gone potty.

I love to garden almost as much as I love to craft.
No not the heavy , sweaty gardening just the pretty stuff.
I've been looking for nice pots for ages to replace the daggy terracotta and forest green plastic pots.
If they are decent looking they either weigh a ton or are way too expensive.
I needed a few to replace my sad looking pots on our back verandah and I decided to go with the plastic toy tubs that you can pick up very cheaply from the bargain stores.
It was easy to drill holes in the bottom of them and I added a bit of gravel to help with the drainage and then I just popped my geraniums in there with some new potting mix.

 

In the last two Summers the only thing that survived

on minimal watering were the geraniums so

I think I'll just stick with them.

 

This is what they looked like before.

The poor things must have been so embarrassed !

 

Now this is the cheery sight I see!

Aaaah much better.

I buy craft stuff because......

Do I really need a reason?

Opshops , garage sales or Spotlight I head straight

for the craft stuff.

Somehow I have ended up with beads.

Lots of beads.

I have never done beading in my life.

 

In an effort to use up some crafty things I painted some

branches pink, as you do, then I threaded beads onto fuse wire

 

attached them to the branches and stuck them in the garden.

Of course I also chose the windiest most overcast

day to try and get a decent photo of them.

 

 

This is the real reason I buy craft stuff ~

because then I can make stuff that just makes me happy.

 

Do you buy things just because?

Are you a hoarder?

Do you have more than you can ever use?

 

 

when is a craft blogger not really a craft blogger?

 

Well I think it may be when a certain so called blogger

firstly loses the camera cable and then loses her camera!

 

So yes I am still crafting away but unless you

find me on instagram where I use my phone camera

you probably wouldn't believe me.

 

Back to the search.

not much. too much.

 

Crazy , crazy week here.

 

When life gets so busy and stuff is going on

the only solution is to post a rabble

of totally unrelated photos and say hi!

 

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

give me a sign

 

I love the cheerful signs that people have in their homes.

Sometimes though I feel they may be a bit twee for our home.

 

 

Also considering this newspaper clipping

that has been hanging on our lounge room wall

for years and has become a bit of a favourite

may show just what sort of loopy family we are. 

 

So I think we may just go with our new favourite.

After all we do have teenagers.

just because

 

Well here I am again.

 

Making silly things just because.

 

Maybe I really am going bananas.

just keep dancing

 

when everything seems so chaotic

 

and nothing is the same

except for two squares that I didn't want to be the same

 

when the pile of stuff just gets higher

 

and we feel like throwing it to the wind

 

when we feel so very scattered

 

 

just keep dancing

 

 

keep on dancing.

 

I meant joining just keep joining .

you know how it is

 

I first heard about The Umbrella Prints Trimming Competition in March.

 

Wow I thought I'll have a go at that !

 

The idea is you buy a pack of gorgeous trimmings , make something

from them , put them up and wait for thousands of people

to repin them from pinterest as each pin counts as a vote.

 

Sounds so easy doesn't it.......

 

I stuffed around for ages and never got to it but I 

finally glued my trimmings

around little sewing spools a few weeks ago....

.....and then left them.

 

I then decided this morning I'd better do something with them

so I strung the spools onto thread with some lovely wooden beads.

 

Of course no one was home to take a photo for me so

I took one myself and you can see all my junk in the background.

 

 

Tough luck I thought .... I'll just get my entry in anyway.

So then I went to The Umbrella Prints Blog to get the address

to email my details to and discovered

 

entries closed four days ago !

 

This was all totally my own fault but I still had fun anyway.

(and I now have a pretty cool necklace)

 

Visit the pinterest board and pin your favourites and

see the talent that did get their act together in time .

 

 

and so it goes on

 

I first blathered on about attempting string piecing in January 2010.

Not to be put off I blathered again that month about the same thing .

Being very persistent I bored you again here . 

 

 

Here we are in May 2013 and I am putting the blocks together .

No square is square.

No block is the same size.

I am still not a quilter .

 

 

soon to be a .....

