Fell 4 U

Birdie Blankie

2012-02-02T09:32:00.001+11:00

The other day at work we had a quilt top being put together with the fabric that I cut up last week - Covent Garden. It turned out great. It was such a simple & effective pattern. So I had to do it myself. The pattern is Sewn in Time by Lynne Wilson Designs. It's so simple. This quilt top I did yesterday afternoon. I got all the cutting & assembly done in the one afternoon! (& that was without DJ having his afternoon nap!) That can't be bad. I used stash fabric too. It gives you 3 different sizes & for the small one you need 12 fat quarters for the top itself plus an extra 4 for the borders if you want. Most stash-aholics have no problem finding that amount or co-ordinating fabric. I sure didn't! But I went with this range this time as I really wanted to use those big circle bird pieces. They fit in well. I haven't got the whole quilt top in the picture above. There are 6 of those large round birds. I fussy cut them to fit them & could use some of the design from between them to fit in for other pieces. I'm pleased with it. I think this might just become by go to pattern for a quick quilt. The fabric is Birdie by Me & My Sister. I like their happy fabrics. Oh that's right they have a range more recently than Birdie called Happy. I have a jelly roll of that. One day I might even use it! We just got their new range, Twirl in at work. I won't get it. I really shouldn't. I will need to use the jelly roll first. But they do all work in well together at least. I will need to take my quilt top to work tomorrow & get a border & binding fabric, & a backing I guess, so maybe I can use the new ones for that! Now there's an idea. I do still have one piece of the big bird circles though & ideally I would like to add that to the backing somehow, just to use it up. I think that there my just be another fat quarter bundle of this fabric left though so I will see if I can use that too.

Now on a side note, where I work does ship all over the place so if you are after something quilt related, embroidery, cross stitch, wool, you can order from there easily. If you want info on where it is leave me a comment or message me & I can let you know details on where to do so. I like to share the love. We need to support the LQS that are left. There are so many of them that have closed in the last few years that we must keep the support of the bricks & mortar stores going so we still have local access to all the good stuff.

Guess I had better go & do something useful now. Making friends with the darned iron for ironing clothes might have to be one of the useful things. Have a good day!

Still Chillin'

2012-01-30T13:26:00.002+11:00

Wow, it's raining! But it's still hot! Hopefully the rain clears the air later on though.

The boys are still catching up on sleep today which has been nice for me as I have been able to hook my new square that was posted on ravelry last night. It's called More Vs please. I was really tossing up with colour changes at the start but I think it looks OK. I'm pleased with it. I have a nice little collection now & they aren't looking so horrid anymore. But I still put them away so I don't have to look at them for a bit. I have a couple of other patterns printed up to do so maybe I will do another on Wednesday or Thursday. If I get some hooking time today I will do some ripple again. Tomorrow is work so I don't expect to do any. If I get time I am happily surprised!

Anyway, now it's time for a game of Snakes & Ladders. I found some decent games for our evening game time at Kmart yesterday when I got to go out for an hour all by myself! It was lovely. So we are trying to find a few other things for our hour before bed to keep BJ away from the TV then. We have been experimenting. He gets really horrible at bedtime if he has just been watching TV we have discovered. Interesting to discover these things. But now we are trying to find some quiet family things to do instead. If you have anything you do at home, or any particular games let me know. There are plenty of games out there but he is still too small for most of them which is a pity. Oh I did find a newer version of Trouble yesterday too. That's the one with the pop button in the centre with the dice under it. We used to love that. I have put it away for the moment but we will see when that needs to come out to play. We have a little Ludo game that he has just been playing a bit but the pieces are a nuisance as they slide all over with a little bump. DJ doesn't do little bumps either so we lose the lot.

Have a great Monday!

Pyjama Day

2012-01-29T22:48:00.000+11:00

Do you do Pyjama Day at your place? We had one here today. Well the wee ones are the only ones that go about in pjs all day not us big lot! Pity! But we really needed a our day of rest today that is for sure. The last couple of days have been crazy busy, moving my mum. OK, moving house isn't so bad but moving house & shop contents is quite a feat! It certainly proved to be true. I did it all lugging around 2 little kids too! Poor guys. But they were good really. As long as the littlest had the attention required at feed time & change time & a wee bit of a nap thrown in in between the moving shuffle, we got by. The big boy was a trooper, so good really considering all the upheaval going on around him. It was good for him to see though as it makes the transition of grandma's moving a bit easier. He did say at one point when I was trying to explain again, "I'm going to miss Grandma so much!". But you will still see her, just in a different house. I think he is really going to miss the playing shops bit though that grandma is forced to play each & every time. It's more fun playing shops in a real shop you know!

Today I took a little bit of time out too, to spend on my ripple blanket. DJ & I went outside on picnic blanket in the shade of our lovely tree & there we sat till 5pm as it turned out. (it seems the camera isn't on daylight savings time! lol)

We did a bit of this....

DJ did a bit of this!

All that fresh air!

Uh oh, looks like I am wearing out my quilt! Needs a little bit of repair work done. Bother. But it's all good. It means we are using it & it isn't tucked in the back of the cupboard being wasted. I like to use the stuff I make. Well that's the point isn't it? This was my first ever quilt top too. It was done when I didn't have a clue what I was doing. I did the top, then went on to do classes at a local store, which just happens to be the one I work in now. (no I am not the quilt expert in store!) After some beginner classes on quilting basics, then more in basting, binding & machine quilting, this actually became my second quilt as the first one was the one from the classes. But at least I got to figure out how to finish this one off else the top would be still sitting in the cupboard. It is my dog quilt. I used all the Debbie Mumm fabrics that I could find at the time with dogs & a couple of others thrown in for good measure. I still have quite a bit of it left too which is no surprise! I think maybe the quilted paws were a bit adventurous for the time I did it, but I had it in my mind from that start that that is what I wanted to put on the plain squares. I'm glad I did it though. I think if I thought about it too much I would never have tried. But it looks pretty cute.

Grandma gave BJ a little present last night as he was so good over the last few days. He even helped pack & move where he could. He just wanted to help. If you ever move, a kid likes kitchen utensil drawers. Remove the knives & tell them to chuck all the rest in a box. Too easy! It may take 15 minutes longer than it would have taken you to do it, as they will probably ask you what each piece is for, but as long as you have other jobs to do around a kitchen you are pleased for a minor distraction. Anyway, that is beside the point really. Grandma gave BJ a box of 4 dinosaurs with paint. As it was late yesterday before we were home again I had said we would do them today. So paint we did! Well he did. I just had to hold their tails so he could paint tummies. No he doesn't like to get paint on his fingers but he did a little & didn't complain too much! lol Thank goodness I put the paper on the table first!

Recycle tip for the day - if you have large calendars with nice pictures that you didn't want to throw away, they make really good drop sheets for kids crafts & then you can throw the nice picture away without too much guilt! As you can see, this is a big calendar page. It came in very useful I think.

OK, pyjama day is over. I need to get into mine. There is no way I can stay up to watch anymore tennis as I can see this match will still go for at least another hour & a half. That will make it almost midnight. Nope, that's me done for the weekend. Catchya later!

Hope Your Day Was As Terrific

2012-01-27T08:45:00.001+11:00

We had the most awesome Australia Day. What has turned into an annual event, our Australia Day Barbecue has proved to be ever popular & hugely fun once again. For having so many people at home - about 30, it is still one of the most relaxing days of entertaining to be had. It was awesome weather. We had so much awesome food & lots of awesome company. It really makes for a pleasant day. The tribe of kids had a blast with each other. They all had great fun under the bubble sprinkler & making apple juice out of lemons. Hmmm... interesting, but kids can do almost anything they put their minds on so I won't argue with any logic that is behind such a thing.

I did start a new square on Wednesday & managed to get the last rounds in yesterday before everyone arrived at lunch time. I really like this one, the Efflorescent Window. I very nearly ditched it on the first couple of rounds but I persevered & wouldn't let it win. It turned out OK after all. I quite like this one with the little window in the middle. I was able to make it the size I needed for my smaller bunch of squares too after the giant the other day. I have a nice little collection now. I will have to post a group picture of them soon.

So now I will have to keep reminding myself all day that it is Friday after yesterday felt like Saturday all day. But it's all good as tomorrow we get another Saturday! Two in a week. Bonus! Have a good one! Stay cool if you are sweltering, stay dry if you are getting loads of rain & if you are on the other side of the world, enjoy whatever the day brings!

Practice Is Good

2012-01-25T11:17:00.000+11:00

This square looked the scariest of them all so far in our Crochet along challenge, but wasn't at all. It was time consuming & I had a little disagreement with the Elongated Back Post Stitches, but we kissed & made up after a little while. Yeah, even the name of the stitches scared me! This is the New Year's Eve square. It also turned out large, as once again I couldn't make it smaller. Well I wondered if the green lacy looking bit could have managed with one row less, but I just left it as is. The Star Odyssey square I did last week is slightly smaller so I will add a row to that one & it will be the same as this. I am guessing that as I go along making squares it will happen that there are a couple of different sizes, & some that I can't adjust much. So I will go with it for now, & will end up with two sampler blankets I guess. That's cool too. In the meantime I am learning, developing my crochet skills, learning to read patterns better, figuring out some finer points of crochet that I still wonder about each time I change colours, & wonder if I will ever know the secrets to these things. In the mean time I hope I am doing some of these things right. I guess time will tell, if the blankets fall apart!

An end of an era today with mum's shop being open for the last time today. Wow, after 18 long years it is time for her to move on! It's scary for her but exciting none the less. Bring on retirement! Yay Mum!

Terrific Tuesday

2012-01-24T21:57:00.001+11:00

I'm lucky enough to work in a craft shop. At the moment I am only there a day a week, so by the time I get there again it's often the case that a bunch of new stuff has arrived again that I get to catch up on. Today was no different. I got there & for once there was a range of fabric that although I had to look at it a few times it really grew on me & I came to love it. Often I look at new fabrics & think blah, or a couple in a group are OK only, but this lot I must say really sucked me in with all of them. I don't know why as I really am not a florally person. But this range seems to have a bit of a vintage feel about it. It's really cool. The range is Covent Garden by Benartex. This is 12 of the range. I see there are a few more in different colour ways but these as a set of 12 are really great. I got to cut up a whole stack of it today for kits which will look awesome. I am seriously considering some of this range. I love the colours. The 4th one from the left looks so vintage sheet-ish. I am really taken with this lot. I wonder if I can find something interesting to use them for. I must have a plan before I buy some as I must get enough before it disappears & disappears fast I think. Lucky I don't have girls to sew for else they would be well decked out in this I think.

Sunday Treats

2012-01-23T17:26:00.000+11:00

It had been a while since we did anything like go out on an outing such as this. So it was a real treat for us, but especially for train mad BJ. We had a few relatives over from the big bit of Oz so spent the afternoon first having a barbecue lunch at home & then we went for a nice leisurely train ride. As you do. It was somewhere we had talked about going for a while to let BJ experience the train & now we had the perfect excuse. It was a nice little ride. We go past the place often, but you know, you just don't do those tourist things so much when they are right on your doorstep. So we have finally experienced the Don River Railway. BJ loved it so much he wanted to go back today of course. Or next week. He doesn't mind when but I guess the sooner the better. Maybe we will again before his birthday as he is still free!

The carriage we were in was a cute old wooden thing. Lovely little hi-lite windows at the top with etched glass. Loved that bit. The kids all had a great time, not just BJ. But so did all the grown ups.

Cute little interiors

Watching the steam engine back onto the carriages. Fascinating stuff for little (& big) boys!

Ice-creams all round...

Just to top it off nicely we went to the bestest ever chocolate factory around for after treat treats of icecream. I did get a couple of chocolates to take home for later though. Shhhh don't tell. Oh I did give one to Stuart but it was treat for once the boys were in bed. Love their chocolates. Heaven... now I must admit though that this is one tourist place I do know very, very well. They do a great coffee, they do a great hot chocolate, they do great light meals & they do the bestest ever desserts. (try the Orange Mousse Cake if you are there, but if I'm there too make sure you leave a piece for me!) Oh & they also have a bit of factory viewing which wasn't in operation on a Sunday but I have seen them working there through the viewing window. Quite interesting. There are also plenty of samples to taste test which we did. I was very lucky as they had my favourite hazelnut truffle in the taste containers this time. What a lovely afternoon. No doubt I will be there again soon, even if it is just for a take away coffee or hot chocolate as you get a piece of fudge & a truffle with each takeaway drink so worth the stop for sure!

I have been there a few times over the last couple of months. I am in a group on Ravelry that is made up of a few locals & this has become our meet up place for a couple of hours of knit & crochet time, with a coffee & cake of course! (that is the point after all! You thought the point was the knit & crochet time didn't you!) Each time we have been there it has been packed with people. It's always so busy on a weekend. Anyway, I will leave you drooling over the thought of such yummy chocolate. If you haven't been there before or tasted their stuff, you don't know what you are missing. If you have been there & tried it, ha ha, you do know what you are missing!

An Old Favourite

2012-01-22T09:44:00.003+11:00

Do you have a favourite shirt that you just can't part with? I do... I have had my We Will Rock You t-shirt for such a long time & I haven't been able to wear it since pre-kids. lol It lost its shape terribly & also became too small for some reason. Oh well. But still I couldn't throw it out. For one thing, I really loved the show. Loved it. Totally. In fact, I changed my flights & stuff to fit it in after Stu had been to Melbourne for a concert & this & he said I just had to see it. So, I did. Well worth it & heck I got an extra night in Melbourne! Bonus!

I saved it. Yesterday was laundry day. I did get it all finished, but in between I did re-purpose this old shirt for BJ. I thought it would be hard, or trickier than it was, but it was so easy. Took about ten minutes. That's it. & that included re-pinning around the shirt where I used BJ's Scooby-do shirt for sizing. He thought I was wrecking Scooby! So took the pins out again. Anyway, it worked. It probably won't last much longer but it does the job of my not having to ditch the shirt quite yet. New life in it & he was happy with a new shirt. So easily pleased at that age!

I Want To Be Little Again

2012-01-21T17:53:00.000+11:00

After my post the other day when I said that BJ was upset because he wanted to be little again (you can find it here), I got to thinking how nice it was to be little. It's nice to be oblivious to all the grown up stuff going on around you! I really don't want my boys to grow up too fast but I wonder these days if the way we live does make it happen sooner than it did in my growing up days. I know I was naive about so many things that went on around me for a long time! I guess so much has changed & now it will be a good lesson in how to protect my boys from things to a certain degree, before I feel like they need to do or know stuff...

