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.