Une baguette pour une belle dame

J'espère vraiment que Babelfish me donne les traductions françaises correctes - je pourrais être copiant et collant n'importe quoi !

Translation - I really hope that Babelfish is giving me the correct French translations - I could be copying and pasting anything!

My beautiful beret from Sandrine arrived on Monday, but my package took a little longer to arrive, so I haven't been able to show it until now (we decided to keep the swap a suprise).

It's another lovely Baguette bag (keeping with the French theme of course)

Sandrine requested a colour theme of red, black, white and grey which was lots of fun, as they're colours that I don't usually use.

I found a lovely grey wool fabric that I used for the outer gusset and the strap. It was lovely to work with, (after being interfaced) and it made sewing around the curve much easier.

I think I can see more red, black, white and grey on the horizon....

My creative space..... re-arranged or deranged?

So this is probably about the tenth incarnation of my creative space since I moved into my new house in March. I was lying in bed last Saturday night, dreaming about moving the furniture once again, and this is what I came up with.... (maybe I should have actually cleaned up a bit before taking a photo)?

For lots more wonderful creative spaces, head on over and visit the very lovely Kirsty!

Toning it down

I have a love of big, bright, bold, 'in your face' colour..... and so I found it quite amusing when a girlfriend requested some new wraps for her baby daughter. She was happy for me to choose the print / pattern of the fabrics. The only specific request was that she wanted a 'toned down' version of what I would usually make.

I headed for the very large unhelpful chain fabric / craft shop yesterday in search of some 'toned down' fabrics.....

.....and this is about as 'toned down' as I can manage.

Merci Ravissant Femme

Bonjour! Comment allez-vous? (Hello! How are you)

Well, that's the extent of my memories from Year 7 French class at Hamilton High School.

Pensez-vous de mon nouveau béret? (Do you like my new beret?)

I cheated with this one and used an online translator.

Anyhow, enough of dreaming about living in France, and speaking fluent French. I just did a little swap with Sandrine from Histoire de Soie, and I received this absolutely beautiful cherry red hand felted beret. I've already taken it on a little test run while I was out and about today.

... and here's a nice blurry shot of me wearing the beret (artwork by Tinniegirl in the background). I need to get a robot arm that doesn't shake for the self portraits.

Sandrine makes absolutely wonderful hats, berets, and headpieces which you can find in her Etsy shop, or if you check out her blog, you'll find all of the information that you need on upcoming markets.

Thanks so much Sandrine - this was a really fun swap!

Mini Update

It's been a lovely quiet Sunday at my place.... just a little bit of sunshine streamed in today - just enough for some photos.

I've added a few more brooches to the shop. Lots of chocolate brown, perfect to brighten up your outfit for winter.

Saved mail

I was extremely lucky this week to finally receive a long awaited parcel. Maree was cleaning out her linen closet and sent me these lovely tablecloths and doilies three weeks ago.

I thought that they had disappeared forever - swiped by the posties.

This was the third postage issue this month. A couple of weeks ago, I received all of my next door neighbours mail, and then last week I received mail for a completely different address (which was actually a Boulevard, when I live in a Street), so I really didn't hold out much hope for the missing parcel.

I'm so glad that it finally arrived so that I can start daydreaming about all of the crafty projects that I can experiment with!

Thankyou so much Maree.

Taking notes

When a seriously talented and successful crafter gives tips, I listen.

I've been using paint cards and playing cards as backing for my brooches, and I was also considering using some 1970's recipe cards.

Liz just happened to mention a little tidbit about the busyness of the packaging taking the spotlight away from the actual product - and it was one of those lightbulb moments.

So, after a little bit of re-thinking, I ordered some very white and very plain postcards.

Now my next task is to tone down the look of my market stall..... could be difficult!

My creative space....

....is all packed up into a basket today.

I'm heading off to Tinniegirl's house for a day of crafty fun.... yippee!

Visit the queen of creativity here

Swiney strikes again

I really wanted to enter the Smiths 'Do us a flavour' competition.... after all, potato chips are one of my favourite foods in the world (only beaten by chocolate and ice-cream).

I'd been trying to think of a really yummy flavour for a little while, and then kept promptly forgetting to enter, until last Sunday which was the final day of the competition. I logged on to the website to find that I not only had to enter my flavour (Roasted Pork Crackling), but also an image to go with it.

Panic set in..... I was out of time to create an image and my brain was on a go slow, so I couldn't even think of anything.... until a little lightbulb moment. Could Swiney help me to win?

