Blog Moved!

Hi everyone please be aware that this blog is not active anymore. It has moved to my new site Little Wooden Shoe I will not be posting any more posts here so please come check my new site and get an email subscription!

Luke's B-day at the Beach!

Oh my this blog is sooo neglected! Its been pretty hard to get the time to write anything at the moment. I have started my own business!!! Yes, you heard me right. It took a lot of courage and work and its all set but it takes most of the little free time I have so hence the neglect of my personal blog! I have opened an online shop for handmade toys and gifts for children. The shop and blog are called Little Wooden Shoe. You can check the blog here. You can check the shop here. I hope you pass by and check it for yourself.

Any way, my little boy turned two last month!!! Can you believe how fast it all went, it feels like it was last month I had this little newborn in my arms. So we decided to do a nice breakfast birthday on the beach. Because of the extreme hot weather we have been having over here we had to make it early in the morning, that is why the breakfast birthday. Everyone loved the idea of having it early seeing most of the parents are all awake at dawn by there little angels. So we made a cooked breakfast in the barbecue and we had cake, popcorn and other snacks for the kids. It was really an amazing day and Luke just loved it. I made his cake as his favourite cartoon character Ponyo . Naturally I did a crap job, I am no birthday cake baker but he seemed to recognise it immediately and the kids at the party seemed to love it, so mission accomplished! See trailer of the film bellow.

Very cute film!!! So bellow are some cool pictures of the party I hope you all enjoy and I am sooo sorry for the long silence.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

What a year this has been!!! Full of challenges at every corner and delightful new experiences. My blogging has become less frequent but time for blogging has been hard to find with Luke becoming a toddler and needing more entertainment from me. I have opened an online shop in the end of November too, after so many comments from blog readers, friends and family always telling me that I should have a go in selling my craft. So I took the plunge and this is why we had no posts for two months. So you can find a link to the shop on the side bar of this blog or you can try going to Little Wooden Shoe blog. I already had 8 orders since opening the shop and with all the Christmas holidays it was a pretty full on month for me. But not to worry I will still keep this blog and will update as regularly as possible. Well, here are some photos of Luke during Christmas. The first set of photos is at our local shops, were they have organised something for the kids. The next set  of photos is at our family Christmas.  I hope all of you have a wonderful 2011!!!!

How to make a play kitchen for your kids!

Every time we go visit friends or our playgroup and there is a little play kitchen, Luke spends most of the time role playing. So I have been for the past month looking into buying a little play kitchen for him, one who won't break the bank. They can range from $130 to $400! I really loved the wooden kitchens but of course they were the most expensive of the range. Ikea has a really cute wooden kitchen on display at the moment but still our budget just doesn't allow us to buy it. After a lot of looking around I have decided to make one for Luke from an old empty packing box we had left from our move. After just one hour putting the kitchen together I was surprised by how great it looks. It was also a great activity to make together even if he is just 20months old, he was very excited by the process. So here is how you make a play kitchen for your kids for less than $10.

Supplies:
1 large empty packing box
4 roles of contact paper (any colour u like)
1 stainless steel bowl
2 felt sheets (black and red)
1 empty paper towel role tube
1 kitchen tap- optional
play food
play pots and pans
Stanley knife
ruler
pen


Instructions:

1. Find a packing box that will be a good hight for your child. A tall box could be used for a refrigerator or laid on its side for a sink and counter. I decided to use mine on its side because I wanted to use it as a sink and stove top. Tape the box shut in all its sides. 
2. Cover all the box with contact paper of your choice. 
3. For the oven, on the front side of the box, cut across the top and ½ way down on both sides, to form the oven door. Place tin foil on this pull down door to represent the window to look through.
4. Mark area beside the oven door to make a cupboard and cut so you have two doors so your child can put all their pans/pots and play food away when done playing.
5. Cut three sections of the paper towel tube to make three handles. I made one wider for the oven handle. Glue these on the top oven door and cupboard doors with craft glue.
6. Glue the black felt on the top counter area above the oven and make two red circles with your red felt. Glue the two red circles on top of the black felt to make the stove top. You can also glue some milk bottle covers on the side to make the stove top controls. 
7. For the sink get your stainless steel bowl and cut a smaller circle to insert the sink. 
8. I had an old kitchen tap which I used as a sink tap, this of course is optional.

