Makin' merry at the market!!!

Only two sleeps until my first ever market. Eeeeekkkk!!!! I think I'm pretty organised, but I guess I won't really know until I get there and get into it.


Hopefully it will be a fun day. In fact, who am I kidding, of course it will be fun. It will be a market where I actually know all the stall holders, so of course it will be fun.


And there will also be live music (which will be nice), and yummy food, and strong coffee (which will be essential), and I will also have my lovely sister helping me, so hopefully lots of opportunities to shop shop shop as well!!!


If you're in Brisbane I'd love it if you stopped by and said hi!! Here's the details:

BrisStyle Christmas Markets
Saturday 13th December
9am - 4 pm
Hamilton Hall, cnr Racecourse Rd and Rossiter Pde, Hamilton
More info: http://brisstyle.blogspot.com



Oh, and if anyone has any last minute market advice for a complete market novice then I would LOVE to hear it!!!! OK, now I'd better get off this computer and back to making up swing tags....wwwhhheeeeee!!!!!!!

This is...what makes me happy

Thanks so much to Jacinta from One Little Acorn for a brilliant This is... theme this week. So. What makes me happy? My goodness, so many things from the huge stuff to the tiny little things I am lucky enough to take for granted every day. But to keep things simple, here are just a few things that have made me feel very happy lately:


Kate's second birthday. With eighteen extended family members. Watching my kids feel so happy and loved, surrounded by both sets of grandparents, and all the people who love them best. Oh, and seeing both Granddads wearing birthday tiaras to please the birthday girl - now you don't get much more happy than that :P


Yummy pudding made by my sister, with beautiful crispy-on-top meringue...


Followed by gooey meringue underneath, with lemon curd, blueberries and custardy filling....mmmmmm..... happiness in a bowl!


Making puppets of our family with the kids (the puffy white-haired person is apparently 'Dad'...he he he... and for some reason, the 'Kate' puppet had to be a 'superhero baby', complete with a cape!).


And then, of course, sitting back and enjoying the puppet show. Kate and I were the audience, and Kate sung along and clapped with gusto. And at the end the puppeteer came out and took a bow. And that was ear-to-ear happiness my friends.


Finishing a project.This particular one is for the shop, but really, it doesn't matter if a project is for the shop, for myself, or for someone else - just 'finishing' something always feels so great. There are not a lot of jobs involved in a stay-at-home mum's role that ever get 'completed'. Raising happy, healthy, beautiful kids, doing housework, cooking food....these things are always 'works in progress'. Which is fine. But it's also nice to be able to tick things off a list sometimes and get that short-term sense of achievement. It makes me feel happy :)

Thanks again Jacinta for reminding me to walk down happy lane and appreciate all the good things along it. And now I'm off to enjoy more happy moments from everyone else's blogs. Cheers!

Gone fishin'....

This is what Lee and I did during Kate's nap today.


We made some water, some fish, an octopus and some starfish. We then put paperclips on everything and went fishing...with cranes, as you do. I didn't have any spare little magnets around to make fishing rods out of, so I figured Lee's two Cranky Cranes would like to do a spot of fishing.


Apparently they both enjoyed it!


I feel so behind on blogging. I've got bags, poems, tags, knitting, pay it forwards, and probably other things I'll remember later, all of which are yet to be blogged. Just feeling a bit swamped at the moment. But I'll get to it all. I will. Really...

This is...my way of recycling

Thanks to Angela's mum for this week's this is... theme.

We recycle a lot. I could show you some very unattractive boxes of paper, plastic and glass waiting to be taken out to the recycle bin. I could show you a ridiculously messy bookcase full of things saved for kid craft (think paper scraps, cotton reels, cardboard tubes and fabric scraps). I could even show you the lovely black hose we plug into the washing machine to drain the water onto the garden, although this has currently been chewed by the dog and brittled (is that a word??) by the sun, and is in dire need of replacement.

But you know, sometimes recycling can be a bit ugly. And I do try to keep this blog space...well...un-ugly (surely this one is a word?...).

So here is my pretty, sanitised, 'tv-world' version of my recycling.


First, my latest recycling project - bookmarks made from vintage sheets, pillowcases and buttons. Having lots of fun making these. Lovely and tactile to touch, and the button stops them slipping down into the book (a pet hate of mine, and one which sometimes leads me to 'dog-earing' (ok, I'm sure this one must be a word...right?) my books - which in turn is a pet hate of my husband's.

Like most crafters/sewers, I guess I do a lot of fabric recycling. All the bags I make are at least 33% recycled. Some are even 100% recycled if you include fabric scraps and remnants found in Op Shops, and exclude new sewing thread. Of course, when I first started making bags, I pretty much only used recycled fabrics. Here are some of the earliest bags I made, mostly from things which were once other things...:


1. I used to be a tablecloth, 2. I used to be a cushion cover, 3. I was a pilowcase and unwanted fabric scraps, 4. I was once an ugly dress, 5. I used to be an ironing board cover, 6. I used to be a tablecloth, 7. I used to be a pillowcase, 8. I used to be Grandma's tablecloth

For a little tour of recycled things I have blogged about previously, check out:

Mixy-Matchy napkins from bed sheets, pillowcases, and vintage fabric scraps
Hippy pants made from a bed sheet
Girly smock made from a bed sheet
Apron made from a bed sheet
Christmas wreath made from fabric scraps

Two in one day!!!!!!