I figured that Pork = Swine
I also figured that the Swine Flu Epidemic = Lots of extra publicity
But, do the judges have a sense of humour?
But, would Smiths want their product associated with the Swine Flu?

I have no idea, so I'll just have to wait and see.....

I hope that they at least get a laugh out of it!

A box full of sunshine

I arrived home lastnight to find a huge box waiting for me on the kitchen table (luckily my mum had been at my house when the postie arrived).

I was lucky enough to win the 'guess the new baby name' over at Missie Krissie. I actually won by default as Kristie gave the hint that the name started with the letter N. As I have two nephews whose names begin with N, I guessed both names...... and the new little bubba's name is Noah (which incidentally is one of my favourite boys names in the whole wide world).

Inside the box were the most amazing lot of goodies - beautiful vintage fabric, lots and lots of different types and colours of yarn (perfect for some experimentation), and the best bit - a beautifully embroidered CurlyPops frame.

Thankyou so much Kristie - I have no idea how on earth you had time to complete that beautiful embroidery for me, but I truly appreciate it!

Try try again....

Yesterday, it was time for Nico's pants - take 2.

First of all, I whipped up a nice comfy pair of trackie dacks. I had a small piece of dark blue fabric, and a small piece of a lighter blue fabric left over from when I made trackie dacks for the twins.

Each piece was only large enough for half a pair, so I combined them..... I'm thinking of making it a hot trend - two toned pants are the new cool!

Next job - I had just enough of this light brown corduroy for one more pair of pants. I made them slightly smaller than the pants from the day before.....

......but they're still a bit too big.

Luckily he'll grow into them eventually.

The pants man

Sorry about the blurry photo - the model wasn't co-operating (even after trying bribery with lollies)

I've been promising to make little Nico some new pants for a while now. He's at an in-between stage where size 1 is too small and size 2 is far too long in the legs.

I made up a pattern in approximately size 2 but shortened the leg length so that it's custom fitted to his current size. These pants were the first test fitting. A little long in the leg, and a little high waisted, but other than that, they were pretty good.

Time for sample number 2!

Slowly...

I've been slowly finishing off projects that have been sitting around for a while....

I get really inspired and start off like a bull at a gate.... and then I get bored and add things to the WIP pile (sometimes never to be seen again). But, I decided that yesterday was the day to try to finish off some of the WIPs

My older sister wanted one too, once she'd seen the handbag that I'd made for my younger sister.

So this is hers - finally finished after sitting in the WIP pile for a couple of weeks. Chunky black corduroy teamed with a panel of Ume Komachi.

Now, what to make today?

A vintage treasure

I walked out to the letterbox the other day to check the mail.....

When I opened it I discovered a little box.
I wasn't expecting any parcels.

I've been trying to stick to my new budget, so I was racking my brain, trying to figure out whether I'd been online shopping and just forgotten!

But then I turned the little box over, and discovered to my great suprise and joy, that it was a secret gift from Silly Gilly

It's a buttonhole foot for my Singer 201K that I discovered on the side of the road.

I'll have to try to give it a road test on the weekend.

Thanks Silly Gilly!

My Creative Space

In my creative space today:

- some flower petals drying on the left (working on some new colours - bright orange woohoo!)
- more experimentation with chopped up doilies and tablecloths (sorry nana).

I'm not quite sure where I'm heading with these just yet. At the moment, I'm going with the flow and waiting for inspiration to hit..... it's actually quite enjoyable, as there's no finished product in mind. They're all just sitting in piles, and I might play with them one day, and then leave them for a few days before I come back to them again.

I might just look at them today....

Check out many more beautiful creative spaces at Kootoyoo

PS - It's Liesl's birthday today!

Watcha Wearin' Wednesday

You really don't want to see what I'm wearing today. Thismorning I'm off to visit my sister-in-law to have my eyebrows waxed, and then it's off to Pulmonary Rehabilitation for some walking, bike riding, step-ups, squats, wall push-ups and weights (in other words - TORTURE).

So, I'm cheating yet again, and showing you something that I prepared earlier (Monday to be exact). I found this dress at the Lancefield Oppy during my weekend at Sewjourn. It's originally from Myer Miss Shop (and yes I realise that I'm definitely not in the appropriate target age range for Myer Miss Shop anymore). The tag had $4, but lucky me, it ended up being half price!
The brown pants are from one of the local oppies - can't remember whether it was Vinnies or the Salvos. Brooch by me!

