A special May bookmark and tutorial...

 

I've been patiently waiting to share the May stitchery and bookmark idea since I first drew it up and stitched it in October last year!

But here we are, the first day of May, and finally you can see it, and download the free pattern if you'd like to make it for yourself, or as a gift.

My inspiration was the library.

My granddaughters simply LOVE going to the library, and they LOVE for me to read book after book to them during our visit. Needless to say, a throat lozenge and bottle of water becomes a necessity for this Nana after the first half dozen stories.

Whether you take young children or your aging aunt to the library, or simply wander the aisles to browse titles to borrow for your own enjoyment, a book bag is a must. 

Gone are the days when I would balance a dozen books in my arms and try to unlock the car door without dropping them all (if I hadn't already done that when hunting in my shoulder bag for the car keys) because after making a specific bag for library visits many years ago, all that fuss about balancing disappeared. I also admit to grossly over-estimating how many books I planned to borrow each visit. My plan is no more than 4-6 but the reality is somewhat different because there's always a pretty cover on a sewing book, a new publication on breadmaking, or ideas for homecrafts...and I could go on, but you get the picture, right? Are you like this to??

A library bag also helps with not miss-placing the books after I've read them, as once finished they are returned to my library bag which sits permanently beside the bedside table, unless on it's library outing.

Whilst trimming my library bag stitchery in order to create the May bookmark, another idea struck! Why not add a pocket for my library card?

So I did. 

If you want to make this bookmark and add a little pocket, it's not hard. 

I trimmed my stitchery block to 3.5" high x 3.25" wide and cut a piece of fabric the same size.

I pinned the two pieces together along the top edge of the stitchery, inserting a piece of cotton lace between them, and then stitched all three together with a 1/4" seam.

Sew a line of running stitch 1/4" beneath the lace edging.

Cut two pieces of fabric for the bookmark (3.25" x 7") and fuse a piece of thin wadding (such as Parlan) behind one piece and if you like, machine quilt a few lines down it. You can see mine in the photo below. Pin the pocket to the bottom of the quilted fabric and sew it to the bookmark along both sides and the base with an 1/8th inch seam.

Pin the other piece of fabric over the pocketed front of your bookmark, right sides together.

Sew around all four sides with a 1/4" seam, but leave a 2.5" opening along one side (not where the pocket is) for turning out.

Turn the bookmark right side out, pushing out the four corners gently with a rounded tool. I use a large wooden knitting needle which is lightly rounded at the top. Slip stitch the opening closed.

To complete my bookmark I used a hole punch at the top and threaded through a blue ribbon. Oh, and I inserted my library card!

A HINT: for those who intend to add the applique section onto the stitchery as I have done. Trace the flowers onto your applique fabric before fusing the shape to the background fabric. So much easier! Also, the applique is one piece with the pocket curve chain stitched over the fabric to make it seem as if they are two separate pieces.

Use the link below to download the May pattern.

DOWNLOAD Books & Roses stitchery pattern for May.

I've had a lovely time this past week because my husband is home everyday. After 16 long months of work, he's finally taken a three week break and I think we're more inspired than ever to get things done around home and in the garden, especially as the weather has slightly cooled and the days are getting shorter.

He recently bought a mulcher/chipper and spent a few hours the other day turning "many" accumulated piles of pruned trees and branches into mulch. It was wonderful to see the yard again without my eyes falling on mountains of branches.

I've been back reorganising the pantry after Annabel's suggestion to use spare spaces for food storage, and as I'm doing a lot of dehydrating at the moment the first thing I needed to do was put 'same with same' in our pantries. The more I worked through the main pantry and the cupboard pantry, the more often I found the same items in two different places...so this past week that has occupied quite a bit of time - the planning, the reorganising, and also making notes to use certain items in the next month before they are out of date. 

In the kitchen I'm using my grain mill a few times a week to make the flour for bread, and I also bought my first ever bread tin. 

