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

..................Hip Little One! Congratulations, it was a really hard job to choose a winner so I ended up just drawing a name out of a hat! Please contact me with your details and what size you would like!

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Yesterday we went down and watched the local Santa Parade and had lots of fun. Of course it was even more exciting because our school had a float in the parade, and while my kids weren't on the float, as a member of our Parent Support Group I had a hand in getting it ready.....so I think I was more excited about it going past than the kids were....!

Its not long now until school is finished for the year.......1 week tomorrow and then the kids will be madly counting down until xmas day! So the mad rush is now on to get the shopping finished and to get parcels posted!!

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From the 1 Jan 2010 till 1 March 2010 Little Lizzies store at Little Kiwis Nest, will be taking a holiday. This will give me time over the holidays to spend with my kids and then to help with the organising of the School Gala Day. Also I hope to build up a bit more stock as well as adding some new things!! So aty tuned to our blog and Facebook page for sneak peeks at all the new developments!

Competiton Reminder!

Don't forget to get your entries in for our Xmas Competiton (see previous post fo details) it ends tomorow NZT and winner will be announced on the Saturday! I am loving the entries that I have had so far so I hope to see more enteries!

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The xmas tree is now up in ou house and have only got to spray the fake snow on the windows so the house looks very festive. The kids ae getting all excited and with school finishing for the summer holidays in just over a week chaos will ensue. Until then it is very busy, with christmas shopping to be finished, school productions to watch, the school's xmas in the park and of course finishing off preperations for the school float in the local Santa Parade! Of course it is all exciting and loads of fun!

Competiton.......as promised!

Well the Novemeber 23 is here and as promised a new Competiton! With the Xmas season approaching I thought I would make it Xmas themed........

Prize Package

Size 2 or Size 4 Xmas Dress

Asymmetrical Poncho

.......and a few more goodies that I find!

Ok so now that you know the goodies up for grabs, here is what I want you to do..... All you need to do is to tell me what you like about Xmas, by putting a comment under this blog...........!

All Entries need to be in by the 4th of December (NZT)

Making Xmas Pressies.......

This year to save some money I have been making presents for family, as well as hunting out those fantastic bargains! So far I have made magnets for hanging up art pictures and hair ties.....I'll also look at making necklaces, bracelets and brooches as well! Many of theses have proved to be so simple to make and cost effective too that I'm going to put them forward as fundraising ideas for the school Gala Day next year........ or I"ll sell them myself on the day.

I've often made xmas presents for my nieces, putting together braclets and necklaces are easy to do, but I have also made them skirts, headbands and of course shrugs..... my nephews in the past have been a little bit more awkward, but I have a few ideas this year, just got too see if it works first!

What do you make for xmas?

6 weeks till xmas......(insert screaming)

Its only 6 weeks till xmas everyone informs, and I'm so not ready for it. Its not that I've got heaps of shopping to do still (which I do), its more that I'm not ready for 2010 to come yet! 2010 means my sone will be turning 10 and in his last year at primary school which means that its only two more years and he'll be at High School, so not ready for it, its bad enough that at 9.5 he's almost as tall as me and no doubt at some point next year he will be as tall as if not taller than me.......oh well at least he's easy to buy presents for, books, books, science stuff, books, geeky stuff and yet more books lol.

My 7 yr old will be Yr 3 next year and will be make or break time for her acedemically as the jump from junior school to middle school is hard enough most kids but when you've got an intellectual disability it makes things so much harder, not that you will hear her complain she has lots of freinds so she doesn't worry about anything else! She is also very easy to buy for...... funky t-shirts and anything to do with horses and she is happy!

My 5 yr old well she is proving harder to buy for this year....... so I'll need to really get my thinking cap on, what do you get a fashion diva, brainiac and all round drama queen (ok she's no worse than many 5yr olds but still!!) oh and has to be cheap cheap! So far I've got cheap bracelets and hair ties......and she has plenty of dressup stuff....... must keep thinking!!

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Due to changes in facebooks guidelines to do with the running of competitions, I will no longer run my competitions directly from my facebook page but instead will run them through my blog both directly from blogger and from the NetworkedBlogs app through facebook (for those who don't want to sign up to blogger!

Next competition will be on the 23 Novemeber (NZT)

Details to come!!

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For those who have entered the Great Fashion Hunt

Little Kiwis Nest's day is the 24th November!

Reindeer and Elves

Well thats what my girls are in the junior school production, one is an elf and one is a reindeer and lucky me gets to organise their costumes.......thankfully though its nothing complicated just pants and t-shirts just not the colours the have in their drawers so now I am trying to find how much brown coloured material I have hidden in my stash to make them out of! Of course thay are getting very excited about it all, wandering around the house singing all the songs until the rest of us go a bit batty.......oh well only 2 weeks till the first performance.

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Xmas will be soon be upon us and I have got lots of xmas dress's already cut out waiting to be made, in the hope that people might want to feel a bit more xmas spirit this year...... and what is more cute than kids running around on xmas day in xmas themed outfits! I was even thinking about making a few pairs of shorts with some of the left over pieces as well and if I get time maybe even a waistcoat or two!

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Next competiton will begin on the 23 November so stay tuned for more details!

Busy Busy Busy!

Term 4 has well and truley started at school and as expected its turning out to be very busy and thats just with school stuff! My eldest has got School Camp and the girls have got the Junior School Production to get ready for (and I'm getting tired of the songs already! lol). On top of this our Fundraising Committee is preparing for the end of year Xmas in the Park - school celebration and also the planning of the School Gala Day which is set to be the March 6 2010. So I'm now up to 2 meetings a week. Not that I complain too much I dio enjoy it, our group is very sociable and we have a good giggle while we are doing it all!

