i NEED this party to be mine one day...

I just stumbled across this amazingly special safari themed birthday bash and had to share it and hope you get as much oohing and aahing over it as I did.
One day I have to host this party and I'm sorry to say I will be stealing a ton of ideas from Ah-Tissue who has just won the themed party Oscar in my opinion....
There are some sweets in the UK that are called 'something or other' rocks which when I'm next home I will have to invest in for the African Rock feature alone!
In the meantime I'll busily collect my jam jars to make these genius drinking vessels..
....and gather animal print fabrics (in honour of my late grandmother who wore nothing else but) to recreate the fabulous bunting to finish it all off.

These gorgeous photos are taken by katietakesapicture where you can check out the rest of the pictures from this top notch party.

I just have to work out who I'm throwing it for now!

our creative spaces...

I have been eyeing up the 'red thread' babushka doll pattern for so long in my local fabric shop. Their little faces are so sweet but I just needed the right occasion to get motivated to buy one and make it.
It is our friend Lola's third birthday next week, perfect occasion!

I have also been dying to use the above fabric scrap for ages and so happily used it as one of the panels. It was so fun to put together and I'm pretty happy with the result. Only thing is I'm a bit concerned that her head is waaaay too big for her body. She is however a babushka and they aren't exactly conventional body shape anyway so I'm not too stressed about it.

I added a little flower in her hair and some trim along the top panel.

For more crafty things pop over to 'our creative spaces' hosted by Kootoyoo.

embellishing stuff....

I went and got myself all excited about embellishing some tops for new bub Lola over in Vienna. Had grand plans on embroidering some lovely intricate designs in lots of lovely colours until....I realised it was the most frustrating craft task I have ever tackled!

Is embroidering on ribbed cotton a bit of a 'no no' in the crafty world or is it something that takes a million years of practise. The 'tea time' vest which is 'disastercraft' had every intention of being a tea cup (which that is supposed to be by the way!), a teapot and a little tablecloth for them to sit on. Hahaha, started with the tea cup which tested my patience enough for me to give up on the rest of the design and attempt some wonky writing instead.

The pink vest was supposed to have a mini London scene but I was so over it post teacup that I just appliqued them instead.

Are there any tricks to this that any of you would like to share? I have champagne ideas and lemonade skill on this one!

our creative spaces...

Loving the new space created by Kirsty at Kootoyoo. Not too much creativity going on here this week but did make a Charlie banner to send to Canberra. Danielle asked for a combination of blues so hope she likes the result!

You can venture over here now for the 'new look' creative spaces.....

kitty's bedroom

I'm loving Kitty being out of the cot. I keep running into the room to look at her asleep in the mini bed. We only just turned it into a toddler bed which is now on it's 3rd run with Kitty's 9 and 11 year old big sisters having slept in the same one. My hubbie suggested painting it white but I'm reluctant to for nostalgia's sake. The cushion was bought at the Berry markets by Nanna about 6 months before Kitty was born. It's so sweet.
I salvaged the unit from the side of the road. It was painted black and red and looked like a London postbox but I painted it white and sanded it back so the paint job didn't look so 'blocky'. The blanket was crocheted by my mother in law a loooong time ago and the rug was bought back from Fiji last year from one of the villages. A bit of London always has to feature hence the obligatory Harrods bear in his union jack knit. Love him.

my creative space.....

I luuuurve it when friends have babies and I get to make things for them. I love it even more when they have no colour scheme and say 'do whatever'. Out comes the cute birdy fabric purchased last year back home in England. I know birds are total overkill at the moment but I love the colours in this fabric and it just happens to be covered in birds so what can I do.....
...I can chop it up and make a pocket organiser with some special embroidery....
....and pop in a bit of bunting too for good measure. Sunlola was born to my bestie who lives in Vienna and has an African daddy and a British mummy and a beautiful traditional African name. She is known as Lola though. Popped in the post today. Job done.

Pop over to Kootoyoo for some crafty loveliness.....

amazing party theming

KISS ME KATE (the fabulous cake maker) has been organising yet another fabulous themed party. I am so in love with this theme and have popped it in the memory bank.She has been working with ANDERS RUFF who have some great designs and supplies. Go over and check them out too. Lovely stuff.

kitty's cottage

My two things I looked forward to most about ever having a little girl was taking her to ballet and buying her a doll's house. My mum actually ended up buying this for Kitty for her first birthday but I only just unveiled it now. She is over the moon with it!.....
My doll's house was made by my dad and was my pride n' joy growing up. I played with it continuously from about the age of 5 to (little bit embarrassing here) early teenage years.
When mum suggested buying one for Kitty I was in a bit of a 'tiz woz' as I didn't want a huge plastic Chinese manufactured one and I was completely incapable of making one myself.
Then at the local markets one day, mum spotted this one which had been lovingly handcrafted by two elderly ladies with a little bit of 'woodwork' help from their hubbies. They put a hell of a lot of effort into crafting every piece of furniture and even went to the trouble of making mini newspapers, cereal packets and tissue boxes (filled with tissues!). It is ridiculously gorgeous and the fabrics they have used are verging on the retro which makes me very happy indeedy.

The only thing I wasn't happy with was an ugly brown painted tiled roof. Here's mum painting it red instead. Voila.....Kitty's cottage complete and I'm sure many hours will be spent playing with it. It's like having a mini Cornish Cottage in my living room and is one of the toys I actually love to look at and am not desperate to stash away at Kitty's bedtime!