Salt and Pepper

Corner of my Home

2011-03-06T22:39:00.004Z

A week ago, I looked after a friend's son for the morning when she couldn't get out of work commitments. As a thank you (which she need not have done!) she gave me this beautiful bouquet of spring tulips. I love them, especially how they bow so gracefully, and how their beautiful colours complement the bright green of their foliage.

I'm thinking my mantelpiece looks so nice with a vase of flowers on it, I'm going to have to keep putting flowers up once these ones have dropped their petals.

Happy Valentine's Week ;-)

2011-02-18T17:20:00.003Z

Hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day week. Hope you got spoiled rotten by your loves, hope you found new love, and hope you spread the love!!

Grade One Ballet Exam

2010-12-03T19:32:00.017Z

In January, I moved Holly to a new ballet school. The main reason was that her last school was in an area than meant navigating peak hour traffic to get there, and we'd had too many days of being late getting there, and one too many days being late in picking up afterwards, that we looked around for a school closer to us.

It turned out to be the best move we could have made, her new teacher is brilliant and the difference was remarkable in Holly's dancing. They had their exam scheduled for this past Thursday, and have been having extra lessons for the past half-term. It was quite an exciting day - after it started snowing on Tuesday, we had an extra 10 cm during the night on Wednesday, and were very worried that the exam would be called off. But, luckily the examiner could get through from London, our roads were clear enough and we all made it to the exam venue with plenty of time.

Holly and her friend arriving at the hall.

Her ballet teacher doing her hair in a very pretty, very neat style!

The last of their group having her hair done.

They thought it was hilarious standing this close for a picture, lol!

Can you see the nervous excitement in their faces?

Here they are just about to go in, making last minute adjustments.

A quick smile, and they were in.

Everyone was very impressed when I brought out my thermos of hot chocolate when the girls came out, complete with a tub of mini marshmallows! I think they deserved the treat, having worked so long and so hard towards doing their exam.

And what better way to unwind than tobogganing down the hill when we got home?

We ended the day by decorating our tree, and I couldn't resist taking a picture of Holly as she hung the decorations. Something about her stance, the way she's dressed, with her hair still done in the neat bun, reminds me of Julia Stiles in Save the last Dance. I love that she enjoys ballet so much. Having done ballet myself until the end of high school, I always wanted her to do ballet. It's a lovely activity for young girls, and I hope she enjoys it as much as I did.

Cake, Cake and More Cake!

2010-11-28T09:18:00.012Z

Oh my gosh, I cannot believe how long it's been since I last posted. I don't know what happened, or why I stopped posting so much. I've become more regular on my Facebook page, lazy, I know - it's quick and easy to post a quick message, my friends who don't blog see my entries, and it is easier to upload pictures. But, I like blogging. I like how I've made so many good friends over the years through my blog, and I don't like how bad I've become at keeping in touch with them.

So, here's a quick post from me and we'll see how long it lasts. This one is all about cakes - I've been eating and making loads of cakes lately, and I can feel it in my favourite jeans so I'd better stop now! It was my birthday a month ago, and my friend Becky made me some British cupcakes, to go with my Union Jack cushion that she and my other friend Karen gave me. I love it, and as they both laughed - I can stop looking at Union Jack cushions at every store we go to!

Then it was Holly's birthday on Remembrance Day, and she chose to take a few friends to dinner to celebrate. I made her a very pretty, girly cake with a clothespin doll for each friend to take home.
I took her to the fabric store to choose the dress fabric, and I don't think I would have chosen any differently. I love her colour choice, and how her doll contrasts with her friends'.

There's Holly...
... and Katie-Anne...
...and William, in a shirt and shorts!

Then I had an order for a Barbie cake, and when the mum gave me the doll, I just knew it was going to be a beautiful cake - look how pretty this Barbie is!

It was fun making this cake for a sweet little girl's fifth birthday, considering Holly had a very similar cake for her fifth birthday!

And then last weekend I was invited to join Holly on a birthday party weekend-away to Eastbourne, with my lovely friend Karen, her daughter and her two best friends. I decided it was a perfect opportunity to use my cupcake chocolates that my sister gave me for my birthday, and used the pretty cupcake stand she'd given me to display them on. They traveled safely down, but didn't survive til morning to take naturally-lit pictures, so these flash-lit ones are all I have! They tasted divine, and I am now on a mission to find more cupcake chocolates!

Strawberry parfait...oh heaven!

Scrapbook Page

2010-06-09T20:07:00.002+01:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to join a scrapbooking evening happening at the church of two friends. The theme was to scrap a quote; whether a Bible quote or some other quote that had meaning was up to us. And it's funny how the penny dropped - as soon as Janine told me the theme, my all time favourite boy quote popped into my head. And then I thought of this photo that I'd had printed months and months ago, but never thought of putting with the quote. And yet, how perfectly they go together...
Simple. Sweet. So so true. And something I needed to remind myself of tonight, when we had a bit of a clash.

Liam Turns Five

2010-06-06T20:30:00.009+01:00

My little guy turned five today. He's had a fabulous build up to his big day. With it being half-term holidays with glorious weather, he's had long days of playing, swimming, water gun fights and late nights. I've had loads of time to relax and get things ready for his party at leisure, and tackle his Star Wars X-Wing cake, which he practically chose the day of his fourth (Pirate themed) birthday last year. Once again Flickr came to the rescue with lots of images to inspire me, and I made this cake for him...

The best part was when I realised a canneloni tube covered in regalice made the perfect compressor - it meant the whole cake came together and actually looked a bit like a real X-wing.
I also tried my hand at painting the shading with food coloring paste mixed in alcohol (you can't use water based colors on regalice) and I really like the effect, I might try it again!

This is his face when he saw what we'd got him - the Ben 10 Omnitrix we promised him months ago during a melt-down in the toy shop! Glad he still wanted it after all this time, and it hardly left his wrist all day.

For his party we booked the lovely people from RugbyTots. He'd done a session during the February half-term which he loved, so when I saw they did parties too, I just knew it would be a hit for his 5th birthday. All the kids had a blast, and the girls who'd been a bit unsure of a boy-themed party did better than the boys at many of the games!

Blowing his candles out - the cake was a big hit too!

And one last view of the cake - it's all gone now, and it tasted great! And I can say with confidence now that the alcohol does evaporate off leaving just the coloring behind. Oh, and a word of advice, if you try painting with alcohol and food coloring, don't keep licking your paintbrush like you would with artist colors, lol!

Holly's Pink dress photos

2010-05-28T10:29:00.004+01:00

I'm such an idiot! A while back we were having glorious weather, so on the Sunday I took Holly out for her 7th pink dress photos installment. Something funky happened and hardly any of my shots were usable - they were mostly out of focus and really grainy. I took a huge knock to my confidence, but I knew I had to re-shoot pretty quickly if I wanted to include the images on a CD I was sending my mum for Mother's Day, and although I had a long list from my mum about which ones she wanted, the pink dress ones were going to be a surprise. Well, that Monday we went back out after school, and I got what I wanted. I processed them, and was itching to blog about them but couldn't as it would have spoiled the surprise.

Would you guess what happened? I burned the CD, made up the parcel, posted it off to my mum, it took three whole weeks to get to her, and then when it did, there were no pink dress pics on the disc. I forgot to include them!! Doh! What an eejit!

Anyway, I promised my mum I would send her a new disc with them, and wait until I've done Liam's beach chair pics to include with it, but in the meantime I'd blog them. I've put the actual photos on my photography blog (link up top there) and here is a PS composite of what they'll look like in the frame. It's a Colin and Justin frame, from Matalan.

My Room So Far...

2010-05-26T20:48:00.004+01:00

Years ago I stumbled across Alicia Paulson's blog. I think everyone I know who makes clothespin dolls credits her with their original design, but her creativity doesn't stop there. She is a wonderfully creative and inspiring person, and when I first saw photos of her studio I fell in love. It is bright, colourful, girly, and beautiful. It has turquoise walls with white trim and pretty florals and touches of red and spring colours thrown together in a way that is simply perfect.
I would love to be able to look at my room one day and feel it was perfect, just like Alicia's studio. It's not there yet, but it's getting close...

My prints finally arrived yesterday, five days after they were supposed to, and I love the photos even more now that they are printed and framed and hanging on my blue wall! My bedding is from Ikea - and the curtain fabric too - my sister gave me the cushion for my birthday a couple of years ago, and yes, it's also from Ikea!

My complete spur-of-the-moment-impulse-buy mirror. I fell in love with it when I first saw it. It was on display in B&Q as an isle-end showcase, with wall paper, chandelier and chest of drawers. They didn't have stock, and each time I went in for other things, I'd find a reason to go and look at the mirror again. It was too expensive, and then when they finally did get stock in, they'd changed the mold and the new ones weren't half as detailed and elaborate, so I pushed it from my mind. But one day, when I went in and stood looking at the mirror again, I decided to ask why the design had changed and whether they would still get more in like the display one. They said no, they had changed suppliers and would never get another one in like the display. It was that one or nothing. But then, I noticed a hairline crack. And I asked if a) they'd sell me the display model (yes!) and b) would they discount it, seeing as it had the crack (yes!) so here it is, hanging proudly in all it's gorgeous detail on MY bedroom wall!! A bit of decorator's flexible caulk will cover up the crack, and I haven't done it yet - so see if you can spot it.

The little birdhouse was a £6 impulse buy - it's too pretty to hang outside, and while I didn't know where to put it when I first bought it, I knew how pretty it would look on my blue walls as soon as I'd painted them. My friend Becky gave me the little bird hanging from it - you would think the two came together, wouldn't you?

So, if you noticed the piles of books next to my chest of drawers please ignore them - I have an old bookcase that is going to get painted white and if I put the books back on now it'll never get done, because I'm just lazy like that! And, if you'd like to see Alicia Paulson's studio, click here.

I'm taking a break...

2010-05-17T14:35:00.007+01:00

...but I guess you already figured that one out, huh?

I don't know what it is, but I haven't really felt like blogging recently. Maybe because the sun has been shining and it's lovely in England at the moment, maybe because I've been busy with all my odd jobs, but I haven't really missed it and I'm sure I'll be back into blogging when some new hobby or project tickles my fancy!

I've painted my room... it's looking very pretty, I promise I will take photos and show you once all the details are done. I bought two red glossy frames, which I've hung above my bed with a pretty little birdhouse hanging in between. I wanted photos of my kids to go in them, and was aiming for that high-key black and white look. I snapped these with half an hour to spare before dinner yesterday, and I'm thrilled. I think I have beautiful children, don't you?

Having wanted black and white shots, I'm now torn between them and the colour. They do look lovely in colour too. Mm, I guess I'll have to print them both ways and see which I prefer "in the flesh", so to speak.

I still visit all my regular blogs, sorry if I don't always comment, I am really trying to limit my time spent on the internet. See you soon ;-)

The power of word of mouth advertising...

2010-04-23T19:51:00.005+01:00

Last week, I had an email in my inbox from Photobox. It was advertising their classic A4 photo book, and after saying they had 1000 reasons to make one, they said 'hang on, 1001 reasons - it's free!" I was given a voucher for a free classic book. I had a week to use it in, so I needed to use existing photos. I first thought of doing a random 'year in the kids' lives' selection of pics, but then had the brainwave of using our holiday snaps from Tenby, Wales. It worked out perfectly that across the 26 pages, I used all my favourite shots, without compromising any. It's great that you can choose your layouts and background colours on each page, so if you want to go for one picture or six, full bleed or with borders, you're in control. It also marks each shot from your album that you've used with a check, so you can instantly see if you've missed one or used it twice by mistake. Because mine was free I decided to pay for the upgrade to premium paper, but actually, I'm pretty sure the regular would be just as good as this paper is really thick.

I've wanted to do a scrapbook layout using these shots for ages, I'm so happy to have been able to use them this well in the book. The full bleed looks great, and the print resolution is fantastic.

A friend exclaimed about this page - "It looks just like a book!" I know what she meant though, it really does look fabulous, don't you think?!

So, proving just how powerful word of mouth advertising is, I've shown this to everyone who sits still long enough to shove in their hands, and quite a few have said, "Ooh, I'm going to make one for my folks" or "This is what I can do with all my holiday snaps!" and I reckon Photobox will sell at least three books as a result of me showing off my book. Plus, I really really want another one for myself now!

