Domesticali

And the award goes to… moi!

I've given up hope of any form of 'services to motherhood' award (although I may earn a mom-scout badge or two - go and look) but when Jojo gave out these badges, I knew that was one award which had my name written all over it.





And how do I know I deserve one?

Well, that'd be the small matter of:

1. Tardyness in acknowledging goodie parcels

From Tasha - lovely apples and pears fabric in 3 colourways in a little fabric swapette we had going on.



From Paper and String - a gnome-a-licious mini-bag.



I have now won 3 giveaways over at her site (the latest being a name the monkey thing - meet Mustapha Monkey) and if you must-av-one go see her etsy shop.



I need to stop entering giveaways over there, because it's getting embarrassing, but you should go and try your luck.

And to complete the hat-trick, a wonderful parcel from Maxine at Noodles and Doodles, full of the most lovely Easter booty. I can't show you it all because:: you'll be too envious : we've eaten a lot of it : some of the photos didn't come out quite as planned. But look at the amazing twill tape.



And our egg-eating accessories. Don't you need to wear a brooch that co-ordinates with your egg cosy?



2. Uncompleted give-aways
This one is blatant fraud. I hosted a give-away without organizing the package first. Cardinal sin of craft-blogging. My excuse was I could then tailor the contents to the recipient, but instead of doing that promptly, I went shopping. I'm sorry Zoe, next week I promise. And in my own defence, I did find a cute t-shirt.



3. Uncompleted projects.
The trim on my Amy Butler lounge pants, the Spring Bag I promised my mother and have not yet begun, the new kids learn to knit book I have yet to crack the spine of. I need to stop now, because the irony of writing a post about it when I could be achieving some of it is not totally lost on me!

Any guilt you feel the need to offload this sunny Sunday?

Egg box recycling

Ever since I saw the cute little Marie Claire Idees egg carton sewing box, I've wanted to make one. I don't need one, I probably wouldn't use one, but I had a burning desire to have a go at creating one. Then it dawned on me. Wouldn't it make the perfect packaging for the Vintage Button Swap Deux? Look away Ines!

What a great reason to have a go. And what fun! Finding the perfect lace trim, picking through my button box, making a little pincushion to fit in the hole. Pure fun!



And when my fabulous charity shop working mother turned up at Easter with this box of beauties, I just knew one of those reels belonged in there too. Oh the sheen, it makes me quite weak kneed.



I got so excited about the whole thing, that I've packaged it all up ready to post tomorrow without taking a picture of the buttons - dingbat! But as all children know, sometimes the packaging is the best bit!

And Mark's hearing test? Ears like a bat - told you so.

Choc-free goodness

Very wisely, I haven't climbed on the scales since Easter, but I can't lay any weight-gain-blame on the lovely Easter surprise parcel which came from Alice at Raspberry.

It contained a gorgeous fat-free egg hand felted card,

a yummy low-cal fabric and trim bundle
and most decadent of all, a beautiful felt corsage with freshwater pearls.
And best of all, it was one of those 'just because' parcels. And the boys loved their gummy bunnies too Alice.

Mark has a hearing test tomorrow - if they find any hearing problems I'll eat my hat. Male selective deafness, maybe! That seems to run in the family. What? Yours too? Amazing!

Division of labour

Time to draw names. I printed (that was one big list - thanks so much for all the kind blog-wishes),

Mark snipped,


Johnny held the bowl



and Mark picked .... Zoe!


Although an independent adjudicator might have a few words on the topic. Because after some overzealous snipping P was on such a microscopic slip, she didn't really stand a chance and Mark kept trying to peek so he could choose Rebecca, (a name he is passionate about, due to a slight infatuation with a 13 year old neighbour). Note to self - random number generator may be less stressful than involving offspring.

But Zoe, by fair means or foul, a little something is yours so e-mail me and let me know your address.

