a date for the diaries

Two Blue Birdies Resin Brooch by Madz has Runaway

I know, it seems a bit too soon to be booking special outings for Feb already, but those of you who haven't checked out the sisters market as yet, really should put this date in the diary. And those of you who have been once before, well, you should probably go again! The sisters market returns to the Brunswick Town Hall on 7th Feb 09... to check out the stallholders go here. This is a fantastic market, but those with prams beware, it can get rather squishy... much easier to pop the boy in the baby bjorn.

I am yet to leave empty handed, having been three times... my last purchases were from this lovely lady (I bought two of her gorgeous resin brooches - just beautiful).

So... get the pens out and scribble it in the diaries... and perhaps I'll see you there?

xo

one gi-normous catch up post

Well, hello there!

Thanks to those of you who hadn't totally given up on me... I am still here! And with news to share. So here we go, in no order of importance...

The gherkin is now five months old. The photo above is just a home happy snap of the kind of boy we are fortunate enough to live with every day. Life has been an absolute joy with the gherk' of late, and I won't bore you all with gushing on this blog, as I promised this would from now on be all about craft and melbourne and all things non-baby, but oh my, he is soooo delightful at the moment. If you need more gushing you can go to a pug and a handful of pickles

We were fortunate enough to have the very lovely, generous and extremely talented h&b take some delicious photos of our little man a few weeks back. I haven't posted any of the photos here, as I sort of feel as though it should be h&b's reveal, but let me just say they are beautiful. So incredibly gorgeous. And yes, her home is as amazing as it looks in the photos (I was curious! and not at all disappointed). Thankyou lovely for using our little man as a model for a day!

I am another year older... well, not really, but you know what I mean! An odd number (good), but not a prime number (so could be better). Just another step closer to forty.... I had a lovely day, cruising around Brunswick East with the gherkin and Mr Pickles, just hanging out and thinking how my life had changed in the past five years... marriage, two homes (and renovations), our boy, and rapid whitening of my hair...

Speaking of hair, I am much much much happier with my hair now... went back to my old salon across the other side of town (I know, ridiculous, but, note to Brunswick hairdressers -you were a real disappointment) and now I feel like myself again. Also in this photo? My new favourite toy from Mr Pickles to celebrate my ageing. It's a Canon and I am in love.

Other news... I have been getting out and about...

* to Bendigo (my first time... oh my, the architecture there!!! my camera battery was flat though from snapping hundreds of photos of the boys, so no photos of buildings this time round

* to Ceres a few times

* to ikea for a very important highchair purchase

Oh! and of course I have been CRAFTING!

You saw the doll in my last post... well, poor thing got ditched. She will remain an u.f.o. until I come up with an outfit I am satisfied with. In the meantime I have finished June, who is now the doll of the very beautiful Mae of onegirl fame (and Leslie has been lovely enough to post some photos of the very gorgeous Mae with June on her flickr).

Oh! and we are having a handmade Christmas in the pickles family this year (grandparents, bubs, aunts, cousins, brother, mums, dads all creating for one another - lovely! if a little challenging...), so I do have loads of other WIPs in progress, but not sure if the family checks this blog... I wonder if it's safe to show and tell here????

Anyway, that should be enough for one post, will catch up again soon, promise!
xo


ps. coming to a post soon... our recipe for banana and date loaf (much more like a cake... yum), a brunswick east eatery update (woohoo!) and santa photo dilemmas...

shhhh... work in progress

So, [shhh] here she is...

....only just begun really, but getting closer to being finished.

I need to add her skirt (which I hope will be VERY special), and her face, her hair, and finally her accessories. And then she will be heading off in a postpak to someone very beautiful and brand new. I had a lot of fun with her shape --- I hope it's ok to give a child's doll hips?

Will give you an update once I have finished her off... xo

i've been busy...

Yep, it's official... I am back into crafting. After the gherkin's gran & pa left on Sunday after a week long (almost) visit, I returned to my spare room floor and sewing machine two days ago, and made the most of the little man's day sleeps. I have (as always) a few projects on the go - here is a sneak peek...

