hey there ms aussie waffler...

...you won! Through a highly technical and involved process, a winner was drawn. Thanks so much to everyone who entered... I was blown away by how many people commented. Aussie Waffler, I'll be in touch.

Friday

All's quiet here. Quiet bits and pieces, and the second last day of Blogtober... I can't believe that so far I have managed to post all but one day. It's been great discovering some lovely new blogs along the way. Also, today is the last day for my giveaway. I'd love you to enter if you haven't already.

my creative space

Not too much happening in the creative space today. I stripped a screen, and that's about it. I'm hoping that a nice fresh empty screen will inspire me to get some new designs happening. Small steps, right?More creative spaces here. Thanks for hosting, Kirsty.

bespectacled

This morning I found this little guy lying along the step near the back door. He's a pretty special little fella, made by eldest son who decided he wanted to make his smallest brother a teddy bear. I love how he is wearing newly aquired specs!

sewn

After drafting a cowl necked top for myself yesterday, I sewed it up today. I only need to make a few alterations to the pattern. Otherwise it's great. When I made the pattern, I decided to make it to a standard size. But I have since discovered that my back is a lot narrower than standard sizing that will fit my hips. Oh joy. I added a centre back seam that dipped in a fair bit in the small of my back through to the back of the neck. There goes being able to cut on the fold (I think?), but that's okay.

If you haven't entered my giveaway, have a look... it ends this Friday.

drafting

Every Saturday afternoon, I head off to my pattern making classes. It's great having those two hours learning new things. I have a bit of a thing for 'interesting' and sculpted necklines, so what I looked at last week was how to make a cowl neckline. I had in my mind an idea of how I would do it, but learned a better way- hooray! And something else that is good... I finally have my head around quickly drafting a basic bodice block to different measurements. I have struggled with the armholes for a while, so I am pretty happy with myself. Now back to it... front done, now it's time for the back! I'm hoping that I will have one sewn up to show tomorrow.

five

A very special small girl is having a birthday tomorrow, but partied today. I hope your day was special Miss Ruby. xx

my place and yours

Pottymouth Mama has chosen this weeks 'my place and yours' theme this week: 'bedside'. My bedside table/drawers were found at a garage sale, the lamp was handmade by my Mum, the doily thingamy was my friends Grandmothers, the teapot was Mum's when she and Dad were first married. I've filled it with pineapple sage and parsely. I love the smell of pineapple sage when you bruise the leaves.

To see who else is playing along, and check out other spaces, visit Pip over at Meet Me At Mikes.

giveaway

It's been a loooong time since I've had a giveaway. A really long time. Blogtober seems like a good time to have one methinks! I'm giving away a pouch made from lightweight slate denim and gorgeous Japanese kimono wool. I have one of these I keep in my handbag- it holds all the little random bits and pieces that otherwise can never be found. I'm also putting in a bar of my handmade soap - lavendar, orange and rose geranium. To enter, just leave a comment on this post by Friday the 30th. I'll post and contact the winner on the 31st.

my creative space

For the most part, Mim and I take turns working in the shop on Thursday's. Today was my turn. Usually I dismantle my sewing room, and sprawl it from one end of Olive Grove to the other. Without fail, I take in far more than I can possibly hope to finish. It goes something like this: look after the shop all day? Sure. Make say... three skirts as well. No problem. Heck! Why not bring the gocco in and print a whole wad of swing tags and make some cards too. A breeze. NOT! Today's reality: cut and print some swing tags, package a few cards, talk to lots of people. Drink too much coffee. Much better.Thanks to Kirsty for hosting my creative space - grab a cuppa and visit Kootoyoo and discover new creative spaces!

Also, as part of Blogtober, I'd like to have a giveaway. I'm not sure exactly what it'll be. Maybe cards, maybe handmade soap or badges, maybe a pouch with some fabric I've screen printed. Come back and check tomorrow... I'll have something up then.

I'd also like to say thanks to the lovely people who commented yesterday. I was having a bit of a 'moment' and it helped to vent. So thanks... your kind words mean a lot. xx

stretched

I know there are so many women out there who have it harder than me. I know this. But right now, I’m thinking about me. I’m finding things hard at the moment. My partner works a lot. Most nights he’s not home, and when he is, he’s usually too tired to do much. I’m finding it hard to stay level headed, not lose the plot at the kids, keep sewing for the shop, and keep the house at least superficially clean. At this point, I haven’t had him home at night for about ten (?) nights. And there’s still a few night to go until he has a night off. I’d love to have him around to help clean teeth, do readers, share story time – and god forbid spend time with! There is an end in sight with a new job pretty certain for next year, but right now it’s tough. More power to single mama’s. I don’t know how you do it.

