To Market, To Market....

This is something I have been wanting to do for ages, I have been planning, preparing and stocking up for months. Finally I have found some spare time and a suitable place to give it a go, to see how it goes.



So today I am attempting to sell my handmade bits and pieces at a local Market. A few years ago, before Little Man was born, I tried selling my jewellery at some of the local markets. It went ok, not great, but I did manage to sell a few things each time, and at a pre-Xmas Market I sold quite a lot. This time it is that much easier because I can drive myself.











Well, it wasn't a very successful day, not a lot of people, and not a lot of spenders, but it was fun, and I will keep trying, when I get time.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Some things I've been working on

New Years resolution #1 - finish organising my craft room so it's usable.
New Years resolution #2 - get back into blogging regularly and be a better blogger.

So I'm trying out a new way of blogging, to try to make it easier, using blogpress on my iPod. As a test run, here are some photos of things I have been making lately, and some thifty finds.



Canvas set made for mum for Xmas, it's a bit hard to see in the photo but they say Create, Play, Be.


Fabric covered bead necklaces. I made a few more of these as Xmas gifts, but didn't take photos (bad blogger!!).


Pairs of retro wooden tile earrings.


And a major thrift store score, a cotton reel holder for 10 cents.


A candlewick bedspread for $2.


And a glass jar with fancy lid for $2. Also the doily in the necklace & earring photos for $1.

I'm still about a month behind in reading all the blog posts from blogs I follow, and it's impossible to catch up. I think I follow too many blogs, but I can't stand to give any of them up, because they are all so great. Everyone should take a months blogging break so I can catch up.

Please.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone.

Some Christmas Crafting

So sorry for my absence, my poor blog has been thoroughly neglected. The combination of moving, getting my license and general life has meant that I haven’t been home so much, and when I am home I am busy doing housewifey things.

In between all that I have been making things to sell at the markets and making Christmas decorations. They are not very traditional Christmas decorations, but they are my idea of more realistic themes for our family. I was inspired by the turquoise fabric I got from Sheila as part of the colour swap, and some fabric I found in the offcuts basket at the greerton sewing centre, as well as some gorgeous scented hearts that Nin sent me, just because she read that I like turquoise (how sweet is that???).

These are the hearts I received from Nin, smelling of jasmine and white tea. They are both the same, but this photo shows both sides, and I like both sides equally so I couldn’t decide which one to show.

So I wanted to make some more hearts to go with them, mine turned out a bit bigger, but I’m happy with them.

Then I made some peg fairies using the same colours, turquoise, white and blue. They were originally angels, but angels are a bit too religious for my liking, so I prefer to call these fairies.

Using the same fabric I made some little t-shirts with mini wire coat hangers, which were inspired by some we saw in a gorgeous shop in waihi, while on our craft weekend recently. Waihi has some great arty/crafty/gifty shops, very inspiring.

And I also made some pears, using a pattern copied from one of the Tone Finnanger books, I think it was Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle, but it was a while ago and it’s been in my to do file for about 6 months. I’m glad I finally did it, they are really easy to make and so cute.

Here it is all on the tree, plus some other decorations from past years that go with the colour theme. Now that I see it in the photo I can see that the tree is a bit bottom heavy, this is due to little princess insisting on “helping” to decorate the tree.

The thing I love most about the decorations I made is that they are not really christmassy, so I can keep them out all year round even after the tree has been put away.

Friends Swap Goodies

Today I received a package in the mail from Lisa, a wonderful package of goodies put together for the FRIENDS swap. I sent my package to Lisa before we moved, long before the deadline, because I didn’t want it to get lost or forgotten about in the chaos that comes with moving, and I had almost forgotten that I was still waiting to receive one from her.

F is for Felt – A felt rose brooch with vintage button, wrapped in a peice of felt, clipped together with a cute little heart peg.

R is for Red – A fat 1/4 of red polkadot fabric (LOVE), a little knitted stocking, red ribbon, ricrac and trim with more of the cute heart pegs, and a bag of vintage buttons and little flowers.

  I is for inspiration – A pattern including a patchwork bag, sewing machine pin cushion and lanyard, in Strawberry theme. I love it, and most definitely will be making one of the sewing machine pin cushions because I need one.