I also whipped up a floor mat for the little Gherkin to roll around on, as he was starting to hang off the edges of the mats we were using just weeks ago. He isn't rolling yet, but he is doing 180 degree turns in his cot, so when I go in during a day sleep he is often upside down in his cot. You just can't do a 180 on a small mat!

To make the mat I used a cute print flannelette which I bought before we had the Gherkin (Mr Pickles is quite concerned now that there is too much pink on the fabric), with a cream flannelette backing, And I was feeling adventurous - for the first time ever I put wadding in the middle. I was trying to avoid binding dramas I have read about in so many other blogs, so I tried to cheat by creating a fabric "envelope", inserting the wadding and then topstitching. Probably needless to say, it's lumpy. But the Gherkin didn't seem to mind (or at least, he didn't complain!), so it should to the trick.

Any ideas or links on EASY quilt binding or mat stuffing would be much appreciated!!!

Oh, and late last week I also treated myself and bought one of these:

I reckon this should come to good use when I make more sunhats - I can't wait to try this out!

Anyway, I'm heading off. Got a date with the hairdresser (this time with the Gherkin in tow). Cross your fingers for me!

Chat soon xo

the power in a pair of scissors

Okay, so on the weekend I had an incident. Not a major one... I am ok, the Pickles clan is fine, but a big enough incident to cast a gloomy shadow over my weekend and this week.

See, my favourite hairdresser in the world is no longer cutting hair. It's devastating. But her hanging up the scissors and my turning into a gloriously round pregnant woman were beautifully timed, as I had decided that when I had a newborn it would be most practical if I could just pull my hair back into an elastic band and be done with it. And, I have to say, it was easy. But I am a short hair kinda gal, and ready to spend some time on the styling that comes with short hair.

So, on the weekend, with the football (soccer) season finished and Mr Pickles home on the Saturday, I decided to leave the Gherkin at home and go out and get my hair cut. At a new salon. On the new side of the city. With a new cutter. It was a wee bit anxiety-provoking! But I told myself all would be well, armed myself with three photos - one of me with my hair at its best (around the time my summer pickles profile photo was taken), one of a brilliant haircut I love (below), and one of Vicki Howell whose fringe I adore.



And I asked that the hairdresser do something fun, uneven, chunky, but thinned out so my hair doesn't go in a triangle. Sadly, I didn't get anything fun, chunky, or even remotely interesting... instead I got a long layered bob (which you can see here). It is a lovely long layered bob, but I didn't go in looking for a long layered bob... (maybe I should not have told her I had just become a mum?)

So what to do?

I hated it. Mr Pickles told me (very gently) that it looked like a blend of a schoolgirl and an old lady haircut. So I had two choices really... 1. go back to the hairdresser who cut it in the first place and ask her to cut it again, or 2. risk it with someone else. I have opted for choice number one, but this time, need to take the Gherkin (which could be a whole other story!).

(Wish me luck...)

the oobee blankie... as promised

OOBEE BLANKIE
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

As promised, a better photo of the oobee blankie made by the very gorgeous and talented Leslie (see the last post for all of the details). Of course, it wouldn't be this blog without the gherkin in the photo as well!

Apologies to h&b for showing off with the oobee facing the camera... one of the joys of a twelve week old... pose the oobee, distract the baby, take the photo!

Thanks again lovely xo

it's here!

man club meeting
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

A very big thankyou to the lovely Leslie for our very gorgeous oobee blankie, which arrived in the post at the end of last week, and which you can see on the right of this photo (I have taken my sorry time getting this post up - sorry Leslie).

It is just gorgeous. Will have to try to take some detailed pictures later, so I can show you it properly, but at the moment the gherkin is asleep, so am trying not to disturb. I love Lesli'e fabric choices, they are just always gorgeous.

If you feel like shopping, then I would absolutely recommend popping into Leslie's shop ... just filled with beautiful, and beautifully made objects. We are really lucky now to have both an oobee and an oobee blankie for the gherkin.... if Leslie makes more windsees I might have to get one of those too...

Thanks so much Leslie, this was such a gorgeous swap gift. My return gift to you and your lovely little one is in progress... am aiming to have it to you by end of next week. (Leslie --- I may have sneak peeks here in the interim... so feel free to steer clear for a week!) xo

baby sunhat (reversible) #1

baby sunhat (reversible) #1
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

It took me three days, but in stages I managed to make this sunhat starting from the fluted hat pattern mentioned in my last post, just with some modifications to the size, some of the construction steps and I made it reversible.

