*Put Some Pork on Your Fork

Sometimes markets are like tattslotto.... even though you played the game, you'll never come out a winner in the end.

My older sister came along to play donkey this time around. Lucky, because the cobblestones are a little bit of an obstacle for my trolleys.

The marquee and table set up was fantastic. The weather and site selection was terrible, and the signage was non-existent. We couldn't even find it to set up, and we had a map with the location marked!
 Then combine that with all of the lane closures around the Flemington area for the MS bike ride, and it's no wonder there were no customers.

We made the most of it by chatting to our lovely stall neighbour, and thankfully we also had some visits from wonderful peeps who braved the rain and wind and sunshine and humidity and rain and wind and........

Never one to miss an opportunity when we get to pack up nice and early, we headed off to Kensington where we visited Onabee.

I bought my sister a lovely Red Parka print as a thankyou for her donkey duties, and I found that they stock my favourite A5 size sketch books (so excited about that as the shop where I was buying them has since closed).

A day out just wouldn't be a day out without some good coffee and good food.

Next door to Onabee is a lovely cafe named The Premises. I had the Crispy Bacon and Egg Roll with Spicy Tomato Relish (without the eggs as I don't eat egg)...

.... and my sister had the Pulled Pork with Coleslaw and Spicy Apples.

I'll definitely be heading back there, it was delicious!

* Sorry about the post title, but I couldn't help myself. When else will I be including a photo of pork which warrants such a silly title?

Off to the Market

The car is all packed and I'm ready to go for tomorrow....

I'm all set for a day full of nostalgia.

When I was a little kiddie, we spent lots of time at saleyards in country Victoria. We mainly went to horse sales, but also the odd sheep or cattle sale too.

In the olden days before the freeways were built, we would drive past the Newmarket Saleyards every time we took a trip to Melbourne. 

Mobile phone pic

I had a little bit of play with my new stall set up on the kitchen bench yesterday, using an Ikea shelf that Cathie bought for me on one of her trips (I can't bear actually going to Ikea myself). My brother did a little Ikea hack for me to modify it, and now it's the perfect shelf for my pouches.

Now lets just keep our fingers crossed for no wind and no rain!

All Frocked Up

 Please excuse the very blurry mobile phone pic

I remember sending out a Twitpic of my dress design on the day that I was drawing it, so I went back and checked, and it was November 10th last year.

Sheesh! It's taken me a really long time to actually use it....

So, here it is, in lovely colourful tones (because I just can't do bland).

I won't have time to add these to the shop before the market, so if you would like to purchase one in either colour, just send through an email and I'll pop one aside for you!

My Creative Space

In my creative space today - a little production line of iPhone/Gadget Pouches.... in all the colours of the rainbow, including some yet to be released designs.

I'm gearing up for my first market of the year, which is happening this Sunday 20th February from 11 AM til 2 PM.

It's part of the 150th Anniversary of the Newmarket Saleyards, and it's actually on my side of town.

I don't have much time left, so it's heads down..... you know what up!

The home of My Creative Space

Ode to Houdini

A while back, there was a One-Legged Chicken and a Runaway Dog featuring over at Myrtle and Eunice....

It reminded me so much of my little puppy dog Houdini (not his real name).

Over the years, I've lost count of the number of times Houdini Dog has escaped and run away due to the *PO gene that he inherited from his daddy dog Riley.

On one of his most memorable escapes, he made his way to my mum's house, enticed her dog out onto the street, and then ended up in the dog catchers van. There was a huge fee to bail them both out of the dog pound, and then a council fine for me in the mail two weeks later for having a 'dog at large' (he's so scary that he might just lick you to death)!.

When I opened the parcel that arrived yesterday, I was thrilled to receive the beautiful piece of fabric. It took me a minute to realise that there was something actually wrapped in the fabric.

Tania, you've outdone yourself, it's brilliant and I love it!



*Piss Off

Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head

Some of my new designs landed in the letterbox on Friday, so I wasted no time in whipping up some iPhone/Gadget Pouches.

They make me want to kick up my heels and jump in some puddles!

Now available here:

A Big Weekend

I packed little Moo Moo into the car thismorning and we headed off to celebrate Amelie's birthday.

