Reading, Reading Reading

A belated Merry Christmas and a timely Happy New Year to all. This Christmas has been quite the hybernation for me and my Noisy boys - I think we are just at that time though where cabin fever might now be setting in as the wee boy has been a joyous mix of cranky/nutty! He has been an absolute diamond though for the last week so all is forgiven for at least one day. The boys are in fact out to give mum a little bit of peace and quiet - sigh!! The bump has been wriggling around lots this week - enjoying all the Christmas sugar I am sure - so I am looking forward to curling up on the sofa and devouring all my Xmas books!!

I was so lucky to receive 4 craft / studio /gorgeous home books. Handmade Home Living with Arts and Crafts has already been read cover to cover with drooling over photos and now I think I will ogle over peoples studio spaces - before I digest Ms Kirstie Alsopp's craft book - that is linked to her Channel 4 craft series in the UK.

I also wanted to share with you a picture of some fabulous designs done by a family just before Christmas. A mum and her wonderful noisy boys (she has 3!) all came round to print on some adult aprons I had made for them to give to their families. They were such fun to work with and each had made their own stamp to add to the designs. I was really impressed I have to say - what say you? I hope the grandmas and aunties were delighted!!

Mr Maker Straw Rocket Ship

This is an excellent Noisy Boy craft: it is quick, easy, involves glue, other things I have around the house and very little sit down time. All a plus in the life of a busy little boy who has ants in his pants most of the day. Then you get to play with it too - what more could a noisy boy ask. SO instead of showing you mine - pls find this great link as the lady in this blog spent the time to make hers look very pretty - I don't know what the term "napping child" means so mine weren't nearly as handsome (read blobs of paper on a straw).

Beginning of December means one thing in our home....

...advent calendar!! We have the most amazing advent calendar at our place so generously put together for us by my dear friend over at Appliquetions on etsy. I have never seen anything like it. With beautifully hand stitched backing, the needlework is then LADENED with little wrapped bags full of goodies for every day. The boy just LOVES coming down stairs from his slumber to unwrap the new day of delights - it is such an exciting build towards Christmas - a whole puzzle is split over the month for noisy boy to build piece by piece over the 24 days and mum loves the chocolate treats of course too! Yes, yes I do save some for hubby - I promise. So I just had to share with you a new project Cia has been beaverng away on in her studio this year. Check out these amazing reindeers, they are just the cutest decorations I have seen standing alone - but these ones have been saddled up with goodies already on their way to another lucky family. The pattern was found in a very inspiring book called Scandinavian Needlecraft by Clare Youngs which Cia based her design on - felting her own saddles out of gorgeous coloured yarn she had in her stash. These really were too cute to not be shown off I thought and a great idea if you were thinking of future Christmas gifts for your family.

My Noisy Boys ....plus an angelic little girl!!!

Yes gang I am having to re-work my whole business name now because we had the scan on Thursday and it is a GIRL!!! I got side-tracked on my grocery shop yesterday in the baby girl section. OH MY LORD!! The colours....the colours...no more mixes of green and blue - I can have bright colours...WOW!! I felt like such a novice in the baby aisle - I have forgotten so much already - I felt exactly the same as I did with bump one...like I simply didn't belong in that section. However a little detour into the clothes section, a spy of a clearance rail and I was in heaven - all these cute dresses - with little undies (I had no idea) - I spent forever going through the stash and then suddenly dumped the whole lot back. Who am i kidding - little dresses indeed. This poor child is going to be known as pyjama girl. First time round I would dress the boy in full outfits every day - but this time I really see the advantage of "Letting things go". It was that weird (crazy), mummy hormone driven pressure that I put on myself to appear so in control that created an exhausted mess first time round - I simply can't let that happen this time. I was very surprised when we found out it was a girl - it took a little while to comprehend the news - I was so convinced that we were having another little boy. So this does leave me in a pickle - what am I going to do with My Noisy Boys eh...My Noisy Boys Designs and a sleepy, happy go lucky girl. I can keep kidding myself can't I? It's going to be easier - isn't it!!!!

