:: on the 10th day of Christmas .... ::

... the decorations are finally making an appearance at chez cat.

The tree went up last weekend - but it's hidden away in the study, behind a closed door.  This is our first Christmas with Teddy in da house, and the kids were keen to keep the pressies and lower-branch-decorations free of teeth-marks, dog-slobber and general chewing destruction.

Teddy (looking here like butter wouldn't melt, let alone be chewed and ripped to pieces) has been included in the household decorations, courtesy of the lovely ladies at the dog-grooming salon:

{gorgeous though it is, the snowflake hair-clip is now history}

And here is what I can show you so far - our 'tulle tree'.  The light hasn't been great today for inside-pics, but since the tulle tree is portable, it took a little trip outside for some late afternoon shots.  The tree is Hart and Heim (Vee and I bought two trees online for our market display, but I can't remember exactly where we bought them, sorry), and the gorgeous little star decorations are Paper Boat Press, purchased at this lovely shop:

I'm hoping to do some Christmas sewing in the next few days - I've never made anything Christmassy just for us, so we'll see what happens.

Hope your house is decorated, twinkling and dog-chewing-free.     xoxo cat

:: happy days are here ::

Oh how I love the school holidays.  Here are my top five reasons why: -

1. our kids are home!.
2. no school lunches for six weeks.
3. no frenzied scarpering around the house looking for school hats each morning.
4. no homework.
5. no rushing out of the house at the same time every morning.

My kids had super-fantastic teachers this year, we really hit the jackpot of teacherdom.  To say thank you, I made them each a little quilt.

Here is Miss B's, made from most of a Kate Spain Terrain layer cake, with Ikea sheeting for the back (I love those birds):

And here is Mrs D's, made from most of an American Jane Punctuation layer cake, with the same sweet bird Ikea sheeting for the back.  Vee and I both have kids in Mrs D's class, so Vee made a matching cushion:

I love the binding, all rolled up and ready!

isn't the cushion gorgeous?

We'll miss our gorgeous teachers - so that's the big sad part about the end of a school year. 

Vee hosted a fabulous lunch at her place today - champagne, delicious food, and lots of lovely chat with friends. It was a really nice way to end the year.  We even swapped little Secret Santa pressies - I do love a Secret Santa.  

As for tomorrow - after a slow start to the day, that will not involve making any white-bread-vegemite-sandwiches - it'll be on to kids' movies, playdates, a bit of sewing, and hanging out at home.  And some panic-pressie-buying.  

Happy holidays     xoxo cat

our store offline until early 2012

Yesterday afternoon there was a lot of 'ho ho ho' and general end of week good cheer (yes...that would be a 'Friday arvie playdate' ....and 'raucous would include the mums!)  

However, unlike yesterday afternoon I am not as 'wordy' this morning. Did consume one (or two or perhaps five!!) glasses of bubbles with cat and lovely friends yesterday afternoon. What a sensational way to end the week though.

I did get my daughters teachers present made which is the front and back shots of the cushion above. The lovely & clever Cat is ever so generous and has made Mrs D a quilt so I have decided a 'sort of matching' cushion would be a nice addition.

The gorgeous bunting you see above is a 'Rob Ryan' creation and I have strictly forbid cat from staring at it and admiring it too long for reasons that will reveal themselves soon!!

So...friends....we are taking a nice break over school holidays and will return in early 2012 with our new etsy store....we were very fortunate to have amazing support at our xmas market with some follow up orders so thankfully have 'not much' left to show for it.

have a happy and crafty weekend xoxo cat & vee