When Johnny and I went to Mostly Books for our weekly story time fix, Anu pointed me towards a real gem - "The incredible book eating boy" by Oliver Jeffers. My boys are intrigued by the tale of Henry, a boy who develops a taste for eating books and nearly comes to a sticky end before he realizes that reading them is just as good.





The tale is a good one, but the illustrations - they are truly wonderful. If you take a look through this sketch book you'll get an idea of his style. Then run out and buy the book.

I'm not sure why I am buying any more children's books, because after hearing about my plea for 6 year old reading recommendations, Tess, my lovely sister-in-law sent Mark this pile of goodies. Should keep him busy for a while!




And thanks so much to Bethany for this parcel of vintage style lovelies - I find it impossible to believe that Bitter Betty Blogs is only a year old, but I enjoyed sharing in the celebrations.

Keep calm and carry on

This couldn't be a more appropriate mantra at the moment, so when I saw Fiona's poster, I paid a little visit to Barter Books and lo and behold, here it is in all it's glory.


Do you want updates to my many stranded sagas? Probably not, but I'm going to inflict them on you anyway.


The fence erecting, gas pipe puncturing neighbours left a big crater next to the driveway, unmarked and unfenced. A car reversed, fell into the hole and broke the gas pipe again! I tell you neighbours, the universe is trying to communicate something to you. If you listen carefully it goes something like this " do not attempt to erect the fence, it is not meant to be".


And the Mark saga? He has been in a different class this week in a 'creative curriculum' special and lo and behold - no problems at school. Hmmm. Is the universe trying to tell me something? The educational psychologist has spoken to the school and is refusing to take Mark's referral until he has a diagnosis. But if he won't see him, how do we get a diagnosis, given that Mark's issues emerge in groups of children, not one-to-one with an adult. Aaaaargh.

Is it any wonder I am feeling frustrated and fed up?

Well, at least Trisha of black white bliss came through with a stack of lovely magazines from the Decor8 swap that I can stick my head in and pretend the world is a glossy, shiny, perfect place.

Happy weekend all!

Fringe benefits

There are some bonuses to your neighbours trying to erect a fence in land that isn't theirs without consulting you. When they dig through the gas main with their mini-digger, they have to abandon work and that means you get to play on all the plant hire stuff - yippee!

Some people just don't listen when their karma tries to tell them something.

My karma has been pretty spectacular of late - I won a fabric give-away over at sew mama sew and got to choose this monk-alicious flannel.

Johnny's monkey tried to steal it, but I have other plans. Looking closely at the print, we managed to find the whole family in monkey form. The one on the green square with the tufty black hair is undeniably Mark - check out his hair on the digger picture and see if you get the resemblance!

Beautiful package

Is everyone else having problems with trying to upload photos in Blogger or is it just me? I have been trying to post about this wonderful Paper and String package for days and days now with zero success. Thank goodness for the Flickr 'blog this' facility.

The wonderful flowers are the product of a little winning streak I've been having lately. On the first Thursday of every month, there's a little give-away thing going on over at her blog, so mark your calenders, because the packaging alone is a work of art.

I caught our postman (hi Matty!) trying to stuff the jiffy bag these came in through the letterbox. Stop stop! Don't you know blogger to blogger packages are sacred and require special handling? Absolutely no stuffing allowed.

Actually, I had a strange postal happening today. I went to pop a little something in the post and re-used an old jiffy bag and it came from the person who I was sending the stuff out too. Wooo - spooky co-incidence.

I know she will understand and appreciate my little obsession with re-using packaging and envelopes. When I need to send permission slips, dinner money and suchlike in to school, I always use our unwanted junk-mail envelopes. And woe betide hubby if he uses a pristine one for such things. Control freak? Me? Only a little...

The week that was

Busy busy, so busy that I haven't yet had a chance to settle down and enjoy an unexpected treat from Caroline.

Or a lovely surprise Valentines package from Amy. Although I did manage to find time to eat the chocolates which she thoughtfully included - funny that.