Am feeling a little bit lazy today. So I'm going to drag on yesterday's post/theme for one more day... because I can. And beacause I don't have anything else to show today, and it's still Blogtober! So this is the top of my wardrobe (lets call it a shelf!). It's full of kistchy album covers, a big stack of Golden Hands crafty books and a vintage lamp shade. It's a colourful eclectic spot in my bedroom. Bright and happy.

my place and yours

The meme's are certainly doing the rounds at the moment... and now is a great time for another one, especially while playing along with blogtober! Pip from Meet Me at Mikes has started a meme called my place and yours. The idea is that there is a new theme each week, with this one being to show a shelf in your home. I've chosen to show my mantel piece... maybe beacuse it's the tidiest shelf in the house at the moment!From left to right:
A special vase found in my local oppy, filled with wild rocket flowers from the garden. An oragami bookmark belonging to my son, a candle given to me by a dear friend during my blessingway, boxes holding my partners chop and ink, a little nest, and above it a painting by my Mum. I adore this painting. She painted it when she was about 17 or 18. I rescued it from the floor of the shed!If you want to see who else is playing along, go and visit Pip.

peppermint

I'm feeling very much in the soapmaking groove at the moment. I think infusing the water the other day got me all reinspired to make lots of soap. I hadn't tried it before, and now it's opened up a whole new way of planning my soaps. The batch I made last night is peppermint, lemon and sandalwood. For the water stage, I used a very strong batch of peppermint tea I left infusing for some time. It somehow made the soap an amazing salmony pink colour. I'm wondering how using rose hip and hibiscus teas would work. Would the colour get lost, or would it stay? New things to try...

blood orange soap

Yesterday I mentioned the water I was infusing with blood orange rinds to use in soap making. I ended up going a little further than just rind- before long, I had thrown in a whole nutmeg, a cinnamon stick and some cloves. It was smelling very much like mead! I was a bit worried about making soap with this water. I was worried that it wouldn't reach trace (the point where it thickens and will set) - but, it did! The soap lost the deep colour of the water, but smelt amazing with some added orange oil, cinnamon, nutmeg and all spice. Another month or so, and these blocks will the ready for their first test run!

my (late) creative space

My Mum and Dad have been staying with us for the last couple of days, so there hasn't been a lot of crafty-creativeness happening. They live a days journey away, so when we get together, it's more a matter of catching up, having a feed, a drink and just hanging out. What I have been doing a bit of though, is cooking. Curries, pho, and other bits and pieces. This morning I made some spicy nuts to have with a drink tonight, and at the moment I'm making a blood orange sorbet. While watching the amazing colours and smells come from the oranges, I thought about how to incorporate them into soap. So instead of just composting the peels, I currently have them boiling on the stove. I'll use that water in some soap I'll make later today.Check out some more creative spaces over at Kirsty's.

bodice block

Last month I started a pattern making course. I've been going for a couple of hours each week, and am starting to slowly get my head around a few of the ideas I've been learning. I am seeing why some of my 'winging it' patterns worked, and why others didn't. I spent the first few weeks working on skirts (very simple ones- there's still a long way to go on more advanced ones!), and have spent the last few on tops. The picture here shows the first bodice block I drafted and sewn (at least to 'fitting' stage). The only problem I had with this is that I forgot to add darts into the shoulders at the back, so they don't match perfectly. Otherwise, it's a great fit. And oh-so-alluring when made out of curtain backing as you can see here!!! So the next step is customising this block a little. Adding some detail and interest. But that will come with time and a lot of practice.

contrast

My biggest small is learning to play the guitar. I love that his first two songs are Smoke on the Water and Mary Had a Little Lamb. That's some serious contrast!

out the door

Last Thursday, my creative space included five skirts, cut out and being sewn production line style. I finished them yesterday. I took this picture of them as I raced out the door to take them over to the shop. Not the best picture... maybe go see them in person over at the Olive Grove? ;o)

wordless

Nearly five years ago. Babe number two was nearly ready to be born. Wow. Times flies.

blogtober, day 10

Blogtober continues, and bbq season begins! I am feeling a little wordless (read: tired, vaguely hung over), so will let pictures speak for me.Come the warmer, Coburg North families have weekly bbq's in a local park. Whoever wants to, comes, eats, and children run about...We kicked on a little later afterwards. I discovered a fellow crafty blogger - so lovely to meet you Janet! I'm definitely letting the pictures say the rest now... for a bit more of a coherent account of last night, maybe visit Janet (Muppinstuff)!! While you're out and about, go visit Mim as well! ... she was there with her clan, too. :o)

it's here!

