It's a finale and everyone's a winner (including me)

Sheesh, what an amazing Blogtoberfest month it has been - 270 bloggers aiming to post each and every day for the entire month of October. I hope everyone had lots of fun with the challenge.

I had a wonderful month trying to write posts myself, and keep up with hundreds of posts in my google reader each day. I also finally returned to work, and to markets, after my trio of setbacks earlier in the year.

I participated in Home is Where the Craft Is, and had a few crafty giveaways to celebrate..... but I think the thing that I'm most excited about, is having my own fabric designs printed.

Which of course brings me to the very important business of choosing a winner!

Dragster Dominoes was the most popular choice hands down. I had this original sample printed in cotton, but it will look even better in a cotton/linen blend.

There were 57 entries.....

.....and the winner is number 29 - Tartan Kiwi

Thankyou so much to everyone who entered and picked their favourite swatch. The good news is that I couldn't decide which ones to print as yardage, so I've ordered all of them!

As soon as it arrives, I'll pop some in the shop for anyone who is interested.

Happy Blogtoberfest...... 'til next year Blogtoberfestians

PS - You can still check out the Blogtoberfest Giveaways Page because there are still lots left to enter!

We're nearly there...

We've almost reached the end of Blogtoberfest for another year...... and I'm about to be throttled by my ISP once again.

It was such a dreary rainy day yesterday - perfect weather for sewing (and ducks).

I whipped up this little make up zippered pouch as requested by my sister-in-law. It has a little side pocket for extra storage.

I'll be back later to draw the winner of my final giveaway and to wrap up Blogtoberfest for another year!

Bot Bot Bot....

 

I have Bots on the brain.... it's all this girls fault!

Animation Friday - The New Do

It's been such a long time.... and there was sooooo much grey, but I finally had my hair cut this week.

I wanted to take a before photo on the morning of my haircut, but the hairdresser sent me a text message to come early because she'd  had a cancellation.

The before shot was taken three months ago, so my hair was quite a lot longer before the big chop.

I'm quite glad that I ended up getting a photo of it nicely styled and straightened, as shake and go is more my type of style!

The home of Animation Friday

My Creative Space & A Book Launch

In my creative space today is a project that I was supposed to get finished yesterday, instead of spending the entire day faffing around (somewhat due to my lack of patience and interest in computer hardware).... Oh, yes, and I  might have gone out to have lunch at a nice little cafe too.

But anyway, I digress....this is going to be my Softie for Mirabel. It's just a simple little fuzzy bear softie that I designed yonks ago to use for Toy Society drops.

I had grand plans of having a proper tutorial written for making him, but I'm not going to have time, so I'm just going to share my pattern, and some super basic instructions. You can download a pdf copy here if you're interested, or I've also added links via my tutorial page.
It was written in a huge hurry so if there are any glaring errors, I'm apologising in advance!

Lovely photo used courtesy of Kate

In other crafty news, I was very lucky to be able to go along to Pips book launch for Sew La Tea Do on Tuesday night. I forgot to take my camera, so lets just pretend that Pip is signing my copy of her lovely book in this photo, shall we.....


The home of My Creative Space....

Now for the fun stuff...

1. Random Santa
2. Dragster Dominoes
3. Owlie Oracle
4. Turtle Allsorts
5. Reindeer Row
6. Owlie Oblong

I finally received my last lot of fabric swatches in the mail yesterday, and so the time has come to make some decisions.

I'm saving some of my designs to be used exclusively for my own crafty goodies, but I'm also going to print some yardage of other designs and have it for sale in my little shop.

Now comes the fun part, as this will be be my final Blogtoberfest giveaway for the year!

All you need to do is to choose your favourite design from the mosaic above (click on the links above to view the much better quality photos in Flickr - for some reason the mosaic maker shrunk all my files).

Leave me a comment telling me which one is your favourite, and once I have them printed, the winner will receive a fat quarter of their choice. I haven't quite decided whether I'll be printing them on 100% cotton, or the linen cotton blend, so please tell me which you would prefer too.