'Scuse the long silence but...

2010-04-15T19:06:00.008+01:00

...it's been Easter holidays and we've been having fun!

Seriously, since the holiday started, I/we/the kids have : visited my sister and a had a great day shopping with her; taken the kids to an indoor play area; gone to Alice Holt Forrest station; had an Easter Egg hunt, gone ice-skating (Holly and me) and swimming (Liam and Tris), taken photos of my friend's baby for a brief I got from PaperCraft Inspirations; gone to our favourite park; built a den with all the neighbourhood kids; played for hours in the sunshine with neighbourhood kids; finished job for PaperCraft Inspirations; made a whole bunch of crafty projects, including a teddy bear Holly got for Christmas; gone shopping and discovered we have an H&M kids close enough to go to weekly (if we wanted!); gone into London to the Natural History Museum; had friends over for lunch and play and built tents, cars, trucks and dens in the living room using every chair, cushion and blanket in the house and that doesn't even include tomorrow, when cousin Michael's coming, and the weekend, for which we haven't made fixed plans yet.

Isn't being a kid fun? And as blasphemous as this my sound, I haven't taken my camera with me anywhere, preferring to just let them play and have fun, and not think about posing for me every two seconds. I have had my mobile though, so while they're not great quality, the memories are there...

Happy Easter!

2010-04-02T11:04:00.006+01:00

Does this picture make this teeny tiny little Easter Scene look big? Believe me when I say, it's the teeniest little gem I've ever seen, and I was so surprised to receive it in the mail this week, all the way from Mercedes in New Zealand! The little nest is exquisite, and those eggs!

Thank you Mercedes, it was such a lovely unexpected little parcel, and it's on display with all my other Easter goodies!

My 1:1 Easter Wreath...

....and my 1:12 Easter Wreath, hanging on the dollhouse door!

Hope you all have a lovely Easter!

Easter Egg Competition

2010-03-31T14:33:00.012+01:00

Do you remember the Harvest Creature competition? Well, my kids' school also holds an Easter Egg competition at the end of the Spring term, and here are some of the fabulous creations from this years' lot!

Holly had this idea since Christmas when one of the stores had a set of Russian Dolls in their gift range. We used a goose, chicken, duck and (plastic) quail egg to get the dolls sizes, and after I drew the outlines for her, she painted all the colours. I love it so much, I think I'll keep it to display every Easter!

Liam is newly into Ben 10 and he was absolutely sure he wanted to do Ben Egg, but when I had a look at the characters and saw there was one called "Echo Echo", it came to me.... Eggo Eggo it had to be! When I arrived at lunch time today, everyone rushed to tell me that Liam had won (again!) and again, he hadn't realised that going up on stage to get a prize from Mr P means he'd won! Bless him, but he was super chuffed to know he actually was one of the winners!

One for all the Top Gear fans...

Boiled Egg and Soldiers!

Jeggward... there were a few of these this year, but this was by far my favourite!

Story Time With Miss Hemmings... and can you see what story she's reading to them? I *heart* this one so much!

Little Egg Riding Hood... my friend's son did this one, and took one of the Year two prizes!

I love all the Eggy names the kids come up with - they are so creative!

And this one was amazing - I was walking past and thought I'd seen a flash. On closer inspection, I noticed the Eggs-ray machine actually had a little flashing light, so every couple of seconds it flashed on to show the chicken's X-ray! Brilliant!

The school council vote for their favourites, and two winners are selected for each year group. I'm so glad I don't have to vote, I'd want them all to win!

Good old South African party treats!

2010-03-25T14:25:00.002Z

As kids growing up in South Africa, our parties were very different to the ones my kids have now we live in England. Back then, we would arrive to a table laden with party treats, and after playing the games we'd sing happy birthday, blow out the candles, grab a paper plate full of birthday cake and sweets and crisps and ice cream cones made to look like clown hats filled with sweets, and scoff the lot until our parents came to take us home. Occassionally, the party treats would have been put into boxes or bags which we could take home with us if there was anything left to take. Here in England, not only are the kids treated to a sit down arrangement of snacks, sandwiches, cupcakes, and sweets, but the birthday cake is cut and wrapped and placed into party bags with even more sweets and treats for the kids to take home! I guess it's fun being a kid at an English birthday party, but I loved the good old fashioned South African way of doing things!

For the final event in the month long fundraiser at my kids school - the long awaited Bake Sale - I made the Clown Hats filled with Smarties, and then couldn't resist a batch of cupcakes with pastel coloured strawberry flavoured icing with glitter to match! My mom sent a package with a friend who visited my sister, and in it was edible glitter in orange, lime and white ( I had the blue from my last batch) so thanks to Sainsbury's Fresh Ideas mag for the idea, the kids each have something different to take in!

Scrapbook Inspirations Ideas Book

2010-03-24T20:45:00.003Z

I don't think I ever blogged about the end of Scrapbook Inspirations Magazine. If you remember back in September I proudly announced the fact that I was a member of the new design team for Scrapbook Inspirations. Well, the job was sadly short lived, as December saw the very last issue of the magazine published. It's a tough time for companies and I guess luxuries like magazines are often the first to go, but I was absolutely gutted. Not because I wanted to carry on designing layouts for the mag, but because I really enjoyed getting my copy every month and bookmarking it for ideas and pouring over all the new papers and embellishments available.

But, every cloud has a silver lining and for Scrapbook Inspirations, it took the form of a quarterly 'bookazine', which launches on 31 March.

It will retail at £10.99 in the UK, and can be ordered here, no matter where in the world you are. I think I have at least one layout and one photo in the book, and actually, the layout is one I did using a picture of an online photography friend of mine's son, so I'll be excited to finally show her the layout in it's published form - I thought it might never see the light of day and would have been really disappointed for her if it weren't used!

I'll be able to show you once it hits the shelves ;-) Anyway, I have since stepped down from taking on any new assignments, my new job as dinner lady at the school is keeping me very busy and very happy, and I'm helping out in many other ways at the school too. My scrapbooking has relaxed and I allow myself to scraplift layouts I like in their entirety -something I couldn't do as a designer!

My Garden Girls

2010-03-23T18:45:00.006Z

I launched my little Garden Girls on Etsy on Saturday. I didn't want to make too much of a fuss about it, but I've had quite a few views and two sales already! I'm hoping to keep it slow and steady, and as soon as I sort out alternate stands for my dolls (US stands don't fit the UK clothespins) I'm hoping to introduce some birthday cake toppers/trinket dolls.
Here are a few of them...

Genevieve on the left is sold, Katia and Helene are still listed.

Jin-May is my all time favourite, I just love her black bunches and wispy fringe! Florence is reserved for my friend.

Isabella is sold too. She was inspired by one I saw on Flickr, and Holly has one just like her!

The Little Graduate who went Travelling...

2010-03-20T20:29:00.002Z

Two weeks ago, Miss Heather the Graduate flew the nest to explore the great big world that is Missouri, USA. She's had me and her new family extremely worried as her flight got delayed and nobody could track it down for a whole week, but thankfully, a very kind USPS official delivered her safely to her new home today, and we all breathed a huge collective sigh of relief!

Rebecca is a fellow Pea, and has twice offered to help me get some obscure item from the States that I simply haven't been able to find in the UK. So it is completely thanks to her that I am in possession of around 100 head beads needed to make my clothespin dolls! She even paid an extra top up amount on the shipping that we'd misjudged, and instead of letting me know the final invoice in order to pay her the correct amount, she asked if I could by any chance make her eldest daughter, Heather, a doll to celebrate her graduation this year.

And, this is the doll I made! I changed her stand colour - I decided the yellow didn't do too well with her white and blue gown, so she has a grassy stand with yellow flowers instead, like my Garden Girls that I've listed in my new Etsy store ;-)

Becca, thank you so much for doing all the ordering and shipping for me, and I'm super relieved that your little graduate is safely with you now. All the best for Heather's graduation, may she have a wonderfully successful future!

The Growing Season is Upon us!

2010-03-18T13:54:00.003Z

Firstly, can you see how contrasty the lighting in this shot is? Do you know why it's so contrasty? That's sunlight shining on the Arthur! Pure, brilliant, bright sunshine!

I've started planning the garden. I really like this fake grass, it's one used in model railways, as opposed to the apple green carpet you get from the DHE. So, I'm going to make a little deck for the table and chairs, and put proper flower beds where all those pots are standing, so eventually when I've bought and made enough flowers from kits I'll have them along the porch wall. I haven't decided about the little stepping path - I've used all the pavers I have left from the last house I did, and using enough for the path up to the porch, I'm not sure if I need more or not to make the steps closer together.

For the other side, I think I'll leave it grassed up to the porch so the bike doesn't stand in flower beds, and put a tree in the corner in front... maybe big enough for a rope swing to hang from, with a bird's nest in the branches. I'll have my eyes glued to the ground when I'm walking through the woods now, looking for the perfect tree! And then, I found dinky little lolly sticks today, which will become a picket fence along the perimeter. What do you think?

More Circus Pics

2010-03-16T22:16:00.011Z

As promised, here are some more pics from the circus. Excuse the camera shake and blur here and there...these are all shot with available light.

These guys opened and closed the show... and all I can say is, Wow! They were insane, I've seen a circus show using this 'hamster wheel' thing before... but nothing like these guys did.

The clown was very good, he was one of those silly-fool clowns that got our sympathy. The Shetland ponies were so cute, and set the scene for the next act...

The most amazing horses ever. They were beautiful, and while I do wonder about what goes on in training to get them so in tune with each other, they had a great bond with their trainer and gave him kisses frequently.

My all time favourite act though was the budgies! I mean, how much cuter could you get? They were so clever, and funny and cute and Holly really really wants one now (and so do I!)

The Chinese acrobats/contortionists were fabulous, and spot on with every pose.

I was super chuffed to get the moment the clown spat his 'honey' at the other clown, on a relatively slow shutter speed and no flash!

The high-wire guys ending with a bang - complete with fake fall to make us believe how dangerous it was. They needn't have bothered - I could see exactly how dangerous it was!

And the kids, standing in front of the big top. Fun fun fun!

Happy Mothering Sunday!

2010-03-14T17:46:00.005Z

I think England is the only country that doesn't celebrate Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May. Instead, on the second Sunday of March, we have what they call Mothering Sunday. I was woken up with the gifts my kids chose for me at their school sale on Friday - chocolate from Liam and a scarf from Holly - and then Liam said to me, "Mommy, what's your favourite song in the whole wide world?" I replied that it changes all the time, but at the moment it's 'Don't Stop Believing' from Glee. I came downstairs to another gift...the Glee soundtrack ;-)

On Friday, I gave them the choice of activity for today. I said we could whatever they wanted to do with me on Mother's Day. It just so happened that the circus was in town, and they'd seen the big top the day before, so guess where we went this afternoon?

Yep, Zippo's Circus! It was fab, they had incredible acts, and I was so glad to be allowed to take pics (albeit without flash) so tomorrow, I'll edit them and upload a few to show you. If you ever see Zippo's Circus come to your town, I highly recommend them!

To Trim or Not to Trim?

2010-03-07T18:55:00.006Z

I've been busy this weekend! I decided to get all the gingerbread trim out, sand it and paint it white, as I can't make a decision about it without getting it ready. I love the trim on the front roof next to the window, and on the sides where the roof joins at the peaks. What I can't decide about is the standing up bits - the little heart shaped trim along the top edge of the roof and the 'people' shaped bits. In person, when I first put it up, Holly and I both said "No! Definitely without."

But then, I look at the photos, and think, "Hmm, maybe with?" What do you think? Do you like it? Do you think it's too big and looks odd on the house?

Obviously, if I decide not to use it, I'll need to fix the roof apex and maybe put some 'lead flashing' on, and yes, touch up all those bits where the wood is showing through!

What I am loving is using my Club Little House boat shelf outside as a potting shelf! I can't wait to get some grass and paving stones down, I think the house will look so sweet with a little patch of green. I've also taken Amy's wonderful little garden goodies out of their box for the first time ever.
I'm also super excited to have finally put some of Mercedes' gorgeous birdhouses in place - and just in time for spring! Now all I need are some plants... I love the daffodils that Linda made, I need to find out what kit she used.

