Encouraging creativity

I've written before about the boy-child's love of drawing and his emerging creative streak. It has been an interesting journey to be sure. For as parents we were totally surprised by this, dare I say it "talent". As he is our eldest child we had no good reference point for what type of pictures a child of his age would or could draw...and to be honest he went from scratching on a page one week to drawing well formed pictures the next when he was about 3. He is turning 5 on Sunday.

This brings us to some important decisions though as parents. Firstly and most importantly how do we encourage him to keep his love of drawing? He draws ALL the time and uses it as a way of consolidating his learning and capturing extraordinary detail that he is able to take in all around him. His eyes are continually open to the detail of life, and in particular the colour of life.

Secondly, how as parents do we facilitate a creative life for him and for us as a family? By this I mean in part making it safe and OK to chose a creative career option in life. This one is close to my heart because as a child (and from a very young age) I designed houses over and over, to the point of near obsession....but did I become an architect - must to my frustration, NO! I chose the "safe" path, determined by what I was "good" at, rather than what I "loved". The man of the house is one of the lucky ones, his work and his passion are the same thing.

I've been doing some research in this area and will post more about this next week, but I'd love to hear your thoughts.

BTW- that picture above is of a church inspired by the one that they moved on the SBS show "Monster Moves" ...made equally incredible by the fact that it was drawn about three weeks after he saw the show and also that he has never been inside a church!

Waiting for baby

We've ordered a beautiful Waldorf Doll from Poppy, Bean and Bloss for the girl-child's second birthday, and I'm like an expectant mother preparing for its arrival.

She (the doll) comes with a change of clothes, but a girl's gotta have more than a couple of outfits so I've knitted this little cardigan and have started on some granny squares for a blanket for the cradle. The cardigan was also a test run as I'm hoping to cast on the 2yr old version of this same pattern for the girl-child this evening. This was just as well because I stuffed up the garter stitch border, but I don't think the doll will mind.

Don't worry she's not getting all of this for her birthday, the cradle/blanket/sheets and the new outfit will be under the tree for Christmas. Now for the rest of the outfit skirt, pants, dress...what do we think?

Putting up

With the warmer weather I'm starting to turn my mind to planning my preserving for the summer. I've kept myself occupied with the odd bit of jam or boozy fruit here or there throughout winter, but it's the anticipation of summer's bounty and "putting up" for the long dark winter that I enjoy the most about preserving.

So, I've been playing blog skippidy do da and found three new gems that I've added to my side bar. The lovely Pickle and Preserve the guys that taught me what "putting up" is at Saving the Season and the oh so simply named, but choc full of great ideas Food in Jars .

Oh - and I know that it's an old photo that I've used before, but it's still my favourite!

One Saturday in Spring.

Last Saturday was a little bit of this,

some of that,

and a start to finish project in the afternoon....perfect.

Rust-oleum LOVE!

Trust me when I say that I am getting NO payment to endorse this magic spray, it is simple a case of true love.

I first read about this wonderful spray paint on the Door Sixteen blog, and since then I've used it to........turn hideous lanterns into something special for our spring porch;

...turn some also hideous pots into beautiful spring porch adornments;

...help organise the boy childs' art supplies;

...and so many many more projects that I've yet to share.

Our local Bunnings doesn't stock this magical mist, so I've had to make a few trips across town to stock up on my supplies. Why is it magic you ask? ...because it goes onto ANYTHING - wood, plastic, paper, metal and sticks like glue, but most of all it doesn't drip and gives a smooth-AS-finish...and as I said before it really is true Rust-oleum love!

This month I'm reading...

ALL of the books that my new bestie delivered to me at 6PM on Friday night!

You gotta love an Aussie post fella that delivers a parcel that late on the last day of the week and gives a crafty girl her weekend, if not her October fix!

I'll post details about each of the books in due course, but let me tell you Amazon UK absolutely ROCKS! Ordered on Monday (Australian time), delivered Friday afternoon (also Australian time) - standard/cheapest delivery option. Amazon US takes approximately 3 wks to do the same!

Happy reading fellow bloggers...

Crochet class

One of my favourite blogs on my reading list is Yvestown. Yvonne from Yvestown and her friend Ingrid from Wood Wool and Stool are running crochet classes - and this picture, well this picture would sell me! Unfortunately though the classes are little too far away for me, like a 24 hours plane ride at least -The Netherlands!

But this doesn't stop me from posting about it because I just adore this picture!

A bug's life

I just love, love, love buying the fabric for the little bibs in my etsy shop. My local fabric shop sells 30cm offcuts from bolts which are perfect for the job.

My current two favourites are these two buggliest of bug versions!

Back on the etsy wagon...

I think these two new owls that sit on my kitchen window sill have given me the courage to re-open my little etsy store and stock it with some new infant bibs.

Here are three packages with orders waiting to be posted sitting under the watchful eyes of these two wise friends.

Crabapple delight!

I can't stop staring at these beautiful flowers. I've never even seen a crabapple tree before, and here I am with three of these most beautiful trees in the garden....I can feel some crabapple jelly coming on!

Maisie baby cardigan - done!

I started the "Maisie" cardigan by Alicia Paulson in the winter of last year, before the girl-child was even one! I made the 12-24 month size and increased the length in the bodice so we can get the rest of this year and hopefully next year's wear out of it.

The pattern is from Vintage Crochet and I used the recommended yarn, Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. I didn't mean for it to take so long, but sometimes, you know, you put it down, pick it up, put it down, bla bla...

But I'm so happy with how it has turned out, and so is the little one I think!