Blogtoberfest day 31.

OMG! when I started this little project yesterday afternoon I thought I could knock it over in maybe 4 or 5 hours. How totally wrong was I!!
I decided to make two advent calendars........I still thought I'd get them finished before I went to bed. This is what it looked like at 11.30 last night.......

This is what it looked like at 9am this morning........

I truly had no idea how much work these things were, I tried hard to get them just right.....not too fussy or overdone and by 2pm this afternoon I was ready to start stitching down all the pockets! Two hours later and all I have to do is stitch the binding down on the back. Woooohooooo!!!

I think I'll have to leave the last bit of stitching til after dinner because at some point you just have to stop having that love affair with the sewing machine and clean the house! What a trail of destruction I have left from the bedroom to the dining table.......I think I'm going to need the next 2 days to clean it all up! Blah!

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Blogtoberfest day 30.

I made it back just in time for the last couple of Blogtoberfest Posts......I think I should have posted ahead a few more days than I did. I didn't miss those couple of days because I couldn't be bothered, I missed them because I had to duck down to my mother's last weekend as she was in hospital for a bit of a procedure on her tummy. Everything is fine now and she made it home yesterday and is now resting.

I did take a bit of stitching with me, I made it around a few pears but that's about it. I did have plenty of time to think about what project I was going to tackle next, it involves numbers........ 24 to be exact!
I only started the first one a little while ago, there is losts of measuring and stitching, then I think I'm going to tackle it like a scrapbooking layout........see how it goes!

I've moved my sewing into the dining room this afternoon right underneath the air conditioner, I'd better get back to it and get as much done as I can before the table has to be cleared for dinner..........see you all later!

Blogtoberfest day 27.

Sometimes we all need a bit of HOPE in our lives!
Last weekend I was lucky enough to have these pears featured in a weekender magazine on the Sunshine Coast........a big thanks goes out to Kylie the journalist who spotted my pears and had them put in the mag. Woooohoooo!

Blogtoberfest day 26.

It took a while and I had a sore back from sitting at my sewing machine but I've finished sewing all the trims on and putting all my cuddly babushka dolls together.
I think I'll take Megan's antique cot to display them in.

Or her red suitcase.

Either way I think I'm going to need a truck to get there.

I should be home soon, then I'll be able to visit and see what all you lovely talented people are up to!

Take care and thanks for visiting!

Blogtoberfest day 25.

I've only ever done a couple of market stalls before and to make sure I've got things right I like to have a bit of a trial run! I like to use all types of things from around my house to help make my display work the way I want it too.

Once I put a few things out it's a great visual indication as to whether I'm going to have enough stock.............now I'm slightly worried! Not only am I away for a few days but I'll only have two weeks until this first of two markets when I get back. I think I need to double what I've already done!

You'll find me at the Christmas Fair in Gunnedah on the 13th of November and at the Goondiwindi Cultural Centre on the 4th of December. One day I hope to do the bigger markets............something I'll enjoy working towards in the future!

Thanks for visiting.

Blogtoberfest day 23.

Talk about being in the right place at the right time! Yesterday I was visiting my friend Kathy from our local fabric shop, we were having a coffee and a bit of a chat, after I finished my coffee I was taking the rubbish out to put in the bin when I noticed this sitting amongst the rubbish!
Apparently someone had traded it in on a new machine which meant this one was destined for the tip! Lucky I was there to rescue this beautiful antique!

It is in perfect working order, even has a new power cord.

I was telling my mother about my new find and she told me that she learnt to sew on one just like this at school.

I have some antique sewing patterns which I'm going to frame, I think they'll look perfect hanging on the wall above this beautiful piece in my new sewing room.

Blogtoberfest day 21 and 22.

Believe me I didn't miss blogtoberfest yesterday on purpose! I simply couldn't get any service on my computer! It shits me that we have to use a wireless modem because we don't have ADSL access and the signal just comes and goes continually! I tried to send an email last night.......it took me 45 minutes!

I spent the day yesterday appliqueing some Aunty Cookie cuteness on a few zippered pouches for my market stall.
These little characters are so cute, I'd put them on everything if I could.

I'll try and get around to visit a few of you today.........if I can get a signal that is! Grrrrrr!

Blogtoberfest day 18.

I have a friend that is interested in a few Babushka Dolls for her daughter so yesterday afternoon while Mark and the kids were at the block I had a bit of a trial run. The first attempt I'm not even going to show you, but I will tell you that it's head was so small that it looked like a pin-head on a big bump!

