Melbourne Epicure = Deeelicious!

Yesterday I braved the cold and headed down to visit a couple of markets in Northcote. I met the very lovely Cathie from Melbourne Epicure and brought home these wickedly tasty treats (that's not completely true... only the lemon tart made it home after stopping at my sister's house for afternoon tea... and when I say made it home, can being in the house long enough to make a cup of tea before devouring the tart qualify as "made it home"..???!!!).

I also chatted with Madeleine and with the lovely Felicity and said hello to her gorgeous gaggle of Hoots. Because I got to the markets in the afternoon, but because it was so cold and windy, I missed seeing the girls and goodies from Pepperberry & Co, Finki, Curlypops and Polly Pratt.... damn the Melbourne weather!

Don't taunt a crafter!

Now I'm not what you'd call a Barbie type of girl. So when I bought this from the Op Shop...


..... my dear friend Mark took great delight in taunting me about my purchase. Rather than ask why I bought it (for the foam that was under the fabric for a new project I'm working on.... more later), he just laughed and taunted me about how much I love Barbie, etc, etc. Yes, I know... very hurtful!!!

Anyway, that was way back in March. Mark has moved on from his taunts... I have not. Finally, I have been able to pay him back for his taunts.

Today is Mark's birthday so I made him a very special present.... Barbie boxer shorts.


And to go with his Barbie boxer shorts, a pencil case with his name in the Barbie fabric...

...and a matching Barbie birthday card.

Happy Birthday Mark. I hope you have a Barbie-tastic birthday!!!
Lots of love, Nikki xxxx

Goodies in my house

My house is full of goodies.... there is so much to tell!

Totem is back from San Fransisco and look what she brought back with her...

...lots and lots of fabulous fabrics. How excellent is she! So now we have to get busy creating. It's lucky we can multi-task as mixed in with the creating is lots of chatting, lots of tea drinking and two sets of twins to entertain!


She also gave me this amazingly gorgeous book of iron-on transfers. It has 30 sheets of transfers that are a mix of animals, people, trees, and other things... and they are so, so gorgeous. Almost too good to use! What am I going to do with them? At the moment, continue admiring them!


Here are just a few..... I love them!

Last week, the lovely, kind, thoughtful Sandrine told me she had found something for me.... and sent these magic fingertip savers. She had read about my Embrioderer's fingers and thought these might help. I told you she was lovely, kind and thoughtful! My poor fingers are still in recovery so I haven't tried these out... yet.





My giveaway from Bronwyn at Whippet Good arrived today. And check it out! Beautiful vintage fabrics, a lovely pink and green trim and a patchwork quilt pattern that doesn't look too scary - I haven't patchworked before. Because I told Bronwyn this, she also sent a 'Patchwork Basics' magazine which she said is good for beginners. Another kind and thoughtful blogger.



I also received an email this week from Sooz telling me I had won a copy of her Seamless Lace Edge Skirt. Yahoo! I love the pattern and although it is sized for a girl, Suzie has assured me I can adjust it so I can knit it for myself. So that's what I'm going to do. It's about time I made something for me I think. It's got a few tricky things I haven't done before but I'm up for the challenge. (image taken from http://soozs.blogspot.com/2009/05/flirty-skirty.html)


I feel very spoilt and lucky to be surrounded by such kind and lovely peope! xxx

Up, up and Away

My friend Totem has gone to San Fransisco for work and I made a little goodie bag for her to take on her trip.

There is a passport cover made out of heavy denim, with an aeroplane embroidered on the front, a pocket on the back with a button catch on the front, and lined with left over fabric from the curtains in her girls' bedroom. Thanks to Jessica for the tutorial that got me started.

An 'Aeroplane Survival Puzzle Book' to help fill the hours from Melbourne to San Fransisco. Inside is a 'Spot the Difference' - I used a photo of our kids and changed it in Photoshop... lots of fun to make! - a crossword with clues that I made up that relate to my friend, a word search with names of her special people, Sudoku, lateral thinking puzzles, dot-to-dot and a few other time fillers.

And of course, some lollies in case/when a quick sugar fix is needed.

Poor Webster

Let me tell you a story. I have a friend called Shan. She has a soft toy duck called Webster who she has had for a long time and holds great sentimental value. Shan also has a new puppy called Izzy.

