bits and pieces - the view over here

The view after bedtime story (don't worry, I don't leave them both to sleep there, Rocket Girl does go in her moses basket)

3 and half weeks old

This is kind of a bits and pieces post...

Thank you to all of you who left good wishes here following baby news. It is so nice to feel part of this blogging/crafty community.

Life here is currently very domestic. We are set in a pattern of two hourly sleeps, lots of breast feeding and not too much else. Oh yes, quite a lot of gazing at baby who is changing daily. I make the odd foray to the shops when I have to. Last night I managed to go out to take the kids to their swimming lessons in a whole family outing that involved tag team parenting. Rocket Girl slept throughout the swimming lessons.

I had two weeks' grace without having to take the kids to school. Then just as the temperature outside fell, I was back on school run duty. Baby Rocket Girl gets well wrapped up and is out in the car at 8.20am. Luckily since it has been so icy, another mum at school will often take my two older ones from the car and walk them in for me. Next week we have a week's holiday from school- hurray! I am hoping the weather will warm up soon. I am now desperate for Spring and echo Alessa's sentiments in her recent post.

I thought I would share some thrifty finds here. The pictures have been hanging round my folder for a while now. The shoes I bought before Christmas in the charity shop near the school. They look unworn and were £4. They are Kurt Geiger (tres posh?) and will be so nice to wear with skirts or dresses when it warms up. The cardigan I bought at the start of January. It is Boden and is a lovely warm wool. I love the retro detailing and it has pockets, always a bonus. I have been wearing it a lot recently. Just befire Christmas, I also found a cream aran style cardigan, very granny-chic, from Damart, which I think is a true granny label. To me Damart is synonymous with thermal underwear catalogues, sensible vests and petticoats. Any one else? My cream cardigan has pockets and brown leather-look buttons. It is a synthetic substitute for the real wool aran cardigan I would love to own. It also has multiple food stains so is in the wash and unphotographed.

I have a little pile of Good Things to photograph and share soon. I have been lucky recently with receiving lovely stuff from fellow bloggers, and want to show you. I am just doing it slowly, so watch this space, I will get there eventually. x

thrifty 365 update

Still no PC in our house, but here is a post I scheduled a while ago. I hope normal service will be reumed in time for me-made June.

In relation to thrifty 365, I have quite a lot of related stuff to post so this is just Part 1.

I have been trying to spend mindfully and, only buying what we need or what is really lovely. Several times I have deliberately stayed away from shops, cafes etc and concentrated on doing something else else. There are some mornings when I definitely feel like going shopping, having a coffee but I am moving away from this. I have been to a local charity shop a couple of times, though I usually go just before I have to collect T from school, that way I get a walk, and can go without Little I who always wants to buy lots of toys. I always try and stick to the rule that something has to go into the charity shop before something else can be bought!

I am really glad I went in recently (two carrier bags of kid's clothes and a few of my old clothes went in) as look what I found, the Boden jumper above. I do love stripes. I wore this in Devon at easter a lot.

I also bought a set of 1970s glasses. At the moment we only have plastic drinking cups in our house. We may have only half a roof and no floor in our new house, but at least we now have a set of glasses.

On a recent trip to my local library I went to look at their second hand book sale and found a bag ful of books for £1. Yes, that is one pound for the whole bag not per book. There were lots of cross stitch books there which I left behind and a couple of sewing guides. I couldn' t justify bringing them home despite the price. However, I did get this "Secrets of the Couturiers" it is a very eighties book in the illustration style. It looks at a different designer in each chapter and analyses their work, then presents some idea for the home sewer to integrate into their sewing to use the ideas of the designers. It includes Poiret, Vionnet, Chanel, Schiaperelli, and Dior.

Lots of inspiration inthere. I also got the book below, "Fairy tale Quilts and Embroidery" which has lots of embroidery ideaas and examples, and shows start to finsih on projects in photos.

I also bought a book on storage solutions which includes instructions on how to build pigeonhole style shelving., a book for Little I and a healthy living type book for women.

I have also been having a big clear out, sorting the childrens' clothes and mine. I have started putting some clothing bundles on ebay to raise a bit of money. I usually leave my paypal money in paypal and use it to buy craft supplies. But I have to confess I have been browsing clogs on ebay and summer shoes and was thinking of saving my ebay money for those. Never mind those children and their crafts...buy shoes!

Plans

I found this duvet cover in the charity shop on saturday. I was thinking of making the skirt for the Traveller dress view C (top left corner of pattern envelope) I think to make another shift style dress in this fabric could be too much holiday kaftan-like for me. What do you think?

The duvet cover is currently doing duty as a play tent in the garden prior to being cut up for a dress.

thrifty 365 days part 1

Look what Little I's nursery teacher gave me ...vintage barkcloth Noddy fabric, sorry for the creases. What do you think I should make from it? I have a couple of ideas...

In the spirit of Sarah's Thrifty 365 , recently we have been finding things to do that do not involve spending much money....we have been planiting seeds to grow vegetables. These are hopefully going to be pak choi.

I found a load of old mount boards in my mum's attic left over from when I last exhibited my art work (eek, too long ago, seems like another life). I bought it home and it looks great with childrens' watercolours on so we are using the last pieces to make our ATC Kids' Swap art cards. Little I did one big piece that I had drawn a grid of 3.5x 2.5 " rectangles on. Then I cut them at her nursery borrowing their big guillotine. They look lovely once cut up, the thickness of the mount board gives them a real Special-Object-like quality when you hold them.

I will photo them but right now the sun is shining and my kids are shouting at me to come and play.