Free Stuff Day Again

Just wanted to do a quick mention to Aussies that on free stuff day this month they are giving a car away plus loads of other great things, so if you are interested just click HERE to find out more.

What a Christmas

Wow! I can't get over christmas has been and gone, the time has just gone so fast.

I really hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and santa was kind to all :-)

I had one excellent Christmas, the weather was perfect, all the family got together, just a really good time.

Santa was very kind to me, I got paints I was wanting and two books, one on fabric dyeing and the other on making flower arrangements both fantastic books that I can learn a lot out of.

I finally got all my pressies made the last one on the actual day, didn't think I was going to but got there, I have taking pics of everything and will post them later after I've been through them all.

We are having a family bbq for new year, will be great as my brother and family are here, they live 2 states away and haven't seen them for nearly 3 years so its going to be a great way to finish off the year. :-)

I wish everyone a very happy and safe new year and may all your dreams and hopes come true, see you all in 2008. :-)

CM Secret Santa Swap

I have received my pressies from my secret santa off crafty mamas and I feel so spoiled with what my secret santa sent me.

Everything is going to be so useful and I don't know how she knew it but, Lindt chocolates are my favourites. :-)





I can't put pics of what I did for my swap partner yet but soon will beable to as christmas eve we are saying who did what for who.

Tea Towel Swap

I received my tea towel and I must say it was well worth waiting for after seeing the sneak peak on Shellie's blog, it is gorgeous and the redwork she did is beautifully done, I have the tea towel hanging in my kitchen on show, I just think its to pretty to use.

Thank you so much Shelli!! :-)

Shelli has also put a tutorial on her blog on how she made it, so if you are interested please check it out, its her first sewing tutorial and she has explained it so it is very easy to understand.

Tea Towel Swap

We had a tea towel swap over at Crafty Mamas and this is the one I made for my partner Shelli, I had a lot of fun making it but my embroidery skills need a lot of practise. The tea towel is huge, a lot bigger than I thought as I cheated and just picked up a tea towel, I did actually cut the tea towel in half it was that big, was going to make 2 but ran out of time.

Sorry the pic isn't very good, another thing I really never have mastered is taking pics...lol...the writing says.. fresh is the bloom of a bright spring day.. I was inspired from one of my craft mags for it and I also crochet the top so it can be hanged up as well.

My swap partner Shelli however has a sneak peak of the one she has made me on her blog as its on the way to me, you can see it here.

Shelli has made hers from complete scratch, hehe...she didn't cheat like me, it sounds so lovely though, just can't wait to get it, wish she put a bigger pic on her blog though...lol..

Free Stuff Day For Aussies

Just wanted to mention a great new site for Aussies called.. Free Stuff Day..it's a lot of fun and you can grab yourself a fantastic item for free.

So if you live in Australia and you are interested , check it out here, oh yeah its free to join to.

Zakka Swap

This is what I made for my partner in the zakka swap we had at Crafty Mamas a little while ago, don't know if you could really call it zakka but was a lot of fun to make, just wish my embroidery skills were a lot better, my partner liked it though so I was happy.

Blossom Tree

Had to get a pic of our tree in the front yard when it was in full blossom, it was just beautiful, shame doesn't last to long the day after I took this pic we had bad winds come through and the tree lost over half of its blossom.

My Poor Blog

Well I have been really neglecting my blog lately, I've been taking a break from things and the computer has been one of them, even really haven't done much sewing either but all nice and refreshed now and time to get stuck back into it all, specially with christmas coming, thinking of doing a lot of handmade pressies this year and typical spotlight has a big sale on today, wish I knew about it before I went shopping on the weekend..lol

Well will be back later, I do have some pics to put on here that have been waiting a while.

Zakke Swap

We had a zakka swap at Crafty Mamas and this is what my very talented swap partner Mon made for me. Mon has painted the most gorgeous cat and rabbit on the bag and also added the cat, flower, rabbit and strawberry in kanji writing. Mon has done such a great job on the bag and she also sells them you can see more of them at her esty shop.

Mon also sent me a crochet beaded necklace and some really cute cards as well, I really got spoiled in this swap, I hope what I made, Mon will like but I can't show a pic yet as its still on the way to her.

