Children and their doings...

First off today , I want to thank everyone for the kind comments and thoughts (and messages left for the bad blogger!) after yesterday's post. I am happy to report that the tutorial was taken down and I am hopeful that the same person will perhaps re-consider before posting another tutorial. I am grateful to all of you who sent comments and emails, and who visit here and want to say a big, huggy, heart-burtsing, eye-popping *Thank You*...I appreciate you all very much! ♥♥♥♥♥

Today was the last holiday day before school starts. I sewed on school badges, scrolls, covered a trillion textbooks and exercise books, nagged about getting uniforms set out and pencil cases packed. I demanded an earlier bath time and (Ha, Ha...) set the law about getting to bed early!
(We leave for school at 06H45, so the little critters need to get some sleep after pulling all-nighters during the holidays...) The girls were quite obliging and with any luck, tomorrow at a quarter to seven will not hear a plaintiff, "Mom...can you quickly just bake 24 muffins...just quickly...I forgot about it and I must have them today..." (Ok, just for the record...this has actually happened and real children were very nearly harmed during the making of this production....)
So, a new year starts and I am expectant that it will be a good year full of new things and experiences!


Nani has a penchant for grilled eggs, and she just ups and makes herself one when she feels like a snack. When I wanted to come and blog, I realized that I didn't have my phone with me. So, off I went searching... this is what I found...produced courtesy of an 11 year old... :D
It's pretty dark, but (IMHO) pretty funny :)
Children will do the darndest things...Aliki once cracked and "hid" a dozen eggs under her bed, because she wanted (I presume) to find one with a chicken inside. Of course, I had to wrack my brain to work out where the unbelievably bad smell was coming from a few days later...
we had to remove the carpet completely from the room and quarantine it before disposal...

The very same child, at the age of 3 years, spent a Sunday afternoon, smearing her bedroom with a kilogram of peanut butter. I was pregnant with the second one, and suffering from 9 months worth of hellacious, ride-with-a-bucket-in-the-car-at-all-times morning sickness, which had left me with little by way of a sense of humour. I had gone to lie down for an afternoon nap and awoke, violently nauseous with the swirling odours of peanut butter around me.
The child had literally covered every possible spot (including herself) with smooth peanut butter...I blame the DH for those genetic traits emerging : l ......

My favourite image comes from M•I•L•K .... I really love their stuff and have collected all the pictures I like over the years. The one above is like a personal mantra...if you have kids, you will know exactly what this means!

Go now, and check what your kids are doing...you never know ;)
♥Heidi

African Flower tutorial theft....and Weekend Recap

Well...I guess it had to happen. I have been seeing a lot of this going on in the Blogosphere, and was wondering when I would have to be the one to write rude comments and emails ...

I received a lovely, kind email from Sam (thank you very much Sam, for letting me know :) ), asking if I had two blogs or if someone had copied my African Flower Hexagon Tutorial onto their blog. I went to take a look...Hey Presto! There is was...VERBATIM!

Now I know that there are some people out there who have dodgy ideas about what constitutes nice manners, but I have to say that I am pretty bleak about it. I know that this has happened to people's handmade items as well...someone blatantly copying their work and representing it as their own, and sadly they haven't had much by way of recourse. The only thing that I have seen happen to keep the Blog world accountable, is to bombard the offenders with messages and comments until they remove the stolen work. Have any of you had something similar happen? How did you manage to resolve the problem , if at all? What do you think I should do?
I have left a comment (very strongly worded I might add), as there doesn't seem to be an email or contact on the site, and I will try to email Blogger as well...

Folks, any helpful suggestions would be very much appreciated :)

The Tutorial is posted in it's entirety on the "makehandmade.blogspot.com" site and here is the link...



We had a lovely weekend. Gerry's stand-in doctor covered the ICU on Sunday, so we had the whole day to ourselves :) After work on Saturday, I spent (more!) time sorting out the vegetable garden. It really defies belief that the whole world as I know it can deteriorate into a uncontrollable mess in just 12 days!!!! It's kind of like "Lord of the Flies" thing! After a week of hard work, I finally feel like the worst is over and I have started planting some seedlings...


Where we live in South Africa, we have heavy summer rains, which is a bit of a challenge, as eventually everything gets attacked by Powdery Mildew. I use an excellent organic fungicide (Margaret Roberts'), and after just one application, the difference is visible.

