Moving out and Closing Down...

Our house looks like a bomb site.  There are boxes EVERYWHERE and there still seems to be so much more to pack.  I have held off as long as I could, but last night I packed up the very last box of my craft things (although I still do have some little craft projects out so that I can work on those until we move on out).  It is a little bit sad packing to leave this house, but I'm sure the new house will be absolutely fantastic:

I am also a little bit sad to announce that I will be closing down the Snickerdoodle Creations blog forever!  For a while now I have been feeling as though the Snickerdoodle Creations name has become a little stale and that generally, I haven't achieved what I set out to do under this name.  So, it's time to get serious and start a new blog, with new plans and ideas (you didn't think you'd get rid of me that easily, did you!)

So it is with great excitement that I announce the new blog, known as ‘Bok Bok B’Gerk’.  Yep, it’s a little crazy, but I think it is a fitting name given what I have in store for you all!

You’re probably wondering what will change.  Well, to be honest, probably not a lot – but you will see more of a focus on eco-friendly crafting, a new etsy store selling items made from a combination of new and recycled goods and hopefully some guest posting from other like-minded crafters around the world!

Because the blog will have a new URL (http://bok-bok-bgerk.blogspot.com) it means that you will need to become a follower again so pop on over, say "hello" and press the "Follow" button - you know the drill.

I am hoping to start blogging properly over at Bok Bok B'Gerk next week, but that will be dependent on when our internet is connected at the new house.  I promise I'll drop in as soon as I can though!

Anyway, thank you for reading the Snickerdoodle Creations blog.  I hope that you will continue to follow my zany crafty creations over at Bok Bok B'Gerk!

Jo Totes

I didn’t get around to writing a mother’s day post, mainly because I was too busy on the day, but I do hope you all had a fun filled, relaxing day, getting spoiled by those you love!

I certainly got spoiled.  Matty and Little Snicker gave me a Jo Tote for mother’s day.  Isn’t the colour fantastic!

  

For those of you who don’t know what a Jo Tote is – it’s a camera bag designed for women who don’t want to carry around a bag that looks like it came from your grandpa’s wardrobe.

What I love most about the bag is the fact that not only can I fit my Digital SLR camera and the spare lens in there, I can also easily fit my purse, mobile phone, a couple of nappies, the wipes container and I STILL have room in there!  Check out these movable compartments (no, this isn't my bag):

Photo courtesy of Jo Totes

Perhaps the best part about the bag is that it allows me to have my camera with me whenever I’m out, which means I can get pictures like this:

And this:

Hmmm, perhaps that isn't such a good thing lol!  I think he's trying to lick my camera - crazy kid!

Some exciting news!

I know I said I wasn't going to update the blog for a while, but I couldn't not pop in to let you all know that we are expecting our second child in September! We are so excited!

I must say that I have been soooooo sick this time round and that is part of the reason why I had to stop updating the blog. I am literally falling in a heap of a night, too sick to do anything! I am certainly hoping that passes soon.

Anyway I am working on some crafty things for the new nursery, and taking photos as I go, so once I have more time to update the blog I will have a million things to show you!

I hope you are all well
xox

The post I've been putting off.......

Well I have been putting this post off for a while, hoping that I wouldn't have to write it. But, when one is working a full time job, trying to run a household and also have a bit of a life, I guess it is inevitable that something is going to have to give.

So, for a little while (hopefully not TOO long) I will not be updating the blog. I simply don't have enough hours in the day to do everything I want AND maintain the site.

I thank you all for reading and for your support and I hope that you will continue to be a follower. I promise I will be back, I'm just not exactly sure when......

Ahoy there!

I trust that you all had a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We surely did, but I must say that I may have enjoyed the break from blogging just a little too much! It was nice to just relax a bit and to spend time with our family.

Little Snicker had a most wonderful Christmas (even though he didn't really know what was going on) and I was very pleased that he was not overly spoiled! He didn't really understand the concept of presents, but he seemed happy enough having a taste of them all when he thought no-one was watching:

I'm pretty sure his favourite part of Christmas though, was getting wear crazy stuff like santa hats:

reindeer ears:

and the awesome matching Christmas t-shirts his mother made for the family (I think this is going to be an ongoing tradition):

So what does this year hold for me and for the blog? To be honest, I have absolutely no idea!

