Incy Wincy

I started my morning with a startling tap on my shoulder at 5.10am. It was the Nosh. He'd just waltzed outta bed and into my room.

Yes, a startling shock to awake to 5.10am, but a melting moment too to see the Nosh's puppy eyes looking up and silently asking is it morning.

Hop in!

I know you mummy's are screaming out there not to have put him into my bed and yes the thought crossed my mind to get up and march him back to his bed and give him a lecture about the whole this is your room, that is our room, this is the middle of the night, but 'twas exactly that. The middle of the night and I couldn't find my voice. So, I hoisted him up and plopped him in between Hubby and I and closed my eyes.

Naughty Mummy!

Nope. I couldn't return to sloom nor slumber, so I turned and we played tickle and toes and incy wincy spiders and peep bo's and oh so much more until I left him in bed with Hubby to go take a shower.

My second shock of the day (at only 6am) was sharing the bathroom with a big black hairy ugly spider... and it was moving... along the ceiling. Argh. Anything could happen. So, I prepared myself for the worst and I left the shower door open in aid of having to jump out quickly should the intruder jump and tackle me.

Quick shower and hair wash - no time for condition - in and out.

Fortunately, there was no attack and moments later when I'd returned to the bathroom to hang my towel he had disappeared. Yes I admit, he could be on the loose around the house however, out of sight out of mind.

Oh, where has the beautiful sunshine of the weekend gone :0(

Kokeshi Girl

Available now at Folksy

Its been a designing week here at the Sweetpea household. I've been getting ready for the winter and christmas season. Oh, have I got some treats for you!

However, in the meantime I have brought out the last design of the season, my "Kokeshi Girl"... isn't she a beauty, my model!

Who stole these years?

We bought the Nosh a bed.

I feel like my life is on fast forward. Just stop! Im enjoying life and I dont want it to run on fast anymore. Your stealing my fondest years.

I know every mother will agree that the moment you are in the delivery room holding your baby in your arms, thanking god up above and sharing a tear with your Husband, someone somewhere presses the fast forward on your life.

Seriously, I remember seeing that little Nosh as a 6 cell in a petri dish now he's ready for a bed!

A George Pig the Pirate bed. Of course!

In other news, I've got a new t-shirt design to showcase this week. This will be the last in the summer collection.

There is currently an offer in the Folksy shop on t-shirts. BUY ONE GET ONE FREE for a limited period only.

Appreciation photo

There is nothing better than receiving an appreciation photo accompanying an uplifting email of thanks.

This lovely little girl is pictured in one of my designs. This dress can be found here.

BUY ONE GET ONE FREE

Everyone loves an offer, so with the sun out and shinning I'm offering you a free t-shirt with every purchased t-shirt for a limited period only.

For all t-shirt designs please take a look here

We've arrived home!

The Sweetpea Family.

Yes, home and dry from a very relaxing and fun filled holiday. The boys had a great time at the beach snorkling, surfing and swimming whilst I sat with a Jodi Picoult under the shade. Dontcha just love getting away?



Thankfully, I've still got the weekend to recover before I dust off the Old Singer. Monday morning (after the weight watchers meeting that I'll be returning to) we'll rekindle our love as I've another clothes party to prepare for and stock has reduced considerably.

Before I went away I drew a few new designs for the applique t-shirts which I'll be showcasing here very soon.

The brand new Sew magazine has arrived and its one of the better magazines I've seen in a long time. Its outlay is that of Crafts Beautiful and Simply Knitting, it features lovely patterns, has great articles and best of all... a little snippet of Sweetpea4kids. Yes!! Can you believe they have featured Sweetpea4kids in their magazine. Im delighted, I hope it attracts new custom. For a closer peek, look here.

Dancing Queen, you are my...

I have various decades that I'm fond of for various reasons. The forties for their fashion, the fifties for their movies, the sixties for Elvis and the seventies for almost everything.

As a seventies baby, I was lucky enough to be amongst the best dressed trend (IMO). I started school singing to Brotherhood of Man's "Save all your kisses for me..." and sucked the sherbet out of flying saucers. I sipped milk through a straw at school before Margaret Thatcher became the milk snatcher. My dolls were all called Lulu and my mum read me bedtime stories from the big yellow Fairy Tales books.