The winner will be chosen by the random number generator on Blogtoberfest finale night  - October 31st at 8PM

Good Luck!

Behind and Belated

Sunshine

A little while ago, I played along in Trash's As You Like It swap.....
The premise of the swap was that you gave your partner six words, and they were to use those words for your swap.

Sunshine

My swap partner was the ever so talented and crafty Moogs Mum.....and lets just say that her parcel totally put mine to shame!

My words were: Popsicles, Spring, Sparkle, Technicolour, Magic and Sunshine

Popsicle & Technicolour - I totally cannot believe that she found me a fabric popsicle!

Each piece of the parcel was individually packed and labelled with one of my keywords.....

..... and attached with some pretty lace.

Sparkle (Yarn), Spring (Tulip Cards), and Magic (Chocolate)

Thankyou sooooo much Moogsmum (and sorry it's taken me so long to post the pics)! Now I think I might have some of that chocolate for brekkie.

Serene Sunday

Yesterday was one of those perfect days.... no plans, nowhere to be, no-one to see.
Time to just potter about the house, listening to some tunes.

Amongst the pottering, I spent some time admiring my busted stash, where I just so happened to find a lovely hand screen printed tea towel that I bought at the Design Market in 2008.

It's now a super swanky handbag, just as I'd originally planned....

This one is heading to my next market, and there may be a few more too!

Finally.... a winner

I'm two whole days late drawing a winner of the SuperPops giveaway.

Sorry about that, but sometimes life (and markets) take priority!

So without further ado - via the magic of instant Facebook chat, I got my BIL from Clunes to read the comments and pick a winner:  and he chose Luvvie

Ooh - super powers - I would like to be like Dr Doolittle and be able to talk to animals. Particularly if I get to live in that great big pink snail shell thingy. 

Congratulations Luvvie! If you would like to email me your snail mail address, I'll package up a box of craft goodies and send them on their way.

Thanks so much to everyone who played along - I haven't thought of anything for this weeks giveaway just yet, but I will eventually!

The Wrap

Tinniegirl on the left and CurlyPops on the right

It was another lovely day in the country at the Buninyong Makers Market yesterday. It's a really easy drive from Melbourne, so I was there in no time!

I always find it really difficult to take nice photos inside town halls.... so these are a little bit blurry. The rest of my photos were unusable.

Thes lovely photos above of my crafty goodies are courtesy of Marilyn and her new camera

Annie was directly across from us

Cathy, Sel and I spent the entire day chatting, drinking coffee, and eating cupcakes (which seems to be our modus operandi on market days).

We had lots of lovely visitors including Linda from Heartfire at Home, Jan from Little Red Hen, Marilyn from Missy Mao Mao, and Michelle from Minyip who had purchased one of my Tulip Pouches from The CurlyPops Shop a couple of weeks ago.

Mel even dropped in to say hello on her way to Ballarat.

The market finished at 2PM, so we popped into the little cafe next door to the town hall, and had some scumptious lunch.

Sel and I even managed to find a garage sale on the way home... but my goodies are still in the car, so I'll have to play show and tell at a later date!

A Market and a Meme

First things first today - I'll be heading off to the Buninyong Makers Market very very soon... thank goodness I have a couple of drive-thru coffee options on the way. I usually stay in Clunes the night before, so that I don't have to get up quite so early, but today I'm heading there straight from Melbourne.

The market is in the most beautiful town hall, right in the centre of town, from 10AM - 2PM, so please come and visit, and say hello.

Second things....eeeerrrrr second!

Chunkychooky has a little meme to play along with which looked like fun:


4 things that I always carry:

1. Phone (always always always)
2. Purse
3. Tissues
4. Lip Balm

4 things that are in my bedroom:

1. Bed
2. Television
3. Nana's arm chair
4. Houdini's bed

4 things that I would like to do, but haven't done yet:

1. Take a month long holiday to Europe
2. Take a design course
3. Get a tattoo
4. Travel around Australia

4 things that you don't know about me:

1. I used to be really good at sports (and still have a box full of trophies stuffed in a cupboard)
2. I had a shetland pony named Chloe
3. I have a new freelance writing job
4. I love maths 

4 things I often wonder:

1. The obvious - WHY?
2. The next most obvious - WHEN?
3. What would my life had been like if?
4. If I'll ever ride a bike again?

