Beth's pARTy... first sneak peek

Beth is turning 5 in a couple of weeks. A few of her friends had Art Factory parties, so we decided on an ART party at home... so there's still plenty of creating, but Mummy gets to be her usual obsessive party planning self.

It is one of the easiest and most fun themes I have done. Kids craft is so cheap in $2 shops, so there are plenty of different crafts on the day as well as fun, colourful and useful items for the goody bags!

These are the invites and I am so pleased with how they turned out:

Looking forward to sharing more details with you.

Love Gubby xo

Its beginning to look a lot like there's less than 100 days to Christmas

With just over 3 months til Christmas, the time has come to begin making gifts and the mass production of Christmas cards.

I committed to hand-making all my presents this year and have managed it for birthday presents so far. But Christmas might be another story. How am I going to get it all done in less than 100 days!

Here is a sneak preview of supplies for my Christmas cards. At least if all else fails, I'll get the cards done in time!

Do you have any special projects on the go for Christmas this year?

Love Gubby xo

From Paris... With Love

Moving to our new home in Frankston was exciting for so many reasons- its newer and bigger and warmer and close to school and kinder and church and only 4 minutes from my newest nephew :)

It also allowed Francesca to have her own room.
She loves Paris and the Eiffel Tower (her name is FRANCEsca, so you see the connection?)

I desperately wanted to make it a perfect room for her- a comfortable space with personal touches. I saw some beautiful wall decals and thanks to a custom order for some bibs and burp cloths I was able to justify the cost of purchasing them for her:

(not our home, just a generic photo ;)

There were a few other items generously gifted to her from friends and family. And one of my favourite touches was a photo board I made with some lovely fabric I found.

A large canvas with some fabric, ribbon and pretty coloured brads was where I started.

I added a layer of wadding under the fabric to gift it a softer finish. I used spray adhesive and a staple gun to ensure a smooth and firm attachment for the fabric.

I attached the ribbon with a staple gun and then used brads on each cross point to add some more colour and add stronger hold.

 A closer look.

My inspiration was my sister-in-law, who created a lovely board for her new son, Henry
(you can see the incredible nursery she created on her blog, Paper + Ribbons)

So there's another craft project that I hope can inspire you.

Love Gubby xo

Lots of little people

There are so many precious little people in my life at the moment. You know, other than the ones I made myself.

And there are boys everywhere. My first nephew, Leo, and little buddy Tristan are almost 1; my very talented sister-in-law recently produced another nephew for me; and a long-time friend is due in October with another little bundle of blue.

Other than all of the cuddles and smiles, baby boys are a fun excuse for me to use the fabrics that aren't pink or covered in cupcakes :P

This series of bibs was a necessity. I HAD to have this fabric- Humpty Dumpty, what's not to love?! And I just happened to have the coordinating fabric and ribbon lying around.

I made 2 large and 2 small bibs. I have made a lot of bibs lately, so I am getting pretty quick and my top-stitching is pretty neat. I ordered a bunch of coloured press-studs in multi colours, so I should have one to coordinate with any project (I do so love it when things all match).

I just had to share, cause I was so pleased with how they came out- both the sewing and coordinating of fabrics. Very satisfying.

Love Gubby xo

Fathers' Day

My wonderful husband recently traveled for work- he was gone 5 weeks and left me alone with our 3 kids. But he arrived home in time for Fathers' Day... how convenient ;)

We helped my sister move house on the day, so Fathers' Day was pretty low-key, but I wanted to share a couple of ideas that helped make it a special day.

In time for his arrival home from his travels, I framed a gorgeous printable that I found (today's creative blog). I wanted him to know how special he is to us:

I had to prepare a fathers' day related craft for the MOPS group I attend. Cards are a good, simple craft and everyone needs a card at Fathers' Day.

Again, I found an adorable tutorial on The Gold Jelly Bean (seriously, what did we do before Pinterest?) and amended it slightly for a simpler, quicker design. My friend, Janine, used to insist that macaroni is not for grown-up craft, but I think even she would agree that this is an acceptably cute use of uncooked pasta... even for grown-ups!

So its late, but I hope that the ideas are fun, inspiring and useful.

Love Gubby xo