cute fabric love

August 5, 2009 By 2 Comments

lots of excitement here this morning with a new delivery of fabric for the store from a Japanese brand I doubt you’ve seen before….


its in the shop this morning with free postage (in australia) and something extra for international orders…..this cutie is also available in white….how sweet…..are you in love?


isn’t this perfect for a little boys quilt…I’m just going to sandwich it up and quilt away and I have it in pink too….


and this fabric makes 5 bags from 1 metre of fabric which is just amazing…unfortunately it was so popular that I only received 7m instead of 20m that I ordered, so disappointing but its obviously been very popular!


I also have reduced the prices on most of my other fabrics so be sure to check them out too, another move is on the cards (don’t ask me, I’m sworn to secrecy) and I need to sell off some older stock.

Filed Under: fabric, store

simple cake

August 4, 2009 By 10 Comments

yes the twins are now one…..we’re still sleepless as they battle colds and sniffles so I’m still working on a post about their first year…the words just aren’t coming to me this morning as I’ve had hardly any sleep! But yesterday we celebrated with their favourite dinner of vegie sausages and mash and a simple little cake….


take one butter cake mix (nothing fancy) baked in a love heart cake tin from paris (that I’ve never used in the 6 years I’ve owned it), some cream cheese frosting (1 huge Tbsp margerine, 1 huge Tbsp cream cheese and 250g icing sugar) and chocolate freckles…….


it was delicious and will be the perfect morning tea today, not to mention the rest of the chocolate freckles calling out to me from the fridge!!!!

Filed Under: recipe. twins

sleepless in sydney

August 2, 2009 By 12 Comments

oh miss tillie…..my little party girl kept me up till midnight and then again from 3.30ish till 6am! Unlike her big sister who would hop into our bed and fall asleep straight away, miss tillie thinks our bed is a trampoline and its party time! She was climbing all over retro daddy to wake him up and eventually he found another empty bed to sleep in! I am oh so tired this morning but am enjoying party leftovers for morning tea….sugar and caffeine always help a tired mummy get through the day! Party photos tomorrow…..


You might be wondering why there haven’t been any finished projects lately and that would have to be due to the very slow nature of cross stitch! here is my progress so far……..slow…….I’m actually going to turn her into a patchwork cushion….whenever I actually finish her!


and winner of the cross stitch draw is comment 7, Fiona of bee-abi! Congratulations and just send me your details to info@retromummy.com

Filed Under: cross stitch, twins

foolproof choc caramel slice

August 1, 2009 By 15 Comments

We’re having a little family do tomorrow to celebrate the twin’s 1st birthday and I’ve had a very enjoyable afternoon of baking…….I decided it was time to try caramel slice for the first time and this recipe from Australian Women’s Weekly is definitely foolproof! I normally test a recipe before I make it for a special occassion but decided to just go for it….


1 cup SR flour
1 cup coconut
1 cup brown sugar
125g butter, melted
filling – 400g sweetened condensed milk, 30g butter and 2Tbsp Golden Syrup
topping 125g dark chocolate and 30g butter

– grease and line (the recipe didn’t ask you to line your tin but makes it so easy as you just lift the slice out) a lamington tin (I used a square tin instead)
– combine flour, coconut and sugar and mix in butter. Press into your tin and bake for 15 minutes in 180 degree oven.
– in the meantime combine milk, butter and golden syrup in a saucepan and stir continously over low heat for 15 minutes (do not boil and keep stirring!!!!)
– pour hot filling mixture over the top of your hot biscuit base and pop back in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove and set aside.
– Melt topping ingredients in a saucepan until combined and smooth and spread over the top of your slice. Leave to set and then cut and enjoy!!!!!! My chocolate has set perfectly since the photo was taken…I was just a bit too keen to try it out!

Filed Under: recipe

milk and bread

July 30, 2009 By 11 Comments

Well thats what I went to the shops for but somehow I also came home with a new dress (which I snuck into the house to suddenly appear out of my wardrobe on Sunday with the exclamation ‘oh this old thing…had it for ages’).


and this fabulous book……oh gosh its good!


look at these sweet dolls

and this lovely little lady


or how about this sweet sampler


and for the boys…..


I found mine at DJ’s but you can also get it here…..I really recommend it as it has so many lovely projects and its beautifully styled and photographed….now I better stay away from the shops for a while I think!

Filed Under: books, cross stitch, shopping

Country Living

July 29, 2009 By 7 Comments

I love home magazines but limit myself to one a month and last month found my new favourite…..the british edition of Country Living…..


