Just a minute.....in January (just made it)!

January is about to end, so I've just made it in time for Just A Minute........

I had a lovely day out at Sewjourn today (photos haven't been downloaded yet), so tomorrow I'm going to sleep in, and then read lots of blog posts that I've missed during the heatwave, and just generally relax!


Reading:

I'm halfway through the follow up to Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs - Knit Two.
I've just borrowed some magazines and books from Tinniegirl - I'm really looking forward to reading 'Organising Your Craft Space'.... just what I need before I move house.

Watching:

I loved watching Jalena Dokic in the Aussie Open. There's something about the fighting spirit from the underdog which I find amazing.
I'm also extremely happy that The Bold & The Beautiful has returned to its traditional time slot of 4.30PM. I always have a cup of tea at 4.30 and watch Bold.... I was very upset when channel 10 put my routine out of kilter!

Eating:

Lots and lots and lots of chocolate..... vanilla slice, pavlova. There was also some real food during the month although not as memorable.

Making:

Stock for a market stall!
Valentines themed softie for a Toy Society Valentines drop next month.

Join in Just a Minute by visiting Jen over at August Street

We interrupt this transmission......

Six hours with no power lastnight.

There were no faults in my area..... just something the Victorian government calls 'Load Shedding'. It doesn't matter whether you have previously registered with your power company as having vital medical equipment.... you still get switched off. What year is it again?

Love Fridays..... and melting

Today I don't love the fact that it's going to be 43 degrees again...... enough already. Bah humbug to global warming.

I do love the fact that I have a pool in the backyard for another 5 weeks. I've just noticed that there's an inflatable pirate sword in the water (just in case you were wondering what on earth that was in the photo..... nephew droppings).

I also love the fact that I have an exciting weekend planned. Tinniegirl and I are heading off for the lovely day out at Sewjourn that we won during Blogtoberfest. We're going to sit in the lovely air-conditioned studio and craft away to our hearts delight!

My computer is not happy about being kept in a room that's 35 degrees and it keeps beeping at me to tell me that it's melting too...... so I haven't been visiting as many lovely blogs as usual but I'm hoping to catch up once the meltdown has subsided!

Hope you have a happy Friday too..... more Love Fridays here

Blogaversary

I completely forgot all about my blogaversary on January 15th! Oh well, better late than never.

To celebrate, I'm having a little giveaway. This is the skirt that I made in December which is too big for me. I keep moving it around the house, trying to decide what to do with it, so I've decided to give it away to whoever would like it. It's approximately an Australian size 14 - waist is 104cm.

Just remember that it's the first adult size skirt that I have ever made in my life, and you will probably need to wear a petticoat underneath as I probably should have lined the fabric (I'm still learning these things as I go along).

Of course, I'll also throw in some fabric and some crafty bits and bobs as well. Just leave me a comment and I'll draw the winner Sunday night (1st Feb) Melbourne Time.

My Creative Space

Today, my creative space is confined to a cardboard box....

I've been keeping an eye out at the oppy for unusual bits and pieces that can be re-crafted.
This was a belt, but now I've taken it apart with my trusty pliers and I'm going to make some brooches for the market.

Head on over to visit Kirsty to see who else is playing along!

All the way from the UK

An amazing parcel landed on my doorstep yesterday, all the way from the UK! It was huge, and jam packed with crafty goodness.

Lynsey from Swirly Thoughts and Cuteable had a stash of lovely touristy tea towels in her cupboard which she most generously offered to send me. It was a bit difficult to fit them all in for a photo but here's a list:

London
Poole Quay
Christchurch NZ
Fleet Air Arm (which I'm assuming is the British Forces)
Blackpool
Corfu
Operations Ovelord Commemorative (British Forces)
Lancashire
Cornwall
Vancouver Canada

.....and the piece de resistance


...this one which was actually designed and printed in Australia! It's been around the world and returned home again.

There were also some beautiful buttons and trims.....

....and this set of bird napkins. I've fallen in love with the blackbird in the orange blossom tree so I'm going to make myself something special with that one.

Thankyou so much Lynsey....keep an eye out for all of these beauties to be transformed into funky aprons! I just wish you could have included a bit of your weather....it's faaaaar toooooo hooooooot today.

A fork in the road...is worth two in the bush?

One very lonely fork at the oppy......

.....was calling out my name.

