Making Progress...

Welcome back everybody :)

I am still in the process of making an album for one of my friends and feel like I am making good progress. Only a few more pages to go.

For the very first page, I wanted to do something a bit more textured and detailed. It still allows my friend just to insert her desired photo without having to do anything else. Easy!
I had quite a few flowers I hadn't used in a while - some I had never even opened - so out they came and I got busy "flower arranging" :)

The paper used is by Sugar & Spice Studio.

Cardstock, chipboard lettering, paint, pearls, paper leaves and some of the paper flowers by Kaisercraft.

Other flowers by Cre8tiv and Craft Market.

Ribbon by Krafty Savers.

Also tapestry yarn and flowers cut from lace.

Lots of layers and a little bit of shine provided by the glossy ribbon.

I had some small flowers that were perfect shades of purple for this page, but they had a sparkly silver detail that didn't quite suit. I flipped them over and the back side had quite a nice texture so I used them face down. I also cut some of them up into single "petals", one of which you can see in the foreground here.

The chipboard lettering needed...something...so I just tied a little piece of tapestry yarn around each letter and unravelled the ends. A little bit of...something...but not too much :)

It was good fun doing a 12x12 page. Haven't done one of those in quite some time. Well, back to it.

Thanks for stopping by :)
Abs

Spring, Is That You?

Hi everybody :)

I could have sworn Spring peeked out from behind the clouds yesterday, just to tease us a little bit..."I'm just having a quick look to see how things are going...then I'm off for another few weeks".... It was an absolutely stunning day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the bees were buzzing....I was missing Summer and one of my favourite places on Earth - Positano, Italy. Ahhhhhhhh....that is my reaction whenever I think about it, followed closely by a little pain in my heart because I love it so much.

So sitting on the little patch of grass I have in my yard, I leaned back on my arms, stretched out my legs, closed my eyes and off I went. I thought about the first time I went there and how it was such a lovely surprise after almost succumbing to travel sickness on the way. I thought about how I was there with a girlfriend and we were having an amazing holiday together, absolutely stunned by how beautiful this little village was. I thought about how my husband and I had spent four wonderful days in Positano as part of our Italian honeymoon....*sigh*.....

Some places just make you feel more like yourself. When you arrive for the first time, you are instantly in love, and when it comes time to leave, you are close to tears. There's not a huge amount to do there apart from relax. The wonderful food, wine and gelato makes that easy, along with the warm Summer sun, shopping, the little beach and the magnificent views. It is just so beautiful, it doesn't seem real.

When my husband and I were there, our plan was to stay for two nights, but we stayed for four. And still didn't want to leave. We would have lazy mornings, wandering in to breakfast which overlooked the ocean. strolling around Positano all day until we couldn't resist having an early dinner - eating slowly and just being. Our hotel didn't just have dessert, it had a dessert cart....you could choose as many as you liked....the best panna cotta I have ever tasted....yum....the days were warm, the nights were cool and I didn't even have to get out of bed to see the moon high in the sky and its beams bouncing off the water. I can almost smell the heady scent of jasmine in the air....oh hang on....that doesn't smell like jasmine....

Suddenly the sun dips behind a cloud and the cold air brings me back to my patch of grass. With a wince I remember I have put to good use the unseasonably warm weather and decided to get some air on my son's nappy rash - my son who is now squatting next to a plant pot producing something that does not smell like flowers... Having recently discovered the joy of chasey, he is off like a rocket after stepping where he shouldn't have, and the rest of it stuck to his little chubby bottom......*sigh*....

We will take him to Positano one day. I can imagine us sitting on the beach, sipping cocktails and watching him play in the sand. He'll eat as much gelato as he can fit in whilst his hair drips after a swim. After an early dinner he'll fall asleep watching the moon beams bouncing off the water...until then we'll just have to practice each Summer.

Thanks for stopping by :)

More Little Birdies.

Welcome back everybody :)

Just wanted to show you another card I made using the "Hey Birdie" collection by Kaisercraft. I think this is one of my favourites.

I love the colours. They work so well together. I used a little grosgrain ribbon to make a line of grass along the bottom :)

Until next time...

Dream A Little Dream.

Welcome back :)

When I became pregnant, my husband and I decided not to find out whether we were having a boy or a girl. We wanted it to be a complete surprise. The only reason I could think of in regards to finding out was then I would know what coloured clothes to buy - and that wasn't a good enough reason for me, plus sometimes the doctors get it wrong anyway.