On the Business front I have been busy making birthday presents, some new knitted items including bolero type shrugs and vests - which just need to be sewn up and photographed, and also I have been making another gift as Fairy Godmother -this time for my sons Teacher Aide. In addition to this I have also been listing Xmas Dress' for sale, so far in size 4 and size 1 with many more waiting to get to the sewing machine. I have also been doing a custom order for a friend for a NB and a size 3 xmas dress which are almost completed!

I am not doing any competitions this month, but are offering Custom Ordered Xmas Dress'/Waistcoats etc for Facebook Fans Only and I'm happy to post overseas.......so get in quick as I only have a limited supply of fabric at the moment (though I don't mind an excuse to visit spotlight to find more!!)

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If anyone local to Mt Maunganui would be interested in having a stall or contributing to our Gala Day in another way please feel free to contact me. At this stage I'm just after interest so that I can put it forward as an Idea at the meeting next Wed. Our school has a very big junior school and many of these kids are the eldest in the family rather than the youngest, plus we seem to be having a bit of a baby boom too!

Holidays are over...Schools Back

Time for some 'ME' time again! Only problem now is that of course the next lot of school holidays looming on the horizon are the Xmas ones......I suppose I had better start thinking about Xmas shopping etc! Keep your eyes peeled for our Xmas themed range of knitwear...lots of reds and whites of course!

This term is another busy one for us with Junior School production; Christmas in the Feild at School and of course the Xmas work functions....which this year we should really go to - usually we can't make it because its hard to find babysitters, but not this year! I've recently been busy making birthday presents for both of my daughters friends, with two more parties this weekend to go to and one of them is fancy dress, so I have also been busy making a Fairy Costume as well....so far so good, its just about finished!

We have finally joined the twitter craze....the fact that I could link it to the facebook page was a bonus! Come follow us @LittleLizzies

School Holidays.......

...and of course its raining and blowing up a gale outside! I've already had to rush outside and rescue the seedlings that were on the deck, fingerscrossed they will survive their ordeal. The weekend though had been lovely, I even got more plants planted in the vege garden - peas, butter beans and pumpkin seeds.

This last week has been busy with organising/planning what to make for presents for the parties that the girls have been invited to. One is going to a 5yr old party and the other is going to a 7yr old party. The later party is also fancy dress, so a fairy costume must also be orgainised (sewn)! So far I've finished a top for the 5yr old birthday girl........ just need to make some accessories to go with it and I have started on a top (of sorts) for the 7yr old!

Well had better get back to the knitting and also keeping the kids from going to nutty on this very wet start to the holidays......please please let there be sun at some stage over the holidays!!



Oh and before I forget...I made my first sale through Little Kiwis Nest on Thursday night and will be posting a capelet across to a fellow Kiwi, based in........FRANCE!!!! Heehee it is so very exciting!

A Beautiful Day

I intended to take photos this weekend, and so I did but instead of my clothing/knitwear, I ended up taking pictures on our walk around Mt Mauao instead. The Fashio Diva decided that it the wind was too cold to stand outside earlier in the afternoon on Sunday for photos (and it rained on the Saturday), but by late afternoon the wind had died down, but of course now the kids wanted to head down to the Mt because it was low tide, so they could find starfish and hermit crabs in the rockpools!

It really was a beautiful day, with lots of yachts out on the harbour. The kids had a ball walking around the shoreline, clambering over rocks and then back up on to the main track, looking out for all the lambs on the Mt itself! Really is beginning to feel like summer....now just to get the lovely warm water for swimming!

Don't forget the Launch Competition finishes this Friday (NZT)! Make sure you tell all your frineds about it!

Had better get back to work.......I can hear the knitting needles calling me to come sit out on the deck in the sun and knit!

I will also be putting up some xmas dress' up on http://www.littlekiwisnest.co.nz/ soon, just got to make a few more different ones, in both bigger and smaller sizes! So keep your eyes open for that.

Is now Tweeting.....

I have finally joined the Twitter age...... though it helps that I can connect it to my facebook fanpage, so I don't need to be constantly updating both independently..Yay!! So if you want to follow me on twitter you can here!

Have had a few entries in for the Launch Competition - What is your favourite thing about Spring? - on the fan page, competition ends on the 25th September (NZT), so you had better get in quick. The Prize pacakage has already been decided on and if you look at the photo album called Giveaways, you will see what it is!

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Have begun planting veges in my garden this morning, thanks to a friend who gave to me some of her surplus of seedlings. So far we have tomatoes, zuchinni, pumpkin, peas, beans and cucumber planted. I still need to plant the broccoli, capiscum, eggplant another tomato plant and sweetcorn, but they need to grow a bit bigger before planting out so they are enjoying the shelter and warmth on the deck! So now all I need to get is some more sweetcorn, lettuce, herbs and of course strawberries and we'll be set for the summer!

My Sewing Machine must be feeling lonely.......

.....as its been a few weeks since I have spent any great length of time at it, but that will change as with the coming of Spring and Summer just around the corner, the kids all need a few new clothes.....shorts are especially in short supply (haha)! Time to dig around in my piles of fabric to find some new inspiration for the coming season. On the knitting front I have finished a few more items, though many them still seem to call out for Autumn and Winter rather than Spring and Summer. oh well its always cold somewhere! At least I have a few more balls of cotton yarn and lightweight Acrylic to play around with....thought I might try my hand at knitting up some summer tops!

I have listed quite few things now on Little Kiwis Nest, so if you haven't checked them out yet then toddle on over to the website or you could checkout the blog to keep up with the new stores as they join!

I had fun this weekend trying to get my little fashion diva, to behave while taking more product shots.....lots of them weren't really any good, but then thats the good thing about digital cameras, the dud shots don't cost you anything!

Both of these are available for sale at Little Kiwis Nest.

One last photo to add, just for Steph at MooBear Designs.....I have been meaning to post this up for the last month (naughty me).

My daughter really loves this T-shirt that Steph designed for her, she gets excited everytime she gets to wear it! She's a real horsey girl and loved going to RDA when it was her schools turn! Thanks Steph!!!

