Recent happenings

I know I've been MIA a bit lately. It has been a busy month and I felt like I didn't have much to blog about. Until now!

I made this elephant softie for my sister for Christmas. I'm very pleased with how it turned out, considering it was my first softie. And I apologise for the poor picture quality. I think I need a new camera or some photography lessons. Or both!


I also made some cushion covers with some of the fabric I bought at the Stitches and Craft Show from Ink & Spindle. Such lovely fabric.


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I hope everyone has a happy and safe New Year!

Finders Keepers Markets

I went to the Finders Keepers markets on Saturday, after only finding out about them that morning! I was so glad that they were open till 8! I got there around 3pm with a friend and stayed there spending money and looking at some amazing wares!

It was well worth the trek! Here are my spoils from the day:

I bought some beautiful fabric from Saffron Craig, Umbrella Prints and Kristen Doran. I'm seriously considering buying Kristen Doran's Matryoshka panel, but can't decide what colour. Hmm, maybe I'll decide on payday, but let me know your favourite colourway! Plus I love her advent calender kit, but I think I might have to wait till I get a place of my own.

I bought this lovely dish from Kim Wallace. She had such beautiful ceramic dishes, plates etc that I could've spent a lot more, however I'm prone to break these sorts of things (accidently of course) and I have limited room to disply it at the moment, but I highly reccomend her designs. Absolutely beautiful.

And finally, I bought these fantastic prints from Bespoke. These where an impulse buy after I had spent what I had originally said I was going to spend at the markets. But they were such a good price and I love them so it was hard to resist. Hmm, I'm never going to be able to save money if I keep going to these sorts of markets!

I can't wait to use the fabric! I'm thinking I will use it to make a quilt, but I think I'm going to do a practice quilt first. But I will keep you updated!

Have a great week :)

Shopping Spoils

Well here are my spoils after my fabric shopping expedition today.



I got the first two from the Patchwork Heart.



I bought some linen/cotton to back some cushion covers I'm going to make with some lovely hand printed fabric. I think I like this print for the elephant I'm going to make for my sister for Christmas. It definitely falls into the not too girlie category whilst still being suitable for an elephant I think.



These are the lovely prints I bought from Fred the Needle. I also like the ladybug print for the elephant but can't decide! Help me by telling me which one you lie better.

Also managed to squeeze in a bit of Christmas shopping too. Feels good to finally start now that all the birthday presents for the year have been bought, wrapped and hidden.

Happy Crafting

Fabric shopping tomorrow!

I'm going fabric shopping tomorrow for the first time in a while. Very excited. U'm looking for some suitable fabric to make an elephant softie for my not-quite-goth sister. SO the fabric needs to be suitably dark but cute at the same time.

I'm using the pattern that is is the "More Softies" book that I bought last week. I will post pictures of the progress. I hope all this cold and gloomy weather isn't getting everyone down!

This last month...

I have been absent from blogging land for almost a month now. I have been keeping up with all the lovely things you have been posting about, but have not had anything interesting to blog about till now. I think it has been caused by the devastation of loosing my sewing room. These wounds are finally repairing themselves and I'm ready to dive back into the wonderful world of craft!


The last month hasn't been completely void of crafting. I have been doing a little bit of knitting and crocheting in order to try and finish a few more things on my craft challenge list but they were even slow going! But the other day I bought two books: Softies and More Softies! Ahh, these are some seriously cute little critters that will make good use of my stash!



Also, my granny square blanket is growing nicely now that I have more free time on my hands.

Have a great weekend :D

Music Monday

I love John Mayer (ohhh, his velvet voice makes me melt!). Very excited about his new album coming out next Friday :D

Finished!

Yay! Uni is finally finished for the year - handed my last assignment in today :) I do have an exam, but thats not for 3 weeks.

I will post some pics of the major textiles assignment I have been working on over the last 12 weeks once I've gotten it back from marking.

Hmm, now to begin my lazy weekend of sleeping, reading (I want to finish the last Twilight book) and catching up with friends.

8 days and counting

Yay! 8 days till uni is over :D

Hmm, I love (read hate) this time of semester. The time when you're so close to the end that you can taste the freedom, but you still have a massive assignment to finish. The time when procrastination fills a large amount of time. Oh well, only 8 more days to endure.

On Saturday (I know I'm more than a bit late with this!), I went up to Leura to have a look at the annual garden festival and village fair. It was a great day despite being pretty cold and it didn't start to rain until we left to go back home. There was some really nice stalls at the village fair. Lots of local artisans, yummy food and friendly people. My favourite stall was selling 1920' s fashion prints. And a visit to Leura wouldn't be complete without a trip to the Wazygoose Cafe. They have really yummy flowerpot scones and an amazing jam to go with it too!

The garden's were great to. A few of them have beyond amazing views of the Jamison valley. Oh how I would love to live there! Anyone got a spare few million they wouldn't mind investing? Here are some of the photo's I took in the gardens. Hope you enjoy!



Yes, I do like tulips!

19 days an counting!

I know I haven't been around lately (well I have been looking at everyone's wonderful blogs!)because uni is starting to get crazy busy. 19 days and counting till its all over for the semester. I'll be very glad that my last few assignments will be handed in and I can start crafting again - and tackle my craft challenge before the year is over.

And here is a photo from Floriade. My family went down there yesterday whilst I was at home sick, working on assignmments...
Enjoy the rest of the long weekend!

