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

10 years and going strong

This April my husband and I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary!

Again, the challeng of hand-making a gift for my most beloved exerted some real pressure on me. I wanted it to be something I had made (obviously), that expressed my love for him, that was significant enough for a 10th Anniversary and that was masculine.

I found this gorgeous idea for an embroidered 'love tree' (from Cat on a Limb). I used hessian and embroidery thread, and picked up the frame for $5 from Spotlight. I was really pleased with the result.

Hanging in the loungeroom- that's a good sign that he liked it :D

We enjoyed a dinner with family and friends on the evening of our anniversary and I surprised everyone by appearing in my wedding dress!!

As you can see, its been a busy 10 years for us ;)

Happy Anniversary to the love of my life- every day I am more aware of just how awesome this is :D

Love Gubby xo

A special something for a special someone

My littlest person turned 3 on Easter weekend. With my committment to handmake gifts this year, I knew the gifts I made for my own family had to be super-special.

So I put it out to the facebook community and got some great ideas. In the end I decided on a baby carrier- she really loves dolls and soft toys at the moment.

My very creative friend at Stitch'd lent me a pattern and I found a super-cool set of fabrics at Spotlight.

I had to unpick and restitch a few things that I wasn't happy with and when I make it again I will add some card/plastic in the base and some kind of stiffener in the sides so it holds its shape better.

It is the first gift I have made with such love and effort for any of my girls, so I was a little nervous, but I think she's happy with it :)

Love Gubby xo

A bounty of buttons

I have a jar of buttons.
Its not a Vegemite jar.
Its not even a jam jar.
Its a large coffee jar full of buttons.

And I love it!
I love my jar of buttons.
Every colour, shape, size.

Its beautiful.
I love to look at it.
I love shaking it around when I need to find one that I need.
I love running my fingers through them and pinching that tiny little orange one against the side of the jar in an attempt to seperate it and get it out of the jar.
And sometimes, when things get desperate, I love pouring them onto the table so I can find one. I love the sound of them pouring out.

Better than my buttons in a jar are my buttons on display. I use them to embellish cards, as the centre of flowers and now on sewing projects.

I found the perfect project for Easter that allows me to put a bunch of buttons on display.

How cute is this? My 7 year old is desperate to make one of her own- I'll be sure to post a pic when she's all done :)

And best of all, the frame was a couple of dollars at the local op shop!

Love Gubby xo

The reason for the season

I have recently discovered (and become a fan of) subway art.

They look so effective and are a great way of communicating a message... but in a pretty way :)

For those who don't know what 'subway art' is, its basically a collection of words/phrases in various font styles/sizes/colours that you can use for decoration (see my Valentines Day post for a subway art printable).

This one appeared on Pinterest and immediately caught my eye. I wanted something for Easter that a) wasn't too pink, b) contained no reference to the Easter bunny and c) looked good!

And so this piece now adorns our entrance way- a reminder for all our visitors that Jesus is the reason we get to gorge ourselves on chocolate some time in March/April/May each year! I like the emphasis on HOPE, as hope and new life are the themes we emphasise when talking to our kids about Easter.

My littlest will celebrate her birthday on Easter Monday this year- so am looking forward to planning a birthday/Easter celebration with all our friends. It is fitting that my precious little 'surprise' baby is born at this time of year- as hope and new life are the characteristics she brought with her when she landed in our family almost 3 years ago :)

Love Gubby xo

*oops* Completely forgot to credit 'Antsi-pants' blog for her beautiful subway artwork. There are 3 colour schemes to choose from :)

Next!

The next holiday on my list is Easter. Only 6 weeks or so and its time to get started.

I was thrilled yesterday when I picked up a silver tree at the Salvos for $5.

I decorated it with some hanging eggs and a pretty Easter Egg ribbon:

I have some pretty little handmade birds to hang next and a gorgeous piece of subway art ready to go!

Hooray! I love Easter.

Love Gubby xo

Love letters

I spent this afternoon with my daughters writing Valentines Day notes to eachother.

I bought some red sparkly gift bags from a $2 store and personalised them for each member of the family.

