03 November, 2010

christmas is coming!

AMERICAN CYANAMID

No excuses now for not crafting... Christmas is nearly here!

So I am in a mad flurry... crafting gifting like crazy. Oh! and making the occasional purchase from an online crafter/designer...

Here's my list so far - thankfully many of my giftees don't pop by all that often so they will miss out on the cheeky sneak peek...
* a little blue crochet thingamijig
* a certain softie from this book
* a little something to keep someone busy
* and something mysterious for the one I can count to to read this blog... (did you really think I would post something here?

More to come...
xo

02 November, 2010

snail gazing... (the joy of two year olds)


snail gazing, originally uploaded by summer pickles.

WARNING! Another non-crafting related post!

We had an exciting moment in our backyard the other day when we found a snail.

The gherkin wasn't sure if it might be a turtle? or a snake? He was rapt. So he took up a front-row spot to watch, lying on his tummy on the (very cold!) concrete for ages, giving me plenty of time to grab the camera, and take about a gazillion photos from a thousand angles.

I was thinking just how beautiful he is, how I give him too much of a hard time most of the time (over the tantrums, kicking, thumping little pickle etc). And reminding myself that he is after all, only just two, and such a loving and gentle boy.

Such a beautiful moment.

Right up until the point that he stoned the snail to death.

Poor snail.

xo

(ps. I guess I should not have been surprised about how this interaction went, as it did follow what is becoming an all too familiar pattern of many of our interactions - from adoration/joy to destruction/despair! Ah, two year olds!)

25 October, 2010

preparing to say goodbye

We love our home. We had originally bought it (as we did our little house in Port Melbs) to renovate and sell off. It has now been nearly three years since the day of the nailbiting auction - a much slower reno job than we had originally planned.

Little did we know we would be raising two boys under this roof, and becoming (somewhat foolishly) emotional about a pile of brick and timber. But, emotional we are. This is, after all, the home we brought the gherkin home to, the house he learned to crawl, eat (and eat and eat!), walk, talk, dance, jump, play, sing, giggle, and amaze us with his "him-ness", his cleverness, his humour. It is also the home we became pregnant with little pickle, the house I got fat in (again), the home we brought little pickle home, the house he has learned to feed, smile, laugh, eat, and where he has fallen in love with his big brother. And us with both of them. It can't be helped then that we love this house - it is a home.

But, the time has come. To tidy up, say goodbye and move on. Yep, our little home is on the market.

So, time for show and tell. What have we done with this house over three years (other than all of our life's moments which can't fit into a tidy photo mosaic)?

mosaic
(it does look a bit sad and bare in these photos... remember we are trying to sell so have cleared the place out)
So, just weeks from now, we expect to be saying bye bye home, and hello to a new house. I am usually very happy about new beginnings, but this time around... well, it's much harder. Silly really, as the memories will travel with me - they are not locked inside this house. I don't think I am ready to go though. Guess I am lucky I still have some time yet to prepare to say goodbye.
Chat soon xo

27 September, 2010

little pickle sporting the new beanie


photo of the beanie on the recipient as promised... and even cuter when he is awake!

xo

26 September, 2010

crochet wearable number 2

Ok, so I have had some comments at daycare, about my first wearable crochet project... that perhaps most wouldn't wear it in public, that perhaps it does look, well, very hand made, that it is not perhaps, all that well crafted. BUT, in spite of that, the gherkin and I continue to wear it (poor boy, he has no choice, and I am wearing it mostly out of pride for having made it myself!).

Well, if they thought that one was a mess...


Here is my second crochet wearable, another beanie, this one for the little pickle. This one I started very early in my pregnancy with the little pickle, but then promptly lost the pattern and the drive to finish.... flash forward about nine months, I found it in my wardrobe, and decided to just make up the rest of the pattern, to see if I could get it to come together. I have. Not gracefully, not even all that convincingly, but it is made with love, and he will look as cute as... well... a pickle!



A better photo (with an awake subject, wearing the beanie as it was meant to be worn!) will follow. But he is lovely asleep (as he is awake) and now is my best time of day to blog.

Hope to catch up again soon xo

07 September, 2010

proud as punch! my first wearable crochet!!!


hi there

ok, so i am getting slacker with my blogging, but i have been busy!

firstly, check out my first ever wearable crochet creation (above) crocheted for my eldest (yes, we almost have the same size head)... (please ignore the tired eyes, lack of makeup, overall absence of any glamour! etc etc).


secondly, check out my beautiful baby boys... [sigh]... they are lovely!

those of you who think i have been incredibly, incredibly slack, i have been blogging, just over here instead of on summerpickles... seems i have a bit of blog confusion... originally splitting my blogging life in two, i am now really not sure of what should be posted where, or if i should in fact combine the blogs (but which one do i keep and which one wraps up?).
i am also just starting to catch up on all of your blogs, but imagine my horror when i popped into bloglines to discover i had more than six thousand posts to catch up on!!! seems i need to edit my reading....
hope all are well and happy. we are here.
take care, chat soon xo

25 July, 2010

crochet bunting by my poppet


crochet bunting 1, originally uploaded by my poppet.

i think i wrote here some time ago about my new-found love of crochet - its portability, its tactile-ness (i know, not a word, but i am a weary mummy running on too little sleep - be kind!), and its ?adaptability/flexibility, no, i know, transformability* (ok, clearly wordsmithing is not my forte tonight!).

