Pretty frocks...some with brooches

Handmade blue brooch Daisy dress with blue trims

Red check with floral

Little handmade brooch

New frocks from the House of sean-the-prawn....girly & sweet reminiscent of days gone by.

My Northern Hemisphere friends have had an impact on me with all their Spring talk, for I've gone floral mad. Come to think of it wouldn't be nice to be Spring all year round.

All dresses have been made from recycled vintage prints & trims. Drawstring waists & elasticated necklines & sleeves will allow for a long period of wear. This dress will take you from a size 3yrs through to a size 6yrs. My tall, slender 6yr old niece wears the same size dress as my daughter that just turned 3. The 6yr old wears it as a smock style long top over pants & it looks great.

Hooray...I've finished them! Let's hope they go to a good home.

baby turns 3

My little girl turned 3 last Friday...where have those last three years gone? She loves being three & constantly tells me she is now three. It is quite cute really. We had a birthday party last Friday afternoon with quite a few of her preschool friends & their older siblings.
My lovely husband once again made his little girl another fabulous birthday cake..this year Maisy Mouse. Our daughter was totally entranced as were the other party goers, they couldn't wait to rip into it & they did.
For her birthday I bought her the lovely Pippi Longstocking book illustrated by Lauren Child and some truely awesome clothing from the wonderful Emma at HazyJane.

made with love for little Ivy

A little slapped together appliqued singlet for Baby Ivy & in the background my latest handmade cot quilt in progress.

Hey, I have a brand new niece, named Ivy Piper & she is so adorable!! I went to visit her for the first time last Saturday. Boy am I clucky now!
My youngest turns three this Friday, & I am starting to feel like time is flying by too fast.
I have decided to spoil this new niece of mine. I can't stop lavishing her with gifts & I think I'm doing this to take my mind off my decision not to have any more bambinos. As much as I love 'em I think I know my limits as a two kiddie mama ( I have two beautiful healthy children & just turned forty & can't afford to get any more bitter & twisted) .It is wonderful to have another little muse.

whole lot of Rosie

Since we have been on a flower theme, I thought I'd post up a photo of my lastest

sean-the-prawn creation. A vintage style hat handmade by me from an op shopped vintage cotton rosie table cloth.

I really dig the pale green and I think you can almost smell the roses.

Might pop it into my etsy shop before taking it to the lovely Mooch Inside ladies.

little red corner of my garden

last of our eucalypt blossoms.

red geraniums, as good as they get.

There is a little spot in my garden that I pass by every day to get downstairs to the laundry, my husband's office or to feed our chooks & tend the vege patch. It has been looking so pretty lately I just have to stop a moment as I pass to admire the visual feast of reds & pinks. It is the first time we have had blossoms on our grafted flowering gum (eucalypt), it is quite an amazing flower that drips with nectar, the bees & native minor birds have been lapping it up..I had a little taste myself & it tastes very sweet. You can see a bee in full flight in my photo as it is zooming in to load up again with sticky nectar.

Right alongside our little flowering gum is a mass of red geraniums that are now pretty much growing wild. They are looking fab at the moment...got to love that intense red & old fashioned charm. These geraniums are extra special to me as I grew them from cuttings that my Father saved from the garden of my late Grandfather's house in Broken Hill when they were moving him out of the only house he ever owned and in to a nursing home in Adelaide. He had saved for & bought that place with my Grandmother just after their wedding & that is where my Father & his brother spent their entire childhood. It was a humble little blue house made of pressed/ patterned tin, it was always immaculate & they cherished everything they owned, but it was the garden I remember the most. For those of you who know Broken Hill you will understand that it is pretty much desert country, but his garden was a lush oasis. All types of citrus trees, sweet peas blooming, grape vines, masses of geraniums, celery, onions, hydrangeas, beans & like so many of the homes in outback Australia a talking cockatoo in a large cage making a hell 0f a racket.

Our family really shapes us and gives many layers to our interests. Let's treasure our memories of the old folk.

Sassy teatowel lassies

A new couple of vintage style dresses for young girls.
The Pumpkin Pete dress is quite fab.. the back is a groovy coach & horses scene with sailing ships in the background..how about that pretty pink sky!! The front of the dress has the cutest little laddie sitting on a pumpkin reading a book (I've named him Pumpkin Pete)he is reading "tips for beginners" & has a little bird looking over his shoulder. Tell me what little girl wouldn't look adorable in this dress. back of Pumpkin Pete dress

front of Pumpkin Pete dress

The Still Life dress is such a gorgeous yellow on the front and the scene on the back is just so kitsch it has to be seen to be believed. Green sky...what the...? front Still Life dress

back Still Life dress

Yes, a new style of frock for sean-the-prawn using pristine never been used vintage teatowels.

I found them in a local op shop..looked like they had been stored away in some lovely old biddies linen press for a long time. I thought they were too good to chop into so I kept them whole for this gathered up neckline style. I'm thinking they would be a good size for a 5- 10 yr old. Either soon to be sold at Mooch Inside or my Etsy shop.

Lemon cake & frilly skirt

lemon cake, hydrangea & skirt back

front of Ava's birthday skirt

Today we are heading off to Sydney to Centennial Park for sweet little Ava's 4th birthday party. She is the daughter of very good friends of ours. They tell me it is a fairy party, but the last fairy party they held we were the only crazy folk who had the courage to dress up.

We were asked to bring along a cake for the adults so I made one of my old faithfuls, a lemon yoghurt cake. A very tasty little number, although this time I'm going to give it a bit of extra zing by pouring lemon syrup over it just before serving.

Every year I like to give Ava one of my sean-the-prawn creations, as she is a gorgeous and willing model for my work..hooray, got to love a future fashion victim in the making. This year I have made her a frilly, floral skirt with a drawstring back. All in vintage fabric. I just love this style of skirt. The waist grows with the wearer by not pulling it in as much, so they get many years of wear from it. Thanks to my lovely friend Leah F for letting me borrow this idea of hers.

In the background of the photo you can see a bunch of stunning greeny blue hydrangeas. They were a gift from another beautiful friend of mine, Jane for my 40th birthday, we had a huge fancy dress party at the local hall last Saturday night as my hubbie and I both turned 40 within ten days of each other. It was such a wonderful night with many great friends and family...think we will be recovering for some time yet.