Games

As you can imagine after yesterday, we are all a bit over ourselves and lying around today taking it easy. Alexander has been playing with his new things - pouring over science books but he pulled out this great game that will surely be a favourite. It is called Labyrinth and is a board game by Ravensburger. Essentially it is a strategy game where you need to collect treasure in the maze - but the maze moves each turn. Some pieces are fixed which makes it extra tricky. We played it with 2 of us, but you can play up to four.

There is no reading required so I think the twins could also play - but it does take strategy and the ability to see patterns and paths - both for where you want to go and where you want to stop your opponent from going. This is the kind of game anyone can win - and it does make it hard to cheat to let the kids win, which I think is a good thing too. Highly recommend.

Dalesford - Lark

I escaped for a relaxing weekend with a group of Mum's from Alexander's prep class. I was apprehensive as I didn't know the ones going very well, but of course it was all fine and actually enjoyable. (I sound surprised!)

I had absolutely nothing to do with the organisation, and to give away control is always difficult for me. I am not your go with the flow kind of girl - but I managed. We stayed at the Lark House and dined at Mercato (truly delicious) followed up by a relaxing session at Peppers. An extravagant weekend, so rather than skite I thought I would share some of the quirks and clever ideas at Lark House.

Pillows on my bed. The iron marks are not visible - just the enormous flash of this darn camera. I love the calico with the badges.
Wall paper birds flying over my bed. Can't say I am a bird fan but the concept is good.
The window treatment in my room. The room is cold so it was well worth the added insulation. See the rivets at the top. Clever idea.
In the back room - or retreat, is a table with these vintage cotton reels wrapped with ric-rac. Very cute.
Crochet rugs set up as art work. These are over the beds in the back room and give the room that splash of colour it needs.
This is the sewing room. This wasn't a crafting, or at all crafty group. I was sent out to have a look. I love the pressed metal walls with the chandelier. My mum and dad have one like this in their bedroom.
This lovely old unit is in the sewing room, with the drawers all labelled. What I couldn't believe was all the stuff left in there. This drawer is full of ribbons with another full of ric-rac. Not stuff I would be leaving around...
Finally the back bathroom. This is a big room with little storage. It has a massive shower head mounted in the ceiling which is lovely to get your whole body wet. The toilets are in the bathrooms which can be a bit of a bother when you are sharing, but that is beside the point. I liked this little unit. Looks like a school locker and I liked the juxtaposition by putting it in an uber stylish, minimalist bathroom.

If you would like to see more - like the lurid wallpaper mash up, have a look at their site linked above.

Brainstorming

This week, well actually for slightly longer, the kids have been obsessed with a Disney show called Imagination Movers. Essentially they are a younger version of the Wiggles, with a slightly older audience and music set in the 80's rather than the 60's. It is actually quite an enjoyable show, with the concept being they are problem solvers - sorry, there are no problems - just Idea Emergencies!

They are a band, and the kids love that - the drummer/main singer uses his drum sticks as scribble sticks to document their problem solving in the air. Of course they really wanted scribble sticks that could write in the air - but I thought these pencils were a pretty good alternative. They agree.

Lost & Found

Anyone who knows me know that I am never on time, mainly because I always get lost. Seriously, always. Firstly I get my left and right mixed up and my navigational skills are even worse at night because I drive by landmarks - sadly usually shops, 7-11's and McDonalds. So, with these disabilities in mind it is a wonder I can get anywhere!

I had an incident driving to knitting the other week when I not only had a flat mobile (to ring anyone there who could direct me via landmarks and sides of the car) but also no melways (BJ had taken to carrying it around). Lost with no idea even which direction the city was or any idea what road I was on, in desparation I pulled into the 7-11. I didn't know but they have melways there for you to look at. I think he would be surprised to know I did actually get to my destination, especially after I had not only turned the book around but had to ask what road we were on.

