Little Springtime Frocks

Springtime ringy dingy ding time. It certainly has been worth the wait for these pretty flowers to burst into bloom.

Let me tell you they smell divine. Mmm sweet peas & David Austin roses. 

I discovered a great motivator for going on holidays.. spending a small fortune on camping equipment does the trick. We packed the new tent & stretcher beds & stove & shade structure...you get the picture & headed off for a few beautiful days at Hawks Nest Beach. Such a pretty spot & great to have a break in routine.

Today I finished off a couple of sweet size2 floral frocks & dropped them into @moochinside. Gorgeous prints & a great day was had with me fully getting my sewing mojo back. In the zone Joan.

Dress above in a wonderful vibrant vintage print. Below is a beautiful contemporary printed cotton lawn in a vintage style. 

Was nice to be back in my studio space with the ideas & fabric flowing.

I hope you have been feeling productive.

New shop

Hi I've just opened a Madeit Australia online shop.

http://www.madeit.com.au/Main/Store?userid=109499 

I'm going to list my products there as well as Etsy.  It has been fun getting used to their format.

I've listed this girls size 8-10 pineapple print sundress in my new madeit Australia Shop. 

Here is the reverse side in blue stripped ticking fabric & yellow heavy weight gingham.

I added a little green cross stitched feature to the back.

Above is a little quilt I made not so long ago, I dropped it over to Moochinside at Kilcare... Wonder if it has sold yet?

We celebrated Fathers Day here on Sunday just past. Here's a little pic I tarted up for the occasion for my husband, he is such a terrific father to our kids. I hope you enjoyed your weekend too.

Mini Break Happy Times

We just celebrated the Queen's Birthday with a long weekend here in Australia & my family & I had the pleasure of going away with some great friends. We arrived at the fabulous old Bandon Grove School House on Friday evening & stoked up the open fire while we waited for the rest of the crew to arrive. This is the second year running that we have visited this place & it didn't disappoint.

The photo below is of my husband & daughter setting up a fire to roast some early morning marshmallows.

Below is the view from my bed, looking out to the cows grazing in the neighbour's paddock.

Stoking up the fire on arrival.

Our turn to cook Saturday night, we made two massive paellas.

We stripped our citrus trees before we left home, taking along delicious fresh oranges, limes & loads of mandarins.

On the drive out of town I dropped in two skirts to local shop Mooch Inside, hot of the machine! 

A great weekend of conversation with true friends, fresh air & way too much delicious food. Good for the soul.

Back in the saddle

I have been enjoying putting in some time back at the sewing machine recently. Many hours I would go down to my studio space & pull out fabrics one after the other, mixing & matching colours & prints. So many ideas, so many potential projects, but no actual sewing up.

I've come to realise that I work in bursts, the original 'all or nothing girl' am I. 

I'm loving the results of my latest burst of creativity.

Beautiful cushions with appliquéd cockatoo & parakeet images on a zig zaggy background. 

I have also been whipping up some pretty girls skirts with a contrast yellow linen trimmed hem. I love these prints.

Striking geometric print.

Pretty print of tree swings. I've been holding on to this print for a while now & just love how it looks made up in this skirt

I'd love to know what you have been making of late.

New holiday workshops

Hi exciting news!!

A new cafe/gallery is opening at Avoca on the corner of The Round Drive & Avoca Drive. LikeMinds is its name & I will be running kids/tweens/teens creative workshops on Tuesday & Wednesdays during January from this exciting new space. I'll be commencing classes on January 7th with Make a Dreamcatcher 

10am-1pm $60. For kids aged 7-12yrs

All materials are included & a drink & snack provided.

January 8th Make a Dreamcatcher ages 10-16yrs. Details as for previous date.

Stay tuned for the program for future weeks.

It is going to be loads of cool, creative fun.

Loving life

Hi, I have been having loads of fun in my veg patch lately. It has been such a long time since it has looked so good & provided so much. It was neglected for at least 12mths while we renovated our house but is now going great guns.

This was last Sundays harvest. Yum.

