Spring has sprung...

We went to hear my dad singing in a combined public service choir on Sunday at Merici College and they had the most amazing blossoms!

The singing wasn't too bad either - featuring the ever amazing Shiny Bum Singers.

Spring has definately sprung!

We spent alot of the weekend outside because it was such lovely weather - and we even had a Zebra in the backyard!

And a little bit of crafting... A lovely woman at work gave me some snowdrop bulbs, which inspired me to make this little one.

Peek-a-boo! She's hiding in my clover-infested bulb pot...

Ch-ch-ch-changes...

A couple of cosmetic changes around here. I got sick of the brown and had been tinkering with another template for a while, but it just wasn't coming together. So here we are. In soothing green. Ah.

Don't look at this if I'm swapping with you!!!

Firstly, here is a little Japanese girl I made to go with the babushka doll. She rocks. I also love that she's sitting in our one blossom tree. Well, our one tree actually. And it was already there when we bought the house. I need more trees!













And the other thing I've been doing is this gorgeous little set of stuffies for a craftster swap. My partner likes mermaids so I thought I'd just go with a whole sea theme. I love the mermaid and I'm so proud of her. Usually I get to the face and they are ruined with a dodgy smile or wonky eyes. But she looks like she's just laying back, resting her eyes and enjoying the spring sun. Which is what she was doing when I photographed her on these big water-feature-rock thingos at work. Needless to say I got some interesting comments and stares. Different-ness is not always embraced in Canberra...

I sound like a broken record (or scratched CD for those post Gen-Xers out there...)

I love freezer paper. I think I might have said that before... Since I found out that you could print on fabric with the assistance of freezer paper (thanks wee wonderfuls) there has been no stopping me. On Saturday I made this little chicken. She's based on a babushka doll, printed on calico, machine sewn, stuffed and da-da! I love her. I still must get some Bubble-jet Set because the minute it gets damp it the ink runs. I did one of my Lil too - sooo cute. I can take her everywhere now!

I also used freezer paper to make a picture for DH's Dad for Father's Day. It had 'World's Best Poppy - Poppin' since '04 and a picture of him. And I did a t-shirt for DH's workmate who was leaving. I'll post them later as we're on our way out to dinner at my brother-in-law's.

Counting is... strange...

I overheard this conversation between my husband and Lily this morning. They were counting...

DH: 2...
Lily: 3...
DH: 4...
Lily: 5...
DH: 6...
Lily: 6...
DH: But what comes after 6 Lily?
Lily: Yellow!

Red-tailed, orange-bellied whale...

There are some that think that the Australian Minister for the Environment and Heritage is only interested in protecting particular species, for example the orange-bellied parrot, the red-tailed black cockatoo, and the whales. The Australian ran a cartoon to this effect...

I noticed that it is a very popular cartoon amongst some of my colleagues and so I decided to make one. Weird, yes. Strangely satisfying, yes.

You'll notice the beastie has roosted on my rose (one of the four we bought when they replaced the roses at Old Parliament House) which means that spring is nearly here! All the blossoms are out and we saw a bee yesterday that was absolutely laden with pollen. Lily and I had lunch outside at her little table - complete with golden daffodils - and basked in the sun. I forgot how much I missed my flowers until the daffodils that we bought over in pots came out. Our other house had so many bulbs and flowers - we just have dirt here... so we did some planting to rectify that. Lil and I got a huge punnet of pansies to plant. Today we bought some star jasmine plants to run along the fence so we don't have to see quite as much of the neighbours.

I also organised the cupboard in the craft/computer room. It had been a disgrace for so long. But now everything is back in its particular box, and every box is labelled with its contents. Like fabrics together. No more searching high and low for anything.

{you may now commence taking bets on how long it lasts}

I'm baaaack

After a forced hiatus due to blogger upload issues and general lack of time I'm back. I have done lots of little bits and pieces but this is my favourite.

My friend in Brisbane, BigL, loved Savannah in the US. She loved the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which is based in Savannah. She also loves her daughter, who is called Savannah. So I thought I'd give this a go. And I think it worked wonderfully.

I've been doing a couple of other little felt projects, three for a swap, one to become our Divisional mascot at work and one for a guy at work.