I'm sure for those of you who have had children, people always ask, "do you know what you're having?", and for me it felt really good being able to say that I didn't. Besides one other couple in our prenatal class, we were the only ones who were not going to find out. To be honest, I was a little shocked by this. I thought more people would want to be surprised. It's like one of Mother Nature's magic tricks, except there's no hat, as such, and it's a baby instead of a bunny :) Each to their own.

Over the years I have heard many women, usually of my mother's generation, talk about how they "just knew" whether  they were having a boy or girl whilst pregnant. Things were very different then and such information was not so readily available. So strong were their feelings that some of them even bought clothes or linen of a particular colour before the baby was born. Gutsy. I always thought to myself..."yeah, I'm sure I'll have those feelings too"......nope. I had absolutely no idea if I were carrying a boy or girl. People would ask and that is what I would tell them. I admitted to few that I would like to have a girl, but I didn't have any feelings of certainty either way. Or so I thought...

On quite a few occasions in my life, I have had instances where I "just knew". It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, it's as clear as reading it on a page or seeing it played out before me. Most of the time it's instantaneous One moment the knowledge isn't there, the next it is. Sometimes it's relayed in a dream. I am one of those vivid dreamers whose mood for the whole day can be influenced by a dream from the night before - whether it be happy, sad, funny, intriguing, whatever the case may be.

A lot of women dream more, or remember their dreams more vividly, when they are pregnant. For me, it didn't seem all that different so I wasn't surprised when I started to have baby dreams. They didn't start until maybe the fourth month or so and usually involved arms or legs. Quite a few times I would dream that my baby was trying to escape through the front of my stomach. I'd look down and an arm would be stretching the skin outwards like something from Alien. Other times a leg would be dangling where it shouldn't be or I'd suddenly go into labour and, not being able to stop the baby from coming, give birth within a few seconds - if only that were how it worked.

I would have dreams about both girls and boys. But what I failed to realise then was the difference between them. Whenever I had a dream about a girl, there was always something really odd about her. In one dream, I gave birth to a three year old. She even had pigtails. I then somehow went to a BBQ soon after (as you do in dreamland) and she was running around the garden. I turned to my sister in law and said..."I don't think this is right. I don't think that's my baby"....she replied with..."don't worry, that's how the Italian ones come out". (My husband is of Italian descent).

Whenever I had a dream about a boy, he was always a tiny little baby. He would always be so snug and quiet and content - not to mention the right age, immobile and without teeth. In the mindset of wanting to have a girl, I woke up one morning after one of these dreams and felt as though I already knew this little boy baby. It was just a very comfortable and confident feeling....but I ignored it!

After my mum passed away and I was going through her things, I found a tiny little dress that had been made especially for me. I must have worn it when I was about a year old. I kept it and when I became pregnant I washed it and hung it up - thinking that if I did so, I would have a girl. But every time I saw it hanging there, something just didn't mesh. I felt a little stupid. I ignored that too. Whenever I would go shopping to buy clothes for my baby, I would stop and look at all the cute little pink outfits with flowers, butterflies and kitty cats. I never bought anything and I was never tempted to. I didn't bother questioning myself as to why.

It wasn't until a day or two before having my son that I knew he was a boy. It just started coming to me and I started thinking that I would be very surprised if it were a girl. The night before he arrived my dad came over. It was my birthday and he also had something for the baby. I opened it up and it was a rattle, some booties and a beanie - pink. That is the very moment I knew I was having a boy. I looked at these little pink things and thought to myself..."what am I going to do with this?". My dad, however, was 100% certain...."I just have a feeling", he said....

So, needless to say, I was not surprised at all when my son arrived. And I could not have been happier. Having a baby, for me, was not about having a boy or a girl, but about having a baby. If I am blessed with another child, I may just pay a bit more attention to my intuition. I don't know why I didn't in the first place. My little boy bunny was there all along :)

See you soon...

Sugar & Spice And All Things Nice.

Hi again :) I am in the process of making a baby album for one of my friends. She welcomed a little girl in April (yes, it's taking me a while). I wanted to make something that wasn't too complicated, where all my friend would have to do is choose her photos, cut them to size and place them in - I could even do that for her once the photos are chosen.

With this in mind, the design is quite basic. I found a great paper pad by the Sugar & Spice Studio called "Baby Girl". It's a 60 page paper pack with 3 sheets each of 20 different designs - perfect for 2 page layouts and embellishing. The same pretty pastels are used throughout the entire pack so although the designs are different, there is a common colour scheme binding them together.