Spring is here and the flowers are blooming!

Spring is a fun time of year with all the little lambs and flower blossoms and of course the warmer weather! The kids are counting down until the school holidays as with this warmer weather we will spend a good chunk of the day across the road at the beach building sandcastles....not quite swimming weather but its not that far away either. When we aren't over a the beach we will be out the back busy in our vege garden, which so far doesn't have any plants in it, but hopefully in the next couple of weekends we'll plant sweet corn, peas, beans, courgettes(zuchinni) and lots of herbs, ready to harvest by Xmas!

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With Spring in mind, I have finally organised another competition on my facebook page, and all you need to do is tell me what your favourite thing is about Spring..... just put your comment under the post about the competition and be into win a Little Lizzies Prize Package.....still nutting out the deatils of what will all be in the package so stay tuned for that!! Don't forget to tell all your friends about it!

Ooops.. the link didn't work

so I'll try again in a new post!

So if you want to check out my knitwear online (and available for purchase) then you need to come visit us at Little Kiwis Nest. They also have a blog where you can find out even more about the lovely girls who got Little Kiwis Nest up and running!!

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I have been busy planning and creating more ponchos, scarfs and anything else I can think of to knit. So far after a very fruitful trip to spotlight I have finished one scarf (will list it soon), one Asymmetric Poncho (just needs to be sewn up) and are half way through an Adults Asymmetric Poncho. In addition to this I have also volunteered to help make costumes for the Seneior school production.... I said I would do the rock'n'roll skirts for the dancers, so hopefully there isn't too many of them and they are simple like the notice said so I can get them finished pretty quick....production is in 3 weeks (2 weeks till dress rehearsal).

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In the weekend I was busy at school again, helping out with the endless job of fundraising, this time we were busy counting 'bucks' which is used at the Brews Blues and BBQ's event in January. Was a pretty mindless job but the committe made a nice amount out of it, so that is all good. Next term will be even busier for us as we begin planning for the School Gala Day next year....usually we would wait until after the xmas school holidays to get serious planning done, but next year we are planning to have piglet races (so cute), so it has to be in early March! Oh and then of course next term its the junior schools turn to do production! Maybe I should just sit back and enjoy these last few weeks of quiet!!

The Big Day is Here!!!!!

From today you can now buy Little Lizzies knitted accessories online! We joined the community of WAHMs at Little Kiwis Nest and now our Store is open for business!!! So far I have listed just over 10 items, but keep coming back to check as I will be listing more stuff all the time.......I just need to take more photo's of all the items that I have already made and of course all the new stuff to come! I hope to have a couple of Adult Assymetric Ponchos up soon, just deciding on the colours!!

While you are looking at my store, don't forget to take some time to checkout all the other cool items being made by other WAHMs right here in New Zealand, such as Made it Baby, Natural Star, Holland Designs, and so much more!

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Also stay tuned for a Launch Competition......just working out the details!

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Don't forget to keep suggesting www.facebook.com/LittleLizzies to all your friends.... remember that the 250 fan wins a gift!

The Countdown has begun..........

Its not long now until Little Lizzies begins selling on Little Kiwis Nest, actually all going to plan I should be ready for the September 1 deadline I set myself. I have loaded product, got my head around html code and other than a bit of boring stuff (but very important if I want to make money) still left to do! At this stage I have listed about 10 items but of course I'll keep adding more stuff each week from pile of lovely things already made and of course I'll continue to create more and more fun things! The big one to watch out for would be my Adult sized Asymmetric Ponchos as I have had lots of requests/interest in these.

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Now its not long till the end of the month..... and if you want to be into win a little gift for yourself then get inviting your friends to join our fan page on facebook. Once the end of the month rolls over then only our 250th fan will get a gift......but if we get there before the end of the month I will make a second random draw......that lucky person might just be you!

Watch this space…….coming soon!

Its almost launch time here at Little Lizzies and soon you will be able to buy our wonderfully unique and funky knitted accessories for you and your kids. A big thanks must go out to Suzan and Amy @ Little Kiwis Nest for providing a beautiful website for selling lots of lovely stuff…… its NZ’s answer to Etsy! So it wont be long now until instead of coming soon you will see LAUNCH LAUNCH…YAY!

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Things are busy here at the moment trying to get new designs made and photographed plus trying to fit in coffees with friends before I get busy and not just with Little Lizzies. Next term we begin planning in earnest for our big School Gala Day next year and as its in early March we have to start planning soon……….. The Gala Day looks exciting with plans to get some piglets and have races, it should be lots of fun!!

Stay tuned for our launch…….will think of some interesting promos/contests/giveaways to coincide with it.

 

P.S check out the fan page for some more quirky designs and don’t forget our current giveaway…..there is only 11 days left in the month to reach 250 fans to win!

Helping at School…..

I enjoy being able to help out at school, whether it be on the fundraising committee, parent helping on trips or helping out with costumes at production time! Just recently I have helped out at the school sausage sizzle, money from which helps subsidise the end of year class trips and next term we are about to start planning our end of year Xmas Picnic and School Gala Day for next year…… which will hopefully be just as popular as last year, especially if we can get some piglets to race! But we also like to show the teachers and the rest of the school staff that we appreciate everything they do for our kids, and so this year we started the Fairy Godmother programme, where each week a teacher would be shown a random act of kindness, whether it be home cooked meal, baking, vouchers for a massage etc and the teachers are loving it, with many finding there ROAK, arrives when they really need it. I’m in the process of planning my gift for my ROAK, not so random really as its for my daughters Teacher Aide and I’ve been waiting for her name to come up. She has been with my daughter since she started school and does so much for her from buying birthday presents to providing rewards for her good behaviour at school… so now its our turn. I’m busy knitting up one of my ponchos for her (hopefully the pattern adapts ok) in lovely Storm Grey and Mauve colours……. Do you ever do anything random for your teachers at school, even just a thank you card or flowers from the garden, it might just make there day!