 

Well hello there , how are you ?

 

I've been making myself a little bag to carry small bits of craft in .

Not earth shattering stuff but it makes me happy to

make something just for me .

 

Do you make things for yourself ?

 

I'm enjoying it and even though I know no one else

is ever going to look inside the lining or examine the stitching

I'm still trying to do it all properly because I know it will

drive me crazy if I know I haven't done it right .

 

 

If this little bag turns out I may just do a tutorial for it

if you are interested ?

 

There is also a small giveaway coming up that

may just have something to do with these gorgeous Cosmo threads .

 

Seeya soon , thanks for coming over .

now see here

 

One time my kids gave me a ball of wool .

 

Just one ball .

 

It is hard to make something special with just one ball .

 

They have since asked what is happening with that one ball ...

and I have said

 

 

now see here you kids 

I am busy ...

 

can't you see I haven't had any time

 

 

but can you see I do appreciate your lovely gift and

I love you both very , very much .

 

 

no flies on me

 

Hi there finally I'm back .

 

 

I did say I would be back earlier but you know

life , work , family blah blah blah .

 

 

Thanks for all the doll link ups , what fun !

 

 

I asked one of the kids to pick a number this morning

and number 2 was chosen so I will be sending Tammy

from Girls Wear Blue Too some dolly fabric .

Tammy would you please email me with your address .

 

 

Creative time has been very limited lately but

I did manage to make a fly swatter mobile , as you do.

 

 

 

 

read all about it

well hello Jack Frost !

This is what is  keeping me sane at the moment .

I drop my kids to their bus at about 6.45 each morning

and then I go walking .

I'm not a runner .

I hobble for 3kms on my shoddy knee .

Most mornings lately it has been freezing .

It clears my head .

It gives me thinking time.

It helps me feel stronger.

It is a beautiful way to start the day .

Very , very cold ....

but very , very beautiful .

the unbucket list

I read Chrissie Swan's column on Sunday as I always do .

I love the way she writes and comes out with things,

it makes me feel like I'm chatting with my sisters.

(yes my whole family is a bit nutty )

                                               Her column this week was about bucket lists .

A lot of bucket lists are very unrealistic so Chrissie

decided to do an unbucket list .

She is so my sort of girl !

                                  Really you can throw just about anything on a bucket list

but an unbucket list is a bit more challenging .

Here's mine ~

I will never ...

1.  have another child , that's it no more.

2.  leave Australia . I have no interest in traveling,

backpackers you may begin stoning me now.

3.  sing at The Opera House just because I can't sing a note

really has nothing to do with this .

4. get involved in an orgy (enough said).

5 . be a perfect mother .

6. be stunningly beautiful .

7. be rich (come on Lotto here's your chance to prove me wrong)

8. get sick of hearing my kids say they love me, ever.

9. have a spotless house (maybe I'd have a

chance at that if the internet was broken forever .)

10. shear a sheep . I've worked in shearing sheds and I love to crochet

but I won't be taking it from their backs .

11. be a great cook . I haven't killed my family yet so that's a good thing.

12. I'm with Chrissie , I will not be jumping out of a damn plane .

13. have a completed bucket or unbucket list .

Do you have a list ?

I'd love for you to share yours so if you do please let me know

and I'll come and visit .

This is not a regrets list but a list of things I am happy to never do .

Oh yes by the way regarding my last post , thanks so much

for your comments , messages and emails I really appreciate it.

vvrrrmm goes the red car

My car is red .

My car has done a lot of miles .

My car had her annual checkup for rego .

My car really deserved a little pampering so I made

her a steering wheel cover .

I hope this will keep her happy and going strong for another year .

In case you are wondering I left the ugly black grippy cover on the wheel

and just measured around the wheel and the grip width .

I cut a long strip of fabric and joined it to form a tube .

Then I added casing on either side and threaded thin elastic through .

I put it on the steering wheel and tightened the elastic until the cover was snug .

I cannot guarantee that this cover would be legal.

The ugly black grippy cover also prevents the cover slipping .