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Hello my friends!  Tonight, I'm letting the pictures do the talking... ok, not all the talking.  I'll do a bit too, seeing as it's Air Your Laundry Friday!  Pop on over and check out Jami's Freckled Laundry blog - it's lovely.

This is a quilt I created for a lovely friend's baby shower.  As she didn't know the baby's gender, I wanted to make something bright and fun that would serve as a playmat or bedding.  The backing is denim and corduroy to make it durable, and the batting is an upcycled wool blanket for warmth and safety.

 This little guy's my fav - with his little wings going ninety to the dozen.  The birds are all machine appliqued, just using a straight stitch.  I wanted their edges to go fuzzy.  Even their legs are machine stitched.  The eyes, beaks and music notes were cut from knit fabric, so they won't fray. 

This entire project took about 8 - 12 hours and cost... $0.00!!  It started out as a cushion cover from my stash of bits and pieces, but grew upon coffee consumption.  Not sure what it is about coffee.  It makes me over-ambitious.  While I think about it, I'm not sure what it is about fabric, but I am compelled to hoard it.  This year I'm trying to lighten the load by having less stuff lying around to tidy up.  It's so lovely to finally use some of my fabric stash.  The only trouble is... I just went and bought a huge pile more!  Don't tell Mr Leota!

Willpower

Curse you, Rice Bubble Slice, destroyer of my willpower!

Chair Recovery

Happy weekend friends!  I'm curled up in my favourite spot by the fire, in my new (old) favourite chair, which I've been desperate to share with you all.

Today I'm linking up to the fabulous Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday.  Please check it out - you'll find some amazing ideas by talented people!

I purchased two of these chairs for $1 on Trade Me.  They were in ok condition, until my boys started picking at the already frail upholstery - much to my annoyance.  Look what they did!

None of those holes were present at time of purchase.  What is with boys?  By the way, see that messy room in the background... it has had a transformation!  But that's for another post...

This is a "progress" shot.  I was ecstatic to get to this point... until I turned around and saw the other chair waiting for it's turn.  That's the problem with doing two of anything... it takes twice as long!

It was actually great fun making slipcovers for my comfy chairs.  I followed Miss Mustard Seed's video tutorial series on slipcovers.  Miss Mustard Seed is a mum of preschoolers - and therefore finds the quickest way to do things.  I appreciate that.  So.  Much. 

I'd like to point out that this is not a project for a beginner sewer.  Make a few cushion covers first.  I've been sewing since I was 11, and have made cushions, curtains, costumes, clothing, you name it.  So long as it starts with "C", of course. 

I used painter's dropcloths (new, obviously) from Bunnings Warehouse.  They were a total steal at 2 for $45.  I took one for the team and washed them first - an unusual display of caution and self-control.  I far prefer to rip into a project with reckless abandon, only to abandon it before completion.  It's how I roll.

Here's chair number one, in my cosy fireside spot...

I love sitting here, it's the warmest place in the house.  The picnic basket and duck aren't always there, that's one of the random factors of photography with children. 

The green fabric was from Nick's Fabrics, and heavily discounted.  It's beautiful quality, thick, quilted, and a pain in the butt to sew.  I broke 3 denim needles putting the piping in.  Totally worth it though!

Here's chair number two.  All cosied up next to the bookshelves Mr Leota built.  He's very clever.  If I'm awake at odd hours in the night, this is where I sit and read.  Our friend Pete made the deer's head.  One day it will most likely go in the boy's room, but I'm enjoying it propped up there for the moment.

Have a lovely weekend everyone - keep warm all you southern hemisphere dwellers!

  

Caution: Vacuuming Can Endanger Your Health

I'm feeling like a bit of a slob after viewing this Pinterest board.  We haven't been home much lately, and when we have, we've had birthday parties, extra kids, or just too much fun to stop and clean house.

I'm not talking general tidying - the kitchen and other high traffic areas are done on a daily basis.  Closet and storage spaces?  Disastrous.  I love tidy cupboards.  Can't stand it when a certain member of the midget brigade gets into my storage area and makes a mess.  Which he does regularly.  On that note, this is why I try not to vacuum too frequently...

Yes, this is my child biting the cord while I vacuum.  I would like to clarify that in no way is this picture posed.  He dreamed this idea up all by himself.  And the camera was right there, so naturally I took a photo before removing said cord from the child's mouth.  He is fine.  His hair seems a little spikier, and every time he touches me I get a shock, but apart from that...

You Too Could Look Like This...

...especially after a run-in with me!!! 
Not that I'm scary... much... but I do enjoy playing around with stage makeup.  I find it therapeutic, giving people black eyes, grazes, gashes and dirt.
I'm not trained and certainly no expert, but I love to learn from those who do know what they're doing.
Should you ever happen to need a recipe for fake blood, here's one we've used with great success.

Fake Blood:
Red food colouring
Liquid glucose
Dash of milk

Combine the food colouring with the liquid glucose, add a dash of milk to help with the consistency.  Don't make it too runny, try to keep it fairly thick.  A touch of brown food colouring helps darken it up nicely.

To get the real gory bits as shown above, pull strands from a cotton ball and dip into the blood using tweezers.  Then apply.  Looks like placenta.  Mmmmm!

These photos are from our Easter Event dress rehearsals.  Over the weekend, our "victims" injuries became progressively worse - we makeup chicks were having far too much fun!

Why am I posting about Easter in July?  Because I forgot to do it in April, and the photos are fun.  Fun is good.  Fun is your friend.  Relax, enjoy your life.  Go draw a moustache on someone in their sleep.  Go on, you know you want to!

Falling off the Blogosphere

Hi friends!  I had no intention of not blogging for such a long time.  I've been having difficulty with my internet connection.  It's semi-fixed now but still not talking to my laptop.  Tonight, I'm blogging from our 9 year-old desktop PC.  I type, and the words show up a few minutes later.  Another tricky thing, is that we have a new wireless mouse.  It's very cute and works well, but when I tried to plug my camera in to upload the photos of all my recent projects, I discovered that I have to choose between the mouse or the camera.  There's only one port.  And you kind of need the mouse to do... umm ...absolutely everything on the computer, including uploading photos from a camera!
On the upside, I have been making so many things lately - I can't wait to share all my projects with you.  Another plus, is that my PC has all our very cute old photos on it.  I often think about blogging something, and realise the photo I want is across the living room and a 10 minute warm-up away!
Because I'm feeling a bit nostalgic, here is my baby... when she was a baby... oh how I miss having a milky sweet newborn in the house!

This little lady will be eight years old in a couple of weeks.  What a delight she is... and has been since I first heard that reassuring heartbeat, Christmas Eve 2002.  I had lain on the bed, waiting for the scan - counting dots on the ceiling and trying to hold back the tears.  That heartbeat was the only Christmas present I needed that year... my much-wanted, desperately loved second baby was alive and well.  We are truly blessed.

Blogger? What?

Okay, so I've had lots of comments on Facebook about how IMPOSSIBLE it is to leave a comment on my blog.  I'm so sorry, I have no idea why that is.  It was working last week.
So... for those of you who would like an invitation to join Pinterest, please either facebook me or email me.
Pinterest is a fantastic website, you can "pin" your ideas onto boards (which you categorise).  It's a great way of collating ideas.  I see so many ideas I want to collate, and now I can!

And in case you're thinking my blog is getting a little one-dimensional, I'm sewing on Saturday... I promise photos, morning tea, and maybe a little tutorial on whipping up a dress with no pattern.  My way.  Which is not the proper way.  Just in case my mother reads this.  Hi Mum!