Look what I made!

Scrapbooking

2012-02-11T11:46:00.000+11:00

I want to get back into scrapbooking again. I still love putting pages together, but for some reason I haven't had anything to say... and it's the stories that inspire me to scrapbook. I did have to do some pages recently for other people's albums so that was a good opportunity to scrapbook again.

I made an album for mum and dad a few years ago. It has a double page spread for every baby in our family, from mum and dad, to my sisters and I, to our own children. I include the birth stats and 4 baby photos. I mainly just wanted to have a place where all the baby stats were kept together. I made myself a tiny tag album with baby stats too. Mum recently gave me their album so I could add Jaimeson's details, so here is his page.

And for Charlotte's 30th a few weeks ago I organised a mini album from the whole family. She organised one for my 30th (hmmmm... couldn't have been very long ago) and it meant so much to me. We've done them for lots of family members now for their 30th and Charlotte is the last one so she couldn't miss out! Here is the title page, my page and Tassy's.

I even did two more scrapbook pages this week! I'll share them soon.

What I Wore Wednesday

2012-02-08T10:55:00.000+11:00

Well it still doesn't feel like summer but I'm not letting that stop me from wearing some summery clothes. I think we've about missed out on summer altogether this year!

Dress - Temt (I love how long it is - fits my length perfectly!)
Cardi - Valleygirl
Shoes - Dianna Ferrari
Hat - Christmas present from Mum
Bag - Serenade
Necklace - Elk
Bracelet - Diva

Recent reads...

2012-02-07T13:23:00.002+11:00

It's been a long time since I blogged about books. Do you like reading about books? Or does it bore you so you just click away? I LOVE books. As a teen I used to read every night before I went to sleep. When I moved out of home my reading really died off but in the last few years I've been getting back into it and I REALLY love books again. I make the time to read. Sometimes it's lying on my bed on a Sunday afternoon, Tassy and I both reading our books. Sometimes it's reading before bed (although that depends on husband...). Occasionally it's reading in bed on a lazy weekend morning.

I just finished reading The Distant Hours by Kate Morton. Dave wanted ideas for Christmas presents over a year ago and I'd seen a poster for this in our local shopping centre. I knew nothing about it, I just liked the picture on the poster. :) It took me over a year to get around to reading it, but I really loved it. It's set in 1992 about Edie who's visiting her parents when her mother receives a letter which was lost in the post for 50 years. The story skips back and forth a little between 1940ish and 1992 and is really intriguing. I won't spoil it by saying too much more but I recommend it.

I'd never read The Great Gatsby till recently. Nor had I seen any of its films, although I am keen to see the the 2000 version cos Toby Stephens {HEART} plays Gatsby. You may know him as the perfect Mr Rochester from Jane Eyre...

Oh Mr Rochester..... Now he's my kind of guy.

Anyway, I digress. I'm talking about Gatsby now. Well, I liked it, and it was a short novel so quick to get thru, but I'm not sure why it's the Great American Novel. I liked it tho, and it's worth a read. After I finished reading it I found out there's a new film coming out with Leonardo DiCaprio playing Gatsby, filmed in Sydney. Looking forward to that!

Do you know Aussie author and blogger Kelly Doust? Otherwise known as The Craft Minx? She wrote A Life In Frocks a few years ago. It's a bit of a fashion memoir, the perfect kind of book to read chapters occasionally between other books. Well I read the first half that way and the last half all at once. It was an entertaining book about fashion and anyone interested in fashion from the eighties onwards would enjoy the read. It's also about her personal life too.

And if you're after a kids book, I read Inkspell to Tassy (9) recently. It's the sequel to Inkheart and we LOVE this series. There's an Inkheart movie which we love and have watched over and over, but the books are better of course. It's a wonderful fantasy trilogy, about a select few who can read characters out of and into books...

I always LOVE to hear book recommendations so please let me know if you have any favourites!

Narooma

2012-02-06T16:50:00.002+11:00

We spent last week at Narooma on the NSW South Coast. It was a lovely way to spend the last week of the school holidays. The weather wasn't great beachy weather but we enjoyed eating out, visiting neighbouring village shops, going rock pooling and walking on the beach. Dave and Tassy had a little swim the first morning but the rest of the time was too cold for swimming (including that first morning if you ask me!).

Mum, you said you wanted to see some photos. Make yourself comfortable!

Tassy collected heaps of shells and did a little bit of shell art in our apartment. I spy with my little eye... something beginning with F... and something beginning with P...

Can you see the crab?

I love a close up of grains of sand. Look at all the colours... clear, yellow, orange, brown and black.

My favourite meal was a dozen mussels in a thai broth - soooooo delicious.

Altering an oppie find

2012-02-05T16:07:00.000+11:00

I bought a white crochet cushion for $2 at the op shop a few months ago with the intention of dying it. Here's the pic from my original blog post.

It hasn't taken me THIS long to dye it, but it HAS taken me this long to blog it! I love this colour. And I know it's not the best job of dying you'll ever see, but I love it. Do you want to see?

Vintage quilt square swap

2012-02-02T19:28:00.005+11:00

After Christmas I was so excited to receive my parcel of vintage 6x6in fabric squares from Mardi's swap. I haven't had a chance to start sewing yet but I did get to have a play around with the fabrics after seeing Sheree do the same thing with hers.

It was very hard to photograph them because half the squares were in front of a window and the other half we in the dark, but don't they look pretty! I'm so thrilled with the mix of fabrics. I'm looking forward to sewing them together while watching some movies when Tassy's back at school.

What I Wore Wednesday

2012-02-01T07:00:00.015+11:00

I got this cute top Op Shopping with Moira a few weeks ago. It's halter with a low back but since it wasn't very hot I wore a little cardi. Thanks to Tassy for taking photos under sufferance.

Top - Op Shop (Valleygirl label I think)
Cardi - Temt
Jeans - Target
Shoes - Dianna Ferrari
Necklace - gift from Mum (Diva)
Bangle - Op Shop

Op Shopping

2012-01-29T13:38:00.001+11:00

I got a little excited when I saw a tapestry at the Oppie this week. Not just any old tapestry, but a DEER tapestry. I thought "Will I? Won't I?"... then when I saw the $7 price tag (that's a bargain at my Oppie) and thought about customising the frame I thought "DEFINITELY!"

So here's what I bought. I LOVE deer, and it's such a gorgeous design. The bold colour variations seem a bit "colour by numbers" to me. And the deer are petit point! Oh my goodness. I have done a tiny bit of petit point cross stich and it's so tedious and tricky! I can't imagine that petit point tapestry is much easier! This crafter must have had a lot of patience.

I was going to remove the tapestry before painting the frame but it was professionally framed and when I removed the backing paper I realised the tapestry was stapled to the frame. Meh. That would be too tricky. So I very carefully painted the frame with the tapestry still in place. It actually wasn't that hard! I used some cardstock the cover the tapestry and pushed it down when painting the edge of the frame next to the tapestry. I'm SO stoked with the end result. And Dave doesn't hate it! He doesn't like it, but he doesn't hate it. I'm not sure where to put it yet.

I'm linking to Her Library Adventures - check it out to see what other great op shop finds have been had!

Lego

2012-01-28T12:32:00.004+11:00

Tassy has quite a bit of Lego. Some is Dave's from when he was a child. Some is mine from when I was a child, although I accidentally killed most of my Lego a few years ago by sterilising the 25+yo pieces in boiling hot water. So DUMB. Don't ever do that. It totally warps it. I had to throw so much of it away it was heartbreaking. I had lots of house building type stuff like doors, windows, fences/railings, roof tiles. I loved all that stuff.

But back to Tassy's Lego. She said to me the other day "Do you know where the girl's hair is - the black hair with the ponytail?". There was no way I could find it amongst all the other Lego pieces - Lego people completely pulled to bits, including separated hands and even a pair of legs with one leg missing. I didn't even know that was possible! Plus all the rest of the regular Lego pieces in the box. So I set us a task of rebuilding ALL the Lego people. It took us a few hours, and we ended up with a few extra hands (does that mean there are some more bodies lying around somewhere?). I told her I had the perfect plan for her to find her people easily. She has this printers tray in her room that's never really had a purpose. It now has a perfect purpose. :)

Farmin

2012-01-27T14:39:00.001+11:00

Did you know I'm a farmer? Yeah... got bout a thousan head a worm. I've had a worm farm for a year or so and I love those little guys. My in-laws knew I wanted to get a worm farm and found one for me at a garage sale.