A few lovely things... We had a lovely high tea at the Hyatt for F's birthday. It was great to catch up with the girls and a new arrival - baby Sienna who was so gorgeous! We had cucumber sandwiches, smoked salmon, quiche, scones jam and cream, cakes, biscuits and little mini chocolate mousse. And no, I didn't just give you a list of what was available, that is what I actually ate. And problably more besides. And it was great. I never want to be thin if it means missing out on occaisions like that.

My dear friend R came down to see us from Sydney last weekend and relieved us of many baby bits and pieces for her impending arrival. It was lovely to see her and for her to meet Lily again. In fact Lily was so taken with her that she got very upset when she found out R had gone back to Sydney and was in tears at the car door saying 'sissy' and wanting us to drive up there.

Lil is also obsessed with Thomas the Tank engine at the moment - and I'm not pleased. We have one DVD with three Thomas songs on it, and at the end of the three she says 'more tomash?'. If you say no you risk a huge 2-year-old tantrum. If you say yes you risk your own sanity. argh!!

Anyway I have to go and rescue the clothes from the line because its raining - yay!!!

So much stuff to post...

Yay! Blogger has now deigned to let me upload my photos!

So firstly you see the lovely mini moopy that sadieandlance sent me! I love him/her so much. The moopster is now at work with me, although I had to secret him away because my daughter loved him so much. A guy at work came up the other day and told me how cool it was - I was in total agreement and a little jealous that I hadn't made him... thanks sadieandlance!




Then there are the freezer paper stencils that I did for my friends and myself! Here is a little charger t-shirt for BigL's daughter in brisvegas. I love it so! It has often annoyed me that you can't get cars on pink shirts for little girls - a problem I have now rectified.


A little onesie

A rhino charging after people... this so appeals to my sense of humour... In another life I'm sure I'd have been the one riding the rhino and laughing evily...


So there you go. Ah... I'd gone right off this blogger business when I couldn't upload the photos. But order has been restored.

Freeze!

Oh. My. Goodness. Is there anything better than freezer paper? I was over at wee wonderfuls and noticed that she'd printed some fabric. 'Geez that woman's talented' I said to myself, figuring she was one of those craft godesses that screen print. But no. She is a craft godess that puts freezer paper on fabric and PUTS IT THROUGH HER PRINTER!!! A lightening bolt went off in my head. 'That would be perfect for the labels that I want but don't want to fork out heaps for,' says I to no one in particular. And this is where they would be if blogger would let me upload them...

Labels


Though I've just realised now that Hilary says "I treat fabric with bubble jet set then iron to freezer paper and send through my printer". In my usual style of not getting it right the first time, I did not use bubble jet set. So these will be a test drive for non washable items only. Once I procure some bubble jet set I will be unstoppable. Ahhhhhhahahhahahahahaha (throwing head back and laughing wickedly).

Joy (and how I got it)

I have had a couple of blissful days... on Thursday I went to the post office and was greeted by a package from funky finds. I had sent her a little southern right whale a while ago in return for some freezer paper. But she sent me freezer paper AND lots of other things! It was like Christmas. Second to the excitement of the 75 square feet of freezer paper, she included a little card from Inside a Black Apple. I litterally danced when I saw it. I have loved this girl from afar for such a long time, but resisted buying anything. And now I have a card! She also included a lovely little whiteboard with magnets for the fridge, some stickers for Lil (now proudly stuck all over her bedroom door) and an Adorn magazine. Such bliss.

Then we went to visit my Nana... and what did she pull out of her sewing cupboard? 75 square feet of freezer paper... unopened. Had it for years, she said. Why didn't I just ask her, she said. She also gave me some great lace. While I was down there I finished a cardigan that Nana and I started ages ago.

Its in beautiful bendigo wool. I just need to add the buttons and Lil will be ready to wear it. I can only hope she doesn't suddenly become surly, like the girl modelling the cardy in the pattern book...

Then I finished off the border around my felt tree picture. It will shortly be hurtling northward as a very belated birthday present for a certain someone.



And then this morning I did my first stencil. I love freezer paper. I think its grand. I shall abandon all other craft persuits forever (or until the next new big thing comes along). This is a dandilion from stencilry. $5 shirt from Rivers and $1 paint from Lincraft clearance bin. Wouldn't have been my colour choices, but I didn't want to spend big if I turned out to be a total gumby at it. And its beautiful. Crisp lines. Reasonable paint coverage. Oh the possibilities...