Definitely needs some refining and I made it too small so would fit only a newborn with a head circumference under 34cm, but it felt great to get back into sewing and to actually finish something was bliss!

Watch this space... more creations on their way....
xo

addit: the fluted hat pattern and tutorial that this sunhat was loosely based on can be found here

a few favourite baby crafting tutorials

Well, it is amazing what happens when one is no longer spending six hours a day expressing.

Six midwives, one electric breastpump, four maternity bras, three lactation consultants, five hundred and sixty expressed feeds (about 56 litres of breastmilk!), one maternal and child health nurse, three rounds of mastitis, two breastfeeding clinics, one GP, australian breastfeeding association support and a paediatrician later, without any breakthrough, little gherkin's paediatrician has convinced us that no matter how much I may want to breastfeed, the gherkin is not going to be able to meet me half way.

So the weaning has begun... I am devastated, but there is nothing more we can do other than keep expressing... and I just can't keep this up - I was just becoming a complete exhausted wreck.

So, with a couple of extra hours on my hands (am doing the gradual wean, so have about two extra hours at the moment), I am thinking about craft again, and not just thinking, but getting out fabrics and patterns and starting (finally) to get my act together on the online baby swap! About time some might say!

I thought perhaps some of you might be interested to have a look at some of my favourite baby craft tutorials out there. I haven't tested these yet, but they look like they will be good. Once I have had some more time to craft, I will show off some of my creations using these tutorials...

Michael Miller baby rings here
Stardust Shoes cloth baby shoes here
Healther Bailey bitty booties here
Spool bird mobile here
Toddler sunhats x 2 here and here

Not strictly baby, but is a toddler's dress and I love it - here - also love her tshirt dress... those of you who have girls should check it out.

And just because, Molly Chicken's fabric pom-pom here

I am sure there are plenty more fabulous gems out there... drop me a line if you have a favourite that is not on this list...

Enjoy, chat soon xo

i'm not completely done with crafting!

fathers day tshirt
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

Hi there!

Just when I thought I had come to a slamming stop, I have a crafting report!

For fathers day I was keen to make something a bit special for The Gherkin and Mr Pickles to enjoy together. So I made this tshirt! Well, I didn't really make it (thankyou bonds!), but I did decorate it. Here it is modelled by the The Gherkin himself.

Picked up these great iron-on transfer printable papers from officeworks. You just make or select an image on your 'puter, flip it horizontally so you are looking at the mirror image, print it our on the transfer paper and iron it on. Done! You can take the gloss out of the transer as well by ironing over again (once the image has cooled and set to the clothes) with plain paper. Think I will do this next time... I didn't this time round, but I think it would look better matt.

And just in case you wanted to be able to read the fine print... here is the whole image...

Thanks for popping in again!
xo

taking a wee break....

the two of us - self portrait
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

Hi all

Well! hasn't my life just completely changed in the past eight weeks! I almost can't remember what life was like without our Little Man (aka the gherkin). I am completely in love.

With my life currently spent doing anything but crafting, I have decided to take a wee break from this summer pickles blog... no time for crafting, certainly no time to blog about it!!!

If you would like to keep up with the non-crafting adventures of the pickles clan, you can check us out here: http://pugandpickles.blogspot.com/ ....perhaps I will see you there?

Thanks to all of you for stopping by, I have really enjoyed your visits, your comments, emails... our chats in general!

Take care, and have fun,
xo

magazine madness... and a little bit of cushion love

Hi again!

For those of you who thought i had perhaps fallen off the face of the earth and blogland... nope, still here, just extremely BUSY. Thanks to those of you who offered advice and support about Little Man's feeding. He is still finding this very hard, so I am still expressing every feed... feeling totally exhausted at this point, seven and a half weeks down the track, but am hoping that we have him on the breast by end Sept. Fingers and toes crossed.

