birthday girls

The girls have had their 2nd and 4th birthday parties over the past two weekends.  It has been a great distraction from the scritchy scratchy chicken pox. 

Rio decided that as Charlea had a monkey cake last year, she needed to have one this year.  Yay for Mummy!!  Ugh.  So, Rio got a monkey cake, and I managed to convince her that Charlea really wanted a fairy cake (as opposed to the train cake she decided Charlea needed, which she had had last year!).

So, lots of butter cream icing and a friendly icing bag later, we have two birthday cakes.  Whew.  I’ve just polished off the last piece of Charlea’s cake.  That’ll help the much needed root canal!

New Stockist of Bib and Tucker Nappies

Have you heard about NZ’s newest nappy store ‘The Nappy Bootique’?  My fellow nappy nutter, Julia has launched into the exciting world of cloth nappies with her own shop and website.  In addition to Bib and Tucker, she is the only stockist of our current collection of Designer Nappies.  So if you are in the market for cuteness, she’s the woman to talk to.

  

Here’s Julia’s ‘About Us’ blurb from her site.  “The Nappy Bootique has been inspired by my love for cloth nappies and craft projects.  I am a work at home Wife/ Mother and have two preschoolers, a boy and a girl.  I have opened a shop at home.  The Nappy Bootique…. and decided I should put it all online too.  I have found a passion for creating and discovering things my family can use and want to get these products out to the wider community.  The majority of our products are made in NZ by myself or other WAHM’s.

If you are ever in Hawkes Bay NZ please pop in and see us at our shop…

904B Lyell St, Akina, Hastings

Shop Hours are 1-4.30pm Mon-Fri 10am-2pm Saturdays but I am also happy to open the shop for people out of those hours if they ring ahead on 06 8733362″.

Julia stocks a good range of scrummy N.Z made baby merchandise, including the Itti Bitti D’lish Nappy System, Bootilicious Tutu’s, EcoMoon Reusable Cloth for Women, Bobby J Leather Baby Shoes, and our Bib and Tucker Designer Nappies.

Pop on over!

Kate

It’s Freebie Monday again folks :-)

The winner of last weeks ‘Bib and Tucker’ nappy freebie is………………………………….

NEAK!!!  You’ve won one of our new Sweetie Pie Collection pocket nappies.  Contact me with your choice of nappy and I’ll courier if off to you .

       

So for this week, I’ve decided to offer something that you can design yourself.  Cool huh?  Up for grabs is a pair of these wee pretties:

   

I’ve illustrated this pair with our friend, the curly little caterpillar from the ‘Little Dot’ Collection.  You can decide what you would like on your pair though, and I will paint it!  “But I’m not breastfeeding” you say.  Wouldn’t they make a cute wee gift for a new Mum .  You could ‘koha’ them to someone.

To enter: Simply leave a note with your image ideas, and you are in the draw.

Kate

Etsy Store

If you haven’t visited Etsy before, you must.  It is the scrummiest marketplace for crafty folk, but hide your credit card unless you want a seriously large debt on your hands.   There are over 2,000,000 items for sale from around the world. You can go shopping by color, time, geographic location, connected hearts, member-curated galleries, categories and more!

I’ve decided that I don’t have enough to keep me busy(yeah right!), so I’ve opened a wee Etsy store aswell.   It was quite simple to set up, and reasonably economical to use.  Hopefully this will give overseas customers another avenue to see Bib and Tucker products, and share the cloth nappy love.

If you are a crafty wee poppit, hop over to Etsy to see what the fuss is about.  Did you know that you can even purchase patterns there?  Cool huh?

So what have you got on your shopping list?  C’mon, fess up?!

Freebie Monday!!!

We have our winner for last week’s Freebie Monday prize – the glass slide & kit.  Congratulations Kristy Copland!  Email me at Bib and Tucker and I will arrange getting your prize to you .

This week the giveaway is your choice of one of these:

To enter, just leave a link to your favourite cupcake recipe, tee hee.  Link to me or mention my blog on your’s and you’ll receive another entry.

Kate

Woohoo it’s Freebie Monday!!!

Yippee it’s Freebie Monday folks, and the winner (thanks to my sophisticated wave the finger over the computer screen with eyes shut method) is……………….

