stencilled placemats

There are cows and llamas feeding from a stainless steel lunch box filled with snips of paper. Knitted gnomes swimming crystal seas, scattered Olly and Me books and cast off items of clothing as far as the eye can see. Wisps of her ways are dotted in each and every space of our home; they mirror her colour and spontaneity. A gentle lady of whims and dreams, of discoveries and adventures, of spark and fire. My wild girl.

A whirligig of emotion; a roller coaster. We click clack up the steady gradient together taking in this and that from afar and then without warning whoosh toward the earth, hair all helter skelter and cheeks shining like rouged clowns. Sometimes the ride is exhilarating and we unbuckle our seat belts and fall upon the ground in fits of laughter. Other times the pull and push leaves us both exhausted, headachey and frightened. Her whip crack temper is one I know only too well as from my genes its vivacity has grown. She is a firework.

When the melody of the day crescendos in deafening cymbals and timpani and her body a mere puppet to the wizardry of her mind we return to gentle rhythms.  Deeps baths are run, beeswax candles are lit and the oil burner warms German chamomile oil. Pots of substance bubble along to the lull of jazz and like each night before it she retrieves her basket and sets the table. There is some show tune singing *, at times some obstinance, but always much chatter. A perfect hum.

Steph x

We have been encouraging the babies to help out with the day to day rhythms of our home and setting the table has become  one of Bijou's task. In order to help her with correct positioning of cutlery we made some place mats. I cut 2 vintage place mats in half and then hemmed the cut end. I topped stitched all around the edges for a neat finish. A knife and fork were drawn on card board and then cut out. With these stencils taped in placed we dabbed a mixture of craft paint and fabric medium with a stiff brush using small amounts of paint at a time. After drying the painted sections were ironed over to seal the paint as per the fabric medium's instructions. They can now be washed normally. (You could use fabric paint but I find it quite expensive and get more mileage from my hoard of acrylic paints and a textile medium)

* Bijou can belt out Tomorrow from Annie like no one else and has her Grandfather absolutely besotted with her rendition of Wouldn't it Be Lovely from My Fair Lady. Oh how I love that quirky girl x