30th daily

And what lessons I learned from this challenge....about me and about you bloggy peeps. There's much to share and yes, list. Don't we all crafty types like a list?!


1) This daily blogging is not easy.

2) The fabric diet was a walk in the park by comparison.

3) In the first week, there was much floundering around for topics to write about

4) One good friend came to the rescue with a list of topics to cherry pick. Thank you!


5) By the third week, I was in a groove. The blog writing became part of the daily routine.

6) I was stringing words together into blog posts in the middle of the night.

7) While watching Dr Phil.

8) In the middle of the geezer's daily tirade about his office shenanigans.

9) While chopping vegetables.

10) And while I was trying to zone out on the dentist's chair....yesterday.


11) There's usually about three topics discarded for every blog post that gets written.

12) And a whole lot of revising and sometimes deleting involved.

13) Writing a late night blog post equals 2nd rate photos.

14) I can't stick to crafty topics when I have to blog everyday.

15) You bloggy peeps seem to like fabric....well, duh!

16) And the actual finished craft projects.

17) And of course, the bub.


18) I'm judging this by the number of comments.

19) I'm realising I'm the worse kind of writer.

20) The kind who writes rubbish, but thinks they don't. (See yesterday's post!)

21) Thank goodness, its not my bread and butter!


22) The next big thing on my wish list is a good camera....my current one is spluttering.

23) You should be able to guess now why I affectionately call my husband the geezer.

24) Could this have something to do with my new email address maybe?

25) I'm looking forward to sporadic blogging again.

26) And using the three-hour nap time for actual sewing, drawing, painting and just slacking.


27) Take note of number 23)

28) Because there's a giveaway lurking there.

29) For you lovely bloggy pals who've stayed with me for the past thirty days!

30) If you can guess (in the comments) the answer, I'll put you in for the draw for a thank you package.


That's right! It'll be from the bub........I'll personally pick the name this Sunday, 2nd December and announce the winner on my next post sometime next week.

Okeydokes! Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Edit: Rightyho! We have a winner.....stay tuned for the next post.

Panic stations

Would you believe it? Right in the middle of NaBlo-blah-blah we’re swapping over broadband providers and I was internet-less (read: friend-less) all afternoon.....and the early evening. Gah!

(Project courtesy of Marie Claire Idees, Sept 2007)

My memory is failing me. I entirely forgot that Mr In-house Accountant had been shopping around for a new ISP a few weeks ago, found a woohoo deal and had booked our new service to be connected up two days before the end of daily blogging. Double GAH!

(This one, too)

To make matters worse, I still had to organise the cancellation of our current broadband service…..and who knows how long those yahoos will take?


F&*?, F!%$, F@*&! There you go…..I've just broken the “no swearing on the blog” rule. Ah well, by the time the bub learns to read, hopefully she’ll skim over that gobbledygook and not ask questions.


Anyhow, I kept myself busy planning projects (like oggling the new stitchy book) and doing the tedious job of manually transferring my contacts list from the old to the new computer.


Could've been worse.....I could have been offline for a week. After all, having no internet isn't the end of the world. Or is it?

And I had such a great blog post in mind, too!

Edit: Sheesh! Those yahoos pretty much got to it as soon as they received my cancellation fax. Methinks some emails disappeared into the ether. Apologies, peeps!

One off the list

It appears my blog posts are getting blander and blander the closer to the end of November we get. Could it be I'm running out of words? Methinks so.

So I'll just let some crafting speak for itself. This is an actual present off the list! I know. I cannot believe it myself.


It's for a little four year old girl, my cousin.


It's not big, about 4 by 6 inches. I had to measure the strap to the bub and cut it extra long. Geez! I hope it fits.


Okay, I must get back to some housework. Blah!

Here's another pile

I didn't show this one yesterday for fear of spoiling the surprise. I had the project of transforming this pile.....


....into these.




Yesirree! I had the motors on both machines humming all day and into the night. The geezer had to make do with defrosted spag bol for dinner, cos' I just had to get these ones complete.

You wanna hear the story? Well, one of my closest friends has been renovating the interior of her house for what feels like most of this year. Their lounge room is now ready to be a lounge room again. (The kitchen was camped out in there for a wee bit) And so the soft furnishings can move back in. The walls are a cool eau de nil colour, which I had to match.....or at the very least, not clash. The couch is a neutral cream colour. The rest of the room is very traditional shabby chic, but not too twee. So, these cushions should fit in nicely and still inject a bit of modern.

All together now!


And none of these are even on the holiday crafting list. Cheerio!

Creative piles

I'm getting ready for a forward assault on the hit list. The craft room is in disarray, as I've been pulling out fabric and books to get design ideas.


And now they're littered over every surface....floor and table.


I'm trying to get some crafty momentum going, but this daily blog posting is eating up the precious nap time. Four. more. days. Woohoo!

So its tootles for today! I'm attacking one of the piles.

The party outfit

Because I try to stick to the crafty items when I post, I thought today was going to be about the party outfit. I don't think she's modeled it for you, no?

