Last Crafty Piece for the Year

I just had to sit & start this Mill Hill ornament the other day when we went out to visit someone. Finally inbetween lots of other odd things like packing up Christmas, I have got it finished this afternoon. I wanted it finished as the last piece of work for my crafty year. This is from the recent release of ornaments called Festival of Trees series - this one is Old Fashioned Christmas. I love them. So much so that I have had to order another couple of the trees to do. They are addictive. This is hanging up temporarily in the dining room since I have put away all the rest of the Christmas stuff today. Feels nice to have it all back in order again. BJ & I spent some time rearranging the pictures on the walls yesterday after taking Christmas things down so that was fun. I like being able to change the pictures around when I like.

We aren't doing anything tonight for New Years. Goodness I will be pleased if I get to sit for an hour or so in quiet to do a row or two on my rainbow ripple blanket. It all depends when BJ decides to sleep though I don't expect it will be high drama like last night. We are changing the New Years rules a little & having our party on New Year's Day instead. We decided to do brunch with the family. So it is nearly a repeat of Christmas but minus 2. Oh bummer, but heck, I would be in New York too if I could! (lucky brother Chris! ) Anyway, it won't be a Christmas dinner but a nice relaxed brunch. I have a nice surprise instore for them. hehehehehe... will let you in on that tomorrow. Should be a nice relaxing day.

Happy New Year to all, & for all those that read me on occasion, I thank you for bothering! Hopefully I can draw you back again in the New Year.

Take Care of You....

One More Christmas Ornament

I finally got this Be Merry ornament from Mill Hill finished yesterday. I hadn't been able to do the last bit for a few days. But at least it got finished this year still. It's quite cute I suppose. Definitely not one of the nicest but it is nice to have variety too. It's hard to get a decent picture of these things when they are so shiny with the beads on them. The cardinal underneath looks pretty cute huh? lol

I love this time of year when I can get out the new calendar & start writing the years events on it, getting it ready to hang in a couple of days. I was lucky to find this Marjolein Bastin calendar on line for cheap compared to what they cost to buy locally.

Lovely relaxing days here, eating our way through left overs but revamping them nicely! Have a nice week.

Turtle-mania

Here are my versions of Henrietta Turtle, a pattern by Heather Bailey. I got the pattern at work ages ago. I finally made the brown one on Sunday for BJ. He has a bit of a thing for turtles at the moment & his was good to practice on. It wasn't hard to make, just looked it, because it is smallish & fiddly what with the legs & shell etc. The body insert between the legs makes it very fat underneath when you stuff it though so it doesn't sit on its legs, only wobbles on it's fat tummy. But they are cute all the same. Nice scrap project. I made these with bits I had. I have another one cut out for me as a pin cushion but I haven't got around to sewing it together yet. It will be a few days I imagine before I bother now.

For now, it is Christmas Eve. Little Christmas festivities on this evening but tomorrow will be a busy but lovely day I hope. Have a safe & Merry Christmas.

Christmas Baking

Ok, so it wasn't really baking for Christmas but a bit of an activity for a couple of kids to enjoy! I had my niece (8 yrs) over for a few hours to make gingerbread men. Of course BJ wanted to join in since she was doing it too & he copies everything at the moment. It was good fun. I was organised enough to have the dough made the night before. (miracles happen 4 days before Christmas after all! lol) I had fun watching them roll & cut. Of course BJ just thinks he is playing with playdough I think & just cut cut cut. We did manage to get a couple for him to stick mini m&ms on though. Not that he eats his cookies. But he had fun making them. Miss A also had fun I think. She had a box of men to take home. Some with m&ms & some with that writing icing decorated on them. She told me she was only sharing them with her friend next door. I wonder if her family got to enjoy just one each! You could tell they both had fun by the cover of flour & dough on their fronts & sleeves though!

It Must Be Nearly Christmas

The week has gone by in a bit of a blur with a number of Christmas parties, parades & other functions thrown in, not to mention the usual stuff! The Rocky Road of last week is smoothing out a bit now though. Just a few bumps now.

