Friday, April 29, 2011

supporting handmade


I went shopping with my teenager daughter the other day .
We don't get to the big shops very often so
we took the opportunity to have a good look around .
We went into one of those jewellery shops,
you know the ones with all the loud music
and the shop girls bounce over to see
if they can help with very bright , high voices .


Anyway my daughter was a bit taken with a necklace .
It was pretty , it was trendy and damned if
I couldn't make it myself !
It was also very , very expensive .

I'm fairly sure it was imported very cheaply
from overseas and now someone is making a fortune
and it isn't the people overseas that are
paid a pittance .

Which finally brings me to my point .
There is a program on the ABC
called Blood , Sweat and Luxuries
that shows the hardships people endure just
so we can have our fancy goods .

It has showcased embroidery sweatshops and
precious metal mining and computer recycling .
What these poor people go through for us
is just incredible and heartbreaking .

This program is a real eye opener and
I highly recommend it .

I would always rather support local handmade and
in a very small way I hope this helps .

This is as political as you are ever
 going to get from me but I am so passionate
about handmade , upcycling , recycling , reusing
and just making do that this was a good place
to rant to so many others that feel the same .


So the handmade necklace was made.
The girl and I just love it and because
we worked on it together this
 always makes handmade extra special !

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

help I've been hexed !


As most of you know I am not a quilter .

I have seen hexies around forever and have
never really been interested in doing them
until just recently .


After a bit of chat on facebook I found
 a great tutorial here .Thanks Karen .
I decided right from the start that
only scraps could be used .

The new addiction then began .

There are little bags of hexies ready
to be stitched everywhere !
I even have a bag of them in the car
for times when I'm waiting to pick up kids .


Why do I need help you ask ?

After all these little hexies have been joined
to make a flower then what ?

Surely if I stitch around the edges onto backing
fabric the middle piece will pop up ?

Or if I join all the flowers together how do
I get them onto the backing .

I repeat
 I.am.not.a.quilter.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

hello chickadee !



From my chicks to your chicks
have a safe and happy Easter .

I will be having a little blog break over Easter .
When I come back there will be a giveaway ,
a new pattern release and maybe a new swap .

If you have a swap idea let me know here
and I'll see what I can do .

Don't eat too much chocolate !

Saturday, April 16, 2011

how does the Easter bunny carry his eggs ?


In a Honey Pot of course !

I did a tutorial for these last year for Christmas
in Christmassy fabrics but as you can see
that look pretty darn cute for the Easter Bunny too !

If you you would like to make some the tutorial is here

They are easy to adjust the sizes and you could fill them 
with eggs or even hot cross buns , yum ! 

grateful


I'm grateful for living in the country with the family I have .

I'm also grateful they haven't run away from me
as I seem to be a little scatty and they are so
very tolerant of some of the mistakes I make .


Find more gratitude here .

Friday, April 15, 2011

easy Easter craft for kids


Easy , easy and almost mess free !


All you need is colourful paper even old magazine pages
and cardboard an old cereal box will do .


Tear a pile of colorful pages into small scraps .
The kids love this part .


Glue all the little pieces to the cardboard .


Turn the cardboard over and draw
some eggy shapes and cut them out .


Use a holepunch and put a hole in the top of the eggshape .
Thread some ribbon through and you're done !

These don't take long and is a great way
to distract the kids from saying

"When again is the Easter Bunny coming ?"

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

because I felt like it


I was reading one of my favourite blogs the other day
and Tania had the best tutorial for little Easter chicks .


I haven't done a lot of work with felt
so I thought I'd have a go .
How easy this was going to be , no seam allowances
no heming , no machine sewing .
It was going to be so cruisy sitting by
the fire stitching my little heart out .
I got a little excited and had visions of myself buying bolts
of felt because this was going to be great fun .
I started on a little design of my own and then
remembered this was meant to be for fun not work
and used a pattern from this cute book .


Well that was when it stopped being fun .

I didn't like the fluffy bits that went in my eyes .
I didn't like the untidiness of it all .
I didn't like not having the structure that I'm used to .

I sort of liked the end result and will probably
have another go at felt animals .


I know lots of others love to work with felt and make
 fantastic things , just not me .

I did ask the bunny do a little jig for me like the
chicks did over at Myrtle and Eunices
you really need to see these talented little chicks
they really know how to dance !

This was the response I got got from my bunny
when I just asked for a tiny , weeny dance  .

Hmmmph how ungrateful !


Friday, April 8, 2011

fairy dance - complete


Finally the fairy dance blanket is finished .
In case you are wondering what the heck I'm
going on about the story starts here .


I took lots of photos of it for you but had so many
I put some together so you didn't feel the need to
nod off especially after seeing my lovely, soft blanket .


I won't get sick of looking at it and I won't get
cold with this over me this winter .

It's so nice to see your family snuggling
up with something you've made ,
beats a shop blanket any day !

Imagine how excited I would be if I could quilt !

Thursday, April 7, 2011

my creative space


My Creative Space is chaotic as usual .
I've been dismembering cupie dolls for my shop .


I have certainly not been charming this week .


This week I have been planning to dye .


This week has been pretty well frocked !

How's it going in your space ?

Lots more creative spaces here .

Monday, April 4, 2011

memories of The Easter Show


The Royal Easter Show was a huge deal when I was a kid .
I was one of eight children so obviously we weren't
able to go every year but when we did it was
the most exciting thing ever !



We would take our own lunch and walk what seemed miles .
My parents were country people so it was the
woodchopping and fresh produce displays that we
spent lots of time at .


But it was always the dolls on sticks that we wanted .

If you were lucky enough to get a doll on a stick
your life just felt complete .

We would trudge back to the bus with your doll
held high so everyone could see just how lucky you were .
The doll on a stick was placed beside your bed
so it would be the first thing you saw the next morning .



They still  make me smile and I remember
much simpler times and a very happy childhood .

Dolls available in my shop now .