Twirl Factor

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Jacinta

One of Tenneille’s birthday gifts was a dress I made for her.  Now I must say this dress has a twirl factor of 10!  It’s a fairly simple pattern and apart from some shirring issues, it made up very quickly.  The pattern is called Molly Mae and is by Amy Hamberlin of Kati Cupcakes pattern co.  This is the second pattern I have used by her.  The first was Scarlett’s quilt.  The sizing goes from 12 months through to 10 years.  So I can foresee making quite a few of these.  The pattern was originally purchased from The Fat Quarter online shop, but I don’t think they stock it now, however, it is available here.  The fabric comes from my stash.  I originally purchased it from Spotlight some years ago.  Now to make one for Scarlett.  I can just imagine all the twirling fun they are going to have together.  Makes me want one too.

I’m sure there will be many more photos of this dress to come, as Tenneille declared it ‘best ever dress’.   Jacinta x

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Birthday Girl

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Jacinta

This day, 6 years ago, Tenneille was born at home in the early hours of the morning.  Some pictures can be seen in this previous post.

Most of her presents were opened before she headed off to school.  There was much excitement to be had and a new dinosaur to cuddle.  The book was a hit too (well, it is written by Elsa Beskow, so I can’t help but love it).

I put her birthday quilt on her bed last night after she had gone to sleep and I don’t think she could quite believe it was actually finished.  I baked cupcakes last night to send off to school today (45 in total!).  We had a dinner of her request, and finished ourselves off with an ice-cream cake.  It was meant to be a castle cake, but alas with 100% humidity, the ice cream was not going to wait to be decorated.  The strawberry cream was not going to cooperate and kept sliding off the ice cream.  The kids didn’t mind how it looked though, as it was the waffle cones they were most interested in.

The kids have gone off to bed, very happy and very full of ice cream.

Happy birthday sweet girl, love Mama xx

 

 

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This Moment

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Jacinta

From Soulemama {this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment.  A moment I want to pause, savour and remember.

Scarlett's Artwork

I love your moments too.  So feel free to leave a link in the comment section for us all to see.  Have a beautiful weekend.  Jacinta x

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Off To School

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Jacinta

Tenneille started school this year. We are into the third week and so far, so good.  She happily gets ready in the morning and is very eager to get to school.  We decided for a myriad of reasons, to send her to a different school to Scarlett.  It certainly adds an interesting angle to the week, but thankfully we are carpooling with another family which makes the logistics of getting children to and from different locations at the same time possible.

Tenneille looks so darn cute in her uniform and I have to giggle whenever she runs ahead of me, at the fact her bag is practically bigger than she is (as is her school dress.  I could fit two of her in it!).

The hardest part so far has been trying to extract Jairah from the classroom.  He certainly likes the school!

Jacinta x

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A Terrain Quilt

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Jacinta

I have been busy the last couple of days trying to get a quilt finished for a dear friend who turned 40 this week.  Her party was last night, but I didn’t quite get the quilt finished in time.  But alas today, it is done.  She loves purple and it seemed the Kate Spain Terrain charm packs I had stashed away had been waiting for just the right person, with it’s lovely mix of purples and complimentary colours.  Teamed with the solid purple (Bella solid Terrain Iris, by Moda), I am happy with how it has come together.

The design is my own, using two packs of charm squares and about 3 metres of the Bella Iris solid fabric.  Unfortunately the lighting wasn’t the best tonight and the purple is really hard to capture correctly.  Of course the pictures I took showing the whole of the front and back turned out terribly, so will have to add some more pictures tomorrow.

Front of quilt

Back of quilt

Her party was so much fun and I managed to catch up with lots of lovely people who I don’t get to see often.  We were entertain with beautiful singing and music being played by her talented friends.  Although, I must admit my late night has caught up with me tonight. I can hardly keep my eyes open.  I hope you have had a beautiful weekend?  Jacinta x

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This Moment

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Jacinta

From Soulemama {this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment.  A moment I want to pause, savour and remember.

