Bunnies and Bows

This week has seen my crochet hook VERY busy with lots of cute-as-a-button projects...luckily for me I have some seriously adorable nieces that are happy (mostly..) to do a little posing and model my creations. This in turn has seen a few late nights and early mornings, but when I saw the creations modelled, all those late nights were worth it!

On top of getting new projects finished, I have been flat out filling orders that have been pouring in for the rattles and hats mostly. Thankyou to everyone that has bought some! It is always so lovely to see people supporting handmade, natural gifts and toys.

Ok, now to the cute pics...Although, make sure you read the whole post, I have saved my favourite project for last!

I love this sweet little hat.. (excuse the arrowroot biscuit..the girl named her price for the model shoot!)

different version of the flower on the hat..I love this coral colour!

How cute is she!!!

These cute little headbands are made from 100% cotton and 100% Aussie wool. I think the oversize of the bow makes them so sweet...

Happy as a pig in mud playing peek-a-boo!

One of my "Pearls and Lace" collection..I love this kid. She makes me laugh so much, but she is the sweetest thing on the planet!

This is a special project especially for Easter..who could resist this cute little bunny??

The view from behind is just as cute!!!!!

Love the little bunny on the tights too!

How can you resist this much cuteness!!!!!!!!

That's about it for me now....off to crochet up some more adorable bunnies!

Ciao

Bella

xx

Getting to Know You....

We have had the most relaxing and wonderful weekend, hence the reason I am late with my blog post! I have some new cute-as-anything finished projects to show you, but I am still getting the photos finished so I thought I would do a new mini-post while I am sorting out the "proper post"!

I was flicking through one of my favourite blogs, Luvin The Mommyhood, and she had posted a cute little "Get to know you type of questionaire.." I normally can't be bothered with this type of thing, but I thought this one was great!

Here we go...

Making : a very cute “Bunny” ears beanie for Easter..
Cooking : casserole for dinner..
Drinking : a hot cup of tea
Reading: “Multiple Blessings” story about the woman who had sextuplets..yikes!
Wanting: a new camera…hubs has promised me a fang-dangled one for the big 33!

Looking: at the late afternoon sun streaming onto my front yard
Playing: hide and seek with the kids at work today
Wasting: time on facebook (why do I do it????)
Sewing: ruffled bloomers to go with the baby dress I finished last week
Wishing: Easter holidays would come quick
Enjoying: that I got to go home from work 2 hours early today! 
Waiting:for the next step on hubs and I’s latest venture…
Liking: the lovely home I live in..
Wondering: if the washing I just bothered to hang out is going to dry

Loving: my big family..
Hoping: that I can decide what colour to paint the bedrooms..
Marvelling: at how quickly time flies..is it really already April?
Needing: a new pair of winter books
Smelling: the vase of flowers next to me..
Wearing: American baseball jumper and easy fit pants
Following: too many blogs!
Noticing: that the leaves are starting to turn red..
Knowing: that I am blessed in more ways than I can imagine.
Thinking: of how excited I am for the annual family holiday at Easter
Bookmarking: too many knitting projects
Opening: my current assessment..I wish it would do it itself!

Giggling: over the babies at work today.. soooo cute!
Feeling: relaxed

Would love it if some of you wanted to do this and leave me a comment, linking to your questionaire.

I also thought I would post a few quick picks I took while we were away this weekend..we went to the village of Hill End, which is an old mining town and now zoned as a historic town. It is absolutely beautiful...nice and quiet and oh-so-relaxing....

I will be back mid week to post what I really wanted to post today! 

Have a great week!!!

Ciao

Bella

xxx

Fairy Homes and Crochet Hearts!

It's a bleary day here so I have been holed up inside for most of the afternoon playing around with some of my pattern ideas and sketching up some items I hope to either knit/sew or crochet in the near future! (although, it does seem like the "near future" never comes...life is so busy!)

Either way, I have managed to make a bit of a dent on my project list this week and get through some of my orders! Here is what I have been working on.....

A cute little fairy home! I made it little so I could test out some pattern ideas...I will make some changes and make them bigger for playing with! 

It is cute nice and small though! 

I finished another crochet hat this week for a friend's daughter...

I have become slightly addicted to embellishing these hats..they make making them soooo much fun!

I made some tiny hearts to embellish some hats, now I have become so addicted to making them! they are quick and easy.

This light coral colour is my current favourite...

classic red!

These are flowering in our garden this morning! I told my husband that they look so happy!!!

The bush is covered with buds so I will take a pic when they are all out.

That's it from me this week....I am going to spend this week finalising my current orders so I can remake the fairy house, whip up some gnomes and perhaps a fairy or two to go with it! I know some cute little girls that will LOVE to get their hands on them....

Bye for now!

Bella

xxx

Woodland Love...

It has been another busy week here! The weekend has been restful though with all the lovely rain! It is currently pouring with rain and I am all snuggled up inside with my wool, needles and an episode of my favourite TV show (not to mention a bit of chocolate and a cup of hot coffee!!)

I finished the cutest little bird rattles this week....

Aren't they the cutest!!!!

Easy to grab handle for little hands to shake the rattle!

Embellished with cute little leaves..

I love them!!!!

I think I could have one in every colour! I have nearly finished a red one but I want a dozen more!

