Pondering Ponteuf

We interrupt this forced hiatus

with a little crafting show off.

I have been having serious trouble with my teeth this pregancy.In the past fifteen weeks I have had three root canals,two root infections and an extremely painful extraction from which I am still recovering!

Not fun and not the way I was hoping to spend my last pregnancy.Hopefully the worst is behind me and I can now concentrate on the fun part like limbs poking the belly and the excitment of our little ones impending arrival.

I did manage to finish a couple of projects throughout al of this.My first attempt at Amy butler's kimino pj's came out quite well.The instructions are well written and the pattern pieces were easy to trace.

I listened to others on the concerns of the pants being a small fit and added and extra 1/2 inch all around.We are going to be using cloth diapers from the start with this babe and I certainly don't want to make some outfits with my much hoarded stash only to have them not fit.That would be very upsetting!!

 When I started this I thought that seeing as the elephants were small that the purple would be unisex.

But once I added the solid purple linen (essex from robert kaufmann) it became clear that it was definately on the girly side.Papa made it pretty clear that he thought so too!!

So,if this babe isn't a girl and none of my still pregnant friends have girls.We will be having a very nice giveaway here on the blog:0) Stay tuned.

and here's a little bump pic to tide you over:0)

not very in focus and I look like I have been dragged through a bush backwards,but you get the idea!

I am about 23 weeks here.

I promise to get a more up to date one on here soon.

28 weeks this week!!!Arrgghhh

cheerio

Fall prince

Yesterday was a fun day.

Firstly I dropped off Isabella and Griffin at school and wandered into town to splurge on a celebratory cup of coffee.This is a treat for both myself and Oliver who has a penchant for the black and white cookies.He takes after his father that one.It was beautiful morning and we jumped at the chance to collect some leaves along the way.These were for a mobile that we(read:: I) want to make.I figured that it was probably one of the last days to collect some dry fallen leaves.Yup,I was right,today we woke up to rain,rain,rain.

As we were collecting the leaves I remembered a post that I had seen about making crowns out of fallen leaves.I can't for the life of me remember who it was,sorry.I must streamline my blog reading,it gets quite out of control somedays!!

So I plopped myself down there and then and made his crown.I did get some funny looks from passers by but Oliver was enthralled and that is what I cared about.

Voila.

Just look at that dirty face.It wasn't even 9am.A sure sign that a good day was in store.

The cheeky elf was lots of fun yesterday.

Those wonderful pants that he has on were made by the lovely Carie over at Jack Sprat .Aren't they just darling.

I have been trying my hand at some new crafts this week and boy am I having fun.I will share some pics of my first attempts once the babes hand them over.

Cheerio

Nursery school togs...

I just added these to the store.They have been in my head for a while but I have procrastinated in making them as I was a little nervous about doing a bib!!! Don't ask why,I have no idea where my silly fears come from!LOL
Anyway,what do you think?

Jack of all trades

God I am such a slacker!!! There I admit it.I have been seriously slacking in the blogging department lately.Sorry guys.My mum was away for two weeks so I knew that I could get away with it as she wouldn't be on my case for piccies (love ya mum!!)but she is back and I want her to experience the babes and our life the best she can being over 3,000 miles away.It is up to me to keep her in the loop and I don't want to let her down,again,I love you mum,I can't wait to see you.Thirteen days and counting!!!!!!
I do love all you guys that come along for the ride and leave me lovely comments too,I don't want anyone feeling left out now.I can't stand to hurt peoples feelings.
So before I tell more about our lovely camping trip,I wanted to share with you the most delightful time that I have been having trading with fellow etsy members.In a time with the economy being so blah,every penny that is spent must be thought about not once but even two or three times which is how I came up with the nerve to shoot Amanda from rowdy pea my cheeky email.I have been eying up her spectacular wares for quite some time now.They are the most wonderful creations that every nature table must experience.With summer well on the way and the table being more than bare with two measly pine cones,a bowl of acorns and my much treasured season switching trees .I decided to bite the bullet and send my cheeky request to Amanda.Imagine my delight when she promptly responded with a big yes.I got to work on her order of two pairs of shorts and I received my gift in the mail shortly thereafter.
They are simply adorable.

