[ zoe ingram ]

had it's day

I've persisted with Typepad for quite sometime now but somehow it always frustrates me.

It's one of the better "off the shelf" blog tools out there don't get me wrong but for my needs it isn't doing it for me anymore. I don't have the time for a start to be writing mega long posts everytime and I somehow feel like it takes me a long time to log in create a new post sort out images write what I want to write....it just takes a long time. Ok, it's not that long but when you're busy it is.

I've decided to start using tumblr for my blog and hopefully my other website info too eventually.

Tumblr is great. I love the ease of posting and the options and possibilities within it. It just seems to be what I need right now. Simple. The best thing about tumblr is that it's free whereas typepad costs a bit every month.

This blog here will remain for a while yet but I won't be updating it from now on so change your bookmarks/links if you want to keep in touch.

Thanks Typepad, you've been great but it's time to move on.

I forgot that sewing is fun

I'm amazed at myself. I started cutting out and sewing the baby sling the other night and actually finished it the same night and even got the rest of my placemats cut out and finished one of them too! 

The baby sling works a treat. We gave it a test run at the beach the other day and it was so good. Hands free to do other things...no strain on my back. Brilliant. 

Yesterday...

we had a little jaunt along to Glenelg. It's not too far away...maybe about a 5-10 minute drive.

It was bustling. Everyone getting in the mood for the upcoming Australia day celebrations. I love it there, the atmosphere is buzzing. And so much to see and do.

It's a shame that daughter number 1 decided to disgrace herself by having a full on hissy fit in the middle of Jetty Road.

Anyway, back to the story. Yeah we were going to have a lovely stroll along the beach but the problem is that pushchairs and sand just don't mix.

So. how to solve this problem? because everytime we want to go for a walk along the beach we can't all go because Poppy is too heavy to carry. She can't walk that well yet and pushing the buggy along the sand is a big no no.

So, inspired by Rosa's baby slings...I'm going to make a pouch so that she can sit comfortably on either mine or Mark's hip without our arms losing all feeling. Then we'll ALL be able to go walking along the beach.

I made one ages ago for for a friend who had a baby so I shall do it again. This time for my baby.

Place Mat Pockets. Done.

 
 
 

A spotta Lotta

Lexie was "washing my hair" at the "hairdressers" last night and she was passing me "magazines" to read as I lay there on the sofa having my hair washed. One of the books she passed to me was "Simple Sewing" by Lotta Jansdotter which I haven't looked through in such a long time. In fact I haven't looked through any of my books in such a long time.

 

So, once the "salon" was closed for the night and the hairdresser was fast asleep in bed, I got a handful of my favourites and began to flick through them.

 

I've been thinking of doing a little project. Something easy to get back into the swing of things. It's been over 6 months since I made anything. So I thought the placemats, coasters and napkins would be a good start.

  

I like the pocket on the front so I'll incorporate that but I'll probably adapt her pattern slightly as I'd prefer a back to the placemats. I have tonnes of linen so I can use that for the backs and I've been sifting through my fabric stash for the fronts.

I better dust down my sewing machine...it's about to be put to good use again. 

bedroom bunting

We received some beautiful gifts from AL just the other day.

 

Poppy has one the same except it has Poppy's name on it. They are beautiful. It's just annoying that we aren't allowed to pin anything on the walls. It looks good on the end of the bed though. I haven't taken any shots of Poppy's yet. Her room still needs a bit of a sorting out and I'm not sure where to put hers yet. I may pin it to her cot from one end to the other.

Lexie also has her soft house painting  by Natascha at the top of her bed there see. I love that house. It's a shame we can't put things up on the walls. I have a ton of pictures that I want to put up but I'd get my wrists slapped if I did.

birthday flower

had a very busy week this week and I got a red flower from AL for my birthday.

A Cath Kidston Christmas

Look what just fell through the letterbox at my house.

I'm particularly in love with these birdie tree decorations...

These candles...

There's even a recipe for mince pies...

Makes 12 mince pies

Ingredients

1 pack of puff pastry (can be pre-rolled)
450g/1lb mincemeat
1 egg beaten with a pinch of salt
55g/2oz caster sugar
60ml/2floz milk

You'll need a 7.5cm/3 inch pastry cutter and two oven proof cake trays (muffin tray or similar)

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6.
2. Roll out the pastry until it is 2mm thick
3. Using the pastry cutter stamp out as many rounds as possible from the pastry (roughly 24). Ensure you have equal amount for lids and bases of the pies. Then place one piece (the base) of each pie into your cake trays.
4. Place a tea-spoonful of mincemeat on each of the base rounds in the cake tray, brush the edges with egg wash and place the other half (the lids) on the top of each pie.
5. Seal the edges of the pies, brush them with egg wash and sprinkle with caster sugar.
6. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden brown and cool or serve warm with cream and some mulled wine.

I'm definitely going to give these a go!


The christmas crackers look so cute...


and a competition...sew your own Christmas Stocking...

There's a downloadable pattern and if you enter the competition and win you could be the proud owner of a new Sewing basket, needle case, pin cushion, button tin, pin tin with pins, thread tin with threads and a mini travel sewing kit. A prize worth £75 can't be all bad for having a go at making a Christmas Stocking. The competition closes 17/12/08.

A belated gift

It was AL's birthday a few weeks ago but we've all been so busy recently that we hadn't managed to see each other until yesterday.

She has been bitten by the knitting bug recently and so she's busily knitting like mad.

I had the idea of making her a knitting needle roll to house all her newly acquired equipment so I used this tutorial.

I tweaked the pattern so that it has only one lot of pockets rather than having 3 in a tiered style. I'm so proud of myself that I made it and now I'm tempted to make a new one for myself as the one I have was shop bought and the fabric looks a bit, well, shop bought if you know what I mean. It's not what I would have chosen for my own  needle roll put it that way. But it was the only one they had in the shop at the time and it was before I knew I could turn my hand to a bit of sewing.

So without further ado, here it is...

I forgot (as usual) to take some shots of the needle roll after I made it. I finished it late at night one night and then forgot to take some shots, wrapped it up and so I had to wait until she opened her it to take more pics.

I used 2 of my most favourite fabrics from my stash. I've been hoarding these fabrics for a long time always wondering what to use them for and this just seemed to be the right time and for the right purpose.

She also got some new knitting goodies inside, sparkly needles, stitch counters, bias binding maker and blunt ended sewing needles.

We had a load more fun yesterday at the Science Museum in Glasgow but I'll tell all about that another day.

I've been buying a few things

The cutest, tiniest little alphabet & number stamps from Leslie...they really are tiny.

The sweetest book full of knits for babies - oh yes, the baby stuff has started already.

A bias binding maker - need to figure this one out but it looks pretty easy.

Some bargain sketchbooks - I'm looking forward to drawing in these.