As a result, I'm afraid that crafting has taken a bit of a backseat! As a result, this blog is probably now going to include a bit more baby stuff... So for those of you who checked in only for crafting, melbourne, and other creative bits and pieces... sorry... baby has landed!

now that Little Man has arrived we are desperately trying to clear clutter from our home... which takes me to the topic of this post - magazines. I am hopeless when it comes to magazines - I find that home and food magazines always stay in my house, once they arrive, never to see the recycling bin. Which means I end up with cupboards on cupboards of very gorgeous magazines that I very rarely read...

So! This week, in the spirit of the declutter, I am going through the magazines and ripping out all of the pages that inspire me right now, in the hope that they are the same pages that will inspire me in the future... The photos on this post are just a few snippets, with a focus on cushions, from magazines such as Vogue living, Belle, Home beautiful, House & garden, Inside out... favourite bits and pieces I didn't want to give up. Hopefully soon I will be able to photograph our home looking as stunning as the source(s) of inspiration...

Have a gorgeous week everyone,
xo

what i've been up to...

boob man
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

Well, our little man has had a bit of a rough start.... after some shocking jaundice which made him look all prepared for a physie performance and made him the sleepiest baby in Melbourne, he lost the ability to breastfeed. Poor little man. But he still loves the cuddles.

One maternal & child health nurse and two lactation consultants later we are on a strict three hourly regime of:
1. wake little man for a feed
2. change nappy
3. if he woke himself, offer him the breat... if not, offer him expressed breast milk from bottle with tricky teat (takes about an hour for just under 100mLs). aim for six 150mL feeds per day...
4. burp, talk, play
5. settle
6. express next feed
7. use next 15-20 minute window to do something productive, like eat breakfast, go to the toilet, call a friend, do a blogpost...

No wonder there is no sewing, cleaning, gourmet cooking, anything much being done in this house at the moment!

He is such a precious little man, and has started looking deep into our eyes which just about makes my heart explode! Am sure there are some smiles starting too...

James Brown the pug meanwhile has a shocking throat infection so has been hacking up a lung for the past fortnight and is a very unhappy little dog. That is, excepting when I spray breastmilk across the room (accidentally people, this is not an attempt at design) and he suddenly has boundless energy to tear across the room to lick it up. Erk.

Hope you and those you love are well and happy xo

haven't fallen off the face of the earth... just busy snuggling...

Thankyou to all for your lovely warm wishes and welcome to our little pickles, Liam.

All is going well... we have been having some tricky times with breastfeeding but we are persevering and all is improving each day, so we take it as a good sign that we will get there. I am surviving on anywhere from 2-5 hours of sleep over a 24 hour period (including the day naps), so things like cleaning, baking, sewing etc have really gone out the window... instead my days look a lot like this photo... add in changing nappies, feeding, calming an unhappy little boy and training a very unsettled dog, and you probably get the picture.

It is by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do but it is wonderful.

Thankyou again for all of your warm thoughts and wishes, and I will keep you posted! Oh, and I also have some gorgeous gifts I want to show and tell, but that will have to wait to another time (just stealing in this post between feeds). I have selected the pattern for my baby swap, just haven't started sewing yet, but once I have I will show and tell here, of course.

Hope you and those you love are all well and happy. I won't make it to the craft fair this year - disappointing as I had planned to catch up with Diana Chalk and Bethan Short again - but those of you who get there, enjoy every second!

Have fun xo

ps. Oh! and hooray for 30 years of IVF... I think they are celebrating this milestone today. Without ART we would never have had our darling little man Liam. Hooray for modern medicine. Have a lovely week everyone! x

pps. Oh, and h&b - yes, you were right, Liam measured 53cm, not 5cm! ;)

He's a boy!

liam birth with mum and dad
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

Baby Pickles has arrived safely!

Born 3rd July 12.12pm
Weighing a "robust" 4.31kg
Measuring 5cm
Head circumference a healthy 38.5cm

We are so incredibly thrilled (excepting James Brown the Pug who is completely confused and not entirely over the moon)

Will update you all a bit later, once we get a moment that we aren;t feeding, settling, expressing or catnapping...

Thanks to all of you for your warm wishes and share eager anticipation of his arrival.

Hugs from all of the Pickles clan xo

a date for your diaries...

