looking forward

 

Don't you just love the end of the year with a fresh and new one beginning.

 

Last year was pretty crap for me so I'm declaring 2014 my  year.

 

By the end of June I will have no children left at home

and although I am incredibly sad about this (shattered really)

I know that it is not healthy for them or me to wallow about it.

 

So I will put on a brave face and look forward to the next phase of my life.

 

In 2014 I hope to .....

(see I said hope not will)

 

not have another heart attack

do an online design course

spend more time with friends

do more crafting

not have another heart attack

read more, watch less

enjoy mothering from a different angle

rest a bit

relax a bit

grow my blog

release at least 3 new patterns

look at turning my patterns into PDFs

do more family tree research

try some new things

be happy

 

None of these are huge goals but they are important to me

and I know that I don't need a new year to begin these things

but this is the year that everything is going to change and

it really doesn't get much bigger than having

all your children gone.

 

 

What about you?

Do you set goals or unrealistic expectations?

How did you cope with your empty nest?

Were you miserable or happy when they left?

 

As some of you may know I don't get very personal here

but I'll let you in on a little secret .....

 

I'm going to cry for days when my kids are gone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hot snowflakes

 

I've been crocheting little white circles all year.

 

 

I eventually threaded them together

and added buttons and pearls.

 

They are strung up on my verandah door and

with the sun shining through they look really stunning.

 

As I said the sun shines through so I couldn't get a

decent photo to show you.

 

So I put them on another wall and took another photo

 

and then another spot and took a photo

 

and yet another spot.

 

Every time I moved them they would get

 all tangled so I just gave up .

 

It was also a million degrees the day

I tried to decorate with my snowflakes .

 

You'll just have to believe me when I say they look beautiful.

 

Wishing you and yours a merry and safe Christmas.

jingle bells

 

jingle bells

 

jingle bells

 

jingle all the way

 

oh what fun to have a jingly jangly tree hey!

an end and new beginnings

 

The teen girl is finishing school soon and

looking forward to continuing her education at Tafe.

I will have an empty nest next year

and looking forward to doing an online design course.

 

 

Of course this means we are looking at new , spiffy stationery.

 

We are going to be the coolest students ever!

 

All pictured above are from Spencil , an Australian family 

company based in Brisbane.

 

I do believe Santa will be shopping

there for some of our gifts.

winners are grinners

 

Sorry it's taken so long to get back with the winner

of the $20 Bookworld voucher it's just that

it has taken me so long to decide on my Christmas gift

books from there, decisions , decisions.

 

Anyway the winner is ~ Jess from Scrappy n Happy.

 

Congratulations Jess, Bookworld will contact you

and pass your voucher on , thanks for entering.

bookworld voucher giveaway

 

When I was asked by Bookworld to do a post for them

I hesitated for less than a millisecond.

 

I was given a voucher to spend so I now had a legitimate

excuse to do book shopping  research.

 

Would I buy a craft book or fiction?

 

 

The crime section narrowed it down for me but I yet to decide

I think this one Takedown Twenty may just be the one.

 

There are soooo many great discounted books!

 

Would you like a $20 voucher to spend there?

 

If you are Australian and looking for a fantastic Christmas gift

just leave a comment here.

 

Too easy.

 

Thanks Bookworld it was a pleasure collaborating with you,

 let's do it again soon. 

 

This giveaway is now closed , thanks for your interest.

 

 

just a quickie

 

Things have been a little frantic around here lately

so I thought I'd pop in and say hi and show you

a very quick and easy decoration that you can do for Christmas.

 

Simply wrap some coloured thread around jars

 and drop in a tealight.

I used baby food jars and battery operated tealights

because I don't like/won't use candles of any sort.

 

I have found a stash of baby food jars that I will be using

for Christmas crafts so I will show you more in a

couple of days , I hope you can come back then.

 

 

moving on

 

I'm always a little sad at the end of Winter to pack

my crochet blankets away.

 

All during the cold weather

they have been snuggled in and cuddled in.

They have been cried on and laughed in.

They have been fought in and fought over.

 

For now they are clean and being packed away.

 

Next Winter will be very different in my home

with my kids growing up and moving on.

 

So I guess I will be making blankets for their homes...

 

and cuddling the pets that are left behind.

and the winner is

 

Sorry I said I'd come and tell you the winner on Halloween

but life sort of got in the way.

 

Without further adieu the winner is ...

 

 

Gnomeangel! Hooray!

Gnomeangel please email me with your address.

 

Thanks everyone else for putting up with my strangeness

I'll be having a pattern giveaway very soon

so check out my store and see which one you'd like to win.

a strange giveaway

 

Strange for me anyway as we don't do Halloween at my place.

 

Strange that quite a few months ago an American magazine

asked if I would be interested in doing a Halloween project for them.

Of course I said yes and bought a few bits and pieces

and started planning a project for them.

 

As some of you know I became very sick and all work

was put on hold.

 

Anyway although all of this post is a bit strange you might be

 happy to know that as I can't really use this fabric

I'm giving it away!

 

Because this is already such a strange post I need to tell

you that the giveaway is open to Australians only

and as Australians we aren't as into Halloween as other places

this is extra strange!

 

If you would like to spread the word about this strange giveaway

go for it and give yourself an extra entry.

 

Just leave a comment here and say BOO!