Close ups

So pop on over to Amanda's store and add a little something special to your nature table,you know that you want to!

I also traded a pair of of my Austrian mountain shorts for these gorgeous shirts with Carie from Jacksprat.Another wonderful Etsy member with great talent.I am hoping that she sees something else that she likes in my store as I have my eye on plenty of her lovely items! hint,hint!!LOL
Anyhoo,I will share more about our camping tomorrow as I am knackered from the memorial day festivities.But the babes did get to hang out with Papa which was an unexpected suprise.He was supposed to be at work.It was so nice to spend some time with him as he has been so busy the past few weeks.

Snuggling up to Papa

Yodel-ay-eeee-ooooooo

Firstly,thank you for all of your kind words yesterday,they all helped lift me up just that little bit higher and I am doing quite dandy right now:0)

With everything that was going on,the sewing machine gathered a little dust.At the weekend I started up the engines and gave a few ideas a test run.I try to use my travels for inspiration when coming up with ideas.France being my favorite place EVER,comes into play a lot.I also spent two winters in the Tyrolen mountains in Austria.This is where the idea for my new shorts came from.I tell you,Peter could have pulled Hiedi in a heart beat wearing these

It would have helped if mister 'O' kept them on long enough for pictures!!!
here's a better shot

Here is O looking for "wiwwelllls" (squirrels!) he stood still for a second,I nearly broke me neck as I bolted for the camera!!

And in two seconds flat,he had them off!!

These ones stayed on long enough for a quick game of croquet,you know,along with the afternoon tea that I serve at four o'clock sharp everyday!!

just a side note,steer clear of a two year old wielding a wooden mallet!! You have been warned.

After a quick diversion of playtime with good time charlie (A.K.A Papa)

The mallet was replaced with a rubber ball and Mummy has all her teeth in tact.....just!!!

But....he soon found it again and mummy ran off,left Papa to duck and weave and snuck some chocolate under the table in the kitchen

So what do you think??
Both are available instore now
gosh,it feels good to be back:0D

Toodle--ooo
x

Madness I tell you,madness!!!

Hello all:0)
I trust that you all had a fantastic weekend.We had papa home for the weekend so with good time charlie taking over the parenting reins for a few hours,I managed to get some more sewing done.yay.More about that later but first I have to share these pics of my nephew's second birthday party.Much fun was had at this place space and I loved it too as I got to sit for a while and chat .There were helpers to 'help' the babes so I grabbed the chance to sit while someone else played with my babes for a while.
There were plenty of ooohs and aahhhhs when the cupcakes were presented,which quickly changed to ARRRGGGHHHHS when my sister-in-laws sister,who made the cupcakes,declared that it 'only took a half bottle of food coloring to make the elmo red!!! Yes,you guessed it,she doesn't have kids!!! Note,madam 'I's white dress and mister 'O's delightful pale tunic.There was a stampede of parents as we all rushed to save our babes party outfits from a multitude of permanent red smears! Alas,my own shirt succumbed to the dreaded red in the rush,but hey,that's what we do as parents isn't it? sacrifice ourselves for our babes!LOL :0)
I promptly sidled over to the 'baker' and informed her of a lovely store in the city that sells clothes friendly food coloring!! Poor thing,she was bombarded with "you obviously don't have kids" comments!!
Jumping bean.

mesmerized by the balloons

G was so quick that I barely got any pics

he wasn't so fast at eating though!! Everyone ran off and left him merrily munching away.
Hey,slow and steady wins the race

And as for the Madness??
well that is what I called my new pants as the first thing that sprang to mind when I put them on little 'O' was this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJOLwy7un3U
You'll be humming that one for a while:0)
The great thing about these is that both my boys can wear the same pair.Talk about easy on the wallet.
don't you just love those rock on cuffs?
Pants on 'O'

boardies on G

Pants on 'G'

Talk about versatile!
These are made in a great antique 'dirty' denim but I made some in linen for the spring too.''O' wouldn't 'share' them with 'G' for pics though!!!

Available instore now

Mum,this one is for you

She loves it BTW:0)
Okey-doke,
cheerio

Moving on..