It's Tuesday and I can't wait...

Image source

I really can't wait for the storm clouds to disappear this week....

Bring on the rain - just make sure to clear the skies. My wireless internet really really really doesn't like all this cloud cover. It's costing me $100 per month and I'm having connection problems and drop outs. I'm struggling to be able to read everything in my google reader before I get disconnected, and it's really pushing me over the edge!

I'm seriously considering going back to a broadband connection. The problem is that I don't have a home phone connection. I'll have to pay to have a home phone connected, pay even more to have the connection put in the spare bedroom (where the desktop pc lives), just so that I can have naked broadband connected and then disconnect the home phone line. It's just such a huge waste of money....agggghhhhh.

I'd love to know if anyone else has any other better suggestions.

Play along with Lou Lou....

Testing testing 123

I was lucky enough to be given the task of testing out a new pattern for Nikki this week.

It's a sweet little barrel purse using a 90mm purse frame. I even managed to sew around the curve without too many difficulties after getting a bit of practice with the baguette bag.

I used the lovely floral fabric that I received from Amy last week, and teamed it with some contrasting pink polkadots. The instructions were really easy to follow and there were lots of photos for guidance. Now, all I need to do is fill it with money and go shopping.

I think I should be making a start on these very soon for the Christmas list!

Ann Marie has been testing too....

Whoops

Life has been a little hectic at my place lately. Always too many things to do and not enough time and energy to get it all done.

I'd had a request from a girlfriend a few weeks ago for some new bibs. Her kiddies are very dribbly, and so she wanted some thicker bibs with an extra layer of flannel in the middle.

I was eating dinner Wednesday night when I suddenly remembered that I hadn't made the bibs, and I was going to be heading to her house on Thursday for lunch.

Quick as a flash, I cut them out (including the extra layer) and sewed them together......

.... and then realised that I put the bottom flannel layer on back to front.

This is one of those times when I should take heed of the lesson learned, and not start new sewing projects after dinner. Hmmm let's see if that works!

In case you haven't heard

The Handmade Help Recipe Book is now available for pre-order.

From the website:

In February 2009 Victoria was victim to the worst bushfires on record, which wiped out entire communities, caused 173 deaths and left thousands without homes or shelter.

The Handmade Help Recipe Book evolved as part of handmadehelpsout.blogspot.com by a group of crafters and artists who wanted to contribute to the recovery effort.

The result is a truly international cookbook, packed with treasured recipes and family favourites, donated by people across the globe who wanted to help including well-known chefs such as Margaret Fulton, Allan Campion and Michele Curtis.

All proceeds from sales of the recipe book will be donated to the Salvation Army

The book is available as a hard copy or as a pdf download. There will be a limited print run of hard copies, so it's best not to dilly dally or you'll miss out.

You may even find one of my recipes inside!

It's the perfect gift idea (I've ordered seven copies).

Ignoring Swiney

Hmmmm I seem to be scowling at myself in the camera lens - this was the best of a very bad lot!

Swiney has been out and about gallivanting around the countryside this week on a mission to get noticed. I teamed him with a black jacket on each ocassion so that there was a huge colour contrast between what I was wearing, and Swiney himself.

Sadly, Swiney has been virtually totally ignored by each and every person that I've come into contact with.

Monday Morning

Appointment with Respiratory Specialist (surely he would recognise Swiney).
No comment from the Receptionist upon entry.
No comment from Specialist during appointment.
Wasn't expecting much due to lack of sense of humour.

Thursday Morning

Picking up films from Radiology department at Hospital number one.
No comment from Radiology Receptionist who dealt with my query.
No comment from Radiology Receptionist who delivered my films to the waiting room.
Lots of stares from other people in the waiting room (not sure whether that was due to Swiney or whether they were just staring at me).

Thursday Lunchtime

Dropped into a friends house for lunch.
No comment from the three adult friends who were there.
While eating lunch, the 2 Year Old points out the yellow fuzzy with red bits on my jacket.
Yah for Swiney - he's finally been noticed!

Thursday Afternoon

Appointment at Hospital number 2.
No comment from Receptionist who books me in.
Arrive at day ward.
No comment from the three nurses on duty.
After two hours, one of the nurses tells me "that I always look colourful" when I come in.
Not sure what that means.
Is Swiney colourful? Am I colourful? Do I dress like a freak when I come in? Is it a compliment? Is it an insult? Is she just making conversation? I am wearing an orange t-shirt and matching orange socks after all.
I say "thanks" and just keep reading my book.

