Sick:(

Sitting here feeling a tad sorry for myself today, gastro has hit the Verri household big time, last weekend it was Mackenzie, yesterday Delilah came down with it, and today it's my turn....

So while I have two munchikins sleeping soundly I will take the opportunity to update a little.

Little Miss M is now almost 16 months, she doesn't walk, she runs. She loves to feed the "Gogo's" (dogs) and music makes her move and smile, she often walks around the house with anything she thinks is trumpet like yellng "Toot, Too!" through it. She is a genuine little fire cracker.



I took this pic on monday, she's in a Verri Charmed "Sesame Street" outfit, featuring vintage SS fabric (oscar the grouch) and a matching furry green vintage chenille skirt.... I will have some of these for sale at my nest market.

Miss D is turning three next week, and while she is mostly delightful, she has hit a defiant, do what I want, patch. It will make for an interesting few months to come I think. As I type the poor little thing is curled up next to me, this gastro has hit her for a six.



This is a version of the set I made for her, featuring the same awesome fabric and pink vintage chenille.

Before I go and enjoy the last few minutes of quiet, Luke came up with a new business idea the other day, it is something that we will be working on together, if you pop over to the left of the screen you can be directed to a sneak peek of what's in store for the Verri's...........

Bargain Hunting

I've always been a big fan of OP Shopping/antiquing/treasure troving, whatever you want to call it.... I can remember the first ever vintage purchase I made was a small box of candles from the 1940's, I was aged 11, and it was from a shop that no longer exists, called "Junk and Disorderly" down in Victor Harbour. I think my facsination for the old stuff came from hoping to find an antique treasre worth millions of dollars LOL! The funny thing is I met my match in Luke because he still feels this way:)

When he and I joined forces we discovered pretty quickly that we both enjoy a good bargain hunt, and our home is filled with many vintage treasures, including a working 1940's Radiogram.

Most recently my love for all things vintage has extended to Verri Charmed, it was always my philosophy to incorporate vintage and upcycled components into my work, that's part of what makes my items unique. As I have become more handy with a sewing machine, as I had always hoped, this has escalated into using gorgeous vintage fabrics to create new pieces.

I thought I'd share a pic tonight of one of my favourite items I have ever created. A patchwork scarf featuring a backing of hand cut vintage chenille. Divine:)

The 3rd Birthday Parties.....

March and April are the biggest birthday months on our calender for the year, it's when the Mother's Group birthdays are with a few friends children and a niece and a nephew throw in the mix. Last weekend we had two thirs birthday parties, and this weekend we have another two. We will then get a short break and the a combined party for two 3 years olds and the we finally reach Miss D on the 17th of April.

It's actually a tad exhausting LOL! Last weekend we kicked off the MG birthday's with a visit to The Hahndorf Farm Barn for one, where we learned about various farm animals, got to touch lizards and pythons, fed Emu (D LOVES Emu!) and kangaroos and Delilah even got to milk a cow. Then on the Sunday we visited the miniture train park for my Nephew's third birthday. Being a gorgeous autumn day the park was teeming with birthday parties and visitors over excited about riding the gorgeous miniture steams trains around the track.

Both M and D were exhausted from the events of the weekend, but it was certainly lovely to visit palces we might otherwise have missed (though personally I wasn't a massive fan othe the Farm Barn, but D loved it!).

Yesterday we had another MG party complete with feeding horses and alpaca and lots of swinging, sliding and jumping. The most exciting part was the face painter. D insisted that she must have a Lady Bug painted on her face..... and so she did.



Tomorrow we have breakfast in the park (though I am currently on night shift and may not be awake enough to drag myself along).

I Love sharing the delight with my girls on these occassions, but the scale of them have left me wondering..... What do we do for D's Party?

When I ask her what she wants, she tells me a chocolate cake, three candles and a telescope. And really it should be just that simple shouldn't it? She's only three afterall, I'm sure in the future I will disapoint her when she asks for extremely elaborate things.... so while it's simple I am determined to give her exactly what she wants.... but perhaps we will throw some balloons into the mix too;)

Wanting to Believe in Myself

I've been feeling pretty down lately. Often, like others, I don't think I'll ever be good enough at anything. That my work won't match up to the standard of others. That my ideas won't be taken seriously... that I'll be laughed at or belittled.

