Handmade In A Beautiful Pea Green Boat

Baby girls blanket

2012-01-08T20:17:00.001+11:00

Trying to restock the shop with a few items post Christmas! This uses up the last of my beautiful soft mink.

Lots of new ideas to try in 2012, just glad to be reacquainted with Janome for now, as it had been a while!

A new look to end the year.

2011-12-23T20:18:00.000+11:00

A huge thanks to Mavis at Mavis Graphic Designer who has given this blog a fresh fun new look as the winner of a blog makeover giveaway I won and have managed to update my madeit store with it too.

I am really happy with it, so I just wanted to say thanks Mavis!

PS Feel free to grab my brand new button too!

Handmade Christmas

2011-12-20T09:15:00.002+11:00

Some of the Christmas goodies the girls and I have been working on for their teachers, swim and gymnastic coaches, friends and neighbours. I love a bit of home baking, and what better way to show some Christmas spirit than with something handmade of the edible variety!

mini puds

Chocolate rum and raison cake -
my version of the Christmas Fruit Cake - yum!

Christmas cookie cutter shapes

I love to package them all up beautifully....

... with a little handmade card too.

Hope your Christmas is a little bit handmade too!

Handmade Christmas Swap!

2011-11-24T09:27:00.000+11:00

Joide at The Haby Goddess recently ran a red and white themed handmade gift Christmas swap.

Here was my effort for Lesley....

and then wrapped because I do love wrapping a noice parcel... complete with red and white candy canes....

and my lovely gift received yesterday from Cathy!

A good (machine embroidered!) tea towel is always handy. Gotta say I do love a Christmas one too.

I love the little paper photo frame for the tree, and of course no handmade gift is complete without the handmade card.

(Nb, I made my card above too!!)

Thanks Cathy, I love a parcel in the mail and participating in a swap is always a bit of fun.

Quilt cover

2011-11-19T20:13:00.000+11:00

This is my first attempt at a quilt cover, no pattern or insturctions, I just winged it!

A friend had an odd sized quilt bought overseas that no linen could be bought for in this country, so I offered to help out and custom make a cover for her baby girl.

I am happy to report it went swimmingly, no mistakes, no unpicking, it fit like a glove and there was no dramas with buttons or buttonholes. All things considered, for me this is amazing!

Woollen softies

2011-10-13T12:44:00.000+11:00

I know it's been a while, not sure what's been taking up my time! ;)

