The Owl and the Monkey

Centro Smile Competition :D

2009-09-03T14:13:00.004+09:30

Hello all :D I just wanted to share that I have been selected as a finalist in this years Centro Smile Competition at Centro Arndale SA. I would really love your support if you haven't already voted for someone you know. I don't know all that very many people so my chances of winning the prize are very slim, but it would be even slimmer if I didn't atleast try hey :D

This is the image they chose, it was probably the last one I would have picked too, it is certainly far from perfect. This image is of my eldest jumping out of a baby bath half full of water wearing his jeans :O It made me smile because even with our current water restrictions kids still somehow manage to have fun. I really miss the days where kids were allowed to spend hours under the sprinkler, I remember it fondly but also understand that the restrictions we have now are very necessary!!
I titled the image Just add Water :D I thought it was very appropriate (Instant fun - Just add Water):P

If you would like to vote for me (you don't have to) and/or would like a chance to win $5000 spending money head on over to the Centro Smile Competition Page. Enter the site, enter you details and you can find my image at Centro Arndale in SA :D I think my image is the third one on the page. If you live near my centre you can also vote in person :D

Thank You :D
x Mel

On the needles......

2009-08-16T22:10:00.004+09:30

At the moment I have a vest on the needles for my littlest man!

Again I struggled to find a suitable pattern for 8ply yarn in an 18 month old size that I liked (fussy much?? LOL), and since I don't like making things easy for myself either, I am knitting this up using a store bought knitted vest as a guide. The vest I have seems to be machine knit in approximately 5ply yarn and is a smidge too small, so I figured if I knit it in an 8ply on 4mm needles it might just work LOL So far so good I think..... it may be a little on the big side but I won't know for sure until I am able to try it on him :D

After about 3 attempts at the bottom ribbing I decided that I just couldn't get a neat rib on circulars and knit it flat instead. I think it has something to do with my purl stitches being looser than my knit??? Anyway using some brown for trim I completed the ribbing then joined in the round for the main colour. On request from my eldest I have also added some COOL stripes in brown and off white (the guide vest also has stripes LOL). I am not complaining though as I think I needed them anyway to make my main colour go further.

Master 5 also wanted some Owls across the front, so using the Owl Baby Vest by Jodi Haraldson as a guide I added 3 Owls. I couldn't believe how easy it was to do owl cables!!!! These were particularly interesting to complete too as the bottom half of the Owls were created in the round, and the top half had to be completed flat because of the division for the arm holes LOL It wasn't so bad if you remembered to do the opposite of what the pattern told you when knitting the back side :D But I did it!!!!!! LOL

I didn't end up keeping the owls though as I just didn't like them for this project and frogged it back. I did however get a photo before I frogged it!!!! I didn't want my first ever cable attempt to go unrecorded LOL :D Master 5 was quite horrified, but I promised him I would Knit Master 1 another vest soon with Owls on it, so he was OK with it in the end :D

OK Yes I am gasbagging again, can you tell I don't get out anywhere near enough???

Photos.......

This is the vest with Owls just before I frogged

And this is the gorgeous yarn I purchased at Whimsical Wool - It's 'Forest in Moonlight' on BWM Luxury 8ply

I am looking forward to getting this off of the needles but I think it will be a little while yet. We have all been sick here and I just feel so exhausted. Luckily Master 1's nose is clearing up now so I may just be able to get out to do a much awaited photoshoot with him! I did have quite a successful shoot the other day boogers and all (I will share the shots on my blog soon) but the one I need to do in the next few days requires him to be completely booger free!
So at the moment I am praying for good health, clean faces and perfect weather!!! I don't think I am asking too much at all :-)

OK enough from me, it's late and I am tired so I will speak to you all soon.
Until then stay safe, hug a loved one and remember to smile :-)

x Mel

A long time coming....... knitting project No. 5!

