Just a minute......in April

April has disappeared with the blink of an eye, and I've made it just in time for Just A Minute.



Reading:

Lots of craft books this month. I've been flicking through all of my old classics, and some that I borrowed, looking for some new inspiration. I have plans for new things I'd really like to try.
I had a hospital appointment today so I started reading Hollywood Girls Club by Maggie Marr. It's a great read - funny and interesting. As per usual, I only had one chapter to go when I was finished and had to go home. I could have quite easily just stayed right there in the comfy chair and finished it!


Eating:

I think I must have polished off about 10kgs of chocolate this month..... between Easter, my new addiction to Peppermint Aero blocks (I can eat a whole block in one sitting - I blame the air bubbles), a re-kindled love for the old classis Nestle Crunch, The Chocolate Room and a newly discovered Patisserie in the main street of my suburb.



Making:

This month has been a sewing bonanza. There have been lots of aprons, and handbags, kids pressies, manbags, keyrings, lanyards.... but there are always many more things in my head just waiting for the right time.

Watching:

I'm a bit sad that The Biggest Loser has finished. There's something about that show that always makes me want to eat chocolate. I'm trying to get into Masterchef now as a 7PM replacement.
I'm missing all of my favourite Foxtel shows... after having Foxtel for the last ten years, I had forgotten just how pathetic commercial tv really can be, especially on weekends.
The upside is that now I'm watching a lot less television.

Looking Forward To:

Catching up with everyone at the market on Saturday, and then heading down to Sydney Rd Saturday night for a belated birthday celebration of delicious Turkish food with Tinniegirl and Ms L.

My Creative Space

My creative space today..... market preparations in full swing!

Talk to the hand

A huge thankyou for all of the lovely birthday wishes yesterday.

I had a wonderful day full of chocolate mud cake, chocolate mud cupcakes, donuts, coffee, and a little hand pampering.


Luckily, one of my girlfriends thought to bring candles and matches.... so the kiddies could sing Happy Birthday and blow out the candles for me!

....and look what I have to play with now - a Speedball Screen Printing kit - just imagine the amount of mess I can make with that!

Oh, and the stripey things are groovy legwarmers.... just in time for all of this chilly Melbourne weather.

Hip Hip Hooray!

It's my birthday today.... and I've officially hit the mid thirties!

I was going to make myself a birthday cake, but I went to a new local cafe / patiserrie yesterday and they had lots of scrumptious cakes on offer, so I took the easier option and just bought one instead. It's chocolate mud cake with lots of chocolate on top..... my favourite.

I'm having morning tea / brunch with a girlfriend and then heading to my sister-in-law's beauty salon for a manicure and french polish, so it should be a lovely day.

A right Royal parcel

I arrived home lastnight to find a parcel waiting for me on my little doorstep!

Michelle from The Royal Sisters has been crocheting up a storm, making these amazing headbands and matching necklaces.

I've been wearing my headband out and about all day... it even matches my glasses. You'll have to excuse the photos - but these were the best of about thirty. Who knew it could be so difficult to take a photo of ones' own head?

Just don't go for the extreme close up view, or you'll see all my grey hair. Reminds me that I'd better book in for some more foils.

Thankyou so much Michelle for your generousity. If you head on over to The Royal Sisters Etsy shop, there are different colours and different designs.... but all so cute, and an absolute bargain too - Mothers Day pressie anyone?

Orange and Green should always be seen - Part 2

There seems to be a common theme running through some of my creations.....

The sweet little work in progress donkey tea towel is now a funky apron with vintage sheeting panels and polka dot straps.

Perfect for making some classic 1970's fare..... Devils on horseback anyone?

Play it again Sam

Does it get boring when I just keep posting photos of the same thing over and over and over and over again?

Slightly different take on the same bag design.... Macrosuede top section with Hollabee bottom section - properly interfaced to ensure no more unintentional floppy bottoms.

Time to draw a winner

The random number generator says that the winner of the vintage embroidery set is number 19.

Jannimary

Congratulations Jannimary! Just email me your address - mscurlypops (at) gmail (dot) com and I will pop your parcel in the post on Tuesday.

Thankyou to everyone who played along. There'll be another giveaway on Wednesday... I just haven't figured out what it will be yet!