I get it for $7.99 a month and am so in love with it…..


I’m ready to move in to the pages………

Filed Under: homes, magazines

slow craft movement

July 26, 2009 By 24 Comments

Just as there is a slow food movement, I think there should be a slow craft movement and cross stitch is most definitely a slow craft. I was inspired by this lady’s beautiful cross stitch and rummaged around my craft room to find unfinished cross stitch projects as well as lots of lovely cross stitch charts to start…..


So I started on these lovely ladies and 2 nights later this is my progress……slooooooow…..but very satisfying! The pattern comes from CrossStitcher magazine January 2005 if you can get your hands on a copy. I have a desk lamp balancing behind me on the window sill to give me plenty of light and my glasses to deal with the fine work but I am enjoying it.


And to share the love I have a giveaway of free patterns I’ve pulled out of magazines, some little handtowels, a little stitch organiser and a handtowel chart booklet….just leave a comment to win and I’ll draw on Sunday! Come on all you closet cross stitchers….you know you want it!

Filed Under: cross stitch, giveaways

Muesli Slice

July 26, 2009 By 9 Comments

Time for a healthy recipe that you’ll love! I tried 3 times to get this recipe right and it was always dry but I found one of donna’s muesli slice recipes and combined her technique with honey & oil and my recipe and voila…perfection!


4 cups muesli
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup choc chips (optional but I need chocolate in my recipes)
1/2 cup honey melted over low heat for a few minutes and 1/2 cup oil whisked in

Combine all dry ingredients and mix in honey & oil mixture and press into lined square or rectangle tin. Press it down nice and firmly all over, I use the back of a wet spoon. Bake in 170 degree oven (160 if fan forced) for 40 minutes. You want it golden on top but don’t worry if it doesn’t look cooked all over as it firms up in the tin. Leave to cool for about an hour in the tin and then cut and enjoy!

Filed Under: chocolate, recipe

Crochet Sunhat Pattern

July 24, 2009 By Leave a Comment

More sizes coming, try to get your tension right otherwise you’ll end up with a lace doily on your head and trust me I’ve been there and have the hat to prove it. I used the wrong end of my double-ended crochet hooks and you’ll look more little house on the prairie than the look you’re going for.!

You’ll need 8 ply cotton ( I love Bendido’s cotton, the colours are lovely and its oh so soft and did I mention the price, a bargain) and a size 5 crochet hook.

1st round- Ch4 and sl st into a ring. Ch3 and dc11 so that you have what looks like 12 dc in a ring.

2nd round – ch3 and 2dc into each dc of the previous round.

3rd round – repeat round 2

4th round – ch3 and *2dc in next stitch then 1dc in following, repeat from * for the rest of the round

5th -17th rounds ch 3 and dc in each dc of previous round.

18th ch3 and 2 dc in each dc of previous round (this is you ruffle round). If you want a longer ruffle just do a 19th & 20th round of dc in each dc of previous round. Otherwise finish here and weave in ends after 18th round.

voila you have a hat that will fit from 2-5 year olds…..baby and adult size coming soon…………oh and you know the drill, I share this pattern because I love you all so please don’t make it or reproduce it for profit because that wouldn’t be very nice!

Filed Under: bendigo, crochet

Heather Bailey at Spotlight

July 23, 2009 By 10 Comments

don’t get too excited, you won’t find her in person or her lovely fabric ranges but you will find her papercraft range and let me tell you its just gorgeous! Well priced and so lovely that I came home with a total of 10 products from the range today and was very tempted to buy more!


I don’t scrapbook anymore (I briefly ventured into scrapbooking when keira was a baby) but the colours and the styles will be perfect for cards, presents, notebooks, bedroom decorations….I just need to restrain myself from going back and buying one of everything from the range….

Filed Under: heather bailey, spotlight

another sunhat

July 21, 2009 By 7 Comments

last night I whipped up another sunhat…this time in Bendigo’s Colonial in a sweet little pink colour.


my little miss loves it and is click clacking through the house in her barbie heels (she’d wear these out of the house if I gave her the opportunity)


I promise to share the pattern with you soon once I actually put pen to paper……but for now I better go and brush someone’s hair, I wouldn’t get smiles for the camera if I’d braved her hair beforehand!


and check out this lovely giveaway, but don’t enter it please because I want to win (juuuuuust kidding!)

Filed Under: crochet

simple sunhat

July 20, 2009 By 4 Comments

Its not summer yet, but I liked the idea of turning my simple crocheted hat into a sunhat! Since I’ve never written the pattern down I just made it up as I went along and added a ruffle at the bottom of it in a cute contrasting pink. The yarn is Lincraft’s own brand, soft’n’cosy!