I am returning to work full time in just under two weeks, so I'm a little nervous about being able to fit everything in...but I am at least going to give it a shot.

I can tell you that I do have some pretty cool stuff lined up, so I hope you'll continue to follow my journey through 2011!

Merry Christmas!

Well it's time for me to pack up the blog for another year and wish you and your family a safe and happy Christmas and New Years period:


As Matty and I will be celebrating 5 years of marriage in early January, I will not be returning to the blogging world until the week commencing January the 10th, 2011.

But before I go, I would like to give a big shout out to my Mum who turns 50 on this lovely Christmas Eve! Happy Birthday Mum!

Christmas Sale

Just a quick note to let you all know that until December the 25th 2010 you can get 20% off all items in the Etsy Store, by entering the coupon code 'CHRISTMAS' at the checkout!

Enjoy!

100 things about me!

Just for a bit of fun, I thought I'd put together a list of 100 things about me.

1. My favourite colour is red
2. I would eat chocolate every day if I wasn't worried about what it would do to my weight
3. I can sing well enough to carry a tune
4. I am in the process of writing a children's storybook
5. I can't hold a grudge against people for long
6. I was considered 'obese' in my teenage years
7. I have travelled to 17 different countries
8. I can play the guitar, not well, but good enough
9. I always lie about who my first kiss was with
10. I find it difficult to make and maintain friendships
11. If I had my time over I'd be a baker, specialising in slices, cakes and biscuits
12. I've only had 4 boyfriends in my lifetime
13. Technically I am an only child, but I have 2 brothers and 6 sisters
14. I performed in a local musical production of The Producers (that's me in the middle)

15. I was hospitalised with appendicitis in 2008 but it turned out it was a tumour the size of a grapefruit in my belly
16. I am constantly thinking. My mind never stops
17. I believe that moths are butterflies who have had their souls sucked out by the devil (hence why they have no colour)
18. I will not eat sausages, even though I love the smell of them cooking!
19. My favourite all time movie is The Labyrinth
20. I had a childhood crush on David Bowie as a result of The Labyrinth
21. I think that liars are worse than thieves
22. My favourite band is Tool, or Pearl Jam... I can never decide.
23. I have only just realised that it doesn't matter what you look like in photos. Your kids aren't going to care about whether your hair or make up were done, just that there are photos of you!

24. I have never had a pet that I haven't accidentally killed or lost
25. My favourite milkshake flavour is chocolate
26. I have a list of over 100 craft projects that I want to do and that list keeps getting longer
27. I still have contact with numerous friends that I have known since I was 11 years old
28. Rolf Harris's song, Two Little Boys, will make me tear up every time
29. I once took acting classes because I was convinced that one day I could be on Home and Away.
30. I spent a year living in the UK
31. I like unexpected acts of kindness
32. I believe in God
33. The scariest movie I have ever seen is Clown House (I was 9 at the time though)
34. I really like watching car racing
35. I am pretty good at Dance Dance Revolution
36. I am a certified Park Ranger
37. My nickname at primary school was 'fly swat'
38. I only take calculated risks
39. I like to take photographs, but I am yet to work out how to use my camera properly
40. My first car was a Nissan Bluebird TRX
41. I am constantly working on becoming a better person
42. I drink too much pepsi max and coffee
43. I am working towards my family being semi self-sufficient

44. I enjoy problem solving
45. I once hang glided off The Remarkables while holidaying in New Zealand
46. I am not a strong swimmer
47. I wish I had a breakfast machine like Pee Wee Herman in the movie 'Pee Wee's Big adventure'
48. I have only started caring more about the environment in the last 2 years
49. I am a project manager in my professional life
50. I once killed a yukka plant which was given to me as a housewarming gift, apparently because it couldn't be killed!
51. I like motherhood more than I expected I would