Making your own Christmas Wrap

This weekend the noisy boy and I got into the Christmas spirit by making our own wrapping paper. I have some Christmas stamps from last year and using kraft paper and some cream craft acrylic paint we made a start on some snowflakes and christmas baubles. What do you think? You can do any design you want and it is great fun for the kids using the rollers and getting paint everywhere!

We also did this in the summer for some rather cool birthday wrapping too.

Yippee some more Noisy Boys in the world!

Ha Ha no this is not news from the bump!! We have had some exciting new arrivals from friends who have both had beautiful boys in the last couple of months! I finally got my shower gifts together for each of them and was so happy to be able to print up some little onesies in my favourite boy prints - the rocket and robot. The gifts wouldn't have been complete without matching fabric gift bags - which will be perfect accessories in the diaper bags or for the new nurseries! As for us? Well will it be a boy or a girl is of course the question of the moment. Most surprisingly the little noisy boy has put in his request for a girl - I have tried to explain that I really don't have any control over that - but at the moment I don't think he quite believes me. Luckily he has had more pressing matters in hand anyway - which comes in the form of halloween candy! Ahh bless the concentration of a 3 year old..oh who am I kidding...the candy has been distracting me too - one for noisy boy - 5 for mummy!!

Phew !! Out of the first trimester.....

....and feeling like today is the first time I have had any energy to work in the evening. For the last 3 and a bit months I could be found unconscious in bed by 8pm or near unconcious lounging on the sofa in front of crap tv. Hence the lack of activity in my etsy shop - on this blog and anywhere else you may find me in this crazy world of social media. Today though was a good day - I finally got to list my new tea cozies in my store - finished off a whole slew of sewing that had been haunting me for a month - hemmed a curtain for a friend AND finally tonight mixed up a very sweet new blue that had popped into my head last week sometime. I just knew this was the right shade for a giraffe flag gift for a new baby arrival. NOW the only issue I have is that I have no idea how I finally ended up with this colour. It was the result of lots of adding and redistributing the main mixes - so I will have to do the same process again I'm sure. Sometimes though it is fun to just go with your instincts and worry abt the details later - especially when you have been such a slug for so long. Ahh it is nice to be back and to feel the whiff of motivation again - pls stay Mr energy - just for a few more months!!

My Noisy Boys + 1

The icky question of "and when will you be having a second?" came up this week at mother's group and it felt kinda funny to respond "mid April!". My usual response to this rather imposing question was a series of ramblings abt being unsure, not yet recovered from that first year of parenthood to a colicky, non sleeping child and the sheer exhaustion from being a busy mum to a busy boy. Hubby kept telling me to just say we're undecided, but without fail as soon as that question came up - the stutter would start, the sweats, the deer in the headlights look. The honest truth was I had absolutely no idea if we would ever have another child - but it seemed to be something everyone else seemed to need to know. "Oh - your going to be a single child family - I have a book you can read abt that" - someone told me. Really??? I had no idea that my ramblings of being unsure were leaning me to be categorised any certain way. We're just us at the mo - this is us and we like us - we're not a "social policy" - we're just living day to day and seeing where the next day will lead. The other coin was of course "Oh you CAN'T just have one"..."it is soooo much easier with 2 - they play together you see"....yeah right I'm thinking ...I have a sibling and I know that is simply not true, also who are these people telling me what I can and can't do, where are they with the night howls eh? So YES we are embarking on baby 2 journey...we are both very happy although honestly, slightly nervous abt having a BABY again and just hopeful that everything is ok. To all of you out there that are experiencing and struggling with that question of "and when will you be having another"....you could reply "undecided" "never" or "the sex is just too good for me to have a baby right now" - that would certainly end the conversation. To all of us out there too - lets just stop asking that loaded question..there are so many reasons out there why people may not chose, be able, or want to have another child - that isn't it best to just let people tell us if or when they want - than feel cornered in a quick chat at the supermarket.

