Easter Saturday Fire!

We absolutely love travelling down to the farm where I grew up to visit my parents and have a little fun.

There had been a few storms in past months where trees had fallen so there were plenty of logs to create a huge fire.

 Had no idea the flames were going to get this high, it was huge and we could feel the heat from across the paddock.

 Of course Megan had to be the one to do the fire dance!

 There is something about having a fire with family around which we love. It means plenty of marshmallows a bit of a sausage sizzle and sitting and watching the flames well into the night.

I hope you all had a lovely Easter weekend with family and friends.

I'll have more to share later in the week, for now it's back to stitching up pears and getting organised for school tomorrow.

Bye Bye Birdie!

This was hard. How do you pack such delicate little birds without them being crushed? I did the best I could, tried to pack the tissue around them so they'd keep their shape all for their journey to Shop Handmade ( in store today ).

I didn't have time to make as many as I wanted for the first shipment as we've had visitors for the past three days, which was a nice change I have to say!

 I'm planning on a few more after Easter and before Mother's Day.

 Have you dropped a few hints for Mother's Day yet? Apart from wanting something fluffy to keep my feet warm all I want is time.........time to sit in front of my sewing machine and maybe sew something for myself, or start on a new quilt ( I have a new fabric stash I'm dying to play with ). There wouldn't be any cleaning up, cooking, washing or refereeing a battle between the kids.......just time for mum! Ahhhhhh I'm already excited!

 But for now it's back to reality, a mountain of washing on a rainy day, a house which is desperate need of a vacuum and some pear orders to get started on.

 Once all the pears are done it's back to birds.

The lovely Bethany thinks that a yellow bird would look good and I'd have to agree, so I might give it a go when I have time. What colours would you like to see?

Sorry for the picture overload, they are all so cute and I had to share them all.

One can never have enough cuteness around.

Thanks for stopping by.

I love her!

I had a round three, four and five and this is the end result.....

 Isn't she the sweetest little birdy you've ever seen?

 I'm so attached to her that I almost don't want to put her in a box and send her to her new home.

 But I know where she is going and I know that she'll be treasured and loved by a very special little girl.

 Yes this little bird was a custom order, but I am working on a few more all to be posted to Shop Handmade this week. Remember if you want one and you can't make it to Shop Handmade please send me an email.

 They will all be lovingly handmade and only $24.95.

 I'm more than happy to do custom orders if you have or want a particular colour used......maybe something you've decorated your room with.

That's all I have for today, I'm off to do 6 loads of washing ( how exciting ) finish a few pear orders, and tidy up for visitors tomorrow.

Today I'm grateful for....

Remember this! Well after the gorgeous Rosalind from Grace Designs asking me if I had gone any further with the little birds I thought that a rainy day like today was the perfect time for round three!

And you know what..........I think I've almost got it the way I want. It's amazing how stepping away from something and trying at a later date actually works!

 All I need to do is just tweak my pattern just a little as I'm not completely happy with the shape, but as you can see it's almost there.

 I remember I had a big issue with the legs. Truth be told I think I was over thinking them too much, trying too hard to get them like the real thing........I remember it gave me a migraine and that's when I walked away. Since then I have made countless little owls with wire feet/legs so all I had to do was keep it simple like the owls.......it worked and this time the bird can actually stand alone.

So today I'm grateful for time, grateful for the lovely Rosalind who asked me to revisit the birds, and I'm also grateful for gorgeous rainy days.....the kind of days which inspire me to sit and create. Most of all I'm grateful this time there was no sign of a migraine!

If you wan to join in please visit Maxabella Loves.

He was looking at me I swear!

Well that's my story anyway! Yep last night Jodi and I went to see Keith Urban and it was fantastic!

The first act was just as impressive.........Lady Antebellum.

 What can I say......Hot hot hot!

I nearly lost my voice from screaming and singing my was through hours of the best entertainment I've seen in ages.

While the end of last week was about completing many small orders .......

today was mostly about creating one of my favourites in a few different colours!

I'm totally smitten with the natural on black, it's a nice to change things up a little don't you think!

I'll be sure to take some real nice pictures of them when finished.

Thanks for stopping by.



Flea Market Finds!

I'm joining in with Sophie's Flea Market Finds this week for the first time in a while. That doesn't mean that I haven't been on the hunt for the ultimate prize/treasure...... I have, life has just been so busy and today I've decided that all the other stuff can wait it's time to have some fun and share a treasure.

 I found another vintage suitcase ( like I needed another one ) at a garage sale for only $8. This one caught my eye because of the red trim on the outside, I know it looks a bit old and bashed but I don't care I think it looks fab in the middle of my stack. There was a whole wall of suitcases at the garage sale and I so wished I could have given them all a new home.....but I haven't got any room left and my existing suitcase stack is already quite tall.

Apart from feeding a habit of collecting old and rustic things my suitcase stack also serves as storage. Each and every one of them has something stored in it for safe keeping.
Last christmas I hid all the christmas presents in them........the kids had no idea!

Today my husband and I have been cleaning the timber blinds and windows inside and out.......it's a huge job and one that I hate but it has to be done. I hope your Sunday is much more enjoyable than ours!

