Nearly 5

Every year we take Louie to Lollipops a few weeks before his birthday to make a little something to comemmorate the big day. We always try to make something that can be used for his birthday party and it is awesome adding to the collection each year. This year Louie picked out a cereal bowl to paint with stars, rockets and aliens. The three coats of colour is still a little tedious for his nearly 5 year old self, so whilst Louie did all of the big colouring, Nana and I did all of the details. Maybe next year he will have some more patience...

(probably not!)

This Week...

- We date with this beautiful lady for our annual painting trip to Lollipops. We made a woodland themed piece ready for the big day next weekend.

- I knocked off my wing mirror. Thinking 'I will go to Sainsburys on my way to work to buy some duct tape' was my clever moment, however I didn't anticipate not having my purse. Hooray for Mother Hen who came to my rescue at 8:10 in the morning...!

- I have been prepping ready for Mr Bee's birthday and party. I can't believe that this time next week, I will have a three year old. How did he get so big? And with birthdays, come parties! With lots planned since about October, you would think I was quite prepared, but alas no. This evening I haven't stopped, making cake toppers, party masks, very special favours and piecing things together.

- We have hardly seen Papa. He has been so busy with work deadlines that he has been spending lots of time at Uni or with Vito. He has promised to make it up to me at the weekend :)

- It has snowed! Of course, I couldn't not mention the snow, even though I haven't yet been able to enjoy it because I have been at work :( With 3-5 days worth of snow forecast, I am sure I will have plenty of time to build a snowman and get some pretty pictures.

Friends

Yesterday, Mr Bee and I visited Anna and Isaac! Mr Bee was so loving towards Isaac, giving him lots of hugs and kisses.

And today, we have been to Lollipops with Vito and Becka on our annual birthday trip. Vito took a fancy to Lous hat...

 We painted a star shaped dish this year.

 With bumble bees for the party!

Time to go Mummy! Can't wait to see the finished, fired dish. It is so pretty and will be a lovely centre piece for his bumble bee party!

Two Exciting Projects!

So this is my first item made on my shiny new sewing machine. It is a bag from the Cath Kidston 'Sew' book, the bag that I was eyeing up for months! I couldn't get any Cath Kidston fabric but saw this in John Lewis and fell in love. Although the pattern suggests using duck (canvas), this is just normal haberdashery cotton. I lined it with some quite thick fabric that we found in our attic which is just perfect because it gives the bag a little bit of structure without it being rigid. I altered the pattern quite a lot, giving it a lining, and sewing the straps straight on to the bag as opposed to making a button hole and stitching a button, it seemed like too much work for a feature I wouldn't accommodate anyway. Overall, I am very pleased with the outcome, as it is very tidy for something I have made! I wouldn't shy away from making it again :)

The reinforced straps

The lining

Today Dan and Louie accompanied me to Lollipops again, this time to make a commemorative plate for Louie's first birthday.

Mama hard at work!

Louie playing with the tile

The finished plate

I was a bit disappointed with the writing as it curved, I worked out that it would fit but in practice it didn't, which is a shame. But I am so pleased with the VHC spots around the edge, and the hand prints are lovely. The little caterpillar crawling up his hand was my favourite little finishing touch that turned out really well! I will post a picture when it has been fired and the colours will be in all their bright and lovely glory!

Lollipops

Today I met up with my friend Vicky and we took our little monkeys to a little pottery cafe called Lollipops! Its one of those cafes where you choose your pot and you can paint it, and its great for little ones because they can make their mark on something special :)

Vix and Austin

 Louie had rather a short attention span and the lovely lady (I must ask her name next time) dug some toys out for him to play with.

 These are the shots of the lovely mug I painted. A deep purple on the inside, a lilac handle with Louie written down it (Vicky's idea!) with a little foot print and a little hand print! Then I found the little heart tool and fell in love with the green and red, hopefully it will still look nice once it has been fired! A nice new mug for my new job, which will keep Louie close to my heart!

Our finished creations!