Free picture collage made with Smilebox

Had a wonderful day this week teaching some very creative girls how to make a wallflag. It was very cool to see what each person came up with and so fun to be a civilised grown up for the day instead of a frantic noisy boy chaser/diplomat. Thank you girls for such a fun day!

Things I miss from home....

This weekend was a long weekend in Canada. We have had such a great time and really feel like we have had a break. I still did the Moss St Market on Saturday while the Noisy Boys stayed at home and it was a really good day. I also met lots of visiting Brits and recent immigrants which is always so nice (I moved to Canada from the UK 8 years ago). It is great to check in with people from home, sharing stories and wows abt things over here! There are some days in the year that I can get quite homesick - someone will have a party, a family member becomes ill, a friend has a child, my canadian friends are all at the grandparents, too many people have looked at me strangely when I have been speaking in the week or I just have an over-riding urge to meet my mates in the local pub and have a good natter (talk)! Facebook definitely helps a lot for me to feel connected to some of the day to day of people, but you do inevitably miss the normality of what was once "home". Then there are weekends like this when you sigh to yourself "I am living somewhere very close to paradise.

Brighton Beach on a long weekend in the UK

West Coast Canada on a long weekend!

A meeting and a cream tea!

Yesterday I had a visit/meeting with two friends of mine, to discuss a school creative pursuits program that is happening in September. I felt all inspired first thing in the morning and had the notion that the meeting had to have a serving of cream tea to be complete. I don't know if this is an english thing or not but for those of you who don't know a cream tea is basically pots of tea (keep them coming), whipped cream, yummy jam and scones. This was my first try at making scones (my nan would be so ashamed of me!) - but the little noisy boy even helped by adding half a cup of raisins and they were delicious! I had taken the boy out in the morning for a 2 hour swim so he was happy to hang out and even let his mum visit, share sewing ideas, and talk about our plans. It was all so civilised and wonderful! I of course later had to deal with poopy pants - a pee on the sofa - and a banged up nose - but for a few hours I felt quite the lady! The two friends I was meeting with have both played big parts in helping me along with my business - one has been there from the very beginning when I had been feeling quite a wreck from a string of icky past experiences - she helped me buy my first sewing machine here in Canada, patiently guided me through my first sewing pattern of a bag - and whooped in encouraging joy at the tea cosie I made for her. My complete supporter in the wings - who always asks me what I am working on, buys stocks at the plenty and tells me to put my big pants on when necessary!! I had never had a real mentor in my life before and it is amazing when you find one, the things they can help you achieve! The other friend I met at a really sad craft show I was at one Christmas nearly 5 years ago. It was one of those shows where you know you aren't in the right place - as people were going gaga over some doilies and weird shaped toilet roll covers - but then along comes this funky little chick who fell in love with my vintage fabric Christmas stockings and ordered 5 on the spot. As we chatted more with the order I found out she salvaged all this wonderful furniture and after getting to know her more have realised that there isn't really anything this lady can't do. She births goats on the fly, organises a farm, sews and designs fabulous things for kids / adults alike AND rummages for funky wares! Her house makes me go "ohhhhhhhh oooooooooo ahhhhhhhhhhhh" AND she has 3 kids! Over achieving ?? No - just capable! When you get days like this, amongst all the nonsense of everyday living it teaches me over and over to go with the flow of life - just because things may not happen as I have planned and fussed over - life has a way of putting you with all the right people on this weird journey of life and just sometimes you get the chance to see fates puzzle pieces fitting together - all over a cream tea!!

Prizes, Prizes

Just a reminder of a few giveaways on the go at the mo from My NOisy Boys Designs.

Simply Stylish Mom is offering a free wallflag - just tell her which flag you like and come and be a fan on My Noisy Boys facebook page. Draw will take place on Tuesday 26th July.


http://simplystylishmom.com/2011/07/19/tuesdays-giveaway-wall-flag-from-my-noisy-boys/

My Noisy Boys designs is also running a $30 voucher giveaway on it's facebook page. Simply post a picture that to you represents the theme "It doesn't get better than this" and become a fan to the page. Once we have reached 60 fans we will draw the lucky winners name.


https://www.facebook.com/MyNoisyBoys
Well that's it for today. It is ia daycare day - but instead of getting to play with paints and fabric I get to do my husbands books - yuck!

umm just to keep you updated

....so this was the noisy little boys plan!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QOLvINKrRE

I know he is being suspiciously quiet!