So softies, made from a woollen blanket I started embroidering yeeeears ago, and finally decided to make them into something instead of a half finished blanket that was never going to end.

~~~

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Mermaid dollies!

2011-03-05T19:58:00.000+11:00

My latest little treasures is a trio of mermaids for three little girls I know all turning one this month!

In their (almost) natural habitat,

I'm afraid we are a bit far from the beach!

One is already gifted, these other two will find new homes in the next fortnight.

Made using an adorable pattern I purchased from Bit Of Whimsy Dolls.

Thankfully...

2011-03-01T10:43:00.000+11:00

they made it safely! After a hairy almost lost at the post office experience, my 6 little dolly gifts made it to their next step in their journey. I can't wait to hear when they are distributed. There is still time to donate a dolly or a softie if you are interested, click on the dolly button for more info.

Meanwhile, it seems I am addicted to dolls, stay tuned for some little gals I have been working on for 3 little ladies I happen to know whom are all turning one in the next few weeks! I do love making a gift, and I am extra excited about these ones....

My dolly donation

2011-02-08T10:27:00.000+11:00

Here are my dollies for the dolly drive monkeemoomoo is doing. I used the simple pattern provided by the original dolly donation site and altered it a little to give thumbs and feet. I also got inspired and added pig tails for the girls which I really liked the look of. Plus a little pocket on the front.

I hope some special kids get some joy from them.

Boys...

Girls...

PS this was a great little project to use up scraps of fabric I can never throw out!

Christmas dresses

2010-12-06T14:50:00.000+11:00

A dear friend inspired me with some gorgeous patterns to make my girls some Christmas dresses. I must say I was quite pleased with the result. I have never really made clothes for the kids, these easy pieces have encouraged me to do some more.

First up, the Wrap Around-yet-elasticised-waist skirt (a must for tinsy waisted girls like her, and it's still a bit too big) for my Big Miss.... In Michael Miller Christmas Critters fabric and coordinating star inspired contrast fabric.

she clearly loves to model for me!

Then the reversible (I know!) Christmas pussycat dress for the Little Miss with cream and golden stars.

Version 1.0...

Version 2.0!

A closeup of my appliqued Christmas tree; the kitten placing the star at the top was a last moment inspirational choice!

not that keen on modelling, this one....

This shot was the best I could get with many cranky expressions deleted straight from the camera!

and finally....

Ta da-aaa! See I can model when I want to Mum!

Made from patterns by Wink Designs

Before children...

2010-12-03T14:51:00.007+11:00

These were the sorts of things I spent my spare time doing! These were all done from patterns, so I can't take credit for the design, but they were all painstakingly handmade by myself. I was decorating the house and reflecting on how many things I have made, so thought I would pop some of them up here.

A flashback of craft if you like....

My Santa Swag, I still love them!

* * *

My quilted wall hanging, all the panels are hand blanket stitched and hand quilted. It was not hand sewn together however! Every Christmas I hang it and remember how much work went into it.

* * *

Beaded and padded felt stockings. The nativity one was from a pattern, so was the Santa one, only I didn't buy the patten, I drew it up myself! Madly I did two of Santa and gave one away for a friend's son's first Christmas. Sadly her other children have missed out!

It's that time of year again!

2010-12-01T10:36:00.000+11:00

To start hanging up your stockings....

Little bags

2010-11-25T23:01:00.000+11:00

Giveaway time!

2010-11-11T18:00:00.000+11:00

It's time I hopped on the bandwagon! I have been the very lucky recipient of a number of giveaways recently and I have decided it's time to give some karmic goodwill back! However someone with a much broader following base as me has kindly offered to 'host' the giveaway, so go on over to The Clip Cafe for all the details.

Up for grabs is two little drawstring bags, his and hers for little people, if you like. Featuring giraffes and elephants, these bags are lined and big enough for those must have treasure when out and about!

Thanks to The Clip Cafe for doing a little interview with me after the Softie Swap and doing all the actual work on the giveaway! Well, all bar the sewing of the little items you see here that is!

Bullion embroidery bits and pieces, ideas needed!

2010-11-10T10:59:00.000+11:00

In my previous life where I had copious amounts of time and patience, I did wool embroidery on baby blankets. Then I ventured into some bullion embroidery, and this was the result. The 4 pics are on one bassinet size woolen blanket piece in each corner, and the plan was to add another 4 designs on each side and one in the middle. I ran out of steam. So now the blanket is a bit sparse as is, so am wondering what I could do with these little panels if I were to cut the blanket up. Dolly blankets? Sew them onto the belly of a little bear? Any ideas graciously considered!