Mandli .  Congratulations!  Email me at Bib and Tucker with your details and your choice of nappy, and I’ll send it off with the courier tomorrow.  I hope you love it!

This week, I’ve made a wee crafty item that I haven’t created in quite some time.  A little ‘Glass Slide’ Tag to hang in your workspace, or use it as a tag on a gift, or even a bookmark.  I’m also including some supplies to make your own, and if you happen to have a soldiering iron you can attach a ring to the top to make it into a necklace.  Cool huh!

 

 

So here’s what’s up for grabs this week:

•  Handmade ‘Inspiration’ Glass Slide Tag
• 2 x Glass Slides to make 1/2 items
• 2 x lengths of Brass Tape to attach around the edge of slides
• Little Paper bits and bobs to layer behind the slide, forming the image

And here’s how to make one of your own…………..

Supplies:  Glass slides (get these from scrapbooking shops or medical suppliers), Brass/copper tape(from hardware/jewellrey/scrapbooking shops), flat items to sandwich between slides(ie. images/artwork/fine thread/feathers etc), small ruler,ribbon,glue stick.

1. Decide what you want to have behind the slide and cut out/glue etc until your desired image is achieved.  You can get some really cool results with collage techniques, stamping, or illustrate something yourself.  Use cut out letters from magazines/newspapers for block lettering.
2. Cut the image to the same size as the slide and place behind slide.  Cut a backing piece of paper or use the other slide to pop at the back so the slide is double sided.
3. Carefully pull the backing off the tape, and gently run just less than half of it around the front edge of the front slide, mitreing the corners as you go.  Wrap it completely around the slide, overlapping about 1.5cm at the end.
4. Place your image and backing layers behind the slide, and carefully wrap the tape over these to enclose all layers.  Carefully run a small ruler along the front and back sides of the finished tape edge to flatten and smooth the tape to the layers.
5. Attach a ribbon to the back of the competed slide, or use a soldiering iron to attach a small ring to allow a fine strand of leather/cord to be inserted so you can use it as a necklace.

HAVE FUN!!!

To enter this weeks’ Freebie Draw, simply leave a message telling me which of the new ‘Sweetie Pie’ Collection colourways is your favourite.  Let me know if you’ve blogged/linked to me for an additional entry.

Kate

Freebie Monday!!!

Yipeeeeee, it’s Bib and Tucker ‘Freebie Monday’ folks . 

Here’s what’s on offer for all you lovely crafters this week……..

It started life as this:

The bowl of goodies before spinning.............

And spun into:

'Cupcakes and Fairy Sprinkles' Art Yarns

Detail

Detail 2

 Cupcakes and Fairy Sprinkles: A 70gm hank of hand spun funky art yarn

I’ve used a range of blue/purple/pink/white merino blends, that have been core spun onto a magenta boucle yarn to create an energetic thick & thin yarn.  This is super bulky, so would be suited to being used as an embelishment for a crafty project or knitted using a simple knit pattern.

How do I enter?  Just leave a comment below, and if you mention my blog or link to me on your website, you receive an additional entry .  I’ll leave each weeks freebie draw open until the following Monday, when I’ll announce the winner!  I’m happy to post overseas, so pop in and say hi.

Kate

Monday Madness!!!

Hi all

I’m just popping in to remind you to check back at 5pm tomorrow for ‘Bib and Tucker’ Monday Madness.  I’ll be releasing the first colourway in my new hand illustrated Designer Nappy Collection, AND there will be freebies.  Oh yes, it’s the start of  ’Bib and Tucker’ Freebie Monday tomorrow, so I’ll be loading piccies of what’s up for offer this week.

See you tomorrow!  Kate

Rainy days

The weather today has been rather feisty, and the tins have been looking a bit bare after the last batch of cupcakes was snaffled, so Dd and I decided that the best solution was a little bit of baking.  What to make?  CUPCAKES of course.  This time I used the lemon cupcake recipe, leaving out the lemon rind and adding lots of cocoa, tee hee.

These are the easiest little treat to make with a simple flower tip on the icing bag and a few fairy sprinkles.  Dd decided that she wanted to decorate hers with a mixture of sweet decorations.

