Seven

It's almost the end of another month, and once again the "scrapbook layout" total on my to-do list is at...well...zero :)

When the scrapping mojo is low, I usually look to The Color Room for some colour inspiration...and look at the gorgeous colours this week!

They looked a bit tricky, but the photos on top of my photo pile matched exactly...what are the chances?

Merryn's 7th birthday party shots contained ALL the colours! So I kept the layout very simple, because I wanted to put lots of the photos onto it...the way my scrapping has been going lately, this may be the only time they make an appearance!LOL

Some detail shots...

...and a bit of bling. The polkadot paper is, of course, my must-use-on-every-layout paper...Dots and Stripes by Echo Park, and the embellishments are just bits and pieces from my stash.

So now the layout total stands at one. Woohooo???

Hee hee hee

TTFN xxx

BOO to You...times two!

Halloween is not a really big deal here in my little part of the world. I guess you could say it's an optional celebration...you can dress up and go trick-or-treating if you'd like to, but no-one is going to hold it against you if you don't :)

As a family, we usually play it by ear. If the kids are keen on the day, we have enough props and costumes in our dress-up box to assemble some acceptable attire, and enough goodies in our pantry to cater for the little ghoulies that come knocking on our door :)

This year, though, we have been invited to several Halloween parties between us, which is good enough reason for me to whip out the sewing machine to create my Label Crew project for this month.

Lydia had a party last night, so I made up this bag for her to take. She was very impressed...it took less than an hour to construct, and was just big enough to carry her essentials.

Of course, Merryn then requested that I make her a bag as well...

...not the same, but not so different either. I was a bit limited in my fabric choices...orange doesn't take centre stage in my fabric stash, that's for sure :)

Do you celebrate Halloween at your house?

TTFN xxx

Farmers Wife Friday- The I HAVE A PLAN Edition

When I started making Farmers Wife blocks a few months back, I thought I could just go along happily, throwing fabrics together and hoping for the best. And for a while, that was working for me :)

But then the real me, the organised me, the me that likes to have things just right, sort of took over, and started panicking that maybe this quilt just wasn't going to work...that maybe I needed a plan. So I laid all my blocks out, and did a bit of rearranging here and there, and came up with one :)

What if...I make one pile of blocks that have a predominantly white background, and another pile of blocks that have NO white? Then, when I put the blocks together, I alternate between the piles, creating a pattern? Ooooh yes, I like patterns! I'll probably sash the blocks in a plain white too, because I really really like white.

And with that...I have a plan! And not only a plan, but a shortage of blocks with NO white :( So that's what I made this week :)

Block number 34 Flock...

...and Block number 35, Flower Basket.

I used ricrac as the basket handle again, to try and start tieing in with other blocks I've made already.

Can I also add here....it was really REALLY good to make a couple of blocks with less than 20 pieces. Just sayin'.

We have a long weekend here in Perth due to CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) so I'm already in weekend mode...

TTFN xxx

Thought for the day...

I'm going to have to call it a good day then...

...if only for these reasons :) I will NOT base my assessment of the day on tears and tantrums, grocery shopping (bleh!), on the jealousy I feel when I think of my husband cuddling my gorgeous nieces and nephews on the other side of the country, or out of control hayfever, or my constantly growing pile of ironing. It shall not be based on to-do lists with NOTHING crossed off them, or the pile of dinner dishes sitting in the sink, or thoughts of work tomorrow.

Nope. These things don't count.

Hope you are able to call yours a good one too...the criteria isn't too hard to fit LOL

TTFN xxx

Farmers Wife Friday - The Quick-unpick Edition

Ohhhh yes...there was an awful lot of reverse sewing involved in bringing you this weeks edition of Farmers Wife Friday! Seams didn't want to match up, I kept sewing the wrong pieces to each other... at one stage I even sewed a whole row on back to front! Duh! One thing though...at least I was alone in the house, so no one had to listen to my...umm...not-so-very-nice words :)

Here they are...

Block number 26 Cut Glass Dish. 51 pieces in a 6 1/2 inch square. No wonder I said the odd bad word or two :)

Block 25 Cups and Saucers. I thought I liked the colours in this one. Now it's all sewn together...not so much.

As I've said before, they can't all
be my favourites. I think I'll go back to sewing my Bliss quilt for now...it's sooooo much easier :)

TTFN xxx

No postpak required :)

Blessings come in many forms, and I can honestly say that my mother-in-law is one of mine :)

When her birthday rolls around each year, I'm always at a loss at what to send her. There is no point sending her a gift that has no purpose...she is the most practical woman I have ever met. Forget ornamental. Forget decorative. Forget pretty. Ma likes practical...something she can use. Which is all very well until you have to place the item into a Postpak to send from one side of Australia to the other...then things get a bit more difficult :)

This year, to celebrate a milestone birthday, I decided to make her a gift that (hopefully) she will find useful...an embroidered doily.

I chose fabrics to match the birthday bag I made several months ago (remember the Sweetwater Label Crew one?), so that my children could pop some handmade gifts/cards/drawings in there as well :)

I used a pattern by Leanne Beasley called Butterflies and Blossom...I really like the jumbo ricrac edging! A name label leftover from another Label Crew project for the back of the doily finished the back off perfectly.

This little gift won't have to travel by Postpak though...my husband is going to personally deliver it to her when he arrives on her doorstep late tonight after a long long day of travelling :) Happy Birthday Ma!