52. I moved out of home for the first time when I was 16 years old
53. I have always been able to save money
54. I have a Bachelor of Computing degree, which has actually come in handy
55. I wish I had a pet lamb
56. I have no idea what I'd name our next child if it were a boy
57. I get annoyed when people let others down
58. I view sleeping as a recreational hobby
59. My hair is naturally grey *sigh*
60. I am always threatening to run away to join the circus
61. I am inspired by other crafters in the blog world
62. I used to participate in public speaking competitions
63. I tell my husband I love him at least twice a day
64. I always carry my sense of adventure in my pocket

65. I would like to learn how to screenprint
66. I am always cold
67. I like to walk long distances
68. I am a terrible procrastinator
69. I have a strange sense of humour which is often lost on people
70. I once wrote a classical guitar piece
71. I am currently working on a problem I have with being grumpy a lot of the time
72. I always sleep with socks on and my ears covered, but never with socks on my ears!
73. I think I would be a good cheese-maker
74. I never go to bed angry
75. I refuse to spend any longer than 15 minutes cooking a meal
76. I tend to take on too much. Waaay too much!
77. I once wanted to become a NASCAR driver, because I thought I'd be a better driver than Cole Trickle (in the movie Days of Thunder)
78. The only concert I have ever been to was Indecent Obsession when they came to Ballarat. I went with my mum - lol!
79. I don't like rollercoasters
80. I really enjoyed reading the Twilight Series
81. I like to make fresh pasta but don't do it often
82. I am a morning person
83. I really love hugs so long as they are good ones!
84. Christmas is my favourite holiday
85. I like freshly cut flowers but I don't like the price of them
86. I have only recently started buying things for myself because I like them, not because I need them

87. I have a Singer sewing machine that I hate!
88. I would really like to have a daughter
89. I like my mother and father in law and enjoy spending time with them
90. I don't recycle as much as I could
91. My favourite season is spring
92. My favourite book is "Oh, the Places you'll go" by Dr. Seuss
93. I have never bought a tattslotto ticket and probably never will
94. I have terrible skin
95. I like traditions
96. I buy organic fruit, vegetables and meat because the taste is better

97. I would like to live on acreage
98. My favourite animal is an elephant
99. I would put satay sauce on everything if it wasn't so bad for you!
100. There is nothing more important to me than my family and friends

Did anything there surprise you?

Wishes in My Pocket

Late last week a parcel of Pocket Wishes arrived in the mail from the States. Pocket Wishes are small wooden disks that are passed from person-to-person as a way to say 'Thank You'. You can read more about them here.

The first (and only) one I've given away was to my sister Dayle. I really wanted to give her one as she has continually kept me inspired to continue with my blog.

I often contemplate shutting the whole thing down, but the fact that Dayle bothers to read it and will then discuss my current projects with me, makes me think that the whole blogging process is at least a little worthwhile.

So thanks Dayle! :)

Handmade Gifts Ideas for Christmas

If you're looking for ideas for handmade gifts for Christmas, pop over to Craft Stew and take a look around.

They have links to some great projects and have even included a link to the Polymer Clay Buttons Tutorial I wrote a while back.

A Parcel in the Mail

On Friday, we got a parcel slip in the mail. It turned out to be Little Snicker's Christmas present:

How cool are they? A pair of pixie bookends from the ever-talented Gary of Bentsticks, who makes timeless toys out of fallen tree branches.

I think they are just perfect for holding our Enid Blyton books:

and I love how the little doors open up:

Kind of makes me want my very own set. These will be in our family for a long time to come, that's for sure!

It's duck season at our house!

Every year at about this time we start hearing a faint 'honking' noise at all hours of the night. Usually it's not too long after this starts that we have our first duck sighting:

I think it's pretty amazing that we live in a reasonably built up area, yet we still have wild ducks wandering through our yard. Unfortunately Little Snicker is a bit too young to understand all the excitement as I dash to put my shoes on, grab him a hat and run outside to look at them before they disappear. Maybe next year he might get excited.

I have to say though, that these wild ducks are nowhere near as cute as the ducks my lovely friend Rach of Picklebug Designs has! She has her own mini farm going on and also makes some awesome glass pendants. You should swing by her blog and take a look!

Off to Market...

It has been so long since my last post, but with good reason! I am getting ready to go to the Buninyong Makers Market this coming Saturday:

So many owls.....

