Day 25 Blogtoberfest - My Creative Space

Even though I had a million other things to do (read should be doing) this week I indulged in a bit of Christmas crafting.

 

 

I shared a sneak peek earlier, but now I've done more and taken pics in better light:) They are Australian animal shaped Christmas ornaments!

This is an idea that's been in my head for 3 years. How do I know its been 3 years? Well, I had the idea right before we last went to the US and that was 3 years ago this Christmas. You see, I thought my idea might make a nice project for the children, something they could give Grandma, Auntie etc....

Only the project never happened, too much going on, children weren't interested. Honestly I don't remember why, I just know the idea never came to fruition.

So skip to this past Sunday. Looking for something to keep middle busy. We are going overseas again, so I thought they might make good presents (sound familiar). This time middle was interested so project was a go, despite a million other things I should have been doing.

I found the shapes many moons ago at Kaisercraft, some traditional Christmas shapes and some Australian animal shapes. It was the Australian animal shapes I was most interested in. In my quest for creating Australian themed craft activities I thought the idea of combining Australian animal shapes and Christmas themed papers was genius. Well, in my head at least. That is until now:)

I painted the edges, cut and glued the paper on both sides and voila, Christmas ornaments. Simple, no? And now that I have made them, yes, I do believe they are genius:) I even went out and got more shapes to make:)

I hope you are bringing genius ideas to fruition in your creative space:) For more spaces and inspiration this week, be sure to check out My Creative Spaces. Cyndy

PS Be sure to also check out the My Creative Space challenge for November! Pin It

Day 21 Blogtoberfest - A Koala Christmas

Not that I don't have enough to do, but today I decided to work on a few Christmas ornaments (that's right, I said the dreaded C word).

 

I've had the idea for this ornament in my head for about 3 years. And a simple idea it is: Australian wooden animal shapes covered with Christmas themed papers.

I still need to punch the hole at the top and add ribbon, but hopefully you get the idea:)

Originally I thought the children could make these for my family who live overseas. They still could, if I hadn't used all the Australian animal shapes:)

Have you started any Christmas projects or gifts for friends or relatives yet? Cyndy Pin It

My Creative Space: Meet Miss Polly

At Christmas a new member joined our family - Miss Polly. Miss Polly is a doll that I made for littlest. Littlest had fallen in love with a friend's doll and I ran across the maker of the doll (AK Traditions) at the Melbourne Craft and Quilt Fair way back last July. Not only do they make dolls, they sell patterns for dolls. And so the deal was sealed; I came home with the pattern and the felt to make littlest the doll of her dreams for Christmas:)

Of course, I didn't start early enough and found myself still needing to complete the doll on the 24th of December. It was quite a marathon. Did I also mention that I had committed myself to making matching bedding for the doll (I had gotten an IKEA doll bed for her as well)? Yes, what I was thinking.

The good news is that I managed to finish the doll, a nightgown and the bedding. And so there she was waiting on Christmas morning for littlest.

Miss Polly has definitely been a hit. She is a constant companion, sleeping in her doll bed right next to littlest's bed at night and accompanying us when we go out and about.

Over the summer holiday I have continued to add to Miss Polly's wardrobe, with the most recent items being a pair of boots and a hat this week (I think we are already preparing for winter:). Littlest also has a few requests for Miss Polly on my crafty to do list - first and foremost is a boyfriend. I think that might have to be a birthday present:)

Hope lots of creating is going on in your creative space this week. For more creative spaces make sure to visit here. Cyndy Pin It

Christmas Skirts

OK, time for a confession. I am one of those mum's who makes her children wear a Christmas outfit - and when I say Christmas, I mean it needs to have red and green in it:) I saw this cherry print a couple of months ago and while not Christmas per se, I thought it would be cute in a Christmas outfit.

Since I didn't have a lot of the fabric the idea of a panel skirt seemed perfect. A friend had seen just such a skirt based on vertical panels (non Christmas) so we came up with a pattern.

The skirt contains eight panels, each a different fabric. I started with the cherry fabric as the inspiration. Middle picked the other fabrics she wanted (all reds and greens, none necessarily Christmas though) while littlest got hers picked for her by yours truly:) We have paired them with pre-made tops that I've embellished.

