Bunting

My sister is having a tea party in a few days and asked me to make her some bunting to dress up the patio.

I used some vintage sheets and this tutorial

The triangles are much smaller than I thought they would be but I think it looks just perfect.

And the hawthorn tree is just the place for it.

I now have requests for gift bags full of goodies like make-up purses and bookmarks.

I also need to make more bunting, cushions and I mustn't forget the red-velvet cake.

I think I am owed big time.

Will be sure to get some photos of all the goodies....



In the Etsy Newsletter



Thanks Jay from Finki for alerting me to the fact that MonetPaisley Swimwear was in the Etsy Newsletter.

If you've popped over from my etsy store, thanks for stopping by.

I have a few materials left but am running out fast.  I plan on ordering some more next week.  I'll let you know what I decide on as soon as I'm sure myself.

We're in holiday mode here as my husband has just knocked of work fo a few days and it's looking like a gorgeous beach day.  I kept the kids home so they can spend some quality time with their Dad, we might even go for a fish.

Photo by Danielle

Cardigan by Little Tree Kids

Headband from Curious bazaar

and of course bikini from MonetPaisley Swimwear

New Stockist

I was approached by the lovely Tessa from 'Down That Little Lane' and offered the opportunity to list my swimwear range on her webstore of the same name.

You can check out my listings here and here.

And you can check out some other fantastic items here, here and here.

I have also changed my 'shop' tab to 'stockists' and listed each one.

Photo from here

The Matching Footstool

I was feeling awfully crafty this morning...

I got the matching footstool to this one, covered.

While I was sewing my little hubba-bubba got up on the table and was smelling the lilies I bought with the shopping last week.

They have just opened up and all those horrible yellow pollen thingys were sitting there ripe for the taking.

When I came into the lounge to see what he was up to... I found him covered in pollen head to toe.

That is why he has only a nappy on in these photos.

That stuff is impossible to get out!

He still has a yellow face and hands.

His t-shirt (a favourite of mine... and his... from yknot) is soaking in nappisan now.

He just loves these footstools, they are quite bouncy and serve as a mini trampoline for this little bubba.

Both my girls love them too and there are often fights.  Hubba-bubba ends up with both of them.

I will have to keep an eye out for more footstools, I think they make a great addition to any room.

What is it that you can't resist buying from the oppy? lamps? fabric? plates?

And then what do you do when you have too many?

Bathers for Bronte and Other Bits and Pieces

I've been a little creative lately, a little more than usual.

Here is a pair of bathers for Bronte.....

All wrapped up and ready to go....

I nabbed a couple of footstools from the local Vinnies.  I have been looking for ages for some that were suitable for slip-covers.  Here is one slip-cover.  I used some squares that I already had cut out for a quilt I am making.  I accidentally cut out too many squares for the quilt, but am quite happy to have a matching slip-cover.

I plan on having a collection of different slip-covers so I can change them as my mood changes (but who knows, I planned on making a Tuesday tea towel last Tuesday too..... Still haven't got around to it. Maybe next Tuesday)

The Slip cover is held on by elastic threaded through a casing at the bottom of the cover. Makes for a snug fit, and can be easily removed for washing.

 This is the beginning of my wall of yellow.  It needs alot more little treasures for full effect but I am happy to get these few things up for now.



 I ended up winning this gorgeous print by Elishia.  Remember this give-away?

For now I have put it in a plain black frame.... until I can get it matted and framed.

 This oil painting was a wedding present almost 11 years ago from my uncle Jimmy.  He painted under the name Grenville Montgomery I am not sure if he still does. I know of a book cover he has painted in watercolours. Other than that Mr Google didn't find much at all.

It is Phillip Island and the Knobbies from Shoreham and is titled 'Colours Sing'

Completed Australia Day 2001, the day before our wedding.

I have been looking for a cheap piano for the girls on and off for the last year without much success.  The local Salvos had $30 on this organ and I thought that was good.  They were really wanting to get it moving so asked if I would take it for $5.  I still hesitated because its quite a job to move one of these.... but then the man informed me that if I didn't take it home with me they were going to pull it apart and get rid of it.  I am a bit of a softie when it comes to destroying perfectly good things.... so now we have an organ....  I worked out how to use it.... finally.

Today I have a house to clean, two more pairs of swimmers to finish, I really need to make another tea towel, and I would like to get another slip cover finished for the other footstool.  Probably will only get as far as cleaning up.

Oh I just remebered the sleeves that need knitting on Paisley's cardigan and Monet's dress. It seems I finish one sleeve and find it hard to finish the other.... a bit like one sock syndrome I suppose.

What have yopu been up to lately and what is planned for your Sunday?

Linen Tea Towels and Brown Paper Packages

I have been admiring the linen tea towels on etsy of late....

This one

These ones

And these amazing vintage ones.