The last couple of days have been spent in mum's shop. She is away. So although I was there to work it was a good chance to get some jobs done! Ok, so I was in the shop but it isn't really busy in this weather, so I make sure I am armed with plenty of things to do. The first job was the babooshka dolls. I had promised BJ one a few weeks ago after he was disappointed he didn't get to keep the first one I made. He's so nice about the things I make. So he picked out some fabric right then on the spot & I have had it sitting waiting for time since then. Well yesterday the time came. I also had 2 more to make for Christmas gifts. So after much tossing of fabrics I was able to get their faces appliqued on first yesterday. Today I took my sewing machine to work with me & got these done completely. I was pleased to have that done with a week to spare! Hooray.

So 3 dolls all in a row...

It's times like these when you know what you do is worthwhile. I walked into the lounge with all 3 & BJ's eyes lit up, he put down his drink & started "ooohhing". Then said "doggie" since he picked out the dog fabrics for it. He took the doll & cuddled it & then said "Thank you Mummy". Awwww... bliss. My heart sings & my eyes well up. It was worth all the effort to make him a doll cushion! Just hearing that was lovely & the way he cuddled & squished it was just cute. Awww... He really does appreciate the things I make & always seems to treat them with care. Even if he never looks at it again though it was worth it for the giving... & it's not even Christmas yet.

I have also been determined to do at least one new Mill Hill ornament for the Ornament Tree. I have had little time to do the polar bear (from this year's Mill Hill ornament releases) but managed to get that finished off at work today after finishing the dolls. I went to work very prepared that is for sure! I can't waste a minute! I probably should take a picture of the whole tree of ornaments really, but this tree still isn't big enough for them all. I haven't got all of them on there yet. Just wait till I have finished all the rest that I have stashed to do still! I will need a 6ft tree I expect! I have 3 trees so far but will definitely buy one even bigger to get them all on eventually! lol

Work again in the morning for a couple of hours so I am getting another ornament ready to take along so I don't waste the time. I will be happy to get one more done this week.

Have a great weekend!

Rocky Road

It's been a crazy, crazy week. Emotional rollercoaster to a point really or a very "rocky road" using a food name based on my cooking day, so the name seemed appropriate! Lots of good & some heck of bads... Anyway, today I have been doing some baking for a Christmas lunch tomorrow & also for an engagement party tonight. I didn't make any Rocky Road though.

These cookies are Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies. I found the recipe last year & finally made them this year. They are extra red as I only had red white chocolate. But they look pretty with all the candy cane smashed on them. & they taste alright too.

These are some Sesame biscuits that a friend gave me the recipe for the other day. They have almond meal in them. Yum. Taking those tonight. They aren't very Christmas like but nice all the same.

Also some very badly decorated gingerbread cookies. I don't have a gingerbread man cutter! Terrible! So I had to use all the others. They were fun though & taste pretty good. I have decided that Dutch nutmeg is definitely the way to go with nutmeg. Much nicer than other brands. I also have all the fixings for a Hot Cobb loaf dip which is ready to bake later. I hope it is as nice as the one I tried elsewhere recently.

Better go to the local Christmas parade now before the party tonight! She's all go around here.

Snowflakes in the Sky

Well this is the complete snowflake picture of BJ's. Turned out quite nicely I think. The kids really loved it. We had snowflakes going everywhere. Some of the kids wanted to just stick the round papers on that weren't cut yet, so I quickly named them as snowballs! So some had a combo of snowflakes & snowballs. They were fun. So there you go, a really simple kids activity that is suitable for groups or at home. Also suitable for different ages, as some older kids can cut there own snowflakes. Just start with different sized circles. Mine were about 15cm diameter. That way they were nice & big for the kids to get snowflake impact quickly. lol

Go on, give it a try with your kids! They will love it!

Snow Messy!

Bet you didn't know that it can snow inside too & it is just as messy as outside! But not cold! This morning was a bit of snowflake production. I'm getting ready for playgroup on Wednesday that's all! A bunch of scrap paper turned into circles & some of them turned into snowflakes. I even enlisted Stuart on a few when he got home just so I had something that looked a bit different to all of mine! At playgroup the aim will be that the kids just paint a sheet of paper blue & then put some of these on the paint. They should stick without glue to the paint to that is a bonus. We'll see how it goes. There are a bunch of spare circles so some mums can cut a bunch of snowflakes too. I thought I did more than enough for a start!