My poor computer is going into hospital tomorrow, so in preparation for Internet withdrawals, I am posting twice today. Hopefully it will come back the same day, all fixed, with a new battery.....but I fear it won't...

The pic above is actually the detail on a bag I made some time ago. It is a gift I haven't given yet, but I'm pretty sure I can show it now and won't give it away. Anyway, here is the whole bag:


This bag is made entirely out of Op-Shop finds. The red cord and green knit fabric were just some remnants I found, and the green circle fabric was a pillowcase.

And here is some more of what I have been doing lately, and what I am about to start working on:

Another new bag - a gift for someone else.




Outside of bag is Amy Butler fabric from the Lotus range. Trim and inside is grey remnant fabric found in an Op Shop, and as always, buttons from my collection. The red pocket came from an old pillowcase (sounds romantic eh?).

Also been at the kiddie craft again. Lee made this Christmas decoration for his Grandma. I found the wooden shape at Bunnings, of all places. They had lots of cool stuff like this, letters, flowers etc. Good for keeping a three year old (and a thirty-four year old) occupied.


And lastly, I found this sweet little dress in an Op Shop on the weekend.


How great is this fabric! I was actually glad to find the top of it stained, as I would have found it really hard to justify cutting it up for a bag (and Kate probably won't fit into it until she is twelve - and will so not want to be wearing a dress like this...:P)

Well, in case it's a long time between posts (I've got everything crossed...my poor computer, I miss you already...) take care everyone, and may your own computers live long and fruitful lives!

Christmas is coming...

...and so is the craft. Lee and I made this wreath while Kate was sleeping today. I let him loose with my pile of fabric scraps and some glue, and he pasted them all onto a paper plate that I'd cut a hole out of (the bow and tassels were my addition - I couldn't help myself ;P). We are both really happy with it, and it's hanging in our entrance now. Very festive! I got the idea from the blog V's World, which has fantastic ideas for fun activities to do with children. Oh, and can you spot the one incongruous addition to the wreath? Lee insisted it be there - look closely ;P

And of course a post wouldn't be complete without some more bags to show off. So here's the latest. One for my Aunty Leanne.


The outside of the bag is made from Heather Bailey fabric from her Freshcut range, as well as some lovely japanese quilting fabric from Spotlight. The inner is black fabric remnant found in an Op Shop. I think my sewing is actually getting better. I was quite happy with this stitching. And I LOVE this button. It was very satisfying to sew it on.


Also, another bag for mum. This one was designed so that she can sling it across her shoulders and have two hands free when she is out with the kids.


And I'm sure you're all sick of hearing me bang on about buttons. But again, I REALLY love this button.


It is one of only two of this kind from my Grandma's button tin, has a beautiful heavy weight to it, and is glass (makes a lovely noise when chinked against other glass buttons). It went so well with the black and white fabric (Faye Burgos design for Marcus Brothers Textiles). The peacock coloured fabric was just a remnant found in an Op Shop. It's a lovely fine cord - very tactile. Anyway, I know it's silly, but I'm very very glad this button went on a bag for my mum. To me, it is a special button, and I'm glad it went on a bag for a special person. There's a nice synchronicity to that...

What fun!

Just some freeform felt rosette brooches and bow and flower hair clips. Such fun to make, and they're all hand sewn, so very meditative. I like to stitch them up while Kate is feeding herself, as it stops me from getting frustrated with the mess, and with the amount of time it takes her to get the food from the plate, to the spoon, to the high-chair tray, to her spoon again, to her head, and then finally into her mouth (eeekkk!).

Had a fantastic weekend. First a gorgeous early morning family trip to the Rocklea farmers market complete with sit-down coffees and cupcakes while listening to the live jazz, and overflowing bags of veggies, organic chicken and fresh flowers - scrummy! We always buy flowers from the same flower stand, and Emma always gives Lee a free flower of his own. This week he was given a yellow and purple 'bearded iris' - very funny hearing a three year old trying to say this :)

Then I went to the Umbrella Collective's Annual Christmas Fair and did LOTS of wanting, but just a bit of buying. I LOVE my Jack and Jill bobby pins by Liana Kabel (aka Plastic Girl).



And I couldn't resist these Christmas tree decorations by Kylie Johnson from Paper Boat Press. They are thin ceramic pieces that feel like gingerbread cookes - I could almost eat them!


Then a trip to Funky Fabrix in Ashgrove to buy some...well...funky fabric! I then came home and made a tote, but no pics as it is a Christmas present for someone - don't want to spoil it. Did also make this little number. Not for anyone in particular - just wanted to try something different...



Saturday night I had everyone (ie. the extended family) round for a roast which I actually did myself!!! Yep, that's right. Usually it's Matt doing the cooking/entertaining thing, but this time he actually sat and drank beers with Dad and Ron, while I did the faffing about in the kitchen. Luckily my sister and my mum helped me pull it all together - and mum made a delicious apricot cobbler for dessert. Perfect way to finish a perfect day - I just wish I had have thought to take a photo. Unfortunately I was enjoying a lovely glass of Pikes shiraz while cooking, so WAY too relaxed to be remembering such trifles...