Remember to pop on over and say hello to Sophie

Hello!

Do you like my moustache?

 Moustache bunnies delivered to Shop Handmade today.

If you want one and you can't make it into Shop Handmade just email me at redstitchdesigns@bigpond.com

Bye for now.

Bunnies are hopping out the door!

Lately I've been thinking about bunnies in my sleep, how many I need to do the next day, what colour combinations I need to do, boy or  girl, it never stops!

It's all good though because this is what I love doing, making and creating on a daily basis brings me so much joy.....way better than doing ironing and housework. That will all change in about another six to eight months when we move into our new home which happens to be four times the size of the one we're in now. I'll be anal about how my house is presented .......cleaning the floors alone will be like a major work-out!

Here are some of those body parts turned into boy bunnies, all of which will be arriving at Shop Handmade today!

Do you like the big old wing-back chair they are sitting on? I love it! I found it at a garage sale for $90 and I intend to have it covered in some gorgeous upholstery fabric for the new house.......when I can afford it!

 While away in Orange last week I couldn't help but add to my fabric stash, I totally love the soft tones of the blues and mocha......could be turned into a quilt some day!

 Or maybe the beautiful Autumn tones of these fabrics.....

Either way I think I'm going to have some fun when time permits.

Body Parts.

Today after a lovely morning coffee with friends I'm playing with these body parts.

I can't believe that Easter is almost upon us, where has the first term of this year gone? Only one more week and we are back to sleep-ins and kids entertainment on a daily basis.......at least there won't be any homework or ironing of uniforms.

P.S. These body parts are being turned into bunnies for Shop Handmade, if you were wanting a bunny please go to my madeit store in the side bar. If you can't find what you are after just send me an email.

Grand final for cricket!

Yesterday was the cricket grand final and the last of the cricket for this season. We are so proud of Ryan, not only did his team win the under 12's he won the award for most improved.

 He loves his cricket......one day he wants to play for Australia.

 He always gives the game everything he's got.

 I'm hoping that there might be a set of cricket nets built down the back at the new house......we'll have to wait and see.

Now it's time for him to go onto the next seasonal sport......Rugby Union!

Self Covered Buttons!

I love making these self covered buttons, they are so beautiful and unbelievably easy to do. These pretty buttons were made up for the finishing touch on a few linen draw string bags I made for Shop Handmade over the weekend.

And this is my new favourite linen draw string bag!

These bags should be arriving at Shop Handmade today, so if you are wanting one go in and check them out.

Just in case you were wondering this post was done on Monday...... I'm not home yet, maybe in another few days. Wonder how those kids are going? How many times have they had takeaway? Are their uniforms neat? How is Mark going to do Megan's hair for " Crazy Hair Day" at school? 

I need to stop stressing!

Special Order.

I finished the custom order of Pirate bunnies which I did a trial run on last week.

I love them all, each has it's own personality!

 Each of them has a girl too!

My weekend was  bit full on, I had loads of orders to finish........I have made a huge dent in my half finished projects and it feels good to have some space on my desk again.

It won't take me long to clutter it all up again, I think I work best when I have a few different things going at once........keeps my mind ticking, and I can switch projects when it suits.

I'm going to take a week off this week ( hence the rush to get everything done ) as my father has an operation tomorrow and I'd like to be there for a bit of support. I'm leaving the kids with Mark so that should result in some messy pony tails for Megan and a few dodgy looking lunch boxes. I don't know why I'm worried about leaving them for a few days, I know things might not be done as would do them but I know they'll survive.

See you later in the week!

My Creative Space....What's on the go!

I just had a look around my sewing table and noticed that I have so many projects on the go and things are starting to get a little cramped in my tiny work space!

I know that I should only work on one thing at a time, but I find that it drives me crazy if I haven't got any hand stitching to do of an evening so I tend to save those jobs later on. This allows me to get stuck into all the other bits and pieces throughout the day when the kids are at school.

Today I stitched up all the ruffles ready for piecing together the draw-string bags.

 I have a new favourite.....the linen and dark blue one, it's so pretty!

 There is a big basket full of body parts, I just have to stitch some eyes on the heads and I'll be able to shift this lot.

 I usually stitch my pears of an evening, it's real easy to stop and drop if needed.......relaxing too!

There's also a bunch of Pirate Bunnies on the go as well as two quilts.........all that should keep me busy for a while!

If you want to see some more creative spaces head on over to kootoyoo and say hello to Kirsty.

Linen Love!

Most of you already know that I love the natural look of linen, I use it in most of my creations.....I don't see that I'll tire of it ever!

I have a customer interested in a pirate bunny I made about a year ago using felt, this morning I thought I'd try and update it a little using you guessed it........linen!

Ryan might think he's a little too big to have something like this on his bed, but I think I'll leave it there for now just because it's so cute!

 I've been busy making some more bird brooches for the lovely Nat at Nest in Tasmania.....oh look! More linen!

I'm off to cut out some draw-string bags this afternoon and put some mileage on my sewing machine. What are you up to?