I love your moments too.  So feel free to leave a link in the comment section for us all to see.  Have a beautiful weekend.  Jacinta x

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New flooring

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Jacinta

After much discussion as to what flooring we wanted to put down in the remaining two bedrooms, lounge and dining area, we decided to stick with carpet.  Originally we were going to use floating bamboo flooring like we did in the girls rooms and kitchen, but unfortunately the bamboo we were using was discontinued (a con of doing renos at our snail paced speed!).   So off to a carpet shop we went.  Thankfully we had a great selection to choose from in our price range and better still, Greg and I both liked the same colour.

The carpet was laid today.  We are very happy with our choice and it is so lovely to walk on.  We were so tempted not to put furniture back in place, as the minimalistic look was very appealing.  I love the idea of not having things to dust!  Alas, while I went out to yoga, one of Greg’s good friend came over and helped him lug the heavy stuff back into place.  I certainly know who drew the short straw there.

It’s starting to feel like all our hard work is starting to pay off.  The house is getting to the stage where I will be able to share more pictures with you soon.  But for now, here is a before and after photo looking from the kitchen doorway back into the dining and lounge area….

Before

 

After

The dog is loving the new carpet as are the kids.  Now, if only they could invent carpet that repelled lint, dirt and crushed gum leaves (gum leaves are the bane of my existence), I’d be most impressed.  Jacinta x

We purchased the carpet through Carpet Call in Narre Warren and were pretty happy with their service and installation.

The carpet is nylon and the colour code is 72 (like a dark charcoal).

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This Moment

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Jacinta

From Soulemama {this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment.  A moment I want to pause, savour and remember.

I love your moments too.  So feel free to leave a link in the comment section for us all to see.  Have a beautiful weekend.  Jacinta x

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Abundance

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Jacinta

I harvested our first bunch of rhubarb today as it was taking over more than it’s fair share of the veggie patch.  I’m getting so excited with all the produce that is starting to ripen in our garden.  Beans are appearing overnight as are cucumbers.  Although, Jairah seems to have a radar for finding the ripe cucumbers and manages to get them without me seeing.  Cheeky boy.  We have a lovely amount of lettuce that is tripling its size everyday and I am looking forward to tasting at least one of the three strawberries that are growing.  We’re certainly a long way from becoming self sufficient, heck, look at our crop of blueberries….

…..and no, no one had raided the bush first.  I suppose I should go easy on the plant, after all, it isn’t much bigger that a stick.  Hopefully all our other fruit trees will eventually provide us with more than just a token bounty.

But alas, I believe I made my inner granny very happy with my kitchen endeavours this afternoon, as I managed to bottle some nectarines (courtesy of a friend’s tree) and rhubarb.  Obviously deciding that wasn’t enough, I also stewed up the rest of the rhubarb with some apples so we could have apple and rhubarb sponge for dessert.  It’s just as well I didn’t have more fruit on hand, as I doubt it would have escaped being preserved!

Bottled Rhubarb and Nectarines

I think this nectarine is happy, don't you?

Apple and rhubarb sponge

I love that I am able to bottle a little of this summer’s abundance, which will hopefully last to be enjoyed once summer’s warmth is long gone, reminding us of the goodness that mother nature has provided.  Oh yes, my inner granny is most satisfied.  Jacinta x

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A Friendship Quilt

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Jacinta

I have had the pedal to the metal, well my sewing machine pedal that is.  One of Scarlett’s dear friends turns 9 this week and had a birthday party this weekend.  They all went to high tea in the city and apparently the establishment commented that they were the loveliest group of children they have ever had through.  I came up the with insane great idea to make her a quilt on Thursday, to have ready to gift by this weekend.  I have been stealing bits of time to get the quilt finished by this weekend and I am happy to say I finished it before lunchtime today. I am so happy with how the quilt has turned out.  I purchased it as a quilt kit from Spotlight.  I love how it has turned out and to save time, I kept to the pattern that came with the material.  I even had some batting that was just the right size.  We gave it to ‘C’ today when they dropped Scarlett back home and I am happy to say she snuggled up under the quilt on our sofa straight after she unwrapped it.

So wishing you ‘C’ a very happy birthday.  You are very loved by us all and we are so very glad you are part of Scarlett’s life (and ours).  We have always referred to you and Scarlett as soul sisters and may you always keep the dear friendship you both share.  Much love dear girl, Jacinta xx

Showing the underside

 

 

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