Now is the time to plant / sow for your Autumn/Winter crops. I am planting more potatoes, beans, cauliflower, carrots, peas, red onions, baby marrows and some other odds and ends. I am going to experiment with constructing small greenhouse-like covers for my boxes to protect them from the frost (which is severe in winter), so let's see how that goes :)

Yesterday I worked on the footpaths between the bed boxes. At present, there is grass growing between the boxes, and in some places , just soil, which with the constant rain, is just a messy, muddy swamp. I found some pre-made concrete cobbles at a local nursery, which are just perfect for a walkway. I pulled out all the grass, laid down some weed control cloth and put the cobbles on top. I convinced Aliki and Gerry to go and buy some pretty white garden pebbles for me, and scattered some in the spaces that weren't well covered by the cobbles. What is really nice about these cobbles...they are all held together with wire, so you can cut a row free when you need just an extra bit. I am pretty chuffed by this...however, I have only just managed to work on a small section as yet...hopefully the rest will be done by the weekend :)

I finally have a small head of cauliflower. Really, this is a winter crop and I shouldn't have expected much by way of a harvest, but there it is!

There is a also one meagre little purple cauliflower head, more decorative than anything, but I am quite happy to be able to see the colour...it's the first purple cauliflower I have seen :)

Flashy had a bath on Sunday. Initially bath times were a nightmare with him fighting and thrashing, but he has come to really enjoy them now. Of course, the spoiled dog gets a massage and back scratching, so now he stands quite still. I wash him with a lovely organic Tea Tree Shampoo, which also makes him smell nice :)

Have a happy Monday folks!
♥Heidi

Watercolor Painting...how I stretch my paper

In the past I have tried to teach my girls how to paint, but perhaps they were too small and their attention span too short, so it came pretty much to nothing. With my decision made to try and spend time painting again, they have suddenly decided that they want me to teach them (with no prompting by me, so this must be for real ;) ). So I decided to stretch some small pieces of watercolor paper to let them use for practice.
Watercolor paper always has to be stretched if you are going to paint watercolor with lots and lots of detail, and if you are painting on Hot Pressed paper. The only paper I use is the Arches brand 300g/m2 Hot Pressed Paper, which is smooth and has a lovely size applied which helps to keep the fibres stable even with 20-30 overlay washes. This is the best stuff folks...if you haven't used it, you are in for a treat...go out and buy some!

Over the years I have tried many brands of paints, but the best by far is the Schmincke watercolor. These are superb, and even when dried on a palette, will disperse immediately with a touch of water, with no plasticky bits in between. I use mostly the transparent colors, including Indian Yellow ( a warm yellow) , Aureolin Yellow (a cool yellow), Translucent Orange, Sap Green (a yellow green), Phthalo Green (a blue green), Phthalo Blue (a green blue), Ultramarine Blue Finest (a reddish blue), Alizaron Crimson (a blue red), Scarlett Red (a true red) and several other odds and ends...

I use mostly the Windsor and Newton Kolinsky Sable brushes, in various sizes...Kolinsky Sable is the best brush you can use for watercolor but costs a fortune per brush, so I buy all my brushes during the Herbert Evans Art Sales in August when they have a 40% discount :)
If you are starting out in watercolor, I would definitely not recommend buying such expensive items...rather get used to the medium before you commit big time.

I will show you how I stretch my paper...this is NOT the only way to do this...just the way I do it :)
I start with a plastic bucket, which I scrub super-clean and rinse thoroughly. I fill it with cold tap water.

Cut the paper to the size you want, making a tiny pencil mark on the correct side (yes, Arches Hot Pressed paper has a correct and an incorrect side : ) ), and carefully immerse completely in the water. I tend to soak the paper for about 20 minutes.

While it is soaking, prepare your wooden board. I cover the board with a good 'ol fashioned rubbish bin bag (the one the council collects rubbish in :) ), to prevent the water soaking into the wood. Make sure it is smooth and wrinkle-free...


I tape the paper down with water activated watercolor tape. Make sure that you pre-cut your strips, because if you get water on the roll, the whole thing is ruined!
Run each strip once through a jar of water, and place over the edge of the soaked paper (which is placed on the rubbish bag covered board)...make sure that the tape covers at least 3/4 of an inch of the watercolor paper. Do this on all sides...

While the paper is still wet, staple down the brown paper onto the board, all around...this secures the paper in place so it doesn't re-shrink when drying...

Leave in a cool place out of the sun to dry...Voila! Stretched paper! Ready to paint :)

I need to catch up a lot of admin tonight , but hopefully we'll start painting tomorrow...

What do you like to do as a hobby other than knitting and crochet? Do any of you paint?

Have a good afternoon,
♥Heidi

Flash the wannabe feline... and Sherlock you rock!

