Dollies

I thought that today I would share with you some of the latest additions to the Nanny Kate family that are now in the hot little hands of the lovely ladies over at Purely4Kids
Please go and check out this fabby new website that 3 very lovely and very funky mamas have put together. I am sure you will find something that tickles your fancy.

xx manda

More clouds

I promised these a while back, and here they are. Some more clouds, these ones have little coloured satin ribbons coming from them, and I must say, I quite like them. What do you think?
The first image is of brooches, and the second is of a hair-clip, which after the photo, my daughter didn't want to take out of her hair...It has 'little one' approval, that must be a good thing.

xx manda

A cloudy day

These are the latest creations for Nanny Kate. They are the first two, so stay tuned for the following clouds...

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

manda

Anyone for a cuppa?

Hello there, I hope you have all been having a lovely weekend. Today saw us celebrating our daughters 3rd birthday, with a party at home. It was an all girl occasion, except for daddy and big brother, who were both a great help, particularly big brother who was in charge of "Oli's Lollies", a little lolly shop we set-up so that the guests could make a selection of their favourites to go into their lolly bags, which our son then got to spoon into the lolly-pink lolly bags. Needless to say, he relished his role and was fantastic at it too. (Thanks buddy...you really are a "super-dooper-helper-trooper")

I thought I would share one of my favourites with you today. These little ones are called "tea-for-two"..they come as two fun tea bags and two yummy bikkies. I have lots of fun doing these, even though they are very time consuming, (every little hundred and thousand is hand sewn on) but I still love the look on peoples faces at my market stall when they see them, it makes all the hand stitching worthwhile! Enjoy!

Take-away treats...

that is the title of these little lovelies. Take-away treats of a healthy kind that is.
They are just another little addition to the felt playfood I have been making.
I must say, I absolutely love making the apples, they just look super yummy!
And they are a lot of fun to make.
I sell them in a set of one apple (colour of your choice), two small strawberries, and one carrot, topped off in a little take-away container. Hopefully it might encourage your little one to desire more healthy treats...well a mum can dream can't she?

Feel free to email me if you are interested in purchasing a container of
"take-away treats"

xx manda

This one is for you Ailsa...and all the others!

Hello Ailsa and everybody else that has been missing me! Firstly I must apologise for my total lack of blogging in well... too many months to mention really :(

Life in "Nanny Kate and family land" has been pretty busy and also very fun. To be honest, I have been enjoying life so very much lately, that Nanny Kate Design has fallen by the wayside a bit. But as always, I have been creating lots of different things, just not necessarily Nanny Kate things. Card making has taken my world by storm,(am thinking I should actually start a bit of a side blog with all my other creations? Let me know what you think. xx)

And my lovely group of friends, both school and pre-school mums have become a constant source of laughter, support and love. Love you girls! XXX. Actually...the school mums and I are heading out tonight for a ladies/sassy mums dinner tonight, and I know that each and everyone of us is looking forward to it greatly. And then this Saturday night sees me hosting a "ladies night" at my place for my pre-school friends, another group of yummy mummies. They are such a lovely group of ladies all of whome I love very much. We have such a fun time sharing with each other, whether it be a favourite recipe, a walk, a zumba class or just a chuckle, we love spending time together.

And just over a week ago our family joined in celebrating my hubby's gorgeous and very lovely...did I mention gorgeous! little sister's wedding. It was such a beautiful day here in Sydney and the happy couple were just so...well happy! You just couldn't wipe the smile off their faces if you tried. They both absolutely shone on the day and a great time was had by all, including my two little people.
We also really enjoyed having so many family members come over from New Zealand and New York.

So here are a few pics for you all.