In making these birds I got to use my newly acquired "safety eyes"..they are used in making toys for babies. I had to get them from Hong Kong as they aren't available here in Australia. They are an eye attached with a washer at the back - impossible for a baby to get off no matter how much sucking, chewing or teething on! I think using proper eyes gives a knitted toy so much more character!

These birds are off to Sew Beautiful this week to be sold!

When I was making the birds I had a few other pattern ideas so I have been studiously writing some cute little patterns under the theme "Woodland Love"... I'll give you a little hint...

I thought about putting together "Play Bags" that stimulate children's imagination without the plastic garbage toys you get today that require no imagination at all....I am thinking toadstools, cute little fairies, pretty flowers and hand cut wooden building blocks....

Anyway, I am busy as a bee this week with lots of orders to complete!

Have a fab week!

Ciao

Bella

xxxx

Pearls and Lace...

I don't know if anyone else has found this to be true, but the more I delve into my crafting, the more ideas I get!!! I have a notepad currently full of sketches and projects to put together when I have the time...(is that ever going to happen??). Anyway, last night I was finishing off another crochet hat in the most gorgeous colour and it gave me the idea for a collection of hats and baby/toddler/young child wear collection called "Pearls and Lace".

I am thinking swatches of lace in pearl, ivory and cream with vintage buttons, crisp white linen, pure wool in shades of cream, lilac, velvet and pretty marone. I have so many ideas!!!!!!!!!!

I thought I would post the hat I finished last night with it's little abstract embellishment (husband think it looks like a pair of wings, I wasn't really going for that but it works for me!!)

This is just the start.....

Somehow the detail of the hat seems so much clearer in this shade of colour...

I LOVE the edging...it looks so cute on!

A bit of abstract complete with a vintage button (button from 1950..)

Even though I am a total jean wearing, t-shirt loving kind of girl, I absolutely love the idea of little girls actually dressing like little girls!!!!! This is the idea and inspiration behind this collection..

Must run, assessment isn't going to do itself! (I wish it would...on the upside, I will be finished studying by mid year hopefully! Yipee!)

Have a brilliant Sunday

Bella

xxx

Happy Hattery!

It has been a fairly good week here in the mountains.....only downside is that I have had an infected wisdom tooth which has been painful to say the least!!!! I am off to the dentist on Tuesday to discover the fate of my oh-so-annoying tooth so I am hoping to resume normal eating this week!

All in all, life is fairly grand in this house and we are enjoying a lovely relaxing Saturday with a spot of shopping (husband let me buy amazing new jeans!!!), pottering around the house and the FIL's birthday dinner tonight.

I haven't had alot of time for crafting this week, but I have had time to whip up two cute as anything little crochet hats. One is an order that I needed to complete this week and the other I made from my scraps first off to see what it would look like..

Aren't they cute!!!! The coral colour on the right is the first one I made from scraps I had in the yarn basket.

I love the sweet scalloped edges....

A closer look at the scallops...I think it makes the edging...

An upright look...I love this one. I think it would look sooooo cute on a little head!

I added a detailed butterfly button to finish it off...I am hoping the recipient loves it as much as I do!

I am nearly finished another one, it is really vintage looking - a deep lilac colour and I am thinking of making cream and pearl flowers to go with it - I think it would look a little more dressy - hopefully I might be able to post that in the next few days. I have a few more orders to complete this week so I will do my best!

I also took a quick pic of the shop my goods are going to be selling in....

 The shop was actually closed when I took this pic, but I will have to take one when it is open. It is lovely!!! 

More to come in the next few weeks hopefully! We have a very busy few weeks coming up (hopefully we will have some more good news to share soon!!!) so bear with me if the posts are late...

Have a wonderful week!!!

Ciao

Bella

xx

New Beginnings and Reminiscing...

What a full on week it has been here!!!! We have had so much on, both personally and work wise. Today was a break from all that when we looked after our niece and nephew while my sister and her husband went to a wedding. Before I share what Little Miss and I got up to, I have some GREAT news......

I have signed on with a beautiful local shop that stocks beautiful handmade items (toys, accessories, children's clothes etc) and also sewing fabrics, wool, sewing accessories and lots more. I am going to be stocking some of my rattles in there initially and I hope to do other things as I find time to tweak patterns and finish designing other items. The shop is called "Sew Beautiful" and is located in Springwood. I will put a link to their website on here as soon as they have their site up and running.
The invitation to stock my items was a real confirmation that I am headed into the right direction with my business, even if it is only in the beginning stages. I have been working on my logo and label name, along with the rough outline of what I hope the business to be. It is hard while I am still working and studying, but study will be finished soon and one day (hopefully in the near future!) I won't have to work so that will give me alot more time to develop my ideas!!!

Anyway....when I first learnt to knit, I decided I wanted to learn to knit "in the round" and so I made copious amounts of beanies for kids so I could practice my newly found skills. I had kept some of these old beanies in a bag and my niece found them today and we had an impromtu little "photoshoot" with lots of requests from Little Miss to "take my photo" and "say cheese"....some of the pics I couldn't resist putting up here....

The pink "fuzzy" one was her favourite...

The bag had to come...

Cute as a button in her butterfly beanie...

Waiting for the "bus" apparently...on our old green seat..

Picking flowers to put in the bag..

Pulling silly faces...

The kids have been picked up so its just me and the husband again now.

I have just finished one of the bird rattles which I will have to put the pics up here when they are all done (so we can have a rainbow of colours!)

Until then....

Ciao

Bella

xx