day twenty eight: printing on fabric vintage pillows

my little christmas pillows :)

day twenty eight and its probably too early to think about christmas .... na it's never too early to think about christmas .... nevertheless i decided to print on fabric today and this craft was pinned to my general crafts board and originated from the the pickled pepper patch that has a really good demo of how printing on fabric is done using words and pictures (my favourite type!).  i also used inspiration from the awesome website my repurposed life, she has lots of great ideas and uses a4 stickers as her backing for printing on fabric as an alternative.  she also used some gorgeous graphics from the graphics fairy (see sidebar button to take you straight to vintage image heaven!) and given my lust of her graphics since i went their yesterday, i thought printing on fabric using her vintage christmas images sounded like a match made for the ages :)

the printed fabric still attached to the freezer paper,
fresh out of the printer!

I ironed my calico onto the freezer paper, clicked on the image i wanted to enlarge it and printed from there ... whala ... beautiful fabric!  i decided to make each image into a quick pillow that i can toss about the place during christmas (teehee) ...

outcome: fabric printing + images from the graphics fairy = pure joy ... its simple, easy, and oh so satisfying!  now what shall i print out next (i fear this could become very addictive, much like pinterest!)

day twenty seven: free printables

the printed free printables ... awesome!

day twenty seven and it is stormy outside, in fact so stormy we have lost some trees :(  it was a very good day to stay inside all nice and cosy.  the kids spent the morning doing some story writing and while they were busy not needing my help i decided to print off some of the printables i have pinned to my paper crafts and also christmas is coming boards on pinterest!  these printables come from a range of people: miss cutie pie goes 80s, the vintage moth, i do it yourself, the graphics fairy, tip junkie, and bitt box were my favourites.

the paper stash preprinting :)

the ones mentioned above i used and either downloaded a small pdf or copy and pasted onto word and printed from there onto a range of papers - some with just plain white cardstock, some with coloured bazzil, some with lightly patterned paper, and also some manilla folders i cut into page size pieces for that old worldy look.

before the inking

once printed i decided to get some distress ink pads and daubers out to add some softening aroung the edges to get rid of that freshly cut look!

after the inking ... aahh goodness and my
own newly patterned paper!

outcome:  the blogs mentioned above i had absolutely no trouble with and it was easy to print these ones out ... i did not have success with many and have since deleted those ones from my boards ... so if you do use my boards you will be be sure in the knowledge they are printable for techno dummies such as myself.  all the ones from flicka i have no idea how you print, and like i say it could be my lack of techno expertise that prevents me from printing those!  mixed success day, but the ones i did print i am totally stoked with!

my sincerest thanks goes to the following designers, you have given me great paper crafting resources from my own home and the vintage feel of most of them is totally up my alley! .... so to miss cutie pie goes 80s, the vintage moth, i do it yourself, the graphics fairy, tip junkie, and bitt box you all rock and i am ever so grateful for you sharing your talents with others. kia kaha.


photo fun challenge day 22: landscape

only one word to describe today's landscape .. bleak 

day twenty six: story map for the classroom

the finished story map poster

day twenty six and it was a busy day for schooling today ... a cultural day of extremes! today we had a full day's field trip, the morning was spent at the opera 'i pagliacci' (send in the clowns, which was awesome and we all loved), then we picked up my youngest sister Kate and went to see cars 2, which was also very good! see what i mean about a real contrast!


today i was inspired to start creating things for the third term of our schooling (primary schools in new zealand begin their school holidays at the end of next week), we have two weeks left of our current themes before we change into some new themes for the new term. story telling is going to be a major writing focus for my two peeps next term so the story map poster i repinned onto my home school projects was the perfect thing to create for the classroom.  the poster originated from growing kinders.  this is a lovely website mainly for kindergarten kids but i felt i could adapt if for use with ben and polly.  

the goodies i collected to put the poster
together :)

the original use of the story map was for children to piece the story back together after a story had been read aloud to them. mine are a bit old for that type of use, but i loved the philosophy behind the idea so much i made a plan for how i could use mine in a totally different way :) i am going to get the kids to use post it notes to structure their story before they start writing so they have almost an outline of what they want to achieve from their writing. i hope it will work for them like a roadmap.  hopefully this will work in a similar way also as a mind map but with a little more guidance to help them understand the parts of story writing that are important to know before you begin to write your next masterpiece!

