Thursday 27 January 2011

I have moved!

During my break from blogland I have had chance to think about where my blog and business is going. I have decided to branch out from dolls and make other things that make my heart sing. I love vintage linens and fabrics, and have quite a collection left over from our vintage/shabby chic wedding last year. I will be making these into bunting, cushions, potholders, lavender cushions and other lovely homewares. Don't worry, waldorf dolls and other toys will still appear on my blog!

Please follow me over to my new home on the web, Vintage Jelly, where there will be tea and cake!

Saturday 18 December 2010

merry christmas!

many apologies for my disapearance from blogland but my laptop is broken. wishing you all a merry christmas!

Friday 19 November 2010

This moment....

{this moment} - Inspired by Soulemama. A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember.


Thursday 18 November 2010

First ever doll upload!

I am just a little bit excited to announce my first ever doll upload into my etsy shop! Let me introduce the dolls....

Izzy


Bo


Joey


Heather


Natalie


Katie

I love them all, they feel like they are my children. Izzy is a Christmas gift for my niece, and Joey is a very late birthday/emigrating/early Christmas present for a very special friend of mine. I am going to find it very hard to part with Katie, she is most like how I want a Little River Toys doll to look with her extra special details; her crochet wig, hair band, upcycled dress and vintage lace. The dolls who do not already have forever homes are available now in my etsy shop.

Monday 15 November 2010

Handmade Christmas



This year we plan to have a handmade Christmas. Last year I made a number of presents but this year I want to make them all, this is because we believe that gifts are better made with the hands and come from the heart rather than bought in a shop with no real thought of the person you are buying for. We also have very little spare money available to spend, so our handmade Christmas is also going to largely be made from what we already have. It will be a great stash buster!
Over at Plain and Joyful Living, people are coming together and sharing what they are making for their loved ones. I have decided to do the same! I will list my finished gifts on here as they are completed, and link them over there too. I know I have started this rather late, I have been busy dollmaking and dealing with the usual run of coughs and colds when the weather changes. This is my list so far, it is a working list and likely to change!
My boys
Play shop/Waldorf style playframe – made from wood recycled from our old bedframe, this will be a joint present for our boys
 ‘The very hungry caterpillar’ quilt – made from panels of this classic book by Eric Carle that I have had for ages, this will be for my biggest.
‘Rockets’ quilt – I made a load of blocks out of David Walker’s fun rockets and planets fabric last year, I will finally finish it for a Christmas present! For my littleist.

Hobby horse – both my kids LOVE the hobby horses at their Kindergarten, so I am trying my hand at making them one each

Crowns and capes –stocking fillers, the boys love to dress up, and the biggest likes wearing leaf crown (above photo) so they should enjoy these

Floor cushions – for reading, snuggling, napping. I have some vehicle patchwork blocks I was using to try out a technique that I will use for these
Animal bean bags, hand puppets, owls, ribbons streamers – all stocking filler ideas

Personalised peg people, inspired by Andreann on her blog, Aux Demilunes. I think my eldest would love playing with peg people painted to look like us, and a felt house for them to live in!
Niece and nephew
Waldorf doll – in progress
Mum/Mother in law
Bag each, using stash fabric from Laura Gunn’s Lantern Bloom range.
Husband/Father in law
No idea! Why are men so tricky to craft for?! Any ideas much appreciated!

If anyone wishes to join me in creating a handmade Christmas, whether you make all your gifts or just one, then please leave a comment and link to your blog.

Friday 12 November 2010

This moment....

Inspired by SouleMama...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 


Tuesday 2 November 2010

Finding rhythm and autumnal crafts

I have never been an organised person. As a child, I was affectionatly called 'Linzi time-waster', due to my tendancy to daydream the day away. I was the student who was always rushing to school to avoid being late, doing my homework at the last minute and the person last out of the door. Once I became a mother, I threw down Gina Ford's books in disgust at their insistence on a strict routine and bumbled my way through my son's babyhood. With no rhythm to our day, life became chaotic and stressful. My refusal to adheer to a routine came from a life long hatred of them.

It just is not in my nature to set my day out in a strict manor.

Now, enter Waldorf education. My growing understanding and love of the Waldorf way since we decided to send our eldest to Alder Bridge Steiner School in Janurary has led me to look into the idea of Rhythm. Rhythm is not the same as routine, as I initially thought. It enables you and your child to flow from one activity to the next, and when done right produces the effortless harmony seen in Steiner Kindergartens. Whether we like it or not, rhythm flows through us - in our beating hearts, in our constant breathe in and out. Our days have a rhythm - at the basic level we rise in the morning and go to bed in the evening. Our months and years also have a rhythm - seasonal changes and celebrations and mark the passing of time. Once I realised that Rhythm is not strict and by-the-clock, but rather a guide for when we do certain activities, I wanted to know more. 



I turned to this book, You Are Your Child's First Teacher by Rahima Baldwin Dancy. A passage stood out for me;

"Rhythm is also a blessing for parents, because it enables the daily activity of life to flow more smoothly, require less energy, and become a platform that supports the family, its activities, and interactions. Many mothers don't discover the secrets of rhythm until the have two or more children, and suddenly there isn't enough time not to be organised!"

And two wonderful articles, one from the fabulous blog The Magic Onions and the other from the inspiring e-magazine Rhythm of the Home. Inspired by what I read, I decided to add more rhythm to our day. Today is only the second day and I already feel like the kids are happier because they know what is coming next, and I am able to stay more calm and in control. We are all flowing better. New habits take a while to become ingrained, so time will tell how well we do at keeping the rhythm in our day.

In hand with trying to have more rhythm in our day, I am trying to do more crafting. I love crafting, and am truly happy when making something with my hands. I found it difficult to do things with my kids, because there was always the washing up to do, laundry to fold or a mess to tidy. Now I know that doing things with my children is as important, if not more so, than housework. The housework will wait, these precious moments with my boys easily slip by. And so, here is some of the autumnal crafting we have been doing.







We have also been enjoying breadmaking, but the results of that are devoured too fast by my two bread monsters to photograph!