It's definitely silly season isn't it? Well it was here today, but I did get a lot done. Plus I have ummm.... 7 , nope, make that 8 lists I am currently working off! Ekkk... That helps keep my head in order a little cos it tends to sift out too easily otherwise! lol

Ok, I will leave you with some pictures I just found on the camera that BJ has taken today of bread! They don't look too bad really. Made me laugh anyway.

Stash Busting Bunting

I decided yesterday I needed some bunting outside. Christmas bunting at that! But I didn't get it done yesterday like I also wanted. But did today! I used some Christmas fabrics from spotlight that I have had for too long. I didn't end up using as much as I would have liked though as the giant ricrac I had wasn't long enough for more pennants. Oh well, it is ok & will do the job for the month. It's weird though, as my stuff never looks as festive or fun as any I will see somewhere else. I wonder if they think the same about what they make & other peoples things are always nicer!

I also thought I would snap a shot of what looks like a bunch of odd shaped scrabble pieces. lol But these are the rest of the ornaments for friends & family for Christmas. Some will be place cards for dinner & then they can take them home. Thought that was a fun excuse to make them one each! One more handmade thing in the list of gift giving! But oh well, they were quite simple & not terribly time consuming compared to the ornaments I used to make every year!

Anyway, after a busy weekend of doing mundane work but with a little fun thrown in I wonder what interesting things I can achieve in the coming week crafty-wise. I have a plan of things to do but best laid plans can get very messed up with a toddler about!

Have a great week! I sure plan to!

Christmas Gifts Made Easy

Have you seen the website Madeit.com.au? If not, you should. It is a collective of Aussies that make great stuff & it is all sold in the one place. It makes Christmas shopping easy that is for sure.

I am really trying hard this year to make it a handmade Christmas where my gifts are concerned. It actually isn't that difficult. I have too many ideas! I have done some shopping on madeit but I have also been fitting in (somehow, & usually late at night!) some making of gifts. I am really enjoying it. It is certainly a challenge to avoid the shopping that would be so easy. It doesn't mean I don't shop mind you... I get to shop for things like fabric instead which is always a good thing, even if it is going elsewhere. lol

HOME FOR A BUNNY

THE BUNNY BOOK

AREN'T YOU GLAD

Now a bit of self promotion! lol But hey, if I can't do it here on my own blog where can I?

For my friends who know my blog they will know I make puzzle blocks for kids. (& big kids too! I have found most adults are more intrigued by these than the kids are! hahahaha... ) Anyway, to find my store at Madeit easily click on the madeit button on the right hand side. That will take you directly to me. I have been excited about the sales over the last few weeks, by people who are thinking early for Christmas - like-minded people who are shopping & the handmade line where possible. Keep in mind it is all top quality handmade items for sale.... not homemade but handmade! Anyway, I must admit I do a little happy dance each time a set of blocks is sold. I have been doing a lot of happy dancing lately! Check out my shop for something different. The pictures above are current sets available. Don't leave it too late! Aus Post need time to deliver your parcel in time for Christmas giving! I don't know how much more time I am going to get to work on more so grab a set while they are still available!

Have a great weekend & stay dry if you are in Aussie! It's pretty soggy at the moment! (but not here!)

Creative Space complete!

Wow, I actually got her finished. I spent most of the day running around but hand sewing on her face inbetween times. I eventually got that finished after dinner & when BJ went to bed it was out with the sewing machine. She didn't take long to sew together but she took much longer to stuff. She is about 40cm tall so a decent size that takes a lot of stuffing! (& you must not be tempted to put big chunks of stuffing in at a time to speed things along! I was very good!)

Well I am looking forward to making a couple of others of these. It was quite good fun & a quick finish. I will experiment some more with some fun fabrics! These Saffron Craig fabrics look cute though!

Happy Friday!