So this is joy. And me being joyful. And when my little munchin wakes from her sleep we shall be having a tea party. In the beautiful winter sun. With Nanny and Poppy. Doesn't get much better.

Toodles.

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

Well, actually we went yesterday. It was so much fun, despite the facility being fairly average, and very short on acurate signage. Lil loved the monkeys and all the fish, and freakin' ell there were some big fish. Especially the Murray Cod. Wow. She like the koala, but as far as animals go they're not very 'flashy' so she tired of it pretty quickly. For all you foreign folk, here's a snap of said koala.



In other news, I finished a felt picture. I saw a painting/illustration of something similar online somewhere ages ago and decided to try and recreate it. I'm pretty pleased. I think I'll put a pink and brown border on it too...





And a little hat that I've finished for Lil, all bar the icord which will pull the top together. Otherwise its just a tube. Which wouldn't be very warm.



And we're off to a farm this afternoon which should be a hoot. And then to walk Mum's dogs. Whow, talk about a few days full of fauna...

Woohoo

I just realised that I've just reached 1,000 hits. Although, to be honest, at least 100 are probably me... I've been fiddling with a new layout and with my less than professional html skills it a bit of a long haul. Anyway. Seeing as I'm posting for this momentous event I thought I'd post a WIP.

I'm doing the 'branching out' scarf from Knitty, and as a featured KAL on crafster. I don't mind it, in fact I love the pattern, but I don't think the variegated yarn really works with it (as with most 'lace' patterns). Especially after seeing Jejune's gorgeous purple one... The yarn was a hand-me-down from my mother; 40%Alpaca and 60% Acrylic.

We went to Jack's Crocodile Safari birthday party today and all I can say is 'WOW'. Jack's mum rocks. There was a blow up crocodile, crocodile crafts with scented pens and glitter glue, a rule that you had to eat three pieces of fruit before you ate the 'junk' food (which was toasted cheese crocodiles, fairy bread, crocodile biscuits and a packet of chips) WHICH ALL THE KIDS DID!, a crocodile piniata, pass the parcel, bubble blowing, and crocodile wrestling. Phew. But the pinnacle was the cake. A yummy chocolate mud cake, covered in 'mud' with two icing crocodiles on top. I wish I had the camera. They had soooo much fun!. And then the fabulous Ms M (aka Jack's mum) sat all the kids down and read them a crocodile story. Hands down the best themed party we've been to! Five gold stars Ms M!!

Anyway, Lil is having a sleep over with Nanny and Poppy tonight so I'm off to spend some quality time with the old man.

Finished!

Last night I finished the felt picture for our friend's son. I'm really happy with it. I had heaps of help with colour selection as my Nana and Pa and my sister and her boyfriend were over. I decided to back it with black felt so that if its not framed then they can pop it on a wall or whatever. Anyway, I loved doing it, and its a vast improvement from Lily's!

On another note, we had such a lovely day yesterday. It was a perfect winter's day - clear, no wind and toasty warm in the sun (although only 14 degrees). We had my Nana and Pa, my dad and his partner and sister and her boyfriend around and we all sat outside drinking coffee and eating yummy arvo tea. Lily was entertaining everyone with her interpretation of hopscotch (basically running up and down with little skips in between) and making everyone play football. It was lovely.

Hi ho

A couple of bits to report... My lovely daughter has started 'nit-ting'. I was delighted to see her click clacking away with her own [mismatched] needles and wool - and not happily unravelling my knitting!

In other news, I finished the bag mentioned earlier which I was so excited about because I was going to felt it. After I completed it I excitedly took 'before' photos so I could see the remarkable difference after I'd felted it...

Well... I now know that 'machine washable' means 'unfeltable'. Even if you wash it to within an inch of its life, then pour boiling water over it and beat it with a potato masher. So here's the after photo. Not that different really. Anyhoo, it doesn't look to bad and I'll probably use it as a grocery bag.

And I'm doing another felt picture for a particular little boy's birthday this weekend. I'll end up putting the little man's name in the tree area.