Let me count the ways (aka reasons) in which I love my farm.
1. I hate contributing to landfill.
2. Their wees and poos make my plants happy.
3. I haven't had any success with compost heaps/bins.
4. They're the only pets I'll allow. I always end up being the one who does the dirty work with pets, which frustrates me cos I've never been the one who actually wanted the pets. So I say no more pets. Unless they're worms. Worms are all about the poop.

So you want to see my farm? Let me take you out to have a look around.

Here tis, conveniently located outside the laundry door. At the top is the working paddock (scraps), below that is the resting paddock (poop), and the bottom one is the dam (urinal).

Here's the working paddock. Mmmmm look at all that yummy worm food.

Here's the resting paddock. It used to look like the working paddock. It's the worm poo ready to add to my garden.

There are still quite a few worms in there tho. I really don't know what they think they're eating in there cos I think it's all worm poo. And a few egg shells.

And here's the worm wee. They sure make a lot of wee. I rarely, rarely add any water to the scraps so it amazes me how much wee they produce! It's good for plants too. I dilute it with water, about 10:1 (these bottles are all undiluted). Don't mistake the liquid for coke tho, like Dave did. "Why are there bottles of coke ouside the laundry door?". Seriously! Lucky he didn't take it any further than curiosity!

Here is some worm poo ready to mix in with some potting mix. In all the time I've had the worm farm this is the first time I've actually used the poo! They do lots more wees than poos. Is this too much toilet talk?

Do you have a worm farm? Or do you think you might like to start one? They're so easy, a great way to get rid of your kitchen scraps and a great organic fertilizer for the garden. I know you can get worm farm kits from places like Bunnings. Just a few things to remember...

* They don't like citrus or onion families. Also no dairy or meat etc (like a normal compost heap - you don't want to attract mice).
* They like all other fruit and vege scraps, bread, hair and shredded paper (I always forget to give them paper).
* My worms seem to be particularly fond of banana peel and avocado seeds.
* I used to be a little concerned about some other little creatures coming to graze in my scraps paddock - like fruit flies and slaters, even slugs (urgh - most abhorable creatures). But they seem to be almost permanent residents now and they don't cause any problems. They all seem to get along and get the job done together.

Sydney - Day 3

2012-01-25T19:30:00.001+11:00

Our last day in Sydney. We started out putting Lea and Bella on the tram bright and early.

Then Tassy and I went to Pancakes on the Rocks for breakfast. We shared a savory dish and a sweet dish. :) Nothing wrong with ice cream at 8.30am.

We had another little wander around - did you know Darling Harbour doesn't wake up till 10am? Practically none of the shops open before then!

We went back to our apartment and Charlotte collected us for a little shopping adventure. She took us to an Oppie and Made590 in Newtown. Tassy was a little disappointed - or perhaps relieved - that they didn't have the freaky rabbit mannequins they have on their website and blog. I bought a cute little deer that I'd been eyeing off from Candy Stripe Cloud.

Then she took us to Mitchell Road Antiques which was amazing. There were some antiques but I would classify most of their stuff as retro. Like an oppie where other people have done the hard work, but you pay for it.

I didn't buy these deer but now I'm kind of wishing I did. I'm pretty sure one of my sisters or I had this. A doe chained to her babies, made from cheap plastic. So sweet though.

And this stereo jewellery box is SO familiar too - I think my grandparents might have had one.

Oh, and we were pretty amazed by this mega lego car.

Here's what I did buy.

A beautiful Scandinavian teatowel (apparently). I love the design and the colours. It's a very unusual shape - only about 20cm wide and over a metre long! I didn't realise until I washed and ironed it that it has a hole and a few threadbare spots. What a shame. :(

A piece of brushed cotton fabric - no idea what to do with it yet.

And this beautiful Christmas card. I'd like to frame it - tracking down the right sized frame might be tricky tho. Isn't it beautiful.

Then it was back home on the bus and the end of a couple of wonderful days in Sydney. It was a really special little getaway. :)

What I Wore Wednesday

2012-01-25T07:34:00.000+11:00

Welcome aboard ladies and gentlement. We hope you enjoy your flight this fine day.

I totally didn't think I looked like a Flight Attendant till I saw these photos. LOL

Top - Temt
Cardi - Temt
Scarf - Sportsgirl
Skirt - Op Shop
Shoes - Pierre Fontaine
Bangle - Op Shop
Absence of watch - I lost my beloved 12yo watch that day... HEARTBROKEN!

Rest in Peace...

Crochet sleeping bag

2012-01-24T21:33:00.000+11:00

Only Blythe sized of course! This was a very experimental endeavour. I didn't know how to join the mini granny squares together. I started out stitching them together with white wool but I didn't like how indiscreet that was - all the squares being different colours... So that was the back, and when I came to doing the front I thought I'd try the "join as you go" method, which I did quite like, but I'd already made quite a few granny squares for the front... so I wasn't able to do all the joins properly... I'm still learning lots and I'm a very green beginner! I'm very proud of my scalloped edge though!

Win a Kitchenaid

2012-01-23T17:42:00.000+11:00

Did you see on Pip's blog - there's a comp to win a Kitchenaid! In your choice of colour! That's even more super fun!!! I got my Kitchenaid a few years ago and I {LOVE} her!

Enter the comp here!

Sydney - Day 2 (part 2)

2012-01-22T21:49:00.000+11:00

So in Part 1 of Day 2 I left you with us shopping. We decided not to waste time going back to the apartment but to head straight to Chinatown for an early dinner. We came across this shop... or should I say.... it SCREAMED out to us to come inside! Yes please! Isn't it so inviting! What a crazy, tiny, colourful, jam packed shop! I totally loved it. I was surprised there weren't more shops like it. However there were THREE (count them, THREE!) Morning Glory shops within about 100m of each other! I did buy one thing in this shop - a beautiful Chinese parasol. It was a bit like the parasols Tassy's Jazz class used in their end of year concert, only twice the size. You'll see it in pics near the end of the post.

We picked a restaurant, pondered over what to order for far too long, and ended up ordering a very guilo meal. I ordered us some green tea to negate the guilo food, but I don't think it worked.

We walked back to our Darling Harbour apartment through this fantastic playground. It was like 8pm at night, the weather was beautiful and the playground was PACKED. There was even The Sound of Music playing on a big screen next to the playground. It was lovely. The girls had a ball and ended up like beetroots.

Op Shop finds

2012-01-22T14:36:00.001+11:00

Mum, Charlotte, Tasmyn and I did a bit of Op Shopping in Wollongong after Christmas. I found some beautiful plates for 50c each!!! So much cheaper than Canberra.

This plate has quite high sides, it's almost like a bowl. And so pretty.

And Charlotte found this Holly Hobbie sheet for me recently. I LOVE it - soooooo happy! I will use it as a sheet on Tassy's bed - I don't want to cut it up! At least not for a while. :)

I'm linking up to Her Library Adventures - check out more bloggers' great op shops finds in this post!

Sydney - Day 2 (part 1)

2012-01-21T09:11:00.001+11:00

This was our only full day in Sydney and we made the most of it! My parents wanted to meet us at Circular Quay because they've always wanted to take Tassy into the city. We caught the ferry from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay - Tassy's first time in a ferry, and my first time since I was a young teenager!

Our ferry was the Borrowdale.

This was the girls' favourite spot - at the back right over the white water while the ferry was backing up. Very exciting. :)

And here's the Charlotte! My sister's namesake. We always look for it on the harbour. Charlotte used to have a photo of it in her bedroom as a child.

We caught the ferry back to Darling Harbour. Such a fun trip, stopping at Luna Park and a few other places along the way. Our first trip was under dark skies in the rain but our second trip only an hour later was bright and sunny,

We caught the crowded monorail from Darling Harbour into the city. I forgot to get a photo on the monorail so took one after we'd left through the turnstyles.

And here we are shopping in Myer in the city.

LOL - I just noticed Tassy has her arms around Bella in so many photos. I'll be back later with some photos from later in the day!

Sydney - Day 1

2012-01-19T22:37:00.001+11:00

Tassy and I had a WONDERFUL couple of days in Sydney this week with our dear friends Lea and Bella. We went there to see Annie which was wonderful!