My Creative Space

Well this is a very drawn out affair of creativity! I cut out this doll a week ago. It was meant to be last weeks space! But I had to clear off my table first before I could get my sewing machine out. So I had 15 sets of blocks of various stages of completion that needed to be all finalised & packed. Turns out it took until Monday to do that. There was a lot of other stuff going on on the weekend, like supervising the play in the paddling pool & of course having buckets of water dumped on ones head, the rounding up of cow stuck on the wrong side of the fence, the selling of lemons & rhubarb on the road out front! So, having got through all the weekend excitement (& having made about $30 from surplas fruits - yay!) I still didn't get table cleared.

Then work Tuesday & Wednesday was another finish off day. My Christmas ornaments the other week were addictive & I decided I needed to do another 15. So they were all sitting around waiting for a finish next. So yesterday I did that.

& that brings me to today! Yay! The table is clear! I will be able to get the sewing machine out & will sew. This pattern comes with a face. There are 3 different faces available but the face is used from this one. It also has a pattern for making your own face. So that's what I am going to do. I need to dig out the felt & sew on a face. I think that will take longer than sewing her together. But I am going to work on her today. It's going to take a load of stuffing. She is really a pillow when done cos she is quite large. It will be fun to see what this Saffron Craig fabric comes up like when she is done. I got it at work. I hope she looks ok when done though cos she will probably have to sit at work for a while. We are waiting on new patterns to come in as it has sold so well. Actually I was excited to hear that there are spare faces ordered too. So I will definitely grab some of those & stash them for another couple. So stay tuned for a hopefully finished babooshka doll/pillow soon!

In the meantime while you wait, visit some other much more interesting creative spaces.

Handmade Christmas

I know it is a bit early probably to put out Christmas stuff, but the Advent Calendar has to be out & ready for day one doesn't it? So while I was ironing (& still am...) I thought I would get my Christmas pictures out & press them & hang them up. Here is my quilted advent calendar. I did this a couple of years ago as a class at what is now my work! lol Karen & I did the class together to find out how to master the cute little pockets on it. I love it. It is one of the nicest advent calendars I have seen to sew. But having said that there are a couple of nice ones at work at the moment & although I don't need another one I think they are nice enough to make as presents. So that's my next plan.
Some pocket detail of the calendar.

Then I have these 2 embroidery pictures that I did a few years ago. They are Angels in Disguise I think. I can never really remember. I really like them & enjoyed stitching them up & finished them into hanging mini quilt type hangers. I liked these particularly because the design was printed on the fabric which saved that whole having to transfer the design before doing anything. There is some close up detail in a couple of pics below. I really love the chicken feet. They were done in bullion stitch & I love that stitch. I think it needs to be renamed as chicken feet stitch.

I hope you all enjoy preparing for the festive season. This is our first Christmas in this house & I am looking forward to putting out everything! I have 3 trees in all different sizes so I will be able to fit them all in easily! Woohoo! Not to mention the rest of the stuff! Oh I need to find a new place for BJ's stocking! I will have to show you that one later on in the week. It's lovely! Oh & a Santa cross stitch that I rescued! So you had better stay tuned...

Scarves for Ethiopia

A friend of mine is working on a project for children in Ethiopia. This is one I was able to help out a little with. So this morning I have been chopping up a pile of polar fleece for the scarves & I am currently fringing them. I bought the white fabric & she actually found the rolls of red at Spotlight for 99cents! Wow! With the aid of my rotary cutter I was able to cut through the roll in no time. Yay! So I called my friend at Full Little Tummies & she is going to bring the rest over so I can cut those. She has been doing them all by hand with a pair of scissors. I am happy to be able to help out with some time on this project. Don't you think Gifts of Time are often more valuable than gifts of things?

I will change the subject completely from the scarves now. With Christmas coming very fast, I was quite saddened recently to talk to someone about their expectations with gift giving. Yes it can be fun but when it becomes a huge burden both financially & having to purchase for a large extended family it becomes overwhelming & the true spirit of giving is lost. It still bothers me in my mind that Christmas becomes a pressure & stressful time just based on the gifts! I know it is hard to find gifts for parents & grandparents particularly. I have the problem myself. But we have come up with some great gifts over the years of gifts of time of a fun event to be held later on in the new year.

