Cool blog Mondays: My green nappy

It's about time I had the dirty talk. Pees and poos, dirty nappies, smelly bums. No parent can avoid it... or can we?
We discovered EC (Elimination communication, or diaper free) when Tahi was 5 months. In short, it is a way to help your baby eliminate and also bond with him/her. Sounds over the top? It probably is for us modern westerners. We started because we thought it was fun and interesting and if we could save on washing nappies, why not? Tahi is now 2 and a half, has been out of nappies since he was 10 months and has recently stepped up to being the  conventional potty trained toddler (he asks when he needs to go). What the fuss?!? Our son is potty trained at the same time as other toddlers (although I know a lot of toddlers his age still in nappies). True. but we have saved so much on washing and (eco friendly) disposable nappies. And gained some knowledge too. It's not what most people think of when you talk about bonding with your child, but it is exactly that. how many people do you know so well that you can tell when they need to go to the toilet? If that sounds gross, what about changing a smelly, pooey nappy everyday (less often if you're lucky)?
As Josh put it so well:" I thought having babies was lots of smelly poos and wiping bottoms, but it hasn't been that at all". And we're glad we made the effort.
It wasn't all easy, at times frustrating, but for the most part it became part of our daily life. Instead of carrying a bag full of nappies, I had several changes of pants and some cloth to clean up the pees. We were really lucky that from the moment Tahi was put on a potty, he would let us know when he needed to poo most of the time. It does take time and dedication. It would have been much harder, maybe near impossible, to do this had I been working. But then I had decided to stay home with my son for the first few years anyway, I wasn't going anywhere in a hurry.
EC is what prompted me to start making kids' clothing. I wanted some pants that didn't have to be pulled down every time I needed to take Tahi to the toilet but wanted to avoid the traditional chinese split crotch pants (not great when you've got a crawling baby!). So I came up with two designs, then moved on to designing other items as well.

Along the way I read some interesting books: Diaper Free! The Gentle Wisdom Of Natural Infant Hygiene by Ingrid Bauer and The Diaper Free Baby by Christine Gross-Loh. Both good reads, the second one a bit more about the how-to and also exploring various ways of doing it: full time, part time or occasionally.
I also discovered some great websites, met some neat people and learned a lot about myself and my child. Two great Yahoo groups, Oznappyfree and another I can't find anymore, were great. Other Ecing parents sharing their experience, answering questions or asking some. There is also the DiaperFreeBaby website, with a list of diaper free groups around the world, including those ones in New Zealand and TheNaturalChildProject.
Charndra at Tribal baby decided to share her ECing journey, and this has by far been my favorite site about the matter (although she seemed to have it pretty easy!). Now I can introduce you to this week's cool blog (worry it's taken so long!), her new venture: MyGreenNappy. This one is not about putting your young baby on the potty and letting him/her roam around with bare bottoms. It is about caring for our kids' future and, well, thinking green when it comes to using nappies. Changing mindsets, showing people their acts count and encouraging them to think ahead, think about our future and the legacy we leave for our kids. Starting with nappies!
MyGreenNappy is having a winter giveaway, another incentive to visit this blog!

Mini art journal challenge: week 9

This week's prompt: "inspiration found". Hum... Tough one. I couldn't point to one thing in particular that inspires me or helps me get my little grey cells going. It's what makes art so fascination I guess. What inspires one person will seem so ordinary and irrelevant to the other. And what we make of inspiration is another thing all together!
One thing I have noticed, is that the more I think about creating and create, the more I feel inspired. It could be anything: music I hear, a walk at the beach or in the bush, a memory, someone I meet, a book I read,... Hence what can be read on my card: "everything and nothing"!

I used cut out letters from a magazine for the words "everything" and "and", and wrote the word "nothing" with a silver outliner for glass colour. The leaves were cut out of some green and white fused plastic and sewn on the card, and then three plastic buttons were sewn on top. The background is painted white and has strips of magazine glued in random horizontal lines.


On another note, we went to Morere hot pools this morning, about 50mn from Gizzy. It was raining intermittently and we saw lots of rainbows on the way, very cool! For the first time ever I could even see the bottom of one end.

The hot pools are one of our favorite spots in winter, the water is super warm (there are 2 pools, one hot and the other even hotter) and one side of the pools is open with a view of the bush. Best of all, it is hardly ever crowded.

Why we live where we live

Tahi and Jade playing with foam at "Whales", Wainui beach, Gisborne, New Zealand.

MAKE YOUR OWN: headband

This is super easy project that will satisfy anyone's love of accessories.

- Level: easy
- Time: 20 minutes
- Material: 2 bits of scrap fabric, about 40x25cm (15.7x9.8"), 13cm bit of elastic (5.12").
- Tools: sewing machine, scissors


1- Cut two rectangles of fabric, 40x20cm (15.7x7.87"). They can be the same or different. If you use two different ones this means you then  have a reversible headband. I used a tee shirt cotton, with a bit of stretch, but a non stretch fabric could be OK. Cut another smaller rectangle 25x8cm (9.8x3.15").







