So. Much. Frustration. Gah!

On Tuesday I got a slip in the mail telling me I had a parcel to collect at my usual pick-up place.

It's from someone whose name I recognise and I know almost exactly what's in the parcel.(TimTams!!)

So yesterday I drove to the grocery store to do the shopping and to pick up the package - can't let Timtams lie around uneaten like that!

Only - the parcel wasn't at the store! It hadn't "arrived yet"!

"But I got the slip yesterday" I said.

"Uhm, no - Uhm, let me see. No it's not here. It's not been registered in the computer."

So no TimTams for me.

This morning I called and there was still no package and I was advised to call again this afternoon. Sigh.

Fingers crossed it turns up, please.

It's completely possible that the package is there, at the store, only it was missed in registration. So if it's not turned up this afternoon I'm going to have them search the mail room.

You don't dangle Timtams in front of a person's face like that!

Party plans

So, my little one had a birthday a few weeks ago and on Saturday we're having a party for her little friends.

I try not to go over board on the planning, but I do admit to having a bit of an Amy Atlas-moment now and then.



Last year I went a bit over board and we had leftover candy for months. This time I'm going to go easy and not over-do it.
There will be lots of cake, but we're going to my parents in the afternoon so maybe I can bring it there.

I have a few crafts I want to do before the party and I hope to find the time tonight so I don't have to do it last minute.
I'm picking up flowers on Friday afternoon and maybe the girls can help me dress one or two embroidery hoops with ribbons to hang over the table.

So wish me luck and I'll post pictures after the fact.

Do Not Disturb the Creative Process

Both Isabel and Sofia got very invested in me painting the board I started using as a background.

They kept asking me when I would do the painting and wanted to be a part of it.

I wasn't very keen on letting them loose on my board so I told them they could paint once I was done.



The weather was very nice on Sunday and I gave Sofia the left over paint after I was done with my pink (Honeysuckle) side and she got an old door from a cabinet of some sort to paint on.



She took it very seriously.

Picture background

A while ago I read a photo tip on one of my favourite sewing and fabric blogs that in order to get pretty pictures you could use a piece of MDF board painted in a cool, kitschy colour as a background.



It gives the pictures a uniform look and I think even though the background in my case is a pretty loud colour it calms the picture when you don't have to look at a cluttered background.

It's also possible to move the board around in search of the best lighting. Something I could benefit from 50 % of the year.

We picked up a board cut to size at the hardware store last week and I picked out three colours I liked and had them mixed. I only bout 1/2 litres so it was fairly inexpensive.



This particular colour is one I have in mind to use for our kitchen so it served a dual purpose. The leftovers will be used to paint some samples on our walls to see if it will work.
This particular shade of yellow/green matches my green Kitchen Aid mixer perfectly - what? You have to pick inspiration from somewhere! ;-)



I decided to paint the other side of the board in a complementary colour - figuring if one side didn't work with the garment I put on it the other side would.
For the other side I took inspiration from Pantone's colour of the year - Honeysuckle.

So far it's working out very well.

I do have one regret, I should have made the board slightly smaller since it is a bit awkward to move around. I took it upstairs thinking I could house it in my sewing room, but I think it needs to find a home downstairs as the lighting is usually better there.

I need to work on my light finding skills. Even though I love these pictures - I do realise they could have utilised the light better.

So the search goes on.

A Skip in the Hopscotch.

I made Sofia a new skirt a few days ago.

One night a few weeks ago she woke up early in the evening before I had gone to bed and she was a bit agitated. So to calm her and cool her down (her room faces south and gets really warm in summer) I took her to my sewing room and she had a look through the pile of pattern descriptions I have.

She likes to look at the paper dolls.

So together we decided I would make her a skirt and a dress.

I have made this once before for Isabel. I used cord that time, which is not an ideal fabric for this pattern.
The quilting cotton from Moda was perfect though. It's designed by Oliver + S and called Modern Workshop.
I think the scale is perfect for little girl's clothes.



She was very happy with it and even got to help pick out the buttons for it. Although I admit I did prod her in a certain direction and she ended up picking the same ones I would have.

Nature Walk for Midsummer

We celebrated Midsummer's Eve in Sweden on Friday, and even though it's the start of summer it does get a bit chilly in the evenings and I wanted to make a sweater for the girls to wear.
I've been eyeing the Nature Walk Pullovers for a while (I love the pants that come with that pattern!) and decided to give it a try.

