Sweet Fabric [Search results for noticing] 

The "worst" house in the best street. It's a very posh street in Canterbury & all the other houses are quite beautifully kept. I love this place.

I'm feeling heartily sick of myself & kootoyoo in general.

I feel I need a distraction & with the kids on holidays for the next couple of weeks I think it's the perfect opportunity to down the craft tools & pick up the camera. I'm noticing stuff (& hopefully I'll have the camera ready when I do).

Not all the good stuff can be clicked mind you ... on Saturday morning the kids & I actually saw the end of a rainbow. This has never happened to me before - it was magical & amazing. I shan't be sacrificing these noticings digging around in my bag for the camera.

If you feel like noticing some stuff right along with me...feel free. I'd love to have some company.

Today marks the return to school for the smalls.

I really enjoyed the Noticing project and plan to continue it. Maybe quietly on Flickr & maybe here too...we'll see.

I'm back into the swing of all things crafty too. Amazingly, I'm following instructions. Usually, I would have a look, read ahead, cut corners where I could & sort of adapt the instructions to suit my style. I probably wouldn't have bothered with the tracing & just hacked straight into the original pattern...oh horror!

But as I've been charged with testing responsibility I thought I better do it right!

Noticed elsewhere:
divine knitted beanie

& how quickly a "technique" employed out of necessity becomes a habit. It was tricky to find my chain stitches with the two strands of mohair & using the big hook. So I started marking. Now I'm marking my third chain either for back & forth or in the round. Regardless of hook & yarn size. It makes things easier for me & we all know I LOVE a rule.

I'm holidaying at the moment (& you could be too enter Mikes Crafty Getaway). I'm enjoying taking stuff in, spending time unplugged & stopping to check things out. Noticing.

Noticed elsewhere:
hand quilting - just lovely.

Have a fabulously creative day.

Don't forget to pop in & add your link if you're playing along this week.

They've been out of the house for fully 3 hours & I'm already noticing how much I miss the rest of the team (& not just because I've had to take these pics myself).

This slouch beanie is totally ripped off a store bought one that was purchased for the big girl yesterday. It's reversible but I think maybe the red side is a bit too "Christmas elf". You be the judge.

Made from entirely thrifted materials. Both the cream & the red fabrics are pure wool. It's lovely & light & incredibly warm.

Noticed elsewhere:
tips on sewing leather

Thanks Kate for making me appreciate them all over again & get over my pony = headache phase.

Yesterday we watched The Man From Snowy River (1 &2). We're all completely in love again.

Thank YOU all for appreciating the noticing. You are completely ace!

isn't it just begging to be opened?

Of course, I'm way too chicken for that kind of thing. It was all I could do to summon the courage to take the pic.

Noticed elsewhere:
beautiful greeting cards

Magical & powerful.

This is a moonah. They are everywhere down the coast & they are my mother-in-law's absolute favourite tree.

The moonah doesn't really float my boat but the silhouette is quite special.

They stink!

I actually did a U turn on the highway to take this pic. The alpacas were yarded & I guess ready to load onto a truck. It was very considerate of the alpaca farmer really as having them in a confined space made it easy to photograph them.

I haven't really taken much notice of alpaca before except for the fact of how divinely soft alpaca yarn is. I had no idea they smelt so rank nor did I know about the possum like hiss they make.

I'm without a car for a couple of weeks.

I've noticed just how much I rely on the car. Today I walked and caught the tram into the city with the girls for a doctor's appointment and then rode my bike to visit my sister...I'm shattered.

Much as I love living in the leafy green suburbs (where not even a coffee is walking distance) today would have been much easier if I lived in Fitzroy.

This map is from an old street directory picked up at the Camberwell market yesterday - so good!

The "ghost town" feel of Melbourne in January makes me brave(r).

I'm more inclined to scale a fence or wriggle through a hole in the cyclone wire. The fear of winding up in jail seems more remote...surely the police are down the coast too?

Just super loving the club rooms.

I had reason to be at The Mall in West Heidelberg yesterday. A place I haven't been since about 1985.

I stepped out of my car and as I took my first steps towards Cambridge Arcade I felt my scalp tingle and every hair on my body stand on end.

I could hear Non's Italian heeled shoes clip clopping beside me and I could smell her sickly sweet perfume. Max Bygraves was singing somewhere in the distance. Non's knitting was spilling out of the hessian bag I was carrying for her. I smiled knowing that she'd not be wanting to waste her 15 minute tea break just sitting in the tea room and chatting to the storeman.

I notice that the heavy steel grate that we'd struggled with had long been replaced but the terrazzo stairs are still there and I gasp...remembering how strangely scared I felt when I had to take those stairs alone.