Fortunately, the girls love them. Once we get past all the Christmas making and craziness I might even make a few more of these skirts for the girls, but in different fabrics:)

Now that the skirts are done, all we need to do is to go get our cheesy Christmas picture in our Christmas outfits with Santa:) And oh, I can cross two more Christmas making projects off my list! Cyndy

PS in case you are wondering, as oldest is a boy a red or green T-shirt is about all I can get him to wear - no Christmas sewing involved:)

Pin It

Christmas Making

Well, Christmas is just over a week away and I am still at only one fully completed gift (a dress for middle). Clearly I must like/need the pressure and/or am easily distracted/have a short attention span:)

Ok, maybe the picture is not as quite as dire as I have just painted. True, only one gift is complete, but many are in progress like this doll for littlest. I just need to sew the legs on (they are done, just not sewed on), finish the head,  make a few clothes and the linens for the doll bed. So, I just need to focus, focus focus. Right? Or maybe I should be asking Santa to bring me a couple of extra days:)

Hope your Christmas making is doing a little better than mine! Cyndy Pin It

My Place and Yours - Christmas Special

This is a hard one for me. As someone who grew up in the northern hemisphere (the United States) Christmas is about cold, snow, a fire in the fireplace, hot chocolate and tacky Christmas lights all over your house. Hot, sunny and going to the beach just doesn't seem right:)

That said I have (kinda) adjusted and besides Christmas in our house is all about the children. No designer colours or decorations, just lots of stuff made by the kids, picked out by the kids, given to the kids, was mine when I was a kid:)

This year we actually have two Christmas trees. One is fake (got it for $12 the first Christmas we spent here) and one is real. This is our first real tree because I am a bit of a Christmas tree snob. It's not that I like perfectly manicured Christmas trees, because I don't. In our house, we used to go out to the Christmas tree farm and cut our own. It was usually wider than it was tall:) It's more that I like a certain kind of Christmas tree (Douglass fir) and it appears they don't grow them here in Australia or if they do they cost a bazillion dollars. But this one was free, just the right price for me to overcome my snobbishness:)

Christmas is also about memories. I love it when we are decorating the tree and the children shout out, that ones mine, or I got that from ____, or ask me about a decoration that predates them. When I was in my mid 30's my mother decided (without telling us children) to move to a themed tree. That meant all the decorations we had made as children, had been given etc... that didn't meet the theme were tossed. My sister and I about had a heart attack, because even at our "mature" age we still loved the memories that all these things represented.

And finally Christmas is about traditions. It's about putting up the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving (yes even here:), making Christmas cookies, writing a  letter and visiting Santa, watching Its a Wonderful Life at least once, and getting up at the crack of dawn on Christmas day to open your presents from Santa no matter how old you are:)

Merry Christmas from my family to yours and you can check out more Christmas specials here! Cyndy Pin It

My Creative Space - Doll Clothes

If you have been reading for a while you may recall in August I wrote about the doll I planned to make for my littlest for Christmas this year. I finally cut the doll pieces out a couple of weeks ago, but have yet to start sewing them together. I figure I need to do that when littlest isn't around if I want to keep it a surprise:)

I have also started to cut out some of the clothes for the doll. I've decided to go with a palette of pinks, as this is her favorite colour right now, and make some coordinated  tops, skirts, dresses and pants. While I sew a lot without patterns and directions, I am using a pattern for these (they came with the doll pattern) and actually finding it a bit difficult! Not sure if it is me or the pattern directions. It could also be the small size, as I find this changes how you can work with and even conceptualize the material. I was thinking I might be able to sew them while she is around as I can probably fudge what they are with her. Or, maybe since I am finding them a little difficult I need to be sewing them when the littlest isn't around so I can concentrate:)

Either way, I hope you are getting lots done in your creative space this week! For more creative spaces you can visit here. Cyndy Pin It

My Creative Space - Skirts and Dresses

I have finally been able to turn my attention this week to the making of Christmas gifts. Last year I made the littlest and middle a Christmas skirt. I made a simple pattern which featured a top skirt of different panels and an solid underskirt with trim. Both girls really liked the style so since their Christmas skirts still fit I thought I would make them each another skirt in the same style but non Christmas this year. This is little's in  progress - cute strawberries with polka dots:

A friend recently got the ruffle attachment for her over locker and I found a great dress pattern for middle which is the perfect excuse to try it out:)  The plan is to make two dresses for middle and one for littlest in this pattern. This is one of middle's in progress.

