WooHoo!

My ADSL2+ is connected
That is all.

Questionable or just plain Bizarre?

This post is totally unrelated to craft, but I just had to share.

I'm working on getting rid of my dodgy wireless internet and re-connecting to ADSL2+. The first step was to get the home phone line connected. I'm not actually going to use the phone line to make any calls. I probably won't even have a phone plugged in, but I just needed the line.

I had to wait for a week for a technician to come out and visit, as something wasn't connected properly in the hole in the ground further up the street from my house. He had it sorted in 5 minutes flat, so it's all ready to go.

On Friday, I opened up the letterbox and found a Telstra invoice.... so I opened it and found....

Yes - it's an invoice for the grand total of $0.00. Do I keep it or do I just throw it out? I'm confused!

Yesterday I arrived home and checked the mail and found an invoice from my medical oxygen supplier. With each invoice, I usually receive a printed flyer advertising medical / oxygen equipment that they supply.

They've recently been taken over by Supagas, so this is what I received with my invoice....

I can't imagine that too many oxygen dependant customers will be taking up the Fabulous February deal of a fantastic new welder and a free roll of mig wire!

My final random rant for today -  I love Cottees Cordial but...

...this is just a step too far

Lucky Ducky

I've been trying really hard to resist entering all of the wonderful giveaways in blogland lately, but I couldn't resist this Australia Day giveaway over at Idey Spidey a couple of weeks ago.

I was the lucky ducky who won the prize, and I was so excited when it arrived in the mail.

There was a beautiful pile of indigenous print quilting fabric (I'm totally in LOVE with the pink one), some delicious Wild About You chocolates featuring bush tucker flavours, covered buttons, a hair tie (perfect for this hot weather), and......

......these extremely cool indigenous print thongs!

Sarah Jo must be a mind reader to know just how much I love thongs. I own at least six pairs, now seven.

Thankyou thankyou thankyou!

Home Again

Watching the lawn bowls...

I'm home again after a lovely weekend away in the country.

I had my market stall at the Daylesford Makers Market on Saturday. The weather was perfect, and the stallholders and customer were lovely, which makes it a wonderful day out . I met Jocelyn from Bye Bye Birdie, Dana from Twiglet, Michelle from Kids with Crayons, Sonya from Sago on Tuesdays and Rachelle from Rachelle and Co.

My stall was next to Amber from UB Design. She had the most gorgeous resin bangles, but my abnormally skinny wrists meant that I couldn't buy one...drats.

There were bloggy visitors too - Jodie, Annie, Jacinta, and Abbe all popped by and said hello (I hope I didn't miss anyone).

I only managed to snap a couple of quick photos of my own stall before the market started, but there are some great photos over at the market blog.

 

I came home with some more bike fabric (still in my suitcase) from Martine at Greenolive , some home made yo yo biccies (since consumed of course), and this lovely hanmade embroidered lavender sachet envelope from Rachelle.... how sweet!

After the market, we all headed into Ballarat for a yummy dinner on Saturday night, and then visited my dad before heading back to Clunes for an early night.

My nephews had a great time playing at the park, and riding their scooters down the street to Widow Twankeys to buy lollies.

The twins climbed everything they could find!

Thismorning it was pancakes with maple syrup and cream at home, before we headed down to the main street for coffee and a light lunch.......

The weekend sailed by far too quickly, and it was time to head home...... I'll be making the same road trip again in April - yippee!

Off to the Market

It's time to pack my suitcases and pack the car, and then head down for a weekend in the country, and the Daylesford Makers Market

My younger sister the 'Donkey' (FYI - that's an affectionate phrase that she coined for herself as she does all the carrying), and I will be heading to the charming town of Daylesford tomorrow.

 It's going to be a family affair as my older sister and BIL and their kiddies are coming along too. I'm going to send them off to the Farmers Market to find some some delicious goodies for me!

I'll have some old favourites on my stall and also some brand new crafty things....

Do you remember the $2 hat rack that I found in pieces in Beeac? Ex MrCP fixed it for me, and it's perfect for displaying Chefs Hats and Handbags.

If you can't make it out to Daylesford, then make sure to visit the Northside Makers Market which is also on tomorrow. I'll have some goodies displayed on the collective table.

Have a great weekend!

My creative space

I'm a little bit late today, but I was too disorganised to post anything before I left for work thismorning.

I was finishing off these Superhero Headbands lastnight when I realised  that I'd run out of velcro for the closure.....so I bought myself lots and lots of velcro today to finish them off....

But first, I'm going to sit on the couch, put my feet up, and watch The Bold and the Beautiful while enjoying my cup of tea and Sara Lee chocolate muffin.

The home of My Creative Space....

Tutorial - How to make a Tea Towel Drawstring Bag

I have another tutorial printed in the Weekly Times today.

Below is the full version with photos.

Whether you're heading off for an overseas trip, or just a weekend away, making a drawstring bag for your shoes is a great way to keep them separated from the lovely clean clothes in your suitcase.

