Bonser Day Out

no photos to show... but we had a wonderful day at Daybro Day. i went to sleep on saturday night with the best intentions of going to mass to celebrate Pentecost Sunday at 9am however i just couldn't get myself showered and ready in time :) after feeling rather guilty with myself, i decided that we would do SOMETHING for a change. too many weekends go by where we spend the day cleaning and pottering and listen to the children bicker. so while i showered, mick and the girls got dressed and ready for trip to the Daybro. what a great day we had, the street closed to traffic and stalls all over the place and to top it off an antiques and collectibles fair! the weather was amazing and we really enjoyed strolling aimlessly all day. rides, trash and treasure, shows, cakes and good old fashioned church stall prices... boy what a day!!! i would like to add that is seems to be harder to find a bargain these days!! have a great week mmmwwwwaaahhh rosey

gotta love a good fete

i get all excited when i see a sign for a school fete, i have visions of wonderful trash and treasure stalls, book stalls, homemade treats and goodies and of course rides. one of the local state schools had their fete, but due to the unbelievable amount of rain Brisbane has had, instead of being spread out on an enormous field the stalls were all squished up near classrooms under cover. although this was the logical and appropriate place for the fete it meant that at least 1000 people were all pushing up against each other trying to get the best bargain or the SAME item. after a bit of pushing and shoving and $25 for 6 rides we headed home with these extremely cute hair clips. yes, swoon, those are tiny crocheted flowers attached to clips. even i have worn these to work this week!!

i must say that i have a wonderful husband but he really, really hates crowds and shopping. so after watching steam coming out of his ears as he negotiated the pram through the throng of young and old fete goers, we headed off to put Claudia to bed. the girls and i headed back to the fete and grabbed these little bargains at the trash and treasure stall.

this one was snatched by Mia...

and lili clutched onto this one. the lady charged them $5 for both which i thought was bit steep for a trash and treasure but it put a smile on my girls faces so it was worth it.

and i grabbed this little fella for myself! made in japan, this salt shaker was just calling me to take him home... and at 50cents i couldn't refuse.

and i bought this frame for $1.50 and couldn't wait to put this stitchery idea into it.

babalisme has posted this as a free download and has asked for people to embroider it. i had it lying around and voila look how sweet it is in this frame. at least i know it is in a safe place until i get the time to stitch it. you have to visit her blog cause it is full of great original designs of sweetness.

before i go i received an award a little while ago from rebecca over at edward and lilly. it is the lemonade award and i would like to thank rebecca for thinking of me. if you would like this award grab it and consider yourself SQUEEZED :)

head over to edward and lilly to check out rebeccas blog. i love going there as it always looks so neat just like a freshly cleaned house. she posts the best Saturday shopping list and creative spaces weekly and i just love it.

i feel like there is more to say but i will just sign off now and pop back in when i think of what it is.

%*_*% rosey

the queen of procrastination

oh yes my dear friends that title suits me very well, right now i have 11 reports waiting to be written but instead i am here in front of this puter (kids speak for computer) typing about my new promise. i want to relinquish the crown and am sure that i will have many of you gorgeous gals vying for the title of Queen Procrastinator. i wont be giving it up easily, oh no you have to earn it by telling me what you do to put off doing what you really have to? when i was at college i would even CLEAN THE CUPBOARDS instead of writing the 2000 word essay due the next day!!! that is desperate i know!

does anyone remember this guy??

i started him, oooooohhh maybe a year ago???? i named him pablo and i am hoping to turn him into a pillow!! i am sure the lovely linda will help me when i get to that stage :) *fluttering my eyelashes while begging* well to get out of this rut and lose the title, i am promising to finish a feather a night (bit like a granny a day)( no not finishing a granny but a granny square! crocheting that is)

i had just learnt how to blanket stitch, still learning really....

i will only be stitching on the nights i don't have to work so for you mathematicians out there i have 17 left so in under a month this baby should be ready to stuff!!

and to prove my procrastination... i made these two last night instead of reports or feather stitching!! ( lucky i have a very understanding teaching partner)

and if you want to see a bit more about these sweet brooches head over to my other blog. and the other thing i think i might start is 'the wiggles diet'... what is the wiggles diet i hear you ask? well after watching those very thin men jump around on stage and my 3 year old making me join in... i just might lose the 3 kgs i am desperate to shift! now i just better listen to the blue wiggy and just eat fruit :) smooches and best wishes for a fantastic weekend.

kindness surrounds me!