Nana had a bread tin, but I've always used a cotton bread bag to store our loaves (I even shared a pattern HERE with some bread recipes). Must admit though, this tin brightens the kitchen and is very handy indeed. When I ordered mine, it seemed only sensible to buy one for Blossom too, and she's just as impressed with hers. 

I've begun a new sour dough starter as our very hot April (we live in the tropics if you're new here) killed my last one. Hopefully with the temps settling at a daily 30C the last week, and winter only a month away, when the days normally dip to 27-28C, the starter will do well. I'm also sprouting mung beans for salads and nourish bowl dinners. 

The mesh sprouting lids for wide mouth jars are brilliant, and the beans began to sprout overnight.

I make a large 2 litre jar of Ma's Ginger Water (from Little House on the Prairie) every couple of days, and hubby finds it the best hydrator after working outside in the heat and humidity. The recipe is very basic...

1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup of raw honey, molasses or maple syrup

1 heaped teaspoon ground ginger powder

juice of half a lemon

Place in a large 2 litre jar or drink container and mix until combined. Fill to the top with water, shake to mix, and store in the fridge. Drink a glass whenever you're thirsty! 

Our lemon tree provided us with an abundance of huge juicy lemons this summer and autumn, and now we are down to our last seven lemons, so I thought this was a good time to learn how to preserve lemons...because I love preserved lemons in guacamole, cous cous salads and lamb casseroles, but they are very expensive to buy.

Maggie Beer is a cooking icon in Australia, so I was thrilled to find she'd done a video on preserving lemons, and it was so simple to follow. Our lemons are HUGE, so I had to cut them into eighths to fit the pieces tightly into the jar. 

In about six weeks or so we will know if I was successful with this first attempt. Hope so!

If you'd like to watch Maggie's video I'm sharing it below.

Not wanting to waste a single lemon from our first harvest, I baked a very simple Coconut Lemon Slice yesterday morning as we were going to Blossom's for lunch and I offered to bring dessert. 

This is a no-bake slice and absolutely delicious!!

I couldn't find my own recipe, no idea where it has gone to, but was able to find it online HERE though she uses more icing than I do, so I reduced her quantity by a third and that was quite enough sweetness to top the base. 

It's a very soft treat, and little Charlie loved it so much he squashed a whole piece into his mouth to enjoy. We all stared at him and the burst out laughing. 

Two nights last week we watched movies - "Rams" and "The Courier" and other nights we've sat quietly and read books.

In fact I read two books in the past week and have begun a third, biographies from the Plainspoken series by Herald Press. The first was "Called to be Amish" and the author is one of only 75 people ever to have joined the Amish and stayed. 

I do not like Amish fiction, nor many books 'about' the Amish...but this was written by an Amish woman, and it was riveting. I came away from the book changed, or should I say re-inspired, towards my God given role as a homemaker and the hard work this entails.

The second book was "Anything But Simple: My Life as a Mennonite", another in this autobiographical series, and was written by a 30 year old Mennonite woman. Once again, I came away feeling inspired and challenged to see hard work as a joy, and especially working together with my husband. The author wrote her own story, but also the story of her parents, and it was those sections which had the greatest impact on me - in fact my heart was overflowing with happiness and praise for God.

The third book, "Hutterite Diaries", which I only started last night, is written by an older Hutterite woman, and I think this is my favourite of the books so far. I had no knowledge of the Hutterites until this book and I find myself looking forward to tea breaks so I can sit down and read a bit more! 

The links I've shared are from Amazon (NO, I am not an affiliate) because that was the easiest way to find all of the movies and books in one place, so if you're interested in any do a google. :-) 

Okay, enough for today. I have bread just baked and ready for lunch, brown rice in the rice cooker to make nourish bowls for tonight, and strawberries freshly rinsed and drying to make a strawberry shortcake for dessert over the next few days. 

God bless you, and may He keep you inspired and learning new skills, so that each day you grow in various ways...but mostly I pray that you find the most inspiration and essential life lessons in His Word. 

