I made these up for Nina’s and once upon a time Seth’s preschool teachers A Santa deco each for their xmas tree and a reindeer cookie. 14 of them all

We do a yearly xmas swap on one of the wee forums I am on and this year this is what I gifted

Handmade felt, handspun wool, a wee keyring purse, a wee clutch purse, some yummy chocolate drink, 3 handmade felt faces plus handmade lipgloss

and there was also a reindeer candy cane plus these wee guys below reindeer cookies ( no they are not gingerbread men with breasts ) lol

Here is a piccy of the reindeer candy canes of which each person in Seth’s class received one at the end of the term, one way to jazz up the humble candy cane

I have been busy making balloon balls, i spy bags, beany bags and many many other bits and pieces for pressies and swaps

I can post some of what I have made and this is only a small selection the rest you will have to wait for until those who are to receive them have opened them

These wee jandals were made for a swap with some other extremely crafty ladies I know. I wanted something kiwi and summery rather than something winter like most decos we get in this country

Hoping all those that received them liked them

Nina’s hand sewn quilt still a major work in progress lol

So what have the kids been up to!!!

Well Nina and all her preschool friends went on the annual animal farm trip.

Nina’s Bunny Rabbit she drew all by herself

Seth preforming with his year at the Xmas on the field. Kids had a blast this year, bouncy castles, ice cream, candy floss and friends! <3

One beloved teacher

32 Seth’s class at School since he started

One day we decided that we would photograph our walk to school, I think its a case of Seth wanting photos that he can look at when we move

So here is what we do most mornings if mummy isn’t feeling lazy and drives to our walking school bus stop

This here is our pit stop to pick up any walking school bus kids and take them to school. This day there happens to only be us lol ( which isn’t normal)

Nina’s preschool

Seth’s classroom

I went along to help with an art project that Seth’s class was working on for a silent auction it was fun helping the kids out

here is the end result! ( that is mummy and Seth dolphins there )

I have done other things with Seth’s class this term a trip to TGA girls for a show they put on then down to the park its been fun helping out

Last week Nina had her preschool show which was seriously cute!

Nina was a star

Nina and her Best Friend

Last minute cupcakes for my nieces 8th birthday hmm only if they would all look at the camera and smile lol!

Oh and a bit of this the minute the mount beach opened!

( The Rena is still sitting out there and so far mother nature has been nice and not given us any seriously nasty storms to break the ship.

Containers are coming off the ship which is awesome, those guys working out there in those conditions need damn medals! esp for getting all that oil off!!!! I think only 2 areas of beach are still closed off a HUGE credit to all those locals and those who gave up their time to help in some way or another to clean our beaches  )

I will do another update in a couple of days of a walk we have just been on

Here are some piccies from her birthday she decided she wanted a Jandels birthday cake ( for those overseas these are know as flip flop or thongs lol ) The most easy cake I have had to make in some time lol!

Nina blowing out her candle, Nina and her friend Sophie in the playhouse, friends and family, and Kylie and Meleane ( who happens to share the same birthday as Nina )

Nina opening pressie from Nana Jo and Popa

On her birthday itself I asked Nina what she would like to do I got Donald’s and beach

Rena was out there on the reef that day ( was 2 days after it hit the reef) our beach was beautiful then! hopefully son we will beable to go to “our” section of the beach

And that night when went to Mc Donalds for dinner so she was one happy girl

During the school holidays we got a ph call to say there was a space for Nina at Seth’s old preschool when I told her she went and got her bag and was ready to go lol but she had to wait until the start of term

She had an AWESOME day yesterday she already knows the place inside out from when Seth went there and all the teachers said she fitted in like she had always been there

5th of October 2.20am beautiful beautiful spring weather with clear calm seas, Residences of Tauranga, Mount, Papamoa, Maketu and Motiti Islanders to wake up to the news the Rena had some how managed to plant itself on a well know well charted Astrolabe reef . Heavy engine oil spewed out of the ship. It was thought that the oil would reach beaches on the Wednesday but it hit on the Monday. Our beautiful white sandy beaches and beautiful clear blue water was black black black. On Thursday after making muffins to take down to the Papamoa domain to give to those helping clean up the beach I video a wee bit of our paradise

Horrible heart breaking black oil waves crashing in on black beaches and the strong smell of oil like a newly tarred road

People got out in force and clean the beach after each high tide as been, in just a few days our beaches almost look like they had no oil on BUT the ship ( circled in the piccy above) still remains on the reef with approx 1300 tonnes more of that oil on board and the ship after the movement from the tides and storm we had is not far off breaking in half

I know everyone it this area just wishes our beaches were still like this and that we haven’t had to face this disaster, but the community spirit to get out and look after our beaches is amazing

One day they will return to this!

