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 :)

Goodies Galore

Yesterday was a particularly good mail day for me, I received two of my swap parcels, and they are pretty awesome.

First up is the Here Comes the Sun swap parcel, received from Lex (who I think has the Captain Plaknit blog, but that’s just a guess from some quick detective work on my part, please correct me if I’m wrong Lex). She sent me a very cool scarf made out of recycled wool, and a brooch also made out of recycled wool as well as a crochet flower. Well, I can’t wear wool anywhere near my skin, but I’m thinking that this “scarf” will take on another purpose in my new craft room, and I might have to make some more to go with it.

Next is the Colour swap, in the flavour of Turquoise (my fav colour), from Sheila. I don’t know much about quilting, but I think a lot of work has gone into these items, and they are gorgeous. The package included a shoulder bag, a little purse, a needle book, a fat quarter of swirly fabric (LOVE IT!), a vintage heart pendant, and some sewing bits and pieces - embroidery thread, metallic sewing thread, velvet ribbon and buttons.

It was my birthday in the weekend, and I chose to spend my birthday doing what I love. I don’t usually get the chance to go out at night, because I don’t drive and because I am needed at home. Every fortnight there is a Saturday craft night on at the local scrapbooking shop, bookem. I haven’t been since May, but I managed to make it to this one because it was on my birthday and Hubby was pretty happy for me to go out for a special occasion. Let me just say that having so many crafty ladies as friends is FANTASTIC, because every gift they give is amazing, even the cards were great!

I didn’t actually get a lot of things for my birthday from family, I got money (except for the early birthday present from my wonderful mummy, my fantastic sewing machine!!). So these were the only presents I got on my birthday, and I am so lucky.

This is what I did while there, made a whole pile of tags to put on the stuff I sell on Felt, and just for general gift giving. The great thing about going to these nights at Bookem is that they have just about every shape punch, stamp, tool….you can ever imagine, and you are free to use them while there. So for these tags I used my own stamps and ink, but used a couple of different sized circle punches from their stash.

Did you see the bag I made last week? Well I made another one, and a little matching purse/iPod touch case. I also made another one, not out of a vintage pillowcase, but a plain black pillowcase with some pleat/fold details, and it came out great as well. No picture, because it’s part of a gift for a friend, and she might see it on here before I give it to her.

I have been busy sewing gifts all day, but now I’ve hit a creative block, and I can not think of anything to make for the last person on my list. Why are there so many birthdays this time of year? And really soon I will have to start doing something about Christmas presents, because they will be handmade too. Last year it was gift baskets full of handmade jam, lemonade, chocolates etc. I really would like to make some kind of relish/chutney, but it has to be easy and cheap. If you have any great recipes please share.

I almost forgot about this totally awesome award. Leonie from Kiwi at Heart has passed this on to me, my very first blog award.

Now here are the rules:

1. Accept the award. (Post it on your blog along with the name and link of the person who has awarded it to you.

2. Pay it forward to 15 other bloggers whom you’ve recently discovered.

3. Contact the bloggers and let them know that they have been chosen.

Ok, so here’s my list:

1. Vintage Mum, Modern Child

2. Melly & Me

3. Beach Vintage

4. Troc, Broc and Recup

5. Vintagesue

6. The Yvestown Blog

7. The Wardrobe

8. The Clip Cafe

9. Squidgyums

10. Striking Keys

So I know that’s only 10, but that’s all I have time for right now. I’ll do another 5 later, and email everyone to let them know. Time to go grocery shopping with the famdamily, yay.

ETA:

11. Spunkee

12. Punky & Me

13. Pencils and Pins

14. Moose & Bird

15. Magpie Chic

Thrift Store Finds

Completely going against what I said two days ago, yesterday I stopped into my local thrift store to see if I could find some cool pillowcases to make into bags. Well, I didn’t find any pillowcases, but I did come how with a few other things, of course.

I think this sis supposed to be some kind of nibbles station, with little removable dishes and a place in the centre to put napkins or utensils, but that’s not what I am planning to use it for. The women at the counter were admiring it and trying to decide what you would use it for, and I told them I was planning to use it for organising craft stuff and they both were a bit disappointed that they didn’t think of that, lucky for me :) I think my brain just naturally looks at something and thinks “what else could I use that for?”, it’s very handy.

Some vintage children’s books, with great pictures. See that little piggy bank in the top picture? I totally want one just like that! I thought the ABC book would make great artwork for little man’s wall, one day.

And something a bit more modern, to use as leverage to get little princess to be on her best behaviour when we went to visit the house last night. Call it blackmail, bribery, whatever you like, it works and I am not afraid to use it. Luckily, the house was empty, so there was nothing much to touch anyway.

So, how did it go?  House = Awesome, our chances of getting it = who knows. Credit checks and reference checks are involved, both of which should come back fine, I hate thinking that I am being judged on appearances, because that’s really all they have to go on if everything else checks out. There was another family leaving as we arrived and they had 4 kids, so I would think a family with less kids would be preferred, because 2 more kids = a whole lot more wear and tear, right? I don’t know, but I guess now all we can do is wait until a decision has been made, we should find out early next week. Fingers, toes and anything else possible crossed. We have met the only condition of the sale of our house, so as soon as we sign those papers, it’s unconditional, woohoo!!!