Of course, drawstring bags have a multitude of uses - so make as many as you like. They're fabulous for kids toys, keeping puzzles together, and storing precious collections.

Download the PDF

Step 1

Gather your supplies:
Tea towel
Twill tape
Large Safety Pin
Pins
Sewing Machine
Scissors
Ruler or Tape Measure
Drawstring Cord (or a piece of ribbon)

Step 2

Fold the tea towel in half lengthways, with the right sides facing together.

Step 3

Using your sewing machine, stitch a straight line down both side seams. The top remains open.
You will now have what looks like a large inside out tea towel pocket.

Step 4

Turn the tea towel back out so that it is facing the right way.

Step 5

Each tea towel will be slightly different is size, so now you will need to do a little maths.
Measure the width of the tea towel envelops and then double it (this is to calculate the length of twill tape that you will need to use).

Cut the piece of twill tape to the required length.

Fold over the edge of the twill tape on either end and run a couple of lines of stitching along to ensure that you have a neat edge on both ends.

Step 6

Pin the twill tape right around the top edge of the tea towel envelope and stitch along the top and the bottom to create a channel for your drawstring.

Step 7

Using the previous twill tape measurement, add on 30 centimetres, and then cut a piece of drawstring cord (or ribbon)  to this length.

Attach one end of the drawstring cord (or ribbon) to a safety pin, and thread it through the drawstring channel.

Step 8

Once the drawstring is evenly threaded through on both sides, tie a knot at either end to prevent fraying.

To prevent the drawstring from being removed, run a line of stitching down the side seam at the opposite side to the drawstring opening.

Step 9

Pop in your favourite pair of shoes!

Birthdays

My sister called me on Monday to request an apron, as her neighbours daughter was having a birthday yesterday.  Luckily, I already had some chefs hats ready to go for the Daylesford Makers Market.

I didn't have time to make all of the straps from fabric as I would usually do, so I substituted for twill tape instead.

It was also Moo Moo's birthday yesterday, so we had a barbecue dinner and ice cream cake (perfect for a 34 degree day). Just in case you can't tell..... he turned 3!

Bookmarketing

My stall

Borders was a lovely venue for a mini craft market lastnight. I'm happy to report that I stayed well away from the craft book section all evening (you see I have a secret addiction to craft books.... my bookcases are overflowing with them)...

Finki

Tinniegirl and Ms L popped in for a visit after work.

Billy Boy & Mia

Cathie and her hubby and her adorable little kiddies came along too.....

Polly Pratt

I spent most of the evening drinking coffee, and chatting with the other lovely ladies, and a few customers.

 

Polly Pratt

I also managed to do a tiny bit of embroidery stitching as well.

 

May Brady

The two hours absolutely flew by..... only four more sleeps until Daylesford!

Where Craft Meets 3041

I'm heading off for my first market of the year - Where Craft Meets 3041.

It's inside Borders Books in Lygon Court, 380 Lygon St, Carlton from 6PM tonight.

Along with my crafty creations, there'll also be lots of gorgeous handmade goodies to choose from by Finki, Polly Pratt, and Cat McInnes.

Come and say hi!

My place and yours - shoes

Next to my sewing table

I have far too many shoes and I can't seem to ever put them away. I usually always take them off as I walk into the house, and leave them wherever they lay, or if my feet get hot, I take them off and leave them wherever I happen to be sitting.

So today, I wandered around the house to see what I could find.

Next to my cutting table

Under the coffee table x 2

On the floor in my bedroom

On the floor in my walk in robe

Now this is actually where they should be!

For more shoe-a-holics, visit Punky and Me for a lookie.

The forgotten stash

I started collecting fabric about ten years ago, at around the same time that I decided that I wanted to learn to sew and make myself a handbag for work. I still have some very early incarnations of my make it up as you go along handbags which are quite funny to look at now. I remember being so proud that I'd made something myself, that I didn't even notice all of the unfinished seams and dodgy stitching.

At that stage, I was really drawn to silky satiny (ok, I know that's not really a word) type fabrics, while not realising that they weren't the easiest things to learn to sew with. At that stage, I'd also never even heard of interfacing!

Over the years, my stash of these fabrics ended up hidden away in a plastic container and were completely forgotten about, until I had an enquiry from Anna to make a Sunnies / Specs Pouch for her mum in a silky fabric.

Like a bolt from the blue, I headed off on a search through the mountain of fabric, to find my forgotten silky satiny gems. I even remember some of the shopping trips that I went on to buy them. I'm pretty sure that the fabric that Anna chose came from a little morning trip with my ex-MIL to Brunswick fabrics on Sydney Rd about 5 years ago. I originally intended to make myself a handbag with it, but just never got around to it.

So now I have Anna to thank, for re-introducing me to the forgotten fabrics that were instrumental in the beginnings of this little crafty adventure...... Oh how I love a happy ending!