Yes I am Still Alive

Hi all, yes I am still alive!!! What a long few weeks we have had! Everyone had colds or the flu and on top of that I got a chest infection and ended up bed ridden for 4 days! Aches and pains, sweats and chills, vomiting, coughing, temp of 39.5, pains in the head like you wouldn't believe and no energy what so ever!! David had to take a few days off work to look after Sam, and me as my Dr said I was highly contagious and we didn't want Samantha or Spen getting it! I'm still very weak and still coughing but better than I was! Haven't been able to do any craft, or much of anything else if comes down to it, which has been driving me insane! I had been making my sister a little something (can't say much), but that has been sitting waiting for me to get better. I managed to make this gorgeous little dress for Samantha just before I got ill.....

It's nothing to flash, just a basic shift dress. It is all done by hand as I don't have sewing machine, and I was amazed at how quickly I managed to make it. The fabric I found at Spotlight in the remnant bin for $1!!!! I love paisley and when I saw this I had to have it!

It will be nice and cool for her in summer as the fabric is so light. Can't wait to see her in it!

My sister Diane has a pen pal in Scotland, Susan, hi Susan! that sent a cute little teddy bear over to me nearly 11years ago when I was pregnant with my son, well Spencer has handed Teddy on to his little sister and I thought Susan would like to see how Teddy has stood the test of time....

He has had a very interesting life has our Teddy! Flown from Scotland to New Zealand, from New Zealand to Australia, he has been camping a few times and on school camps. He even went missing for about a month at one stage and just turned up again under Spens bed one day! He is lovely and both kids have loved him. Thank you Susan xxxx and thank you for your well wishes when I was sick.

I have made a couple of things that I am dying to put on my blog but I can't until I have sent a parcel to my sister and she has seen them first then I will post them, so stay tuned.

Oh The Joy Of Sick Kids!!!

Don't you just love it when your kids get sick, and then even better you get sick as well!!!! David came home with a cold and he passed it on to Samantha who is teething as well, yippee! She gave it to me, but mine escalated into the flu! Spencer now has it as well. Last night was the first decent sleep I have had since last Sunday!!! Hence not much craftiness has been going on here. We are all slowly getting better (thank god). Will hopefully be back to 100% soon.

I designed and downloaded this little sweety from blessthischick.com, isn't she just adorable!

I Would Like To Thank......

The ever amusing Susan at Random Blethers has bestowed upon me the Creative Blogger Award!!! I nearly fell off my chair with excitement when I read that!!!!!!! So I wish to thank Susan of course and my family for their encouragement, god for making me (and mum and dad), who else do those Oscar winners thank?, hey its the only award I'm likely to get so I'm going to make the most of it! The rules are that I have to pass the award on to 5 creative people as well so here they are....

1. Diane = The Sound Of One Hand Knitting

2. Sal = Thirty Something Hobbies

3. Emma = Sew Recycled

4. Carol = A Stitch In Time

5. Blair = Wisecraft

A special mention is the lovely Susan herself who is an inspiration herself!!

You all inspire me and encourage me with your creativeness and talents and I thank you for that. Especially you Diane, you are a marvel to me and my biggest inspiration, the person I turn to when I have no clue as to what I'm doing, and if you don't have the answer you always help me work it out.

You all now give the award to 5 people as well.

Scrapbooking

I thought I would give you all a peek at some of my scrapbooking that I have done. I was introduced to scrapbooking by my future sister-in-law Kim who does it herself, and I love doing it. I haven't done any for a while been caught up doing the cross-stitch things and the kids, you know how it is. I really wanted to scan the pages but of course they don't fit in the scanner do they!!!!

These two are of David's 11year old daughter Celeste....

These two are of our little princess Samantha...

These two black and white ones of Samantha and Spencer are two of my favourites.....

These ones are David and I telling 5 things we love about Samantha.....

These two are of the three kids together. The bottom one has an envelope with a card about each child in it where I wrote down what they were like and what things they liked so I can always remember how they were. I have to say I was brutally honest on these!!! But I wanted that......

Spencer did this page, what a talented boy he is, takes after his mum!!! I love it....

And this one is of Samantha contemplating life. I love the little butterfly button...

Lastly this one is of my best friend Tania who I left back in NZ, and who tragically died in a hit and run accident nearly a year ago, one month after giving birth to a new baby daughter, Shilo. The baby in this photo is Jordan who we called Bam Bam. Oh how I miss you Tania....

Grow Little Flowers

Would you believe that I found these little darlings growing in the lawn next to our clothesline! I saw them while I was hanging the washing out last week and they brought a smile to my face. I dug them up and transplanted them into my garden and they are just blooming and thriving! Violets are one of my fav flowers, I just love the combination of the green and the violet colours.