Fluid Sculpture

Fluid Sculpture from Charlie Bucket on Vimeo.

Just found his awesome video! Enjoy :D

Pippijoe bag photo

Here is the photo of my Pippijoe bag. Enjoy :D

Pippijoe bag finished!

I finished my Pippijoe sling bag tonight! Will post pictures soon. Now to cross that off my craft challenge....

My Craft Challenge 2009

I know it might seem a bit late in the year to start a craft challenge, but I figure what the hell!

What am I challenging myself to I hear you ask? Good question! I am challenging myself to fulfill the following crafting endeavors:
- Finish the 2 pairs of socks I currently have on my knitting needles
- Finish one of the scarf's I have on my knitting needles
- Make one piece of clothing for myself that I will actually wear out of the house. I am thinking of a skirt. I like this Kwik Sew pattern. If you have any favourite skirt patterns I'd loved to her which ones they were!
- Finish the crochet blanket that I have started.
- Finish the Pippijoe sling bag I have started.

Hmm, let's see if I can do it!

My Creative Space

So here's my go at "My Creative Space" - not sure if I'm doing right, but here I go.

I did make a spreadsheet yesterday of all my knitting yarn because I was procrastinating about doing uni work. Probably not the smartest idea since I have a mountain of uni work to do that is bigger than I ever had before, but I just could not get motivated!

I also started a project to used up some of my stash - and venture into crochet. I have attempted crochet before, but not like this. I've decided to make a granny style blanket using yarn that I have no project idea for. Here is my progress so far:


It hasn't been as difficult as I found crochet to be in the past, so this is turning into a very good project to sit in front of the TV and do, as well as something where I don't have to finish a round before putting it down - which is another bonus!

Here are few details about the project:
* 4.5mm hook
* Yarns used included: Carnival 8 ply in grey
Bendigo Woollen Mills Colonial in Eucalypt and Cadet.

Have a good weekend :)

How do you manage your stash????

It is a very dull and miserable day here in Sydney and I'm finding it very hard to get motivated to do anything! Well, any uni work anyway...

I've been thinking about ways to reduce my knitting yarn stash recently and have been searching for patterns on Ravelry. I dont keep my stash up-to-date on ravelry, so I was thinking of another way to keep an inventory of what I have so I can decide if a project is suitable for what I have or not. So I have decided that I will put together a spreadsheet of what I have in my stash. So here are the headings I think I will need for my spreadsheet:

• Brand name
• Yarn name
• Colour
• Fibre
• Weight
• Amount

If you can think of any other headings that would be useful in managing my stash, it would be great to hear from you. Or of any other ways that you manage your stash!

And here is an image to hopefully brighten your day :)

Pippijoe bag

I started my Pippijoe sling bag today :D Will post pictures when it's finished, but that probably wont be for a few weeks due to uni work :(

Ink & Spindle Bag

In my last post I mentioned all about the goodies that I bought at the Stitches and Craft show, including a tote bag kit from Ink & Spindle. Well, I spent last night and this afternoon putting the bag together! It was so much fun, and felt kinda naughty because Is should've been doing uni work. Sewing won that debate hands down!



I added a magnetic clasp and a zipper pocket to the bag to add a little bit extra functionality. It was the first time I added a pocket or a magnetic clasp to anything, but they were very easy - so I can now add those skills to my skill set :D


Here is a close up of the lovely hand printed fabric from Ink & Spindle.


I think I will make the Pippijoe bag next... Now I really should go and do some uni work.

Stitches and Craft show goodies :)

I know the Stitches and Craft Show finished a few days ago, but I finally found time to come and share the goodies I picked up at the show. I went on Friday and Saturday because I could only fit in a few hours each day, but it was well worth it. The Incubator up on level 4 was my favorite part of the show and is the place where I spent most of my money. The indie designers that were exhibiting there were seriously talented. I'm very envious of them and in awe of their talent all at the same time! Here are some shots of what I bought at the show:

I bought a lot of lovely hand screen printed fabric. Can't wait till I get to use them, but I must make sure I use it for something worthy of the fabric!


Here is a better shot of the lovely fabric I picked up:

• Up the back is fabric from Kristen Doran Design
• Then on the left is fabric from Pippijoe. I also bought her sling bag pattern, so I will be using this lovely fabric to make that. Very excited!
• And the remaining three lovely fabrics are from Ink and Spindle. I also picked up one of their tote bag pattern kits (the bottom left of the first picture). Again I am very excited to make it up

And here are all the buttons and hair ties I picked up from Cloth, Please Eloise and Berlinski. A few of the hair ties have already been put to good use!

Oh, before I forget, I also picked up issue 9 and 10 of the Mixtape zine. Will definately subscribe as soon as my bank account recovers!

Hmm, I had an awesome time at the show. Can't wait for next years :)

Old Blog and camera question

First of all Blogger wont import my XML file of my wordpress blog, so if you want to read my earlier blog entries, click here.

Secondly, I would like to get a new digital camera and work on improving my photography skills.If you can suggest a good digital camera, I would really appreciate it. I mainly take photos of crafts that I do (mainly sewing and knitting) and friends and family etc. Basically I'm looking for a good all-purpose camera. Please leave a comment if you have any suggestions :)

And lastly, I will post my photos of the goodies I came away with from the Stitches and Craft Show tomorrow :)

Under maintainence...

Hi, I currently having trouble importing my wordpress blog, so bear with me as I figure it out