Hugs and blessings,

Need something new to stitch? Pop over HERE to my Etsy Shop!

Inspiring your homemaker heart...

 Since making the decision to step away from much of my design business in coming months, there has been a noticeable shift in my ability to do more around the home, but the loveliest change has been the degree of flourishing renewal within my homemaker heart.

Love for homemaking and a gentle domestic life, tending and caring for loved ones, creating a welcome sanctuary, preparing nourishing meals, living a homemaker life which is glorifying to God - these are all things which have stoked the embers of my heart for many years. 

Yet over time, despite best intentions, the busyness of working a home business creeps in more and more to take precious hours away each day...and I find myself too many times having only the crumbs of a homemaker heart left to offer by day's end. 

It's not surprising that many of you have experienced something similar as so often over the years my email inbox or blog comments overflow with the struggles other homemakers face...and I have come to realise that some of those struggles stem from lack of encouragement, inspiration, and hands on help.

For a few years I hosted a "Gentle Domesticity" Facebook group with over three thousand members, and more than any other medium, this gave me a far deeper perspective on the average everyday homemaker, and what life is like for them, than my blog or emails ever could. 

The level of comradery, and I use this word specifically because homemakers are indeed like troops on the front line defending and caring for the home, was life changing for some of our lovely members, and being world wide there was someone sitting at our virtual kitchen table all hours of the day and night ready to listen, pray or offer some form of assistance. 

You may wonder why I closed the group? Time. We'd bought our first ever home the year before and I was feeling overwhelmed with the taming of our land, the home, small grandchildren, and a demanding design business. It was not an easy decision to make, but at the time it was the right one. 

In 2019 I hosted a year long book study of Jane Brocket's "The Gentle Art of Domesticity" and if you'd like to slowly read your way through them HERE is a link with the posts numbered in order.

What I loved most about Jane's book was the JOY she found in homemaking, and her pure delight spilled over bountifully through 2019 as we studied and shared about each of the different sections and themes. It's still my favourite homemaking book!

But it's only one of many books I have collected on homemaking, and this is something I'd like to encourage every woman with a homemaker heart to do.

Friends, gather good books about being a homemaker, decorating, sewing for the home, creating natural products, skills our grandmothers and great grandmothers knew, handmade gifts, recycling and repurposing, cleaning, cooking, daily rhythms and routines, planning ahead, seasonal life...and any other subject that you'd like more encouragement, inspiration or skills from. 

Scour charity shops, garage sales, book sales...or ask friends if they have any books on these subjects that they're wanting to give away. Browse the shelves of your local library, in fact, browse your own shelves in case you have hidden gems which you've forgotten about. 

Over time I have gathered many wonderful treasures which are perfect to open and read during an afternoon tea break, or in my comfy bedroom chair in the evening as I wind down from the day. 

Some of the books I collected turned out to be a disappointment and I felt no hardship donating them to the local Salvos or Vinnies store. Don't be afraid to keep only that which inspires and teaches good things and discard the rest, because when we love a book we will read that book - a bit like reading God's Word. I love reading my Bible each and every day and this is evident because it's very battered with all my loving!

Ask friends for recommendations on good homemaking books, perhaps borrow their copy first to see if it is suitable for your needs. We won't all enjoy or gain from the same books because we are unique women, just as we have unique homes and families and responsibilities, however, cherish the books which lift your heart and inspire you to create an atmosphere of harmony, joy, function and order within your walls.

What about the attitude of a Homemaker...take some time to consider the attitude you display within the home. 

Are you too weary at the end of the day to be kind or gracious? Has the workload become so great that you are struggling to find the joy in homemaking? Did you grow up without many responsibilities within the family home and are frustrated from still learning as an adult how to maintain your living area? Are there health restrictions which make the everyday chores more difficult these days but you push through whilst allowing bitterness to creep over your heart?

