Im Back..

Well sort of, no pictures just yet.
 I still don't have Internet to my computer but hopefully soon, I'm itching to share pictures from our new house! Were packed in like sardines for the next month until Benny's parents house is finished but its fun living with them and I'm loving having a dog for now.
The most exciting thing to me when we moved in was the discovery of soft workable soil in the garden! This may seem like a strange thing to get excited about but after two years of digging hard clay, to say I was excited is a Major understatement! Ive been busy preparing garden beds for veggies and flowers while the daycare children have been busy exploring their new garden, I think they love it as much as I do!

I look forward to catching up on what you have all been doing, I've missed reading blogs.
Not that I've had the time.
Here's the fun stuff I've been up to during my absence-
*Moving house,
*Cleaning the old place,
*Creating a real live tetris game of a room (think boxes of our thing all packed into a tiny room with barely room to move)
*Finding things in said tetris room (um maybe it would have been a good idea to label boxes?!)
*Getting the new house ready to be 'approved' for family daycare (think tedious and somewhat over the top safety checks)
*Preparing to be rather poor until house is approved in 6-8 weeks time. I chose to still have all the children during this time as I love having them and knew some of the parents would struggle to find care in our little town but I'm only charging what the families usually pay and in some cases the government pays the majority of the bill. Luckily I decided to hand stitch my quilt, that should at least keep me happily crafting through until I get a proper pay again at least!

Anyhow, the worst of the hard work is over and now I get to lay in my new green grass and enjoy the afternoon sun warmth filtered through beautiful trees. Yes we have our very own trees! (unlike my old place, possibly the thing I missed most while living there). The children and I have been enjoying raking up leaves to mulch our veggies and once I find some rope I can hang my hammock chair!

Although its not been easy its so well worth it, I love our new house and I LOVE our new garden!

edited to say*I dont seem to be able to comment on blogs at the moment as this computer keeps signing me out but im enjoying reading blogs at least

Greener Shades Dye Giveaway Winner!

The winner of the Greener shades giveaway is Mandi of Time Flies blog, congratulations Mandi!
Thankyou to my kind sponsor Carcoar Pottery and The Humming Alpaca for offering these lovely dyes to be given away, and thankyou to all who entered

The meditation that is hand stitching

 Yesterday mum came over and we had a stitching day! Its so fun to chat as we both work on our own projects

 I was of course working away at my Garden Journal quilt. Call me crazy but I've decided to hand stitch it. Because who cant see the fun in hand stitching all 210 of the tiny 1.5" squares?:)

 This is my progress so far. Probably too much progress for someone who's supposed to be busy packing boxes to move house tomorrow! but anyhow...

Ive also been attempting to card some of my angora rabbit Willow's fur ready to spin. I still need to google some instructions on how to use my new carders but that might happen in the new house. The carders are from my sponsor Carcoar Pottery and The Humming Alpaca. I was happy when I received them to see that they were unfinished so I could seal them with beeswax polish. They smell so good now!
For anyone who's not entered yet, here's a link to a giveaway of Greener shades dyes on my blog this week, entries close Sunday night

Yarn Along

Firstly in case you mised it im hosting a giveaway of Greener Shades dyes, feel free to head on over and enter!

For Ginnys yarn along this week im sharing this Peasy cardigan that I finished off this week. I almost finished it at the end of last winter but the weather got too hot for it thus finishing it lost all appeal.
Finishing it off has been a perfect instant gratification project for at the moment when Im so buisy packing for our new house.

Ive been Reading "Free To Learn" Which has lots of great knowledge, examples and ideas about Steiner education. To the children at nap time our book this week is 'The Tale of Tom Kitten" by Beatrix Potter. They love the mischevious kittens:)

 Here I am wearing my Peasy Cardigan it while working on another craft project, one that I am ridiculously excited about!

 Ive begun my A Gardeners Journal Quilt!
I bought most of the supplies for it from a lady who had a stall next to mine at my local market.
She happened to have some fabrics that id been wanting for a while at a very reasonable price so I bought them with money that I recieved for my birthday. I even got the cute little pins which I love:)

 Here are some of the fabrics I chose. Dont they look perfectly gardeny?

 I found this cute tin the other day while packing and sorting. I forgot that I had it but its perfect for storing all my quilt pieces that ive been cutting.

Meanwhile I was lucky enough to have some live 'music' to enjoy. Whan better drums than up turned pots and pans with knitting needle drum sticks?

Sponsor Giveaway:: Carcoar Pottery and The Humming Alpaca

I'm so happy to bring you a giveaway from my new Sponsor Louise of  Carcoar Pottery!

