Friday 31 August 2012

My latest interests #7

You may have noticed a few changes going on around here recently, as part of my initial time out from work before baby I wanted to get this space a bit more established and interesting to read really :)

Anyway in all my exploring these last few weeks these are some things I am liking:

  • These mugs might be being made into a gift for someone as a christmas present this year. Just got to start collecting the bits and pieces :)
  • Some poignant information to bare in mind for my labour - which could be any day now that I am considered full term!
  • I always seem to be thinking about food.... not sure what that says about me!!! I think I would adapt this recipe a little so that it didn't contain as much sugar because I am a picker I just like to have little bits of things. 
  • I really love this belt idea, with an expanding waist line sometimes I want the definition but not the tightness of an elasticated waist - at least with this if I was having a particularly big day I could accommodate it!!
  • My  FREE button swap is also doing well which makes me super happy! I still have places though if anyone is thinking about taking part in a swap :)



Thursday 30 August 2012

Home made goodness

In my humble opinion, there is nothing like my mister coming home to an almost cooked dinner ready for him to enjoy after a hard day at work.

I love having things ready for him, I love taking care of him and really I just love being able to do these things. We are so fortunate that I can take a decent break from working whilst this baby is a baby and I get to spend my time making sure both their needs are met.

Today I used this lovely recipe to whip up a quick batch of flap jacks just because I had the ingredients in and it meant not only did my lovely have a home cooked meal - only sweat and sour chicken with noodles - he also got a home made afters.


I love that flapjack can be cling filmed and taken to be enjoyed anywhere! Plus the smell when its cooking .... might just be my favourite.


Tuesday 28 August 2012

Maternity Pictures

Be aware this is a photo heavy post!! I have put them all in black and white because I like the effect but really I know I should spend longer tweaking them.







Andy thinks we are having a girl .....
 I think we are having a boy ....


Monday 27 August 2012

3 Year Wedding Anniversary

So this year of traditionally leather, crystal or glass gifted items is replaced in our household with a baby! Happy Anniversary Mr Lovely Pants. I cannot believe what we have achieved in 3 years or how much more in love with you I grow as time passes.

We decided quite early in my pregnancy that we wouldn't do a whole lot this year simply because I probably wouldn't be up to much - how right we were!!

Earlier in the year we took a lovely little trip away to a spa hotel and had a little pamper with some rest much needed time away.

It was a place just outside of Exeter, Woodbury Park.


We went over the June bank holidays so it was pretty full - which meant single beds!


Andy got himself settled in straight away, little love!



We awkwardly tried to take photos but I was still getting used to my phone and had 27 week odd belly to confuse the situation!
We were happy enough with our little weekend away though, although I definitely wouldn't mind another weekend away when I am less uncomfortable with this massive belly!! 


From honey mooning Newly weds


To expectant parents 


It has been a good 3 years. 




Friday 24 August 2012

My latest interests #6

I have been having just the best fun with my extra time - I know that I am counting down the days until we meet this baby but just having some time for me between work and becoming a mummy has been the best! My mum has been really supportive this week too, we have been up to all sorts of adventures!

This coming week I would like to:

  • Get a home made present ready for our friends who get married at the end of September.
  • Take photos of the things I am hoping to sell in my upcoming etsy shop

These are the things I have found interesting this week:
  • I made some brilliant Honey and Date loaf earlier in the week and it just makes my afternoon extra lovely!
  • I love this etsy shop and I really think that I could do something similar to this with the fimo that Stacey and I have been playing around with lately. 
  • Guessing that nesting has kicked in with a baking tinge at the moment, I also made some Cheese and Chive scones. I am considering keeping this recipe and making them each week til the baby arrives because I can take small bites when I am in labour for slow release energy. 
  • All my creative  juices seem to be flowing too and I really would like to get a variety of cookie cutters in order to use them with the fimo but also to create our sunday cookies for our family traditions - as mentioned in this post
  • I am also hoping that my FREE button swap gains momentum and I manage to make new friends!

