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Two for tea

Just before Christmas I received the loveliest mail, including these two wonderful afternoon-tea swap packages. Di sent some delicious beautifully fresh and crunchy dark chocolate and pistachio biscotti (recipe here). We had friends over that afternoon and it was very popular indeed! Alison's lovely package contained some fabulous delicate & flavoursome mint and lavendar shortbread, plus some of my all-time favourite: lemon curd. Thanks so much! Once the weather cools down here (39 today, erk), I'm going to have to begin a serious fitness regieme to work off the residual effects of all this deliciousness. ;)

All over bar the shouting*

I was searching through our Christmas photos trying to find a suitable one to include with this post, but, somewhat appropriately, most of them were incredibly blurry. Our christmas went by in a blur of excitement (for the little people) and exhausted enjoyment (for the not so little ones). Audrey scored a very nice stash, including her new prize possession, a trike from my Dad. For my part, a new Jamie Oliver book and some gifts "for the house" - we are renovating an old house, so our home needs all the help it can get. Best of all, my Grandparents travelled a long way to spend the day with us which made it all doubly special. Hope yours was grand.
* I'd just like to add that there is no shouting, this is just an old saying in my family.

Merry Christmas!

Thankyou so much for the lovely birthday greetings, you all helped make my day. :)

Merry Christmas, my lovely blogging friends. May yours be peaceful, safe and full of joy. xo

"Mummy, you're old"

The festive season has truly kicked in. It's my birthday today and so it always feels like the fun begins 3 days early for us. Since it's the time for festivities, I made Audrey this red party skirt last night. I'm a little ashamed to say that with all the sewing I do, I've never made her an item of clothing. This one was made from some lightweight red corduroy I had on hand, with a bit of frill and some orange rick-rack detail (couldn't help it).

The blue skirt is a christmas gift I made for our little buddy Jade, the daughter of dear friends and Audrey's partner in crime. The blue fabric is a slightly heavier corduroy. Audrey modelled them sweetly if reluctantly for her ageing mother (see the title - she actually said this, sigh). And, no, Audrey didn't score all the gifts. So far I'm the lucky new owner of a lovely red resin necklace, not to mention (thanks to a few members of my family chipping in) the promise of a new sewing machine - as soon as I get my act together and find one. Now we're off to dinner. Lovely.

Tra-la-la-la-laaaa...

It's starting to feel a lot more like Christmas now the christmas cakes are done. This year I decided to use those little reinforced cardboard cups to make minature christmas cakes for family & friends. Have never used them before and they look a little wonky - will have to wrap them up with lots of distracting tinsel! I used Stephanie Alexander's reliable "bake 2 weeks before christmas" (ahem) recipe from The Cooks Companion (the original edition rather than the revised one, not sure if the cake recipe is different in the updated version?) As I was baking yesterday on our scorching 38 degree summer day (thank goodness for airconditioning), I was thinking of my lovely blogging friends in the Northern Hemisphere with your beautiful white christmases. Here in Australia have inherited so many Christmas customs that really don't suit our climate! Despite the heat, it just wouldn't be Christmas without lots of baking.

Sorry about the rambly, bitsy post, but I also wanted to thank everyone who left a comment or emailed offering wonderful sewing machine advice. I'm still trying to decide what to do, but each comment was really helpful and has helped me enormously to define what I need.

Lastly, I've put two new monkeys, Nino and Hetty, in my shop. They definitely won't make it overseas for Christmas. But if anyone in Australia is interested, I can put them in an overnight bag today or tomorrow to reach you by Friday.

Sewing machine help?

It's my birthday later in the week and - yippee - my sledgehammer style hints about needing a new sewing machine have been heard. I've used the same machine since I was 8 years old learning to sew (my Mum's old 1967 Helvetia Lemair). But, the old girl needs serious repairs which are going to cost a fortune, and since it doesn't look like I'm going to stop sewing any time soon, the time is nigh to invest in a new one. This is a long winded way of asking if anyone has any help/advice, or sewing machine related cautionary tales. I've been doing some research and had pretty much decided on a second-hand 1990s model computerised Pfaff. Since my machine has been out of action I've been using my Mum's Pfaff Creative 1371 and loving it. Never thought I would be a sucker for computerised features like needle up/down, but now I've been there I don't think I want to go back! Anyway, here's the problem - I'm nervous. I don't want to fork out more than necessary for a brand name like Bernina or Pfaff when there might be more value to be found elsewhere. Also, I'm guessing I'll get more for my money if I go second hand? This post over at Thimble (thanks!) has been really helpful, but many of the models aren't available here in Australia. Equally, this article from Choice has been great - but a little outside my $500 price range. So, if you have any advice I'd love to hear from you - what machine do you use? Are the computerised functions really worth it? Any recommendations? Thanks so much, I'd really appreciate it!

And because I can't leave without a photo.... here's Audrey in the garden this morning proudly examining the first of her strawberry harvest. She's been watering this plant diligently for the last couple of months and this is the first strawberry we got to before the caterpilars did. Very exciting!

Emmett and friends

This is Emmett. Along with Lucy and Gigi, Emmett is now available through the very neat Send A Toy. I have 2 more monkeys in various states of completion on my desk, but they probably won't be ready to go in my shop until next week. I'm at that point where I look at the things I'd like to achieve before Christmas, and then throw the list out the window. But before I forget, tonight Carly is putting up for sale via the internet all the toys and dolls that haven't sold from the Morphe exhibition. If you're interested, get in quick - it's first in, first served!

Quick cards

With only a week & a half until Christmas I still hadn't done my Christmas cards. I make my own cards every year, but this year I'd left it so late I really needed something quick and easy. So, with a spare hour today I reached for a trusty potato and made these. Unfortunately, you can tell they only took an hour! I potato-stamped a tree & star (or an exploding triangle, light on a mountain, or any other of the 'hilarious' alteratives Matt & I came up with this afternoon) onto cardstock, using a couple of sample pots of house-paint we had lying around in the shed. When I started stamping I liked how subtle they were, but they just look a bit blah on masse. In retrospect, some brighter colours might have worked better. On the positive side, the cards are done, and even though I'm far from thrilled with them, I now get to practise the art of letting go & moving on!

Red and yellow and pink and green...

A few weeks ago I mentioned in a post about how I was really enjoying using some felted wool that Lyn had sent a while back as part of a swap. Last week, a large envelope arrived on my doorstep full (full!) of that very same wool. Wow. Large pieces with incredible texture in wonderful colours that Lyn dyes herself. Suffice to say, I was blown away by Lyn's kindness. I'm in wool heaven. Thankyou Lyn! You are, as we sometimes say here in Australia, a Dead Set Legend. :)

Lucy, Gigi and Santa

A really quick post as Audrey is due to wake from her nap at any moment. I took her into the city this morning to do the time-honoured sit on Santa's lap. She took one look at him and decided against it, quite understandable, really. So we split a muffin in the Borders cafe (after a visit to the Maisy section, of course, no trip to the city is complete without it) and caught the bus back home.

I just wanted to introduce Lucy monkey and Gigi kitten who will be available through sendatoy.com.au soon. Next week I'll be making a few monkeys to go in my webshop for Christmas. I'm sure I mustn't be the only person who hasn't done all their festive shopping yet. :)