TTFN xxx

Stitching and Sewing...but no Scrapping :)

My fingers have been working at a frantic pace over the last few days, in a classic case of me leaving things to the last minute :)

I've known all year (all decade,actually LOL) that my Mother-in-law was having a "special" birthday this year, but in typical fashion, have left it until the week before to prepare her gift...why oh why do I do this to myself?

Just a few more stitches and the embroidery part will be done...then I can start on the construction. Luckily it's just a small part of her pressie :) I'll show you a proper photo after she receives it on Thursday.

My sewing machine has been purring along, doing what it does best...

...how I missed it! Working on this Bliss quilt is a nice diversion from other more pressing things, like ironing (almost up to the roof!), house cleaning and quilting that other quilt (whose name we shall not mention LOL).

Procrastinating is, after all, one of the things I do best :)

What have you been up to this weekend?

TTFN xxx

Farmers Wife Friday - The Comeback Edition :)

I may have missed a week on my Farmers Wife Friday posts...quite accidentally, I assure you :) Life got a tad busy for a while there, and while I usually catch up before another edition is due, this week...well, it just didn't happen!

My favourite sewing machine is back in da house which made stitching my blocks much easier. This one is Evening Star Block 31...

...a nice easy block to ease me back into it :)

Block 32 is called Farmers Daughter...

...and that's the last of the stars for a while. I am yet to stitch Blocks 25-28, so still have a bit of catching up to do.

Have a fantastic weekend!

TTFN xxx

Thought for the day...

source
via here

Love this...especially since pinterest is the only creative thing going on in my life right now LOL!
The good news? My sewing machine is ready to collect from the repair shop, and I have the next few days off work...bring on the crafting!

TTFN xxx

P.S. A few of you have noticed that I haven't updated my To-Do List in the sidebar for the month of October...is it really October? LOL...I'm onto it!

Milk, cookies and a brand new bike!

I know it's only October, but thoughts of Christmas are starting to enter my head...which is probably a good thing, since I always seem to be running around like a mad woman, come December :)

One of the recent Label Crew projects was a Christmas themed mug rug, which is perfect for putting out Santa's treats on Christmas Eve.

Mind you, by the time he gets to our house, Santa is usually ready for a beer and some rum balls :)
I used fabrics from Sweetwaters' Countdown to Christmas range for this little project, and am now all inspired to cut into it a bit more!

Some of you may remember from last year that our family collects a "mode of transport" Santa each Christmas...we have Santa in a plane, in a hot air balloon, on a reindeer etc etc...and I was starting to worry that we may have exhausted Santa's transport possibilities :) Imagine our delight when we came across this in the Myer Christmas Shop...

...and before the beginning of December! Very happy with that...one less thing off my last-minute Christmas-frenzied shopping list, and the kids think he is adorable. I almost can't wait to start decorating for Christmas again...hee hee, I did say almost :)

Have you started thinking about Christmas yet? Or are you still in denial that it's less than eleven weeks away? LOL

Have a great day

TTFN xxx

I'm that friend :)

If ever a stamp set was made for me, it's this one...

...called Eat Chocolate, by Stampin' Up. I really must pull out my stamp collection more often LOL...I have some really nice ones :)

Hope you're having a great weekend. Mine so far has been all about spending time with special friends...how lovely is that?

TTFN xxx

Stamp Collecting

It's not something I intentionally set out to do...you could say it has happened more by accident :)

There's no denying it though...my collection is definitely growing.

Probably the most embarrassing thing about this stamp collection of mine is that most of my stamps are in pristine condition..ie NEVER BEEN USED. I'm not really that into stamping... I just love buying stamps.

I felt a bit brave over the weekend just passed, and assembled some of my stamps for a little play.

It took me a ridiculous amount of time to make this card...so much so that I decided to make another one in different colours :)

All of a sudden, my card stash has grown by two, and I'm thinking...maybe that wasn't so hard? Maybe I could get some momentum going on this card-making thing?

Or not. LOL

TTFN xxx

Farmers Wife Double Take...with sewing included!

Yes...you read it correctly :)

After some major sewing withdrawals, I got serious in my hunt for the missing foot pedal for my "spare" sewing machine...then I had to find the instruction manual...and then buy a 1/4 inch foot to fit this machine. Then, and only then, did I attempt to sew my Farmers Wife blocks :)

It's kind of cute, don't you think? This sewing machine has an embroidery attachment, and I used it lots when my children were small. For a while there, Pooh Bear was on everything they wore :) Then I branched out and bought more computer memory cards for it...hours and hours of embroidery fun was had, but I had never used it to actually construct anything.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and while it will never be my beloved Janome, it got the job done!

First up, the blocks I showed you in pieces a couple of posts ago....all sewn together this time. Block 23, Country Farm...

...and Block 24, Country Path.

I've cheated a bit with last Fridays blocks, and skipped over to Blocks 29 and 30...they had much simpler construction (and far fewer pieces) and Pooh Bear is not quite as co-operative on seam matching as my usual sewing machine.

Block number 29, Economy, turned out very very busy...

...not sure I like it, but I'll see how it looks when I lay out the blocks next time :)

And Block 30, End of Day...

...which I love. So glad I added some extra polkadots into the mix :)
That's Farmers Wife up-to-date for now...phew!

Have an awesome day...and thanks for visiting.

TTFN xxx