I bought green and red fleece at my local fabric store, dotted and with penguins. I love how they look so surprised!

Isabel was away at camp for 5 days when I started them so Sofia got first pick, and she wanted the greens.



I used white broadcloth to line the pullovers. I feared if I lined it with fleece they would turn out too warm to wear now. I also used the same broadcloth for all facings.

I'm actually glad Sofia picked the green as I believe Isabel fits better in the red one. She was very pleased with it when she saw it as she came home from camp.



I made the two pullovers in tandem - it made it a bit more productive. And I finished them both in two nights.

I will definitely make them again, but I will add some width to the body as they turned out to be a bit slim for my girls. I will also do them in a different fabric. The fleece was a bit thick. I think I'll try them in some sweatshirt fabric or jersey.

I also want to experiment with the pattern and make them in one piece - maybe omitting the pockets. I'll bet they are a really quick sew that way.

Ready for an Ice Cream Social

Last night after the girls were in bed I sat down to make Sofia a new dress.

I had the Ice Cream Dress in size 6 cut out and it was all ready to go.

I had hoped to get the yoke done before Sofia fell asleep, but no such luck.

In all it took a little over 2 hours and 40 minutes to get it done.



Sofia picked the fabrics herself from my stash of Modern Workshop by Oliver + S (with a little help from me) and I think it turned out very well.



I made this as a blouse once before an I remember having problems getting the back of the yoke look neat. I think I fiddled with it that time and made it work, but this time I wanted it too look more than ok.
So when I still couldn't get it to work I put a bird label on it.



I brought the dress with me to work to show my co-worker and when I came home I told Sofia to go look in my purse for something that was hers and she came back unfolding the dress with a sweet smile on her face.



I think she was very happy with it.

Tents and air mattresses and bad backs don't mix

Rickard began his 5 week vacation last week and was toying with the idea to take the girls camping. He decided to try it out by camping in our garden. The tent is meant for two people, but it fit them tolerably well.

Unfortunately, the mattresses he used were too thin for him so he kept waking up with aches and pains and when he turned over the blanket fell off him (we only had two sleeping bags and the girls appropriated them) and he got cold.
So Sunday morning he was pretty tired as they came back inside at 6:45 am.

So after we had visited with my Dad at the hospital we drove to the camping store to get him a proper air mattress, plus some stuffs for Isabel's birthday.
And then he decided to try the new mattress out this night on his own just to make sure he could handle sleeping on it. (He's got a history of throwing his back out really bad and didn't want to chance anything)

So last night at 11 pm he got dressed and went out into the tent and went to sleep (and I got some sewing done)

And this morning he came inside at 6:45 am when I was just heading to the shower before work.

His back was perfectly fine, but I somehow threw mine out as I reached for my towel after my shower and I have been in pain all day.

Which has really put a damper on my sewing. Gah!

Posted for accountability

I try to divide my sewing evenly between my two girls. Lately Isabel has been a bit more difficult to please though.

And since she was just given a huge pile of clothes I haven't felt like I need to sew as much for her.

So after having a "bit of an oops" at the fabric store the other day I decided to make fixed plans on what to make of everything.

I know it looks like a lot, and it is, but I don't think it's impossible.

- I'm making one Nature Walk Pullover for each girl from green and red fleece with dots and penguins.
- Sofia will get a School Photo Dress from pink and white gingham and I plan to use some eyelet lace as piping on the front and sleeves.
- I'm making an Ice Cream Dress for Sofia from some red Modern Workshop-fabric and a Hopscotch Skirt in a yellow MW.
- The groovy mod print on the upper right will become a Playdate Dress using a blue/green solid as the yoke. Also for Sofia.
- I'm trying to fit in two 2+2 Blouses with short sleeves on the fabric will dolls, using some beige/white seersucker/gingham for ties and patch. I hope Isabel will like it and not think it's too Babyish. I asked her and she liked it. Score! I might get some chocolate brown twill to make them each a 2+2 Skirt as well.
- Finally I hope to squeeze in two Family Reunion Blouses on the 30's inspired green floral. Some red buttons and some red ric rac would be nice too. That would be one each.

I had planned to have the fleece pullovers done by Midsummer's Eve but I'm not keeping my hopes up. I'm cutting Isabel's pullover tonight so if that goes smoothly I might get some sewing done.

New clothes - not Mommy-made

Yesterday when I came to daycare to pick Sofia up one of the teachers who work in one of the other homerooms asked me if I was interested in some clothes she had weeded out of her daughter's closet. They were all in the 140-160 size range and she knew of none other than my Isabel who might fit in them.