Thursday 23 August 2012

Button Swap Round up

So in August, once I was finally on maternity leave and uhmm, starting to relax and rest before baby arrives. I decided to push my interests in my little blog harder and start a sponsor swap. Passionfruit ads has made this incredibly easy as there is little management on my part.

This post is to introduce you to the swappers and hopefully encourage you to stop by and say hello to them!

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 Jessica from Sewing Our Life Together was my first swap and she was so patient with me whilst I figured the whole Passionfruit ads thing out. What initially drew me to Jessica's blog was her lace dress tutorial, I would love to give more dress making a go I just never seem to find the time. Anyway Jessica blogs about sewing, cooking and her growing family.


Tales of the Younger Twim
 Kelli from Tales of the Younger Twin blogs about life in American college and the sorts of things she gets up. Kelli takes some great pictures and gets up to all sorts of interesting adventures with her sister.


BericeBaby Blog
 Charlotte from Berice Baby jumped on board next and I have to say her little boy Hayden has to be one of the cutest little things ever! Charlotte blogs about Hayden, current events in her life, product reviews and doing things her own way. 

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 Tiffanie from Life with the Little Man made me laugh the first post I read, the stories that this lady tells about life with a son made me even more excited to experience this life as a Mum. 

Carlia from Nest Building 101 joined up last week and has some beautiful DIY home decor ideas, Carlia has a lot of free printables and tips on her blog that I certainly need for decorating on a budget. 

I haven't been following any of these blogs for very long but I really appreciate the diversity and mix of reading. I am really glad I have started the swap because I am much more aware of how many other bloggers there are out there - I think I was stuck in a rut before, reading the same, writing the same and this has shaken me up to see whats around.

Wednesday 22 August 2012

Re-purposing a broken mirror

Andy and I picked up a plain mirror ages and ages ago when it was on sale. It has moved about 3 different times with us. I don't have any pictures of it plain but it was just pine and boring. I painted the outside white and the inner runner a pale olive green.

When we brought our house we decided it was going in the hall way. Unfortunately the mirror got damaged in transit so I had to think of something to cover the damage but also make it cuter.



So I crocheted some hearts, added cute buttons and a felt backing. Then voila! Transformed mirror for a cute/feature piece in our hallway. Now I just hope Andy likes it when he gets in...... who am I kidding, I bet it takes 2 days for him to notice!













 I really like the addition, the felt backing covers the break and the hearts just add a bit of interest.

Tuesday 21 August 2012

Taking the grandparents out

I was really pleased to take my Nan and Granddad out with my sister last week, with working I didn't have a lot of time to do things during the day unless it was really planned in advance. 


Anyways we went to China Blue in Totnes and painted a plain clay object, Nan did a champagne bottle for her sister who has been married 50 years in October - this is crazy, almost as crazy as me being married 3 years at the end of the month.
Stacey painted a rocket photo frame.






I don't even look pregnant here!! But I am.
I am massive. 

I.. I started with wanting to write our anniversary date on a little coaster - we aren't really ornament people so it had to have a use. Except I made a mistake so I turned it into a giant button coaster!! Then added our wedding anniversary date to the bottom just to add it really!


I quite like it :D


Monday 20 August 2012

Nursery Series - 7 Surname Embroidery Ring

I think this must be one of my favourite pieces for the baby's nursery. I would have liked to have completed this project with the baby's name but obviously we don't know the gender or the name!

I might update this one when the baby arrives and I would like to add some of the gender specific touches. 

Put simply I traced the inside space of the embroidery ring onto a plain piece of paper to give me an idea of size. 




I sketched out the writing so that I knew I could cut out letters that would look good and fit in with the size of the frame. 



I cut them out of the paper.


 Then pinned them to felt and chopped them up as well.

Once I had my letters I tacked them to the fabric using a contrasting colour, just to make it look more interesting again.  


I pinned each letter in place to make sure I liked how it looked.

Ta Daaa, Like I said I really like this piece. :)

Sunday 19 August 2012

Living the high life

Aww Saturday was just such a lovely day, in fact the whole weekend was lovely. Andy and I have spent some good time together eating, laughing, playing and enjoying each others company.