Here's a sneak peek...

This little garden of flowers was created using felt, tapestry yarn (knotted for a bit of detail), and individual flowers cut from lace.

 

What a cute little elephant. I gave him some rhinestone eyes so he could see better :) I also added some lace along with buttons. I threaded tapestry yarn through the button holes and unravelled the yarn a little for some texture.

Hopefully I'll have the album finished in the next couple of weeks. At the moment I am grabbing short pieces of time here and there to do what I can. Only about 8 pages to go.

Are you making anything crafty at the moment?

Until next time :)

A New Mantra.

Being a mum can be hard. Before having a baby, everyone tells you how you won't get any sleep, the baby cries all the time, you won't get out of your pyjamas until it's almost time to put them on again, the house will be a mess....it goes on. But what no one tells you, and I can understand why, is how becoming a parent can sometimes make you question the very way in which you do it.

I have not been a mum for all that long, just over fourteen months. Most things are second nature now and I am lucky to say that the most difficult thing recently has been changing my boy's nappy. At times it's like wrestling a dancing squid. He is a happy little guy and rarely gets upset. So yesterday, when he was very upset, my confidence and ability to parent was shaken.

We were visiting a friend, a friend we see on a regular basis. She has a darling boy who is about a year older than my son, so he is up on his feet, running around like little boys do. My son is not yet walking but getting close, so it's easy for him to topple over if he gets bumped. Whenever this happened, his bottom lip would droop out, little tears would spill from his eyes and he would make his way to me and cling on for dear life.

This may sound completely ridiculous, because it is, but I started thinking to myself "am I too soft on my son? Should I be doing things differently to toughen him up a bit?". I immediately started to question myself and I'm sure he picked up on my anxiety. He continued to be distressed the whole time we were there and in the end it was just easier to go back home - where he was as happy as could be.

After having a few hours to think about it, what was I thinking? My son is fourteen months old and I'm thinking about toughening him up? This is not the first time I have questioned how I am raising my boy. Now and then something will happen which makes me lose my mind for an hour or two. I over think things, I exaggerate things, I drive myself nuts - and meanwhile my son probably has no recollection of the incident that caused me to feel this way. People don't tell you about this before you become a parent, and it's probably because this kind of reaction is different for everybody. It's not like changing a nappy. It's unpredictable.

A friend of mine said the other day..."isn't it beautiful to parent instinctively?". Yes it is, when I actually follow my own instincts. I don't believe this is something that is automatic as soon as you become a parent. It took me a while to realise that and sometimes, going by yesterday, I need reminding. So, my new mantra, and this can be applied to any aspect of life really, is ...

...the moment you start comparing yourself to others, you lose sight of what it is you should be doing...

It would be an injustice to my boy to be anything else to him other than the mama I am meant to be. And I know that this will not be the last time I will have a mini freak out. It comes with the territory. This is a lesson that doesn't have a time frame. It is continuous and wonderful and scary all at the same time. There's nothing else I would rather be doing. In the words of Suzanne Finnamore (The Zygote Chronicles),

..."You are the closest I will ever come to magic"...

Thanks for visiting :)

Welcome Little One.

A very good friend of mine welcomed her second child earlier this week, a precious little girl. A new little face :) I really enjoy making cards for tiny new babies. It feels extra special. In the last couple of years I have made quite a few of them.

A paper collection I nearly always go back to is "Hey Birdie" by Kaisercraft. There are lovely shades of pink, green, brown and beige - making it quite versatile for both girl and boy bundles of joy, and something a bit different from the usual pink or blue. I especially like one of the papers, "Wing It", which features lots of different trees, flowers, birds and toadstools.



Until next time :)

Lost In Translation.

I've been lucky enough to have travelled quite a bit. For me, travelling is sensory overload - seeing places I'd only ever dreamed of going to, hearing a language I want to understand, tasting fabulous food, feeling a summer breeze or an icy wind on my face (they feel different when you're abroad), and walking on streets that are hundreds, if not thousands, of years old. But, what I really love about travelling are those chunky nuggets of pure gold that you never see coming....

