September

This month has just whizzed by - it is true when they say that time flies when you are having fun.  You see my Mum has been visiting for the last 4 weeks.  We've been 'out and about' enjoying ourselves and creating lovely memories.

Before I start to tell you some of the highlights, I have a little crafty content to share first:  Mum brought with her this fabulous cardigan that she had made for Naomi.  Isn't it gorgeous!  (And doesn't the little model pose crack you up!)



The pattern is 'Girls Waistcoat Vest' from Sirdar, and it is knit in an aran weight wool.  This is a beautifully rich and warm colour - perfect for the start of autumn.  And of course looks beautiful on the little miss.  I am seriously tempted to make one for myself.

We've had some lovely family time these last few weeks.  There was a trip up to Glenwood Springs to enjoy the natural hot springs pool.  Glenwood springs is very beautiful.  It is nestled in the mountains and has an extremely friendly community vibe.  I can see this becoming an annual weekend away.



I've learned my daughter is part mermaid if her love of the water is anything to go by... must sign her up for swim school!

Another weekend we took a trip on the Georgetown loop railroad - a steam train that took us on a little journey between Georgetown and Silver Plume.  We were lucky to take the trip at this time of year as the aspen are changing colour and are a stunning shade of yellow right now. 






Naomi was tickled pink with the trip.  She's quite interested in trains at the moment and absolutely loved her very own train driver's hat, scarf and whistle!



Then there's been trips to Colorado Springs in an attempt to see the balloon festival... but we were too late (doh!), but luckily got to see the balloons at the Columbine memorial event a week or so later.



And Canvas and Cocktails - an event where you get a little drinky while you learn to paint a specified picture.  We went on a Mimosa Morning and it was a LOT of fun.  Good music, excellent hosts, a little creativity and best of all wonderful company.





And there have been lots of trips to the farmers markets to grab fresh fruits and veggies.  Naomi and I made a delicious green chilli sauce one day which I then heaped over my chicken or fish dinners for the following week.  Yum!  And speaking of yum, my good friend Anita had us over for dinner and made pistachio chicken with a lime/avocado dressing.  It was superb!  Delicious and healthy - this will be on the menu again this week!



There's more to come from a crafty perspective... when we weren't out and about, Mum and I were hunkered down at home working on a project together.  (Sneak peeks on my flickr page.)

I was very sorry to say 'bye for now' to Mum today, but thankful for the wonderful times we spent together this month.  Roll on our next visit. xxx

Chocolate Easter Nests

I was looking at the 'According to Matt' blog (which, oh by the way, has a fabulous yarny giveaway right now) and saw the chocolate Easter nests they had made. Ooh it brought back fond memories, and also made me think that I know a little someone who would thoroughly enjoy making them.



So last night, armed with Ghiradelli chocolate morsels, Kellogg corn flakes, M&M Easter egg chocolates and my little helper we created lots and lots of these tasty treats.



Naomi had a blast - there's nothing she loves more than 'helping'. Her first job was to put the cupcake papers in the trays. Her next job was to add the eggs to each of the nests. As you can tell from her chocolate chops I think her little motto was something along the lines of 'one for the nest, one for me, one for the nest, one for me...'





Joe took trays of these into work today. A little chocolatey goodness to start the Easter weekend.

Wishing you a great weekend with friends and family,
Sam xxx

More holiday handmade

The rest of the photos are now downloaded and I'll start with the good news about the scarves - everything came out in the wash! I was over the moon happy and the scarves went off to the ladies at daycare today. Yay! (Better late than never I say ;) I used a little ribbon on the packaging and these super cute sheepy gift tags that Terrie had made (she made bundles of these for all our knitty girls this summer and gifted them to us at knit camp). I think this was the icing on the cake, thanks Terrie :)



First Thermis - I've been wanting to make this one for a while, and it is a great gift knit as it is fairly quick to whip out. Think I might be making one for myself to keep warm now that the cooler weather has come by. I used RYC Cashsoft Aran, and made no mods to the pattern. It turned out nice - not too flopsy, but still retaining the softness of the yarn despite the density of the knitted fabric.


(Oooh nice crows feet, and don't even ask about the hair ;o)))

And second is the ruffle scarf, a fave of mine - I think this might be the 4th version of this that I've made now. Another great knit that's pretty quick if you are looking for a last minute gift or relatively instant knitty gratification. Again, used the RYC Cashsoft Aran.


(OK, maybe smiling is more flattering, despite the crows feet!)

In addition to the scarves, I've also put together some thank you cards for all the lovely gifties Joe, Naomi and I were lucky to receive this year. These were fun to make, and I'm pleased with how they turned out. If you are a stampin up stamper: Colours are tangerine tango and baja breeze, and I added some chalk to the petals and leaves to add some shading, and a little glitter spritz on the petals.



On the topic of stamping goodies, check out the gorgeous hand stamped gift from my friend Cheryl -- it's a big ole batch of the most decadent chocolate cookies that I've ever tasted. What an awesome idea - she wrapped the jar with pretty Christmas paper, handstamped the labels and added her secret recipe on the inside of the tag. Love this super thoughtful gift!



And last but not least I'll leave you with the felted animals that the super talented Jessica made. Note that this is her first 'attempt' at needle felting - yes, she truly is a natural at everything she tries her hand at.





Hope you also enjoyed some handmade lovelies, and crafting, over the holidays.
Love,
Sam xxx

Handmade Holidays

First, thanks for all the kind words about Buster. He was such a good boy, and so very loved. I think it's poor Bella who is having the hardest time because her lifelong pal is no longer here. But she's getting loved on and I'm happy to be at home with her over the holidays to love up on her and spoil her lots.

Now onto craftiness... This year I was able to make a few things for Christmas:
There's the advent calendar that I made at the beginning of the month - a cute addition to our Christmas decorations this year. It was a great little kit from Stampin Up.



Then there's the handstamped Christmas cards featuring the santa suit picture of Naomi. I figured since most of my friends and family back in the UK rarely get to see her that they'd enjoy a picture card. And these were super simple to put together with a bit of patterned paper and ribbon.



And I really got some mileage out of the pic because I also used it as a gift tag on decorated boxes of chocs that I gave to all the lovely people who take such very good care of Naomi at daycare.



I also handknit a couple of cream scarves for a couple of ladies at daycare who've been looking after Naomi since she got there. I chose cream because I figured a neutral like that works with most people's taste. In the process of knitting the scarves Naomi got involved - she enjoyed playing with the yarn:



...and grasping at the project when I wasn't knitting on it:



Although the full on lesson seemed to bore her to sleep ;o)



One of the highlights this Christmas is that Jessica, Naomi's older sister, came to visit. It was great to spend good quality time with her. She's such a talented soul too - seems to excel at everything she puts her hand to. We made some pretty cookies and packaged them up for the neighbours. That was a fun project, and the end result was soo very Martha Stewart! (Or so we thought :o)))



More to come as I get pictures uploaded. Hope you are having a lovely Christmas and I wish you the very best for 2011.