Random Acts of Kindness

My creative space today is all over the place. A bit of this, a bit of that. I spent the morning going through my teaching resources and a few other boxes that haven't been opened in quite a while, oh, and DO I HAVE SOMETHING TO SHOW YOU... but it will have to wait till tomorrow. Don't be too upset - there is a reason for that, and I'm about to let you in on it! :)

You see a little while ago, Nin decided to host a fabric scrap swap. Now, as you know, I love getting packages in the mail, and the idea of getting to play with someone else's fabric? Yes please! But I haven't really sewn that many things yet, so even though I have a little fabric waiting to be cut, I didn't have anything I could swap. well I left a message on Nin's blog, letting her know that if she ever decided to do another swap down the track, that I would love to have a go. Enter Roz.

How blown away would you be if someone saw a comment you had made like that and decided to send you a package of scraps, JUST BECAUSE??? I still am amazed by it (and I know some of the reason behind the gesture - but I am still plain gob-smacked!). So here is the scrumptious package of goodies that arrived in the post today.

Kid in a candy store???

Look at all the fabric unpacked! Woo Hoo!!! I have already had a play in it and have started thinking of what I can make with it. Further suggestions greatfully accepted. :)

Scrap Happy

Some silk silver. I confess, I had to google to try and figure out what to do with it. If you have ever worked with it before - PLEASE let me know! :)

I have a few plans for these pretties already. :) Perhaps something a little inspired from The Attic. Stay tuned.

 Hope you have all had a wonderfully creative day. If you are feeling like a sponge for inspiration, head over to Our Creative Spaces.

S xox

Little Sprinkles of Love...

I had plans for Valentines day... lots of plans. But. Not. Much. Happened. I guess that is the way it is sometimes. When you have small children and you don't plan it all out in advance as much as you should have. I was also going to do a Valentines Day related post each day leading up to it... um, maybe next year? Never mind. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day anyway - even if I didn't end up decorating this year.

Here is a little sample of what we did.

The boys and I made Choc Vanilla cupcakes. My two boys love baking. They had such fun sprinkling the hearts on top. The colour intensity of the hearts actually increased the longer they were sitting on the cupcakes (presumably from absorbing moisture out of the frosting).

My gorgeous boys also picked their Mummy some pretty red flowers (with a little help from Daddy and the secceteurs) to make our table look brighter for dinner. They each came in toting flowers. Such sweetness! :) Makes me want to scoop them up in my arms and just snuggle. (I did have some scrumptious hugs with them, but the snuggling had to wait - I was cooking pancakes after all!)

We had pancakes with home made berry compote, whipped cream, and Maple Syrup. Mmmm! There's nothing quite like it! I don't know about you, but I'd eat pancakes every couple of weeks if they were better for me! ;) I included a little note for my man... I think it's important to affirm them regularly. I wish I did it more. And since my hubby's love language is words of affirmation - I should have more incentive. How often do you tell the man in your life what he means to you? That you appreciate the fact that he gets up to go to work EVERY work day - even if there are some days that he'd rather stay home and play. That you love watching him interact with your children. That when he is patient with you (even when you are being silly about something) it softens your heart. And especially when they share their feelings, thoughts and dreams.

The there's the little man in the house who asked me to make him some of these when he saw the ones I had done for his little cousins. These are the same size as the ones I used on the gift for my SIL for her b'day.

A little more fun we had in the kitchen. We actually baked them the day before Valentine's Day, but didn't decorate them till the next day. It's not the way I wanted to decorate them - but the icing wouldn't co-operate, so we just added pretty sprinkles to some of them.

There it is. That's it. Little sprinkles of love. Takes a little planning, but not a whole lot to actually do it - and it's so much fun!!! I think we might be having more days around here that are sprinkled with love. How about you?


S xxx

For more creative fun see what other peeps are doing.

The Sunflower Starfish Baby Beanie

I want to say thank you all for your encouraging comments for both my baby beanie, and the Valentines headbands.

Since some of you were interested in the pattern, I thought I'd post it for you now before I get distracted with something else! ;)

Without further ado, I give you...

The Sunflower Starfish Baby Beanie

Fits from birth to 3 months approx.
Materials:
4 ply baby yarn (I used Cleckheaton Cocoon, that I had in my stash)
3.5mm Double Pointed Needles (The yarn wrapper says 3.25mm, but I tend to knit tightly with 4ply)
Stitch marker
Tapestry needle for sewing up the top of beanie

Cast on 100 stitches. I like the long tail method for this.
Place the stitches evenly over 3 of the DPN's and add stitch marker. (I place the first stitch on the last needle, and the last on the first, thereby crossing the threads and making a loop (you could also use circular needles if they are short enough).
Work 10 rows of 2x1 rib
Work 20 rows of knit stitch (stst)
Begin decreases
Knit 8 stitches K2tog
Knit 1 row
Knit 7 stitches K2tog
Knit 1 row
Knit 6 stitches K2tog
Knit 1 row
Knit 5 stitches K2tog
Knit 1 row
Knit 4 stitches K2tog
Knit 1 row
Knit 3 stitches K2tog
Knit 1 row
Knit 2 stitches K2tog
Knit 1 row
Knit 1 stitches K2tog
Knit 1 row
Knit 2 stitches together till the end of row

Thread tapestry needle and stitch through remaining loops, fastening off after 2 rounds (I like to know it's going to be secure).

(P.S. This is the first time I've ever written a beanie pattern - so if you find any glitches, please let me know.)

Simple, easy Valentines head bands.

I found a link for some cute crochet hearts earlier this week. They are really very cute, and I wanted desperately to make some (see that is what happens when you have boys... you crave the odd girly thing), so I figured I could make some cute embellishments to go on headbands. Then while shopping in Woolworths, I found what I thought would be the perfect head bands to attach them to - one white and one red. Cheering!

I whipped up the hearts using 4 ply yarn (doubled for the larger heart on the head band and with a 4.5mm /G hook) and simply attached them by stitching them through the top layer of the head band while keeping to the back stitches of the hearts. I could have used hot glue I guess - but I'm not particularly confident with the stuff (that's hubby's forte).

Since the pattern also has a larger sized heart, I wanted to give it a go too, so when I was wrapping my SIL's B'day pressie last night, I thought "Ahh, I know! I'll add a heart!" I would have used a peacock feather if I'd had one - but hey, we're keeping with the Valentines theme here! :) Here's how it turned out...

Yes I have joined the hessian (burlap to my US friends) lovers group! Actually, I already loved it, I just needed some to play with! I also added a few seed beads onto wire and made a small heart shape for added dimension.

Happy Birthday BJ - you are amazing!!! 

Have a beautiful day!


S xxx

Linking up here today.