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Don’t forget the August Giveaway on the Fan Page

Will one of your friends be our

250th Fan?

Will we get there before the end of August?

A Second Random Draw will happen if we do

It might just be You!

Looking forward to warmer weather…..

……and with it comes the summer wardrobe! What better to add to your children’s wardrobes this year than one of our funky knitted accessories!

This is one of my latest creations, perfect for sunny days over a sundress to keep the sun off the shoulders!

This one is a size 6–9yrs and is a Retro Style Cotton/Viscose blend yarn.

 

It is shown on a size 8/9 yrs (approx) tailors form, and will drape a little bit differently for a younger child. While the size states 6-9 yrs, it can be worn by an older child as long as they can still get it over their head….again it will drape slightly differently from how it is shown here, but this does allow for longer use of the garment!

 

……..All the birthday parties here are now finished for the year…yay!! My youngest has now been at school for a week and is loving it! I am having some very lovely me time and are slowly reorganising the house….starting with my girls room. So far I have sorted out their clothes and reorganised their books, the next task will be to sort out their toys!

………FAN PAGE GIVEAWAY!!!

Next fan page giveaway will be too our 250th fan and if we get there before the end of August I might just do a random draw as well!!

It must be almost spring

The last few days we have been having some beautiful sunny weather and it is starting to feel more like the winterless North again. The extra bonus is that spring weather tends to arrive early here and so does the summer sun..... so fingers crossed the sunny weather is here to stay! Sunny Spring days are not always the hottest with those lovely cooling spring breezes so a perfect way to top off your daughters outfits ......especially those whose daughters think that the hit of sunny means sundress' and tank tops..... is one of Little Lizzies Shrugs!!

My daughter has been enjoying here first few days at school and has settled in just as if she had always being going..... though I suppose with two older siblings it probably feels that way at times. The bonus is that she comes home and does here homework by herself without too much fuss.....now if she could only teach the older two how to do this and life would be soo much easier.

This weekend see's party number 2 happen....yep thats right I have kids with birthdays close together, 4 days between them to be precise. At least this party is way better organised, the 6/7yr old girls are going to be making badges, friendship bracelets and singing their little hearts ou with disney sing it..... think sing star but with all those trendy tweeny disney songs that are around at the moment., if you know who the Jonas Brothers, Hannah Montanna and the kids from Camp Rock then you will understand! It might drive us insane but no doubt the girls will have a blast! The cake is baked just got to decorate it tomorrow with lots of glittery icing, to get that whole rockstar effect!

They are all at school...Wahoo!!!

Now its time for me.....well for at least a few weeks and then all my time will be taken up by business type stuff! Not that I wont be thinking about the business during the 'me' time.... it'll just be all the fun stuff!

At the moment I'm trying to be organised and have began putting ideas down for the next lot of competitons to be run through the Fan Page and also the Blog. So far I'm thinking of doing competitons/giveaways for the following things (just rememeber these are just ideas at the moment!):

• 250 Facebook Fans
• Xmas Giveaway (possible a dress/shrug or waistcoat/pants)
• The launch of Little Lizzies
• ........need more ideas!

Actually I need to tell my mind not to keep coming up with more ideas, its getting pretty crowded in their and need to concentrate!

I have been making or should that be creating more ponchos/capelets/accessories....somedays I don't know what to call some of them, as they seem to just be more organic in creation rather than by design, so if you something you like grab it, as I may not be able to create another one on demand......lol..... I just aim for something and sometimes it just doesn't lend itself towards the intial idea and morphs into something else, but its much more exciting that way!

I will post some photos of the new stuff soon, just got to get more batterries for the camera!

Don't forget if you see something on the fan page that you like say so..... some of it is even available to be sold, so just ask! Also don't forget to introduce your friends to the wonderful world of Little Lizzies!!

Silly Technology.....

You don't realise how much rely on somehing until it breaks down, in my case it happens to be fast broadband and a good computer. The kids of course consisitently use up our broadband limit way too fast (even though we have doubled it) and now to add to the issue the hard drive on the desktop is packing a sad and refuses to start up......except when it wants to. This has meant the I am having to use our very slow and old laptop to keep in touch with all my cyber buddies, my blog, my social networks and my fan page! Oh well it wont be for long, but it does mean I wont be loading photos any time soon...

My youngest daughter starts school tomorrow and then begins some much needed me time, though knowing me, it wont be a lot of sitting around doing nothing.....I always need to be doing something. I have started thinking of all the things that I could do, like catch up on some reading, getting the vege garden ready, make some clothes for my kids rather than to sell and sort out my cupboards and if I get really bored I can always make a start on sorting out the garage......we'll see. No doubt the first few days I will either flounder round the house looking lost or will be out walking and looking around the shops and will probably spend sometime trying out all the cafes (especially if they have yummy cakes on offer).

Somedays Birthdays are a nightmare.....

Or at least it feels that way this year, and I'm not even talking about my own. I'm having a ideas crisis when it comes to my almost 5yr olds birthday present. we've got the bag, the lunch box.....and then I'm stuck!!!

It was her last day at kindy today and I thought she might have wanted to make a bigger deal about it, but she treated it like any other day at kindy and when we arrived to pick her up she just got her bag and off we went........ She is looking forward to her first day of school on Tuesday, bu then to those who know her, know that this day hasn't come fast enough for here!

Fan numbers on the Little Lizzies Facebook page are continuing to rise, yippee!!

Little Lizzies has 100 fans on Facebook

Actually when I checked a few mintues ago it had reached 109 fans! So I must say a big THANK YOU to all those lovely people who have joined and have left lovely comments about my stuff.

Thw winner of the 100 Fan Giveaway, was Louise Tanguay and she has chosen the Boy's Asymmetric Poncho. Congratulations Louise, it will be coming your way very shortly!