I thought I would have a turn at being little again anyway, with a little group of pictures of me back then...

Myself, little baby Chris & Mum. No idea where this is. I can see expressions of BJ & DJ in me there.
Big sister Judy on the big bike. Myself & Chris squished on the trike. We used to spend a LOT of time riding our bikes on our driveway.
Ours summers were spent camping. We didn't leave town, we took the caravan over the river to a camp ground there & spent most of the summer there. They were good times. Myself & Chris sunbaking! At least I have zinc cream on my nose, but I doubt the rest of me has any sunscreen!
Beach babe Me! You won't see me in a bikini ever again!
Chris, Mum & I again. This time planting fruit trees in the new garden. We each had our own fruit tree that we chose. Mine was a plum tree.
Judy & I. My first pay packet. The olden days when you got paid in cash in a little envelope specially made for pays. Our Opa had a business & we used to help I guess. Turned out I ended up working there for 10 years later on so this was the start of a long career.

So there you go. I love it that there are gadgets that can convert slides to PC.
Stay cool!

More Playtime

2012-01-21T10:43:00.001+11:00

I did another square. I couldn't wait for Sunday to roll around with the announcement of our next square for the crochet along... So I did this Easter Day square. It wasn't hard at all, but I find it interesting that my centre is kind of off centre. Kind of a little crooked. Well not kind of, it is! Maybe I didn't join one in the right spot. Who knows. But live & learn right. Oh & I found a mistake on one corner but I won't tell you where. Someone will inspect & find it I'm sure. lol But it's ok. I had to leave one row off this to make it the size of my other squares. I don't love it, but I don't hate it either. They are all tucked back away until Monday when I will dig out the yarns again to do the next one. The new ones are announced on Sunday but it is Sunday evening my time so I don't really get a chance to do anything about it then.

Speaking of Sunday, anyone waiting to watch the new Young Talent Time on Aussie TV on Sunday evening? I am looking forward to it. I for one am not scared to say I lived for YTT in my younger days. My sister & I knew everything about it. We still do. I have the DVD of the old stuff that they brought out a while back. It's good. I don't watch it often of course but hey, maybe I should get it out again & put it on for BJ. He might enjoy it now. Anyway, I will be interested to see what this new make of it is like. Plus I have to see Tina Arena. She is such a talent. Not afraid to say I have all her CDs too. Love each & everyone. One day I will get to see a show of hers live. I think the last time she was here I was pregnant or something so had no chance of going. She is an awesome singer & it will be interesting to see what she does on the show as a judge I believe.

Just another indulgent Mummy moment going on here with this gorgeous face of DJ.

Happy Saturday. Looks like another scorcher but one I must spend doing laundry. Lovely fun! Must fill the pool for the boys for later on though. I think we will need it.

More Square Fun

2012-01-20T07:21:00.005+11:00

I had to make another square. There are so many great squares on Ravelry so I thought I would make another. We still have a number of weeks left in the crochet along I am joining in with but that won't make many squares so I thought I would have a play with a couple more. So I did this one. It's Odysey & quite pretty I think. I enjoyed doing it. Only problem is it is way bigger than all my other squares. I couldn't make it smaller as the round section itself was as big as my other squares. Then I still had to add the rows that make it into a square. Oh well, I will donate it to anyone that could use it for a scrappy throw for charity or something. I will have to make my selections more carefully now & make sure I pick the ones that are done in 10ply yarn so when I do them in 8ply they are my size! That's where I went wrong here. This one was done in 8ply & I didn't notice. Not to worry. It is pretty & would look great in a whole blanket of these. But probably not in these colours!

Summer continues to rock with more picnics & paddling in the garden. We are sure making up for no summer last year this time round. I got out BJ's old swing that we used to hang on the deck at the old house. There isn't really anywhere to hang it here, but I really wanted to put it up for DJ. So I stuck it in the apple tree. For now it's a good spot since he is still so little. But poor BJ was devastated. He's too big for the swing. He told me he just wants to be little again & sobbed & sobbed. He really really wanted to be little again so he could go on it. The problems of a child are just too sweet. Wish they were my problems too. I don't want to be a grown up, I want to be little again...

I Love Nap Time

2012-01-17T07:25:00.001+11:00

I managed to get another square done for the Crochet along on Monday while DJ was napping. Ahhh... bliss. I was very good & folded washing & did horrid domestic sort of jobs first & then got to sit happily & hook this. This looked the scariest of them all so far but turned out to be the easiest of them all even though I still had to undo a round when I realised where I had made a mistake. So that's good isn't it? That means I am either getting better already, or maybe this was just easier than the other 2. Either way, I also like this one better than those. I think it's the colours. I think I am turning into a greener than bluer girl than I was. But this one definitely appeals to me more. This square was meant to be only 6" & since we were doing a 12" bunch this was kind of not going to work. I don't know how many are going to do it in the group but I did after all because my squares are all only about 8". As it was, according to the pattern I would have 3 rounds less. So the outside coral border, the next green & next lemon wouldn't be there. They really make it colour wise I think so that was interesting. I'm glad it didn't need to be any bigger else it would have needed more colour changes to make it look OK. I did start that lemon row in blue & hated it & then did it in coral & that wasn't doing anything for me, then the lemon & yes bingo, it works! I really am feeling quite clever after managing the 3 squares so far. Now I feel like I could tackle anything! But then again, maybe not!

Sunday Was Sew Much Fun Too

2012-01-16T11:30:00.001+11:00

What's not fun about little toadstools like this in your garden! Ok, so they aren't really in the garden anymore & only were on this mossy shrub stuff for the pictures, but they are cute as can be. So much so that BJ claimed one right after! (& then promptly dropped it in the dog water & so it spent some time drying out! ) But they are cute & super easy! Mostly all hand sewn too, but you could sew the caps by hand if you wanted. They are from a gorgeous book called Cotton Floss by Cinderberry Stitches. I got it at work late last year & raced home to cute out these things. Poor fairies have been homeless until yesterday as I only just got to sew them on the weekend! But they were worth the wait I think. There are the cutest designs in the book for toadstool embroideries too. I am deciding which to do next. BJ wants an owl softie from it, so that may come first. We'll see what strikes my creativie desire first. There is also a range of fabric coming out to go with it & we are getting a couple of them in at work. I will be very excited when they arrive! (can you tell I love my job? lol)

It was lovely to be able to do the stitching on those in-between some more summer backyard fun yesterday. We had a great time in the paddling clam. The water had been in all day warming up so I would have just about got in. BJ is a laugh. He isn't really a water boy & stands there wading with his shorts pulled up! So funny. This was DJ's first time in the pool like this so it was fun to see him enjoy it at least.

You will have to indulge my mother adoration as I make this picture of DJ in the pool large! The look is just too special & Stu did a great job to capture it at that split second.

BJ had his share of water play in between our playing with the large bubble wand & doing big bubble chasing all over the yard. So much fun & such special times with little ones.

Sew Much Fun

2012-01-14T17:35:00.001+11:00

Yesterday the good fortune continued with DJ having another nice long nap. So I got all excited while the sewing machine was still out & picked up this blanket. Well it wasn't a blanket then but it is now. I bought this softest fleece before DJ was born & had bought some yellow satin ribbon to put on around the edge. I had pins in it all over & it's been sitting there for about 5 months waiting for me to sew it on. Well I did - rather badly but it's on! It's still the softest squishiest fleece I ever did meet & will make a cosy blanket for any of us! lol

After sewing that & taking out the mammoth pile of pins I had no where to put them! Bother! So next stop was the box in the cupboard that had the blue turtle in it. I had cut out this turtle probably about 18 months ago when I made BJ's & another for my sister. But my poor pin turtle got left at the time. So that was a bonus as in no time at all I had him all sewn up & totally pinned up. Woohoo! I did enjoy that little sewing marathon yesterday! I wonder when I will ever get a chance to do so much in a day again.

This morning I spent helping my mum with her sale at the shop she has finally sold. Yay! So the next couple of weeks will be a bit tied up with extra time spent helping her do clean up & packing & moving I guess.

This afternoon however we have had a lovely day in the garden having a picnic. BJ does so enjoy a picnic. It was a good time to be silly & play & enjoy the summer .

Fairy Bread anyone? A quick emergency picnic snack which was obviously enjoyed by BJ.

A bit of bike riding around the garden is always in order.

Shhhh... I don't think you are allowed to dink anyone really so don't tell....

Ooops... & no helmuts! Love the Weekend! Hope yours is just as sunny, funny & happy!

Just Have To Post This Now!

2012-01-13T15:36:00.000+11:00

I have to post again as I have to put up the cushion! I managed to finish it this morning while baby was sleeping! It actually looks pretty good! I did have to laugh though as when I showed BJ his new cushion he told me he would like one with penguins next! Oh ok, I will have to see what I can do another day. However, we do have some really nice fabric at work with penguins on it!

This is a fairly new range of fabric that came into work & I thought the blue & red were perfect for the Union Jack. I got the pattern in one of those many million of magazines you can get these days in packs of 2 or 3. Mostly there isn't anything you want in any of them but I had to buy this pack as I wanted the cushion! It was in Handmade Gift Giving Vol 29 no 9. It was designed by Jenny from Elefantz. She has other Union Jack cushions on her blog. I should have found those first as the mag pattern had a little error, but I managed to work with it.

The blue, red & backing vehicle fabric are from the range Ready Go! by Richard Neuman for Clothworks. It's a really nice boy range of fabric. The white is an Alexander Henry spot from a range a couple of years back. Worked quite well. It was certainly a test of my sewing. I haven't really sewn much like it for a while. I even made friends with the automatic button holer! Stu said that you just blanket stitch & then cut it don't you? Well yeah, but you use this gadget to do it! lol So I did lots of practice with the button holer first as it was a rather long time since I had used it. At least when I did, I made notes in the instruction book which was handy. Love that gadget. It's my new favourite friend as BJ would say in reference to something that he likes now. I also got to make use of my Oma's buttons tins. I found 3 great buttons for it there, so a bit of history too, even though BJ doesn't know my Oma from long ago.

I thought I was being clever doing piping for the edge too. I have never done piping before but this really cool stuff we have at work was something I really had to make use of for this. Have you seen it before? It's iron on piping! The rope/cord is covered in a piece of stuff like your iron on interfacing. So you just cut a strip of fabric, sew enough together for the length you need to go around whatever & then you iron the fabric over & hey presto! You have the fiddly bit done & you just have to pin that between your back & front pieces & you sew around the perimeter & you are done! Too easy! I was a bit nervous about it & thought I should have got some tips from the other ladies at work who have used it. I will now anyway to see what I could have done differently. But it worked out well really, even sewing around the corners.

So that's another little project done! So cool! Now I have just put DJ to bed again & I have got out my next project! Yay for nap time & yay for the fact that I am actually home making use of it for a change!

Times They Are A-Changin'

2012-01-13T09:27:00.001+11:00

Time is certainly moving along. This little treasure is already 6 months old. That song "Times they are a-changin'" couldn't be more suitable for him as we named him for one of our favourite singers. Every day brings with it new & exciting developments in his little life already, from almost sitting by himself, to eating like a pig. In many ways he is like his big brother - to look at for one thing & how tall he is seemingly going to be. In many ways he is different too. This boy likes food already. It took a long time for the big boy to be interested in food. DJ is on the move now, rolling about & wiggling from here to there, being determined to get hold of whatever he has set his sights on.

Not much crafty time again these days but I did manage a new crochet square for the Ravelry crochet along I am taking part in. I don't like it yet. But I feel clever cos it wasn't easy. The star is actuallly a separate piece attached on top. So that was quite clever. That was the easy part though. Following on some of the rest of the Star Overlay rounds was a whole other story. For now I have hidden both squares away so I don't have to look at them till next week & then maybe I will find a bit of love for them again.

The very late evenings I have been getting in a bit of sewing time for a fun thing I had to make. It is a toss up at night whether to sleep or sew. I have had to take a little sewing time as I just won't be able to ever do it otherwise. Sleep is over-rated right? lol

Seeya... Oh cool, it's Friday again, have a great weekend!

Need A New Bag?

2012-01-07T17:09:00.001+11:00

I've been having a little browse on line & you know how it is, you get side tracked & end up looking at odd things you really didn't care about before but it was fun looking all the same!

Here are some bags I came across...

Holding Pattern Overnight bag.

This makes me laugh. It is tape measures on the other side but I like this side too, though I wouldn't use it for much. Just quirky.

Rubiks Cube bag

...anyone? Very cute but I think I would look silly carrying it!

Quite snazzy idea but needs to be a different colour I think. Looks rather blaaaaa, however authentic.

I love the record bag. Need to check out more on this one. Very cute & I could just about see me with this if it was big enough!

Week of Random

2012-01-06T20:28:00.001+11:00

The new year is already flying by. I am already behind on some things! How can it be? But the week has been crazy & busy & hot! So a little bit of the week that was...

DJ turned 6 months old already! Where has the time gone? So we had a half cake the other day to celebrate! lol Any excuse for a party hey! We also had DJ's first trip to the beach. I even went for a proper swim myself! Wow, that rarely happens!

It's been so hot even the kookaburra wanted icecream!

The big brother giving the little brother a grass hat. As you do...

The boys got a bubble sprinkler from us for Christmas. It blows bubbles as well as sprays like a sprinkler. Lots of fun!

BJ practising with the camera again. I just love the look on DJ's face. He responds to everything that big brother does.

I have been able to do a little bit of crafting this week! Miracles do happen! I decided to join a Crochet Along (CAL) on Ravelry. It isn't something I really wanted to commit to but the other day while browsing I thought I would try. It is just for a different 12" square every week that someone there picks as a surprise. I decided I needed to challenge myself on the crochet front. I had a book from the library recently that I sat & tried something out of & I couldn't do it! I thought I should try at least to see if I could do something there & this way I have help from the rest of the group if I get stuck. This Spring Fling square was certainly a challenge. I very nearly did fling it too. It took a few days which is long for something as small as one square but with all the interruptions I get & the very small windows of opportunity I have had lately to do any at all, I am pleased I was able to do it. Plus they are a good size for in summer! I think this was the hardest piece of crochet I have followed so I am quite pleased I did it. Really, it doesn't look too bad. I used an 8ply/DK yarn so it is only 8" but that suits me fine. I had the acrylic handy to am using what I have. I will see if I can manage to keep up with the CAL. It has been amazing to see the other finished squares already as they are the same but different! Very interesting to see everyone's take on the pattern.