Oh, and did you notice something else I've done? Look at the windows ;-)

World Book Day

2010-03-04T13:50:00.004Z

Meet Harry Potter, The Troublesome Tooth Fairy and Tinkerbell, on their way to school on World Book Day! Hope you have a lovely day, and, if you live in England, be sure to ask your school for a book token, which allows children to buy a book at participating book stores for a pound!

*ETA* Holly's other bottom tooth has been wobbly since her first one fell out. For days now I've been telling her to wiggle it more so that it can come out - her big tooth is practically fully grown behind the baby tooth. So today, dressed as she was as the Troublesome Tooth Fairy, I said it would be a good day to lose a tooth. And, she did!! She'll be getting a visit from a tooth fairy tonight, let's just hope it's not the troublesome one... she takes children instead of their teeth!

Larks on a Wire!

2010-03-03T18:04:00.008Z

I usually do reading with the Year Two's on a Wednesday morning. But last Wednesday, my daughter's teacher asked me if I would like to help with a project - the student teacher who has been with them for a term is leaving on Friday, and they would like to give her a card. They would like it to be something that each child can contribute towards. Do I have any ideas?

Well, I had this one...

Each class in the school is named after a bird. My daughter is in Larks class. So, I thought, why not get each kid to draw a lark, cut them out, and place them all on a telephone wire, the way birds do. I misjudged quite how big the card would have to be to accommodate 30 birds drawn on an A6 piece of paper, but I thought making one long card was a fun way to do it, rather than one huge A1 card. It concertinas into five sections, and I made an envelope to fit using the stripy wall paper.

I found the cute red alpha stickers for 99p, and with some dollhouse floor strips for the poles, black embroidery floss for the wire and each child's very creative, very original little lark, I think the result is simply fabulous! They also wrote little notes to Miss Taylor which I've stuck on the back of the card. It's been fun putting it all together, and taking kids a few at a time to work on it without Miss Taylor seeing us... although I'm pretty sure she's onto us - there's nothing like a bunch of suspicious looking 7 year olds to pique your interest! They're giving it to her on Friday, and I can't wait to hear what she thinks of it!

Kreativ Blogger Award

2010-03-03T14:27:00.005Z

I was very touched to receive this award twice this week! Once from Genevieve and once from DollMum. It still amazes me to think I have blog followers, let alone followers who think I'm creative and inspiring enough to visit and pass on awards to! Thanks ladies, you made my day ;-)

Before passing it, here are the rules :

1. Thank the person that gave it to you
2. Copy the logo and place it in your blog
3. Link to the person who nominated you
4. Name 7 things about yourself that nobody knows
5. Nominate 7 kreativ bloggers
6. Post links to the 7 blogs that you nominate
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know that you nominate them.

So... seven things you didn't know about me...

1. I have a very sweet tooth, and cannot pass on cupcakes or chocolate
2. I have old lady toes because my circulation is so bad!
3. I started working as a 'midday supervisor' at my kids' school in February
4. I would love to become a classroom/teacher's assistant
5. I am a control freak
6. I used to work at Cape Town's largest daily newspaper, Die Burger, as a photographer
7. I am an Ebay addict!

I pass this on to
Liberty Biberty
Wee Cute Treasures
Little Nest Studio

Sorry, I am going to break the chain and only nominate three. Don't get me wrong, I can think of dozens of blogs to pass it on to, but they're all part of the same circle of blogs that we all follow and I don't want to get repetitive for them!

Happy Birthday Andrea!

2010-02-28T08:20:00.005Z

It's my big sister's birthday today. The absolute best BEST thing about me moving to England almost four years ago is the fact that we've become such good friends! We went from living together in our parents' home where we fought like cat and dog daily, to her moving to the UK and just not really having that time to bond as older sisters. So now, even though we see each lots, we chat for hours on the phone a few times a week, our kids play together and we are friends!

Holly and I went shopping with her yesterday, took her to lunch, and had a fabulous girly day together. I took up her gifts, one was a pretty metal plant holder for her outside patio area with red and yellow primulas in, a sweet little metal heart, and this, an envelope book.

I bought a Martha Stewart magazine years ago (we're talking pre-1995) and it had a tutorial to make envelope books. What a clever concept - I made myself one as a budget book, it had all the cash payments I needed in a month, so I'd take out the cash, pop each one into it's envelope and never had to worry about spending money that was earmarked for something else! Of course, direct debit and stop orders means I no longer need it, but there are so many other uses for one.

My sister, who is self employed, has to do her taxes and keep track of her her expenditures through the year. So, I made her one with twelve envelopes, one for each month of the year (and it starts with April and runs through to March because of our tax year) so she can keep all her receipts in one organised place.

I covered it in a Cath Kidston tea towel, and using their website, designed the labels to look "Cath Kidston-y", and because my book-binding tape was red, I went for the blue and red combo for the envelopes and inside covers. I hope she likes it { ;-) } and has a very Happy Birthday!

I'm not sure I'm looking forward to the next step...

2010-02-27T19:17:00.004Z

...glueing all those interior window frame bits in place, filling the odd gaps and carefully painting them white, without getting any on the wallpaper. You can see all the bits in the bedroom - I need to find the best lengths to go with each other (they're not all exactly the same width or length) and once they're glued in place, the acetate windows will be in position which means there's no room for error with the touch up paint! But, you can see how excited Holly is getting for it's completion...she brought the box of furniture down this morning and we played with how it will look. The rug in the lounge is her father's mouse rug, which feels very uncomfortable under the computer mouse so he's not using it, but he was adamant she couldn't have it for the dollhouse. Well, it's been over a week and he hasn't taken it back ;-)

I found this paper on Ebay, it's real wallpaper that the seller sourced for its tiny print, and she sells lots of different paper. I love it, it was exactly what I was looking for! I also need to stick the brick paper on the exposed wood... and fix the gaps in the roof colour... and paint the gingerbread trim and shutters... and whitewash the bathroom floor... and paint the ceilings... and sort out the base of the house on it's swivel... and then tackle the garden... shall I set a date and try stick to it?!

Scary Hair Day!

2010-02-26T10:00:00.005Z

My kids have Scary Hair Day at school today as part of their fundraising. For 50p, they could come to school with mad, scary hair! I wish I could have taken photos of all the kids, there were some awesome looking hair-do's, I tell ya!

Liam went for a neon orange 'mohorn' as he calls it (and I don't want to correct him just yet!), I won't be surprised if it still looks like that when I pick him up - the amount of hair gel, hairspray and hair colour that went in to that hair could sink a ship!

Planet Holly! I used to do my hair like this at night (minus the alien eyes, of course!) and in the morning, when you take the horns out, you're left with pretty ringlets. Holly has ballet this afternoon... what will Miss Marshall make of that? We had to wait until we got to school for the blue spray for the 'planet', which is why only the 'alien houses' are sprayed in the top pic. The eyes are stuck on cocktail sticks, with the points cut off. I do hope the scary hair doesn't make for scary behaviour, they were a bit hyper dropping them off this morning!

Next week is Book Day - dress up as your favourite book character, then the following week has Pyjama Day, and thank goodness the rest of the fundraisers are bake sales and toy sales!

By the way, pop over to my photo blog (link up top) to see the sweetest picture of my neighbour's son ;-)

The Sparky is done!

2010-02-19T20:25:00.002Z

Thank you Mercedes, for reminding me that a porch light really can make the difference! I found this little gem on Ebay, so after a week's wait it became mine, and it arrived in the mail at the same time as my puppy - what a great day for post that was! So, the electrician has done with the Arthur, they might call him back for some garden lighting, but that won't be for ages yet. The wallpaperer can come back on site to finish the bathroom and kitchen, and the carpenter will start fitting interior window frames pretty soon too. It really is all the little finishing touches that take ages, and Holly is getting impatient about getting the furniture back in, but I think the end is in sight.

Blogger Love

2010-02-17T16:45:00.003Z

This cute little puppy arrived in the mail on Saturday all the way from the Emerald Isle. His little brother lives with Carol's little peg girls, and when I commented on how cute he was and asked Carol where she'd found him (as I really really wanted to get one for myself!) she did one better ... she offered to send me a second little puppy she happened to have! Isn't he darling? And so I made him a little girl to love him and look after him, and I think they both look very happy to have each other.

She happens to be able to balance on her tippy toes, but I kind of like the idea I saw on Etsy of painting over-sized Mary-Janes on the stand, so she looks like she's wearing shoes when she's on her stand, and slippers when she's not.

Thank you for my sweet little puppy Carol, it was so generous of you, and it just makes me so happy to know that this wonderful community of bloggers I've found myself in is so friendly and generous, and true friends are made in the blink of an eye!

Flickr Fun

2010-02-15T10:00:00.000Z

If you're bored or have loads of time on your hands, or if you're just plain procrastinating and want to avoid your mile-long-list of things-to-do, have some fun with Flickr, and make a mosaic to describe you!

1. Jo Anne's School of Dance, 2. Sushi, 3. The Steeple, 4. My Fugitive Fish!, 5. Salve, sono Hugh Laurie!, 6. Cookie Splash II, 7. Chimères de Notre Dame, 8. Lemon Sorbet Diptych, 9. Love is in the air, 10. Valentine05, 11. Calm photographer's agitated mind, 12. Magpie in the moonlight

Created with Big Huge Labs Mosaic Maker

The method:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into the Mosaic Maker.

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your Flickr name (if you don't have a Flickr account, use your blog name)

My answers, in case you can't work them out, were Jo-Anne, Sushi, Fairmont, Duck Egg Blue, Hugh Laurie, Coffee, Paris, Lemon Sorbet, Content, My Kids, Creative, Magpie Jo.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T09:01:00.006Z

The ideas for holiday card photos on Two Peas are amazing. I love how we all share our thoughts and ideas, and all put our own stamp on it. I can't take credit for this idea, but I love how the pictures turned out and the suckers fitted in perfectly once we'd made the cards!

Liam had two versions - one for the boys and one for the girls - and Holly just made the one for (mostly) girl friends and teachers. I cleaned the Old Sweet Shop in Godalming out on whirly pops, so we used the old fashioned raspberry lollipops for a few. All the teachers got them, and they were chuffed because they all said they hadn't had one of those for years!

I hope you have a lovely Valentine's Day, and mom and dad, Happy Anniversary - you know I hold your marriage and relationship in the highest regard, I hope you continue to have many wonderful years together.

Cupcake, Anyone?

2010-02-12T11:13:00.004Z

We're hosting a coffee afternoon for the Reception Year mums at school this afternoon. It's good to get together every now and then to meet your kid's friends' parents properly. Liam has been begging to have one particular friend after school, but I can't even tell you what his mum looks like, so hopefully I get to meet her today and arrange something for Liam! I baked these Devil's Food cupcakes, piped pale blue icing and used some pastel blue glitter! Don't they look pretty?

And this tea towel is one Mercedes sent me at Christmas time, I just never blogged about her wonderful surprise parcel back then and I'm playing catch up now! I'll be using it to serve the cakes on ;-) She also sent me the most exquisite little quilt for the dollhouse, so now that Carol has shown how cute her little bed is, I'm going to try making one too, and then I'll show you the quilt in place on the bed.
The kids went off with their Valentine's cards this morning, I can't wait to show you how cute they turned out. Pop back on Sunday to see ;-)

Bedroom Paper

2010-02-11T14:21:00.003Z

This is the bedroom so far. I've used my Antique Pine varnish on the floor, and a pretty pink floral paper on the wall. The skirting is not stuck down yet so excuse the big gaps between it and the floor. Now, I've reached another dilemma. What do I do with the ceilings? Paper? Paint? Paper and paint? I need to hide the wire of the lights, and the wood isn't smooth so I'm guessing a lining paper and then paint it white. Can you paint lining paper or will it warp? I guess there's only one way to find out!

I Got Wire!

2010-02-05T17:09:00.005Z

I had to laugh, in my previous post I neglected to say that the wire I needed was for my dollhouse. So when my sister read my post, she thought I was going mad, after all, her husband is an electrical contractor, why don't I just ask him for the wire? LOL!

