The littlest stitcher, cats, bugs and orchards!

The time had come for my youngest to learn to stitch :)

She had practised threading buttons onto string, and pulling through thread for me as I stitch, and watched intently as her older sister worked on various projects...and desperately wanted to start a stitchery of her very own. She drew some samples of what she might like to stitch on paper first, and a definite theme emerged...cupcakes!

We drew the outline, and she has since spent a couple of hours working carefully on her stitching. Don't you just love the tongue half poking out? Now that's concentration!

Meanwhile, the middle crafty girl has been busy creating a Halloween mask, ready to greet trick-or-treaters at our door...

Such cute little curly whiskers!

And the biggest crafty girl? Well, she's been busy (in between rethreading needles LOL) stitching another block of A Gardeners Journal...

This is Block E, which is due to be completed in December....yes, December!!! Officially ahead of schedule now :)

This is "The Orchard", which is filled with orange, lemon and apple trees, with a little ladybug to complete the block...

One block to go...of which the stitcheries are traced and ready to piece....wooohoooooo! Must be time to start planning my next project :)

TTFN xxx

A perfect Sunday destination.

Did you know that the Old Perth Road Markets are on again this Sunday in Bassendean? That's tomorrow!

Tomorrows Memories are open for business between 9am and 2pm...

...if you mention their blog, you will receive a massive 15% off your purchases. What better day to stock up on all your Christmas crafting goodies, and start your Christmas shopping at the markets? If you just feel like scrapping, you can use the workshop facilities ALL DAY for free....call the shop to book in on 92792183.

Hope you are having a totally fabulous Saturday! Between running kids here and there, I am moving my fat quarter collection into it's new, much more accessible, home. I am slowly but surely taking over the house....bahahahahahahaha! I'm betting if I don't mention it to my DH, he will never notice....ssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

TTFN xxx

Simplify

I received a copy of this book during the week, and I have to admit, it makes me want to....

a) ignore everything in my life that doesn't include fabric and a sewing machine

b) stock up on charm squares, jelly rolls and other assorted pre-cuts ( just so I can have a stack like the one on page 10)

c) cover my beloved old comfy lounge in red polka dot fabric ASAP (how cute would it look?)

and...

d) order at least a metre of every fabric in Bonnie and Camilles Bliss range.

Such an inspiring book :)

What crafty books are inspiring you at the moment?

TTFN xxx

It's been a challenge....

...that's for sure :)

My computer modem had a meltdown last week, which set off a chain of events that has seen me off-line for the last week or so :( It's amazing how much I've come to rely on my computer...and how much I miss it when it's not working! Hopefully all the problems are now sorted.

I have a bit more stitching to show...

...this stitchery is called "Potting Plants", and the small one below is called "Weathervane".

So Block A is now complete...

...and I am officially up-to-date with the Stitch-a-long groups' plan of attack!

Hope you have all had a great week...I'm off to check out what everyone in Blogland has been up to while I've been missing :)

TTFN xxx

Potting shed and bugs :)

A quick stitching update...

These stitcheries are all from Block A of A Gardeners Journal by Anni Downs, which I'm stitching with a lovely bunch of ladies here. This is the potting shed...

...and a cute little snail...

...and a cheery butterfly!

All together they look like this...

The end is almost in sight for this quilt :) I've pieced together the next block ready for stitching, and then I have only one block to go! I'll have to start thinking about borders, and how I'm going to quilt it. I have to admit ...I'm really NOT a keen machine quilter, and don't like hand quilting at all. I guess that means I'll probably send it off to a professional...they usually do a much nicer job than me!

Thank you so much for all your get well wishes. I'm feeling much much better today...the combination of some rain to settle the air, morning tea with some lovely friends and your caring comments has brightened my spirits...thank you xxxx

TTFN xxx

Imagination...

"Imagination is more important than knowledge.

(image source)
For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand" Albert Einstein

Battling with sinus issues....imagining all the things I could be creating...and yet creating nothing.
Hope you are having a better day than me!

TTFN xxx

Kraft Lovin'

There's a bit of kraft lovin' going on around here today...you know, the cardstock that looks a lot like plain cardboard? It has such a homey, handmade look about it :)

Kraft cardstock is not something I usually use, despite the fact that I love how it looks...but today I was feeling adventurous LOL. I started by making a card for my lovely Mother-in-law...


...because she is very kind, and doesn't judge my cards too harshly :) Love the checked ribbon with the red polkadot paper...a fantastic find among the Christmas wrap at Spotlight this morning!

The stamp, ink and hemp twine are all from Stampin' Up. Did you know that my dear friend Tracey is now a SU Demonstrator? Pop over and visit her here if there's something you need!

I also made a layout...

...which was heavily inspired by a LO by Danielle Flanders. The music paper is Fa La La by Making Memories, and I inked lots of mismatched chipboard letters to create the title.

The butterflies were cut with my Slice from scraps of paper, adhered to inked/distressed circles and then stitched to the LO.