I was trying to decide which ones to buy when I remembered the linen I found at the oppy the other day.

Light bulb moment!!!

I need quite a few tea towels as mine are all stained

 (thank the hubby, he seems to find a millions messy uses for a tea towel)

So I decided to make one for each day of the week (corny I know).

Here is my Monday tea towel.

I had fun making it, now to see if I enjoy using it (hmmmmm....).

I wrapped up these lovely swimmers.

I find it quite tricky to get the eau de vintage to separate itself from the vintage fabrics.

So I made a little sachet with rosemary, cloves, nutmeg, pepper, bay leaves and cinnamon. 

 Any suggestions for dealing with oppy scent would be welcome.

I love looking at this package all ready for it's trip to the post office.

And I love the personalised name tag too...

I really hope to be back again tomorrow with a Tuesday tea towel....

To Do List....

Well things definitely seem a little busier....

There are so many things I want to make...

But here are the things I have to do...

Wrap and send these vintage cotton bikinis to Tigerlily...

Make this into a size 6-8 bandeau bikini for another lovely little girl...

Use the last of this for a 2-4 bandeau bikini...

Design a new swimsuit for a really little bubby girl,

I was thinking this print would be sweet...

What about the things I want to do?

Well, the list is endless...

I found reams and reams of natural linen at the rotary op-shop the other day.

I am thinking shorts, pants, et cetera...

Then some white poplin peasant tops....

I have all these sweet florals that would make great summer shorts too...

Oh, and all the vintage patterns I have been collecting need to see the light of day.

I am keen to make myself a pair of linen pants also...

last night while perusing etsy I found this store,

I bought this pdf pattern and am very excited to see how they turn out.

I'll try to keep you updated....

Right now I had better clear a space so I can cut out....

I like the kitchen bench for cutting out because of the extra height...

Where do you like to cut out?



oh I do like to be beside the seaside....

I am super-dooper happy to tell everybody about an article in Tickle the Imagination magazine that was put together by Myself, Wendy from Little Tree Kids, Danielle from Curiouser photography, Kelly from Polkadot Lane and Adelin from Dinky me.

The rest of the magazine is just delighful. Definitley worth perusing over a cup of tea.

All Geared Up

I have something really exciting happening tomorrow....  I hope to be back on here first thing to tell you all about it.

I preparation I have put some more custom listings in the store and made sure all the listings link to my new Fabric Choices page.

I hope to be busy sewing lots of swim wear this summer...

Went to Mornington today... In the wind and the rain...

Was happy to meet up with my friend Wendy...

We shared chai and Portuguese custard tarts.

Tabs for Pages - Sort of a Tutorial

I have often thought about adding tabs to my blog just under the heading. Thinking about it was as far as I got until now.....

See those little tabs up there???? well they help you find information about me and what I do without having to think too much.  The idea is to try and make it easier for anyone interested in buying their little girl some bathers.

• So how did I do it??? Well.... in the new blogger interface choose the blog which you would like to add some tabs to.

• Then select pages from the menu on the left.  click on the "New page" button and pick either blank page or Web address.

• Firstly lets discuss how to use the blank page.  I added a blank page to showcase the fabric choices and swim-wear styles available. So choose the blank page option and fill out your heading and the body of your text just as you would a normal blog post.  Remember that this "page" will not appear amongst your regular blog posts but only when your readers select the "page" from the "tab" which we will talk about next.

• After you have hit publish you will be back at the "pages" page (hehehehe). This is where I selected to "show pages as..."top tabs"".  Once you have a few different pages they will start to appear just under the header on your blog.

• You can also add a "weblink" instead of a "blank page".  I used this option to add a shop tab, this will take you to my etsy store.  All I did was paste the hyperlink of my etsy store into the field provided after selecting web-link from the new page menu.

• As for the "contact me" tab, I am not sure how to link from the tab straight to the email address (like you can in a post).... if anyone has any advice on this feel free to email me....

So now how to format your tabs so that they look presentable.

• This is where I had to switch back to the old blogger interface (this option is available at the very top of blogger).

• Choose "design", then "template designer". (this would be where others would advise you to back-up your blog....  I have no advice on that because I have never done it before.... but I am thinking it would be the wiser thing to do....)

• Select "advanced" from the menu on the left.  Then select "tabs text" from the next menu that appears.  I set the font size to 20 as this spread the tabs nicely accross my blog but feel free to experiment with sizes.  This is where you can also change the colour of the text and also the font.

• Next choose "tabs background" which is just under "tabs text" and pick a background for the tabs in general (I chose transparent) and then for the selected tab (I chose a light blue).

• There will still be a frame around the tabs which didn't particularly appeal to me.  If you scroll down further from "tabs background" you will see "accents". If you set the "tabs border colour" to transparent the borders will disappear.

