A common theme....and a new love.

So...it seems that Pinterest is the new thing...and by thing I mean time-gobbling thing to do online. As if there weren't enough of them already. I started "pinning'" a little while ago, but still don't really feel like I have the hang of it. via pinterest The best way that I can think of to describe Pinterest is a place to store all the inspirational pictures that you find online. You create different "boards" according to what subjects you like to pin. So, for example, you can have a board dedicated to baked goodies, or creative spaces, or scrapbooking, or whatever you like, really. One thing that it has shown me is that my love for colour is still strong. All my boards have a strong theme of colour running through them....especially red and aqua :) Now, being technologically challenged as I am, I have no idea how to link you up with my boards so that you can have a squizz at what's making me smile right now. Maybe you could leave me your details if you have a Pinterest account, and we can hook up that way? I'd love to see what you are pinning :) Have a great day TTFN xxx P.S. Thanks for your lovely caring comments yesterday...it's looking like I might have the day off tomorrow......wooohooooo!

Farmer Duck

One of the most loved books in our bookcase is the story of Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell. Farmer Duck lives with a very lazy farmer who sits in bed all day eating chocolate, while poor Farmer Duck does all the work around the farm.

All day, the farmer calls from his bed..."How goes the work?" and all day the Duck answers "Quack", while picking the fruit and ploughing the fields and doing the dishes.

Why am I sharing this with you today?

Well, eventually the Duck is totally exhausted from doing all that work....he is, in fact, "sleepy, and weepy, and tired".

And that is just exactly how I feel today.

An early night might be a good idea for this little duck :)

TTFN xxx

Bluebirds, pails and fish...

...all in the one blog post! Well, these things happen when there's a week or more between blog posts...everything gets bundled in together :) We'll start with bluebirds... Very proud of myself...I've spent the last couple of days working on my Little Bluebirds quilt. Above is the block that I stalled on...the one where the stars weren't perfect, and I threw it into my sewing basket in disgust, and there it stayed for months and months...remember the story? Well, this is the NEW star block (aka Part 2) , with all new, much nicer looking stars, all ready for some running stitch to go around them. The good news? Parts 3, 4, 5 and 6 are all complete....and Part 7 is the final part of the quilt! Watch this space :) Then onto the pail...

This is the March project in Sweetwater's Label Crew...a very sweet Easter pail with cute little labels and a fabric banner. Really...does it get any cuter? (well, yes, it does actually...next month's project is an apron that is TO DIE FOR!) Linda, Tracey and I had a very late night on Friday night...chatting, drinking champagne, eating yummy food, sharing problems...and even doing a bit of sewing :) and this is what I made.

I sat my little pail on the edge of our outdoor fish pond to take a photo, and was instantly mobbed by our fish. Now...as pets go, fish are usually fairly boring...yeah? Not our fish! The big white one you see is Boggle, and he has such a personality! All the smaller fish follow him around like adoring fans...he swims out of the water over the pipework in the pond, he beaches himself onto the pot plants in the water on occasion (particularly when the water level has dropped) , and comes up to us regularly for a pat. Seriously...he is one very entertaining fish.

Lots of other bits and pieces happening around here, but that's probably enough random for one blog post :)

TTFN xxx

The lure of cookbooks.

What is it about cookbooks that I find so very hard to resist?

Is it the beautiful styling of the photographs? The dream that one day I'll find the time to actually make something from the pages? Or are cookbooks just another thing that I feel compelled to collect...much like scrapbook paper and fabric?

As this new release found it's way out of the shop and onto my kitchen table today, I found myself asking these very questions :)

Mmmmm...how good do those macaroons look on the cover?

TTFN xxx

Love, friendship, birds and peace :)

The first months stitching and piecing on my Tis The Season wallhanging is done! After playing around with variegated thread and various fabrics, I settled on this...

Pink stitching with DMC 604 on the blocks with red inner borders...

...and red stitching with DMC 816 on the blocks with pink inner borders.

I haven't washed the markings out of these yet, but I just couldn't wait to show you! Loving the pink/red combination, and polkadots always make me happy :)

Happy Friday!

TTFN xxx

A new addiction...

...and see that little black notation in the top corner of the packet? That means you can have some chocolate with it, guilt free. Gotta love that :)

TTFN xxx

P.S. Audrey...if you leave me your email address, I'll contact you regarding your cross stitch design :)

A little more Christmas...

