Pincushion and Tape Measure Cover

I had some cute little apple fabric scraps lying around so I used them for a couple of small projects.

First we have a tape measure cover (because mine was pretty ugly), much better now!


Then we have a pincushion. It's actually for someone at my dad's work so I don't have a matching pincushion and tape measure.

I used Whip-Up Tutorials for both of these. The pincushion was from the Stickin' it to the Pincushion, and the tape measure cover was from the Customised Tape measure tutorial

Scatterday

It's Scatterday again and today's letter is T.

Hot Things: It's a Tap Pepper Grinder, it used to have a hot on it but that fell off, but pepper itself it a bit hot.

Purple: It's a teddy bear that I gave my mum ages ago, which now lives on her bed.

Clothing: it's some ties (and there are some purple ones in there). Next to this rack of ties is another one, and there are normally quite a few ties that haven't been put away as well.

Bookmark Swap

I took part in the Bookmark Swap at Crafty Daisies and today my bookmark arrived! It's a lovely crocheted bookmark in a Catherine Wheel pattern and my partner let me know it was designed to look like flowers in a field of grass. Isn't it just gorgeous!


On the weekend I went to a primary school reunion which was a bit weird, seeing people I hadn't seen for thirteen years, since I was twelve. There were about 15 people there out of a class of 73, but more people than that had been tracked down, and almost everyone had been contacted through Facebook. It was interesting to see what people were up to, and amazing how many people had gone travelling for a year. No one could think of anyone who was married or had kids (at 25 you'd expect someone to be wouldn't you?).

Scatterday

Happy Scatterday! It's H today and the categories are:

Human: This was a bit of a tricky one, but then I started looking round and found this picture of Hedy Lamarr. My mum had carried a calender of black and white movie stars around for years until she eventually got all the images framed. They're all in our dining room now and look very effective. Other pictures include Errol Flynn, Lauren Bacall, Mae West and more.

Toys: We have a harp seal and a hedgehog. They were both gifts. The seal was from a friend when I got food poisoning in Perth (other than that I had a lovely time), and the hedgehog was from my aunt and uncle when they visited us from the UK.

Soft: It's a hat. My mum and dad went to a mad hatters fancy dress party. I made mum's hat which won, it was a desert island with a little palm tree and a little doll fishing. It was lots of fun with paper mache and sand and cellophane water. The only problem was that I didn't think about balance until it was finished. Unfortunately I think it's been thrown out now and I didn't get any photos, but we've still got the prize.

Aussie Tour Embroidery Swap

I've got my apron back from the Aussie Tour embroidery swap. It was a round robin and I sent around pieces of an apron which will be sewn together at some point. First though I have to embroider a couple of gaps. That may have to wait for a little while because my to do list looks a bit like this:

URGENT
Christmas Ornament Swap (I signed up at the last minute)
Christmas Cards
Christmas Presents
Secret Santa Gift

Then there is my WIP List
Mesmerize Sweater
Cocoon Bag (which is probably more like a UFO)
September CAL Square

Plus lots of non-urgent things too.

Plus I'm working lots of hours at the moment and I'm going away in a few weeks (Yay, a holiday in Bali).

So it might take me a little while to complete the apron, but until then everyone else's embroidery deserves to be shown off, so enjoy the loveliness.


This one is from jane feebles, such a clever idea (I had a craft theme for my apron)


This one is from sharre. You probably can't see the little needle embroidered with metallic thread, but I love little details like that!


This is from librarylass and it's three dimensional! Doesn't the stick figure have so much character too?


This is from cmc_aust. I wish my French knots were as good as this.


This is from Miss_Vicki, how gorgeous is the sewing superhero fairy, and the stitches are teeny!

Cotton and Wool and Yarn. Oh my!

That title doesn't completely make sense, but with just cotton and wool you don't end up with the Wizard of Oz reference. Anyway a combination of factors led to me splurging on various yarns.

