A crafty Christmas and BIG NEWS

Hey there! How was your Christmas? Well, the Norris clan decided this year was about the kids. There are so many of them now and it's only going to get worse (I assume). And boy were they spoiled!

Henry's haul - and this is just from my side of the family!

Little Button turned 6 months - how the hell did that happen? He's such a happy little boy allll the tiiiime! And he's started sleeping through the night without waking - this is one happy mummy.

Now for this month's craft - I had such a huge list of things to get done for Christmas, but as usual I overestimated how much I could get done. Please tell me I'm not the only one that does that.

A double layer christmas apron - this was so much fun to make. I made the bias binding myself and learnt to ruffle using my machine.

I've had this project half done for ages cos I got stuck on the horns, but it was so worth it. Now to make one for Daddy (at his request of course). I bought the pattern from this shop on Etsy.

My crafty SIL Gubby gave me this idea (and let me borrow her punchie and the bags from Pack It In). They all went to the awesome peeps at work.

My first real quilting project - a stocking for Button's first Christmas! Not bad huh :) The pattern is from Thimble Blossoms. I did have plans to make stockings for hubby and I too, but this one took me aaaaages. The fabric is from the Sew Stitchy line.

My first go at the famous Big Butt Baby Pants by Made By Rae with the cuuuutest christmas fabric ever. I had a bit of trouble with the puckering issue on the butt, but my next attempt was much neater:

Now...for the BIG NEWS!!!!! So for all of you mummies of little boys, have you noticed the distinct lack of cute boy stuff at markets? Well I have and it's kind of annoying. And so I've decided to open a new shop called Bebe Bouton - cos boy stuff is cute too!

Crochet clip-on bow ties - great for newborn photoshoots.

Double bow ties in three sizes for newborns, 6mo-2yrs and big boys. These will have adjustable straps.

I love my pacifier clips - no more lost dummies and they're easy to find when you're reaching to plug bubba in in the car hehe. The ones I've made before have used velcro, but I really like the ribbon. The velcro gets old pretty quickly.

I have more plans, but this is what I've made so far. I'll also be making loads of big butt baby pants and shorts in fun designs with pockets etc.

So, what do you think? I haven't officially opened the store on Etsy yet and I will probably only list the bow ties and pants on there as I'd like to focus more on doing markets. So stay tuned on facebook :)

Wedding Cake Madness

So where was I...November? Whoops.

I've been busy busy the past few weeks getting ready for yet another wedding. I was put half-in charge of the wedding cake. The lovely bride, my new SIL, had seen a cute as cupcake on Pinterest (I'm sure many of you have seen it before - the pink frosted cupcake with lace and 'i do' flag). So my other SIL and I got to work recreating 144 of them. Yep...144.

The vanilla cupcake recipe is the same as that vanilla latte cake I made a few weeks ago from Sweetapolita. The mix made just over 40 cupcakes.

30 little 'i dos'

The finished cake! Gubby frosted all of the cakes - don't they look amazing? I made the little bunting on top as well by stamping and embossing letters in bronze on each little cardstock flag and tying to kebab sticks with gold twine.

The lace is stuck onto the cupcake wrappers with edible sugar flower glue...well most of them are. I ran out with about 30 cupcakes to go and just used royal icing for the rest.

The gorgeous newlyweds and their cake. Congrats you two kids!

For bubba's outfit I made a cute bow-tie. I used this tutorial by A Lemon Squeezy Home. In the end, it was a tad too puffy and oversized for a bub. I'll make the next one smaller, although I think it kind of matched his head size...

My little pudding is 5 months old now!

I've started playing around with royal icing on cookies...not too bad.

I finished up a pair of cute booties using a gorgeous bamboo yarn. It's so soft!

And then all of a sudden Christmas is upon us - when the heck did that happen? Far out this year has zipped by. My tree this year is read and bronze. I always seem to underestimate the size of my tree hehe. I didn't really have my heart in the decorating this weekend...I think after a week at work really took it out of me.

Another crafty week

Well, little Button's sleeping habits are finally back to normal, which means...craft time! :)

Another tick for the WIP list - loads of pacifier clips. Heh I kind of got on a roll with these. They were so quick to whip through. The tutorial is here.

My niece's school is having a fete soon and are going to be selling donated jars of "things" so I thought I'd make it an opportunity to destash my enormous bead collection and put together little bead kits. Aren't they cute?

On Thursday, I took my gorgeous SIL off to the Craft and Sewing show at Caulfield Racecourse. Oh man, it was heaven. Apparently I had some moments of lust in my eyes, but I think I was very controlled. I made it my goal to just work on building up my fabric stash with lots of basics (spots, stripes, checks...and a few cuuuute prints). And who can say no to giant ric rac?

