Not Much, but Really, a Lot

There is a lot of crafty Christmas present stuff happening here...by light at night.  All in preparation for our imminent Summer Holiday.  I get little to no time during the day to do much crafting.  Actually - the thought of sitting behind my sewing machine or with needle and thread and attempting to sew while Chloe (in particular) is around is enough to send me into melt-down!  Those little inquisitive, grabby fingers, that strong little climby body, those clumsy trippy feet - which result in many bumps, bruises and eina's....the hiding of scissors, pins, pens, WiPs and pretty much everything else in my sewing space...the resolving of sisterly disputes - WW3 in disguise!  The shouting - that would be me.  Far. too. much. shouting.

Actually, that pretty much sums up any time spent with us 3 girls...

Ava's artboard is full up.  She has 2 magnetic boards and both are overflowing.  I find it hard to throw away her masterpieces.  When the girls get bored of paper, pretty much anything else is game for the crayons and koki's.  That would be Chloe's influence.  It never occurred to Ava to draw on the floor, furniture, table, oven, windows until Chloe did!  At least they are washable.  But, for fear of me blowing a fuse, I have hidden them.

In between cleaning crayon off the floor, I have been trying to get the washing dry.  It has been pretty darn cold here.  There is a pile of ice outside that hasn't defrosted for 3 days.

Ralph the Elf is visiting from the North Pole.  He arrived yesterday.  I would imagine that his reports to HQ so far are pretty mixed...

Christmas Tradition

A few photo's of some of the Christmas projects that I am working on...

This is - uh, will be - a cat with a fluttery dress.  I will be using the cat pattern from the Wee Wonderfuls book.

She still needs her legs attached and some clothing.

I combined two patterns from the same Wee Wonderfuls book for her.

I think that I should redo her cheeks...they have stretched out of shape after stuffing her.

The doll will sit in this backpack.  Backpack pattern from Oliver and S.

Doll seat idea and spotty fabric inspiration from Saltwater-Kids.

The eye-less elf.  The pattern is from the Scandinavian Stitches book.  The elf will be getting eyes...temporary felt eyes until we get to my mom, when the elf will miraculously have teeny weeny button eyes.

Have you ever heard of Elf on the Shelf?  I first heard of it last year, but thought that Ava was a little young for it still.  This year - we are making it our new Christmas tradition.  Anything to encourage good behaviour and kindness between sisters...!  Rather than buying the kit, I have made our own elf.  Maybe not quite as pliable as the 'real' elf, but I am sure that Flower Daddy and I will be able to conjure enough fun with it.

Christmas is Coming

Where has this year gone?  Christmas is less than 2 months away, clocks here in the UK have just jumped back and it is suddenly all frosty in the mornings...!?

Please note that my shops will be closing for a Christmas break on Sunday, 2 December 2012.  The last date that I will post orders will be 3 December.  My shops will all reopen on Friday 11 January 2013.

I might just keep the TLF shop open with a notice on the front door, so that orders can be placed between 2 Dec-11 Jan.  I haven't quite decided yet...

We are super-excited to be off to visit family that we have not seen in a long, long, long while!