Conclusion

The two year old wins the Swiney challenge!

My creative space...

I'm a little bit late with My Creative Space today, but I had to join in to show the latest little change in my craft area....

I don't have cords running all over the sewing table anymore!

I bought the tables second-hand so I wasn't precious about drilling holes in them (not that I'm actually precious about anything in particular anyway - except fabric).

All it took was a spade bit and some muscle (provided by ex-Mr CP).

Head on over to visit Kirsty to check out the lots and lots of others who've joined in!

Slowly tickin' em off the list

This one's been a work in progress for a few weeks, but I finally managed to finish it on the weekend.

My sister's favourite colour is purple, and corduroy is one of my favourite fabrics, so I've put them together to whip up this bag for her. The vintage floral is from a bedspread that I found at the oppy on one of my sprees with Tinniegirl. It was obviously on the bed in someone's spare room for a very long time - there's a quite distinct fade mark in one area where the sun must have been shining in the window day after day after day. What better way to give it a new purpose than to include it in a new bag.

I've given it a fully adjustable strap so that she can decide whether to wear it across the body or over the shoulder. Now I just need to package it up and pop it in the post..... oh, and I also need to make another one for my older sister who spied this one and now feels left out!

Thankful

I'm always thankful when I collect the mail and there are no bills....

I'm even more thankful when I collect the mail and find crafty packages waiting for me....

I'm not thankful when the postie folds and then tries to shove those packages through a tiny mail slot instead of just reaching around and putting them in the mailbox from the rear.....

Luckily, there were no breakables - just pretty things.

I won a giveaway over at Willy Wagtail - and hilariously (given the rate at which I seem to lose these) - the giveaway was for A whole weeks supply of seam rippers. There are actually seven of them, and Cherie also included a lovely Bendigo tea towel (where I used to live), and a sweet little doilie. Thanks Cherie!

The next package contained all of these lovely tea towels and a beautiful handmade owl card.
Ngaire contacted me and said that she had these left from a garage sale of her hubby's grandmothers things. Ngaire doesn't have a blog but she liked my aprons, and so she generously offered to send them to me. Isn't that sweet? Thanks Ngaire.

....and then this little suprise package arrived in the mail from Amy at Badskirt - it's the perfect floral print for me! Thanks so much Amy. I'm going to whip myself up a little zippered purse, using the trim as a wrist strap - perfect for hands free shopping..... adding it to the list in my head as I'm typing....

Sewjourn Show and Tell

Today I have a little show and tell of projects made on the weekend at Sewjourn. This is not a fully inclusive list - I was far too busy eating and sewing to take many photos, and of the photos that I did take, half are blurry!

Liesl finished off this lovely coat for her mum, and I finished off my Day Bag for me. I'll take some photos of all of the extra features that I included later in the week.

I whipped up this Seekers apron for Ms L. She bought the tea towel at the Seekers Concert a few years ago. I bought the black fabric with stars from the local patchwork shop in Lancefield. It wasn't exactly the print that I was looking for, but it works perfectly with a tea towel for a musical act.

I also whipped up a little drawstring bag from a scrap of zoo fabric. I forgot to take drawstring cord with me, but luckily Liesl had some on hand to finish it off.

Cathy whipped up a sweet little pink Burrito... he just needs a bit of stuffing

Bev finished off her quilt top (sorry about the blurry photo) - the applique is beautiful when it's not blurry.

Bec made this quilt top from scratch using her favourite chenille (or channeeeeeeeal in an aussie twang)

She even thought she deserved a halo after finishing off this little zippered purse...

Annabel whipped up this quilt top from scratch in lovely soothing blue and greens

The one thing that we forgot to do, was to tape our ad for Janome - once we'd all unpacked our machines Friday night, we realised that there were 6 Janome sewing machines and 2 Janome overlockers on the table.
Serena arrived on Saturday with an Elna which was obviously upset with the balance of the universe in the room, as it proceeded to break down..... poor little Elna!

The Rules...

What happens at Sewjourn stays at Sewjourn....

There was a lot of eating and drinking and merriment..... and even some sewing in-between

I think we all really liked Tinniegirls dessert

A huge thankyou to all of the lovely ladies for making it such an enjoyable weekend away, and to Cathy for organising, and especially for schlepping my ten tonnes of luggage and sewing supplies in and out of the car!