We caught the bus to Sydney - definitely the way to go if you're staying in the city! Tassy played DS for three hours and I read. Ahhhh, so much easier than driving.

We hopped off the bus and straight onto the tram which took us practically straight to our apartment.

We dropped off our bags and walked over to Darling Harbour for some lunch and a stroll while we waited for Lea and Bella to arrive. This was Tassy's first time being in the city (well, apart from when she was 12mo, but that doesn't really count). We looked at all the cool ships in the harbour - some navy ships, a submarine, lifeboat, tall ships and the floating restaurant.

We met Lea and Bella back at our apartment and got ready to see Annie!

We enjoyed our walk along the water back to our apartment, with some sparklers and some photos. :)

Then it was time for bed, and the dawn of day two. Coming soon!

What I Wore Wednesday

2012-01-18T07:49:00.009+11:00

Today it's a summery work outfit I work to work recently.

See all the pleating around the neckline? Sometimes it gets a bit crushed in my cupboard and I have be known to iron it flat with my hair straightener as I'm straightening my hair!

Top - Cue
Skirt - Temt
Shoes - Pierre Fontaine (very fancy name for five dollar shoes)
Necklace - from Alicia for Christmas

Dave's birthday

2012-01-12T21:09:00.000+11:00

It was Dave's birthday a little while ago. Can you guess what he got for his birthday?

What I Wore Wednesday

2012-01-11T07:35:00.001+11:00

This outfit is a few years old but I feel young and cute in it. In reality I'm probably a bit old for that!

Dress - Kmart
Leggings - Temt
Shoes - Dianna Ferrari
Necklace - made from a vintage typewriter key ('scuse the freckles)

Ice Ice Baby

2012-01-07T22:27:00.002+11:00

Check out one of Dave's Christmas presents!

HA HA HA HA

He's often going on about what a cool song this was. It's tongue in cheek of course, but it comes up SO often you wouldn't believe it. At Tassy's school concert in December the Year 6s did a megamix of song and dance through the years (it was my favourite routine - that and the WHOLE school dancing to this crazy song with the film clip playing on the big screen). They started in the fifties, worked through to the eighties where there were lots of our childhood favourites, mostly completely daggy. We were making cheeky remarks to each other throughout the routine. Then this song came on and Dave turned to me and said "But this song is timeless!". I was internally jumping up and down with excitement about having found the single in an Op Shop months before!

Can you believe it was released 22 years ago?

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

An outing on a train

2012-01-05T22:03:00.001+11:00

Mum had always wanted to take Tassy on the train so last week when we stayed with them she got her wish. Tassy had only been on a steam train before, not an every day commuter. We drove to Fairy Meadow station. As we were going down the steps to the platform an empty coal train came through. It was SO exciting! About 100 cars long, going full speed through the station - it took such a long time to pass thru cos it was so long! That was a very exciting start.

Here comes our train to Thirroul.

Granny and Papa told us how different it was in the seventies when they caught the train to work. There were no lines on the platform for you to stand behind. The doors on the train stayed open all the time and people would jump onto and off a moving train. It's all very safety conscious nowadays.

Tassy was a bit underwhelmed by the train we caught. She thought it was "just like a bus". I LOVE trains. Dave took his bike to Wollongong with us and went for a ride most days. He rode to Thirroul and I was amazed that he beat us there! On a pushbike! LOL. I guess it did take us a while to park and walk and wait for the train.

We had a coffee and a nice little walk around some shops then caught the train home again.

What I Wore Wednesday

2012-01-04T13:17:00.000+11:00

Today we feature some location shots for this edition of What I Wore Wednesday. It was a cool but fine day at Wollongong Harbour a few days after Christmas.

Hat - Christmas present from Mum
Top/Dress - bought in a boutique in Thirroul (Wollongong)
Cardi - Basque (hand me down from Alicia)
Jeans - Sussan
Shoes - gift from Mum last Christmas
Necklace - Christmas present from Alicia
Cuff - a serviette ring I bought in Spotlight for $1 after Christmas
Sienna - offspring of Felicity

And that was Christmas

2012-01-02T21:57:00.000+11:00

We are home from spending the last eight days with my parents in Wollongong. Mum and Dad are great hosts - you won't go hungry at their place! They have a pool but for some reason whenever we visit it's never HOT. It was a little warm, so Tassy, Granny & Papa and the other grandchildren swam, but it wasn't hot enough for the rest of us. Of course now that we're home it's perfect swimming weather! Now that we're nowhere near a pool! Lucky we have air conditioning. :)

My sisters and their families were all there (minus one hubby) on Boxing Day so we got a family photo. I'll have to photoshop the missing hubby in.

And YAY we got a photo of the grandchildren. We didn't manage it on our big family holiday a few months ago.

That photo of the children at their grandparents' reminds me of this photo taken at OUR grandparents'. Not sure why I'm cringing...

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 31

2011-12-31T07:00:00.004+11:00

The last day of my Bloggy Advent Calendar and the last day of the year! I'll leave you with a picture of my Christmas tree. I had a red and white tree last year and loved it so much I had to have just red and white again this year. I have bought and made a whole lot of new ornaments since last year tho!

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 30

2011-12-30T07:00:00.000+11:00

It's nearly the end of the month! Here's my last tree ornament made by Mum - patchwork star. I think she made this a year or two ago after I emailed her a pic I found on the internet for her "Inspirations" folder on her computer. I guess she was inspired!

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 29

2011-12-29T07:00:00.002+11:00

I made this Santa for Tassy's first Christmas. I made it big so that it would fit her for a few years. I never DREAMED it would fit her for TEN years! She has worn it in every Christmas card photo since she was born. That's a glass bauble on the end (Dave's idea) and it does look beautiful, but it means she can't wear it out and about. It sits on the Christmas shelf looking pretty. :)

I was late taking Tassy's Christmas card photo this year so it's the first time it's had our tree in the background. The baby photo above was taken at Dave's parents house in mid November. Dave's sister wanted a Christmas photo of Tassy to grace the front page of the Christmas Edition of the Canberra Times (she's a photographer). As you can imagine, no one recognised her LOL.

What I Wore Wednesday

2011-12-28T10:46:00.008+11:00

I want to wear summer clothes! Here's a sample of what I've been wearing lately - it sure doesn't feel like summer!

Top - All About Eve (from Alicia)
Cardi - Temt
Jeans - oldies... maybe Rockmans?
Shoes - Rivers (they're new and I do so love them, but they're a bit small)
Hair - daggy/fluffy

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 28

2011-12-28T07:00:00.001+11:00

I think mum was inspired by Alicia to make these red and white spotty handbag ornaments for all her girls. Not that Alicia would ever make something like this (LOL!) but because a handbag is a bit of a symbol for her I guess! I love it on my tree - it's so funky and different to my usual ornaments but goes so well.

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 27

2011-12-27T07:00:00.005+11:00

This guy is a favourite and I can't remember where he came from. Mum maybe? I love tin decorations and I love his smooth curves. Isn't he a PROUD Rudulph. :) "Want to see my bell garland?" :D

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 26

2011-12-26T07:00:00.020+11:00

More inspiration from Pinterest! Oh Pinterest - how you inspire me...

I can't remember exactly what I saw on Pinterest but it gave me the idea of making bird ornaments from air dry clay. I rolled out the clay (between two sheets of baking paper, otherwise it's sticky and messy) and laid a piece of lace on top of the clay and rolled again. It leaves a great impression in the clay. Then I cut them out using cookie cutters and left them to dry overnight. The next morning I rubbed some metallic rub-ons I've had for like, ever, over the birds to highlight the design. Metallic rub-ons are kinda like creamy eye shadow (as opposed to scrapbooking style rub-on images).

This trio is on a mirror near the front door and although I made them for Christmas I'm thinking I'll leave them there year round.

I made tree ornaments for my mum and sisters too, using stamps to write "mother" and "sister". This one was the first and it's a dud cos the words are too close to the lace, so I kept it for myself. I rubbed a pearly metallic rub-on onto this one and it's nice and subtle, and almost impossible to see in the photo LOL.

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 25

2011-12-25T07:00:00.017+11:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I've set this post up beforehand - this is the stocking I am giving to my nephew Jaimeson today. I've made these stockings for the three of us, plus my nephews Cooper and Xander and my niece Sienna and you can see their blog posts here.

