* Baby Elanor Rose *

So, I haven't been blogging for a while - and this little lady is the reason why!

Jon and I are very proud to announce the birth of Elanor Rose, born on 1st September, weighing 6.8 pounds in our bedroom at 10:11pm - after just 4 hours of established labour (she was in a hurry to arrive - and I was very happy to oblige!) We love her so much!

Here she is having just been born into the world.

On day 1, she met our families for the first time - it was a very special time for all of us.

We're learning lots as new parents - as you can see we're besotted...

...even if she does keep us awake at night!

More to come soon!

x*x*x

* Miffy & New Bibs *

The summer sun has inspired my baby bib making lately - I made this Birdie bib during my holiday in the South of France. The yellow of the sunflowers that were beginning to peep out in the vast sunflower fields (as well as Miffy's lovely yellow outfit) reminded me what a cheering colour bright yellow is - I'm sure baby will think the same!

Here is Miffy modelling the Birdie bib:

I also thought baby should have a funky set of bibs, so I'm embarking on making some bandanna style ones starting with this yellow 'starry' bib:I embroidered some little stars with faces on some yellow cotton...it seems to be a bit big for Miffy, but will hopefully fit baby when she arrives!

I'm storing all my bibs and other little makes for baby in this basket - you can see some beautiful red and white knitted booties at the front - courtesy of brother Drew's knit-tastic mum, Mary!
Hope the summer sun is inspiring you too in your crafty/creative makes.

x*x*x

* Baby Bib Making *

So I've begun make my baby items, starting with something fairly easy - little spittle bibs. I'm hoping to make at least five more, including a felt birdy, cherries, strawberries, and a special Bert bib!

* Mr. Apple *

* Lady Bunny *
* Cheery Pear *

x*x*x

* Making & Learning *

A busy bank holiday for me with lots of making and learning new things!

First, we visited some friends who are expecting their first baby and I had a go at making a 'Baby Bear face & hand towel' - here's how Benji Bear turned out:

I added a little label to explain what Benji Bear was (i.e. not a toy!):

And wrapped him up in tissue paper and was duly presented to the expectant parents:

I'm hoping to make a few of these little chaps for myself before little lady Bilbrough arrives!

Next, we had to say au revoir to a lovely family who are moving to Spain - I made each of them some felt 'Prayer Turtlies' - each turtle had a special prayer for every person in the family, from dad to baby...

...and could all be stacked up together, as a reminder they can support each other as a family:

I think everyone liked their gifts!

Husband Jon has been sharing his gift of music with me - I had promised myself that if I was blessed enough to become pregnant, I'd learn how to play the guitar so I could play lullabies and songs to our children.

I'm currently learning how to play one of Jon's very own lullabies, Elanor, a song about the last character in Toliken's The Lord of the Rings.

I'm coming along ok!

Hope you had a lovely bank holiday too!

x*x*x

* Some News & Birthday Gifting *

Sorry I've been a bit quiet recently - this has been due to a rather exciting event - becoming pregnant! Wow!

Needless to say, we are very excited (and a bit nervous!) All going well, baby should arrive early September...

Here baby is, showing mum and dad just how fast they can move their arms and legs (the scan helpfully points out where everything is, in case its a bit tricky to know what's what!):

Beautiful!

As a result, I have been suffering from nausea everyday for the past two months, but as this is settling down now, I've been able to start making things again - hooray! There have been many birthdays across February - here are some little things I have made recently for friends:

Baby Poppet the Owl


Fleur Bear

...and a special Bilbrough birthday card!

I'll hopefully be doing more stuff now - see you soon!

x*x*x