*Giveaways* are a great way to say thank you...

... to that wonderful blogging community who has bestowed on me such kind words (and I've also been on the receiving end of some lovely giveaways too!).  So to spread the love this is what's on offer -

And a back view -

Lovingly hand made by me, this little backpack is surprisingly roomy and has leather straps for durability.

The usual drill applies, leave a comment at the end of this post and I'll close entries on, say, Sunday night (which would be Saturday night in some parts of the world).  I'll get the random number generator thingy to do the hard stuff and announce the winner on Monday.


This pregnancy has been pretty cruisy so far (except for the nagging nausea in the first trimester which has thankfully passed).  I've been making the most of each moment because this will be the last time I'll ever be pregnant (I've discovered that I'm one of those women who love being pregnant), I'm no spring chicken and that biological clock was ticking pretty damn fast.  We really wanted Tamsyn to have a little brother or sister so we're very thankful that we got the opportunity, and no, we're probably not going to find out the sex before it's born no matter how tempting that is!

Edit: After I posted this I thought that I probably didn't give a very long time frame, so I'll extend the deadline to Wednesday 4th of August.  

Also,  a few have mentioned my ability to sew leather.  I can only do this because I have an industrial sewing machine (we call it The Thug...).  However Nikki has a terrific leather sewing tutorial if you want to give it a whirl!

My excuse for being a lazy blogger lately...

Seventeen weeks (or eighteen, I keep losing count).  Due date: Christmas Day.

All going swimmingly.

I love before and after photos

It's true, I really do.  Although I feel confident that most of us do anyway.  It's just so satisfying to see ugly things made pretty.  Here's my contribution...

Before: A vintage dolls pram found at the op shop (thrift) for $15, I think, or was it $25?  Anyway Gracie was quite taken with it's smell.  I think it'd been in the back of someone's shed for a loooong time, it was very grotty...

After: Pulled apart, sanded and spray painted.  I had to drill through the rivets in order to pull it apart, so this meant that I had to come up with something else for putting it back together.  I remembered those screw type things that are often used for book binding, you know, one screws into the other.  After much searching I discovered they have a name - Chicago Screws, and found someone who sells them on Etsy (I only like using sites that have Paypal).  The screws arrived in the post yesterday and as I had done all the sewing the pram was put back together in a jiffy (with the help of those reference photos tacked to the wall!).  Oh and the fabric?  I splurged on some lovely oilcloth from Cath Kidston.

Some may even remember me blogging about this pram a while ago, and my intention to have it finished in time for Tamsyn's first birthday.  Well, I was only 2 months out so I don't think I did too badly.

Besides, I think she likes it.