amigurimi

Journey to a new destination

| poppypeach

Last week it was time to say farewell to my life as a teacher assistant and get back to my life as mama and student. I made little gifts for the 14 1st graders I worked with by getting them a ball of yarn each to do finger knitting over the summer. And for the kinder kids I made them a kumihimo loom with some extra thread to practice counting and to get crafty.

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The staff at Ventana sent me off with this lovely book as a farewell gift, it was sad to say goodbye to all the lovely people who work there. This dinner is a beyond meat sausage with porcini mushrooms and fennel over a bed of brown rice noodles.

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This amigurumi koala was made for our sitter and friend L who looked after the kids while I was working. I was so lucky to find her to take the kids to their after-school classes and the like and take care of my kids as if they were her own, they will really miss her too!

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Saturday I was ready for some me time so I got on my bike and rode the trail on a cloudy morning. I found this little guy moving fast as ever on the trail.

Saturday we headed on over to Spring Lake Regional Park in Santa Rosa for a group camping with our school. It was a great weekend away and perfect timing to get away. We stopped off at Petaluma for some delicious pie for lunch both savory and sweet. For dinner it was a potluck and I made a mexican inspired black bean salad which disappeared quickly.

As the group site was booked up when we decided to go we stayed at this beautiful cabin for $98 a night (including reservation fees) – in the pics you can see the interior with a bunk bed and a double bed so it fit the 4 or us perfectly. Friends of ours joined in the fun and camped next door, so a total of 8 people can stay at this spot. There were super cool details, with solar lights on the balcony, a little broom cupboard, a table for your goods plus a seat for your bags so it was super spacious inside. We sat out on the balcony in the morning and enjoyed a mug of oatmeal with mixed nuts and maple syrup watching the hawk hanging out in the tree.

Before we left we went on down to the lake for a swim as it was a hot day and met an evil swan guarding the canoes, kayaks and SUP boards. The kids enjoyed the cool water and if you were there all day you can hang out at the water park for $10.

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We are now back in our regular routine of feeding the chickens and doing the chores each week, it was so good to see the little ladies out and about dust bathing in the sunshine.

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Back to mama time and time in the kitchen I made this delicious crumble with coconut whipped cream and nuts. It feels so good to be free with my time and I am thankful for the time I had with my work but I really appreciated to be a master of my own time now.

 

A piece a week – A little Amigurimi friend for my little buddy and a very busy week!

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This week was a busy one indeed with a lot of dramas back home in Australia and living the day to day of live here! So I have become extra crafty and channeling my worries into challenging crafting projects. This little Panda is for a friend’s birthday. The whole panda is made up of little bits and pieces of crochet and then sewn to life. The process is excellent and I am very happy to have finished him and he is ready to be given to his new owner. 
A Koanda Bear for my little friend – A Koala cross between a Panda

The weekend went by in a flash as I was volunteering at FabMo on Saturday morning (after a nice sleep in I must add). I volunteer as a greeter and it is always a good time to see what people find and talk about what people make with their finds. I found this fantastic stretch fabric from a screen printer that I am going to reverse applique and make a skirt – the inspiration is from the Alabama Stitch book. The hand stitching in the pieces throughout this book is just incredible and has been something I have been wanting to try since a friend introduced the book to me years ago!
Saturday afternoon the SF Etsy South Bay team had a Meet-up at Empire Vintage Clothing in Downtown Mountain View. The owner Tiffany has this amazing pop up space for hire that indie makers need to take advantage of! Tiffany introduced herself to us with a presentation on sales and marketing, which was super helpful for all of us – especially those of us who do shows! How to lure a customer, “it’s just like fishing,” she says. We had a really great turnout and people wandering by were checking it out wondering what’s going on there? This space has so much potential and makers with a decent size inventory can come in and take advantage of this super central space with lots of walk by traffic. 
Outside the pop up space and Empire Vintage, Mountain View

The makers who came by to Empire – inspired for a pop up opportunity

Saturday evening my son had a retro games night as a silent auction prize and here is Frogger in all it’s glory played on the Atari 2600. I have one of these machines back home in Australia and used to play it all the time when I was his age 😉 I have to reveal to him that it is OK to spend hours in front of computer games!!

Later on I had a cheap wine tasting evening with some ladies from school till the wee hours at night. Most of the wine I tried I threw back as it was full of sulfites and quite awful. Being from Australia I do like a good wine and next time I think the plan will be to take our favorite wine under $20 and enjoy drinking! By this I mean I can buy a great Australian Shiraz here for less than $10 – sometimes BevMo have it on sale and that is when I buy the lot. There are some excellent imports of wine here from Barossa and McLaren Vale, South Australia that are under $20 and are generally guaranteed to be a good drop. Though with summer coming up it is time to fill my dungeon with my favorite Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand!

Frogger and the Atari 2600

Sunday it was time to chill out for the morning and do some yoga and come back and catch up on a few chores like potting some succulents in the pots I have made fresh from the kiln. This velvety succulent is called the chocolate soldier – it reminded me of chocolate and feels lovely so it now lives in this crochet textured square planter that I made.

Deeper green and chocolate leaves on top of the white glazed planter

And to wrap up the weekend Missy had high tea with her Kindergarten teachers as another Auction prize. There were scones, jam and cream and cucumber sandwiches paired with Cherry/Berry Tea. The teachers read some stories about New Zealand (Missy’s teacher is from there) and chatted while dropping sugar cubes into their tea! So fun, thank you Ms Terri and Ms Bonnie for your time with the kiddos!!

Ready for tea lovelies?

Easter amigurimi

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Girl and Boy eggs in felt baskets

As a cute little easter gift for my friends from Australia I made these easter eggs from a Lion Brand Pattern I found. They make terrific tree decorations for easter being Spring over in this hemisphere and a super substitute for chocolate. The baskets were decorated by my kids with glitter, rhinestones and buttons.