Showing posts with label childrens craft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label childrens craft. Show all posts

Monday, February 21, 2011

passing it on

Let me take you back to the late 80's, I was in primary school. It would have been a hot December evening and the school hall in our little country town was packed with noisy children and parents ready to watch the end of year presentation night. I knew in advance that I was recieving the award for my class, and I was ever hopeful that the prize would be a voucher for 'Angus & Robertson'. They had done that in previous years, and I was eager to recieve the same. As the night wore on, my name was eventually called out. I couldn't have been more excited- the award for 'outstanding progress' also came with the $20 book voucher!
I probably had to wait a month or so before spending the voucher, as we lived in a very remote town and travelling to a bigger shopping center was not something we did very often. The waiting seemed to make the eventual trip, seem even more exciting.



Lovable Mini-Dolls was the book I carefully chose after making a quick bee-line to the craft/sewing section. It was one purchase I would never regret. This book was the one that I poured hours and hours of time into as a child and it helped develop my love for sewing and handicrafts.
I remember making all sorts of bugs, critters, birds, animals and people. None of which I have kept, most (or all) were gifted to friends.

Recently Grace has been showing an interest in sewing toys after watching me put together the mermaids. I pulled this book out to show her today, and instantly she was charmed. She picked out her first project, and while Jude napped we sewed together.

It felt so good, passing on a book, but more importantly passing on the skill that goes with it.

She listened intently, and to my surprise stitched away with ease. If the thread fell out of the needle, she licked the end of it and carefully threaded it back in, then continued on. "It doesn't matter if it's a bit messy to me Mum, because I am keeping it, and I don't mind... I will try my best though" she excitedly chattered as she mastered her new skill. "Now I can knit and sew!"



I stitched the face on for her, as she thought that might be a bit challenging for day one of sewing, but she stitched around all the edges and had a good go at stuffing it. We didn't get around to the hat or flowers bit, but she wasn't fussed.

It was the perfect project for a quiet Sunday afternoon, and time well spent with my precious big girl.
Love you Grace x

Friday, November 5, 2010

Izzy's new skirt


I came out of bed this morning to see the girls sitting at the table fashioning a new skirt for Izzy. Held together with a hair tie and looking anything but modest. I had to have a laugh! I am sure the skirt was inspired by some we made recently for a disco party the girls were invited to.  They did try and make her leggings to go with the skirt, but that was most unsuccessful!








Monday, June 7, 2010

update

Life has just been flying by, so sorry once again for the long absence between posts. At the moment we are rather caught up in the every day busyness that comes with having a family, which at times can be very difficult and tiring. How can parenting be so frustrating, delightful, tiring, rewarding, emotionally draining, incredibly fun, demanding, hilarious, heart breaking and heart bursting all at the same time? I don't do the roller coaster very well. However, I do feel like one of the richest people on earth having been blessed with these three little people. I wouldn't choose to do life any other way. A little more sleep would be nice though.
Needless to say, I didn't get very far with the Kids clothes week challenge. 2 out of 7 days...hmmm will have to try a little harder next time.

We are in the middle of trying to de-clutter the house and clear a bed room for Jude. He still sleeps in with us, but I think its time he had a space of his own. We were going to put him in with the girls in their poky little room, but after trialling that for a few nights we realised that 2 poor sleepers in one room was probably not a good thing. The only room left for him is my sewing room, so I am going to have to say goodbye to that space for a while. I will still be sewing, just not as regularly. We will hopefully find a space for my machine in the office...the relocation of fabrics could prove to be a challenge!

The rain has just been bucketing down here the past few week. We have spent a ton of time indoors enjoying and enduring each others company. I have pulled all the winter woollies out of the cupboard and put them to use. Maeve and I have been baking and crafting while Grace is at school. My Maeve loves to bake and loves her aprons! The morning school run has proved to be a bit of a mission amidst the torrential  downpour. The girls see it as a bit of an adventure though. I am so grateful for good friends and car pooling, so I don't have to repeat the 'adventure' in the afternoons!

Hopefully I will be back soon with photos of room changes, or maybe even a little knitting. Hope you day is a great one!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

dog and blog

Remember this post? I surprised myself and actually turned that super cool drawing of Graces into an embroidery! She loves it. I love it. In fact, we all love it. If you don’t have any kids artworks to be inspired by, maybe you could try this one from Loobylu, or this one (pattern here) from Geninne’s Art blog. They are both pretty cool, and on my ‘to do list’.

