Spicing up the kitchen swap - Sneak peek

A very brief post before I pop these goodies into the mail. A while back I joined the 'Spicing up the kitchen swap' and these are my items for my partner....

2 rainbow inspired tea towels - could not get a great photo tonight of them and I was too impatient to wait until morning but they were actually inspired by Amelia's fabric in the 'Sew Australia' bee. After completing her blocks I had to order some of the bright and gorgeous fabrics in the colourway of red, orange, pink, aqua, green, yellow .

Plus an apron - done in a cheery yellow with plenty of pocket space. Again not great photos

Off all the swaps I found this one the most challenging as despite stalking my partner I was very unsure of what to make. Hope she likes it.... it is on the way to your kitchen soon !

Sewn toy tales

My most recent craft purchase is the very cute 'Sewn toy tales' by Melanie Hurlston and Rosalie Quinlan. It is just gorgeous and there are plenty of super cute projects.

First on the ever growing list of projects I want to complete is this super cute doll called - Tilly

Of course.... I can't just make one - I need 2 for one for each of my girls !!! I think about that all the time now !!!

Goodie Bag swap recieved !

I have been drooling at all the gorgeous bags made over at flickr in the 'Goodie Bag swap' and admiring all the talented people out there and there amazing bags. While I would of loved to received any of them I was secretly wanting a particular red/aqua combination made in the gorgeous Amy butler Cosmo bag pattern.

And guess what arrived in the mail today from the lovely traceyjay.....
Just the right size to put wallet, nappy , keys, phone and a million other things that you need for a 2 year old and a newborn !

Pockets on the inside are handy as well and I am loving the Riley Blake sugar and spice fabric in aqua used as the lining !

Tracey also sent a delicious array of scraps featuring my favourite colours - so lucky, so thanks heaps Tracey !

Crafting - at 4 weeks !

Madame is 4 weeks old now.... I can't believe how a whole month has flown by ! To date she is still very sleepy and her darkish eyes are starting to go a tinge of blue. Apart of eating and sleeping she is alert for a small part of the day and is very serious taking in the smells, sights and sounds of this big wide world.
Having been given so many beautiful gifts I thought we could do our first craft activity as mother and daughter and make our thank you cards. I had this lovely 'announcement' photo printed up :


and sent little hand written thank you notes on the back of tags using Kiah's foot print as a stamp !
Unfortunately the 'soft pink' foot print does not show up that well in the photo but looks rather cute and matches her announcement. Kiah was the perfect little crafter, and while she slept through the entire experience - Mummy had fun !

A very special gift.......

It's very embarrassing that the postman has been at the door almost every day for the last 3 weeks, and it is also embarrassing that he knows me by name and has a pile of parcels every day. The parcel count today alone was 9 !!! A combination of wet weather and breastfeeding in front of my laptop has left my bank account looking rather sick and my internet shopping purchases getting ridiculous. Plus we have been receiving some absolutely lovely and special gifts for little Kiah.

One of the lovely things we have received is this beautiful play mat made by the lovely girls in the 'Bee seam piecing downunder' bee.

I have not been able to photograph miss Kiah on it until now as she had that lovely milk rash !!!! The play mat is made up of blocks that each of the girls contributed using the wonky star block.
It is just perfect - bright, cheery and fun !

Trying to get a decent picture of Kiah on it... big sister Isabella had to get in on the action as well!!!
The 2 girls together....

What makes this gift even more special is the fact that no one else in my family sews... so the girls never get hand made gifts unless I make them something ! I will definitely be telling Kiah how lucky and special she is to receive such a beautiful gift when she is older.

3 Weeks old...

I can't believe that Kiah is already 3 weeks old..... next week she will be 1 month old and then before you know it I will be saying she is 1 !! Ohhhh............ how time flies and to think what we did with our weekends before kids ???

The little monkey got feed at 10 pm last night and didn't wake until 4:30 this morning ! What a little champion ! I will have more nights like that thank you.

Big sister Isabella is such a great helper and wants to change your nappy, give you lots of cuddles and is always so gentle and careful around you.

I wonder what you are thinking or dreaming about ??? cause you sure do sleep a lot !!!

I {heart} ruby

Oh my goodness - I thought I loved the fabric range that the company moda put out called 'Bliss' by Bonnie and Camille, but this super talented gorgeous mother and daughter team have put out an equally as beautiful fabric line ( if that's possible ) called 'Ruby'.