Stocking up

Any spare time that I have at the moment is being dedicated to actually getting some stock made for a market stall. Packing and moving house in the lead up to my first market stall is not the greatest idea..... but I just have to get on with it!

I'm starting with a few new curtain ring bags. This one using the lovely fabric from Amitie, which I now know is Ume Komachi (thanks Margaret), teamed with some denim and some orange spots.

After receiving some feedback from one of my lovely customers and from my mum, I've now added a mobile phone pocket and a key holder.

Triumphant

So here it is... my very first successful pavlova, and I owe it all to the magic pavlova plate from the oppy. I used Hoppo Bumpo's suggestion of trying to build up the sides to make it more structural and it worked really well (so I didn't get that flat pancake effect again).


Apparently the Peppermint Crisp topping is a Victorianism, but Wikipedia says that "The Peppermint Crisp is often used in Mint-Chocolate cheesecakes and slices. In Australia, it is almost solely used to decorate a 'Pav'"

Then of course, there's also the debate about whether the humble pav really originates from Australia or New Zealand. I'm very sad to say that Wikipedia believes that we aussies lose out in this regard... "The dessert is believed to have been created to honour the dancer, Anna Pavlova during or after one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand. The exact location of its first creation and the nationality of its creator has been a source of argument between the two countries for many years, however more serious research into the matter indicates New Zealand as source of today's pavlova" - Sewfunky and Paisley Jade were absolutely correct!


Oh well...... here it is in all it's magic pavlova glory, smothered in whipped cream and topped with smashed up peppermint crisp......mmmmmmm

Happy Australia Day

It's another day dedicated to packing for me today, but I am going to reward myself with some yummy food at the end. The leg of lamb is in the fridge ready to go.... I'm making the traditional aussie lamb roast with three veg and gravy.

Depending on how the packing goes, I'm contemplating making a pavlova. I've only ever made pav once in my life and it was a complete and utter flat pancake inedible disaster.

But now I have a new secret pavlova weapon that I found at the oppy last week.... this plate might just be the answer to my pavlova dreams. Oh, and better still, it means less washing up!

It's just missing one vital instruction.... there's no mention of topping the pav with the traditional aussie crushed up peppermint crisp.

Sunday Stash

I'm taking a break from the packing.... perfect timing for Sunday Stash!

This is a fat quarter that I bought from Amitie last month. I'm using it as a panel on a bag which is nearly finished. It's much more orange than it looks in this photo. I have no idea who it is by, but I just saw a red version of it over here which is absolutely gorgeous. If anybody knows, please enlighten me so I can buy it again!


More Sunday Stashers can be found by visiting Tamara at Quarter of an Inch.

Eye Spy....something beginning with J

I wandered around the house looking for something beginning with J, but with all of the clutter underfoot, it was a little hard to find.

So I'm going with this: Eye Spy with my little eye..... lots of JUNK.

I have boxes of junk that haven't been unpacked since I moved into this house over 6 years ago. I have more boxes of junk from when I packed up the old kitchen to renovate two and a half years ago..... and then there's my tendencies to bring home even more junk from the oppy, or from the hard rubbish.

I'm hoping to do a little de-junking very very soon!

Head on over to visit Cindy for more Eye Spy players (and while you're there, check out her whizz bang binding foot.....eeeek I'm in love). Thankyou Lauren for making me see the error of my junk collecting ways..... ha, we'll see how long that lasts!

Me Too!

I spotted these brooches on TinnieGirl's blog a little while ago, after she spotted them over at Edward and Lily, and then I also had the chance to see them once they'd arrived in the mail.

So of course, how could I resist?

I headed straight over to Sophie's Etsy Shop and ordered my own..... she even made me one with my own custom label (I heart chocolate).

I was very careful not to rush and rip it open before taking photos of the most gorgeous packaging. I love taking the layers off and looking at the little tags and ribbons.

Thankyou Sophie, they're both absolutely gorgeous! Check out Sophie's blog for more of her amazing brooches, collages and artwork.

Love Fridays....

It's time once again to Love Fridays.... and for very good reason.

Exciting newsflash - my old house has been sold and this is going to be my new house!

These photos are from Realestate.com.au and this is obviously not my furniture, but from the 11th March, this is my new home.

I have very exciting plans to turn the above room into the kitchen / dining / living area and then.....

....this dining area becomes my craft space.