Good morning!

Received this reminder via email this morning and had to share... and realised that I had neglected to tell you about my recent visit to this market! The first sisters' market I attended was with my mum in law around I think the ?end of May and I loved it... there were some terrific new designers/artists/crafters there who I had not met or encountered before, which was very exciting! And just down the road from home. It would be worth popping this one into your diary for 2nd August... let me know if you plan on being there - depending on how I am going with bub, I might be heading there again, and it would be lovely to catch up!

One of my very favourite finds at this market was the lovely Carla from emotional baggage . I honestly don't intend to turn this blog into a how-to-shop-locally-and-find-gorgeous-things guide, but I had to show and tell. Carla has one of the neatest websites I have seen in a long time, where you can design your own bag, by selecting the style, fabric, leather etc...and then you get a picture of what it will all look like once together! Love it.

This is my brand new, arrived last night carry all bag, for keeping all of the baby stuff together when out and about, in theory, but also just because I really really love it and will get loads of use out of it!). And the lining is striped, which is just gorgeous, with multiple pockets... I would have taken a photo of the inside except that I have packed the bag now with gear for the hospital.

Thanks Carla for making this in time for bub's arrival, and for dropping it off last night... it was lovely to have another brief chat with you, and in case I didn't say this enough last night, I really love this bag!!!

oh my... the postie came today with a parcel...

parcel in the post.... thankyou!
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

I was so excited to see the return address on the back belonged to Martine from greenolive. Martine is a fabulous Melbourne crafter and flickr/blog friend who does some of the most beautiful work... if you haven't checked out her work as yet, you should - you can take more of a peek here , here and here.

Martine knitted our soon to arrive Baby Pickles the most divine baby blanket in gorgeous colours which complement the new teal wall in bub's room beautifully!

Thankyou so much Martine, it is just so soft and gorgeous, beautiful and lovely - all things a baby blanket should be! I can't imagine our little one ever wanting to let it go! (I hope it was ok to open it before bub arrives... I couldn't wait!)

Hugs from all of the Pickles clan xo

ps. and thankyou again to lovely Deb at work, who surprised me with this lovely little dog (in the background)!

this is... my best op shop find...

(or thrifted , garaged saled, trash and treasure marketed, side of the road scavenged.....)

One of the saddest things about renovations is having some of your most treasured objects in storage. Thankfully, I still have three of my favourite secondhand finds out of boxes, to photograph for this week's this is ....

I found five of these anodised canisters in a secondhand store in Canowindra, NSW, one day after work. Freshly moved out of home for the first time, I found these and immediately fell in love, but didn't know if I could afford them. The women in the store kindly let me put them on laybuy, and I paid them off over a few weeks (sounds like an extremely extravagant purchase, but they weren't - I was just a poor newly graduated and very cautious health worker!). The two not included in the photo (in boxes somewhere) are a traffic light green rice canister and a salmon pink coffee canister. They are such a gorgeous set! My one regret was leaving behind the matching breadbin and another tall canister - when I went back the following week, these were gone.

Then, one day driving through Berry, NSW, I felt the urge to go to the local markets, where I found an amazing matching stacked set of cake, cookie and scone canisters (also currently in a box somewhere) at one of the trash and treasure stalls.

I now know there are also spice canisters which match, and will keep searching until I find them... it's become an addiction! I love all things anodised but especially love these... my favourite all time op shop find!

Thanks to Lino Forest for this week's theme!

such a well behaved little pug! ... and a work in progress...

such a well behaved little pug!
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

Sometimes our litle dog just surprises us... As he did tonight, when he sat (yes, he is sitting in this photo) on the end cushion of the lounge and just watched me arrange all of these fabric pieces, trying to decide on a layout for bub's quilt. No picking up a piece and running down the hallway, no walking all over them, no licking them to try to get any loose threads... What a good little dog!

I am trying to make a quilt for floor time for our very-soon-to-arrive baby, without any of the usual quilting tools. It will be a four block, nine patch quilt (after some searching on on the good ol' internerd I think this is what quilters would call it?). After some handy hints from Lara though, I am seriously considering buying myself a cutting mat, rotary cutter and transparent ruler. If you haven't seen Lara's quilt yet, you might like to check it out here.

