The Face of Bellgirl

Look who arrived in the post today! It's Bellgirl, my very own Royal Sister, a gorgeous gift from Michelle. Her baby-blue bob is styled in a Marcel Wave, and she's dressed for the Charleston, right down to her blue strapped shoes.









By day, Bellgirl looks after the luggage at the Somerset Hotel in Chicago...







...but in the evening you'll find her doing the Bell-hop Hop at Club Lido. That's where she was spotted by a talent scout, and became the Face of Bellgirl.










After a long night of dancing she heads home and hops into her special Royal Sisters sleeping bag. A girl needs her beauty sleep, you know!

Thanks Michelle, she's delightful!- Oop oop pe doo!

All the neighbours came to see...

..our new house, open for inspection!

Our Bug adores the old-fashioned Fisher Price Little People, and so do I. So, with fingers crossed, we entered Button Beauty's blogtoberfest giveaway, and...hooray!!!

I found some family, furniture and a pet on ebay, and the Bug's set up house on the living room rug. And it's stopped him climbing on the furniture all weekend, hooray again!

Thank you so much, Jessica, it's already very well-loved :)

'What Katy Did' for my Blog!

How do you like my new look? No, not the 'Mister-Darcy-wet-shirt' look, I'm talking about my new twin sidebars! And it's courtesy of the talented Katy of What Katy Did Design. Thanks Katy!

My single sidebar was becoming long and straggly, due in part to the growing list of people joining the Veg About. So Katy came to my rescue and gave me a pair of sidebars fit to make Miss Eliza Bennet swoon!

And on that theme, I must post another picture of the Man in the Wet Shirt. Only this time it looks like he's been swimming in melted chocolate. A saucy little number indeed!

As Mr Bell exclaims when anything with bonnets and bosoms comes on the telly, "Oh, Mister Darcy"!

When the Dad's Away...

The Bug and I are hanging out on our own for a few days. So what are we up to? Tee hee! Apart from the requisite bout of gastro and fever, we've been:
- buying fabric - here's the binding for the Bug's quilt;









- borrowing large play equipment from the toy library and setting it up in the living room;









- and shopping at Haighs. And we needed the Large Carry Bag!

Hopefully Mr Bell's not keeping up with the Blog, or I'll have to explain what happened to the chocolate.

Itty Bitty Christmas Book

When I think of Christmas, I think of childhood. That means my own childhood, and now my son's. That's what I intended to convey in my Itty Bitty Book Christmas page.

However, Christmas doesn't always work out the way you expect. Our baby's first Christmas wasn't a very happy day.

We're facing some challenges at the moment, and I didn't think I was going to be able to finish my page for Bridget's Itty Bitty Christmas book. When I wrote to Bridget to apologise, I was touched by the kindness of her response. I started using some bits and pieces to make her a thank you card and lo and behold!- I had a page. My husband helped me with the formatting and we got it printed in time.

So my Itty Bitty Book page isn't what I'd planned for- instead it's what I'm thankful for. It's a tribute to the women of style whom I've met through the Web and through crafting, and especially to Bridget. Thanks Callieflowergirl, and thank you all.

This is...my favorite quote

This quote is from my friend's mum:

"If they can see that, they're too close."

It has no end of applications, from sewing mishaps to inconvenient pimples. Use it liberally.

Thanks to Strawberry Kisses for this week's This Is theme.

Corporate-free Christmas: the 'how-to'

I'm planning a corporate free Christmas this year. For me, that means making things for my friends and family and polishing up treasures found at charity shops for the Bug.

It can also mean buying gifts at craft markets or on Etsy or Lollishops, or providing gifts and resouces to people in need. Do you have skills in sewing, cooking, crafting, printing, gardening, knitting? A corporate free Christmas means planning ahead, so I'm going to start linking to some good ideas I've seen around your blogs.

Grow your own: Beth at Cloth and Fodder tells how to grow herbs from cuttings, to give to people as gifts. Pop them in a recycled pot, tie with a ribbon, viola!



Print your own: Hoppo Bumpo's having a Freezer-paper Stencil-Along. This is Hoppo's first print, a cement mixer. Join in and learn how to print fabric with freezer-paper stencils. All the kids I know are getting a unique hand-printed t-shirt from me this year.

Knit your own: Here's a Christmas gift you can make for a child in need: the comfort doll pattern for African AIDS orphans. And this one's not just for Christmas, so you can knit all year! This pattern was kindly sent by Mrs Jessie Sutton, and it's one of the most visited pages on my blog. And hopefully that translates into lots of dollies for children in need!