On My Desk.....on a Wednesday

I'm playing along with Kirsty with 'On my desk...on a Wednesday'. I'm a little late today but before I left home thismorning, I was working on this little blankie above.

It's just a baby polar fleece blankie and I'm adding some cotton fabric to the back side to personalise it.

But then I just got home and found some lovely mail which has now landed on my desk.

I won a First Birthday Giveaway from Tracey & Bec at Crafty Bits & Bobs. The prize was a gorgeous zipper pouch and some chocolate.

The photo above shows the beautiful packaging including a lovely handmade card....

What I actually received was a gorgeous little zipper pouch jam packed full of cadbury easter eggs (my absolute favourite) and a gorgeous beaded pin. I'm going to use the zipper pouch to store things in my handbag and I think I'll attach the pin to a new handbag that I'm going to make for myself. Thankyou so much Tracey & Bec, I absolutely love my prize!!!

Disaster Update!

The download limit mystery has been solved!
Mr CurlyPops was watching the Rip Curl Pro online on his laptop over the weekend.
We're on a 5GB plan and there's only 2 people in the house so we couldn't possible need to upgrade.
Thursday had double normal usage. Friday had 4 times normal usage. Saturday was 3 times normal usage even though he went to Bells Beach and watched it live!
Lesson learnt.....don't watch tv on the internet!

Disaster!

I just received the following email from my ISP:

This is a courtesy notice to advise you that you are approaching, or have exceeded your included monthly megabytes on your account.

This means :

1) At this time, if your plan is shaped, your service will be shaped to a lower speed in accordance to your plan. Or;
2) if your plan has a download limit you will begin to incur excess charges for additional megabytes used this billing period.

It's only the 24th of March....that means slow internet for the rest of the month......which is still 7 more days..... aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!

A Vintage Treasure

I went on a lovely day trip to Clunes on Saturday. While browsing the second-hand shops, I found this little treasure.


I've been looking for an old pram for a while now, ever since I saw this on Tara's blog.
This one is in fantastic condition. I'm going to use it for some retro photo shoots with my nephews.

My cat likes it too!

This is.......................my Demon!

Continuing on the lovely meme from Angela, todays fab theme is from Drewzel.
This was a difficult one because I try really really hard to be good but I just can't resist good coffee (not instant) and good chocolate. They're even better when they're combined.

I drink an average of 3 coffees every day (sometimes 4 or 5) but I try to never have any after about 3.00PM otherwise I end up in a caffeine stupor and can't sleep. I have something chocolate almost every day, could be actual chocolate, chocolate cake, choc chip biscuit, chocolate ice-cream (well you get the idea).

Happy Easter! Hope everyone enjoyed chocolate and coffee for breakfast (I did)!

Somedays........part 2

Somedays I wish I was my cat.............

.........so I could sunbake without having to worry about UV rays and skin cancer!

A Birthday Gift

I've been searching for earrings for my younger sisters upcoming birthday for a while now. I had a good idea of the type of earrings that I was looking for but just couldn't seem to find them..........so I decided to get out my jewellery supplies and make them!

The silver rings are actually washers. I asked Mr CurlyPops to drill holes in them (so I could attach the jump rings) and to bash them up a bit with a hammer. He doesn't like me playing with his tools because I don't put them away properly.

I then took some sandpaper and scratched them up and sanded the edges. Her favourite colour is purple so I attached a purple bead and some earring wires and 'voila' .....birthday gift completed.

I think I might make some for myself now.

Finished!

Mr CurlyPops is hard at work in the garden today so I've been inside finishing off this quilt



It's not the traditional real type of quilt. It's a patchwork top, a layer of polar fleece in the middle and then a piece of plain flannel for the back. It just needs a wash and then it's off to it's new owner.

I also made this little patchy pillow to go with it!

Somedays

Somedays I wish I was my cat.............

.........so I could spend the entire day in bed asleep!
.

Don't forget to make a donation to the Royal Childrens Hospital Good Friday Appeal if you can.

Op Shop Finds

I had to go to Essendon yesterday so I dropped into Vinnies in Ascot Vale.

I found 2 lovely vintage floral sheets (there were several more but I'm seriously running out of storage space)........

.......and this circus themed sheet and some blue material. I'm not sure what type of material but it's sort of like a heavy suiting type of material. I'm going to use it in a little boys quilt.

They had a great collection of teapots and milk jugs but I resisted temptation!

On My Desk......on errrrrrr Tuesday

I'm not going to be home tomorrow so I'm getting in early!

I have absolutely nothing to show.........just bills to be paid......I'll try harder next week!

Brown Owls & CD Swap

Lastnight was my second session at Brown Owls. I met some more lovely girls and caught up with some that I had met at my previous session. It was lots of fun again and the three hours flew by. I managed to stitch a bit faster this time so I finished my Sixer badge and started the Owl on my tote bag. I also bought some lovely fabric pieces with my Brownie Points from the Brown Owl shop.

The CD swap is in full swing and everyone should have received their Chicks Mix CD from me by now so here it is!

