Sunday Night Fever

Max is feeling the heat. We all are...and with more super hot days on the way it's summer alright!

We have one more week of swimming lessons, the kids are learning alot & having fun too. Not a bad place to be when there temperature is hitting 40 degrees C! (that's 104 F)

This weekend has been great, although pretty bloody hot. On Saturday three of the kids and I headed out to a friends place for a fun day of eating, drinking, chatting and hanging out with a big gang of lovely people. These friends have a pool so the kids spent several hours jumping, splashing and generally having a ball. On the way we dropped in to my mum's place.

I love these shiny red plums, they look like pretty decorations hanging on the tree. Must pop back and pick some for jam.

I've also been working like a crazy woman trying to complete an order for Big Dreams in Northcote. I had a little hiccup and minor freak out when I realised I had misplaced (read lost) my small labels. Uh oh. Not happy. Anyway, after a bit of wailing and hair tearing I managed to work a way around it. Luckily I had over ordered my bunny labels, the ones with the little tugboat on them. These seem to work fine when folded over and sewn. A little bulkier than the small labels but at least they work!!

Liza from Big Dreams tells me the Love Hearts are destined to feature at a wedding this week so I'm pretty excited about that! I think they are being used as gifts for guests, I'd love to see how they will use them.

Because it was going to be such a hot day today I went out early this morning to make sure all the pets had water and shade. The ducks are in a good pozzie & don't get alot of direct sun.

Sometimes I think it would be nice to be a duck, swimming around all day. I'm not sure I'd like the pooey water though. Actually I have been bucketing it onto the garden and it's an amazing liquid fertiliser! The roses are loving it but I have to be careful not to splash any on my legs, it's stinkaroony!

Here's Lucy in the garden. The kids had a lot of trouble getting to sleep tonight. It's just so hot in their bedrooms although it's cooling down now. Tomorrow is a Code Red day in some parts of the state. This is an extreme fire danger day so lets hope for safe day with an early cool change. Better go now and sew up some more hearts, see you soon xo

ps. here are a couple of treasures I picked up recently. I'm not sure where to put them yet but I love their flowery, olden day feel.

My Creative Space

A couple of months ago when one of my children was having trouble sleeping I made them a little lavender filled heart to help them relax. It wasn't long before all five kids had hearts. Since then they have been taken to bed to snuggle, taken to sleepovers, to school, put in pillows, cuddled and have become nice, relaxing, comforting, transportable pieces of love.




It took a while to come up with the right shape and size. The first few were wonky, and not quite right. I like a bit of wonkiness but it wasn't until I used the pinking shears that I got the look I was after.








I love that they are easy to make,







That they are filled with locally grown lavender, from Lavandula,



and that they seem to make people smile.

I also love that I get to use my big collection of vintage fabrics.

Choosing different colours, shades & patterns is so much fun.

Filling them up with my trusty red funnel,

hearing the rice & lavender fall,

adding a label,

done.

They remind me of

mixed lollies from

the milkbar.

I find I have a favourite but then,

suddenly,

I'm in love with another,

& then I can't choose....

It's been really fun designing these little sweeties. Lavender hearts aren't exactly an original idea, but I hope I've put my own stamp on them and made them uniquely Dandelion.

Of course I like the love connection too,

Have you told someone you love them today?

.

Anyway, I'm excited to say my hearts became Love Hearts & are now out in the world.

You can find them at the Lark shop in Daylesford and yesterday I delivered

fifty more to Big Dreams

in High St, Northcote.

More creative spaces here..

I'm also excited to say that this is my 99th post and I can feel a giveaway coming on....see you soon xo

My Creative Space

I have just visited Kootoyoo's lovely blog & thought I'd play along today. My creative space is a bit hectic, kind of messy, very colourful and so enjoyable. I'm in a really good creative space right now, loving my sewing, loving the rhythm of my work.

The whole process of working with lavender is very satisfying too. Pulling the flowers off the stem, mixing with rice, funnelling into birds and hearts.

Each part is fun and I need the variety, the different stages keep me motivated. Breathing in the beautiful, locally grown lavender is soothing, uplifting.

Choosing colours, matching colours, playing with colours and textures, watching the colours turn into something else, come alive.

Each bunny, heart, bird that I make had her/his own personality and I love to see each individual nature emerge, kind of like my kids I guess.

The birds are new to me & to Dandelion. I've always been keen on birds, I like to watch them hoppping along fences, soaring through the blue sky, waiting patiently on wires, swooping in their amazing, syncronized, group formations. I like ducks, swallows, kookaburra's, willy wagtails, geese, owls, penguins, lots of different birds... but I'm not so in love with rooks & crows. My Blanket Birds are made from bits leftover from Blanket Bunnies. It feels good to be using offcuts from offcuts, finding a bird in a scrap.

We are going on a much needed holiday in a few days...what will I do without my bits? My sewing machine that needs a service, the little birdies, my bunnies that need cardi's, my lavender...my lovehearts?!! I might have to get creative in different ways. Somethings you just can't plan. xo

Family, friends, love

Mark enjoyed some special treats and some Fathers Day loving yesterday. Mark is a fantastic dad and spends a lot of time reading to the kids, cooking with them, playing, doing 'tricks' & having fun.The kids enjoyed giving him their homemade cards and bookmarks. Charlotte was home too so that made the day complete.


Charlotte was four years old when I met Mark & he is like a dad to her, they have a sweet relationship. When she was little they called each other Matey and it kind of stuck. Now he is Big Mate & she is Litte Mate.

We had a pretty busy, but fun, weekend with alot happening as usual. I managed to get some sewing done which was good as I have quite a few ideas at the moment and like to keep the momentum up! Have you heard about Lark's new shop which is opening soon in Daylesford? It's very exciting and I'm so happy to be making Dandelion bunnies & other bits for the shop. As well as Lark's amazing range of vintage inspired toys and gifts Allison will also be stocking lots of lovely items made locally.

I've always had a thing about hearts. Probably because of what they represent, love really does make the world go round! I have been working on these lavender filled hearts which are perfect for putting in pillows to help with sleep & relaxation, and they smell wonderful too. (My kids all have one, or two, and they are very comforting to snuggle with.) I was going to call them Sleepy Hearts but now that I've done a few, with lots of different fabrics, I think they will be called Love Hearts instead. As they could be excellent to put in drawers and cupboards too it seems a bit too specific to call them Sleepy Hearts...what do you think?





I'm not the only one getting creative around here, Charlotte is busy getting her work done as it's almost the end of term. This weekend she borrowed a friends camera to take photo's for a photography assignment called "Family".

The girls didn't mind getting dressed up of course!

I had a lovely visit from Steph recently and we were chatting about some of the things we are grateful for. How much there is!! After she had left I realised I'd left out one of the most important things...my friends! I really love my fantastic friends, new & old, in Daylesford, Melbourne, in Blogland, all over the place! They all bring different things into my life and I appreciate them all in so many ways.

One of my good friends, Michelle, had a birthday the other day, actually it's the first day of Spring, what a great day to be born on!! So, anyway, I have got a few little things together for her and hope to catch up with her today. She has a busy life, with work and family, I hope she enjoys these sweet smellings things from Daylesford Aromatherapy.

I also made her a bag to put it all in...lucky I had this 1973 teatowel handy! Reminds me of the ace 1992 apron that Curly Pops made for Charlotte. (I'm not sure if they made calendar teatowels around my birth year..but then that was the 'olden days'...thanks kids...).

So, how was your weekend? Hope it was relaxing and fun! xo