5

a few party preparations have been underway this week, including birthday party dress sewing.

i used a pattern from ottobre summer 3/2011 but added the lace to the sleeves and skirt.

instead of an invisible zipper i decided to use an exposed metal zip to give this very airy fairy dress a bit of an edge.





i think i'm going to have to make something like this next. i particularly like the yoke she constructed. most likely i'd like to see reao shorts with this future hypothetical romper and probably just straps instead of sleeves but that petal sleeve is very pretty. mainly, i'm a sucker for any fabric anna maria horner designs.

in fact, there could be an adult sized romper on the cards, i wouldn't be surprised. . .

fabric balloons

last week i was in a toy store and came upon a toy that i could 'totally make at home'

you know when you see something in a store and you say to yourself 'i'm not buying that i could just make it!' but then you never do?

well, this time i did.



this little invention is a fabric cover that you blow a balloon up into. it is essentially a balloon cozy. i know, sounds pointless and strange but hear me out.

it looks so much nicer than a balloon. it feels a million times nicer than a balloon and masks the latex smell. it makes the balloon bounce like a proper ball and it loses that floaty sort of problem when you throw it.
lastly, it does not pop straight away like a balloon.

i used this pattern for a fabric beach ball from the purl bee, but any ball pattern would do. i'd like to make a slightly larger one.

savouring

with the move to canada slowly approaching, i'm beginning to take stock of all the things i will miss. and when i say things i mainly mean people. oh, and the beach.

friday, the entire livelong day (that's right, a whopping 11 hours) was spent out at our dear friend julie's house. julie and simon's house is the kind of place that is immediately homely and welcoming and full of offers of food and drink and general feelings of good-will. bea would like a house 'like julie's'. enough said.

as usual, the day passed in a blissful combination of tea drinking, chatter, a bit of pattern cutting/sewing plan talk, eating, parenting, and drinking more tea. all this was followed by the dads joining in after work and bbq-ing, having a nice cold apple cider, eating some more and bathing the kids.

although there are still 4.5 months left, these sweet afternoons are numbered and lovely and they are to be savoured.

i know you are reading this julie - believe me when i tell you i don't know if i would have made it here without you. i'm going to miss you something fierce. i wish i could move you with us, somehow.




ok, i just cried my eyes out writing this post. i love you my friend, you will be missed.

xoxo

vegemite

there was a lapse in parenting yesterday afternoon when i left B in the kitchen to fix her own vegemite cruskits. of course little ruben was keen to watch so we dragged over a chair for him too. i went off upstairs to do something and returned to this:





his tongue must have been shriveling with the saltiness of it all. for those of you who don't know, vegemite is the beloved australian condiment akin to marmite and promite and is best used as a mere scraping, as opposed to a peanut butter-like blob. my mouth is shuddering just looking at those photos. the poor fellow had a mighty drink of water afterwards. i did feel a bit wrong photographing him while he burned off his taste buds, but the photographer in me took over the mother in me, what can i say!

on a completely unrelated topic, alli has been talking about lurkers, and enticing us out of the shadows.

i am such a lurker. i honestly can't remember the last time i commented on a blog. mostly it is a time constraint thing i think? every blog loves a comment here and there so we don't think we are writing into cyberspace. of course i see stats that tell me someone is reading, and of course i force my family into reading by delivering straight to their mail boxes. so although mainly i tell myself my blog is just for me, i do like to know someone else is lurking out there. . .

so, i suppose i should stop doing so much lurking and write nice things on people's blogs. i will try.

trambampoline

recently, b has been trying to start up her career as a trampoline gymnast, and we decided this thrifted pink and red stripe stretch stuff would be just the ticket for a bit of leotard action. for some reason i am drawn to the sewing of leotards. maybe because the stretch fabric fits so snugly, you kinda feel like you have mastered the fit without actually tailoring anything.

so serious.



and here, the jig is up.



self portrait.



that's my shoulder, blurred in the background. a very abstract cameo appearance. i'm rarely found in photos anymore, dontcha know.

until next time!

quinoa burger

recently i made some quinoa burgers after hearing somewhere, somehow about a food van making them (san fran? craftzine?).

for these ones, i used 2 cups of cooked, mixed quinoa (a combination of white, red and black quinoa varieties). mixed in 2 eggs and probably about 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour, plus salt, pepper an fresh dill (thanks carol!).

then, i shallow fried them in vegetable oil and made them into veggie burgers. they were really yummy! sometimes i make patties with split red lentils but that can get a bit stodgy and dry. not so the quinoa patty!

sisters

a few weeks ago I took some shots of these sisters at a local park/skate park. their mum chose their little skater girl inspired outfits and it definitely suited them.

they are so sweet with each other and i had an awesome time deciding what sort of feeling i wanted to give these photos. in the end i sort of went with a clean, lofi vintage sort of thing, inspired by the lords of dogtown.

















i am using a trial version of radlab by totally rad! photoshop actions, and i must say it is pretty addicting. i didn't even really know what photoshop actions were 6 months ago but i am definitely seeing how nice it is to be able to consistently and quickly give images a particular look and feel. this week i watched this video my elizabeth halford and i was really inspired to treat editing as a special part of the process.

how to make kettle corn

Oh, the sweet and salty addiction that is kettle corn. if you make it yourself, it is one of the cheapest snack foods around. you can make a big bowl of organic kettle corn for pennies.