Well, wouldn't you know it? She doesn't keep still. Gone are the days when I can just plonk her down anywhere and she wouldn't have moved an inch. Of course, I could strap her in a swing for an hour.


But that would be mean of me. Besides you can't see the outfit, even though her cute face is in focus.

So I just snapped as many pics as I can hoping one of them is blog-worthy. Well, nearly.


The outfit is in focus, but the rest of her isn't.....gah! Excuse the messy room. That was her handiwork.

Hope you're having a good weekend!

Colourful mail

The geezer, although not the cultured type (and I don't call myself cultured either), surprised me last year with a membership to the Museum of Contemporary Art here in Sydney. As part of that membership, I receive a bit of junkmail and the occasional exhibition calendar. This one's a keeper just for the cover painting.


I might even trip out into town to view the rest of the exhibit.


The other colourful bit of mail is a new embroidery craft book. I'm at this moment itching to do some of these cute stitchy projects.


But I must be diligent and stick to the list! Gah!

Ooh yeah, before I forget.....apologies for the lack of hyperlinks or decent formatting on this post. You see, we bit the bullet and retired the laptop to the role of backup computer after continued spluttering. I'm composing this post on my new iMac (I like very much.....woohoo!) and going through some minor teething....ack! To make matters difficult, I can't see the posting toolbar. Any suggestions or is this a Safari feature?

Over & out!

Edit: Thanks, Nicolette! Bloggy peeps, all the glitches have been solved. The fix was to download Firefox and use that browser for blogging. Much, much, MUCH better!

He says, she says

(pretty sea shells courtesy of Leslie, thank you!)

5 things the geezer says:

Rrrrrright!
Where's Jasper? (1st thing when he gets in the door....doesn't ask for me or the bub)
What's for dinner?
I'm staaaarving.....I could eat my arm off.
Can you get away from the computer tonight? Or do I need to make a date with you?

5 things I say:

You're hogging the blanket! Again!
Where's Daddy?
Haven't thought that far ahead......you guess.
Five minutes.
Five minutes.

Who do you think is the more annoying? Ha!

Apple of my eye

Here's another clever way to use all those scrappy pieces we have stuffed all over our craft rooms. This one's been inspired by miss tuttifruiti's most recent project.

Like I said, I practiced on one of the bub's tank tops first just to get into the groove of the applique sewing. A bit of tracing, a bit of cutting and a bit of sewing on a bit of apple fabric.......and voila!


Cute apple top finished! And test driven.


What? You made this, mummy?


Yes, darling! Just for you.

Listy

I've been procrastinating about the holiday crafting.....can you tell? I'm telling you, it's doing my head in. 'Cos I've got several projects that still need cutting and sewing up.....and friends with the patience of saints waiting.


I suppose I can chop up the crafting into eatable parts. Baby steps, Jade! You can do it. So here's the hit list:

• pair of cushion covers (must get cushion inserts)
• something for my sister......duh, I dunno yet
• cute linen bags for two girl cousins
• two softies for two babies (must get polyfill)
  
• applique tees and tanks tutti-fruiti style for some little girls......must practice on bub first
• set of four drinks coasters or maybe some placemats
  

And that's just the stuff to giveaway! We'll just give up on the decor crafting for this year, shall we? The bub's worse than the animals at the moment (yes, worse than the cat!). Leave her for even a second and she'll destroy the room, whichever room she's in.

So, lets just all get distracted with some new fabric.....stroke, stroke, pet, pet! Cheerio!

Edit: Fabrics are from Leslie's shop and Matatabi.

Aqua linen trousers

Nothing beats a cute pair of linen trousers for summer. It'll shade the bub's legs from the sun and still be breezy to wear.


This pair has been on my to-do list for a while.....and it matches nicely with the summer frilly top. I took the pattern from this book. The fourth one I've made from it.


We have a party needing an outfit......and she was napping so well. Yep, this was a nap-time project, no hand-sewing at all. There's great satisfaction to be had with a quick project.

Now, where to next? There's still one more pair of spotty linen trousers for her summer wardrobe to make, but I think it'll have to be a mid-summer project. The holiday crafting list is begging to be started.

Okeydokes! Must make lists!

Illustration Friday - Superstition

Ever consult a crystal ball?


Because they're supposed to tell the future, if you're superstitious. I used to dabble in a bit of tarot card reading.....I have a pretty set right here with me. Hasn't been used in years. I can probably still remember how to read simple spreads. Of course, I bought it for the illustrations!

More than half way

I'm such a "blogger"! I can't believe I'm actually taking the camera every time I step out the door now.....and looking at photogenic flowery fences.


There is a definite taste of summer in the air. Even the light is much, much brighter. And the flies have come out of hibernation......gah!


Photos are courtesy of my friendly neighbourhood streets. I was on my last (or first, depending on how your see it) walk of the week, again all on my lonesome.


Its easier to practice the "walking meditation" when there is no bub attached to the hip.....or geezer tagging along. I do love my me-time.


I can almost see the end of the this month-long blogging gig. We're more than halfway.....will I keep it up after? We'll have to see.