Our house at the moment is busy busy with the planning for my youngests 5th birthday and my older daughters 7th birthday party. They were very well planned and have only 4 days seperating their birthdays which means birthday parties two weekends in a row! With my youngest starting school I will be taking some time to enjoy my child free days before throwing myself headlong into getting everything up and going.................so the countdown is on!

One Giveaway Prize finished……

One to go!

I have finished one of the two ponchos I have on offer for when my fan page hits 100 fans. I only have about 12 more to go to hit the magic number… Yay me!!

Here its the Asymmetric Poncho for girls……

In this Picture it is being shown on my 7 yr old daughter ( and despite the sunny day she wasn’t in the mood for playing model)

My Fashion Diva was much happier about playing model, but wouldn’t stand still so hopefully I have got some good pictures.

It would fit from 4yrs till 7yrs and is made from 100% NZ Wool.

Check My fan page for instructions and handy hints for caring for woollen garments!

Now all I have to is make up the Boys one, hit 100 fans and draw a winner!

The winner will get a choice of either the boys or girls poncho!

To Giveaway…..

Three children…..Just kidding! But I am doing a Giveaway on my Facebook Fan Page. when I hit 100 fans I will Giveaway an Asymmetrical Poncho, which I am making especially for it. Actually I’m making two; one for a boy and one for a girl so that then the winner can choose which ever one suits them best! No point in giving away a pink one if the winner has boys!!

This is the wool that I have chosen. The Green and Blue balls obviously for a boy (or girl) and the Pink and Purples for a girl.

The Green/Blue balls are 100% Merino and the Pink?Purple is 100% NZ Wool.

I am busy getting them made up now, so hopefully I can get them finished before I hit 100 fans!

Winner will be drawn at random some how!

Running Out of Wool

Never thought I would ever say that I ws running out of something, but I am seriously running out of wool. I still have a bit left but its all part balls...so enough for headbands and possible a shrug or two, but not enough for my ponchos! Bummer.....oh well gives me an excuse to go looking for more wool this week and Issy wants to go for a ride on the Bus, so we might have to checkout all the new Op Shops we found over in Greerton.... or maybe I could convince my Hubby to take uson a trip to Rotorua so that I can visit Spotlight.......thats right we don't have Spotlight here in Tauranga, its really annoying at times, but its probably better for the bank balance!!

School Holidays are over here so I'm now trying to get back into the routine of sewing/knitting during the day.... though routine is only going to change again in two weeks as my baby turns five and starts school and I'll try and get in some 'Me' time....... cafe's here I come!

Another Poncho Finished

 

The yarn used for this Asymmetric Poncho is a mixture of Cotton and Rayon, in really funky retro green and orange shades.  The good thing about the yarn was that it was knitted on larger needles, and so had more stretch… so I can show you how versatile the Asymmetric Poncho can be!

This Picture is of the Poncho a Tailors Form (approx 8/9yrs). Here the neck has been rolled like a Skivvy (turtle neck)…….

Here the orange colour is to the front and the green more to the back with more of a cowl/gathered neckline……..

 

Here the green is more to the front, draped more like a traditional poncho and again with a cowl neckline…..

In this picture, to show how versatile they really are, I have put it on my 5 yr old (ok she’s not quite 5…but its only 2 weeks away)…. now she is small for her age and still fits size 4 clothes…………

Notice how the neckline sits wider across her shoulders and again takes on a rolled neckline……

An Asymmetric Poncho can last your child for ages………..!

Ideas Ideas Ideas…..

Some days I never seem to have a shortage of ideas of things I want to make/create, actually I often have too many ideas buzzing around in my head and struggle to get them all down. More often its while in the process of jotting down idea that another will come to me….. it makes it very hard to remain focused on the first idea and then of course I have to make a decision as to which idea to start first…… that is why around my house there are often lots of projects started but not necessarily finished, doesn’t help that I make my decision based upon whatever coloured thread I happen to have in my machine at the time………..

My latest project I have started

(but seeing i have pink thread on the machine it may be a few days before it progress’ further.)

This would have to be my favourite piece of fabric at the moment but its a lining fabric, so I will need to either make a waistcoat

or a jacket to use it…

or come up with something completely different…..

Another Project that I have started is this Scarf,

Its made from Bamboo/Cotton Yarn, and has been puzzling me for weeks as it needed something but I wasn’t sure what.

I think I’ve figured it out… it needs a Stickpin Brooch to go with it, now I’ve just got to make one…(another idea)

My best score from the Op Shop recently would have to be this cone of yarn.  I think it contains cotton, but not 100% sure.

But it only cost $2.50……. Bargain!!

School Holidays are almost finished, and before I know it my youngest will be at school……. then I can spend my days (well 9am – 3pm) at my sewing machine.

School Holidays are for Knitting

Its about all the kids will let me do….especially on rainy winter days when they want to watch TV.  With that the case I have got a few more items knitted up….A Lavender Bamboo Shrug (Size 2-4), plus a matching a head band.

I have also made up another Asymmetric Poncho in a Cotton/Blend This would fit from a NB to at least an 18mnth old. Though the way it will sit on an older child will differ to that from a younger child..

 

In addition to looking for a Market to sell my stuff at I have also been investigating the different online options, especially when I have a very small budget to work with. There are the established places like Trade Me or Etsy or eBay, but was interested in finding something a little bit smaller in size so as not to get lost amongst the multitude of sellers and also something that had a NZ focus…. and I think I found it. Little Kiwis Nest is a NZ site for the selling of NZ products created for children and babies. Check it out, there are a lot of great products on their already it can only get bigger!

So that is one more thing I can check off my list……..

……When the Little Lizzies Fan Page hits 100 we will be doing a giveaway…….just got to decide what to giveaway!

I am still alive....

just in case my friends out there in the blogosphere had wondered wher I had gone...lol.