Have a great weekend! I hope to get some other fun stuff done now the ironing is once again caught up! I had to iron fabric I had washed for a project so thought I had better do ironing before I finished playing with the fabric. :-)

So This Was Christmas

2011-12-27T10:39:00.000+11:00

A little Christmas over view from our house....

"What is it? Give it back! It's mine!"

This dog is really cool. You read the book & he responds on certain parts with a bark or a howl. So cute. Plus the dog is really cute anyway.

"oh wow! It's Thomas!"

Chocolate letters, yumm... table place cards this year! Poor BJ had been bitten all over on the Friday & of course his eye swelled up more on Christmas Eve as is quite obvious here.

Lots of fun playing Pop Ball with mum.

Our Little Family

Merry Christmas from our house to yours.

Brothers

2011-12-23T20:09:00.000+11:00

Big & Little = BJ & DJ

Hanging out together already....

Kids Handmade Christmas

2011-12-22T16:37:00.002+11:00

The resources available online are amazing these days. I've had a bit of a browse around blogland this week & found some terrific tutorials for all sorts of things. One page that really had me hooked though was minieco.

There are a whole load of things there for kids to do. Not just big kids but some a bit littler too. So, we had a go at these bird feeders! I had everything in the house! I had bird seed left over from our feeder that broke. I think our visitors got too fat & the bottom fell off the top! So along with the plastic cups that I had 4 of after making jelly last week & some lolly pop sticks & twine, I even found a block of lard in the fridge. Ready set go! To see details check out the bird feeder details. It really is easy! BJ managed it quite well. I did get the cups ready. He did all the mixing & spooning into the cups yesterday. They have been in the fridge over night.

Here we have one ready revealed bird feeder. We have 3 which is pretty cool, so each set of grandparents will get one on Christmas Day.

BJ wrote some tags & I tied them up ready. They look pretty cute. I have left them in the fridge though. It's pretty warm at the moment & I don't really know how well they are going to hold up in the summer. They probably really are more sensible for the winter but oh well, if that is the case it was fun all the same & it is something that BJ has made himself.

I can't believe it is almost Christmas already! Only 3 more big sleeps! But who is counting! lol

More Decorations

2011-12-19T10:26:00.001+11:00

Like we need more, but I can't help but buy these MDF pieces from Kaiser each year. They brought out this cute sleigh this year. Well I hadn't seen it before if it was out before. I got it awhile ago & on the weekend had the sudden urge to make stuff. So I went through my stash of scrapbook papers (yes I have a stash of those too, not because I scrapbook as I don't, but because I like them. It's the paper version of fabric is it not?) So I was very good & used what I had even though I didn't have much in the way of Christmas paper left & I certainly wasn't thrilled with the ones I had as I am sure there are much nicer ones available again but I was good & went with what I had. So there you go. I got to use some ricrac on the sleigh & some gold bells & ribbon which are on the front & you can't quite see the bow but can slightly see a bell. It was good. I am quite please. At the moment it is under the tree, hopefully it will survive the week there. On Christmas day it will go on the table with a few little sleigh pressies in it. I do this now as a tradition instead of Christmas crackers full of rubbish. So this is fun. I get to find a little gift for the people that are coming for dinner. All good fun!

I had to do DJ his own decoration with his initial on it too, so he got a gingerbread man. These are the ones I did last year for the dinner guests. I can't have him being the only one in the house without his initial on the tree.

Then I found these Kaiser craft stockings. They are quite large & probably too big for the tree but the boys won't care. So once again, whipped up with stuff I had, mini ricrac, paper, alpha-stickers & cute green check ribbon! Good fun! So that's that done & I have had a little creative time during the weekend. Yay!

Jelly Isn't Boring!

2011-12-16T15:03:00.000+11:00

Especially if you are a kid! We have been having the usual Christmas parties for the playgroups & stuff. So what do you do for a bring a plate to a barbeque with dozens of kids? Something easy for the kids to manage & hygenic for everyone without child handled food on the table ( I really hate that idea!) Well most kids love jelly. I had these plastic cups still from some other event. So make a stack of green jelly, add to cups. I got over-excited & then went & added ribbons to them all. I got some of that squirty whipped cream. I don't think I have ever bought that stuff before. I had them all on a tray & added the cream before serving because it goes flat quickly. The put the tops on & put a candy can through the hole in the top. Quite cute & festive & it seemed the kids loved them. Oh I did do some without cream too... I know for sure that the idea is going to be used again for other parties next week, so there you have it - Festive Jelly Cups!

Glad we have run out of Christmas parties as the boys are just worn out already from all the excitement!

Where have the days gone?

2011-12-11T07:56:00.004+11:00

Far out the days are just flying by aren't they? I have been trying to get on here to post this for a few days but life has taken me in other directions each time. I've had a sick big boy last week & a sick little boy this week so it hasn't left much time for anything else when all you can do is hold, snuggle, rock, comfort, not sleep & do a lot of sitting around.

Anyway, this is the finished Hitchhiker scarf that I did finish last month. I am quite please with it. I love the colours. I love the simplicity of the pattern & I love the effectiveness of it to wear. Come winter it should be quite warm & snuggly I think. In the mean time it is sitting at work on display. I used Magic Garden Classic Prints in 4ply from Naturally for it & really enjoyed using that stuff. It feels nice. I need to find something else I can use some of it for.

Last week I finally started a new ripple. Ahhh... the soothing & relaxing motions of a ripple blanket. Love it... I have been itching to start it for a few months now, but had to get my colours right. I have started now though ever so slowly with all that has been going on. But it's all good. I am just happy to be able to ripple away for even five minutes if that is all I get in one sitting. This ripple is for Dylan, so there isn't any hurry for it anyway as he isn't in a big bed for a long while. I just needed an excuse to start one, though since when I need an excuse I will never know! lol

Well it is a sunny Sunday so I should get the day started properly & see what the day brings - other than a treat in the Advent Calendar which BJ is thoroughly enjoying every day. At least I can get him to eat his breakfast quickly these days as he isn't allowed the treat until after he's eaten that. I really love this calendar though. I feel quite clever each year when I get it out again. I have to get another one now to make for Dylan I think. They are too nice not to have one each for them I think, though I don't think they are quite as nice as this one.

Happy Sunday to you!

Choose Handmade this Christmas

2011-11-29T13:49:00.002+11:00

Have you done all your Christmas shopping yet? Or rather, is Santa organised at your house? If not, you have to check out madeit.com.au

Support people in Australia that make handmade stuff. There are lots of great things available there & you can do more refined searches if you are after something to suit a particular person. Here are some of my favourites!

This is a cute variation on a bus scroll poster. I like it!

These superheroes are just cute as can be... pity Santa is too organised here, else I would need these right now.

Check out all of Halle Jay's customised jewellry. The picture here is of my customised necklace. I got it last year, but recently had the additional child added. It also got cleaned & looks like new when it was away. It looks terrific! If you would like to see some terrific keepsakes check her out as she has a variety of different styles to pick from.

These bus destination posters are all the rage these days.

I just love this necklace. What more can one say - it's cute!

I still have my shop open & will list a couple more sets of blocks too as soon as the boys allow me a second to do so! Check there soon for a couple of new sets!

Octonauts Treasure

2011-11-18T20:56:00.005+11:00

Well finally BJ's long awaited special gift arrived, well after his reward chart was finished with what he needed to achieve for the gift. But he doesn't understand time like that so it was probably more of an issue to me than him. But it was well worth the wait. The Gup-A is prized possession right now. In fact, it is sitting right next to him in bed so he can see it right away when he wakes. It really is great! He is super impressed that it came especially to him in a plane from a long long way away.

Also whipped up some cute pants for DJ this morning. I just had to make use of this fabric. It is the cutest ever. It is from a range called World of Susybee. If you click that it will take you to the website for her gorgeous artwork & textile collection. Wow! They are totally terrific! I am in love with the murals she has done on bedroom walls! The dolphin room at the Sick Kids Hospital is gorgeous! Then check out the textiles. This is Lewe the sheep range of fabric.
We have part of the range at work & I had to get this stuff for sure. I am still thinking who I could make the cot quilt for. DJ has enough really so he sure doesn't need one. I will get the panel anyway as I am sure it won't last long.

I really like the growth chart for Zoe too. How cool is that giraffe? For anyone that likes giraffes this one is for you. The cot panel, the growth chart, the stripe, all totally gorgeous. I love the cot panel for Zig too. We only have the sheep at work though so I had better stick with that for the moment. The pattern for the pants anyway are from Made By Rae again. Too easy. Two pieces of fabric & a wee bit of sewing! It took me longer this morning to put the elastic in than to sew them up, that's how quick they are! DJ isn't going to fit this pattern for long though. I have added inches to all sides & about 3 to the length!

Have a great weekend! I will, although a wet one by the sound of it!

Coffee 'n' Knittee

2011-11-11T13:27:00.003+11:00

Yep, a bit of coffee & knitting. I dropped the big boy off at day care this morning & then went to a nice scenic spot for a pram walk with the little boy. At the turning point of the walk I stopped for a latte & a bit of knitty time. Working away on my Hitchhiker scarf & loving it! Of course the wee one wanted a feed inbetween there too so I just got to sit & enjoy the scenery...

But who could complain with scenery as pretty as this today! One direction & then the other direction had a couple of tugboats at the mouth of the river waiting for a ship to come in. Oh & King Neptune on the right was hanging out waiting to make sure all was good in water world! lol

More creativity is going on over here.

Sleep Stories

2011-11-08T20:15:00.002+11:00

I am constantly amazed at the imagination & thoughts my 3½ year old has. Everyday something else he says or his play acting really amazes me. I swear I will remember each & every moment but I know that is not likely. A video camera is on hand but still doesn't catch those sudden moments that are just that - sudden & unexpected. This morning in the car on the way to his Gran's place he was telling me about his Sleep Story. (Something about Daddy & his face doing weird things! hmmm...) We got to Gran's & he started on about his Sleep Story again. I just find this fascinating. What a great name for a dream that is. I am wondering if he has seen it on some TV show recently that I have missed it. But it is a good name. If he saw it on TV & he worked out it is a dream then that is pretty cool. If he has come up with the name all by himself I am not sure, but it is a pretty cool thing if he did! Anyone know what it may have come from if on TV?

We have been enjoying a bunch of great books from the library lately. So many cool books out there for kids & for shaping their minds even more. I have so many books myself to read at the moment though it's crazy! Got 2 at Kmart today for just $4 each - bargains! You may remember recently I was reading this one...

I really enjoyed it. A nice chick lit book with inspiration in the embroidery details at the start of each chapter. I thought this was too nice a book to keep & there are plenty of people out there that would appreciate the embroidery parts in it as well as an easy read. So I thought I would have a giveaway for it. I really hope that whoever gets it that they themselves will pass it on again when they are done with it. But that's up to them of course, but it's a nice thought. So if you would like to have a read of this book leave a comment with some info about a good book you have read recently & I will give it until Saturday & BJ can draw it for me then. Probably it will only be mum that will end up with it (Hi mum!) cos she's about the only one I know that reads this regularly anyway. But as long as I can share it with someone somewhere I don't care! lol Sorry, but I need to keep it within Aussie.

Discovering "Color Issue"

2011-11-07T10:07:00.002+11:00

I Love it when I come across lovely blogs via a bunch of blog hopping moments. This one is really nice! Really really Nice.

Colour is such an important thing in our daily lives & also in craft things. My work involves lots of colour, helping people find their perfect fabric combinations, or even threads to co-ordinate with a current project. It's all good! It's all colour! This blog is really gorgeous with all sorts of colour inspirations. Even if you don't read it all, look at the pictures! I really need to brush up on my photography skill next. Mine are crap.

What are you waiting for? Go check it out...

Loving Spring

2011-11-06T10:55:00.001+11:00

Finally we have some action on the chicken coop! Stuart got a bit of a start today with a little help from BJ of course.

I had a little creative play time. I was actually doing the ironing & then had it in my head to find something & ended up pulling fabrics out to make a pair of pants instead for DJ. I had actually received an email regarding one of Made By Rae's patterns & I hadn't looked at her blog for a while so off I went to browse. Well that was it as I found the free pattern for baby pants. DJ is in desperate need of something cooler right now. I have lots of clothes for him from BJ but they are all turning into the wrong season clothing. Bother. He is going to miss out on wearing some really nice stuff! Anyway, I used this pattern for her Basic newborn pants & these are the first result.

They are quite tight on the chubby & long boy. So I made another pair & cut them about an inch wider & about 2 inches longer & ended up with a perfect fit - for now anyway! At the rate this boy is growing they won't fit long. They are roomy enough for the cloth nappy underneath though so that is good. The first pair will fit better with a disposable.

I have pulled out some more left over fabrics that I have enough of to make a couple of other pairs & I think he will be right for a wee while in the pants department. Yay, it was nice to have a little play, it was nice to be (easily) distracted from the ironing, & nice to have a finished piece.

This one is just for the cute factor.

Reminiscing

2011-11-01T11:23:00.003+11:00

Did you watch The Waltons way back in it's hey day? I have series 1 & have been watching that lately, just for the sake of something to listen to while working away on blocks. I've actually really enjoyed watching it again. It's nice, simple easy watching stuff. Nice to have a bit of that now & then.

I haven't had much craft time as I have spent all my in between moments & evenings most of all working on blocks trying to get them done. They are almost so I will be pleased as I have been itching to start the Hitchhiker scarfy thing over on ravelry. In the meantime, I will have a restock of sets in my madeit shop in a few days so stay tuned for some great Christmas ideas. Poky Little Puppy is my most popular set & it will be there too. It seems to be the most popular Golden Book for a very long time to a lot of people!

What was your favourite Golden Book? I don't remember having Poky Puppy but we probably did have it. Can't remember it though. It isn't in the collection I have now though that I have kept all these years. I think my favourite was The Golden Egg Book, not that I remember what it was about. I will have to read it to BJ sometime. I also remember The Wait-For-Me Kitten. Must read that too. We have a large collection of these books now as we have mine & Stuart's on the shelf in BJ's room so there is no shortage of variety either as we both had quite different tastes! Guess mine were girl tastes & his were boyish types. I will have to dig a couple out for bedtime reading for BJ. I find reading to him quite a nice relaxing part of my evening these days. Happy reading!

Our Creative Spaces

2011-10-27T11:47:00.004+11:00

Today I am sharing creativity with BJ. Yesterday we stopped at Spotlight & he spotted a couple of things in the craft corner that I thought would be nice for us to decorate & stuff. He was quite excited. So this morning it was just about our first thing of the day of course. He concentrates on it quite well for a time, but I did have to finish it off. Plus he doesn't like getting his hands dirty so heaven forbid he actually got a spot of paint on his fingers! Anyway, the yellow pig money bank is outside drying still. His feet will need a touch up. I wonder what we will end up decorating him with next. Stickers or painted spots or something?