1. I'd just bought some new crochet books
2. Bendigo Woollen Mills was having a sale (and still is I think)
3. There was a destashing thread on the Australian Knitters Board of Ravelry

So I've ended up with all of this:


The first two cones are from Ravelry, no plans for this just yet and the rest is from Bendigo Woollen Mills. The other cones are going to be made into the Icelandic Sweater and Leaves Sweater, I keep changing my mind as to the colours of each. The next three balls are cotton and are going to turn into the Mesmerize Sweater (I've started this one), then we have two balls for a non-Crochet Me cardigan, but I can't remember the name of it at the moment, and finally we have another three balls of cotton, bought because they were even more on sale...not that I have to justify them!

TAST Week 21: Crossed Buttonhole

Week 21 in the TAST challenge was Crossed Buttonhole and we have some little sea stars (or starfish).

Scatterday

It's Scatterday again and today's letter is O.

First is Breakfast and we have some oats, which go on to become muesli (courtesy of Poppalina's recipe here). Very yummy and a wonderful start to the day!

Next is something shiny and it's a Cloisonné owl my mum and dad got in China, which is used to hold toothpicks. This was a very hard topic I thought so I'll be interested in what everyone else gets!

Finally it's something small and I've taken a photo of my mum's printers tray (a section anyway) with some ornaments. She's been collecting little things for years and has bits and pieces from over the world (I made the gumnut glued to the bit of wood)

My new books

All my books have arrived now so I thought it was time to do a quick review. I ordered them from The Book Depository which offers free shipping worldwide. All my books arrived very quickly and the prices were excellent.

First we have Sock and Glove by Miyako Kanamori. This is a lovely sweet book. The photography is lovely and the patterns easy to follow and would be manageable to hand sew. There is some assumption that you already know how to sew in this book. Overall a very inspiring book, and I'm sure I'm going to buy some socks and/or gloves for these projects soon.

Next is Plush-O-Rama: Curious Creatures for Immature Adults by Linda Kopp. This was a great book to read through, the introduction goes through various materials and techniques and there is a wide range of creatures to make, all with their own personalities. There are some great designer bios as well. The only negative would be that the templates need enlarging, but that is a small quibble. It's also full of inspiration for creating your own monsters as well!

Then there is Bend-the-Rules Sewing by Amy Karol, which is beautifully presented, full of inspiring designs, clear instructions, and lovely writing. It goes through sewing basics initially and then has a range of projects, all appearing nice and simple. I'm looking forward to trying some.

Next is Crochet Me by Kim Werker, which is a very empowering book. You don't often get crochet books that you get to the end of reading and go "Yeah! I crochet!" but this one manages to do that. As well as the essays throughout there is a lovely range of projects, and I've already ordered some wool to start some of them (it doesn't count towards your stash if you buy it for a specific project).

Second last is Amigurumi: Supper Happy Crochet Cute by Elisabeth A. Doherty and I must say, the patterns in this are adorable. There is a range from crochet food, animals and humanoids. There are instructions for the crochet stitches, embroidery and also some hand exercises which I think is a fantastic idea.

Finally we have the Harmony Guide 300 Crochet Stitches. This book is obviously designed to be very functional and gets straight into the crochet without any non-instructive text. The stitch patterns are packed in, all with clear photographs and some with charts. It's definitely a good base for different crochet patterns and motifs.

Scatterday (late again)

Only a couple of days late today, but better late than never!

First we have vegetable...and I think canned vegetables only just count, but we have some asparagus. We did have fresh avocados and apples but they're both fruits.

Next a round thing and it's a stone apple. I think mum and dad got it (and the matching pear) from overseas somewhere, but I can't be more specific than that.

Finally it's Something I like the Smell of. This was even more difficult than the vegetable because I've got a terrible sense of smell so in the absence of taking a photo of the sky and calling it air, I've gone with some aromatic candles.

Christmas Ornament Swap - Part 2

So you've seen the lovely goodies I got in the Christmas Ornament Swap (I love getting handmade things), now you get to see what I made.


Some knitting elves.

