The Magical Master Key

It's a little early too be thinking about Christmas, I know, but a year-long search came to a whizz-pop-BANG end yesterday when I went to a local monthly market and found this treasure - Father Christmas' magical master key that can open any door in the whole wide world!  No, really, it can - all the others are imposters!  (I also bought five others.  One will definitely be tasked with opening all the doors in Australia.  The other four may have more local responsibilities!)

Christmas is such a special time of year and I really want T-Lo to feel the magic. This is in no way meant to diminish the true meaning of the occasion.  Of course not.  But I also believe that children should be encouraged and allowed to be... children.

I remember as a child how "Tinkerbell" used to check up on my sister and I during the year, leaving little trails of silver fairy glitter around the house.  We heard tales of naughty children only being given rusty old tin cans full of stones for Christmas.  I remember receiving a phone call from one of Father Christmas' elves... who strangely sounded very much like Mom speaking in a funny voice... but I could never prove it!  And, yes, there were the obligatory cookies and glass of milk (or beer if one of our uncles was with us) on Christmas eve.  We went to bed early, VERY early on Christmas eve and I remember trying to stay awake so that I might catch a glimpse of the fat old man in red pyjamas and a long white beard who, miraculously, could squeeze down chimneys AND climb back up them again...  The most I achieved was staying awake long enough to hear the wrapping paper rustle, and promptly fell asleep.

The point is, Christmas was never just a 'thing' that happened at the end of the year.  As it should be, it was like a silk thread that was woven through the year.  By the time it eventually arrived, the atmosphere was electric.  The mystery, the majesty.  That's what I want to pass on!

Special Packaging for Five Special Little Girls

I recently completed a commission for Loola Lay – four dresses and a shrug for five special and much loved granddaughters.  Gran was quite specific about some of the details she wanted, some of which deviated from what I normally do – in a good way, I hasten to add!  It was such a pleasure making the garments and it seemed appropriate to do something a little different for the packaging...

Jasmine, Charis, Gabriella, Emma and Elise, I hope you have fun wearing your garments!

Imagine...

... a place where you can feel as tall as the sky is high because you can touch all the colours of the rainbow, lose yourself for hours on end, experience textures aplenty and very quickly plump up your credit card balance.  Well, imagine no more!  Places like this do exist.

One of my favourite shops when I'm home is Waste Centre Fabrics in Durban, Umgeni Road.  I've been to so many fabric shops where I can go in and spend hours trying to decide what to buy because it's a case of choosing the best from a disappointing selection.  With Waste Centre, and this branch in particular, it's quite possible to go in at sunrise and emerge at sunset because there is just so much to choose from.  Sadly, funds are finite and I can't buy everything... well, I could if someone were to sponsor me.  I'd be quite up for the challenge!  Thank you Jackie (Branch Manager) and the Team.

Out of the Blue Surprise!

What a fantastic surprise to come back to after being in South Africa for three weeks. Good thing I wasn't at the market on that day.  I'm too short and would never have been able to drape myself over the bar like Penny!  Thank you Pen and Min.

Nature-inspired Market Stall

Nature truly is an inspiration.  It wasn't difficult to come up with a plan for my market stall display. It all started WHEN...

One of our lovely neighbours, Chris, decided to evict his bay tree.  I happened to be walking past once the eviction had taken place and he flippantly asked me whether I'd like the tree trunk which he was about to throw into the refuse dump...  

As it happened and around about the same time, one of our other lovely neighbours, Karen, decided that she too wanted to evict a bay tree or two, so I also snapped these up.  

With all the heavy winds at the beginning of the year, there is plenty of wood around... a worthy source for a base or two or three.

Put all of these together, add the-one-I-love with his woodwork tools and it all came together very nicely!  

Pickled Shallots

It always happens.  I grow shallots, I harvest them and leave them to dry out. I forget about them and find them the next year when they're only good for the refuse dump and the cycle starts again.  This year I'm working smarter!

Having cleaned, cut and peeled the shallots (this seemed to take forever, particularly as I was having to look through waterfalls of tears pouring out of my eyes - these little guys are warriors at heart...), the pickling process could begin - see the recipe on my Make It So page.  It was really easy.  Apart from prepping the shallots, the hardest part was waiting for a week before I could sample them.

I made a loaf of slightly sweet, slightly bitter Malthouse bread for the shallots to snuggle into on a layer of cheddar.  Delicious!

Baby Ace Shower

So... a baby shower gift.  Sounds easy but because I prefer to make the gifts I give, I like to look for something a little different.  Searching high and low, long and hard, my search was finally rewarded by a quirky find. 

This project was wholeheartedly inspired by the framed picture on whattoexpect.com.  Pure genius!  Simple, amusing, memorable.  I decided to put my own twist on it and created it as a book out of felt, gingham and linen. 

I didn't want this to be a gift with a clean finish where everything was symmetrical and smooth.  I love textures, the rustic look of fraying linen and the contrast of the cold, hard safety pins against the padded pages. 

As gifts go, it's not the most functional... unless there is an emergency and someone needs a safety pin... but I had fun making it and Baby makes three.  

Congratulations Dad and Mom and welcome Little Ace!

loola lay is Born!



 

Well, loola lay is about 18 months old but it only really feels like I'm getting going now what with joining the 21st Century - signing up to twitter: @loolalaykids, creating a facebook page /loolalaykids, having a business (sort of) and marketing plan (thanks Fi, marketing guru who enjoys using hilarious words like 'mumprenuer'!) and trying to fill my diary with markets.