2- Using your sewing machine or serger, sew both big rectangle together, wrong side out then turn out. Fold the smaller rectangle in half along its length, wrong side out. Sew lengthwise, leaving a small opening in the middle, then turn it out.

3- Insert the elastic in the smaller rectangle, and sew on one side about 1cm from the edge. Do the same at the other end.
4- Fold the bigger rectangle like an accordion, the width of the smaller one. Insert the accordion into the elasticated band, fold the 1cm edge inside, then sew through the opening left in the small rectangle. Repeat for the other side.
once it's all sewn, sew the little opening with a needle and thread (if you want to make an invisible seam) or with the sewing machine.

You're done!

Giveaway, yeah!

I bought a headband from the op shop a while ago, and it's been a great accessory, if only just a bit scratchy because it's wool. I thought it would be nice to have some different colored ones, so I replicated it a couple of days ago. The result is what you can see on the photos... (the blue stripy one is the original one).

So this headband is the giveaway, if you'd like to enter, here's how:

- post a comment here

- become a follower or subscribe to RSS feeds

- Tweet, facebook or blog about it (and leave a comment with the link)

Entries close on the 26th of June.

I will also post a tutorial for the headband tomorrow.

Cool blog Mondays

I'm not one for collecting plushies, softies of whatever name those cute little cuddly toys can have. But in the past year, I have seen so many amazing handmade gems, I could well be tempted. Starting with Stephanie Congdon Barnes and her beautiful creatures straight out of fairy tales. Her creations are so popular, she sells out as soon as they are on her blog.

Isn't that lion just beautiful?
Softies have caught my eye so much that a few months back in Wellington I just HAD to buy a book on how to make some. It's cleverly called Softies. I have made one model out of it, but still haven't got round to making any others. On my yard long "to do" list. You can also find lots of patterns online, my favorite one so far is the whale on Small Dream Factory. Also on my "to do" list. The best thing of all when making them is that you can often use bits of scrap fabric to make them, leftover from a bigger project. And they make great presents for welcoming a newborn!

If you are starting to feel tickled by it all,  Softies Central is another blog all about the little buggers and the talented crafters behind them.
I also found this great one on Two Little Banshees:

mini art journal challenge: week 8

This week's prompt: "Who or what do you miss?"
Well, I knew from the start what this one would be. I have been living in New Zealand close to eight years now, and this place is as far away from where I come from as possible without going to the moon. Being  so removed from other countries (Australia is our only main neighbor, then it's at least 6 hours to the next continent!) has its ups and downs. I am convinced New Zealand's size and distance to other civilizations is the reason why it is the way it is: a not too populated not too developed piece of land with some beautiful natural heritage (constantly threatened, but I will reserve a proper discussion for another post) and really a great lifestyle. The downside is, it takes a good 30 hours (including stop overs and travels to/from airport) to get to France, and it costs an arm and a leg, if not more. Plus, air travel is not green at all. So I don't travel back as often as I'd like, so I don't get to see the people I love on a regular basis and that sucks.
I really really miss all my friends and family. They are something I will never be able to replace. I have made very good friends here, but it still doesn't feel the same. My connection with those far away people was built over year spent together, and for some reason I can feel that. Whenever I go back and catch up with some of those special people, it's as if I had never left. And that is the true beauty of friendships. We are connected, no matter what.  This is the one thing I am finding hard to live with, and that makes me think sometimes that I could go back and live there. Maybe. One day.
I find it hard to think that Tahi is missing out on a lot of quality time he could spend with his "mamie" and "tonton", and I am missing out too.  Going back to visit every couple of years makes time spent with people very special, but I really cherish the everyday aspect of relationships, the little things we only remember afterwards. Like how my brother and I always used to make silly faces and laugh silly, or how my mum has tried to grow a Bougainvillier at home for years because it reminds her of her roots.
After all, that is how relationships and memories are built, the routine of everyday life is often interrupted with those little special moments.But you have to be present to witness it and you can never tell when it will happen.
So here is my card of the week. A woman lying on her front, writing something, gravitating on a background of camelias and daisies, and flames at the bottom, "burning" hand written names. I was inspired by something I wrote to one of my best friends not long ago: "Il y a des fois ou je me demande si vraiment vivre a l'autre bout du monde dans un petit paradis c'est pas un peu l'enfer." ("there are times where I wonder if living on the other side of the planet in a little paradise isn't a bit like hell").

I cut out flower from the french magazine Elle, the woman lying down was in my "collection" of cut out bits, and the flames are made with some red fabric and some shiny red gauze cut into triangles and then sewn on the card.