This brief life history is leading somewhere - for my birthday mum got me a melways with this uber-handy cover. The book of Everywhere is what Alexander named our street directory, so a bit of family humour there. The book is covered in plastic and inside.... is complete with sticky notes, a notepad, pen and bookmark with a little torch tied to it.

I have studied it thoroughly and plotted the best path to some of my most common destinations - yes you girls are all there!!!!

On a different note - just had to show you something else cool that was another birthday gift. I lvoe babushka dolls and these are drinking glasses in the theme.

Arent they cute?

Spoilt

This is one of the beautiful thoughtful lovely pressies I was spoilt with. My dear friend Robyn, who is not by definition a sewer. A big and somewhat ballsey effort to make this fabulous bag for my birthday. I believe it to be Amy Butler fabric and pattern which I L O V E!

The bag is reversible, but not only that, when I got it it was filled with more goodies- a tea towel and a knitted dishcloth.

So, not only do I love it - and have had lovely comments when I have taken it places, it has also reignited my love of handcraft. I try to make things, but am never quite sure if they are enough, or will be appreciated by the recipient. Getting this, I really appreciated all the effort that went into it - from picking the fabric (without me knowing!) to choosing the button that just makes that brooch pop. The time and effort that is put into making a gift is so much more, because the recipient cant just take it back, and you really are putting yourself on the line. For all of those reasons I love it even more. It reaffirmed that the thought and effort that you put into something really is appreciated - because that is what I felt. Thank you so much Robyn (& Gill). Sorry I make secret squirrel projects so much more complicated!

ring ring

I am certainly no hand model but this is a little ring that I have taken to. It is not expensive and looks like a thimble - because that is exactly what it is. The concept is that you can work with it on the part of the finger that you use - and it is a really good at that job. However I think it is a cute and quirky little ring!(Cant find who makes it- think it is clover or shamrock)

Cool Stuff - Cards

How cute are these cards? I am not normally big on cards, usually we make our own but I found this great little shop in Carnegie called "Little Shop Of" which is all handmade stuff from local artists and I couldn't go home without these.
You may not be able to see in the photo, but the faces and the boys ball and record are all badges. The cards are only little - 10.5x7.5cm but I really love the cool boys cards and they are blank inside. Here is the link for the makers etsy shop - Enjoy.

Cool stuff - Lego by ME

How cool is this - you can design your own LEGO!!! A friend of mine (a true grown up Lego-head) told me about this. I have not tried it but he tells me it is the coolest thing ever. You download the software and get access to EVERY PIECE OF Lego. You design your product and it is boxed and packaged especially for you. Plus if the powers at be at Lego like your design they may even put it into production.
Read more about it here or download and start working directly for Lego Here...

Great New Book - for young Boys!

This is a great new book in our collection - Jackson's footy. It is a hardcover book with beautiful colour illustrations. What is really nice about it is the content - about a boys love for his football which is very Australian but also lovely to have a book really targeted to boys.

As parents, we are actually not that into footy, the Big Squirrel doesn't have a team and I follow one which I have lumped onto the boys whether they like it or not, and they will continue to suffer because of it! We do do Auskick and while Alexander could take it or leave it, Benji and Spencer breathe the stuff. We have been carting a football around with us last winter, and I am sure it wont be long until it is a constant in the backpack again. This book is very relevant to us!

Fundamentally it is aged at preschool children and is a nice picture book with a very basic story. Having said that, its use of common words made it a good read for Alexander who at six managed it quite well. Hopefully he can read it over and over and over to the twins!

Not sure if it is in the stores yet but you can buy it here - they also do Made in Melbourne.

cool stuff - book

This book is hard to see (and even harder to work out) but very cool. It is called Flatness folded - a collection of 23 contemporary chinese garments.

The book basically talks about the utalitarian style of dress and exploring the chinese style. Miranda Tsui the designer has essays and then visual to explore the designs. This is one of my favourites that I plan to make for myself.

Each design starts with the model wearing the garment in their usual life - this is about the pants shown on a messenger boy.