I only had my mobile phone to take this photo but, check out that amazing cake! It was the most beautiful teapot, covered in flowers... and inside was layers of chocolate cake with chocolate ganache. Moo didn't finish his piece, but it was so yummy that I may have had to finish his piece as well (luckily I was wearing a loose waisted pair of jeans).

Lets just say that after all of the delicious food, I nearly needed to roll out out the door.

Then we headed off to the wee girls house to meet her new kitty cat Cranberry Marmalade. Moo picked an afternoon snack from the apple tree, while I enjoyed a lovely cup of tea.

The perfect finish to such a lovely weekend!

Let's Rock

It's that time of the year again, when the council puts on free concerts in the some of the local parks.

Last year, it just happened to be on a 35 degree day. Thankfully, last night was the perfect cool mild weather to sit around and eat and drink and be merry!

The bloke with the coffee van was also much happier.

There was a young band who played first (not the one pictured) named The Indigo Children. I really liked them, so after they finished, I sent my sister off to chase them to ask if we could buy a CD. They gave us one for free which was very cool.

One of the guys in the band is also involved in another band that has a single on iTunes at the moment, where the proceeds are going to the Flood Relief appeal - so feel free to go and check it out and download it.

During intermission, there was a bit of Bollywood action, where the crowd could join in.... hilarious

The second band was The Hallmarks. They played covers of lots of my fave aussie classics - INXS, Cold Chisel, Dragon, AC/DC, and Hoodoo Gurus just to name a few. I think I managed to sing along with nearly every song.

Little Zaney was having so much fun that he had to go home and get his guitar to join in. If only we could have convinced him to get up on stage.....

Tablecloth Love

Do you remember that I mentioned that I bought myself a couple of lovely vintage tablecloths last weekend?

Well, I had a little mini panic attack thismorning when I realised that I couldn't find them!

But disaster averted. Suprisingly, they were exactly where I'd dumped them when I unpacked the car.

Now to decide just what to do with them (they're far too pretty for spilling food on)!

My Creative Space

The floor was mopped just prior to this layout luckily

There's not much happening on the creative front this week.

My sister has to go into hospital for a little while, so I'm looking after my eldest nephew for the rest of the week (here's hoping that I don't forget to pack his lunch).

With the recent change in the weather, it's actually been cool enough to sit in front of the ironing press to interface all of these t-shirts.

It took a while to work on the layout as I've ended up with two different sized squares due to the fluctutation in sizes of the original tees.

I'm using the blank backs of the tees to fill up the empty spaces (they're the large unironed pieces that I've plonked on the floor just to work out the layout at this stage).  I'm going to have to add fabric around the sides of all of the smaller blocks to enlarge them and to keep everything even.

I'm feeling that there's a very good reason why I'm not a quilter!

The brand spanking new home of My Creative Space

Very Belated

A christmas gift for the little miss using one of my fabric samples.... finally gifted on Sunday.

A sweet padded pouch to fit her Nintendo DSi using a 115mm flex frame.

Better late than never hey?

Obsessed

I have red ones
I have grey ones

.....and now I also have purple ones (with thanks to my BIL who bought them for me)

PS - I'm need to make some room in the shop for new fabric designs that are on their way. Every purchase receives a free mystery gift until the end of the month - valid in my Big Cartel Shop or my Made It Shop!

Oh What a Night - Part Two

After the excitement of the exhibition opening, we headed off to one of the local pubs in Ballarat for dinner.

It was a really hot and balmy Friday night, so the pub was quite packed inside and out.... and then the heavens opened.

Not long after the storm and torrential rain hit, the downlights went out, and water started pouring through them onto tables, and the kitchen was flooded. Thank goodness we still managed to get our dinner (because of course, we were just thinking about food)!

Then my sister received an emergency SMS from the SES to expect flash flooding in Clunes.... which unfortunately was our cue to leave and get back home before any of the roads were cut off.

The creek which keeps flooding runs along where those new trees have been planted

So after driving at snails pace through the storm, we were about five kilometres from home, and the rain suddenly stopped.

We decided to sit on the verandah, drink hot milo, listen to the radio, and wait and watch the creek.

Around midnight, the CFA went into action delivering sand, checking water levels and doorknocking the low lying houses and business owners from the main street, warning them of an impending flood (which would have been the third one in 6 months). There were house lights on, torches in backyards, and a few cars being loaded with posessions.

At 1 AM we decided to give up on Operation Creek Watch and go to bed.

