in a light weight flocked voile.

I have been working on a few pieces for a handicraft project to be initiated in Afghanistan by a wonderful charity named Mahboba's Promise. They will be taking my designs & samples along with those of a couple of close friends of mine over to Afghanistan where Mahboba has set up schools, orphanages for children & refuges & a workroom for Afghan war widows. The idea is for the women to sew & embroider garments & home ware pieces to allow them to be financially self sufficient & to maintain their traditional handicraft skills. It is only early days for this project & it will be a steep learning curve for all involved.
One of the friends of which I am working with on the Mahbobas Handicraft Project is Jane of Focalpoint Home. Jane has just started her own blog Focalpoint Home & I would love you to pay her a visit & offer a little encouragement , even advice if you wish. Jane is super clever...a trained Interior designer & florist (her beautiful work above) & she now has a successful business importing gorgeous pieces from Tunisia. Go Janey!!