Simple pleasures

Today was all about slapping on the paint onto a new piece......about four hours of no geezer and no bub. Bliss!


Just the zen of figuring out which colours went where (I was in the zone!) and the chatter of other like-minded folk.....over cups of tea, of course. We're very civilised.

At home, the status quo is even more simpler. After I left and after her lunch, they both napped.....for three hours! I still think I got the better end of the deal.

The most favourite

I would've loaded this photo better if I had a scanner handy.......now there's another want that's blown in and out several times. But it seems that dosh for fabric is always top priority over here.


A few weeks ago (or has it been months now?) Nicolette and I had an email chat about the clothes we used to sew-and-wear. You see she actually had sewn some of those patterns I posted on this here blog some time back. We both mused about posting photos of the stuff we used to proudly parade around in. Cue in the story of the photo.

I learned to sew clothes at age 16 at Knitwit.....remember those shops? I was making comfy and daggy tracksuit pants and tops. It appears there's only one left in Oz and it's in Perth. Anyhow, I quickly moved on from knitted fabrics to garment fabrics of every sort. I had made to my recollection (between the ages of 17 and 21) around two pairs of trousers, a woollen houndstooth skirt, a cotton cheesecloth blouse, another graphic print top, a single breasted fully lined blazer jacket and the cocktail dress above, which I wore to my Year 12 high school formal (18 years ago, yikes!)......Very Easy Very Vogue, can't remember the pattern number and it wasn't easy! There's probably more, but my mind has blocked the rest out. Thank goodness, I don't have those photos!

I have very fond memories choosing the fabric and putting this dress together. It is by far the most ambitious sewing project I've ever taken on (except for the blazer jacket) and construction wise far beyond my ability or knowledge now. I was fearless back then. Just the outside bodice came in seven pieces. Those puff sleeves with the elasticised shoulders and that asymetrical hem gave me countless panic attacks. The easiest part of it was forming and tacking on the bows....you can hardly see them, but they're on the sleeves.

I'm going to need heaps of practice to do anything remotely similar in time for the bub's high school formal. Ack! I can't even remember how to sew swishy fabric anymore.

I just saw the dress in a box at my mum's the other week and I still love it....even with the angst of making it, the stains and the reek of age. I climbed a very steep learning curve while sewing that dress. And even though I left it behind in that box, it is still my most favourite sewing project.

Jade went out today.....

.....and came back with no fabric. What the!


I was exercising "restraint" in a big way. Blame it on this buddhism book I've been reading. Apparently the fabric-wanting is very akin to the "mind energy" of lust......or extreme desire. Yep, I'm lusting after a ruffler foot right now. Ooh yeah, and some more italian linen. Ahhhh!


And the cure? A bit of time and practising restraint. The book says that waiting around for the fabric-wanting to blow over might make me realise that it's just my mind looking around for the next pleasurable thing it thinks it needs (I need that ruffler foot!). Apparently, if I'm patient enough to wait it out and if the thing I'm lusting after is wholesome (hmmm, is it?)....and the timing is appropriate, then I can go get it.


Anyhow, I'm still waiting for the wanting to blow over. I suppose I saved myself from a splurge today.

In the meantime, lookee, lookee.........here's my gocco-ed christmas cards drying out. A bit acid green, no?

Hope you're all having a good week. Cheerio!

The colours cool

Last week when I was floundering on this daily blogging gig, Nicolette came to my rescue with a list of topics for me to blather about whenever I'm feeling a word drought.

Today's ramble is about my favourite colours.


I think I may have (or not) mentioned before that I don't have any favourites when it comes to the myriad of hues around. There so much to like. It just needs to be intense.


But then when I look around at what I'm drawn to observe and admire.....and what I create, I seem to be tending towards the cool colours.


Even the reds that I use, when the mood takes me, are tinged with a lot of blue.


And when I splurge on dotty fabric in lots, these are the colours that I end up with. Not deliberately. Just observing.


The things we come up with a bit of self-scrutiny! So what are your favourite colours?

Edit: I'll be slowly going through Nicolette's list in the next few days interspersed with a bit of crafting from me. Cheerio!

Playing with a playmat quilt

Because it is compulsive and my hands suffer the shakes if I don't make anything STAT!

Enter the one-day quilt.....because it was in pieces yesterday morning.


The binding is all stitched (an all-night jobbie) and its ready to be gifted away for a girl bub's christening.


Her mummy usually puts her in pink, so this piece is decidedly more pink than my usual stuff. And it's really more a playmat size than for a cot.


I've had the fabric in the stash for a while. In fact, I do believe it was one of my stash building purchases. Anyhow, the design came together super quick and now I can tick off one more item off the checklist. Aren't quick projects the best?!

You're probably wondering how I managed to churn this out with a toddler running amok. Easy! I just let the toddler destroy the lounge room.......and the sun room. I tell myself I'll pick up the pieces later.......or the geezer will. Poor bub! I'll have to make it up to her today.

Edit: Just to reassure you bloggy peeps (and me, too) the bub had lots of cuddles, book reading and mummy time today. The craft table can stay a layabout for 24 hours methinks.