I plyed my first attempt at spinning last night.   The result is hmmmmmmmmmm, interesting.  The fibre (which we are not sure what it is) was very harsh to ply.  There was another wee bundle of roving in the same bag that I was given to spin with, which is so much easier to work with.  A lot softer, and easy to get a reasonably fine ply.  I’m popping these first attempts on here, feel free to laugh!!  They are just so I have a record of how this new obsession started.  I promise to improve.

The original wool colour.  I’ve dyed one hank and left one natural.

More super scummy yarn.  This is one of the latest colourways from Vintage Purls.  Colour:  Cabaret.  Oh my, I don’t know if I can unwind the hank.  I keep stroking it and staring longingly into the strands to study the dyeing.  Divine, divine, divine.  If you haven’t got any, you must.  I also purchased a few circulars, so the sock knitting shall begin (again).  Note: NEVER use dpns to knit socks.  It WILL end in tears.

And the seed raising continues.  This is very exciting stuff.  Really.  We now have many tomato plants, a few lettuce popping through, cucumber, beans plus a garden full of about 40 odd cauliflower and broccoli (I got a bit carried away at the market), beans, silverbeet, buttercrunch lettuce, bok choy, mesculun, chives, parsley, celery, strawberries, potatoes and lots of weeds.  Still to plant: potatoes, carrots, spring onion and tomatoes to re-pot.  I think that’s it??

An interesting few days

Lots of exciting things have happened this week……

Dd1 and Mummy Dd2

The lovely Hannah surprised the girls and I with some birthday slippers .  They are the snuggliest, most comfortable wee slippers I have worn.  Dd1 LOVES hers, and Dd2 looks so cute in her weeny little pair.  THANKYOU HANNAH.  You are very generous.  Now go and knit something for yourself!!

 

I have managed to mutilate the Cadence Rose Sundress I am currently knitting.  Hmm, the lace looks very strange doesn’t it?  I think I’ve skipped part of a row somewhere and the pattern has jumped .  Ummmmm, Sheeeerrrrryyyllll, guess what I’ll be turning up with on Tues?!!  (Sheryl is our little Tues knitting group’s beloved knitting surgeon!).  Here’s the progress anyway.  In the meantime, I’m onto knitting socks, bwaa haa haa haa haa.

Cadence Rose Sundress

 

Lizzie and I have been dabbling in a little seed raising.  Soooo much fun!  If you haven’t build up the courage to try it, just give it a go.  It is extremely easy, kid friendly and really exciting seeing little plants sprout.  The growth over the past few days has been amazing.  I must admit that I have been wandering out to the glasshouse several times a day to see what has come up.  There is an abundence of tomatoes, a few purple dwarf beans, a couple of cucumber and a few lettuce.  There are still quite a few little seeds that need to pop through, so we’ll see if anything arises over the next few days.

First Attempt at Seed Raising

 

I met the most lovely lady yesterday.  She was the contact person for spinning on the local arts council website that I first phoned on Weds.
She invited me to a spinning evening next week, and then phoned yesterday and offered to come and introduce me to spinning!  How nice is that?!!
She was here from 1.30 until 4.30 (yay, Dd had a sleep too:-) ), and I learnt to spin!  The first lot is rather amusing, but the second bobbin is a lot more even.

Spinning Setup

 

And, more cupcake making.  I had a good reason this time (besides the fact that they are just the yummiest, most delicious little parcels of sugary goodness).  It was Mum’s birthday on Thursday.   As we couldn’t make it then, we had a little afternoon tea today.  I made double chocolate and the trusted lemon butterfly cupcake recipe out of my new cucake recipe book that me ol’ mate Rachael gave me for my birthday.  The lemon cupcakes are fabulous, the chocolate are like little rock cakes, tee hee, boo hoo, hoooooooo.  Oh well, they are still sort of edible given that I overcompensated and smothered them with chocolate frosting and fairy sprinkles.

Double Choccy & Lemon Butterfly Cupcakes

 

Finally for this evening, our beloved wee tomato plants that have been lovingly cared for on the windowsill are venturing out into the glasshouse for the first time tonight.  Grow strong.  I promise to buy you some tomato food this week .

Beloved wee tomato plants