Party preparations were in full swing. Making 'litlit lellow cats' for Johnny to go on his cupcakes cake for his party.

The birthday party was perfect for him - low key, not too much fuss, a select few chums. He is a child who fully embraces the simple pleasures. Long may it last.

Miniswap, maximum joy

Thanks for all Johnny's birthday good wishes - it was so sweet of you to comment. He sends you all a large slice of virtual cake (it comes in egg, dairy and gluten free varieties too).

Actually thanking is high on my list of to-dos today, because we received an incredibly thoughtful miniswap 2 swap package. Our partners were Louise's beautiful girls, Chloe and Lucinda (even their names are lovely) in Melbourne.

Look - chefs outfits! And the most amazing assortment of goodies which I haven't managed to round up and photograph - yummies, cookie cutters, badges, buttons, road signs, stickers, books and maps, stationary and my own personal favourite, a stuffed wombat.

He has been christened (somewhat unimaginatively) Wombie and has set up home next to a radiator because the boys know it's chillier here than in Australia. Mark is also fascinated by the idea of time difference and it tickles him that Chloe and Lucinda are getting ready for bed as he's getting up to start the day.

I love these child centred swaps - seeing the boys trying to figure out the logic of how someone, often in another country, who they have never met, cares enough to send them wonderful treats which amazingly co-incide with their current passions. That's blog-magic children.

Now, please will you join me in yelling "Louise, hurry up and get a blog!". She's procrastinating, but take a look at the wonderful things she makes over at Flickr. I view it as a personal crusade, to convert all non-blogging but wavering swap partners to the dark side. Right Tasha? Right Sarah? Could this make a perfect hat trick?

Reasons to be cheerful…

There's been nothing crafty going on around here recently. I used up some child-free brownie points by escaping on Saturday to meet up with Monica and Caroline.

I could spend a week with those guys and it would feel like five minutes. And they came bearing gifts, as if time spent with them wasn't enough! A goodie bag from Caroline:

and a hard-to-find magazine and heart shaped pastry tin from Monica - dreaming of Valentines treats to bake in that one!

And as if that wasn't enough, I won a little give away over at paper and string recently and the sweetest, most gorgeously wrapped parcel arrived today.

Bloglife is so much nicer than real life sometimes.

Special delivery

At the end of last term, Mark told me he needed a new school bag. He was very specific in his requests so I had him draw what he wanted.

Hmmm. Would it not just have been easier to mug a postman? Probably, but a whole lot less satisfying. I used a pattern people!! Yes, me, self-confessed patternaphobe. Simplicity 4391 if you're really interested. And here's the finished article, complete with reflective tape (the best bit as far as he's concerned).

I know it looks huge, but it has to accommodate an enormous book bag, plus lunchbox, plus extra water, plus all the other small boy requirements for the day. At least his hands are free now.

Brown paper packages….

While I may have been quiet in blogland, there has been plenty of joyful whooping going on here in real life. Mostly at the appearance of an awesome series of packages from lovely blogging friends. The first, a Japanese Craft book called 'Fabric bag' from Soo, with cute buttons too. I am very inspired.

Then a Capello thank you special. Very handy seam ripper there - been used already. And chocolate - oh yes, and lovely fabric choices for the pincushion.

And a give-away from Michelle - a micro mini Santa hat which will be adorning my tree this year and some gorgeous handmade Christmas cards. This may be the start of a whole paper crafting obsession for me - I am very afraid.

Thank you so much. Partly for the lovely things you sent, but even more for the warm feeling that I get when one of these amazing parcels appears, put together with care, wrapped with panache and sent off to someone who would be a stranger if it wasn't for this crazy experience that is blogging. Sent for no reason other than knowing it will put a smile on their face. That's special - thank you.

Sweater enhancing goodness

A happy parcel day today from Monica - very cute lollies (of course I'm going to give them to the children) and this lovely brooch.

