**happy new year**

Wow... what a year it's been and it has gone so fast too, which doesn't surprise when I look back at what I have been up to! Phew.. I have been busy :)
It's been a big learning year for me... here are some of my favourite highlights of my creative year:

There was a lot of knitting and crocheting going on...

:: knitting and crochet

I did a lot of learning new things and relearning some old skills

:: watercolour and drawing course

There was quite a lot of screen printing and making things going on!

:: screen printing and making things

I really enjoyed learning how to use my new camera... I'm still learning :)

I am really happy with all that I have achieved this year and I'm really looking forward to next years creative adventures :)

Hope you all have a wonderful New Year!!

See you next year!

Cheers
Lamina xxx

christmas number three

We had a wonderful Chrismas day, filled with friends, family, lots of yummy food (my poor belly) and of course... some lovely gifts! My little man had the best time, with all the excitement of Santa leaving gifts under the tree.. it was so much fun for all of us!

:: tackling the wrapping paper :)

Last week, I was a little busy making a few gifts for my wonderful mother-in-law Norma, who has a little miniatures blog make mine mini. I decided to make her two cushions but also make them in miniature (1:12 scale)! The two human size cushions are screen printed and the miniature cushions are ink jet printed using bubble jet set 2000 (to fix the ink)!

:: home sweet home cushion - big and small

:: home sweet home cushion - miniature (1:12 scale)

:: geo-flower cushion - big and small

:: geo-flower cushion - miniature (1:12 scale)

I had a lot of fun making them! I am so happy with how they turned out and Norma just loved them!

Well it's time for me to put down my screens and squeegee for a few days (at least) and put my feel up, pick up a good book and relax...but I'm sure my fingers will start itching to do something soon :)

Hope you are all taking a bit of time out and doing some relaxing over the holiday too :)

Merry Merry Christmas

Thank you so much for all the support and encouragement that you guys have given me since I started my little creative blog back in May! I feel so lucky to have made so many wonderful bloggy friends...(you!!!) and who are a constant inspiration to me...  thank you xxx  :)

I'm looking forward to next year and all the wonderful possibilities it holds! I'm really looking forward to a bit of break over the next few weeks... though for me that means doing creative things!  I'm hoping to some watercolour painting, sewing and more screen printing....yep I never stop :)

I just LOVE this years photo of Santa and my little man! He was a bit unsure of Santa at first, but soon was having a great time! Apparently, it's the first time that this Santa had been tickled by anyone and this is the photo just after a big tickle session.... it was hilarious! Who needs  a perfect pose when you can have a gorgeous, funny photo like this! :D

:: my little man and Santa having a laugh

***Merry Merry Christmas***

I hope you all have a wonderful, happy and fun Christmas!!

Lots of love and best wishes

Lamina xxx

gingerbread men gift

I'm having a lovely relaxing (sort of) few days before xmas... still a few things to do but there is no panicking going on here.... just yet :) I was a very happy chappy when I opened the mail yesterday and found these very cute little gingermen that the lovely Sian, from sian lile makes, handmade and sent to me.. I'm such a lucky duck :)

:: gingerbread men by sian lile makes

I just love them and so does my little man, he played with them for ages and now they are hanging out in our crazy christmas tree! Thank you so much Sian xxx

:: our christmas tree

I know our christmas tree does look a little crazy... decorating with a 2.5 year old can be lots of fun with some very funny/interesting results.. ha ha ha love it :)

a little cushion makeover

I bought this really cute little dolls house furniture set for my sister's little girl, but I wasn't really loving the cushions that came with it! So I decided, in the midst of all the craziness last week, that I would give the cushions a makeover... Yes I am slightly insane! Not sure how I found the time but I did!

:: cushion makeover - before

I prepared the fabric by soaking it in bubble jet set 2000, ironed the fabric onto freezer paper and then using my ink jet printer, printed my little designs onto it and then sewed them up into cushions... it was very easy!

:: cushion makeover - printing

:: cushion makeover - sewing

Voila... new cute little cushions!!!

:: cushion makeover - after :)

And when you turn the cushions over...

:: cushion makeover - after

I had a lot of fun doing this little project. I used my own designs... did you notice the rainbow cloud, home sweet home and the cupcake designs? I printed different images on each side of the cushion so she can mix and match!  I'm so please with how they look, they are so cute and my sisters little girl absolutely loved them :)

Hope your having a great Wednesday!

ps. I have done a guest post over at make mine mini about these little cushions... thanks Norma :)

christmas number two

We just got back from four crazy, wonderful days in Melbourne for our christmas no. two with my family... pheeeeew!! We had such a great time but it wasn't long enough! I really wanted to get out and about in Melbourne but we only had time to hang out with the family... hopefully next year we will stay longer! Anyway, I can now reveal what I have been up to in the last week...

I tea dyed, screen printed and made a cute little tote bag in bright orange and sky blue. I used the stencils I had made for my little bird in hand which looks quite effective I think! I love how it turned out and now wish I had made two at the same time :)

:: tote - screen printing

:: tote - sewing

:: tote - arrows and crosses in bright orange and sky blue

:: tote - inside pocket

I made another "bird in hand". I really love the grey and raspberry colours together.