Here's my sketchy vision. The back wall will have overhead cupboards, and a bench all along the wall, with drawer units underneath.
The side wall will have tables for the sewing machine and overlocker, and the big wooden bench which is currently in my kitchen, becomes the cutting bench for the craft room.

Of course, I haven't actually taken any measurements to work out whether everything will fit, but this is how it looks in my head at the moment.

This area is completely open to the living room, so I'm also thinking about either having a gorgeous curtain that I can pull across, or some sort of sliding or folding screen. I'm not sure about keeping the carpet yet, but I might just see how it works out.

The most exciting thing about the house is that there is an entire wall of storage cupboard space in the laundry. It's bigger than the built in wardrobes in my current bedroom and will be absolutely perfect for housing the fabric stash. Just think, I can bring things home from the oppy, wash them, dry them, and put them directly into the cupboard..... joy! Oh how I adore good storage solutions.

Now that I have somewhere to move to, this weekend is dedicated to sorting and packing and deciding what I actually want to take with me. There might just be a lot of Freecycling going on.

Head on over to Tinniegirl for more Love Fridays

My Creative Space

Today the creativity has spread to the coffee table / ottoman. There's no room for coffee or feet because it's currently covered in felt and bits and bobs.

More inspiring creative spaces can be found at Kootoyoo

Watcha Wearing Wednesday

I'm heading into the city for lunch with Tinniegirl, Handmaiden and Taccolina today so I thought I'd test out the gorgeous earrings that Sharon made for me.
It's really quite difficult to take a clear photo of one's ear!

I've teamed the earrings with my Tiffany pendant..... again blurry.... Whoops!

Head on over to Dear Fii to play along.

Thrifted Tuesday....the toasted version

Any sensible Melburnian would have hibernated in the air conditioning, or headed out for a swim today, but not me and my sis..... we decided to go op shopping in 40 degree heat!

I was trying to exercise restraint today. I need to move house at the end of February so I'm trying really really hard not to bring home any more unecessary clutter (especially considering that I don't know where I'm going to put it all)!

I was on the lookout for tea towels, but after 7 op shops and 4 hours of sweating, we gave up and headed home..... with no tea towels.

On the bright side, I did find this fabulous footstool which matches my chocolate brown couch perfectly. It's in mint condition and was only $10. There was also a lovely vintage mirror with an etched floral detail that I left behind... and I'm now regretting. I'm heading that way on Thursday so I might just have to duck back in and hope that it's still there!

As you requested

The lovely Map of Tassie placemats are now aprons.

I've made two so far - the apron body is a cotton drill with spotty bias trim all the way around, and spotty straps. The placemat is now a large front pocket, perfect for keeping your bits and bobs handy when you're crafting around the house.

They both have super long straps so that they can wrap right around and be tied at the front (if that's what you prefer).

I'll be popping them in The CurlyPops Shop very soon!

Sunday Arvo

What a perfect sunshiney day we had in Melbourne yesterday.... it reminds me of my favourite Brady Brunch song.


What better thing to do on a perfect sunshiney day, than meet up with some lovely crafty bloggy girls for afternoon tea. Megan is in Melbourne on holidays for a few days so it was a great chance to meet up (or have an internet date as we all like to chuckle about) and I also finally had the chance to meet Liz aka Betty Jo.

We had some scrumptious crepes at Breizoz in Gertrude St. I had chocolate crepes (of course), but I forgot to take a photo before it was all gone!

We wandered down Brunswick St to check out Meet Me at Mikes and say hi to Pip.....

....but we were too late, so a photo had to suffice for the day!

A big thanks to Tinniegirl, BugandPop, Betty Jo and Mellimoomoo for a lovely Sunday Arvo.

Eye Spy......a taste Summer

Summer still hasn't really hit Melbourne yet this year, but these are images from last summer....


Holidays at the beach

and swimming in my backyard pool (it's actually more like me sitting on a banana lounge, and watching other people swimming in my backyard pool) are the things that most remind me of summer.

Thanks to Anastasia (who is currently taking a lovely summer holiday) for this weeks theme, and don't forget to head over and visit hostess Cindy to play along.

Teacups

Found at Vinnies yesterday for $2.
They're too small to actually use but they'll look lovely on my shelf.... so much for decluttering... whoops!

Love Fridays.....Silly Gilly's Sweet Surprise

It's easy to Love Friday today!

