Coming up for air...

Well it has been a record for me in terms of blog absences. I seemed to blink and suddenly almost two months have passed. In fairness though it has been two months of big stuff. Big family stuff. Busy stuff. Nothing terrible. Just difficulties, busyness, illness - lots of 'out of the ordinary' things to deal with. As Pip so eloquently put it on her own blog - "a bit of a rough trot".


But I am being cautiously optimistic that we are coming to the end of our spate of high hurdles. Still not ready to reopen the ol' Etsy shop, or pay daily visits to the sewing machine again. But hopeful that I can at least start to rebuild the relationship with the Janome sometime soon :)

And what exactly do a pair of frilly undies have to do with all this, you may rightly ask? Well not much, except that these are pretty much the last thing I sewed before things came to a screeching halt. I was lucky enough to be a pattern tester for Benita's (from Bettsy Kingston) adult frilly knickers pattern. You may already know that Benita makes the most breathtakingly beautiful ruffle bloomers for babies (so lovely I was actually sad when Kate toilet trained and no longer required nappy covers!!!!). So needless to say I jumped at this opportunity. And I was really happy with them - so totally burlesque I must say. So keep an eye out for Benita's MYO store for when she releases the pattern. They really were so fun to make (and fun to wear, but I'm certainly not going into that here..*cough cough*)!!!!

So that's it from me. Just felt the need to finally visit my blog and dip my toe in the waters again I guess. Still not ready to promise anything like regular blogging yet. Right now I'm dead keen on exercising my head off, making fresh juices, and listening to lots of new music (totally loving La Roux and Midnight Juggernauts at the moment). And playing with the kids. And smoochin' my lovely husband. And making homemade sushi and drinking green tea. All the good nurturing stuff. Stuff that's good to do after a bit of a rough trot!!

Hope you have all been taking care of yourselves too.

XXX
Bec

Back to the land of the living

Well it really feels like Spring has arrived. Not because of the glorious weather, the buzzing of bees, or the birds that now wake us up at 5am each morning (which my husband hates, and I quite like). But after two weeks of horrid sickness, I now feel well and renewed, and bursting with Springtime energy. I want to clean and make and play and bake and I want to do it all NOW!!!!


I feel like I'm pop pop popping, just like these poppies I bought from the markets on the weekend (I love the way they 'pop' out of their hairy pods, and a gorgeous colourful crepe-like flower unfurls....I also love guessing what colour each flower will be before it 'pops' out. Hey is this why they're called 'POPpies'???)

Anyway, so I've been getting in amongst it, firstly with the cleaning, which I am sadly behind in after weeks of just doing the bare minimum. Then on the weekend I had a huge urge to sew something different. Something not for the shop, not for a gift for someone else, not something for the kids, but something for me. And I didn't want to make something I've already made before. I felt like a challenge.


So I went for another mash-up.


Basically, I took a gorgeous piece of $2.00 Op Shop fabric (stiff white seersucker with blue polka dots) and mashed up two patterns to create a dress. I was hoping for something a bit 'Alice in Wonderlandy' with a 50s edge.


I am pretty happy with it actually.


The two patterns I used were Simplicity 4589 (view A) and Simplicity 3835 (view A - the long dress) and they mashed up pretty easily.


I also made a belt from a vintage buckle I had, and wallah! So next time I'm invited to an Alice in Wonderland tea party, I'm good to go.


Maybe Melanie will provide the crockery!!!

I've also had a couple of nice surprises which brightened up my days during my lapse into lurgydom.



I won a wonderful book on how to make wallets from Cass from Snailblazer.


I especially like the ankle wallet. My son would love this - can't wait to give it a try!!!

And I was very generously given a Brillante Weblog award from Shells (Pixie Kisses).


Thanks so much Shells, you write a lovely blog, and I hope you don't mind if I shirk my obligation and simply pass this award onto anyone who is nice enough to be leaving a comment on this blog. I always check out the blogs of people who comment (you should see my heaving bloglines) and I am constantly inspired and humbled by the creativity and insightfulness of craft bloggers. It is what pushes me to be more creative, more grateful, and to find as much happiness as possible in the little things. Thank-you :)

100th post crafty giveaway bonanza!!!

I've always wanted to get the word 'bonanza' into a post title. And now I have. Yay!

So I am joining many other fine people who are having bloggy milestone giveaways at the moment, and am having one of my own. It's funny that I had decided to have a bloggy break when I realised I was about to do my 100th post. So it seems like a good time to stop and reflect on how much blogging has enriched my life. Or rather, how the blogging community has enriched it. So thank-you to anyone who has ever read one of my posts, or has left me a comment. My little break is not a reflection on my lack of appreciation that's for sure. Ok, enough of the sentimental rambling of an overtired crafter. Onto the good stuff. Here's a lowdown of the loot that will go to the lucky winner of this crafty giveaway bonanza (and if you can just say this in a booming echo voice while you read this it would make me really happy :P).


1. A gorgeous vintage apron.


The detail on this little baby is amazing (unlike my ironing skills which are significantly less than amazing - sorry).


2. Six vintage sewing patterns.


The Simplicity patterns top left and bottom right are a women's size 12. The Simplicity pattern bottom left is a women's size 16. The girls' dresses pattern is a size 6, the toddler patterns are a size 3, and the boys' shirt pattern is a 35" chest (and come on, wouldn't a teenage boy just love to wear a homemade shirt like one of these...he he...) Oh, I haven't thoroughly checked that all patterns are intact but they do seem to be, and I have no reason to believe they aren't.


3. Five vintage knitting patterns and one vintage crochet pattern. Check out the ciggies in some of these shots. The dude is doing the 'casual ciggie' hold, and I think the chick is going for a 'sexy sophistication' look. And I'm not even going to comment on the girl doing the crochet, with her little brother holding her wool, and the older brother looking down with interest...yep, moving on...


4. A pack of vintage sheet fat quarters.


5. Some handmade goodies, including a fabric bookmark,


felt rosette brooch, and felt hair clip.

Now as I may have mentioned once or twice, I am now having a bloggy break. So you will have plenty of time to enter. I will do a random draw to determine the winner on Thursday 14th August. To enter, I am actually going to bully you into participating in some market research for me. No don't worry, I'm not going to ask for your phone numbers and ring you during dinner time to ask you to do a quick survey which will only take five minutes but really will take 40mins. No - what I am asking you to do is just to visit my Etsy shop and tell me in the comments here, which is your favourite item. I have committed to doing a market with BrisStyle at Christmas time, and I really have no idea what I should be focussing my efforts on making. Little bags, big bags, girls' bags, boys' bags, brooches, clips, bookmarks.....if you can just copy and paste the name of the item you like best it would really help me to make some decisions. If you could also tell me why that item is your favourite that would be great - but it's not an entry requirement (I know how time consuming commenting is). And you might win a nice prize :P

Thanks again to everyone who reads these posts (especially those who actually make it all the way to the bottom). Many thanks my friends. Be well. XXX Bec