And just as I was getting on a bit of a roll with the kraft...I ran out :)

I guess that's adventurous enough for one day!

TTFN xxx

Curiosity and temptation :)

I don't think anyone would argue the "pros" of digital photography, especially from a scrapbookers perspective. I know since I went digital back in 2005, I have taken many many more photos than I would have if I were still shooting on film. The photo quality is better (not as good as if I had a digital SLR of course ...but we won't go there LOL) and I love the instant gratification of printing and editing my photos at home.

However, I have today discovered a "con" :)

As you may know, I am attempting to get more up-to -date with my Christmas photos, and have been scrapping them chronologically for my Christmas albums. Up till now it hasn't been too bad...there has been a limited number of photos from each year, and they have been printed and filed in year order, all ready to put on a scrapbook page.

Enter 2005. The year I went digital. The year I started taking photos by the hundred of each and every Christmas activity, and printing not a single one of them. Overwhelming much?

I thought I had pretty much covered the essentials of Christmas 2005, until I went back through my digital files. Here I found photos that, at the time, I deemed unworthy of printing...but now melt my heart :) Look at Merryn's chubby little arms! OMG how adorable! I remember this so well...her circling the Christmas tree, reaching out to touch, and me saying "Noooooooo"...and her touching anyway :)

And thus begins the impossible task of trying to scrapbook every Christmas moment...and me giving up of the notion of ever being "up-to-date" with my Christmas albums.

Up-to-date is overrated, I think :)

TTFN xxx

P.S. These papers are My Minds Eye Colourful Christmas...just in case you were wondering :)

One Happy Camper

I pulled out a little paper and did some scrapping today ...it helps me get through the "fly out day blues" in a way that housework never will :)


I've used paper from 3 different Basic Grey collections on this page...Cupcake, Mistletoe and Pear, and Nook and Pantry. I'm sure when I bought them I had no thought that they would end up on a boy page LOL.

My button collection now contains not one single yellow button...sounds like a good excuse for a trip to Spotlight :) I freehanded the sun rays and sun, and couldn't resist adding the pink sparkly butterfly from the Making Memories Flutter Collection. I'm sure Riley will roll his eyes at me when he sees it...not cool, Mum, definitely not cool.

Hope you are having an awesome day

TTFN xxx

Butterflies and lawnmowers.

Another one bites the dust...yep, I've finished my Gardeners Journal Stitch-A-Long block for October (and it's only the 12th...yipppeeee)!

Here's the block I was talking about yesterday...

I tossed around all sorts of ideas for this block, but ended up with butterflies :) I used an old scrapbooking template to trace the pattern onto vliesofix, and used a single strand of cotton for the blanket stitch. The other stitchery in Block B is a little old fashioned push mower...

...and the whole block put together looks like this...

I've started stitching my last catch-up block, Block A, and then I (and the rest of the group!) only have 2 more blocks to go! I'll have to give you a progress shot when I finish my next one...the quilt is growing quite big, and very...ummmm...busy. To be honest, it's probably a little too busy, but I'm hoping the borders will give my eyes somewhere to rest LOL.

Have a great day

TTFN xxx

Smell the Roses...and the cookies :)

Today marks the official end of the school holidays here in Perth, but since the term begins with a pupil-free day, the kids are still at home! It seemed like a good idea to gradually ease back into the school routine, so after just a little sleep-in I did my usual Monday baking...with some helpers :)

Lydia decided cupcakes were a must, so I put her in charge of those, while I whipped up some of our favourite weet-bix slice and a butter cake...yummmmm! Some honey bicuits too? Well, why not?

This is a great recipe for kids to make...they love rolling the cookie dough into balls and covering them with coconut...so do I, for that matter :)

You will need:
125 g butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg
2 tblspns coconut
2 tblspns honey
1 1/2 cups SR flour
extra coconut for rolling

Beat butter, sugar and egg until smooth. Stir in honey, coconut and sifted flour. Roll teaspoons of mixture into balls, then cover in extra coconut. Place on greased oven trays about 3cm apart, and flatten slightly with a fork.
Bake in a moderate oven for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool on trays.

I love the smell of fresh baked cookies filling the house...and that lunchboxes are sorted for the week :)

My next block for A Gardeners Journal is called Smell the Roses...


...orange roses are among my favourites :)

The other half of my Block B is almost complete, so hopefully I'll be back tomorrow to show you the rest. It's had me stumped for a while...there's a big block of fabric in it, with hearts appliqued onto it. This puzzles me, not only because it's the only applique in the entire quilt (the rest is stitchery) but hearts/ love motifs don't appear anywhere else either. So I've changed it a bit...you'll see what I mean tomorrow :)

TTFN xxx

Fire Bugs

"You can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy"

These words could have been written just for my husband :) He grew up in the country, riding motorbikes, swimming in the river, and lighting fires in empty 44 gallon drums. Even though we lived in town in NSW, he still had a fire drum in the backyard, and would light it every chance he got.

