1st day at school

Well here he is, my baby going off to school (cliche, I know). He was mostly excited, a slight hesitation at the door of his classroom. I think I am going to like the teacher he got, she has a good sense of humour and I think she will "get" him, he can be quite a smartarse sometimes, but in a clever way if you know what I mean.
He has made an impression on the Principal already. When he saw him this morning he called out, "Hey Nash Mister! I always say things in reverse", and giggled to himself. Thankfully Mr Nash laughed too. Dave and I were laughing on the inside...

I had thoughts of going to the movies today, but decided to just come home and enjoy 'the serenity' as they say.

Crafty Night.

Another craft night last night. This is what we made.
AnnieB started on a "babushka doll" style softie. (She is so clever)
I appliqued a rocket onto a t-shirt for Jonty. (dodgy, don't look too closely)
Pam added this cute monkey to a pair of her daughters PJ's. (Another clever one)

Thrifty finds.

Some thrifty finds from yesterday. Two woolllen jumpers to do a bit more felting, might try and make some slippers out of the navy one.

And a gorgeous vintage woollen blanket. It is so soft and beautiful, why would anyone throw this out?? It is going on our bed after I have it dry-cleaned.

OK, I have to be honest and say that I did not actually pay for them. I was up at Church cleaning out the creche cupboards (because there are mice!!), these were in a box someone had left beside the Anglicare bin because it was full.

As it has been raining on and off all week I figured I was saving them from getting wet, then being thrown out.

I have moved...

I have moved all my sewing stuff out of the study in a step towards actually doing some Uni work. Home is now in the dining room wall unit, I still need it to be accessible for Friday Craft (weekly craft session at my house).

For those with a little time on their hands, why not enter the Handmade Parade Vintage Pillowcase Challenge!

Great Expectations

I have had so much fun crafting, cooking and blog writing this past month, all the while ignoring this little pile of books on top of the piano.
They are books I need to read for Uni this semester and I am a bit afraid of them....I think I may be one of the only 35 year old women on the planet who has not read 'Pride and Prejudice' (OK, slight exageration, maybe......)
There is also Othello, The Crucible, and Great Expectations which is a very "compact" 500 pages, seriously, the preface describes it as compact!!!! WT

And here is a little bag for my neice Hunter who is turning 5 next week. Luckily she has a small hand because the opening is rather tiny, I must have reduced the pattern incorrectly.

And lastly, CONGRATULATIONS to Amy and Luke my dear friends in the UK who welcomed baby Susannah into the world yesterday.

Happy Birthday Katie

My first project in the Fat Quarter Challenge was this drawing case for my good friend Katie who is 37 today, Happy Birthday.
It holds 7 pencils and a notebook. She liked it; and hopefully she will use it.

These are some cards I made today. I am experimenting with ways to use up fabric scraps. Why?, because I am taking part in a Fat Quarter sewing challenge (a fat quarter is 18 x 22 inches).
The idea is to use up the whole thing and not have any scraps left over. You can use it for whatever, and however many items you like.

This is the material I have chosen, even though it actually makes my eyes go weird looking at it. I think it will be good in small doses and go with lots of other fabrics. I have used a small ammount in the gift I am making for a special arty friend, can't give away too much.

This month is a big one for birthdays, my sister, neice, God daughter, and a couple of friends all have birthdays in the coming weeks. I am trying hard to stick with my mostly handmade gifts pledge.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm

300g "00" flour
4 freshly laid eggs

1pkt bacon
small container of light cream

work up an appetite cranking the pasta machine

yum

I just found this on Etsy. WOW!!! I love it. $700!!! I wonder whether I could make my own??

Teddy Tutus

This is what Sarah and her friend Lexi have been making this afternoon.

The very basic instructions (no sewing!!) can be found here.

Cup of tea??

The woollen jumper felted up quite well after a long hot wash and a spin in the dryer. It shrank by about 50% I estimate.

Here it is made up into a recycled woollen jumper tea cosy. I hope it does the job.

Softies

AnnieB came over on Friday night to sew a softie. We decided to do the same one (beetle bug), but they are still quite different. Mine is the one with the unstuffed legs.
Here is AnnieB arranging them for the all important "photo for the blog".




I would like to have a go at making a felted tea cosy, maybe like this one. Apparently you can make felt from old woollen jumpers, there are lots of tutorials about how to do this on the net.
As I type this I have an old jumper and cardigan in the machine on HOT to have a go. I am hoping it works.

Lisa's "goo".

This stuff is so delicious, you must try it. It can be served hot or cold, with roast lamb YUM!! or part of a mezze plate, with anything really..........
Lisa (my SIL) has given me the "recipe" so here it is. There are no exact ammounts, do it to taste/size of what you have.

Sataras pronounced 'Sat Tarash'

Slowly caramelise red onions, garlic with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Add red capsicum (fresh and bottled if available) and continue to cook on low temperature to soften
(best if you grill capsicums and remove skin)
Add tomatoes, zucchini and carrot (the capsicum and tomatoes make up ~ 2/3 of the total volume)
Cook for 2-3 hrs over low heat till carrot is tender
Add parsley if desired
Serve with crusty bread or ...........

Sunday afternoon..

A bit of cooking. Jamie Oliver's slow roasted lamb shoulder.
It was delicious served with Aunty Lisa's "goo" (recipe to come).
A bit of swimming.

A bit of craft. We found this idea in Issue #1 of Mixtape Zine.
And an extension of the chook pen. Dave is hoping the little tractors will help clean up the veggie patch.

Op Shop Treasures

A couple of days ago we discovered a fantastic op-shop in Sydney. If only I had been without Dave I could have bought so much more..........
I spent $11 and got a pattern (to make myself some PJ bottoms), 2 sewing mags, a crochet book (one of my NY's resolutions is to learn to crochet), an Australian geography textbook (I am doing a major in Geog at Uni), 2 great kids books (one of which I had as a child: I was reminiscing all the way home) and this GORGEOUS fabric!! (it was actually a curtain)
I love it!!, Dave thinks it is vile. Not sure what to use it for, maybe some cushion covers for the playroom, a bag for me.......

On a roll.........

These Pencil Rolls are addictive, I have made 4 in the last day.
They are really easy. I have seen them here and here, and on many other craft blogs. I think I will try one with Rik Rak next.

I got spoilt!!

I thought I would share a few of my more crafty Christmas presents.
This book which has the most gorgeous clever soft toys to make.

Issue #1 and #2 of Mixtape Zine.

A vintage sewing book by Enid Gilchrist, with lots of patterns for boys and girls.

Two new CD's from Dave, Paul Kelly and The Whitlams. I love having music on when I sew.

(And of course my new sewing machine, I was lucky really to get anything else at all....)