A crocheted snowflake.
Almost everything made it without mishap...except for one parcel which got returned to me with a third of the envelop missing...it's very lucky the ornaments were intact so they got resent and arrived safely.

Christmas Ornament Swap

I took part in the Christmas Ornament Swap Round 2 on craftster and got some lovely ornaments.

I got some very clever puzzle ornaments from kittyvegas

A gorgeous beaded ornament and a cute little Christmas cracker from Harvey

A lovely tree and teeny little snowman from kibbi

And a beautiful quilted bird from gingerquilts

To avoid overloading the post with pictures (which I've probably already done) I'll put the stuff I sent in another post.

Scatterday

Happy Scatterday! Today's letter is J and we have our three categories:

Restaurant: a sneaky phone camera shot here (bet you can tell) of a Japanese...possibly restaurant. It was in a food court. I should lose points for the photo and the very loose interpretation of the category!

Pointy things: it's some jagged glass! I didn't break glass specifically for scatterday, but I did have to clean it up. We've just got a new outdoor table and we put our old one on the front lawn hoping someone would take it. Rather than doing that some (we're assuming school kids as it was between lunchtime and 5pm and we're near a high school) people turned it over and dropped a large rock on it. Shards of glass are really hard to get off the ground, particularly when there is grass on it...and it's raining (cue the violins). The only good thing that's come out of it is that I got a scatterday photo!

Sport: It's some joggers...although I suspect these ones have never been jogged in. Still it's the thought that counts. I wonder if these joggers have dreams of an afterlife where they spend their days pounding the pavement, or maybe they are lazy too!

TAST Week 20: Butterfly Chain Stitch

Week 20 in the TAST chellenge was Butterfly Chain Stitch, and we have another in the series of 'Pressed Samples'


I've also got my invitation to Ravelry and I can see why people find it addictive! I've put all my projects in, and now I'm working on loading my stash. I think I've already got two or three projects in a queue (although that doesn't mean they'll get made), and that's before my new books arrive! If anyone else has got their invite (because I can't remember who has) my user name is starberrii, feel free to add me as a friend.

Rounder Roomy Bag

I've been wanting to make a cute little patchwork bag for a little while, and this was a bit of a practice run.

The tutorial was from here, although now that I've made it, it's not quite the shape I had in mind for my patchwork bag, although I do like this one, so I'll probably keep an eye out for another pattern (and then do a trial run of that). Other than the outer fabric (which was $1 a meter) I had all the materials at home.

I also had a go at putting a zipper pocket inside the bag, which worked really well (Yay!).

TAST Week 19: Basque Stitch

Week 19 in the TAST Challenge was Basque Stitch, although I threw in a bit of stem stitch as well.

I'm really pleased with the end result on this one, it ended up very close to what I was hoping to do!

Scatterday

Once again it's Scatterday and today's letter is P and the categories are...*drum roll*

Red: we have some red pins on a non-red pincushion (a lovely gift from MissMeshell). It was a bit of a pain to pull all my non-red pins out of the pincushion, and I've discovered that I've lost two...which honestly is surprisingly few.

Sweet Things: a pineapple that is either growing out of the table, or has had it's bottom cut off. Poor pineapple! This is going to sound quite bad, but I much prefer tinned pineapple to fresh pineapple (it's too pineappley)

Metal: some pots and pans (one is a pressure cooker, but that still starts with P!).

Bloggy Competition Winners

The winners of the Bloggy Competition are Librarylass and Sharre and your bookmarks will be heading your way soon (by the way Sharre, what bookmark did you want?).

Is it being mean if I let you know what books I've picked once they arrive?

Fabric

Linda from Chloe's Place was selling some fabric, so I took the opportunity to make a purchase.

I got them incredibly quickly, and Linda did a fantastic job of picking pieces with minimal guidance from me (basically I gave her some colours).

Aren't they lovely? And packed so neatly as well.

TAST Week 18: Woven and Whipped Wheel

Week 18 in the TAST challenge was Woven and/or Whipped Wheel and I can see why people like this stitch. I'd never really done it before but it was lots of fun. I can see myself using it more in embroidery now.

