M.I.A

Wow, has it really been that long since my last post? That’s a bit naughty on my part. But it wasn’t like I was sitting there with idle hands, I have so much to share. Where to begin….hmmm….

I guess first and foremost I need to wish you all a belated Merry Christmas, Season’s Greetings and Happy New Year. I hope that you all enjoyed this special time and you spent it with loved ones, those that mean the most to you.

We had a very special Christmas this year in the world of Esme Rudy. I was very lucky to have spent it with my wonderful family (all 30 something of us). Yes you read that right, 30 plus relatives all together for 5 days in the one spot. This year I got to spend Christmas with some of my family who haven’t been together at this time of the year in over 10 years.  Four generations all together.

And of course when we all get together, celebrations are called for and when you are having a party, decorations are in order. Of course me being me, I couldn’t help myself, so I was in charge of this.

Using my favourite source of inspiration (Pinterest) I was overwhelmed with ideas but in the end I had my favourites. So here was our handmade, homemade Christmas…

                   Hung up above the fire place was our christmas Wreath.


Details on how to make the deer head can be found here.

       
          Our Christmas tree (wonderfully decorated by all the grandchildren) 



Details on how to make the Christmas tree can be found here.  The link to make the paper star on top of the tree can be found here.

                                 Mini stockings for all made by me.

    We decided not to have a chocolate advent calendar this year, so here is the Santa’s beard advent calendar that we used.

I did lots of cooking during the Christmas period as well. Cakes and biscuits but my favourite would have to have been the choc fudge balls and Cranberry, Pistachio, dark chocolate bark. Every time I made a batch of either they disappeared quicker than I could blink.

Also during this time there was lots of hooky and sewing time, gifts for other people and also a few little things for us;

                         An Owl wall hanging for a special little baby girl,

                                             A Little boy frog,

 

 

A Felt fairy for a special little niece,

 

                    Front door wreath for our home (inspired by Me Me Rose)

                   Peppa pig for Little O (I got to be a pattern tester for a
                                    wonderful friend Bebe Rouge)

Now it’s time to get stuck into all my new projects that I have been saving for the New Year.  Is it just me, do you have a list a mile long too?:)

Happy crafting everyone.

Anna
XO

Busy little hands

I have to admit that I have been very lucky as a few weeks ago I was asked if I would make some of my things for Wyreena, a local gallery's Christmas gift exhibition and then a call went out for crafters to make things for Little Red’s Craft Cupboard and I got accepted too.  So the last few weeks I have been busily making things, trying to get enough products made. 

In the past when I have made things for a big order my brain seems to run away with all these fantastic ideas of things that I could possibly make and I get a bit overwhelmed, and then don’t know what to do, sit on it for a bit and then do that last minute panic that I won’t get enough made in time.  So this time I decided to just settle on a few well trusted items.  In the past my children’s toys have seem to have sold well, so I thought a few of these and maybe some new smaller in size Christmas ornaments.

And here are the final products...

A little group of owls (did you know that a group of Owls is called a Parliament?  Neither did I until a few seconds ago J), a little Miss and Master Frog, some crochet hanging birds, crochet stars and my favourite little Santa hat brooches.

I also managed to squeeze in another little frog for a Little Miss L.  I thought that maybe a little dress might have been in order and of course a little flower to pretty it up.

Besides all the crochet one of the other things that I have been busy with over the last few weeks is my garden.  I must admit it got quite a bit neglected over Autumn and Winter so when spring started it was a bit feral and needed quite a lot of work, but I have managed to get it back to how it used to be and this year I have been rewarded with the most beautiful display of my roses yet.  Last week we had some beautiful warm (almost summer evenings) and I would sit on my front porch step just drinking in the beautiful scent in the air.  It was such a fond reminder of how it used to be at my grandmother’s house.

Just looking at the pictures it seems I have a bit of a thing for orange/peach coloured roses.  I don’t know why as I don’t think I own a single thing in these colours J

 
Anna
xo

Busy as a little bee in beautiful spring weather

No words this time, just some images of things finsished, things in progress and our daily life...

 



 

 

Anna
XO

Keeping a couple of little secrets

Have you ever had to keep a little secret?  I have been sitting on two for the past few weeks and I call now finally share them with you.  The two items that I have made have now been safely delivered to their new homes.

The first up is a lovely new Mumma bear for Little B. 

 

Coming from Melbourne where layering your clothing is everything due to our 4 seasons in one day weather trick I decided that she needed another layer so a little crochet cardigan was made.  As Little B is only 1 yrs old, I needed to make something that didn’t have any hard pieces, like buttons for eyes, so when I came across this pattern in 'Softies', I knew it was perfect.

Little B’s Mum is one very clever lady who makes the most beautiful mermaid and mermen softies so I thought another style of softie might be a suitable present.  Check out Little B’s Mum’s softies here.

