slow sewing kind of Sunday

Greetings all,

Oh my aching body!!  My head feels like it has a tight swimming cap on it, eyes streaming, blocked ears, my throat tickles & the roof of my mouth itches.  You guessed it, a head cold.  Argh!!    

But that's nothing compared to a dear friend who had to drop off her daughter with me yesterday as her son had a concussion from rugby (like . . . no idea why he was in football gear or who he was) & race to hospital.   All i had was the produce from the morning Farmer's Market & empty cupboards, so i scratched together something to make us all feel better + freshly squeezed orange juice (with lemon & lime!!)

 I set myself a very basic sewing task today (in my sneezey haze) - wheat & lavendar heat packs/ bags.  I purchased 10kg of wheat on Friday & made up 10 bags today, for Shop Handmade tomorrow.  The lavender is grown locally, purchased from the markets too.

 I like my wheat bags large thanks, so i made square & rectangle versions, all neatly lined & quadruple stitched, as you don't want a kilo of wheat spilling out the sides.

 A range from my Japanese lovely heavy linens . . .

 & some in Australian screen prints - Thea & Sami, PippiJoe & Kristen Doran.

 Much to my surprise, my sweet 3rd born presented me with a picnic lunch on the floor of my studio.  It was a bit woody for a high tea but such a lovely feast & kind thought.

 So i'm spending the evening tucked up on the lounge, ready for a night of good television (seeing i rarely sit down, i have no idea what Sunday night offers) sipping orange juice & nibbling wooden painted cup cakes, while under new heat packs.  I'm not hungry eventhough my tummy feels empty, oh it aches & cramps.

Ok so i stalk my children at night & sometimes take photos of them sleeping - my little fella fell alseep on the lounge last night, i could just eat him up.  Look at that lucky complexion & i adore how he & our middle girl still sleep with their hands tucked under their heads.  Also note my son has poked his head through an arm hole on my camel wool wrap, surely there is a brooch pricking him in the back??  I hope i sleep like him tonight, love Posie
PS I have a cute paper bag giveaway too, due to it's unexpected popularity, i've increased it to a main prize & 5 runners up, you bloggie types really do like your paper, stickers & twine!!

things i'm loving 'cooking from the heart'

Greetings all,

Brrr it's getting chilly & soup is one thing i can cook really well.  I planted my pumpkins too late for the season & my magic-cinderella-carriage-sized-pumpkins-dreams never fruited.  Sigh, better luck next year!! 

Anyway, to share with Paisley Jade's 'things i'm loving' this Friday . . . these delicious pumpkins came from the weekend's Farmer's Market, two types of orange (let's call them Butternut & Queensland Blue, i am most likely telling lies, they're the only varieties which come to mind).  Onions, celery, seasoning & stock, how simple.

 Toss in food processor, any excuse to involve KitchenAid apparatus in my cooking.

 Then into Le Creuset to warm & serve.

 I was the most keen - my children all took spoons directly to this pot insisting they didn't feel like soup, then tucked into delicious ham rolls with real butter.  So next time i feel like cooking from the heart without the chopping, cooking or clean up, i have 3 frozen portions to reheat.   

It was all washed down with freshly squeezed orange juice - efficient use of the food processor of course.  It was everything orange for lunch on Sunday.

What's your favourite hearty homemade soup??  Love Posie
PS Have you entered my IKEA giveaway, good luck, drawn Sunday night.  

a spot of shopping with my broken daughter

Greetings all,
Well it started off an ordinary day . . .

 freshly squeezed orange juice & pancakes (large & small) . . .

 Ok, well ordinary in by my household standards . . .

 seriously, does he still have to wear food aged 7??

 Until thump . . . my middle girl who can trip over her own feet from a standing start & get a concussion . . . tripped over in the hallway & thumped her chinny chin chin on the door frame.

 Oh yes, it's a beauty, no wonder she had a headache & sore jaw.

 So we dropped the big sister, twin sister & little brother at school, & hit the shops.

 Thought these cute bags would be great for an Easter Egg Hunt & Scandinavian stamps for some fun card making.  

 Picked up this calendar half price, to chop up & make into tags in the school holidays.

 Oh look at these super pretty lights, seriously Typo do them so well & inexpensive.