I don't think I've shown Dave's and mine on my blog before so here they are! Dave's first...

And here's mine...

Christmas pinspiration

2011-12-24T17:23:00.027+11:00

Thank you Pinterest for inspiring me again with this picture! It was mum's idea to use music paper and isn't it beautiful? I made it in the same way as the fabric bauble.... gluing the torn music paper to the styrofoam ball with Aquadhere, then smearing Aquadhere over the top. I'll have to make another one and sprinkle with glitter like the one on Pinterest.

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 24

2011-12-24T07:00:00.015+11:00

I didn't buy much on our visit to The Christmas Barn at Bredbo recently but I didn't want to leave without an ornament for our tree. So after I'd finished going over the shop I went back to find a special ornament. I chose this sweet little house. It's a bit gingerbread house-esque. I love houses, architecture, dormer windows, gingerbread houses (but not gingerbread itself) and red! Perfect decoration. :)

More Christmas cooking

2011-12-23T12:38:00.000+11:00

Here are some super easy mini cupcakes I made recently for a kids street party and Tassy class party. Super easy cos I used a cake mix (shhhh... with my Kitchenaid... which seemed sacrilegious). I iced them with chocolate icing and sprinkled them with crushed candy canes. It's amazing how the peppermint really cuts through and makes them taste so Christmassy!

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 23

2011-12-23T07:00:00.010+11:00

This is another decoration of Mum's that she doesn't have room for anymore. I bought it for her in The Christmas Shop years ago and I'm happy that it's made its way back to me. It's an Americana angel pulling Noah's ark, made from resin - I guess it's not even technically Christmassy is it!

A Blythe dress

2011-12-22T12:25:00.015+11:00

I wanted to show you a little dress I made for a friend recently. I made lots of clothes for Tassy's first Blythe doll before she arrived for Tassy's birthday in May and I don't think I've posted any of them on my blog yet! I'll have to make amends. Tassy has taken lots of photo of them posing. Hmmmm... maybe that could be a blog topic in January. :) Great idea!

Anyway... here's the dress I made recently. I thought it might be a nice Christmassy dress, but suitable for the whole year too. I used some fabric I love from an Op Shop and some of Dianna's vintage trims. Tassy loves it and has put in an order for one the same for her dolls. Ohhh... I think I've actually run out of time to make one before Christmas!

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 22

2011-12-22T07:00:00.001+11:00

Here we have two decorations made by Tasmyn at Playschool (that's pre-Preschool in the ACT for 3-4 year olds). She went to Playschool for 18 months so we got two Christmas decorations.

Boy her hands are huge in comparison now.

Oh she's so little and sweet in the first photo.

What I Wore Wednesday

2011-12-21T12:08:00.003+11:00

Here's the dress I bought at the Op Shop last week! I wore it to Dave's family's Christmas party on the weekend.

Dress - Op Shop
Shrug - Temt
Leggings - Temt (they were full length but I cut them off short)
Necklace - from Dave's parents... oh sorry... "Santa", at the Christmas Party
Shoes - Dianna Ferrari

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 21

2011-12-21T07:00:00.018+11:00

Would you like to see Tasmyn's fantabulous Christmas display? I gave her free rein on the table near the front door and here is her beautiful little scene.

This battery operated candle is the decoration Tassy chose to buy recently at The Christmas Barn in Bredbo, with the $5 Granny gave her to spend. Carols by Candlelight anyone?

We bought this mill house in Grafton a few months ago on our big family holiday.

These guys are some of my favourite decorations. I bought them a few years ago in Holy Sheet.

And this tacky plastic present with a light inside that changes colour is one of TASSY's favourite Christmas decorations. I always want to send it to the op shop but she never lets me LOL.

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 20

2011-12-20T07:00:00.002+11:00

Here's a Christmas ornament I made recently. Thank you Pinterest for the inspiration, as always! Here's the one that inspired me. I love that it uses tiny scraps of fabric. I had plenty of tiny scraps of red fabric. I used aquadhere (just cos it was handy) to glue the scraps to a styrofoam ball, and spread aquadhere over the fabric as I went too, just spreading it out with my finger. It was so easy and not messy - I did it sitting on the couch watching TV.

More Christmas cooking

2011-12-19T15:53:00.020+11:00

I usually buy a gingerbread house or gingerbread train kit from Aldi each year. Tassy and I have great fun decorating them and I think they're so beautiful. But none of us like gingerbread, and I hate waste. I usually force myself to eat at least a bit... then pick off the decorations and throw away the rest.

Sooooo this year I thought i would try making a chocolate house. Just a tiny one - not too crazy. Have you ever heard of a chocolate house before? I don't think I have... and I can tell you why. Those things are tricky! Making the walls and roof wasn't too hard - I just drew a pattern, piped the outlines with melted chocolate and filled them in with more chocolate. I froze them then joined them together with melted chocolate, then back into the fridge. But the decorating was tricky... Mostly because I couldn't hold the house without it melting! I think if I ever do one again I'll use different chocolate - maybe choc melts would work better than the Ghirardelli chocolate I had on hand).

Do you like the little heart shaped cutout above the door? Well let me tell you how to make that. Firstly, make sure your white chocolate is nice and hot. Start piping a heart shape and pretend not to be surprised when the centre of the heart disappears inside the house. Of course you planned it, didn't you!

And here it is in all its naked glory.

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 19

2011-12-19T07:00:00.004+11:00

Today's Bloggy Advent Calendar post features a handmade Santa. I think Charlotte made it for me (is that right Charlotte?) years and years ago. He usually sits in this same spot at the edge of the shelf lookin pretty casual. He's a pretty cool, relaxed kinda Santa.

Op Shopping

2011-12-18T14:02:00.000+11:00

I had a lovely day Op Shopping with Moira during the week. We spent about an hour and a half in the first shop! We whipped thru the second and spent a long time in the third. We got some great things!

There's some sheet music for crafting, some bias binding, some woodgrain print wallpaper, a very cool fruit print paper tablecloth that I'll use for present wrapping, dress patterns for present wrapping, a dress and two summer tops.

Plus this beautiful tree ornament.

A big roll of paper table cloth - the ladies cheered cos they were happy to be rid of it LOL. I'll use it for present wrapping.

These beautiful little glass bowls - they're the perfect size for a little bit of ice cream.

Moira found a panel of gorgeous vintage Christmas prints and gave me half (THANKS MOI!). Aren't they fab! I will make a cushion from one or two - and maybe some hoop art from another one. Any other ideas??

And a pile of books for my already enormous piles.

Of Mice and Men - cos it's a classic I've never read AND I love the Popular Penguins
If You Could See Me Now - cos it's by the same author as PS I Love You (which haven't read but I loved the movie)
Rebecca - loved the movie but never read the book!
The Emerald Forest - again loved the movie as a teenager and this book was written after the movie
The Twits - Roald Dahl book for Tassy, which she read in a flash
Wuthering Heights - oops, turns out I already have a copy of this
Great Expectations - yep - I love classics
Death of a Salesman - another classic - a play this time
Cold Mountain - well Mum loved the movie and I didn't, but I'm going to give the book a try

I'm linking to Her Library Adventures Flea Market Finds today - check it out to see other cool Op Shop finds!

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 18

2011-12-18T07:00:00.007+11:00

Hey, have you seen my sister Charlotte's blog? She's been posting Christmas ornament (etc) pics every day too! With cute blurb in true Charlotte style accompanying each one. :)

It's another ornament made by Mum! And don't worry - I still have more of hers to share! She gave me this one only a few weeks ago, inspired by some she saw on Pinterest. Mum doesn't have a Pinterest account (you have to already have a Facebook or Twitter account and she doesn't want to create one) but she often looks at Charlotte's and my Pinterest boards and then keeps on clicking and can get lost in there for hours!

A bit of Christmas cooking

2011-12-17T13:47:00.015+11:00

I've been dying to do some Christmas cooking and finally squeezed some in this week. Tassy and I made these Christmas trees on Sunday. We've made them lots of times and they're easy and really yummy (although making them into cones can be tricky and messy). We put a couple aside for Tassy, Bella and Lucia to decorate the next day.

And I made some cranberry shortbread with white chocolate. I made them early Monday morning before Tassy went to school! It felt good to do something productive so early in the morning!