If the pig wasn't enough, he actually wanted this wand as well. So I gave in & bought a wand! It is actually a Pirate Wand of course. We tried to find pirate things in the shop yesterday to go on it but didn't find anything, so I will raid my scrapbook papers as I have some there. (yes I have scrapbook papers. No I don't scrapbook but I do buy the paper cos I like them. I wish more of the designs were on fabric! )

Some how in the middle of this & a baby that won't sleep much for me today ( & me who desperately would like to sleep!) I am also trying to get through a couple dozen sets of blocks for an order & to get some more in my shop for Christmas shoppers. So there are loads on BJ's farm table for lack of anywhere else at the moment to put them all. Oh well, it's only temporary.

Check out some other creative people today won't you!

ETA I keep trying to add comments on others but am getting the message I don't have permission to the view the page. Don't know if it is me or not. Some are working just fine!

It's Friday

2011-10-21T14:35:00.004+11:00

1. Trying to find time to get some blocks done & into my madeit shop.
2. Finally saw all of The Proposal. Not often I get to watch a chick flick these days & usually not all in one hit like this time. lol Sandra is one of my favs!

3. Getting inspired by this book but no time to make use of inspirations. Each chapter starts with something about a particular embroidery stitch. I discovered I have been doing Berlin stitch all these years as apparently that is the original name for cross stitch.

4. Watching DJ grow so fast & making new discoveries.

5. Listening to new music.

Eye Tests

2011-10-20T08:12:00.004+11:00

It's been a while since I played along with My Creative Space. In fact there is a place just for every one's creative spaces now.

At the moment I am fiddling around with this doll I have made up. Just a Geisha kind of doll that I had in my head & just wanted to see if I could create. It's going ok after a bunch of scrappy tests. I felt very designery playing with scraps & experimenting etc. But I am fiddling with the face now. I am experimenting with faces. Eyes are hard I have discovered, but one thing I have already figured out playing with this is that more simple if often best, so I need to get the needles & pencils & threads & whatever else back out again & try to get some uninterrupted time to figure out what face looks best. We'll see what happens, as I don't want it to look like creepy or anything. Eyes are hard!

Seems the day for eyes, as BJ has to go for a quick visit to the eye place. It's been a drag over the last 2 years, as they don't do anything. Hopefully it will be simple & the last one! Hopefully I can follow that up with a quick eye test here on dolly!

Anyway, go & visit the creative space link above to check out some other clever clog people! Happy Thursday!

Bit of This and That

2011-10-18T20:26:00.003+11:00

I have been fiddling around with bits & pieces. Trying new crochet patterns out & ripping them out. Trying out different yarn I bought at a bargain price probably for good reason but I am determined to use it. It's quite alright, I am just not used to using thicker yarns for crochet yet.

Anyway, I finally finished all 3 of these cats from the first Meet Me at Mike's book. I finished one off awhile ago as it went as a present already. While I was making that I did another one for a baby due any day now. I also did one for DJ as he doesn't have one & they are simple enough, I just didn't rush with these 2. I was determined to finish stuff off now though before starting a few new things.
I also got quite excited by a book BJ got at the library today. It's this one...

Now for any crafty folk that have small children & are reading this, this book is for you too! Check out this link from amazon where you can look inside a few pages. It seems all the books illustrated by Clare Beaton are done with sewing collage pictures using felt, fabric, buttons, sequins, you name it, she uses it. This one is awesome, plus at the end it gives you info on each of the animals found in the north of the world so that is nice for us lot down on the bottom of the world. Just the cover of Secret Seahorse had me sucked in & I had to look through the preview for that one. Well there is one illustrator that I would enjoy looking at picture books of that is for sure.

Okey dokey, that's for me the day. Time to go & read a grown up book in bed. Hahaha... I just realise I am reading a book about sewing too! Laura's Handmade Life - nice easy relaxing read for the busy mum! Seeya!

More Animals

2011-10-13T16:34:00.002+11:00

Well after complaining about the frog in the last post I made another. Ok, so it was easy really, but the toes are a real pain, not hard, just a pain! This frog is going to be heading interstate. Hopefully it doesn't breed & go mad over there to become a problem like the cane toads! At least this one is cute though. I still have enough green Dimple fabric to make another I reckon but I won't. (well not unless I find I need a fast present for someone!)

I also did the duck! He is from the same company of patterns. He is really cute but boy, I am feeling quite clever after making him. He wasn't so easy, what with little pieces here & funny shapes there & sew along line M to N & cut holes in it & stick the legs in with some hand sewing & crazy things like that. But over all, he wasn't hard. The directions were really good & as long as you took the time to follow them it went easily. I don't think I had any mistakes to unpick or anything along the way. He is a cute duck that I am sure DJ will like one day.

& so a lesson came of having to teach the big kid that not all the things I make will be for him now. BJ got the frog the other day & of course wanted the duck. So if you have the duck DJ will have the frog. But no he wants both of them of course. Sorry, but the lesson is a valuable one which after a third discussion he may get a little bit more & is quite happy to let DJ have a turn playing with some of his toys since he knows then he can play with DJ's. Life is tough when you are 3.

Have you checked out this magazine yet?

2011-10-11T13:33:00.002+11:00

Wow, I love it! Talk about inspiration. I read one of these & my brain starts ticking over with so much inspiration & ideas until I have a sad moment that I am never going to find time to do all the things I need to do. It's a great mag. Unfortunately way down here we are a bit behind on issues so I have to wait to see the issues that I see on the Mollie Makes site. But it really becomes a whose who of blog world. The first mag I picked up, issue 1 funnily enough, I was reading through feeling like I knew quite a few of the writers & creators in the mag as I have read all the blogs at some point. Really great to find them all in print now. They really are doing well. If you haven't had a look at this mag yet, keep an eye out for it at the shops & pick one up. You won't be disappointed.

Times To Treasure

2011-10-09T13:48:00.003+11:00

Yep there has been a bit of nothing going on here. Although when I have 2 boys sleeping on me it is not really doing nothing is it? Though I feel like while they are asleep I should be getting some things done. Well not this time. Not possible. The big boy has been under the weather so was having afternoon naps & miserable times which resulted in a moment like this. Quite precious & something that won't happen a great deal, so I must treasure the moments instead of feeling like I should be doing "stuff"!

Somehow over the last month & a bit though I have got my Spring in September hexagon blanket finished. I did give a little info on this in my previous post. I ended up putting in 116 hexagons of the 120 I had ready to go as 120 is the amount I would get out of 5 colours with each hexagon being different combinations. It looks ok. Lucky for me I had spent the odd 5 or 10 minutes sewing ends in so when the end came I didn't have to do the whole blanket worth of ends. It isn't all that big but will do as a lap blanket or a baby blanket or something. It's not a big deal though. I think it was starting to get quite heavy though. I do like it. I need to put it away for a time though so I don't have to look at it for a bit & then I will like it more. I did a 2 row border of single crochet around the outside. It was all it needed to finish it off I think. It does feel nice & soft in the bamboo/wool mix but I sure won't do bamboo for a blanket again in a hurry. Not anything big anyway.

I also have played around with the frog which BJ saw at work (while I was stocking up on bamboo) & told me he needed one. So being the sucker I am I got the pattern & the lime green minkie kind of fabric. The fabric totally sucks to sew but does feel so nice & soft as a toy. The pattern is Prince Charming by Funky Friends Factory & the original shows a crown on the frog but I gave that a miss. There wasn't much to it, but the fabric made it a challenge & the 4 feet with 4 toes, being rotten curves for sewing also added to the challenge. I'm quite pleased with it though & BJ certainly likes him. Now I have to tackle the duck from the same company. DJ needs one too of course. I need to stock up on more of that rotten fabric I guess. I will be brave because it does feel so nice to hold. I will have to grin & bear it & rise to the challenge of the rotten fabric. (not to mention the fluff it leaves all around the house from cutting it out!)

Also a couple of washcloths that I did last month. I found the beautiful cotton in a local store & HAD to get it of course. (yes I could say I was forced, although a lie, it was the bad angel on my shoulder telling me I HAD to try it!) But it is lovely. It is Snuggly Smiley Stripes by Sirdar & so so very nice to play with. The cloths are nice & are nice to use on DJ. Actually the big hexagon one on the top was my practice hexagon for the blanket. I just added a couple of rows onto it to make it bigger for a cloth. It is nice & I love the colours of both. The store only had 3 of the range of colours. I believe there are 8 different ones. I didn't get the third one available here though as it was all pinks & I am really not a pink person to that extent. A little is good but not all pink.

So there you go. I have been busy, although not blogging. We had no computer for a bit as it broke which is of course a pain in the butt, but it made me do other stuff. You don't realise though how much you use the rotten things until you don't have it & want to. I was also going to jump in with something called Blogtoberfest but I missed too much with no computer so I won't bother now. I will try to have my own little blog event where I actually try my hardest to actually post a wee bit more than I have been.

Now I am off to finish off another project that I started recently, as I want to just tie up a few things before I start on another blanket. I am waiting on my first ever order of wool from the Bendigo Woollen Mills & can't wait. I might do a blanket in wool for a change. Then I will hopefully have made up my mind on the colours I want to use for a ripple blanket for DJ. But there is no hurry in that. I will find plenty more to do in the meantime.

Happy Sunday to you all.

A Sneak Peek

2011-09-23T18:21:00.003+10:00

This is my current project that I am naming my Spring in September blanket. It is the hexagon pattern from Attic24 & it's pretty simple but very effective I think. I am only using 5 colours & did you know that if you use 5 colours on a 4 round project you will get 120 different pieces using all different colour combinations, but only using each colour once per piece. Got that? I thought I was pretty clever working that out myself with my little family tree type diagram to work out my colour list. But then I was given a very handy link which does that working out for you & even lists the combinations for you. So handy so save it won't you. You will be glad you did. Maybe not right now, but later on. I need to save it as I will never remember the word permutations to ever do a search for it. So that's what I have been playing with lately. I have all 120 pieces done up to round 3 so I am pleased. Just trying to find time to do a bit of round 4 & round 5 the join as you go one! It's fun watching it grow! I still don't know how big it will be or if I will need to add a couple more hexies.

In between times we just watch these 2 growing up so fast. DJ is 12 weeks already!

Happy Weekend!

No More Cake Thanks!

2011-09-09T14:21:00.002+10:00

There's been a whole lot of this going on lately! Time for a cake break though. You kind of get over it after a while!

Cupcakes at the top are Red Velvet. I don't know what the big deal is with the current trend of these right now as it was really just cake. I sure wasn't going to keep adding red colour to it either to get it any redder! Cream cheese icing was great though.

The next lot were Cappuccino cupcakes. They were a hit but not enough flavour to me. I am getting fussy! The top is interesting as it is baked cheesecake on top instead of just a cream cheese frosting. Good fun to try!

& someone had fun blowing out each candle! lol

I Have Been Giraffing Around

2011-09-07T17:56:00.002+10:00

I have been doing some craft! This giraffe is for DJ & is from the same pattern book as all the animals I did about 2 years ago for BJ! I am not particularly happy with Hoff, as I have named him. But he's ok. I actually finished knitting it weeks ago, but some days with a couple of kids just doesn't give you a chance to sit & do a thing like this so the sewing up of each bit took a little while too get done. One day I will look at it & think I didn't do a bad job of it after all, even though the legs aren't really in the right place. The most impressive bit is the mane, which is actually knitted in that loopy style! Very clever! For the rest, I don't like the pattern as I don't like how the increases look like holes. I don't like the bottom of it's body which I ended up weaving some extra yarn around to try to fill in the holes, else I expect he would have leaked stuffing in no time. Oh well, he's done & DJ now has one toy too.

I have finally decided on a couple of new projects as I haven't got anything simple to just pick up & do without thinking. For the little time I have in the evenings between getting the boys to bed & my crashing out (very early) it is nice to just be able to pick something up & do a little & feel a little creative. So below is my current little splash of colour this time using Heirloom Bamboo Wool blend. There are lots of little centres all over the place at the moment & that's about all.

For the rest there has been much focus on the family. DJ is growing way too fast. He is cute as ever though. He was sleeping on Daddy yesterday & squishing his little face up in all sorts of cute ways.

If that baby fix doesn't do anything to make you smile then check out these wee ones we have over the fence. We have 6 little lambs in the paddock - not ours, they just spend time eating our grass! They provide a great deal of entertainment, jumping all over the place & chasing the chickens that also come over for a play. They are cute in little black socks & faces, & one is stripy & one has spots! So cute!

Well, it's been a busy little month, but hopefully I will get a chance to do a couple of other things. I have a couple of things in the works at the moment, but getting the sewing machine out is going to be a night time activity I think! So stay tuned for more!

Wow, I Made This!

2011-08-01T14:28:00.003+10:00

I am quite proud of myself! I knitted this jumper BJ has on! Woohoo! Is that clever or what. It is done in Aran 10 ply wool. It's lovely to knit up but is like it is felted so will pull apart if pulled too hard, which was a pain when sewing it up! But it is nice & it is warm I expect. I managed to read & decipher the whole pattern pretty much but got stuck on the picking up stitches bit to do the placket... I hadn't done that before & it turns out the way I tried it initially was right. I felt quite clever. I even figured the collar bit out & it looks ok. So how about that then. About the only problem was that it took me a month to finish it off since DJ was born & in that time BJ grew almost 2cm so the body is probably a little bit shorter than I would like on him but it will do for the rest of the season now. DJ will get to wear it later on. The best thing is the pattern I did was the smallest size so I can make bigger ones now too! It really wasn't a hard knit for the most part so I will probably attempt it again later on. But we'll see... lol

Baby Cuteness

2011-07-21T12:14:00.003+10:00

A few weeks ago I splurged on a crochet magazine, Inside Crochet Issue 16 from April. I haven't bought any mags for ages as I haven't been able too. But that day I did. I needed something to sit & read as my craft mojo was lacking. Turns out it was hardly a surprise since DJ arrived a few days later. But the mag was great company in hospital as it turned out. I read it pretty thoroughly during our 2 stays in there. I was eager to get some baby wool to whip up the Baby Sneakers in the mag too.

