well, my big five year old boy had a most awesome time at his pirate party on sunday. we played pass the parcel (or "parcel parcel" as he calls it), tug-o-war - i helped the girls team as they were one man (woman, rather) down, until they boys cried "unfair! there's a mum helping!" and the pinata worked beautifully (14 layers of newpaper held together with the old flour glue was spot on for them to all have three turns at whacking). the dreaded pirate ship cake actually turned out very well by my standards, and i gathered everyone near the end and we sang happy birthday to my boy, hip-hip-hooray-ed and then he turned to me and said "but mum - what do i blow out?". very embarrased to realise i had neglected to place the especially purchased black glitter candles on said cake. quickly fixed my omission and we sang a super-speed round two birthday greeting to him and he happily blew out his five candles.

my lovely siblings came early and went nuts with the decorations, inside and out. the huge jolly roger flag flying from the kid's fortress looked ace (it is still there now) and now we are back to the usual daily grind.

after getting the kids off this morning, i hope to get into my commission list. this afternoon i have to take my son  for what i am hoping will be his final ultrasound following his kidney surgery three and a half years ago. there is no sign that things haven't been going beautifully since our previous scan and  i have every confidence that the follow-up appointment to this scan will be our last.

whoah! all spots full for now - thank you to all who emailed me =D

i shall re-open once the deck is clear of this first commission batch.

FritzyBitz Commissions Opening Again

as of the 26th of march, i am re-opening the fritzybitz commission list once again. please email me at fritzybitz@hotmail.co.uk if you would like to grab a spot or have a general query.

how does the fritzybitz commission list work?

1. contact me at the above email address and we can discuss fabrics/styles/trims (a limit of three items per customer, please)
2. i shall give you a price and the approximate timeframe that  you can expect your order to be complete
3. once your item/s are ready, i shall take pics, post on flickr and send you a link. at this point i am ready to take payment via paypal
4. once i have your payment i shall post your order and let you know that your order has been sent to you

some finer details - regular postage is $3 worldwide, $2 within  Australia. this is for regular post only, worldwide registered post costs a ridiculous $18 (or $3 within Australia) and although i have experienced very fine things with our worldwide postal system and anticipate that your package will arrive quickly and safely, i cannot be held responsible for lost packages. most of my styles range from $18 - $28 per item, although in some cases for more intricate styles/rare and vintage fabrics, the price can rise beyond this.

i won't be taking more than ten customers at this stage. long lists stress me out completely!

hoping to work with you soon to create something special for your blythe

xx
Kylie

hmmmm - over two weeks since i last blogged. haven't achieved all i wanted to achieve in this time, either. i have completed the chair covers, finished my daughter's new bedroom curtains and made two pairs of different pirate-themed shorts for my son (so he has options on his birthday party day). yesterday i finished his bunting and it is already hanging up in our dining room (it shall go to his bedroom after the party) and i am so pleased with it.

the boy's art smock still waiting around to be finished, as is my daughter's doona cover. and i have had a bunch of half-sewn dolly outfits hanging around forever, it seems. these projects may have to wait until after the boy's party, though. right now i need to concentrate on:

• tidying up - the front windows need cleaning again *sigh* and i have some hibiscus that need to come out of pots and be planted
• finish papier mache-ing the pinata and painting it black with white skull and crossbones
• making the pirate ship cake (dreading this -  cake decorating...... let's just say i have the best of intentions but my result never seems to equate the effort put in)

this papier mache pinata has me stumped...... i have 11 layers on but am not sure how many need to be done. i don't want it exploding with the first whack, nor do i want it to be indestructible.

it's silly - i've been nervous about posting in my own blog. going to ease myself into it and just focus this first post on my current sewing 'to do' list:

• make new dining chair covers - one is complete, three cut and zigzagged, ties for three ready. two to cut/zigzag etc still
• pirate bunting for my son. want this to be ready by his birthday party in just under three weeks
• make new red and white polkadot curtains for my daughter's bedroom
• finish her patchwork quilt inspired doona cover
• finish my son's art smock for school. it would be good but not essential to have this done by thursday.
• spend some time sewing doll clothes - haven't made much at all over the last month

the new chair covers:

tomorrow will be a day to rip through some of the stuff on the list - eldest at school, youngest has a full day at kindy. would be nice to have two more chair covers complete before bed tonight but have to do some housework and washing and it is almost time to pick up the boy from kindy (although i have enough time to go to the thrift store if i leave now!).

righto - off i go!