Use a large, heavy bottomed pot on medium heat. coat the bottom surface with a thin layer of oil, then add the popcorn kernels and a couple of good pinches of sea salt. don't bother with preheating, just whack it on and in all at once.

Leave uncovered until the first kernels start to pop. Then, quickly sprinkle kernels with a couple of tablespoons of sugar and cover the pot with a tea towel instead of the pot lid (this keeps the popcorn really crisp).

Shake and shimmy your pot as the kernels pop until rapid popping ceases. At this point, remove from heat and dump the popcorn out of the pot, i usually dump it onto a clean cutting board or straight onto the same tea towel i used to cover the pot. Do this last bit quickly because the sugar will burn given the slightest chance at this point.





et voila!

you have kettle corn.

watch the snack munchers devour it.

hunting and gathering

we've been doing some pretty serious foraging around these parts - upon discovering an unspoken for mulberry bush and a rather neglected grapefruit tree our forays into urban foraging have been plentiful and fruitful, so to speak.




currently we are accumulating frozen mulberries for use in pie and jams - the bush looks like it will be producing for the next few weeks so a new routine involves walking to our bush with a couple of pails and having a little pick at the ripe berries. it is so fun! the kids love it, little Ruben even gets in there and picks (and munches as he goes).

our other abandoned fruits of the neighborhood are a very very sour variety of grapefruit - i think! they are full of seeds and require doctoring with a simple syrup. we use it as a sort of cordial and have also made popsicles. i like the thought of getting free vitamin C!



any abandoned bushes ripe for the pillage around your parts?

teagan and zac are getting married

last weekend i took some engagement photos for a super couple, Teagan and Zac. i was really excited to take some photos of adults instead of kids for a change! wow, adults are so obedient!

teagan and zac were very natural in their photos - they have been together for ages and their photos clearly show how much they love each other. it was truly inspiring seeing them together and hanging out with them for a couple of hours.

thanks for the lovely afternoon teagan and zac! i think you two are going to make an amazing partnership - you already are.

summer making

i had an extremely productive sewing weekend after a client had to re-schedule.

i've been away from my sewing machine for too long, and this weekend i cracked into the fabric stash, the ottobre mags and made some summer stuff for the kidlets.


for bea: she is allegedly making a switch from exclusive skirt wearing to choosing pants/shorts more and more (phew!)

ruben, still wears just what i want him to.







which in this case, includes fun print shorts with side-vent sort a of vintage board-short look, and harem-style jean shorts (made from the cut off legs of my jeans, from which i acquired a pair of jean shorts).  lastly, a little rocket ship t-shirt.

i am loving the harem pants/shorts thing for babies - it looks super comfy and fits cloth nappies with no problem whatsoever! i'm debating making myself a pair of harem sort of shorts. hmm. not sure about harem bum on grown person. i'll get back to you on that one.

inspired by

this little session from Monday was inspired by this song by gotye. specifically the video clip. bea especially likes the idea of body painting. she decided we should do something like it and take some photos.

all photos were taken using a tripod and timer, or by bea herself. she was quite the little director.
all the colour is crayola washables. we love those. they are super fun to draw all over yourself with, and wash off with just a rinse.


















afterwards, we enjoyed watching the colours go down the shower drain.

ice cream sandwich

soft chocolate cookies + ice cream = yum

my address has changed!

Oh hi! i've just changed my blog address to saybooplease.blogspot.com in an effort to streamline my photography business blog into my personal blog as well. If you need to, please change the address in your reader! I didn't happen to see a note that mentioned my gingerbooandpickles address would redirect automatically. if it does, yay! thanks! i hope you do keep me!

if you go into the woods today

2 little girls named beatrix and lola went out into the bush, to do a bit of camping and gathering. bea was the bigger girl, and lola was the smaller girl. they were a little worried about witches and bears and snakes and zombies, as the day was a bit dark, and the clouds a bit ominous.



the bigger girl, (beatrix) decided to go and gather some herbs for their decorating, and she reassured her little friend that she would be safe in the tent.



lola stayed in the tent. she was feeling a little scared, but she tried her best to be brave.



beatrix literally ran to the clearing in search of their favourite little flowers. she was a little creeped out.



she had the distinct feeling that she was being watched.



she brought back her flowers and herbs and told lola that there may be something lurking in the trees. . .



the girls stayed in the tent, where they felt safer. but they still couldn't shake the feeling that something was coming. lola kept her ears pricked for any suspicious sounds.



they were most pleasantly surprised to find that it was only their little toddler friend, ruben! he must have followed them through the bush. everyone was most relieved to be together again, so they all relaxed and hung out in the tent. they felt much more cheerful after finding out the scary noises were only the sounds of a toddler bustling through the underbrush. the end!

play

bea, is very good at playing. she has the capacity to shut herself up in her room and play for a couple of hours without a break. she makes up little stories amongst her little bits and bobs.

the capacity for play is really nice to have. it means you will never be bored.

i've been playing with photos and playing at making a website.

here are the recent fruits of my creative play.

the photos are over exposed photos of the kids layered with 'bokeh' photos.
i kind of like the surreal feel to them.