They turned out pretty cute. I would have liked white or cream for them, but there wasn't any in this wool. I used Naturally Baby Haven for these. I wanted to try it out. I didn't like it much to crochet with as it is a splitty wool. Grrrr..... on a hook that is annoying. Might be better to knit with. Anyway, these are my Baby Sneakers. They even turned out the same size! ( I knitted bootees a long time ago & they weren't when I had done them both! lol)

Just another touch of baby stuff, DJ is due today! I'm so glad he came as early as he did! We get a lot of this sort of thing going on around home at the moment! Sorry about the sunny patch behind BJ. The rest of the pic is cute though.

This Is What I have Been Up To This Week

2011-07-10T09:13:00.002+10:00

BJ would like to introduce you to DJ! He arrived last Sunday.

More Knitting

2011-07-01T16:13:00.004+10:00

Back again to show you a couple of other things. This little jacket thing I knitted at the start of June or so. It's from the book 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders. I had it out from the library & as usual they wanted it back. I used Merino Magic Fleck for this one. I really like it, but..... I can't wear it yet. When I had finished it it took me a while to get around to blocking it a bit. Because of the stitch pattern it is done in it gets quite tight. I have absolutely no hope of trying to wear it with my tummy as it is right now. So I have to wait till I get skinnier again & see if it fits ok then. Else someone else will end up with it! Bummer. But lucky them.

I really love the books by Judith Durant in the One-Skein series. Currently I have the Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders from the library. It's got some lovely things in there too. I have the Luxury One Skein Wonders book, but have yet to see the first of them all One Skein Wonders.

Here's something I didn't knit but wanted to show. Sorry about the blurry bird though. Seems there was a mark on the lens! Darn it... This is a cute knitted blanket with cute knitted animals sewn onto it. My MIL knitted it for baby. She was bored a while back & wanted something to knit. I had just seen this pattern somewhere so got it & off she went. It's a cute book & includes patterns to make toys like all the ones on the blanket too. I will have to get it sometime, so I can make the turtle for BJ. It's cute as.

So there you go. Some more knitting stuff. I will see what I have left to post now. I think I may even be up to date!

Fat Me & Other Stuff

2011-07-01T09:47:00.002+10:00

So I have a bit of catching up to do. It's a bit rough when you don't get computer time anymore cos your 3 year old hogs it! Sheesh! Who woulda thunk that huh? But BJ navigates his way around iview ABC for kids all by himself now, just from watching us doing it for him a bit.

I finished work the other day - good & bad. I will miss it & will need to go in for a catch up regularly if I can. So today is my first day home with BJ in day care! Wow! Bonus! After our week last week I need a bit of time out I think.

Here's a picture of fat me anyway. Not an attractive picture cos I don't do nice ones, but fat me all the same. This is 37 weeks. Poor baby has second child syndrome happening already being very neglected in picture department already!

I had said recently that I had been working on a bunch of other things & hadn't taken pictures yet. Well now I will really scare you with another one of me! Ooops, sorry about this. This is my Baktus Scarf that I knitted with sock yarn. I really like it. (just don't like the picture with me in it! Squinting in sunshine btw) It is a Spotlight sock yarn & is slightly scratchy but it is surprisingly warm & not so annoying in the scratchy on the skin like I thought it would be. It's great to wear because when outside with it you can pull it up over your face a little to keep the cold off a bit more. Also it is starting to stretch out a little which is good as I didn't think it was long enough. It was a good project to knit up though as it is all knitting & thoughtless. Very handy at times.

Another thing I have been doing but just in the last week are these little girl hats. While sitting around in waiting rooms etc at hospitals last week I was prepared with knitting & crocheting stuff depending on what I would be in the mood for. Good thing too, as I spent the day in the company of another lady who was doing the same thing. We did a pattern swap on the day & I got stuck into the pink hat here right away. I have been able to churn out a couple of hats since. They don't really take long at all. The pattern is actually one used by the Samaritan's Purse for hats to go in their Christmas boxes. It's a Girls Shell Edged hat which you can find here. I have actually made these now for a playgroup fundraiser, as this is easiest for me at the moment to contribute this way. Hopefully next week when we have our little stall they all go well. I will try to do another couple yet. If they don't go there there will be plenty more to give them away too.

The pink one is done in a cotton/acrylic, My Friends Pallete collection. The next 2 are done from Moda Vera Cashmere/merino blend & the 4th is in Patons Smoothie DK. I really love the feel of this one, it's so smooth & soft. It's only an acrylic but does feel so different than many. Each hat is taking just over a 50g ball. What a good way to use up some of those odd balls of yarn that I have picked up on sales etc but they aren't enough to actually make much else with. Bonus! So I am getting through some stash which is great. I will try to be sensible in what I buy from now on. lol That won't be difficult, knowing what is coming into work in the next little while. Hmmm..... There are some really nice yarns out there. I can't wait till I can get back to work, all going well at home, so I can keep up with all the cool stuff out there in craft world!

I have yet another catch up picture or 2 to come, of some knitting & stuff so hopefully I can get that posted, even though I would be quite happy if I didn't if baby decided to make an appearance already. (please do Baby!)

Almost the weekend so enjoy it!

A Long Awaited Ta-Dah

2011-06-26T14:58:00.003+10:00

My Rainbow Ripple blanket is finished! Yay! I was determined to have it finished today. Fortunately I had been sewing ends in a bit as I went so it wasn't quite so daunting when I finished the last 3 stripes this morning. I am quite pleased with it though probably more sick of looking at it for now. I told BJ yesterday it would be finished today & he said he didn't need it. But once I put it on his bed today to take a picture he decided he wanted it after all & had to hope in bed to say Cheese.

It's been done in Panda Magnum acrylics, 7 colours randomly striped, except when I got to the end I decided how many more rows I would do & then did about the last 6 stripes in the same colours as the beginning so it is the same at either end. That way I won't obsess about which end I started on & finished on & won't sit there hopefully picking out which colours shouldn't have gone where or something. It's a good size with enough hang on the sides & ends of a single bed. I'm too lazy right now to go & measure it though!

I have a couple of other things I should be able to post in the next day or 2, just need to keep pictures taken which is the tricky bit at times. I have one day of work left & I miss it already even though I know I am ready to stop for now. So hopefully I will get a bit of time in to finish off a couple of other things before baby arrives too, though I don't mind in the least if baby comes any time from now & interrupts this plan. lol

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Birthday Party on a Budget

2011-06-13T16:21:00.003+10:00

With BJ's birthday the other day, I never really set out to do it on a budget or anything. It was more in my head a case of "what can I make myself" as that it just the way I think I guess. I have seen really nice party sets of cups & plates & party bags etc that have construction things on them. I had in mind I would find something like that. But I never really got around to it as I hadn't really had the cash on me at any stage recently to go & buy them if I was. But being crafty minded I still had in my mind to do some of my own things.

So it started off a few months ago at any one's birthday we went to, he was expecting to see a cake with a digger on it. I told him he could have a digger cake. But for a toddler the concept of time is nothing still so 3 months ago that wasn't really helpful! lol Anyway, with that in mind for his cake & the idea that I wasn't going to try to make a cake that was a shape of a digger, it went to a cake with a digger on top that he can play with. Cool. Part one... so next the clip art... find some free clip art of construction things that will work. I had in mind some cupcake toppers so printed a few pictures up for something like that. Then I blew some up a bit bigger thinking I could put the kids names on them for party bags too. So I printed up a bunch. Brown paper bags are pretty easy to get hold of I guess. I picked up 7 at work. I was quite pleased with these party bags in the end.

The party bags didn't contain the usual balloons, lollies or anything else like that. We found some construction vehicle sticker books for the boys plus a vehicle to actually play with that went in for the boys. We had 2 girls at the party of different ages so I did age appropriate girl things in their bags that were girlie.

As the day got nearer I decided not to do cupcakes as well as a birthday cake so I used a couple of pages of my printed clip art as confetti pictures just on the table. I didn't have a table cover with diggers or anything on it, so a bunch of clip art pics did the trick.

Then the digger juice. I had a few pages of pics that I cut the strips of pictures from. They fit perfectly around a pop top juice bottle. Each bottle had 3 pics around the middle - diggers or bulldozers. They were a hit I think. Digger juice is in vogue for sure! bwahahahahaha....

For kids this age, one thing I learnt recently at another party is that the kids are more interested in playing with the different toys at the house they are at rather than go to eat party food. So we kept the food to a few basics - potato chips, little hot dogs, mini sausage rolls, a small bowl of lollies, some cookies I had done in the shape of dozers & cranes, watermelon slices & some marshmallows. All that topped off with birthday cake covered in icing & lollies was more than enough of a sugar hit for the kids! lol Kids only eat the lollies off the cake & lick some of the icing. They don't really eat cake much! So that was good to know in advance. As a result, we had a really great day with minor expense & minor effort I think. I think the kids had a good time too. It's always fun going to play at other peoples houses, & even more fun when it's a party but it sure doesn't need to be the event of the century. Well I can't manage that & as I hear more & more, there are plenty that can't. I hadn't really thought about it much before but there are simple ways to make a party memorable without blowing the budget.

Friends & family are the first thing though. Remember that. They are the important ones in the lives of a kid growing up. We are lucky enough to already be good friends with other kids BJ's age that he will go to school with in a few years time so it is lovely for all the boys that they know each other from such an early time in their lives. I have one friend myself that I can say I have known since ummm... forever... we never didn't know each other. It will be lovely in a number of years to hear these boys all be able to say something like that when they are adults.

Ok, now I am really carrying on so I will leave it here for now. The long weekend is nearly over & the cake decorator is even going back to work tomorrow after about 2 months off work. I don't know who will miss him more - BJ or I? Certainly has been handy having him home at times. Seeya later....

My Boy is 3!

2011-06-12T11:15:00.002+10:00

I know everyone says it, but I must too now... Where does the time go? BJ turned 3 on Friday, though we kept Friday a non-event & made it an all day event on Saturday due to work & care on Friday. Saturday was a great day if a day late.

Friday night we were doing our baking & decorating. I can't take credit for this cake though -Stuart made the cake. The cake, the icing & the decorating was left to him. Actually it worked out well I think. Two opinions in jobs like this often result in stresses. Since he was home baking the cakes on Friday I asked him to do a drawing of how the construction site should look, based on the lollies & stuff I had picked up a week ago. (That was my contribution - finding fun things to use for decos & the vehicles! lol) Stu did a good floor plan of the ground & well, I left him to it. It's cool. BJ loved looking at it. The kids that came for the little party in the afternoon loved it - to look at more so than anything as I don't think kids really eat cake much. The chocolate rocks on the piles & around the edges were a huge hit though & the kids soon polished off the lollies that they got on their piece of cake & left the cake. No problem there, they were too busy playing & that's much better for them.

BJ was a fiend while Stu was trying to light the candles. Finally got a sort of picture of him with candles still lit! He was blowing out the matches before Stu got a chance to light any!

So Stuart was resorting to drastic action in the end to try to keep candles lit long enough to sing the song & stuff! Didn't happen, but we tried! lol He was a very excited little boy about the candle bit I think. They end up seeing so many other kids having a turn it is extreme fun for it to be all yours to do!

Here he is in the morning with one of his presents. It's one of those V-tech computers. I had no intention of getting any such thing until I saw this in Kmart last week for such a bargain price I couldn't leave it behind. In fact, I should have got the other one as well for someone else to give their kid. Oh well, I didn't at the time, but it is pretty cute & boy he looks like a pro navigating his way around that thing. Computers & the handling of a mouse seems second nature to these little ones already.

Oh you can see the Thomas Tank engine buildings in the front of the picture. He got those as well. Good fun to drive trains through all sorts of buildings & things it seems.

After a rough start to the week with most of us here being sick we finally had the excitement of the birthday without having to have postponed it after all so that was a nice end to the week. Now I can have a bit of relax as the place is quite tidy & clean still. So I might get a bit of knitting done today & we'll see what else. I think it will be just lots more play with the orange computer, listening to very loud firetrucks that dance all over the floor, drawing, playing Thomas tank engine, painting & blowing bubbles the size of a balloon! Honestly, they were as big as balloons. I have never seen anything like it. So no doubt more giant bubbles will be on the agenda this afternoon! Probably more of the same tomorrow since we have a long weekend! Yay!

Stay tuned for tomorrow hopefully & I will show you some more pictures of some of the things I did for the party. My decorating for a party on a budget! lol It turned out pretty good I think!

A Quilt a Month

2011-06-04T16:51:00.003+10:00

This is fast turning into a quilt a month postings isn't it? Hmmm... It's not like I haven't been working on anything else though. But for now here is a quilt that I did this week. The panel came into work on Tuesday & I decided I needed to make it up for a Baby shower for today. So Wednesday afternoon I did the quilting & sewing & then on Thursday I hand stitched the binding on. Voila. Done. Woohoo! I really like this one. I hope I like it long enough to do these next couple I have lined up to do though. I will try to get one done for work this weekend still. We'll see how we go since I seem to have a miserable child full of cold. Might be a snuggling weekend instead. Baby shower this lunch time was very nice & lots of nice things eaten & seen & shared.

More on the quilt panel for those who want to know. It's called Aldo to Zippy by Jenn Ski/Lilla Rogers Studios for P&B Textiles. I backed it & binded it with the limey yellowing stuff as my friend who received it today likes green. She doesn't know what her baby is yet so that's cool. It will be nice for a girl or boy I think. I hope so anyway as I have another or maybe 2 more to make for people who don't know what their baby is yet. Cool! Don't you love the surprise factor?

I have been doing a lot of knitting & crochet in between everything else going on in life right now. It is keeping me grounded & rested a bit so that is nice. I try to do some every day, even just a little. But my day ends quite early these days so I don't get as much done as I would like before I need to conk out in bed. Only 7 weeks till our baby is due so I am trying to finish up the few projects I have on the go right now as I don't expect much will ever happen for a while after baby makes an appearance.

I will try to get more posts in this month than last month. That won't be hard. One more & I have doubled it. Ooops...

A Quilt in a Week

2011-05-09T11:18:00.002+10:00

I have been working away on this quilt in little spurts over the past week. It is another panel that I can cheat fairly quickly with. It would have easily been done in a day but I didn't have the chance to sit for all that time in a day to do it completely. So it was a bit a day really. The fabrics are from Benartex called Baby Geniuses Speak Up. Click on that link to take you to another place that has it so see the fabrics & panel more clearly. I got it at work of course & the quilt will go there tomorrow for a while. It's a pretty fun panel as it is a sounds quilt. Like "What sound does a phone make?" or "What does the clock say?". Good fun plus it is bright colours which young children like to look at. So there you go. I have been doing stuff, just not much on the computer which makes a nice change. Knitting & crochet are cruising along right now with the cold & frosty days we are having. Not much better than sitting under a big blanket you can work on at the same time.

Easter Chook (or 2!)