Louse is a wonderful multi talented crafter, I asked her some questions about her crafting and beautiful shop to share with you all

Blue and green striped bowl made by Louise

*Louise, what are your favourite crafts and why?


The main craft I practice is pottery, but I like to spin, weave and felt also.  As all crafters know, there are no barriers, so I am currently learning how to weld as I want to make some outdoor furniture for my garden and I have ideas rolling around in my head that 'need' to be realised. I would love to be able to knit and I look on enviously as I watch people knitting creations out of their hand spun and dyed yarns. I think the act of crafting is so wholesome and fulfilling. I couldn't imagine life without making things. It is the actualising of thoughts from within.

Ashford "Country Spinner" spinning wheel 

*What inspires you in your crafting?

I grew up in a nurturing household, where the aesthetics of hand made items was highly esteemed. Gardening, both ornamental and vegetable, was a way of life. My mother, who is a painter and was an art teacher, gave me pottery every Easter instead of eggs (I wasn't too happy with that at the age of 9, although Mum tells me there were some eggs inside the pottery mugs), and by the time I reached my mid to late teens I had a wonderful collection of handmade pottery and an aesthetic ethos. My mother also likes collecting pottery for everyday use and it was only when I went to friends' houses that I realised that it wasn't what everyone else did. As a child, I could always entertain myself by making things and wasn't reliant on external entertainment as inspiration came from within. As an adult who likes to play with clay and textiles, and loves to garden and have my pet alpacas, chooks, dog and my wonderful husband nearby, I lead an ideal life. It has given me an awareness and a consciousness about the provenance of what we eat, wear and use on a daily basis. And on another level, by following in the ancient tradition of craftspeople it gives me a place in the continuity of humanity and being part of its rich tapestry.

One of Louise's rug weaving workshops

*What product in your shop are you most excited about at the moment? Tell us about it

In my pottery range, I am always most excited bout my most recent creations as that is where my head and heart are. I enjoy colour and lots of it. Rainbow colours ... such happiness!! Most challenging at
the moment is the solving of firing results from outdoor primitive kilns as I am looking for organic and random effects on clay. In the textile range, once again, it is what I am currently making. I always have a woven alpaca rug on the go and I have just started dyeing up wool for people coming to the next rug workshop. I love hand dyeing. Actually, I just love making stuff!!!

Colours of the dyes that Louise is generously giving away

Louise is offering readers the chance to win a sampler kit of "Greener Shades" Dyes Which contains 2.5grams of each of the Greener Shades colours!

A flower garland I have hand made with organic merino and Greener shades dyes from Louise's Shop

Here is some information about the dyes that can be found on the The Humming Alpaca page of her shop-

Greener Shades Dyes are a non-hazardous,non-chrome dye for silk,nylon & any animal fibre.

Formulated without the use of hazardous metals, Greener Shades provides all the wash fastness & light fastness of the traditional acid dye without relying on the metal compounds to achieve bright and beautiful colours. This advancement is now available to the home/studio dyer with the Greener Shades line of dyes. Greener Shades Dyes conform to the Organic Trade Association's standard for Organic Fibre Processing (with the exception of Greener Shades - Coral Reef Aqua)

 Everyone is welcomed to write a comment for an opportunity to win
*If you would like a second entry let us know what your favourite thing is in Carcoar Pottery shop in a separate comment
*Friends of bare feet and a free spirit will receive a third entry, just let me know that you are a follower in a separate comment

Good luck all!

Welcome Carcoar Pottery and The Humming Alpaca

Id like to introduce you all to my newest sponsor Louise or Carcoar Pottery

and The Humming Alpaca.

Louise sells all sorts of beautiful hand made pottery made by herself.

She also has a shop section for fibre enthusiasts with all they need for spinning, weaving and felting.

For those nearby she runs some beautiful workshops

One of my favourite items in her shop is her organic merino wool rovings. After searching all over for organic wool for my crafts I was led to her site. It is fantastical soft!
Ive used it for so many projects that you have seen on my blog, its great for spinning, felting, stuffing toys etc.
She also sells the Eco friendly 'Greener Shades' dyes that I use to dye it with and not only is it better for the environment to dye with these dyes, it works out so much cheaper then buying pre-dyed wool.

Head on over to her shop to have a look and later this week I will be hosting a giveaway of some of her Eco friendly "Greener Shades" dyes!

Wooden spoon giveaway winner!