But realisically I know that I'm putting myself out there and doing what I LOVE. So does it really matter what others think? I saw this gorgeous quote tonight and I think I it need make it my new mantra.

“Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.” - Cecil Beaton

And with that I'm off to sew:)

New Year, New Ideas

My One Little Word for 2011 is COURAGE. I want to use this word in everything I do. So with Verri Charmed it means I want to have the courage to move out of my comfort zone and push the boundries. Currently I've added nappy covers and skirts to my regular range and then just this week I've started something new and exciting:



This is bunting is made from hand cut pages from a 1960's golden book. I was so thrilled with the outcome and I will be debuting these at the next Lollipop Market on the 20th of Feb.

Yesterday was Australia Day.... it's one of my favourite days of the year. It was strange to realise yesterday though that it had been just over a year since we had our scary hospital stay with M when she had breathing difficulties at 5 weeks. It now makes me smile to know how much has changed since then.

We celebrated yesterday with a trip to the zoo and fish and chips on the beach for my niece Lilli's 7th birthday. The perfect day really!

A year of Miss M

This pic was taken at Mackenzie's first birthday party, on Sunday the 12th Dec. (Her actual Birthday is the 16th). I am more than over due for an update on little M, our piece of pure sunshine... so where is she at?

The stats:

Height : 76cm
Weight: 10.1 Kg
Head: 46 cm

She first stated Crawling 2 days before she turned 11 months, and she truely just took off. Next came the standing (especially when the christmas tree went up!). She can now be found in many random places through out the house (the first shelf of the books shelf, curled in a ball.... sometimes the wardrobe)at any given moment. And she has a sixth sense if the laundry or bathroom door are open, she heads straight to them. She has begun standing unassisted, for very short amounts of time, and will cruise with the trolley we gave her for her birthday for short distances.

M is a smart little monkey, since she had grommets in on the 22nd (new ears for Christmas!) her communication has just exploded. She points to the things she wants and attempts many words. She can often be heard calling "Uh oh" as she drops something on the ground. And she likes to hoist a bag over her shoulder and wave and say "Bye Bye".

We are constantly smothered in kisses by M, whether it be arms thrown around your neck with a big wet open mouth one planted somewhere on your face, to kisses blown from a distance with extra enthusiasm and a resounding "mmmmmwah!".

Mackenzie is the most pure sunshine, she delights us everyday:) xx

Reflecting on 2010

I've been MIA again, and so very much has happened that I am not even going to attempt an update on the girls tonight.... that will come as I plan on keeping up with this blog alot better in 2011.

Tonight I need to reflect on the year that has been and get some thoughts down that have been swirling for a while now, and it will be a little too deep for some.

2010 was a huge year for me, having just become a mother of two right at the end of 2009 this was too be expected, but the year took me further than I ever expected. Firstly, starting Verri Charmed has just been such a huge deal for me, I feel that it is a true reflection of myself, my only creative out let and creating each new thing has been such a joy for me... something just for me, something only about me, something I have come to care so very much about, something that I am so proud to say I have created all on my own..... that's never happened before.

However the most significant thing about 2010 for me, has been being a mum, a role that brings so much wonder, amazement, delight and above all love. Sharing this journey of parenthood with Luke is more than anything I could ever have hoped for in life, and I am thankful everyday for it. Having said that, it has changed me and unlocked things inside me that I didn't realise were there, both good and bad. I think first and foremost it brings up issues I never realised I had about being a product of divorced parents. I thought I was fine with it.... it turns out I'm not... there is so much I don't understand, so many feelings that I just can't articulate and I honestly wonder if I will ever be able to. I have no memory of my parents ever having been together, so I think some would think it should hurt less because I never knew life to be any different, but honestly it just raises more questions of "why?" for me. This year I have felt more isolated than ever............

What I learn from this is that I am lucky.... I have my husband, and I have my girls, and the three of them delight me more that I thought could ever be possible...

So from 2010 I have learnt:
More about love than I knew existed,
and That I am capable, brave and strong.

What do I want to learn from 2011??

Strength of mind,
Calm,
Strength of body,
Peace.
No more fear.

So sorry to have been so melancholy.... from now on I will be trying my best to look forward, as the past is just that and unchangable. The future with my family is what is important, but for now, I needed to put this into words.... to take some of the pressure off my mind.