(Full credit to those out there who make softie toys especially if they require many limbs.  I struggled with the sewing of the limbs, trying to fit them all in so that when you turn the bodies right way out everything was sewn in place.  I must have unpicked the limbs at least 4 times as every time I tried to sew them, they slipped out of place and were not connected properly). 

 

My other little secret was a birthday present for my niece Little C.  Last year I made her this little doll, so this year I decided that I needed to make something that she could use with the doll.  I knew that she had a little wooden cradle for her dolls but nothing to put in it, so I made a blanket and sheet set.

 

 

 

I knew I wanted to make a crochet blanket for the top but was unsure on what pattern or style.  I then came across this pattern on my favourite place Pinterest.  As soon as I saw it I was hooked, I knew it was the one.  So off I went following the links only to find that the whole pattern was in French.   My experience of the French language ended in year 8 as I had an argument with the French teacher as to why I didn’t want to be in her class anymore.  She tried to tell me that art (which I was dropping her class for), was not a proper subject and it would never get me anywhere (I then went on to be a Secondary school Art/textiles teacher). 

So what was I going to do?  A couple of the clever ladies in my craft group suggested that I Google translate the pattern.  I tried that and I think a lot of the detail was lost in translation as it made no sense at all. I then decided to just give it a go myself, making a row, seeing if it looked right, if not undoing it and then trying again.  And here it is the finished product.  As you can see I also made a mattress, sheet and pillow to go with it.

I am so excited to be sharing these with you as I have had to keep them a secret for soooooooo  long.

Do you ever struggle keeping secret gifts a secret?

Anna

XO

A little bit of Green

I thought I’d take a little break from crafty stuff and show you something else that I have made.  Not so much wool and thread but still creative in its own way.

Of late it has seemed that everywhere I look there are terrariums here and there.  I can’t seem to go on Pinterest without seeing something up cycled into a terrarium.  The below pictures I have been drooling over.

I love the odd assortment of different size jars. Link can be found here.

I love this container! It's so different to what else is out there.
Link can be found here.

I love the simplicity of this one.  Just a jar full of moss but it's still so pretty.
Link can be found here.

So I took it as a sign and decided that I was going to give it a go, with the ever present helping hands of Little O.

I already had a fish bowl vase that I knew would be perfect, all I need was to gather some supplies.  A little soil here, some pebbles there, and a lovely little expedition trip into the garden to find plants that we could use.  In the end we decided that some moss, miniature mondo grass and baby tears would suit our little vase.

And here is the final product...

It sits in our entrance way and Little O looks at it every day proudly.  He does get very excited when it’s time to water it (which we have had to limit the amount of times we do this otherwise it truly will end up like a fish bowl full of water).

Fingers crossed we are able to keep it alive J

Anna

XO

Wyreena Goodies

Once again I have been very lucky to be able to display (and fingers crossed possibly sell) some of the things that I have made at Wyreena Community Arts Center in their gallery.  This time I have tried to mix it up a little and make some new things. A little bit of crochet, knitting, sewing and with my new love of power tools, some crochet hooks.

Here's a sneak peak at my window display.

If you are in the area please come on down and have a look (they also make the best coffee there too).


Anna
XO


Some of you might have noticed there has been a little bit of action on my side bar lately.  I have finally set up and Esme Rudy Facebook page.  Here I am, http://www.facebook.com/EsmeRudy  So if you prefer to follow things via Facebook this is now an option.  At the moment I know it looks a little messy on the side bar but hopefully soon I will get to tidying it up a little (my slightly OCD side of me is horrified at how it looks, all code like and not one bit pretty or neat, deep breaths and small steps at a time).

Hook'in Goodness

Over the past few weeks I have been making a special little project, this time not for anyone but for me.  And not for a specific purpose in mind but just to see if I can actually do it.  I have been out hunting and gathering (well maybe not so much the hunting, but definitely the gathering) and I had several attempts at it by myself but just couldn’t get it right so I had to enlist in the help of a friend.  I am very grateful to this friend as he lent me something I think most of the male species hold very dear to their heart... he lent me one of his power tools.  And as my Dad said he must trust me very much as I think men don’t even like lending their tools to other men.  So one afternoon with a bit of guidance (and Little O being babysat) I busted open this baby and had a go and I think I’m addicted.

I don’t even know what this tool is but I love it, it cut, sanded and polished all in one and the tiny little polishing tools made my life so much easier.

And here is the finished product.

I actually made my own crochet hooks (picture big smile across my face).  I am very impressed with myself that I have managed to actually make these using a power tool and have come away with all my fingers and toes still intact.  I’m the type of person who gets paper cuts from opening a book (yes that actually happened).  So now I am in two minds about whether I oil them in some way or just leave them as they are. They are made out of eucalyptus so I’m not sure what would be the best for them.  But then I do love the look of the natural wood. Decisions, decisions...


Anna
XO

Oh, if you are interested in having a go at making your own,I found this link on Pinterest.  http://www.livingcrafts.com/blog/woodwork/carve-crochet-hook-from-twig