Daddy and Baby <3 p="p">
Yummy chinese lunch 

In the afternoon we went to the cinema and saw that Brave, it was so sweet being in a cinema listening to the little children enjoying the film. Some parts were good and funny even for adult humor, overall a worthwhile film to see. It was on my pre-baby bucket list to go to the cinema and I am grateful to Andy for checking that one off!

In the evening we went to see my mum and my sister turned up with her friend - a lovely little lady I hadn't seen in nearly 3 years so it was nice to see her and chat with her too. Mum made a good roast but we couldn't eat so much because of eating sweets at the cinema :S!!


Sunday we had a nosey around a little carboot sale, we left empty handed on this occasion but we did make the mistake of leaving it quite late to go. In the next field there were some Alpacas, we didn't get in so close to see them but aww.


Then we went to a nearby garden centre and had a look around - so many fish! I never realised this place had so many!



Tonight we are planning a good ol' relax, watching some trash on the telly and a good soak of my swollen muma feet. 

Let me tell you, I am looking forward to having this baby but I hope weekends like this still happen - maybe minus the cinema and substituted with a park but time with Andy is always my favourite. 

Saturday 18 August 2012

Maternity photo's

My sister from improvised intentions was a little gem this week, she got Andy and I motivated to take some maternity photos.

Stacey took A level photography and always thinks about lighting, positioning etc so I think it turned out really well. Of course I look at the pictures and think eurgh, swollen feet and hands - puffy face. But I completely treasure the memory of taking the photos and how happy we look in them.

I have put one in a frame because I just couldn't not to be honest!!



I feel so blessed when I look at this picture, I am not sure our baby could be more wanted or treasured by his/her daddy and mummy, but especially daddy. He has such a big heart, he really is my favourite <3 p="p">

Friday 17 August 2012

My latest interests #5


So a week into my holiday time but effectively maternity leave, I am enjoying taking my time with things and keeping my own schedule.
Hypnobirthing is in full learning mode, I am trying to do something towards it everyday and then staying on top of house work too. I feel much happier with my pregnancy and just excited to have the baby here so soon. 
  • Oh oh oh I really love this simple but cute idea! I might even use this tutorial to make some christmas presents or as decorations for us. I am obsessed with christmas this year. I don't have everything figured out but I know I want to make lots of new little decorations for the baby to have as keep sakes.
  • I am certainly on the look out now for some cubes to be able to make a few of these. I can't imagine anything cuter than having some of our favourite first week pictures of baby out. 
  • Can't wait to have things like this as part of our bath times! After spending the evening with a friend and her babies I just feel so excited to be moving into a new phase of our life.
  • With my maternity leave in full flow now I am enjoying being able to do things I used to love doing but stopped making time for. Admittedly I am still slow at walking and it does take a lot of my energy I am grateful to have such beauty around me. 

Thursday 16 August 2012

Arrgg Heaven!

This just looks too tempting I know that the next time I go shopping I wanna pick up the bits for this!!!!

I might even ask Andy to organise a games night with our friends to share the loveliness that this just looks like!!



Tuesday 14 August 2012

FREE button swap

So I have been working hard this passed weekend to set up a free button swap for this little space of mine and I have finally finished!

I have made a separate page that contains all of the information for you to browse :)

Basically the reason for me wanting to hold a button swap is that I get to find more bloggers out there with similar interests.

By using passionfruit ads I am taking the management out of it - best of all it is free to host an ad swap through them! How does it get any better?! By using code HBE at the checkout its all free!!

So if you think it is something you might be interested in take a look at this page and we can go from there. If you would prefer to discuss things just leave me a message with your email address and I will get back to you.

Monday 13 August 2012

Nursery Series - 6. Pink crochet blanket

So, I have already done the blue post. This is the girly post.

This pattern is another one of my creations! I started with a chain of 80 this time. So it is a smaller blanket. I did 2 rows of single crochet with a chain of 2 join to the next row. I then did 10 treble crochets with the 2 join.

I repeated so that I had 5 sets of the single crochet rows. Then I single crocheted the outside of the blanket twice in order to stabilise the blanket again.