Oh, and I haven't forgotten my Pay It Forward recipients... I'll be starting work on that very soon.

Eye Spy.....a work in progress

Todays Eye Spy from Hugo and Elsa is a work in progress.

I was going to show you all of the boxes that are still sitting around the house waiting to be unpacked.... but that wouldn't be very interesting now would it?

Instead, I'm showing crafty works in progress.


My crafty works in progress are a little non-existent at the moment.... I tried to get rid of them all when I moved house, and now I'm specifically trying to start and finish one project at a time. Otherwise, I tend to get halfway through something, get bored, start something else, and then never go back and finish.

This is what I'm working in right at this very moment (well I would be if I wasn't on the internet reading blogs)!

A lovely vintage tea towel on the way to being transformed....

Lots more Eye Spy here

Same but different

Same design as yesterday.....

This time with macrosuede and Hollabee panel.

Yesterday was a bag making frenzy.... today my attentions are turning to aprons.
Six days to go...yikes!

The shorter one

The ideas woman has been encouraging me to make a shorter styled handbag for quite a while now........ and I finally got around to it!

It's the same design as this one but with a shorter bottom section.
I used a panel of lovely Hollabee fabric that I bought way back in June last year, teamed with some thrifted brown velour type fabric, so it's lovely and soft and snuggly. The perfect winter handbag.

The interior is a vintage pilowcase that I received from Cass. The muted colours work perfectly together.

I think there'll be more of these to come....

A thankyou and a giveaway

I want to begin this post by saying a great big huge monstorous thankyou to each and every person who has lovingly packaged something up and popped it in the mail to me. It's just amazing to open the letterbox and find a pretty little package instead of a bill!


This lovely package of tea towels arrived yesterday from Katie from May the Cloth be with You. The citrus one is my favourite.... it'll make a fabulously bright apron. Thankyou Katie!

It's about time that I shared the love, so I'm going to start having regular giveaways.... things that I've found, or things that I've made. They'll just be randomly listed whenever I get around to it.


The first giveaway is this lovely little box that I found at the oppy yesterday. It looked old, and that was enough to trigger my intrigue...... so I opened it up and found:

This little vintage doilie embroidery set.

It has the original instructions, the little doilie which has been premarked, and also some emboidery threads which I'm sure are not actually original, but I'm sure anyone who loves embroidery will have some thread in their stash to use.

All you need to do is to leave a comment by Sunday night at about 7 PM Melbourne time and I will draw a random winner.

Good Luck and May the Cloth be with You!

Orange and Green should always be seen

One of my favourite creative things to do is to take unusual (sometimes whacky) types of fabric and combine them together into a new creation.

This bag is definitely one of the whackier ones to date!

The outer is a thrifted velveteen type fabric combined with a vintage tablecloth floral panel and some spotty binding. I used some more of the tablecloth along with some thrifted orange fabric to make the straps.

I'm taking this one along to the market, so it will be interesting to see whether it gets snapped up. I really love it.... it's just my style

PS: Come back and visit later. I'm having a giveaway.

Off to the Market again

Good news!

I received my confirmation for the next Made'n'Thornbury market. So now I have 8 days left to make lots of lovely things for my stall..... better get a move on!

My Creative Space

I've finally decided to post a photo of my new craft space this week.

The furniture was re-arranged yet again on Sunday.... and the new configuration is working well so far. Everything that I need to use each day is in easy reach, and there's plenty of natural light streaming through for most of the day. I'm thinking about having a skylight installed in the next few months as well.

The blank white walls are completely uninspiring, but I can work on those in time.

Head on over and visit Kirsty to sign up and play along each week.

Moo Moo and the Manbag

Little Moo Moo has a bit of a fascination with handbags at the moment.

He keeps pinching his mummies handbag, putting it in his Big Red Car and driving (like Fred Flinstone) away with it.

So it was about time that I made him his very own Manbag.

As you can see, I just winged it, so the satchel flap is a bit too big but I'm sure a two year old won't notice. I used a piece of the lovely cowboy fabric that Stacey sent me to make the flap, and I added a magnetic snap to close it.

It even has an adjustable strap for when he grows a bit bigger...

I think he likes it!

In my letterbox

Lovely things have arrived in my letterbox this week....


