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 !

a peek at The Craftroom

Come along I'll show you where I work .

Firstly block your nose .

Now pop on your gumboots .

I'm sure you want a closer look at under my desk .

Had enough ?

So have I !

Don't forget my giveaway in the post below

before that gets rained away too .

300 posts! Do you think Oprah would like to interview me ?

Who would have thought I would have so much to say ,

thanks for putting up with me !

300 posts is a good enough reason for a giveaway

but this one is a little different as I am

going to ask you to do a few things .

Visit my shop and choose your favourite pattern .

Come back here and tell me which one it is .

Also tell me what you would like to

 see in my shop next .

After all that effort , phew , I'll give a few prizes .

One lucky winner will receive a copy of Sew a Metre .

Another will win a metre of fabric in 4 fat quarters .

Another will win a pattern of their choice from my shop .

That really isn't so hard is it ?

Open to all , good luck !

I'll draw the winners on Wednesday night

Australian time .

P.S. Thankyou for all your kind wishes 

when I was crook , I'm much better now . 

This giveaway is now closed .

Thankyou for your interest .

Another giveaway next year !

crook

Yep that's me ,  crook !

Absolutely nothing going on here .

I've had that 24 hour bug for,

mmm let me see ,

72 HOURS!!

Just like me to get a bit carried away .

The housework and cooking and running

around for kids hasn't stopped but

the crafting has .

Really , really bad time of the year to slack off .

I took my first day off work in 9 months and

you'd have thought I murdered someone

the way they carried on .

I have stuff to show you ,

giveaways to organise and crafting

to be done .

For now I'll just enjoy the cricket .

My Creative Space

My creative space smells very pretty this week .

I very rarely get to any markets but when I do

I try and support local makers and so I buy

handmade soap .

I put the soap away and throughout the year

I crochet some facewashers and

then package them together for

just in case gifts .

Just in case I forget a birthday or

need an extra teacher gift .

This time of year these just in case

 gifts are very handy !

Wrapped simply in brown paper

with a paper doily and some coloured string

they do make a pretty gift , just in case !

Lots more creative spaces here .

at my house

At my house I am wondering about lists .

I like lists .

I make shopping lists , I always leave them at home

when I go to the shops but I do make them .

I make lists for the kids when I go to work for

chores that need to be done before I get home , 

they don't get done but I still make the lists .

I knew I had a small gap in my day on Sunday

that I could manage some crafting so

because I wanted to use my time wisely

I made a list .

Looking at my list I wondered when

I had become so scattered that I needed

to allocate time to think about my kid's

Christmas presents and why was it

less a priority than pattern writing but

more important than ironing doilies

for a new project ?

Do I now need a list to remind me I have kids ?

Thank goodness the doilies got ironed ,

that's one thing off my list .

Now back to the pattern writing .

Just throwing this teenage book in because I loved it !

I actually didn't read it , I listened to it on tape .

Maybe I was too busy making lists to read .

Lots more lovely houses to visit at Lou Lous .

now I'm really off my face

Brain snap !

I gave in and signed up with facebook .

All of a sudden I feel I'm back at primary school .

Will you be my friend ?

So and so says these people are ok , you

can be friends with them too .

Not too sure if I like you ...

How about a poke !!?

I even got a message on my wall

(in the olden days we used to call that graffiti)

from one of my sisters that I declined as

a friend because I didn't realise it was her .

There goes my Christmas present .

I really don't feel facebook and I are going to be friends .

This may be the best photo I've ever seen of me .

bucket tutorial (buckets of fun!)

Thanks so much to Kerryanne for organising

Simply Christmas and inviting me to be a part of it .

Just in case you missed this tutorial last week

at Kerryannes I thought I'd replay it for you

besides it was sitting in my blogger dashboard

with draft written beside it taunting me !

I really don't like loose ends .

I use these buckets all year round and they make great gifts

filled with the recipients favourite things .

I call mine Honey Pots as I have made mine

so that a 1.5kg (empty) honey pot fits inside .