We are heading into the last week of school holidays here and the countdown to my youngests 5th birthday....so not much work has been done. In saying that the needles have been going click clack a lot when I'm not complaining about how cold it is ( I thought it was usually warm in the winter her...not freezing cold). So far I have been playing around with a bamboo/cotton blend scarf...want to decorate it but not sure how or with what, also have finished knitting a lavender Bamboo ribbon shrug (just got to sew it up) and have started on a Cotton/Acrylic Blend Asymmetrical Poncho in pastel pink and purple colours....phots will be coming soon.

I would aslo like to thank all those lovely people who have started following my blog and also to those lovely people who have become fans of my facebook page.... we have almost hit 40 fans!!! It is very exciting to watch. Please remember I love to get feedback so please feel free to comment on all the things you like..etc!

Dress Up Day at Kindy

Today was Dress Up day at my youngest daughters kindy…. it was all in the aid of raising money for ‘The Big Night In’ on the 8/9 August. Well it started well the planning for this dress up… first she wanted to be a princess, and then she wanted to be a bat and then she decided on being a fairy princess. I thought well that should be easy, we’ve got plenty of wings floating around the house and there was suppose to be a fairy type dress somewhere in the girls bedroom…..But no we couldn’t find the dress and then when we looked at the wings closer we realised that they really weren’t in a fit state to be seen outside the house……. So it was mum to the rescue, and while I didn’t have time to make a fairy dress, I di however make her some very funky wings….and guess what she won best fairy princess!! Yay me!!!

The winning wings….. I patchworked scraps together and the ironed onto some stiff interfacing…though would love to stiffen it up a bit more so they stayed upright.

Hopefully she doesn’t expect too much for the Kindy disco next week……lol

School Holidays are Here.....

Fun Fun Fun....Ok I do enjoy the holidays but never the ones in the middle of winter as we often end up stuck inside watching TV or the kids are each other batty. At least over the summer we can head across the road to the beach to build sandcastles or go for a swim... or we can even take a walk down to the rocks around the base of Mount Mauao to look for crabs and starfish or even just walk down the road to the park for a swing.

So not much sewing will get done over the next couple of weeks, but I will probably get more knitting done...especially seeing I found an old knitting book in the op shop the other day and It had a few interesting patterns I would love to try and make and eventually adapt! The one that caught my attention was a knitted sleep sack... actually it had two different patterns so it should be fun playing around with them! At the moment though I have started knitting a creamy yellow shrug to go with my xmas dress', using a Bamboo/Merino blend Yarn and have also started a Lavender 100% Bamboo Shrug as well.

I have also checked out a new market that started in the Mount and will look at having a stall there come September.

Checking things off my list....

I am checking things off my business list, today it was setting up a Fan Page on Facebook, whcih is very exciting to watch the number of fans increase. Ok at the moment the are mainly friends but it is still very exciting and feels very grown up. Tomorrow I'm checking out a new Market at the Mount, which may suit better as it is every saturday from 10am - 2pm..... just a bit more family friendly than the one I was intending to go to. The advantage is the person running this one use to run the other one (hope that make sense) so hopefully if I decided to do this new market it wont be too hard to secure a spot! The only thing I need now is for the weather to be nice and sunny tomorrow so I can have a nice walk down!

Yesterday was a fun day….

Instead of sewing I went to see my daughter do her final session at RDA (Riding for the Disabled), which she was very excited about!! I went out with one of the other mums and stood outside, while the weather tried really hard to rain. Thankfully the rain waited until after my daughters session so we were able to see her and her horse go through their exercises! My daughter has had so much fun participating in this and it has improved her balance no end…… here is a picture I took of her on the horse. Don’t you lover her tartan pants!!! 

Today I’m back at the sewing machine and have done some more on my sons trousers….they aren’t going too bad considering I haven’t done a Trouser Fly since I did my course over 6yrs ago…at least the fabrics was cheap so if it looks horrible it wont be a costly mistake…. lol …. but then again my son would probably still wear them just because I made them! Not much more to do on them….but I’ve been banned from the overlocker again by my fashion diva..so it might be the weekend before I get them finished!

Getting Ready For a Birthday…….

In just over 4 weeks I will have two birthdays to celebrate…..my eldest daughter who turns 7 and my youngest daughter who turns 5…Yay!…that is until you remember that there is only 4 days separating their birthdays (yeah I know real good planning) so we always have on birthday party one weekend the and the second party the following weekend. I am also usually really organised for it, but not this year….lol. But in saying that I have now got my elder daughter two of her birthday presents ………

So firstly I would like to thank Steph at MooBear designs for doing a swap with me, one of her wonderful t-shirts for one of my shrugs.Isn’t just gorgeous! My daughter is very horse mad and is going to love finding this on her birthday!!

But that wasn’t all that was in the package from Steph…she sent it in this really nifty bag that she made from a placemat, included one of her fantastic scrappy broaches and a whole lot of crafty things…  

You can find a picture of her daughter Bubbles wearing my shrug and a Pinafore that I also made here.

In addition to this I have also bought my daughter a new Sunhat for school….Ok I know a sunhat doesn’t sound like a very exciting birthday present, but for my daughter sunhats have always been a struggle as her head is quite small so most hats tend to fall off and then I found this wonderful business called Babybanz, through Skout and she has adjustable hats and so of course we ordered one on Wednesday and it arrived on Saturday and its brilliant. Seeing that its a birthday present I haven’t been able to actually try it on her yet, but I have tried it on my other daughter …so here it is…. 

Its just perfect for our needs and is so light that it will fit in her Chair bag at school with ease! Definitely well worth checking her site out as she also does neat sunglasses and for those whose kids don’t like a lot of noise, she is also now stocking a range of very funky earmuffs….

Going Cross-eyed….

Well that what it feels like as I sit here struggling to unpick a buttonhole that decided to go a bit wonky. Button holes were never something I enjoyed doing, especially on my first sewing machine as it didn’t have an automatic buttonhole function, but my current machine does and while it is a blessing it makes the initial stitches so tiny, it can be a real struggle to see them when things go wrong. Today of course after doing 6 perfect button holes it decides that the next one could be a little bit crooked….too crooked for my liking and so now I’m trying to unpick it so that the machine can try again!