After a few hours of mucking around these sleepy twins were done!
I did go back to the hand stitching of the eyes and mouth.......however I did use the copic pen for the blush, it worked perfectly!

The cute little trim was found in my retired ( for now ) scrapbooking stash, I think I'll dip into all the trims and embellishments more often and use them up!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.

Blogtoberfest day 16.

It's been real busy on the miniature owl front the past few days! I have about 60 on the go at the moment, all at different stages, some need wings, some need eyes and feet, it's a huge job but hopefully early next week the majority of them should be done!

This little box of 18 miniature owls will be in Shop Handmade next week, so if you live near by call in and say hello to Julie, Rachel and Jennie (Posie) and grab one while you're there!
Starting to get slightly stressed about my first Christmas market, I have only 4 weeks to get ready and one of those weeks I have to go away! I have two huge tables booked and I have so much I want to make so my display will look inviting.

My little shopping trip to get more supplies to add to my already bulging stash yesterday was a success, I'm hoping I don't have to go back for a while. If I thought I only needed 2 rolls of something I took 4 or 6, and I ordered a few hundred buttons so hopefully they'll be in soon..............now all I need is time!

Talk soon.

Blogtoberfest day 15.

Can you believe we're up to day 15 already! This could be some sort of hump day for the month!

Today because it's raining outside I'm going to share something with a little sunshine in the background. I made these little fabric boxes last week, I think the highlight for me was using some of the Aunty Cookie fabric as applique on the front!

These fabric boxes are approx. 15cm square and I'm beginning to think that they might be a little too big.........standing them up filled with goodies isn't a problem, but when they're empty they tend to be a bit floppy! If anyone has any ideas please let me know.......I'd really appreciate it! Now for two very excited little kids, they went to their first Little Athletics meet on Wednesday and had the best time ever! It looks like this might be something the kids want to do as seriously as some of the other kids.......Megan is quite the little sprinter/runner, and Ryan is a bit of an all-rounder. The meets run into the evening so the club puts on a BBQ for dinner.......there's nothing worse than getting home late then having to cook so that's a winner for me! I was going to shoot across to Tamworth yesterday afternoon and pick up a few badly needed supplies but something came over me and I felt awfully sick, so that's where I'm off to this morning after I get a coffee to go.

Thanks for stopping by.

Megan's Creative Space.

This week it's Megan's turn to share something she was working on.
Megan has a few pet chickens, sometimes she sneaks them inside even though she's been told not too. She talks to them every day, sometimes they even jump on the trampoline with her.........yeah scrambled eggs!

Last weekend Megan wanted to do some hand stitching.......what do you think she wanted to make?

You guessed it......a chicken!

I'm so proud of her she did really well, the stitching was super neat and she even got the buttons on by herself without any problems!

Now she can leave the real chickens outside and play with this one in her room!

For more creative spaces give kootoyoo a visit and say hello to Kirsty.

All packed up!

Today I've packed up some sewing so I can go and spend the day with friends! We are having a crafty sort of day, there will be sewing, scrapbooking and loads of laughter I'm sure! I'm really looking forward to this as we haven't been able to catch up for a while.
I plan on making a few more of these for Shop Handmade, as well as finishing off some pear orders.

Hope you are all having a crafty sort of day too!

Monday Morning.

School holidays are over......for one of the kids anyway. Megan goes back Tuesday. So even though I've been waking up nice and early throughout the holidays I found it a bit hard getting up this morning.........I didn't wake with as much energy as I usually do! Megan had a friend over to play yesterday and I was showing her how to thread a needle ( I can't imagine not teaching my children ) and she coughed and spluttered all over me! Yuk Yuk Yuk!!!! That might be the reason I feel the way I do!

Later on today I'm going to play with some of this gorgeous Aunty Cookie fabric I bought last week. I have plans to put a bit of it on all sorts of things for my market stall.
I know you are all going to miss the kids today, but don't stress you get them back at 3pm!

Blogtoberfest.....day 9.

As promised I have just listed these cute little hanging owl ornaments in my madeit store.

They each have their own personality!
Wouldn't you like one of these hanging in your tree this Christmas?
So tiny.....only between 9cm and 10cm tall.

You could give one as a gift or just keep it for yourself!

Day 8 of Blogtoberfest.

I've been busy working on a few orders and trying to get some of these little cuties done so I can list them in my madeit store........hopefully over the weekend!
Yesterday Megan had another riding lesson, this time she was on an Arab called Freddie.