2009-08-15T15:09:00.003+09:30

Well finally, after what seems like an eternity, I am back to post my last finished knitting project!!! Project number 5 :D With the baby still sick it has been a really long week, so I am having a break and tending to my blog, atleast it doesn't whinge at me LOL

I had a project in mind almost immediately after I bought the yarn, but after exploring hundreds of online knitting patterns, I couldn't find something that I really liked. Sooooo after a few days of deliberation I decided to just give it a go and see if I can just *create* something. I didn't like my chances, but what the h***, what could I lose right? RIGHT!

What on earth is she on about I hear you mutter LOL Well I often wonder that myself :P But today I am talking about a lovely pair of knitted Overalls for my baby boy. I kind of left it to the last minute to attempt to explore my creativeness, but I did it! Using a combination of my owns skills, a pair of sewn store bought overalls and the skills I had learned so far as a beginner knitter, I knitted a pair of overalls just in time for my little mans 1st Birthday!!! Mind you I was up until about 3am that very morning sewing on the final touches, some very gorgeous porcelain owl buttons bought from here. This was also the first time I had attempted to knit using the Intarsia Method (to add a trim colour) and my first attempt at button holes, and OMGoodness there were 14 of them LOL.

I am extremely happy with how they turned out, and I hope to get the motivation to make another pair sometime in the near future, but next time I promise to take notes for all those that are interested in my amatuer overalls pattern. Next time I don't think I will bother with buttons along the leg inseam though, it seems just as quick to change nappies by taking them off at the straps and puting them back on again LOL Oh well, the thought was there but I could have saved such a lot of time :D Of course there are other things I would change but I won't bore you with that!

Yes I am waffling on again, I tend to do that a lot, I'm not good with words so I apologise if I seem strange at times most of the time LOL

Anyway.......I have some PHOTOS :D These were taken only hours after I had completed them on his Birthday! Personally I love the second pic!!! Doesn't he look like he is straight out of the Brady Bunch or something LOL Too cute :P

Yarn is 'Posiedon's Paradise' and mathing trim on Athena BFL from Jolly Jumbuck
Size is approximately 12-24 months

I will be back real soon guys so stay tuned as I have lots of photos to share!

Stay safe, hug a loved one and remember to SMILE :D
x Mel

Sew Cute Shop Amy Butler Birdie Sling GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-08-15T13:55:00.000+09:30

Would you love a chance to win something GORGEOUS???? Then what are you waiting for? Go check it out!!!!

Sew Cute Shop Amy Butler Birdie Sling GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

x Mel

Hello, Hello, Hello

2009-08-06T18:06:00.005+09:30

Well it has been around 7 weeks since my last confession post and I really must admit that even after having it up and running for such a short period of time, I really have missed it.

A lot has been happening since my last post, some good, some bad, and some just oh so frustrating!

The big move went really well, most of my stuff survived the trauma of it all, and the animals seem to be loving it. My eldest keeps reminding me of how much he really loves his new house and his new bedroom!! I quite like it too, and despite all of the dramas of late I am feeling much better in my new surrounds :D

It is taking a little bit to get used to not being a short 2 minute walk away from the closest shops, infact I don't really have anything that doesn't involve a car ride anywhere near me at the moment, unless of course you count the park at the end of the street, or the pub near the train station. There is of course a huge vacant and cleared lot very close to us that is destined to become a very small shopping centre, but rumour has it that it may not be completed until the end of next year. It will be very interesting indeed! Meanwhile I have just had to become a better shopper and plan ahead. Milk however is a bit of an issue since we go through 2-3 litres of milk here a day LOL storing it in my tiny fridge is a challenge at the best of times, it also seems to send a message to the little people that there is plenty of milk, therefore it can be drunk and we go through it much faster!!!!