Oh, and I completely forgot to draw a giveaway winner lastnight, so stay tuned later tonight instead!

Animation Friday - Put On a Happy Face

New badges available at the Buninyong Market tomorrow!

I love this song....

Gray skies are gonna clear up,

Put on a happy face;

Brush off the clouds and cheer up,

Put on a happy face.

Take off the gloomy mask of tragedy,

It's not your style;

You'll look so good that you'll be glad

Ya' decide to smile!

Pick out a pleasant outlook,

Stick out that noble chin;

Wipe off that "full of doubt" look,

Slap on a happy grin!

And spread sunshine all over the place,

Just put on a happy face!

Put on a happy face

Put on a happy face

And if you're feeling cross and bitterish

Don't sit and whine

Think of banana split and licorice

And you'll feel fine

I knew a girl so glooming

She'd never laugh or sing

She wouldn't listen to me

Now she's a mean old thing

So spread sunshine all over the place

Just put on a happy face

So, put on a happy face

The home of Animation Friday....

My Creative Space

It's all about the packing today.

I'm heading to the Buninyong Makers Market this Saturday, so I'm re-jigging the way that I pack things for the umpteenth time.

I've been using a big trolley suitcase, but it's really heavy even before I pack anything in it. I've resorted to buying myself some new plastic containers, and I'm going to stack them on a trolley and occy strap them to hold them in place.... well, that's the plan anyway!

I've also been playing around with some new display items for my stall. Fingers crossed it all looks good!

The home of My Creative Space....

Frocktober

After Saturday's magnificent oppy find, I came home and felt the tinglings of op shop regret....

You know the feeling.... you picked something up, turned it over, felt the fabric, checked the price, pondered... and then hung it back on the rack...

I was sooooo happy when I returned on Monday to find them both still hanging there....  'twas meant to be.

Behind the Scenes

It may not seem like it at the moment, but there's been plenty of crafty things happening behind the scenes at Curlypops HQ.

Like this super gorgeous camera bag commissioned by Carissa.

Pssssst: Check out that schmick twist lock closure!

Every time I make one of these bags, I'm sad to say goodbye.... and I keep telling myself that I really should make one for my own camera!

 
I'm completely in love with the fuschia colourway of this Lara Cameron print.   I decided to preserve and make a feature of the selvedge on the rear zip pocket (I hope you like that bit Carissa).

I'm thinking that we might need to start an Ink and Spindle petition to bring back fuschia!

Inside the bag, there are two removable velcroed padded inserts, and a couple of extra padded inserts so that the bag can also be used for other purposes. There's nothing like a bit of multitasking.

Now it's all safely packed up in a nice big box and ready to head off into the wild blue yonder. I hope you like it Carissa.

She's Baaaaaaack!

Well, we're now well and truly over the half way hump of Blogtoberfest. How is everyone faring???

If you played along last year, you may remember the journey of SuperPops. I had a little creative competition where I asked everyone join in and create their own version of the character. I also managed to publicly humiliate myself on the www.  It was so much fun, that I now have an entire bloggy page dedicated just to SuperPops.

This weeks giveaway is following the SuperPops theme....

The prize will be a B2 size mailing box jam packed full of crafty goodness.

I'm making you work for it this week - to enter, just leave me a comment answering the following question:

If you had a superpower, what would it be, and why???

Just to keep it fair, I'll get my sister to pick the funniest entry as the winner - entries close Friday 22nd October at 8PM.

***Oh, and if you like SuperPops, you can find her in the shop!

Fleamarket Finds

I dragged myself out of bed nice and early yesterday morning, picked up my nephew, and headed off to the op shops.