I have also started a cottage style garden on the bare patch between the kid's trampoline & the veg patch. Very excited to have grown my first ever Delphinium as they were in my Grandma's wedding bouquet.

This baby King Parrot is very tame & a frequent visitor to our back yard. Do you have any little beasties that call upon you at home? Below is a photo I took today showing our sunroom at the front of the house. On the red chair are 2 cushions that I have just added to my etsy shop.

Sunsets, pretty frocks & budgies

I finished stitching up these pretty dresses last night. They look so ready for a hot summer being such a lovely cool, light Japanese lawn.

A couple of weeks ago my daughter brought home a little house guest for the weekend, Rosie the Kindergarten budgie from her classroom at school. You can imagine my excitement when I laid eyes on that great cage protector, what an awesome Eighties style print

Last night was the best sunset I have seen in such a long time. Quite an eery glow of orange, looked a like a fire in the sky. I wondered to myself if this is what the end of the earth looked like but then thought it was just too stunningly beautiful to be anything so sinister.

Just another miracle turned on by Mother Nature.

Trade Fair Yeah!

Focalpoint Home are presenting Sean the Prawn cushions at the Reed Gift Fair over the next four days in Darling Harbour Sydney. I'm looking forward to seeing their stall as it always looks gorgeous & I'm thrilled to have this opportunity to widen our profile.

Dreamy prototype

Today I've been working on my sample to show the kids for the Sew & Sews Make A Dreamcatcher Creative Workshop.

Dreamcatcher Lane

Wed 3rd or Wed 10th of July your kids can take a trip with me down Dreamcatcher Lane as I present a Sew & Sews creative workshop for ages 7-14yrs in which they can design & create their very own Dreamcatcher to take home.
Take a look at the beautiful Dreamcatcher inspiration that follows.
Some by Beci Orpin & Georgia Perry.

Exciting times on the horizon

I've started a new business venture named Sew & Sews! I'll be teaching sewing & crafting from my home studio. I'm launching this enterprise by running school holiday creative workshops for kids aged 7-14yrs.
Eventually I plan to be teaching sewing to small groups during after school hours. I've been thinking about this for a long time now & after visiting the Sydney Quilt & Craft Show last weekend I came home bursting with ideas & renewed energy which was all I needed to ignore the fear of failure & dive right on in.
I've started a new blog for Sew & Sews which you may like to check out from time to time.
www.funsewandsews.blogspot.com

Winter gold

It is so hard to believe that it is winter when this is the view outside my front door. Every June our wattle tree blooms with the most iridescent golden little balls of fluff. Looking at it puts an instant smile on my dial, the bees love it too buzzing like crazy collecting all that nectar.

I had a busy week putting together a whole new collection of cushions.I'm loving all the combinations in such vibrant colours, also some cosy woollen plaids with super cute birds.

I'll be revamping my Etsy shop soon so keep checking for new stock.

We just had a three day weekend here in Australia for the Queens Birthday, it isn't the Queen's actual birthday but hey who's to complain when there is a holiday on offer. The family & I went on a rather lightning trip up to Forster for a couple of days. It was great to get away even though we probably spent as much time travelling there & back as we did at our destination. The weather was warm & sunny, the water the most stunning aqua colour & we even jumped in the rather icy ocean. Very nice.

Coffee fuelled cushions

I spent some time catching up with one of my friends this morning. I always come away feeling inspired & confident about my creative endeavours after talking to her. She made me a very strong coffee which had me buzzing all afternoon. When i reached home I through all that caffeine fuelled energy into designing & making some new cushions for my little label. Just need to insert the zips & I'll be sorted.
Does coffee get you buzzing?

Pineapples & cosy quilts

Today I added a few new items to my Etsy shop. My shop link here.

Stitching up some sunshine

I've been loving stitching up this random patchwork, soon to be a single bed size quilt. Tropical flower print & pineapples bringing a sunshiny feel to my studio today on this cold grey day we are having.

Raggy

My first attempt at a raggy flannelette quilt using upcycled florals.
This photo is prior to machine fluffing, which shall make it even more cosy.
I'm loving experimenting with the new photo app from A Beautiful Mess, very cute graphics indeed.