Baby Gourmet Samples

I picked up a package last week and was very excited to find Baby Gourmet Samples. They are a Canadian Company out of Alberta who had contacted me about testing out some samples. Or more specifically Audra testing out some samples, as they are an all natural baby food company, who have made it their mission to make all natural, organic baby purees.
The packaging is all bpa-free, with recyclable caps. The little pouch is a great way to store it. No jars to break or drop. I am excited to see if Audra likes the product. It resembles apple sauce, and comes in a whole bunch of different flavours and mixes. They have a few different stages, 1 for those just starting out, 2 for little eaters and 3 for those eating everything. You can apparently mix them with cereals, rice, yogurt, eat them as is. It will be interesting to see if Audra likes them.

First Daycare Craft

My heart just about burst last week when I picked up Audra and she came home with her first craft. The other kids coloured and glued their snowmen, I guess Audra scribbled a bit then banged the rest of the time with the crayons. But it's still her first little craft and it's hanging proudly on the fridge. (too bad the magnet holding it, isn't worthy of the first craft! lol)

Fabric High Chair

Another project for Audra-DONE! And another item off the ever increasing list, done! lol
I saw these fabric high chairs and never realized how great they would be, or convenient, until Audra started sitting and eating, and having to worry about what we were going to do with her when we went out. My parents also have a very old highchair, that doesn't have straps to keep her in. So this idea slowly moved to the top of the list. I love the monkey fabric. It's just too cute and too perfect for my little monkey.

The idea behind this is, the back wraps around the chair, Audra then sits in it, and the rest wraps around her, keeping her snug and secure and in place. I have seen these all over the net, homemade by jill made one, and gave the dimensions only, so I kinda went with that, and made up the rest as I went along. It's not perfect, but again, for not sewing a year yet, I think it's pretty good!
Can't wait to test it out.
And my little model can't wait to test it out either by the looks of it. I think she likes it!

Felt Heart Garland

Valentines is rapidly approaching and my poor window looked a little bare.
With all the shower decorations finished, it was time to switch decoration mode and start some valentines' day ones. I am not a huge fan of Feb 14th, but I love all the hearts and decorations and cards that go along with the hallmark holiday!
I am making Audra some postcards, so eventually when we play mail she will have some mail to deliver.
Her new (used) playhouse has a door with a mail slot, and it's so cute and perfect for some felt mail and fabric postcards!

That is Audra's new Rose Petal Cottage. It's a big fabric house, that splits into 2 halves, which is one reason I wanted to get this particular version. I found it on Kijiji for cheap, so even though the house is a little old for her, it will come in handy down the line. I think we will take one side of the house down, and the other half can go against a wall for now. It even came with a little stove. There are many accessories that go with it, and I am pretty sure I've seen some at Winners. Yay!

Shower decorations

My bestest friend is getting married, and the date is rapidly approaching. (Time seems to keep speeding up for some reason!). We had a bridal shower for her last week and I, of course made a bunch of decorations.
I made her a fabric flower corsage, because every bride needs to have one!

I love how the paper globes turned out. Jamie helped me make them, I won't lie, I just didn't have the patience for all the paper folding. The two of them together looked fantastic.
I also made a little fabric banner to hang in between of the globes.

And no shower would be complete with a towel cake. It being a bridal shower, I thought some new kitchen towels would be appropriate. I found the little bride and groom rubber ducks and couldn't resist! All placed on a cutting board, because you can never have enough, and I think it looked good.
And I had to try making the pompom flowers out of tissue paper, because they looked really easy and so effective.
They were definitely easy to make, a little time consuming, as you have to be careful when pulling them apart and separating all the tissue, but so worth it in the end. I really liked how they turned out. I actually used some craft/flower wire and made the end a bit longer, so it perfect for hanging.

Being Sick (and lack of posts!)

For almost a month and half now, Audra and I have been passing this cold back and forth. It seems one of us is sick and has a running nose. It is beyond frustrating at this point. We see the doctor next week for a weight check for the little miss, and I am going to ask her to give us both something. Clearly whatever I am doing is NOT working. And I think, we are both sick of being sick!