I won this beautiful flannel bunny in Miss Muggins' Easter Giveaway. She doesn't have a proper home just yet, as I'm a little disorganised, so she's currently minding my books in the bookcase.

I've christened her Missy. She looks like a Missy, and I think it suits her to a tee.

I'm planning on making a new home where she can join Jane the Kiwi, Esther Bunny, and Cherry.

I also received a lovely package of teatowels from Selina at Selina's Vintage.........

They're all beautiful, but this one is my favourite. 1974 was the best year! .

Thanks so much Laurel and Selina!

Cuteable Guest Host

I'm the guest host over at Cuteable today - the Monday to Friday treasure trove of cute stuff for you and your home.


I picked my favourite Australian vintage/recycled/upcycled cute things. Head on over and check it out!

Thanks Lynsey.

Eat or Sew?

I'm having a bit of a dilemma today.
It's a beautiful sunny day, and I really want to just stay home where it's nice and peaceful (except for some horrible dog that keeps barking in one of the neighbours backyards) and sew.

There's plenty of meat in the freezer, and lots of packaged things in the pantry, but the problem I have is that there's not a skerick of edible fresh food to be found in the house. The current fruit and veg supply consists of a plateful of old limes that have seen better days, and a few brown onions in the pantry.

Even the milk is out of date!

How long does it take before you end up with scurvy?

Persisting

I've been trying to come up with my own design for a little padded pouch that could be used for phones / Ipods / MP3s / Cameras etc with limited success so far.

So far, version number 5 is pretty close to what I'm looking for, but I'm not happy with the shape.... so back to the drawing board for me!

I hope my family members will like my dodgy prototypes for their handbags.

Eye Spy..... a magic elixir

Such a fabulous theme today! I could show you my medicine box full of magic tricks, but I much prefer to eat my troubles away (where possible)....


If I'm feeling under the weather (especially around cold and flu season), then there's nothing better than my magic chicken and vegie soup. The only problem is that it needs to be pre-made and in the freezer already, because if I'm sick, then I'm definitely not going to have the energy to actually make it!

Which is why there is a back up plan....

If all else fails, then instant chicken noodle soup and a packet of plain potato chips usually does the trick. These are two staples which must be in the pantry at all times.

For general wellbeing and happiness, I recommend keeping a stash of magic chocolate elixirs in the cupboard. You can never be too sure about when you might have an emergency chocolate craving.

To wash down all of the sugar and fat and salt, I always keep a good supply of coffee, tea, and most importantly.... raspberry cordial!

I'm sure there's a very good reason why most people try to keep their kiddies away from red food colouring. It works wonders for me, peps me up every time. Who needs alcohol when you have raspberry cordial on hand?

Thankyou Amy for this weeks funny theme. Head on over and say hi to Cindy to play along.

PS - Check out the magical Mars Bar Cheesecake over at Selina's Vintage and enter her giveaway.

Swapsies

The fabulous thing about selling at a craft market is that you get to meet lots of other amazing crafters.... and you even get to swap your wares!

I was lucky enough to come home with some gorgeous Flickettysplits creations from the Made'n'Thornbury market, while Troischats went home with an IOU a Burnt Pumpkin Orange Corduroy Handbag from me.

We've been on the lookout for the perfect shade of burnt pumpkin orange corduroy ever since, but with no luck...... until she found this burnt pumpkin orange fuzzy fabric instead.

It arrived in the mail yesterday, and as today is Troischat's birthday, I went straight to work to whip up the handbag so that we could meet up at the Sisters Market thisafternoon.

The strap folds wouldn't even fit under the presser foot of my poor old Janome, so it was the trusty Vintage Singer to the rescue (after I printed out the instructions to try to work out how to change the bobbin, and then broke three needles).

Look..... no floppy bottom on this one!

I finished in the nick of time, and took a few quick snapshots in the morning light before I headed out to meet up with the ladies who lunch for a long relaxing brunch (I really didn't mean for that to rhyme)!

Then it was off to the market to check out all the gorgeous crafty wares on offer. It was crafty blog central with Bec, Fi, Justine, and Jay.

Such a perfect day....

Floppy Bottoms

Do you know how sometimes you have an idea in your head, and you really think it's fantastic?

