Times are a Changin'

People always tell you growing up that there are seasons in life. Seasons for working hard, seasons for rest and so on. I always knew it to be true, but I feel like I am really living this at the moment. For the last few years it has felt like my motto has been "when I have the time..." - this especially applying to my creativity and things that I want to try, create, make and live. Well, that season is almost upon me as I only have 3 weeks left of working life before I settle into maternity leave and then go on to have our precious little girl who is due in August.
I have been bookmarking things for soooo long that I want to try and do and the time is nearly here that I will have that time! I have about 10 weeks off work before bubba comes then plan on staying home for a while to raise her (before all the critics send me emails about how busy I will be with a newborn, I know! I work with babies and young children and have a very good idea of the demands on mothers, especially new ones!) I do however, plan on setting aside daily time to be creative, whether that be when she is asleep or as she grows, a time where we can be creative together.

I have book marked so many great blogs and projects, I thought I would share some with you that are also interested in the creative side of life....

Love the Bluebird - I love this blog - lots of free patterns, especially ones that are nice and easy..

Easy Makes Me Happy - this would have to be my all time favourite crochet blog - sooo many patterns!

LuvintheMommyhood - I love Shannon's blog - lots of real life stories and sewing, stitching, knitting and crochet. She often does "Knit-a Longs" which is cool to be doing a project with women all over the world. Love.

I also have pinned a few projects that I cannot wait to try...

I love this crochet rug, I am going to make!

I am planning on making this as a rug for our nursery. I want to make it asap, I am dying it is so beautiful!

This fox jacket has got to be one of the best things I have seen on pinterest. The "head" of the fox is actually the hood of the jacket, can be worn up or down

I LOVE these little dolls. I am thinking of making these for bubba.

Some more cute rattles!

I think I have more than enough to keep me busy as I wait for my due date to draw closer!

Hope you have a creative week!

Ciao

Bella

xx

Crafting with Kids

I have decided what my dream job would be. It combines two of my favourite things...kiddies and craft. I have decided that I would LOVE to teach kids to craft...to love creativity...to enjoy the process and journey that creativity takes you on. I have always been a crafty person but in the last few years as I have seriously gotten into sewing/crocheting/knitting and lots of other crafting pursuits I can truly say that it has changed my life. I know that may sound slightly stupid to the uninformed but for those of you out that in the know..you will know what I mean!
Anyway, in the lead up to Christmas and that beautiful long stretch of 6 week school holidays I thought I would do some posts on crafting ideas for kids. It is a great way to celebrate different seasons (Christmas, Easter, Halloween etc) and a great way to keep little hands busy. On top of that, helping children be creative has so many benefits...I will post more on that soon!
My first crafting with kids project is for a craft activity called "God's Eyes". I have no idea why they are called that but they are cool nonetheless! I did this at work with the kids this week and they loved it. I recommend it for kids aged 4 and up - they need to have a grasp on their fine motor skills and a decent amount of hand-eye coordination, but hey, if you have a child prodigy, try this at any age!

The finished project looks like this:

Here is a quick tutorial to show you how EASY it is...

Collect some sticks - I got mine from across the road of my home...under a big gum tree!

Chop to the required size and pair them up. 

You will need two sticks of identical size for each god's eye you make.

Choose your yarn. Any thickness, any texture will do. Scraps are great!

Place sticks in a "cross" shape and tie first colour yarn in a simple knot

Take yarn and wrap around the sticks diagonally one way, then go the other way. It should feel firm by now and ready to start making your diamond.

Wrap your yarn around each stick, moving around in a square motion, wrapping once around each arm of the cross. With younger children, it is best to let them do the wrapping of the yarn while you hold and turn the cross. That way, you can make sure it's tight enough and the yarn stays close together.

To add another colour, don't worry about tying it off, just wrap it around one of the arms and then keep going, spinning the cross as you wrap the yarn around the arms. If you keep going, wrapping the yarn once around each arm, you will end up with a diamond shape. 

You can make them as big or small as you like. It is so simple, I wrap my yarn in a anti-clockwise motion.

If you do decide to change colours, you will just need to snip the ends off as you come to the end and they are not long enough to make it to the next arm. Don't worry about tying them off, they are wrapped so much around the sticks, they won't come undone.

When you get to the size you want your god's eye to be, snip the yarn and use a yarn needle to thread the end into the back. You could also tape it to the back if you wanted to. I would recommend doing this part yourself for younger children and for older children, have them use a plastic needle specially designed for kid's use.

Tie a ribbon around the top arm of the cross and then make a loop in the ribbon that will allow you to hang your god's eye up.

I just used some scrap yarn I had at home to quickly do these up, took me 15 minutes. 

I had an idea that you could make small ones to tie on the front of Christmas presents, hang them as decorations in your tree or allow the kids to decide where they might look best!

That's it....easy peasy!

I will be back soon with more kiddie craft and other creative ideas!

Ciao

Bella

xxx

 

Alphabet Stones

This week has been one of those roller coaster, crappy but ok in the end type of weeks. Hubs and I are facing a bit of a challenge when it comes to starting our family and have had a bit of an up and down week. We had a half good news, half bad news week but all is ok in the end and we are more committed than ever to our goal.
It is funny how tough times grow you though. Hubs and I are closer than ever, and where alot of relationships struggle, ours continues to go from strength to strength. We are hoping for really good news at the end of next month, so whether you are a praying, finger crossing or star wishing person, keep us in your thoughts. Life certainly throws us challenges in different areas and this is one where we are prepared to meet head on. We are happy, blessed and life is good.

Ok enough of that. During the last couple of weeks at work I had been doing different activities with the preschoolers around learning to identify letters and learning to write their own names. We have these boring, black and white "alphabet tiles" that the kids can play with and mix around the form words. They are very useful, but a tad boring for me. So, I decided to make my own. Take some smooth river stones, acrylic paint, varnish and a permanent marker and wa-lah! You have some colourful, bright alphabet stones.

Aren't they lovely? So much more inviting for kids to learn with. 

Really simple to make. I actually bought the stones from a $2 shop but they are in plenty at the local rivers around here and probably wouldn't hurt to pick some up when I am down there next..

I am a word junkie. I love to read and explore different texts and love the richness it adds to my life. I am hoping my own future kids will be the same!!!

I used acrylic paint and time will tell if it is the best paint to use for the chip factor! Hopefully the lacquer I used will be enough to stop them from being chipped. 

For older kids, different games can be added for further challenge. What words can you make out of only the green letters? etc. I also thought about painting all the consonants one colour etc. Maybe the next set!

Do you like? Would love your feedback, especially those that either work with kids or have kids. Am thinking of making sets for my shop - to include both upper case and lower case. 

Hubs and I also went to Taronga Zoo yesterday. We had such a lovely day, despite how cold it was. We decided to catch the ferry all the way in from Parramatta. Definitely a good move, our harbour is beautiful! 

We caught the Rivercat from Parramatta to Circular Quay and then the ferry over to the Zoo. Lovely!

Despite all the exotic, interesting animals on display at the zoo, this little guy was one of my favourites. I love them!

They have a really cool "outback farm" area set up where ducks, chickens and bush turkeys roam wildly and the rest of the farm animals live in cool, outback pens. They also have a big tribute to the Aussie shearers. Very cool for a patriotic aussie girl like myself. 

Ok, that's it for today...have yourself an excellent week!

Bella

xx

Love this!

I saw this picture on the web somewhere (I'm sorry, I cant remember where and don't have the source) but I did save it so I could post it here. I thought it was very cute!

Hope it brightens your day!

Ciao
Bella
xx