As an eighties kid, I was taken to my first disco by my first boyfriend, Adam Finn. I wore a little black dress with a glitter stripe running through. He bought me a squash which was poured into a white plastic cup and we hung around chatting. To be honest, thats all I remember of the date. Sorry Adam Finn. My hair was permed and I wore blue eyeshadow and pink lipstick. Baggy jumpers worn with brightly coloured leggings. My ears were decorated with co-ordinating large plastic earrings and my arms with the same plastic bangles. Judy Blume's "Are you there god, its me Margaret"'s book was my bible, as were most of Blumes's.

My nineties were amongst my best. A Chippendale groupie that partied with the best. Picking mango's on a kibbutz and waiting tables in Jerusalem. A kiss on the doorstep and falling in love ended my nineties under a chuppah.

My noughties rollercoastered, more ups than downs. Yet the best thing to come out of them so far are my two best[est] boys. My Bubela and My Nosh.

What are your best decades (those obviously old enough to have a selection to chose from)?

p.s. Photo 1. is me 1975 with Lulu. Photo 2. is me (lower left) 1992 just before a Chippendale bash.

I picked up some vintage childrens stories at the charity shop. I'll show you what I've done with them in my next post.

Welcome to the new face

Hows the makeover?

I know its long and overdue, but its finally here after all these years of blogging. What do you think? I love it. It was either this or start a fresh blog but, I like the fact that my regular visitors are reading what I've been up to ;0) and, how would you find me if I started afresh ;0)

Have you heard about the Babushka? She's the new black.

She's my favourite. Always has been.

Sweetpea4kids will shortly be releasing t-shirts in a variety of colours. To be amongst the first for updates in the shop, become a Facebook Fan (details in the sidebar).

I close for now, au revoir.

Meet my cheif button sorter...

My regular source of providing me buttons did not fail me when I picked up this huge box of buttons. I don't think I'll need to buy another button for years. Seriously, I have this new fetish with buttons. I see lots of kids crafts coming into light with the use of these :). Now, what glue would be strong enough to hold and mild enough for kids to use? Hmmmm.

Hi *waves*

I thought I'd pop in and say hi. The absence is long, its overdue and its because I've been tied up with the dress making. Not a moment for the blog. Sorry.

The featured dress has already been sent to its new owner. Age 3. Its what I call "design your own dress" option, where you can pick your own fabrics for this style dress. I offer this at the house parties I am now attending. And, this is the result of one of the dresses. What a pretty combination and a great seller.

I received my first order from Folksy last week, and I was chuffed at the testimonial she left me...

I am absolutely thrilled with the dress I received today for my 2-year-old daughter. Estee went out of her way to make it for me quickly in time for a special party; from payment to receipt of the dress it took 3.5 days in total! I am so impressed with Estee's service. I won't hesitate to recommend Sweetpea4Kids to all my mum friends, and will be back myself as soon as I can.

I made her the Yellow Sunflower dress and trimmed it with navy bias binding around the neckline and armholes. It did look pretty.

Im now live!

Sweetpea4Kids are not on the high street

Look who want to stock my designs!!

I'm chuffed to bits that I've been given the opportunity to sell my tee shirts and dresses through notonthehighstreet.com. My products actually go live in a couple of weeks time, but I'll give you all plenty of notice.

In the meantime, I've been photoshop-ing my images, and seeking models and new designs.

This is Tamar modelling the new "Olivia Octopus" Tee. "Olivia Octopus" has twinkly sequin eyes and has already been a huge hit.

My house party went really well and my designs were well received. Its an amazing compliment to see people flicking through your makes as if they were in a real life store. Even more amazing when people actually buy and order from me.

Thank you!

Another glimpse...

Here's a work in progress to take a glimpse at. I've made this in two colourways now, both age 3. I will be stocking these shortly in the shop.

I'm almost done sewing up for Thursday's clothes party. I'm sewing up my last three dresses. I've just hemmed and button-holed, I've just got to sew on the buttons and label.

