My Monday Making: Valentine's decorations

Hello! Monday is always such a difficult day for me... Its the first day of the week, where I have to prepare for a hard working week as also finishing up some chores left from the weekend. And this weekend was a special one, as we celebrated Valentine's! I decided that this valentine's would be a family event, where we would celebrate the love we feel for each other. So I tried to make it special for everyone, and make it special for the little kiddos particularly. Once again I went all out with decorations and a lot of baking! The kiddoes do enjoy it, and... I think they are starting to expect it, as they are becoming a biiitttt demanding... lol! More on that later....

Our lunch was special , and I baked a hear dessert for it. I followed this recipe here, for a layered Brownie Heart Dessert.

I started by baking two heart shaped brownies:

This is what they looked after baked, quite cute, when removing the brownie from the foil goes well! My second brownie was not that good looking....

I then made the strawberry cream... Look at those gorgeous colours!

And spread it over the brownie.

Then its all about strawberries!

And here goes the second brownie. As you can see it fell apart, but I was able to cover the hole with strawberry cream.

 and it looked good ... and very tasty in the end:

Making the decorations was the fun part. I made a lot of heart banners and also a big heart to hang. For this I used my stash of tissue paper I had. I used different tones of pink to make an Ombre effect. Kiddos started by helping me, but then got bored!

I began by cutting squares of tissue paper, and glue with a regular glue stick.  I chose to use the darker pink tones first, and then ended up with the lighter pink shade.

The brown paper I am using is the rolls of wrapping paper I have around. I am always saving paper for this little experiments. Everything can have a second, third and fourth lives! I also used this paper to wrap the Valentines gifts. I did forget to take pictures! Next time I will remember to take some...

And this is how the heart ended up:

I cut a lot of little hearts to make the bunting. I made 3d heart bunting for this, so very easy to do! I will later share a tutorial. Its does take a lot of hearts to cut out, but that can be a task that you can share with your little guys!

I also made a banner saying 'Be my Valentine'.... And little fan! yes, I have a lot of pink paper around... Not so much now as I used a lot of pink for Valentine's!

And for snacks I also made some cupcakes and merengue... Cupcake toppers were obligatory! 

My oldest when saw the cupcakes asked 'Are this valentine's cupcakes?'...  I answered, 'Yes, honey, they are!' ... and he replies: 'So why are they not heart shaped??' LOL! Very demanding little fellow....!

I hope you enjoyed a lovely Valentine!

xx

My Monday Making: A bird automata!

Hello everyone! I hope this post finds everyone in good health, both mental as physical... and that everyone is keeping themselves safe. Uow, what crazy times we are living, never ever have I imagined that in 2021 posts of mine would start this way. But this is still our covid's reality. 

It has been a long time since I have last published a post about our little makings around the house. Have to say that with lockdown, I have never been so busy and lacking time to do anything. My sewing machine is closed up in a cupboard. And, being completely honest is not as I have the right mind frame be sewing properly . And since I have little people to keep entertained, any makings have to involve tiny hands, and be fun!

I have come across an amazing whale automata when browsing the internet for ideas:

Yes, this at some point will be something for us to make, but.... not in the foreseeable future!

I had to search for something more feasible for us to make. Much easier to do as well! So  more browsing and I found this tutorial at a great website for automata, Rob Ives .

The tutorial I chose to use was this one, for a cork bird. So .... we started to make this little guy!  We begun by gathering all the materials. We have a lot, and I mean a lot of corks in our home (not sure why... do we have someone who really loves red wine??). As I am always printing articles and so on, we have a lot of paper clips. We just had more difficulties finding foam, as it was spread in different places, kiddos love to find new spots to stash their craft materials. You can also use card for the bird body really, but since we had leftovers of foam, we chose that material instead of card.

Cutting the materials for the bird body was easy.  I did made the hole on the cork, which is very straightforward to do. The bit that was really difficult for us (particularly for the big kiddo, although he had fun using mummy's tools) was straight the paper clips, and even more difficult to fold these at the correct angles, as you can see below:

In this image big kiddo is trying to shape the crank. He started shaping the angles, and I finished as the best I could. Not the most easier task even for mummy!

This image shows another step, inserting the legs in the birds body. 

The bird final look! A bit different from what it was suppose to look lol

And here is the bird finally attached to the cork:

But the good part is, even if you get clumsy angles or not straight at all legs, the bird still moves, although in a really funny manner!

It really did not matter if we did not managed a perfect bird, but making this little guy kept us busy, and the kiddos still enjoyed playing with it.

 Let's see if I can start posting more regularly. No promises though, as finding some free time with home-schooling is not easy.  I hope this post gets you some inspiration to spend time at home with kids! Share some ideas below, I would love to hear from you.

xx

My Sunday Photo || {The Ordinary Moments}

Our Saturday: 400 inch sketch

Hello there!

I am attempting to resume with my regular blogging... And for that, I will try to resume the structure of my blog which I defined a long time ago... Since its Saturday... what did we actually do today? How did we enjoy the arrival of Spring? 

