Blogging Hiatus...

EEKK! I know it's been a long time since I last blogged, but really I didn't think it had been this long... what can I say? where to start on my blogging absence?!?! to be honest at first I just told myself it would be a short summer blogging break of sorts... using the time I normally spent blogging enjoying the outdoors with my toddler and getting some long awaited projects out of the way... but if you've been following then you know well um, one month just led to another and then another.... shame shame on me!

Well I do have one fairly good excuse though... I haven't been entirely idle... I've been really busy BAKING! me being the oven! Baby number two is on the way! due any day now actually. Since this is after all a mommy blog please bare with me and allow me a short kvetch fest. Before conceiving my daughter, precious little L (can't really call her baby L anymore...she's grown so much! we celebrated her second birthday back in November...) I promised myself that I would be the perfect, fit, glowing, happy and glorious picture of pregnant bliss if there ever was such a thing, reading copies of fit pregnancy mag and the like and imagining how perfect it would all be! REALITY CHECK oh the disappointment!! turns out I make a miserable pregnant person! with lists of complaints longer than the "what to expect when you're expecting" books I halfheartedly flip through. Morning sickness is a bad joke! if only! I seem to be one of those "special" people who suffer from all day, all nine months long sickness! head hung over the toilet bowl really is no way to spend almost a year out of your life! to further excite things throw in a pelvic disorder decreasing mobility to a stand still, spells of dizziness resulting in blackouts, acid reflux, gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, and eventually a diagnosis of Preeclampsia resulting in an induction at 38 weeks! hardly the picture of pregnant bliss! I know I KNOW! many women have it much worse, enduring horrible procedures just to conceive a child and really what's important is the happy end! I'm very grateful to have a beautiful little girl whom is my pride and joy and object of my complete adoration! but heck it's would be nice if it were just a tad more pleasant!

Now after all that one would assume that I'd learned my lesson and had lost my "innocence", well nope not me... must also suffer from some sort of pregnancy induced naivete as I totally bought into the "each pregnancy is different" lore that floods prenatal books, blogs and forums... truly believing that THIS time would be different. YEAH RIGHT! at least the end is near.. at least I hope so! entering my 40th week the whole notion of waiting is totally foreign to me and I must admit quite frustrating, my nesting instinct kicked in a few weeks ago and I've torn through our house from top to bottom, cleaning, organizing, purging, DIYing, decorating, laundering, painting, gardening you name it! I've gotten more exercise this month then in the previous 8 months combined! but our little "babes" (that's little buns nickname...) has yet to arrive! now trying to maintain everything I've accomplished with a toddler and a husband loose in the house is no easy task and I've taken to avoiding phone calls, if I get one more "is anything happening? nu nu?" call I'll scream! there isn't anyone in the world who wishes I'd deliver already more than me!! with many a false call I may now be runing for longsest stalled labour ever! and I'm getting tired, and bored... and tired of being tired and bored and not sleeping is taking it's toll, and I want to sleep on my right side never mind my stomach and it would be nice not to have to contort like a pretzel to manicure my feet! mind you my obsession with having my feet in tip top shape is totally lost on dear hubby who shrugs it off with a "who's going to be looking at your FEET anyway...." arghh!! he just doesn't get it! my bags are packed, nursery and nest are feathered and ready now all we need is for the good old stork to drop on by! Hello babes, this is your mother speaking, can you hear me? is this thing on? time to come out!

Etsy treasure spotlight - Kooky Dolls

I first stumbled on to Lola bee's shop while decorating my daughters nursery. I wanted her to have soft cloth dolls not necessarily linked to "proper" anatomy and was immediately attracted to the bright, colourful and quirky, Kooky Dolls. It took me awhile to decide on the kooky doll of choice, honestly I wanted at least two! I still have hopes of owning another mini Kooky to go along with our Colleen...

Colleen the Kooky


Colleen the Kooky looking cozy on our "Etsy" chair...

We eventually chose Colleen the Kooky in a lovely pink and red floral pattern with red Swiss polka dotted legs. My Daughter has been fascinated by Polka dots practically from birth so that was a no brainer. Colleen was such a lovely addition to our nursery and I was so impressed with the quality and craftsmanship that I ordered an Emma the Kooky for a friends daughter as well.

Emma the Kooky

Kooky dolls are the brainchild of artist Val Rousseau and are available in the most delicious fabrics and stuffed with Eco friendly corn based fiberfill. Unlike many doll creators your little boy won't be neglected, Kooky dolls cater to both kooky girls and kooky boys and come in full size as well as mini and as a major plus Kooky dolls are available in 3 different skin tones.

Hurry and you might catch super Kooky while he's on sale!

Val is in the process of phasing over to her new shop Kooky Dolls where you can purchase from a wide range of dolls, and DIY patterns. If you're looking for a sweet little gift for your own little precious or need a gift for another special little person you can't go wrong with a kooky doll, they're irresistibly sweet while being toted along by the "ear"!

Pirate Kooky aarr...

Mini Zoe Kooky

Charley Harper

I just love Charley Harper's illustrations and was thrilled when his toddler board books Charley Harper's A,B,C's and Charley Harper's 1,2,3's came out. What a wonderful way to introduce his art and these most basic concepts to my daughter. There's always a catch though... I first spotted the collection being sold online via Old Navy, only problem old navy does NOT ship internationally but even more annoying is that they won't even except international credit cards, so even if I wanted to ship to relatives in the US that option was out... I then desperately searched ebay and came up with nothing! while I love ebay and for the most part have only had good experiences, I mean I totally rely on it to get my fix of all things North American... the sellers had some of the stuff but the prices were jacked up to almost double retail! and that just made me mad... I'd basically given up on acquiring any of Harper's items, at least for the time being.