Well, there you go.  This probably sounds like a whole bunch of gobbeldy goop.... but hopefully if you've been thinking about adding some tabs to the top of your blog this can help you muddle your way through.

I can't post this without a photo.... so here is my Mister with one of the 10 or so snapper we had in our freezer.  It's a lovely fish but I am running out of ways to cook it.  We had it beer battered with chips, baked whole with chili, lime and coriander, and I made snapper pie too.

Goodnight, got to get some z's before I head to Mornington to visit Wendy at the Mornington Street Market which is on every Wednesday.

A Fantabulous Giveaway

Bec over at Naughty Shorts is hosting the most fantabulous giveaway.

You could win your own custom made 'Annie Dress'.  If you haven't seen Bec's dresses before they really are worth a gander.... 

Seen in Frankie and Peppermint magazines Bec's dresses seem to be the must have this season...

But wait... there's more....

You could also win an awesome pair of Lotta's clogs from Sweden.

So head on over to Naughty Shorts and try your luck with Bec and Lotta....

How spectacularly lovely of them!

My Creative Space..... Yay for finishing things!!!!

I really don't know what the deal is today....

but I have finished two quilts!

I started them way back when and have walked past them every day for yonkers.

I am so happy to have them finished and can't wait to move on to the next ones...

This first quilt was started over a year ago and blogged about a liitle here .... and here....

It was part of a quilt-a-long that I joined here....

The instructions are very clear and easy to follow, and it doesn't require too many corners to meet up which suits me just fine.  It is so lovely I think I might attempt it again but bigger this time.... or perhaps not....

The next quilt was started almost a year ago and blogged about here.  My Hurley Burley loves his new blanky and I love that it is extra warm because I used a thrifted woollen blanket as the batting instead of your run-of-the-mill polyester batting. 

 I really enjoy putting this style of cot-quilt together, Its a style that is super fast and super easy and looks really good.  Next time I make one I will try and do a tutorial for it.  I could call it cot quilt in a hour but that might be pushing it a little...  Maybe cot quilt in three hours....

For some other crafty peeps that want to share their crafty spaces check out this crafty spot

p.s. I forgot to wipe my bubba's face before the photos so I photoshopped out most of the grot on his face after the fact.... don't look too close though :-)

Swirly Buds

I just love this Fabric! it is Swirly Buds by Heather Bailey

This gorgeous little bikini is headed out to a bloggy friend as a gift for her grand daughter.

I am too chicken to reveal just which bloggy friend in case I ruin the surprise.

I think I flatter myself too much.... the chances are pretty slim.

I can't wait to cut into the rest of my gorgeous new pile of fabric.

But for now I think I shall continue knitting this...

even though I haven't quite finished this...

Do you have multiple projects on the go?

Come on... Come clean... I know you do!

Universal Craft Blog Directory

Today while browsing the blogosphere I came accross this:

What a fantastic idea!

I wish there were some kind of directory for crafty bloggers years ago when I was searching the web for any and every craft blog I could find...

Google just doesnt understand what we crafty types are looking for (actually I am not sure I had even heard of google back then)...

Thanks Rie for all your hard work. And if you are a crafty blogger be sure to visit Rie and add your blog to the directory...

Sorry about the lack of posts for Blogtober... I was blogging from my phone because I had no computer.... and then I accidentally smashed my phone...

I now have a little netbook, but still no phone, I do miss my phone... especially the predictive text!

I don't know why I kept buying laptops... this is all I need. A little slower than I am used to... but completely adequate.

So hopefully you will see me around these parts more often...

Shop Update - One-pieces

Well, they have been a long time coming.... but finally girls one-pieces are in production.



There are a few listings for made-to-order one-pieces in the store now.



I will be adding more over the coming days.



There is only enough of the new fabrics for two swimsuits (bikinis or onepieces) in each fabric.

I have nick-named the fabrics and included pictures in the listings to make ordering easier. Just leave a note as to size and fabric choice during checkout.





I think we need to have a glass of bubbly to celebrate....

How could I forget... these superbly peachy photos are courtesy of Danielle as is the first little model...

Check out other creative peeps here…

Art Giveaway

My friend Elishia is having a giveaway on her facebook page.



You could win a limited edition print of one of three of her amazing artworks.



All you have to do is like Elisha's Art on facebook and share her page with your friends.



So share the love and maybe win some art....

I'm With the Band...

Hi all, this is my younger sister.


She is in a band called "The 540 Project"


I recently attended a gig they did for "Band of the Year"


They won their heat and are into the semi-finals.


You can listen to a couple of tracks they recorded in the basement through the widget in my sidebar.


I am oh so proud!!!!

PS I found that it sounds much better through earphones than through the dodgy speaker on my phone. So if you have earphones.....

PPS sorry about doubling up on one of the photos... fixing it is just too much for me to tackle on my phone at 7:30 am....