Well, I had one of those ideas yesterday..... so I went to work - sorting, matching, cutting, pleating, stitching....

But I ended up with this horrible floppy bottom bag.

This is one of those times where I just have to bite the bullet, scrap that idea, and start again. Oh well, back to the drawing board!

Do you like butterflies?

I'm chilling out for Autumn and looking forward to some cooler weather on the way

It's time to drag all of the corduroy out of the stash..... nice and warm and soft and snuggly...

especially when teamed with some lovely vintage pillowcases....

and beautiful butterflies that I received in my tinnie.....

This one is in The CurlyPops Shop along with lots of other new items. Head on over and check it out!

My creative space

Stacking up items for my next market stall.

It's scheduled for the weekend before Mothers Day, so I'm making little things that the kiddies can buy for their mums.

I'm letting my creativity run wild with a bit of crazy stitching....

Farewell Cardboard Box

The drawers are finished and I finally have a bedside table again..... the cardboard box has been banished from my bedroom forever

I even managed to make the bed thismorning (with the cat still asleep in the middle).

The colour isn't exactly what it should be, but somebody picked up the wrong stain from the shelf at Bunnings. It was supposed to be more dark brown and less red, but it still looks good.

The funniest thing is that when we moved the huge cardboard box out lastnight (which had been labelled Hats and Scarves), and opened it, we found that it was actually full of fabric!

I have sooooo much fabric that I didn't even miss an entire box full........ and now I need to find room to unpack it. What a problem to have....oh dear!

The birthday month

April is definitely the craziest birthday month of the year among my family and friends. I'm still heading along the make/buy handmade present path, but year after year, it's getting a bit more difficult.

A friends little boy is turning five this weekend. I've been racking my brain trying to think of something to make for him, when my sister happened to mention that she was going to bake some cupcakes with the kiddies. I had one of those lightbulb moments, and knew immediately what I was going to attempt to make.

The apron was the easy bit.... it's just a much smaller version of my adult aprons. The chefs hat was a bit more of a challenge, but I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I just need to make sure that I take some measurements, and write down how I actually made it before I gift it away! I'm predicting more baking gifts in the future.

Eye Spy....a surprise

I'm a day late, but I received a lovely surprise in the mail last Thursday..... just in time for Easter, Jan from Running Thread sent me a lovely kitsch tea towel wrapped up in easter egg fabric with a little easter egg card. How cute is that???

It was Jan's birthday on Friday, and I'm sure she'd get a wonderful surprise if we all headed over to her blog and wished her a belated happy birthday.

Thanks to Cindy for being the reigning Eye Spy Queen, and to Miss Muggins for this weeks theme.

PS - Head over to Miss Muggins for some lovely giveaways too!

Love Handmade Jewellery

I've realised lately that I have a passion (some may say addiction) for handmade jewellery.
I have a huge array from casual and funky, to formal and dressy, but I absolutely love all of it!

Usually the most difficult question I ask myself each morning is "Which pieces of jewellery shall I wear with my outfit"?

Following my passion, I bought myself a pair of these beautiful Belle earrings from Sharon at Handmaiden. They're a lovely silvery grey, perfect for an occassion where I need to dress up.

Sharon has just launched her Etsy store this weekend where you can find all of her beautiful creations.

I've also been coveting the lovely jewellery creations of Lauren Williams for quite a while now.

I was lucky enough to do a swap with Lauren and I received this gorgeous necklace and matching ring. The necklace pendant can be taken off and then it doubles as a brooch. Yah for multifunctional jewellery!

Lauren has a Made It shop full of lovely creations to check out.

Now..... I need to decide what to wear today!

Full to the brim

We celebrated Easter Sunday at my sisters house today


The tiny but intrepid warriors set off on an easter egg hunting adventure around the backyard.


It was a bit of a slow start, but they caught on pretty quickly once they realised that they could fill up their little carry bags with chocolate!

The table was set for a wonderful roast lamb and roast beef lunch with vegies and plenty of gravy........ but I had to save room for dessert

Homemade pavlova with peppermint crisp........

Homemade Creme Brulee.....

....and homemade Mars Bar Cheesecake (I had to bring a slice home because I just couldn't possibly fit in any more)!

Happy Easter!