I think that time gifts can often be the most appreciated. Do you know someone who is going away for an extended holiday or through the summer a short holiday even. Print up some vouchers you make yourself & offer them a lawn mowing service while they are gone. Or watering their gardens while they are away. How about offering a meal with your family a few times over the following year. The gift that keeps giving. lol Or if you can't have them over, make them some frozen dinners. This is an idea that may seem strange but what about a meat hamper from a butcher (I know it isn't a time gift so much, but it is a different idea!) . Meat has got expensive hasn't it? So why not gift someone with a few different cuts of meat. In Australia it is a great time for barbeques, so a barbeque meat pack would be great don't you think. (unless you are vegetarian of course & then a vegie hamper would be just as special!) I know if someone gave me a tray of meat for Christmas I would be excited! If someone offered to mow our lawns or spend a couple of hours weeding the garden I know I would be truly grateful & excited. It doesn't take much to make me excited! A gift of time is precious these days.

So back to the scarves for the children in Ethiopia. If you wonder why Ethiopian children need a scarf, read my friends explanation in her post here where she was asked this same question. So I'm happy I can do something to help & give some of my time to bring these kids some happiness in their lives with something so simple & we take the simple things for granted.

Merry Christmas.

Light Up My Life

Back in June I was offered a light by buyster. They wanted me to try one out. It took ages as it turned out as the one I picked out was of course out of stock! So I waited a few months & evetually it was delivered! Yay! It is a simple desk lamp. But very effective. Initially it only went for 2 hours & then stopped! Uh oh... So I took it for a new globe & luckily that was the only problem. I gave the little light the benefit of the doubt there as I figured it may have got knocked about in transit. Since then I haven't had any trouble with it. It is a small desk lamp but very powerful. I have used it in a few different places now. It is a great desk lamp for in my dark house. I used it while doing blocks a few times on gloomy days. It was great. I also used it for stitching under at night. It is good. Also for crochet. I really needed a good light for evenings & this sure is effective. I won't use it as a bed light. It is way too bright for that. Other than that & the globe blowing out as quickly as it did, I really am pleased with it. I hope it doesn't blow again in a hurry as the bulbs are $5 which is a bit crazy but if it lasts a year or so I don't mind. But every few weeks or so will be annoying! Oh & it does get quite hot. It is small & I do try to keep the globe away from anything like the back of the chair when I am stitching or something as I really don't want it to fry! It's a neat little light though. Thanks buyster!

My Creative Space

Well I have more or less got the star ornaments done. I need to dig out my ribbon box & find some hangers for the stars. I like them so much that I got crazy & got enough stuff to make another 14 of them for others for Christmas. I am still trying to work on as much handmade for Christmas as I can. I am also trying to do as much as the handmade myself as possible - though I think I can recruit hubby & kid to help paint the rest! Nothing like creating more work for yourself, but it's all fun! The B here is for my little fella, as his ornament for this year. The other 3 I have done so far will be flying around the world to some friends hopefully soon. I need to get cracking on the ribbons so I can get them mailed.

More creativeness at Kootoyoo.

Christmas Ornaments

I have had these letters & stars for a little while now with good intentions of making a couple of decorations for some overseas friends & one for BJ. We've had a nice day at home so I have been able to work on these & also some more block sets. Hopefully I will get thse finished in the next few days.

They should look ok when the letters are stuck on the paper which is stuck on the star. Then I need to find some ribbons or something for hanging. This wasn't my idea, but Kaiser cut out stars & their ideas I think. I just thought it was something different & would add to BJ's collection of ornaments for this year.

Have a good week. I sure plan too!

Five things this week

Well I don't have much of a creative space today as we've been sick here most of the week & all I have been doing is sitting holding the boy, or running about after him. He hasn't let me do much of my own thing at all. So he was not himself for sure.

I thought I would have a little nosey post. I always think these kinds of posts are insightful into the person & find them quite interesting to read about others. So for today I thought I would just tell you 5 things that are going on for me this week.

1. I finally finished this book Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert. I got it for my birthday a couple of months ago & was determined to read it & actually finish it though I nearly didn't. I was glad I did. The book is broken up into 3 parts, Italy, India & Indonesia. I enjoyed the first part. But I got really stuck in India. That was a hard slog to read. I got through it slowly though & was pleased I did as then I got to read Indonesia. I enjoyed that part too & that was a lot easier reading that section, easier than the first 2 parts for sure. I enjoyed it anyway & I am glad I read it. I don't read a lot of biographical stuff at all. This was good.