Turns out she lives just down the street from us so she came by after work to drop off 6 or 7 (I can't remember) bags of clothes for Isabel to try.

She was in heaven. We divided the clothes into piles. Keep, Maybe keep, Donate, Future Sofia-clothes.
Not everything was age-appropriate and I had to tell her No on a few occasions. Some designs were just meant for an older girl. After all, she is only 7.
The piles grew and when we had to stop for dinner we had two bags left and a huge pile for Isabel to take up to her room and put away.



This morning she put on a wrap skirt and a pretty shirt with a green ruffle and butterflies and she was happy as a clam.

Flowery

It really was time to do something about the front entrance. The two large pots were full of wilted daffodil bulbs that needed tending and I really wanted to change up the look with some summery flowers.

We had to move the herb box Rickard made me to make room for the inflatable pool so it looks a little crowded.



The dahlias are lovely and the colours feel very summery to me. It makes me smile every time I come home. (Although that may not only be the flowers.)

Happy birthday Sofia!

On Saturday we had a party for Sofia to celebrate her birthday. She requested a chocolate cake and I made cardamom buns and bought a box of almond cookies.

She got a floating device, a beach towel and a two-piece bathing suit, a ball and some money.

She changed into the bikini right away and ended up taking a dip in our pool as soon as she had finished her cake.

Extra long long-weekend

When we realised that the Ascension Day holiday woul coincide with June 6th (Sweden's national day) we decided to go to Stockholm for the weekend.

We took Wednesday off and drove to Jönköping in the morning where we checked into a hostel. We got two bunk beds in our room but upon closer inspection Rickard and I decided to fold up our beds and sleep on mattresses on the floor as the beds looked a little flimsy.



In the morning we packed up and drove to Gränna which is not 10 km from Jönköping.

Gränna is famous for their red and white peppermint sticks and we wanted to let the girls see how they were made. Isabel in particular is very fond of peppermint - polka as we call it.



Pretty much all places in Gränna selling polka sticks have arranged their shops to have a show kitchen so customers can see the polka being made.
The picture above is from one of those kitchens and they even came out in the store and let people taste the soft polka "dough". Yum.

I got to sample some cut offs and the one I got was salty licorice/raspberry and I would have bought a stick or two of that but they were out on the shelves and we had already bought a truck load at another place.

After Gränna we drove on to Stockholm with a quick stop for lunch at Saltå Kvarn. I love their organic food selection and they served a very tasty goat's cheese toast with beets and a carrot salad that I will definitely try to replicate at home.

We arrived at the hotel in the afternoon and although I can't remember I think Rickard and the girls went down to the basement where there's a jacuzzi and took a bath.

Friday we were supposed to go to Junibacken. A sort of interactive museum of children's book characters with real people dressed up and exhibitions you can climb on.

Our hotel is rather far from the city centre and it took 20 minutes to walk to the train, 20-25 minutes on the train then it S a looooong walk from the train station To the boat we had to take to get onto Djurgården-island where the museum is.

When we finally got to the boat the girls were grumpy and tired and sweaty (it's unusually hot this weekend) and there was a line from Hell to get on to the boat. I think at least three boat loads were queueing and we were not intetested in standing in it.

So instead we took a walk back to the train and went back to get the car at the hotel and instead drive to Drottningholm and eat Subway subs in the garden there.



The castle was gorgeous as always. The huge oaks shaded us nicely. The geese in the park has babies but had pooped everywhere so it was a bit hard to find a good spot. But we succeeded.

The girls were asking if we would see the King, but we said that was highly unlikely. The King has received a lot of bad press lately so I think he likes to keep a low profile.

Today the girls and Rickard went to the bath house next door that has slides and climbing walls and wave machines. They had a blast.
I spent the morning at the hotel instead as I don't bathe.

We had intended to go to Trosa tomorrow and spend the night, but decided to instead drive straight home after we're done at Tom Tit's Experiments. It will be a long drive but it will give us a full day home on Monday before it's back to work on Tuesday.

So tomorrow we're celebrating Sofia before breakfast and then we plan to leave at 10 to be in Södertälje at 11 when they open.
Then we drive home and have the girls changed into their jammies somewhere on the way where we stop for supper.

So tonight will be the last night I can hug a 3 yo that is all my own. Tomorrow I will have a 4 yo instead.