I bought an awesome quilt kit too. So cute. It's from the Meet the Gang range.

I finally got another thing ticked off my WIP list - bandana bibs. Tutorial here.

And...I'm finally joining all those sunbursts. I gave up blocking them. 'Cos I'm using acrylic yarn, they don't really hold their shape, so I'll give it a shot when they're joined if I need to.

I'm using the joining tutorial from Attic24.

Aren't they amazing! There aren't as many as I thought I'd done, so the rug will be big enough to cover the bottom end of our bed or be a great single sized rug.

Eep!

Is it Monday again already?

This was a week of highs and lows as normal life usually is.

My craft room (part 1 and part 2) is in full blown use - huzzah. It still doesn't stop me from planning more craft projects than I'll ever ever get finished. Why do I keep starting things? I reckon I'm probably the most impatient person when it comes to craft. I love starting things...hate finishing things...until they're done and I can admire them. My other issssue is taking on projects that are just huge. No small time here!

This week I finished a couple of pairs of pants for Button, the first bandana bib, oh and I finally got Macarons to work! OK I have to admit that it was a packet mix (gasp) but you can't go wrong when Zumbo's name is all over it.

Pretty cute, huh! These were super easy and the pattern is the Basic Newborn Pants from Made by Rae. I upsized these to a 3-6mo size by adding 1" to the top and bottom seams as well as 1/2" to the fold. Ideally, I should have added 2" to the bottom hem, but Button has mummy's short legs at the moment, so it's not a big deal. I can always add cuffs to lengthen them later on.

This is way cuter than I thought it would end up being and now I have to get my s&#t together and make a million more. Button really is a drool monster! The pattern is from PurlBee.

What beauties! The packet came with a cardboard template so you can draw 2cm diameter circles on the underside of the baking paper and pipe on the other side so that all shells are uniform. Such a good idea! Next is to make them from scratch (wish me luck).

Here is a run down of my WIP's...

• Granny square rug
• Sunburst rug
• Zig zag rug
• Viking hat for bubba
• Cot quilt
• Pacifier/Dummy leashes
• Bandana bibs
• Satin dress
• Several cross stitches
• Toiletry box bag
• Christmas apron

And here're the projects I'm waiting to start...

• Canvas art for the nursery
• Pillow shams for our bedroom
• Quilts galore
• Bamboo yarn crochet rug
• Embroideries
• Baby foot impressions

I really need to get my cardmaking mojo back and of course get some jewellery made for the shop! Why do I keep putting that off?

Ugh enough of my whinging...here's a funny pic of Button to brighten your day. He's soooo gonna hate me when he's older. But I reckon it's payback for waking me up every 2 hours lately. *yawn* So this is what being a parent is like?! Boo.

"You talkin' to me?"

Baking and Crochet...Nesting Much?

Lately I've been busy busy busy crocheting blankets. I spent such a long time stuffing up granny squares, that I decided to try this pattern at Ucreate. It looks great, but I forgot to take photos before gifting it to my 4mo nephew.

Here's my next project...a large granny blanket just for me. I think I've finally got it down pat...no skewing like I used to get. I have so many more crochet projects I want to try and I've pinned them into my pinterest account...now to find enough time to finish them all!

I also got the baking bug again and am totally in love with my new breadmaker! I late christmas present to myself :)

 Raspberry and chocolate low-fat muffins from my favourite muffin cookbook - 500 Cupcakes

German grain bread...my favourite for sandwiches. I've only used the Laucke brand of flours so far, but they're a hit.

Yummy raisin bread...I'll add some more cinnamon next time. Find the recipe here to make this yummy loaf completely in the breadmaker.

I've been crafting again

Now my new studio is pretty much finished (pics soon, I promise) I've had space to create some things lately...

New bridesmaid earrings and necklaces, a goodluck card for a lovely new mum-to-be and my clock makeover. Hopefully I'll have some time to make some more cards soon.

Here's a question for you - do you buy cards online? What kinds of cards do you buy - birthday, thank you, or just cards to write a thinking of you letter to a good friend?

What I've been working on this week...

I've been loving my new job - I get home at a decent hour and get to do my own thing. Bliss.

I finished my first handbag using this tutorial, I finished up a big wedding order for some lucky bridesmaids, sent out my Snail Mail for the Creative Collective June challenge, and attempted my first dress copy (it failed).

I'm still learning with sewing, but I'm getting there.