Sweet Fabric [Search results for Friday] 

This gorgeous girl has kicked off a bit of Friday fun & always up for a challenge I thought I'd have a crack.

After all...I went to a fabulous school that offered ceramics, printmaking, textiles, painting & drawing, garment construction & photography. True to form I tried my had at all of these and had wonderful parents allowed me to do Art 1 & Art 2 (read 8 hours of art per week) instead of maths! I was always more about the experience than the end result. I thought I'd have some giggle worthy stuff to share.

I had a feeling that most of my "folio" (& I use the term loosely) had been skipped during the most recent clean out. No great loss there I can assure you. BUT...I thought I had some stuff under the ranch. I donned the head torch & went for a rummage - I came up short. I did find all the letters the date & I wrote to each when we first hooked up! That gave the two of us a giggle but they have now been ceremoniously binned. I wanted to fire up the incinerator - if only it weren't illegal!

Anyway, enough of my drivel. In short - my Friday Archives offerings will be thin on the ground I think. Sorry Claire.

The above is a mother bird guarding her eggs. I made her when I was 3 with my next door + one neighbour who had a ceramics shed & her own kiln - incredible.

Ahh Betty was gorgeous wasn't she Jo?

For about 15 minutes making this super speedy, super cheaty kind of dinner for some friends tonight. After school soccer & gym means I need to be prepared. As far as I'm concerned Friday night should be all about the drinks anyway. But it is very tasty.

Then spending the rest of the day on the sewing machine. The buttonholes are being quite good to me so I haven't resorted to buying the foot....yet.

Baked Sweet Potato - Friday night meal
1 garlic
1 onion
250g mince beef
300g red kidney beans
1 tbs tomato paste
1.5 cups salsa

Fry onion & garlic in olive oil until translucent.
Add mince to pan & brown.
Stir in remaining ingredients & simmer.

To cook sweet potato. Peel & rub with olive oil. Cook on a rack in a 200C oven for about an hour.

To serve: Slice sweet pototo in half & spoon mince on top. Serve with sour cream, avocado & cheese.

Happy Friday.

Friday Archives hosted by Loobylu

Shot of the school girls at my big fat bogan wedding - 1995.

Eeek...one of my very bestest friends from school has just started a blog.

I owe her a lot. If she hadn't helped me pass Art by giving me all her art history assignments in Year 10 I'd have been doomed to a Year 11 full of Accounting & Economics (no pre-requisites). Instead I spent a glorious year swanning around the textiles, garment construction, ceramics, print making & painting studios.

Anyway, she would really love some feedback on what I KNOW will be a journey in creative writing worth following.

I'm loving reading all about the life & times of Jamie (much like many of us with small kids & an exec husband) & her twin sister Lisa (humanitarian & student of life).

She's really good at drinking games. So if you feel like a relaxing Friday afternoon this is the place.

Friday Archives hosted by Loobylu.

Here I was thinking I was done with the archives & little treasures keep popping up.

These tassles were made by my sister & me (attached to the scissors) in about 1991. Our gorgeous & super talented next door neighbour ran Saturday afternoon workshops for us all.

Those Saturday afternoon memories are so vivid. All the women & girls in our little community (3 houses, 7 girls, 2 boys, 3 mothers, 1 father, 5 dogs, 1 cat & a lot of laughter), gathered at number 7 for long afternoons of stitching & giggling.

It's a good life.

* I'm back from Darwin...Thank you to all the wonderful people who left such lovely comments on my marathon post. I'm popping in for a cuppa, just running a little late.

Friday Archives hosted by Loobylu.

This teeny tiny pincushion made for my mum 20 years ago!

I'm really getting old when I can say I made something that long ago.

There was a needle rusted into it which I had to extract before taking the photo.
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Friday Archives hosted by Loobylu.

Another of the stitchings from the blanket for the smallest. This is the big girls imagining of what her new brother/sister might look like & the bear she gave the bubba.

This one is especially for Jess.
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Friday Archives hosted by Loobylu.

Once every three years the small's school holds an arts festival.

They have a festival opening ceremony, guest artists, a makers mark day (where parents come & art/craft & talk to the kids about their artistic pursuits) & a street parade.