Perhaps with the right tools my quilts might be a bit more successful - better than when I rely on a dodgy paper template and a pair of scissors?

Will post an update when I get closer to completion...

Have fun everyone!
xo

These are a few of my favourite pugs xo

These are a few of my favourite pugs xo
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

Would always rather spend time flickr gazing than at a work meeting (what was originally planned for today)... and this was a lovely way to pass the lunchtime.

Of course, my favourite pug will always be James Brown, but I have really enjoyed these other beauties! Plenty more in my flickr favourites....

1. Amazing flat face of Pugs, 2. Resistance Is Futile, 3. deep in thought, 4. Yes Master., 5. Chloe, 6. IMAGE0047-adjusted, 7. Wizen, 8. *SMILING PUG* - HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, FROM THE SWEETHEART PUG, MEL C *-*, 9. Wookie says "Happy Easter!"

we're still a family of three...

First things first... how come my text doesn't go all the way over to the right... does anyone know how I can do this??? And how come my line spacing always goes completely out of whack when I insert a picture????

Yep, still just a family of three (me, hubby, plus the dog), in spite of the prolonged absence (sorry to those of you who got excited, thinking this was a hint!). We have been out of the house for a week whilst the house got painted. The house has been beautifully "duluxed" - walls are now Antique White USA, the skirting and architraves White on White and one of the walls in the baby's room is a quite out there shade of Magnetic Magic. But no photos for now... we are hoping to surprise the family when they all come down from interstate to visit bub, so no photos until after bub (and grandparents) have arrived!

Perhaps some exciting news... I have been sewing!!!

This is the end result of some time playing with bright and patterned black and white fabrics...

I just threw these together without patterns or anything to go from and am not totally thrilled with either of them, but at least I have two prototypes now and I can keep improving on them...

I am also in the swing of making a not-so-developmentally-stimulating mobile from fabrics which just got me incredibly excited... [will insert a photo of the fabrics here as soon as my camera is charged] photos of the completed mobile to follow shortly. Not to worry --- those of you concerned about early development, there will be other stimulating items for bub to gaze upon!

We have finished our childbirth classes now (and not a moment too soon!) and are now booked in for a caesar as bub is hanging out very high up in my ribs, in breech position mostly, exactly where it has been since 24 weeks, occasionally mixing it up with a bit of transverse lying... lovely! The good news is I don't have to go to the toilet all the time, the less than fabulous news is my ribs ache like crazy. It is quite amazing to be here after our journey to get to this point...
[warning: gratuitous belly shot below! taken a week ago.... check out the outie!]

I hope you are all well and happy and life treating you beautifully.
xo

ps. thanks to those of you who have been commenting... I will respond, I will, this is my new resolution... soon!

online baby shower swap

online baby shower swap, originally uploaded by summer pickles.

thanks to Anna at Hey Bubbles for this inspired idea!
i'm in --- are you?

this is... my favourite travel memory (albeit belated!)

So, after much joy reading many bloggers' this is... posts, I decided to give it a go. And promptly missed my first this is... post! Terrible behaviour for a newcomer... sorry Angela! A very warm thankyou to Hila for this week's theme... I am always up for some reminiscing...

No, the colour on your monitor has not gone loopy, this is actually the colour of the water and sky at Bora Bora. (Check out the google maps satellite pic if you don't believe me!). This is not by any stretch the most scenic of photos we took of Bora Bora (I have realised none of these are on flickr so will be uploading them in the next week or so), but look at how blissfully happy those two newlyweds look! (and how skinny I looked before starting art and eventually getting a big round pregnant belly!) This was taken in 2004, on our honeymoon, which was just incredible. I swam with manta rays (purely by accident) which I think is still one the highlights of my life... oh, and I got the hubby all to myself for nearly two whole weeks, which was just perfect (I would love to have more time together... he's alright).

Taking us back a bit earlier, to the 80s sometime, this is another great travel memory, at Valla Beach. The four of us went there on our own (ie. mum, dad, two kids), and also went with my godparents and their two kids. The visit with my godparents and their two kids is the trip I remember best. We had so much fun, playing on the beach, making up songs as we walked along the wooden bridge to get to the beach, hanging out on bunk beds at night... it's a great childhood holiday memory to have. And, very exciting to actually have a photo with my mum in it (she is the hot one in the short red shorts - great legs mum!).