Very luckily, not only did we enjoy the colourful blooms popping in the parks, as today there was an event happening at the City Art Gallery in Southampton...:

I am so very lucky that there are so many artistic events child friendly. The 400 inch sketch was one of those. This event had as main goal gather as many people possible o draw together in a 400 inch paper roll. It started in the morning, about at 10am where a workshop was prepared so that anyone that had no experience in sketching could learn a few basic pointers. Since it was morning, me and my littlest guy arrived unsurprisingly late, so we did miss the workshop....

However, the arts material was still readily available for us to ease in into sketching, so we both had some fun drawing together!

I felt a little bit intimidated, my hand is really rusty. I have been trying to draw and sketch more, but there's something that always seems to skip through my hands: time. There are more demanding things to do before sketching and drawing.... There is so much to do every single day for the kids, with the kids, that my hobbies, drawing, watercoloring, sketching is always postponed. 

Both myself and my youngest contributed to this sketching! He does not shy away from crayons, charcoal, pens... He has so much confidence, it always amazes me how this 2 year old little guy is so assertive in what he wants to do, when he wants to do. I do believe that in the end I was only truly able to join in because he lead the way! He just wanted to go towards the big table and dive in with all his passion for drawing! Yes, he is really passionate about drawing.... Everywhere! And so, after some exquisite test drawing, and after I gave up trying to move him away form the table, we did join in with rest of the artists the huge sketch:

It was lovely to see people of all ages contributing to this sketch. The event had a great turnout, and proved how important it is to organise these crafting and arts events. I hope similar events are being planned! Art and the aptitude to express yourself is so very important to young children. It really doesn't matter the 'art piece' produced and crafted, but the fact that you draw, you sketched and you were able to see that you contributed to a final piece validates the hard work that you put on. Overall, it validates your contribution ad improves your confidence.

I also felt that this event also contributed to a sense of belonging to a community. This sketch was a community effort, that only was possible because so many different people contributed to do it. And again I was amazed at all the different people that arrived and joined in. Children, grownups, parents, grandparents! Different ages, different drawing aptitudes...  Yes, there were amazing sketches, but also the most timid ones, such as mine. Also the most bravest and not shy colourful as my toddler's. And all these sketches will forever be merged in a major  a 400 inch sketch! Overall, it was lovely to be there and to be part of this project. 

Unfortunately I was not there until the very end of the sketch, it was running until 14h in the afternoon and there are limits that having a boastful toddler to just do one activity... After a while the amazement that the different oils pastel had ended and he became unrestful. So, after contributing a little bit to the major sketch it was time to go... And we used the fact that we were in the city centre to ramble through the Watts Park and enjoying the colourful spring blooms! He was fascinated by the different colourful blooms. We took our time to enjoy the flowers and learn more about the different colours.

Hello and welcome Spring! It is lovely to see you!

And how was your Saturday? I hope you had some fun too!

xx

My Monday Making: Preparing for another ATC swap!

Little by little my routine resumes its normal self. I still have tons of reading to do,... and this reading list keeps piling up!

And this image does not include my pdf collection... nor today's articles... It's just a small percentage of my 'books to read' list. That were suppose to be read a long, long time ago...

But today as it is Monday it's all about my little one. I spent most of the Monday entertaining my little man, we played with Lego, we explored more of our little garden, played some music on his xylophone... 

And he helped me out with some house chores,... yes, he his a really good helper, spreading my laundry all over the garden when I was hanging the clothes out to dry! So, lots and lots of fun today!

However, even with all this excitement, a small corner of my mind was focusing on a little project, the next ATC swap. This time around the theme is 'My favourite...'. It is a perfect theme, as it opens to a multitude of choices.

I was inspired by a take of a fellow swaper, and so at the moment I am focusing on paint art done by one of my favourite artists, Miro:

From left-right, top-down:

Blue II, Blue III, The Gold of the Azure, Harlequin's Carnival

I have been to the Pompidou and was privileged enough as I've seen the Blue's paintings in person... These are massive and really impressive paintings, and seems to me a fun concept to do this is a tiny version as a ATC card. 

I am just not sure that I would do justice to any of these paintings with my still very amatouristic skills on both sewing and embroidery.... However the 'Gold of the Azure' is sure tempting me... I also love 'Harlequin's Carnival', and reproducing just a tiny scene of the painting is another alternative. One of the things I really love about these paintings are the bold colours, as I love the contrasts between these.... I have some fabrics leftovers on my crafts box, so is a matter of finding the perfect match and start it on!

Have a great week!

Hello!

So here I am again, still so very very busy, but trying to get back to my usual routine.

We moved to a new home, and we are still adjusting to our new place, and unpacking... Our living room is more of a packing room rather than an actual living room, filled with boxes with our belongings still needing to find their final place...

But we are so very happy with our new little home! We have a small backyard, which does need some work done, but it's a great place to our little one to run around.... And as always, I find myself already thinking about it's great potential ...  and minor projects! All this to my other's half despair, as usually some of the heavy work will fall into his shoulders. But, I can't wait to get my hands dirty and get gardening and planting! It's a lovely way to play with my little one too, and I find myself already imagining teaching him how how to plant, seed...!