2. Here's another book. This one I got recently for BJ as recommended by a friend. Ok so she recommended it as a Christmas gift. I couldn't wait that long. That is like, next month! Ages away! (no it is close, don't worry, I am well aware of how close!) Anyway, it is really funny. The illustrations are classic, the descriptions of the illustrations are classic! BJ has been asking for that book a bit & so we do quite a bit of reading of just that one.

3. I have been browsing a lot at bookdepository.com for books. There are so many great kids books around & at the moment the Aussie dollar is looking so pretty that this is a great place to pick up books & best of all it has free delivery world wide! Can't beat that. I have a million books in my wishlist there. I bet the dollar will plummet well before I get through the list!

4. Dare I admit this but having been sick & although feeling quite well, & not really being able to do any crafty bits, I have been wasting time on facebook & playing games! Ekkk.... It is a bit of a drag really as I have so many things I could be doing but I suppose it doesn't hurt to take a break from pushing myself to create & create. But I have found a bunch of games that my friends have played & I find I am just a wee bit competitive cos I like to have a go & try to beat the high scores! lol

5. Music playing when I get a chance to listen to something other than kids stuff - Courtyard Hounds. Love their CD. This is 2 of the Dixie Chicks having gone to do an album themselves in between. Gotta love it.

Ok, that's me today. Do you want to do 5 things too? Put them in the comments or on your blog so I can read them too. Like I said earlier, these sorts of things are quite interesting & people are nosey & want to know all about you! So tell me 5 things about you this week! Please! Have a good end of the week.

Cupcake Anyone?

Ok, it didn't quite get finished yesterday but this morning it did. We were too busy op shopping & stuff yesterday! Today is another quiet day while the little guy is a bit off again, so keeping away from everyone & everything pretty much. The stitching got finished & I will find something else to play with later on. This was a quick easy stitch. Might have to stock up on the rest of the set. They are cute.

My Creative Space

Yesterday my little fella was sick. I didn't have to cuddle him all day. I just had to sit near him. That was a bonus as I got this stitched up in that time. I was hoping to get it finished but oh well, I should finish off the last of it today. This is a Lizzie Kate design & it is actually a shop sample for work. I will put a finished pic of it on when it's done. It's cute. I really want to do all the rest of the set now which include Icecream, Candy & Pie. They look like stamps. Cute.

For more creative people check out these links here...

How Cute!

Ok, so it is just a bunch of rocks really. But it isn't often you have them looking back at you!

These are destined for playgroup tomorrow & will be pet rocks of all colours & decorations! Sad really cos they do look cute in here I think.

I am actually thinking how fun it would be to have a bunch of rocks on the beach looking back at you! Wouldn't people do a double take? I'm thinking that might just be a fun project. Hehehehe... Might need to stock up on googly eyes.

Zebra Embroidery

Here is yet another of the animals from the Laurel Burch fabric. It's ok. It's an interesting looking zebra. They have been fun to play around with lately.

Now I really want to work on something in the Doodle Stitching book that I got last week. I don't know what yet, but I will leave the animals for the moment. I didn't get many animals out of the fat quarter so the rest is in the scrap box.

It's Show Season

We had a wet day for the local show but we went briefly all the same & managed to dodge most of the rain. BJ was excited to get to ride in the famous car, Lightning McQueen. Very excited & happy! It's lovely when they are to young to know about all the other stuff that comes with the shows. Have to start saving for the years to come I suppose!

I also thought I would have a bit of a go at entering some things in the Home Industries section. Nothing to lose by it really. I was awarded a second place with Monkey. Hahahaha.... he was in the knitted toy section. So now I just have to decided what to do with all that prize money! $2 goes a long way these days! hahahahaha... ok, so you don't enter for the prizes do you, just for fun of course! It was interesting to see what sorts of things win, but overall it is interesting to see what what types of things people are making these days!

What a soggy weekend it is to be! Have a good one all the same.

