Sweet Fabric:
brown owls

you bet!

raw edges, thrifted materials & stitchery. You can't top that.

See a lovely pic of the tealights burning away together here.

The lights were dim & it was a lovely relaxed night of chatter & stitching.

was such a lot of fun:

lovely chatter
sipping
laughing
& a wee bit of peddling

The rockstars a la mike & the smalls had a brilliant time:

tree climbing
swinging
dodge balling
& swing dodging

... one point the big girl was laughing so hard she spat & snorted apple juice.

Cute apron from this girl

Badge making night was lots of fun.

Gemma helped everyone out with the rolls royce super swank badge makers, Pip shared a cute as a button house badge & Anna Laura showed us all how to make gorgeous felt badges.

Everyone was very busy & very productive. It was lovely.

Now onto matters blog...

I've totally dropped the ball. I don't have wireless & I've been popping down to the office to post & that is absolutely it. I'm so behind in my reading & comments & replies - sorry.

So, I'm just shoving all that dirty washing under the bed & starting from scratch.

The Brown Owls girls stitched up a storm last night. We added embroidered detail to those notebooks from yesterday OR made a "soap saver" (thanks Ashley) tea bag.

We applied the embroidered patch with varnish & then coated the top too.

They make a great little gift & Flossy P - they do look good covered in fabric or with paper/card detail too.

Gemma ran a fantastic session at Brown Owls last night.

I was mixing up a fixative cocktail or two behind the bar! (so I didn't take any pics of the wonderful printing everyone did). But Pip has some fabulous pics up here.

Everyone was busy stamping up a storm. There was a lovely creative buzz, everyone sharing ideas & skills. What a fabulous night.

My favourite print of the night?

Evie made a wonderful abstract stamp & then repeated the design to create this gorgeous singlet.

Footnote: Challenge is good for you!

Click image for photo credits.

More Fun at Polyvore & Brown Owls last night.
.

is good for the soul.

In preparation for tonight's Brown Owls get together I've been doing some hand piecing.

It's hugely satisfying to examine your perfectly pressed hand pieced work. I think this progress pic looks so pretty. You could never get the back of anything machined to look that good or sit that flat.

Normally I'm all about the speedy quick but I've really been enjoying the handwork I've been doing lately. It keeps me upstairs with the date at night & it's portable. I've been multi-tasking at the kids gym, football, soccer & at family events too.
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Friday Archives hosted by Loobylu

One of my first attempts at hand piecing (C1997). As you can see by the fact that it remains unfinished I really didn't love either the fabric or the design. It's not a bad job though & I'm looking forward to a bit of had piecing at Brown Owls on the 23rd of June.

I'm NOT a yarnish type crafter. BUT...I thought I had better "be prepared" for Brown Owls last night. So yesterday (more as cleaning avoidance than anything else) I sat in the Northern sun & did this.

No suprises ... I forgot to take my camera to Brown Owls last night but both Pip & Gem were in full click. The clubhouse was humming along beautifully. Jess did a brilliant job covering the basics of a granny square & making sure that everyone was on track. Lara & Amy came along to help & there were a couple of other lovely owls who were pretty confident with the hook. Everyone helped each other - it was fun.

We drank champagne & had cake to celebrate Brooke's birthday. What a gorgeous evening it was.

Thrifted Tuesday on Flickr

I left my camera at Brown Owls last night.

I drove past 4 Op Shops on the way to & fro. I may have stopped in at a couple.

I'm thrilled with my little sugar bowl. Green apples are popping up everywhere lately.

BUT...the find of the day has to go to this:

How fabulous is our new door prize barrel? Straight to the pool room club house for this little baby.

I reckon the barrel girl will LOVE it.

last night has given me another chance to blabber on about community.

Brown Owl's crafty clubhouse was a lovely relaxed but busy space last night.

Everyone brought their own projects to work on & we had a bit of show & tell too. It was wonderful - all those women with different skills & interests happily sharing their knowledge & resources. That's what I'm talking about!

Samantha Mathis said it best...

I have a dream of my own
And it's mine all mine alone
Its been my friend since I was just a girl
It has a life it has a heart
It has a soul and it's a part
Of everything this woman gives the world

And it's a big dream
Big enough to share
Like a rainbow, hanging in the air
And I thank God, for making it come true
Makes me think maybe God's a woman too
Makes me think maybe God's a woman too

There's a full moon tonight
And I'm bathing in its light
Naked as the day that I was born
There is no shame beneath this sky
I have kissed the past good bye
And mended up my broken heart so torn

With a sweet sound only I can make
And it gets stronger
With every breath I take
And it's all apart of making me feel new
Makes me think maybe God's a woman too
Makes me think maybe God's a woman too.

Thank you fabulous Brown Owls near & far for contributing & sharing.

for crafty pursuits lately. The image above is me faking it til I make it!