Picture it, if you will. It's a warm August afternoon in Berlin. After a morning of getting to know the place, my boyfriend at the time and I are relaxing in our room. We're staying at a youth hostel which is more like a rat's maze for humans. Every hallway looks the same and none of them are straight. There are small sets of three or four steps going up, to small sets of three or four steps going down. I came across the Internet cafe the first day I was there, but couldn't find it after that. I should have guessed that the guy crying at one of the computers was actually emailing reception to come and get him and lead him to his room...

Our room has three sets of bunk beds. One of the other bunks is occupied by a lovely couple from England. The third bunk is empty and has been for a couple of nights. So, we're chatting away to the lovely couple, having a few laughs, we get along really well with them. All of a sudden, the door flies open and in strides a middle aged man. His "luggage" consists of a green plastic bag tied at the top with a bow. He throws it down onto the bottom of the empty bunk....

"Hello! My name is Igor. I am from Poland!"

...From what I remember, I think he may have done a little Tarzan punch to his chest when he said that...

"I have wife and daughter! Where are you from?"

It felt more like an interrogation than exchanging pleasantries. We explained we were from Australia, the other couple from England. Then my boyfriend says...

"Whereabouts in Poland?

"Ahhh...well, not so much in city..more the country...you don't really see in the city...."

(my internal monologue)....WHAT is he talking about? Shouldn't the answer to that question be quite simple...and short?

Have you ever stopped to consider what you do when you are trying to understand something? You move closer, you tilt your head and look confused. I could have won an Oscar for my version of "trying to understand" except I wasn't acting. Meanwhile...

"...yes, maybe Warsaw but I never see...yes, mostly country I think...." ...and he keeps going...

.....I still don't understand *doingthetryingtounderstandthing*....he might be from Warsaw? But mostly in the country?...What does that mean? See? See what? Whatever he's talking about, he knows an awful lot about it ............Oh no.......surely not....oh if that's what he's saying, that's a bit funny.......it IS what he's saying!.... that's a lot funny!.....I need to laugh....I need to laugh right now and I can't.....the other guys don't get it....they don't seem like they need to laugh...is it just me? Oh no, that's worse! At least they are oblivious.......what am I going to do?....I know, I'll cover my mouth with my pillow....but then I'll be looking at him all crazy-eyed from behind a pillow! Oh man......I can't hold it much longer!....

"...Yes, and I have never really seen myself but that is where I think you find them, yes......I go now"

Igor strides out just as forcefully as when he strode in.

Just think for a moment. How long has it been since you laughed so hard that no sound at all comes out of your body? The ability to stand or sit upright disappears. I don't know about you but I usually have to hang on to something. Tears spring from your eyes, breathing becomes something you'll do later when you get the chance. Lucky I was on a bed or I would have been on the floor.

By this time our English friends understood and were rolling around on their beds. My boyfriend had no idea what was going on...he starts doing the "trying to understand thing"...

"So, where is he from?? And what's so funny?"

When I could manage it, I said...

...You asked him "whereabouts in Poland?" and he thought you said "where are BATS in Poland?"...

How Igor knew quite so much about bat populations of Poland I will never know. I can only imagine what he told his wife and daughter....I come here to meet people of other country and they ask me about bats??.......

God bless you Igor :)

More Than Pages In A Book.

Books have been a constant in my life. I have very clear memories of being about six years old and sitting on the floor in front of my mother's bookcase. I'd look at the different coloured spines, I'd turn the books over in my hands,smell the musty pages, and look at any pictures or photographs inside. She always had a few books piled next to her bed and the names of authors such as James Herriot, Erica Jong, Shirley Maclaine and Xavier Herbert became permanently ingrained in my mind. I even remember what some of the covers looked like...remember (if you are over 35) the first editions of Virginia Andrews' books with the striking black covers...I think we've all had a Virginia Andrews phase at some point...

Around this same time, whenever I decided I was running away from home - which wasn't too often as I recall - I would pack my little school case with an apple, a teddy and, most importantly, a book. Pretty clever looking back. Something to eat, some company, and something for us to do - even if my definition of "running away" was about ten paces from the front door.

I'm not sure if it was my grandmother or my father who started buying me volumes from "The Sesame Street Library" (published in the late 1970s).. I adored these books. I would go back to them time and time again. They became very familiar to me and there was comfort in knowing what was within the pages. At this time of my childhood, things around me weren't as stable and I believe these books, in particular, gave me something secure to hang onto. Bert and Ernie, my heroes...who knew?