I had a few offers of wire, but none that would have done the trick. I love Ebay's function of "Sorry, you didn't win this item, find something similar". It came up with a roll of wire for £3.90 including postage, but it was called cable, not wire, which was why I didn't find it on my first search. So, the Arthur is all wired up, and ready for wallpaper upstairs.

When I was buying my lights, I looked at a porch light and hummed and hawed about buying one. In the end, I decided not to get one, as I didn't know if the porch was big enough for one. But now, having had an email from Mercedes where she said how the houses with porch lights really stand out, I'm beginning to think I should get one. I can still run the wire through the kitchen, if I leave papering it til last.

But, what colour do I do the floors upstairs? I thought of painting the bathroom floor either whitewashed, or the same stone colour as the exterior. It's getting blue and white stripe wallpaper. The bedroom is getting white wallpaper with a delicate pink floral pattern. What colour do I do it's floors?

Grinding to a halt...

2010-01-31T18:55:00.002Z

I need wiring. Not a lot, just enough to extend my upstairs lights from the middle of the house to the lower level where my socket strip will be. I don't want to have to spend £4.80 on 50 yards of wire when I'll only need maybe 24". I was watching a roll of wire on Ebay, I bid on it and just got outbid. With postage, the winning bidder is paying £4.30. Not a huge saving.

The worst part? Somewhere in this house I have some leftover lengths of wire. I'm sure I wouldn't have thrown them out, but I cannot find them anywhere. Ugh! So, do any of my UK blog buddies have any dollhouse wire to spare? I'm happy to pay for the wire and postage, I just don't want to have to spend £4.80. Let me know, please, so that I can get the Arthur's wallpaper done in the bedroom and bathroom, and get the interior finished and ready for the furniture to be unpacked!
Otherwise, I'll have tons of wiring left if anybody else needs it a later stage, lol!

PS I did get my table cleared for the mini-shoot, and I'm SOOOO excited to share the pics but you'll have to wait until 14 February to see them ;-)

Back on Track

2010-01-28T19:35:00.004Z

The irony hasn't escaped me that most of my followers started following my blog because of my dollhouse. And it's been simply ages since I started building it, and things had completely ground to a halt and I've submitted you all to the boring ordinary things that occupy my mind. Well, guess what? I'm back on track!

I was going to show you this picture as a "look how much I got done today" update.

But actually, look how much I got done today!! I painted and sanded the stairs and skirting boards. I glued the floorboards down, and varnished them. And then I bravely cut some of the beautiful wallpaper Mercedes sent me and papered the walls too! I need to give the floor another coat, then I can glue the skirting boards and stairs. Unfortunately, the stairs don't sit completely level and I cannot figure out how to drop them on the left. You can only really see it if you look at them straight on, so it's not the end of the world, but I wish they were level.

And just look at the state of that dining table! I need it for a mini photo shoot on Saturday, I'd better get it tidied up tomorrow, lol.

First You See It, Then You Don't...

2010-01-26T19:28:00.004Z

Remember back when we had all our snow Holly got her first wobbly tooth? Well, yesterday, through a combination of her ham sandwich and her pizza dinner, her tooth suddenly got a lot looser. She panicked a bit in the bath (largely due to my reaction, no doubt...I freaked out at the sight!) and then wouldn't close her mouth, wouldn't swallow, and was too scared to go to bed in case she swallowed it.

So, we rang her best friend who's lost lots of teeth already, who reassured Holly that she's got a couple of days at least before it falls out completely. I was so sure of it being secure enough to stay put for a day or two more that I bet her £10 it wouldn't fall out during the night. Humph!

5:30am I get woken up with a giggling 7 year old. Look Mommy, she said, my tooth fell out!

Playing Around

2010-01-24T18:26:00.005Z

I'm playing around with new blog templates. Bear with me, things might change, as I figure out what it all means and how to do what I want!

On a side note, I don't know if you have visited Wee Cute Tresures at all. I met Carol through her peg dolls, and she met me through my Arthur pics on Flickr, and then we put two and two together and realised who each other was, lol! Anyway, she is busy shopping for a dollhouse, and sent me links to some really cute houses, and now I'm all fired up - I want a new house and I haven't even finished my Arthur yet. Just look at this one, it's called the Manchester, it was made by Duracraft who are now no longer producing dollhouses, so basically, when the stocks sells out, that's it.
There's a UK company that sells it, so I'm not even looking at shipping costs. The postage would cost £4.50! Oh, but the house is £139. Yeah, that's where it gets complicated. I don't have £143.50. Maybe that's a good thing, I can't imagine having the time for another project now.

But look at that lovely interior space! Of course, the alternative is to completely build my own house from scratch, using all the elements I love from each and every house I love. And finish the Arthur before I even think of another house, lol. For now, I'll just figure out all this html code and get my blog looking pretty.

My First Blog Award!

2010-01-21T16:09:00.003Z

Imagine my surprise to have been awarded the sunshine blog award by new-found friend, Carol, at Wee Cute Treasures! I've never received an award before, and while I realise there's quite a few going around and you don't need to do much to receive one, it's quite fun none the less to find your name and blog link on someone else's blog! So, to pass it on to another blog that make me feel sunny, I'm going to say Mercedes, at Liberty Biberty! I could list a lot more blogs, but I'm afraid while I follow their blogs and visit often, I don't think they come to mine quite as often, so I'll leave it at this but add that all the blogs I link to on the left are well worth a visit. Thanks Carol, isn't it fun how quickly you can find and make friends through our blogs?

What France means to me...

2010-01-20T11:26:00.008Z

Patricia over at Papillon Bleu is hosting a bit of a French party this week. She's invited bloggers from all over to share a bit of what France means to them, and it's been wonderful to see everyone's take. France holds a very special place in my heart. I arrived in Paris, CDG airport a few days before Christmas in 1995, a very young, very naive and very shy 22 year old, on my way to become a jeune fille au pair for a family with a little girl, 6, and a little handicapped boy, 10.
I left Paris from Orly airport in March 1997, a bit older, a lot wiser and so much more confident in myself with a lifetime of wonderful memories.

The family lived in St Tropez, in a beautiful, character filled old farmhouse called la Ferme de la Moutte. La plage de la Moutte was down the lane...and it was a nudist beach - Imagine! These are snapshots from my photo album. I thought of scanning pictures , but I didn't think the quality would be much better than this and this way you get to see more. My room was set apart from the main house, that's my window in the top left pic. My folks visited while I was out there, which was lovely.

I met some of the most amazing girls from all over the world in St Tropez, and while our charges were at school, we would met up and go to the beach, or into town to the farmer's market on the square. On our nights off, we'd hit the bars and clubs in town, and hopefully meet a few mecs who'd pay for us to get in to Papagayo! Here I am with Tammy from the UK, Louise and Claire from South Africa, and my hair the longest it's ever been. (And we won't say anything about how much less I weighed back in those days!)

The family I worked for had a boat, which we would often go out on for the weekend to the nearby islands. Port Cros was one, and Porquerolles another. I only have to hear Vangelis's Conquest of Paradise to take me straight back to those days, with Jacques at the helm and the music playing full blast, as we raced back to St Trop, crashing over the waves at top speeds!

I left the family in July, and headed to Paris for the remainder of my stay. I was incredibly lucky to have my French teacher from SA in Paris at the time I arrived, and Aude was instrumental in getting me there safely and set up with job applications and metro tickets. I managed to get a job at Planet Hollywood on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, which was fantastic fun. I bumped shoulders with George Clooney (really, and he apologised!), saw Geena Davis, Jean-Claude van Damme and Samuel L. Jackson, and got up to all sorts of mischief and fun with some wonderful people, again, from all over the world. I stayed at the YWCA in the 8th arr. and metro Villiers was my stop. This little market lane was just off from the metro, and the shops sold the most amazing bread, and cheese, and meat, and wine! The bottom pics are the Avenue des Champs-Élysées at night, at Christmas time.

When I first arrived, I stayed in the grandparents apartment at the Pont de la Tournelle. They had the top floor with a roof garden, and the view over the Notre Dame was breathtaking. This is me on a later holiday to Paris, in 2004, just in front of their apartment building.

Thank you Patricia, for giving me an excuse to share these old photographs, and for reminding me of what a wonderful country it is. I love France with all my heart.

You'd think we actually miss the snow and ice...

2010-01-17T14:04:00.005Z

But actually, it's just the new season of Dancing on Ice that got the kids nagging! I've never taken them ice-skating before. Liam's always been a bit too little, but suddenly, when they asked this week, I realised that they would probably both cope just fine with it. So we rang the Spectrum, found out about times and prices, and hit the rink this morning. The kids did brilliantly, from being very scared and wobbly when we started, to doing it hands-free by the end of the session! I've promised them we can go more often now, so they don't forget how to skate. In actual fact though, skating is a bit like riding a bicycle ... you don't completely forget how! And yes, in a very rare occurance, that's me in front of the camera instead of being behind it ;-)

*ETA* This is what they looked like later that day!

All That's Left...

2010-01-16T17:56:00.003Z

...of our snowman! We woke up to the most glorious sight his morning. Green, glorious green! The rain came, and melted the snow overnight. How I love the rain now!

Stark contrast to the shot of the kids playing in the street a week and a half ago. Come on spring, we're ready for you ;-)

Fabulous New Shoes

2010-01-14T16:53:00.006Z

I decided to go into town on Tuesday, just to feel normal again, having been house bound for a whole week with the snow and the kids. I used the opportunity to get new brake pads fitted on my car, and then had just over two hours to browse while they were busy with the car. It was lovely, I had no agenda, no time limit, NO KIDS! and I did have money to spend! But, I didn't find any new jeans at the Gap (their sales are usually pretty good). Next had just the dregs left, and although I did get the shoes Liam really wanted in the next size up, and his anti-itch cream, I didn't find anything for myself. So, with time to kill I decided to hike up to the top of the High Street to Mickey D's (yes, my guilty pleasure is a Happy Meal!) and I popped into the charity shop next door. And just look what I found...

Aren't they gorgeous? I first thought they looked bigger than my size (UK 6) but on turning them around I saw they were a six. So I tried them on, and you'll have to take my word for it, but they are so cute on! They are the perfect heel height, I love their square toe, and the little flowers just add the perfect touch. And can you see, they're new? Brand spanking new, never been worn before. In a charity store. But the cherry on top?

The price! Can you see what it says? Yes, indeed. Four quid. For a brand new gorgeously cute pair of Faith Shoes. Heaven. And Faith are not known for affordable footwear.

On a different note altogether, yesterday's new snow day gave me the opportunity to try out the lights in the Arthur. I've lightly taped them in place, to see if we like the amount of light each fitting gives in each room. And I took this picture to check the scale of a peg doll against a 1:12 inch house. And I liked it, so I thought I'd post it here.

I did toy with the idea of switching the kitchen and bathroom lights, but the pendant one hangs really low, so I'd have to shorten the chain quite a bit in order to hang it downstairs. And that might detract from the light's overall effect. So I think they'll stay like this. I love the lounge light, it's perfectly bright for the room. And speaking of the Arthur, it's name is set to change. Holly hasn't decided between "The Brambles" or "Holly Cottage". Both very English, both very common/popular in England, and both relevant to us in name (our road is called Bramble something and Holly's name, well, that's self-explanatory!) I'm leaning toward the former. What do you think?

What to do when you have a snow day...

2010-01-13T14:07:00.013Z

1. Paint a picture of your holiday in Tenby with the kids.

2. Make happy lunches.

3. Steal the snowman's hat.

4.And take more pictures of the snow. Actually, these were taken on the weekend still, I hadn't uploaded them yet. This is Liam down our back garden path.

And this is the snow on the branches down the path.

And a close up of the branch. I liked how the sun was shining through the ice.

My poor jasmine. I think jasmine is another of those plants that just don't grow in England. Well, that's what I tell myself, because mine either drown or freeze to death. And how I love the smell of jasmine as you walk out the door. Sigh.

Can you guess what this is? We have leaky gutters. Where ours join our neighbours on both sides, we have drips. It can get pretty close to Chinese water torture during a heavy rainstorm, and we have got a roofer coming to fix them as soon as the weather improves, but for now, we have very drippy gutters. And this is what happens to those drips during a big freeze. They freeze, over the hose-pipe, and garden tools, and watering can.

This became Liam's ice wand for a good game of wizards with his dad. Then he ate it.

