The Janelle Wind Collection

Just because...

Yesterday my friend Kim Archer shared some links on her blog to some free downloadable photoshop actions. I am always on the lookout for fun ways to edit my photos, so I popped onto 'The Coffee Shop' blog and chose a few to have a play with.

It has been a while since I shared some 'proper' photos of my kids too, so I thought I would share some photos that have been edited with some of the vintagy actions from 'The Coffee Shop' blog.

Here's my boy, looking more and more grown up every day.

And my 'almost' teenager Emily, who had a more grown up hair cut today. We all love it!!

If you would like to have a play with some of these actions, visit 'The Coffee Shop' blog for a look and a play. They are very easy to use and a whole lot of fun too. x Janelle

Hello...

Remember me? I am still here, promise.

I am missing you all and wishing I had more time to blog.

This week we have been shifting my parents (and packing up my lovely 2 bedroom studio = sad face). So once again 'life' has stepped in and there is no time for stitching (just yet). We are hoping to be finished with ALL the moving by tomorrow afternoon, then next week it is full steam ahead into pattern writing, releasing and stitching. I just can't wait for some 'normalness' (made up word I think) to return to my life. Thank you for being patient with me through all of this shifting! It was never planned for it all to happen at the same time, but life doesn't always go according to plan I am afraid.

Sunday afternoon I took a little break to do a photoshoot for Emily and her lovely friend Emily (yes they share the same name) who has just moved in next door to us. We are SO blessed that both Emily and Jasper have lovely friends move in next door, which equals lots of playing outside in our big yard and cubby which equals a happy Mummy :-)

So I thought I would share some of the photos with you. The girls wanted photos taken with Emily's (our Emily) Blythe dolls and the other Emily (confusing hey!) hopes to get her own soon. Anyway, we had lots of fun and I enjoyed a break from unpacking, packing and shifting too.

I hope you enjoyed a little look at our fun photoshoot. Back to helping my parents for me, but I promise to share some stitching with you next week... x Janelle 

Happy heart photos...

After a HUGE few weeks of packing, painting and moving, I decided to take a little break today and catch my breath. I thought I would share a few photos of things that are bringing some happiness into my day - just little things, but things that make me smile...

Firstly, one of the book cases in my sewing room, is stacked full of pretty fabric. This definitely makes me smile...

 

I have finally put my favourite lamp on display in our 'new' lounge room and every time I look at it, it brings a smile to my face and makes my heart happy.

Yesterday I purchased some lovely fabric lined baskets to help with storage in our little house. I LOVE storage containers and these were so affordable and are perfect for what I need.

And finally, while shopping yesterday, I found some new RED shoes (the iphone app makes them not look so red but trust me, they are the yummiest red). New shoes, and red shoes make me very happy! And what's better, they were only $13. Thank you Target!!

What's making your heart happy today?

Is it something little or big?

I would love to hear... xx Janelle

It's a wrap...

Today being the 1st of July marks the end of my Snapshots of June photo taking. I must admit I will miss taking a photo each day and sharing a bit more about my every day life. A HUGE thank you to those who played along. I hope you enjoyed looking for your little bit of 'happy' to photograph each day too.

So to wrap things up, here are the last two photos from June to share...

June 29...

Tuesday afternoon Jasper was invited along to a special group organ lesson where a training organ teacher from Vic came and shared all about improvisation. I got to listen in and it was really fascinating. Makes me wish my 7 years of piano lessons had actually worked. After the group lesson, Jasper was given a private lesson and I was beaming with pride and the lovely comments both teachers gave Jasper. We are all very proud of him.

June 30...

I am diving back into stitching some new patterns and spent a good part of yesterday afternoon playing with fabric. And this gorgeous bundle arrived yesterday morning - aren't these colours just beautiful! I am SO glad I get to play with beautiful colours almost every day. Now that is a huge blessing too.

To mark the end of 'Snapshots of June', I think it would be the perfect time for a giveaway. So pop back VERY soon if you would like to be in the running to win a copy of my book, 'Pieces of Me'. Back soon x Janelle

A little decorating and a BIG award...

Just sharing some more snapshots from my every day life...

June 22...

This is a photo that Emily snapped with my phone while I was running through the rain to check my mail. It sums up how we were feeling - cold and miserable but super grateful for the warm car to keep us warm and dry.

June 23...

This is the little yellow desk that Emily and I spotted at the vintage store on Sunday - we both loved it but had to convince Daddy that we NEEDED it. My beautiful parents headed back to the store for us and picked it up. Here it is sitting in their garage waiting for a BIG clean and for us to breath life back into it.

June 24 (today)...   

Emily has been feeling under the weather so today we took things easy. After MUCH scrubbing and scraping we managed to get the stickyness off the top of her new desk and Emily took great delight in setting it up in her room. I even gave her one of my red chairs to use - her smile was SUPER wide, and I think it looks fantastic.

 

Earlier today, Emily had me close my eyes while she gave something to me. I was a little nervous as I didn't know what she had in mind, but when I opened my eyes, I had a HUGE mummy smile. My sweet girl had made a badge for me that said "Best Mum Ever". Now I am FAR from the best mum ever and make mistakes daily BUT it warmed my heart to have such a thoughtful gift made for me. It was the BEST award ever...

