Matching Pegs

Happy 6th Birthday Rory, our big school boy.

You are our clever boy, who likes to know how things work. You are independent and determined.

You have the widest smile in the family, and the cheekiest giggle.

Dad and I are so proud of how well you are doing at school, and at your swimming lessons; trying your best.

We love the amazing drawings and collages that you do, especially your Star Wars picture that you spent so much time on.

No matter what, remember that we love you, always. We are so lucky to be your Mum and Dad.

Rory at Eight months

My favourite pictue of your Rory, my precious son (February 2006, when you were 3 and a half).

I was getting so carried away sewing my butterflies that I overdid it yesterday, and needed to give my arm a rest tonight. So here is a real butterfly to enjoy. Now you may think that this is one of those cheesy happy photos that come with your computer as wall paper, but no - you need to be very impressed. This is a photo that I took last year in the gardens of Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA - Enjoy! However this photo has no relevance to the rest of the post - I just can’t bear to write anything and dish it up without a photo.

So instead of sewing, here is a great, new sew, fabric decorating idea that I found on ohdeedoh (Apartment Therapy’s Kid and Baby Site) - Fabric Wall silhouettes (using liquid starch). This is a great idea, another one to add to the giant list of stuff I want to try.

While I was there I also followed a link to this great mini article about how to raise kids with an attitude of gratitude. This is something I think about quite a lot. The generation of kids that my generation is raising has a lot of challenges. I particularly liked this line: “The piece that seems to be missing in the gratitude story is the longing. Children don’t long for things anymore. And longing is tremendously powerful stuff. It motivates.”

Food for thought.

It is an overcast winters day here at the house of Matching Pegs. We are enjoying the long weekend, thanks to her Majesty, and the remembrance of her natal day! Today we are all pottering about, doing our own thing on the home front. Luke and Rory have been performing tree surgery on the Magnolia tree, which seemed to have a diseased limb. Michaela and Amelia are playing with dolls, which seem to alternate between being sick, and learning at school. This has left me free to keep going with my Butterflies.

I have created them using the needle-turn method, and I am very pleased with them. I have 3 more to create for Brooke’s Library Bag. What are you making today?

Happy Birthday Luke!

In honour of my man, I thought I would combine Luke’s birthday and The Friday Archive.

This is a portrait that I painted of Luke back in 1999. We had been married for a year, and he was away for the weekend, so I took the chance to paint. It was based on a photo that I had taken two years earlier, when we were engaged.

I am no Rembrandt, but I really enjoyed painting it all those years ago. It is the only portrait I have painted, mainly I have stuck to landscapes and still lives. Some purists would argue that a painting of a photograph is not a real portrait, but hey, I’m no purist. Here is a look at what I looked like on the same day…

And this is where the painting hangs, in great company on our kitchen wall.

Have a great day Mr.

When you are otherwise indisposed in the smallest room of the house, and your toddler comes to you, the last thing you want her to do is hand you a couple of egg shells and tell you that she is making french toast.

“But Mummy, I’ve got my apron”

You might notice in the background there are a couple of lovely Teddies. They had been having a lovely supper tea party the night before, with the girls, and the teddies could not tear themselves away from their cafe chairs. Michaela and I took a little time to restyle them, and take a lovely shot.

All of these beautiful creatures are hand made. The larger ones were made by the person from whom I inherited my creative genes, my talented Mother. That’s Daisy on the left (who belongs to Amelia) and Rosie on the right (who belongs to Michaela). Peanut Butter, who belongs to Rory was out to see a movie and didn’t join the party. Both Teddies are wearing clothes handed down to them from Baby Michaela. The smaller Teddies are all made by me, using a design of Rosalie Quinlans, published in Homespun No. 32 Vol. 6. No. 6.

The little one is the original size on the pattern, which I love, but the size makes it a little tricky to make.

I made a larger one for Michaela, and the other kids insisted on having one as well, which is why we have 3.

I love Rosalie Quinlan’s designs, when I grow up I want to be just like her ;-).

Here is a sneak peek at one of my designs that I am currently working on.

So, what is the funniest thing your toddler has given you?

Sure Can! While I cooked dinner tonight, the girls were playing with the play dough. Michaela made the little “Pool” at the top of the photo, while Amelia made the elaborate one at the front

To have the kids playing happily together during the arsenic hour……………………………………………..priceless.

For those of you that like to ponder the big questions in life, have a look at MetroDad’s current post.

Last night I got out the pencils for a change and sketched this little picture.

I was having so much fun that I went on to try something I have been wanting to do for a few weeks, a pattern repeat. Like many of you out there in Internet land, I saw this amazing post on Design Sponge (which I also saw mentioned on True Up) and was itching to try it. I have been wanting to know how this is done for literally years. None of my little books on William Morris, the master of intricate patterns, showed me how to do it, not even the one that show the original sketches. I did know that you must be able to manage it without a computer though!

Here is a piccy of my hasty, scribbled little design, that I drew just to test the process. It has already been cut into 4 and rearranged.

And here it is tiled together into a repeating pattern in Photoshop.

So much fun. I will have to try this properly with a more thought out design. Perhaps I will join The Aussie Fabric Mafia sometime, with simpler images than these many coloured geraniums.