At least we are trying to keep smiles on our faces, and keep warm! lol.

Fabric Corkboards

There hasn't been much crafting going on this week. I did pick up my knitting needles briefly. But being sick has really kicked my butt this week. It's not even the whole work thing! lol.
I did manage to make a few little corkboards. The material that is on them, is this funky pattern I found the last time out fabric shopping. I wasn't too sure what I wanted to do with the material, but knew I may want to display it. It has sewing notions and designs all over it, so perfect for my sewing corner.
Just stapled the fabric onto some cork, and then the three got hung on the wall. Perfect for notes and inspiration!

Mug Rugs

I just love saying "mug rugs".
They are popping up everywhere on blogs. There are small rugs, large rugs, quilted, sewn, you name it. What exactly is mug rug? It is somewhere to put that cup of coffee and a wee snack, a little cookie to go with that drink.
I couldn't resist, as there is usually a cup of coffee or tea close by. And instead of the cookie, I have my mug and a cup of water. Both fit beautifully. It's not like we have wonderful tables to protect, and worry about water stains and rings, but it makes drinking just a little fun.


This one in reds is the bigger of the two. It was quilted together, and I used a fancy swirly stitch.

The black and red is made with leftover material, passed down from my Momma. (She unloaded a few bags of felt and fabric, love!) It is a little smaller, but both fit two mugs or cups, no problem!

This Week

Well, the party is officially over. Back to work. Bye bye mat leave. It was fun while it lasted.
Definitely weird to be gone and out of the house before 8am, and not totting a little person with me. Weird to be back in work clothes and very surreal to put an apron on at some point. But all the extra caffeine at my disposal, mmm...that I have missed.

This week will be all about getting back into the swing of things. I came home to dinner almost ready, which is a nice change. I have been cooking for Jamie and Audra the past year, and I loved it. I kinda forgot what it was like to share the cooking.

Playing with Audra, spending some time with Jamie, work, cooking, cleaning, planning and some sewing and knitting are all on the list for this week.

{the menu}

monday: perogies and green beans
tuesday: chilli and homemade cornbread
wednesday: beef stroganoff
thursday: tortiere and sweet potato fries
friday: by this point, we will have lots of leftovers
saturday: fish and chips
sunday: roast beast

{the goals}
to be in bed earlier
not bring work home (til at least next week!)
more H2O
pick up the knitting needles

{the projects}
finish fabric high chair
dishcloth
finish knit giraffe
pompom flowers
paper globes

namaste

Sewing Machine Cover

Something that has been on my list for awhile now. The boring, white flimsy plastic cover that came with my sewing machine just had to go. I have seen so many different tutorials, but none really struck my fancy. I thought, it has to be easy enough.
A pretty vintage pillowcase, cut then sewn back up, worked perfectly. I added ribbon ties, for closing up both sides, and it works really well.
I was so happy with it, until I went and bought fabric recently. I found this great funky, bright fabirc that has sewing notations all over it, machines and needles, and it would have been a perfect cover. Maybe I will make another one. Everyone loves a good outfit or two, even my sewing machine. lol.

Fabric Camera Case

I wanted something small to toss my camera into, when it inetiviably gets tossed into my purse. Our camera case is large and bulky. This little fabric one I made helps solve that problem. I started out trying a tutorial, but it didn't work out so I just made it up as I went along. I wanted a velcro close and that was the only real requirement. It is by no means perfect, but turned out ok.

End of 2010 at a glance

Christmas has come and gone and I was a bit of a slacker over the holidays. Just trying to soak up as much time as I could with Audra and Jamie as I could. Two more days til I am back to work. Boo urns. But it's time. I have been fortunate to have way more then a year and technically I could have gone back to work December 24th, right after Audra's birthday, so I can't complain. It's been a fantastic year.

There were some great naps, for both Audra and I. With neither of us feeling well into the new year, we spent some time taking it easy and trying to get better. There is not much you can do for a one year old who is sick, except lots of sneak attacks with the kleenex, lots of cuddles and hugs (my favourite) and putting on the cold mist humidifier at naps and night time.