She must have sensed that I was having a 'boring blue sweater' day which could only be brightened by felty goodness. Thanks Monica! I absolutely love it.

A foggy day, and London town (sorry Ella)

It's been a foggy day and I'm feeling like a real homebody. I think it's the backlash from my lovely Saturday in London with Caroline. It was the perfect Autumn day for strolling around the capital, shopping and yakking. I love walking in London - there is just SO much to see and take in, amazing architecture, great people watching, street vendors selling chestnuts, oh yes, and shopping (we did VV Rouleaux, Cath Kidston, Emma Bridgewater and a newsagent stocking Marie Claire Idees in a single street). Caroline is as charming in person as she is in blogland and I can't wait until we get together again.

I've also got a lot of stuff to play with at home, since a parcel came from Laura at the end of last week. The boys are busy with their new books. I am the proud owner of some original stamps and stamped stationary and the funkiest post-it's known to man.

We made a batch of leaf biscuits this evening for dessert and I'm cooking up some plans for this fabric.

And .... prepare to hyperventilate ..... this!
Thank you so much Laura - you've really hit the spot with these lovely goodies. I may not emerge for some time...

Last of the cupcakes…

Okay, I promise this is the last of the Halloween baking, but these went off to school for a coffee afternoon fundraiser.

Apart from 3 reserved for 'the boys' at home. Johnny, what happened to the cupcake?

He's pleading innocence, but I spy evidence to the contrary.

And a happy post day today, with a little parcel all the way from Old School Acres. Don't you just love that blue fabric? Thanks Laurie!

I'm still struggling with a little thank you mail out of my own to all you lovely folks who helped me out with Minimoopy Love Experience fabrics. Here's a sneak peek... Happy Thursday!

Minimoopy Love Experiece - countdown to blastoff

I have downed tools - the craft fair is tomorrow and I have called a halt to making stuff. I hope I haven't made the classic error of making too many different kinds of thing and having a stall that is too 'busy' looking. We shall see, and I promise to try and take lots of photos to show you.

But just in case I don't get the chance, I wanted to let you see the materials for the Carly approved Minimoopy Love Experience that so many of you wonderful bloggers generously donated fabric for.

That's something special en-masse isn't it? I feel quite tearful when I look at it all - can you spot your fabric? Your response was so unexpected and overwhelming. At a rough guess, there's enough material to make about 796 Moopies! I'm going to have to be selling like crazy, but one little darling who is NOT for sale is the chap in the centre - a good luck gift from Caroline. His little 4 leaf clover just makes me smile and smile. He is the greatest advertisement for Minimoopy Love.

So wish me luck and a hot selling streak tomorrow so I can make tons of wonga for Home Start.

Blogging in a thunderstorm… living on the edge.

I am going to get this post out if it kills me and it might - quite literally. There's been a huge thunderstorm, black sky, lightening and rumbles. The electricity has gone off 3 times now (ironic given how close we live to the power station), but there is a lull and before the computer gets blown up by a power surge I need to thank Madmommy for her little package of treats for Mark and I.

A while back, she asked me to send her the latch board and in return she has filled the house with dinosaur goodies - some of which (dino book, dino cards) I can't show you as Mark has carried them off to his lair and I can't face the pit that is his bedroom to unearth them. Post birthday bedrooms - DISASTER. Just when I have the toys and books beaten into submission, a birthday or Christmas or a visit from Andy's folks comes along and we're back to chaos.
But thoughtfully, these cute critters came with their own storage system!

And craft related stuff doesn't count as mess, it's about creativity! So thank you from me for the fabric and lion crewel kit. And especially for the Moopy scraps.

Thank you so much Sara.

Too many cups of coffee this morning and I'm feeling jittery. I am in one of those tailspins that comes with having too much to do and not knowing quite how to tackle it. In me, this usually results in MP (major procrastination), hence the lots of coffee. I've also emptied my airing cupboard and done 3 loads of laundry - it must be serious!
The weekend was fun - we went for a nature ramble with friends on Wittenham Clumps (the only hills for miles), spotting signs of autumn, like this one.