 

This has been a long time coming.  I've always wanted to work for myself but I reached a point about three years ago when I was fed up with the thankless job I was in. So I started taking stock.  It was more of a dimmer switch than a light bulb moment that I had i.e. my thoughts had been lurking for a while and then one day the switch was turned to full and that little bulb in my brain was shining away. 

 

And the name?  That has been in my head for about a decade.  It was inspired by the sweet words of my babbling, almost two-year-old niece. Who knows what Delphine was saying but it sounded important at the time and it super glued itself to my brain!

 

I know that little A-line dresses are nothing new, neither is the concept of reversible clothing.  The difference comes down to detail and personality through the choice of fabrics, the colours, the combinations, the textures.  Every dress is different because they're all lovingly handmade, locally.  I do it because I enjoy it.  

 

Long may it last! 

p.s. those stick coat hangers have come in very handy...

T-Lo Turns One

What can I say, after uShaka Marine World there was only ever going to be a sea-themed first birthday cake! 

With a little help from YouTube and then leaping into the deep end, it was actually a lot of fun.  And the ladies at the confectionery shop... don't let them convince you that you'll need 5kgs of icing when you only need 1kg!!  And don't try to do a continuous wave around the cake as per your husband's suggestion because you may need to disguise the mishaps with blue bubbles...  (Deep breath!)

For once, my plan of action worked well and, surprisingly, it only took seven hours (over three days) from start to finish.  There were no reports of food poisoning post-party so it must have been okay.

Calm in the Storm

In a year that was fraught (or in South African: 'vrot', meaning rotten!) with turmoil, 2013 doesn't conjure up many images of peace and tranquility.   One shining beam piercing through all the chaos was my little boy.

As with all babies, I'm surprised he hasn't ended up with arc eye what with all the photos we've taken of him.  There are many that I love, but these two are part of a series that bring a little bit of calm to mind. 

Back in S.A. T-Lo (The Little One... well, hey!  J-Lo has already been taken!), his Aunty and I decided to treat ourselves to a day at uShaka Marine World in Durban.  The joy on T-Lo's face and his excited shrieks when he was watching the dolphins brought tears to my eyes.  And in the bowels of the sunken ship that looked out into the aquarium, his monologue directed at the Angel fish brought tears to everyone elses' eyes... because they were laughing so much.  

Watching him as he sat in the porthole looking at life underwater, he was so serene as he took it all in.  Now, in moments when Life hits me in the solar plexis and knocks the breath out of me, these are the images I think of when I'm trying to equalize.    

A Quilt for Cara

As a precursor to a bigger project I'm working on, I thought I'd try the basics of quilting on something smaller – I'm not a quilter and that kind of precision cutting is not something I have a leaning towards or relish.

Lucky for me, friends of ours were expecting a little girl and it seemed the perfect opportunity to have a go at a baby's quilt.  I'd accumulated a lot of fabric scraps which seemed destined for greater things .  (If anyone out there is thinking it's offensive to make a gift out of scraps, particularly for a baby, think again!  It in no way diminishes the love or care ploughed into the project.  Quite the opposite.  And I actually found it difficult parting with some of the scraps either because of their colour or design.)

In the end, this was a bit like starting a journey blindfolded and on foot, meandering through a big long tunnel and, somehow, coming out the other end on a Chopper with a flat tyre and no bell but travelling in the right lane i.e. knowing absolutely nothing about quilting, I achieved my goal and learnt a lot along the way.

Mini Cheesecakes

These were absolutely delicious, even if I must say so myself!  Made for my sister's farewell as she made the move back to South Africa, they were ideal as part of an afternoon tea.  Although a little fiddly, they were full of flavour and went down well. 

Dear Baby...

Made from an old pair of the One I Love's jeans, this was a relatively quick project, the result of which will hopefully last a long time.  Computers are lovely things (sort of) but there is something special about having a book on hand to capture those magical moments in writing! 

Hanging around

 

As with so many projects, this was inspired by a book.  I love the idea of turning found items into functional objects.  This humble coat hanger made, from a discarded stick and recycled ribbon, has been the seed for another idea that is a work in progress – my display for a market stall.  More about that later.

The Little Elf Hat Without Portfolio

With all that wool I begrudgingly unravelled (see my Make It So page), I decided to make something for the new addition to our family.  An elf hat – I was probably thinking Anne Geddes photo moment.  Anyway,  I found a really simple pattern to use as a starting point (www.irarott.com).

It seemed like such a good idea but, come the big day (of trying the hat on the baby... not the birth, obviously!)... the hat was too small.  I made one for a friend of mine for her newborn and his hat was also too small.

So the good news is that I can definitely make an elf hat.  The bad news is that I'm not so good guesstimating the sizes!  In the end the hat has been filed away for safe keeping and will no doubt end up in a charity shop.  Very disappointing because they're so cute!

Refuelling the Little Red Lorry!

A lovely friend of mine recently... very recently... okay, yesterday, told me that I needed to refuel the Little Red Lorry because I hadn't posted anything since 2012.  'How rude,' I thought, 'that can't be right.  She's been standing on her head in a yoga class for too long!'. 

Technically, it's true!  I was shocked... but then had to remind myself that the lapse in posts coincided with the arrival of my little boy, a couple of bereavements and a whole lot going on in between and on either side.  Having said that, I haven't stopped making and have a backlog of bits and bobs to post, some of them sitting snugly as drafts. 

Best I get cracking!