XX

Celebration of the Noisy Boys everywhere!

I am sooo sick of my moaning recently and have decided enough is enough! I needed to take a good hard look at myself today, because I have been so woe is me and that is such a boring place to choose! As of today I say enough Storie..enough with the gripes, the sighs, the moans, the groans, the yells, the tears .... it is time to just get down and dirty in celebration of my Noisy Little Boy. A little more of "Boys will be boys" might just get me through life a little easier than "what the frick are you doing now"? I had thought it was the age - but I have just overheard a conversation in the swimming pool dressing room that sounded exactly like a conversation that goes round and round in my head with a boy who was so clearly well into school age that I nearly cried. Sometimes I feel like such a social pariah .. the looks, the gasps, the twitches around me as the little guy melts down in the shops, grabs 400 items in one swift move, bangs all kinds of stuff from counters to ladies legs, finds buttons I never knew existed, darts for emergency exits, pulls hard on things that should be pushed, bends things that should be straight, lifts things that need to be low and pours water on stuff that needs to be dry. My guy seems to have so much energy, needs much less sleep than any other child I know and for some reason I have entered into this negative tone and wallowed my way to a place of poor me which is neither fair to the boy or us as a family. I discipline, I watched all the supernannies, I read all the books - I really do try to do the best I can - but sometimes I still feel so lacking as a parent. Well no more of that pity party, I have a BOY and what a sweet, huggy, hilarious, bright as a button, never a dull moment in the day little noisy boy he is. I am the lucky one and he does well to put up with the boring, socially uptight woman he calls his mum...what on earth is he going to do with her. In celebration of my noisy boy I would like to leave you with a picture of our trampoline that I spied just when I was leaving the house today - this is life with a little noisy boy - do not turn your head away for a minute as you will miss the performance of their life. I would love to hear any stories from people out there with noisy boys of their own - we could start up a group and take them all
out for tea for a laugh!!

I would like to introduce you to the newest member of the family......

Tonight I have been working on this little guy - who I had wanted to introduce to My Noisy Boys family a while ago, but you know how things go. Anyway a request from a customer for an owl spurred me tonight to get him done! I haven't tested him yet in print (which is always the most exciting part of this process for a new design) - but I am thinking he is looking mighty fine - and doesn't he know it! So I don't know if you guys all realised, but let me tell you there are very stringent tests performed on all prints - before any design is given the final approval. Yes sirreeeee!! I hold said item in front of My little Noisy Boy and say - "what is this?" If My Noisy Boy says "weird blobby thing" (my first dinosaur) then that design is out the window.....but if he says "mummy it is a train...giraffe....owl" then whooooo hoooooo welcome to the gang. I am happy to say Mr Owl passed with flying colours.

If you can't beat them ........

Bodum Covers everyone would cry when I first started making my tea cosies some 6 years ago (yikes - where has that time gone) - do you make Bodum Covers? I should've realised I was in the land of coffee drinkers, but just couldn't seem to get around to trying out a new pattern or finding anything that might work. Well today ladies and gentlemen Caroline Storie crumbled by making her very first Bodum cover and what a sweet little soul she is. Based on a sample from my customer I recreated her little Bodum Cover for her with a taste of the westcoast. It just threw me down memory lane today of my very first market experience here in Duncan when I sat there with all my tea cosies and everyone asked .... umm do you do Bodum Covers? I really should've listened to my people then - as 2 more people have asked for one already!