Mark and Ben found a den in the woods (why is my son wearing a Cherie Blair smile?), and Johnny stuck close to Mum and flatly refused to collect anything in his bucket. Funny beasts my boys.

I have been a bad blogger recently, failing dismally to publicly thank Tasha for her amazing swap parcel. Just look at the gorgeous wrapping.

Thankfully, my son has better manners and wrote her a thank you note straight away for the cute Cars-related goodies she included for the boys.

And I literally squealed when I saw the goodness included for me. Amazing Japanese fabrics and craft book, magazines and chocolate, coffee, tea and gorgeous tea towels. The photos are incomplete, because we have eaten, drunk and been reading.

Poor Tasha is patiently waiting until after the craft fair for me to make up and send her return parcel. Hey, if I did it now, I could procrastinate a bit longer..... couldn't I?

Things orange…

Goldie (Mark's fish) went to goldfish heaven today. Actually, the little bugger died behind the pump in the tank and I spent a frantic few minutes wafting him out with a spoon so I could snaffle his corpse away before the boys saw him and got upset. I needn't have bothered - the callous little beasts didn't give him a second thought and his place has been swiftly filled by 'New Goldie'. Let's hope this one lasts a bit longer than 4 days.

The upshot of our sad loss was a trip to the garden centre, for the replacement. They also have a farm shop and I came home with a perfect pumpkin specimen. So pumpkin risotto for supper with roasted pumpkin seeds to fortify me while I stood there stirring. Actually, let's face it, I had to open a bottle of wine for the risotto so I has a great time sipping, nibbling and stirring while Andy bathed and bedded the boys. Whose deal sounds better?

And while I'm about it, the last (I think) of the heartfelt minimoopy fabric thank yous go to:

Amy (who sent so many lovely different fabrics I had to take two photos)

Tasha (more on the rest of that parcel another time)

and Tiel.

Craft Fair day is October 14th - I'm getting there on the organisation front (I think) and I cannot tell you how much more relaxed I will feel once it has passed.

To market to market to buy a fat pig..

My mother requested a pig rubber stamp for her birthday and I was more than happy to oblige.


Who am I to argue with the gift requests of the queen of thrift, whose inside Charity Shop track brings all kinds of goodies my way. This visit it was some amazing dark red vintage buttons, and a loan of her pinking shears.
And the postman has been busy again with Moopy fabric goodness from

Paula,



Julia and

Soo (who also sent some lovely fabric for me!)

Thank you so much you guys - The Minimoopy love experience is coming along nicely. Although I am anticipating post-craft-fair let down after the busy weeks of planning and making. I am steeling myself and setting up a few post-fair projects to get my teeth into.
But so many bloggers seem to feel a bit bruised by the experience. Any tips for overcoming the blues?

Toffee tumbles

Wow, you guys, thanks for all the lovely comments on the pin board. I would bask in them if I didn't know quite how easy it was to do, so go finish (or start) yours now!

Less easy was this weekend's baking challenge. I told Mark he could pick a style of cupcake to make for Daddy's Birthday and this was it - toffee tumbles.

Now don't get all excited, that was the illustration in the book. But make them I did - 3 billion choux pastry marbles later....

People who ice for a living must have hands of steel. Mine were getting cramp round the piping bag and I has a disaster with the toffee that goes over the top.But quite frankly, by that stage in the proceedings I was past caring, so slightly lumpy fudge it was. I think he liked them - enough to justify the effort? I don't know, but I tell you something - Mark is not choosing the cupcakes for his 40th next year!

And while I am here, a very overdue thank you to Karen for the beautiful, bright, teeny tiny swap package from her boys to mine. The fab snakes and fridge magnets were examples, with kits to make our own - we're really looking forward to doing them.