:: bird in hand - grey and raspberry

I tea dyed, screen printed and made another 'home sweet home" cushion. I forgot to take a picture of it finished... drat!

:: home sweet home cushion - grey and raspberry

Yep... I have been very, very busy! Everyone loved their handmade gifts... phew!! It felt so good to give something that I made... best feeling ever :)

I will share another cute little project I also did last week with you tomorrow!

Hope your are having a great week leading up to xmas and it's not to crazy!  xxx

christmas number one

It's still crazy busy around here... so much to do in so little time! Last Sunday we had a small pre-christmas and a birthday get together with family as a couple of them are going overseas for christmas... lucky ducks! We had a great day and my little man was getting quite excited about the whole christmas and presents thing... it was so cute!

Last week, I was very busy doing more tea dying fabric, screen printing and making cushions for one of the presents. I'm so pleased with how they turned out :)

:: home sweet home cushion

:: chevron cushion

My little man helped stamp some christmas paper.

:: christmas paper stamping

:: some messy little fingers

I made my very first rainbow cake!!! I didn't have time to do a stack of cakes, so I just layered the different colours "carefully" on top of each other.

:: rainbow cake mixture

:: my little helper/taster

:: rainbow cake YUM!!!

The cake didn't seem to rise very much...  but I am really happy with my first attempt! And my little man LOVED helping out, being the helper/taster! There wasn't much left at the end of the festivities :)

Well better get back to it... I'm still super busy, lots more things to make and do :)

Hope you are having a great week and not to crazy busy :)

kris kringle swap update

I received my lovely kris kringle swap the other day... the cutest little owl with bell eyes from Ruth (I don't know if she has a blog). My little man just loves the owl, he has been running around the house throwing it in the air saying Hoot Hoot! Too cute! I have to say she has been beautifully made, the choice of fabrics are just gorgeous... so pretty... I am very lucky! She is now sitting in our xmas tree feeling right at home :)

:: kris kringle swap - little owl from Ruth

Also, I am so thrilled that Jacqueline from Zippy Zippy  recieved my little birdie I made for the kris kringle swap... she just loves it :) I also got a little mention over at The Haby Goddess in her "show and tell" post on her blog.... I'm so proud!

:: kris kringle swap - bird in hand

Hope you are having a great Monday :)

my creative space: screen printing, stamping and dying

It's been a very busy week for me! Lots of little projects to do for xmas! My brain is a bit scrambled at the moment and I'm having trouble putting words together, so here is my week in photos... I have been:

:: screen printing tops

:: stamping - making xmas cards with my little man

:: tea dying fabric

:: making labels

:: lots more screen printing

Phew... and that it only the tip of the iceberg... next week is going to be even busier... Yikes!! :)

Hope you are having a great creative week!
There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...

crazy busy times...

It's all go go go around here lately, leading up to xmas... I have been screen printing like a maniac, which I will "show and tell" (without giving too much away) later in the week :) I did manage to get out on Saturday and go to the Finders Keepers market at the Carriageworks in Everleigh. Wow... talk about crazy busy... I loved it!!! It was great and really inspiring seeing so many creative people and their gorgeous handmade things! I had some lovely chats to stall owners... Emma from Harvest Textiles was really lovely!

:: carriageworks in  Everleigh

:: a very busy finders keepers market

I think I was drooling the whole time I was there and I could have bought so many things but unfortunately, I didn't take much money with me (bummer) and I had a few specific xmas presents to get which I can't show you...sorry! But I did collect a few business cards :)

:: a few business cards

It was just lovely to to be in amongst such a great vibe! Sigh...maybe one day I will have a little stall at Finders Keepers :)

Hope you are having a great week so far...

my creative space: softies for mirabel

I made a little happy monkey for softies for mirabel this year, which is being hosted by Meet Me at Mikes! I had a little help from my little man... who just loves happy monkey and was asking if it was for him! I explained to him that it was for another little boy/girl who is less fortunate and may not get many presents for xmas... he seemed to understand (I think)! Softies for mirabel is such a great cause and I really hope happy monkey will find a very special little friend to love him! :)

:: happy monkey, relaxing on the couch

I used the pattern from hop skip jump book, which has so many great softies patterns... love it!

:: hop skip jump

:: I love a bit of sewing

:: a little help with the stuffing :)

Did you recognise the fabric from his pants? It's the chevron fabric that I screen printed the other week... very cool pants hey :)

:: chevron screen print

It was a fun little project to make and it feels really good to make something special for such great cause! I'm so pleased with how he turned out.. he's so cute! I think I may have to make one for my little man too :)

For more information:
- Softies for Mirabel
- The Mirabel foundation

Hope you are having a great creative week!
There are loads more creative people over at our creative spaces...

100th post giveaway winners...

The winners for my little 100th post giveaway.... drum roll.....

Please excuse the dirty vegemite fingers from breakfast...

The winner of the "home sweet home" tea towel is...

** Amy - Salamander Dreams **

The winner of the "bird in hand" is....

** LionessLady**

Woo hoo... Congratulations Amy and LionessLady!!!

I will be emailing you shortly to get your address details :)

Thank you to everyone who entered and for all your lovely comments xxx