play kitchen

We finally finished making the kids play kitchen. It was intended to be their Christmas present, but as usual we were too ambitious. In ways it is nicer they were given it away from the Christmas hype. It is made from a pile of scrap wood salvaged from a verge collection, a bit of paint and a few fittings.

We are going to be fed pretend cups of tea and wooden food for the rest of their childhood years! It is so lovely to watch kids creative play.

vintage japanese illustrators

Kodomo no kuni is a Japanese childrens picture book magazine published in the early 1920's. The magazine was created to support the education of young children focusing on art, music and games. The illustrations are a beautiful mix of the modern technologies that marked this era with the whimsical and playful imagination for children.

The Railway Bridge Yasui Koyata 1931

The Insect Orchestra Honda Shotaro 1922

Bean Crafts Takei Takeo 1927

Diving Okamoto Kiichi 1928

A Beehive Okamoto Kiichi 1928

Flower Viewing Okamoto Kiichi 1928

A Modern Urashima Taro Okamoto Kiichi 1930

The Insect Journey Kawakami Shiro 1927

toilet rolls

A practical way to recycle toilet rolls...

A beautiful way to recycle toilet rolls...

Anastassia Elias


Yuken Teruya

A fun way to recycle toilet rolls...

 Vlijtig

 Alisa Burke

 

Free Kids Crafts

 

DLTK Crafts for Kids

alice melvin

Alice Melvin is an Edinburgh illustrator. She creates beautiful images and prints using rich colours and detailed patterns. I came across her work a few years ago at the Tate book shop in London and bought her Cut Out and Make Menagerie. It has been sitting in a box of beautiful things I've collected over the years and is something I must take out and make with the girls. I also recently came across her children's book The High Street, a book about a young girl going to the shops with her shopping list. I could spend hours looking at the beautiful detail in each of the shops. Have a look at her website for many more Alice Melvin creations.

two little dickie birds

It was our little girls second birthday this month. We can't believe she is two already!

With lots of little kids around for her birthday party we had a sugar free party. I made a sugar free lemon and almond cake using Xylitol, a natural sweetener found in corn husks. I drizzled the cake with lemon juice and dissolved honey to keep it sticky and hold it's shape. Then cut it into bricks to make the wall. The mortar for the wall is Philadelphia cream cheese, honey and berry juice for the pink colouring.

I made the birds from scraps of felt, fabric and pieces of wire found in the shed. Peter and Paul ended up being quite feminine!

heather jansch

Our day at the Eden Project started with seeing one of the most amazing sculptures. It was created by Heather Jansch an artist who creates life size sculptures pieced together out of drift wood on her property in Devon. The driftwood almost appears to make the animals reveal their internal structure, the texture of their muscles and complexity of their bones. They are so realistic and full of life.

lace memento

Hidden along a trail in the middle of Somerset woods, we placed these webs as we farewell England.

poppy blanket

My sister had her baby this week. A perfect, beautiful little girl... Poppy Annamarie. Born on Mum's birthday she was the best 60th birthday present Mum could ever want.

I had been working on this crochet baby blanket for Poppy for months and finished it the morning she was born. Talk about good timing!

a nice surprise

I was checking my emails this afternoon and saw my tandem bicycle jumpsuit was featured in today's daily Etsy shopping guide. A nice surprise!

sewing box

It was my birthday recently, and once again my very handy man has given me the most beautiful and useful birthday gift. We have a lack of storage space and the organisation of all my sewing things comprises of boxes and bags stacked up beside our bed. He found this old tool box in an antique store down the road, he cleaned it up, added some compartments, trays, drawers and a vintage box for bobbins. It still has all of its rustic charm and I love it. And it is the first step in having my own organised sewing space!