December Daily Days 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22

No, I'm not kidding.

I really do have 10 days to add to my December Daily album.

I know. I can't believe it either. Turns out it really IS a quick little album to put together...either that, or I'm whipping through the pages because I am so tired of the stuff sitting on my desk, and I really need the storage space for my Project Life stuff :) Hmmmmmm.

Anyway, here they are ( and I will forgive you if you can't be bothered looking too closely LOL)

Days 13 and 14...

...whereby we picked up my husband from the airport to start his holidays (and had dinner with our friends on the way to the airport as always!) , and we had our last work meeting of the year.

Days 15 and 16...

...whereby my girls played all day in the pool, and we looked after some other kids for the night while our friends went to their Christmas party.

Day 17...

...complete with extra page protector for additional photos...

...whereby we threw our annual Christmas/birthday party and had Secret Santa gifts and lots of yummy food :)

Day 18...

...whereby we went to the "big" Carols by Candlelight in the city with our friends, complete with Carols songbook :)

Day 19...

...whereby we did some Christmas cooking.

Days 20 and 21...

...whereby we had friends up for a Christmas get-together, and went on our annual Christmas light viewing tour with some other friends.

And finally, (for now, anyway) Day 22...

...whereby I discussed the Christmas lolly buffet that I created, and eventually gave up refilling because the lollies were disappearing so fast LOL!

That's it for now. With just 2 days left to document, I have run out of the white cardstock that I've used throughout the album, so they will have to wait for another day...hopefully tomorrow!

If you've made it this far...thanks for reading!

TTFN xxx

Random Saturday Stitching

The end of the month is looming...it's the 28th already...and you know what that means...

THE SIDEBAR TO-DO LIST SHOULD BE UNDER CONTROL! LOL

There has been quite a lot of crafting going on around here, which, when you throw school holidays and work into the mix, is a miracle in itself. We'll call it New Years enthusiasm :)

Here's a little progress report of how things are going...

A Family Gathering Quilt

Starting to really take shape now, with the completion of the "Cousins" block. Can you believe I only have the "Caravan" block left to stitch on this quilt?

The borders are going to be a bit trickier than normal...there are hourglass blocks involved...but I'm feeling that the end is almost in my sights :)

My Favourite Things Quilt

I was a little horrified to discover that I was behind in this Stitch-a-long...I had neglected to add the border stripping!

An hour or two of panic sewing got me right up to date though...phew!

The Farmers Wife Sampler Quilt

Ok ok...I admit it. I'm a bit addicted to this one at the moment :) I stayed up until quite late last night cutting two more squares!
Number 69 Practical Orchard

And number 70 Prairie Queen

I must have been feeling in a yellow type of mood? That puts my completed block count up to 35, which DOES NOT include the 12 blocks that I've decided not to use because they don't have white in them (I'll try to remake those over the next few weeks) So technically, I've made 47, which almost puts me in line with the Flickr group girls, and halfway to a Queen size quilt! Hmmmmm..that DOES sound impressive :)

Now to start putting together some December Daily pages :O I know, I know...it's nearly February! Bet you thought I'd ditched that project, didn't you? LOL...the thought has crossed my mind......

What random Saturday stitching are you working on?

TTFN xxx

Farmers Wife Friday - The Happy Wife Edition

Blocks that come together easily, colours that I love, points that match, and making my blocks on a Friday...these things make me a happy wife today :)

First block up is number 61 Northern Lights...

...this block had a good feel about it right from the start. My elder daughter commented on how much she liked the colours when I was cutting out, and I think it was blessed from that moment :)

Number 62 Old Windmill is made from my favourite things, so unless it didn't play nice in the construction phase, it was always going to be a favourite :)

See that turquoise floral in the middle? That's my favourite print from the whole Rose Parade collection :) Team it with red polkadots...my all time favourite thing...and it's definitely love!

Hope you are having a happy Friday. It was supposed to reach 41 degrees here in Perth today, and the fact that it hasn't makes me SUPER happy!

TTFN xxx

A Tea Party

I've been doing a bit of stitching on A Family Gathering, the quilt project that Linda, Tracey and I are stitching together.

Of course, it's just one of the projects that we are stitching together...they seem to be multiplying lately! We do our monthly Sweetwater Label Crew, we are stitching Our Favourite Things (the quilt from Anni Downs book Some Kind of Wonderful)with a group over here, and we have A Family Gathering, which we are hoping to finish before another new project begins :)We are all doing Project Life too :)

Always good to have lots of projects on the go...don't you think? (remind me of that next time I'm feeling overwhelmed, won't you? LOL)

TTFN xxx

Project Life 2012 - Week Three

Another week down!Is it just me, or is this year just flying by?

Week 3 was all about quilts and back-to-work, books and movies :)

This week I tried to add a few more everyday bits and pieces, like tickets from the movies...