No matter what our struggles, if we work to our abilities and limitations (physical, financial, family or living arrangements), without lamenting the things we are unable to do, then we should find delight in those achievements no matter how small or large they are. Dear girl, we really can only do what we are able. One woman may be high energy and busy working around home all day long, whereas another woman may need to attend to chores at a slower pace or take breaks between each task.

Now even though each woman will achieve a different measure of completed tasks, it's not a competition to see how much we can do in a day. What matters is that you did what you could and you have a sense of personal satisfaction and pleasure in your work. Homemaking is not drudgery. Yes, it is hard work much of the time, but if we approach our homemaking tasks with an attitude of gratitude for having a home, for having a family...then it becomes a privilege. 

I think this attitude should be magnified even more today, given the situation in Europe with so many women and children homeless and living through war. We who have a home, a safe roof over our heads, food on the table, warmth and provisions, need to be reminded just how privileged we are. 

I look forward to us living on less as Elefantz Designs shrinks, because I know full well who our real Provider is - God. 

We will need to live even more simply than before, and I shall have to gain skills my Nana had but which I neglected to learn when given the chance, plus study afresh the art of homemaking with all it's nuances so that I may be well equipped for the years ahead, for I believe harder times are coming and we must prepare for them.

You may have many skills which could help those around you, just as they may have skills you would like to learn. Why not get together with some like minded friends and pool your resources (books, talents, ideas) to learn new things, and most importantly, to encourage and inspire each other. This is something I love about the Amish. They are not alone, they have community, common goals and SKILLS to teach one another and pass along to the next generation.

Would you say you are a Mary or Martha? 

I describe myself as being Martha with a Mary heart because both sisters had great strengths which I want to increase in, and we should not overlook this. Read about their attitudes and see how both women knew truths that we can be encouraged by today. There's nothing wrong with being busy, and there's nothing wrong with stopping to sit at the feet of Jesus. The wise homemaker knows how to balance both. 

Mary - Luke 10: 38 - 42

Martha - John 11: 17-27

How are YOU these days? Is your homemaker heart filled with delight? Are you finding joy in the ordinary moments of life? Over time I hope to keep encouraging you right where you are, gently in love, for I know that's what I need in my own life and I believe it's something sorely lacking in this world today.  

Let's pray...

Heavenly Father, I come before you on behalf of every precious woman reading this post. A call to homemaking is a gift for each of us, though various seasons of life can drain the joy from such a high calling and we can find ourselves worn out and depleted and perhaps even bitter and resentful. 

Lord, may Your Holy Spirit lift the weary and heaving heart with hidden delights she has overlooked, stoke the flame of a flickering mind with fresh enthusiasm for bringing life into her surroundings, open the beautiful eyes of the downcast with a new vision for her home as a sanctuary and place of welcome. 

Father, I ask that you provide resources, community, friendships and inspiration for each of us, that we may walk with grace and confidence in our high calling, doing what we are able and not pushing beyond our means. If we are slacking in any area, press your truth upon our hearts and correct our attitude that we may shine Your light into all areas of our home with diligence to each task and gratitude for your mercies which are new every morning.

When we are weak, may You be our strength. When we have lack, may You be our provider. When we lack faith, help our unbelief. When we are confused, bring clarity to our mind. When we are overburdened, show us clearly what to walk away from. When we are bitter, sweeten us with merciful correction. When we cannot see the way forward, shine Your Light at our feet and guide our path. When we fail, forgive us. In all things Lord, and in every circumstance, we shall praise you and exalt your Holy name! Thank you for being here, for listening, for loving, for growing us to be more and more like our precious Saviour, Jesus.  Amen.

Bless you dear ones!  If you'd like some more homemaking inspiration I have two friends with wonderful blogs that you might enjoy -

Annabel @ The Bluebirds are Nesting on the Farm

Jes @ Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth

And if you'd like to watch a lovely gentle homemaking video, here's AbbyJo from Forgotten Way Farms.

I follow a few people who have the same homemaking philosophy as me, and though we are similar in many ways, we each have unique things to share so I am always learning from them. I hope they inspire you too.

Until next time...

hugs