You can also see more things Mon does on her blog :-)

Mr Scarecrow

Mr Scarecrow is what I made for my swap partner on Crafty Mamas for our recycle swap, he is made out of polystyrene, coat hanger, old pillow case and table cloth, denim from an old skirt, scrap material the raffia I bought new as my old straw broom is just to old and felt for his hat, his stand is made out of bamboo out of my yard but he can stand by himself. I had great fun making him up and my swap partner loved him so I'm really happy.

If you have time and are interested in a great crafty forum, check out Crafty Mamas, they are all a fantastic lot of crafty mamas there, so friendly and helpful, we have a great time, there are swaps, competitions, tutorials and heaps more, it's really an excellent site. :-)

Winsome Willy

We had a recycle swap over at Crafty Mamas and Winsome Willy is the gorgeous recycle item I received off my very talented swap partner Eccles. Isn't he gorgeous, I just love him.

he is made out of recycle upholstery fabric, buttons and stuffing..

Eccles makes the most gorgeous bears and other critters, she is very talented, if you get time you can check them out here.

Belated mother's day pressie

I have finally done my mother in law's mother's day pressie, yep I know its very late but as they say, all good things comes to those who waits..hehehe..I just hope she things mr froggy is a good thing.

My mother in law likes frogs and I found him going through my craft magazines, he was in patchwork and stitching and is a design by Cheryl Ross.

He is made out of felt and I added a small string of beads on the dragon fly and a small bead in the flower.

So he will be put in the post tomorrow and off to his new home.

Sorry about the pic, I'm hopeless at taking pictures my dh normally does it for me but I decided to do it myself this time, afraid its just not as good at what he takes..lol...

Easter Swap

I have been meaning for ages to get a picture of this little fellow, my swap partner Bernadette made this for me when we had the easter swap, he is just so cute, she did a really good job in making him.

Bag

Finally getting posted somethings that I have done, this is a bag I made for my SIL's birthday, I made it using a canvas with a handbag print and red poka dot fabric for the inside.There is a pocket on the front as well as one inside the bag, there are 2 rings, one on each side of the bag that the handle connects to, I also made little beady thingies to hang from the zips. Really enjoyed making this bag up I made another one simular for the bag swap we had at crafty mama's, will post a pick of that one to. Now I think I've been bitten by the bag bug coz I really have enjoyed making the bags and look forward to making more up.

Plug Board

Regretfully I have had to delete my plug board as someone had placed a malicious button on the board and I could not remove it.

I wish to thank everyone for advertising their plugs on my board and I really didn't want to take it down but I thought it was better to do that so no harm could come to anyone's computers due to clicking on that button.

Bag Swap

We had a bag swap over at Crafty Mamas site and this is the bag my very talented swap partner made me....I just love it! she has done such an awesome job in making it.

Busy Time

Gosh, can't believe we are already into July, where has the time gone. I have really been neglecting this blog, must do something about that.

These last few weeks have been so busy but have been getting some crafty stuff done, just been a bit hard at the moment as we all have had the flu again, we just can't seem to get rid of it, as soon as one is over it the other is getting it back..arrg..also have had to help dd move house, hopefully this month will be a bit more quiet.

Work in progress is, a bag I'm making for a bag swap we are having over at crafty mamas, really looking forward to receiving mine :-) , a bag for my sister in law for a very late birthday pressie, a frog for my mother in law, clothes and pyjamas for ds, trackie pants for dh plus finish off all the other projects I have started, so hopefully will get all this done this month.

Getting behind in things.

We have been hit here with the cold/ flu thats going around, so there hasn't been much crafty stuff getting done, so I am getting way behind in things I should have gotten done.

I have started to crochet again which I enjoyed, so I think the crochet bug might have hit me, as soon as I can I'm going to hit the shops to buy some more wool.

I also made a jumper for my Ds, unfortunately I didn't measure him first and just made the jumper up straight off the pattern well it was too tight around his tummy and kept riding up, so guess that taught me a lesson in not taking my time to do it properly. At least I had my little grandson to give it to. :-)

The picture of the jumper is not very good as I took it with my mobile phone.

Pics of around town

These are just some pics of around town, they were taken a couple of years ago.

The look out tower is on top of the hill over looking the park and town, has 124 steps and once you are at the top the view is fantastic, the pic below is one taken from there looking straight across the main part of town.