It turns out that living in a city is not a deterrent either :) I walked outside late one afternoon to discover this happy little scene...toasting marshmallows in an empty tin can, propped up on an old vase. Honestly! I was still laughing when his mother rang, and she had a laugh with me. She was teasing him on the phone when I took these photos LOL.

For his next birthday, she sent him a Bunnings gift card, along with a Bunnings catalogue with several pictures of fire grates hilighted :) She's such a thoughtful Mum!

I've used Fancy Pants Wishful Thinking Memories paper along with a Basic Grey Doily, some October Afternoon stickers, and a little Basic Grey Lemonade chipboard bug. The alphas are Basic Grey and Heidi Swapp.

Hope you are having a lovely weekend!

TTFN xxx

Let the fun begin again...

I know, I know...it's only October. BUT October is a great time to start thinking about getting together some goodies for your 2010 December Daily album :) If you don't know what I'm talking about, head over to Ali Edwards' blog and take a look...



This will be the second year of December Daily for me (following Ali's format, anyway) and I LOVE looking through last years album, reliving all the little things that made Christmas special for us. Unlike last year, though, I hope to have my album a lot more organised...completed to the point of just needing photos and stories. LOL...wish me luck on that one :)

I plan to use this scrumptious little pack by Echo Park Paper Company as my base...


...along with some bits and pieces from my stash, and maybe some fabric and felt...loved the texture of last years album! For all you digi scrappers, Ali is also planning to release a December Daily digital pack (collection? bundle? LOL...sooooo not a digi scrapper) next week I believe :)

Have a fantastic weekend...

TTFN xxx

Brown paper packages ...

...tied up with string... I can't seem to get this song out of my head this morning, and I'll tell you why :)

Ever since my good friend Lisa gave me some of her Divine Twine to play with, I have been searching for an Australian distributor to purchase some from (postage from the US can be a bit expensive!)


(photo source)


This twine has the most beautiful texture...it's soft, is just the right thickness, and comes in the most gorgeous colours! I've been using it on scrapbook pages and cards, but it's also perfect for a million other things.

My search has led me to a fantastic Australian online store called Brown Paper Packages, which not only sells Divine Twine at a resonable price, but cupcake cases, felt toys, prints, jewellery...and a million other things...from all over the world. Oh, such beautiful things. Deciding what colour of twine to buy has had me preoccupied all morning :)


I used a bit more of my mini-stash of twine here...

...a little package of brochures for some family who are planning a holiday to Perth in the next little while :)

My head is spinning with uses for this twine...LOVE IT! There is also a fantastic blog which shows more ideas for twine, just in case you run out of inspiration...go to www.whiskergraphics.com and take a peek.

Enough excitement for one morning...better get out of my jammies before it's time for lunch!

TTFN xxx

Words.

I haven't felt much like scrapbooking lately. For some reason, the spark that pushes me to make a page just hasn't been there....and no amount of new paper or fresh photos or yummy stamps has inspired me to create one.

I've been giving it some thought, and what I do know is this- without a story to tell, I have no desire to scrapbook at all. I can't just make a page for the sake of it. I can't just take a nice photo, add some pretty paper and embellishments, and call it done. To me, it's all about the words.

So with thoughts of words spinning around in my head, I made this page...


It's sort of funny to think a photo of a text message could get me out of my scrapbooking rut...but that little text message summed up this past week for me better than anything else could have. So with little thought of design, paper, technique or otherwise, I put my thoughts down...

...and made a page :) It's not my best-ever page...it doesn't take your breath away with it's beauty, or it's great technique, or it's cutting edge design. What it does is tell you is how unprepared I was for my boy to be injured while competing what seemed like a million miles away. His short text says so much about how much he's grown up, but ironically, how young he still is...and that is worth preserving in a scrapbook.

So then I made another one based on words...

...this time about a conversation I had with Riley last night about Santa. I've written him a letter that's tucked inside the envelope, about how long I have agonised about this particular conversation (you can probably guess what I'm talking about here) and how, even though the time was right to have it, I can't help but wish I could take the conversation back...unsay the words.

Wow...that got pretty deep today, didn't it? Maybe I'll try a light-hearted type of layout next :)

TTFN xxx

Stash required...

...not a scrapbooking stash (I already have one of those!), but a stash of home made cards for every occasion. It's getting to the point where I have to make cards on demand...and that is NOT a good thing :(

It's been years since I've made a sympathy card...but then I needed 3, all in the same week :(



And if there is a type of card I struggle with more than any other (even boy cards!) it's sympathy cards.

I think it would be easier if I didn't have a particular person in mind when creating the sympathy card...hmmmm....stash definitely required.

In other news....
the boy is home safe and sound from Adelaide...yay! Thanks so much for all your good wishes. He didn't achieve quite the results he was hoping for, but that happens sometimes in sport :)

Have a great weekend. I'm hoping to break out the papers and do some scrapping... yes, really!

TTFN xxx