2011-04-25T17:11:00.003+10:00

I had to try this Free Range Chicken from the Lily Sugar & Cream website. Ok, so it doesn't look anything like theirs! But... ummm... he is rather obese (slightly overstuffed!). Not good for a chook, but he did end up rather large. BJ doesn't mind. Also my chook doesn't have legs. I can't figure out the pattern for the legs. I started doing the claws & toes bit but even the bit I did, I really couldn't work out what I was even creating & the rest of the instructions I couldn't work out to get past that. So BJ got a legless chook yesterday. He doesn't know any better & he likes it as it is. Plus it sits this way. I didn't use the Sugar & Cream cotton like it says as I have a very limited supply of that & I don't really want to waste it on a toy right now! lol Oh the beak is all wonky on the picture as it keeps getting pulled open while he makes chicken noises so it will probably be a funny shape for ever! I was pleased with the wings & comb though. Very cute!
My other Easter activity was painting the spare room. It needed 3 coats in the end so I was busy with that. Got 2 done Friday & the last one on Saturday. You can just make out the colour which is a really light green (Alpine Mist by Walpamur). The chest of drawers we did 2 shades darker & it's called Fresh Peppermint so that look pretty cute in the room. Now I have to decide what to do with the rest of it. Oh & you can see me the fat chook below at 27 weeks along.... (& standing on a ladder! lol)

Hope your Easter & ANZAC day if you had that one too, was lovely & you had a nice break!

Finishing Frenzy 3

2011-04-20T09:23:00.002+10:00

I have another dragonfly cushion. This has been kicking around in the embroidery hoop for a month or so. I just worked on it when the mood took me. But this was my sign that I had too much going on! I spent a considerable amount of time trying to find the thread the other week. Nothing worse huh? Very disorganised I was. I had it sitting on the desk so I could pick it up & do a bit here & there. Well, when the thread was gone & I was forced to tidy up & put stuff away in my search for it, I thought I definitely need to get some of these things out of the way & finished.

Well I didn't find the thread. Darn it. I have decided that it must have fallen in the bin next to the desk. Darn it. Maybe one day I will find it hiding away one day. lol

I am a bit addicted to these cushions even though this took so long. I wandered around work one day & matched some fabric with a skein of Threadworx threads. I really wanted to use this particular fabric & thought it worked well with the dragonflies since it is floral. So I went with Threadworx 1151 & this groovy fabric. See front... & below the backing.

Then a close up of the colours on the dragonflies. But... having used this stuff I was still nervous. You see, when you finish this off you need to see the cushion cover & then wash it to get all the marking of the pattern off. It's just magic that. But.... the Threadworx did run, just like I was afraid would happen. So I soaked it for a bit to get the bleeding out & then let it run out a bit more. Then rather than leaving it to dry I quickly dried it with the iron so it was only slightly damp. But then the knots in back were running so I had to stuff the inside with some paper towel to try to avoid a bit more run. But I got there in the end. It's not perfect as I don't think the dark green bits were going to stop running ever but I elimated the bleeding as much as I could. Phew... & it looks pretty spiffy & again, one of my favourites. I still think I really like the green version better but oh well, that is living on my sisters bed now. lol This one is now at work to show for a bit too. So that's all good. I don't know what I will do with it anyway except chuck it around the house. Hahahahaha...

I think I have run out of finishes for now. I have just started something else in the last hour while sitting here. I couldn't help myself, but I have to as it for Easter. I have until Sunday & I don't know how long it will take. Stay tuned for that... hopefully sooner rather than later. On a good note, I did do a stripe on my Rainbow Ripple blanket last night. It was nice to pick that up again. It's been about 5 months I think since I did some of that.

Have a great end of the week. Short one with a nice holiday break! Nice!

Finishing Frenzy 2

2011-04-19T07:37:00.002+10:00

Ta-dah... Finally finally finally.... where to start!

Wind back to last year sometime at work when a rep there showed us this cute fabric panel with trains. Well BJ is into trains & so I was like, Yes that is really great! So... then you have to wait for the fabric to come in to store which it did in March I think. Maybe even February! Ekkk... Well I got some, the train squares, the blue & the red. Love them all. I had the quilt top sewn together a few weeks ago but was delaying on the centre square.

You can see my centre square here - a gold train with Brandon written on it. Well the train was easy. I searched the net for train colouring pages. Found this one. Nice shape without all the detail stitched on it. Instead I thought I would put his name on it. Well that is backstitched & kind of goes down hill a bit which is a pity, but I wasn't going to attempt to remove it because if you are a stitcher of any kind you will know that black leaves marks if you remove it, especially in felt that is kind of fluffy like it. Anyway, it was done. So on the weekend, I have been able to take the time out to baste & quilt it all. I like stipple quilting & at first thought this wasn't going to look so good but I quite like it now. Last night I finished the binding & voila, one train quilt for the kid. But he can't have it yet. It is going to work first. Have to hang up my very amateur made quilt to help sell the trains. Well it worked before with my bug quilt if you remember that one. The fabric didn't last a week after that. So we will see what happens with the trains. It does help in store to have something made as a sample.

So I'm quite pleased with it, even in it's so not close to perfect state. BJ won't care later on.

On a side note, the train panels are based on record covers. I don't know if they are real ones or not but the print label on the fabric says "Artwork Peter Pan records & Cricket records for VIP exclusive". So that is pretty cool since are are record collectors! Whether they are real record covers or not, I will have to find out sometime & search but it's groovy all the same.

Happy Day to you...

Finishing Frenzy

2011-04-18T17:23:00.003+10:00

I have been busy as anything working on so many different things it's crazy! For me it is crazy. I am not one to usually have a number of things on the go at once. In fact, with my cross stitching, I never did. But now I have crochet & knitting & embroidery & whatever else strikes me at the time, all going at once. So I have been trying to get some out of the way. I hate having them all floating around taking up space while they wait.

For a start, my Granny Stripe is done! Woohoo! I am really pleased with it. I used a bunch of cotton/acrylic mix for it. It is larger than cot size just, but I won't probably use it for that as it may be too heavy. But either way, I am keeping this one. I like it. This was a major one that I wanted to do to use up some stash with. I went through that box of yarn & recounted. I used about 25 balls so that is pretty good. Plus I can get the lid on the bin it is in now so that is a bonus! I still have lots of short pieces, as I won't start a new ball in the middle of a row. Hate the ends in the middle, so I keep the short bits & will use those to make into granny stripe dishcloths. The corner showing the edging. I like it! :-)

I did finish the Easy Drop Stitch scarf that I had in my previous post. I looks exactly like it does in that picture only without the knitting needle attached so I haven't bothered to take a pic of it done. But it is. Phew. It was easy.

Of course I started some new scarf right after that with some of the 2 ply lace that I got at work. It's so nice. I did struggle at the start of that as the pattern takes some concentration but I am cruising along with that now... Looking forward to getting a bit more of that one done.

Ok, stay tuned for a couple of other finishes this week. Hopefully I can be bothered with posting them!

I'm Still Making!

2011-04-04T09:32:00.004+10:00

I get told to sit & Make! Quite nice really. BJ thinks that if he tells me to sit & make then I am least hanging around where he is. He likes to have you around sometimes. Other times you get "Go away Mummy" instead. But I like when I get to Make! Last post I said I had a washcloth coming up. It is pretty obvious in the picture who it is. It is called the Furry Red Monster as the designer is smartly keeping away from licensed names I expect. So I did get my Furry Red Monster cloth for BJ done last Saturday. It's cute.

We had a little fundraiser stall at playgroup the other day & I put my dishcloths that I had been working on in it for sale. A couple went so that was good. All funds went to support our little group so it was good.

I am still working away on my Granny Stripe blanket too. It's a nice one. I really like doing this one. I haven't had the time like usual to do much of any of it though. I think I went almost 3 days without doing any hooking or stitching or anything. Yesterday I was having major withdrawals though & had to do something. I am getting through this yarn though which was the whole point. I can just about get the lid on the bin now. The best thing is that the scrap ends are going to make granny stripe washcloths. So nothing will be wasted. It turned out the one granny stripe cloth I had at the stall the other day went first. People like the colourful stuff I guess. We've been doing crazy things like playing mini golf. It's cooled off very quickly here in the last week so it was good to keep busy in the Autumn freshness, playing a silly game like silly golf! As you can see from this hole, it is quite a challenging course. We had a large group there for our Dad's 70th birthday. My group consisted of L-R, sister Roslyn, Stuart, & sister Judy. It was a whole weekend of birthday party.

Finally I got a chance to sit & do nothing. So of course I had a play on Ravelry again & found yet another scarf pattern & then after digging through more of my wool I started using this one. It's a varigated pink, purple, cream & brown. I really need some new scarves already if it is going to start being scarf weather this early. So what better way to use up stash.

Of course I am trying madly to use up some stash so I can buy more at work. There is such a lot of beautiful wool available but I have to be careful & not buy it all up without a purpose. So you know you have to keep searching Ravelry for more potential patterns. lol There is such a lot there it is amazing. If you aren't inspired to pick up needles or hook yet, then go browse around there & you will find hundreds of things you need to make.

Ok, must dash, yet another busy week. Actually I think April is going to be even busier than March so ekkk.... till next post...

I'm Doomed!

2011-03-25T15:54:00.003+11:00

I shouldn't have started knitting this little baby throw last Friday. It's opened up the whole box of knitting needles & now I have to use all of them! lol No not really. But it just got me started on knitting washcloths as well as crocheting them. So I have a whole new world of cloth patterns out there waiting for me.

But firstly, I did finish this little baby throw on Sunday. It didn't take long at all. I only had the 6 balls of Ninna Nanna in this Fairy Floss colour way again, so I could only go so far. It's quite small so I think I will need to keep this one for myself. I'm sure it will be a nice little pram cover or car seat cover for baby later on. Lucky for me it's a winter baby then huh? Cruising along in that department if you are maybe wondering. Just full of cold right now & you really notice not being able to take, or choosing not to take cold tablets to help you out through the day. So I am just crashing & taking it easy giving it time to pass. Hopefully tomorrow it's a whole lot better so I can actually get some jobs done at home.

In the meantime, I have been fiddling away with the knitted cloths. I started with the purple one which is basically the same pattern as the blanket above. Too easy! Then I did the yellow fish which is pretty cute. Quite simple & again is the same pattern as the rest so far. lol It's just amazing what you can find on Ravelry. Like I said, I'm Doomed!

This one is pretty cute. The butterfly just seems to appear which is cute. There are heaps like this available with pictures in them. They are pretty fun but you need to concentrate on your row numbers! lol Not so easy with a toddler wanting your attention constantly but I have had a good chance today with the butterfly so it wasn't an issue. Oh, the red & yellow one on the right is a crochet one again. Just one I was working on while out & about.

So there you go then. Stay tuned for the cute one I am working on today while veging out in front of the TV. I watched Eat, Pray, Love. Have you seen it? What did you think? Did you read the book first? I struggled with the book & must admit struggled a bit with the movie. It had a bits added that weren't in the book but it was OK & save yourself sometime & just watch it rather than read it. Will be much move painless! lol

I hope to get plenty done on the weekend, as I am am hoping I feel much better & able to do all these silly little jobs - some may say I am nesting. Maybe so. Who knows, but at least I have a good excuse to get some of these jobs done now that have been waiting. Happy Weekend to YOU!

Busy Stash Busting

2011-03-19T13:50:00.004+11:00

I have been working on & off on dishcloths over the last couple of weeks using bits & pieces, playing with some new patterns that I have found on line, some successfully & some not so. These are some of the most recent. I really had fun with the one on the right - my practice Granny Stripe. How cool does that look. So when I have lots of these cotton scraps left I will use them for this pattern. I think that was done in all ends so that was really cool. It sure is pretty. I am stashing a bunch of these away for a possible fundraiser thing some time down the track. They are nice to chuck in the bag & take away & work on when out & about.

Friday I had a day all to myself! How the heck did I manage that? Yeah I know. But BJ had his first day at family day care. I was at home pretty much most of the day - just in case. But he was fine. He was much to busy to miss me I think. I was much too busy too, so that's all good. lol I was starting my Granny Stripe blanket of course. This I am doing in cotton/acrylic blend as I have loads of it. (125 balls when I sorted it last week! lol Yes I need to use some & then I can get the lid on the box properly!) I don't find it terribly soft for a baby blanket but I will keep going with it anyway cos I love it. I may even change my mind about using just these 5 colours & add a whole bunch of others. We'll see. I am just worried that I will run out of all the nice colours & be stuck with the not so nice bunch. lol

While hooking away on the stripes I remembered the balls I had left of the Ninna Nanna wool. Soft & squishy & once more Fairy Floss coloured. Hmmm... what to do with 6 balls of this. So I did a sample crochet piece with it. It's really not going to go very far though so I thought maybe some knitting may give it a bit more size. So I found a pattern on ravelry that is really a dishcloth pattern but someone had made a blanket like this so I figured I may as well. So I am working my way up one side with 3 balls & then will work down the other with the other 3. It won't be huge but oh well, a little pram cover or something for some baby might be ok. It's nice merino wool & I really want to use it up. I will be very satisfied to have another batch gone & something to show for it so soon. lol

I need to stop looking at ravelry though - I have queued another 10 things probably in the last hour. (that was a good hour I could have been hooking or knitting!) There are so many great patterns out there. How cute are these baby moccasins? What about this pretty lace scarf that would lovely in the 2ply lace we just got in at work? It is worked short ways which appeals to me. The pattern book I was looking at had a chain of 300 something. Ekkk... I can count that far but I don't know if my chains will be correct so I think it will work across ways on about 30 stitches instead. I do like a challenge but I don't need one that big right now! We'll see how we go. No scarf or moccasins for a bit until these other things get done & I can get the lid on the box of cotton. That sounds fair I suppose. Mean of myself but fair. lol

Happy weekend. I have just made the yummiest cookies so my weekend will be very happy!

Fairy Floss Throw Finished

2011-03-17T11:30:00.003+11:00

I'm really happy with this one! I love the colours & I love the pattern. It is a simple shell pattern in dcs & a dc border for one lap & a dc shell border for the second, in white. I really like the white around the edge. Still not happy with the edge on the Bubble blanket but oh well, sometimes you have to go with what you've got. This one used 6 100g balls of Magnum Soft Touch acrylic for the main & just over half a ball for the edge. It is almost as big as the Bubble blanket which I used more on. Having just folded them both up, this one is much lighter too. So I won't do a single crochet pattern again for a baby blanket as it is quite a bit heavier.