all my life i have been surrounded by kind and generous people. i am sure that these people have shaped me as a person and i continue to be inspired by people who shower me and my girls with unexpected gifts. a few weeks ago one of my husbands friends mother made each of my girls a poncho and scarf for the winter months. i haven't got a photo of each of them but here is the knitted beauty that lili has claimed for herself. she looks so nice in it.

the photos don't do the colours justice. it really is brilliant and she just loves its functionality.

a few days ago my gorgeous across the road neighbour called out to me and gave me a bag of 'something' for the girls. when we got inside the bag contained a pair of winter pyjamas for the girls! so very generous, she has two young children of her own and is studying while working 3 jobs to keep her family afloat. in no way could she really afford to do this but she is just so nice. here is a photo of Mia and Claudia with their pj's.

here is clauds in her new pj's. they didn't come off all day!

and Mia in her pair. she chose the cutest designs and the colours really suited the girls. lilis pair were too small but the pair i exchanged them for are the cutest purple owls you have ever seen.

they are so lucky to have such generous people in their lives. i think that because of all of this generosity my girls will grow up to be givers :)

%*_*%

retro delight

i have done it again... i have ventured into the tweens section of 'target' and snatched the best t-shirt ever!! when i saw it i just had to have it. look at it and tell me if you could resist???

isn't is the sweetest?? but the real kicker is that this utterly cute shirt is a SCRATCH and SNIFF shirt!!

yep scratch away and smell the sweet scent of lemons. there was a watermelon or strawberry one too but not in my size :( i love wearing it, takes me back to my youth). i still give out scratch and sniff stickers to the kids in my class, they love it :)

it is funny how certain smells can conjure the most blessed memories. i have such a desire to hunt down a certain bubble bath that i remember having when we lived on our farm in toowoomba. the bottle was shaped like a princess and the girl on top even had real hair (doll hair) i just loved the smell and even now if i try hard enough i can smell it. maybe this is a memory when my mother was alive... i know i was very young.

do you ever have those sorts of triggers?? wouldn't it be nice to go back in time and salvage all of those things that mean so much to us now. my youth has some very sad patches, as do many family stories but one huge regret that i have is that a beauty case full of old family films was thrown away. those sorts of family films that were on reels... oh i could cry a river of tears for the images that must have been on them. having lost my mother before i turned 4 means that i have no memory of her but i relish any thought of her holding me, wiping my tears, laughing with me, dressing me or brushing my hair....those reels would have held those sorts of images and much much more. wouldn't it be nice if i sent a letter to 'can you help' on the abc and they hunted them down?? sadly i think that case was destined for the dump as my fathers separation from his second wife was not amicable and her vindictive side might have just made sure that that case was never seen again.

ok what started out as a show and tell has turned into something a bit deeper, sorry.

anyhow i am looking forward to sleeping in as i am not taking my girls out in that rain again, we nearly got washed away!!!

goodnight to all of you out there in cyber space, happy memory hunting

%*_*% rosey

p.s. i won again!! not sure what but i will blog about it when it arrives :)

do i have to spell it out??

before my first child was born i used to read to her, sing the times tables to her and all the other crazy things first time mothers do. i would religiously read to her and have great photos of her at 3 months of age sitting on my lap and reaching for the pages. i dreamt of the day she would read herself and be interested in books. those days are here and yesterday she chose a book from the library that was more than a picture book. then the second child came along and she has proven to have even more knowledge of the english language and is learning to read at break neck speed. and the baby isn't far behind, i swear she had the best vocabulary of any almost 3 year old i have come across.

the problem with all of this is that now they can spell too... so gone are the days of mister moo and i being able to spell things out like 'what are you having for S W E E T S when the children go to bed' or ' i am just ducking out to the S H O P S'. i guess i will just have to G R I N and B E A R it :)

onto more exciting news, look at the lovely giveaway i won!

miss vanessa knows how to excite a girl!

her art is just positively divine!

if you haven't visited her blog, a fanciful twist ,follow my link into a whimsical, fantasy land where there is no evil only great great things!

i won an oh so sweet coffee filter wristlet!

the card is already in my cigar box and the wristlet is being displayed on my crafting shelf. she has instructions on how to makes these sweet accessories on her blog.

oh i am so lucky, now all i have to do is win the lotto so i never have to work again.

thanks vanessa you are sucha doll!