My extended family's Christmas party is today in Wollongong and we won't be there because we have Dave's family Christmas today in Canberra. They're doing a cookie swap and I didn't want to miss out so I packaged up some and posted them off.

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 17

2011-12-17T07:00:00.000+11:00

This is another treasure from The Christmas Shop in Canberra before it closed years ago. It's a matchbox style music box. You push the inside to the left to expose the key to wind it up, and push it to the right to show the scene, like this. It plays "White Christmas" and the tiny little train goes round and round. It's so beautiful. I bought another one at the same time, slightly different and gave it to someone in my family, but I can't remember who! Felicity maybe?

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 16

2011-12-16T07:00:00.002+11:00

Today it's another tree ornament made by Mum. Good thing most of the ornaments she's made me are red and suit my tree this year! This is a little snowman inside a mitten. He's got a polystyrene head and skewer nose. He's only tiny - isn't he cute?

One afternoon this week...

2011-12-15T13:24:00.007+11:00

it was lovely to have dear friends come for a visit. I loved seeing these two besties together again. And their mums too. :)

And Lulu has found her voice since we last saw her five months ago.

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 15

2011-12-15T07:00:00.006+11:00

This tin train was Mum's until a few years ago when she decided she'd run out of room for it amongst all her other Christmas decorations. Now I'm looking after it for her - maybe permanently. :)

Tassy loves it. The wheels don't turn but she put it on the carpet and drags it around. And she likes to cart around friends in the two empty carriages.

What I Wore Wednesday

2011-12-14T16:15:00.001+11:00

It's Wednesday so time to show you the dress I bought at the Op Shop last week. You might have noticed it in my Santa photo already tho. ;)

Let me just say I didn't even try it on cos I was in my short work lunch break, and I love it!

I love the length, the colour, the print, the gored skirt. Ahhhh... I wish I could move the seam under the bust - it's a bit short, but hopefully you didn't notice. Did you?

When I first tried it on I thought "This would look awesome with that skinny belt I've never worn!" and then when I put the belt on, I realised the dress had tiny belt loops! Awesome!

Dress: Op Shop
Shrug: Ice
Belt: Sportsgirl
Shoes: Dianna Ferrari
Necklace: Elk
Bracelet: Diva

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 14

2011-12-14T07:00:00.024+11:00

I love that we have a Typo outlet store in Canberra. I think I do them a great service by taking a lot of old/seconds/broken stock off their hands. ;)

After last Christmas I did them a huge favour in taking some Christmas ornaments off their hands. I bought boxes of wooden birds and keys - I think I paid $2 for a box, with 4 ornaments in a box. Normally $10. The birds were plain wood and I painted them red and coated them with my friend superfine glitter. The keys were already painted red and I glittered them too.

I've decorated my tree in red for the last two Christmases and I just love it. I think it will be hard to go back to putting everything on the tree - whenever that may be!

I found a "before" photo!

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 13

2011-12-13T07:00:00.006+11:00

Does this picture make you feel cold? Penguins with ear warmers and scarves? Brrrrrr. It must be really cold cos they're covered up to their noses! Mum made me these guys. Aren't they the cutest?

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 12

2011-12-12T07:00:00.002+11:00

It's a tree ornament today (have you noticed that anal Yvette has been alternating between tree ornament and other stuff? LOL).

I wish I'd put a date on the back of this one. I think I must have done it 15-20 years ago. The frame is a bit tacky but I love the cross stitch design. Isn't it the sweetest little scene?

Opping along

2011-12-11T22:09:00.000+11:00

I took a quick trip to an Op Shop in my short lunch break from work on Thursday and found a few goodies!

I gasped when I saw these! They are practically exactly the same as figurines Alicia and I were given when we were very little, only these are smaller. Aren't they the sweetest!

I don't know where Alicia's is (I'm sure she doesn't have it - maybe Mum has it - Mum?) but I still have mine and it sits on Tassy's special shelf. Here she is with her smaller siblings! Amazing hey!

I bought these glasses about a year ago and I really love them - mostly because of the shape - they feel so nice in your hand.

I've been keeping an eye out for some the same - no luck yet, but I did find these which go with them really well. So we now have five cute glasses we can use for our juice in the mornings. :)

And I got this dress which I'll show you on Wednesday. :)

I'm linking up with Sophie's Flea Markets Finds - you can check out lots of cute op shop finds there!

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 11

2011-12-11T07:00:00.006+11:00

Today's bloggy advent photo is of some Christmas cushions I made years ago. They haven't survived the years very well (cheap felt I think). I was inspired to make these after seeing some cushions in a manchester shop. I loved them and sat outside the shop and sketched the designs. So yes, a blatant copy. I made the Santa cushion first and made one each for my sisters and parents. Over the next two years I made the other two designs for everyone.

Santa photo

2011-12-10T22:15:00.000+11:00

We got our photo taken with Santa today! Tassy did the token "Aren't I too old for this?" without much passion, and we said "No way, we're not too old either!".

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 10

2011-12-10T07:00:00.024+11:00

A forest of Christmas trees. I have quite a collection, which grew of its own accord. Actually I think half of these were from Mum! She gave me four just a few weeks ago! Yes Mum, I know I still have to cover up the oasis on one you gave me last year!

I love this one Mum made me last Christmas.

I have a few others around which aren't even in the forest! Tassy and I made these a few years ago using lots of paper flowers from my scrapbooking stash. I had so many and was happy to have culled my supply!

And these two buttons trees - I made the back one a few years ago and the red and white one I made earlier in this year. Every time I went to a fabric shop I'd send Tassy over to the button bin to fill up a scoop of red and white buttons for my button tree. She loved doing that and it kept her occupied the whole time I browsed (and purchased)! I learnt from the first button tree that it's a good idea to hot glue the buttons to the cone so they don't come out! Eventually I'll go back and hot glue the first tree... eventually...

Christmas 1978

2011-12-09T21:53:00.000+11:00

I think this photo might be from 1978. That's left to right - Felicity, me and Alicia with Santa. Plus hello to Dad's white flares and suede shoes. Grooooovy. Do you like the matching Sesame Street pinnies Alicia and I are wearing? And how about Santa's eyebrows - interesting how they match his hat trim rather than his beard.

A very "PPY CH" to you!

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 9

2011-12-09T07:00:00.006+11:00

Last Christmas I was thrilled to win a bird ornament kit from The Red Thread blog. I received it just before Christmas and didn't get a chance to make it in time, so I packed it away to make closer to this Christmas. I added some chain stitching for a bit of texture. I love it, but I really wish I'd left a bigger white border around the bird, like in the link!

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 8

2011-12-08T07:00:00.004+11:00

Hello, it's a patchwork Santa! Did you know I used to cross stitch like it was going out of fashion? LOL. Well it WAS going out of fashion but it's making a little bit of a comeback. So say hello to the Santa that has made an appearance in my house every Christmas for the last 16 years.

What I Wore Wednesday

2011-12-07T09:29:00.017+11:00

This WIWW photo comes courtesy of my Mum, outside the National Library. Thanks mum!

I don't buy many clothes from Op Shops, mainly because it's just too hard. Too hard to filter through all the bad to get to something I might actually wear. But when I went Op Shopping with Charlotte there was a rack outside the shop and this bright green cheesecloth screamed out to me. I didn't try it on and was SO happy when I got home and realised it fit. YAY!

Dress - from an Op Shop, no label
Shrug - Ice
Shoes - Dianna Ferrari
Birdcage Necklace - Diva
Bracelet - Equip
Bag - Serenade

Don't forget to check out Charlotte, Janelle, Mardi, Kylie, Lis and Car to see what they've been wearing.

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 7

2011-12-07T07:00:00.020+11:00

Oh I'm such a lucky girl. My friend Dianna had a garage sale recently and sent me a text asking if I'd like a box of trims her mum had given her that Dianna hadn't used, and if I didn't want them she'd put them in the garage sale. Well I didn't read her text till AFTER the garage sale and was SO happy that she'd put them aside for me, just in case. Thank you Dianna! Want to see all the goodies? Oh it was SO exciting opening this box! By the way, what do you think was originally in this box? It says GE (General Electric) Heiress.

Just like Christmas! The colourful woven patterns are my favourites. Most are from the seventies and they were wound around pieces of cereal box packaging with "Use by Dec 1978" etc on them. LOL

I wanted to make something for Dianna and her mum to say thank you and made them each one of these, using only the trims they gave me (plus felt for the back). I also made one for myself. :)

And I've already used some of the broderie anglaise trim on my Christmas cards. YAY!

