Point and Shoot

On Saturday I had the huge privilege of shooting some photos for a dear friend's wedding.  Was a bit nervous seeing I'd never done anything like it before, but was honoured to be asked all the same!

Saturday, December 19, 2009 - 5:58pm 
{ Carolyn + Dave }

O Christmas Tree!!

We finally got our tree up last weekend! I was determined to do it before we got any closer to Christmas - unlike last year, when we put it up two days before and took it down about two days after. Our main dilemma last year was an inquisitive 18 month old who couldn't keep away from the shiny glass balls, which in turn, led to a few smashed decorations.  Not a drama at all, I was more concerned that he'd cut his fingers on broken glass.  So, in a bid to have my tree up relatively early and looking its best, I decided to buy and make some toddler friendly decorations.

I made these cute stars from felt, using this tutorial at the Purl Bee.  I didn't do any beading on them, as I was aiming for toddler friendly (and that includes the 1 year old who is drawn to the tree like a magnet!!).  The silver thread works really well as a contrast colour on the red, but I also love the silver on white too.

These started out as papier mache decorations that I painted red and decorated with some silver paint and the blunt end of a bamboo skewer - I did do one with the sharp end, but that was way too time consuming for this time of year!

 I really wanted to get a wreath for the front door, but they were so ridiculously over-priced that I figured I could make my own. I bought a plain twig wreath and some wired red berries from a florist supplier and tied it all together with some ribbon leftover from our wedding presents (over seven years ago!!). I would've loved a gorgeous clip-on bird decoration amongst the berries and may alter it a bit for next year, but was quite happy with how it turned out.

My very clever mother has learnt how to make Temari balls and made these for us. Aren't they gorgeous?

We decorated our tree with all these and some others I'd bought in last year's post-Christmas sales.  The tree has been up for a few days now, decorations get pulled off and played with, and hung back up. I don't have to worry about cut fingers, lips or tongues and I get to enjoy having a beautiful tree to gaze at!  So next year, come October or November, the IndigoElephant etsy shop will stock a range of toddler friendly decorations, (range will be finalised after the product testing phase has been completed!).

Shopping for thongs (of the footwear variety!)

Last Friday my 2.5 year old was walking around wearing my pink Havaianas and stated that he wanted his own pair.  So while we were at the shops , I decided to check out their stock to find him some, and wasn't that a drama!  He very clearly (and loudly) refused to even try on any blue or black ones and insisted on red...so we found some red ones with white stars, but they didn't have his size, and he lost it. "I WANT RED ONES" could be heard through the shop as he very clearly made his point. Luckily we had a lovely sales assistant who rang the warehouse and ordered him a red pair in his size, they should arrive sometime this week...let's hope he still likes red!

Anyway, as I was recounting this story to my husband, he suggested that I might have passed this trait onto our little man....me? But the more I think about it, he is probably right.  Being opinionated about colour is a lot like me... kinda like my OCD colour co-ordinated pincushion!

 
In other news, IndigoElephant's Cupcake Dribble Bib is part of a MASSIVE giveaway, put on by Chantelle, at Fat Mum Slim.  I highly recommend heading over and sharing what you love about Christmas for your chance to win a pack containing goodies from various Australian Etsy sellers worth over $600.

A Birthday Celebrated

As I've already mentioned, the last couple of weeks have been a tad busy!  Part of it was due to the opportunity to celebrate my gorgeous Baby Elephant #2's first birthday.  I know, I know, how hard can it be to invite a few friends over, get a cake and blow up some balloons?  It'd be fine if I wasn't such a control freak about things being just like the ideas in my head... so in between trying to make some new items for the Etsy store, and filling orders, I've been making invitations, making co-ordinating decorations, planning party food and trying to work out the cake!  Here are some pics of the day...

 The cake

              The food & the birthday boy!

(with part of the over 15m of bunting made to decorate the garden, hanging in the background!)

 

Coming Soon

This week has just been too busy for words... I feel like I rush through each day, scrambling to get through my 'to do' list - only to make a longer one for the next day - then fall into bed exhausted at midnight, and I wake at six the next morning to start it all over again...

Anyway, enough complaining!  Here are some new bibs that I haven't had a chance to list yet... they should be up next week!

 

Weekend Reflections 03

So this weekend has been the busiest in... I can't even remember how long!  We spent most of yesterday gardening our neglected patch of earth and getting it ready for summer - and Noah's first birthday party!

Today, I decided to get started on some trial mince pies, in preparation for giving as Christmas presents.  I'd never made any before today and needed to make sure they taste half decent before inflicting them on others!  See, I've decided this year to attempt making as many gifts as possible, and while all the ideas are there, the time is lacking!

And if that wasn't enough to give my control freak heart palpitations, I've also decided to start making some toddler-safe decorations for our Christmas tree.  Last year we left putting our tree up until a couple of days before Christmas, took it down again pretty soon after, and still managed to lose some decorations to inquisitive toddler fingers. This year, all the images of friend's Christmas trees on facebook is giving me Christmas tree envy and I really want to get it up early, or at least earlier than last year. And in the spirit of handmade, feel that I should really attempt making some when there are great tutorials out there.  My only dilemma is the size of our tree, it's huge, and I love it. So do I go for a minimalist feel - very few decorations, half and half - with fragile decorations on the top half, or go all out and attempt covering my tree in toddler friendly decorations???  I honestly can't see the last option happening, so may have to go for either of the first two.

Thursday Treasures - Finding Art

I have been looking for some images to hang on my wall lately and have come across a myriad of beautiful things... now comes the hard part of narrowing down my favourites.  I thought I might share some of the things I've found along the way...

Something about this one keeps catching my eye, a limited edition hand pulled screen print called Purple Crane by Kate from Alyoisiusspyker.

These are a couple of faves by Emily Martin from The Black Apple. The one on the left is called As Long As I Have You and on the right is Gosling and Cynet.  These prints are gorgeous but I also love the cards and book plates also available from The Black Apple.

And for something a little different, these Retro Poppies are too cute, made with layered papercuts (not the painful type) and available from Crafterall. The Aqua Topography is stunning too.

 

The Plant Life prints by Field and Sea appeal for their pared back simplicity as do the cards, tags, notebooks and jotters also available.

 

And for the kids - or maybe that's just an excuse - I love Meet The Family by Amy Blackwell from  Blackoutwell.  Also love the At Home On The Sea print too.

So I'm still no closer to making any decisions but will be sure to let you know if I do! Special thanks to the artists, for allowing me to share their work, all images belong to the individual artists.