How delicious and yummy is it !!!! I am currently putting together a Dresden plate quilt for Isabella in the Bliss range and will have to do Kiah a similar quilt in 'Ruby'. One day they may share rooms and how nice would it be if the girls had separate but matching 'looking' quilts look


The only disappointing thing.... it is not meant to be released in the US until September/October.... I don't think I can wait that long !

Amelia's June blocks

I not sure whether I mentioned that I had a few bees ending so I joined another Australian bee called 'Sew Australia'. I love the fact that a group of people can come together and contribute to a quilt and not have to pay hefty international postage costs !

For the month of June Amelia requested Quiltville's string - X block using this tutorial.

She had picked gorgeous fabric in a lovely hue of rainbow colours :-

( Image courtesy of Flickr)
Here are my blocks......

This quilt is going to look spectacular when it is finished and I definitely need to make this block and a quilt for myself !

Gorgeous colours !!!

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Published !!!

Way back in 2009, I had this idea to put together a range of recipes for Hospitality students and teachers that helps to deliver core competencies and provide a diverse range of industry type skills. At the time and to date their was nothing like that available, and as a teacher we are often time poor and have limit time to search for new and interesting recipes.

So this idea transpired into this :

From idea to conception the book took almost 14 months !!!

I spent some time in Sydney with a professional food photographer and cooked, and photographed over 80 items in a week !!

The book is designed for school students and covers all hospitality basic modules but also covers basic kitchen skills so it is suitable to everyone !

It also has review and revision questions in it and come with a teachers DVD resource with extra recipes, ideas and assessments

Wow... I can't believe I have my copies in my hot little hand. I have been involved with the publication of 3 other textbooks - 2 for Cambridge and 1 for John Wiley but this is my first sole publication !!

I think I will have to have a glass of champagne tonight..... non alcoholic of course !

If anyone ones to get a copy see link here

DS - has arrived

Hows this for super fast service from the 'shop at home' service by spotlight.

I ordered these goodies Wednesday afternoon and they arrived on Friday morning !


They are the DS - Pinics and fairgrounds range. Not sure if I 'love' them yet..... they may possibly grow on me !

Goodie bag swap

I was lucky enough to accepted a few weeks ago as a last minute addition to the 'Goodie Bag Swap' happening over on flickr. At the time of putting my name in for the swap I was on 'bed rest' with threatened premature labour, was 6 hours from home and did not have access to my sewing machine. CRAZY .... how was I going to get this bag done ???? But I soooooooooooo wanted to join as I love bags and I love swaps.

Any how I manage to get my bag done and sent off in the time frame. My partner requested:
- bright bold patterns
- bright colours in red, pink, aquas - nothing dull
- a fun summer bag that was usable - no clutches.

I think this fits the bill.... what do you think ?
Front view - I used the Amy butler 'Style Stitches' book and the bag is called the 'Cosmo bag'

The back view

The side panel - I stuck to the red, pink and aqua them and used all colours in the pocket on the exterior and the lining

Not a great photo but this is the lining of the bag.

So my bag is on it's little journey..... I love the size and style of this bag and would definitely make one for myself. The only frustrating part of this bag is all the interfacing .....every single piece !!! I hope my partner likes it !

DS - Pinics and Fairgrounds

There has been a lot of chat and discussion amongst bloggers and in the flickr world about Denyse Schmidt fabric line - Picnics and Fairgrounds. Today at Spotlight these fabrics went on sale. I have not even seen the whole fabric range but because there was such a buzz about them I also wanted these fabrics.
However with my local spotlight 3 hours away I wasn't driving anywhere with a newborn to get any. I did manage to find out what stores were keeping the entire range ( some stores were only keeping a selected few prints ), rang them and manage to get 1/2 a metre of the entire collection.

What I will do with them I have no idea..... but I have them ! Do you ever do that... purchase something because everyone else has it ? I figure I will sell the ones I don't like or bundle them up as a giveaway if I don't 'love' them when they arrive.

With Matt being on 2 weeks paternity leave, I have to sneak out to the mailbox to see if any recent purchases arrive - this online shopping is killing me espically as I feed every 3 hours and surfing the net is a great way to pass time !

Will post a picture of the fabrics when they arrive !