...and a supermarket receipt tucked into the long journaler under Pre Fly Out Day Prep , which documents the rituals that we go through the day before my husband flies out to work. These are the things that I think will be interesting in years to come...how much a packet of cigarettes costs (yep, he's a smoker) and how I give him a haircut before he flies off into the desert heat (he works in the hottest place in Australia, poor thing!)

Other things of interest...
*I used a mix of papers from the PL Turquoise kit, as well as bits and pieces from my own stash. I'm finding that I'm much happier with the pages when I make them "my own".

* I created a photo collage of my sons' paintball bruises using an app called DIPTIC on my iphone (thanks Linda...it's AWESOME!)

* The book cover of Brisingr which my son is currently reading was printed from the net, but could just as easily been an actual photo.

*I printed all my photos at home this week...I couldn't fit photo printing on my to-do list when we were doing the groceries, and it's been so so hot here in Perth that I couldn't be bothered making a special trip :)

* I'm planning to add a smaller page protector in the middle of this double page, but haven't quite made it that far yet!

So...how is your Week 3 coming along? Have you settled into the PL journey yet, or are you struggling to find your groove? And could you pretty please leave me a comment so I can come and take a peek at yours?

TTFN xxx

P.S. If you want to check out some awesome Week 3 pages, check out here...

Determined.

Determined to make more cards this year.

Determined to use my stamps and inks (especially the ones in mint condition!)

Determined to cross things off my to-do list in a timely fashion.

Determined to use up some of my paper stash.

Determined to try different techniques and learn new things.

Determined to have handmade cards ready to give to my loved ones.

Determined to fit crafting into my busy life.

Determined not to ever sit through another Alvin and the Chipmunks movie for the rest of my life...OK that was a bit random :) but oh so true!

TTFN xxx

Farmers Wife Friday- The With A BANG Edition!

Hello hello...and happy Farmers Wife Friday to you!

Yes...Farmers Wife Friday is back with a bang! Today I have four blocks to show you :)

This new found enthusiasm is due to a few things...having a Friday that I don't have to work (YAY!), the heat (too hot for housework, that's for sure) and to my friend Hope, who received the FW book for Christmas, and has been pumping out blocks at an inspiring rate! Her blocks are just lovely...she's using some Rose Parade fabrics (like mine) but her colour combinations are much more striking...check out her blog if you get a chance ;)

Onto the blocks...and a very random selection they are, too. We have number 111, Wrench...

...which is the very last block in the book. It looked easy, so I went with that!

Block number 81 Snowball...

...ditto on the easy :)
Block 33 is Farmers Puzzle...

...because that is one I missed when my printer wasn't printing, and it had a few different templates that I didn't have. And finally, Block 4 Basket Weave...

...yes, I have made this one before, but with no white. I vaguely remember deciding to add white to each and every block late last year, so unpicked the original and added white. I'll be doing this to a few blocks...unless, of course, I cahnge my mind again! (sooooo wish I wouldn't keep doing that LOL)

Thanks for visiting, and have a great weekend

TTFN xxx

P.S. Sorry about the photo quality on the last two blocks...not sure what happened there?

Project Life 2012 - Week Two

Week Two of Project Life...another busy week in our house! There were friends and swimming, fly in day and cyclone warnings, suicide attempts and nocturnal attacks :)

And then there was capturing the little snippets of life that I'd like to remember forever and ever...

I've extended myself a little bit too...notice the two photo collages, complete with titles? Tricky tricky :) I also learned how to print a screen shot from my iphone. Like I said yesterday...baby steps.

(just in case you can't read the journaling, the suicide attempt was by our favourite fish, Boggle, and the nocturnal attack was Merryn scratching her ecsema, but she was convinced that something had come into her bedroom at night ...we concluded that it was a particularly vicious mosquito with a bandsaw type stinger on the end of it's nose LOL)

I've added some elements from October Afternoons' Sidewalks range, and some turquoise and yellow polkadots from Echo Parks Dots and Stripes, because as you know, everything is better with polkadots!

Have a great day!

TTFN

Pinwheels

Extend.
It's one little word that I can apply to almost every area of my life, but today I've applied it to my cardmaking. Yes...very occasionally I do make cards :)

Today I stamped, and even used some never-been-out-of-their-wrapping stamps! Now that IS extending myself!

The pinwheels are from a set from Stampin' Up called Sweets for the Sweet, and they are so cute!

I haven't recreated the wheel here (I never do, truth be told), but I have used Perfect Pearls for the accents, which is also extending myself a bit LOL....baby steps, right?

Today I have also rediscovered the technique of hand colouring my stamps, so I'm off to play a bit more...who knows what adventurous new thing I might try! Bahahahahahahaha!

