Where have I been??

Good question! well, very busy doing lots of new things. The Joyess brand has been growing and developing and has now come together in two new gorgeous blogs:

www.joyessimages.com/blog

and

blog.joyessdesigns.com

This blog was such a great learning curve for me and I am sad to say goodbye to it, but very pleased to have these new blogs to share with you. Please jump over and add us to your subscription list - you won't regret it - promise :)

jess

x

Last minute gift and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A couple of weeks ago we had an early Christmas party with Mr Jess' family. I decided it would be nice to get something for his (our) one remaining grandparent - Nanny, that didn't include soaps, powders, chocolate or shortbread. I asked my mum-in-law if there was anything Nanny used all the time that could be a practical gift and she said that she wears an apron every day. Perfect! I thought. Could a I find a sweet half apron ANYWHERE?? no. Too many would-be "Masterchef's" around wanting chef's aprons!

so. I made one.

and nearly didn't give it to her because I liked it so much.

here 'tis.

And hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! Ours was super hectic... note to self: don't host 2 Christmas parties on the same day... but very rewarding and Little Man was VERY spoilt!

little darling dresses

Oh how I sometimes wish Little Man was a Little Lady. Really only when it comes to clothing and the fact that girls clothes are so much easier to make! I am determined to come up with some cute little boy clothes this summer, but in the meantime here are a couple of darling dresses and matching headbands that I whipped up last week. The first was custom made for a little lady who is about 6 months old and the second I made to document the journey so I could put a tutorial up here... one day!

This one would fit a 1-2 year old as a dress and then older girlies as a long top over leggings. Bindy.T if you're reading this and thinking that you like it and that it might fit Miss D, then it's yours!

Happy to take custom orders, so just get in touch for pricing and more information. 

christmas gifts on a budget #2

So on Sunday we went to a party for a little girl who turned 2 (not the farmyard party you may have seen here, but another!) and I made a dress as her pressie (yes, I forgot to take photos..ah well). As it was being admired by one of my friends she jokingly said "you don't make headbands for little girls do you Jess?"... my friends should know me better than to joke about craft.

Apparently yes Lisa. A, I do now make headbands!

Here are some I whipped up last night... now if only I had a little girl to put them on!

Now for those of you in the headband buying market... how much do you think I should sell these babies for?

christmas gifts on a budget

As Christmas approaches I get very excited about giving presents to all our friends and family ("gift giving" is definitely my love language!) but then all the reality sets in about how much everything costs. So rather than getting sad or mad about it I try to get creative with my present ideas to come up with special gifts that don't break the bank.

This year a few of Little Man's friends will be receiving these custom t-shirts.(I'm clearly banking on the fact that their parents don't read this blog.. oh well, if so, early Merry Christmas!) At $3- $4 each (for the plain tee) at KMart, they really are a bargain!

The doilies on the pink tee were $2 a pair from the Reject Shop (seriously, can I say enough how much I love that place??) the fabric and button on the aqua tee were scraps I had around the house and the white lace band on the yellow tee was off an old shirt. I love that all 3 girls will have a completely unique shirt to wear this summer. 

And for a couple of the other little men in Little Man's life I've done tie tees. Again, the red and white stripy fabric were scraps I had lying around - never throw out your fabric scraps, you never know when they'll come in handy!

So there you go. With a bit of imagination you too can create unique and AFFORDABLE gifts for friends and family this Christmas.

or... if you're really not the crafty type, there are some pre-made tops for women for sale over on my etsy store and I'm happy to take custom orders too!

Farmyard Party

Inspired by other stay-at-home-designer-project-mode-y mums I decided to try my hand at creating party printables. I mentioned this to my friend Jen who cunningly got me to design some stuff for her daughter's upcoming 2nd birthday. Miss 2 loves animals so it had to be a farm party!

yummy food! I love love love the butterfly fairy bread! 

Here are some of the printable bunting, cupcake toppers and tags I designed.

 I do love how cute labels and ribbons make even the simplest things look lovely. Printing the juice labels onto a4 stick on labels was a stroke of genius on my part (if I do say so myself!!) much easier than glueing every single one  - like I did for Little Man's 1st birthday!

Here's the birthday girl herself! All the other kids were invited to dress up as farm animals and Miss 2 was the farmer. Jen picked up these cute overalls and hat at Kmart (I think?) and I added the fabric  belt and flowers to it just to girly it up a little more. Don't you think this gorgeous family look like they belong in a magazine?

Speaking of farm animals... here is Little Man as a cow.. You can see the hat didn't last long. Fluffy chickens were far too interesting to bother about a hat.

 Jen had a Kiddy Farm come to the party and it was so cute seeing all the different reactions the kids had. Miss 2 was besotted with these chickens (perhaps she knew how well they matched her outfit??) and sat with them on her legs for ages being very gentle. I love her little hands carefully holding them.

 Another little cow makes his way through the party and this little miss on the right may forever be known as chicken choker! I've never seen 1 year old hands go so fast for a chicken's neck. It was hilarious!!

 The party favours were these super cute piggy banks - such a great alternative to lolly bags!

All in all a very beautiful party. Jen did such a wonderful job putting it all together and lovely time was had by all!

Christmas Present idea!

For those of you following along in Sydney who may also have kids here's a great (and affordable!) idea for Christmas presents for the Grandparents!