Colour makes the world go round...

This was the little sneaky instagram peek of my new curtains that I blogged on Sunday...

A long long time ago now, I blogged about this beautiful Tahiti Fabric (the selvedge says 100% cotton - Tahiti Print) and it's been sitting in the stash ever since.

Sorry for the photo quality (was trying to keep house dark and cool)

There was metres and metres of it.... enough to make brand new curtains for my very tall living room windows.

I'm absolutely amazed at how taking down the boring brown curtains and replacing them with these has made such a difference.

I'm not amazed, that once again, I've taken multiple pairs of shoes off as I've sat on the couch and left them to pile up, and therefore end up in my photos.... some things never change.

Now if I could just work out a way to magically extend the side walls so that I centre the television....

Sunday Snippets... via Instagram (on a Monday)

Here's a little snippet of last week...

Washing cushion covers so they're nice and clean.... only for Mr Limpy Houdini Dog to sit on them immediately

Adding my brand spanking new fabric colourway to the shop...

Chocolate Mousse at NCB...

More tales of Baconpalooza...

Coffee and homemade Red Velvet Cupcakes with a long lost childhood friend

Checking the size of the first of my new curtain panels...

Sunday Snippets via Tinniegirl

A CurlyPops & Shiny Happy Art Collaboration

I've been busting to show you what I've been working on lately. It's a very exciting collaboration with Anna from Shiny Happy Art.

We've put together a combination of Anna's beautiful artworks and my bag making skills to create these very unique handbags.

We're beginning with this collection of four.

These will be available in the Shiny Happy Art Online Shop from 12PM Midday Sunday (29th January).

For more photos of each bag, just pop on over to the Shiny Happy Art or CurlyPops Facebook pages.

Play me a tune...

I love music.

Actually, I love music even more than I love tv (and now that's sayin' somethin')...

There's nothing better than boppin' along to the beat, and singing like no-one can hear you (and hoping and praying that really - no-one can hear you).

I'm not a huge fan of using earbuds though. I always panic that I might accidentally start singing in a public place.

Anyhow, I digress....

After a few worriesome days wondering whether the postie also likes music and had therefore snaffled my CD's from the Punky & Me Music Swap, thisafternoon, there was a knock at the door.

It was my lovely next door neighbour. Apparently lots of my mail gets delivered to her house, and she normally just pops it back in my letterbox, but she thought that these were DVD's and that they might be important so she personally delivered them. Phew!!!


Anyway, I must say that my three swapees have fantabulous taste in music. There are some great songs which I can't wait to put on my iPod. The thing that I love about music swaps is that I get to listen new music that I may not have considered previously, and then I can decide whether I'd like to go and buy the entire album (I still buy the old school way - CD... no downloads for me)!

Thankyou Vic from Punky & Me, Miss G from Indefinite Space, Martta from Tell Me A Story Braveheart, and Bron from Mad Crafty Mama - you girls rock!

Chocberry Bag

As soon as my new Chocberry colourway arrived, I couldn't wait to cut into it to make something just for me.

I have about eleventy-billion handbags... lots of really little ones, and lots of really big ones, but I never can seem to find one that's just right in the middle.

I auditioned a few different lining fabrics...

... but the gorgeous swirly one that Cathy bought for me won hands down.

This is the perfect size for my everyday bag. It had a maiden voyage to NCB Wednesday night, and today it gets to come along to pulmonary rehab, and then for a coffee and red velvet cupcake date.

I can't wait (for the coffee and cupcakes that is)!!!

A very late engagement

Sometimes handmade gifts don't quite get made in time for an occasion...

The fabric panels arrived on Tuesday and I madly scrambled to get this cushion finished so that I could take it along to NCB lastnight for B-Fab (please forgive the hastily taken blurry iPhone snaps as I was running out the door).

Just in case the design doesn't make any sense to you.... that's the happy couples first initials.

....and here it is in its new home - on Boyance's couch!

Go Granny... now in Chocberry

Exciting news today!

My new Go Granny in Chocberry colourway is now available.

It's quite difficult to get a photograph that truly represents the colour accurately. The pink and orange are quite rich and bright, which is just what I wanted.

I immediately had to cut into it and start making myself a new handbag. I'm hoping to finish it off today.

I've only had a really small amount printed at this stage, so get in quick if you like it. If you miss out, and would really love some, just send me an email and I can order another print run.

Sometimes you strike gold....

.....Op Shop Gold that is.

I've been wanting to buy vintage chairs for my dining table for the loooooongest time. I've never ever ever found a large affordable matching set.