When I grew older, my mother passed them on to some younger children and once those children had grown up, I tried to see if I could get them back, but they had already been passed on again. A little while ago I told my husband about these books and how wonderful they were and just before our son was born, we found a retro store through eBay that had the whole set! It was like sitting down with an old friend once they arrived. Familiar, safe and just as great now as back then :)

Through the years books became not only a form of entertainment but an escape - had a bad day, read your book...raining outside, read your book...have multiple essays and readings to do for uni, read your book instead. And reading doesn't have to be a wholly solitary process. I love talking about books. I love hearing different perspectives, different reactions, different emotions drawn out of people from words on a page. Myself and three girlfriends used to meet on a regular basis to exchange books and talk about what we had read recently....that would last about five minutes, but still....books can bring people together.

I don't own a Kindle or any kind of electronic reading device. I don't think I want one. I enjoy holding a book too much. I like the motion of turning the pages. Even if it's too heavy to read in bed, I'll find a way to prop it up somehow. I can definitely see the appeal of a Kindle though. I still speak to Kindle users :)

One of my most precious memories of becoming a new mum is reading to my son when he was only a few weeks old. The weather was starting to get cold and after his morning feed he would snuggle into bed next to me. I would read him something completely age inappropriate - whatever novel I was reading at the time - but I liked the fact that he could see a book and hear my voice. He'd start to settle in and get quite still, his little grunts and yawns would become few, his little eyelids would get heavy and he'd drift off to sleep. Sometimes he'd last a whole page :)

I had started to wonder if my boy would develop an interest in books. He is fourteen months old now and we had made a conscious effort to read to him on a regular basis. His books had been placed somewhere where he could easily destroy...ahh... read them if he wanted to, but he just didn't seem too keen. I'd often give him a book to look at whilst changing his nappy. He'd have a bit of a look, see what he needed to and then hurl it at me, ninja star style......until about a week ago. I'm not sure what happened. Perhaps my mother, may she rest in peace, paid him a little visit...you know what they say about children and the spirit world. Now he spends a good part of his day taking almost every book out of the bookshelf. I sit on the floor with him and he climbs into my lap and we read....the same book sometimes 4 times in a row....every hour....but really I couldn't be more thrilled. He hadn't been the cuddliest of boys either. Capturing him long enough for a hug was a rarity, being the recipient of one of his lovely open mouthed drool kisses even more so. But not anymore. I'm quite sure if it were one of Bowlby's cloth monkey mamas reading to him, he'd be just as affectionate but it's all come from the enjoyment he gets from looking at and listening to stories. How wonderful!

Right now he's over at Nanna's house for a few hours. Before we left I packed his lunch, some toys and at least two books. Some habits die hard :)

What are you reading at the moment?

:)

A Little Thanks.

Welcome back :)

Usually when I make cards, I am left with odd lengths of card stock and little bits and pieces of paper that are just too pretty to put in the recycle bin. Sometimes I pack them up and give them to my friend's kiddies so they can make their own creations. And sometimes I put the pretty scraps to good use myself.
As you may have seen in my last post, I used Kaisercraft's Party Animals Collection for my son's birthday invitations. I decided I'd use the cute little leftover frogs to make some tiny Thank You cards. Very simple and great for getting a speedy craft fix :)

These little "Thanks" are about the size of a place card and are perfect for when you just need to say a few words of gratitude...place one next to a lovely cup of tea for your mum or friend, leave one on your colleague's desk if they helped your day be less stressful or even place one on your son or daughter's pillow if they have helped you with a few extra chores.

A little thanks goes a long way...

See you soon :)

Paper, Paper Everywhere...

I love paper. I love card. I love anything that can be cut out, stamped, peeled off and/or stuck onto paper or card. Some people just don't grow out of the childlike pleasure of cutting and pasting. I am one of those people and I make no apologies. There are many of us out there....if you aren't one yourself, you could be living next door to a craftie, or sitting next to one at work...the tall, dark and burly man from the office goes home and uses his special Fiskars paper scissors to cut out snowflakes...

I enjoy making cards mostly, but now and then I'll make a scrapbook, usually as a gift for a friend. I also like making invitations and have done a couple for birthdays and christenings.

For my son's first birthday, I used some fun papers from the Party Animals Collection by Kaisercraft. I wanted something cute, colourful and with a circus or carnival kind of theme. This collection was perfect.

The design was simple, yet effective, with the Tangerine card stock (also by Kaisercraft) being a perfect complement. I added a lime green rhinestone to each corner to give the invitation a little sparkle. The little lion came from a paper within the collection called "Yippee".Because this paper features many different animals, the invitations had great variety and only 2 or 3 sheets were required.