One day when Shan went out, Izzy decided to introduce herself to Webster. It didn't end well.





I received Webster, his arm, his stuffing and this note from a very distresssed Shan.

I don't't know if I can do it, but I have to try and save Webster.

Bib-a-thon

I remember taking part in a Walk-a-thon at primary school. We had to walk laps of the school oval and ask people to sponser us per lap to raise money for the school. Well I feel like I have just completed a Bib-a-thon!


I have been cringing when hanging my babies' bibs on the line recently. After many months of vomit, dribble and food, they are disgusting. Revolting even. Ok, they are ferral. I feel like a trashy mother when I put them on the kids. So I got busy and sewed like a trashy mother trying to redeem herself.

I morphed the good parts of the bibs I have to make my own simple pattern....

• good size
• snap clip (not velcro that gets stuck to everything in the wash.. agghhh)
• cute fabric
• towelling back

So now, we now have 22 crisp, new, clean bibs, ready to be vomited on! Imagine if I was able to get the kids to sponsor me per bib... at say $100 per bib... imagine..!!!!!

It's Tuesday and I can't wait...

It's Tuesday and I can't wait... to tell you about a great idea and tutorial I found.

My kids went up from size 00 to 0 and when I looked at the clothes I had for them, realised I didn't have enough long sleeve onesies. I had heaps of short sleeve onesies, but these are not ideal for Winter in Melbourne.

Then I found this great idea and tutorial at Samster Mommy. Natasha shows you how to change your short short sleeve onesies into long sleeve onesies. What a GREAT idea. So here's what I did....

I started with these... 4 short sleeve onesies and 2 t.shirts I no longer wear...


And ended up with these... 4 long sleeve onesies.


The transformation from a short sleeve onesie to a long sleeve onesie....

I was even able to use the hem on the t.shirts as the hem on the sleeves for 2 of the onesies and Mum showed me how to do an easy but fancy looking hem on the other 2.

This is such a great way to reuse and recycle and save money.


I had to use another t.shirt that I
didn't photograph as I cut one
set of sleeves too short.


Head over to Buttons by Lou Lou to see all the other exciting things people are waiting for today.

I love Whippets!

I do love Whippets. They are so quiet and gentle and seem at peace with the world. I could learn a lot from Whippets!

A whippet I read about a lot about is Bitzer Maloney, one of Hairy Maclary's friends (did I say a lot, I meant every day, several times a day!). But a whippet I met recently is Pippi who lives over at Whippet Good.


I met Pippi when I vistied Bronwyn at Whippet Good who had a giveaway as part of the big Sewn giveaway. Well Bronwyn emailed me yesterday to tell me that the good old random number generator picked me! Thankyou RNG.... I am very excited. The giveaway is some beautiful fabric and trim and a quilt pattern. Something I have been wanting to have a go at but am a bit scared. Maybe this is the encouragement I need.

A big thankyou to Bronwyn... and Pippi!

I think I have "Embroiderer's Fingers"

I've been doing so much embroidery and handsewing lately that I've sustained injuries. I've stabbed myself so many times with the needle that the skin on the end of two of my fingers has split, is tender and just a little bit numb. And it's really sore. Poor me!


If anyone has any suggestions on how to prevent "Embroiderer's Fingers", please let me know. I want to be able to handsew without using bad, bad language and without tears. All advice will be gratefully accepted.

Some good news is that my injured fingers didn't stop me from making one of my husband's favourite dinners tonight... Chicken and Vegetable pie.

It was delicious.

Thankyou Thea & Sami!

Because I happened to be Thea & Sami's 100th follower, I was lucky enough to be spoilt by Thea. Look what I received in the mail today...


A pink and green piece of fabric from the 'Pets and Bones' range (along with a suggestion from Thea that my bubs might enjoy this brightness!), and one of her 'Loads of Fishes' tea towels (which will never be going near my kitchen). These fabrics are just beautiful. How lucky am I!

I am making a deal with myself that I will not look at this amazing fabric and tell myself that it's "too good to use" (but maybe it is... !!!). I have to trust myself and make something to do it justice. But what? Stay tuned.....