We still have loads to do around our new home, mostly rearranging the furniture around until both of us are happy with the final look. However we did find some free time to explore our new surroundings:

We are living near a major urban park! This park occupies the margin of a river, and has some great views...!
We had lot's of fun watching swans, ducks.... It's a great place for our little one to run around and, as it has several playgrounds, theres a lot for him to explore.

As I have lotttssss of free time, also I have also decided to sign up for the 7th textile ATC hosted by the lovely Very Berry, and so I have to  think about a new little textile card... I will let you know how this goes, I already have a lot of ideas, and some inpired by this post! I am really excited about the opportunity to read all about how the other card swapers are going about this new swap. The possibilities are infinite!

Hope my next blog post won't take as long as this one to go live ....
oh, the joys of moving!

 

Writing down future projects...

I am swamped at work at the moment, and maybe precisely because of that my mind is swirling with ideas for new projects... I have noticed that these two happenings go hand in hand: exhausted at work, inspiration for new crafts!

I believe that my crafts are an escape for my work... But as I am so tired at the moment, and due to lack of time there´s no way I can even dare to begin any of those anytime soon. But to pace down my need to craft/sew/embroidery I will write down my next projects...

1. Sew a pair of dungarees to both my nephew and lo
    A friend of mine gave me leftovers curderoy that will go nicely as dungarees. I have the pattern already printed, so I just need to sit down and begin to cutting pieces...

2. Make a lunch box
    This project is on my mind for years now! I already have all the materials needed, PUL fabric, insulating material.... And I actually have to make one fast, as my lo needs to bring his tea to the nursery every day and so if I have a proper lunch box so that he can have a large variety of choices.

3. Re-upholstering chairs...
    Another old project... Again, I have the fabrics... It´s a matter of disassembling the chairs and substitute the fabric. Have to check if the foam needs replacement too though...

4. Embroidery part of this image:

 I have fallen in love with this fabric pattern (I forgot the name of it I´m afraid...once I remember I will write it down and attribute the source), and I think that this would be lovely as an embroidery wall-art...

And that´s it for now... I am not that ambitious in my crafts am I? Although I am pretty sure that I am missing a project or two..

 

My ATC - Home sweet Home

 I was planning to have this done and over with a while ago, but with all my work and with my other half away this week my free time was shrunk to almost non-existence... So I have been using every single free second existent and non-existent to complete my card... Suffice to say that today I am still far from completing it... I still have to stitch the two halves of it, front and back together.

To get it as it is now, I had to bring it to work today to stitch it during my lunch break... Tonight I will be giving it the extra mile to post it in time tomorrow. Of course with all the hurriness I am inflicting on my little card, it is far from perfect and even further from my initial vision of it. Still looks cute I think!

The theme of this ATC swap is "Home sweet home".  My card´s concept is a story of a young family, mum dad a little baby (Not sure is the baby can be clearly understood though... the white and blue bits are suppose to be the blanket that involves the baby...) that is arriving to their new home. Home in this case has two meanings, as home, the built house, opening the doors to receive the new family... And most importantly home, as your family, home that could be anywhere and anything as long as the family is together...

Here are some pictures of my ATC as it is now...:

I loved the detail of the house´s doors, that can actually be opened! The little pink bow was a last minute idea, but adds some cuteness too... I was trying to have a sweet sweet card. I just hope that is not too childish...

I was able to finish tonight a handmade envelope where the ATC will be inserted. You can see bits of it in the picture below.

It is  a bit different from my original design:

I had to simplify bits of it, dropped the idea of the suitcase and the road... And added some bushes instead...

But the very final judgement will come from my swap partner. I do hope she enjoys it!

  

I linked up with:

 Did you enjoy my card? Stop by this post for the complete finished look...

Baby Mobile tutorial

 

I have been quite stressed lately…and  nothing works better for me to relax than to begin a DIY project! I was thinking about doing another baby mobile for a while ...! 

 I never mentioned this before but I am about to become an aunt, and I wanted to offer my little nephew (yes, it’s a baby boy!) something more personal, and as I love to offer handcrafted gifts (especially if I am the one crafting), I thought about making a felt mobile.

I knew that the parents decided to use grey and yellow as main nursery colors so I used similar colors on this mobile. I had a little Pinspiration when deciding what the general look of the mobile would be…

For this project I used felt sheets, fishing line and cotton threads. I hand drew the patterns for the moon, cloud and stars…

 After the patterns were created, I cut the felt sheets.

Then, I hand stitched the felt stars, moon and cloud with blanket stitch.  I hand stitched the moon to the cloud using a simple running stitch. After all was stitched, I attached the stars first to each other in columns and then to the moon and cloud, using fishing line.

And here it is the mobile!

The stars look amazing when hanging from the ceiling; they look like little felt constellations of light yellow and grey…

I hope my nephew enjoys his little moon and stars mobile!

What about you? Did you finish any DIY project lately?

 

I linked up with these amazing bloggers: