Sweet Fabric:
craft

Last year I went to the Melbourne Museum of Printing excursion which these girls organised.

It was such a fabulous & informative day out & I've been busting to have a crack at some "homebrand hack" letterpress ever since.

This is what I'm printing. Of course I don't have the right ink & can't remember what I need...

Such a lovely way to end the weekend.

I couldn't bear to cut my single cover up so I used it whole.

Gemma was extremely well prepared (no surprises there) & I spent a relaxed afternoon chatting, drinking coffee, eating musk sticks & working away.

Miss Kitty's Emporium is super cute - jam packed with Cath Kidston.

Looking forward to the next kute event.

I'm no Chris Piascik. My hand lettering leaves a lot to be desired but the embroidery is coming along OK.

There's going to be lots of time for stitching & drinking pretty drinks & coffees this weekend. All three of the smalls are off to Tasmania for the weekend!

My nice list is a very long one.

We've got busy kids so that means there are lots of gym coach & swimming teacher types who need a little something.

This is what I'm gifting this year.

Morning Fresh Tissane
A beautiful blend of calico & soap. This tea bag is designed to be left steeping in the shower with the soap inside. Flavour & performance improves overtime. A joy for the eye & the senses this blend will invigorate & revitalise.

The best part about this tea bag is that it can be filled with all those otherwise useless endy bits of soap.

Product currently being tested by me.

This girl is trying something similar for her washing machine & I'm bursting to hear the results.

&
Giveaway.

with other crafty souls at the Mixtape event.

I didn't take photos of my accessory gift! I'm hoping that Cathy will...

I received this fabulous denim bag with mushroom lining & little tin full of buttons from Cathy.

Fi's pincushion project was speedy & fun.

Thanks Nichola & Justine for the challenge. I really enjoyed the new beginnings. I think I'm falling in love with the rings - it could be a long term relationship.

PS: Are you tracking me? Lots of lovely blogs I've been visiting on my clicketty trips.

Friday is the long run day which means I think a lot - probably too much.

Today I was thinking about craft & dating. This seems like a bit of a weird connection (stay with me).

One of my really good friends used to say that she was addicted to the beginnings of relationships. At the time it was true ... she had lots of love em & leave em boyfriends. Many of them had a fair bit of bastard about them too (which of course only made them more appealing). Brief affairs really, flirtations, experiments but satisfying nonetheless.

She's now happily married to a fine upstanding guy. Marriage, of course requires a deep commitment, compromise & the making of promises you really mean. You need to be patient & dedicated & determined. The rewards are plentiful both along the way & at the end. Something to be really, really proud of.

Then I started to think about me & the craft thing. I too love a new beginning. I like to think long & hard about the how. I flirt with ideas, experiment with techniques & then have a one night stand with the actual crafting. It's quick & it's usually dirty (with varied results) but satisfying nonetheless.

Crochet (I'm trying - really I am), knitting & quilting require a deep commitment, compromise & the making of promises you really mean. You need to be patient & dedicated & determined. The rewards are plentiful both along the way & at the end. Something to be really, really proud of.

I'm married to my bags & the music boxes but I'm one night standing with plenty of other stuff to get my new beginnings fix.

I'd be interested to know if you're married to your craft, married & cheating (like me) or all about the thrill of a one night stand.

I'm starting to think about Christmas...Yikes!

Early I know - but I really don't want to be making gifts on Christmas Eve this year!

I've made myself a little stamp. It's leather stitched (laced really) & then printed onto calico. I've printed 20 little "Tea" stamps.

I'll be working on the making up tomorrow.

Knicker Day was so utterly fantastic!

We learnt to make undies out of old t-shirts. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how totally up my alley this was!

Of course Gemma knew I'd love the tricky neat way to finish the FOE (fold over elastic) & she was right! Gem - I think I've got it!!!

The pattern Gem gave us was a vintage one & her instructions utterly brilliant. I've used old cotton/lycra t-shirts & have found that they make up perfectly to the measurements. If I was using a plain cotton T I would probably go up 2 sizes.

I'm getting a bit cocky now & I'm going to have a crack at some "own style" undies next.

Thanks Gem for a sensational day & a wonderful new skill.

with the big girl.

We've spent most of the day in the pool room together.

She drew up the design & then prepared her stamp & printed her t-shirt. She loves it!

We've pottered around cutting & gluing & scoring & sorting. It's been lovely.

For Jess...as part of the week of wonk.

I like my first one better.

I'm not sure what it is...maybe trying too hard. I need to stay loose & not overthink. I do like the patch up though & all the materials were "wonky". Ends of skeins/balls & otherwise "useless" bits & pieces.

The granny square was given to the small, slept with her a couple of nights, ended up in her pj pocket, went through the wash (where it unravelled a bit), then in the tumble dryer and was rescued from the laundry floor for this project.

The mushroom coloured silk embroidery thread was an absolute dream to stitch with.

on leather.

We were all on the same page with the chain vs leather.

I think I'm going to leave the longish tails on the leather. It looks kinda twiggy.

Thanks for your constructive feedback girls.

a teeny tiny apple pendant.

Snapped on newsprint for scale. I like it - I think I'll take all closeups on newsprint from now on.

I'm not sure about the silver chain. I wonder if the same leather the stalk is made from might be better...

I'm all appled out. This will be the last for a while.

More apples from me:

happy apple
mud stencil on wood
tinned apple
& the fabric print from yesterday.

Being prepared...

10 apples up on top.

I can't really remember this book too well but I know it's something along the lines of someone trying to balance many apples up on top of their head & trying not to let them fall.

I do remember this quote:

"look you can do it, I can do it too".

Eeek thanks Alex...too cute! I think that kid might have screamer's nodules.

You might remember ages ago I got all inspired by this lovely girl & layed out my PJ quilt on the carpet.