Mealtimes

Every once in a while- there is a combination of events that occur and lead me to that place of inedible meal.  I was never the cook of the house until I had my noisy boy - it was the talent of hubby in the kitchen or sandwiches.  Of course when I had the boy and was at home more, the role of cook fell cleanly in my lap, especially as my husband can work late during high seasons.  For a non-cook I think I have stepped up to the plate pretty well.  I was on some weird hormone high for the first 6 months of my boys life where during the peak of his fussy time (the witching hour) I would be found stressing over intense ingredient chopping for vegan recipes (I have no idea!!) or full on stuffed chicken roasts which I had never done before.  Sleep exhaustion caught up with me and the meals became a lot simpler and with practised organisation not bad.  I don't love it - but it's pretty ok, standard stuff.  Only once has hubby come home to enquire abt dinner and I have told him it is on Pg 184 of the recipe book and the ingredients are in the fridge.  Polite ... I know!  So - this leads me to yesterdays meal which I have to say was probably the most disgusting thing I have ever put before little noisy boy and myself - to which noisy boy looked at me and asked for cereal.  To which I looked down at my plate and said ... yeah me too! 

SO if you would like the recipe of my "Unedible Meal" pls follow instructions as below"



Take one stroppy little man who seems far too tired to go anywhere out in the real world (if said stroppy man is forced to co-operate mumma better be ready for the public shopping show down) and mix it in with a dash of "well I'm bloody tired too, we have no food in the house and now I have to make dinner". Hmmmm the meal is already smelling of bitterness and anger! yummy!

Now take 2 tins of anything hovering at the back of your cupboard.Try to make sure they are from the savoury section of tin food nourishment.  I used spicy refried beans and corn.

Then waste around 20 mins chopping some very sad looking vegetables from the selection left over from 2 weeks ago that you didn't get round to using.  My choice was weepy celery, cut off the green mould onion and a pepper.  There this has to be a meal - it has vegetables.

Chop and add Olives - you know your boy likes them and maybe he will eat the stuff stuck to it because he has to.

Drink a cider - yipppeeee you had one left in the fridge.

Heat and stir occasionally until you feel like it is gungey enough.

Serve and apologise!

Make mental note - that there is a reason for take out.

Anyone else have a good recipe to share?

I suck at crafts!

It is funny because I absolutely love what I do for My Noisy Boys Designs.  I love coming up with the designs, the colourways, the making of the products, the making of new patterns for other products, I even think I am really good at it - but man I suck at crafts!  Any group I am with or "evening" out arranged by friends or even myself, that involves any other type of crafting and mine will usually turn out quite the disaster.  We had to decorate glass vases as a gift for one group I was a member of and I couldn't believe the monster I had made - it was left sitting on the shelf in the "left overs - won't give to the grandmas unless we have to" box and I didn't blame them in the slightest.  There are some people out there who are just amazing at any art they turn their hand to - their cupcake, painting, card decoration, knitting, painted pot (Ms Kerri Anderson - you are most definitely one of those talents!!) - always looks so wonderful.  I think people assume I am one of those because I work with design - but they quickly realise that is not the case.  I just love to see the looks on their faces "..and what has Caroline done.....(I sit back to show the full wonder of my creation) ... oh pause.....oh...    pause ....oh ..... that  .....is  ...... sooooooooooooooo  ................ pause  ...........c...o...l....o..u..r....full  - or if you are one of my friends sitting next to me in the ceramics night I arranged one day - "and what the hell is that Caroline"!!  So if you are really wanting to get your teeth into something .....or start an etsy store, but you don't feel you are the "crafty" type - fear not.  It may mean you just haven't found your thing yet - try anything that appeals to you - if you love it - KEEP GOING.  You too will find your THING - but still be crappy at other crafts!

Ok so I only have one little boy

I feel such a fraud - My Noisy Boys Designs name came from looking over at both my husband and little boy playing together and exclaiming "You guys are soooo noisy ... I should call you my Noisy Boys".  Now I feel bad because as I have started to market my new business - local people say "Oh just out with the one today ... or oh this is your little boy - but you have lots more at home don't you".  I didn't intend for my business to suggest that I was the mumma of a brood of boys ... i quite meekly now say - no I just have the one - the other boy is my husband, but don't tell him!  Mothers with a brood of boys I have to say I salute you - boys are FUN, yes, beyond comprehension ....... but man mine is NOISY!