The weather has been pretty sunny here lately, which for winter is really nice and makes up for the very cold mornings. So over the weekend to make the most of the beautiful sun, we went exploring Tauranga a little bit more. We have lived here for just over two years now …well at the Mount any way…and still haven’t explored everywhere yet. Saturday morning we chucked the kids in the car and we went across to the suburb of Greerton (though if they are like us in Mount Maunganui, we don’t like to think of ourselves as a suburb!), and had we nosy around at the shopping centre there. Well I will be planning a trip back with friends sans the kids as they had quite a few Op Shops and discount type stores that really need to be explored/rummaged through more. We also found a delightful cafe that had quite nice selection of GF food…much to my youngest daughters delight…. her eyes almost bugged out when she realised that the yummy looking lamingtons in the cabinet were GF and according to her they were yummy!

I have just realised that I haven’t included any photos for a while….. naughty me, must get snapping again!!

More planning has been done…..

Well in so far as that I have worked out what I want to do with my piece of Blue denim… I was thinking a nice tailored jacket for my almost 7 yr old, and of course it wont be just plain denim, i will work something a little bit funky into it some how! I have also decide on what I want to make for my friends little boy, but now I’ve just got to decide upon the fabric…. blue plaid or lime green cord..hmmm will have to decide soon if I want to get it finished in time for the birthday party next week.

Have had more news about the Market i was hoping to go to at xmas time…and so far it’s looking good! Yay hopefully more details on how if any changes to its structure/layout will affect me will be known soon…and then I can go mad getting things made up! In addition to this market I am planning to run a stall at my my kids school Gala Day next year…if I’m really organised i could turn it into a mini launch….but will have to see how organised I have been… but its a good goal to aim for! That means I’ll need to write up lists to ensure everything is covered and nothing forgotten…luckily I don’t mind writing up lists!

Today is a very nothing day….

Not much of anything gets done, with my youngest having her first school visit today…boohoo…! She is very excited about it all and when the bell rang she gave me a kiss and waved good bye and ran to sit on the mat with her friends. So between the visit and then kindy this afternoon not much will be done….but once she goes to school i will be free to potter at the sewing machine without worrying about the noise and if I need to go and get more supplies I can just go get them!

Speaking of sewing I have cut out the brown denim for a pair of trousers for my son…might have to go and get some elastic to to give them an adjustable waist as the poor boy is very tall and skinny! I also need to sort out a pattern and fabric to make an outfit for a friend’s little boys first birthday…. I have a couple of ideas but there are only a couple of weeks to do it so I’ll have to make my mind up quick!

I keeping running out...

I always seem to keep running out of things when I'm sewing, usually its just the thread on the bobbin. Today I could of done with more bobbins for my machine so that I could easily change colours, rather than waiting for a bobbin to run out of one colour thread just so I can put a different thread on it...currently the bobbin has pink on it and I really need to switch it back for cream.....oh well I might need to pay a visit to the shops next week and stock up on lots more of them, and while I'm there I had better get more open zips so that I can get some jackets finished for the kids too.

Last week I did score another really could find...picked up some really good fabric from the Op Shop really cheap. I got 150cms x 140cms of Blue Denim. 100cms x 120cms of light Brown Denim for $5 all up! Not sure what to do with the blue denim, it will either get turned into pinafores or funky cushions and the brown denim is destined to become trousers for my eldest......so now I also need brown thread on a bobbin..lol

The Countdown is on…

Until my youngest starts school, it really isn’t long now – 7 weeks to be precise.and then I can spend all day at my sewing machine, but until then my days are spent trying to do a little bit each day in between the trips to kindy and of course now the very important school visits! Its definitely coming up real fast..and i must admit while I’m looking forward to her going to school I’m not very well prepared fro the birthday party and presents that go along with it!

I have managed despite the looming chaos managed to get at least one more thing finished.

This a Size 1 Pinafore in corduroy fabric and buttons up at the back…..

 

Right now its time to go get organised for lunch and then off to kindy!

oh dear maybe i shouldn't

fiddle too much with the settings of my blog! lol didn't realise that it would look so funky, oh well you live and learn!

What a wonderful surprise…..

A fellow blogger passed on the two very nice awards to me

Rules:
1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.
2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you have newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award

 

This award is bestowed on to blogs that are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award

 

Thanks very much Stephanie from A Pocket Full of Buttons. She makes these very cool Rock Chick girls clothing…so please go check her out!

Now this is the first time I’ve taken part in this sort of thing so I do hope I do it right!

7 Things About Me

* I love to eat Chocolate

* Knows the words to Bob the Builder Songs

* I love all things Japanese

* I love sunny days at the beach

* I walk everywhere, even in the rain

* I can’t wait for my youngest to start school

* I am a Facebook Addict

And now I will pass these awards on to my friends and favourite  blogs

Steph @ Moobeardesigns 

Jacqui @Mee a Bee

Lou @Buttons By Lou Lou

Trina @Lola and Ben

Louise @Moving on up

Gina @Peke Moe

  I know its not 15 blogs….. but these are my favourite blogs to check up on!

My Market is closing....oh no!

The market I was planning to go to again this summer has been closed by the local arts council and while something else similar is suppose to take over its space, it may only be open to 'artists' and not the general arts and crafts that it was previously. I am so hoping that this wont be the case as it was the only indoor permanent market in the area...... fingers crossed!

busy busy busy…… Well I try to be!

For once I actually did sewing in the weekend..its not something I would usually do but it was cold outside and the kids were happy watching movies and I had a few projects that I wanted to finish!

 

This was the first one I got finished and I’m ashamed to say that it has been sitting by sewing machine fore the last 4mnths just waiting for that last bit of bias to be put on….. This is for the end of year tourist market…the kiwifruit fabric was very deliberately chosen has the area I live in is known for its Kiwifruit exports! 

