Say Cheese!

Well, ladies and gentlemen... I have some wonderful news….

You will be happy to know that I FINALLY bought myself a big girl camera! I'm insanely excited about this....I bet you are too, especially if you've been reading my posts and cringing at my awful, grainy, blurry iPhone and iPad photos!

If you read my post a few weeks back, I was looking at getting a little pocket camera. Nothing fancy, just a point and shoot. I'm in no means a photographer, nor do I have any idea about cameras. I just want to point and shoot....no fuss.

Everyone that replied to my question, on here as well as on my Instagram, all recommended I get a DSLR, however, just that abbreviation alone scared the crap out me and I kept leaning back toward the el cheapo digital pocket camera.

Before ditching the idea altogether, I did a little research on some DSLR cameras (that I later learned stands for Digital Single Lens Reflex - gah! Complex stuff right there!!!).

I had a few brands that I looked at but I think the Canon stood out for me - not sure why, I was honestly going off a gut feeling, because I have absolutely zero camera knowledge.

I ended up picking up a DSLR camera in pristine condition on eBay for an absolute bargain. 

I got a Canon EOS 450D / Digital Rebel XSi. It has 12.2 mega pixels and it came with a 18 - 55mm IS lens. The seller was absolutely awesome and he threw in a Canon EF 75 - 300mm zoom lens and a Manfrotto Tripod.  Merry Christmas to me!!

He was super sweet and gave me a full run down on how everything worked on it, tips and tricks etc. That was much needed.... I feel somewhat a little more comfortable with the camera at least now!

I had a bit of a play with it today and cannot WAIT to get some more great shots with it.

The photos just so not even compare to my iphone pictures now. They hit them out of the park! Yew!

Thanks to everyone who pushed me in the direction of a REAL camera.

I'm looking forward to being able to get photos printed and blown up with them not being grainy and terrible. 

My family better get used to having a camera jammed in their faces..... I'm going to get all paparazzi up in here!

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Today, the kids and I went for a walk to take a few snaps. I was absolutely stoked at the results and quality of them (not hard comparing to iPhone pictures I suppose) but for a non-photographer, I think I got some pretty cool snaps of the kids.

I am busting to finish typing this post so I can get to the uploading! I can't wait to see the difference…. 

Here it goes………!

NOTE - I was originally going to write a rather lengthy post about the making of this dress, however, I've been busy, so I thought I'd just add the photos of it here and merge the new camera/pinafore dress into one post.


This is a dress that I made for my daughter recently. I used a New Look pattern that I scored from an op shop for about $2.

Excuse the terrible ironing job, it was a bit 'hurry up an put this on so we can go take some photos!!!'. 

It's a gorgeous little dress. It has buttons on either side of the bodice as well as one button on the top left shoulder.

It's a perfect little dress for summer! Nice and breezy. I made it with some op shop fabric also. Its a lightweight cotton.

Here is a bird, photo bombing my son...

Last one…. A photo my eldest son took of my daughter and I.

I am over the moon with the quality of the camera and the photos!!!!! Best investment ever :-D


I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Handmade Scrap Doll (Lalaloopsy Style)

This doll was made entirely of things I had around the house. To be honest, I'm a bit proud of how she turned out!

I made her legs out of some left over fabric scraps. Her head, body and arms were made from an old white, long sleeved top of mine that was too small.  I cut the arms off my top and with a grey lead pencil, drew a rough outline of the shapes I needed for the body parts.

I stuffed the inside of the doll with the filling from a cushion that I never got around to making a cover for, oops! Now I guess I need to make more dolls to make use of the half cut open cushion ;-)

I pulled a single thread (out of 3) from a ball of black wool, to stitch her button eyes on, as well as her eyelashes and mouth. I gave her a Lalaloopsy style face. It was so easy to re-create!

I cut the pink circles for her cheeks from an old pillowcase. I just used white cotton thread to stitch on her rosy pink cheeks, in a rustic, scrap doll kind of way!

I put an icy pole stick inside her head/neck, to keep her head upright, seeing that she is a little top heavy! Then I hand stitched her head to her neck for more support.

Her arms and legs were all hand stitched to her body.

I cut lengths of black wool to create her hair and then sewed it down the middle to create a 'part' for her. I used some PVA glue to hold it all down on her head. I then plaited her pig-tails when the glue was dry.

Her outfit was created with no pattern either. I cut up one of my husbands old cotton work shirts for the black bodice and I used some white tulle left over from our wedding for the tutu skirt. I also cut out a heart from the same pillow case that I used for her pink cheeks.

I made the dress with a closure at the back and used stick on velcro. I ran the overlocker around the edges of the black dress neckline for a little bit of detail.

My daughter absolutely LOVES this doll. She named it 'Marcelene' because she thinks it looks like Marcelene from Adventure Time. 

Zebra Print Hudson Pants

The moment I saw these pants in Perfect Pattern Parcel's 6th parcel, I knew I had to have them. The pattern is by True Bias.

I pretty much live in studio/harem style pants and leggings. I'm all about the comfort factor.

The Hudson Pants had a similar style to the pants I most often wear, although the Hudson's are a little slimmer in the legs.  The studio pants I wear normally are a bit baggier. 

I chose a zebra print polyester knit to make the pants with and I just used a basic black for the pocket detail, waistband and ankle cuffs.

I decided against using a tie on the waist because my washing machine eats ties like those for breakfast!

The pattern was pretty easy to sew up. I was excited because I got to use my new overlocker for the first time on an actual garment. Its amazing how much quicker things come together using one! I'm sure I'll get the hang of the overlocker in no time. I am happy with how the pants turned out!

I made the size 12 and they fit me perfectly. No adjustments were needed to be made.

I dressed them up a little and wore them out today to a meeting. So comfy! This will be the first of many pairs of Hudson Pants in my wardrobe!

You can purchase this pattern for a short time in Parcel #6, along with 5 other awesome ladies clothing patterns, from Pattern Parcel. They are all by indie designers and I think it's great to be able to support them.

Donations from Pattern Parcel also go to supporting children's education. So, what are you waiting for?! Go get it while the parcel is still available! Once its gone, its gone forever!!!

I'm excited to see what Parcel #7 will be!