Softie Swap

2010-10-23T15:11:00.003+11:00

I just participated in a Softie Swap! Register, be assigned a swap partner, get to know them a little, then make a softie you think they will like. Post. Wait. Receive in turn. It was fun, I really enjoyed researching what I wanted to make. And I got to make my first ever rag doll, which I loved.

I just received mine yesterday, a lovely GREEN owl, as I do love green I am sure you can tell. I have named him Olivander.

Cute flower detail on his behind!

In his natural habitat....

So here it is, the doll I sent to eva, mei and me, who had a preference for all things Asian, pink, orange, buttons and teacups. Well 4 out of 5 aint bad! I have included a couple of shots of her progress along the way, including a very voodoo like image of her pinned together!

Size reference, almost as big as your average toddler!

Don't mess with me, I can use pins!

Thanks the The Clip Cafe for hosting the swap. I should also mention that this doll, now named 'Amy' is not entirely of my own creation. As she was my first dolly attempt, I used a pattern I bought from One Red Robin, and can highly recommend her if you want to give one a try!

Treasured!

2010-10-12T21:02:00.000+11:00

I just noticed something of mine was featured on the madeit blog, in a Christmas treasury, yay! I haven't put pics of them up here yet, feeling it was a bit early for Christmas stuff (!), but it's the 2 green Christmas stockings, bottom left corner, as seen below.

It's nice to see something of mine chosen and the extra publicity doesn't hurt either!

When the time is more appropriate, I'll post the rest of my stockings here, I might wait til at least November, unlike some of the shopping centres....

Animals blanket

2010-09-20T13:52:00.000+10:00

Large size, double stitched. Mink and cotton.

A purse for a Princess

2010-09-11T13:31:00.000+10:00

I have gone back to making little bags as my two just love them. These bags are lined in hot and pale pink respectively, and feature some gorgeous ribbon by Rosa Pomar as the strap and on the bag itself.

Snow White....

Tea party and deer...

They are about 20 x 20cm, so perfect for little animals, cars, bangles and all manner of lmust-have ittle girl items!

(Little Red Riding Hood to follow!)

Seeing spots!

2010-09-05T00:06:00.000+10:00

I thought I was done with baby blankets for now....

but I couldn't resist this watermelon red mink, it just had to become something!

So there is another one to be made yet, as I buy it in dimensions that means there must be two.... but it will have different backing. I just have to get around to finishing it.

Watch this space, as I have been busy with lots of other things, there will be more posts soon!

Wardrobe cards!

2010-08-09T15:49:00.000+10:00

I was recently offered to trial a new product, these adorable wardrobe cards form the very talented Imogen at Mementoes In Time. They were fun and easy to do, I can't recommend them highly enough! Have a look, I did a couple I thought I could use as baby cards and others for more grown up birthdays. Check out her webstore (in particular, I LOVE the Wedding wardrobe card) and madeit shops....

But now, with both open and shut doors for the full effect, here is my handiwork....

For the babies.....

~*~

and for bigger girls....

~*~

Slugs and snails....

2010-08-08T14:34:00.000+10:00

The last in my 'Snug as a Bug' blanket range, as I have run out of all the mink fabric I bought. Embossed blue mink backed with a gorgeous soft sptted flannel and a cute googly eyed snail.

Pink butterfly warmth

2010-08-01T12:07:00.000+10:00

My pink mink and flannel butterfly baby blanket. I just love this beautiful flannel pattern.

and of course, can be found in my madeit store!

Stripes the Elephant

2010-07-18T13:18:00.000+10:00

I seem to have passed on my fabric love to my Big Miss. She spotted this rainbow striped polar fleece recently and begged me to buy some and make something for her. So finally the other day I 'whipped up' this elephant, she didn't have any elephants in her vast array of softies, and now she does. Plus, he was quite an easy one.....

More mats...

2010-07-11T19:47:00.000+10:00

I recently sold 3 of these POGO mats on my madeit store in one order (I know!). This one I decided to make with some material I already had, the cute floral like stars.

Below was one of the 3 in the order, and this particular one I custom made for her. The brief was pretty vague so I am really glad she liked what I had done for her.

Card making spree!

2010-06-25T22:02:00.000+10:00

I have put away the sewing machine for a little bit and my desk is covered with card making paraphenalia as my stock were getting low, I am stocking up! Plus there are a few special birthdays coming up I need specific cards for, not that I have done any of those yet! For now here are a few of the others....

I think this green and purple card is my most favourite one yet.

Using cute little hole-punch type birdies....

This one below uses the leaves and birdie wings of the one above, clever huh?! Only I can't lay claim to that idea, I completely 'borrowed' that one from someone else, thanks Elli!