Scatterday

It's Scatterday again and I'm back to my routine and managing to post on time today. The letter for today is F and the categories are:

Cold things: I went simple, with our fridge which doesn't really have any exciting stories about it.

Elements: Fire! This is a photograph of my cousin doing Poi, or fire twirling on a beach in Vietnam. She's amazingly talented at it and it would have been nicer if my camera had got a better shot, but you get the general idea.

Signs: Probably inappropriate, this is another Vietnam photo, you can probably see why I took it. We actually went to Vietnam about four years ago so I had to scan these photos in. It was a wonderful trip and I'd love to go there again.

Books, books and more books

On the weekend the Australian Bookcrossing Convention was in Melbourne, and it was lots of fun. I've been pretty lucky because last year it was in Adelaide and this year in Melbourne, next year it's in Brisbane so I may use it as an excuse for a holiday (the only problem with that is getting the books home again)!

Anyway, as well as being an opportunity to pass along books (and free up space for new ones) it's a great place to pick up new books, like these...


...there are actually another two books which didn't make it into the photo because they're being read by me and my mum. I think I may be busy for some time...

This large number of books is by no means an excuse to not buy craft books, I have however decided to get the Crochet Me book, so I might wait until next week to finish the competition and order books. Yay, more books! (I think I may have a problem)

Scatterday (only a little bit late!)

I had a pretty busy weekend with the Australian Bookcrossing Convention on in Melbourne (I'll post a picture of all the books I picked up soon) so that's why I've been slack with Scatterday and other blog posting.

Anyway, this weeks letter is C.

First we have hobbies and I went with crafts, so there's a picture of my computer, on my favourite site on the internet, craftster, where I waste spend lots of time.

Then we have pizza toppings. I did go to Max Brenner's on the weekend, where they have chocolate pizza, but no one on my table ordered it, so we'll have to go with cheese, on top of some left over home made pizza I found in the fridge.

Finally we have furniture, and a couch. It's all scuffed up because when my sister was little she'd climb all over it in her t-bars/mary janes/those sandle things with the buckles. Once she drew on it as well.

TAST Week 17: Running Stitch

Week 17 in the TAST challenge was Running Stitch

This was simple, but quite fun (and easy in front of the tv!). It's also a prize in my blog competition (see down the page). Don't worry if your answers aren't particularly helpful, you can still enter!

Masqerade

I had a masquerade engagement party to go to the other day and wanted to make my own mask (although I didn't have a huge amount of time!). After combining a mask base with a fake flower, a glue gun and a bit of embroidery this is what I got...


I was really happy with it and I got loads of compliments, which is always nice! There were a few other hand made mask's there, but most were bought.

Bloggy Competition

Recently we've had someone away from work for a bit, so I've been working extra hours which has left me a bit tired and grumpy. Anyway, I've decided that because of that I deserve some craft booky goodness...and that's where you guys come in.

I've come up with a bit of a list of books I'd like to get (but unfortunately I can't get them all) so I'm looking for feedback on where best to spend my money. Either let me know which books are fantastic (or which one's you've heard are fantastic), which one's overlap a bit (and so I should only pick one), or any other books that you think I should add to my list. I'm aiming to get a bit of a range of crafts.

1. Books I'm almost definately going to get:

Bend-the-Rules Sewing: The Essential Guide to a Whole New Way to Sew by Amy Karol
I've heard really great things about this one.

2. Books I'd love to get:

Amigurumi!: Super Happy Crochet Cute by Elisabeth Doherty
They're very cute...but I've got an excess of soft toys at the moment. Although great gifts.

Sock and Glove: Creating Charming Softy Friends from Cast-Off Socks and Gloves by Miyako Kanamori
Again, lovely and cute.

Crochet Me: Designs to Fuel the Crochet Revolution by Kim Werker
Ok, so it's not actually out yet. That shouldn't stop comments should it?