In fact, [WARNING: rant ahead] I'm slightly pissed off annoyed at my label supplier. His delivery timing is way too slow to be acceptable. My labels are still not here after being ordered over a week ago. I'm only hoping they arrive tomorrow. I print my own labels using the ink jet - iron on method, so it isn't leaving me a lot of preparation time. I foresee me frantically ironing and sewing late Wednesday night.

Oy vey.

[RANT OVER]

Glorious additions to my collection!


Is there a shop that you cannot walk past? Or a shop that you must come out of with something? I have that very shop an hour away from home, where my MIL lives. Its her local charity shop. A haven for good vintage sewing patterns at a steal of 20p. Every time we visit, well, not every time, but every time we visit on a Saturday when the shops are open, its a must that I visit. I don't think there has been a time when I haven't left that shop with a buy. Be it a good saga book, or a vintage sewing pattern or a bunch of knitting/crochet needles.

Hubby waits outside. He has some sort of smell phobia about charity shops. He has been known to pop his head through the door and give me the "eyes", you know, those hurry up it stinks, eyes.

And, this a selection of the few patterns I manage to scoop when we last visited.

These patterns do not get used. Oh, Heavens forbid. I leave them in the condition that I buy them in and preserve them in ziplock bags. I only collect 1960-70's patterns, focusing mainly on the 1970's and I just think they are wonderful to look at.

One for the girls and one for the boys

Two new tee shirts have been added to the shop today.

"Cupcake Candy" tee shirt cut from Michael Millers fabric. Hand embellished, and each cut is unique.

This comes in the usual sizes of 12mths, Age 2, 3-4, 5-6 and 7-8.

All t-shirts are 100% cotton and excellent quality.

This is the original cupcake design that flew off the shelves at one of my craft fairs. Demand was so high, it didn't even get a chance to be added to the shop.



For the boys, its "Retro Robot" inspired by Lucas, my friends little boy. He is Robot crazy and wanted a custom order Robot t-shirt. Since, has been included in my kids tee shirt range.

Again, sizes as above. All hand embellished with sparkly sequins.

I put this one on the Nosh to model for me. However, once on, he just walked off wearing it and wasn't having any camera flashing's today.

Glorious day out and I'm set up in the conservatory at the Old Singer, again. I've got the ipod singing my tunes (James Taylor) and I'm blissfully smiling. Hubby's clearing out the garden shed with both boys and I foresee hours of blissful sewing uninterrupted ahead.

My harmonious afternoon was abruptly ended with the sound of unmentionable swearing, crashing sounds in the shed and what I could see through the little shed window from where I was sitting was... the sight of Hubby... dancing? No. Jumping? No. Catching? No. Puzzled, yet not puzzled enough to disturb my sewing moment.

Until.

Hubby was thrown out of the little shed. OK, this was the moment I flew to the garden. "Si, you alright?"

Now, would be the moment I let you know that my hubby does not use bad language - thats my job!

S**t, F**k, S**t, F**k... and so on for minutes.

So, bouncing across the garden's grass to his rescue from what I think is the saw, or perhaps the axe (no, we haven't got one of those so back to the saw) attacking him.

No blood.

"There's a fox in the shed". Obviously, a big, BIG fox waiting to gobble... sorry, I'm getting carried away here. There's a fox living in my shed. No babies, no partner, just a fox which has taken a fancy to our sun lounger (since, has been taken to the dump and poor fox has no where to sleep).

In other news:

New sewing magazine out next month. Sew. With Gok on the front, I can't wait to see who's inside!

One of my dresses has been featured on mycraftbooth.com

I hate a photoless post, hence a sight of two of my dresses. Ages 2 and 4.

The Easter holidays are coming to a close and back to school on Monday. The holidays have been full of excitement and jam packed full of entertainment.

I'm currently busy working on dresses to take along to my first house party being hosted for Sweetpea4Kids. I love this dress that is featured here. It has a puff cap sleeve which I've elasticated at the cuff to give extra puff. This is a button back fastening. Age 3.

I think I'll make a few more in different colourways. It could be a hit!