Looking down to the rotunda in the park from about half way down the hill from the look out tower.



Picture of our park, you can just see the entrance in the photo below to the left of the fountain, when your in there you wouldn't even think you are right in the heart of the town, its really lovely, unfortunately because of the drought the park has suffered but we have had really good rain these last couple of days with more on the way, things might be looking up. :-)


The fountain in the center of town, it was finished being built in 1881, on new years eve the council have to fence right around it as people love getting in there and climbing on it, so its a way to help protect it.

Our Cathedral, its really a beautiful church, inside and outside, we were at my sister's place and was so happy we had the camera with us that day, the church just looked so good lit up with the sun and the storm clouds behind it.

My Mums Mothers Day Pressie

A last minute thought I decided to make a bag for my mum this year,I only got it finished half an hour before having to give it to her.
Mum has alot of doctor appointments at the moment and alot of sitting around to do so I thought a bag that she could use to just keep everything in for that would be good for her.
So inside it I made it with, on one side 2 pockets and on the other side, pockets to keep appointment cards in, a pen, mobile phone, a smaller pocket and the bag to have enough room to hold a diary and puzzle magazine in as she loves to do them.
I thought adding the sunflower material would brighten it up for her.

hehe...the fingers you can see holding the bag open belong to my mum and my Dh, my mum really liked the bag.

Happy Mothers Day

Hope all the mums have had a wonderful mothers day today and if you are in the part of the world where its not mothers day yet I hope you have a wonderful day.

Fairy Doll

Finally finished is the fairy doll I have been making for dh's sisters birthday, she is a design by the very talented Christine Treleaven.I really dont like how the wings turned out but I run out of time to try to fix them up as I had to get her mailed off. I sewed beads into her sleeve cuffs and just under the bust line, I also made a beaded skirt and used a hair tie for her skirt, all up I think she turned out okay so hopefully dh's sister will like her.

Easter Bunny Swap

We had an easter swap at crafty mamas and this is the bunny I made for my swap partner, the bunny came from Raggedy Old Annies.I thought she was soo cute and she was a lot of fun to make.

Easter Bunnies

These are some little easter bunnies I made for my grandsons for easter, I added the little shorts on them as a last minute thought so they were very rushed and not made the best but I don't think the kids minded. I found the design on the net but silly me never booked marked the site so now I can't find it, I will keep trying to the site again and when I do, I will come back and put it in.

Easter Fair

Love easter time here, the weather is usually really nice and we have an excellent fair, these are some pics from our procession we have every year.

The dragon on top is Sun loong, he is the worlds longest Imperial dragon, he is spectacular to see just wish could fit him all in one photo.

Op Shop Finds

We went op shopping with my mum on the weekend, haven't been there for ages but so happy we went, as I was lucky enough to come across this fabric, its like a suede.










these 2 pieces of checked fabric,






also this denim material, there is 3 meters in the lighter denim










and my favourite find, this lot of fabric with cotton and a zipper.




I'm really going to have to go op shopping a lot more regularly, really did have a good time, just wish I took more money with me .
Sorry the pics arn't really good, I took them with the camera on my phone.

Key chain swap

This is the key chain I received from my swap partner Kris from Crafty Mamas, I love it, the little butterfly on the end is just so cute and love the colours she chose. Thankyou so much Kris.

Key chain swap

We had a key chain swap over at Crafty mamas, this is the one I made for my swap partner.Kris has recieved it so so now I can put a pic of it up. Really enjoyed making the key chain, love the different colours that come out of the beads from the light.

Monster

I quickly made up this little guy for a competition at Crafty Mamas in making monsters, I'm going to turn him into my new pin cushion, I've weighted him with a little bit of kitty litter so he doesn't fall over easy, just trying to think of a name for him, was thinking of Author or Harry at the moment, not to sure yet, any other suggestion are welcome :-)

Lucinda

I made Lucinda for my sister-inlaw's birthday, she is a country angel doll by Jenny Rodda out of patchwork and stitches craft magazine.She was an absolute delight to make and I'm sure she is going to love her new home.

Doll I made for my sister

This is a doll I made as a present for my sister for her birthday, she comes from a design by R McGinnity.I had a lot of fun making her even though I did make some mistakes but my sister likes her so thats the main thing.I didn't pose her to good for the photos though, you really can't see her lingerie.