A Crochet Stitch Dictionary
I didn't actually find anything specific, so suggestions of good ones would be really appreciated. I'd probably like something with a nice range, clear directions, inspiring pictures.

3. Books I'm not quite sure of (but that still look lovely):

Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing: Patterns and How-To for 24 Fresh and Easy Projects by Lotta Jansdotter
I'm just not sure how many sewing books I should buy right now because I don't sew as often as I'd like to.

Sublime Stitching: Hundreds of Hip Embroidery Patterns and How-To (Spiral-bound) by Jenny Hart
I've got a few embroidery books and there are great resources on the internet for different stitches, so this would mainly be for patterns, although I've heard they're not as unique as the individual Sublime Stitching Patterns.

Plush-o-Rama: Curious Creatures for Immature Adults by Linda Kopp
Because now I'm on my third toy book. But still cute!

Best comments* will win a bookmark so leave a comment, along with your preferred bookmark and I'll probably draw it (and order books) next week, so you've got a little while to think about it.

*Best comment may be based on most useful, most funny or simply picked randomly.

Scatterday

It's Scatterday and this weeks letter is W.

First of all we have a black thing, my wallet. Always too many receipts and not enough money. Anyone else have that problem?

Then we have tools, and whisks, more kitchen utensils I guess, but I reckon they're close enough. I don't believe I've got any interesting whisk stories though...

Finally we have games, and a wooden game chest
. There is also a Where's Wally jigsaw puzzle in there, but basically the whole thing needs a good sort out. Although it's not high on any to do lists.

12 inch square CAL: August easy square

Only two to go...but I'm definitely finishing this CAL late. Never mind. Although I'm quite impressed with the amount of stuff I'm managing to get done at the moment, particularly with the amount I'm working. I just need to stop signing up for swaps!

Here is the August Easy Square for the CAL, the pattern comes from here.

Briar Rose Quilt Square

Ceilidh has received one of the squares I embroidered for our personal swap (and liked it, yay!). The other two I sent on in the Aussie Tour (because our personal swap was for a couple of extra squares), but I didn't manage to finish this one in time.

I had lots of fun on the border with this one, and it turned out just how I wanted. I'm so glad the ribbon roses turned out too as it was my first time with them (I did woven wheels with the ribbon). Ceilidh is a spinner too so I wanted a spinning wheel on one of the squares I was embroidering, although I got half way through embroidering the wheel before I realised it was the wrong way for the old woman, but that means it's the right way for Briar Rose!

Scatterday

Happy Scatterday! I hope you've all had a good week.

This week's letter is B and the categories are:

My favourite things: So Easy! I love books and here's a quick snapshot of my bookcase. I love taking a peek at other people's bookcases to see what they've got so I'm sure you'll enjoy looking at mine. I'm a bit of a fantasy nut and my books are vaguely arranged in order of preference from top shelf down (although rules may be broken depending on series length and available space). I've been rereading a couple of books lately which is why there are some gaps. I've also just started double stacking my books which is A Bad Thing. It leads to the accumulation of more books.

Big Things: A Bear. This is Freddy Teddy who belongs to my sister and is almost adult sized. One of her friends mum's made it for a birthday years ago. He lives upstairs away from the dogs because Barney would like to suck on his fur and make him dribbly. Disgusting isn't it?

Shop: I don't like using plastic bags and this is my favourite bag to use when I shop. It's also a bookcrossing bag, so there's another B. It's great because it folds up very small and fits into my handbag. Although I do have a yearning for one of those knitted mesh market bags...

TAST Week 16: Palistrina Stitch

Week 16 in the TAST challenge was Palistrina Stitch and I'm really happy with how this has worked out although the colours are a little washed out.


I probably won't be posting very often for the next couple of weeks because I'm working way too many hours and it's putting me in a foul mood. Stupid twelve hour days...and that's if I can leave on time. Grumble Grumble Grumble

Scatterday

Looks like it's scatterday and for once I have Saturday off. Woohoo!

