Friday 25 May 2012

Made a play mat

Finally got round to making a play mat for my bubba, I bought the fabric before he was even born!!  I decided on Monday that if I didn't make it that day it wouldn't get made and he would end up too big for one so I worked on it that whole day and a bit of Tuesday.  Here is the finished result, sorry this photo isn't very good, I took it on my phone. 




And here he is enjoying it! 





It was easy to make, simple sew some shapes of fabric together then make a sort of pillow case with them, I then stuffed it with a piece of 1 inch thick wadding.  

Hope you have all had a fab week, have a great weekend!



Wednesday 16 May 2012

Button heart and earrings - New items in the shop

Finally I have recovered from my cold and feel like I have my mojo back, been rushing round like a whirling dervish today cleaning and tidying and cooking, my poor old hubby has the cold now and my little bubba is coughing up a storm.  So with my newly found energy I have gone into listing over drive, I have re-opened my Folksy shop and just added some more items to the shop and wanted to share them with you.



Not sure what has happened to the colours on my buttons heart, must have had the white balance on a funny setting, very blue!?  I am going to try and list some clothes tomorrow. 

P.S. I have a new phone!  I know not something I should boast about, but it is very exciting for me because I haven't had a new phone of my own in about 10 years.  Now I have the internet which is a revelation, and a working camera!  I know I sound soooo sad, but really this is the most exciting thing for me, I have aps galore now!  Including one to track my breastfeeding and nappy changes; what could be better?! Oh yes, angry birds!

Sunday 13 May 2012

Feeling poorly so just some photos

I have developed a rather nasty cold today which has totally knocked me for six.  I was feeling down in the dumps anyway with all the breast feeding and not having time to do all the housework and make crafts for the shop and now this cold, it feels like being kicked when I am down.  Thankfully the hubbo has been helping out round the house and he know what cheers me up when I am down, diamonds!  No not really (sadly too expensive) so it'll have to be a beautiful bunch of flowers.





Hope you have had a better weekend than me!

Tuesday 8 May 2012

Thoughts on Breastfeeding

Before I had a baby I was pretty opinionated about breastfeeding.  I thought that surely every woman can breastfeed her baby if she tries hard enough, it is nature, that is what your breasts are for after all.  As my friend said "Just put your tit in their mouth!"  I used to think that women who didn't or gave up on breastfeeding didn't persevere enough and imagine 300 years ago, the breast would have been the only option so the baby would have just had to get used to it.
Well 11 weeks into breastfeeding and I can tell you quiet categorically that breastfeeding is NOT easy, breastfeeding is HARD.
When Orren was first born he just wanted to sleep, he did not want to breastfeed at all.  I had to hand express milk and feed it to him on my finger, he was getting dehydrated and the next step would have been to express milk into a tiny syringe and feed him that way.  This really wasn't what I wanted so I kept on with trying to feed a half asleep baby and squeezing some out onto my finger and putting it into his mouth. Eventually (thankfully) he got the idea of feeding and I was discharged from the hospital with the view that breastfeeding was established.
Three days after Orren was born my milk "came in" and  it really did look like I had had breast implants, Jordan step over!  My breasts were so stretched that the skin on them was shiny.  And boy did they hurt. I had to go out and buy a new bra that next day.  After that I got dry nipples because, as  I am sure you can imagine, having wet nipples for a lot more of the day that you used to can take its toll.
Eventually I felt confident with the breastfeeding, and then of course comes the issue of breastfeeding in public, controversial in some forums.  My view was that everyone should breast feed in public, it wasn't a problem get your boobs out, that is what they are for, if someone stares and has a problem with it then that's their problem not yours. But then when I started actually doing it myself I didn't feel altogether comfortable about it, and it got me thinking; before I had a baby I didn't used to whip my boobs out for all and sundry, basically it was my husband, or on occasional my doctor who saw them, other than that it was just me and them in the shower etc.  All of these outings were in very private intimate situations so why then, after having a child would I suddenly feel comfortable getting them out in public?! It took a lot of practice and much fiddling before I felt comfortable doing it in public, and only then with a discreet breastfeeding top and a quiet corner.
The challenges that I have faced breastfeeding have been pretty small compared to those faced by some of my friends.  (I wept when my friend told me about expressing a tiny amount of milk one day and thinking that it would probably be the last breast milk her baby would have, then her baby kicked it over and it was gone.) However even the small challenges have felt incredibly overwhelming and they have totally changed my opinion of breastfeeding.  It isn't easy, it doesn't always come naturally and not everyone can do it.  A well meaning friend of mine couldn't understand why every woman couldn't breastfeed for the same reasons that I gave above and I said to her that you have to remember that 300 years ago there would have been someone else in the clan or village who could breastfeed and had plenty of milk who would have fed your baby if you couldn't.  Yes breastfeeding is natural but so is childbirth, and 300 years ago many many women and babies died during childbirth because they couldn't do it.  It being natural doesn't necessarily mean that it happens.
The idea that women absolutely must breastfeed or bust (pun intended) is not always easy to accept, one friend of mine was encouraged to express milk in between every feed to top up feeding on her underweight baby, thus tying her to her home all day as a milking machine.  Thankfully she went against this poor advice and topped up her baby's feeds with formula enabling her to get out and about to post-natal classes, NCT meets and lunches with friends thus saving her sanity.  If breastfeeding means mum suffers from depression then this is not going to make for a happy baby no matter how good the milk is.
Yes breast milk is absolutely the right and normal thing for babies to have but women must not beat themselves up if the can't do it, there is a lot they can offer their baby's apart from breast milk and a happy mum makes for a happy baby.  If you were like me and thought breastfeeding was easy spare a thought for the thousands of woman sat in their homes in tears because they can't get their baby to latch or they just spilt the last few millilitres of their expressed milk onto the carpet, and thank God that scientists have come up with a wonderful alternative that enables mothers to feed their babies.

