This Dark Morning



Photography by Melissa Gaggiano

    I cannot believe how dark it was at 7 o'clock this Saturday morning. I thought for sure it was more like 5 o'clock, considering how dark it was, and how exhausted I felt.
    Still, up we all hopped. A baby wanted breakfast and homemade raisen bread was on the chef's agenda.

Standing Up

Image by Melissa Gaggiano

    The world, in a constant state of flux is ever changing. Major events every moment of every day are changing the course of millions of lives.
    Yesterday a single event in my life happened, which was no less significant than the political movements of the world. For the first time my baby stood up by herself. In moments like this everything else fades away and all that matters is your children.

Little Birdie

    Tonight, while wheeling the garbage bin out into the street for collection I noticed this baby bird sitting quite still in the middle of the driveway. His parents were hovering in the trees just above, trying to keep an eye on this little fellow. Eventually he made his way, fluttering a little above the ground, toward a protected patch of garden, filled with lots of big dry leaves. I hope he will be okay. Bless his little heart.

My heart is as big as Texas...




I've got all the love a little bird can give...




and maybe...




just a little bit extra.



Mitt Knit

The days and nights are way cooler — Autumn has finally set in. So I decided to knit for my baby Gwen her own pair of mittens.

I can't wait to finish this project. This is my first knitting project where I am actually follow a pattern.

I'm back, baby!

I once again have a bit more time to spare for good old blogland. The past few months I had been back at my old job after having a year of maternity leave. While I was back at work my husband took his paternity leave and staid home with Gwen. We have once again reversed the roles. Michael is back at work, and I am home with the bub.

So what is the latest in the world of moi?

I had already watched the True Blood telly series, so I decided to read the stories that started this southern sensation. I'll tell you something funny. When I first watched True Blood I though Sookie's family name was Steakhouse. It is good to see that the series is faithful to the feel of the original stories, but with just enough of a twist that their is no predictability from watching the show or reading the books.

I also watched a fun sci-fi telly series titled Warehouse 13. I highly recommend watching this show. It sort of a family fun, X Files, meets Indianna Jones, meets Buffy. And this comes as no surprise, as one of the creators of this show is the utterly brilliant Jane Espenson — writer and Co-Executive Producer of the Buffy series (All Hail Jane!).

The other week it was my SIL's Birthday, so I made her this card (and yes, she does have an appreciation for cats)…

Holy Crap!

Today, poor Gwen discovered what happens when she removes her own nappy and starts playing with the contents of that nappy. It really was a poo party.

Baby Moment

Although this photo of my daughter came out blurry I still think it is great. I love how close I was able to get and to be able to just fill the space with Gwen's beautiful face.

The Gwendo Bib

Okay! I've got something special to share with y'all. The other day I designed and made for my baby a lil bundle of baby bibs. Why did I do this? Well, firstly my bub needed more larger bibs and I thought the cost of bibs in shops was a bit much for such a simple design.

Instead, I made a pattern, bought 2 metres of knitted fabric (1 metre per alternating fabric colour/print), and sew on velcro. I was able to make 9 bibs with some scrap material to spare for another potential project.

A couple of the bibs were taken out for a test drive last night. Translation: the bub wore the bib. The bib survived.

I am going to share my bib pattern with you. It is a very simple design and can be sewn up by even the most amateur crafter.

Sewing Steps:

1. Cut 2 pieces of fabric on CF Fold.
2. Open out the two pieces you just cut, and place the pieces, with the wrong sides of fabric together.
3. Plain stitch the two pieces together about 1 cm - 1.5 cm from the edge.
4. Reinforce the edges with an overlocker.*
5. Cut a small piece of velcro, about 2 cm from the velcro roll.
6. Stitch the velcro pieces to the fabric where the X is marked on the pattern.

* Note: If you do not have an overlocker or are a more advanced sewing machinist, you can reinforce the edges of the bib by sewing in binding. If you do this I would suggest cutting a piece of knitted fabric that has a 3 cm width, by 97 cm length.

Who Could It Be Now?

Recently a relative gave birth to a baby girl... this being her second baby. To celebrate I made a congratulations card, with a matching envelope, which you can see details of below.

I put in just that bit more detail by having the pregnant cartoon figure standing off the page for a three dimensional effect.

Gwen Eats her Dress

This is an illustration of my baby daughter, Gwen, attempting to stuff her face with her own dress. She is at that stage of wanting to put everything in her mouth. I wonder how long it will be before she tries to put the family cat in her mouth?

My Creative Space... Part II

In addition to the "Peri" illustrations that I have been working on, I also plan to make some nice winter clothes for my baby girl.

Gwen has a lot of clothes to fit her at the moment, but the majority of the clothes are more suited to Spring/Summer weather conditions. So today I visited the fabric store and picked up some fleecy material. I'll make up basic patterns this afternoon and hopefully will have a few new outfits for my baby girl to wear next week.

My Baby Gwen

These are proud and tiring days for M-Boo and I. Last Tuesday I gave birth to my first child (as pictured above) - a beautiful baby girl named Gwendolyn Eliza.

Strawberry Heart

I have had an interesting day:

• Tonight hubby and I demolished a delicious bunnet of strawberries. 
  
• And today I have been in the early phase of stage 1 labour. So I have been sucking it up (almost literally - eating ice cubes and zoopa doopa icy poles for relief).
  

Feeling happy and inspired by the pending birth, I quickly doodled the above illustration. It is a strawberry heart.

Thinking about strawberries, reminds me of a doll I had when I was a little girl - Strawberry Shortcake. I loved that little doll.

I then decided I really would like to bake a Strawberry Shortcake in the near future, and so found this recipe online which I'll give a go sometime.

Flower Baby

I recently had an idea for a babies hat, which was inspired by natural flower bunches. I have also been inspired by floral ornamentation for decorating as seen in specialty cake shops. I might make this hat for autumn or winter later this year. The flowers would be made of felt fabric - preferably in pink, lilac and blue colours. The inner fabric and ribbon would be a light coloured green as a reminder of nature. 

Flower bunches in nature (inspiration).

Floral ornamented cake (inspiration).

Feeling Crafty

I am feeling that crafty vibe at the moment. I think I will sew up a baby shirt and include a name to be transferred to the front of the shirt. I'll make this up for my future bub...

Pink Baby Achievements

Check out my latest creation: It is a pleated skirt, similar to a kilt which I have patterned and sewn to suit a 3 to 6 month old baby.

Note: Instead of a safety pin which would usually be placed on this sort of skirt, I have used press studs and a decorative bear button for a bit of 'baby safety'.

This is the first time that I have made an actual pleated outfit, not including the samples that I made during fashion school. Feeling quite pleased with myself.