%*_*%

oh happy day!

this photo sums up how the past week has been... blurry! i have felt like a dog chasing its tail, trying to keep up with school work, cleaning mess from sick children, stitching and all of the other 'jobs' us mums do.

i would like to put last week behind me and start again beginning with this glorious Sunday which just happens to be mothers day. even though there is still a whole lot of phlegmy coughing and nose blowing there are no more asthma attacks, vomiting and goopey eyes. geesh i need a rest! mia had to have the whole week off as her eyes didnt want to clear, but she is right now and will have to endure a whole week back at school, how rude!

poor old miamoo conjunctivitis is such a hard illness as they are perfectly well other than this extremely contagious infection. she loved every minute of having to stay home for a whole week! still puffy and red after day 4!

anyhow moving on to more important business, i have finshed 5 babushka brooches and am now working on the kokeshi doll brooches. i really wanted to have them all done ready to take out to lilly cottage yesterday but the week that was put a halt on much of my stitching and running on less than 5 hours of sleep each day has really taken its toll. however i wish to have it all ready to take out next saturday.

crazy cat posing with one of the brooches.

each one has a different colour combo and design on the skirt.

i think it makes a bright statement, oh sew cute! (hope they sell)

now onto mothers day, i have a memory of being spolied last year but this year takes the cake! each present brought squeals of excitement from me and each present got better!

each present was wrapped in this lovely lavender paper...

here is some of my goodies, flowers from our garden, two cards (the babushka card was a gift from clare from clares craftroom, it was blank so that my girls could write in it! she is one thoughtful lady) a gorgous china cup, the funniest tv series i think i have ever watched and a voucher to...

go and spend $30 on fabric or other related craft! and i can do it for 5 hours on my own!!!

and my favourite present... another charm this time a cupcake :)

i love how personal this braclet is and i havent even chosen one thing yet.

of course after i open my presents i was presented with breakfast in bed but decided to join the rest at the table. what a lucky gal.

i also recieved my fair share of mothers day stall goodies that lili chose just for me. SPOILT

now i am off for a walk around the local park while the girls ride their bikes. really wish i didnt have to work tomorrow....

smooches rosey

sick of being sick!

the one thing i never thought about before having 3 kids was that the length of any illness is times by 5 as we all slowly catch it off each other! i had some sort of hideous sinus infection last week but made it through my three days of work only to walk into a weekend of sneezing, wheezing and coughing by my 3 year old and husband. the baby was coughing so much that she vomited several times and let me tell you almost 3 year olds don't have good aim. no matter how well set up she was with towels covering every surface of her bed and bucket within reach, she still managed to get the pillow, carpet and anything else within wakingwhilecoughingandvomiting distance. why do babies do that? why do they walk and vomit at the same time? why don't they make a nice neat pile of it?

anyhow as mr moo and claudia slowly recovered poor old lili was knocked to the ground with it. monday was a holiday, by which time mick and claudia were showing signs of improvement but poor old lili hit the deck that night and mick took tuesday off to take them all to the doctor only to be told they didnt need antibiotics just ventolin. oh lili is on a course of steroids as her asthma was quite bad. mia has conjunctivitis so i had to stay home on wednesday! lili and mick are back at work and school and the two youngest are at home with me slowly getting better.

phew! in amidst all of that wheezing, sneezing and coughing the girls stitched a few more things. they might just become my mothers day presents i think :)

lili put some lavender in this one and a ribbon to hang her anywhere.

i drew the picture and she stitched almost all of it. she even did the button which she thought was dead easy!

and she chose my lovely violet fabric for the back.

mia started to stitch this kokeshi doll but i think i did more than she did.

she chose the backing fabric and i made her sew it up and fill it all by herslef.

here she is with her two softies!

aren't they sweet. they almost look like saints :) like butter wouldn't melt in their mouth!

i am hoping that this is the only bout of illness we get this cold season but something tells me this is only the beginning...

%*_*% rosey

wordless wednesday

the next big thing...

when i first started blogging (august last year) soft owls and mushrooms were all the rage, i am yet to attempt either but they are certainly on my to do list. so i am not sure if i have missed this boat or i am about to set sail with the next big trend but here she is..

this is my version of a kokeshi doll, which reminds me of the Japanese version of a babushka. (don't kill me if i am not even remotely close with that last comment :)

a few things to tweak but overall i am happy with her cuteness.

the best thing is that the little details can be changed to make each of these unique just like the little babushkas.

although she doesn't have a flat bottom she looks good propped up against anything. here she is enjoying some sunshine along with a dragonfly in the garden. she measures 3 inches or 7.5 cm a real cutie patootie!

corduroy would have to be my most favourite fabric, this print really suited my kokeshi gal.

i was thinking of making her into a brooch, maybe the next one :) what do you think? what should i do with her?

so am i onto the next big thing or has this trend been and gone???

and on another subject i am enjoying twitter, come follow me so that i can follow you. and a big thank you to christy over at sweet tidings for featuring me in her collage of etsy shops to visit, i am alongside some wonderfully creative gals.

off to enjoy our long weekend.

smooches rosey