I can't decide which one I like more if I am completely honest :)


Friday 10 August 2012

My latest interests #4

As I have mentioned I have now officially left work, technically my first 2 weeks are holiday and then I will start my maternity but, it is done. So this week I thought I would set my creative goals for next week now that I am home most days :)
  • Paint the fimo shapes Stacey and I made ages ago.
  • Create 2 more of the pieces for the Nursery series. 
  • Develop baby toy ideas for when I take a break from blogging to love up my baby :)
  • Practice my hypnobirthing techniques everyday.
I think that's enough goals for my first week 'taking it easy'!! But these are things I have been enjoying looking at this  week.

  • I like the idea of  doing something like this for our bathroom wall, Andy is big on his identity as a Cornish man, I think things like this will encourage our children to ask questions and develop their own sense of belonging from there.
  • I am on the hunt for one of these Babaslings because I like the reviews they have, I am really keen to keep my baby close to me most of the time but to also have hands free to do things I want to do. This sling will also hopefully help me feel more comfortable breastfeeding initially because I will be able to do it discreetly. Another perceived pro is that my fear of flat head syndrome will be managed as the fabric is supportive but giving, of course to completely avoid flat head its a case of being aware not to leave the baby in one place for too long on its back. 
  • Baby sign is something I have already talked about but I am keeping all the resources in one central place so that when I am ready I can access as much information as possible.

Thursday 9 August 2012

Some lovelies

A nearby troll bridge

Sweet card from my mummy

Stormy weather from our bedroom window

Rice krispies covered in white chocolate...... diet..... one day!!!

Monday 6 August 2012

Nursery Series - 5 Blue crochet blanket

So this is a kinda cheat because obviously a blanket is not specifically for the nursery. However I did get fed up of creating everything to co-ordinate with my colour scheme without making the room too boyish or girlish.

Hence my first and only blue project....

This is a really simply blanket that was only really aimed at helping me develop my crocheting seen as I am so good at making up my own stitches!!

I started by creating a chain of 120. Then for the next 40 lines I used a treble crochet to create the body, chaining 2 each time I got to the end. Once I was happy with the size I single crocheted around the edge to give the blanket a little stability, I then repeated this so I have a border of 2 single crochet.


Friday 3 August 2012

My latest interests #3

Another little bit of a green living, frugal, baby themed week I am afraid! On the plus side I don't have much longer left at work no so I am hoping I can actually get some of these things made and tried.


  • I cannot remember how long I have wanted to make my own Borax free washing powder and all purpose cleaner, I think probably since we moved into our lovely home and I still haven't gotten around to it. This recipe has been formed by and tested by a lady using the mixture primarily on cloth nappies, whilst I loved the idea of cloth nappies its just not something I felt I could give my time to, but it means to me that the recipe should be effective but safe on our babies clothes. A massive plus for me. 
  • This Mama blog always has some interesting content, so much so I leave it a couple days to head on over and then catch up with a few posts at a time because I always end up following links and investigating things further. A good read!
  • The wooden toys and colours of these toys look so cute for a baby to play with. I am holding off buying toys for the moment because I just have no idea, I have been investigating toys good for development but essentially this isn't something you can go wrong with - the child is always going to develop, I just want a variety so that I have some fun playing too!!
  • Although the girlies are older I like to pop by and see what they have been up to, some of the home decor ideas are really inspiring. 

Wednesday 1 August 2012

Weeks 30 - 34

Well I finish work next week, a very bitter sweet time for me. Although I will not miss getting up everyday and I am looking forward to having a little bit of time to myself before the baby arrives. I have a few projects to finish up for the nursery and a new baby toy series I want to work on as well as spending time with Andy.

For the most part I am planning on tidying the house, readying the baby things, getting my hospital bag really ready, cooking some dinners to freeze for our first week at home, seeing friends and sleeping as much as I can! So many people have said to me the sleep deprivation that takes place throughout pregnancy is preparation for a new born that doesn't sleep routinely instantly!

Anyway, this is my progress so far:
30 weeks                                                  31 weeks                                    32 weeks
  

33 weeks                                                                       34 weeks

A very rare full body picture!                                I am really struggling to wear non-maternity clothes now