Craft: Celery flower stamping

Last week when I was cutting up the celery I noticed how the base of the bunch of celery looked like a flower, I don't know why I never noticed it before! So I thought I'd keep it for Cherub to do a little stamping and create some pretty flowers.

All you need is:
base end of a bunch of celery
water
paintbrushes
art paper
watercolour paints

Cherub loved applying the paint to the bottom of the celery then stamping it all over the paper

Cherub loved her black version the best!

I think they all look great, but my favourite would have to be this colourful version - it reminds me of those multi-coloured roses you can buy at the florist.

Tip: You could stamp the celery onto butcher's paper and make some beautiful wrapping paper.

Suitable age group: 2+ yrs
Estimated setup time: 5 mins
Messiness factor: low

Cherub's big girl room

This post is brought to you by Bright Star Kids

A few weeks ago, Cherub moved out of her cot/junior bed and into her 'big girls’ bed'. We are so pleased that she loves her big girls’ bed, we were really worried that when we got the bed off lay-by she wouldn’t let go of her cot. Thank goodness it was an easy transition.

The next step was to change her room from a baby’s room to a big girl’s bedroom. When Popette moved into her bed I made a big deal of it and revamped her room by changing her artwork and adding some nice wall stickers, so I wanted to do the same for Cherub.

Before Cherub was born, we decorated her room in a bird theme which she adores, so I wanted to add something to complement the existing wall stickers and artwork.

So when I was approached by Bright Star Kids asking me to review their products I jumped at the chance!

Bright Star Kids has a wonderful selection of products ranging from name labels, wall art, sticker decals, school bags, accessories, personalised clothing even labels for the home! There are items to suit every budget.

Creating a personalised sticker on their website is easy!

After a little searching on the website I came across a bird house sticker that I could personalise, which was perfect for her room. I also found some cute butterfly wall decals to add to Popette’s room.

The bird house is printed on a high quality fabric wall sticker that adheres to most wall surfaces. I found each sticker easy to peel off, although you need a little patience with the smallest pieces as they can be a little tricky.

The best thing I found was that they are removable, so if you position them wrongly, you can peel them off the wall and try again!

Cherub loves the sticker's vibrant colours

The sweet butterfly wall decals we ordered for Popette have livened up her room. Just like the sticker the wall decals are easy to peel and removable. With Popette helping me position them on the walls, it was handy to be able to move them around until we liked what we saw.

Popette loves her revamped room

I found both the bird house sticker and wall decals affordable, good quality, and will adhere to most smooth surfaces.

You can find more about Bright Star Kids by checking out their website or following them on Facebook.

I was sent products from Bright Star Kids in exchange for a review on this blog. All opinions are mine. No payment was received for this review.

*The photo's of the personalised sticker have been blurred a little so not to show Cherub's real name.

From little things big things grow

Sadly our baby days are well and truly over. A few weeks ago Cherub moved into her 'big girls bed' so since she no longer needs things like her cot, pram, trike, change table or port-a-cot I am now taking photos and either selling them online, or seeing which of my friends would like them.

I got a little misty-eyed last Friday as I donated some of their cot sheets and baby wraps along with some Size 2 girls clothes to our local Op shop. Hubby and I knew after we had Cherub that two children was enough, but there's always that yearning for more especially when you see friends with newborns.

Our recent beach holiday

My sweet little Cherub has gone from our preschooler to my 'big little girl' as I like to call her. She can do so many things for herself now and will proudly say to me "Mumma I'm a big girl". My reply is "Yes darlin' you're my big little girl".

She is such a funny little thing I often say to her "Hello monkey" and then get told quite seriously "I'm not a monkey, I'm 'name'". 

Cherub loves to ride her bike especially when we are taking Popette to school. The bike has taken over from the pram which is now too small for her. Over the past few weeks she's moved from her cot to her 'big girls bed', as well as being fully toilet-trained which took a while. She's very excited to wear her big girls undies and be out of nappies (hooray!!!)

Cherub in her 'big girls bed'

Over the past 18 months Cherub has been seeing various specialists for her speech and gross motor issues. It feels like we are always travelling to see someone. A couple weeks ago we saw a neurosurgeon as Cherub's pediatrician was worried with her slow progress. In a few months time she needs to get an MRI which I'm not too thrilled about. I'm hoping she's just a little slower than most 3 year olds and will get there in her own time.

Since starting preschool I can see how much she has already improved in climbing things like obstacles and listening to her speak. Its exciting to see her be able to do something for herself, and hear her excited little voice say "Mumma I did it, I did it!" All the exercises and homework we were given seems to be finally paying off!

Popette has really grown up over the past six months. She's my big 6 year old. She is into everything at the moment. She still loves drawing, painting and craft, but has now added writing books and music to her list.

She told me yesterday that when she grows up, she wants to "learn how to cook everything" (adding to an already long list of professions including teacher, ice cream shop owner, magician, vet, and zoo keeper!)

She loves helping out in the kitchen. On the weekend she helped my husband make Tomato soup from scratch, which was delicious.

At the beginning of the year, Popette started ballet lessons. Lately I've been worried that keyboard lessons, ballet and the swimming lessons on the weekend might be too much for her. Of course she insists its not and loves it. Her long legs and petite body certainly suit ballet.

My little ballerina looking gorgeous in her costume!

Popette's so tall (up to my armpits!) for a 6 year old. I'm 5"4 so she is one of the tallest in her class. I really miss that sweet toddler/preschooler who used to say to me "Mumma can we make something special?" and who would sit with me at the table making craft. While we still love to create or paint together, sadly its not that often.

Words really can't explain how very proud I am of our girls.

Taking the plunge

Following my passion is something I have been dreaming of for so long, but the thought of chasing it scares me. For a while now I've been thinking about whether I could make a career out of creating drawings and illustrations.

Ever since I was young I have loved to draw, but I never thought I would be able to do it as a career and make money from it.

I am a little critical of my work. I never think its that good. At playgroup the other day I showed some Mums a photo I posted on Instagram of some shells I had drawn. One Mum didn't realise it was a drawing at first.

A quick drawing of shells the girls and I collected on our holiday at the beach. Linking up to @innercompassdesigns The Creativity Tree linkup #shells #focusonmyart #thecreativitytree

A photo posted by Julie M (@off_to_the_park) on Apr 30, 2015 at 10:17pm PDT

If I think back to when I was 14, I wanted to be an artist. When I left high school I studied a Fine Arts course at college in the hope to become an artist. But as I didn't have much encouragement from my parents (my Mum tried bless her) I also took on a Office Studies course at the same time, which I could 'fall back on'.

After college, I worked in various secretarial roles moving my way up from Junior clerk to an Executive PA over 9 years. It was in my last role that I realised I still enjoyed being creative, so decided to leave for a career change.

For the next 9 years I worked in roles where I provided desktop publishing and graphic design work (although I never had formal training in graphic design), web content management and development, technical writing including producing PowerPoint presentations. While I was getting something creative out of these jobs, it wasn't what made me truly happy.

While raising our girls I have been on a "career hiatus", now that Popette is in Year 1 and Cherub is at Preschool two days a week I'm thinking of returning to the workforce. After six and a half years of being home with my two sweet girls I don't want to just return to 'any job'. I want it to be 'the job'. I want it to be a job that makes me happy. I'd hate it if I was sitting at a desk being miserable all day and wishing I was at home with Cherub.

So now I need to decide whether to take the plunge and see if I can make some money out of my art. If I don't do it I know I will always wonder if I could have made a go at it.

Have you ever taken the plunge into the unknown? How did it work out for you?