On The Go....

Life has been busy round these parts! It always seems like everything important falls all within 2 weeks so you get run ragged! Nevertheless, life is full, happy and fun!
I thought I might show you a few pics of things I have made recently, am making or am going to make! I have quite a few crafting projects on the go these days!

Little girls handbag! Isnt it devine. So easy to make too which makes me happy!

I tried one of the new crochet sandal pattern I got during the week. It turned out ok, Im not overly happy with it, but will make the changes I think it needs and then hopefully next week, post a complete pair!

I also started some "Pirate Bunting" which will be about 8 different flag designs with some felt images sewn onto some of the flags. I cant wait to finish these, I think they are going to look really great!

I have also started making a quilt for our baby girl. These are the squares just cut out which I took last week but since then they are all sewn together and am on to the next step this week. I will do a more detailed post on quilting when I finish work as I figured since I am learning how to quilt, someone else may want to know how too!

I love being creative. Brings so much joy to my life....Im sure those creative ones out there agree! If you dont feel you are creative, I think EVERYONE can be creative, you just have to find something that interests you and get going!

Have a fab week, this is my LAST week of work before maternity leave so you can only imagine how exited I am!

Ciao

Bella

xx



Times are a Changin'

People always tell you growing up that there are seasons in life. Seasons for working hard, seasons for rest and so on. I always knew it to be true, but I feel like I am really living this at the moment. For the last few years it has felt like my motto has been "when I have the time..." - this especially applying to my creativity and things that I want to try, create, make and live. Well, that season is almost upon me as I only have 3 weeks left of working life before I settle into maternity leave and then go on to have our precious little girl who is due in August.
I have been bookmarking things for soooo long that I want to try and do and the time is nearly here that I will have that time! I have about 10 weeks off work before bubba comes then plan on staying home for a while to raise her (before all the critics send me emails about how busy I will be with a newborn, I know! I work with babies and young children and have a very good idea of the demands on mothers, especially new ones!) I do however, plan on setting aside daily time to be creative, whether that be when she is asleep or as she grows, a time where we can be creative together.

I have book marked so many great blogs and projects, I thought I would share some with you that are also interested in the creative side of life....

Love the Bluebird - I love this blog - lots of free patterns, especially ones that are nice and easy..

Easy Makes Me Happy - this would have to be my all time favourite crochet blog - sooo many patterns!

LuvintheMommyhood - I love Shannon's blog - lots of real life stories and sewing, stitching, knitting and crochet. She often does "Knit-a Longs" which is cool to be doing a project with women all over the world. Love.

I also have pinned a few projects that I cannot wait to try...

I love this crochet rug, I am going to make!

I am planning on making this as a rug for our nursery. I want to make it asap, I am dying it is so beautiful!

This fox jacket has got to be one of the best things I have seen on pinterest. The "head" of the fox is actually the hood of the jacket, can be worn up or down

I LOVE these little dolls. I am thinking of making these for bubba.

Some more cute rattles!

I think I have more than enough to keep me busy as I wait for my due date to draw closer!

Hope you have a creative week!

Ciao

Bella

xx

Dino Tails!

Hi friends! Hope you are all well. I am feeling quite chipper myself after waing up from a relaxing 2 hour Sunday afternoon nap! Nothing beats a relaxing afternoon nap I say!

I have been thinking more and more on my sewing/crochet/knitting projects I am doing as I plan on launching my business in around 6 weeks. I am thinking on working just on Facebook initially, to keep it simple so that when I go into have my baby and bring her home it will be manageable, then launching via a website later on. To that end, I have been experimenting with patterns and looking at what I love to make and what I love to do to include in that.

I have also been thinking seriously on having classes as well. I think it will begin with crochet first as I have had alot of interest from people about running something. I am thinking they will be casual "Crochet and Chat" session where you can work on a project you would like to complete and I can help you/tech you the stitches etc. I would love it to be a place where you can also chat, hang out with friends and generally just enoy yourself. I myself go to a sewing night every Wednesday and I just love it. I am learning alot of new techniques and get to make the projects that I want, not to mention the coffee, cake and chats half way through the night!

Anyway, they are my thoughts, if you ae interested in the crochet sessions, just drop me a note and let me know. I have had lots of interest from girls in the Blue Mountains, Penrith and Windsor - so maybe there might be one in each place?????

This weekend I did get to do some sewing and focussed on some of my "dramatic play for kids" ideas and patterns I haven't been able to get to. I ended up making these cute dino tails...

Fun for dress ups! Velcro waist band so kids can put on and off themselves!

I have loads of fabric that will need to be made into these. I love the bright colours and contrasting spots/stripes!

The straps that go around the waist and can be adjusted for the size of the child. It would also be really easy to make longer straps for a bigger child.

I also have this one ready to go but ran out of stuffing..back to the shops after work tomorrow!

Fun hey!

I am pretty sure these will go into my shop when I open it, possibly for about $18.

If you are interested in these for your little ones before I open my shop, dont hesitate to send me a message and I can do one before that time.

Hope you all have a great week! I am on the countdown now, 6 weeks left till maternity leave! wohoo!

Ciao

Bella

xx

Owls and Hats!

Hubs and I arrived home today from a wonderful Easter long weekend away with my family. The weather was exquisite - clear, blue sunny skies, the afternoons breezy and relaxing and the company top notch!
While away, the nights were very quiet so I had time to get into some hand stitching and crochet. I normally shy away from the hand stitching kind of work and use my machine, but I actually found I enjoyed it! I also found some time to complete two more crochet hats (which are way too cute!) Here are some pics:

This is my gorgeous niece Indianna..I made a crohet hat with brim and used a string of silk flowers I had on hand to decorate the top and give it the girly look..