You know what I mean though, I hope... crochet allows us to make so many amazing and wonderful things... it just takes some imagination and creativity. Which is why this post i take my hat off to the lovely Cintia of my poppet, who has recently created this gorgeous crochet bunting - gorgeous! how lucky we are to live in such an amazing crafty community.

have fun everyone xo

*someone get me a thesaurus for christmas please!

20 June, 2010

obi apron – Sewing Projects | BurdaStyle.com

i need spare time...

time to finish and package button rings, time to crochet a gift for a dear friend and their baby in the making, and time to make this... obi apron – Sewing Projects BurdaStyle.com

... come on spare time...
xo

16 May, 2010

here he is...


here he is 2, originally uploaded by summer pickles.

welcome to the world little pickle!

born 29th april, weighing 3.69kgs, measuring 51cm long.

mum and bub are well, dad is thrilled to have another boy in the clan, the gherkin is adjusting, and the pug has no idea what is going on.

lovely to meet little pickle and to be well and truly out-numbered by the boys in my life.

chat soon xo

19 April, 2010

crafty waiting room


crafty waiting room, originally uploaded by summer pickles.

so... what does one do when one is thirty-seven weeks pregnant and spending inordinate amounts of time in waiting rooms???

turn the waiting room into craft central with crochet crochet and more crochet!

thanks to obstetricians delivering babies, gestational diabetes tests, gps running behind schedule, the baby blanket is now completed. once bub has arrived i will post a photo of bub with blanket, but in the meantime, i hope you will appreciiate my public crafting efforts!

amazing how many comments i received (and funny looks, i might add), crafting in public. and loads of compliments from the baby boomer plus generations who were thrilled to see some of the old crafting arts had not died...

ah crochet, i think i may be falling in love with you...
xo

03 March, 2010

30 weeks and whatcha wearing wednesday

getting bi-i-ig!

and yes, we still have not renovated the 1968 bathroom! (renos now planned for 2011).

finally i am getting my act together for whatcha wearin wednesday. this is not what i wore to work (which i have to say was pretty glam for a woman wearing a bowling ball up her shirt!), but i figure better to take the shot than not at all!

here i am, modelling a fab kmart stretchy top (not maternity, hence the length), some pumpin patch jeans, a summer pickles brooch, new short haircut, and yes, a basketball sized belly!

chat soon xo

ps. i've been comment spammed... does anyone know how to delete these dodgy "comments"?

13 February, 2010

cuckoo! feeling completely inspired


Pink Rose Cuckoo Clock, originally uploaded by Betty Jo Designs.

So, some weeks I am having bursts of happiness about my levels of crafting, and other weeks, well. nothing. And then other weeks I find someone, or rediscover someone who I love and admire and want to grow to even have one hundredth of their talent and skills.

I have been a fan of Betty Jo Designs for ages, and KEEP HINTING TO MY OTHER HALF THAT I WANT ONE OF HER GORGEOUS CUCKOOCLOCKS FOR OUR HOUSE (see hon, here I go again, only in CAPS this time... please take note!). But then today jumped onto flickr and discovered she is now also making very elegant bird clocks too.

I love these too. Is it wicked to not be satisfied with just one though? I would want at least three so they could fly up my kitchen wall....

I am also being incredibly inspired by wood wool & stool who just do beautiful things with crochet...

Next post I will show and tell the baby blanket... slooooowly growing (I think it's nearly there!)

Hope all are well and happy xo

11 January, 2010

SOLD!


new button ring!, originally uploaded by summer pickles.

This button ring just sold in record time!

Thankyou to my UK etsy shopper - I will be taking this over to the post office today.

More summerpickles items - rings, necklaces, toys and mobiles will be coming to my etsy soon, so stay tuned...

xo

10 January, 2010

time for a pickles update

hooray for holidays at home



Okay, so it is time. Long past time in fact for an update on the goings on in the pickles household.


The Gherkin is turning into a big boy, right in front of our very eyes, with new words popping out each day (he now would have at least 30 words, but probably more - ex-speechie mum is quite proud!). He sings songs - twinkle twinkle and baa baa black sheep, and can ride his push-along bike. And tonight (very exciting!) he said wee-wee and wee-ed on the bathroom floor, then stopped, said it again, wee-ed again. Our baby boy is growing up! He knows exactly what he wants, is throwing big tanties, full face down on the floor, trying to jump on the kitchen chairs, and loves rubbing noses (nose kisses) with his mum. And I am convinced he thinks I am his special girlfriend - heaven knows we have had enough kisses involving tongue (his, not mine, obviously!) for him to start to think this might be the case!

Hooray for babies, but hooray hooray hooray for seeing little people becoming themselves.

Poor little Gherkin, we had such a big long list for him over our three week tourists-in-our-own-town holidays... moving to a big boy bed (well, a mattress on the floor), and toilet training. And even more plans afoot for the doggie-child of the household.... in the end we got the boy onto a single mattress in his new ginormous bedroom... and gave up on the toilet training. But the dog will lie down on the floor (all the way down) as long as you are holding food. Oh well. Later.
xo

Oh! and for those of you who are wondering... Mr Pickles and Bump Pickles are also doing spendidly... x

Thanks

to my other half who puts up with the mess, makes me happy and keeps me sane.
to my beautiful boys who give me so much i want to remember and make the everyday something to treasure.
to my mum who alway let me play with fabric and the good scissors, and who knows a lot of songs.
to my dad who was always happy for us to make a mess and who laughs at us when we deserve it.
to both parents for making sure i still got the work done.
to my dear friends for listening and for sharing the laughs.
and, to you for visiting!