The water must have peaked some time early in the morning, because thankfully the creek didn't break the banks this time, and water levels slowly subsided throughout Sunday.

To celebrate the Non-flood event, we headed off down the main street for some brekkie.

I thought it was very cute that this little doggie had his very own rather nice retro couch out the front.

I had yummy sour dough toast with quince paste and raspberry jam.

We headed off down the main street for a little spot of shopping. There's a lovely shop in the old State Bank Building which has a mix of vintage and new goodies. I found myself a couple of lovely vintage tablecloths.

They also have a great photo board with pics from when the Ned Kelly film was shot there a few years ago (including photos of Heath Ledger). It was really interesting to see.

Unfortunately a couple of the second hand shops weren't open, but that just means I'll have to get back there soon for another shopping trip!

Oh What a Night - Part One

Opening Night finally arrived!

It was so exciting to look inside the window and see beautiful things from some of my fave crafty peeps and then wander inside and see some of my very own handcrafted goodies for sale....

.... like one of my Owlie Pouches just hanging around waiting to go to a new home.

But then, it was soooo much more exciting to walk upstairs and see some of my sculptural works displayed in a gallery space for the very first time.

Along with these beautiful original artworks by Tinniegirl.

The thing that I love about group shows is that the artworks are so diverse. There really is something for everyone.

I fell in love with these pieces by Christine Hickson. Do you see the one on the bottom left? It's called 'Dorothy Grows Up' and it's coming home to live at my place at the end of the exhibition.

It suits me to a tee, and how could I not buy it, when it reminds me so much of my favourite shoes (which I just so happened to be wearing lastnight)

A big thankyou must go out to Steph and Marcia for being such wonderful hosts.

If you're out and about around the Ballarat area, you really must pop in for a visit.

Off to the Show

See you tomorrow!

My Creative Space

I'm off to another appointment today so I won't actually be creating anything, but I will be taking my sketchbook as I'll be there for a few hours.

In the meantime, please enjoy another sneaky peek of In Full Bloom.

I'll be packing my car when I get home, because tomorrow night is the opening of the group exhibition at Red Brick Gallery.

The home of My Creative Space

Suave - Part Three

So today was the big day - Moo Moo's 4th Birthday.

When I arrived, he was busy riding his brand new Ben 10 bike, so little Zaney helped me to carry the pressie (and my handbag).

There was a flurry of excitement to open the pressie (note to self: tissue paper is a really bad idea as it tears up into tiny little pieces that end up everywhere).

The birthday boy was far too engrossed in his new Nano Bug game to do any modelling shots for me. I'm not so sure that a fedora, vest, and boardies are a good look anyway!

Noah wanted to join in with the modelling action too.

There was a yummy barbecue dinner and bithday cake of course.

Storybook - Where's Chicken

I'd forgotten to make a birthday card, so luckily the wee girl came to the rescue yesterday. She designed all of her pieces for Moo Moo with a chicken theme - there was a chicken birthday card, a chicken jigsaw, an illustrated storybook, and a huge Pin the Beak on the Chicken game (including detachable beaks and blu-tack).

He has another birthday party on Saturday with all of his little kinder friends.... if only all our birthday parties could last for a week!

Suave - Part Two

Currently blog finished - I still need to stitch in the lining

While I was holidaying down the coast over Christmas, I managed to do a little window shopping.

I noticed that the cool surf brands like Rip Curl and Quiksilver had Fedora's for kids and adults in their current seasons offerings.

I had my nephews do a little Fedora modelling for me in the shops, and then promptly put them all back because I knew I could come home and make them instead!

The lining in my Dragster Dominoes fabric

This is the Fedora pattern by Nicole Mallalieu Design, and it's my very first attempt at making a hat. Now that I'm over my fear of hatmaking, I really should open up the Kids Hat pattern that I bought aaaaggggges ago, and make a start on those before another summer passes me by.

The Fedora pattern comes with three different sizes which is fabulously versatile for the growing boys in my family. Mr X wants one next.... to wear with his skinny jeans.

As this one is for Moo Moo,  I made the small size, with the standard sized brim. I used a lightweight black denim so that it's quite versatile for different outfits, but also just because little boys can be grubby!

For the hatband, I used some offcut from the suit jacket so that it matches his new vest.

He's going to be the suavest little four year at the playcentre party on Saturday!