Park

While out for a walk this week with Wren I discovered a great park. Unfortunately she had fallen asleep so Spencer and I went back today. The weather was so beautiful, really sunny and warm. Wren had so much fun on the swing and watching the other kids. We're so excited that this park is only a few minutes away from our house.

Church Sale

Before I was on maternity leave I worked every Saturday so I missed out on a lot of church sales. I love them, especially in the run up to Christmas when there are tons of great Christmas crafts and bake tables. This morning we got up bright and early and I was lucky enough to find some real treasures. Believe it or not these are just the highlights!

A really old coffee tin, a vintage Dutch cracker tin, a 1950s birthday card and 3 miniature Santa mugs/candle holders.

1936 Singer sewing machine. I haven't decided yet if I'll invest the money to get it up and running again. If it's not too expensive I definitely will.

These strange vintage place mats appear to be hand screenprinted. There's about 8 of them and these are my favorites. I'm definitely going to do some fun sewing projects with them.

About 2 metres of amazing vintage fabric

2 Wooden cars

Bass River rocking chair for the little miss when she's a little bigger. I LOVE the kittens on the back of the seat.

I have no idea what this is but I couldn't resist the beautiful bark cloth. It has a ring at the top and the 2 sides are open. It's far too big for toilet rolls and it couldn't hold bags as the sides are completely open. Any ideas?

I love the colours in this crochet blanket. It's wool and in great shape.

On top of all this I got a bunch of hand woven linen place mats and napkins that I will probably emboider on, some embroider hoops, a few other toys and some vintage clothes for Wren that I'll show you later. The best part of all I only spent $40!

Shiny new floors!

Wow it's been a while since I've posted anything. We didn't realise when we moved into our house that the floors needed to be refinished. They looked pretty good but any time we spilled any water it soaked right into the wood and left a mark. We figured we better do something about it before Wren starts crawling. Moving every single item of furniture into our office and kitchen (the only 2 rooms we weren't refinishing) seemed like a feat of Tetris proportions. The sanding and varnishing was another huge task but luckily for me Spencer did most of the work. We're finally home again after staying at my parents for nearly a week. Now to put everything back where it belongs.

High Chairs

I took advantage of the beautiful weather to fix up these great high chairs I've thrifted for Wren. She's just starting to sit up in the Ikea highchair at my parent's house so before too long she'll be able to use these. I cleaned them up and put a few more coats of varnish. The one on the right can be converted into a table and chairs when she's bigger. I love the bear image on the back and the red beads going around the tray. I wish I knew how to clean up the metal rail though. It has some spotting and a few bits of rust.

Baby's First Watch

Here's Wren sporting a new watch and it's a calculator watch at that. She thinks it's great for adding up all her nap times to prove to mom and dad that she can stay up later. Unfortunately felt batteries aren't too reliable so it doesn't keep time that well. At least it's right twice a day!

Wren busy at work

Uh-oh Wren just realised that she's late for lunch

Bloesem Kids and Fat Sheep

I've been following a really great blog called Bloesem Kids for several weeks now. I find it really inspiring to see so many beautiful and original things for children. She also has a feature called Mom Story where she interviews different extraordinary moms. Reading it definitely motivates me to strive to be more creative everyday.

A few weeks ago I entered one of her giveaways for a gift voucher from FatSheep and I was lucky enough to win a beautiful dress for Wren. It's a little too big for her right now but it still looks really cute on. I can see that it's going to be a piece that she can wear for a while because it's quite stretchy and being merino wool I know it's going to be really versatile. It will keep her warm when it's cold and cool when she's hot. I also shouldn't have to wash it too much because wool is naturally antibacterial and any little mishaps can just be spot cleaned. Wren has some knitted wool diaper covers that were originally my brothers in the early 1970s and they are wonderful. It's amazing, they look brand new, there isn't a stain or a smell on them and they are almost 40 years old!

Bird Mobile

I have finally finished a mobile for Wren's room. I feel like a terrible mother. Making stuff is my 'thing' yet for some reason I haven't found the energy to make Wren something until now. The knitted cat doll (made to look like our cat Hank) that I began while I was on bed rest during my pregnancy is still sitting in a bag in my closet. It's not even close to being finished. I'm hoping I can be motivated to finish it for Christmas. I love the sight of a hand made toy poking out of the top of a stocking.

My first attempt at a mobile took forever and looked terrible (don't try and colour foam core with markers, for some reason it dries them out and you end up ruining pens and getting really frustrated) and I got really disheartened. I wanted to make Wren something that wasn't too babyish, something she can use to decorate her room as she gets older. I thought the bright red and blue would be a good colour choice for this, and at the same time would be eye-catching and interesting for Wren now.

I hand stitched wool felt, stuffing it with polyfill and embroidered Wren's name and the bird's eyes. To hang it I repurposed some old embroidery hoops. I'm pretty happy with the results and best of all when Wren is in her bedroom she can't take her eyes off it. I'm so happy!

Gocco

Last weekend my friend Andrea and I had a Gocco date. Every few months we try to get together and spend the day Goccoing. We spent the day printing cards and later discovered that by coincidence it was World Card Making Day!

We have found that clothes drying racks come in really handy when we're dealing with lots of cards with fresh ink.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Wren got all dressed up for her first Thanksgiving and she got to watch us consume not one but two turkey dinners!

Wren also spent the weekend dancing to her favorite David Bowie song.

Wren Pendant

My great friend Angie Arsenault (be sure to check out her flickr) made me the most beautiful gift to commemorate Wren's birth. Her jewellery is so striking and not too girly, which is perfect for a tomboy like me who doesn't wear much jewellery. Angie and I have been friends for over 10 years now. We met when we lived together in the halls of residence our first year at NSCAD and discovered that strangely enough we were born on the same day. Over the years we've always tried to give each other hand made gifts, so I'm lucky enough to own several of her jewellery pieces.

Felt Music

The wonderful Felt Music have used another of my works for an advertisement.

It's so exciting to see my work in print.

Blythe & Wren

Blythe

Wren

Since my mom has saved a lot of my baby clothes I thought it would be fun to stage a photo of Wren to look like me. So here I am in my dad's arms at 1 month old and Wren in a similar pose in her dad's arms at 3 months old. I think we have the same eyes and nose but she definitely has her papa's mouth.

In Favor of Fuzz interview

I have just been interviewed by the lovely Kelsie of In Favor of Fuzz and she asked some really great questions. I have been following her inspiring blog for a while now and I'm excited to be featured in it.

You can check out my interview here.

Life with Wren

I can't believe that in 2 weeks Wren will be 4 months old. Time has gone by so quickly but at the same time I can't remember a time without her.

My days have been busy reading Peepo, playing with finger puppets, joining in with tummy time by lying in the middle of the living room floor and of course nursing and washing diapers. I think I'm finally into the routine of things and have great ambitions of getting sewing again. We'll have to see if Wren is willing to share me!

Wren

I'm sorry the blog has been so quiet, I've been a little busy the last few months making a new kind of monster.