When the weather fines up a little more I think I will be making an effort to try and walk to and from my eldests school each day, all this driving hasn't been at all good for the waistline either, especially on top of all the comfort food I have been consuming lately :O It's a good 40 minute round trip each time so I think it will do wonders for me, but I doubt the Monkey will be very impressed LOL maybe he could start riding his new bike (he got it for his 5th birthday back in April and it has barely seen the light of day, more my fault than his though poor chap) :D

On to other things.....if you have been trying to contact me over the past few weeks I apologise, I have had terrible issues with computers and phone lines and trades people and have been somewhat isolated and uncontactable. My poor computer hard drive fried itself and I lost any current projects I had been working on :( Thankfully most of my stuff had been backed up on the external drive, but with moving house and such, anything I had on the actual computer was lost!!! Anyway, while it was in for repairs I did manage to get someone out to repair a faulty phone line that had been causing some troubles, and I managed to unpack a couple more boxes YAY!!! At the moment I am trudging through the mountain of emails and will get back to you as soon as I can. If it is urgent and I haven't been in contact please shoot me another email so you get put back at the top of the pile :D Thank you all for your patience!!!

I have a mountain of things I need to do over the next week or two, and lots of things to blog about! I never did get around to blogging about my last project, luckily I had already uploaded those images to Flickr because I don't think I had backups of those either :(

I have also been working on a little project for the lovely ladies at Ollie Rose that I would love to share with you all in the coming days, but if you are very impatient you can check out a sneaky peak on their blog now :) The ladies have been unbelievably patient with me! The project was hit directly when the hard drive went, so at the moment I am doing a mad scramble to replace the lost images with new ones. As soon as my babies have snot free faces and the sun appears again we will be attempting photoshoot number 4 to finish the project :D

OK enough gasbagging from me I really must get back to these emails, unfortunately I don't have any images to share with you today, I just wanted to let you all know that we are OK!
You'll just have to look out for the next post, I promise, there will be pictures :D

Take care all, remember to hug a loved one and back up your data twice!!!
x Mel

One Lovely Blog Award

2009-06-16T22:51:00.001+09:30

OMGoodness this post has been sitting here for 3 days unposted :O I was sure I had asked it to publish, but I must have been distracted! I have been madly packing up house, I get the keys to the new place tomorrow and the removalists are coming on Friday! I have barely touched the surface!!!! 2 weeks notice to pack up house and move with 2 small children is definitely not enought time LOL. Anyway on to the post.........

Thank You Ollie Rose for this lovely award!

The guidelines for accepting the award are:

1) Add the logo to your blog

2) Link to the person from whom you received this award

3) Nominate 7 or more blogs

4) Leave a message on their blog – letting them know that they are ‘One Lovely Blog’

~~~ ~~~~ ~~~

My turn to award some lovely blogs :D

I have about 150 blogs on my blog reader at the moment and I think they are all lovely blogs or I wouldn't be following them, so to be fair I have just randomly selected a few faves from the ones marked as having unread posts :D Apologies if you have already been chosen for this award, you must truly have a lovely blog and it isn't just me who thinks so!

treasures under the willow tree

I will try to get back in here tomorrow to post a few well overdue photos of some finished projects and my baby's first birthday (June 9)!

Until then everyone, take care, hug a loved one and remember to smile :D

x Mel

Drumroll Please.......

2009-06-01T22:57:00.005+09:30

............because we have our winners!!!

But first I would like to introduce you to my random number pickers, my boys, Sebastien (the big one) and Oliver (the little one). They were only too happy to help and were such a great team. Oliver picked them and Sebastien rescued them and displayed them for the camera!

and our WINNER is number...........93

Congratulations DAN AND KAREN, you have won the gorgeous little set offered by me for May Giveaway Day!! I will be in contact shortly to collect your details :D

Now I did mention winners didn't I, as in more than one right :D ......... Well, because I was so impressed with the responses I recieved to my giveaway post I have decided to draw 2 extra numbers. These lucky winners will receive a small mystery gift in the mail from me, all they have to do is give me their details and tell me if they would prefer something for a little boy or a little girl. Now because I have to make these to order, postage on these will be delayed until atleast Saturday :D

Without further delay, here are the winning numbers for the 2 mystery prizes...

CONGRATULATIONS COURTNEY and KATHLEEN!!! I will be in contact shortly to collect some information from you :D

On a side, how cool is it that number 1 came up!!! I am one of those that are sceptical that number 1 ever comes up in a random draw.....
how wrong was I??? LOL

Thank you all for making May Giveaway Day such a success! I had so much fun reading such a variety of different blogs, there is so much talent out there, so much inspiration! I think I literally added about 100 blogs to my blog reader :D

Thank you again.
x Mel

Hello all....

2009-06-01T20:31:00.003+09:30

I am really sorry for the delay! I do have some winners for you, yes I said winners but I will have to come back a little later to update you all.

Very soon after the random drawing took place, my littlest man broke out with a mysterious rash so it was straight to the doctors for us. It wasn't a serious rash, but it turns out the poor little fella is still sick, only now it has developed into a bit of Pharangitis and Tonsilitis too, so he is a little grumpy right now.

I promise I will be back when he settles for the night :D

Apologies again for those hanging out for the winner!

x Mel (who has a working spacebar)

Hey,.Hey,.It's.May.Giveaway.Day!!!!

2009-05-27T00:47:00.005+09:30

and.you.might.just.be.lucky.....

I.will.ship.international.so.everybody.is.able.to.enter,.and.I.will.be.selecting.the.winner.by.random.draw.on.the.31st.of.May,
giving.you.all.plenty.of.time.to.leave.a.comment!

I.am.giving.away.a.couple.of.items.to.go.as.a.set.suitable.for.a.baby.and.a.little.something.for.mum.

We.have.a.little.Taggy.Blanket.and.Taggy.Dinosaur.made.by.me,.inspired.by.the.Gorgeous.Taggy.creations.at.Ollie.Rose.
These.are.made.from.quality.quilters.cotton.with.beautiful.cats.on.it,.some.soft.blue.minky.and.some.coloured.ribbons.
They.have.been.double.stitched.for.strength!