...and a few more thousand cupcake cards 'cause I am obsessed with them!

Baby boy card

2010-06-24T11:23:00.000+10:00

Pardon the repition of stamps and ideas, am mostly using this blog as a way of cataloguing my card ideas for future use! Plus there are no more babies due for a while, so this should be the last for a little bit!

More blankies...in purple

2010-06-16T20:15:00.009+10:00

Purple mink backed with lime green flannel, featuring a machine blanket stitched purple dragonfly.... (that features more dragonflies, of course)

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Purple mink with white muslin printed with cute purple teddies....

POGO mats - stars!

2010-06-03T09:32:00.000+10:00

My newest POGO designs, in this gorgeous stars print with pink/brown/white or aqua/brown/white stars. I have been wanting to do a boy/girl variation for a little while and when I saw these stars, I fell in love!

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POGO mat - red!

2010-06-03T09:26:00.001+10:00

A variation on an older design, I have made a couple of new POGO (play on, go out) mats after a number of very exciting sales from my madeit store.

I have moved the pockets to make for a more functional desigg (toys end up carried the right way up, and this way allows for larger pockets) and this one has a red inner.

Snug as a Bug - ladybirds!

2010-05-16T15:10:00.001+10:00

White embossed mink fabric with cotton yellow + red ladybirds.

Machine blanket stitched ladybird feature.

102 x 76cm (40 x 30inches)

Happy Mothers Day

2010-05-09T09:00:00.000+10:00

I whipped up these cards tonight for the mother and MIL for tomorrow, so scuse the awful night light shots!

Hope Mothers Day is special for you and yours

xxx

Blue teddybears

2010-04-25T22:03:00.001+10:00

At last, something for little ones that like slugs and snails and puppy dog tails.

Or at least, for those beautiful bundles of blue, the baby boys out there....

Blue mink and soft teddybear cotton

Snug as a bug....

2010-04-16T14:17:00.001+10:00

in a rug.

or snug as a butterfly, if you like

Do you like my new 'Snug As A Bug' baby blanket? Soft bright pink brushed cotton (aka flannelette) and super soft embossed white mink fabrics. Very light and surprisingly warm.

The butterfly features beautiful floral and butterfly print wings, matching pink body and machine blanket stitched in place. Measures approx 93 x 76 cm.

I am very excited about some other colours of this soft minkie fabric and ideas I have for future blankets. And there will be boys varieties, I promise! I know most of my creations are girl oriented, I can't help myself seeing as I have girls of my own!

About time for a boy card...

2010-04-16T14:00:00.000+10:00

After all that pink, finally a chance to use some blue!

Claude Cat drawstring bag

2010-04-03T11:59:00.002+11:00

I couldn't resist this black cat fabric, a beautiful linen like cotton from Japan; in the Kokka fabric range.

I would also like to draw your attention to the embroidered cat stitching on the casing. A fabulous little trick of my new gorgeous Janome. And the husband thought I'd never use the extra sttiches! Ha!

Ignore the fact that Claude himself ended up crooked. Does that just make him whimsical? I like to think so.

I tell you, it took all of my inner strength not to redo this, as it would have ruined it, plus all my work down the tube, so I have left him being cheekily crooked!

Gideon Giraffe Bag...

2010-03-29T20:12:00.001+11:00

Meet Gideon, my attempt at a giraffe pocket bag. It didn't quite work out how I envisioned, but still I think he's kinda cute. Not sure how I feel about the patchwork, but I have to give these things a go! Part of his body forms a pocket, good size for a small toy, library card, pencils....

Otis the Owl bag

2010-03-21T10:52:00.001+11:00

A little project I have wanted to finish for a while, a little bag featuring this gorgeous owl fabric. The large owl is made from felt and his body forms a pocket, just the right size for pencils!

Sugar and Spice

2010-03-20T17:01:00.003+11:00

and all things nice. All the babies around us have been born, and it was girls all the way. So this ends the constant bombadment of girls cards....for now at least!

Rainbow the pink Scottie

2010-03-09T10:24:00.003+11:00

Meet 'Rainbow' my latest softie attempt. Really, he was the purpose to my last Scottie dog attempt, and is much cuter I think. After a self designed softie attempt that ended in the bin this week, I do not think softies are my friends. But my Big Miss pleaded with me for this one after the giraffe got the can, so here he is in a lovely pink and white bear fur.

So named by her. She loves him and he was bestowed the honour of a bedtime berth, so approval has been won.

The first photo attempt. Dontcha just love how kids take you literally when you say, hold him up for me??

With and without flash, as I am no photographer and I can't decide which is a truer depiction. A mixture of both I suspect. He really is quite little, about 9 x 12cm. The Big Miss was used merely for scale!

It's a girl card

2010-02-25T08:21:00.005+11:00

