Yucky Yarn!

I have to admit to being a yarn slut...once I like the colour and it feels nice then I struggle to keep my hands to myself!

I'm trying to crochet a hoodie for my little man and thought it might look kinda camouflage if I got a bit adventurous with some variagated yarn that Him-Indoors bought for me...

But I just can't do it! Even the most basic pattern is beyond me. I have finally found a yarn that I just can't do. I can't see where the stitches are :-S

It has been started and ripped back several times... But not to be beaten I have decided to make a colourful stripey hoodie instead. More of that later.

I must also show you the wrap I made following Leonie Guld's super easy pattern. Unfortunately it will have to wait until I work out how to blog properly using my phone as our second laptop has died a watery death (just like the first)!

Back soon hopefully!

Hope you all have a good weekend x

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Welcome Home Surprise!

We are awfully excited that our little woman is coming home in the morning, we have missed her hugely!!!!  If she was away much longer I think our little man would require bucket-loads of baby Prozac!

As a surprise we've revamped her bedroom! 

This was spur of the moment Wednesday night project.  Her room used to be pink - very, very pink - but she has grown that stage now.  We've tried to make it pretty and girly but cool enough for a nearly eight year old!!  She had previously suggested that next time she'd like her room to be white with green, blue and purple spots painted on the walls, with that in mind the walls have been painted an off-white colour (it has a fancy name but looks like magnolia to me) and have some small paint pots ready for her to add the finishing touches.  

We've added various new colourful items and have created a little hideaway underneath her bunk with the help of a muslin curtain and some glass beads.

 I spent the morning making patchwork fabric letters of her name, which was a simple little project and the best bit is that they are too high on up the wall for my dodgy sewing skills to cause too much offense!

We also hung some crystals in her window, which magically transform the evening sun into thousands of tiny rainbows.

All we have to do now is wait.............

 Hope you all have a good weekend

:-)  Valula  :-)

P.S. Our little man asked when will he be getting a room that is as cool as his big sisters - YAY - the approval of a 4 year old is a big deal to me!

Motherhood

Yesterday afternoon our Little Woman went off to camp for a week, this is her first trip away from home without us (she is only 7 after all and is the youngest at camp).  It isn't entirely unfamiliar to her though as she has a few of her boy cousins there too.

Needless to say once we arrived and made up her bed, she quickly made some new friends and skipped off with hardly a backward glance.  Our Little Man wasn't nearly as happy, he cried that he was going to miss his big sister and then cried because he was too small to stay.

Yes, I was very strong and pro-independence when arranging for her to go and sorting out her stuff but when it came to driving away without her my resolve dissolved.  Most of the journey home was spent looking out of the window blinking back my tears (couldn't let Daddy see though because I don't think he was feeling much better....and more importantly he was driving!!!)  I suppose its normal to feel like this and it is just another part of the motherhood journey.

Lots of the bigger cousins tell me, from experience, that she will have a fantastic time and were quite excited for her.  Plenty of fun, games, crafts and adventures await.

We were warned by our Little Woman not to ring every night, she's too big for that and it'd be embarrassing!  I will check tonight though just to see if everything is OK, that would be alright...wouldn't it?  Oh dear, feeling tired and emotional again!  Better go and find a distraction quick..............

Hope your little ones are having an adventure filled summer too.

xxx Valula xxx

A web of kindness

Good Morning All,

I recently came across Pay-It-Forward  - blogland-styleeeee - that a few people are taking part it and I thought that I'd love to join in.  I've never done any swaps or give-aways or anything like that but I really like the idea of this one.  I was lucky enough to sign up with the lovely Em at Garden Peas and Fleas.

Pay-It-Forward is quite simple and very sweet.  If you'd like to take part you must promise to send a gift to the first 3 people that comment on your Pay-It-Forward post, within the next 365 days.  Simples as the Meerkat says!

The idea is that you send a little gift of loveliness to your three and in they in turn pass on that kindness to three each and so on....spreading a little web of kindness all over the globe! And, we all love giving gifts and receiving parcels from the postman (instead of yucky brown envelopes).  Just think, you'll receive a little something that will hopefully brighten your day and then you can bring a little joy to someone else...

Now, I aim to get my PIF gifts out before Autumn and hope that most of the gifts will be homemade goodies (if they are good enough to send :-))

So, come on girls, if you'd like to join in just leave me a little comment.

Take care,

xx Valula xx

Its a wrap!

Yesterday afternoon I found myself unexpectedly inspired by Patch Andi and in turn Leonie Guld.   Leonie has written a tutorial for a child's wrap-skirt made from scrap fabric.  Only two small problems stood between my Little Woman and a her very own mammy-made new skirt...firstly, I don't have any suitable fabric and secondly, I've never used my sewing machine. 

Fear not! 

A quick trawl of some local charity shops yielded three ladies skirts and a previously loved flat sheet.  These purchases were part necessity and part choice as there aren't any fabric shops within a reasonable drive of our home and even if there were I don't think I would have had the courage to potentially ruin lovely new fabric with my first attempt at machine sewing.

 

 So, with my chosen 'fabric' at the ready I followed Leonie's simple, step-by-step instructions.  To start I had to measure the Little Woman's waist (which did confuse me a little as I wasn't sure whether to go over or under her cute teeny little pot belly :-)).  Anyway...instructions followed, sums done, template made, fabric cut - so far so good.

I happily pinned all the pieces together and set to with the Jazzy Jenome! 

I must confess my seams aren't entirely straight and I did find it a bit tough to keep the 1/2" seam allowance but in the end I'd produced a reversible wrap skirt!! Yippee!

The pink side...

A sneak preview ...

...and the blue side

Two skirts in one!

Did it fit I hear you ask... of course not! Ha Ha.  But it wasn't too far off and was sorted out by sewing a little strip of elastic into the back.

I'd recommend Leonie's tutorial to even the most incompetent novice seamstress (like me) - it is easy to understand and make.  Thanks Leonie!!

Toodle-loo,

xxx Valula xxx 

P.S. I'd love to give you a close up of the pretty beading on the pink side but the Little Woman had already got it mucky by the time I got to take pics...but if you've looked closely you'll have spotted that already ;-)