We.also.have.a.little.matching.coin.purse.and.wrist.fob.to.compliment.the.Taggy's.for.mum..These.have.been.made.custom.by.the
lovely.Julia.at.Julia.Martinez.Designs.in.the.same.cat.covered.quilters.cotton!.Perfect.for.keeping.your.change.close.at.hand!

I.would.class.the.baby.Taggy's.somewhat.unisex.in.colour,.so.suitable.for.a.boy.or.girl,.with.a.mummy.or.daddy.who.really
love.cats..If.you.have.a.little.baby.at.home.or.know.someone.who.does,.leave.a.comment.on.this.post.for.your.chance.to.win!!!

Photo.is.now.added.apologies.to.those.who.have.already.checked.in,.I.didn't.realise.I.actually.had.some.readers.:D

While.you.are.here,.why.not.head.over.to.the.gorgeous.Ollie.Rose.store.and.blog.for.another.chance.to.win.a.gorgeous.hand.made.item!!!

Also.head.over.to.Sew.Mama.Sew.to.find.many.more.beautiful.people.with.fabulous.giveaways!!!

Goodluck.to.you.all!

x.Mel.(who's.spacebar.is.broken.incase.you.were.wondering.LOL)

Blinking.Flights!

2009-05-20T00:49:00.017+09:30

Daisy
Originally uploaded by bee_cah

My.spacebar.is.still.broken,.are.you.getting.used.to.it.yet??.Pretty.soon.it.will.seem.normal.right??.A.new.
blogging.trend?.LOL

While.I.was.browsing.The.Toy.Society.blog.I.stumbled.upon.a.bug!..Eeeeewe.I.hear.you.say,.a.BUG!!!!
....but.she.wasn't.just.any.ordinary.bug,.she.was.the.most.adorable,.most.cutest.little.bug.I.ever.did.see!.
Her.name.was.Daisy,.and.she.was.leaving.home.for.the.very.first.time!.

Curiosity.got.the.better.of.me,.did.Daisy.have.siblings???.I.just.had.to.see!

I.found.a.link,.and.away.I.went.....................

If.you.haven't.yet.discovered.Rebecca's.blog.Blinking.Flights.I.highly.recommend.you.check.it.out,.it's.so.full.of.
crafty.goodness,.and.bugs,.bugs.galore!!!.

Rebecca,.you.truly.are.an.inspiration!.I'm.looking.forward.to.the.opening.of.your.new.store.

If.you.would.like.a.chance.to.give.a.cute.little.bug.a.home.please.be.sure.to.pop.over.and.leave.Rebecca.a.comment!.Why.don't
you.help.name.a.bug.while.you're.there..:D

If.I.could.name.a.bug.I.couldn't.wouldn't.just.stop.at.one,.I'd.have.to.name.two.after.each.of.my.boys

Bug.#1-Sebastien
Age-5
Likes-Trains,.Colouring.in.+.Chocolate
Dislikes-Onions,.being.sick.+.listening.to.mum

Bug.#2-Oliver
Age-1
Likes-Climbing,.Cuddles.+.Milky.drinks
Dislikes-Sleeping,.Wearing.socks.+.Being.alone

I.just.can't.wait.to.see.some.more.little.boys,.the.sneeky.peeks.look.oh.so.cute.:D

Until.next.time.fellow.bloggers!
x.Mel

Rebecca's.Photostream

Another.knitting.post.to.share..... Project.no.4!

2009-05-16T21:16:00.007+09:30

For.the.last.week.we.have.all.been.ill.in.the.land.of.Owls.and.Monkeys..The.Monkey.is.a.lot.better.now.and.should.be.ready.to.head.back.to.school
on.Monday!.Yay!.The.poor.little.Owl.and.his.mummy.however.are.still.not.feeling.the.best..Understandably.we.have.all.been.going.a.little.stir.crazy
couped.up.in.our.little.cage.like.house..So.besides.the.mess,.the.tissues.and.the.mountains.of.washing.sitting.about.I.don't.have.a.lot.to.share,
so.again.this.is.a.post.about.past.creations..What.I.really.wanted.to.show.I.can't.seem.to.find.the.photo.of.so.it.will.have.to.wait....

Today.I.would.like.to.share.knitting.project.number.4!!
Recently.on.my.Ravelry.group.I.took.part.in.a.secret.stitch.marker.swap..The.task.was.to.create.or.buy.a.selection.of.markers.to.an.agreed.value
and.send.them.off.to.our.secret.swap.partners..As.with.all.things.new.and.exciting.I.had.a.ball.putting.mine.together.and.did.get.a.little.carried
away..I.had.never.been.a.part.of.a.swap.before.and.since.my.partner.was.such.a.lovely.person.I.wanted.to.give.her.something.extra.special......
sooooo.as.well.as.a.nice.selection.of.markers,.all.made.by.me,.I.also.made.her.a.cute.yarn.kitty!!!

Introducing.knitting.project.number.4,.my.first.knitted.animal.:D

Wishing.you.all.a.fabulous.Sunday!
x.Mel

Have.you.heard.about.the. May.Giveaway.Day???

2009-05-15T20:29:00.005+09:30

Go.on.click.on.the.link,.you.know.you.want.to..Why.don't.you.join.in.on.the.fun.too?