A dear friend had her 3rd baby yesterday and I whipped up this card in preparation for her, as I new the little darling was going to be a girl. I am expanding out from baby shower cards now and I am planning never to buy a baby card again now that I have this cute little pram stamp! There will be a boy version to follow soon I am sure as there are 2 more babies in our little circle due in the next fortnight!

Finally, Pea Green Boat is online!

2010-02-15T15:33:00.003+11:00

Well, sort of.... I have finally made a storefront and managed to actually list something on the madeit site!!

If you have a look you'll see it is the play mat I first posted about here ages ago. In the meantime a very dear friend bought the red one, so I have only the one listed for now, but I have the makings of another two ready to go. Plus about a zillion ideas racing around my head and itching to be created, if only there were more hours in the day! Standby for future updates.... and in the meantime, yay me for finally doing something I have wanted to do for ages.

Another baby card....girl themed

2010-01-20T10:06:00.003+11:00

Baby shower card

2010-01-18T16:03:00.002+11:00

I have been invited to a baby shower in a couple of weeks, so thought I'd have a go at a gender neutral baby shower card. The recipient makes cards herself that are amazing, so hopefully mine will pass muster! And it has been weeks since I posted here so I thought I should get the creative ball rolling again now that we are in a new year!

Cupcake Cards

2009-12-02T07:48:00.006+11:00

I am back into my cardmaking now after drastically updating my supplies and getting a fabulous stamp cleaner which has improved my life no end! These cupcake stamps I recently acquired and I am just in love with them! Plus, finally, an excuse to break out my 72 Derwent Studio pencils!

And yes, those little cupcakes on the lower card are individually cut out, raised once paper tolle stlye and have beads as their icing, thanks for asking....

Handmade cards

2009-11-23T10:51:00.006+11:00

I attended a card making (stamping) class yesterday and these were the result. I used to do cardmaking and stamping years ago and am now keen to get back into it. These were very easy, once you have the design it doesn't take long to assemble at all. The materials and methods have changed so much since I started years ago, my enthusiasm is now renewed. I think it is lovely to make a card for special occasions like births and birthdays, although I am not sure I'll be making the swag of Christmas cards required for my ever growing list this year.....

I ordered a swag of new stuff to make my cardmaking life easier, so stay tuned for further efforts!

My first softie!

2009-11-16T11:32:00.004+11:00

My first attempt at a softie using a pattern. I am hoping to design more in my own style soon, but thought I'd try this cute little Scotty dog out first!

POGO mat

2009-11-06T14:14:00.008+11:00

So following on from yesterday's play mat, here is my little invention! I think I'll call this my POGO mat, as in, "Play On, Go Out mat". I got the idea from always lugging a blanket to put on the floor plus little toys everywhere for my little one so I thought I could combine them! Toys go in the pockets on the non-playing side, fold up, velcro round and off you go using the carry handles! Of course the mat is lightly padded and all fully machine washable. And as I am a major sucker for stripes, I couldn't resist these two gorgeous stripe patterns in ever so boy or girl friendly colours.

What do you think??

Reversible play mat

2009-11-05T09:38:00.006+11:00

My first attempt at a play mat. This one is reversible, but the idea has evolved, so stay tuned! It is softly padded and can be used indoor or out, on either side. One side is soft muslin for the warmer months and the reverse is brushed cotton flannel for cooler weather. Or for whatever colour suits your mood that day! In a fairly gender neutral teddybears in purple and aqua on white and cream....

(model not included!)

Edited to add..... this has been SOLD!

A new little endeavour!

2009-11-04T09:34:00.006+11:00

Welcome to my new blog! I decided to add another blog for my craft interests and creations so that my other, more personal blog didn't get too confused with it's identity! Here I plan to post some pics of my work and things I hope to maybe one day sell online.

So thanks for looking, as always comments are most welcome and appreciated, including constructive criticism, feedback and suggestions! I will post a couple of new things shortly as I had to have something of substance to start this blog off. My time is limited (as is everyones) and my creations can be few and far between so please bear with me!

The banner above is new too and has taken too many countless hours of my time, and a big special thanks goes to my lovely sis who did all the online image editing and background colour and general tidying up so I could pop it into a banner program and put my words in. I hope to use this on my online store too. Oh, and for the life of me I can't get it to sit inside that box up there. Or get rid of the box. It's driving me crazy, so my apologies, it hasn't been overlooked!

So without further ado, here we go.............