Nearly there!

Seven days till our due date :D


*Super cute strawberry hat made by Abby at Small Craft Alert, especially for our kidlet.*

We still are yet to move our desks out of the study to clear space for the little lady room but we have everything else covered (we think!). She has a snuggly bed and a good change table - lent to us by some super lovely friends - way too many clothes, nappies ready to go and a bunch of other fun little things.


*I'm totally not into frilly, overly girly things for our kidlet but this is her bed and it looks pretty stinkin' cute. The crochet bunting is from Candy Stripe Cloud and was made by their mum.* The drawing above was done by Chris ten years ago for his Masters show. He's doing the Monday political cartoon for The Mercury newspaper now!

Her bed and change table have wheels so we figure we can just wheel both into our room for the first few weeks while we slowly get her room set up properly. I see no sense in getting stressed about having everything perfect before she arrives. We'll just take each day as it comes. Fingers crossed she decides to come soon (39 weeks today!) as I don't really fancy being induced. But if that has to happen then so be it. We have no idea what to expect from our birth experience so we are trying to stay calm and see how things go. As long as everyone is happy and healthy at the end of it all, we'll be content :) Trying to be in complete control of everything takes up too much energy, especially in this situation where you are lucky if everything goes your way. So, here's to having a baby!


*OMG!*


*My ace little family, July 2011.*

No mistake

30 weeks prego. Make no mistake, there's something in my tummy. Starting to get a bit nervous now!




Bear suit for the kidlet. Too stinkin' cute.

xx

Finished!

Finished bunting hanging on our bed!


And chocolates for kitties called Pucca. Thanks to Mr Bernard Caleo. Yay :)


xx

New Sewing Stuff!

I'm back in the sewing saddle and have slowly been making some new things. Mostly for myself but a few bits and pieces for online as well. It feels lovely to be cutting out fabrics again and dreaming up cute stuff to make. Hurrah for sewing!

*Sublime Stitching Squirrel


It's no secret that squirrels are one of my favourite animals. This squirrel was designed by Sublime Stitching and stitched by me. It will most likely end up as a patch on our kidlet's quilt or on a scarf, pillow or bag. Not sure yet!

*Another squirrel!


This is a badge going on the front of a small, mint green felt purse. It should be cute :) Keep an eye on my Etsy store for this one.

*Handmade fabric bookmarks. Going up on Etsy and madeit soon.


*Fairytale bunting - ready to be ironed and sewn up.


I've been wanting to make some bunting for our bedroom for so long and now I've finally started! We like our fairytales so I've used some leftover Red Riding Hood and Snow White fabric in between polka dots.

Just for good measure, here's another thing I've been making :)


My very modest 20 week tummy. Finding out the flavour on Thursday!

xx

Cactopus by Christopher on Etsy!

A few years ago Chris designed some super cool t-shirts. We've got a a small number of the women's sizes left. Behold CACTOPUS! Now available in Women's Medium and Large on Etsy. Check 'em out now!









Once these are gone, that's it. They are strictly a limited run and are SO DAMN COOL! Oh, and you get a hand printed label unique to your t-shirt designed by Chris himself!

In bloom

So we plan for an overseas trip this year. There's a special money box starting to fill.

Then this happens...


17 weeks pregnant! (Well, this pic is from 12 weeks but there's not much difference right now.)

It feels a little strange to be writing about this as one of my more recent posts was talking about pregnancy in a very different way. We had pretty much given up on having kids after trying for over 18 months. We had figured kids just weren’t in the big picture for us. After lots of talking and thinking, we were cool with that. There are so many other parts to life that are lovely and worthwhile. We planned a trip to France and started saving. It is something I have always wanted to do and will still do, perhaps a little later than I would have liked. I have an intense desire to not become like poor Lucy Jordan - “at the age of 37, she realised she’d never ride through Paris in a sports car with the warm wind in her hair”. It’s so easy to let your own needs and desires get pushed to the side in order to meet other people’s needs. I still aim to get to France (and the Grand Canyon for that matter) in the next five years. I don’t want to stop living my life just because we have a child. I think it will make us better parents to keep living rich and full lives.

After so many months of trying to get pregnant, we feel humbled that is has actually happened to us. It is not something we take for granted at all. I have a good understanding of how hard it is to see (what seems like) everyone else easily getting pregnant while you continue to wait and wait. So I observe this pregnancy with a quiet reverie and grateful regard. It hasn’t been easy these first few months and I’ve had awful nausea for most of it. I haven’t felt like doing anything – writing, sewing, reading – none of it. I’ve been lying on the couch for the last three months! Thankfully, things are calming down with the nausea and I’ve started to have many more good days amongst the bad. It’s such a silly trick of nature – making you so hungry yet nauseous at the same time. Craziness!

So far, we’ve seen our baby twice over ultrasound. It is SO mind blowing seeing that tiny person bouncing around. We have another appointment in early March when we will get to find out if it is a boy or girl. We have slight insiders knowledge on what it could be but will wait for definite confirmation before announcing anything. We will be happy with either as we are hoping more for a healthy, happy baby. I think that’s all anyone can really ask for.

Let’s see what this new adventure holds…

Happy New Year 2011!

This is from last year but the words are still lovely :) After a year of family drama and harsh words, this is something we should all say to our loved ones. Put harsh words aside and just wish the best for each other. Good stuff, Mr Gaiman.

Softies for Mirabel 2010

I just sent off my handmade donations to Softies for Mirabel 2010. Here they are!





If you've got time, make a lovely softie and send it to Pip at Meet me at Mikes by December 7th. Help out kids affected by substance abuse this Christmas. It's a super cause! You can check out all the other softies being made at the Softies for Mirabel Flickr group here.

* I need to point out that the kitty design is not my own (even though I made it) but the fluffy white softie is!

Christmas Decorations 2010

Yay! I'm all done :)















Find them at madeit.com and Etsy and be merry!

Work in Progress!

New Babushkas. These ladies are tiny and super cute. They will be smelling sweet too :)


Softies for Mirabel donations! I can't take credit for the design of this kitty. I found the free pattern online and now can't remember where I found it (naughty me!). Will post a link when I come across it. The fabric I used is a lovely linen cotton blend with Snow White images printed across it. It's one of my favourites. I'm thinking of some kind of nice dolly for the next softie.


New Christmas decorations! I've tried making these more "all season" so I can still reuse them for the rest of the year. These will be for sale in my madeit.com and Etsy shops very soon.

Tea Lovers


Bird and Bunny (I'll be embroidering little feet on the bird and a face on the bunny)


Squirrel and Randy the Red Nose Octopus


Zombie Cupcake Plush Raaaaarrrrrhhhh! BRAINS!!! (or in this case maybe he should say ICING!!)


Because everyone should always be a little PUNK ROCK!