{three cheers for three years}

Today marks three years since our wonderful wedding in China. And to celebrate three special years together, we've immortalised ourselves onto china! 

Inspired by Donna Wilson's Meg and Beardy plates (which I wrote about here), we loved the idea of a more personal set, that we can eat off or hang on the wall as we fancy. I found Porcelaine pens on sale at the craft shop, and we used two plain white plates that a previous tenant had left in Justin's apartment many years ago. Nice.

Yes, this is Justin writing me a card in front of me. I've accepted that this is how he works. At 8:30am on whatever birthday, anniversary or celebration it might be, Justin runs to Walmart to pick a card. And then writes it while I watch!

We sketched out our designs for the plates on paper first.

And set about trying to make the silly pens work. We shook. And shook. And shook. We pressed. And pressed. And pressed. The brown worked well, for a few minutes. The black never really got going. And the red was only good for giant uncontrollable splodges. I'm not very impressed with Porcelaine.

But, we persevered, and really enjoyed it. Especially the splodging of cheeks!

Here's a photo of us for reference. I was drawing Justin as he was three years ago, i.e. with the facial hair. More of a Goatee than a Beardy. He was drawing me after a day of sunbathing, I think -- hence all the freckles!

And, just because I gave RoboPanda such a bad rap last time I mentioned him, here he is looking sweet. In truth, he's one of the funniest presents Justin's gotten me. And probably the most talked about. (But no, I don't want the big Mama Panda version, as Justin sometimes threatens to buy me!)

Thanks to all those who were there to celebrate with us in Beijing, and to all those who've helped us grow stronger over these last three years. We love you!

{a year in felt}

The tales of Tilly. The fables of felt. Here it is, all ready for her first birthday: a collection of her favourite things, touchy-feely edition.

Care for a peek inside the finished book?

We've got button closure to keep everything neat and tidy when not in use.

There's a little wooden Tilly at the door, out playing in her summer dress.

Tilly's tree is growing well, and the lavender is in bloom.

Bella is drooling over her toys.

The instruments are out, ready to make music noise.

Tilly's first love, the sheepskin she sleeps on, seems destined to be a favourite page.

Kermit, the green hippo who plays musical notes when you bop him on the head (a favourite at bath time) is playing with bubbles.

While ducky floats by, unaware.

And, to mark the occasion, a little embroidered note to the birthday girl.

And what's lovely about a felt book is that after reading, you can simply lay your head down and use it as a pillow. Good night!

By popular request, I will be putting together a kit for a felt book that you can make for your little one. It will include the felt cover and felt pages, templates and instructions for cutting the fun pictures to go inside your book, and a touchy-feely packet of pom-poms, buttons and charms. Watch this space!

{birthday envelopes}

It's birthday season around here! To hold the cards, I sewed up a couple of felt envelopes for Tilly's friends, and figured while I was at it, I'd tick another project off the first birthday list for Tilly. 

Similar to the Valentine's envelope, this version is a little more baby friendly, with a Velcro fastening for easy access. Want to make one yourself? Or, a whole set for your little postman? Here's how:

Materials: 

7" x 12" piece of felt in your choice of colour

Small scraps of felt in other colours (for the stamp)

Embroidery thread

5" length of sew-on Velcro

You can choose whether to hand-sew or machine your envelope. I hand-stitched the name and stamp, and machined the edges, but it would work just as well all hand-sewn or all-machined (if you are confident with free-motion sewing).

Cut your felt to 7" by 12". This is the perfect size for holding a notecard (A6, I believe). Cut triangles from two of the corners, along a shorter edge, (1 1/2" along the sides).

Fold your envelope so that the bottom edge (without snipped corners) reaches to the lower corner of the triangle along the top edge (the bottom of the 'flap'). This is the shape your final envelope will be. Place pins along the fold, and along the bottom of the flap. You should only pin through the top layer of felt, not all the way through.

This will mark the space for the front of your envelope, and show you where to sew on the name and stamp. Unfold the envelope and sew on a name in the middle, using backstitch or chain stitch (as above), or your machine if you're cleverer than me!