Artist.....Album....Song Title

Sara Storer....She Will Have Her Way....Won’t Give In
Katie Noonan....Skin....Special Ones
Brooke Fraser....Albertine....Deciphering Me
Kate Miller-Heidke....Home....River
Camille....Ministry Of Sound Chill Out 9....Ta Douleur
Missy Higgins....On a Clear Night....Forgive Me
Amiel....Audio Out....Lovesong
Natalie Imbruglia....She Will Have Her Way....Pineapple Head
Kylie Minogue....Sample People Soundtrack....The Real Thing
Vanessa Carlton....A Thousand Miles

I chose to have mainly aussie chicks because I really love australian music. I tried to choose songs that were a little out of the ordinary such as Sara Storer and Natalie Imbruglia singing Neil & Tim Finn, and Kylie Minogue singing a 70's classic. By the way, if you like weird and wonderful aussie movies, then look for Sample People. It's in the weird realm of 'Dogs In Space' but souped up for the 1990's and it has a weird and wonderful soundtrack to go with it.

If you're looking for a great CD, then you have to buy 'She Will Have Her Way - The Songs of Neil & Tim Finn'. It's full of great chicks singing great songs by Neil & Tim Finn. Another great one is Brooke Fraser who is a NZ chick, her CD 'Albertine' is fantastic and of course Katie Noonan (what a spectacular voice).

I've received 2 great chicks mixes in the mail so far and I'm definitely looking forward to the rest!

Bought.....and Found

I bought this old bookcase on Ebay last week and it was delivered on Saturday. Mr CurlyPops is going to sand some of the white paint off it and then give it a coat of clear sealer.
It's going to live in a little nook in the family room and be the new home for all of my craft books.

These are the lovely old boxes that were put out for hard rubbish collection that I picked up from the naturestrip. I originally picked up 4 boxes, and while I was loading up the car, the house owner came out and said that she had some more in her shed that she hadn't put out yet.

Mr CurlyPops went back the next day and picked up another 2!

Once they're cleaned up and sealed, I think they'll make nice planter boxes.

This is.......my creation

Continuing on the lovely meme from Angela, todays fantastic theme is from Betty the Geek.

This was a difficult one because I post little creations on my blog all the time.

I've decided to go with the biggest and most expensive creation that I've ever made!

This was the kitchen of our house when the old owners were still living there. They had floral wallpaper on every wall of the house. The kitchen tiles were light grey with pink spots. The wallpaper border had rabbits in a field of flowers and they covered up the lovely wooden floors with flowery rugs.

When we moved in, we stripped the wallpaper and painted......

Until we could afford to take out the kitchen......

.......and knock down a wall and the ceiling

......before installing a new kitchen

......and last but not least......finally polishing the floors 17 months later!

Great pizza for dinner

I made home made pizza for tea tonight.
I made the base using this recipe that I found on Frances's blog.

1 cup greek yoghurt
2 cups self raising flour

Mix up, knead, roll out onto tray.
Bake base for 5 minutes, take out, add toppings, cook for as long as needed.

It was light and scrumptious! Especially with really fresh toppings.

It's still too damn hot.....

Ok, now that I've that off my chest.....I went a little bit of an op-shopping spree today and this is what I found.

A lovely crochet blankie for $2. I can't wait until I learn how to crochet at Brown Owls so I can try this out for myself.

Two vintage pyrex bowls in fabulous condition. They were a bit pricey at $6 and $7, but they will be perfect for making chocolate pudding for 2 when the weather cools down a bit.

A small bag of corduroy offcuts for $0.50, some pink cotton for $2 and a book with lots of templates etc for $2.

The bargains above were all from St Vinnies.

.....and this little trolley for $5.75 from the Salvos. I've never noticed before, but I read this weird fact on another blog (can't remember which one but it was probably I Op Therefore I am). For some strange reason, prices at the Salvos always end in 75 cents. This trolley didn't have a price so they had to make one up on the spot and it still ended in 75 cents......

They must have a nightmare when people pay cash and they have to keep giving out 20 cent and 5 cent pieces for change!

I stopped off at Spotlight on the way home (it is actually on the way, I didn't make a special trip, and I'm really really trying not to buy any more fabric) but I searched through the remnant bins and found these bits and pieces that might just come in handy.......(at least I didn't buy any more off the roll).

It's also hard rubbish collection in my area at the moment so I did stop the car yesterday and pick something up off the naturestrip. It would have ended up in landfill if I hadn't stopped. I'll post some photos tomorrow as I forgot to take some today.

A cool change

The cool change has finally hit Melbourne (until it heats up again tomorrow anyway).

Today I had to move into the kitchen yet again as it's the only room with air-conditioning.

I started on this quilt top which is going to Mum's house for when she's on babysitting duty. The border is a nice thick corduroy. I'm hoping to finish it off tomorrow.

Libby received her pay it forward gift yesterday, check out her excellent modelling on her fab blog!

Now, I'm going to go and savour the cool breeze and open every window and door in the house!

On my desk......on a Wednesday

My sister wore one of the headbands that I made for her when she went to our hairdresser last week. Our hairdresser really liked it so I'm making one for her also. I hope she likes it!

Mail and prototypes

I received my gorgeous Chocolate and Steel necklace in the mail yesterday. Christine also added some length to the chain for me to fit my fat neck! Look at the pretty packaging.


This is a prototype that I made yesterday. My sister has asked me to make some covers for her Baby Bjorn. I laid the Baby Bjorn on top of some paper and traced around it to create a pattern.

The top part is sewn together (leaving openings to feed the straps through). With the bottom section, I'm not sure whether I should sew the seams together or whether I should just add snaps. I'm thinking that the snaps will make it much easier to take on and off so it can be washed. This first try has ended up being a bit too small anyway so I need to re-jig the pattern today.

I'll be back later with 'On my desk on a Wednesday'

Tomorrow on Martha

Emily Martin from Inside a Black Apple is on Martha tomorrow at 4PM AEST with a replay at 11AM Thursday AEST (on the How To Channel)