This was the banner for the 2004 festival. A girlfriend & I painted this together - we were given the themes of:

- archways to achievement
- you can do it
-& the Olympics!

Challenging?

We used the book "Oh the places you'll go" as our starting point. It was a fun project.

Friday Archives with Loobylu.

This was found during the whole love letter episode. It was attached to one of the drivelly, boring, long winded & EMBARRASSING letters I wrote the date during class in year 12. I expect I must have done this during legal studies as the teacher was particularly slack.

It does beg the question "what was I doing with a math-o-mat?"

Friday Archives hosted by Loobylu

This piece was embroidered by me & includes a small illustration from every child in the big girl's prep class (2002). I loved everything about this project. A true collaboration.

Friday Archives hosted by Loobylu.

Just before the smallest was born we made her a blanket. Each member of the family was drawn by the big girl & then stitched by me.

Self portrait of the big girl when she was 4 (2001).

Friday Archives hosted by Loobylu.

This "diary" appeared during the week. It's my school diary from Year 5. The big girl thinks it's hilarious! She'd never get away with such crap.
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When Sunbury was going on I wasn't yet born.

I am a child of the 70s though & I think this pic of me in my handmade skirt (which I adored) & my cheesecloth top is just about as hippie as things got for me.

Happy Flashback Friday.

Friday Archives hosted by Loobylu.

Probably the last of my offerings. I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel here.

Original kinder painting Circa 1976.
Poster paint on architectural working drawings.

Classic kinder mediums.

It now hangs alongside the kinder paintings of the smalls.

Friday Archives hosted by Loobylu

This is the little guy as drawn by the big girl & stitched by me. Pictured with his golf "blub" which, as a 2 year old he was rarely seen without.

It just so happens that Friday is my long run day. That means lots of time to think...& think...& think.

Today I was thinking about all the hopes & dreams we have for our smalls. This train of thought stemming from the fact that the little guy had a birthday yesterday. My smalls are quite suddenly not so small.

So what do I hope & wish for the life that lies ahead for my not-so-smalls?

loved, loving, give, share, grow, dream, happiness, health, confidence....

And then I got to thinking about the music boxes & I'd really love to make a collaborative music box with all of our hopes & dreams for little people just beginning.

I'd love you to leave your hopes & dreams in the comments. A collection of words is what I'm after.

Thank you.
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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.

Happy Friday.

My Friday Archive is a mosaic garden seat which I made for our kinder teacher. I think I made it around 2002 so it probably hasn't quite reached archive status.

When I asked the little guy what he thought the design was he said "her boobs". It's supposed to be her arms & all those tiny tiles are the kinder kids. Ah well!

I used an upturned planter box & garden tiles.

REWARDING
Snippets from my week.

Last week Jhoanna & Pip both made predictions/suggestions for what lay ahead. I've gone with rewarding because it was easier & I'm feeling a bit slack.

-Being able to help out some gorgeous friends both with blogs & without...rewarding.

-Making time for 5 new beginnings - I'm addicted to beginnings...rewarding.

-Being challenged (& stepping up) by this lovely soul. She's given me so many crafty nudges over the last 12 months and it has meant lots of new beginnings...rewarding.

-Being reminded that when life gets in the way of the things you love it's OK to say "no"...rewarding

-Pushing myself on my Friday run when I really couldn't be fagged...rewarding.

This is... Sunday Lunch. Today was an unusually busy Sunday. The little guy had training all day & I had to pick him up for lunch. We had lunch in Chapel Street & then I dragged him to Fat Helens. He was unimpressed!

As the lunch is nothing much to speak of I thought I'd give you all a giggle.

Sunday lunch used to be a much bigger deal when we were little. Here is...

what scares me, my collection (of family members), Flashback Friday (on Sunday) & Sunday Lunch all rolled into one. I'm standing second from the left. The whole clan dressed in their Sunday 80s best for a "flash" lunch at the Eltham Barrel!!!

is mine.

I found her in the Op Shop (thrift shop) on Friday.

& she sews beautifully.

I know by now it probably seems like I'm just a big fat show off - sorry.

If you'd like me to share some of my recent Op Shop luck please sign my Op Shop Wishlist.

Edit: An Op Shop is an Opportunity Shop or Thrift Shop.