I arrived home from my pulmonary rehab class to find a mystery package in my letterbox with no sender details on the envelope.... hmmm what could it be?

A gorgeous vintage tea towel from the oppy!

Gillian went on a road trip from SA to Ballarat last week for the Trashalou blog meet. Lucky for me, she stopped in at the op shops on the way. Thanks so much Gillian, this one will be absolutely gorgeous as an apron.

If you haven't already entered, then don't forget to head over to the Silly Gilly blog and enter this fantastic mystery giveaway to celebrate Gillians 101th (yep 101th - that's not a typo) post.

....and of course, head over to Tinniegirl to join Love Fridays!

Answering the call

Forget the world financial crisis..... there's a selvedge crisis going on!

My Creative Space

It's still on the kitchen bench....

I'm working on some more flower brooches at the moment. It's been very slow going over the last couple of days with the extreme heat.... it saps my motivation to do anything!

Head on over to visit Kirsty to play along and link up here.

Even more tea towel transformations

Last week Liz sent me these gorgeous Sunbeam tea towels to transform into aprons. My photos are not great but I was using the self timer at dusk before I popped them back in the post.
I used some vintage florals at the sides of these ones, and then trimmed them and made straps using some lovely polkadots.

Head on over to the Lino Forest for a much better look, they look great in Liz's funky kitchen

Travellin' all over the countryside....ask the ?

My Sis and I decided to take a little op-shopping road trip today.....

We started in Bacchus Marsh, then drove to Gisborne, and then to Melton. Next stop was supposed to be Deer Park but we completely ran out of time after taking some unintentional scenic routes while searching for the local op shops!

I don't have any photos yet as everything has been dumped in the laundry for a nice soak and wash.

I did take a quick photo of this placemat. I bought a set of four, with the idea of making them into little waist tied craft aprons. Of course, the problem is that they're probably not quite politically correct if you wear them tied around your waist, if you get what I mean.....

Eye Spy....something I want to try in 2009

Ooooooh this Eye Spy is a little scary today.
I suppose that if I put the information out into the public domain rather than keeping it my head, then it's more of a reality that it's actually going to happen.

Tinniegirl and I spent a little time thisafternoon planning some secret squirrel business that we've been thinking about for a while.

It's not secret squirrel business anymore..... we're going to take the plunge and try selling at our first ever craft market. There......I said it out loud (well, typed it out loud anyway)!

We've made a list of things to do beforehand, discussed what we'll be selling, and then we had a little play around on the kitchen bench with some props and containers to see how it will all look.
I still need to go and check Amy's Market Checklist and Cintia's Market Wisdom too.

Of course, this now means that I really have to stop procrastinating and actually start sewing...aaagggghhhh.

Thanks to Cindy for hosting and to Bek for this weeks theme!

Sunday Stash

This weeks Sunday Stash..... cute little robots from Amitie

I heart nice stuff

Kristy from Paisley Jade is giving away Buddy
Kirsty from Kootoyoo has a fab new game - Deal or no deal!
Kathryn from Our Shabby Cottage is celebrating her 100th...err 112th post
Stacey from Sheeps Clothing has a very interesting question to ask....

Love Fridays....on a Saturday

I got a little distracted yesterday and I missed Love Friday....

Here's my Love Friday Apricot Jam making session story.

I saw this beautiful large heavy bottomed saucepan at Vinnies on Thursday for $6.50. I picked it up, had a look at it (perfect condition), thought about it, reminded myself that I already have at least 5 saucepans, and I am supposed to be downsizing, and cooking for one, and I need to pack up all of my possessions........ so then I put it back on the shelf. I walked away, then came back for another look, paused... but ultimately decided to leave it behind..... and then left with 2 chairs instead (but that's another OCD story for another day)!

But then, my mum called me Thursday night to tell me that she was going to make apricot jam on Friday but she didn't have a large heavy bottom saucepan. You see, it was just like the saucepan was calling out for a new home. Mum popped down to Vinnies first thing yesterday morning and it was still there. The actual saucepan had a $6.50 label but the lid had a $5 label, so she ended up getting it for a fiver.

So I googled a recipe here, and mum made jam while I watched and drank cups of coffee.
I did actually contribute by writing the labels and tying a piece of raffia around the top to decorate the jars at the end. The jam was still cooling while I left so I'll have to pick myself up a finished jar later today.

I'm having trouble cooking for one

Anyone for Spag Bol?