I think Freddie suited her, there was alot of improvement this time around, he is a lovely old fella..... great for kids.

I have to share this with you! I was visiting Chantal last week and saw that she made her own Willy Wagtail stamp..........useful for all sorts of applications! I almost begged her to make me one and yesterday it arrived in the post.

Cute isn't it? There was also a little tag with a mushroom stamp on it in the package, think I'll have to ask for one of those too!

If you want to give Chantal a visit you can check her out here.

Hope you are all enjoying the last few days of school holidays.

Bye for now.

My Creative Space.

I want to try and make a few tiny babushka dolls for my market stall in about a months time, I wanted to be able to just simply draw on the eyes, lips and cheeks. I was told that all I had to do was buy myself some of the new Copic pens and they will do the job beautifully.
Well I bought the colours I needed, but I don't think they do the job beautifully! They keep bleeding! Am I using the wrong type of pens? Maybe I'll have to stitch things on and forget it!

If anyone know what I should be using please let me know!

For more creative spaces head on over to Kootoyoo and say hello to Kirsty.

See you all tomorrow for day 8 of Blogtoberfest.

My must haves! Blogtoberfest day 6.

Yesterday while having a look around my messy desk ( which by the way is still messy ) a few key items stood out to me, things I use on a daily basis, items I can't be creative without, things that must be at arms reach.

So today I'm going to share some of the things I must have on my desk because I need/use them every day.

Firstly is my roll of Vliesofix, I bought a roll which is only 30cm wide so it would be small enough to fit into my small space and if needed stand on my desk. I use it everyday, love this stuff!!!
Air Erasable Pen, great for tracing out all your patterns. I got caught on a weekend once when my pen ran out!!! OMG I nearly had a meltdown so now I always keep two on the go!

Scissors, you can never have enough! I'm quite anal about my scissors and the kids know not to touch......EVER!!! I have a pair of scissors for different jobs like, obviously the paper ones, scissors which I only use on Felt, fabric scissors, scissors for cutting my vliesofix, miscellaneous scissors and little ones everywhere for cutting threads. There are also some pinking shears and yes that is a pair of garden clippers......I use them for the stems on the pears!

Finally is upholstery weight thread........so super strong! I use this stuff for sewing on buttons and all sorts of things. It's a great time saver because you only have to do a couple of stitches and you know that it's not going to go anywhere.

What are the things you use on a daily basis?

Thanks for stopping by.

Waiting for Wings! Day 5 Blogtoberfest!

I had always planned on turning some of these cute little owls into hanging ornaments for the big tree.....I just needed to find the perfect string to hang them with. So now it's all system go on the "miniature hanging owls" to hang on your tree front.

These little owls looked so cute all lined up waiting for their wings........don't mind the messy desk in the background. If I had enough room to be able to put everything away believe me I would. At the moment I've taken over a small corner in my bedroom, the dining table and some of the lounge room........not the most ideal of spaces but I'm happy to do it for now because I know things are going to change!

We now have a driveway!

I think after I finish a few things that must be in the post today I'm going to try and tidy up a bit, rearrange the piles of fabric and empty the bin so I can start nice and fresh tomorrow!

What are you working on today?

See you all tomorrow for more blogtoberfest.

Clearly I have a problem!

Is there such a thing as "AA" for people who don't have the ability to walk past a fabric shop with out buying something? Maybe we could call it "FA" for fabric addicts!

Yesterday I took the kids to see Legend of the Guardian in Tamworth, afterwards I had an urge to go down town and have a look around .........knowing that at some point I'd have to walk past a fabric shop! I feel compelled to walk in and touch and examine all that I can, all the while thinking.........Oh I love this! What could I make out of this? Oh this looks fantastic with this! Meanwhile the kids are rolling their eyes.......well at least Ryan is, Megan has found a cave under a pile of fabric rolls and has made camp!

So here is the latest addition to my fabric stash, and here is what they are from top to bottom.
Ticking ( so gorgeous it matches beautifully with linen ), Linen, more Ticking ( can't ever have enough of something you love ), and finally the bottom one is Matka Silk ( so beautifully soft you could sleep on it).
I think I was more excited than the kids about going to see this movie.....can you guess why?

Oh the owls! Beautiful beautiful owls! It was an extra surprise to find out that it was one of those 3D movies as well, don't the kids look excited?

I highly recommend this movie for both young and old, I think I might even have to go back and see it again.

See you all tomorrow!