These were taken on the 7th October 2 days after Rena ran a ground ( Nina wanted to go to the beach for her birthday )

And the kids on the 8th we went to build sand castles

(Rena is above Seth’s head)

That stop my finger ending up like a pin cushion lol

This Silver Thimble was my Great Nana Mabel’s.

I bet she never thought that her Great Grand Daughter would ever use it

So to start Girls and birthdays hmm what to make well all the girls I know of have long hair so hair bling was in order. All the flowers have tuts on them I found them all on Pinterest

Tried my hand at zip flowers pretty cool!

A ball balloon for the boy with a birthday yes finally the replacement ball balloon for that first one I made lol!

And order for a teacher wee bean bags fully machine washable gotta love that now!

Oh and I made these up quickly for Nina so she can make cups of tea for Nan Nan and Grandma

I have also made another I spy bag and another ball balloon as a thank you gift today I do have another flower to show off I will when Nina isn’t busy in the doll pram lol

And one for Seth

Its Rugby world cup time in this part of the world! I Never thought Seth would be into rugby but boy oh boy that kiddo wants us to win the gold cup lol so mummy did this today to keep him happy to show he is supporting the All Blacks. Flag atop the playhouse lol

Its been funny walking around the streets here seeing all the flags going up in random places. Guess I am one of the few ( who doesn’t care for rugby lol )

So pinterest is cool you join up wait for your invite set up your “boards” of interest place the wee “pin it”  icon thingee on your tool bar and anytime you see something you want to do, think its useful etc you pin it so easy so instead of adding it all to your fav on your computer for them all to get lost lol they are all there laid out before your eyes on Pinterest and the worst bit add friends and see what they are pinning loll!!!

So after spotting a few pins last night I had to make something

First up was a pin of a bird mask. I knew Nina wouldn’t go for the bird look lol So when went for a mask of purple and pretty pink flowers with crystals

Next up something educational for Seth he is pretty good at fractions but this will help him “see” what is happening with them

I didn’t have any fabric paint here so nice having my Mother in law just around the corner who owns and runs Art of Craft so paid a visit and came home with some ranger enamel accents they worked beautifully

Wow I now have a 6 year old how on earth did that happen?? apparently telling him he isn’t allowed to get any bigger is a crime lol I get told off if I say sorry your not allowed to get big teehee

So here are a few piccies of the cake, party and wee item I made Seth.

It was a Mario party cake didn’t turn out how I wanted thanks to kids interrupting all the time

Table with half the food on it lol

The Goomba piñata which yeah broke with one swing.

One tried to make changes lol the last time we made one it had too many layers of

paper and was seriously hard to break so this time I use less but forget the kids got older and stronger lol

Hanging with friends

Climbing around

The wee party favours I made fimo princess peach crown rings and Mario mushrooms to hang of the bags for the boys

The big 6 year old

Now this 6 year old LOVESSSSSSSSSSSSS gaming so this mum did some surfing to find something I could make he might use lol and came up with

this A case for his DS and little clear pockets for his games

Another friend of mine made a comment about not having a cover for her kindle. Being a kindle owner myself and knowing how lost I would be without mine if something happened to it I set about to make a case to surprise her with

Amy Butler Fabric and all

Another wee thing I have wanted to have a go at making is Balloon Balls. I had one little boy in mind when deciding to make this. I made one up was hmm about it, then I made one for Nina, but when Seth got home he wanted one too so he got the one I was hmm about and fell in love with it, the next day he took it to school to show  his teacher and she fell in love with it so I made her one lol and I have yet to replace the first one that was meant for the little boy. Gotta love them put the balloon inside blow it up and ta da! Bounces like a ball and if it pops the pieces stay inside and not all over the floor

Oh Seth had a birthday party to go to the weekend before last once again handmade pressie an I spy bag

Think that is it for the moment can’t think of anything else I have managed to finish lol but ideas for the next lot of birthdays is already spinning around in me head

First up was an eye spy bag for one of Seth’s besties ( didn’t get a photo of it but here is a filler Seth’s mate got one with a pirates and a treasure map fabric)