Oh, and my wonderful supervisor at work has announced she is leaving - within hours of me declaring on this very site that people had to stop leaving work so I didn't have to felt departure gifts. I must have jinxed myself.

Best away... mother is coming for dinner and the cupboard is bare...

Bits

Finished a cassowary for M at work today.

And mostly finished Lil's birthday present. Don't feel much like posting today...

More birthday goodness!

Today Lily got a package for Big L in Brisbane - and what a package! I didn't want to open it because it looked so beautiful.



But we did and found a gorgeous mini windmill with ladybugs all over, and some forget-me-not seeds. As always, Big L is the apitome of thoughtfulness and talent.

And we got a stunning jumper from Aunty M - handknitted no less! What a lucky chicken.

I've WIP to post, but I never seem to get home in time to photograph them in the natural light. Busy night tonight, making another present for a departing workmate. I wish we could hang on to staff!

Fiddling

I'm testing out a new banner. I've mucked around for about three hours trying to get it right, but its not pushing my buttons (or anyone else's - my sister and hubby were both underwhelmed). Thinking I might have to branch out. Try new colours. Something in green perhaps? Mmm...

Anyway, yesterday was great. Lil was in sensory overload, but I'm pretty sure she had a great time. The best thing was the cake. All the kids got a chance to blow out the candle and wack the bejesus out of it. The chocolate shell also protected the cake from child-spit (an unpleasant side effect of blowing out the candle) so the parents could eat cake free of contaminants. My friend M gave Lil the most beautiful little handbag - hand made with love - and 'Lily' sewn on the front. It was gorgeous. So many other wonderful presents too, lots of cds, clothes and toys. Lucky monkey. I've got some other photos to post, but as its 11.15 I'd better be getting to bed. Back to work tomorrow!

The Best Birthday Cake Ever!

How cool is this - the pinata cake! Thank you Women's Weekly Birthday Cake Book!
More on the party tomorrow...

Busy Busy

It's Lil's 2nd birthday on Sunday so we're getting ready for a bit of a party (on Saturday). I've got the balloons with '2' on them, streamers, irritating whistles and appropriate loot for lolly bags (ie no lollies). And I'm making a little felt picture for her. This is what I've got so far.



It doesn't look too bad, but it will look better when all the creatures get some definition. Then I'm going to mount it on some board so we can hang it on her wall. Aww.

CADD...

Stands for Craft Attention Deficit Disorder... because I get all these ideas and have to try them immediately. There's no pacing oneself, or or remaining faithful to one task, there is just ideas and action. Sure it keeps ideas fresh, but it also means that I never get particularly skilled at anything. Oh well. I will shortly be proficient at the whale (below) because I'm making one for the lovely Jenna and a whale expert at work. Anyway So, with that in mind I give you (gentle reader)my two newest projects. One, a knitted bag that I will felt upon completion. I've never felted before, or knitted on a circular before, but it seems to be going ok. I figure any abberations will be hidden in the felting process.

And then there is the teeny tiny book. The cover is made from playing cards and the inside from a photo album someone gave me years and years and years ago. Covered the cards in felt and blanket stitched. I'm going to put a little flower motif on it too.

I'm also trying to make a little felt book (or picture depending on time issues) for Lil's birthday. I got all these ideas from craftster (knitting one from magknits) but I can't remember where. I think I put the links to the felt book on my wists but you'll have to find it yourself because I have important preparations to make for the State of Origin match. Go the Blues!

More inspiration from work!?!

Two of our great staff are moving on and so we wanted to do something for them that was specific to the species they'd been working on. So I give you the Spectacled Flying Fox mobile phone case, and the Southern Right Whale stuffie.
I'm so happy with both of them. My husband drew a picture of the whale and then I made a pattern from it! My colleague insisted that it must have 'paddle shapped pectoral fins' so the fins and tail are pretty close to biologically correct! I love them... its a shame they have to go, but they're going to good homes! More later, but right now I have a date with Lil and the Playdoh.

The plague!

We'll not quite. But Lil has come down with some nasty vomiting thing. So I'm at home trying to get through some stuff for work while she's asleep. Poor poppet. I did do a little bit of sewing last night - a head band that I'd seen on craftster.org. I'll post a photo later because the camera is currently flat. It was all I could handle on my poor broken down sewing machine. Its almost like handsewing because I have to rotate the flywheel before it will start to stitch. And I'm still battling away at this cardy for Lil. I can't work it out. I've done the front panels exactly as in the pattern and they just don't match. I'll have to wait until I've got a bit of brain clarity before I try and work out where its going wrong.

