The Janelle Wind Collection

Review - Tied with a Ribbon

Recently Emily and I were sent a gorgeous kit from the lovely Jemima of 'Tied with a Ribbon'. Jemima runs her own fabric creations business, specialising in kits for kids (or the beginning stitcher) and asked us to review her pattern for her. We were beyond thrilled to have a play with Jemima's kit, called Bouncing Bunnies'.

As you can see, Emily was SUPER excited to have a stitch - all by herself.

I decided that I would let Emily have a play all by herself with the kit, to see how achievable it was for a 12 year old. I was SO thrilled to see that Emily was able to follow Jemima's fantastic instructions, that had easy to follow diagrams and great instructions, perfect for the beginning sewer.

Emily sat quietly on her bed, asking no questions as everything was so easy to follow, and produced her very own bunny.

Emily's bunny now hangs proudly on our Christmas tree, and we all love it!! And as a Mum, I love that Emily was able to create something all by herself, without any stress or having to ask for help - because she wants to stitch independently so very much! Emily went on to make another bunny for a special friend and there is enough left in the kit to make a third bunny too - such a fantastic kit! Thank you SO much Jemima.

So if you are looking for something special for your little stitcher, why not check out Jemima's etsy store where she sells her beautiful kits. I can definitely recommend them and I am sure we will be back for more kits in the future too. Take a look HERE at Jemima's blog and HERE to read Emily's review of the pattern and kit too.

I will be back soon to share more of our Christmas preparations. I have been busily stitching up to 18 hours a day making Christmas gifts so I will share pics of the goodies I have been making soon. Hope your preparations are going well and you are feeling ready for Christmas. xx Janelle

No power...

On Sunday we had a scheduled power outage in our neighborhood for 8 hours. At first we really couldn't decide what to do with ourselves as so much of what we do depends on electricity.

After a yummy (special treat for the kids) breakfast at McDonalds, we headed home to decide what to do with our day. I must confess that there was a calming quiet not only through our home but the neighborhood as well. No one was even mowing their lawns, it was just quiet and peaceful.

We spent many hours outside, Emily working some more on her art journal (that she is absolutely loving) and hubby working in the garden. I just enjoyed sitting and chatting in the sunshine inbetween working on some inside tidying with Jasper.

After lunch I even indulged in a little reading of 'Elm Creek Quilts' and I might have even had a little nanna nap on the couch. Something that just never happens around here.

The kids were VERY excited when the power came back on but I was a little sad - I really did enjoy the quiet without power, no computer, no machines, no noise. I definitely think we will have some more 'no power' days in our family for sure.

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Thank you ALL so very much for sharing the excitement about my book. I can't give an exact release date just yet but will be sure to tell you as soon as I hear. I am certain it will only be a matter of weeks now.

I  have several shops ready to start taking pre-orders, so as soon as I have all the information to them, I will post some links here. If you are a shop or stockist of my patterns and would like to take pre-orders for my book too, please email me and I will be sure to add you on the list.

This really is SO very exciting and I can't WAIT to reveal all and show you pages from my very own book. xx Janelle

Remember me?

I am still here, promise. I have missed you all. Here is a little run down of what has been happening in my little corner of the world lately.

We are into our second week of school holidays here and it has been hard to get on the computer. My daughter Emily has taken a HUGE shine to blogging, and has been spending lots of time taking and editing photos, making movies and even tutorials for her blog. If you want to see what she has been up to, feel free to pop over to her blog and take a look.

Last week I was totally surprised to receive the most beautiful gift in the mail from my wonderful friend Mardi. She sent me a gorgeous print by Kate Mason, a stunning rose necklace, a handmade card and some scrapbooking flowers. It absolutely made my week and I love them all so much. Thank you Mardi for spoiling me and being such a wonderful friend.

I have been doing quite a bit of stitching, most of which is sadly still secret squirrel. I have also had my first play with Cosmo threads and I have to say that I LOVE them, they are so smooth, silky and beautiful to work with. You wont have long to wait to see what I have made with them, as I hope to reveal this secret squirrel next week.

And here is a little sneak peek at part of my new secret squirrel - all will be revealed next week...

I have also been doing a TINY bit of scrapping. You see, I feel a little like I have forgotten how to scrapbook, so decided to sign up for an online scrapbook art journal class, called 'Tell your story'. It is a collaborative class being rung by Elsie Flannigan and Rachel Denbow. And here are the introduction pages for my art journal - I think I am really going to embrace this free style of scrapping and have some fun!

Our house has been taken over by Blythe fever, with Emily and her Blythe doll being everywhere. Here is a favourite photo of Emily's doll Grace, that Emily took and edited herself. This is my beautiful boy Bella, sitting next to Grace - too cute!

I have also been helping Emily with some knitting too, and she happily knitted away for a few days to make a blanket for her beloved doll.

There has been LOTS more happening here, but lots I can't share just yet (sorry). I am VERY happy to say that the Graphic Design for my book is coming along nicely and I am almost bursting to share it with you. Hopefully it will be off to print very soon.

I hope all is well in your little corner of the world... x Janelle