Things I Love

With Mother's Day and my birthday both around the corner, I have been surfing the web to give my family gift ideas (yes, I'm so subtle, I know).  There are many things I love, both handmade and commercially made, but one store which always has my eye is Totally Crosses.  They create beautiful and ornate wall crosses for home decor, and this one below is my current favourite.

Easter - My Redeemer Lives

I usually make it a habit to write an Easter-related post for my blog, but this year I'm doing something a little different.  I want to share with you a beautiful song sung by Nicole C. Mullen, one which I love and which expresses the story of Easter so well.  Jesus, the redeemer (or savior) lives.  And I can call Him my redeemer not because I am brilliant, beautiful or special, but because I am broken, weary and weak.  God's strength is the only strength to depend on, because I have no strength on my own.

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.
Titus 3:4-5 (NIV)

Currently Trending - Loom Bands

Those of you who have young children will probably know what I'm talking about and may well be as sick of seeing little rubber bands everywhere as I am!  For those of you who don't know, Loom Bands are the latest craze amongst small (and not so small!) people around the world.  It reminds me of past crazes for friendship bracelets and other such accessories when I was a child, and thankfully, Loom Band supplies are fairly cheap.

So now that it's school holidays for the Two Cheeky Monkeys, they have been merrily watching Youtube and searching blogs for tutorials showing them how to make their favourite designs.  I am finding the Youtube tutorials highly tedious (I prefer step-by-step photos or quick video tutorials without long-winded explanations), but am not complaining too much as I am happy for my Monkeys to be creative and occupied during their holidays!  Are you or your favourite small people currently obsessed with Loom Bands too?

Holiday Baking Adventures

It's week two of school holidays and I am still waiting for the supposed rest I was going to get while not ferrying the Two Cheeky Monkeys to school or their various activities!  I'm probably not helping my cause by agreeing to some kitchen bakeoffs with the Monkeys, but the products of our kitchen adventures are usually worth it.

I know that's really not the best photo to advertise my cooking skills (or lack thereof), but when it comes to baked goods, this is usually the best I can manage before grabby Cheeky Monkey hands have whisked away the food.  I found this recipe for cheese and bacon rolls aeons ago, and the Monkeys absolutely love it.  We've adapted the recipe to create pizza buns, but you could follow the recipe exactly or mix and match as we have done.

My Creative Space

In between organising play dates and helping the little Cheeky Monkeys with their Rainbow Looms, I have managed to work on a few crochet projects this school holidays.  A nice, fast project I've worked on this week is this cute mini crochet bag by Spincushions.

It works up very quickly while you're watching TV or watching your little people play at the park.  I was thinking of filling a few with Easter eggs for the Cheeky Monkeys, but they grabbed them before I got the chance and now several soft toys are sporting funky little handbags!

Holiday Adventures - Healesville Sanctuary

This school holidays, the Two Cheeky Monkeys reminded me that I still hadn't followed through on my promise to take them to Healesville Sanctuary.  The Sanctuary is a place I visited many times as a child and is unique amongst Victoria's zoos as it focusses solely on Australia's flora and fauna, working to save threatened native species through specialised breeding and recovery programs.

Healesville Sanctuary also seeks to celebrate local Aboriginal culture and is currently running a Celebrate Corroboree program with various activities such as Indigenous storytelling, rock painting, bush tucker sampling and music.  The little Cheeky Monkeys had a lot of fun at the various "meet the keeper" sessions (they are very fond of koalas), and you could easily spend an entire day at the Sanctuary slowly wandering around and learning more about our beautiful Australian fauna.  So if you're in the area, I recommend a visit with friends and family!

My Creative Space - Book Storage

When the Two Cheeky Monkeys were born, we made the conscious effort to instil a love of reading in them.  Over the years we have progressed from baby board books through to children's novels and the oldest Monkey's room especially, has become strewn with books.  So in an attempt to help her contain some of her more messy tendencies, I whipped up a simple bedside book storage bag for her.  Hopefully we will no longer have to wade through a pile of books just to reach our daughter!  And hopefully her new book storage will put an end to mad hunts for library books the day before they are due to be returned!

Something Old, Something New With a Little Twist

Would you believe it's been more than a week since I've blogged about upcycling literature???  I know there are some who are continually horrified by the thought of me cutting up books (even if they are old, battered and unloved), but I really am convinced that my creations bring classic literature to audiences in a new way!

This past couple of weeks I have been working on some new upcycled literature creations for Domum Vindemia.  I am adding to my literature homewares range with items for your home or work office - thumbtacks (or push pins as they are also called).

This new range was inspired by a customer who fell in love with my literature buttons range and asked if I could create a set of Jane Eyre thumbtacks which looked like my button sets.  I had a lightbulb moment and am now really excited to be adding this new range of creations to my stores.  I just love it when I find an idea which is a twist on what I'm already creating!  What do you think?

Neon Ring Set Giveaway

 Children's Neon ring set

Okay, it's been a while since I've run a giveaway, so I thought it was about time for another one!  To celebrate the new neon additions to the children's jewellery range, I am giving away a set of three neon flower rings (see above)!!!  And for those who don't have any little ones, you can choose to have the ring set made in adult's size instead.  What do you have to do to win a funky set of neon rings?  Fill in the Rafflecopter form below, that's it!

Important stuff: this giveaway will run until midnight, April 20th, 2014.  The winner will have 48 hours to respond to my notifying email before I choose a new winner.

Adult's Neon ring set

a Rafflecopter giveaway