The teeny tiny swap has given us so much joy, both in creating our parcels and appreciating the goodies sent to us. Amanda's plotting round two, don't miss out!

Peg spaceman

How hugely behind on my blogging am I - Simmy and I were having a 'chat' about how life actually seems MORE overwhelming with the kids back at school and posting seems to have fallen by the wayside a bit for me.

I mentioned a few days back that Philippa had sent the boys a 'Make your own Peg People' activity bag, but I wanted to show it to you, because it was amazing.

Philippa had printed an original Miss C story onto the bag and attached a photo of some of the peg folk creations she had made to act it out. Mark was so intrigued that we set to work straight away. In the bag was all we needed, pegs, pipe cleaners, material, stickers, tissue and spangly doo-dahs.

Several minutes of intense concentration later and...

Ta-dah. He's a peg spaceman (or space alien, judging by the green head and antenna and single leg). We even drew a background for all the great space adventures he is going to have. Thank you so much Philippa - this one is going to run and run I'm sure!

And while I've grabbed a moment to myself, thank you to

Monica

and Cindy

for their cool Minimoopy scrap contributions. It's like Christmas every day around here!

Our teeny tiny community

My teeny tinies have been kept very busy recently thanks to the flurry of activities brought on by two lovely swap parcels.

Angela's family sent cute handmade robot hand puppets, jacks in a bag, personalized fishy notepads, rubber stamps, stickers, feathers, beads, key rings, books - the goodies just kept on coming.


Philippa and her daughter sent us a great put together kit to make our own peg people (more of that another time..), books, soap, a crinkly winged birdie (my personal favourite) and a cute world map to show where we live in relation to where they live. The irony of this is that it turns out that 10 years ago, Philippa and I lived 2 streets from each other. Of course, we didn't know one another then - in fact, 10 years ago in the other universe that was 'life-before-children' I knew very few of my neighbours.

Andy and I both left home for work every day and returned without a thought for what went on in our street in our absence or the mini-dramas being played out behind the bay windows all around us. Now I am embarrassed at how self-centred we were. One of the joys of my children, for me, is the way in which they have given our family roots.

I love running into friends and acquaintances when I'm doing my errands. I feel valued when my neighbours ask me to feed their pet, or put their bin out, or water their plants. I am tickled at the fact our postman always brings all the 'working household' parcels to me to pass on when the workers arrive home. A sense of community is a real gift.

I’d like to thank…..

At the risk of turning my blog into an Oscar-acceptance speech parody, I have a few thank you, thank you, thank you thank yous to do. What else is a girl to do when inundated with fabulous parcels of Minimoopy material from lovely people like:
Maxine,
Kate,
Philippa,
and Em, who sent me much coveted Martha tea-towels too!

These Moopies are really going to be something.

I can't really intersperse my posts with any wickedly exciting crafting either, because I've just been churning out more and more of the same stuff - the curse of mass-production!

I do, however have two very exciting teeny tiny swap packages to share and two boys who have been in crafting heaven, but they might have to wait until tomorrow. This back at school lark is all well and good, but there are lunchboxes to wash, uniforms to iron and early nights to be had. Roll on the weekend.

The start of great things

Big day today, Johnny started pre-school, so it was two schoolboys, up dressed and out - although by the evidence of this photo, we failed somewhat on the hair brushing front.

He had a great morning - Montessori is puzzle heaven and he's a connoisseur - paradise. And me? I have to admit I blew my morning drinking tea with a friend, but I am determined to make better use of my time next week.

Look what the postman brought... a package of minimoopy fabric from Caroline. I asked for scraps and she sends loads of gorgeous cottons, beautifully ironed and a fabby 100 card (in honour of my 100th post). Actually that caused some very quizzical looks from my tea-drinking buddy, because even on my very worst bad hair day, I look a few years short of a century.

Thank you so much Caroline - your Karma rating has been greatly enhanced.