Remember my post the other day... the one where I was crapping myself over an ebay auction? Well, the fabric arrived today. It's great, very bright, and there's lots of it. I think it would be a bit intense used by itself, but as panels in something, it could be good. You know, it's funny. I got so excited about getting this fabric, and now it's here, I feel somewhat deflated. *sigh* All part of the game, I guess!

my creative space

My creative space today was at Olive Grove. It was my day in the shop, so hauled my sewing machines in to take advantage of a child-free day to get some work done. First I packaged up some cards, then finished some badge backings. I still have quite a few badges left from a massive run I made back in April. (One of my fingers still hasn't regained proper feeling after all the cutting I did!) So after the card and badge finishing, I lined up cut out skirts along the printing table, and got to sewing, production line style. I got a fair way through, but I'm not finished yet.More more creative spaces, go visit Kirsty!

anxious post!

This is a bit of a distracted post. I'm bidding on some fabric on Ebay, and keep checking back to see where the auctions at. I tend to get all caught up in the excitement of things, and keep bidding far more that I should, and more than I planned to. Thank gods I'm not a gambler, I'd be stuffed!

Quick auction check: eep. Four minutes to go, and I'm still the highest bidder. Do I make a big jump on my maximum bid, or just hope that everyone else has given up?

Quick auction check: Three minutes to go, and it's still me. My heart is racing. Ha! I'm making myself laugh!

Do I look again? Two minutes... still me! I think I'll increase my maximum bid. This is killing me.

Oh crap. I can't stand this. Does anyone else get so worked up over bidding on ebay???

lol I won!! Ha! I'm sure I paid more than I should of, but hey.... I'll post a picture when it arrives.
:o)

The image I've used for this post is totally unrelated, but I like to havce some sort of picture... I have been using these buttons on some skirts I've been making. They're lovely, earthy, and handmade.

four seasons in one day

That's Melbourne. All over the place. Today we've had wind, rain, sunshine, and now hail. No such thing as climate change? Yeah, right. I hope the new seedlings that made it into the ground, and those that's didn't quite get there yet, will be okay!

By Jove! Can you imitate an owl?

The owl cards I printed a while back are all pretty much gone. So today has been about bringing the card supplies back up. I've printed, and printed... and printed some more. Once all the cards I had folded were printed on, I took to printing on the pages of an old book that had been previously ripped up for another project. I noticed that one page I printed on was very apt. Look closer, lots of owl mentions, by Jove!

hands in the earth

Some time back, I was weighing up whether or not to plant out my vege patch this Spring. Today the urge to be in the sunshine, bum up and hands deep in the earth, won out. I spent three hours like that... no doubt the back of my legs will feel it tomorrow!To deal with the water dilemma, I have put water crystals in the garden, will continue to use aqua spikes to deeply water with recycled water, and will get the water pump fixed - and until then lug the boys bathwater out to the garden. (egads - that sentence had a lot of 'water' in it!) Next step, remulch the garden. By this stage it's usually well and truly done.It felt so good to be in the garden today. The boys love it when we all work together outside too. Everything takes a lot longer - everyone has to take their turn planting something and watering it in... but that's part of it all. And that's nice.

blogtober, day 3

Today: baking, cooking. Rhubarb and apple, and carrot and walnut muffins. Tomorrow, crumble and crafting. Expect so see more sewing and creating around here in the days to come... (and on blogtober goes... have my blog posts come to this already?!!)

bad is the new hot

I love it when I’m working in the shop, and someone quirky and friendly comes in and brightens my day. Today a young guy came in looking for a jumper. Not just any old run of the mill jumper. He asked where he could find a tight electric blue sweater. Old school style. School style. “I think bad is the new hot,” he told me. I asked if he sewed, but he said no, knitting was more his thing. He became so animated when we talked about other options; the idea of refashioning something got him all excited. We discussed ideas for a while, then off he went, back to the opshops in search of the most perfectly hideous electric blue grandma jumper to refashion. Cause you know, bad is the new hot.

Re image: I would really have loved to have posted THIS picture. I wasn't able to do it, so you have to go and have a look. I have a feeling that this little number would have exactly fitted the bill!!!