I am loving this cute little hat on her!

Ok, now for my hand stitching!

A cute little boy and girl owl...

I am really loving pinks and reds at the moment!

I also tried my hand at this cute little owl hat...

Size 1-2..cute hey!

Ok that's it for me now, I've got a million things to go and then off to work tomorrow! (I am totally counting down - only 2 and a bit months to go and then I am off work to go have this baby! Yew!)

Ciao friends

Bella

xx

Woodland Crafting

Right now a huge storm is brewing outside, the wind is howling and big splats of rain are heralding the coming fierceness. What better time to be tucked up on the lounge, with coffee and oreos, chatting with you fine folks! Luckily, I just finished photographing some cute little Woodland creatures I had finished to show you today before it got too dark outside to get any decent pictures.

I am quite partial to so many of the cute little woodland creature sewing and crochet patterns that are floating around the internet at the moment, so I decided to have a go myself. I did have grand plans to get a whole set made, complete with a newborn hat as well. I set aside most of today (Sunday) but by midday I was feeling very ordinary and deciding on listening to my big fat pregnant body, I had a 3 hour nap. Oh yes I did. It was the best. So, because of that, I didn't get half as much of my sewing done, but that's life. I will try to finish them off this week, and if I am mega organised, will have another post ready before hubs and I head off to our annual family Easter weekend away at the beach (which I am counting down the sleeps to!)

Here is what I got done this week (not including some baby blankets for our little girl coming in August, but that will be another post!)

Newborn/Infant owl hat complete with ear flaps

I will be taking orders for these hats cause they are too good to keep just for me! I will be able to do sizes newborn to size 3 at this stage until I work out the patern for the bigger sizes. You can choose your colour and what colour you would like your owl eyes to be as well - I find you tend to enjoy something so much more when you can choose all the particulars!

(The hat is made in organic cotton, double stranded, so it is soft and flexible but also warm)

Now for my cute Woodland creatures...

I had made this owl and squirrel as cute little baby hand rattles...

I hand stitched both of them (with another 2 to come) and inserted stuffing and a rattle.

I have a deer and tree cut out as well that I should hopefully have done soon.

I think they are really cute. I am wanting to make them as cuddlies as well, so they will be about 3 times as big as they are in these pics.

What do you think?

If you ever would like to find out more about my work or order anything you see, feel free to leave me a comment or send me message

Have a great week leading up to Easter, hoping that the Easter bunny is kind to you all!

Ciao

Bella

xx

New Hats!

I have been absent for a few weeks cause I got to go on holidays! Yay for 2 weeks of sunny bliss for me and the hubs. Lots of sleep ins, dinners out (no cooking - double yay!) shopping, beaching, swims, coffee dates and late afternoon naps! Our holiday was made even better by finding out that we are having a little girl! Hubs reckons he had a "gut feeling" from the beginning and he said girl all along. I wasn't too sure, but nevertheless, we are pretty thrilled! The crafter in me has already been skimming through my pattern books making a list of all the things I want to make for our little one!!

Anyway, seeing as though autumn is upon us and winter will soon be here, I have started working on some new hats..I am debating between cotton and nice warm wool, but thinking I will do a combination of hats so I can use both. I have done two so far ....

Size 2-3 organic cotton ear flap hat with decorative elastic ribbons! so cute and mega comfy.

Ok so I know this is a GIRLS hat but my niece wasn't overly keen in getting her pic taken, but Reece, who is amazingly cute and has these eyes that look into your soul, wasn't against the idea! My sister minds him a few days a week and he is gorgeous. I simply needed a noggin to model this hat on and he was willing...nothin to be ashamed of Reecy boy!

I did manage to capture this one but her face says it all "if you absolutely must!"

The hat also has ties that can either hang down for cuteness or be tied up for more practical purposes.

I love this one! Size 1-2. Made in 100% aussie wool with a cute white band and oversized flower.

I really love the colours of this hat...nice and bright!

I have also been working on some new patterns...these cute puppy rattles are some:

I am going to be working on getting my business up and running over the next few months. I am starting by working on my catalogue of items I will be offering and other boring stuff like webites, changing my blog name over to my business name and all other things like that.

Currently, most of my hats are available for purchase or I also take custom orders. Just facebook me or leave a comment on my blog and I will get back to you!

Hope you all have a great week, I will be back next week with more hats!

Ciao

Bella

xxx

Baby Showers and Holidays!

It feels like time flys by so quickly and I never get time to prepare the blog posts that I really want to write. I always end up offering the half version of what I really want to say just to get my post down and then find myself frustrated that my blog is not doing what I want it to do! I keep telling myself that once maternity leave rolls around (3 and a half months to go, but whose counting!) I will have more time to really put the effort in. That's right...keep telling yourself that! Right now I am frantically trying to get this post done while packing for holidays, finishing off a couple of orders and scheduling baby scans. But who is complaining...all of those a good problems to have!

A friend of mine at work is having a little girl real soon and I put together a cute basket for her baby shower which I can't make as we will be away....I figured that every little girl needs cute shoes and hats!

cute pink shoes and a bunny ears hat to match!

Hubs and I are heading off on holidays in the next few days and I could not be more excited for it!!!! I am hoping for a little quiet time over the next few weeks to try my hand at needle felting - my new craft interest! A few pics that have inspired me lately...

Source

Source

I also want to try a few hook projects I have had waiting...

I LOVE these...how amazing and cute are they!!!

Too many cute things and no where near enough time. Let's hope I get a newborn that behaves!

Have a great few weeks, see you on the flip side where I will hopefully be relaxed, rejuvanted and bursting with news about whether we are having a pink one or a blue one!

Ciao

Bella

xx