Assemble your stamp. Cut a 1" x 1 1/2" rectangle for the base, either using pinking shears or simply scalloping the edges with your scissors. From contrasting colours, cut a 3/4" x 1 1/4" rectangle to go on top of the base, and an emblem of some sort for the middle.

As these will be given on birthdays, I added the babies' ages (one) on my stamps, and a heart for Tilly's (as she'll be using the same one again next year!)

Stitch the second rectangle to the top layer of felt, in the upper right-hand corner of the front of your envelope. There is no need to stitch the base, as the second rectangle will hold it in place.

Stitch on your number, heart, initial, or whatever emblem you've picked.

Now, for the fastener. Cut a 5" length from both the hook and the loop tape. Pin the hook side to the backside of your envelope, 1/4" from the top edge.

Now, refold your envelope (bringing the bottom edge up) and fold the top flap down to see where it meets the back of the envelope. Pin the loop tape in that spot.

Sew both pieces of Velcro in place.

Pin the edges of the envelope together.

Sew along the bottom edge of the flap, just above the top of the backside of the envelope. Do NOT sew the back to the front!

Continue sewing round the other three sides of the envelope, sewing front and back together.

Your envelope should look like this! All ready to fill with birthday cards, and to be used by little postmen for years to come.

What a colourful day at the post-office! And, unlike regular envelopes, it should stand up to a bit of chewing...

Start Now and Knit Your Own Wrapping Paper

As you might have noticed, I've recently fallen back in love with knitting. It's the combination of cold weather and a little tiny person for whom things knit up wonderfully quickly -- there's nothing like feeling you can finish a whole piece of clothing in a week or so!

And with my needles out and itching for new challenges, I've considered trying out this lovely way of wrapping a present:

(source 1) 

Surely, it is just a large rectangle of stocking stitch that has been seamed at the back and the end? What a great way to make friends and family feel all woolly inside.

And for those that can't knit (or those us who can, but inevitably run out of time), there's a cheat: faux-knitted wrapping paper!

And, to write your message, faux-knitted cards!

(source 2 & 3)

Just, please, don't compare the knitting inside the present to the wrapping paper... you'll be sorely disappointed!

Christmas fun!

I'm not sure if I mentioned this already, but this year, Justin and I had parts in the Christmas nativity scene! Here's a little group photo:

(I'm Mary, on the far left, with Justin/Joseph hiding behind me!)

It was such a laugh, as all of the wise men, shepherds and angels are our good friends, and so we filled the long hours backstage with chatting and playing my new favourite game:

If you've never played this, go grab it for Christmas! It costs five bucks, and is totally addicting. And unlike real Monopoly, it's normally over in fifteen minutes. Seriously!

Justin and I actually realized we'd bought it for each other for Christmas when there were two suspiciously similar-shaped presents under the tree... so we ripped the wrapping off one and started playing right away! I love game time!

On the Needles

I'm really working hard on Christmas gifts at the moment, and have decided that warm and cosy fingerless mittens are the way to go this year!

Right now, I'm finishing up a pair for my brother, (who never reads this, so I'm safe!) in the colours of his favourite English football team: Newcastle United.

As he's quite a tall guy, I changed my normal pattern a bit. I found that ribbing the mittens all the way from wrist to fingers looked a bit strange when stretched over big hands, so I simply did the cuff in rib stitch, and then stocking stitched the rest.

A very easy pattern for these 'Man Mitts':

I used two colours (A: black, B: grey), and size 9 needles

Cast on 36 stitches

Rows 1-4: Use colour A, rib stitch (knit 2, purl 2, repeat)

Rows 5-6: Use B, rib stitch

Rows 7-8: Use A, rib stitch

Rows 9-12: Use B, rib stitch

Rows 13-14: Use A, rib stitch

Rows 15-16: Use B, rib stitch (B can be cut as it won't be used again)

Rows 17-18: Use A, rib stitch

Rows 19-40: Use A, stocking stitch (knit one row, purl the next row, repeat)

Cast off!

How easy? So really, you just make a big patterned rectangle, and then take the two sides together and sew it up with mattress stitch (leaving room just above the last stripe of B for the thumb).

Enjoy!

xo