Yesterday afternoon was spent in the vegetable garden...depsite me feeling like I have shifted literal tons of weeds, bolted produce, dead leaves etc....it has actually gone quite well, and the first vestiges of organization are becoming evident. I have staked a gazillion tomato plants, tripoded (is that even a word?) all the Crystal lemon cucumbers, tripoded (there it is again!) the baby marrows and squashes, sprayed the mildew with organic spray, planted a few (really, just a few :) ) lettuce seedlings, planted some rhubarb and seed potatoes and generally had a cleanup here and there...
When things are pretty and picturesque again, I'll show you all what things look like...
During my labours, a short rainstorm passed by and left with the most beautiful double rainbow...

Inspired by AC's post of her lovely dog, I thought I would show some of our lunatic animal...
Flash is a Pitbull, but let me tell you, he is more like a cat in character than anything you're likely to meet of the feline variety! The silly beast has quirks and traits that are so un-Pitbully, it's just not funny! I cannot stand the fact that he wants to be in the house all the time, but of course, the three enablers that live with me, are always persuaded by his big eyed, Puss-in-Boots-Kitty look and let him in whenever he begs...it drives me batty!
He starts whining to be let in as soon as the sun starts showing it's earliest rays, and has to be (repeatedly I might add) booted out by me at night...

The girls spoil this dog to the point of being a celebrity...they are best friends and he is super-protective of them. When the girls and Gerry play around and wrestle and generally mess about, he gets worried that they are being hurt and will nip Gerry and shove his way between them to protect the girls...this is a good thing (especially in South Africa), but the silly beast has also done some apocalyptic things...

A couple of years ago, Gerry bought me a new car (very nice, luxury sedan with a lovely leather interior and all the extras). Flash and his two sisters got into the car one evening(after Nani had accidentally left the door open) and SHREDDED the interior! Yes, everything...EVERYTHING had to be replaced! When I took the car to the dealership for an insurance assessment, he never said a word....he walked around the car several times, and just kept whistling through his teeth...he never bothered to write down anything on his clipboard...
The insurance had to put it down to "vermin activity"... :)


Flash as a young dog could actually climb trees....outside our bedroom we have a huge tree with large and spreading branches. One night I heard a commotion with scratching and whining ...
imagine my face when I saw three pitbulls up in the tree, 5 meters up on the biggest branches that could still support their weight...like I said...more feline than canine!

Flash has little dreaming episodes (at least I think that's what they are...), where he yips and twitches and makes little running motions with his feet. Then he makes a little bark and growl and then yelps...all very funny to watch :)

He has a wool allergy, and so lying on the Persian rugs is a no-no....but of course, where in the world is his favourite place to lie? Yes! Winner-winner-chicken-dinner! ...on the Persian Rugs!!!!!!!
Pitbulls are really amazing dogs...we have always had them and can honestly say that they are smart, gentle, protective and loyal! (even when they eat your doors, cars, shoes, garden tools, Angora Rabbit yarn(!!!), roasted chickens, table legs.....)

This week the girls and I went to see the second Sherlock Holmes offering. All of us are huge Robert Downey Jr groupies (and Jude Law is himself not too shabby ;) ), so we were beside ourselves with anticipation. The first movie was absolutely awesome, and let me tell you....A Game of Shadows was even better!

We get to meet the evil Professor Moriarty, who hatches a new criminal plan of diabolical proportions. The stage of the crime is far larger in this movie, with a global catastrophe in the making. Of course, the sheer awesomeness of RDJ is without doubt...he is as always brilliant!

There is a lot of violence and bombs, guns etc, so it is not a movie for kids who frighten easily. The action scenes are spectacular and the music great (I intend to buy the soundtrack!).

The ending was a real twist-in-your-seat and wring-your-hands kind of ending with a last scene Wow! surprise...all in all, the most enjoyable movie we have seen in ages!

Have a great day folks!
♥Heidi

Crocheted Bobble Edging Tutorial

Today I am posting a tutorial on how to make a very simple crocheted bobble edging. I mentioned before that I wanted to play around with ideas for edging off Nani's Hexagon blanket and I wanted something that reflects her happy, quirky personality. The hexagon blanket is being made (and here I assure you...I have stuck to the goal of doing two hex's every day until it is finished...yes, yes, I know the year is only 4 days old :) .....) in hectic, bright colours, because that just what Nani is like! So, without further ado...here is the tutorial...

I have crocheted a simple sc base on which to work. Above you can see that I have just turned the work and chained one.

Slip stitch into the FIRST space of the row. (Remember...a Slip Stitch is hook into space, yarn around hook, pull through space AND loop on hook in one movement).

Chain 2.

