Fur, Fur, Fur, Sew, Sew, Sew here there & everywhere

Well, what a busy few weeks of sewing that has been going on around here lately, in between kids getting sick. Admittedly, I have put a few weeks in one BLOG update. First up, Miss M has been asking, asking, asking, "When can I sew something for muddle puddle." "Sure, we can do that" was my response, "What would you like to sew?", "Cushions" she says with a lot of Enthusiasm. I said "Wouldn't you like to make a "bag" or something a little easier. "No" "cushions" 'Ok' I said. I had finally figured out a girl in her class had made cushions also, so perhaps that had something to do with it. Anyway It took us weeks to get around to it. Eventually we did.  So first order of business, a trip to Spotlight, Miss M's favourite part!, She chose the materials she wanted with a little direction of mine to the bargain section. She was quite sure of the patterns she wanted, so we bought our supplies, & headed home.
First lesson for her, measure twice, cut once. She did a magnificent job getting it all straight, ready for sewing. Next up, her second lesson on using the sewing machine. I thought I had photos of her sewing, but I can't seem to find them, woops!. She did a perfect job of sewing the zip (although needed a little help from me, as I even have problems with zips myself) She did an excellent job, and now they take pride of place on her bed. She says she would be thrilled to take orders!

Miss M, Had also made Soy candles with me a few weeks ago & she felt it went very nicely with her blue cushion........

Our next creative genius, was Master T, My lil' entrepreneur. A little while back, we were in our favourite store again, yes Spotlight, & Master T came accross bright & black orange fur, "can we please get this, pppllleeaassee?" I answered with "what for?"  "Can you make me a pencil case?" To me it seemed odd, anyway, I said "you can make it" We went through the same processes as we did with Miss M, mind you Master T had done some sewing previously. So he went on his merry way cutting out & sewing his fur......................................................

He took this creation to school, soon others were asking, "hey can you make me a pink one, can you make me a black & white one" etc etc. Entrepreneur Master T, replied, "Sure, for $12" So of course we headed to Spotlight to find other Fur...........So, soon enough our kitchen table looked like something a Muppet had thrown up on, Fur, Fur, Fur, everywhere!!

I had only taken a couple of pictures with my phone for the end result of Master T's new adventure in Pencil case sales, as he was in such a rush to get them to school, ;-)

Small Furry Friends Pencil case $8

Large Furry Friends pencil case $12

 Mini Make-up/Coin Purse $4

                                                          

So far hes done an awesome Job, hes saving madly to go on a once in a lifetime trip with his Grandmother to Hawaii, so he would very much welcome orders ;-)

Last, but by no means Least, is our youngest, sweet & sometimes noisy Master J, He very much wanted A, (we'll we've come up with another name due to copyright)
"Bad Boy Blue Bird" ;-) We had blue Fur we had Yellow felt & we had googly eyes.
Hmmmm I wonder what we could make with this , I asked 'Master J' & with a cheeky grin, he knew where I was headed with this. Originally he wanted to do the sewing. Well that lasted less than 5 minutes. He decided he would leave that in my capable hands, with some instruction from him from the sidelines, like he has a different tail to the Red one etc etc etc.

 And Lo & behold there appeared "Bad Boy Blue Bird" in our tree in the backyard in need of much Love & Attention & Lots of Cuddles from Master J!

 Of course, Master T, & myself would be happy to make some more "Bad Boy Birds" If any friends out there would like one or two. They would be at a cost of $20. :-) So until next time Bloggers, Have fun out there in your Creative, Imaginative Lands!

CONGRATULATIONS MUDDLE PUDDLE MUM D

Have been a bit preoccupied over here at MP as we have some exciting news, one of our Muddle Puddle mums, Mrs D & her hubby Mr G welcomed a new addition to their family
 A beautiful BABY BOY!! BabyM! Congratulations to you two on the Safe arrival of BabyM!!

My three Favourite Girls & their ART

Master R had a lovely weekend staying with my gorgeous & sweet friend, Muddle Puddle Mum.S. & her family who incidentally couldn't be closer to me than a sister if I had one. Her gorgeous girls Miss C.J. & Miss.S. both have their Mothers Arty talent. I adore the way the girls have their own individuality & personality & it is shown in their ART & in each of their living spaces.

  I just had to share with you their gorgeous paintings

I am very privledged to have this beautiful Rose painting to adorn my house by Mum.S. 

Our gorgeous Miss C.J. has just been commissioned to 

paint an Album/CD cover, (which we can not reveal to you just yet)
 we are very proud of her.....

 Here's just a glimpse into the gorgeous & talented Miss C.J's individuality.........

Our Beautiful Miss.S. shes such a cutie, love her & her ART .......

And a little glimpse of our sweet Miss.S & her personality...........

I love these girls they're very close to my heart, I love their talent & their Passion, I am so pleased I was able to share their ART with all of you. 

They would love to paint for you just ask us here at muddle puddle.

ESSENTIAL OIL SOY CANDLES

I had been thinking about making Soy candles for a such a long time which began way back when a muddle puddle (Mum B) said her daughter (Miss J) would like to make candles. I Kind of put it on the back burner. Then just a week ago I was passing a soy candles shop & thought why not! I went into said shop, & bought my supplies.
Then, next up was a shopping bonanza to the op shops to find containers to hold these candles. This is the beginning of a friendship between multitudes of op shops & me.......

I already had plenty of aromatherapy oils as at one point in my life I was very into aromatherapy, read & knew most of all the healing benefits etc. However will need to update my knowledge on these oils &  purchase new ones as they do go out of date & don't hold the same healing qualities as if they are new. With what I did have in my aromatherapy supply, I was able to make a few LOVE combination candles.Once I had all my supplies, I couldn't wait to get started, A little Miss M wanted to join in too, so she made one as well (more on that later)
I did a little research on Soy candles vs Paraffin candles. As I was never too 
fussed or worried about heading into my local $2 shop to supply my home with candles, even though I did know some information about Soy candles & did kind of know they were better for our environment, I couldn't see the sense in buying more expensive Soy candles. However, Knowledge is Power, so I read what I could find about SOY vs PARAFFIN, There's a heap of information out there but what I can gleam from that information & to put it simply Soy is made from Soy beans, Paraffin is made from crude oil. I know which one I would rather have burning in my house even if Paraffin is claimed to be just as safe as Soy. I had heard lots of claims, the biggest one is that soy candles don't burn soot or leave black soot, well there is no such thing as a soot free candle however more than likely the soy candles will burn a white grey or a beige colored soot - very hard to see, whereas the soot that paraffin puts out is black. Any candle will soot if it's burning inefficiently - that is, if the balance of wick, wax and container is off. (candle is placed in a drafty area)
The fact that crude oil/Paraffin is not a renewable source & to process it causes pollution, makes it environmentally unfriendly. Soy is renewable, so long as their are farmers out there willing to farm Soy Beans, Soy wax will be made. Soy candles will also last twice as long as the cheap Paraffin ones do.
As far as the wicks go, they are cotton, there has been much said about lead wicks, these are banned in Australia. Cotton lead free wicks are what is available to candle makers here in this country.
The only downside with Soy candles is that its impossible to make freestanding candles like the Paraffin ones as the Soy wax is too soft, Soy has to be poured to containers
So far for us here at muddle puddle the making process has been lots of fun, can't wait to see whats on the horizon for this candle making caper, stay tuned............

Master R & his Nanna, Textiles & Teddy Bear making

Hi ya'll

Finally got a completed project to show you. This time done by Muddle Puddles Master R. & his Nanna. As you know a few of us home schooling mums here at M.P. try to fit in activities that most kids at school would accomplish.

 The past few weeks Master R has been working on TEXTILES with his Nanna. 

Bear making! I think it turned out terrific. Its so good i want to try & make one myself except a no fur one, just one made with material.

 Master R, never chooses to do things by halves, I suggested just a plain easy cut out pattern you can draw up yourself, NO he says, I want to make this just like the ones in the shops.

 lets start with the most difficult not the easiest. OK!

 He chose to do this as he wanted to make it for our lovely friend, who's due to have a new baby boy in about 6 weeks!

So first up, Nanna had a pattern to copy from a New Idea magazine Tonia Todman Teddy Bear Making, He & His Nanna painstakingly up scaled a pattern by graph from the New Idea Magazine but as it turned out we could of just used the pattern that the fur came with. Oh well live & learn.

 Master R cut & Pinned all the patterned pieces making sure he had labelled pieces so we knew which piece to attach to which piece once cut out

 So once all cut, the first to sew together was the head, as well as getting his eyes on.

            Head & eyes completed successfully, He looks a bit odd at the moment with no body.

 Just Keep sewing, sewing, sewing! :-)

All the body bits are connected by following patterns instructions as per G to G

F to F A to A etc etc,  Arms & Legs had turning circles in them so as the arms & legs would move.

Nana embroidered nose & mouth on as well as sewing on his ears.

AND FINALLY we have a Teddy Bear although very flat.

So now we are up to the fun, just keep stuffing!!! almost complete!! 

AND here he is INTRODUCING to you all a TEDDY BEAR named GEORGE 

hand made by Master R & his Nanna!