Another Fabulous Book

Get your hands on this book! It's new out. I had it on order for a few months & finally it arrived! It's as great as it looks! Lovely. So much to pick from & motifs to suit anyone & everything! Really there are so many & wow, I don't know where to start or what to start stitching on. It really is great. If you embroider or just stitch a little grab it. There is a good bit of info at the start if you are a beginner. Plus there are lovely motifs that are the perfect size for beginners. Then you will be addicted. Not only are there all the motifs but there are also some projects included to make. How good is that. Now I just need to find the time to do some!

New Blocks in Store

I've been very busy lately trying to churn out the blocks for my madeit shop. These are a couple of new sets that I have just listed & they are so retro. The first one is The Taxi that Hurried. I just love the style of these pictures. The one below just cracks me up. It is just simply Fire Engines seems to epitomise all the types of book illustrations I remember as a kid, where there were always heroes that saved everyone & every little dog! Too cute.

Click the link on the right to take you to my blocks for sale at madeit.

4 Things

4 things that I always carry
1. Wallet
2. Hankies
3. Keys
4. Sunnies

4 things that are in my bedroom
1. Current read - Eat, Love, Pray (getting through it but slowly)
2. Bunch of clothes I need to put away
3. My knitted flowers that I got from Angelina
4. Vitaman E oil

4 things that I would like to do but haven't done yet
1. Visit Stu's family in England
2. Go to Alaska
3. Get another Norwegian Elkhound & a Bernese Mountain Dog
4. Fit everything into a day that needs to be done

4 things you don't know about me
1. I really, really love dogs
2. I spent 4 horrid years working in a call centre for Readers Digest - very bad job
3. My fav job was working in a gift shop - until I started recently in a quilt shop! Now they are equally favourite
4. I went to North America when I was 19 - on my own! Now I realise it was rather young to do something so huge! lol No wonder my parents stressed about it...

4 things I often wonder
1. What my little boy will grow up to be
2. Which things that my little boy does now & is interested in now will influence him in what he does in the future
3. What my little boy is saying when he tells me so much in his baby talk babble still... Sadly that is getting less & real words are finding there way out of his mouth now
4. What our dog thinks

Well that wasn't as easy as I expected. To see some other things visit here.

Elephant Embroidery

If you saw my previous post of my embroidery experiment with the Laurel Burch fabric & the completed giraffe you won't be surprised to see the next installment of my playing with more of the fabric.

The elephant isn't as bright as the giraffe as the giraffe was orange & yellow. But he still has his bright war paint on. I'm not sure if he is in disguise or going to a fancy dress jungle party or what. But it was quite fun to stitch again though the swirls on his ear got really difficult to put the last row of swirl in. It took a couple of days for my fingers to recover from that. I really enjoy the fill stitching. It's quite fun playing with the shape in the picture. The metallic stitching is not so fun but it needs it for the sparkle. Metallic thread is a pain but pretty.

Once again the elephant is finished in a 6" hoop. Below is a close up of Elephant.

So there you go. That's what else I have been doing this week, inbetween blocks. I will try not to work on the zebra for a few days & get some other stuff done first. These are a bit addictive. I need to get some more fabric to do another giraffe though. The other one is on his way to a new zoo. lol I'm sure he will be very happy there.

My Creative Space

I am trying to get blocks done for Christmas! So there are block sets sitting around all over my work table at the moment. It doesn't leave much room to actually work on them but some how it is getting done!

For more creative people that are more interesting than this visit kootoyoo.

This Speaks for Itself

Family Day

What a fun Sunday out & about Fell Farm. I've been juggling doing blocks most of the weekend with other things that need doing, like mowing the lawn again! I have got a couple of new sets of blocks in my madeit shop. There will be some more in soon as I prepare to have some available for Christmas! I am trying to be organised.

In between the playing & mowing, I arranged a little impromptu picnic afternoon tea on the lawn. BJ thought it was just great! I think it is something that he will ask to do again & again. He really likes routine & doing things in a specific way & having introduced something else he likes we are sure he will ask to do it again. That won't be a problem of course! lol Happy days on Fell Farm. Now off to eat our dinner that mostly came from our garden! Yay! I hope everyone had a good weekend & aren't scared off by the family picture! It's a bad hair day I think for all of us but the dog!