This make the whole thing stand up firmly

and you are then able to prop things up in them

even flowers !

I hope you enjoy making these .

First of all you will need - fabric

Upper band = 3 1/2 " x 18"

Lower band =3 1/2 x 18"

Lining = 6 1/4 x18"

Prairie points 24" x 3"

ric rac x 18"

12" ribbon

2 co-ordinating fabric circles with 6" diameter

interfacing for base and lining

Cut your prairie point fabric into 8 x 3 inch squares .

Fold over point to point to form a triangle .

Fold over again until all raw edges are at the long edge of the triangle .

Press and starch as you go for nice sharp points .

Pin the points to the top edge of the

 lower band of the main fabric

starting and ending a little before the edges.

Slip the top corner of each point into the one before .

Tack the points on to secure .

Stitch ric rac along the middle of the upper band .

With right sides facing and using a 1/4" seam

stitch the top and bottom band together .

Adhere the interfacing to the lining and lining circle .

With right sides facing stitch the completed outer

at the short ends forming a tube .

Repeat for the lining .

Cut your ribbon piece into 2 x 6" pieces .

Pin each piece of ribbon to the top of the main fabric

each at the halfway point .

Slip the lining tube over the outer tube with

right sides facing and stitch all around

catching the ribbon handles .

Pin and stitch one fabric circle to the main fabric .

Pin and stitch remaining circle to lining

leaving a gap about 3" for turning through .

Trim with pinking shears .

Pull fabric gently through gap and stitch closed .

You can also topstitch along the top too .

Fill your pots with baubles or tinsel and use as

a decoration or fill with wrapped lollies

to give as a gift .

The one made here was the giveaway prize

at Shabby Art Boutique

and the winner was

Brianna at Rolling in Fabric !

Congratulations Brianna and thankyou

to Kerryanne for having me

at your place , I hope I didn't make too much mess .

I think I may have because she has cleaning

for Christmas tips today , oops! 

                                     



                                       
                                               
                                      
                                            
                  
         
        

my creative space

My creative space is a bit like my brain this

week a bit here , a bit there .

 Buttons were pinned onto a styrofoam cone this week

for another Christmas tree .....

I hope the excitement isn't too much for you .

More spaces here .

bored

A customer left behind an old

 Better Homes and Gardens.

I read the crafty bits .

I tore out the recipes I liked .

What else was there for me to do ?

My job is boring sometimes .

tuesday treasures

As this is my last Tuesday Treasures ,

as hostess anyway , I thought I'd 

 show you a couple of things that are

very , very important to me .

The poetry book is inscribed inside

by my parents for my 4th birthday .

My dictionary was given to me by my mum

for my 18th birthday .

The most important thing I was given was

a love of reading .

I am a huge reader and although I rarely

read much of great literary value

I don't really care as long as I get to read .

I read to my children a lot and they have

seen me with my head in a book forever

and thank goodness it has rubbed off on them

and they too have become great readers .

Although funnily enough I can't seem

to get them very interested in Henry Lawson

my favourite bush poet/storyteller .

Surprise !

Tuesday Treasures is not finished !

Melody from The house on the side of the hill

has generously offered to take over for me

as of next Tuesday , thanks so much Melody .

We'd love to see your link to your treasures

here this week and next week at Melodys .

oh crochet tree , oh crochet tree ....

Love , love , love my new Christmas tree !

Crochet circles from left over cottons.

Pretty bottle .

Small branch from yard .

Satisfied smirk .

goodbye old mate

I commented on someones blog the other night

about how my dog had been run over by our ute .

I was a bit flippant as I never expected it

to be serious as anyone can tell you

cattle dogs are tough !

Our poor old dog died this morning and

we are all shattered .

We have a habit here of getting dogs

that no one else wants and we have always

been so lucky to have these dogs as

part of our family .

This dog was named Blox as he was x blue

cattle dog and foxie and he was a great little dog .

Our other dog is now pining and is confused .

Dear old Blox , I hope there are cats bums galore

in heaven for you to sniff all day .

Love you mate xxxx