Actually, the painting we started this morning is looking fantastic. I drew the outlines, the kids painted all the flat colour bits, and then I started outlining it with a black sharpie. Holly then took over from me, and has added people sunbathing, swimmers frolicking, fishermen, sailors, kite flyers, families... it looks super. I'll take a picture of it when she's done and add it in here. Liam drew the sun and himself. It's super cute. Come back later to see.

Ta Da! Aren't we clever? Can you spot Liam's little dude? I love him, and the happy sun, and all of Holly's amazing additions! Click to see it bigger!

I'm a Gleek!

2010-01-12T16:50:00.005Z

Are you a Glee fan? Is England one of the last countries to have Glee hit our telly's? I've been waiting for ages for it, it made such a storm in the US when it launched, and it sounded right up my alley way. Well, my wait is over, and I was treated to a back to back episode one and two special last night AND I LOVE IT! It is fabulous! Seriously, if you're in the UK, try and see if E4 do re-runs through the week. And if not, buy episodes 1&2 on iTunes and watch next week at 9pm, E4. And then tell me you don't love it too.

Frozen England

2010-01-09T17:25:00.003Z

These pictures were on the BBC weather website. I love this one of the hedge shaped like a heart. How fantastic for Lucy Savage to have found that, it's beautiful!

And this is a site not often seen - the entire UK, covered in white. We are well and truly caught in the middle of a very cold winter. How we long for spring now.

You can find the frozen UK image here ... Click!

Fun in the Sun, uh, I mean, snow!

2010-01-08T12:33:00.007Z

This morning, I decided to try heading out for supplies. We have no bread, and while we're okay for milk, I thought I'd get some more ahead of this weekend's new heavy snowfall. I tried going up the hill to our local Tesco, but couldn't get up. So I swung around and went back down, and then couldn't stop at the bottom. Thank goodness for snow drifts to stop in! So we made our way very slowly to the little Co-Op, got there fine, but no bread, no milk and no delivery's scheduled this weekend at all. If our milkman doesn't make it through in the morning we'll have to head further afield in search of some supplies. How much snow are we still in for this weekend? Yikes!

Yesterday's snow fun. I had a look on Ebay at sledges. The plastic ones are currently going for £30-odd, the wooden ones anything from £40 to £70! We really need to get one, and after playing with this one of our neighbours, I think wood is really the way to go.

Trust Liam to act like a monkey!

Aw, sweet!

Snow Angel (with a wobbly tooth!)

2010-01-07T12:17:00.005Z

Another snow day! What I love about the second day of snow is that the sun usually comes out, so I get much nicer photos than trying to take shots while it's still snowing on the first day. I took loads today, we borrowed a toboggan from our neighbours, and had loads of fun zooming up and down the road. I'll post those later. Here's my wobbly toothed girl making a snow angel. She's 7 years and 2 months old and this is her first wobbly tooth. I don't know who's more excited, me or her - just think of the scrapbook page I could do!

And here's what her snow angel looks like from Liam's window! When we looked out this morning and saw this patch of snow without a single foot print on it, we just knew it would be perfect for a snow angel. How on earth had all the kids missed it yesterday?

Happy New Year!

2010-01-06T16:49:00.003Z

We are bringing in the new decade with the coldest winter England has had in over 100 years. Great. When it snowed our first winter here (2007), everyone told us to enjoy it, as it was not usual for this area to get snow at all. So we did, playing in the snow, building snowmen and making snow angels with all the neighbourhood kids. But then it snowed the next winter again (2008), and then the following winter (2009) saw the biggest snowfall in over 30 years, and now this winter, we've had snow twice already, and it's not even February. I think they were lying to us back in 2007, maybe trying to make us South Africans feel a little less daunted by the English winters!

But, nothing can take away the magic of waking up to a carpet of white. Where even the most mundane, ordinary neighbourhood scenes are transformed into beautiful, picture book images. We've made a snowman, and helped the kids up the road build an igloo. I used my Little Miss Sunshine hand-warmer, and she was lovely! We decided though that the thought of hot chocolate with marshmallows was far more appealing than staying out any longer, so we came back in. I'm not sure I'm going to want to go out again tomorrow, so lets hope the schools stay closed another day or two ;-)

My sister in law gave me this set of teacups for Christmas. I have six of each in the cup, saucer and side plate. They are so pretty, and the perfect size for giving the kids their hot chocolate in. The funniest was looking underneath for their makers mark. They say NHS 1972!

The view outside my window. Snow has started falling quite heavily again, so I wonder what the morning will look like? Brrr, I hope it doesn't stay cold for too long.

Winding Down

2009-12-29T13:19:00.005Z

I am enjoying this second week of school holidays far more than the first. No surprises, really, the kids have stopped nagging about when they can open their pressies, there are no last minute gifts to buy or make, there's no fancy food to prepare...and the kids can just relax and play with their new toys and have play dates, and I'm slowly getting the house in order again too!
The late lie-ins in the morning are fantastic too, waking up at 7am next week is not going to be fun.

As promised, here's what I was making just before Christmas. A pin cushion in a teacup for my mother in law, and a sock monkey for Arthur, the kids' cousin. Liam's monkey is on the right - he begged and begged me to make him one too.

The pin cushion is a copy (or rip-off, if you prefer) of one I've seen on Etsy. I realise that there's a fine line between copying something out right, and using creative elements to make it your own. I've been blocked on Flickr by the person who inspired me to make the wedding cake toppers, I guess because she doesn't want me to 'steal' any more of her ideas. My peg-dolls are not original either - but I had never seen them before until I stumbled across them on Flickr and Etsy, so it was natural to copy how their clothing was made and their shoes and tights. I think the big difference is whether or not I was to open an Etsy shop selling my peg dolls or a pin cushion in a teacup...but when I use my own creative ability to create something (almost exactly the same) that I've seen on the internet, the creator should take it as a compliment - I liked their item so much that I wanted to make one myself, and while I'm not rolling in money that I can buy one of everything I see, I am rolling in creative talent, which I use to make myself happy and bring joy to those I share it with. If I copy something of yours, please take it as a compliment. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Day 24 ~ Christmas Eve

2009-12-24T09:22:00.007Z

Merry Christmas to all of my blog visitors, followers, friends and family! I hope you all have a truly wonderful and blessed Christmas. I won't be blogging tomorrow (there's going to be so many other fun things to do!) so I thought I'd reveal the whole advent calendar to you now. I hope you've enjoyed my daily ramblings, I don't think I could keep up with a post a day for long ever again, lol! So, for old time's sake...today's square...

And what the whole calendar looks like.

My favourite has to be the gingerbread men on the baking sheet and the little robins huddled on their branch...but there are lots that come a close second!

Merry Christmas to you all!

Day 23 - All Wrapped Up

2009-12-23T17:10:00.002Z

Gosh, I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve! It's getting exciting now, the gifts are (nearly all) wrapped, the groceries have been bought, the wine rack is stocked, and the kids have only got one more square to open on the Advent calendar!
I just realised I'll be tackling the cooking of my turkey on my own this year as we're having a quiet family Christmas - eek! Mom, I hope your phone will be on tomorrow, I'll be calling you for help!
Only two more sleeps til Christmas!

Day 22 ~ Almost There!

2009-12-22T20:24:00.002Z

I almost forgot to post today's! I've been busy making something...in keeping with the handmade or second-hand tradition my in-laws started last year, I've been finishing off one project, and started a new one yesterday. Liam loved the new one so much, he begged me to make him one, which I've just finished doing. Holly wants one too, but we need to find the right socks first. Shh, I'll say no more until after Christmas!

Only three more sleeps, oh what fun!

Day 21 ~ Stockings

2009-12-21T17:35:00.004Z

Why do we hang stockings? I decided to Google that question, and the answer is pretty interesting. Click this link if you want to see for yourself ...clicky clicky!

Do you have any personal family traditions at Christmas time? We follow pretty much the regular, historical traditions, but the one thing I do which I really like is to buy the kids a very special ornament, one that's maybe a bit pricey, and I put them away in a box for them. We don't use their decorations...so one day, when they've grown up and are moving out, I will give them their box of decorations, ready to hang on their very own trees at Christmas time. And they'll be new, but old, and very special.

Only four more sleeps til Christmas!

Day 20 ~ Crackers!

2009-12-20T14:48:00.004Z

I bought my crackers yesterday. The cheap and cheerful ones with mini whoopee cushion, magic fish and squirting chocolate bar. When it comes to crackers, I'm still such a kid, I don't want silver plated picture frames or cuff links, I want the plastic, the bad jokes and the paper crowns! These sweet little crackers were part of my Club Little House swap items last year, and I think they are perfect on today's advent square, thanks again Jill ;-)

Only five more sleeps til Christmas!

Day 19 ~ Holiday Cheer

2009-12-19T09:24:00.003Z

We have a website bookmarked, it has an automatic tab at the top of our browser window called "Holly's Games" and it is filled with fabulous games for kids. It's called Games2Girls.com, although Liam finds just as many games to keep him happy as Holly does, and they will sit side by side for ages playing together. We found this fun game this morning...Santa's Tree. You'll find it under the design games tab. Another favourite is Fire Boy and Water Girl (under adventure), you need two players for it and it really challenges you to think and uses team work all the way.
I'm sure my kids are going to want to boot me off the computer pretty soon to play!

Only six more sleeps til Christmas!

Day 18 ~ Last Day of School, Phew!

2009-12-18T10:09:00.007Z

When it started snowing last night, I started holding my breath. Becky and I have been planning the gift boxes for our kids' teachers all week, we only finished them yesterday, we really needed the school to be open today so that we could take them in. At 6:30, I woke up (before my alarm!) dashed out of bed to look out the window and let out my breath, lol! It had snowed, but maybe an inch. Just enough to make the last day of school really fun, and very pretty.
So, the teachers and their TA's (teacher's assistant) get these...

We made the candy cane hearts by taking mini canes, laying them on greaseproof paper, filling their middles with luxury white chocolate, and sprinkling peppermint crisp, red flakes and silver glitter onto them before the chocolate set.

Becky made each teacher and TA one of her gorgeous felt hearts (we had so much fun at Hobby Craft buying buttons and ribbons for them and my dolls!). I gave each one a clothespin doll, and then I made a tray of mini mince pies, with hearts instead of stars, in keeping with the theme.

And then we wrapped them all up in these lovely boxes, tied up with green and red ribbon!

One box for Swallows class, one box for Larks class. I'm sure they're going to love them!

Seven more sleeps til Christmas!

Day 17 ~ My Mince Pies are in the Oven!

2009-12-17T12:53:00.003Z

I am taking the 15 minutes my mince pies need to check my emails, post this blog post, and blog hop. I've used 10 already, so I need to post this quick! I'm off to visit all your blogs now ;-)
Only 8 more sleeps 'til Christmas!

Day 16 ~ It's Snowing!

2009-12-16T12:52:00.005Z

I took this picture this morning just to add to my blog post. I bought this little winter scene in the Christmas sales last year, and I couldn't wait to be able to take it out and put it on my mantelpiece this year. It's really little, but I think it's perfect in front of some of our Christmas cards.
And then, I was out in town getting some last minute bits, when it started snowing! Proper, soft white beautiful snow! It just made everything look so pretty, and suddenly it felt an awful lot more like Christmas. I wonder if we're in for a white one?

My little herb pots, dusted in snow.

And a fabulous Christmassy cupcake in the snow on my table!

My little backyard, looking a lot prettier with a bit of snow, lol!

And not forgetting, today's advent. I could do with a warm pair of mittens today.

Day Fifteen

2009-12-15T15:45:00.003Z

The silly season is never more appropriately named than in the last week of term, when you're rushing about trying to sort out the last of the Christmas shopping without having kids in tow, getting teacher's gifts ready, remembering who needs what for their school parties on what day...but I love it! I had a lovely day, starting off with a coffee morning for school mum's at my friend Becky's house, then sorting out the gift boxes we're doing for the teachers. We're so lucky to have both our children in class with each other's children, so we're doing one box for each class, filled with handmade loveliness! I'll take a pic when they're all finished on Thursday to show you everything, but I must say our mini candy cane hearts are just gorgeous!