My table will be right next door to Jenn, who owns The Cake Bakeshop in Main Road. I haven't tried her cupcakes yet, but I have heard some pretty fantastic things about them. I don't think I'll even bother trying to resist them!

I hope we'll see you at the Market this Saturday. Make sure you pop on by and say "hello!"

Weekend Garage Sales

On the weekend we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and travel around to some garage sales in our area.

Unfortunately by the time we got home from Little Snicker's swimming lesson and he had a sleep it was after 11am, so most of the garage sales had either finished up or had next to nothing left.

The first few we went to were really lame, but then we found one that was selling all kinds of junk and I managed to pick up this awesome tin for a mere 50 cents!

His hat is the lid of the tin. I'm not sure what I'm going to store it in, but it is pretty nifty.

Anyway, we were just about done with the garage sales with only one left to go. When we got there they said that 1/4 of the stuff had already gone, but we might still find something good.

I managed to find a tin to store photographic slides in and on a whim I picked up a pillowcase as I had wanted to try making a pillowcase dress for quite some time. Little did I know, that simple action would lead to the mother-load of all bargains!

When I went to pay for my goods, the lady asked me if I was interested in fabric since I'd picked up a single pillowcase. After saying that I was, she informed me that she had some bags of fabric inside but hadn't bothered putting them out. She came back with these two big bags:

Matty rolled his eyes, knowing that we could be there for quite a while as I sorted through them, so he asked how much they wanted for the two bags. When they said "Twenty Dollars" we snapped up their offer pretty quick, even though we had no idea what was really in them (and I think that was half of the thrill).

The bag on the left was full of various vintage style fabrics (ginghams, seer sucker and some crazy paisley prints):

and the other was filled with haberdashery items.... like good quality zippers, with the price tag of .20 cents still attached (this is about a quarter of the zippers in the bag):


There were metres and metres of different types of elastics:

and even a tin of crochet cotton, among so much other stuff!


Next week we are planning to hit a couple of garage sales BEFORE we go to Little Snicker's swimming lesson. Who knows what we'll come home with!

Embroidery Thread Dilemma

This week I am busy making Sock Owl Mobiles for the upcoming Buninyong Makers Market.

While this should be a pleasant and relaxing task, my current embroidery thread storage method is making it a little less enjoyable:

Yep... I store all of my embroidery thread in a great big knotted mess, along with all other sorts paraphernalia.

So far, while I've been untangling this enormous pile of thread, I have encountered 3 needles, 2 buttons, endless pieces of scrap felt and a piece of clear elastic *sigh*. Time to put everything on hold and get this sorted out.

How do you store your embroidery thread?

Day Off!

Yesterday Little Snicker spent the day with his Nana. While he was there I did a little of this:


A little of that:

Then some of this:

And while I didn't manage to actually finish anything, I felt that the day was very relaxing and productive!

Ramblings of a crazy lady!

Since the majority of my time this week has been spent working on the Christmas Quilt, I have had a lot of time for thinking. I have thought about what the future holds for us, I have thought about the things I'd like to be doing and I have thought about the things I should be doing - like cleaning the house!

I would be surprised if I ever found anyone that 'truly' loved cleaning their house. I mean, surely there are better things that a person could be doing rather than spending time scrubbing, sweeping and dusting?

There is one particular household chore that I absolutely LOATHE doing and that is cleaning the microwave. I will avoid it at all cost. I would rather scrub the toilet with a toothbrush than clean the microwave.

When my lunch exploded inside the microwave the other day, I was less than impressed. Just so you know I'm not exaggerating when I say 'exploded', here is a picture of the inside of the microwave:

I did clean the microwave after this event, but it got me to thinking about possible solutions to my microwave cleaning hatred and I think I've come up with possibly the best invention of all time - The disposable microwave!

Now this idea I have doesn't necessarily mean that each time you use the microwave you have to discard it and get a new one (obviously the cost of doing that would just be plain ridiculous!). I am thinking that perhaps the inside of the microwave could have layers that you simply peel off and discard to enable easy cleaning.

I realise that there are many products out there that help to avoid splatter, which typically result in the covering of your food while heating and I acknowledge that these products would also help to reduce the amount of food spraying on the inside of your microwave. But what if you're like me and you really, REALLY like to see your food while it's revolving? Obviously covering isn't going to cut it, hence why I think the disposable microwave liners could be a really great idea.