The "Yippee" paper...

Next time I'll show you what I've been doing with the leftover bits and pieces. Nothing goes to waste.

Until then...

Fifty Shades of the Bandwagon.

Have you read or are you reading Fifty Shades of Grey? You are not alone. I first heard about this book on an American talk show. I couldn't have been paying too much attention because all I came away with was the title and that it's a bit of a raunchy read. A week or two later I happened to come across the book in a store. I read the back. It sounded OK, but not interesting enough, I guess, as I didn't buy it - a rare occurrence when I am given the opportunity.

Fast forward a month or so and this book is like a plague. It is everywhere. Even as I sit at home with all the doors and windows closed, if I listen really hard......yes....yes, I'm quite sure I can hear someone talking about it.

I have not read Fifty Shades of Grey and will not be doing so for, what I suspect will be, quite some time. I don't know if anyone else out there is like me, but when something becomes so incredibly popular it tends to be the last thing I want to read. I have not read The Twilight Saga, The Hunger Games Trilogy. Harry Potter, or even The DaVinci Code - although that book has snuck its way into my bookcase. I have not seen The Matrix and before I went to a fund raising event to watch Sex and the City:The Movie, I had not seen one single episode of the television series (gasp!).

I wonder why this is. Do I not want to do what everyone else is doing? Am I nurturing my individuality by resisting, only to succumb later once the buzz has gone? At this point is it still classified as "jumping on the bandwagon" only it's a smaller, less crowded bandwagon with maybe just room for a percussion section? I don't know..

I must admit, this time round I am enjoying the buzz. Some of my friends are finding it scandalous, smut-filled and degrading to women, while others are wading through the erotica in the hope there will be a glimpse of romanticism. If you are reading, or have read FSOG, I'd love to know what you think. If you haven't and don't plan to, you can stand next to me at the side of the road as the bandwagon rolls on by...

Happy wandering :)

A tasty morsel for tiny teeth.

And now for something yummy...

My son is almost 14 months old but he has only cut two bottom teeth, with the two top teeth pushing their way through. Although he is dentally challenged, he does very well with eating solids and really enjoys feeding himself.
To be honest, I was getting a little tired of offering him the same purees and mashes and little cubes of this and that. If that's how I felt about it, he might like to try something new too.
What I had in mind was something tasty, texturally soft for sore teething gums, but which still held its form so he could pick it up to eat it. It also had to be quick or at least still turn out delicious if the cooking process were to be interrupted by little hands grabbing onto my leg...

I came up with these.....Potato & Spinach Balls.

I didn't measure anything, just boiled a couple of potatoes to make a thick mash, then mixed in a cube of defrosted spinach, some breadcrumbs, a bit of Parmesan cheese, then formed the mixture into balls and rolled them in breadcrumbs to finish. How easy!

My boy loved them...and so did my husband who wants me to make a big batch so he can deep fry them! Potato is such a good staple as you can add any number of other ingredients to keep it interesting.  This is also a good way of introducing new tastes to your little one's palate. Massimo has tried tuna but is not really a fan so I may reintroduce tuna to him by adding it to the potato.

There's an old folk remedy that says a toothache can be relieved by carrying a potato in your pocket. Short of tying a potato to my son, as his pockets are too small, hopefully these little soft pillows of goodness will give teething gums a rest. I'd love to hear about your finger food creations. Don't be shy.


Until next time we wander... :)

Here we go...

Welcome to Little Purple Forest, and my first ever post. I'm a little nervous...but I'm hoping the excitement of writing a blog will soon take over.
What I hope to share with you are my experiences doing the things I love - being a mum, reading, craft and cooking - but also some thoughts on anything and everything in-between.

Upon starting a blog, I wondered, "Why? Why do this?". Well, the only answer I could come up with (without asking myself another 10 questions such as "who will read it?") was why not? If not for the reading pleasure of the blog world, it will give me more of a connection to the outside "adult" world if you like. Also, when I was younger, I enjoyed writing and haven't really done much of that for a long time. Even just tapping out this first post I feel as though I have regained a little bit more of my own essence, and part of what it means to be me :)

Like you, I am hoping to perhaps be educated, entertained and most of all surprised by this blogging experience. As of now I don't really know what to expect. So, let's take a wander through Little Purple Forest together and see what we find.

Thanks for dropping by :)