new post

over here: http://pugandpickles.blogspot.com/

more crafting soon, promise! I have some good photos of finished projects to share...

xo

crafting up a storm (aka babies babies everywhere) and switcho-chango! time for daddy to stay at home

It must be the time of year... in our life there are babies being born or due to arrive, everywhere. Which always, always leads to a busy crafting life. I am quilting (having bought my first ever rotary cutter and self-healing mat - oh my, no looking back now!) and yes, crocheting again.

Found some gorgeous crochet blankets in Candi Jensen's lovely book and I'm playing around making one in autumn colours for a certain recently autumn born boy... the commute to work I have my needle and wool out, and half double crochet like mad until I have made it to the CBD and crossed the bridge. And back home again. Four skein of wool down and I am still going... photos to come soon, I promise! though am not sure how to photograph blankets... perhaps I need Little Pickle to pose with it...?

On other news, our home life has been tossed into turmoil yet again. Mr Pickles and I have decided to trial a role reversal for a few months... Mr Pickles is now stay at home dad, and I am off to work mummy. Not sure if I hate it yet, but I am not entirely comfy with it. I thought that working, being recognised for my brain etc would be a lot more fulfilling than this. I know that what is fulfilling is making the boys feel better when they have been unwell (as they have been recently with the dreaded gastro),  making them laugh, building something together with them that we can all enjoy. But, having said that, work is also great sometimes. It is fantastic being recognised for my brain. It is incredible holding a challenging and intellectually stimulating conversation. It is good to have some adult company. And I do love dressing up to go to work!

Mr Pickles thinks this first 2 weeks of switcho-chango! have been extremely intense. That he has learnt more about his sons in the past two weeks than he has known all along. That this job is hard work. That he can't work out if he hates it yet, but he's not entirely comfy with it.

Who knows how it will end? But in the meantime, we are trying something new, and the boys seem to be enjoying it.

How about you? ever taken time away from your usual life to try something new?

Have fun xo

valentines day favourites

valentines day favourites, originally uploaded by summer pickles.

Happy valentines everyone.

And in particular, to the very special boys that make my life, well, pretty perfect.

Thankyou Mr Pickles xo
Thankyou Gherkin xo
Thankyou Little Pickle xo
Thankyou James Brown the Pug.

I am one lucky gal having all you gorgeous blokes around.

Happy Valentines Day lovelies xo

crafty adventures... (aka back in the saddle!)

Hooray! the life of an attention deficit crafter has returned! It may not always be classic/"true" crafting, but at least it gets some creativity and handiwork going again.

And what fun we have had over the past few days in our new home... together the boys and I have:
* made (and eaten) apple necklaces (thanks kidspot for the idea) - hint: dental floss works really well as the "string"
* started on my second ever quilt, borrowing inspiration from this book (ooh! and I bought my first rotary cutter.... heavens above, there's no going back to the old scissors!)
* made a brilliant dinosaur tail (even if I do say so myself... I guess I could post a tutorial but it was really easy...) using the fabric the gherkin and I spray painted with a squirty bottle a couple of weeks ago
* created so many caves  (which the gherkin calls cages - Daddy: "what did you do today?", Gherkin: "mummy made a cage") from fabric, furniture, cardboard boxes etc etc etc
* made bibs, bibs and more bibs for the Little Pickle in our lives...

Good to be back. I will post on the quilt soon - I need to do some more sewing, and then I will provide a progress report. I am doing all the piecing at the moment (like the lingo??? --- I have actually been reading this book, not just looking at the pretty pictures!), and no doubt will then have to pop in somewhere to ask how to do binding, though it does seem to have pretty good instructions in the book itself....

Chat soon lovelies! Have fun, xo

we're here!

So, we're north of the border... home is now officially Sydney.

Photos to come, but life has been a mix of hectic manically busy and too quiet (and a wee bit lonely!). I miss my very favourite people in sunny Melbs, and miss Sydney Rd Brunswick, more than I had ever imagined. But I am hoping to find some of the things I miss about Melbourne in Sydney... I think it will all just take some time.

The boys are loving having a backyard, and spend long half-days out on the grass or on the covered deck out the back.  The gherkin is becoming a real little boy, before my eyes. The little pickle is getting chubbier (with the it seems, welcomed introduction of solids) and is on the move.

The grandparents (all within 90 minutes' drive) are very happy.

And I have an allocated sewing/crafting space. No time as yet to get it unpacked or in a useable state, but it exists. There is real promise there.

I'll pop back in later with snapshots of the boys.

Chat soon xo

ps. anyone know a good dressmaker in sydney? i want a few tops made, know exactly what shape I want, but don't have the skills to make myself (and can't find a similar pattern)...?

christmas is coming!

No excuses now for not crafting... Christmas is nearly here!

So I am in a mad flurry... crafting gifting like crazy. Oh! and making the occasional purchase from an online crafter/designer...

Here's my list so far - thankfully many of my giftees don't pop by all that often so they will miss out on the cheeky sneak peek...
* a little blue crochet thingamijig
* a certain softie from this book
* a little something to keep someone busy
* and something mysterious for the one I can count to to read this blog... (did you really think I would post something here?

More to come...
xo

snail gazing... (the joy of two year olds)

snail gazing, originally uploaded by summer pickles.

WARNING! Another non-crafting related post!

We had an exciting moment in our backyard the other day when we found a snail.

The gherkin wasn't sure if it might be a turtle? or a snake? He was rapt. So he took up a front-row spot to watch, lying on his tummy on the (very cold!) concrete for ages, giving me plenty of time to grab the camera, and take about a gazillion photos from a thousand angles.

I was thinking just how beautiful he is, how I give him too much of a hard time most of the time (over the tantrums, kicking, thumping little pickle etc). And reminding myself that he is after all, only just two, and such a loving and gentle boy.

Such a beautiful moment.

Right up until the point that he stoned the snail to death.

Poor snail.

xo

(ps. I guess I should not have been surprised about how this interaction went, as it did follow what is becoming an all too familiar pattern of many of our interactions - from adoration/joy to destruction/despair! Ah, two year olds!)