I am feeling very productive as I have sorted out all the yarns I have been given. I have even listed a lot of it on ravelry as my current. I really need to use up lots of it now. My work has just stocked wool so I am very tempted but will have to hold off on any until I use up some of this stuff. I have the next blanket in mind already - Lucy's Granny Stripe, but am still just finishing off some dishcloths. I will do a practice Granny Stripe with the short bits I have & make a dishcloth. Cloths are great for bits & pieces. I also have a load of bits ready to take to playgroup for glueing craft. That should be interesting. Have to find some colouring pages or something that they can stick wool bits on. I was given boxes of left over little bits of balls as well. Hmmm... I will have to see what I can come up with those for playgroup next. They must be able to be used somehow! I don't know how old some of the bits are but I bet they go way back to the 70's knowing from where they came! (some people really don't throw things out do they!)

Well that's another project done & baby present ready for someone. I would love this one myself, but we'll see. I think each time I do one I will love it & want it but must not get caught up in that. How many does one really need??? lol Happy Day folks...

Can You Find The Kids?

2011-03-12T15:06:00.001+11:00

They were doing such a good job of hiding in the ball pit! Ha ha ha ha ha ha......

Good Enough to Eat

2011-03-10T14:59:00.004+11:00

I am calling this "Fairy Floss Throw". It reminds me of the bags of fairy floss (or cotton candy for the foreigners!) that you get with 3 rows of coloured floss in it. Yumm... This is my next baby throw that I had to start on Sunday after finishing the other one. This is a nice easy pattern too. Just a basic shell pattern that I found & thought might stretch my yarn out a bit further than the bubble throw did. Well it is going to be stretched thank goodness. I only have 6 balls of this one. I am on the third ball already. So it will be as big as I can go & that's all. But it is pretty. I love the colours. Definitely a girl blanket this one with the pink, lavender & yellow. I have a ball of white that I hope will look ok as an edging. I don't want to have to buy another ball of something else for that bit when I have it.

I just did a great sort out of my yarn collection. Wow. I have lots of the stuff that I got at Kmart 2 years ago, My Friends yarn. I ended up finding 7 bags of it in the cupboard so took stock of the lot so I know what is there. I really should use some of that up so I can get the lid on the box now. I haven't counted how many balls exactly but will later when I get a chance to put it all in Ravelry. That sounds a bit organised. But I need to make some space at home & sort some stuff out & make a bit of room about the place in the next month. Should be interesting. I think some more storage boxes will be on the cards.

Ok, I had better get back to the trains. It's been quite a day working on the railroad. I am getting quite good at track designing! Who would of thought! Happy Days to you!

Ta Dah, Finally....

2011-03-05T18:51:00.003+11:00

Woo Hoo! It's done. The bubble cot blanket I started a while back if finished! It was pretty good to do really, but just time consuming as it was all single crochet rows. Hmmm... That's a lot of rows. But it came up OK I think. This was some variegated acrylic from Spotlight that I got a while back. It is Magnum Soft Touch I think so it feels quite nice. The only thing was that once I started I wondered if the bobble bits would be a nuisance for a baby if it was laying on it. Oh well, I hope it suits someone OK, when a baby arrives. I am stocking up on things for new arrivals at the moment. Seems the year for them.

This second picture shows up the bubbles a bit more than previous pics ever did. It also shows the border I did. I really wanted to do the border in a solid colour. I started in a blue that I thought matched the blue in the yarn, but having put a bit on that blue was a real baby blue. The colour in the variegation is one that if you put blue next to it it looked lavender. If you put a purple next to it it looked blue. So I had to ditch the blue. I did have a white in the yarn as well but it was such a bright white it was going to look to odd with it we decided. (We = Stuart the 2nd opinion & I. lol) I thought I had used all the yarn up but just before I finished I found another ball. I fitted it on the cot though & found it didn't need to be any longer. Lucky really as then I could use it for the border. Phew. Looks OK. The border is 2 rows of single crochet & one of the shell edging. Easy peasy & effective enough to add a bit of interest but not to frilly for a boy blanket. Yes I see this as a boy blanket. Wait till you see the yarn I have next! Now that is definitely girl yarn. lol I am going to have to start churning these things out a bit more quickly so will have to keep away from this bubble one for now. All up it took 8 100gm balls for the blanket & another half a ball for the edging. Not too bad. I only have 6 balls of the next yarn so need a pattern that will stretch it further. I hope the one I have found suits. (or it might have to be a smaller blanket cos I think it will be pretty!)

I gave away the baby ripple blanket yesterday. It is still my favourite. I didn't think it was good to give now but after the not so summer weather I decided the new baby would definitely get some use from it over the Autumn & Winter. I hope Annabelle likes it as much as I do.

Also been churning out a few more washcloths. I forgot to get a pic of those now though so you will just have to believe me.

I can't believe how busy it has been lately. Today was good though. I got to work for 4 hours today. That was quite good. Then it was home to use up the zucchini supply again. I made to bit soup pans full of Zucchini & Basil Soup. Stuart made this last week. It was good. So I have made a pot full to take out to a lunch tomorrow. Then I did a second pot full which I finished up until adding the basil & blending. I won't add the cream yet. We are going to freeze it as it for the winter. It was amazing though as each big pot only took 2 large zucchinis. So I did get a few used. Also a batch of Zucchini Bread which is a recipe I was given this week. That is just beautiful. More of a loaf really. But I am impressed as BJ has just been eating some. That is one way to get some zucchini in him I guess. Only problem after all that was that I went out in the garden & picked another 7 zucchinis & 4 cucumbers. Ha ha ha ha... Oh well, nice try to get the pile off the bench!

I hope you are all enjoying the start of Autumn.

February is over already???

2011-02-28T14:27:00.002+11:00

But where did February get too. Ok, the reason it went by so fast is because it is a short month right. Of course it is. That's the reason.

I've been keeping a low profile really. Trying to fit in a few things like the crochet, sewing & all the other things in the craft space of my brain. Unfortunately Baby Brain has taken over & the craft space part is shrinking. Oh well, I get to spend more time on the couch with the kid(s). lol BJ loves getting in cuddle time on the couch at rest time.
There was some bad weather the other weekend, so Stu along with the help of BJ got a bit of painting in. Ok, don't look too closely at the horrid orange that is our garage including the ceiling. Well actually the ceiling is whiteish now along with half the walls. Just waiting for the next weekend of rain to finish up I suppose.

I have been working on a little crochet. Just about finished the baby blanket. On the second last ball of yarn at the moment so it won't be far off so stay tuned for that one. In between I have done some dishcloths again. I have been taking these out & about & just doing them inbetween times when it is still too warm for sitting under the ever growing baby blanket. I have to edge the pink & red ones still but by needlecase had gone AWOL but I have just spotted it so can now sew the ends in & put some edges on. I am making these up for possible fundraising stall in a while. I'll see if they end up there or they will make good gifts again.

Hope all is good in your world.

The Week At A Glance

2011-02-17T16:33:00.004+11:00

Lots of fun at the local play gym... I think this will be a common place to visit from now on. BJ just went flat out for 2.5 hours. I got to watch & crochet for that time. Ahhh... bliss... nice for the both of us. He's growing up. He doesn't need mum's help so much for things like this anymore!

Friendly neighbours are very common right now

The baby blanket I started a couple of weeks ago is still growing. This is 4 balls (100g) so far. Getting hotter to sit under now though so may go in the pile with the Rainbow Ripple blanket.

The zucchinis are abundant. Luckily I have a Stuart that likes to cook & has been hunting for some fabulous recipes using it. This is one of my favourites & it doesn't need cooking! Too easy & great in this humid weather. So very tasty too, which you wouldn't expect from something so simple, but often we find out that simple is best.

Working on dishcloths/washcloths again to build up a stock for later on...

I have also made another Babushka doll (which proved to be much liked - thanks Jana!), sewn a couple of little teddy bears which aren't so cute after all. Not a lot more going on. Our regular yearly programming starts next week. We'll see if I get a bit more motivated to do some other stuff then.

A Quilt In A Day

2011-02-03T16:21:00.003+11:00

Yesterday morning BJ was sleeping in & I had a sudden urge to make this quilt. It is a cheating kind of quilt but does that matter really? The fabric is Beetle Boy from Clothworks. We got it in a couple of weeks ago at work & I really had to have some. The quilt top was cheating as it is just the fabric as is. No cutting, piecing or anything. I just got 1.5m of the top & backing & basted them while BJ slept yesterday. Too easy. He gave me a hand quilting the top later on. I did machine quilt it. I just followed the lines. How easy is that. I used a clear thread on the top & red underneath.

Below you can see the beetles up close & then I have pulled the back up so show the red with yellow dot backing fabric from the range I used. I just love the stripe that I used for the binding. I actually got the stripe originally to make a hat for BJ. I still have enough left I think. I got the strip & one of the blue bugs from the collection for the other side of his hat. I will probably get that done in time for winter! lol I am a bit scared of the hat, though I should try. I am sure it can't be that hard. Anyway, the hat is beside the point. Back to the quilt - I think I spent longer hand sewing the binding on than the rest of it took. What a great way to make a quilt though. If you need a quilt in a hurry this is the way to go. I don't need one in a hurry at all, I just had the sudden urge to make one. It was actually good practice too as I haven't done any for a while & I sure could do with a lot more practice. My binding corners aren't too shabby all things considered! lol This will probably hang up at work for a couple of weeks. I told BJ that it was going there anyway, so he didn't try to claim it like he does with everything I make.

So there you go. Now I can get back to the other list of things I have that I want to do. No doubt there will be new fabric at work that I need again soon. If it is true that there is going to be a worldwide cotton shortage, run out & buy a bunch of fabric now before the prices go up.

The Reward For All The Finishes

2011-01-31T17:37:00.003+11:00

... is starting something new of course. I had every intention last night of working on the Rainbow Ripple but it was just too hot to sit under. So having got this yarn recently I thought I had better use it. It's a nice varigated soft acrylic. I thought it too would make a nice baby blanket. But with the varigated yarn I didn't want to do anything with a pattern that would suit better with changing colours. So I quickly checked though Crochet Pattern Centrals list of afghans for a blanket that I could use. I didn't look at that many as the tennis was starting & I want to get the hook going. I found this Bubble pattern. It's pretty simple & quite effective. I have done almost 5 inches & used up almost one 100g ball. Wow! It is worked in single crochet pretty much so it isn't growing very quickly & you can't really see the little bobbly bits sticking up out of it in the picture. But it is nice I think. I think it will make a nice boy blanket for one of the many friends who are expecting this year. Hopefully one of them has a boy! It's pretty cute. I have another nice varigated in the same yarn as this one that I will have to find another pattern in that list for. I will have to go & get a couple more balls of this one though as once I finish this ball I should work out how many I need to get it a decent size. It's all good fun & keeping me occupied anyway.

Another Finish

2011-01-30T16:13:00.003+11:00

This has been a good weekend to finish things off. Don't you love finishes... I have been working on another of the dragonfly cushions. I like this one way better than the first one I did. This one I did with DMC pearl #5 907. It's for someone that likes green, lime green at that. I thought I would make it a little more funky though & a little less white but backing it with something other than the linen that the front is attached to. I chopped that off & added this lime green fabric backing.

I really like it. Now I want to do 2 new ones for me & back them. I nearly did with my original but I just did it how it was designed. I am waiting for new ones to arrive at work. I had better not buy them all though. (if you are interested in one email me through here & I will give you the details on who to call as work does send stuff out all over Aus!) I would really like a couple more. I gave one in the packet to someone for a present the other day. I hope she enjoys doing it. I have all sorts of ideas on doing more though. I have to stop thinking ... I don't have time for all the thinking to be put into action.

I must say while I am sitting here melting that I am really glad I am only 15 weeks along. It would be terribly uncomfortable. Bad enough at this stage. Got to love winter babies! lol

Ok, I had better go & finish off this other little thing I just started & then I can get back to some other projects that also need my attention. Happy Day everyone.

Charity Quilt Squares plus a Ta-Dah

2011-01-29T17:05:00.002+11:00

Here is my little Ta-dah moment for the day. Somehow today, between weeding the garden, fishing off the garden wall & finding shapes in clouds, I have managed to finish the edge of the Baby Ripple blanket. It is only 2 rows of single crochet around the outside as I experimented a little & anything too large was going to look horrible we decided. So I added just this little edge to give it a finished off look. My only problem with edging is working out where to stick the hook in to the existing sides. So I don't know if I did it technically right in crochet work but oh well, I did it where it went the easiest.

Also today I had to finish off some quilt squares. This is for a quilt to raise money for the Elkhounds that need rescuing in the USA. I am friends online with a large group of people around the world who own Elkhounds.

Meet Juneau our Elkhound. She's nearly 5.

In North America there are a lot more of these dogs than there are here in Australia. So many in fact that they have rescue groups to help these dogs when they are abandoned or need rehoming. This is done primarily through the John Nelsen Moosedog Rescue Fund. The group pays for health work needed for a dog & foster care for a dog until its forever home is found. It's probably a good thing I am not near all these dogs else I could imagine I would have quite a few. Foster failure is regular with those who take them in originally on a temporary basis. There are also lots of happy stories though on dogs that are rescued & do have amazing stories on how they ended up looking for a new home.

Fundraising is done regularly through a number of people to help fund this work as it does cost a bit to do this. A few ladies that quilt a little have got together to work on a quilt together. I was recently sent the fabric pieces all cut & ready to sew. I will send them back to the USA & then the quilt will be completed & will most likely be raffled off. Cool. It's nice to be able to do something to help raise funds from the other side of the world. I'm not terribly happy with my squares though as for one thing I was short a star point. So I will have to hope there is a little left that the recipient can finish it off. Also I had a couple of rather small squares so I tried to assemble as well as possible but I hope she has enough fabric also to undo & resew those that look a bit wonky. Really I don't think they will do at all, but it depends on what fabric is left. Hopefully there is some.

So two little jobs finished off today. Hopefully tonight I can finish off another one before getting back to my rainbow ripple blanket. I was very excited yesterday when I got to venture out for a couple of hours all by myself & I got to go stash shopping. I found the orange I had run out of while out & about so I can now get back onto my blanket. I bet now the weather will warm up more & I will have to put it down again. The last week would have been perfect for sitting under it but oh well, it wasn't to be & I did get the baby blanket done in the meantime.