Day 14 ~ Elves

2009-12-14T09:27:00.004Z

Have you seen Mercedes's blog post with the room box she made for the little elves I sent her? Click here if you haven't yet. I was blown away by the exquisite detail she put into it, and amazed that she created the whole scene around the elves, who weren't quite small enough to be called dolls house scale. I made some flatties for the advent calendar, but they're nowhere near as cute as the real thing!

Day 13 ~ Posada

2009-12-13T15:28:00.003Z

I had never heard of Posada, but we have become part of the tradition this year by hosting Joseph and Mary for one night of their journey as they make their symbolic trip. They will end their journey on Christmas Eve by returning to the church, where they will be placed in the nativity scene with Baby Jesus. They started their journey on the 29 November, and travel from family to family within the Parish. It is up to each family what they'd like to do with Joseph and Mary, but traditionally you would light a candle, say a prayer and place them in a special area and remember the story of Christmas.

Day 12 ~ Our Tree is going up today!

2009-12-12T08:57:00.003Z

Check back later if you want to see a picture of it, it's still early and I haven't put it up yet, but I promise I'll take a pic and add it in later.

I got a new tree today! Every year, I debate whether or not to get a real tree, or stick wit my fake one. Every year, I say how I love the idea of a real one, the smell of a real one, the look of one...but every year I stick with my fake tree and I'm always happy - it's pretty, it's strong and it doesn't take up as much space. But this year, as I was opening it up and saw how tired the 'leaves' were looking, how gappy it's branches were, and how wide it actually is, we decided maybe the tree I saw for £59 at the garden center was a good deal. So, I jumped in the car, put on my CD of Christmas cheese as Tristan calls it, and set off. When I got there, they had sold out completely, but I got the display model! And it is very pretty. It's so full and thick, and it holds all my very heavy decorations all the way to the top! It's looks lovely in the living room as a whole, you don't get the real feel from this shot showing just the tree, but my living room is a bit too messy to include in a wide shot just now. Maybe another day ;-) You can see my old tree here.

Day 11 ~ What do you want from Santa?

2009-12-11T07:50:00.006Z

You know, one year, I just want a stocking full of little goodies! I love all the special Christmas gifts the stores bring out - I'm a sucker for all those gimmicks! The kids wrote the sweetest letter to him the other day. Holly helped Liam with his, and they posted it off to the address Royal Mail give on their website. He writes back too, to let the kids know he's received their lists.

This is Holly's peg doll. She chose the colours and accessories herself, she just asked for help with painting because she's a perfectionist like her mother and didn't want it to look messy, LOL!

This is my favourite of the blue girls, she's holding the last of my snowflake embellishments from a scrapbook layout I did. I've decided I simply have to keep one of each colour, they look so pretty together!

Day 10 ~ School Christmas Plays

2009-12-10T07:49:00.004Z

We're going to see the kids' Christmas plays today...I can't wait! Liam had to bring in a "WW2 Soldier" outfit, and I know of someone else who's a 1950's housewife, and an angel who needed black tights. It all sounds fascinating and I can't wait to see how it ties in to Christmas! Holly is a narrator, and I know she knows her lines backwards, LOL!

Did you know, in Britain, the average person sends 50 cards a year. I'm guess 2/3rds of those are sent at Christmas. Mine are written, I need to start handing them out now. Holly's turn to open the advent calendar, these little robins were one of the very last squares I made, and one of my favourites for sure.

I thought I'd edit this post to tell you about the play. They started with the mum and dad decorating their tree with the children. Then, when everyone was asleep, a bright star appeared to the children and took them on a journey to discover where the story of the bright star on the top of the tree comes from. They then time traveled, stopping off at the millennium star, the 80's star, the 60's star, the 40's, and finally the Victorian, before coming to the bright star of the east where they then portrayed the story of Mary and Joseph in the stable. At each star, they played a song, did a dance, and made us laugh. But, when they got the 40's, the children "heard a mighty roar and found themselves in the war", and cue Liam, with two other soldiers and two little girls dressed as housewives, with the request that parents join in the singing of Silent Night. Well, I tell you, I was finished! I was sobbing, and couldn't possibly join in the singing. Liam's one teacher's assistant saw me and had a giggle - she had warned me to bring tissues! It was the best nativity play any of us have ever seen, and it was written by the teachers of Reception Year. Absolutely amazing.

Day 9 ~ Busy Busy Busy

2009-12-09T19:26:00.004Z

Phew, what a day! I hit the shops this morning with Becky, and I think we both had very successful days! I'm nearly done now, and I've made good progress on my peg dolls too. I think I'm a bit late to try sell them this Christmas still, I'm not sure if any of my local crafty shops would take any on so close to Christmas (don't they stock up months before?), but failing that I'll try flogging them to my friends, LOL. I'm not sure how much to charge for them either...I'm such a bad business person, I just want to give them away! I'll take proper portraits of each dolly when they're done, this is just a quick snap now...

I wonder if Liam's advent window put him in the mood for hot chocolate? The first thing he asked for when they got home from school was a mug of hot chocolate. Yum.

Day 8 ~ Chrisdtmas Shopping

2009-12-08T07:54:00.002Z

Eeek! I'm starting to panic. While my friend Becky has been hitting the shops for weeks now, doing her shopping, I was relaxed and calm, thinking I have less than half the number of gifts to get than her, I can do it later. The problem is, with my in-law's family rule of gifts having to be hand-made or second hand, it's a little bit more difficult. I guess I'm more than half-way, but the one thing I'm making is going to be tricky when it comes time to glue it all....I'll reveal it after Christmas!
I got the idea of raiding my Phoenix Cards catalogue from Mercedes, and look how perfect the wrapping paper worked here on number eight!

Day 7

2009-12-07T08:09:00.003Z

Red and green are the traditional Christmas colours. Green represents the continuance of life through winter and the Christian belief in eternal life through Jesus. Red symbolizes the blood that Jesus shed at His Crucifixion.
Did you know that? I didn't, but I'm enjoying finding out all these little facts about Christmas traditions. Although my tree is not up yet (we're doing it this weekend) my wreath is hanging on my door. Here's a little wreath on a little advent square!

And a very happy birthday to my nephew and Godson Michael, who turned eight today! Hope you have a fabulous day today Michael!

Day 6

2009-12-06T22:11:00.003Z

In true Sunday style, I've had a break from blogging, so I'm just going to post today's square for those of you that are following! It's ten past ten and I'm off to bed with my tea and a mince pie and my book ;-)
Good night.

Day 5

2009-12-05T09:33:00.003Z

Have you ever wondered about mistletoe and where it came about that you should kiss when caught underneath a branch of it? I found this interestig little titbit about it and thought I'd share it with you.

The Druids, who lived in Britain in pre-Christian times, are responsible for the use of mistletoe at Christmas. They worshipped the oak tree and as mistletoe grew on oak trees they regarded it as a very special plant and thought it possessed magical qualities that kept the sleeping oak alive during the cold winter days. They believed chopping down an oak tree covered in mistletoe promised death to the woodcutter within the year.

The Druids dedicated mistletoe to the Goddess of Love, which explains the kissing that goes on under it. Originally, when a boy kissed a girl, he plucked a berry from the cluster and presented it to her. When the berries were gone, so were the kisses.

A traditional rhyme about mistletoe

'Pick a berry off the mistletoe
For every kiss that's given.
When the berries have all gone
There's an end to kissing.'

Victorians bound the mistletoe to a frame to make a 'kissing ring'. Each time a gentleman caught a lady under the mistletoe, he was allowed to claim a kiss.

Day 4 ~ Who is Father Christmas?

2009-12-04T07:36:00.002Z

We owe much about what we know about the Father Christmas today to the Americans of the 19th Century. In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore described what he imagined Father Christmas to look like in a poem.

The poem is often referred to as 'The Night Before Christmas', but originally it was titled 'A Visit from St Nicholas'.

He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his sack.
His eyes how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry;
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow.
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face, and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump,--a right jolly old elf--
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.

Written by Clement C. Moore in 1822 as a Christmas present to his children.

In 1866, Thomas Nast, a cartoon artist for the Harper's Illustrated Weekly, made a montage entitled, Santa Claus His Works, and for the first time established 'Santa' as a maker of toys.

I Love My Kids' School

2009-12-03T20:20:00.005Z

Specifically, the fact that the little ones in Reception Year do cooking every Wednesday! Us parents contribute £10 per year, and every week we look forward to seeing what the kids bring home just as much as the kids do. They do really fun things, like beach trifle, pumpkin biscuits, rock cakes, flapjacks, soup, curry with naan bread...but for the last few weeks, they haven't brought anything home. The reason being, they've been making Christmas fruit cakes, complete with marzipan and regalice and decorated with either trees or Rudolphs! They were so sweet, and the kids love bringing home their wares to show us! Here's Liam's cake:

He was so proud about how he'd rolled a ball of red icing to be the nose, and he carefully placed the stars in a ring around Rudolph, ending in a brown one so you know where the top is!

He made sure I'd noticed the stickers around the bowl too!

And then just a quick little fill-you-in : My friend who originally gave us her daughter's old house is buying it back from me - well technically, she's just paying for all the lighting that I put in so that I can buy new lights for the Arthur - because since I took it on and re-did it, her daughter kind of wished she could have it back! So, I'm happy that she will be happy, and then I can get cracking on the Arthur's interior and buy it some new lights!

I've finished the hall floor which had always been left in the raw stripped wood, I've replaced the chimney breast after recovering it in brick paper, and neatened up all the trim. I've also re-done all the wiring and taped up loose ends, shortened the plug ends so that there's no wires trailing around and given the patio a fresh coat of paint. My friend is collecting it tomorrow, which means I'll have a dining table again, yay!

Day Three

2009-12-03T07:53:00.003Z

Christmas Jokes

What goes "Oh Oh Oh!"?
Santa going backwards
Why does Santa always go down the chimney?
Because it soots him
Mrs Claus said to Santa "What's that outside?"
He said "It's rain, dear."
What did one snowman say to the other snowman?
Can you smell carrot?
It was Christmas and the judge was in a merry mood as he asked the prisoner,"What are you charged with?"
"Doing my Christmas shopping early." replied the defendant.
"That's no offence", said the judge.
"It is if you do it before the shop opened."countered the prisoner!

I found a fun website with all sorts of Christmas info, the history of Advent and some fun jokes sent in by kids. Hopefully I'll find enough to post for another 21 days! I love this square - those are buttons that I filled with Fimo to hide their holes, then painted and varnished. I made the baking sheet out of card and kitchen foil. They are only 15mm from head to bottom, and ever so sweet!

Day Two

2009-12-02T07:41:00.004Z

The beginning of Advent is when the preparations for Christmas really begin - the festive menu is planned, gifts are chosen and wrapped, carols sung, cards are written and posted and houses are decorated. Have you put your tree up yet? I'm usually right there on the first day of December, but I have decided to wait until the weekend this year, as it is so much more fun to do it with the kids. Their school day is so long, they're too knackered to do anything more than play when they get home.
It's Holly's turn this morning...

Advent

2009-12-01T07:29:00.004Z

What does Advent mean? Advent is a term from the Latin word "adventus" which means arrival. It is a time of waiting for the arrival of Christmas, the coming of Jesus to earth when he was born as a baby at Bethlehem more than two thousand years ago.

The first day of December marks the the first day of opening an Advent calendar, an event my kids look forward to from the moment I bring the Advent calendars home. But this year, I've done something a little different. I've made them a mini muffin pan Advent calendar, from an idea I got on TwoPeas last year. They'll be sharing this one, taking it in turns to open the 'windows'.

So, here is Number One. Do you love the Advent as much as we do?

Bits and Bobs

2009-11-30T11:18:00.003Z

Happy Birthday Mom! Yesterday was my mom's birthday. I finally managed to time it right with the South African postal service and got this card sent out to her in time for her birthday. My poor dad suffers from having his birthday two days after mine, and I'm always so self-absorbed I never remember to post his card out quite early enough. I am going to make it my New Year's resolution to get better at that. Anyway, I hope you had a lovely day, Mom, and I would love to be able to make your 60th cake next year...we'll have to work on that!

I saw the little owl brooch on LollyChops in her post dated 26 October. She is fabulously creative and generous too, check out her free printables link if you like digi scrapping and card making. I knew straight away that I had to make my mom an owl - she has collected owls since forever!