One of the local community centres is having a little craft market in November, so I'm going to help him to make a few things so that he can have a stall. We were in search of supplies..... but our mission wasn't very successful on that front!

I did however, manage to find this lovely vintage jigsaw set. I'm guessing that it's from the 60's or 70's?

The home of Fleamarket Finds....

In my garage

This may not seem very exciting just yet, but it's all part of my grand plan....

It's taken a little while to sort out, but I'm finally beginning my mini renovation project. I think you have to actually live in a house for a while before you can decide on any major changes that need to be made.

In this big package are the new overhead cupboards for my craft space. They're just flatpack kitchen cupboards (much more cost effective than custom cabinetry). A friend is coming over this week to help me to put them together.

At last I can see a little progress.....

Whoops! I almost forgot...

Tagxedo - found via The Crafty Librarian

...to draw a winner of this weeks Blogtoberfest giveaway!

I usually have a handy dandy screenshot of the random number generator, but my photoshop trial has expired so I can't do it.




Anyhow, there were a total of 35 entries overall, and the winner is:


NUMBER 15 - It's Cass from Snailblazer - yippee!

Animation Friday - Impromptu Photo Shoot 2

Moo Moo and the Twins popped in for afternoon tea earlier in the week, so I thought it might be a good opportunity for an impromptu photo shoot.....

What one earth was I thinking?????

Animation Friday via My Poppet

My creative space

I don't have much to show in my creative space today...

I'm halfway through another custom camera bag, but the weather has been too dreary to even take any photos.  For this one, I'm going to use a brand new twist lock from Nikki's shop. I can't wait to try it out!

The bag is denim, with a Lara Cameron Birch Forest print in pink, that I bought before the days of Ink and Spindle.... it may be even classified as vintage by now.

In the meantime, I'm reworking my floral design, and waiting, waiting, waiting, on two more lots of fabric samples to arrive.... guess I'll just have to keep waiting.

The home of my creative space

Blogtoberfest Day 13 - The Self Portrait

I didn't even need to photoshop my head off - this photo is completely unedited. Hooray for my headless photography skills.

Do you think that it might be an omen that we're having a Blogtoberfest Self Portrait day on the 13th? Hope no-one is too superstitious!

Anyhow, on with today's story.....

I had a little shopping and afternoon tea adventure on Monday, so yesterday I decided to glam it up a bit and wear my new dress, my lovely bright red tights, my dorothy shoes (along with one of my brooches of course).

I decided in the afternoon that I needed a photo of my new dress, so I took a few self portraits right before the sky darkened and the storm hit..... and then I read Tinniegirls post about today being self portrait day - fortuitous no????

I thought I might share some self portraits that I have actually included on the blog over the years. I can at least have a laugh then....

Muddled

There's so much a happenin' at the moment, that I can't remember whether I'm Martha or Arthur! So many blogtoberfestians, and I'm quite sure that I haven't even made it through half the list yet.

I've forgotten what I've shown and what I've told.... maybe I tweeted it but didn't blog it?

Anyhow..... I decided amongst all the little critters and characters that I've been working on, that maybe I'd try a floral design. This is the blue version (there's also a yellow version but my photos were terrible). I'd really envisioned this in pink, orange and red, but I couldn't get red, so it just didn't work.

My sister told me that this one doesn't actually look like me. It could have been designed by anyone. It might be pretty but it might also be something you could just find at Spotlight.... and I tend to agree.

So I guess it's back to the drawing board - quite literally!

Yes I know it's only Blogtober but......

I told you already that I'm trying to be super-organised this year..... so I've designed some christmas cards, just in time for errrrrr Christmas! You may have caught a sneaky peek of the reindeer yesterday.

Pop into The CurlyPops Shop to snap some up, or just visit me at any of my upcoming markets, where you'll also find colour ranges that are not available online.

I promised a Blogtoberfest Giveaway today and I'm sticking with the card theme. Just leave me a comment and I'll draw a lucky winner this Friday night (October 15th) at 8PM AEDST. The winner will get to select their five favourite card designs/colours.

Good Luck!