So you can imagine my surprise when my sister and I walked into the oppy a couple of weeks ago and spotted these gems. A matching set of eight vintage wooden dining chairs, in excellent condition.

But the best bit.... they were only $10 each. You could have knocked me down with a feather!

I think they've had a previous life in a school art classroom.

They all have various splashes of coloured paint, pencil, and pastel. I think it adds to the character.

The only problem with this room of course is that there's just waaaay too much wood. The wall unit was purchased for my previous house. It matched perfectly there, but now I wish it was painted white.

I need to make myself a Go Granny Cotton Canvas tablecloth to brighten it up a bit... off to add it to the big list!

Sunday Snippets... via Instagram

Some of my favourite instagram shots from the week...

Playing Sunday Snippets via Tinniegirl

The Punky and Me Music Swap

*Yet another iPhone photo

I vowed not to join any swaps this year, just in case I disappeared and left my swap partners in the lurch (I'd be devastated if that happened)!

Epic fail... (I've never typed that before). Does it sound ridonkulous? I think I may be too old for words like that.

Anyway, it took me a grand total of 4 days to break my promise and join Vic's Music Swap.... well she is irresistable after all.

My original intention was to follow a theme. But, with 3476 songs on my PC (and that's not my entire CD collection), how could I possibly choose just enough songs to fit on one lone CD? In the end, I've tried to choose just some of my all time favourites. The ones that make you want to sing out loud, and maybe even bop along.

 I hope my swapees are happy with my selection.


*In other news... it seems my poor old camera is becoming a bit superfluous. The photo above was taken on my iPhone. I've used the Snapseed App to edit it on my phone, and the Dropbox App to upload it, all while sitting on the couch watching tv. The wonders of modern technology.

Still playing catch up... and a Camera Bag

Everything is still on a bit of a time-lag around these parts.

Even my daily consumption of coffee, red cordial, and chocolate (which sustains me with the delicate balance of caffeine, red food colouring and sugar)  hasn't been giving me my normal extra energy boost!

I've been working on a fun project behind the scenes that I can't show you just yet, but then I remembered that I still had a lovely camera bag from last year that I hadn't yet blogged.

Lauren contacted me in December to make a surprise Christmas pressie for her sister. She visited Ink and Spindle and picked out this lovely Gingko in Deep Red and Stone.

The bag was designed for a smallish compact type camera and a separate lens, so there is just one adjustable separator inside.

I love how it turned out... now I just need to make one for myself (how many times have I said that?).



PS - thanks for all the lovely bloggiversary wishes yesterday. I didn't get a chance to reply to all the messages!

Missed It... by 4 days (or Happy 4 Year Bloggiversary to me)

I missed it last year.... and I've managed to miss it again.

Last Sunday, this little blog clicked over the 4 year mark.

4 years and 1716 posts later (this one is number 1717), and I'm still rambling on. Whodathunkit?
I think I deserve cake to celebrate.

Hibernating

'Twas just a little bit too warm for me today, so I spent the day hibernating in the air-conditioning sewing iPad Sleeves.

Some manly (as in 'for men' not as in Manly the suburb) ones are heading to Open Drawer tomorrow

Along with some lovely bright colourful flower brooches....

Just a reminder, the shop has re-opened, so if you're looking for any goodies... click on over!

A little change goes a long way

I had a very fruitful oppy expedition with my sister more than a week ago now..... and one of the things I found was this lovely dress.

The length was wrong, and it had these weird ties connected at both sides, so you could pull it in from the front, or from the back to give waist definition, but either way, the opposite side just looked stretched and strange!

A very quick and very easy re-fashion was all it needed. It probably took me about thirty minutes in total.

I snipped off the ties (leaving them about 3inches long), overlocked the edges, turned them in and and stitched them down to make belt loops.

I cut four inches from the bottom of the dress and overlocked and re-hemmed.

Then I took the dress offcut and the tie offcuts, and joined them together to make a belt.

So... $4 and thirty minutes of my time. What do you think?

Sunday Snippets... via Instagram

Some of my favourite instagram pics from the week that was...

 

Waiting at the table for dinner....  (I'm going to pinch that tablecloth one day)

My brother likes to tease me on twitter using the hashtag #weirds$%&mysistereats (I don't think bananas on toast is weird... do you?)

 A gorgeous pressie in the mail from Nicole

 Sorted out my thread drawer... Lissanne would be proud

Relaxed and swooned over Kev...

One minute it's a sketch in my book. Quick iPhone snap - add some digital colour and voila!

Lolly Heaven...

Mr Limpy Houdini Dog and his companion...

Playing Sunday Snippets with Tinniegirl