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 6

2011-12-06T07:00:00.011+11:00

Isn't this a cute little Santa? There's a candle inside and his hat is the lid. Do candles need lids? I guess if they're meant to look like Santa they do. One of my dear childhood friends, Sharon, gave me this when I was maybe about 10. That makes it vintage hey (ha ha ha, clutching my belly laughing). I saw one recently in an op shop, exactly the same! I picked it up and carried it around the shop for a while but in the end I decided that as much as I love mine, I don't need two. So I put it back. I only ever so slightly regret it. I really don't need two, and this one has all the nostalgia attached to it. He still has a tiny bit of candle left so I will have to light him one evening soon. Shame that it's still light outside when Tassy goes to bed! That makes it hard to drive around looking at Christmas lights too...

Gynmastics

2011-12-05T22:27:00.000+11:00

My cousin Kirrilly was in Canberra last week for her 10yo daughter Emma to compete in a National Gymnastics Comp at the Australian Institute of Sport. We hadn't seen her compete before and Tassy and I were very keen to watch her! She was fantastic. She'd recently gone up a level and hadn't been training at that level long enough to go through to the final round but we were really impressed with her skills!

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 5

2011-12-05T07:00:00.002+11:00

I was so thrilled to find some vintage ornaments at the Op Shop last week! Five silver painted glass ornaments for $2. There are two of these round indents and three fully round ones with two different painted designs.

I might not have any of my Grandma's ornaments but I'm sure they used to belong to SOMEONE'S Grandma!

Speaking of Grandma's ornaments, Auntie Julie has some of Grandma's old ornaments and sent me these photos a few days ago. I think the Santa is a bit creepy but the pinecone is beautiful. She said the pinecones are glass and when Uncle Rod was a toddler he crushed one in his hand and Grandma had to extract all the tiny slivers of glass with tweezers. Urgh - gives me goosebumps just thinking about it!

Op shopping

2011-12-04T17:36:00.000+11:00

I've been a lucky op shopper lately.

I found this beautiful globe at my local op shop. It was expensive at $25 but I love it, so didn't think twice. When my parents were here we googled country names etc and worked out that it was made between 1968 and 1972.

My brother in law is collecting vintage paintings and I found this one for him for Christmas. A quick text back and forth with Charlotte to see if he'd like it and fit his criteria and I brought it home. It has the artist's name and address on the back (a local Canberra artist so that's cool) but unfortunately no date.

My in-laws got to markets all the time and I'd asked my MIL to keep an eye out for working typewriters for me. She found this one for $15, which she thought at first needed a bit of work to get it running smoothly. But when she got it home and gave it a quick clean she realised it had barely been used and it works perfectly! Score! Thanks Helen!

A couple of books... The Readers Digest Atlas is only a couple of years old and in perfect condition and SO detailed. It's absolutely fantastic and we can get lost for hours in there. I read a book recently "Tisha" which Mum is now reading,set in the tiny Alaskan town of Chicken, and we even found it in the atlas. Mum and Dad are going to Alaska in 6 months time so we'll be able to follow their every move in the atlas. I got a copy of The Moon Spinners for Mum for 5c. We have watched the movie with Hayley Mills (love Hayley Mills). And how about a French/Chinese dictionary? I don't think there would be a lot of demand for that in Australia! I'll use the pages for crafting. My MIL got me the Hollywood movies book, and the other is a German book I'll use for crafting.

I found this Fire King dish for $3 which I have identified from here as being from mid-late 70s. Isn't it the cutest? It's tiny. I keep it with my Pyrex Butterprint collection, even though the colour is totally wrong.

I also got something else which I'll share tomorrow as my Bloggy Advent Calendar post. :)

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 4

2011-12-04T07:00:00.002+11:00

I love this snow globe. I bought it at The Christmas Shop seven years ago (just before it moved to Bredbo) and our Christmas card that year featured 2yo Tassy gazing into it. I love the heavy weight of it. I love the beautiful paintwork and how it feels like "quality". I love the Americana Santa with his flag and how the base winds up to play "America the beautiful". It always cracks me up cos it's SO American and I sing "AMEEEEERICA AMEEEEERICA" at the top of my voice.

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 3

2011-12-03T07:00:00.007+11:00

This babushka angel was made for me by the extremely talented and impeccable stitcher Janelle. I just love it and it goes beautifully on my all-red tree again this year. I'm honoured to have one of Janelle's beautiful angels on my tree.

Hanging with the rents

2011-12-02T16:52:00.028+11:00

We had a really fun couple of days with my parents here last weekend.

They were here for Tassy's dance concert and the following day we went to The Christmas Barn at Bredbo. I've been wanting to go since the shop moved there from Canberra seven years ago - I bought so many beautiful things at their Canberra store. Things that I know will be heirlooms. I'm glad we went to the Bredbo shop but I didn't buy much. There is a HEAP of stuff there but nothing I really loved. There were far too many of these creepy things which I think tainted the experience a bit.

The next day, their last day, we went to the National Library to see the Handwritten exhibition. It was amazing. There were illuminated texts dating back to approx 850AD, plus handwritten manuscripts, letters and music by people like Dickens, Einstein, Braille, Napoleon, Michelangelo, Galileo, Bach, Mozart. It was amazing. It's here till March 2012 and it's free so if you're in Canberra check it out!

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 2

2011-12-02T07:00:00.005+11:00

I'm back to share another Christmas decoration in our home. This is the very first cross stitched Christmas stocking I made, for Tassy's first Christmas. I really love these Christmas stockings and I've made lots more. I'll share Dave's and mine soon too. The patterns were from 80s and 90s Christmas issues of the US Better Homes and Gardens Cross Stitch magazine - I bought a couple in the 90s, a couple second hand on ebay in the last few years and just recently I was STOKED to find a publication that includes nine of the patterns. I already have three of them but I was thrilled to get six new patterns.

And no, the stockings don't hang on the tree. It just looks better for the photo. In real life they're a bit too close to the TV to look pretty.

Dance concert

2011-12-01T17:21:00.000+11:00

Tasmyn's dance concert was on the weekend. She's doing Jazz again this year and they danced to Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Girls (I must have heard that song about 500 times now, sitting outside the classroom). So in true Harajuku style their costumes were CRAZY! Tassy thinks the costume is SOOOOO cool and she's going to wear it again to the end of year concert at school which is Japanese themed.

So here she is. They also had cute parasols but they couldn't keep them so I didn't get a pic.

Bloggy advent calendar DAY 1

2011-12-01T07:00:00.002+11:00

1 December! It's officially the beginning of Christmas! OK, it's no secret that I love Christmas. Tassy, Mum and I put up our tree(s) et al last weekend and now I am getting into Christmas on my blog. I've decided to post a special Christmas decoration or ornament every day leading up to Christmas. A bloggy advent calendar if you will. Anyone want to join me?

The first one is a tree ornament that mum made a few years ago. She made them for all her girls. Isn't it beautiful? When she was decorating our tree last weekend she was surprised to find so MANY ornaments that she has made. She said when we lived in Grafton her sister Laurel in The Blue Mountains made Mum an ornament, saying she wanted to be represented on the tree. Mum thought it was a lovely idea and has been doing the same for us. I love it too. :)

What I Wore Wednesday

2011-11-30T07:17:00.001+11:00

The weather is all over the place at the moment. One day it's wet, another it's cold, the next it's stinking hot. So my WIWW outfits are pretty inconsistent at the moment! My parents were here on the weekend and took a few photos for upcoming WIWW posts - YAY! Tassy gets a photography break. :)

Short Sleeve Top - Next (my sister Alicia bought it for me in UK cos the trims and covered buttons reminded her of scrapbooking - so sweet)
Long Sleeve Top - Target or Temt (label removed and I can't remember which)
Scarf - Target
Jeans - Target long length
Bag - Serenade
Shoes - Draven
Location - Christmas Shop at Bredbo

Don't forget to check out Charlotte, Janelle, Mardi, Kylie, Lis and Car to see what they've been wearing.

Op Shop Swap

2011-11-29T15:40:00.000+11:00

I received a parcel in the post a few days ago from my Op Shop Swap partner Nicole. Want to see what I received?!!!!

And she made something special just for Tassy's girl Mist! Boy Tassy was stoked!