And thanks for being patient with my blog. My hubby and I have put on our nerd hats this week and delved into the world of HTML. We really don’t have much idea what we are doing, so the blog has taken on some weird and wonderful looks as of late. Sorry if you happened to stop by at one of the ‘weird’ times. I think we are finally happy with the layout.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

markets

We've had a bit of a lazy Saturday.
Managed to venture out late morning to check out some local handmade markets for kids which was a lot of fun.
They were the Billycart Markets.
Its always nice to have a chat to the stall holders talk about handmade.
I would love to have my own stall one day, but with three little one's that idea may just have to go on hold.
 My life is chaotic enough as is!
 
My friend Rachel was there with her stall Art Wish, selling beautifully painted reward charts for kids.
I also met Sophie from Barefoot Babies with her stunning range of children's clothing.
And I was totally inspired by the beautiful handmade horses by Calamity Bolt.
Each horse was so unique and beautifully detailed.


The girls also held their own markets on our coffee table this morning.
Beautiful artworks, handmade paper toys, paper baby blankets etc, were all on sale.
They spent well over an hour preparing stock!

How do you like the picture of the dog on the rainbow lead in the middle?
Its totally killing me with cuteness!
Might have to turn this one into an embroidery so I can enjoy it for years to come.
They spend hours drawing, cutting and sticky taping things together daily.
Grace's cutting skills are nothing short of impressive.
It means I constantly have confetti like debris strewn throughout the house (and not to mention the mash of paper pulp I keep pulling off the roof of Jude's mouth) but it is all so worth it.

If the day ever did come where I was able to have my own stall,
I know I would have two very keen helpers who would want to sell their own wares,
and probably out do their mother!

Monday, December 14, 2009

wordless weekend #9


(cicada shells are considered 'treasure' around here. Especially when painted with glue and dusted with glitter)

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

rainy day prints

Yesterday was an indoor day, thanks again to the weather.
We did some printing with the end of toilet paper rolls, some folded into shapes for variety.
Just thought I would share, because sometimes when your stuck indoors with small children, it can be tough coming up with an easy craft to keep them amused!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

nana & humpty



Got to love some of Grace's drawings.
No, Nana looks nothing like that. She most certainly will not be seen in short skirts with her belly button hanging out. She is much more classy in real life!
And Humpty, well he actually looks the way Humpty should.
Hope these bring a smile to your day.

Monday, December 22, 2008

busy and tired, and not quite ready for Christmas


We have been so busy around here, but I guess who isn't at this time of year. Luke and I were up extra late last night packaging what seemed like hundreds of these biscuits for friends. We also had to put together a wooden kitchen for the girls that came in kit form. It proved to be rather frustrating with limited instructions...luckily, it came together fine in the end.


The girls (with much mummy supervision) have been doing artworks to give out to special people. Oil pastel with watercolour. They look so pretty drying in the sun.



I also finished this shirt for Luke's Mum, the same pattern as one I made earlier in the year but shorter sleeves. There is so much sewing I had wanted to do for the girls for presents, but I can see that its not going to happen, so I will deal with the disappointment and hopefully catch up on sewing in the new year. It's always special to be able to give handmade.


And here are some of Grace's card she made for Luke to give to friends at work. A Christmas tree, Jesus in the manger with animals and the star, Santa (we don't give out presents from Santa at Christmas, but its funny that she still knows who he is and thinks he has something to do with Christmas), and another Christmas tree with presents under it.

We are off for a much needed 2 week break tomorrow, so I wont be around for a while. Actually really looking forward to not sitting in front of the screen daily! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of Jesus with family and friends! 

Naomi xo

Sunday, December 7, 2008

little bear



Back in my infant and primary school years I use to be mad about hand sewing. For some reason I thought 'hand made' items were literally something sewn or made entirely by hand- no sewing machines please! I wanted to make and sell my hand made things even back then, but started out by making them for friends. 
I remember finding a book in the school library that was full of patterns for miniature bears. One look at that book and I was completely hooked! This little bear was one I pieced together from fake fur that I clipped right back. Even his tiny arms and legs move. I am pretty sure I made him for mum.
I wish I had photos of all the other ones I made. Some I even sewed tiny outfits for and made them beaded necklaces. In the bottom photo he is sitting on Grace's tiny hand, so you can picture his size. I would guess I made him in about yr4-5. I do have a small selection of other soft toys I made as a child, so hopefully I can get some more photos up soon. 


Thursday, November 6, 2008

todays activity





Some gingerbread cookies to take on a play date with some little toddler friends. And if your reading this Jess, thanks so much for this amazing Noah's ark cookie making kit- we love it!

