The Perfect Combination

A home-grown daffodil and coffee....

Blogtoberfest Day 3: Waste Not Want Not

I have to confess.... I definitely have the hoarding gene.

I keep every bit of useable scrap that I possibly can - I have containers and shoeboxes and baskets full of various bits and pieces that I've collected.

So what to do with the little scrappy bits of jumper that I cut off to enlarge the armholes of my felted vest (see those bits that were constricting the bloodflow to my arms)?

They're now lovely turquoise felted wool brooches (with a little bit of crazy stitching thrown in for good measure).

A flowergarden

The flowers have been blooming at my place...... in all the colours of the rainbow.

If you're heading along to The Stitches and Craft Show in Sydney this week, then pop in to visit the Made It Stall (Stand No. 200), where you can see one of my flower brooches on display, along with lots of other lovely handmade creations.

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.

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

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!

A birthday commission

I whipped up a couple of pressies in a hurry on Friday night...

These were for my sisters husbands fathers girlfriend, or my sisters father-in-laws girlfriend, or my brother-in-laws fathers girlfriend..... anyhow, hopefully you get what I mean.

My sister found this tea towel in an oppy in Ballarat - it's perfect because the birthday girl has a black labrador.

My sister also bought her some goodies from the Lark stall at the Daylesford Makers Market - a pocket mirror and an 'I love tea' badge.

I hope she likes all her goodies!

Shop Update

I've added a few new brooches to The CurlyPops Shop....

...now it's back to sitting on the couch chopping up doilies (ooooh an exciting Saturday night)!

Time for a winner

It's officially time to pick a winner for the Sewn giveaway.

There were 69 comments.....

.....and the winner is number 15 - Cathie from Melbourne Epicure - what a small world!

If you email me your postal address, I will pop your brooch in the mail tomorrow.
Thanks so much to everyone who entered...what fun was had.

The lurgy seems to have made an unwelcome return, so things may be a little quiet in my neck of the woods this week.

Pretty Flower Garden

So, this is the closest thing you'll ever find to a flower garden if you come and visit my house.

Lots of pretty flower brooches ready for new homes - I've listed a few in the shop, so you can pop on over and buy one if you like them. If not, I can just keep admiring them on my pretty vintage floral plate on the kitchen bench.

My creative space

Today, it's creativity on a plate....

I'm making more flower brooches in lots of different colours. As the petals and flower centres are completed, they're added to this plate, where they wait until their next transformation.

Lots more inspiring creative spaces at Kootoyoo

Time for another giveaway

Inspired by Sharon's wonderful giveaway over here at Handmaiden, I'm joining in with another giveaway to celebrate the launch of the new SEWN website....

You can also enter another fabulous giveaway at Sewn, sign up to have your own giveaway, and check out who else is having a giveaway (I promise that I won't be entering and winning all of them)!

I'm giving away one of my new flower brooches.... you may remember the crazy stitching from last week.

I've used it to make flower petals for brooches, and then I've stiffened them and shaped them to look more flower-like. This brooch is approximately 7cm x 7cm.

To win, you just need to leave a comment by June 8th - which is the official SEWN giveaway date.

Don't forget that I'm drawing the winner of my apron giveaway tonight too!

PS - There's another fab giveaway at What Katy Did

The luckiest girl in the world

I've been chuckling away all morning reading all the comments from my Getting Old post yesterday.....
It's so nice to know that I'm in good company (hehe).....

Anyway, I'm feeling like the luckiest girl in the world today, and here's why:

1. I slept in until 10.00 AM

2. My kitchen smells beautiful today because my sister bought me these beautiful flowers yesterday and a really sweet card as a thankyou for helping out with the new babies and the older boys.....

3. This beautiful pressie arrived in yesterday mail from Fi over at Dear Fii.....

It's a floral wrist pincushion.....it's gorgeous and very comfy to wear. This will be fab when I'm flitting between the cutting bench, the ironing board, and the sewing machine (all I need now is something to stop me from stabbing myself all the time while I'm pinning things)!

4. I won a retrospective been away giveaway over on Jodie's Ric-Rac blog so one of these sweet little birdies is coming to live at my house! Even though I didn't officially enter, and there was no official giveaway going on, I still won! How lucky can I be?

Greenolive Goodness

Look what I received in the mail this week......

A beautiful merino wool custom handknitted scarf from Martine at Greenolive.....

Amongst all the chaos of packing up and moving house, Martine still managed to let me choose the wool in the exact colour that I wanted and then she knitted it up and popped it in the post!

Then to my suprise, there was an extra little goodie in the package! A gorgeous felt flower brooch in a matching colour.....

Checkout Martine's Greenolive Etsy Shop for more scarves, beaded necklaces and flowers......

Thankyou so much Martine, it's absolutely gorgeous!

What kind of flower are you?

I found this on Nicola's Daisies....

I am a Sunflower What Flower Are You?

"When your friends think smile, they think of you. There is not a day that goes by that you can't find something good about the world and your fellow human."