But then our luck changed! As it's summer A.K.A. Wedding season here in Israel we've already been busy attending weddings. My husband's cousin got married two weeks ago and we had some relatives from the U.K. fly in for the occasion and a visit. They had the opportunity to meet our daughter for the first time and were kind enough to leave her a little MAD Money before their departure. Books are always well received in our home so I thought I'd flip through my Book Depository wish list and see if we can get some new titles. I'm not entirely sure how I stumbled on to it but low and behold they sell Charley Harper! they've got both books that I covet and the Charley Harper peg puzzle!! oh happy day! it never cease to amaze dear hubby the things that make me giddy... go figure?!

Anyway The Book Depository carries an entire line of Charley Harper products complete with their amazing worldwide free shipping! what glee! they have the memory game and the most awesome set of Harper illustrated wooden blocks that have got me swooning.... unfortunately these are not currently in stock but I'm on a waiting list for when they are, and you bet I'll be their first customer! for now the books and puzzle will have to tame the beast...



*Warning* Mommy gloating ahead! As a side note my toddler took up painting this week and even learned to say "Artist" which she articulated perfectly so it seems very apropos to start her Art education with examples by such a great American Artist...

Making Rounds...

Was thrilled to pop into ohdeedoh today to spot something really familiar, my Ikea Latt Table hack! If you haven't already done so check out the original post A table for two! this is really getting around!

A ballerina in tulle land...

My Daughter is obsessed with ballerinas! It's hard to pin point exactly how and when this obsession started but I fear it has something to do with as innocent an image as three ballerinas representing the number three in a DK publishing Counting and Numbers book I bought her as an infant. If you ask me I'll tell you earnestly that it was never my intention to push the gender specific, stereotypical pink frilly tutu confections and all that comes with them. Long ago though, I vowed that I'd be sensitive to my children's strengths and interests and do my best to support those interests. I know that much of what we associate with gender is acquired through socialization but honestly biology must play a fair share in it too! At only 18 months old my daughters first requests each morning are usually "necklic" (her version of necklace...) I let her wear a strand of my fake pearls... otherwise she'll find her way into my jewelery box and choose something herself... That request is usually followed by "tutu"! now to be honest we didn't own a tutu a couple months ago, she'd improvise with a scrap of shimmery purple material I had lying around in the sewing room!

I guess I am guilty on some counts though, it's hard not to ooh and ahh when your little princess is twirling around and around and attempting to do pirouettes and curtsies. My husband, myself and other family members lavish her with attention in return for her little performances...

Materials; two 25 yrd rolls of tulle in Lavender and Lt. blue, some elastic, scissors, and a measuring tape.

20 minutes into the project... I was very anxious to get tying so I didn't cut all the tulle to start... was definitely irritating to have to stop and cut more tulle once I got the hang of it... next time I'll be prepared!

To help make my little ballerinas dreams come true I decided it was time to whip up a tutu for her. I searched the web for tutu tutorials and watched a couple demos on youtube. Then decided to do my own thing.... From all I had read it was highly recommended that I purchase the precut 6" tulle rolls, so I ordered 4 rolls off ebay in 4 different colours. The plan was to make two tutu's in coordinating colours. I love the idea of a no-sew tutu that way It would hopefully be quick and easy to put together. I started it with a piece of 1/2" elastic measured to fit my daughters waist minus a few centimeters... this is because the taught tying of the tulle stretches it out... I got about half way through tying when I realised I'd tied them so tight that the elastic no longer had much stretch... on to plan B. I cut the elastic I'd sewn closed and sewed a length of sheer ribbon to either end then tied a knot on each end. Then I continued tying the tulle up to the knots. I cut the tulle ahead of time to the desired length x2 plus a little extra for the knot... to make my tutu poufy I tied two pieces at a time! this tutu turned out very poufy, glad I didn't opt for three layers as it would have been way over the top! never mind that I wouldn't have been able to finish it as I went through every last inch of two 25 yard rolls!

I love the combination of the lavender and the blue I think they work really nicely together... I also wanted to avoid the classic pink!

Originally I wanted an elasticized tutu but we ended up with a bow/tie version. Either way my toddler is in seventh heaven! trying to pry it off of her to go out to the park or to have a bath is tricky and trying... I'm taking a breather from the tutu making but will probably be back sometime next week diligently cutting up more tulle for number two! this time equipped with a little insiders how to knowledge... mainly of what not to do!



I don't know if this is just a phase or the start of lifelong passion but either way I'm very happy to see my little one so smitten with something "Mimi" made!

Etsy treasure spotlight

Introducing the Etsy treasure spotlight! I hope this will become at least a weekly segment of Design Momma. I currently have about 20 pages of favorite stores in my Etsy favorites and the list keeps growing! So many awesome creators and so many more mind blowing creations! Unfortunately I probably won't ever own ALL of the products I covet so I thought why not share my favorite finds with my readers, if not me then someone else should definitely own these awesome finds.



This etsy shop is one of my oldest favorites and one of the dearest. E.soule is an amazing shop specializing in the coolest little animal art you'll ever see. The images are available on 5x5 wooden boxes or as prints. Personally I prefer the little wooden boxes that can be hung or placed for display on a shelf. Animal imagery is an age old staple in the nursery and quite fittingly so kids love animals! I'd be happy to own any of these images for anywhere in my home. The art is sweet yet their realization is modern and sophisticated. I love the unique P.O.V. Elizabeth offers us through the lens of her Polaroid camera. This shop boasts hundreds of purchases so clearly I'm not alone in my awe of Elizabeth's art. These images are from her Little Zoo collection, be sure to check out the other collections spanning sea life to flowers.




Once again this amazing art is available at e.soule's etsy shop. Do let me know if you get one! Elizabeth also has her own website check it out here.