The winner of the wooden spoons giveaway is Nadja of Patch O'Dirt Farm! Congratulations Nadja!
Thankyou to my sponsor Sean of gacarver etsy shop for hosting this giveaway and thank you to all those who entered xo

Yarn Along

Firstly if there's anyone who's not entered my current sponsor give away, here's a link so that you can- gacarver wooden baby spoon giveaway
I joining Ginny and many others again for her yarn along. My fingerless gloves are slowly progressing, Ive finished one and gotten half way through the second one.
Last Thursday I had a great birthday! One of my wonderful presents was a knitting kit that my auntie Levin made up for me.
The knitting pattern is  The Age of Brass and Steam kerchief and the yarn is Madeline Tosh merino DK in 'geode' colourway. She also included the needles I need for the pattern and the cute 'I Knit You' pencil pictured above (I got way over excited about the pencil, I love it:)
I began knitting, decided id wait until I got better stitch markers to continue as I have plastic ones which are bulky and horrible to use. I then accidentally pulled out the needle and decided to just un pull it for now! Will be on the lookout for cute stitch markers and hope to report progress on it next week!

"the children raced on to the sandy beach, It was firm and golden beneath their feet"

 My book- I've fallen in love with this book that I'm reading to the day care children at nap time. Its 'The Sea Side Family' by Enid Blyton. I got it ages ago at a garage sale and its been sitting neglected in bag of books until I found it the other day.
Its such a sweet book, the family live in horse drawn caravans and decide to go live at 'seagull cove' for the Summer holidays. Its the type of book that makes me want to sit there reading long after the littlies have all fallen asleep:)

 Here are some pictures from my birthday. I had a great day, had family come to visit and enjoyed being nice and spoiled

Willow got so much attention I think he thought it was his birthday!

The other day I went to the Natropath. Her name is Maureen and she has a nice little house only a few blocks away from my aunties. She was so nice and she made me feel so comfortable and hopeful that I can improve my Poly cystic Ovarian Syndrome and hopefully get pregnant.

I love that she was very focused on my overall health and how we can heal my cysts and stop them from coming back rather than just trying to get me pregnant. I feel like when (yes ill say when not if, best to stay positive:) I do finally get pregnant my baby will be healthier because ill be healthier.

Shes given me some different herb and vitamins to take and shes also put me on a diet of foods that are good for my blood type, getting pregnant and also my PCOS. So.... No wheat, no sugar, almost no dairy. Its hard but I'm getting used to what I can eat and I look forward to feeling healthier. I go back in two weeks and will have laser acupuncture which I'm quite excited about. Its good to feel so positive! I'm so glad I went 

Sponsor Giveaway :: G A Carver

I'm so pleased to bring you a give away from my new sponsor Sean of gacarver!
When I buy beautiful handmade items I'm always curious about where it came from and how it was made. I'm guessing I'm not the only one to occasionally sit back and daydream of the origins of a beautiful creation so I asked Sean some questions about his woodworking to share with you all.


Hand carved cherry 'spife' spoon knife

  *What inspired you to take up woodwork?

I've always loved the outdoors and the beauty of nature and I think that
eventually led me to want to create items from nature. My Grandfather gave me a
small pocket knife when I was 5 or 6 years old ( I was mature for my age!) and I
enjoyed "carving" even then..thought it was more like scraping bark and turning
sticks into pointy sticks at the time. Later after seeing pictures of hand
carved toys and spoons I decided to see if I could do it myself, and really grew
to enjoy it, especially seeing how each piece shapes up in its on unique
way.

Hand carved baby spoon in highly figured sugar maple

*What is your favourite wood and why?

My favorite wood is Sugar Maple, there are more colorful woods,

there are harder woods and woods that are easier to carve but sugar maple

strikes a fine balance of strength, looks and working properties. Sugar Maple

can be solid blond in color with little character in the grain to very stunning

with curly grain, stripes and marbled patterns with tons of contrast. It takes a

wonderfully smooth finish, is durable and can take a lot of abuse...perfect for

spoons! It also is very common where I live, So I can search the woods for

damaged or overcrowded trees to use instead of buying lumber.

*I would love to know more about how your spoons and other items are made, will
you share with us the steps you take to turn a piece of wood into these lovingly
made creations?

Some of my spoons start out as damaged trees I take down, some as a piece of firewood
that has interesting grain and others I have to buy the boards. When working
from a tree I season the logs for a few months, split them into rough boards
then clean them up with a draw knife. Some of my spoons I use a pattern from a
spoon I made before, some I draw up the patterns and some I use no
pattern...some times its fun to just follow the wood and let it decide its final
shape. I use a small handsaw to cut the rough shape out, then finish shaping
with knife, wood file and sandpaper. I use a curved bladed knife for carving out
the bowl, after that it is hand sanded through numerous grades of sandpaper,
which takes a lot of time...and patience! I sand my spoons to at least 600 grit
and to as fine as 1500 grit, depending on the wood and intended use of the
finished product. After sanding I soak my spoons in water to raise the grain,
then sand them again, this keeps them from getting "fuzzy" after washing and
use. I use only food safe and nontoxic finishes on my products, mostly beeswax
and mineral oil as there are no fumes or chemicals to worry about. I could speed
things up using power saws and sanders, but that would take away from the
finished product in my opinion and it is much more satisfying and relaxing to
make something with your own two hands and at your own pace.