Tomorrow I am diving into another stitched project - something I can share more about soon, so I will back with more snapshots of my June to share soon. xx Janelle

Today...

Some days, the sunset is a welcome sight. Today was one of those days. I LOVE a sunset...

A fish or two and an afternoon picnic...

The last few days have seen me chained once again to my sewing machine stitching more 'secret squirrel' projects. Sadly I am unable to share just yet but as soon as I get the go ahead, I will be back to reveal it all to you.

While I was sitting stitching, I missed out on my families first fishing outing. My poor hubby had never used a fishing reel before, so he and the kids had a little fish near the waters edge. Jasper actually caught two fish that he proudly brought home in a bowl - wanting to keep them as pets. After many tears I convinced him that they needed to go back to their families as they were too little too eat (and they did not look like the eating kind of fish).  They did have fun though and I plan on heading out and showing them how to use a reel sometime soon.

As a little reward for being so brave and saying goodbye to his two 'pet' fish that he caught, my hubby bought Jasper two fish that are much more suited to being pets. So now we have peppermint and Fudge residing in Jasper's room. Just a few more to add to our menagerie.

(Photo's courtesy of Emily)

Late Sunday afternoon I finished one major part of this latest stitching project, so I  managed to take a little reward and have a break to 'play' with Emily. She has been quite keen for a while for me to take some photos of her having a 'picnic' with her Blythe doll. I was just so thrilled with the beautiful afternoon sun peeking through the autumn leaves on the trees in our yard that I happily spent time photographing Emily and Grace enjoying their picnic. It was SO lovely to be outside enjoying this lovely weather before the cold creeps in too!

 

NOW, please sit down for this next statement lol. I am HOPING to have a brand new pattern ready to release by next week sometime. SO no secret squirrels or secrets with this one for too long at all. I can't WAIT to be able to share it with you VERY soon...

Thanks for sharing a little of our weekend with me, I hope you were enjoying some lovely weather in your little corner of the world too. x Janelle

Photo shoot share...

You might remember this photo of Emily from last year...

Well I don't know if I shared with you that I entered it into an art competition at the childrens school and won! My prize was a free family photo shoot with MGA Occasions. After a little trouble with the weather, we were so excited to be able to have our photo shoot last Sunday afternoon.

We had a wonderful afternoon having our photos taken by the very talented Bec. She made us all feel very relaxed, and spent so much time taking our photos. We went to three different locations and Bec made sure she took all sorts of different combinations of photos of us together too.

We were VERY excited this afternoon to see some photos from our shoot pop up on Bec's Blog. With her permission, I can share one with you here. To see more, head on over and take a look - just click on each photo to see it larger.

(click on this photo to see it bigger)

If you are looking for some photos of your family, I would highly recommend Bec. Her relaxed and casual manner made us all relax and enjoy our afternoon and her photos are beautiful. We can't wait to see more. The only problem will be choosing which ones to buy!

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Onto the topic of my book - I am SO excited to share that I am handing it over to the Graphic Artists on Monday - YIPEEE!!!! Be listening for my screams of joy when I see the first draft too - I just CAN'T wait!! I hope to share more details of my book with you soon. Promise x Janelle

Squeals of delight...

Did you hear my squeals of delight this past weekend when I finished my second last book project? I felt sure you must have - as I was VERY excited! I am now working on my very last project for me book and I am getting more excited by the minute. I can't WAIT to reveal more to you. And my family want their Mum/wife back too (just quietly).

Since I am now so close to finishing the stitching part of my book projects, I decided it was time to start photography, so yesterday afternoon we loaded props and some of my projects into the car and headed off on a location shoot. I had my driver (ie. lookout for cars when I am standing in the middle of the road man) and trusty little advisor/ideas girl/model with me. (Jasper was at a play date).

It was hot, and I was anxious to capture everything in the best way that I could, not only so it would look good but also give you lots of close ups to make completing each project easier. But even in the heat, I had a fabulous time and came home with almost 150 photos on my camera. I was SO very thrilled with the result. Here are some shots on location of my number one model - minus the projects of course as I still need to keep them a secret just a little longer.

While we were out and about, we might have stopped here too. I love this little old country Church...

After a very successful afternoon of photography for my book, I was excited and ready for today when my very good friend Kim Archer came over for a few hours so we could work some more on my book photos. We had a wonderfully busy morning, searching the house for just the right props and taking almost 200 photos! Here is just one corner of a favourite of mine from today.

So as we head into another busy week with schooling with the kids and my regular classes, spare a thought for me as I am in lockdown at night working on the last stitches and patterns for my book. There really are lots of 'Pieces of me' in this book. I can't WAIT to share it with you. I am getting closer... x Janelle

P.S. Giveaway time VERY soon...

Life is a Celebration...

How are you going with your first blocks for the Homespun BOM, 'Life is a Celebration'? With this block of the month now well underway, I am enjoying imagining many of you sitting at home making my block. It really does bring me so much joy. I have had some lovely emails from some of you who have finished my block already - so please do email me if you would like to share your block. I would LOVE to see some photos of your finished blocks.

Last week I was interviewed for the Homespun blog and happily shared my thoughts and tips too. If you would like to read a little more about me and see my inverview, pop over here for a look see.

And as no post is complete without a photo, so here are some self portraits that my gorgeous girl took of herself the other day. I love that she loves photography too. Back soon xx