Another Christmas layout to share today....

...just because I haven't had any photos printed since Christmas, and they are the ones sitting on my desk :)

I cut the baubles from some Basic Grey Jovial paper, added one of the Jovial Writers Block pieces for the centre bauble (and to record the year) and made a banner with them using some twine. The spotty paper is from Echo Park For the Record collection, and the alphas are vintage Chatterbox...ie from the very back of my alphabet stash :)

Hope you are having a great week so far!

TTFN xxx

Saturday scrapping!

Saturday mornings when my DH is home are a precious gift. Instead of getting up at the crack of dawn to take Riley to trampoline training and hitting the markets early, the girls and I have a sleep in...I get the housework started early...and this morning I even found myself sitting at my scrapbooking desk! Truly...a gift :)

This is what I've made so far...


I've scrapped very few of my Christmas photos from 2010, so that seemed like a great place to start! I've used lots of Bo Bunny Snow Day here...papers and embellishments...along with some Thickers and some Kaiser bling. You can never use enough bling when scrapping Christmas!

This next one is all about the story...a story that had to be told before I forgot the details :)

If you click on the photo, you should be able to read the journaling. Rastus the Rat was the highlight of our Christmas Day last year!

This time I pulled out my stash of Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather, as well as some older alphabets from Jillibean Soup and Making Memories.

It had been a couple of months since I made a scrapbook page...I sorta forgot how fun it is to finish a project in such a short amount of time (as opposed to stitching projects which can literally take years LOL). Might just have to pull out some more photos...keep the momentum going :)

Have a fabulous Saturday!

TTFN xxx

A patch of green.

Sometimes it can be so hard...almost impossible...to find the time, or the motivation, or the energy to fit crafting into a busy life.

But when you make that little bit of time....like I did today....well, it is like being able to breath again :)

I have nothing to show you for my efforts...i just played around, cut some fabric, sewed some hand stitches, and enjoyed the sound of my sewing machine buzzing along.

Bliss.

TTFN xxx

P.S. How cool is my new water bottle? Typo is definitely my new favourite shop :)

Love a great kit?

The girls at Tomorrows Memories have created these beautiful kits called "Create @ Home" just for you...

Every second month a gorgeous new collection of goodies will be available both instore and online (how exciting!), complete with inspirational ideas and lots of product, all ready for you to start playing.

Papers, embellishments and special surprises, all beautifully packaged and shipped to you...locally, nationally and internationally!

The February collection is available for shipping right now...it's called "Soft and Shabby", and you can check it out here.

Happy creating!

TTFN xxx

Ten...in pictures.

Requested gifts...

...and surprise gifts.

Birthday cake...

...and cupcakes to share.

Blowing out ten candles...

...and playing with new toys....

....and going to bed with a great big smile :)

Happy happy birthday sweet Lydia!

TTFN xxx

Resistance is futile.

It was going so well. I had been so strong.

Lydia can be a very persuasive little girl when she tries, but I really meant it when I said that she was not having a birthday party this year. NO! Definitely not!

Then I caved a little and said she could invite just 3...only 3...a maximum of 3...friends over for a swim, because her birthday falls on a public holiday this year. Then my best friend, Mum of Lydia's best friend, said she would be able to pop in on her birthday...an unexpected development. So the number of party-goers became greater than 10...a party if ever there was one :)

And then there was this...

Who can resist a red polkadot cupcake stand? Cupcakes. Polkadots. Hello? I even have the matching red cupcake cases in my cupboard already :) and my girl simply adores polkadots.

So all of a sudden the party planning is under way. And the baking has started. And the party cake has been decided upon. And we are making up party bags.

And the mother of the birthday girl is still wondering what happened to NO!

Ho hum.

Have a great weekend...I had better get back to my kitchen!

TTFN xxx

Our House...

...in the middle of our street :)

Remember that song by Madness? (I think it was Madness LOL) I've been humming along to it as I've been stitching this block...the first in my "A Family Gathering" quilt, called Our House.

The fabrics are looking nice and bright and cheery...just the way I like them...and it is taking all of my will power not to cut out the next block.

There is a lot more stitching on my to-do list for this month though...so I guess I had better work on that. So loving the colours in this fabric range...

TTFN xxx

P.S. Tracey has finished her "Our House" block too...check it out on her blog. I bet Linda won't be too far from finishing either...but can they resist cutting out the next block? Hmmmm....