Interestingly, I grew up in the bush, but both of my fave travel memories involve the sea. My favourite home, too, (right up there with current home with hubby and the dog and soon to arrive baby) is my single gal home at seven mile beach, Gerroa in NSW. I may have grown up in the country, but the sea has always been calling.

What are your favourite travel memories? Is it about the place? The people? Or even perhaps the food? (I will never forget the Polynesian raw fish salad... heavens above, what a delight!)

Chat soon, xo

some of my favourite things... inspiration for baby pickles

As usual, have been hanging out on flickr (one of the advantages of being wide awake from 4am!), and have found these new favourite things which are not all designed for kids, but which provide me with some inspiration for things to do for baby pickles!
Enjoy xo

1. Finally., 2. apple tree kimono, 3. pedro pig, 4. Green jacket w red flower, 5. Lillydew's Twin Sister Lola-Mae, 6. rabbits, 7. kinchi kitschy kitten dress, size 1, 8. Até à lua... / to the moon, 9. Full Circle Top

the little luxuries of more time.... world's best brekkie @ poached

world's greatest breakfast @ poached in brunswick, originally uploaded by summer pickles.

Okay, so I know there has been some quiet from this end... we have been moved out whilst the floors have been sanded and polished.. and they look sensational... will take some photos when I have some sunlight tomorrow... just an amazing transformation!

But, when we were booted out of our house, I had a fab excuse to eat brekkie out at one of the local spots in sunny brunswick. And this was the incredible brekkie I found at poached.

This is the vegetarian big breakfast with the eggs swapped for avocado, and was the best brekkie ever. I also want to mention for those of you who are soy milk drinkers, the staff at poached know how to froth soy milk!!!! Fantastic soy hot chocolates to be had here. And the staff were all absolutely gorgeous, and let me (a single diner) eat at a table for four, just because I wanted a spot with morning sunshine...

A perfect start to the day... I would thoroughly recommend it! (Ah, I love Melbourne!)

poached
169 lygon st
east brunswick
ph: 9387 2396

I'm incredibly excited!!!

our gorgeous hallway, originally uploaded by summer pickles.

Check out our gorgeous new hallway!

Sooo excited that we are getting closer to this house being done.... only floor sanding and polishing, some plaster patching, light fitting selection and installation (I am thinking about the ikea knappa light for the hallway... what do you think?) and painting to go!

And being only 34 weeks well-and-truly-up-the-duff I feel like we might actually get it all done on time for bub's big arrival, too! (It's not just the hallway that's progressing... our nursery is making some serious headway too). We will even have the furniture in the room in two weeks... Yippee!

Anyway, now that the carpenter has gone, I am going to see if I can still pop in on Miss Cinti at My Poppet... will have missed her biggest morning tea (you can make a donation to the Cancer Council here), but it would be lovely to get there to meet her and check out My Poppet!

Have a lovely day everyone!
xo

I have been sewing!

Warned you all in my last post that I had been sewing, and here are the results.

Apologies for the dodgy quality photo... my camera is flat (too many photos of the dog and trying to catch the baby moving on video), so this is a mobile phone picture. This is what makes the edges look stretched out on the left too --- the wrap is actually surprisingly square.

I love this patterned flannelette which I just found at good ol' spotlight in box hill, where they have a surprisingly large range of printed flannelette. Also got some very cute blue and pink printed flannelette, which I will show you once I have made it into something. This wrap is 82cm square, which is too small according to my girlfriends who have had babies, but is the best I could do with the fabric I had available! (I discovered that flannelette shrinks significantly on first wash - a handy reminder to all crafters out there to make sure you wash your fabric first!)

I also love these knot hats which are so easy to make! We still don't know if bub is a boy or girl, but I only had blue stretch fabric in my stash, so used what I had available. If she is a girl that will just give me an excuse to add a flower or something pretty to the front! I adapted the hat pattern from here

I don't have an overlocker and didn't like the folding back cuff too much so made some very minor amendments. I am thinking that I probably need to go out and buy some patterned stretch fabric just for some fun...