E is for Edible – YUMMO chocolates, it took a lot of willpower to take a photo of this before ripping in to it, because I had been working hard all morning and I was starving and this chocolate looked soooo good, and it was :)

N is for Needlecase – With a difference, this is a pin cushion with a little needlecase attached, what a great idea! And made from super cute fabric.

D is for Drinking Chocolate – Cherry flavoured, this stuff is AWESOME!! As someone who loves anything cherry flavoured, I believe this is going to be very addictive! And it includes recipes to make it into cocktails which sound deliciously dangerous.

   S is for Something Special – A purse containing some vintage goodies in my favourite colour.

All the things in the package were very thoughtful and just perfect. Thanks so much Lisa, it was great swapping with you.

BTW – I’m going to get my licence tomorrow, I’m super excited and trying really hard not to get nervous. I am confident that I will pass, and have already started planning all the things I am going to do next week now that I can drive :)

Magnetic Poetry

I am a collector, of many things, and I tend to go through phases, which are somewhat obsessive. A few years ago I went through a magnetic poetry phase/obsession/addiction. I have a lot of magnetic poetry sets, some of which are still permanently attached to my fridge, because the only way to get them off would be with some kind of scraping utensil, which would damage my fridge and I would rather look at a fridge covered in words than a fridge covered in scratches.

Unpacking is like uncovering hidden treasure, finding things that have been buried deep in storage for years. One of the things I found was a visual diary containing photos of some poems I created magnetically when I was going through that phase. I had completely forgotten about these poems, and don't even remember buying a visual diary specifically for this purpose, but it must have seemed like a good idea at the time and I'm glad I did.

Some of them are a bit abstract, but the challenge is to create sense with limited words.

They journey into me

infinite minuscule mechanisms

possess the demented nectar

of serpent like heavens.

**************************

How we frolic across

moist ivory tracks

like a bold melody

stroll by the cobalt blossom

savour all the gorgeous hues

before it is time

for us to slumber

beneath tepid soil.

*************************

Observe a savage feline

dwelling on this fiery sun

devouring our icy liquid

orb earthward

to these vast blue visions

thus only here will you be adored.

Ruby avenue

where birds soar

I went there

as a child

when my father was

a kind man

and mother would speak

of a humourous tale

and croon in her arid dialect.

**************************

Magnificent monkey

boogie rapidly

from above

my brilliant friend

I desire your vile mist

you foul beast

may I finally respect you.

Did she bloom

the fire goddess

child of the sun

sacred spirit

I kneel beside you

overwhelmed by your

sweet universe.

As you can see, I am having fun playing around with all the free photography apps I can get for my new iPod. This is my absolute favourite thing right now, this fantastically tiny device which can do everything my computer can do and more, while fitting nicely in my pocket. Hubby has an iPad, which he thinks is the best gadget ever, but I would like to see him try to fit it in his pocket!

A work in progress

This is what my new craft room looks like at the moment, so obviously not a lot of crafting is going on right now. It was looking semi-tidy yesterday until we decided to clear some space in the garage for the car. I had hopes of getting some things made to sell at the markets next month, since I will finally be able to drive myself there, but with all this stuff in the way, and so much other stuff in every other room in the house, it's going to be hard to find time for creating.

Now that I have a new iPod I can at least keep my blog up to date pretty easily :)

A Handmade Gift

 

This is what I have made for my M.I.L's birthday tomorrow. All handmade by me: Pillowcase tote bag, pillowcase apron, herbal bath tea bags, crochet flower brooch.

The apron was inspired by this tutorial, but I ended up doing it a bit differently. The herbal bath tea bags were inspired by this tutorial, which was featured on the Muffins and More Tea Lovers Roundup, but I also made mine a bit differently to use the supplies I had. The pattern for the crochet flower and leaves can be found on Attic24, it's a great pattern, quick and easy to follow, and makes a great reserve gift to keep stashed away for when you need something with short notice. I've already got a few made up as reserves.

Now I have more reason to buy pillowcases, because I think the apron I made is so cute, and can't wait to make some for myself. They would make great peg aprons, or add more pockets (this one only had two) to make it a craft apron. I'm trying to justify spending the rest of the day sitting in front of the sewing machine instead of packing....sewing, packing, sewing, packing...I know which one I would rather be doing, but I also know which one I should be doing....I'll decide after I've had some lunch :)