The lovely Ingrid has posted recently about being a craft fraud & I admit I feel the same way this week. I can't crochet or knit much either but it's just unfinished business I'm referring to.

I've been at work lots & being a mum lots & that hasn't left much spare time.

I've got a list a mile long of things I want to finish up:

my broomstick needle project.
my use what you have project.
something for this girl.

Plus a whole host of other stuff which is overdue.

I'm supposed to be cleaning the house tomorrow but I think I'll sack that plan & have a crack at finishing off a few projects that have been hanging around for far too long.

The date & I went to Maybe We Have Met Before at Kick on the weekend. Sean Morris's illustrations on wood were right up my alley. If you haven't been you should - it's good.

& yay hooray Brown Owls tonight. I've missed those crafty souls. See you tonight.

This gorgeous purse was thrifted at my favourite Op Shop.

It's so lovely & I was thinking it would make a good "coffee money" purse but I've decided on a much better use.

I've spent a lot of time the last couple of days at You are beautiful. Found courtesy of a link from this girl. It's nice. I like nice and it makes me smile.

So, if you haven't been stuck by me - you might be soon. Print yourself some stickers & get sticking too.

at Brown Owls last night.

When we were working through our bookings through the week I wondered if perhaps I was going to be seeing a blast from my past. But...her name is not uncommon so I'd decided it was just a bit too unlikely. Of course, the girl who stitched this owl last night with an obvious level of skill passed down from her Nanna is the very same girl I spent summer holidays with as a child.

The world is so small & Melbourne - it's teeny tiny. Forget 6 degrees of separation - in Melbourne I reckon it is about 2.

Brown Owls was really lovely last night. Lots of gorgeous new faces, lots of laughs & broad smiles. It's just a really good place to be. Pip has a great blow by blow post today. Check it out & come along to the clubhouse. It's ACE!

And another thing...did you know Brown Owl has a blog now? Stop in for a cuppa.

whipped this up today. It's a "floss station" made for Brown Owls. We used lots of bits we had lying around the house (including my toilet roll honeycomb) and made a little trip to the hardware store. Yay!

My kids were home from school today - it was curriculum day. The little guy was pretty happy to assist with a bit of boy meets girl craft - we've established it's my favourite. We had out the drill & the saw.

The little guy was in charge of the saw & did a very good job. Lefties are hard to teach.

I'm thinking that every crafty girl should have a floss station. I'd love one on my desk & I'll be pretty sorry to see this one go. I think I might work on a mini version for myself.

it's been a BIG workday today.

I'm on the fly - I've got a hot date with some crafty chicks tonight.

On my desk...

cookies, kittens & owlish bits.

Any new On my deskers? Let me know if you're playing too.

Update: lots & lots of lovely bloggers are playing. I'm out all day - will update the link list tonight. Thanks for playing & thanks to Angela for being my crafty kick in the pants.

she is enthusiastic, engergetic, contagious, beautiful & just plain good. Best of all she is related to me! Yay!

Just back from Brown Owls - tonight was super good. So much good stitching & chatting & lounging & laughing & tea drinking & socialising & learning & sauso stitching & baby showering & FUN!

If you haven't been to a meeting you should come & see for yourself just how lovely it is. There is a night especially for Tweenies on Tuesday 18 March - so do yourself a favour & book.

Make sure you check our Flickr in the morning - the PIParazzi was in full click, snapping shots of unsuspecting crafters.

This gorgeous fabric was purchased at my best Op Shop recently. It's really special & I want to do it justice. I've got a few ideas kicking around but nothing firm yet.

We had a fantastic time at Brown Owls last night. The clubhouse was jam packed with lovely crafty souls stitching away on their uniform panels. I'm really looking forward to next week. You can see all the stitching goodness over at our Flickr group.

Finally - a little note about friends...You know - you think you've got enough friends & in this busy life it can be pretty hard to keep up with the friends you've got. Then someone extra specially good comes along & you find there really is time & room in your heart for someone truly good & golden. Mmmm - it's like babies really - there is always enough love. Thank you.

I should just warn you that I am on my 4th date made Capiroska (read double shot of vodka).

Inability to touch type making me giggle......tragic!

I love Friday - it's the trigger to exhale - friends come over to have a drink & a laugh - it's gorgeous.

I had planned to have a crack at Pip's delicious sounding curry tonight...I'd printed off the recipe & everything...then I got all involved in a bit of Brown Owlishness & instead we ate dip & cheese & a LOT of Red Rock Deli Honey Soy Chips...oh & Vodka...I'm SURE that's in the healthy food pyramid!

Preview for Sunday: I had my haircut today...yay!

I've been spending quite a bit of time each day over here.

I'm really looking forward to the first meeting which is on Monday 25th of February.

If you haven't joined Brown Owls Brownie Pack yet - you should it's going to be so much fun.

Brown Owls is for everyone - if you've been crafty & creative since before you were born or if you've never picked up a needle.

Go on - have a crack - the more the merrier.