And I got a great catch up email from my friends R and A who are honeymooning in Europe at the moment * waves!!!*. They are coming back to Australia soon and are expecting their first bubby.

Random word today - spigot

spig·ot

• A wooden faucet placed in the bunghole of a cask.
• The vent plug of a cask.

Sometimes I feel like my spigot runneth over... Like all the emotion of life it bottled up in a cask and when I try and tap a bit of it I get the motherload. Or maybe it just seems like that because I'm premenstral. Anyway. Spigot is not a word that really conjures up much inspiration or thought for me, except for all those wonderful wine-tasting trips in the past and the warm smell of oak and red wine. I try not to think about them much now.

Best get back to reading about endangered frogs...

Busy

Lil and I had such a busy day yesterday... Lil had her fringe cut at Snippety Do Dah and sat in the Thomas the Tank engine (a big deal for her). And S and Will came over for a coffee while Lil was asleep. When L got up we made fairy cupcakes (normal cupcakes with strawberry icing and 'fairy dust' on top).
Then my friend F's husband M sent me a message about a new old sewing machinehe just bought, so we drove over the other side of town (in torrential rain!) to help him work it out. It must be 20-odd years old, 'Celestial' made for Waltons. And its a cracker except that it will only do straight stitch. We opened her up to find out why and found that a little plastic duverlacky had disintegrated so the different stitch gears wouldn't engage. Anyway, I told him that I could count on one hand the number of times I used the other stitches and I think for $25 he did really well! Then we drove home and made some great Saag Aloo for the Indian feast with my Mum and her partner, and Sister and her partner. Yum. Then settled in front of the tube for The Chaser's War on Everything and pissed ourselves.

I'm doing a quick post from work because I'm sooo excited! I was casually looking at www.whipup.net yesterday (a daily pleasure of mine) and scrolled on down to see ME!!! Well, the Cassowary Bag anyway. I'm so *honoured* to have been noted by someone as wonderful as Kathreen and Whipup. Here at work we thought the ol' Cassowary Bag was a cracker - especially the spatial mapping guys who created it - and the lady who I gave it too thought it could come in very handy at Cassowary meetings where the full maps would be cumbersome. Who would have thought that work as a public servant could be so inspiring!!

On the craft front, my sister's sewing machine -which I've been borrowing - has timing issues so I'll either have to revert to my clunky old one, or suck it up and get them both serviced. I made a bag on Saturday and its finished all bar the top stitching which is so frustrating because if the machine was working ok it would be finished! I'm nearly finished a cardigan for L. My Nana had knitted the front panels and I did the sleeves and back, but I've had to redo the front ones as they were, um, irregular. Nana would never believe that she'd got it wrong so I'm just quietly re-knitting them.

And now for a home grown meme. Method: open word and - with your eyes closed - randomly hit keys. Then do a spell check and get the first word it suggests. Look it up (if you need to) and write something about it. My word today ' YAW'

1. Nautical. To swerve off course momentarily or temporarily: The ship yawed as the heavy wave struck abeam.
2. To turn about the vertical axis. Used of an aircraft, spacecraft, or projectile.
3. To move unsteadily; weave.

I think I will adopt 'yaw' as my touchstone word... it seems that a day doesn't go by that life doesn't yaw. Especially with a small child. For example; Start making dinner *yaw* (which I imagine would be signalled with a creaking noise like a boat on high seas) instead end up making playdoh gingerbread men; intend to have an early night *yaw* end up awake all night with a toddler with middle ear who wants to watch Willy Wonka; think that you're going to get a spot of shopping done *yaw* cue screaming toddler with nappy explosion. And of course just normal life often throws a yaw or two in the way; working towards a reasonable deadline at work *yaw* boss wants it by 5; dream about having that cheesecake when you get home *yaw* someone's already eaten it, etc etc. I suppose the thing is that it is a variation from how you think things are going to go. And if you're too wedded to the idea that things have to go a certain way then the more upset you'll be when you are yawed. Something to think about as I yaw my way through day to day life...