Then came my nieces birthday, Payton requested a warm hat, scarf and some gloves ( sadly no photo of the gloves)

A Friends little man was turning 3 what better way to upcycle some fabric, fancy jeans and warm fleecy pants made ( oppppppps no photos)

Seth was then invited to a party ( a girls one even )with 3 days for me to make something ugh! Pretty buttercup bag pattern purchased ( so one now has the rights to make and sell them lol ) and some button hair ties ( had to use some of my Amy Butler I can’t let it sit there just to drool over lol)

A beautiful wee cardy for a very cute little girl we know from playgroup

Next up another od Seth’s besties birthday he is getting Lego for his birthday so what better to make than a Lego drawstring mat!

shhhhhhhhhhhhh its not his birthday until the day after Seth’s

Sorry not so great photo

Ohhhhh this one was for the lovely Amy!

Hand spun merino/silk then I knitted it up into this cute wee shawl for Amy

Love love love the shine the silk gives to the yarn

General random Koha’s ( gifts)

For my friends daughter who was over cold hands in mild winter we are having! I made some for Seth first to test out the wee pattern made up of a couple of patterns ( since apparently 8ply mitts patterns don’t exist on Rav lol)

Reminds me I haven’t put these up on rav yet teehee

A random shawl I knitted with no one in mind for it, until my sister spied it lol

This next one is a very special Koha. On the 22nd of Feb 2011 at 12.52 a huge quake measuring 6.5 and only 5km deep hit Christchurch one of our main cities here in NZ 85 lost their lives and thousands made homeless. A group started on facebook called knitting for chch. I joined straight away there was something little I could do other than give $$ being so far away so I knitted up these 2 wee adam singlet’s to be sent to chch. I have plans to knit more when the time allows

This one not so much a koha but for a swap

A dear friend wrote the pattern up for this garden city ( Chch’s other name lol) and all the $$ raised from selling the pattern went to chch. I knitted it up for a dear friend who lives not far from chch and I knew she would love the hand spun merino to keep her toasty during winter)

This using some of the same hand spun that I used for the garden city shawl was made for Seth’s teacher. We were meant to be moving north at the end of the first winter term but then plans changed ie house nowhere near ready lol) so we gifted it to her early. Only to have her visit her mums house and left it on the couch, her mum knew she had left it on the couch and said nothing secretly knowing she wanted it lol) hopefully one day soon Alex will be able to steal it back off her Mum teehee

My dear dear dear Friend Katherine was getting married earlier this year as per last year with Charm getting married and knitting her a shawl I knitted one for Katherine

(looks like I have blogged about it tough you get to see the beautiful Bride wearing it this time )

                                                                                                 Photo copy rights with Brett Stanley

A cute wee Summerlin for a cute wee little girl who shares the same birthday as my Nina <3

Birthday cake for the wonderful, caring and lovely Emma

Ah now this one I made last year I don’t think it made it on here

Playgroup required us to buy something for our children so that Santa could give them something. I refused to buy something cheap for Nina so quickly made this doll up for her ( its now named Santa dolly teehee)

There are a few other things that should be added to this list but won’t be till later in the year I will put them up on rav because I know they person they are for isn’t on there

Ok other randomish things

Spinning on that beautiful wheel of mine ( and I love that it is all made in Tauranga my wonderful home town )

N plied merino

Something new from Vintage Purls Sock pencil roving!!!! yes with the nylon hiding in there it was a DREAM to spin

This fibre was gifted to me by a dear friend Lisa <3 standard 2 plied

Corridale

More yummmmmmmmmmmy VP merino not sure why they say its hard to spin I find it a dream to spin lol

N plied once again

This one I gifted and stole the photo since I forgot to take one ( hope you don’t mind Lisa lol)

More yummy merino teehee

Knitting

Hmm a lonnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg list

Mutter mutter remind me to NEVER knit items like this in lace weight again! its still waiting to be repaired for the 3rd time *sigh*

Yes that is right hubby your mug is on here

Pencil sock roving all knitted up yum yum toasty toes!

errrrrrrrrrr um yeah me teehee

Beautiful test knit i did for another dear friend Kelly!

Pst this photo made it in the final pattern twice!! YAY!

The next bit is a sneaky at something I have written up yeah I know its still not up on rav it will get there at some point

So there ya go the year up to date lets hope the blog can handle it

If you want any details on the knitted items head over to ravelry.com sign up and find me under the username Neak

Enjoy

Neak