TTFN xxx

Sunday Show and Tell

I have a little something to show you today. Something I am very proud of. I'm a bit excited :)

After a very very long absence from the blog, I can finally show you, in it's completed form, my A Gardeners Journal quilt! WOOOHOOOOOOOOO!

Can you tell I'm a bit excited? LOL

I stitched this quilt as part of the Stitch-a-long group organised by Chookyblue
In fact, it was Chooky who encouraged me to locate my book and get stitching...she can be pretty persuasive :) I stitched it in fairly good time, but the top sat at the quilters for almost a whole year :( I received the quilted top just before Christmas, and procrastinated until yesterday, when my dear friend Fiona sat with me at my kitchen table, and wouldn't let me leave until the binding was stitched down :)

The quilting is divine...

...as you can see by looking at it from the back. Such gorgeous texture. Such bright happy colours. Such glorious completion. Sigh.

I even got a bit inspired with my quilt label...

...I'm usually so anxious to move a finished quilt out of my craft room that I whack any old label on, but it was so hot in Perth today that I used it as a good excuse to turn the airconditioner on :)

So there you have it...another COMPLETED project for January! Love that :)

TTFN xxx

Kicking off a new year!

A new year of Sweetwater Label Crew stitching has officially begun :)

Linda, Tracey and I had a little catchup earlier in the week, and completed (yes, I DID say completed!) our 2012 journals, our first project for the year. I used Sweetwater's Sunkissed fabric, Linda used Sweetwater's Reunion and Tracey used Figtree's Strawberry Fields...don't they look so different!

I added the small personalised label to the back, and have already started making notes for Project Life in the notebook....gotta love a practical AND pretty project :)

Another tick off the to-do list...WOOOHOOOOOO!

TTFN xxx

Project Life 2012 - Week One

It's going to take me a while to get into the groove of this Project Life thing...I can tell :)

I agonised over photo selection, photo placement, embellishments, colours, papers, what story to tell, and basically anything else I could think of LOL...oh my, I am good at overthinking things!

I eventually gave myself a good talking to, pulled myself together, put all the bits in, did my journaling and turned the page in my album.

It could be a good thing that I go back to my paid job tomorrow...LOL...much less time to overthink when I am running around like a crazy person!

The first week of anything is always the hardest, right?

TTFN xxx

One Little Word 2012

One Little Word. It's an amazing concept devised by Ali Edwards several years ago. On a basic level, you choose a word at the beginning of each new year...a word to live with, to inspire, to lead, and to reflect upon during the year.

I have found, over the last couple of years that I have chosen a word, that it has been a powerful tool in my life. My little word can pop into my mind under many different circumstances, and can be a driving force to help me achieve my goals, to help me make decisions, and to guide me.

This year, after much thought, I have chosen the word extend.

I hope to extend myself in many areas of my life...to reach beyond my comfort zone and expand my horizons a little more.

With this little word foremost in my mind when I felt the urge to bake yesterday morning, I reached beyond my usual tried-and-true recipes to this gorgeous new cookbook that I received for Christmas...

Oh my, it is a lovely publication! Take a peek inside...

The styling is amazing! I love the retro images, the old advertisements, the memories that some of the recipes evoke...showing my age now, aren't I? LOL

It is simply divine.

I decided to make some Chocolate Mousse Puffs...much like a chocolate version of profiteroles, with a white chocolate mousse filling. This involved a few techniques that I've never attempted before, and much more fiddling around than I normally get involved in :)

At one stage I had two sets of electric beaters going! The filling used not only cream cheese, but white chocolate melts AND thickened cream...imagine the calories!

They looked quite untidy...not uniform at all...but OH MY GOODNESS the taste!

I think they may just be the yummiest thing I have ever baked. Seriously good.

So that's my one little word for 2012. I hope to use it well...and also hope that it's not my waistline that does the extending! LOL

TTFN xxx

My Favourite Things...Edition 2

It's amazing how effective the technique of list making is for me. Just the action of making a list makes me feel so much more in control of things, but when I get to actually tick something off that list? Ahead of schedule? Now THAT makes me way beyond happy :)

See that rather long 'TO DO LIST' for January over there in my sidebar? Today, for the first time this year, I can tick something off! WOOOHOOOO!

Presenting, Edition 2 of "My Favourite Things", from the book Some Kind of Wonderful by Anni Downs, that I am stitching along with a fabulous group over here... (wow, that's a long introduction LOL)and my ABSOLUTE favourite things, chocolates!

Daisies too...

...which, truthfully, are not my favourite flower, but for the sake of simpicity and completion, we shall pretend they are :)

And with that, I am up-to-date with that particular project for another month! They will fly by this year, I just know it :)

Have a wonderful Sunday evening, and thank you for visiting.

TTFN xxx