I posted some pic's of her birthday party, which was great. We had fun, I know Audra had fun and I am sure our guests had fun as well. So many great new gifts and clothes. There was definitely lots of organizing going on after her birthday and Christmas!

Her actual birthday was nice. We hung out as a family, did some more gifts and tried to capture the moment, but it didn't work so well. Note to self, we need to get a clock that isn't digital so the camera will actually take a picture of the clock time! lol.
The time on the clock does say 10:13am, birthday time. Too bad you can't see the numbers!
Birthday girl and Dad. The bib worked well. It was a little big but tied a little in the back worked perfectly. It will be a useful and still fitting item next birthday. Thanks to Aunt Linda for getting it.
A few more presents for the spoiled girl! She didn't eat too much paper throughout the whole process. It was funny that she put it in her mouth as I snapped this picture. The cute little pink shoes (which I heart!) are from Aunt Kat. Aren't they adorable?! Audra was opening a little silver cup from her Daddy. We both have the traditional Sterling silver baby cup with our name and date, and Jamie thought it fitting since we didn't have one for Audra, that he should get her one. It is engraved and very sweet.

CHRISTMAS:
Where do I even begin? Lots of great times with all of our loved ones. We spend Christmas Eve at the Millers doing the traditional Polish christmas. Lots of wonderful food, generally a meatless meal so we have fish, with perogies and beet soup, mmmm. Always a great time being with my family.
Christmas morning we opened presents with Audra at home. She wasn't overly impressed. After the first present she lost interest. Which is fine. It was still fun. Even Gwen got into the action and opened her presents!

We spent the rest of Christmas Day up in St Williams with Grampa Jim and Gramma Sue. Always a great time, and Jim cooked up a wonderful turkey feast for us!

Boxing Day we spent at Trish and Dan's. A great brunch with Gramma and Great Gram. More presents, a cute girl in a little Santa velour suit and a great dinner with the rest of the family.


Well I am tired after looking at all those pic's. It was a long week or so, but every moment was definitely enjoyed. Next year I won't have all that time! But it was a great holiday. Jamie had some time off after really hustling at the beginning of the month, so it was nice to have him home.
A long post I know, but there may not be too many more long ones after this. I, of course, will still be posting, but I won't have the ample time that I have had this past year. All good things must come to an end. lol. Back to the grind on Monday. Double boo urns. But what can you do? Need to make some money, pay off some bills and save for the next mat leave. (no, it's not soon, but would like to start saving now!)

namaste

Hello New Year

Well hello 2011. You sure snuck up on us! It feels like it was summer just yesterday. (well the weather definitely felt fallish, with no snow and high temp, but sadly summer was a long time ago)
Another January, full of hope and promise. A new year, a new date book that it totally empty, just waiting to be filled up. Lots of firsts with Audra that are still to come. The dreaded back to work date looming, just so close now. Christmas was crazy busy, as they usually are. Was great to spend time with family and friends. (will post all the the great christmas pictures soon). Being sick sucked large. It felt like there were so many things to get done and being sick stood in the way. I think I feel that way because it's crunch time. But the one resolve I made for this year, was to not regret. Life is too short. People make mistakes and life will never be perfect, so why focus on regrets? They don't help you. Look to the future, because whether you want to or not, it will become the present. How very zen of me right? lol.
I resolved this year to not make resolutions. Those ideas that make the new year exciting never seem to make it all the way to December, and leave you feeling bad when not all was accomplished. They are usually lofty goals and I'm not going to do that. Instead, a great big to-do list. With things to check off as I go along. I think to my list from last year and there were so many things that I did and got done. I stuck with some things, and others not. But no regrets right? Life will never be what you thought it was, but sometimes the end result is way better. I wouldn't trade my wonderful family, my great friends, the love in my life for anything. Of course there are things I want to change, who doesn't? But if nothing, the past year has taught me that I am a good mom, can handle what life throws me at. I am creative person, and I love being able to share that with people, and can't wait to create more. I will open my Etsy shop one of these days. Keep making Audra toys and eventually some clothes, eat more greens and try and be an inspiration to my daughter.
Well 2011, I think I am ready for you to be here. Treat us well!

namaste