tears

With all your life before you.

And all is good and true .

Ah girl ! The days are glorious .

When all the world is new .

by Henry Lawson .

My dear mother passed away this week .

I have cried a million tears .

I know there are more than a million to come .

I will be back when I'm coping a bit .

I love you mum xxxx

I'm really looking forward to 2011 .

Thanks to the exposure this blog has given me

I felt confident enough to scale down my

work outside my home to concentrate

more on Clare's Craftroom.

It is both exciting and scary but some

opportunities have come my way

and I would be mad not to have a go .

With less work it also means no more packing

orders and doing paperwork in the wee hours

and then having to go to work .

It means being able to take photos in daylight .

It means being around more for my kids .

You'd think it might mean having a tidier house

but I don't think that's going to happen .

Thankyou to all of you who have bought my patterns,

visited me and encouraged me .

Thankyou to the girls who make me laugh

in the middle of the night with silly emails .

I hope you all have a safe and merry Christmas !

xxxxxxxxx

I'll be back next week with my first new pattern for 2011.

flat out

I'm still around but just as everyone else is

I've been busy , busy , busy !

I have my final pattern release for

the year next week , phew!

I also hope to then be able to give you

some news on some exciting happenings

for The Craftroom in the new year .

Until then here is a little look at my new design .

I hope you have time next week to visit and see it all !

charmed I'm sure

A friend gave me some kilt pins , she thought I mightbe 

able to use them .

I have never done any beading or jewellery making

but this was a great opportunity to try .

I've started a little collection of charms and

been eyeing off my daughters bling and scheming

ways I can get at it .

This is probably not the best time

 of year to try a new craft .

My shop and my ebay shop are

the busiest they've ever been .

We are right in the middle of renovations

and the kids start school holidays tomorrow

and I have two jobs .

Of course I'll try to fit this in too

 but there's no guarantee I'll be charming about it .

hanging thingies tutorial

These hanging thingies are so quick to make

you can make a couple in no time and have

them ready as Christmas gifts .

Supplies needed -

8" square of 2 fabrics .

8"square of thin wadding

8" fat ric rac ,8" pom pom trim

matching ribbon or ric rac for hanging

Stitch the fat ric rac about 1/2" from edge on outer fabric

on two sides only .

Place your thin wadding down , lay the outer fabric

on top with the right side up .

Secure the pom pom trim along the outer fabric

on the same edges as the ric rac .

Lay the inner fabric on top with the right side

facing down .

Stitch through all layers using a 1/4 " seam allowance

and leaving a gap for turning .

Turn through gap and check that all

layers have been stitched and pom pom trim is secure .

Turn inside out and trim corners .

Turn right side out again and press .

Fold in half with the ric rac on the inside

 to form a triangle .

Stitch from bottom point to top , clip bottom point .

Pretty up the front (and disguise where the ric rac may

not quite meet ) with a crochet circle and covered button .

Stitch some ric rac to the high point at the back for hanging .

I also added a white paper doily .

My hanging thingies were filled with mint

flavoured chocolates wrapped in cellophane

and tied with fabric scraps .

I'd love to see what fabrics you make yours in ,

please let me know so I can come and have a look .

cushioning the blow

I've done a lot of admiring of circle in square blankets .

I really , really want one .

Not one person has offered to give me theirs

so I had to start my own .

I used 4 ply cotton , what was I thinking !

This was going to take forever as each square

ended up about 3 inches .

The squares have been turned into a cushion cover

and I think I'll use thicker wool for a blanket.

Or just keep waiting until someone sends me theirs .

not my finest hour

We lost power again the other night

so we had a barbie for tea .

I was having craft withdrawals

and was determined to craft something , anything !

Of course I think it is perfectly normal to boil up

old knitting needles on one burner as

the steak is cooking on the other hotplate .

My needle bangles were not as successful as I'd hoped

but sometimes crafters get really desperate !

crafting will resume soon , I hope !

This is a very quick post as I'm not sure

how long the internet will last .

Phone , net , and power are all very dodgy at the moment .

Really just wanted to say a HUGE thankyou

to all the nice people that have

emailed me checking how things are going .

You are so thoughtful and I really appreciate it .

I'm sorry I haven't been visiting anyone

or replying but I'm sure you will understand .

We have more rain due on Wednesday ,

if they would just shut the damn highway

I wouldn't have to go to work .

Edited to add , yes Jack did make it

safely home the next day !

He had a great time too .

adding value to your home

Beautiful views of green rolling paddocks .

Add a lot of rain .

We now have a water view .

The buses came into to town at lunchtime

yesterday to collect the kids from school

as the roads were flooding quickly .

There are hay bales being swept down the

creek that until just recently had been

bone dry for over ten years .

My son jumped on one of the buses yesterday

to be taken over the other side of town

before he was trapped on this side .

Excuse me Jack ,

YOU LIVE ON THIS SIDE !

my creative space

I make a different decoration for my family each Christmas .

Last year it was red and white stockings full of caramels .

This year it is these hanging thingies with chocolate mints .

I've only made three so far and as there are

two brothers and five sisters to make for

I'd really better get a wriggle on .

Lots more creative spaces here .

some crafters just know when to stop and some winners

I made my hanging basket decoration last year

and I was in love with it from the moment I hung it up .

I saw in a magazine recently where they joined two

baskets together and threaded lights through it .

Of course that would be far too simple for me so

I decided to cover the baskets with

 tinsel first and then the lights .

It now looks like I have a big tangled mess

of tinsel with a few lights .

In my house it has been called The Thing

and a few other not very nice names .

At least I tried .

This also may be why Oprah hasn't called .

On to the winners of my 300 post giveaway .

The Sew a Metre book goes to Chookyblue .

The fat quarters go to Samelinas Mum

The pattern goes to Marble Rose

Ladies please email me with your details .

Thanks to everyone for entering and visiting .

Seeya tomorrow !