It's all there in black and white

I made it! LOL I managed to get everything organised in time, Lor and I pulled an almost all nighter on Saturday night but we got there in the end!

We had a lovely , special afternoon together surrounded by close family and friends. Baby showers are not common over here in the UK but I think every Mummy to be should have a girly afternoon , just before the birth of her baby. It was so much fun!

I have a whole load of pics to share with you so this post is going to be looooooooong!

As you could have guessed from the invitations we went with a black and white theme. Seeing as baby Hughes was feeling unco-operative on the day of the scan, we are still unsure of the flavour we are to expect, so that ruled out a pink or a blue theme.

The "event" was held at my Mum's house on Sunday and she was just the best. She was so accomodating when I wanted to move EVERYTHING in her house, including the furniture! I then scoured both of our houses to find anything black and white that I could lay my hands on LOL. Mum and I had such a wonderful time on Saturday. It was lovely working alongside each other and we had the whole day just the two of us which hasn't really happened in, oh about 11 years!

Then Lor and I spent Saturday evening and night cooking and baking. We decided to have all of Sarah's favourite food and to make as much of it ourselves as was possible. We got there in the end! We had so much fun and laughter while we were working, we listened to some great music and decided that we are a good team!

Here are a "few" pics, sorry to those who aren't family, this will probably be overload to you all.

The entry table.

I framed one of the invites and the other pic is of baby Hughes at 12 weeks.

(if you click on the pic you will be able to see the pics better)

This pic was just above the entry table

A super excited girl who couldn't wait for Aunt Sarah to arrive.

oops I forgot to take one once the candles were lit

I asked everyone to bring along a baby photo of themselves so we could play guess the baby. We had this basket in the hall so the pics could be placed in it , face down, to keep the pics a surprise

Some of the prizes laid out for the games and an adorable baby pic of the new mummy. To the left is a little book I made so all of the guests could write some tips and advice for her. Some of these were HILARIOUS!

Baby photos of the new parents, I wonder who our new addition will look like?

Either way Baby Hughes is going to be adorable! So cute!

Some other bits and pieces dotted around (no pun intended ;) )

Lots of pearls around too

Tulips are one of Sarah's favourite flowers and this vase was one from her wedding day.

These buckets had also been used on her wedding day, I tied it in with a spotty bow. We put ice in them and used them to chill the juice and sparkling apple juice.

You can see here what a beautiful bright and sunny day it was! Great for us, not so good for the pics !

The nappy cake

For the food we made all of Sarah's favourites. Teeny tiny sandwiches, made by Rona who makes the best teeny tiny sandwiches EVER. Mini quiches, the usual breadsticks dips etc, home made scones with jam and clotted cream, homemade shortbread and beautiful black and white vanilla cupcakes handmade specially by Lor. Oh and a last minute addition of olives as this is the craving of the week.

I was so excited to find polka dot napkins!

We tied ickle black bows onto the glasses

I made the black runners for the tables too and thankfully Granny Mary has a huge stock of white tablecloths.

The beautiful cupcakes are just visible through the leaves. How did I forget to take pics of these?

Here are the guests of honour arriving. Is it possible for this woman to be 34 weeks pregnant? There is no justice in the world, I looked like a whale!

The next pic is of her baby shower shoes

Awesome huh?

I am so excited! I was allowed to take pics of the bump! Al pics have been banned thus far, so I was sure to corner her yesterday!

She managed to keep those shoes on until the guests were all gone.

One of the games I organised was to pack a changing bag for a trip to the park, while holding baby in one hand. Sarah wanted to know where all the lip gloss was! LOL I would put money on there being lip gloss in her labour bag! And a french mani / pedi booked in the week running up to her due date! I am so hoping those shoes might make an appearance too ;)

This pic just sums it up. The baby stuff may be creeping in but the glamour remains. With just a hint of wine peeking in on the left.......................................

Sew inspirational

One of my special Birth club friends, Steph, was looking for some new sewing projects. It got me thinking and I  began compiling a list of some of my favourite projects/blogs/ inspirational sewing ladies. Then I realised that it would be cool to have them all contained in a nice little post, right here.

So I will start with a few projects I have actually completed (which isn't like me ;) ) and will post the links to the lovely ladies who actually came up with the ideas.

I think one of the first things I made was this apron. I spotted the tutorial here on One more Moore

It is actually adult sized but I used K as a model as Murray refused to be photographed wearing it lol

I made a few of these for Christmas gifts but am yet to make one for myself

I love Deanna's blog for  crafty/sewing ideas. She is always doing/making great things for and with her kids. There is a list of links down the right hand side of her page and there are all sorts of fun things on there, crayon rolls, capes etc.

I have made loads of crayon rolls (none photographed) and also another Birthday / Christmas /new baby gift basic for me now is a hoody towel which I made using Deanna's Hoody towel tutorial

Another gift I enjoy making for new babies, Taggy blankets. I just made up the directions for the ones I have made, so no link for that , but an idea I did come across and that worked super well was This tutorial  for a crinkly taggy square to co ordinate with the taggy blanket.

the  blanket

the crinkly square

I am sure you will all remember the Halloween bags that I made , that almost killed my cat  I made up the dimensions etc but got the idea from here

I had a go at making a black apple doll, I made it one day when K was sick. Dolly made her feel lots better ! I found it real easy but I did find the arms and legs a bit long and skinny so I made them shorter and fatter the next time I made one. I also managed to sew her face so that it all crumpled up at one side. But K loves her anyway. Pattern available here

I have a loooooooooong list of fun projects I want to try. Here are just a few
The cosy car caddy from Home made by Jill is an awesome little project. I think this would be really handy for on the go.