*Sean is offering readers a chance to win two of his beautiful baby spoons! Here is a little about them from Sean-

"This hand carved set of baby spoon in sugar maple and cherry wood. Hand sanded silky smooth, wet sanded to prevent fuzzing then finished with food safe, nontoxic beeswax and mineral oil finish. I sanded these down to 1200 grit. Bowls are both 1 inch wide, the maple spoon is 5 1/2 inches long and the cherry spoon is 5 3/8 in long."

 Aren't they just beautiful!

Everyone is welcomed to write a comment for an opportunity to win
*If you would like a second entry let us know what your favourite thing is in gacarver shop in a separate comment (I'm eyeing off his hand carved sugar maple eating spoon , I think I need a spoon for myself for snack time with the day care children so that i can stop being jealous of their beautiful cutlery:)
*For a third entry pop over and add gacarver to your Etsy favourites and let me know in a separate comment

Good luck all!

Welcome gacarver

A sugar maple eating spoon

Id like to introduce you all to my new sponsor Sean of gacarver etsy shop. His shop has a wonderful selection of hand carved cutlery, kitchen utensils, adorable bird houses and more!
I am so happy to welcome him to my blog

Hand made birch and rosewood Knitting needles

Sean is such a talented carver and his pieces are each made with loving care, some with recycled wood he finds locally

licking the last bits of deliciousness!

 I met Sean a while ago when I bought some beautiful wooden children's cutlery sets for my home day care from him. They have been fantastic, we use them daily and polish them together once a week with some beeswax polish. Each time they come up like brand new 

day care children snacking outside with their gacarver wooden spoons

Head on over to his shop and take a look.

Later this week I will be hosting an interview with Sean as weal as a giveaway of some of his beautiful spoons!

waldorf inspired sleep room

It looks like we will be moving a little sooner then we expected, we just got a letter from the owner of this house saying they want to get the place ready to sell and will need it by the end of this month! Its only a month before we were planning to move anyway but I'm a little worried about getting the new place ready and approved by Family Day Care in time, otherwise I wont be able to 'officially' work for a bit (meaning I wont get government subsidy for families)  eek!

So we will be living with Benny's parents for a month. Its going to be quite a squeeze having them plus us plus my daycare in their house but I guess somehow we will have to make it work.

Anyhow, here are some pictures of the children's sleep room. It is also supposed to be my craft room but seems my free time is generally when little ones are sleeping in there I mostly just store materials there and craft in the lounge room.

Even though only boys sleep in there (Rhylee sleeps in a cot in our room as she wakes rather 'enthusiasticly' and otherwise wakes the others) it looks rather girly. Partly because of things I've added but the boys chose the pink 'butterfly ladies'(Shirley barber fairies) alphabet. Benny's friend Mick had it from when his daughters were little and the boys fell in love with it when he brought it round for us. Its rather adorable how much they love it:) We also have up a cozy Elsa Beskow picture and some post cards from Marie. These pictures were down at the children's level which looked nice but as you can imagine they didn't stay up long so I put them up higher. 

Each child has a little handmade quilt on their bed (various lap quilts I've made over the years) which is my favourite part of the room, it makes it look so cozy. At some stage I would like to get some little cot sized toddler beds but in this little house its easy having sleeping mats on the floor so I can stack them if I need extra space on weekends etc.

 I put the dollies and there beds in here as they weren't getting played with much in the play room. Its fun for the children to get dollies ready for bed and tuck them in just like I do for them

 

Here is a gorgeous woolen fairy that hangs above their beds. She was lovingly made by Kate of

Apple of the forest who I did a swap with not long ago.

She also sent me this beautiful mother nature and her root children that are even cuter then I imagined them! I love them so much and decided our sleep room is the perfect place for them as I often read 'the story of the root children' at nap time. The children watch them as they go to sleep, I'm sure dreaming up little root children adventures.

 Like I've mentioned before, its a tight squeeze in here but I try to make the best of it!

 Here's our nap time verse

 This sprouting seed woolen picture is also from Kate. I cant believe how talented is, she makes me want to learn to needle felt. As does this book!

Here are a few more things almost ready for market day this Saturday.I made the wool felt crown with organic merino rovings and greener shades dyes from my lovely sponsor The Humming alpaca


Tomorrow I get the day off and its my birthday Yippe! It doesn't get better than that