 

 

This one is a Size 1 and I have a Size 2 waiting to be completed!

 

 

 

 

This one is another Xmas inspired outfit. It is not completely finished its just waiting for the buttons to be lovingly attached to the back!

 

 

 

It is also a Size 1 and I really love this fabric its got such a nice feel to it and the gold and the cream is just beautiful to look at. I really hope the photo’s do it justice.

 

 

Last but not least I have managed to complete some knitting recently as well and Have done a gorgeous shrug in Orange/Pink Bamboo yarn.

This has been done for Steph at MooBear Designs for her gorgeous daughter Bubbles! (I am so loving my camera, the colours look awesome!!)

Just when the time was right to use…….

………….the overlocker, the silly thing goes and runs out of cotton! Oh well I’m pretty sure I have another one somewhere in amongst all my boxes of fabric, just might take all day to find it! Doesn’t matter much now as the weather is looking rather wintery and the kids are now busy watching movies on TV.

I wonder if they make a whisper quiet overlocker?…

It would make life so much easier as then I wouldn’t have the kids telling me to stop all the time, because they can’t hear the TV. Well I suppose thats the downside of a smallish house, where your workspace takes over almost every part of the house…..today I’ve even commandeered the kitchen table as its getting all the sun and I need to match buttons to a dress……….Maybe I should Clean up the garage a bit more, no wait its winter and really cold in there, think I’ll stick with the status quo!

I am trying to be more organised this year and have started making up items to sell at the markets at Xmas time…hence the xmas inspired pinafore on the left! Last year it was October when I decided to share a friends stall and only had time to knit shrugs….this time i want more dress’ and pinafores as well!

I have included more classic colours of gold and cream as well the fun xmas inspired fabrics with xmas trees and angels on them. Just something a bit different to Red and Green!

Now I just need to make sure that each dress/pinafore has a at least one matching accessory!

Soup Day……

Wednesdays are Soup Day in our household, as the girls have netball practice after school until 5pm and it is so much easier just to through everything in the crockpot in the morning and forget about it until its tea time! Tonight its Potato and Leek and its smells yummy already.

Right here are so more pictures that I have taken with my lovely new camera, some of these I’ve probably posted pictures of before, but I wanted to show them on my dummy (who is a little drunk).

First up is the Chiffon Polka Dot Top      (sz 5-6). It definitely looks much better displayed on the dummy! An easy way to accessorise this would be to add a belt to nip in at the waist would look great paired up with denim shorts for the summer!       

 

 

 

This as also been posted before but again, the dummy shows it off way better, and the new camera catches the detail on the dragonfly perfectly.

 

 

                                                                               This skirt has been made using recycled fabrics and has a plaid pattern at the top and a very fine blue and red floral pattern on the bottom. It is a a size 7-8 yrs.

This photo also shows the drunken lean my dummy has ….which really doesn’t do much for the way the skirt hangs! I wonder if there is a Rehab centre for tailors dummies!!!

The new camera is here…….let the snapping begin

And Queens Birthday weekend provided us with lovely weather (though very cold) for trying out all the settings on our new camera!

As promised I have taken photos of some of the clothes and accessories that I have made while i had no functioning camera! So here it goes.

This is my daughter molly and her new pair of trousers I made for her yesterday…actually I finished them first thing this morning as she decided she wanted to wear them to school! I just loved the fabric as it was so bright, and it being cordoury just made it even better. I’m such a sucker for texture and colour!  And to make it even better it was all on special …gotta love spotlight specials, I got heaps of fabric there over the weekend so are going to be very busy!

Ok back to the photos, and I do have to apologise for the drunken posture of my dummy, she likes to drink! Not really, the kids pulled on the pole a bit too much when it arrived, to try and get it off the boxed and the bent the pole :)

 

This one of the pinafore’s I’m doing for Xmas Themed range this year…. Its a really neat pattern as its a simple wrap round design, with options of making it reversible. I have made heaps of these up for my daughters in the past, as they great for pulling on over a skivvy and tights in the winter or as it gets a bit shorter a pair of jeans, and in the summer it can be worn over swimming togs…… Because Xmas is during the summer here, it is lined with towelling…perfect for the beachside Xmas BBQ!

This lovely White Capelet, would be perfect for that special occasion. It is 100% Acrylic and uses two different textures of white yarn for contrast and has a simple button loop closure.

This one is a Sz 8-9

 

 

 

This another sz 8-9 capelet/poncho. Again this one is 100% Acrylic, so perfect for spring/summer months. It has a slight cowl neckline, to just make it a little bit different!

 

 

Right now I had better go make lunch for my fashion diva, before she has a diva size tantrum about being hungry and running late for kindy!!….will post more pictures tomorrow.

Watch out Blog.....

My new camera is almost here and then I'll be filling you with all the photos i've been wanting to take for the last few weeks!!

Maybe I should tidy my workspace before I get too snap happy...... it kind of gets rather messy when I'm making stuff. My table is covered with fabric and half finished clothing, the floor around it has patterns everywhere and little bits of fabric, cotton and lace (and not to mention the odd pin or two)!

Russian Nesting Dolls....

My kids are fascinated with the set I have and would play with them for ours if I let them and these days you can find them everywhere. They are definetly the latest thing at the moment and have not been restricted to more traditional forms - I have actually seen nesting Kiwis and Nesting Maori Warriors in many a Souvenier Shop here in the Mount, but the coolest form of these iconic dolls I have seen would have to be those on offer by Lola & Ben , these aren't play toys but large wall decals to put on your childs wall, produced exclusively for them.

These are very much the 'must have' item of the year!

To celebrate the launch of this new item to their collection, Lola & Ben are offering

Free delivery on all Wall Decals

For the month of June

just enter DECAL at the checkout!

So be in Quick!!