This on the go book is something I can't wait to try! It is similar to the link above but is prob something K would be more interested in that the cars.


Alphabet Bean bags look quite simple and are great, could also be done with numbers. Love them

Adorable baby shoes  - need I say more!


Pillow case dress  This  one is my very next project!! I can hardly wait, I just need to find the right pillow case now.


Twirly skirts  a must for a summer wardrobe I think


Celebrate the boy is currently being hosted by  madebyrae.blogspot.com it is all sewing/crafting with your precious boys in mind.

Basically all of the blogs I have in my blog list to the right , the stranger stalking one ;) , are choc full of sewing/ crafty ideas. There are some clever ladies around!

This was fun! think I may need to trawl through all of my blog addictions and find the other must do projects that I always seem to have in the back of my mind but can never seem to find in my bookmarks!

I.o.u One Galaxy

stars are out tonight

and you're the brightest one shining in my sky.
it's like every wish I ever made came true.
the day I woke up lying next to you.

will you be my best friend
if I offer you my heart?
'cause it's already yours.

we could hang out every night
and watch the sun go down.
as long as we could watch it rise again.

gave me a valentine.
it's these little things that stand the test of time.
I've saved the tickets from the shows that we've been to.
and a thousand other memories of you.

will you be my best friend
if I offer you my heart?


gave you this i.o.u. today.
it said good for one galaxy.
once I build my rocket to the stars.
we'll fly away just you and me.

Happy Valentines day sweetheart , I love you ten xxxxxxx



Lyrics from I.o.u One Galaxy by The Ataris

This space...

Today, this space was to be filled with my  valentines project.

This space was going to show you photos of my sweet fabric heart banner.

Today, I realised that in 3 weeks it is my Daughter's 4th Birthday party and I haven't even started the things I need to have done.

So instead of finishing my sweet handmade valentine decoration I did what any stressed woman should do. ............................................... I bailed on it! Yep it may get finished by next year. lol

So instead this space is going to be filled with pics of the invitations I made for K's party. Thought it was the most logical place to start on my to do list. Well ,what is a party without guests??

Again apologies for the pics, one of these days I will figure out all of the things my camera does. It was also really dull and dismal by the time they were finished so all of the good light was gone.

Had to take this on my windowsill to get anywhere near enough light so I didn't have much room for manoeuvre (this looks so wrong but I checked it 4 times lol! I am sure if you look at any word long enough it looks wrong)

Diamond collar

Hot spots

Cats always find them!

**Disclaimer** it was naptime, I hadn't had time to tidy away the debris before Meatball settled down. I swear ;)

A first

Last night I tackled some patchwork for the very first time. I decided to start small and I am hoping to work up to a quilt for K's Birthday. So I decided to make a cushion.

Sorry for the bad pics , it was dark :(

I think it is a hit!

It has been everywhere with us today, even in the car and proved to be especially good for colouring comfort!

Now that the invites are out and the Mummy to be has seen them , I can now share them with you all.  Lor and I decided on a vintagy black and white theme for the invites. I am super lucky to have an illustrator for a little sis and she made the invites herself. So clever!

These are exactly how they were excpet we added little pearls just under her bust/above her bump to make her even more classy.

Thanks Lor I love them!

The rest of the baby shower ideas will need to be shared after the event! If I ever get them all finished...................

Biting off more than I can chew!

I never seem to do anything by halves! At the moment I am attempting to organise a baby shower, K's Birthday party and attempting to paint up some shelves and bits and bobs for the house.

I am failing miserab;y at all three at the moment.

I almost cut the tip off my finger while using a knife to open the tin of paint. Um yep I now know this is a bad idea!

So I am going to have to try to focus! I only have 2 weeks between the shower and the birthday party and a lot of sewing to be done for the party so it's not like I can get one out of the way then start on the other. So it is all a bit of a mish mash!

So far  the invites are out for the shower! I will share those in a moment. And I almost have one of the favours done for K's party.

What do you think? Does Kitty need eyelashes? This is just my practise one and the first time I have ever used wonder under. I am going to top stitch around the edge of the mask and maybe some eyelashes if we think she needs it. I used pale pink thread for the whiskers, I think this would work better on White felt. I also have some black felt and will use white thread to contrast.

What do you think?

Also, in my wisdom, I have decided to attempt a patchwork quilt for K as part of her Birthday present. I have never made one before so it could all go very wrong!

Happy!!!

Today I am happy! My good friend Sami gave me a special gift from her fabulous blog to my ickle little one.

Sami awarded me with the "Happy 101 Award" , I am just thrilled!! I am so happy just to know she enjoys reading my ramblings, but that she feels they are worthy of an award has just made my day!

In order to accept the "Happy 101 Award", I need to:


~acknowledge the person who gave it to me - Sami  at  Peek thru our window

~list 10 items that make me happy

~award it to 10 other bloggers



So, 10 things that make me happy. These aren't in any order just as they swooshed through my mind.

1. My family

2. My Meatball

3. Cooking/baking
4 Snow

5. Reading a good book

6. Pyjamas

7. Drinking wine

8. Christmas

9. Having a cuppa and a gossip with friends

10. GLEE , yep sort of copied Sami, but oh I do love it so!



10 Fabulous Blogs that I love. This is where it gets creepy, LOL. I am a bit stalkerish and terrible for lurking, so some of the ladies behind the blogs I follow, have no idea I exist! Anyhoo , hopefully they wont call the internet police on me, and I promise to comment more!

1.  Samster Mommy

2.  Just Deanna

3. keirivada

4. lollychops.com

5.  Marmalady

6.  Creative little daisy

7. Crap I've made

8. homemade by jill

9. Not so idle hands

10. Nienie dialogues


Thanks again to Sami  xx