the suggestions to help with the kids
understanding of the categories

i have also given a few suggestions for each of the categories (title, characters, setting, problems, theme) so they have an idea of what each section requires.  i am hoping this planning before the actual story writing will make their writing flow more.  once they have the hang of it i may put my own post it notes up in certain categories (eg: your theme for today is winter wonderland)  to help them explore areas of writing they perhaps otherwise wouldn't!


outcome: well i love the poster, it brightens up the classroom, and while i won't be using it for a couple of weeks i am really encouraged by my plan behind it and the fact i can help guide them through the story writing process with a lot more structure now. 


it is wonderful websites like growing kinders that provide home schooling mums, like me, with such wonderful inspiration that makes their job easier, more empowered, and so happy to have the opportunity to teach their children well :)


photo fun challenge day 21: close up

pollyanna and her kitten snuggled up sleeping .. it was a
busy day :)

day twenty five: crockpot beef stroganoff

beef stroganoff ... so very very good for a cold night!

day twenty five and we had a really busy day today! benjamin, my cute son, had two art workshops today at Lopdell House Art Gallery, one making recycled paper, the other making traditional maori fish hooks out of clay that can then be fired ... oh how i wish i was a kid again!  the gallery is a long way from our home and he has a two hour lunch break so pollyanna and had to stay in the area for the day and do her studies at the local titirangi library.  so it was an ideal day to fire up the crockpot again for dinner.

todays beef stroganoff was repinned from the gallery onto my recipe must do's and originated from the blog the well-fed newlyweds ... nice blog, with plenty of wonderful recipes i am sure are worth making!

ready to turn on first thing this morning :)

first thing this morning i diced the blade steak i got out and added the first part of the ingredients (worchestershire sauce, ketchup, pepper, onion, garlic), put the cooker on slow and left it to do its thing for 7 hours .... love that so VERY much!

ben's hockey game, he is the right most player in royal blue :)

outcome: hilarious! after a freezing night out watching ben's hockey we came back and added the sour cream to the stroganoff and it was SO VERY good that i ALMOST forgot to take a photo ... actually by the time i remembered the photo ben and steve were on seconds and the crockpot was empty ... so my top photo of the stroganoff is steve's plate of seconds ... !

the well-fed newlyweds thank you so much for the most wonderful winter warmer of a crockpot recipe ... it was so good we are having it again tomorrow night!

photo fun challenge day 20: water

ben making recycled paper ... he is sponging the excess water
off before taking the mesh off the paper pulp

day twenty four: blanket stitching

my blanket stitch heart

day twenty four and its time for something new! well a new stitch for me, blanket stitching :)  i have pinned a number of things to my wall which i would love to try and make and many of them require blanket stitching!  luckily i have also pinned to my general crafts board at pinterest a tutorial on blanket stitching from the delightful website the purl bee.  the tutorial uses blanket stitching to make scarves for mum for mothers day.

i have a number of gorgeous scarves that i have been given as presents (lucky aye! my sister and mum know i have a soft spot for them) so i didn't feel particularly keen on attempting one ... i mean lets face it, this is my first venture into blanket stitching so the stitches are likely to be uneven and well ... plain wonky!  i'm ok with that and i knew someone else who would be to .... barbie of course!  pollyanna's barbie i am absolutely sure could do with a new bed cover and i felt that was the perfect place for my first blanket stitching venture to end up :) luckily pollyanna, my sweet daughter, agreed.

the complete barbie blanket!

a dear friend showed me how to use the blanket stitching to attach a cloth shape onto another piece of fabric, and then i used the blanket stitching on the scarves to go around the outside of barbies new bed linens.  both blanket stitches were done with embroidery floss (2 strands for the heart and 3 strands for around the outside of the blanket).  the other thing i did today which i had never done before was use an embroidery hoop while blanket stitching on the heart ... very cool.  i have cross stitched quite often over the years but never used a hoop, but man does it make things easy when attaching fabric to fabric ... i can now highly recommend the benefits of embroidery hoops!  i used a tacking stitch to attach the heart to the calico before blanket stitching it on.  i am reliably informed you could use steam a seam or heat n bond and attach it that way instead of tacking.

doesn't she look happy!

outcome: i can blanket stitch!  ok not so neatly yet (sorry barbie) but it is so cool and so rewarding, it happens so fast compared to other stitching! the instructions are really easy to decipher and the photos are awesome for understanding 'how to'.  can't wait to try something else using this cool stitch and even though it's not perfect barbie seems really happy don't ya think ;)

thanks to the great site the purl bee for the wonderful visual tutorial on blanket stitching, it rocked and i am so happy to recommend this site to anyone crafty as their are heaps of projects and tutorials to get you started.