The girls added some embellishments of their own this morning- little punched hearts. Obviously, not enough love hearts for little girls!

I also found another lovely quote for my wall of love.

I can't wait to read all of the notes tomorrow morning. The girls had such lovely things to say about eachother.

Love Gubby xo

I {heart} Valentines Day

Never. NEVER been a fan of Valentines Day.

It always seemed to forced and commercial and I hated the idea that expressions of love needed a spot on the calendar and a Hallmark card.

But I recently came across a very cool concept- essentially, that anything- a holiday, a concept, an opinion- can be received, rejected or redeemed.

There are obviously plenty of people willing to buy into the commercial aspect of Valentines Day- just like Christmas, Easter, Mothers/Fathers' day. But that doesn't mean there is no good to them at all.

There are those who choose to completely reject those holidays simply because there are those who have moved the focus from their true meaning. But that is throwing the baby out with the bath water.

I have decided to redeem Valentines Day for my family. To use this opportunity to take a little extra time and effort to remind each other of why we do love eachother.

Most importantly, we love because God loved us first.

And with that in mind, I have put up a little reminder in our house, so that even as we make cupcakes and cute little love notes for each other, we won't lose our focus.

Thanks to The Girl Creative's gorgeous website for the printable

Love Gubby xo

Time for some lovin'

Welcome to February. The month in which school goes back in Victoria (yay!) and Valentines Day happens.

Valentines Day is not huge in Australia. There are cards, choccies and flowers around, but nothing like some of the traditions in the US surrounding this day that's all about love.

My hubby and I have  never celebrated Valentines Day, although I think I have made him a card for the past couple of years- its a good opportunity to remind him in writing just how much I love him *aww*

But I decided this year that Valentines Day is a perfect opportunity for us as a family to tell eachother why we love eachother. We should be doing this every day- and I often see my girls sharing a special moment- a hug, kiss, apology, sharing a toy or making room on the couch when 'Octonauts' is on. But I like the idea of having a special day to celebrate that together.

So I have made and hung my first ever Valentines Day decoration (made with a piece of dowling, ribbon and paper hearts). Its just a simple wall hanging in the entrance of our home, letting visitors know that there's plenty of love in this house.

As the day draws closer I will be making little pouches for each of them to decorate and then will be encouraging each of them to write a note to each member of the family to let them know what they love about them (in the case of the little 2, I will sit with them and scribe, of course ;)

So, brace yourselves for plenty of Norris lovin' this February :)

Love Gubby xo

A little something for my special someones

I found this sweet little purse tutorial online. The description said it was easy and I was looking for something I could make for my sisters and girlfriends for birthdays this year. I wanted it to be pretty, but still practical- I am a pragmatic girl when it comes down to it!

Turns out, it wasn't quite AS easy as I had hoped (though to be fair I have only been sewing for about 3 weeks ;), but after my 3rd try I am happy with the result (the other 2 are usable, but there are some small issues with stitching not being straight or edges not lining up). And I can make 2 purses in an evening, so that makes for an effective gift :)

Thanks to my many crafty friends for their help and advice- this sewing gig really is still so new and there is so much for me to learn. But I am having a lot of fun doing it.

Here's the result:

The coolest thing is that the mouth of the purse is made from pieces of metal measuring tape, so it closes over, but is easy to open.

See the original tutorial (and about a million other gorgeous sewing projects) at:

Now I just have the tragic task of going to Spotlight to choose more gorgeous matching fabrics ;)

Wish me luck!
Love Gubby xo

Sew much to blog about

I recently wrote about my foray into sewing (the sewing puns will end soon, I promise). My first attempt was the dinosaur playmat.

This is my next major project. I will be making these for the 1st birthdays (the many many 1st birthdays) that we will be celebrating this year.

Its a simple drawstring bag, but I am getting a little fancy with the casing (also learning new words, thanks to my amazing MIL) and hoping to get a little fancier with the letters and other detailing as I learn more.

At the moment, I am mostly trying things that involve straight lines and then I might move onto more adventurous projects.