Home Made Pumpkin Bread & Strawberry Jam!!!

Here in Oz we are on a tight budget at the moment. This gave me a chance to look around the web and find ways to reduce my monthly food bill.  I already started a small veggie patch here in our garden and I am happy to say that my zucchini seeds are already little plants soaking the sun. The orange tree is blooming very happily and I already can see the fruits forming so we will have a great crop this year. The poor tree when we got the house was almost dead so I am very pleased by her happy recovery. We have mature almonds at the moment which the black cockatoo's are munching on, they are beautiful big birds and Luke is delighted to see them in the afternoon. Not bad for a city girl who didn't know anything about gardens!

Last week Luke and I went to the farmer's market near our home and  they had strawberries on special, so I bought 1,5 kg for less then 4 dollars. Too much for our house hold so I decided to make jam out of 1kg of strawberries. I used Jamie's Oliver's recipe and I am sad to say this but, it didn't work too well. I used the special jam sugar but it is still was runny even though I left it to boil much longer than in the recipe requested. It is still yummy, don't get me wrong you can still eat it but it is more like a strawberry sauce than jam. Well I guess next time I will make it with normal white sugar, I think it would set better and also be less acidic.

Grandma bought for me a huge pumpkin so I also had more than a kilo of pumpkin in the fridge which I didn't know what to do with, so I decided to make pumpkin bread. I used this great recipe from FRESH LOAF. It turned out perfect so I have two small loafs which I will bring one to grandma when Luke wakes up from his nap. She is has the flu so I can am sure she will enjoy the bread. I changed the recipe a bit I added more spices than the recipe and also used a little less flower (just 3 cups), also I added soaked raisins in orange liquor and walnuts. Like Luke says when he smells something nice hmmmmmmmmmmmm!! Enjoy the pictures of the garden and the loafs!

I love this video!!! Enjoy

I love Spring!

We had a lovely weekend, the weather was just perfect! Rob and I were cleaning the gutters and eaves through out the week to get them ready to paint. So today we started painting the eaves and downpipes all white, we decided the gutters looked good enough once cleaned up. It's amazing how some paint can make such a difference, we are not done yet but it is already looking like a different house.

Yesterday Aline came by to visit us, I was very happy to see her and Nina because we haven't seen each other for over 5 months. It was a nice surprise when she left me a message in facebook saying she was coming to Perth for the long weekend. She spent the afternoon with us, Nina and Luke were all hugs and kisses; very cute! Tania, Glen and the boys came by in the end of the afternoon also for some hot-dogs, it was great to see them because we also needed to catch up. So our Saturday was a day with good friends, simple food and great weather, I couldn't ask for anything better!

Today while Rob was finishing painting, I took Luke to Lansdale Farm (petting farm) so he could work in peace and Luke could be entertained for a couple of hours. We had some great news also form Kel, she had a beautiful, healthy baby boy, so in the end of the afternoon Luke and I went to visit her in the hospital (which is three blocks away from my house, handy or what?). I got a little teary when I was holding the little bundle of joy, I must admit that I miss the baby phase even with the sleeping deprivation. It was so great to see Kel and Harley so happy with their little angel. Well that's all the news for now, enjoy all the photos from the farm and Kings Park. Take everyone!

REDWORK REDWORK REDWORK!!!!