No craft, but crafty photos

We spent a day of the long weekend down at the beach. Mum has a coast house and so we went down to visit her and her partner. L loved playing in the sand - just like a huge sandpit to her. Then she discovered the waves and after some initial caution she was running in and out of the surf. It was bloody freezing though, and after Mum and L got engulfed by a wave we decided to call it a day. I took some photos and have been playing around with a free progam called inkscape. It lets you do stencils which is so much fun!

The rest of the week we've all been sick. N and L both had colds/flu/sinus earlier in the week and now I've got it. Blerg. I'm trying to make a scarf at the moment with the Variety Club logo on it for N's uncle. He does the bash every year and they have a competition to make a scarf with the logo on it which will then be auctioned. I found this great site Microrevolt that will convert pictures/logos into knitting or crosstitch patterns - so I'm trying to learn intarsia or weaving or whatever you call it so I can set the red logo into the white scarf. Wish me luck!

And I really want to start another map bag. I have grand ideas that really just need a little time to come to fruition. And there's so many other things I want to do, but just don't have time. Oh well. Enough wingeing! I'm off to tackle the folding pile which is threatening to collapse and suffocate me...

I love swapping!

I just got the most fantastic package from hardcoremothball in a craftster swap!

A wonderful knitted backpack (with great retro fabric inside), a knitted squid filled with crayons, a crochet octopus (which I *love*), a lovingly hand-quilted turtle, a little turtle, heaps of little cars, two nemo colouring/painting books and a gorgeous crochet poncho in the most soft blue wool. She must have been working night and day to finish this load!

L wasted no time getting into the colouring in!
And ran away when we tried to take the poncho off!


A fantastic first swap for me!! Thank you so much for everything hardcoremothball!

Finish what you have month...

What a great idea... Turkeyfeathers is following on from use what you have month to finish what you have month. I started this blog with a list of things I have outstanding - so I'm thinking this might be the motivation I need to get started (or is that finished?). So my priorities are:

• Wavy scarf from Knitty
• One pair of knitted wool soakers for my lovely friend L in Bris (well for her daughter - I believe L has been toilet trained for some time now...)
• The lovely blue cardigan for L that Nana is knitting the front of, and I'm knitting the back
• Finishing off a cardigan for L that I started last year and that probably won't fit her till next year (it only needs to be made up for g*d's sake...)
• Three miniature felted dresses to frame for L's room
• Stuffed felt toy for a friend
• Doing the ribbing on two baby sleeping bags for M's daughter
• Hat to go with L's jacket (cut out but not sewn).

In other news, today I became an amatuer plumber. We've been having some rain, and were delighted because the it was good for the new grass. However, when the grass was no longer visible because of the puddle formed over the top I knew we were in trouble. The new house being built next door has a roof, but no downpipes so all the water from their house ended up in our backyard. So what's a girl to do? Grab the hose, dig a trench on a slop leading away from the grass, place one end of the hose in the large puddle, lay the hose in the trench and then start sucking on the end of the hose until you get a mouthful of dirty, freezing-cold water. Then sit back and watch the water drain away. Ah. A thing of beauty.

And my poor baby had to get the chicken pox injection today. Not suprisingly she forgot about it pretty quickly (with the assistance of a milkybar chocolate). And she can request songs now too(well twinkle twinkle and baba black sheep)! Anyway, I'm off to get pizza. Have a nice weekend.

I give you The Cassowary Bag!!

What is a cassowary??? I hear you say. Well! A cassowary is a prehistoric looking bird that lives in Queensland, Australia. It is endangered, doesn't fly, and is, well, pretty ugly. Anyhoo, a woman I work with has been doing a lot of work on the cassowary and as a result she has plenty of maps of the region where it lives. Given she's been eating, sleeping, and dreaming cassowary so I got one of her old maps and made it into a bag - hence the cassowary bag!

I sandwiched two maps between two layers of clear pvc/vinyl.

I don't know how sturdy it would be, but it was my first attempt at sewing pvc so I didn't want to make it too complex. Even the handles are part of the map...
I'm pretty pleased with it. The only problem was that the map got pretty crinkled when I tried to turn it inside out. I'd probably do side seams a little differently next time for that reason.