Thank you so much Nicole! I love what you sent me and I had such fun with this swap. I'll definitely do it again if I have the opportunity!

Scrapbooking

2011-11-24T21:51:00.001+11:00

I created this page for the Christmas issue of Etzcetera magazine. Have you seen it? It's wonderful!

This was for a colour challenge - red, green, brown and blue. And that's my nephew Xander as an elf last Christmas. Isn't he the cutest?! I love fat bubbas.

What I Wore Wednesday

2011-11-23T08:06:00.002+11:00

Wow these Wednesdays are whipping around so quickly now that we're nearing the end of the year. Do you find that the weeks just wizz by as Christmas approaches?

I had a lunch date with a gorgeous friend recently at my favourite pattiserie - The Flute in Fyshwick and here's what I wore.

Top - Milk & Honey (from Material Pleasures second hand clothing)
Shrug - Temt
Jeans - Target
Shoes - a shop at Brand Depot that I can't remember
Watch - swatch (I bought it over the internet from Swatch and when it arrived it was twice the size I expected LOL)

Don't forget to check out Charlotte, Janelle, Mardi, Kylie, Lis and Car to see what they've been wearing.

Op Shop Swap

2011-11-21T11:54:00.000+11:00

Lea told me about an Op Shop Swap recently and Charlotte and I were keen to sign up. Unfortunately for some reason Lea missed out on being included in the swap which was a huge disappointment. :(

Now that my partner Nicole has received her package I can show you what I sent her! The brief was 1-3 items from an Op Shop, a handmade item and a Christmas themed item. Max value $15.

So here are the Op Shop items. A sweet little figurine...

This retro linen teatowel - it's all crushed cos I had wrapped the figurine in it before I decided to take photos.

A gorgeous old copy of Black Beauty (which coincidentally Tassy has just read - ours is a new copy and I would have kept this if we didn't already have a copy!).

I love the name, address and date inside (another coincidence - my parents were living in the tiny town of Cootamundra when they fell pregnant with me - then they moved to Sydney not long before I was born).

Plus a few bonus British Snaps cos I love them and got lots at the Op Shop a little while ago!

And I made two things - the ring is my token "handmade" item and other is my Christmas themed item.

I'm so glad you like them Nicole!

Vintage quilt square swap

2011-11-18T10:07:00.003+11:00

Did you know Mardi is coordinating a vintage quilt square swap? I'm so excited about it! I sent of a little parcel yesterday with 126 fabric squares inside. It's not too late to join in the swap! Read about it here.

If you want to join in and are having trouble finding vintage sheeting check out the beautiful vintage sheeting at Little Bits of Pretty (and the total price you pay is donated to Westmead Children's Hospital!). They'd be excellent to use in the swap - cut the fat quarters into 6x6 inch squares - keep some yourself and send some to the swap!

Here are my vintage squares.

What I Wore Wednesday

2011-11-16T08:20:00.003+11:00

Let's see if I can beat Mist to What I Wore Wednesday today! Sorry but no swimwear or disco clothes for ME!

Cardi - Valleygirl
Dress - Cotton On
Skirt - Target
Shoes - Dianna Ferrari
Necklace - Elk
Bracelet - Diva
(I know - I do wear that bracelet a lot - and I wear the Elk necklace a lot in summer too!)

Don't forget to check out Charlotte, Janelle, Mardi, Kylie, Lis and Car to see what they've been wearing.

Music art

2011-11-14T16:19:00.000+11:00

Remember this vintage sheet music I bought at the op shop recently?

Well I bought this cutesy Winnie the Pooh framed print, turfed pooh and spray painted the frame.

And now it looks like this. The background at the moment is just the chipboard frame backing but I want to use cardstock for the background. I'm just not sure on the colour. White, cream, red, black? Any ideas? (nb, you know, with all the reflections it's really hard to take a photo of a glazed frame!)

11/11/11

2011-11-11T21:42:00.002+11:00

I read this post on Elizabeth Kartchner's blog yesterday about taking a photo on 11/11/11 at 11:11:11, doing whatever you're doing.

Well I really wanted to do it but I was at work surrounded by other people so I felt a bit self conscious taking a photo of anything other than my computer screen sitting in front of me. A friend suggested I put the time on it. :) So I watched the seconds count away, hoping I wouldn't get a phone call just before 11:11:11!

Is it sad that I can still remember when it was 12:34:56 7/8/90 back when I was in Year 12?

Friends to visit

2011-11-10T20:51:00.004+11:00

We had a wonderful weekend with Lea and Bella. Here are a few pics from the weekend.

Dear friends. <3

A Handmade Christmas

2011-11-10T07:07:00.000+11:00

I've been having a ball recently getting busy with some projects for this upcoming workshop.

Here's what Kim has to say...
It's our MOST popular workshop and we've been running it now for years! From our humble beginnings to now in our custom built online classroom, I know it's MY favourite class to prepare and I know the excitement ramps up amongst the Support Team girls when we start brainstorming ideas for the class.

So. I am thrilled to say, we opened registration today for the class. I know many of you have emailed me about whether we ae holding the class this year so I am pleased to say YES!!! We are so holding this workshop again this year. Yippeee.

You can read more or purchase the class here

The Details -

Class registration OPEN NOW.
Class fee gives you access to the classroom, chatroom, member photo gallery to share your work and all instruction, giveaways, fun and frivolity that comes with our online workshops.
The workshop officially kicks off 25 November and runs until 1 December 2011
Classroom remains open until 31 January 2012
SIX days of full on projects. This is a content rich class with lots of how-tos, ideas, inspiration and workshop guides. Multiple projects will be uploaded each day.
You will receive an email each day so that you don't miss a thing.
Projects include: teacher's gifts, quick and easy projects for busy people, scrapbook layouts, projects for family members and friends and a load of inspiration to help make 2011 a very merry Handmade Christmas.
In the leadup to the official launch of the class, we will have some giveaways, sneak peeks and a some fun before we begin!

What I Wore Wednesday

2011-11-09T08:05:00.001+11:00

Hello again Wednesday! Here's what I wore recently.

Jacket - Wayne Cooper (from Material Pleasures, second hand clothing)
Dress - Ruche
Leggings - Target
Shoes - Dianna Ferrari
Necklace - made from a vintage tyewriter key

Now I'm after a bit of practical advice. See those tabs and buckles at the side of the jacket? They're the kind that don't have a pin to hold the buckle in place, so I tighten them... and they quickly work themselves loose. Anyone have any suggestions for holding the buckle in place? Should I just stitch them down?

Don't forget to check out Charlotte, Janelle, Mardi, Kylie, Lis and Car to see what they've been wearing.

What mist Wore Wednesday

2011-11-09T08:01:00.028+11:00

hello, this is what mist wore wednesday here! no, mist is not my name, and it isn't my nickname either. my name is tasmyn and mist is my blythe doll. since my mum is doing what i wore wednesday, I am doing what mist wore wednesday. i don't expect many people will read this, but maybe you know me, or maybe you know my mum, maybe you are only reading this because my mum told you to, but i don't know... so i will just get to the photos.

first, mist went to a pool party, so here she is in her pretty blue swimmers.

After her pool party, mist had a disco party with some friends.

this is what mist wore wednesday signing out. :)

Crafty Blogs

2011-11-05T21:45:00.001+11:00

I've just linked my blog to the Universal Craft Blog Directory . I'm looking forward to going thru the looooong list of crafty blogs there! It's open to anyone who thinks their blog is crafty. :)

Op Shopping

2011-11-04T07:18:00.012+11:00

I had to go to the other side of town this week to pick up our car from the smash repairs (someone backed into me in a car park - no great drama) so I made a day out of it and went to some op shops over that side of town. Check out my haul!

I was thrilled to find this Kenwood Chef bowl for my mum. She got a Kenwood Chef as a wedding present in 1970 and still uses it now. When we were cooking cakes and things as teenagers I vividly remember her always saying "Be careful with that bowl! If you break it I can't replace it!" - every time we'd pick it up to scrape out a cake mixture or wash it up. She was always so worried we'd break it. Well I phoned her and checked the details on the bottom of the bowl and was happy to score it for $15! I didnt realise they had 50% off homewares so it was actually only $7.50!

Isn't this a sweet little plate? $2.50!