photo fun challenge day 19: winter

my young man cutting kindling for the fire, it was hot work!

day twenty three: crockpot chicken korma

chicken korma cooking itself :)

day twenty three and it is beautiful outside, but cold ... i am grateful its cold outside because i have been inside spring cleaning ALL day! this task is bigger than me at the moment :(   i am thinking about spring though and how much i will enjoy it knowing all the major cleaning and sorting for the year is over and that inspires me to keep going.

i had the best idea for my pinterest 365 creation today, a crockpot meal ... why you ask?! well i knew by the time it got to dinner tonight i would be stuffed after all the cleaning and sorting so figured while i had energy in the morning i would put dinner on after breakfast ... love that!

scrolled through my recipes board and found the quick and easy chicken korma which would use the chicken i had out for something else tonight.  the korma was pinned to my recipe must do's board on pinterest and originated from the oh so cool website of crockpot 365. i love her idea of crockpoting for a year, imagine that!

the lovely thing about this recipe is it doesn't call for any out of the norm ingredients.  i did have one other chicken korma recipe pinned to my wall that was probably far more authentic but i didn't even have half the ingredients for it! and when you are busy ... ya know .. cleaning ... you just need simple and that's what this recipe is :)

ready to eat chicken korma with some tasty naan
(sorry about the yellow picture we had mood lighting on!)

outcome: it was dee-lish-imo ... seriously so good ... maybe because it was so easy, maybe because its cold and wintery outside and cosy inside, maybe because of the yummy spices, maybe because it wasn't saturated in cream (i used yoghurt), maybe because it was just a fantastic recipe.

sincere thanks goes to the lovely lady of crockpot 365, she maybe addicted to her crockpot and i love her for that, but her recipes are also awesome and so is her blog :)

photo fun challenge day 18: eyes

my boy, he barely knew i was there, he was busy building
a lego technic model ... love him and his eyes :)

day twenty two: the cleaning caddy

my new cleaning caddy :)

day twenty two and i haven't cleaned the house this week! really unusual for me, i'm not good with disorganisation and uncleanliness! tomorrow is a big day however, it's mid winter here and i'm starting my spring cleaning tomorrow!  yes tomorrow, i hate the thought of using all those beautiful spring days to clean so i have decided to start in winter so when i get to spring it should be pretty much done with the exception of some outside jobs!  this brings me to today's creation ... my first ever cleaning caddy to storm around the house with in an effort to make my cleaning more efficient ... while i like cleanliness and organisation, i really DISLIKE the actual, physical get in and clean it side of things :)

any cleaning product that has 'amazing' on it needs to be in
my cleaning basket!

todays pinterest 365 creation was pinned to my ideas for organisation board and it originated from the complete guide to imperfect homemaking ... LOVE the name of this blog, just makes me smile! anyhoo, she has the most COMPREHENSIVE spring cleaning checklist on her blog along with a photo of a very cute caddy of cleaning products!  totally up my alley this, love the idea of having all my cleaning products in one container that i can move with me as i speed round the rooms. so while we were out doing our groceries today, i added in all the items necessary for a kick-ass cleaning caddy :)

the three (there would be six if i hadn't printed at a5 size)
 pages of cleaning to do .. yikes!

once home, i copy and pasted the spring clean  list into a word document and then copied the lounge twice and the bedrooms three times so that i had each room the right amount of times.   i did this so i could cross off as i completed a task ... yip i'm a visual girl and like to see progress!  ... ooohhh ..... yip you betcha i also laminated the list because well i love my laminator and if its paper it should be laminated, right!

outcome: while it only takes its virgin voyage tomorrow, i can already tell i am going to LOVE my caddy totally, even looking at it makes me happy!  while i don't like the look of the LONG spring clean list, i am really thrilled i will get to the end of my early spring cleaning knowing i have all my bases covered ... well cleaned! ya know what i mean!

thanks goes to the complete guide to imperfect homemaking for making the oh so comprehensive cleaning list ... there is no doubt about it, when i have finished this list i know my house will be well cleaned and organised and for that i am incredibly grateful!  (anyone with a spare weekend, i am happy to have cleaning volunteers ... i will feed you ;))