And then, I have been crafty, I just haven't been blogging about it all. Tomorrow I will start the reveal of my latest project...it will take nearly all of December to reveal the whole thing, hehe, can you guess? And because I managed to drill holes big enough for the pegs to fit in on these wood beads, I've managed to make a few more peg dolls. I'm going to have to find someone who can ship me the proper head beads from America though, because my wrists were killing me after hand-drilling all of these, then wood-filling the top hole and then sanding the whole bead down again. They're going to look very sweet when finished, and hopefully I'll be able to sell a couple before Christmas!

ETA Fixed the link ;-)

Mail from South Africa!

2009-11-25T10:21:00.007Z

This is Jo. We have known each other since I was five, she was six, and I got chicken pox just after she'd had it. My mom took us across the road to confirm what she suspected. Her mom said yes, that looks like chicken pox. And although they moved away a few years later, we met up again while studying, much to our surprise, and we've pretty much stayed friends ever since. We even became neighbours for a second time when Jo and her husband bought a house four doors down from ours. But then we left for the UK, and contact has been sporadic, but we're still good friends. We have always shared more than just a name...Jo and I were often likely to turn up wearing the same skirt or blouse, and our love for all things sparkly will always keep us connected! She's a magpie of note, and so often I will see something in our British stores that makes me think of her straight away, and I SO wish they'd move over here!

Here we are on my first day of school - my big sis Andrea, who was in Standard One, Jo, who was in Grade Two, and me, going into Grade One. They've changed the names of school grades now, they just follow on numerically. But we were six, seven and eight years old.

Jo and Alexis got married in Cape Town last year in February, and we flew out for their wedding. Holly was their flower girl (what a treat, she loved every minute of it!). Jo made her wedding cake toppers - aren't they darling?

The whole wedding was themed around sweet little garden birds, from the invitation (see it here), to the bird cages with floral displays, Holly's petals were in a little birdcage, the cake toppers were of course birds, and we even got a pair of wings for Holly to wear!

And yesterday, I got a lovely parcel in the mail from Jo for my birthday! Typically, you can never count on the South African post service, so it took a whole month to get here, but actually, it's quite exciting receiving something out the blue! This protea brooch is gorgeous, it's already on my coat and I have had compliments on it too! The protea is South Africa's national flower, and the springbok is the national animal. This brooch? it's a protea made from springbok skin! I love it, so THANK YOU SO MUCH JO!!!

And then she also sent me this gorgeous bracelet. I took the photo of it on my table lamp, as I couldn't shoot it on my wrist! It's lovely, and I can't wait for summer to be able to wear it and show it off properly too!

One Week Later...

2009-11-24T20:10:00.003Z

I had to redo the plaster dressing on his toe this evening, so I thought I'd try get a quick picture of it. The bruising has gone down substantially, you can't really see the colour in these pictures, but it is looking a whole lot better!

In this shot you can see how rotated it still is - I'm not sure if it will ever recover to a fully upright position, but the doc said it shouldn't bother him at all if it doesn't. But just look at it compared to his left toe - it's huge! Ouch, no wonder he is loving the too-big crocs his cousin gave him, they're perfect on his sore foot!

My Little Hopalong Casualty

2009-11-18T16:16:00.003Z

That's what a broken and rotated baby toe looks like on a four year old's foot. Ouch! With sock imprints for added texture, LOL!

This is what said four year old looks like watching one of the Harry Potter movies I bought him and his big sis as a treat for being so brave and as a bribe for not making one more complaint while I did my desperately overdue grocery shop (I usually shop on Mondays!)

Yesterday, although fully dressed for school and happy to go, by the time we were ready to leave the house he'd got all shivery and tired, so we dropped Holly off and then headed to a friend for coffee. While there, he somehow managed to tip the very heavy piano stool over which landed on his foot/toe.

You know when you hear a scream and you just know? And then when you pry their hand off their foot and you see, and you just know? Yep, there was no doubt in my mind what he'd just managed to do, and that we had to head on down to A&E as soon as possible. He was very brave, and thankfully fell asleep so was not aware of the fact that we were there for nearly four hours in total. Why oh why couldn't the nurse have made the decision to send us to X-ray earlier? Why was it only the doctor, who saw us after two hours waiting, that could send us, where we proceeded to wait another 40 minutes or so? Only to then have to wait for the doc to get a minute to look at the X-ray, and then come and tell us that yes, he has indeed broken the middle phalanx of his baby toe, and rotated the toe outwards, and that the only treatment is to strap it to his other toes, keep the weight off it and keep giving pain relief as needed.

Of course, Liam thought it terribly exciting to be going to the hospital, and very proudly tells people now that he's broken his bone, and I think he's liking being carried everywhere and getting Harry Potter dvd's as treats! He also thought it cool to have to wear a face mask because he had flu symptoms. I'm not sure how much he's going to like our visit to the fracture clinic tomorrow morning, where I hear the wait may be just as long.

The kids wanted to say thanks...

2009-11-15T14:18:00.004Z

...to Nana and Grandad, and Sharon and David for their money gifts! Liam and Holly both got money from their grandparents in SA, and Holly put an extra bit from Sharon and David in, and they bought themselves these!
Unfortunately, because I needed to prompt them, you get to hear my voice (Ughh!!) and Tris sneezing in the background. I didn't hold the camera very stable so please excuse all the shakes, but this is just for my folks in South Africa!

The poor little guy is thick with 'flu, hence the very droopy eyes and nasal voice. But he's not too sick to play with his new lego!

The Birthday Girl and Her Cakes!

2009-11-14T20:31:00.008Z

How cute is she? She gave me this attitude for her quick little photo shoot this morning before heading out. I love her little outfit, I found that Lilli Gaufrette skirt in a second hand store for £4! The top and tights are from H&M. Love that shop too!

By this time she was a bit tired of all the pics. We had the most appalling wind and rain storm today, so the light was super horrid. There's camera shake in most of my shots!

And her mini cakes! because we were going to the cinema, and I wasn't sure about a place to cut the cake, and cupcakes don't travel particularly well once distributed to 6 and 7 year olds, I decided on making mini cakes a la Kirsty Allsop. They turned out pretty well - piping in straight lines is really tough, and I could have done with a number 3 nozzle instead of the 2, but I loved the roses and the overall effect was fantastic!

Photoshopping nightmare pics, I can't get my background clean and it doesn't look the same from one shot to the next. But who cares about the background, right?!

Look - glitter! How divine, don't you think? All cakes should have a bit of twinkle to them!

Hapy 7th Birthday Holly!

2009-11-11T11:44:00.004Z

11/11/02 :At about 11am, I was getting my epidural. I remember the anaesthetist standing against the wall, feet crossed, watching the monitor. He asked me how that last contraction felt, and when I said "What contraction?" He said "Right, that's it, I'm out of here!" LOL - I guess it worked! At 7:20pm, Holly was finally delivered by C-section, as no mater how hard we(I) tried, she would not fit the other way. It's scary to think what would have happened a few generations ago, when C-sections weren't an option. But, luckily for us we had a fabulous team of doctors, and she was born, a beautiful baby girl.

She has grown into the sweetest, kindest, gentlest soul I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, and to be able to call her my daughter makes me extremely proud indeed. She was chuffed to bits with all her gifts - a pink Nintendo DS from us, an Avery Moxie girl from her Grandpa and Claudia and Tom, a pizza cooking set from Liam, a cooking game from her cousin Michael, and some spending money from her Nana and Grandad in Africa - thanks Mom - they were super thrilled with that! She's gone off to school with her poppy on one side of her jumper and her birthday badge on the other, and some sweets for her classmates.

We're taking her and some friends to see 'Up' on Saturday, which I'm about as excited as she is for!

And lest we forget....

In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
~Lt-Col John McCrae

Greek Day

2009-11-06T10:05:00.004Z

Aren't us mums a clever bunch? Our kids have been learning all about Greece this week in Year Two, other Years are doing USA, Brazil, Australia, India and Japan, and they end the week with a dress up day. They could either wear something traditional from that country, or pick out colours from the flag.

Well, yesterday morning, what started out as a Sainsbury's Basic fitted white sheet, ended up in a pillowcase-style dress for Holly, with a gold ribbon bodice! A sheet of gold card cut into leaves, stuck to an Alice band makes a perfect laurel wreath. Impressive, huh? Holly's friend has his baby sister's cot sheets folded over a belt for his skirt, with a scarf cleverly draped over him to make a waist coat. Now they could have gone the easy route and worn blue and white, but don't you think they're learning so much more this way? They're tasting Greek food today too, I wish I was there!

The Roof is Done!

2009-11-03T10:12:00.002Z

I finally felt brave enough to tackle the roof. I mixed three colours: the stone of the walls, seasoned oak and black ash, and then dry brushed the black ash on and blended it in as much as I could. It's tricky to see when you're looking straight at it, the paint has a slight plastic-y sheen to it, which reflects light, and in fact it looks lighter in the pictures than in real life. But I'm happy with it for now. The great thing about blending colours and dry brushing is that you can tweak it as much as you like. I might even try the seasoned oak straight on with a dry brush. But then again, I might just leave it like this.

The silly thing is, I've run out of shingles so the back roof panel hasn't been shingled. I'm not sure if it's because I used too many rows on the front sections, I counted 17 rows on my top one, and on an Arthur I saw on Flickr I think they'd only used 11 or so. Oh well, I'll keep an eye out for similar shingles, but even if I don't find any, at least it's just the back of the house.

I Have a Boot Dilemma

2009-11-03T09:54:00.005Z

I need new brown, everyday boots. I have expensive taste, and simply cannot afford my absolute favourite leather boots from the High Street (they're over £100). Then, while in Chichester over my birthday weekend, I saw a pair of boots in a shop window, with a price tag (£35) I thought was a mistake. Turns out it was no mistake...they're not leather. I then found a pair at Next that are leather, and at £60 not horribly expensive.

Can you guess which is which? The ones on the left are the fake leather ones which style-wise, I'm leaning towards. The ones on the right are real leather, feel nice, look nice, but are a bit plain. Could I wear them with a skirt?

Here they are on...shot into a mirror so they look a bit hazy.

And what they look like with my boot cut jeans.

Front/ankle view...what do you think? In South Africa we have a great saying, which goes...

"Goed koop is duur koop." It means buying cheap is buying dear, kind of like penny wise pound foolish. Obviously, leather boots will last longer, wear better and have some kind of guarantee at the store if they fall apart after one season. But I do like the style of the cheap boots. Will I kick myself after a season for not having bought leather?

My 'Lil Trick Or Treaters!

2009-11-02T18:14:00.006Z

The kids just before heading out - three witches and a vampire!

I love how Holly is such a poser for me now - this witch face and hands was all her doing!

My sweet little vampire boy! He so needs new trainers. Those are the ones he rides his bike in, see how worn the toe break pads are? LOL!

And then I found this image amongst my saved ideas file, I'd forgotten about it when it came round to doing my pumpkins this year...it belongs to a Pea and it's from 2007...if it's your shot give me a shout and give you credit for it...and maybe next year I'll feel brave enough to attempt one like the one on the left!

Happy Haunted Halloween!

2009-10-31T09:30:00.000Z

If you were to visit me at the moment, this is the scene that would greet you at my front door! I found these cat window decorations at Sainsbury's, and while I'm not loving my orange tinted lounge in the daytime, I do think it's worth it for this nighttime glow!

Don't you just love Flickr for photo inspiration? I don't know what I did before I discovered it. Now, every time I need inspiration, I skip the Google image search of old, head straight on over to Flickr, and get more ideas than I know what to do with. I found the witch on a broomstick, drew it onto my punkin, and cut it out with my craft knife. Next year, I think I'm going to have to try the haunted house on the hill...

And then, what do you do with your punkin seeds? Throw them away? That's what I used to do... until someone on TwoPeas mentioned the fact that they were eating their roasted seeds. So I got the recipe, and this year, I roasted mine. Oh. My. Gosh. Would you like to know how?

wash your seeds
soak in salted water for about an hour
pat dry on kitchen towel, spread out on foil covered baking sheet.
Drizzle in olive oil or melted butter, grind some more salt over, I added some Chinese Five Spice, shake up and roast at 150ºC for an hour or so, stirring up every 20 minutes.
You can spice them any way you like - whatever tickles your fancy.