So two skirts and three dresses, not a bad start. Wish the oldest (a boy) was so easy:)

Hope you have started on your Christmas making! For more lovely spaces you can visit here. Cyndy Pin It

My Creative Space

This week we are on school holidays. In between keeping kids busy/entertained I have been working on stock for my first market which is now only a month away!

As I say those words out loud I feel the panic in the pit of my stomach. Have I bitten off more than I can chew? I also have a list of Christmas gifts and items that I need to make for family and friends! I just need to stay focused and disciplined, right? Right:)

As I am not a one-at-a-time-project kinda person, I have been working on a variety of projects, including bunting, felt food, Christmas decorations, fabric headbands and cards! One of the projects I have enjoyed the most though, is making bias tape.

The last time I made bias tape was about 25 years ago (for a Laura Ashley pattern dress I made for a family wedding - am I dating myself?:) I don't know why it's been so long, because it was really easy and very satisfying as a project. I used the needle in the ironing board method, which is a little bit fiddly, but it worked surprisingly well. The best thing about it was how the bias tape felt - so much better than the stuff you buy! I made it to use on some Christmas buntings I have been making for the market. Not sure I ever want to buy bias tape again:)

I hope you have been getting lots done in your space this week. For more lovely spaces make sure you visit here. Cyndy Pin It

My First Crafty Swap - My Sunshine in the Mail

It's a little bit late, but I am finally sharing what I received in my first crafty swap, the Snail Mail Swap organized by Sheree at Seaweed and Raine earlier this month (you can see some of what I sent to my swap partner here and here).

Per Sheree's hope, it really was a little bit of sunshine in the mail! I received my swap from Christie at Describe Happy. Christie lives in the US, so it was not just mail, but INTERNATIONAL mail - loved that!

The day the package arrived was a cloudy day and as soon as my children saw a package in the mailbox they tried to claim it as their own. As soon as I saw it I disabused them of this notion, and claimed it for my own. I did let them help me open it:)

Christie had done a little tease post, but I resisted the temptation of looking. I wanted it to truly be a surprise, and what a I lovely surprise it was! Christie had definitely been sussing me out. The package included all sorts of little goodies: fabric, origami paper, cheeky birdie labels, a beautiful jade bracelet and some origami corner book marks. The piece de resistance however, was this fab zipper pouch:

How cute is that?! And how perfect for me - wombats on one side and that gorgeous koala fabric on the other. There are several handy little compartments inside as well:)

I have already been enjoying some of my goodies, although I have had to fend off my oldest daughter (age 7) who really wants the jade bracelet and the origami paper:)

A BIG, BIG thank you to Sheree for organizing it all and to Christie for her package of goodies! It really was a little package of sunshine in the mail:) Cyndy

PS if you haven't done a crafty swap you should - I had so much fun giving and receiving:) Pin It

My Creative Space...

This week I have started getting ready for my first market! That's right, a market:) It's not til November, so still a ways off, but with how things work around here I figure I need to focus on it when I can. If you have any market advice or tips I would love to hear it!

I have also been working on some more Christmas items. In keeping with my love of felt food, I have been working on some Christmas themed felt food. This is my first take on a Christmas pudding. I am also thinking about doing BBQ shrimp on a skewer, but need to figure out what I can use as a skewer that won't be sharp - a paddle pop stick perhaps? Well, I am sure I will come up with something:)

Hope you are getting lots done in your creative space this week! For more lovely spaces you can go here. Cyndy

PS can you believe it's the school holidays - starts tomorrow for us, that means only one term left in the year! Where has the time gone?! Pin It

My Creative Space

It seems incongruous to me that spring is here and I am thinking about Christmas! Having grown up in the northern hemisphere, Christmas for me means cold and snowy (yes, it was a white Christmas where I grew up:). So while the combination of summer and Christmas feels a bit strange to me, and I have let go of a few things (sorry roast turkey) I have a found a way to mix some of my northern hemisphere traditions with traditions here.

One of the things I definitely haven't let go of is decorating our house. I love having a Christmas tree and decorations everywhere. And when I say everywhere, I really mean EVERYWHERE; you will find decorations in every room of our house:) I recently found some Christmas fabric at Spotlight that features cockatoos, kangaroos and koalas that I couldn't resist. This week I have been working on some Christmas buntings using the fabric. I think they are quite fun and help bring my two Christmas worlds together!

Are you already planning for Christmas? Whether you are or not, I hope you are getting lots done in your creative space this week. You can visit here to see more lovely spaces. Cyndy Pin It