My baby girl...so very pretty

My boy and I

Daddy's girl

Thanks for stopping by...and let me make a promise to you all...I promise to return to blog again in the next 48 hours! Yes that is right...believe it or not!

xx manda

M.I.A...and felt playfood

Firstly I would like to say sorry for being M.I.A for so long. I don't even have a decent excuse...just that the life of a wife, funky mama and happy (if not slightly obsessive) crafter takes over at times. But I am back, and wanted to share with you my latest creations. Those of you who have visited me at Glenbrook Markets would have seen them, but for the rest of you...this is what I have been having lots of fun with lately! ....Felt playfood!!!










I have really enjoyed labouring over these. The strawberries look almost edible, the donuts look like you could just pick them up and give them a quick bite...and the cupcakes...well let's just say that I still haven't exhausted all the combinations that are possible. (I even think of flavours they could be...like honey spice cake with lemon frosting...yum!)

fabric baskets

Hello everyone! I send my apologies for it being so long since I last added a post. I have been working on these new fabric baskets and having a lot of fun in the process. They will be coming along with me to the next Glenbrook market, Saturday 19th June, where I am hoping they will find some happy homes to go to.

Fabric baskets....you might just say...what could you do with those...well as every good woman knows...store stuff in them!

The first one I made is now in my little girls room and holds all of her 'sparkles' (necklaces and bangles and bits), and I should probably make her a smaller one for her collection of hair clips....which of course, mummy makes for her too.

Until next time..

xx manda

broooch-a-rama!

Here I am again, this time with some actual finished pieces!
I have had so much fun making these brooches. They are made out of felt and vintage buttons, and anyone who knows me knows that I can't resist a bit of felt and a vintage button or two, throw in a bit of stitching and I am in handmade heaven!
But these colourful adornments wouldn't have been possible without the help of a dear friend of mine, Juliette, who has inspired me with her papercraft creations and very kindly lent me her super-dooper die to allow me to cut these fabby flower shapes. (Thanks Juliette, one of these has your name on it, you just choose. xx)
These little creations have kept me busy for the last few days, as I have had no voice due to laryngitis, so here I am, resting and creating...not a bad combination if I do say so myself.
I will be taking them to the next Glenbrook Markets, but if anyone wants one before then, just let me know.

xx Manda

Glenbrook Market

Today should have been the day that Emma and I headed to our regular date at Glenbrook Markets (in the beautiful Blue Mountains), but unfortunatley we have both been sick with the dreaded lurgy. And it has been extra lucky that I didn't go today, as I have lost my voice...so yes, I think Sean is feeling a little more at peace with the world today.

On that note, I wanted to share with you all a little snap that my wonderful hubby took of my market table back in March, things have changed a little since then, and there is always new things to be seen there...as you all know...I really just can't help myself!

xx Manda

urchin stack

I know that this is technically not a Nanny Kate thing, but I just couldn't resist this.
I love sea urchin shells that have been washed up on the beach and these ones came from my favourite, Culburra Beach (a hidden gem) I have them just sitting in a little group displayed on a tray in my entrance hall. Yesterday afternoon I came in and saw them stacked up just like this...I didn't necessarily have to ask, but I did anyway...they are the result of my gorgeous boy, Jack, and I just had to take a snap. Hope you like them too.

xx Manda

my muse

Welcome to the world of Nanny Kate Design

Welcome and thanks for coming to see us...as this is my very first blog post, (please go easy with me!) I wanted to let you know a little bit about the passion behind Nanny Kate Design....well it all came about just over six months ago...when my beautiful daughter Olivia (then aged around 18 months) was carrying my handbags around with her...I set forth in the hope of finding a fun and funky handbag for a little girl, to no avail...so out came the sewing machine and the "little sister" bag was born, followed by a "big sister" bag, and then the "funky mama" bag (thanks to the prompting of my very talented and fun market buddy, Emma Donlevy)

As they say...the rest is history, and a lot of it is still in the making.

I am really one of those people who just can't stop making things! And I know that there are others of you out there that have been bitten by the making bug...so I hope you enjoy the first efforts at creating a blog and come along with me for the journey...wherever it may take us.

xx Manda