Or...

skip the salt, and use sugar and cinnamon. Just as good, I did this with my second punkin ;-)
Happy Halloween, have a fun and spooky night!

The very happy thing about birthdays...

2009-10-27T11:01:00.012Z

It was my birthday on Sunday, and I've had a lovely weekend full of fun! My OH took the kids down to Grandpa's house on Saturday morning, leaving me the whole afternoon to do a grocery shop, tidy the house and get myself ready... for a girl's night in! I had five friends round for an Indian take-out. We had a lovely evening, drinking great wine and bubbly, yummy curry's, having a laugh, and topping it all off with these gorgeous cupcakes that my friend Becky made. Can you believe you get edible food glitter? I can't imagine a cupcake without some sparkly fairy dust now!

Thank you Becky, they were divine!

Then, after they all left at 1:30am !!! I set my clocks back, so it was suddenly only 12:30am and a perfectly reasonable time to go to bed!
Sunday, I woke, had a leisurely breakfast, then headed off to Ikea on my own, where I bought a new desk for my computer. I've had it on my Oupa's old bureau, which is a piece of furniture I have always loved, it has wonderful memories for me, but it was just never a great solution for the computer. So it is now headed for a bit of a makeover and will be my daughter's new desk in her room, and with all it's drawers and secret cubby holes, she is very excited about that! After Ikea I stopped off at my sister's house for a fantastic lunch...roast chicken, roast potatoes, yorkshire puddings, cauliflower and cheese sauce, mixed veg, and a cheesecake for pudding - Yum!

On Thursday I received the most wonderful parcel in the mail...from Mercedes! She has really spoiled me, and I know she didn't know it was my birthday this weekend, but the timing was great and it did make me feel very special indeed!

I went down to fetch the kids on Monday, and we stopped off in Chichester for a touch of shopping. There's a tiny little dollshouse shop there, so I bought the house a hanging basket (being held up by Holly here!) a strawberry plant and a great rusty old watering can. At Ikea, I bought a lazy susan, so that the house can swivel easily from the front to the back. Clever, huh?

I have always loved birdhouses, and when I first lay my eyes on Mercedes's birdhouses I fell in love with them, and begged her to make some to sell me. Now, she has given me these exquisite birdhouses, but I'm still begging her to sell these on Etsy because I think they are just the bee's knees!

Cupcake cushions! How absolutely perfect! And I just love the little gift bags Mercedes always uses...I must ask her where she gets them from...

And then, because I had sent her the little elves, she was inspired to make me a set of her gorgeous little water jugs and bowl, and an enamelware container, wit the sweetest little elf pictures! I can see the inspiration for a few more mini elves coming from these.

And then a set of her famous enamelware containers, and they are every bit as amazing and realsitic in real life as they look in pictures. I am amazed at the little signs of wear and rust she gives them!

Ta Da!!

2009-10-24T12:31:00.004+01:00

Need I say any more?!!

Getting the moon to hang was tricky, but so long as it travels okay it should hold it's place!

And the finishing touches, the banner wishing Ann a Happy 70th Birthday, and some cute little Halloween punkin tealights. I think the word pumpkin should officially be changed to the way my son says it - Punkin - it's so much cuter, don't you think?

Progress...

2009-10-23T20:02:00.002+01:00

The cakes after they'd been covered...and the kids' favourite part - the 'tops' cake - made out of the rounded tops I cut off the cakes, stuck together with raspberry jam and buttercream, slathered in the leftover buttercream and covered in sprinkles. Yum.

And a sneak peak - this was shot now at 8pm so the lighting crappy and you're gonna have to check back tomorrow if you want to see the whole thing put together and done, and photographed to death, ha ha!

What I'm Up To...

2009-10-22T11:01:00.003+01:00

So, I've had a bit of disappointing news, with regard to some work I was doing. I'm not sure I can share the news yet, other people are involved and I need to wait until I get the all clear. But, at least I've been able to concentrate 100% on my first proper cake order. It's for a lady's 70th birthday party - she was born on Halloween - so I've been asked to do an elegant Halloween themed cake. I've decided to use the base design of Arthur's Christening cake. So it'll have orange and cream stripes on a brown cake, then brown spiderwebs on an orange cake, and orange and brown spots on a cream cake, with a haunted house on top.

Here are the panels for the house...busy drying so that when I construct it, it's not going to go all floppy and cave in on itself. Okay, that's the plan, if it doesn't work I'm stuffed. I hadn't mixed enough brown so I still need to do the roof, but that'll come.

The first batch of cakes are on the cooling rack, the second are in the oven, and this is what my kitchen looks like!

The other positive side to my news is that I've had time to do the Arthur's roof: it's on, glued, fixed, sanded and waiting for paint. The colour I've been looking for has been ordered, I can pick it up this weekend.

I'll post pics of it and the finished cake soon.

Harvest Creatures

2009-10-16T11:49:00.010+01:00

Every year my kids' school has a Harvest Creature competition. It is hugely popular and the kids have great fun thinking up creatures weird and wonderful to create.
I am always blown away by the creativity and humour, and as one mum said, even where you can see the parent has helped/taken over - it still means they spent time with their child and created something together. By the 5th and 6th Years though, the kids rule and you can be sure to find the funniest creations on their tables. Here are some of this years' critters....

Indiana Mouse and the Temple of Cheese, created by my son...and he was one of the two winners for his year!

Fiona Firebird and her Newly Laid Eggs, by my daughter.

A Cortoise ;-)

Time for Bed!

A Harvest Spider.

The Cutest Little Hedgehog!

Chili Eating Competition.

Don't you agree, they're absolutely fabulous?

Taking a Break

2009-10-15T11:06:00.004+01:00

Well, it seems a shame that after Mercedes linked to my blog and I got so many new mini fanatic followers that I need to take a break from building my dollhouse, but my commitments to Scrapbook Inspirations must come first. So, while I'm happily creating pages for the magazine I am still popping over to your blogs for a visit, and I'll be back at work on the Arthur early November, I promise!

The November issue of Scrapbook Inspirations is out now - I did a page of me and my sister, so if you can get a copy, check us out!

Okay...here's the page with my layout...but this is no excuse not to buy the magazine, it's filled with yummy colours and great ideas!

Help!!

2009-10-09T11:08:00.002+01:00

What colour would you paint the roof? I'm busy sticking all the shingles together in sheet sections for each roof section, so when they're all done I'm going to want to paint them.
Bottom right is the raw natural wood shingles, bottom left is brown, top left terracotta, and top right, slate grey. I was leaning towards the grey, but I am struggling to find the right shade.

Also, whatever colour I paint the roof will dictate what colour the door will be...So, dear visitors, please don't be silent, don't keep your opinions to yourselves...tell me what colour you'd paint the roof and door?!

Passion Flowers!

2009-10-04T14:00:00.004+01:00

My passion flower plant has finally flowered. Back in August I posted about my late flowers and now, just over a month later, my passion flower buds are still growing strong and one opened yesterday. The vine is covered with buds, but they are mostly quite small and I am not sure how many will reach this size before the frosts hit, but I'm happy with this exquisite flower! I took pictures. I have proof that it flowered. And of course, who's going to complain about a few more days of sunshine, and a few more flowers on the vine?

I love the story behind the flowers. I found this version on the internet.

The Passion Flower

Unusually for such a story it has a well-documented and undisputed origin. Jacomo Bosio, a scholar, lived in Rome in 1609. He was working on a treatise upon the crucifixion when an Augustinian friar of Mexican birth showed him drawings of a remarkable flower. After much prevarication (and a rather liberal interpretation of the facts) he agreed to include the drawings of the flower in his book. The symbols of the Passion of Christ were many and varied. The unique corona represented the crown of thorns. The ten sepals and petals represented the Apostles (except Judas and Peter, who both distanced themselves from Christ prior to the crucifixion). The five anthers were the five wounds on Christ’s body, and the three stigmas the nails. The leaves were the spear that pierced His side, and the tendrils the scourges that flayed His flesh.

How can he be Comfortable like This?

2009-09-28T19:18:00.004+01:00

The little guy didn't quite make it to bath time tonight. He finished his dinner, climbed onto the sofa to watch telly, and literally five minutes later was passed out like this. I'm amazed that he actually chose to lie like this - Can you imagine how stiff his neck would have been on waking? I moved him after taking this pic, I promise ;-)

And because the Arthur is changing daily, I can't not add a photo of it's progress, now can I? I've glued all the exterior window frames on, and wood-filled the gaps between the arch and vertical pieces, as well as the inside edge, so that the layers of the house and siding aren't visible. I need to sand them down and give them another coat of paint, and decide on the shutters. I'm not sure I want to use the supplied shutters - they're decorative, and not an accurate fit. I might try making my own French Country charm ones, with little heart cut-outs? We'll see.

And a close up, just for fun!

I Got Mini Mail!

2009-09-26T13:14:00.003+01:00

I got a parcel from the wonderful Mercedes this morning! Hooray! Just look, all those incredible decorating books, and cupcake books - I want those titles in 1:1 scale too! Seriously, I'm actually going to have a look for those titles, they look like they'd be full of wonderful inspiration.
She also attached one of her darling little birdhouse decorations - it is so tiny, and perfect, and I can't wait to find a spot for it in the house when it's done!
But look what the background is...some of her gorgeous gorgeous wallpaper!!! Oh, it is so pretty, it's even lovelier in real life than in photos, and already I can see how perfect it's going to be for my little house!
My step ladder is the one I made following Susanna's pattern and advice, she even sent some of the stickers for the sides.

And I've given the porch floor it's first coat of varnish - deep mahogany gloss varnish. I'm really happy with the colour, and there's nothing nicer than a shiny floor!

Thanks Mercedes, it's so much fun belonging to the world of miniatures!

The Decorator's Have Started...

2009-09-24T17:27:00.004+01:00

I got the last sample pot of Cuprinol Antique Stone! We have a Homebase nearby, which is part of a big retail park, and on the other end of the retail park is B&Q. This comes in very handy, when one store doesn't have what you're looking for, you can just pop across to the other, and nine times out of ten you'll find what you need. Such was the case today when Homebase didn't have my colour, and B&Q, although the shelf spot for it was empty, was in fact hiding one last little pot amongst the sage green samples!

Being an outdoor paint, it goes on really nicely. It's thin, and soaks into the wood, thereby revealing the grain and texture, yet still giving a nice plastic-y waterproof feel. I made sure to apply the first coat really thinly, as I knew the siding would warp (it did) but with a few spots of glue and a hairdryer to speed up the drying, it settled back nice and flat.

I bought a water based satin enamel for the trim and woodwork, which is not very forgiving at all when it comes to blemishes and wood grain. So, after painting a first coat, I had to sand it all down again to smooth it out. Now, here's where I need your help... Do you like it with the weathered look, or, being house trim, should it all be pristine white and in need of a second coat?

Building Work Continues...

2009-09-23T11:34:00.002+01:00

The clapboard siding is all done! Hooray! Once again huge thanks to the lovely Farrah for organising it's transport across the ocean ;-) I only used two of the four bags though, so I'll have enough left to do a garden shed and then some.

Putting the porch roof on was pretty tricky, these tab and slot houses are not 100% accurate. But, I managed to get it on straight, and any gaps will be covered with the shingles or wood filler. Next step is to attach the porch railings, then the windows and shutters, and then the fun really starts - the exterior design! I think I've chosen my colour scheme...when visiting my in-laws this weekend I decided the paint they've used for their outdoor furniture is beautiful, in texture and colour. It's by Cuprinol and is in the heritage colours range, called Natural Stone. Coupled with pure white window and door trims, a slate coloured roof and a nice shiny black door...Mmmm, I think it will look very pretty. Of course, I may still change my mind, but we'll see!

And We have a Winner!

2009-09-21T16:07:00.004+01:00

Here are all the names, just before I folded them to put in the teacup....

And here is my little guy, drawing one little tag out the teacup....

And here he is, showing the winner's name!!

So congratulations Sarah, Miss Tilly will be spending Christmas at your house, but she'll arrive in time for Halloween ;-) I'll be in touch to confirm your address.

Thanks for playing, once I have a production line up and going I'll be making Elves to sell...watch this space!