Speaking of little darlings....

This little darling spends a lot, and a mean a lot of the day doing this, removing her socks!!! When I took this shot at about 10am it was about the 6th time she had done it today!!! She takes them off and then brings them to me and says "Ta", or she sees me and runs in the opposite direction, her socks in her hands giggling her head off!!!

The jeans she is wearing here are my favourites. Being as tiny as she is it is not an easy task finding jeans that fit her without the assistance of a belt! She has a very tiny waist and no hips (Oh how I wish that was me I was describing!!!), so when I came across these and discovered that they were a perfect fit I was ecstatic!!!!! And I love the flowers and hearts around the bottom, just adorable!

Men Are Funny Creatures

Well another cross-stitch finished. I finished my little heart sampler yesterday, a relief to David!! Men are funny are they not, maybe unexplainable would be a better description!! David had been a little jealous of my cross-stitching over the last week (though he would not admit it to you!), I have been doing little bits of it every night as this is usually the only time I get to do it when Samantha is asleep and the house tidy, so David has been feeling little left out as I am busy and not able to tickle his feet as I usually do in the evenings. Any way here is the final product...

Th amazing thing is David even said it was very nice and that I had done a good job, I think he was just relieved it was finished! Sadly for him and his feet I have others planned! Oh that almost sounds a bit evil of me doesn't it??? The sampler is now hanging on the dining room wall with me other cross-stitch....

The kitchen sampler in the middle is my biggest cross-stitch achievement to date and I am very proud of it I must say. I made this just after I had my son Spencer nearly 11 years ago, it took a while but I loved every minute of it....

I love everything on it, my dream house would be a cottage in a field somewhere with all these things in it! Well dreams are free are they not?

Any way David made up for his miffyness (just made that up, I like it) last night, I gave Samantha a bath and when I came out and went into our room this is what awaited me...

It's a little hard to see, but he spelt out I Love You in my strawberry candy which is even cuter because the candy has little hearts in the middle!! I know, I know you all just ran to get buckets to throw up into, but to me an unashamed total romantic, who never gets romance, and I mean NEVER this was gold!!!! It was so sweet of him, get it SWEET=CANDY, oh never mind! I love you so much my darling David xxxx
Well I better go plan my next craft project....I want to make my sister D a birthday present, what do you make someone who can make things better than I can can???????

Fat Quarters

I had to show a photo of the fat quarters I got the other day! Every time I look at them my heart gives a little flutter.... is that a little sad? I don't care, they make me smile and dream of all the things I could make with them. There was no rhyme or reason for me buying these ones in particular, I just loved them!!! I have no clue as to what I will use them for but the right project will show up for each of them eventually I am sure. Here is a closer look at each...

The top three have a gold fleck in the design which gives them a gorgeous lustre and when I found the rose one I HAD TO HAVE IT!!!! Yes I know D I'm so predictable!

Craft Overload

It has been a very productive couple of week for me with my craft. Looking at other peoples blogs has really inspired me and giving me some get up and go with my craft. My head has hundreds of ideas going threw it, mainly at about 2am!!! Why do the best ideas come at ungodly hours????


I finished this cute little kit that mum sent over...

I sewed it to some scrap fabric I had laying around and then put it in a little frame I had.

Then I decided to do a bit more to the first cross stitch kit that mum sent me, and this is how it turned out...

I added a couple of gorgeous little beads, one of a butterfly and one of a dragonfly..

Stuck it into a card, then put that onto some card stock from my scrap booking supplies, adding a gorgeous ribbon to the bottom and a quote to the the top. The quote says " Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower". I think it looks really lovely and now just have to find a frame to do it justice!

I went to my all time fav store Spotlight on Sunday.It is a craft persons dream come true!!! I walked around lusting after all these things that I couldn't get!!! But I did get a few beads that I couldn't walk past, some fat quarters because they were just to lovely to leave there, some quilting batting and some charms.

With the beads I purchased I thought I would give jewellery making a try, and this is what I made...

Not a bad effort I thought. Spencer thought I did a great job and Samantha loves playing with it, she loves the noise it makes!! May have to plain another trip to Spotlight to get some more beads I think, any excuse to go back!!!!

The last project I have been working on is another cross-stitch kit mum sent (yes another one)....

I changed the format a bit and changed the colours as well, then added these cute heart charms, again from Spotlight. I have done a bit of quilting on it and want to add something else, but don't want to give it away just yet. Have decided not to put it in a frame I am going to out tabs at the top and hang it like that. Will keep you posted.