I have plucked up the courage to try something new on my machine.A blouse,with gathering..du..du..durrrrrr!!
Arrrgghhh,I had the pattern cut out for a good week before I could bring myself to cut out the fabric,then a few days went by with it sitting by my machine ,staring at me!I would just look the other way but then a good friend had the baby that I had it in mind for.There was no turning back now! You see,this baby was a good four weeks early,I had figured that I had plenty of time to back out and make a good old,tried and true,receiving blanket or something but things happen.My dear friend lost her father unexpectedly a week before,then there were complications with the pregnancy and miss Ava was delivered into the world.She is doing well.I am so happy that they have this joy in their life at a time where much sadness has been experienced.So,I said to myself,don't be a cop out.Put your whole heart into it.Give it a go.Don't be afraid of it anymore,what are you going to do,make simple things forever,that's no fun!! So,armed with lots of chocolate,wine and band-aids (I am a clumsy clown when it comes to pins,and boy this needed A LOT of pins!!) I got to work.An hour and a half later,I emerged from the basement with this

Yes,that sleeve on the left is ever so slightly bigger than the one on the right but that is because this was my first time ever with gathering and I became slightly frustrated and pulled a little too hard and broke some of the thread.I thought that I had fixed it but obviously not!
It is only noticeable when it is dangling in the air for pics though:0)

And these buttons are vintage,I was ecstatic to find that they came in various sizes.I bought a gigantic bag at a church fair a while ago and I still hadn't managed to go through them all.This was the perfect time.Boy,there are some stunners in there!!

So what do you think?
I can't wait to give it to the little peanut,more importantly,I can't wait to meet her.I just hope that I don't get broody!!!
Cheerio

Why I love I-photo...

You can erase your wrinkles!!!
Yay!! I am 21 forever!!

I also put these in the shop. I was being lazy about taking photos but I finally got around to doing it when I was given five minutes peace (yeah right,more like two nano seconds!!!)

I love the little wooden heart buttons.I went to get more yesterday but they had sold out:0(

I made a blouse for a friends baby last night and I will add pictures to the post later hopefully.If not,then I will share tomorrow.
Cheerio

What a week...

Sorry for my absence again,I don't make a habit of this,I really don't.It's just that after the excitement at the start of the week,I finally slowed down and realized that...

MY LAST BABY IS NO LONGER A BABY!!

Now those who know me well,know that change and I don't go well together!!I have a terrible time coping and I generally just retreat into my shell until I have weathered the storm!
I always wanted to have four children,that was my idea.But as I look around at my babes and see the groove that we have finally managed to get ourselves into to,we do well,we really do.We have our bumps in the road but we hold on tight and get through them together.We are good.Still,that being said,as a woman,there is a certain amount of grieving that comes with 'shutting up shop' and I think that is where I was last week along with the realization that I no longer have a baby in the house.
Anyway,enough sop.
Sewing has become very calming to me so I just holed myself up in the basement this weekend and came up with these

I have no idea why I was so afraid of my buttonhole foot!!

I am going to put them in the shop
later,along with another pair that I made.
I will do the draw at naptime today,as I said,thing went on the backburner last week and I have quite a few names to write on paper before the draw!!
I will announce it first thing tomorrow,yippee
Cheerio x

For the wee bairn..

Firstly,thank you for all of your very kind and encouraging comments on my shop.It made my day to know that so many of you liked my creations.There is all week to enter the give away,just make sure that you post on that post:0)
I know that I have already posted today but I just couldn't WAIT to share this!
Anyhoo,I was sorting through madam 'I's old baby clothes and I came across the sweetest little pair of bloomers.Instantly I started to think how I could make something like it. Of course,with my favorite,ticking stripe!!
Anyway after about an hour and a half,I came up with this

As soon as I had finished,I was wishing for a newborn to put it on.Then reality took ahold of my shoulders and shook them until my teeth fell out!!Babies don't sleep!!I am indebted about five years as it is,no need to add anymore to it!!
Ah well,hopefully some wee bairn will get to wear it.
Of course,it went straight in the shop.This is addictive,my mind is swirling with new ideas.I think that I am goingto have to go and have a large glass of red wine to knock me out or I am going
to be a right grumpy bugger tomorrow!!
cheerio