It is possible though (and more likely) that I think this is such a great idea because I am so delieriously tired.... either that or there is some sort of chemical in my embroidery thread that is seeping into my skin and causing me to go crazy. Either way, I guess a simpler solution would just be to pay someone to come in and clean it on my behalf. Anyone want to do that for $5? lol

Smartie Cereal

Have you seen the episode of the IT Crowd where Moss is eating a bowl of Smartie Cereal (Season 1 episode 6)? The dialogue goes like this:

Jen: OK. Moss, what did you have for breakfast this morning?
Moss: Smartie cereal.
Jen: Oh my God. I didn't even know Smarties made a cereal.
Moss: They don't. It's just Smarties in a bowl with milk.

We have been talking about how awesome it would be to have a bowl of Smartie Cereal ever since this episode aired, so we decided it was time to give it a whirl.

We figured that since we were going to be eating chocolate for breakfast we might as well really go to town, so we made chocolate bowls the night before to put our Smartie Cereal in!

To make the chocolate bowls, I melted up some chocolate. Then I spooned a little onto a piece of aluminium foil (this forms the base of the bowl):

Then I dipped a balloon into the chocolate:

And then sat the balloon on top of the chocolate on the aluminium foil:

Once the chocolate set, we popped the balloons and peeled them off the chocolate and even though they were a little rough around the edges, they served their purpose well:

With the chocolate bowls ready to go, we filled them up with Smarties and milk at around 8.30am on Sunday morning (keen, hey!). I heated my milk up, which made the middles of the Smarties and my chocolate bowl melt - it was divine!

My brother (who's bowl was made using a water bomb balloon) decided to have a moat of Smarties:


So what was the verdict? Was it at all as good as we'd hoped? HELL YES! Although it was very, very sickly lol!

Eating Organic

One of the main goals I have in life is to be fit and healthy. As part of that I have decided that, as a family, we will eat more Organic produce. You may remember I was going to grow my own veggies, but that was a dismal failure (although I haven't given up on the whole idea yet!)

I was excited to find out that The Food Group would deliver Organic food right to my doorstep! We have purchased their Organic fruit and vegetable box for the last three weeks and I must say I am very happy with both the cost and the quality of produce in the box:

What I like most about the fruit and veggie box is that you really don't know what you're going to get (even though you do have the option to exclude certain items when you place your order). I have found that has forced me to be more inventive in my cooking, so that none of the produce is wasted.

The thing that surprised me most about the produce is that it lasts no where near as long as produce bought from the supermarket. I knew it wouldn't have as long a shelf life, but I was surprised at how little shelf life it has. Luckily we eat a lot of vegetables so it hasn't really been a problem.

While there are numerous benefits of eating organically, one of the main drivers for us has been Little Snicker starting on solids. I can't believe he is almost 6 months old! We are going to try and feed him organically for as long as possible to give him the best possible start to life.

As you can see, he really enjoys the Organic produce as well!

On Strike!

Wow - I can't believe that a whole week has gone by and I haven't posted. I've been meaning too but, well... I've been on strike!

That's right. No cooking or dusting, no scrubbing or washing, no sweeping or mopping - just a whole lot of nothing.

I'd love to tell you that the reason I went on strike for the week was because I was sick and tired of doing everything. That I stood out the front of our house burning my bra, while shouting to my neighbours about women's rights, equality and all that jazz. But it wasn't anything like that.

I went on strike because my milk supply dwindled to practically nothing *sigh*. Little Snicker just couldn't get enough and so would wake every 2.5 hours (if I was lucky) and want to feed for 45 minutes. It was VERY draining. So I did some research and found that taking a holiday from day-to-day tasks may just fix the problem. I was willing to give it a shot and am pleased to report that my milk is well and truly back! Yay!

So, what did I get up to while I was on strike? Well, I spent some time with my boys of course:


Made Little Snicker smile on quite a number of occassions:


And we also spent a bit of time outside blowing bubbles!

I feel very well rested and ready to get back into some craft! I hope your week was just as relaxing.