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding :)

breastfeeding


breastfeeding :')

Monday 7 May 2012

Jubilee Bunting - New item in the shop

Made some Jubilee bunting this week, slowly slowly, a couple of flags a day!  One of my friends asked "how are you making things with a new baby?" How indeed!!  But the pressure is on my shoulders to make up the money I will be missing out on by being off work for a year, so I have no choice but to get cracking with the sewing machine in order to keep our heads above water and keep on paying the mortgage. Every now and again I get a bit panicky thinking how on earth am I ever going to make up the money I need, but then I have to tell myself to get a grip and just take one day at a time, just do what I can do in one day, I can't do more than that.
So I really hope you like my bunting, I am hoping someone out there might be having a lovely Jubilee party where my bunting can can adorn a wall or hang boldly over a table celebrating the fabulous 60 years our Queeny has reigned. Click on the photo to take you straight to my shop.






What have you got planned for the Jubilee?



Sunday 6 May 2012

Hannah Spearritt a Mori girl?

So I used to be a MASSIVE fan of S Club 7, and by "used to be" I don't mean that I am no longer a fan but that S Club 7 are no longer together *Boooo!* I still love their music though, I mean who wouldn't lyric like "Hoochie Mamas show your nanas".  So anyway, imagine my joy when I stumble upon THIS article on the Daily Mail website declaring that S Club 7 were reuniting!!  What could be better?  My instant thought was "please don't let them do a gig before I have weaned Orren!" Closely followed by 
"Do my eyes deceive me or is Hannah Spearritt dressed in a decidedly Mori girl style?" As if I didn't love S Club 7 enough!!

Bringing It All Back! S Club 7 are said to be planning a tour and album after signing a new record deal


Loving her style, layering, white tights, lacy trimmed skirt, suede boots, definitely Mori.  Hope you are all having a great weekend, any other S Club 7 fans out there?


Saturday 5 May 2012

I just found this on a lovely blog today and although it isn't really the right time of year, (a month or so too late) I thought it was really quite interesting and wonderful.  There are loads of things like this in the Bible, nothing is irrelevant, nothing is for nothing,


Why Did JESUS Fold the Napkin?


This is one I can honestly say I have never seen circulating in the e-mails so; I'll start it. If it touches you, you might want to forward it.

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? I never noticed this . . .

The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes.

The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.

Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.

She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, 'They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!'

Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple out ran Peter and got there first. He stopped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in.

Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side.

Was that important? Absolutely!
Is it really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day.
The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every
Jewish boy knew this tradition.

When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it.

The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table, until the master was finished.

Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table.

The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, "I'm finished."

But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table, because . . .

The folded napkin meant,
"I'm coming back!" 

Wednesday 2 May 2012

Button Earrings - New item in the shop

I am steaming ahead with making and listing items for my shop, I have got a few more things to list and aiming to list one a day, I hope you don't get sick of it.  I am sure you won't because you are all lovely, just humour me ok!?

So branching out into jewellery, I have tinkered with it before but seriously this time, and focused on one item; button earrings, got lots of different colours and styles waiting to be listed, don't you think they are cute? Fun, quirky and kitsch. I would love to wear a pair but sadly my holes have closed up booo!






Hope you area all having a great week xxx

Tuesday 1 May 2012

Floral Bunting - New item in the shop

Floral Bunting!! Finally a new item in the shop that I have made!! Yes it has taken me about 3 weeks to make them grabbing a couple of minutes here and here to cut the fabric the slowly slowly sewing then together then photographing and  finally listing. I hope you like it, it is good quality, being double sided, rather that the usual style with just one piece of fabric which I have sheered on the edges, this one is hemmed on all sides. I love this fabric so much I think the blue is my favourite, which is yours?  I think this bunting would be lovely for a Jubilee party or a wedding, or just to decorate the house to make it feel really springy.






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