Now you will start a series of incomplete Double Crochet stitches....what you do is this: Yarn around Hook, insert hook into same space (as you made the slip st), yarn around hook, pull through...you have three loops on your hook...yarn around hook, pull through TWO LOOPS... you will be left with two loops on your hook...

Repeat the same again...yarn around hook, insert hook into same space again, yarn around hook, pull through, you have 4 loops on your hook, yarn around hook, pull through TWO LOOPS only...you now have THREE loops on your hook...

Repeat again...just as before...you should have FOUR LOOPS on your hook now...

Yarn around hook and pull through ALL FOUR LOOPS on your hook...

Chain 1.

Slip Stitch into same space as you have been working...watch the pretty bobble form...
:)
Slip stitch into the next two stitches of your base work...this gives you a little space between the bobbles, making things nice and even :)

Repeat the steps to make a bobble...easy as pie!

If your little bobble isn't nice and fat, use your little finger to "pop" out the stitches forming the bobble (from the back of your work), creating a little hollowed space at the back of the bobble...

Hope you enjoy making this...

Have a lovely afternoon folks!
♥Heidi

Origami Happiness...tomatoes...and crocheted bobbles

It may not come as a surprise to you if you have seen my Pinterest Boards, but I am fascinated by Origami. I have been constantly amazed at the degree of complexity that origami artists can achieve with just a bit of paper and a pair of hands. I am no expert, but decided to delve into the technical aspects of Origami...to that effect , I found a fantastic book by Robert J. Lang called Origami Design Secrets: Mathematical Methods for an Ancient Art. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Robert Lang is just simply an Origami Legend!
I also found some lovely Origami papers online at Loot, which made me a very happy puppy :)

The papers have various themes...one set are all animal prints...croc skin, tiger print etc...another has traditional kimono designs and traditional Japanese prints...very, very nice!
If you are interested in Origami, I can highly recommend two sites:
www.oriland.com
and
www.happyfolding.com

The Origami artists of Oriland are Yuri and Katrin Shumakov. Their site is filled with amazing designs, many of which you can buy with step by step instructions. I have recently bought two of their offerings...
The Oriland Magic Star
Dinosaur Skeletons

Below you can see their Origami Stegosaurus...I just love this! There is even a Neanderthal Man for you to fold :) I am hoping to fold a small Steggi sometime this year...
The eBooks themselves are exceptionally well written, with countless illustrations to guide you...honestly, I really think even a beginner could follow along!

Sara Adams is the star of Happy Folding. Her instructional videos are really superb (and there are loads of them!). Even if Origami isn't your thing, check out these sites...you will be amazed at the designs and the artist' cleverness!

It has been a boilingly hot day here in SA today, and I suspect we are going to have a heck of a thunderstorm later...I have managed to get the worst of the offenders out of my vegetable garden and have even harvested some more stuff, including some Purple Dragon Carrots and really red, lovely and fat tomatoes. I am going to make a pasta sauce to use in my Bolognaise sauce...any good recipes you know of...please let me know :)

The Purple Dragon Carrots are such a novelty...lovely and burgundy on the outside, but bright orange inside...they taste the same to me as regular carrots, just not as sweet at the Little Finger Variety I mentioned before....they look fabulous in a salad!

As I was sitting in bed last night, listening to a lecture, I played around with some yarn and a crochet hook, and came up with a pretty crocheted Bobble Edging...very easy to crochet and potentially quite versatile. I have been thinking about an edging to use for Nani's Hexagon Blanket (...on that topic, I have been a very good little crocheter, and crocheted several hexagons since New Year ;) ), and think that this bobble edge will be a cute final round...
If time permits, I will do a photo tutorial later this week :)

I have spent the last couple of days slaving in the garden, and I swear, must have staked a thousand tomato plants!!!!!!!!!!! Remember when I said earlier, "Plant less Lettuce"?...well, add to the list if things I learned about vegetable gardening..." Plant LESS TOMATOES!!"...you don't need a hundred different types of tomatoes...no, really!
I made my sister swear that she would forcibly stop me next season, when I say something idiotic like "Oh, just one more seed...after all, maybe it won't germinate"...she has been instructed that violence may freely be used as a last resort!


Speaking of Sisters...it's my one and only dear sister's birthday today...so 'Det...

*-...-•"*-...-•"*-...-•"*-...-•" Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!! *-...-•"*-...-•"*-...-•"*-...-•"
May your Rhubarb grow like Khakibos, your strawberries grow the size of lemons, your husband buy you yarn for no reason, and may the pests in your garden all emigrate next door!
Have a happy, spoiled day!
*PS...your pressies await....

Have a fruitful Tuesday folks...
♥Heidi