 

I'll draw the winner on Thursday night , Halloween .

 

BOO!

 

 

we all fall down

 

My favourite part of Christmas is the decorating.

 

These old, old Christmas trees of mine have seen better days.

Each year I drag them out and each year when they're not falling

over they just look very uninspiring.

I have had these daggy trees since I was a tiny thing

so I couldn't really get rid of them and I could have

sprayed them but then they wouldn't be the same.

 

I just gave them a very good dust and popped them into

some jars I had and poured some rock salt in the base.

This has kept them the same and stopped them falling over

but now they look really pretty sitting on a mirror.

 

I can't wait till I can start decorating for real!

When do you start?

if I can do it you sure can!

 

I have wanted to make my own labels for such a long time.

This week I was finally able to do it.

 

There are quite a few tutorials around so I thought

if I put a few together here it might be

helpful in case you wanted to try making some too.

 

Patchwork Pottery

Bug and Bird

Fresh Vintage

 

I have only listed ones using twill tape and t shirt

transfer paper because this is what I used but there

are lots of others out there using ribbon and freezer paper.

 

Just ask Mr Google he'll show you the way.

 

Now I'm off to make something to sew them onto.

 

bling bling

 

I do love a bit of sparkle , I really do.

None of it is expensive so I can get a pretty

necklace every now and then.

 

The problem is they get all tangled up and

I'm just not a patient person to spend ages untangling them.

 

So I covered a wooden coat hanger in washi tape

and then I screwed some little hooks in.

 

Now I can hang some from the mirror without them

getting all twisted together.

 

Do you love some bling too?

coffee? yes please

 

I was approached recently by Griffiths coffee to do a post for them.

They know me well , I love my coffee!

 

Coffee is big business and growing rapidly.

Unfortunately as it grows the small farmers are mistreated

and often robbed of their meagre earnings.

 

This is where Fairtrade comes in.

 

Under the Fairtrade system producers are paid a minimum price and

the co ops receiving an extra amount to further their communities development.

If the market price rises the Fairtrade price rises too.

Visit the Oxfam site for more info.

 

Why else would I promote a coffee business on a craft blog?

It's an Australian company and has been since 1879

so I think they must be doing something right.

 

My decaffeinated coffee arrived and I couldn't wait to have a cup.

 

Decaffeinated by mountain water ~ tick.

Organic ~ tick.

Ethically grown ~ tick.

Fairtrade ~ tick.

Australian company ~ tick.

 

This all won't mean much if the coffee doesn't taste good

but the coffee was just delicious!

 

Yes Griffiths did give me a tin of the coffee to try but

they asked for total honesty and I have to say I won't be drinking

any other coffee from now on .

 

(Griffiths have called it Just Fair Coffee but maybe they should have called it Just Great)

the one where I have something to show you

 

On the off chance that I may have another hospital visit

I went on the search for a Summer dressing gown.

The stores in my parts are very limited so I was out of luck

and decided to make my own from my stash of vintage sheets.

 

A tiny pom pom trim was added for a little zing

and nice big pockets.

 

It is so lovely and soft and worn.

 

It's almost as beautiful as my daughter who is modelling it for me.

hanging in there thanks

 

Just popping in very quickly to let you know

I'm still hanging in there.

 

My little family have been amazing

and I have started on some sewing yeehah!

 

I hope to be back in the next few days to show you what I am making.

 

As a thank you to you for hanging in there with me

my little shop is having a sale.

When you buy two patterns and put the code THANKYOU

in at the checkout you will receive your second pattern at 1/2 price.

 

Thanks again so much for all your kind words of support.

 

See you in a couple of days xxx

 

PS The sale ends on Friday.

 

 

it's the little things

 

Slowly , slowly on the mend.

 

I'm still not able to do too much

 

 

but I did manage to gather all the old bits of necklaces

and ear rings that the teen girl and I had no use for

 

 

and connected them to an old fan cover.

 

They sparkle and shine as they hang

and looking at all the different things makes me so happy.

 

It's the little things.

 

just in case you were wondering

 

Yes I have been absent a bit lately but I do have a doctors certificate.

In fact I have spent the last few weeks in hospital

after suffering a major heart attack.

 

This 51 year old spent quality time in a coronary ward

with a few 90 year old men , sheesh.

 

 

Anyway I'm not here to whine but just to let you know where I've been.

Unfortunately at this stage I don't have the strength for much crafting

but we all know that won't take me long to get back to it.

 

 

My family are taking me for my first walk today.

 To think just a few weeks ago I was enjoying 5k walks

every morning and posting beautiful photos to instagram

 

Obviously this whole thing has shaken my family and

we are all getting by as best as we can.

 

I really don't know where this leaves my craft business but

in the mean time my bigcartel shop is closed.

I will probably reopen it in the next few weeks but my priority

at this stage is my health.

 

 

 

 

Thank you so very, very much to the people that already

knew about this and have contacted me with much love and kindness.

trust me

 

I don't really know what to tell you about my latest craft project.

I love old cutlery especially spoons and I have lots of them.

When I came across some little spoon charms I thought I'd like

to combine the new with the old and hang them in the kitchen.

 

To say I was thrilled with the result is an understatement.

 

They tinkle and shine and swirl around.

 

But they are very , very hard to get a decent photo of.

So you'll just have to take my word for it that they are beautiful!