It's exciting to see all the produce popping up in the garden again too at last. The beans are going mad. We will soon have a lot of Roma tomatoes ready to pick followed by some Ping Pong tomatoes & Heirlooms. It will be interesting to see how they all taste & produce in the end. We have just finished all the tomatoes from the freezer that we had last year so that has been fabulous to have a supply all year. We also decided that it would be good to try to do a spreadsheet on how our vegies grow, with info like how much room they need, whether they are even tasty & anything else we think we should use for reference next year. You know, you always assume you will remember all those things, but come next year, I can imagine we will be trying to remember which ones we grew that were really delicious or which ones were really short plants & didn't need high stakes etc etc... so much to remember. We will try to record it.

Hopefully Sunday will be just as much fun as today was. Enjoy the tennis finals! I will. Hope the ones you cheer for win!

Baby Ripple Blanket almost done

2011-01-28T16:29:00.002+11:00

Here it is looking all cute & cuddly. This picture believe it or not actually shows the colours quite true. Amazing with my (lack of) camera skills. I am happy with the blanket but also not. For one thing I have had to make it small. The width wasn't big enough really & seems to have shrunk up a bit in the first couple of rows once I got going, so I must remember that for future reference. Other than that I love it. I love the look of the colours with their white flecks & I like how cozy it is. I think it is about a pram cover size only. I think I should had had an extra 2 ripples on it for a decent size that would be a bit closer to cot size. Anyway I have a friend expecting her first in winter so this may go her way, unless I come up with something I like better for her instead. I am currently sewing in the last few ends & then I am going to try an edge on it in plain white wool. It should look ok if I can figure out a nice pattern for it. I think it needs it but I will see, as I may put one on & then pull it out. So stay tuned...

In the meantime we have had a little working be in the garden now Stuart is able to move a little bit more. Good thing too as I will be able to move a bit less in coming months! lol I must be 15 weeks now so I am being kept away from some gardening which isn't so bad! hehehehe...

All 3 in a row... the fuzzybutt on the end though didn't have a wheelbarrow to help.

Anything Daddy can do, I can too! Daddy cuts trees, I can too.

Daddy goes up ladder, I can too. (& give Mummy heart attacks galore until insisting the ladder is finished & can be packed away!)

We had a lovely Australia Day here with a bunch of family & friends. Little kids all over the place! Good fun. Have a great weekend!

Craft is Cheap Therapy!

2011-01-21T18:31:00.004+11:00

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. I have been fiddling with a number of different things which I do depending on where I am, what is going on, how much brain power I need.

I finished this Mill Hill Snow Sled the other week. Just finished Kitty Stocking inbetween other bits. That's going well, as that makes 6 already for the year. Half way in my goal of one a month. The end of the year is going to get busy busy busy so I have to try to fit in what I can now. lol
I only work one day a week at the moment & it is amazing what changes in store in that time from one week to the next. Last week I went in & found these Japanese dragonfly patterns. Straight away my mind starts going 10 to the couple of dozen on what & how & who for etc etc... Well I bought one along with DMC pearl #5 Colour Variations 4025. The dragonfly is a cushion technically. The fabric is one piece of linen front & back. The front is printed with the design & the rest also has the edge marked on it to line up front & back to sew. I couldn't read the instructions but at least there were little pictures so you kind of have a clue. All I really needed to know what when you have stitched it up & sewn the cushion you need to wash it. Then all their markings wash straight off. Magic. I must admit I love cheating embroidery like that. This was so simple. Basic running stitch all over. I did stuff up though in one way, in that after I started I had an "Uh oh" moment when I realised I should have backed the front with some interfacing or something as I would end up with serious thread shadows. Ok, lesson learnt for the next one & the next one. I went back to work on Tuesday & got 2 more white ones. (they also came in navy) I have started one in green for someone & I got another DMC in 4200 so I will have a pair.

Finished cushion. The thread shadow wasn't as bad as I was expecting but I have started the next one with interfacing & it is a lot nicer to sew with that on as well.

I have also been working on the baby ripple blanket inbetween everything else. It's growing nicely though I am not sure whether it will be too heavy for a baby though Sally tells me it won't matter really. Better get that finished next anyway. To many things going on. But the dragonfly stitching has been handy to chuck in the bag & take while you wait on repair people.

Have a great weekend!

Baby Ripple

2011-01-14T13:58:00.004+11:00

I went to my local wool shop to get more orange for my Rainbow Ripple blanket. She hasn't got any & is waiting for stock. Ok, so I can't do anymore of my rainbow. Darn it. Oh well, I will browse the shop & see what is there since I was in the child free. Found this nice soft squishy wool called Ninna Nanna from Italy. I bought it in 4 colours for a nice baby ripple blanket. I have a few friends expecting this year & thought a couple of local ones may like a nice soft woolly blanket. It looks quite nice really. I got this much done yesterday just veging out. Can't do much else right now with the lovely summer rain we are having. Stuart has been home off work all week so it has been a pretty lazy week. It's actually been quite nice after the festive season & his very short time off work, though we could have done without the issues of why he has been off work! lol So here's to some nice crafty days ahead while the rain continues & we watch the river rise down at the back of our paddock. (it won't flood us though if it does go over the banks so don't worry there!)

I was planning on making a sun hat or 2 for the kid but it doesn't seem like sun hat weather really! What are you working on while it is so rainy? Or are you flooded out? Have you lost all your craft stash through a flood this week? I hope you are getting some nice crafty time in like I am. Stay dry & drive safely. The roads are horrible.

A Year Ago Today

2011-01-09T19:49:00.002+11:00

It's been quite a year! Today last year we moved house! It was really quite a huge thing for me as I never imagined I would move out of the house that we had lived in for almost 18 years at that time. But well, even I had to be realistic & realize we had outgrown that one. It was even me that initiated the house hunting & looking at the place we ended up buying, since named Fell Farm. :-) We love it. It feels like we have been here for years & years. I never imagined I would be able to move but I did. We are very happy here in our little paradise.

With the new place we become pretty committed gardeners. Fortunately the flower garden are mostly pretty easy but we had a crash course in vegetable gardening as soon as we moved in reaping the benefits of the work that the previous owner started in the gardens. We are now planting, growing & eating our own hard work though which is very rewarding. It's particularly great when you can save some money on your groceries, especially with the vegie prices due to rise. Pity I can't grow mangos, watermelon & bananas though.

Another huge thing for the year was that I went back to work sort of. Some people might not call one day a week "work" as such but for me it was great to get out to do that one day. Actually it only started out as a fill in spot & then a couple of hours a week & then a whole day! Bonus! My dream job in a craft shop! What could be better. :-)

They are the major points of our last year really. Of course there were other great things that are probably newsworthy but I won't bore you all that as I'm probably the only one that cares anyway! lol

Instead I will leave you with pics from the beach today. It is amazing to see how far BJ has come in a week playing on the beach. Considering he wouldn't even go on the beach only a few weeks ago. He had some playmates in the pool for a while & they were all older than him too, but he did eventually copy what they were doing too. It's all good. He copies everything at the moment. But here he is playing with his boat that he got for Christmas & having a great time. Also I must add that he is sporting his new hat that he got for Christmas made for him by a great friend Sally. She made a hat & shorts like it for her own little guy & made BJ a set for Christmas too. So lovely & beautifully made! The hat is just awesome, particularly because I can pick him out in a crowd of kids easily in it! Have a great week!

Rainbow Ripple

2011-01-06T13:24:00.002+11:00

It's getting bigger! & wow, I was impressed with how awesome it is looking if I do say so myself! I just love it. This is laid out on a queen size bed. It is almost the width of it. Not bad at all. I just put it on the single bed though to get a better idea of how long it needs to be. Ok, I'm only just a little bit past half way. That's ok, I am quite enjoying doing it. It is getting hotter though so I don't know how much I will get done in the next couple of months as I am quite hot by the time I put it down of a evening. I will have to decide on another blanket soon I think so I have something smaller to work on. I just looked at the wool shop when picking up another couple of balls for this one. I really can't decide what I would like to work something on, but I think cotton would be nice. A cotton/acrylic blend would be ok. I did see some in the store that had a few colours available. Not many of the ranges have a lot of colours. I might change my mind completely before then & go for something else like a varigated something. Mostly the varigated I looked at came in acrylic though. I am still liking the idea of cotton. I have a ball of one I looked at so I might experiment with that a bit first to see what it hooks up like. I think it was only a 4 ply so may be interesting to try after the rainbow ripple.

A beautiful morning at the park with kids & friends so that was fun! Loving this sunny stuff! Have a good day! It's nearly the weekend!

Christmas Ornament Goal

2011-01-03T19:19:00.004+11:00

Ok, I know Christmas is over but I felt like working on a few Mill Hill ornaments so I did. I have had a little time to sit & play so I was able to dig a couple of these out. There is Penguin from the 2009 series of ornaments & the Teddy Wagon & Elfin Magic are both old ones. Those 2 older ones are both done all in beads & only with one colour thread so the Mill Hill kits have certainly come a long way when you look at how intricate the ones coming out now are, complete with specialty stitches, treasure & charms.

I have in mind that I would like to complete a bunch of these throughout the year as part of a craft goal for the year. I don't think I have ever written down plans for anything like that before but thought it would be interesting to see what I manage in the next year.

So firstly I would like to end up with 12 of these ornaments done. One for each month. I had in mind that I would work on one at the start of each month, regardless of what else I was working on. That is going to be quite a challenge for me as I don't normally work on multiple cross stitch projects at once. I really hate doing that actually. But I think this would be interesting. So I guess I have got a good start for the year with 3 out of 12 completed. (then I will need to buy a bigger tree for them all next Christmas!)

I am working on finishing my Rainbow Ripple blanket at the moment too. I have done some of that the last few nights & that will definitely get finished before I start any other blankets. I just saw this one the other day, the Vintage Vertical Stripe blanket. I won't even think about it though until the ripple is done. Then I will need to make the tough choices like colours, yarns & size. Hmmm... so many decisions... but I won't think about it yet. (nope not thinking... brights or pastel? Lap rug size or single bed size? Cotton? Acrylic? Bamboo? Wool blend? nope, not thinking about it at all! Anyone want to work on one of these with me in a couple of months?)

I really would love to work on some more embroideries. I enjoyed the animal ones so much last year & although they aren't quilted up yet I would love to just sit & do some more embroidery. But I need to decide on a design & what to turn it into etc etc, before I start something. I have lots I want to do but then what... Maybe I should just work on the ones that keep calling me regardless! I think that is often the most fun way to be creative, to do what your mood is calling you to do & what appeals to you then & there.

It is going to be a busy year so I don't want to get too carried away yet. I have a couple of ideas of others things I would like to do but don't know how I will manage yet so I will have to think about whether they are even close to achievable or not. I think for the moment I need to keep things simple. Like a jelly roll quilt. It shouldn't be too hard but whether I can start it & work on it until it is finished is a whole other matter. I would prefer to get stuck in & finish it rather than leave it half way through only to come back to it & muddle my way through all the bits.

So that's it for the moment. That's not so bad but mostly just a jumble in my head! (I imagine I will read this a week or more from now & wonder what the heck I was thinking to write such a pile of nothing!) I might add to it later on. We'll see what the months bring. Maybe come the end of summer & moving into the cooler months I will be more inclined to think of big projects that I may be able to try & sit & finish.

Back to work tomorrow for us both. All good things must come to an end but I can look forward to our mini caravan holiday at the end of the month now.

Our Own Personal Beach Pool

2011-01-02T19:02:00.002+11:00

What more could you want when you go to the beach? With BJ just discovering how fun the beach could be we went down again today after a very successful play there yesterday as well. Bj didn't like the sand before. But now it's different. We had a great run around today once again in a pool left by the tide. This is an ideal time to take a toddler to the beach to play. It's entirely different if you are a big person & want to swim as it is then a long walk to the water. lol But we had a great time today. BJ really wanted a sandcastle so we were armed with bucket & spade. Apparently you can't make one without a bucket. But of course it was me that did most of the work on castle. He had fun knocking it down. All good. It's been a great introduction to the fun of the beach. He didn't sit in the water once as he doesn't get all that yet but he did end up soggy both days. Looks like he is like his parents though & gets shivery very quickly.

*Note - this beach was actually busy here today. There were probably 20 other people on the beach when we were on it. They were all at the other end though. Best kept secret in Aus we are! shhhh... don't tell anyone about it if you know where I live. hehehehe

The holidays for us are drawing to a close already which is really sad to think of already. I only work one day a week so I get a bit of a break the other days still but it's not the same if Stuart is back at work too.

If you have holidays I hope you are enjoying the family time too! It's precious!

New Year's Day Brunch

2011-01-01T13:28:00.002+11:00

Well that was pretty yummy! We cheated & had our family over for a brunch that they had to cook themselves! They didn't know that until they got her though & saw the table set. Well I figured this was a good way to serve up hot food to everyone. They were all responsible for cooking their own! If they didn't enjoy their meal it was also their own fault! Bwahahahahaha...

First up was a meal of eggs, bacon, tomatoes, chipolattas, mushrooms & English muffins. Can't be bad.

Ok, here is me cooking...

Followed by Stuart cooking. lol

As you can see below, the pan set is a bunch of (well used) frypans on a rack with metho burners underneath. So each person gets to cook with their own set. Lovely fun! We have used it for dinner parties before where you have diced meats & so forth as well, but never at breakfast time.

After a course of the meaty stuff we had a quick wash up of pans & plates & started on a dessert of mini pancakes again cooked in the pans. Too good. What a lovely way to start the year.

Enjoy your weekend!

Last Crafty Piece for the Year

2010-12-31T20:05:00.003+11:00

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

2010-12-28T10:07:00.002+11:00

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

2010-12-24T17:57:00.002+11:00

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

2010-12-23T10:31:00.003+11:00

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

2010-12-17T20:46:00.003+11:00

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

2010-12-11T16:15:00.004+11:00

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

2010-12-09T15:37:00.003+11:00

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!

2010-12-06T21:51:00.003+11:00

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

2010-12-05T21:32:00.002+11:00

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

2010-12-04T08:32:00.005+11:00

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!

2010-12-03T07:46:00.003+11:00

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

2010-12-02T07:38:00.003+11:00

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

2010-11-28T12:40:00.002+11:00

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

2010-11-22T10:25:00.003+11:00

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

2010-11-21T14:35:00.003+11:00

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

2010-11-18T08:32:00.002+11:00

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

2010-11-15T15:46:00.002+11:00

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

2010-11-11T14:35:00.002+11:00

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?

2010-11-05T12:49:00.003+11:00

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

2010-11-04T08:53:00.002+11:00

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!

2010-11-02T07:58:00.002+11:00

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

2010-11-01T17:42:00.002+11:00

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

2010-10-30T18:43:00.002+11:00

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

2010-10-29T07:21:00.002+11:00

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!