I had the very best intentions of actually stitching it up BUT all the pieces got in the way & I had to pile them up again. Once that was done I lost all enthusiasm & they have sat in a nice neat pile ever since.

I've been slowly working on my granny square quilt/blanket & everytime I go to make up a new square I lay all the blocks out to see what I've got & what I need (or don't).

Then I stack them all up again.

So yesterday I made this piecing "quiver". I'm quite pleased. I've just safety pinned them on & then rolled the whole affair up & stowed it under the table in the pool room.

Be lazy with me...

I just used an old double bed doona cover & a couple of broomsticks from the hardware.

I layed the stick on top of the doona & "measured" the casing for each side. Pin & machine stitch into place.

& for the ties along the centre fold (wrong side of doona cover). Pin & machine stitch into place.

Then I marked lines for a cot sized quilt & a single bed quilt

& just ran lines of stitching. The doona cover I used had lines already printed on it ... a stroke of accidental genius.

Once all the machining was complete I fed the broomsticks into their casings & then I pinned my blocks to the doona cover.

Note: there's overhang at the top which I just folded down when ready to roll.

I folded in half so that the sticks met

& then rolled the sticks toward the mid line.

I tied the ribbon loosely & stored.

Disclaimer: This method would not be recommended by serious quilters I am quite sure...but it works for me.

Also: if you know of anything similar to this please let me know - I'd like to check it out.

in Op Shop love!

I've been on the lookout for a few weeks now.

I used all of my cream blanketting at Brown Owls & I'm a little ashamed to admit I was feeling a wee bit sorry about it.

The very last piece was used to make this little madam & she so badly needs some friends... I took a deep grown up breath & sent my "field of dreams" Op Shop wish out into the world.

They popped up this week & for only $3 each!

Note: I fully appreciate that a pic of a couple of old cream blankets is not very exciting to many of you, but for me...a totally thrilling find.

Thrifted Tuesday hosted by Leah.

This is... hosted by Three Buttons. Theme from Handmaiden.

It goes without saying that my favourite craft shop is the Op Shop.

I've imposed pretty strict rules on myself in regards to my crafting materials.

Every once in a while I need to buy various craft supplies that are not readily available at Oppies.

Much to my delight, I've recently discovered Mardion Haberdashery. It's an absolute gem of a place. Everything that Spotty or Lincraft could/would ever hope to sell & all jammed into a tiny little treasure trove.

Owned & run by Ken who refers to everyone as "my friend". I love a visit to Mardion & I'm pretty confident you'd love it too.

You can read my review on Craft City Melbourne.

to the pool room. I had a couple of pretty drinks to help combat my stage fright & just got stuck in.

Vinnies in Kew turned the pool table up for me this morning!

Still a bit to do & the office/tip looks like a war zone.

I know I should have gone to the paint shop, but I was just a little keen for anything so laborious.

It's amazing what a pretty drink & a warm spot on the floor desk can do for a girl.

She's finished. She'd fit right in across the road from my favourite shop & I'm sure she'd be best friends with this really lovely little girl.

Free hand embroidered with wool.

Germinated from me thinking that all those scrappy practice granny squares would make pretty adornments for babushkas.

Just the right amount of wonk too.

I'll be making more of these...most satisfying.

As per usual all op shopped materials.

toadstools at Brown Owls last night.

It wasn't the same without Pip.

Gemma & Brooke & I hosted...lot's of lovely girls created these cute pincushions. Everyone finished in plenty of time for a toadstool fashion shoot.

I love that everyone's toadstools are, to quote the smalls: "same, same but different".

Today it's one year since I pulled the blogging runners on & took my first step out onto the track.

Actually, the first step was taken sometime in 2005. That step was one taken my many others and it landed me fair & square in the middle of lovely Loobylu. I walked silently alongside Claire for a good long time & was hugely impressed when she began cross training.

Occasionally I took a stroll with Nichola and her lovely sidebar mates and Justine’s iPod seemed to be loaded with all the right tunes.

Late in 2006 when I was out for my stroll I tripped over this. Pip was setting a cracking pace & I loved running beside her.

In the middle of last year Pip stopped running to grab a Gatorade & issued an invitation. “Crochet yourself some laces for those Asics Kirst. You’ll need them if you’re going to run with me”.

I'm a huge fan of the run but I was a complete novice at running a journal of any kind. I knew I was going to need a training program if I was going to have any chance at all.

The program went something like this…

1. Post everyday for 21 days. Make the habit.
Effortless, just like running on the flat.

2. If that goes well…make sure you return comments.
A bit more tricky, running on sand
(made more difficult by my cranky coach who only woke periodically from napping in the arm chair to deliver the message!)

3. Speak up…if you like something, say so.
Nice & easy, running down hill with the wind behind me.

I think once I’d found my stride & was comfortably running in the zone I got a bit cocky & made this rule…

4. Post everyday for 1 year!
This is probably the hill that’s been the toughest to climb.

Some days have felt like a sprint to the finish, a few have felt like a monotonous treadmill run, others have felt like a hill climb of epic proportions & I’m pretty sure on at least a couple I’ve limped into the first aid tent!

But I’ve done it. I’ve crossed the finish line & I think I’ve run a pretty good race.

I’m knackered though…I’ve tried really hard & given it my all.

So, if you've been spurring me on, cheering & supporting...

OR thinking I’m crazy as you watched from the comfort of your sofa...

OR if you've run a few kilometres with me...

OR kept the sugar levels high with beautiful eye candy...

OR most importantly, if you were there with me when the starter’s gun went off & been running hard with me the whole way,

THANK YOU!

Recovery is important. You’ve got to rest after a big race. I’m giving myself a few days off.

21 days to make it – 3 days to break it?

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