Monday, September 1, 2008

felting



When we had our holiday recently, we went to some very fun country markets where I was able to pick up some hand dyed wool and wool roving. I am desperate to learn how to felt properly, but for now I am just happy to make these little balls. Grace and I had a go at it last week and I really enjoyed it. Grace found it a bit to hard to get the wool to felt, so she mostly played with the water and made one big mess. We are hoping to make a few more of these to thread on string for jewelery.
Here's how we did it:

You will need
- wool roving
- big bowl or sink full of warm/hot soapy water
- lots of patience if your kids are joining in

Tear off a small amount of the wool (a few colours together is nice) and put it in the water. You need to use lots of friction, so rub the wool together in your hands, and keep rubbing and rolling it until it forms a ball. Keep your water hot and add more soap to the ball as you are rolling it in your hands if it is slow to felt. The finished ball should be fairly hard.

Friday, August 22, 2008

its a play dough kind of day


When I dressed Maeve this morning, Grace said "she can't wear that, they are not sunny morning clothes!". No, your right Grace...navy is no good for a sunny day, but it certainly suits the mood of dark skies and drizzling rain. We spent the morning out, but this afternoon is perfect weather for staying in with a warm, fresh batch of play dough. Do you like Grace's beautiful bride?

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

country break

Since its been so long between posts, I think I have some explaining to do. We have been on a good break visiting both sides of the family, mums, dads, brothers, sisters...in fact we saw them all in the space of a week which is pretty amazing! For some reason I thought we would have internet where we were going, but no. Probably a good thing. I also left the sewing machine at home, so that was nice too. I finally finished off Grace's ugg boots...hmmm...winter is nearly finished too. I ended up hand sewing them which was rough on my hands, but I could not get the machine to co-operate.


Grace and I did some window art together which was so much fun! She drew the pictures and I painted them. They turned out really well. We currently have a few peacocks that need finishing too.


We stayed in a farm house with Luke's family that has a beautiful waterfall and creek. The girls had fun tadpole hunting.


Maeve drank so much creek water...and maybe some taddy's?


We had a bit of a bonfire happening, lots of marshmellows.


And fire writting from my sweet husband!

Thursday, July 31, 2008

one from grace


Grace wanted me to show you her artworks she did a little while back, now framed and hung in her room. You have probably seen the outside two here, and the one in the middle was done a few days later. I love the middle one because she had it all finished, then decided that the person in it needed one last finishing touch- lipstick. I was about to shout 'NOoo!!' as she slapped on the red, then realised that her idea of beauty is different to mine. And I love that because instead of just being a painting, to me each one tells a story and shows me more who Grace is.

Monday, July 28, 2008

organising our art



It feels so good to have accomplished something around the house today. I finally put some hooks up in the kitchen to hang all the kiddy art on, thanks to a little inspiration from Soulemama's book and my good friend Lissa. I always hate the thought of putting holes in the walls, since we spent so long painting them...but it did look good once it was all done. I stretched the string from hook to hook, and threaded a whole bunch of mini pegs across. Now we have the perfect spot to display all those colourful creations!



While we were pinning up all the paintings, we came across a bag of gumnuts/pine cones/seed pods. We collected these a while back to make a natural mobile, but somewhere never found the time to make it. So we did that too, and hung it from one of the beams. Its so simple, but the beauty of the natural objects speak for themself and somewhere I find myself endless staring at them.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

a parcel in the post

You can imagine our excitement when this arrived on the doorstep...


Its our creative pack from the competition over at BloesemKids, thankyou Irene and Arrouna! The owl bag from bookhou is just beautiful, and the art supplies are going to get a good work out...actually Grace put them to use straight away to produce these beautiful masterpieces.



Let me tell you about this one first. This is a picture of Grace walking her 'dream' dog. She is drawn inside the world. Its a lovely sunny day...but then it starts to rain (dot dot dot). Later she tells me that the rain drops have actually changed from rain to flowers on the grass. What a beautiful scene!


This one is looking a little more Gothic. Its a picture of me (looking very tired and worn out...none the less, still smiling) and Maeve. I am the one in the middle wearing a blue dress. I am taking the 'dream' dog for a walk and in my other hand I am carrying a worm that I found in the garden. We are also drawn inside the world, where it is raining red. Over to the left is our black circle house with three windows. Superb!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

shadow box



Grace and I have been working on this, little by little over the last few weeks. Sometimes it is really hard to do craft with Maeve around...she tends to be rather destructive. So today we finally finished it while our littlest napped. Its a picture of our family down at the beach, enjoying a walk on the sand. We got the idea from Arounna's craft projects over at BloesemKids. They have some really awesome stuff to make with children!