So, I am back in the world of crafting! (Hooray for maternity leave!)

I have also made two new button rings and a button necklace, which you can see on my flickr or etsy (links on the left).

Have a fabulous week everyone!
Hannah x

what I did with my first day of maternity leave

day 1 maternity leave, originally uploaded by summer pickles.

1. got up way too early (7.30am) after an early breakfast wake up call from james brown at 5.30am
2. had brekkie - strawberry jam and peanut butter on toast and a mandarin (i love mandarins at the moment! would have been sardines on toast if I hadn't run out yesterday)...
3. read some of this incredible book...
4. had a lovely chat with my favourite mother-in-law in Sydney...
5. checked out some of my favourite blogs... am incredibly behind!
6. did a load of towels
7. enjoyed a phone call with the very gorgeous G in Sydney... not long to go now miss!
8. did another load of towels...
9. had a visit from an electrician... all bad news...
10. cleaned up a james brown accident in the loungeroom with much stressing about permanent staining to the new timber floors....
11. finished this amazing book - Cafe Scheherazade by Arnold Zable.... just incredible...

What's still planned for today...
1. have a visit from electrician number two for the day...
2. go to the shops for some real dog food...
3. buy some new smoke alarm batteries (i know, it's exciting stuff!)
4. sew sew sew

Have fun x

ps. I have been sewing! will have to post some pics... next time! x

decorating 101

Help! I am not a decorator...

I have a whole house in the early stages of renovations (we still have some way to go!), and am feeling the urge to NEST. One major part of this nesting is to plan out, and design our nursery.

This is the nursery as it is right now... isn't it beautiful?!? (don't feel that you need to answer that!)

Floorboards are yet to be sanded and polished, but are likely to come out much darker than this. Skirting boards (arriving in 2 weeks) will be quite deep (high) and painted white, we have gorgeous detailed cornices which you can't see in this photo - these plus ceiling will also be white. But to do with the rest of the space? We have a dark timber cot for bub, still waiting for us to pick up at the shop...

At the moment, this room is such a joy to behold! (ha ha) As this is also our spare room for any visitors at the moment, we have kept up the gorgeous gold curtains left behind by the previous owner, which I think adds a little something special...

If you had this room, what would you do with it? The view out the window is the brick wall of the other semi-detached terrace next door... I thought I would throw at you various ideas/rooms that I LOVE, and will look forward to hearing your thoughts back... as always your ideas are welcomed and encouraged!!

--- I LOVE this colour!!! Thanks to Jess from how about orange for pointing me toward this great room seen in 50 of our favourite rooms by dominomag

--- love the details in this room... gorgeous. Of course, we wouldn't expect anything less from a room by house n baby

---I also really love this nursery by Kristi and Nick .

--- think I am particularly struck by the colour combinations in this room, love those blues and greens together! This room by prairieguns .

Of course I couldn't include all of my favourites here... you can see more rooms I love at http://www.flickr.com/photos/summerpickles/favorites/

Thanks lovelies, x

gut and butt 31.5 weeks

gut and butt 31.5 weeks, originally uploaded by summer pickles.

ha! just posting this photo cause I can.... makes me giggle...
getting closer... (and BIGGER!)
xo

happiness is... a cup of hot chocolate with a dash of anticipation

happiness is... a cup of hot chocolate with a dash of anticipation, originally uploaded by summer pickles.

Happy Mothers Day to all of the mums out there (especially mine!).

We had a perfect lazy day with a dear friend, having a late late late breakfast (in the afternoon) in fitzroy...

Today was my last mothers day without a bub with us in the outside world to help celebrate...

What a lovely day today was.

Hugs to all mums, soon-to-be mums, once-were-mums and fingers-crossed-soon-to-be-fertility-treatment-mums reading this post xo

a face only a mother could love...

a face only a mother could love...
Originally uploaded by summer pickles

... at least that what everyone else reckons.. personally, I don't know how anyone could resist this little face?!?

hooray for lazy sundays, going for a walk, sitting out the front and saying hi to the neighbours, cuddling the dog while we both have a sunday afternoon nap... perfect!