Don't.think.about.it.too.long.though.or.you.will.miss.out!!

I.will.be.offering.something.handmade.on.Giveaway.Day.so.keep.your.eyes.peeled,.you.may.get.lucky!

x.Mel

Knitting.Project.Number.3.- A.Pair.of.Longies!

2009-05-14T16:10:00.005+09:30

Apologies.again.for.the.typing.......broken.spacebar!

This.project.was.cast.on.way.back.in.December.just.after.I.started.the.Shorties..Being.a.12ply.yarn.bought.from.the.lovely.Jen.at.Knitspirations,
they.were.a.quicker.knit.making.it.easier.and.faster.to.work.through.the.beginner.knitter.problems.I.was.having.with.the.pattern.
Of.course.as.soon.as.I.had.the.problems.sorted.I.put.them.down.to.finish.off.the.shorties..I.didn't.pick.them.back.up.again.until.April,.making.them.my
longest.WIP.so.far.(Work.in.Progress)
I.made.these.a.little.bit.too.big.for.Oliver.right.now.to.accomodate.a.big.cloth.night.bottom,.it.just.means.I.should.get.some.good.wear.out.of.them
by.rolling.up.the.cuffs.

Here.they.are.....my.first.pair.of.Longies....
Note.the.cool.blue.stripes.and.cuffs,.I.was.running.out.of.yarn.so.improvised.by.adding.some.contrast.striping.
It's.the.same.yarn.used.in.both.the.shorties.and.the.beanie,knit.double.to.get.a.similar.ply!

I.think.they.look.OK!

My.recent.knitting.adventures! Projects.1.and.2!

2009-05-14T14:19:00.013+09:30

Since.Ravelry,.my.favourite.place.in.the.world.right.now.is.down.for.maintenance.I.thought.I.could.make.my.next.post.about.some.of.my.recent
knitting.feats..Before.I.begin.I.would.like.to.apologise.for.the.interesting.typing.we.have.going.on,.my.spacebar.of.all.things.is.broken!
So.until.I.can.have.it.looked.at.it's.lots.of.little.fullstops.or.nothing.at.all.LOL

Knitting.is.a.recent.addiction.of.mine,.it.has.now.been.six.months.(Dec.08).since.I.first.picked.up.the.needles.and.started.my.first.real.knitting.project.

I.jumped.in.head.first,.overcame.some.pretty.tricky.hurdles.for.a.beginner.knitter.and.produced.a.pair.of.gorgeous.knitted.shorts.for.my
cloth.bottomed.kiddo!
Here's.a.cute.pic.of.my.little.man.wearing.them,.it's.not.a.great.shot.of.them.but.it.is.the.best.I.have.:D
Also.note.that.again.he.is.wearing.another.gorgeous.Ollie.Rose.creation!
Yes!.We.love.Owls.and.we.love.Ollie.Rose!

Next.up.we.also.have.a.gorgeous.little.beanie.using.the.leftover.scraps.from.the.shorties..After.researching.lots.of.different.types.of.beanies.I.finally.cast.on.
I.didn't.use.any.particular.pattern,.I.kind.of.made.it.up.as.I.went.along.using.other.beanies.I.had.seen.as.inspiration.
In.these.photos.it.isn't.finished.yet,.I.just.haven't.gotten.around.to.taking.some.new.photos!.Slack.aren't.I,LOL!

A new 'Owlfit' for my little man, look how big he is now :D

2009-05-13T18:02:00.004+09:30

Can you believe that Oliver is 11 months old already!!! I know everyone say's this at one point or another....but where did that time go??? It seems only yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital :O

This gorgeous 'owlfit' is from a beautiful little store called Ollie Rose.
We are return customers to this gorgeous store and have found the quality of their hand made products to be just divine! The beautiful workmanship, the quality fabrics, and their superb attention to detail are just some of the little things that keep us coming back for more :D Did I mention that they have a gorgeous collection of handmade items for boys (as well as girls)! Who say's mums of girls have all the fun! Go on, have a look, you know you want to :P

Check out some of their blog posts featuring my little man here, here, and here!

Thank you Kobie and Jemma, you girls are the best :D

Test Post :D - Look who's taking baby steps :D

2009-05-13T00:02:00.003+09:30

What a perfect time to start a blog!!
My little man and I can take baby steps together :D

Welcome to my new blog, lets hope I can commit :D
Wish me luck and I will try very hard to share with you my creative endeavours!

x Mel