Its been pretty hectic around here in the land of OZ. Luke is growing so fast, he is a little boy running around the house and outside in the garden in the spring sun. It seems like it was just last month he was crawling around the house. Its crazy how time passes so fast once you have kids! So not only Luke keeps me on my toes throughout the day, renovations have begun here too. Which means, money is tight, trades man coming and going and chaos rains in my little kingdom. Our bathroom renovations have come to a halt because of lack of fund and of tiles due to no more funds to buy more tiles but most of Luke's bathroom is done. Renovation in Luke's bathroom will commence again in November but our roof and ceiling will be fixed next month because May's freak storm damaged both.

Spring has finally arrived here in OZ and all the flowers are blooming, magpies are starting to swoop and the days are becoming warmer. Most of you know that we have a big back yard which has been neglected for years from the previous owners, so with spring here, there is a lot of work to be done in the garden. Rob took this week off, so we could do a so needed spring cleaning in and outside our house. So since Saturday we have been busy outside picking weeds with Luke and trimming back some of the bushes. Also I have been busy with my herb and veggie patch, adding some compost to the ground and planting some seedlings. Hopefully my zucchini seedlings with flourish and all my flower seedlings too.  

So you must be wondering why my post reads Redwork instead of gardening galore? Because I finally started on Kim's wall quilt, she just had her third baby girl a couple of weeks ago!!! So I am making for all three little ones a Redwork wall hanging. Its coming along great, considering I have never done any embroidery before, but pretty much its all straight stitch in red embroidery cotton thread, a no brainer really. If you would like to know more about the history of Redwork go here.So as you all can see, its been pretty busy around here. I will post some photos once the quilt is finished because I don't want to spoil the surprise for Kim, this also goes for the photos of the renovations seeing its not ready yet. Here are some more photo of Redwork but not made from me.Well take care everyone.

                                                       Life at Rosemary Hill

                                                                     Bunny Tales

                                                                      Agulhas da Meri

                                                                     Stitching Cow

                                                                    Feeling Stitchy

                                                              A cup and a catch up...

                                                    

Handmade SHORT FILM by Dennis Kamioka

DENIS KAMIOKA - Handmade from nkcrida on Vimeo.

Denis Kamioka is a Brazilian Japanese director who made the following 6-minute short in 2006.  It’s hard to describe but it has some neat effects.  Check out the official site.  Enjoy!!!

1st Family Holidays

Rob had to go to Singapore for a work convention and so we decided that Luke and I should join him. His parents are living in Singapore at the moment and are staying till November for work. We all left Perth excited to start our first family holidays. Luke was very good in the plane and he was so excited by everything that he just manged to sleep when we were landing in Singapore.

So while Rob was at the convention for the first week, Luke and I enjoyed Tiiu's (Rob's mom) company and the pool facilities of the Caribbean condominium where his parents are staying. The weather was very warm and humid and sometimes it was a bit too much for Luke and I, but we managed well. Tiiu is truly a great tourist guide, she took us too all the places that one should go while in Singapore. Rob and I are just horrible tourists, if it was up to us poor Luke wouldn't have seen nothing but the pool of the condo! But Luke, Tiiu and I had a great first week together while Rob did his networking in the convention for work. Rob and I had also a chance to go out together a couple of evenings which was great while grandma and granddad took care of Luke for us.

 We took Luke to the Night Safari but forgot to take the camera!!! Luke loved it and was pointing at the animals, he didn't know where to look by the end of it. He managed to stay up till we got in the bus back to the city! Tiiu and I managed to get a few hours to explore Arab Street and buy some fabric, they also had some beautiful Persian Rugs that I would love to own. Also we all went during our first weekend to the Singapore Botanic Gardens which was the most beautiful park I have ever seen and been to in all my travels, specially their Orchid Garden. The weather didn't help us at the Botanic Gardens it was too hot and we didn't manage to stay longer and explore the gardens a little further.

 Orchard Road was a place which I was amazed by all the beautiful malls and I had never seen so many designer shops in one street but what I enjoyed most in Orchard Road was the Japanese department store (Takashimaya). I just love Japanese fashion, food and life style so that store and the 2 dollar Japanese shop in Vivo Mall in Harbor Front were both, my favorite places to go shopping. While we are in the subject of shopping I bought two very cute pair of shoes for Luke for a bargain price, both pairs are real leather. One is a pair of boots and the other a pair of trainers for $20 dollars Singapore each, if I would have bought these shoes here I would have paid around 60 dollars each. I think the shopping experience in Singapore is just amazing!!!   

One would not go all the way to Singapore and forget to have a refreshment in Raffles Hotel. So that is what Rob, Tiiu , Luke and I did, but I was shocked that three coffees cost us $35 dollars!!! But you are not paying for the coffee but for the experience, still that was a very expensive 15 minutes of my life which left me with a bit of a bitter sweet after taste. One cant ignore though what a beautiful Hotel it is, colonial in style and very well maintained so it is a must see if in Singapore even if the coffee is expensive. 

We also spend an afternoon in Sintoza Island which was very hot but very nice for Luke to swim in the sea even though it was as warm as a hot bath, still we had a wonderful time and I had the best dumpling noddle soup of my life in the food hall. Luke through out the trip was like a celebrity baby, all Asian family's wanting to take picture with him. Every where we went people would stop us and want pictures with Luke by the end of the trip Rob and I were almost charging for pictures with Luke hahaha...

On our way back to Perth Luke slept for two full hours. Everyone was amazed of how good he was but I also did bring loads of toys for him so he was busy with something for most of the time. Once we got home all three of us were popped beyond belief. We were all in bed by 8:30pm. The next day Luke didnt want to leave the cot in morning and is still doing this oday, he just stays there playing with the light on (he found out how to switch the lights  on in his bedroom). So I have had a great week waking up at 10:00 am! So life is good even though we miss Singapore maybe we need more holidays so Luke can miss his cot and I can have a sleep in every morning. 

Perth 2010 Quilting Show!

My poor blog is so neglected that its not funny anymore. But its been a very busy beginning of the year and I am really trying to update it as much as I can; its just that during the day Luke wont let me near the computer. If I am at the computer just to check my email very quickly I get a little demanding boy crying by my side wanting to play with my keyboard. Not only that, Rob got me the new Samsung mobile with the touch screen, which I was happy but when we installed the software in my laptop it just crashed my windows explorer! Thank god I have a smart husband because he managed to save all my documents, photos and songs but we will need to re-install windows again! I was so peeved that every time I look at the phone I get upset, not only that; the bloody thing doesn't work properly so I cant send any email just receive, apparently I am not the only one with all these problems!!! We are at the moment seeing if we can return the bloody thing and get an iphone for me instead.

Any way this weekend was really great! We had our annual WA quilt show. I spend the whole Sunday from 9-5 buzzzy like a bee around wonderful creative quilts and also beautiful fabrics, gadgets and quilt notions. Bought some really neat tools, like the adjustable quilting rulers. It is an Ozzy invention check out the video...its pretty neat. It was pricey but will make my live easier when quilting. Got two nice books with Jelly Roles patterns which of course I got one Jelly Role fabric pack also so I can make a quilt for my bed. I found some cheap $1 wooden buttons which was a bargain. Got some cute Christmas embroidery to make cute tree hangings. Got a wonderful Bias making tool from clover.  I could go on and on but the rest was just small things nothing too flashy. Rob took care of Luke and called me around 13:00 pm to see how everything was going and asking how much longer I would stay...hahaha I told till it closed. Luke is teething at the moment, his molars are all coming out at once so he is very cranky. Poor Rob was completely exhausted when I got home at 17:00pm. So I made a nice dinner for my two special guys and cuddle up with them in front of the telly.

Well I hope you all enjoy the pictures of the quilt show and have fun with Lukes walking video...its pretty funny. Big hugs to all.