Love Gubby xo

Carmelitas

Saw this image:

on this blog:

and could not resist making them myself.

This is the product of my own baking adventures:

Unfortunately, I don't have a great camera, but I think you get the idea! Can you feel your arteries hardening even as you look at this picture??

They were as delicious as they look. Make them!

Love Gubby xo

Let it sew, let it sew, let it sew...

This week I borrowed my delightful mother-in-law's sewing machine and began my foray into sewing.

The last time I sewed anything was year 9 textiles class- I made myself a bag and a pair of black pants. I used the bag and wore the pants, so I can't have been that bad... but its been a while!

The first item I made this week was a lot of cutting aand sticking, as well as some sewing.

Its a dinosaur playmat that I found on the lovely Serving Pink Lemonade blog. There are step by step instructions and a template there.

But here is my attempt:

The main construction requires double-sided iron-on applique on felt- iron the pieces on and sew on a back panel.

I love this, as its flat and light, so I can post it to overseas and interstate friends. And its great for travel- chuck the mat and a couple of small dinosaurs in your bag and you have a portable play set for the kids.

More sewing to come....
Love Gubby xo

One thing leads to another

Even before Christmas 2011 was upon us, I was beginning to feel quite uninspired by the mass-production and plastic that surrounded me. I hand made all my Christmas cards and put together a gorgeous Advent calendar for my 3 girls, but it still felt like there was too much 'quick, cheap and easy'.

Now, don't get me wrong, as the mum of 3 young girls, I am all for quick, cheap and/or easy in any combination (preferably all 3 ;) But I am also a real lover of Christmas and the traditions that go with it. I love flicking through Christmas craft books and magazines and ambling through the pages of the marthastewart.com for amazing and creative ideas for the festive season.

A friend of mine makes her own candles- even selects colour and scent- and after a shopping evening at her place, I started to think about what I could make for the people I love.

And, thus, 'Handmade Holidays' was born.

My goal for 2012 started with the desire to hand make all of my Christmas cards and gifts and hopefully a large number of decorations for the tree and home.

But that idea has evolved and now I am hoping to hand make decorations, cards and gifts for festivals/holidays/celebrations all year! *eek*

I joined Pinterest to keep track of all my projects, ideas and inspiration. A lovely visual way to keep track of bookmarks: http://pinterest.com/gabrielnorris/

I am excited about sharing this journey with you this year- posting ideas, projects and inspiration!

Love Gubby xo

Its what's inside that counts

These are the pages for my 'Handmade Holidays' planner.

I have 5 so far:

• Christmas card list- this will allow me to keep track of who I have posted cards to and received cards from
• Gift giving- this will allow me to jot down ideas for gifts for each person, as well as keep track of which gifts are completed
• Craft projects- so I can write down ideas as they come to me, including any special equipment or materials I might need
• Craft register- an index of craft projects
• Recipes- some of the gifts will be baked goods (I always like to give my Mum's famous Vanilla Kipferls at Christmas time) 

You can download your own pages

Craft register (.pdf)
Craft projects (.pdf)
Recipes (.pdf)
Gift list (.pdf)
Christmas cards (.pdf)
(I have not left space for an address in the Christmas card list, as I do all my mailing labels using a spreadsheet)

 Enjoy an organised Christmas :)

Love Gubby xo

If you fail to plan...

I LOVE to organise and plan. So when I made the resolution to handmake my Christmas this year, I knew I would need a planner.

I got online and looked around, but every planner I could find would need reworking. So I took all the ideas I found and made a planner of my own... that is exactly what I want/need to make my planning more fun and most effective.

Here is the planner itself... I am still putting the finishing touches on the pages to go into the planner, but this is what I have so far!

I put in little red and green envelopes, as a fun way to keep ideas and inspiration. I got hold of a small red matchbook, so that will be my scrap/sketchbook for ideas.

The Christmas notepad was on special at Lincraft for $1.49 and the little clipboard was only $2 at Officeworks- just perfect for tucking into the front pocket of the planner.

(You can view and download the internal planner pages for yourself)