This week's letter is Q and we have:

Music: A Queen CD. Lots of fun. I'm not much of a singer but last year I'd often sing when I was doing my night checks (the acoustics were good - high ceilings, and it was better than listening to barking dogs) and random Queen songs were a favourite. I'm not sure if I should have admitted that.

Square: It's a quadrilateral (a shape with four sides and four corners - so all squares are quadrilaterals, but not all quadrilaterals are squares). My granny got this for me as a Christmas present about 6 years ago. At the time she was caring for my grandpa and couldn't really go out shopping and they were staying at the Leukaemia Foundation. She bought this at a fundraiser event for the Foundation. I've been wanting to do something with it for a while but couldn't think what because it's not really a quilt. A couple of weeks ago I had a brainwave and decided to brighten up the wall above my bed.

Clothing: A quilted jacket. Probably from about 2001? I still think it's kind of cool (which is why it hasn't been donated to an op-shop yet). It'll come back in eventually won't it?

Aaargh Matey! We have treasure!

I've always been jealous reading other peoples blogs when they have a really fantastic thrift shop/op shop find. I've found good bits and pieces but nothing that's got me really excited...until now that is.

I took this random tied up plastic bag which looked like it had some zippers and stuff in it to the counter along with some other stuff I'd bought and asked if the whole bag was for sale. After some brief consultation the two women decided it was, and priced it at $5. Look was I got!



I'm so impressed...although it probably means I need to learn how to sew a zip now! It also made my day a lot better, I'd been working on what was supposed to be my day off, and it ended up being so quiet it wasn't really worth me coming in. Never mind, I bought some good craft goodies.

TAST Week 15: Oyster Stitch

Not a terribly exciting contribution for Oyster Stitch but it didn't quite end up looking as I planned. I was going for a bit of a rain drop effect and I guess I got that but it's not one of my favourite bookmarks. Nevermind, not everything turns out beautifully!



I found this to be a bit of a tricky stitch intitially, but once I got the hang of it, it was quite fun.

12 inch CAL: August experienced square

Three squares to go in the craftster CAL, although with all the swap embroidery I'm doing at the moment and being very busy at work it may take me a while to get onto them!


The colours in this don't look as mismatched in real life, but I did run out of red yarn with very little left to go.

The pattern is from here.

Scatterday

Once again it's Scatterday and here are today's photos.

Today's letter is R, and the categories are the plant world, the arts and childhood.

First we have a rose which is in a bouquet of flowers for...my sister, but it was one of the easiest things to find.

Next we have two photos which fit both the arts and childhood categories, and they are relatives. It's my aunt and uncle and I skillfully drew them when I was 5. My uncle kept them and then framed them and gave them to me for my twenty first birthday, which I think was a pretty amazing thing to do.

Craft Show Goodies

I went to the Craft and Stitches show on Wednesday and bought myself a couple of things.



I got some pretty fat quarters...and some of them are even for specific projects, some beads (not for anything specific - naughty me!) and some more embroidery scissors, because they always come in handy.

On the topic of buying things, I'm working a lot during September so I was thinking of having a big craft book splurge in October so have a think about any recommendations between now and then and I'll probably have a big of a competition with suggestions!

Personal Swap Goodies

When I was in the Aussie Shop the Swap I ended up doing a personal swap with cmc_aust, related to another swap we're both in, the Aussie Embroidery Tour swap/round robin. I've embroidered three items (including mine) so far, but I'll wait until the end to post all the pictures and keep it a surprise.

Anyway, she sent me some lovely hand spun and hand dyed yarn (isn't it pretty!).



She also sent me some additional squares to embroider for her quilt (she's sending squares for the tour), which I won't show yet (because they haven't been embroidered). Although it should mean I'm ahead for the next part of the swap, because even if I don't get the original square done I'll have at least one to send on. I think by the end of the year I may want a break from embroidery!

TAST Week 14: Bonnet Stitch

Week 14 in the TAST challenge was Bonnet Stitch


I'm calling this one "Tentacular" because I like the sound of it and I think this looks like tentacles stretching into the air.