I've also added two new designs to the tee shirts, soon to be added to the shop! One for the girls and one for the boys and you wont be disappointed. Facebook fans will be the first to have exclusive photos of the new designs, so click on the link in the sidebar to become a fan.

Easter holidays at the farm.

Papercraft on Folksy

Folksy is a Handmade Haven for sellers and buyers of Artist, Makers and Crafters from the UK.
I've been window shopping at some of the papercraft talent around.

Can you believe how cute this little teacup is (available for purchase here). I'm a sucker for vintage tea sets thats why this tea cup caught my eye. Gorgeous!

Next is the little geisha girl card. Again, took my fancy because I love (in fact used to collect) dolls from around the world. The geisha girl, in particular, always being my favourite because she was always the prettiest! Available for purchase here.

This original print available here *Hubby, remember the Yiddishe bagel shop we found in Venice?* Venice is so very small, and I even remember this particular Square.

... and roses that will never die available here

THE WINNER IS....

Firstly, thank you all for visiting and entering my giveaway. Its been exciting! I know the winner will be delighted!

All entries have been folded teeny weeny into the "hat" and the lucky winner has been picked by the Bubela. Whom, I'd like to take this opportunity at saying has made me a very proud Mummy in everything you do, but namely over the Passover Seder this week. Well done, Bubela!

And.... the lucky winner is.....

AMYLANE

Well done!! Please leave a comment here with your email address so I can get in touch with you.

Did you have a flick through the Spring Edition of UK handmade yet? I fell over myself with excitement when I turned to the Editor's Spring Choice and found it was one of my dresses! This one.

*excitement can barely be contained*

I've also been urged to start up a facebook fanpage. Details are in my sidebar. Become a fan and be of the first to know when something new is being listed in the shop, or event's where I'll be exhibiting at. Become a fan!

This is a work in progress photo of my latest item which has actually now been completed. I finished this by adding a casing around the centre and inserting ties to gather the waist.

This past week, I have been busy working on a load of tees for an upcoming trunk party/house party which a friend has very kindly offered to host for me. I have added a few more designs to my range of tee shirts which will be showcased over the coming weeks, you will not be disappointed.

Until then, to my Jewish friends, Happy Passover! And, to those that hunt the Easter bunny down, save an egg for me!

Before I go, in other news:

Potty training for the Nosh - (Day 2 completed) Mess on the carpet a few times, but (disinfectant in hand) we're getting there. Oy vey.

Passover cooking - The Plava this year, ach, not as good as others, but the Matzo Pudding was a real hit!

BLOGOVERSARY GIVEAWAY

Four years today. I was younger, thinner and mum to only one. I was only knitting at the time and using *whispers* acrylic. I was on the IVF rollercoaster, travelling daily into town. I was shopping too much and not earning a wage.

The Bubela was at nursery and I was at home. Hubby bought me a laptop and I entered the world of blogging...

Since, I'm older, dieting and mum to two. Under my belt is the knitting and crochet with two unfinished blankets awaiting their use. Many knitted items have been gifted and worn. I've tested the waters of cross stitch and plushies. I've baked, made fudge and gifted my truffles. But, my latest and greatest fad is my vintage Singer.

This journey has been one of the most colourful, fibresome and rewarding of all. I've met some wonderful friends across the globe, I've shared my laughter and worn my heart. I will most defintey continue to blog - you've been a great audience.

And.......... to mark the celebration I'm giving away one of my tee shirts of your choice. To view my collection please take a browse in my Etsy shop.

All you have to do to enter is comment here telling me which one you would like and post a link from your blog back to mine.

One of my boys will be selecting the winner on Friday 10th April.

We're acting Roman around here.

Teacher: Who can tell me where Hadrian's Wall is?
Pupil: I expect it's around Hadrian's garden Miss!

Oh, the Bubela didn't find this one funny. And replied with,

"Where did the cows go at the weekend? To the mooooovies".

I just love my little Bubela. Yep, he made me laugh. But, I thought we were doing Roman jokes.

"Roman's didn't tell jokes, mummy".

The Bubela had to dress up as a Roman yesterday for the school trip. More of a Celt, but he passed.

LAST REMINDER FOR TOMORROWS GIVEAWAY WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!!!!