I might increase the ruffle more next time to make it more ‘ruffly’ but I’m happy with how it turned out and it hasn’t been pulled off by my model……yet


but we hit the same old problem…..my model doesn’t like sitting still when photos are being taken and we were all out of pink marshmallows tonight!!!

Filed Under: crochet

in the mood for some knitting

July 18, 2009 By 5 Comments

I’ve been so busy crocheting or making the debbie bliss bolero again (I think I’ve made it over 5 times this year) that I’ve been ignoring some great winter patterns out there! Today I left this new pattern book at the store and wish it had come home with me…I quite like the idea of this simple tunic with some jeans for winter….


or this one…I have so many knitting books I figured I better look through my own stash of books and magazines before I add another one to the collection! Pictures courtesy of the Cleckheaton site.


so I came home and found lots of cute free patterns through ravelry and am all motivated to get knitting……in japanese and english, cute little dress ,and another dress, a kimono top and this is not free but how cute…..

Filed Under: debbie bliss, knitting

the week that was

July 17, 2009 By 12 Comments

I’ve been caring for 2 sick babies this week who are being kept away from the world for a couple of days…. but thankfully are on the mend! If I’m not washing or cuddling them I’m running around cleaning up after them or breaking up a fight over the remote.


and here are their little mug shots taken the other day for their passports……


I’ve also been using up the mountain of apples and pears that have been accumulating from my weekly fruit and veg delivery. I use about 8 apples or pears (or a combo of the two) with a couple of handfuls of raisins, couple of Tablespoons of raw caster sugar and a bit of water. I cook for over 30 minutes till the fruit is nice and soft. I like mine with yoghurt while keira and her daddy prefer ice-cream. Either way its perfect for a winter dessert and I love it cold the next day too!


And if you’re keen to see my fabrics in person its an open day this sunday between 12 and 1. Just ask me for address details, all fabrics will be $10 per half metre and there will be books and patterns too!! And since I’m rambling on about nothing in particular who else is loving willie wonky’s chocolate factory on the lifestyle channel…gosh I am loving this show! A reality show that I’m actually enjoying and itching to try the product….

Filed Under: cooking, twins

Scrap Granny Square Blanket

July 15, 2009 By 23 Comments

The odds and ends leftover from my ripple blanket are now being turned into a sweet little blanket for my Tillie. I added a red/pink yarn to the mix and love it, it reminds me of the lovely colours of this lady who does some lovely crochet! Here is my pattern if you want to make your own…….and I am using American terminology as that is how I learnt to crochet.


First chain 4 and slip stitch into a ring.
1st round – chain 3 then 11 double crochet into your ring. You should have what looks like 12 double crochet. Make sure you count these before you get started on the next round because they become 4 sets of 3 and you will crochet into the space between the 3 to create a little square in your second round. Slip st into 3rd chain you did at the beginning and cut yarn. Thread this through the loop on your hook and pull tight.
2nd round – with a new colour do a slip stitch into any space between your double crochet. Now do 3 chain’s and 2 double crochet, chain 3 and do another 3 double crochet, chain 1. This is your first corner done. Skip 3 double crochet from 1st round and do 3 double crochet, 3 ch and 3 double crochet, chain 1. Repeat this so that you have completed 4 corners with 2 sets of 3 double crochet. Slip St into the 3rd chain you did at the start and weave in your end to that stitch.
3rd round – Slip st new colour into any space (you should do a slip knot of the new colour onto your hook then slip st into the space. Do 3 ch and 2 double crochet, 3 chain and 3 double crochet, chain 1. Skip the next 3 double crochet on the previous round and do 3 double crochet in that space, chain 1. Skip the next 3 double crochet and do your same corner stitches (3 double crochet, 3 chain and 3 double crochet). Repeat these around so that you have filled in your corners and spaces.
4th round continue as you have done before. In each corner you are doing 3 double crochet, 3 chain, 3 double crochet and have 1 chain separating each set of stitches. When you are in a space that isn’t a corner you are doing 3 double crochet with 1 chain separating! When you are starting a new round your first double crochet is actually a 3 chain which gives you the height of the round!

Hope that makes sense and have fun! these are super addictive and you just keep going round and round till you are done. You could do a different colour in each round or just group your colours together beforehand and work out the best sequence. If you get stuck making a ring check out youtube for some videos to get you started…beware of the lady with the bad nails. I couldn’t get past her bad acrylics!!!

Filed Under: crochet
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