I leave Non in the arcade and take the front entrance into the store. I feel tears welling in my eyes and a lump rising in my throat. Surely the store was bigger than this. It's a discount store now. Gone are the bays for holding yarn and the wall that divided the shop front from the "warehouse". There's been no refit though. The same peg board lines the wall where we used to keep the laybys and the floor and wall paint remain as they were.

As I walk toward the back of the store I spy the door to the tea room and a faint waft of International Roast coffee fills the air.

The shop which now occupies the space at the end of Cambridge Arcade is fittingly called The Family Store.

And this morning I went back to snap myself some memory anchors.

I missed a day.

I had uploaded a couple of pics and then my internet dropped out...I was in Queensland. Then I dunno it just seemed wrong to be blathering on about my stuff when there was so much going on.

Safely back in Melbourne I'm thinking a LOT about the floods and those who have lost (& are yet to lose) homes & family.

She's a force.

Anything texty is going to get me everytime & what's not to love about black & white with hint of brick?

I took a little detour with the girls the other day & found myself at the Abbotsford Convent.

I really love that place...it's like stepping into another world.

I'm not quite ready to step back into the creative space thingy but if you're keen say "i" & I'll fire it up for next week OR happy to cruise a couple more weeks. Up to you.

Lean-to addition to an Edwardian house in Hawthorn. Completely bastardised by Len & his wife but that's what makes me love it. They had a "can do" attitude.

This green makes me nostalgic. I seem to remember the James' had a lot of this colour in their house when we were kids. I loved it and I loved their house. It was dark & cosy & just right.

Hoping that your day is cosy today. I plan to stay inside & watch movies with the smalls.

Noticed elsewhere: daybeds

I missed the perfect one on ebay the other night (I hate snipers) & have become quite obsessed. I'm thinking now I might have a crack at making my own.

It's what it's all about isn't it?

overlooking the water bottle on the bedhead,
saying nothing about the teabag in the sink,
not minding about the running shoes left in the middle of the bathroom floor,
keeping silent about the sugar bowl being left on the bench,
understanding that shoes should be left beside the footstool,
admiring the collection of sporting trophies,
supporting the house-to-home-junk-collection,
reluctantly framing the team photos,

& for Len and his wife the "pool room" laundry where he was allowed the poster of some 70s (Essendon) AFL hero in her perfectly pink sanctuary.

That's a marriage folks.

Noticed elsewhere:
birthday month at draw pilgrim

We're still on school holidays. I'm soaking up the last couple of days with my fresh-back-from-the-snow kids and we've got big plans for today.

I've noticed how much the anticipation & lead up to something new excites me. I've been making myself finish off a few things before I got stuck into my next project. With it firmly in the forefront of my mind I do plan to spend a couple of hours curled up on the couch with this DIVINE cheater print from the ever fabulous Aunty Cookie. It's available in three colourways in her store now.

Noticed elsewhere:
hairpin leg wine cabinet
(I really want to get my hands on some of those legs for the whole daybed idea)

Don't forget to pop in & add your link if you're playing along this week. I'll looking forward to catching up next week.

Daybreak on January 11 2011 @ Broadbeach QLD

Life is mostly froth & bubble,
Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another's troubles,
Courage in your own.

This contribution came out of "Enid's" autograph book. I bought the book with the all time Rummager.

B Williamson
Our Lady of Mercy College
Goulburn July 24th 1917

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If you would like to help Pip has a fabulous list of links here.
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I can barely contain my excitement.

I opened a box that had simply been relocated from house to house. I'm embarrassed to admit we moved over a year ago.

I had thought the view master slides had been lost along the way so imagine the thrill when I uncovered these yesterday!

The view master has been in constant use since ... viewing the 7 wonders of the world in marvellous 3D & delicious desaturated, scratched 70s style.

Happy weekend lovely folk.

& how a bit of warmth changes everything.

After days & days of grey it was such a welcome sight.

Hoping you're feeling the kiss of the sun at your place.

Be brave.
Mix things up.
Have a crack.

I am not, by nature, a risk taker. I'm a first born, married to a first born. I follow the rules and do the "right" things. In my head I'm so much braver, sassier & have more guts. When it comes down to it, I don't take the road less travelled. I tread the same well worn (& well loved) path. I enjoy the pace & the scenery on my road but I confess I do sometimes wonder about the road less travelled.

When it comes to making yes, yes, yes with the risk. I just dive in, trust my eye, make it up as I go along. Interesting isn't it? There's always the round filing cabinet if it all turns to shiz.

Noticed elsewhere:
Risk takers I admire... Claire, Bindi, Pip, Michelle. Girls with big plans & making stuff happen. Power to you.