Here is a shot of the actual pants which you can see have a shirt over pants.

Finally you get the detail shot of the front and back. The skirt is only over the front and the back looks like harem style pants. There are some generic measurements to help if you wanted to make it, but there is a lot of 'making' that has to happen in your head. This is as deep as the instructions go, and there are some garments that are twisted and folded and flipped that trying to work out how they are constructed gives me a head ache but it is definately a challenge and one I want to tackle this year.

cool stuff - chopsticks

How cute are these! I know they look like really long pegs but infact they are chopsticks - and the peg is that little bit extra help, especially for the kids learning to use them. I should get another one for the big squirrel who always asks for cutlery at Asian restaurants. Maybe the kids showing him up will be inspiration to learn! Where are they from? I will need to find out details as Mr P brought them back from Chicago.

Cool stuff - another book

This is a great little book - its not even mine, although it has had a nice long holiday here. This is full of inspiring ideas, complete with web links. Here are a few of my favourites...

Funcky little flower broaches made from tape measures.....

Hair ties with computer key decoration. My hair could certainly do with some CTRL!

I love these - they are seat belt buckles mounted to the wall, and the clip bit may have your keys or other things you need to keep handy. This is one idea I definately want to do

Final one - an interesting idea - its called a war bowl, but could work with lots of different things. Full of great ideas, these are just a few that I grabbed pictures off before it went back to its home.

cool stuff - paper airplanes

Alexander got this great little paper airplane pack for his birthday and these little beauties really do fly - well! There are five different prints each of which come with instructions on how to fold them. The planes are actually quite wacky in design but fly much better than my usual ones. Not only do they fly better but they look much better too!

cool stuff - book

I am trying to not only post more regularly (!) but to also have a bit of a theme in my posts. Thus I have decided to show you something random that I think is cool - it may be a link, a product, a gift or an idea. Today its a book! This book was a Christmas present and is another beauty - and a bit of a laugh. It is called Show me How - 500 things you should know - Instructions for life from the everyday to the exotic.

The book is broken into sections such as make - where this page is from, making a tyre swing, pressing flowers and dying eggs (obviously my favorite section) as there is more below with balloon animals, papier mache balloons, potato prints and sugar crystals (which I must try)

Other sections like the style section have this page for identifying mens facial hair. BTW I don't get this whole moustache fettish going on in the crafty world, I would love it if someone could explain it to me...

This is from thrive- swimming strokes. Basically everything is in this from dicing a mango, to tying a windsor knot t how to run with the bulls in pamplona - should be a good reference book! I will have to have it in my bag when I need to 'freshen up with a bidet'!!

cool stuff - cooking

How cool are these? Babushka dolls which are actually measuring cups. The size is written at the bottom of each section - the biggest is 1 cup, there is 1/2 cup, 1/3, 1/4, etc. Not only are they useful but they look soooooo good. I leave them out on the bench and that way they never get lost in my draw!

cool stuff - fabric paint

This was just a weird photo that I wanted to share... and this one was them actually in some normal clothes - well 2 out of 3 aint bad on their way to a party.

And finally this cool stuff- Jo Sonja's Textile Medium.

As I said the other day I do have fabric paints - but they are packed up in the shed, so for the t-shirts the other day I used normal acrylic paint (not even Jo Sonjas) and mixed it with some of this stuff. I let it dry and then even threw it in the washing machine and it looked great. I gave away the tiger and the blue bike print. This is really great stuff and easy to work with and is much easier than my actual fabric paints. I got it at Spotlight ( a little while ago so I can't remember its price- sorry)

cool stuff - blocks

My brother, Mr P, together with a bit of help from Dad made this great box of blocks. The box is a toy box that our uncle made of us when we were kids and is on loan for the blocks. They are all mathematically worked out so that they should stack evenly, together with some extra additions such as long poles and round bits for a bit of decoration. I love that they are all natural wood and dont have a finish on them. Everybody loves having a play with them, and building them up is almost as much fun as

knocking them down!