 Aren't they just lovely, i got them for the high schooler.

 Kikki-K is 10 years old, this is their HUGE booklet to celebrate.

If you rush into Typo - they have these aprons for $10 with any purchase, so yes, i will Keep Calm & Cook On thanks.  I picked up the Best Ever Brownie Mix from The Curious Chocolatier at Shop Handmade today, can't wait to make them.  My husband makes incredible brownies (i think it's a Saturday Disney recipe) but couldn't resist Heidi's blend.  I'm baking anyway for another cup cake fund raiser for Japan at primary school, mmmm. 
So donk your chin on a door frame & enjoy a day shopping with mummy - that's how we roll.  She's feeling much better now, just a bit tender.  Love Posie

my creative space 'garden craft'

Greetings all,
Seeing my studio is sweltering in unairconditioned heat, i haven't been sewing as much i should be with a huge Handmade market looming 2 weeks away . . . but it's still school holidays, i have extra children over & the garden is always an ace place to entertain children. 

 I selected my supplies from the hardware store, swung the pick into the ground & put up a mini wooden fence for my mini pumpkin patch.

 Several bags of potting mix & special vegetable boost enhanced fancy top soil later . . . my willing helpers transplanted the 8 germinated pumpkin seeds into position.

 With carrots down the centre as an experiment, water, then the magic touch of sugar cane mulch.

 It was so hot i had that eye-stinging-sweat-dripping-off-my-face thing going on, at 9.30a.m. & when we checked on our cool new pumpkin patch, the pumpkin leaves were frying in the sun, so it lost all street cred & i put a beach umbrella over it.  There were also German Shepherd paw skid marks across the carrots, he is SO serious chasing butterflies, he clearly forgot the mini wooden fence was meant to keep large dogs out??!! 

 The lettuce continues to grow like crazy, loving my fresh herb salads at lunch.

 Don't you wish you were the mother of these girls??  Or the cleaner of their shower??  Or the washer of their fluffy towels??  Mud pies, they made them for HOURS!!

 Freshly squeezed orange juice for the masses of children.  I'm practising my mother-of-the-year wave as i pick orange pith out of my teeth.

 Easiest way to feed a group of hungry children after running around the garden all morning . . . a platter of simple sandwiches & where would a mother be without a stack of IKEA plates & cups??  Then i made up some cookie dough & broke it up into vanilla icecream for poor man's Cold Rock/ Ben&Jerry's icecream.  When one mummy collected her son, it was at icecream serving time so i fed her boys in the car too, i was very popular in the driveway!!

 They decorated the fish bowls & we swapped the fish around, yes i had unpaid child labour doing the dirty work all day.

 I can seriously imagine these two girls on Survivor, they look like they'd fit right in & yes i know they need back to school hair cuts!!  I actually had a dream once they were on a Survivor series & they were twins, but pretended to not know each other (extra sneaky) & set up alliances which were so clever . . . they ended up being runner up & winner, splitting the cash!!  Hmmm, evil twins, brilliant!!  Oh, to be the mother of reality show children, so NOT brilliant.

For proper sewing, crocheting & knitting type Creative Spaces, check out Kootoyoo, love Posie

my creative space 'for the love of washi tape'

Greetings all,

It's a short & sweet & sticky Creative Space today, as i'm so incredibly distracted (thanks for your warm & meaningful comments in my last post about my mummy, deeply appreciated) . . . & have to duck into Shop Handmade for a few hours today, so . . . just thought i'd share a little snap shot of what the children & i have been playing with - this is only part of my collection of Washi Tapes from Japan.  I seem to be missing a few of my favourite Japanese patterned ones, hmmmm, must raid the children's craft boxes while they're out!!

While i've bought some wholesale from Lark (MT brand), some on line from etsy + some locally from Kikki-K & Typo.  So much fun, you can write on them, they are a nice addition to packaging detail, which i know we crafty folk all love.
Stay tuned for tomorrow - i kick off the Handmade Living blog tour, if you're not already a follower, you won't want to miss this giveaway, it's going to be HUGE!!  I'm off to squeeze those oranges as my husband has allowed me to sew uninterupted & taken the children to school for me, ahhhhh . . . love Posie