We Are Back

What a long time since our last post. We are back from a little holiday to W.A. (Have been back for a week but what a busy week it has been - no time for posting and even less time for catching up with my overflowing Google reader). We spent time in Perth, Fremantle, Albany, Esperance and Kalgoorlie. The weather was not the best but we saw all manner of beautiful and interesting things - scenery, wildflowers, mining history, wild windy water, a whale, tingle trees, tall trees and lots of straight roads!



This is just a sampling of the many photos that were taken.

Will post some crafting stuff soon.

Finished At Last

One baby present all finished, wrapped and ready to post. I love being able to greet a new member of the extended family with lots of little handmade goodies - some practical, some just frivolous and some intended to continue a family tradition.

Name smudged deliberately.

The keepsake calendar was the one thing holding up the posting of this particular parcel as I tried hard to get all the pages ready in amongst a whole heap of work. I use Scrapbook Designer Plus (link just to show the software picture) to create the basic calendar pages and then printed these onto heavier weight card before decorating. This time I chose to make little car stencils using a car punch and some leftover laminating scraps. I added the wheels with my black Dottarific pen and a little bit of silver gel pen highlight.



The calendar starts with the month that my nephew was born in and continues through to end with that same month one year later. I decorated a wooden clipboard as a holder for the current month and opposite each month, in the book, is different decorated page for photographs. I also include a set of stickers I have created using MS Publisher to mark milestones along the way.

This is the third one that I have made this way. My initial design came from looking back at my own children's calendars - one purchased and one handmade.

Other parts of the gift have already been blogged about. There are booties, little hats - knitted by Avid Crafter, little onesies - found on special at a local shop, pram blanket and crocheted tortoise.

I received many little pairs of bootees when my children were born - all lovingly hand knitted by a very creative Aunt. She has since passed away and I think it is nice to continue the bootee tradition - even if the bootees hardly get used.

Our little trip is getting closer - this might be the last post before we head of to explore parts of Western Australia. We will see how things go.

Baby Card

This is the results of around 4 hours work, and that doesn't include the time taken to do the cross-stitch - that was already done! Everything is taking a long time at the moment, I have a head cold and thinking is very hard work! I'm actually quite lucky that I haven't been sick before now as there's been lots of illness flying around the schools all winter. So excuse any waffle or mistakes, my brain isn't working.

We had the presents all ready for this new baby cousin, born late August and really needed a card. So all the supplies got pulled out and looked through it all to try and figure something out. I have a folder full of completed cross-stitches that haven't been made into anything yet and this little whale was in there and seemed suitable for a baby boy card. Then I found some scraps of blue card that fit in colour wise. And then I found the Tie-Downs that I picked up free somewhere along the line in the 'Jewel' colours. Everything sort of started to fit then. The letters are a Making Memories rub-on alphabet called 'Heidi', that I really love. The blue fluffy fibre is just cheap Chickenfeed yarn, and the cross-stitch itself was an Anchor kit I stitched up quite a while ago and it's just sat around ever since!

Now we just need to write in the card and the whole package can be sent off to bub and family.