I've heard of this Aussie board game but never played it. It's gorgeously retro, hey! $2 (with a little box with the rest of the game too!)

There was a box full of old bakelite gramophone records. I just loved their old sleeves, but when I picked one up I was surprised by how heavy the record was. So I bought two, just cos. $1 each. :)

I always look out for sheet music to use in cards, scrapbooking, other crafty stuff... this one was in poor condition but I LOVED the cover. Isn't it gorgeous!

And a great stack of books. Including some Judy Blume books for Tassy cos I loved reading them when I was about 10 (I think we have about 5 now), and a Trixie Beldon book cos I liked those too. A couple of classics and a 1934 edition of Rilla of Ingleside! Gorgeous. I already have a 1980s copy (my childhood copy) but I couldn't resist this one.

What I Wore Wednesday

2011-11-02T13:28:00.002+11:00

Oops - I thought I'd arranged this post beforehand but just realised it was all in my head!

This is a terrible photo taken after a very long day at work. Such a shame you can't see how beautiful my new skirt is! It's such a gorgeous colour. Although I do remind myself a bit of George Costanza in his noisy suit when I move in a quiet place...

Top - Target
Skirt - Faye Brown (from Material Pleasures - second hand clothing store)
Shoes - I Love Billy

Etzcetera Issue 3

2011-11-01T21:35:00.000+11:00

The Christmas issue of Etzcetera magazine was launched today. I get so excited as it gets closer to the launch of each new issue.

It's a wonderful magazine and I'm lucky to be a part of it - I have a scrapbook page, recipe and Advent project in there. There's also a giveaway from Cat Ivins from Olive Bites Studio - a mini magnetic locket.

If you buy Issue 3, or are a current subscriber head over to the Etzcetera blog to enter!

Scrapbooking

2011-11-01T07:30:00.003+11:00

I know Blogtoberfest finished yesterday but I have a layout to share so I'm going for another day! Who would have thought!

Meet Pingu

2011-10-31T07:19:00.006+11:00

I love lazy days at home. Tassy wanted to make something out of her glove animal book yesterday. She chose a penguin and did lots of the work herself (plus I helped lots - but I wasn't in the mood so was a bit of a crank).

Meet Pingu. Don't you love his SURPRISED face?

Paradise Cove

2011-10-30T07:29:00.005+11:00

Thanks for the lovely comments about my little table. There were a few questions which I'll answer here...

The colour is called Paradise Cove by British Paints. The table was stained timber so I used a power mouse sander to give it a good sand, then two coats of undercoat ($22) and two coats of the top coat ($33). I hardly used any of the paint so I want to justify the expense of the paint by painting lots of other things LOL.

Remember this Queen Anne stool that Tassy claimed for her reading corner?

She originally wanted it painted a very greeny kind of aqua, but since I had about 5/6 of the paint left in the blue tin I wanted to use that. Before I got to mention that she said "Oh mummy I LOVE that colour! It looks so awesome! Can you please paint my stool the same colour?". LOL. Sure can!

It was already painted off-white so I was going to just give it a light sand and then some top coats, but there were a few chunky chips taken out of the timber so I concentrated on smoothing out the chips then gave the whole thing one coat of undercoat, then two top coats. I temporarily covered the cushion in a piece of vintage sheeting but I plan on crocheting a granny rectangle cover (as opposed to granny square - I've found a tutorial!).

I also had a big beautiful glass jar that Moira bought me at an Op Shop. I painted the inside of the jar the same colour - I absolutely love how that turned out and it was soooo easy. Just pour it in and swirl it around.

1975

2011-10-29T07:30:00.007+11:00

Only a few days left of Blogtoberfest and I'm running out of blogging subjects! Maybe I'll show you an old photo I was just looking at.

This is mum holding me and pregnant with Alicia. Mum made my quilted pinafore and because she made so many of our clothes she could justify buying us expensive shoes. :) Clever mummy. She's standing outside our dark brick, flat roofed house in Engadine in Southern Sydney. We lived there until 1979 when we moved to Grafton. What a big change that was - moving to the country with three little girls, about 700km away from all our family... to a place where we knew no one. Very brave of them.

Jazz

2011-10-28T07:22:00.000+11:00

Tassy does Jazz and parents are only allowed to watch the last class of the term. It's also free dress day for the girls so Tassy's not in her usual black jazz costume.

Now Tassy has been going to dancing (ballet and jazz) since she was 20 months old. That's right! She has no talent but hey, you can't be good at everything LOL. She loves it and we love watching her on stage. She is a real performer and isn't shy at all. I'll never forget her first concert when she was 3½. She was backstage about to come on for her routine... the lights went out in anticipation... and she shouted at the top of her voice "HEY WHO TURNED OUT THE LIGHTS?!" The whole auditorium could hear and everyone laughed (she is not known for a soft voice). She did so many funny things in that routine. Like run up to the edge of the stage, spy us in the audience and shout to us at the top of her voice. We were laughing so much we had tears running down our faces.

Oh OK. Just cos I know you want to see... here is a pic of her in her costume from that concert.

So I got a bit sidetracked didn't I. I was going to share some photos from her recent jazz class.

Touch your toes... come on... you can do it!

Now prepare to take off. That's right, keep it up!

Jazz hands in the air. YEAH!

Now the splits. Is that the best you can do?

And releve. Hey, check out that releve! She's pretty good at that!

Project complete!

2011-10-27T07:55:00.012+11:00

Remember this little table I bought at the Op Shop last week for $4?

Well a few days and $55 worth of paint later it looks like this! I {heart} it!

What I Wore Wednesday

2011-10-26T07:41:00.012+11:00

Boy we have had some crazy weather lately. Yesterday was wet and cold and the previous couple of days were HOT! Yesterday was bizarre. The warmest it got was 18 degrees at 3am (yes - "am"!!) then during the day it only got to 13 degrees. Crazy weather. The rain is great tho.

White top - Temt
Blue Top - Glassons (handed down from Alicia)
Skirt - Temt
Jacket - Valleygirl
Shoes - somewhere at DFO for $5
"Yvette" necklace - bought at this Etsy store!

There's a story about those $5 DFO shoes - I only tried on one shoe in the store and when I got home I realised the second shoe was a different size. So I phoned the store to see if they had TWO in my size and asked the guy working there to put them aside for me. I said I didn't know when I'd get back there to pick them up and he asked me where I lived (at least 20 mins away from the store and we are on the fringe - there's nothing further out than us!). He said he didn't live too far from me and offered to drop them off to me! That was all over a year ago and since he hasn't turned out to be a stalker (unless he's really good at staying in the shadows) I thought that was pretty awesome customer service!

Dubbo Zoo

2011-10-25T16:01:00.000+11:00

I'm finally at the end of our holiday posts. On the last day of our holiday we went to Dubbo Zoo. I had been there when I was about 13 and remembered wide open spaces. There are still plenty of those! We hired bikes and rode around the zoo which was heaps of fun. Walking would be good too, although could be pretty tiring especially in the heat. Driving - well I think you'd feel too removed from the experience unless you parked and walked some of the way.

Here are some for you mum. HELLOOOOOO!!

As a family we agreed that the white rhinos were our favourite at the zoo. They were just SO massive - it's hard to tell in the photos.

This is one of the containers they use to transport the white rhinos.

I was so disappointed when the echidna was nowhere to be seen in his enclosure. Just as we were leaving the area I heard someone shout that he was coming out so I was thrilled to see him. He was gorgeous!

LOOK! A baby zebra! Everyone goes "Awwwwwwwww". He's SO cute!!

These Siamangs were SO loud when they flirted with each other. We could hear them from the other side of the zoo and searched out who was making all the noise.

It was definitely worth the long detour home from the coast and it's not somewhere we're likely to go again any time soon so I'm so glad we got to go to Dubbo Zoo!

More pinspiration

2011-10-24T11:29:00.001+11:00

Remember when I recently bought a Queen Anne style stool at an op shop and Tassy claimed it for her reading corner? Well she has it in her reading corner, but I thought a bean bag would be more comfy and I'd recently seen a tutorial for these cool big cushions on Pinterest...

I thought I'd make one from a gorgeous vintage sheet and fill it with beans instead of polyfil. I altered the pattern and made it shorter, so it's less of a cube shape. I think it would be comfier if it was bigger all round but since it was for a bedroom I didn't want it to be too big. Isn't this the prettiest fabric design?