trading, bye byes + red ears

Bit of this. Bit of that. Day at home with the kids after a busy week of activities.

I received my first trade parcel in the mail. You know how excited I get by parcels....... yup, very chuffed!
I swapped this........

for this ...from Paw and Claw Designs.

It was my first trade experience and a pleasurable one at that - Nichole is great to deal with & very very funny. During our email banter she had me laughing out loud on more than one occasion ...I love that! Crazy thing is I haven't actually worn earrings in my ears for about 8 years. I figured this was a good excuse to change that. Amazingly, and to my complete surprise these little babies slid straight into the old holes.

Little Sachin (my 17 month old fella) thought it was hilarious and couldn't understand why Mummy wouldn't play along with his yanking game??? Needless to say they didn't last in my ears for very long. In addition, my ears began to look a little red raw after the first 10 minutes. Rubes (my 2 1/2 year old gal) looked at my shiny red lobes and sympathetically said "you'll be alright Mummy" before walking off to put her rabbit "Rae" to bed.
Guess I'll have to work on the ear redness thing...probably not the best look! Despite this, the earrings look fabulous - thanks Nichole :)

We also farewelled these tools today. They're on the road tonight to the Euroa Butter Factory to hang out and socialise for a while at the bar. A bit of subtle networking may be required by these four if they want to find themselves new homes! Goodluck guys.

ps. Nichole - please note my red ears are in no way any reflection on your earrings....... they are beautifully crafted and fine quality. My ears are just being precious!

wishlist minus swedish horse

It's my birthday next week & I've decided to create my very own wishlist. You know how it is...you quite often want (not necessarily need) for things, but as soon as someone asks "what would you like for your birthday?" well....you go blank. That's what happens to me anyway. Honestly, I would prefer people wouldn't ask me that question as I like surprises. I like it when gifts are of the thoughtful kind. Big or small is fine. $ value is not important. As long as there has been a little bit of love involved I'm happy!


So if anyone in my family is reading this (brownie points to you) be sure to communicate with each other as it would be a shame to duplicate when you could get this, this, this or this, this or this or this, this, this or this...OK OK I'll stop now. Hey...what's a girl to do when there is just so much out there????


Oh I also wanted to have this vintage Swedish Horse on my list but it sold. Bummer.


Changing topics. Maybe one day I will manage to locate my battery charger so I can take some new photos. Posts are so boring without images! Over the last couple of weeks I have managed to raid all of those annoying toys and in turn kill every single battery that can be found in this house (including the DVD remote control which I'm now regretting)....so sorry kids...Mummy will make it up to you. Tomorrow is the day for conquering those damn boxes!!

winter's coming

Only one week to go until Winter. It's funny how you always want the opposite to what you have...grass is always greener, that kind of thing. Whenever it's about to hit a new season I get all excited, then a month or so into it I'm already looking forward to the next change. Human nature I guess?

Anyway, with thunder, lightening, and heavy rain, it sure feels like a Winter's night here sitting in front of the TV watching "The Bill", with the fire going and feet all toasty in my new slipper socks. Mum knitted these from left over balls of wool - they look like they could have featured in my recent Etsy Treasury! Mmmmm.... those muted colours are just so fine :)

Thanks Mum xx

dirty colours...are just fine

I managed to grab a Treasury position last night on Etsy. For those who don't know, a Treasury is a collection of 12 items from different sellers that you choose to display for a couple of days. They can be viewed by anyone on the website. The Etsy staff select, at their choice, a handful of these Treasuries to sit on the front page each day. This is my collection of "dirty colours.....are just fine". I'm a bit of a sucker for these muted colours - they are so easy and comfortable.


Lots of Possibilities - Eshu (gumballs)

le caillou rose - letitiah (earrings)

Kite Shoulderbag - acajou (bag)

Zebra, 8x8 - esoule (zebra)

Gertrude the song bird - skunkboycreatures (bird)

Spring - rosiemusic (girl)

grow BABY grow set of 12 - Onsies culpepergeneral (baby)

Hat - sidneysidney (hat)

Garden Girl - riskybeads (green ring)

Branching Out wall graphic - ellynelly (birds)

Backpacking Pig (Limited Edition Print) - barkingbirdart

A Bowl of Gold Ring - rheta (silver ring)

UPDATE 24/5
Have to share this exciting news. Got up this morning to notice the Treasury made front page during my night..... sadly I didn't see it but hopefully the featured sellers made a few sales!!

bring on the lollipop

Wow 2 posts in one day...I'm on a roll!

I want to share with you my new little baby rattle lollipop creation. This idea has been in my head for a long time now & finally come to fruition. OK it may need a little refinement but I'm pretty happy with the result for a first prototype (sure beats the tree/artichoke disaster).

Unlike my previous dodgy sewing episode where I attached my finger to the Bernina, this experience was less painful for me but a lot more painful for my poor machine. Sewing through the lollipop head when it was filled with polyester was a bit too hardcore for the old girl. I resorted to hand turning the needle with the side dial, as every second stitch the needle got stuck. I'll need to rethink this one through next time. Maybe there's a different foot I can attach or a different needle? Any suggestions?

granny chic

I read an article in a magazine recently which discussed the current Nana Trend. It struck me that this is quite accurate and furthermore, I am smack bang in the middle of it. I looked at my wardrobe and found dresses, cardigans, sensible shoes & be prepared....sensible underwear. I am Nana! I googled it and found the terminology "Granny Chic". I like this a lot.

How about Etsy? Now that's Nana Trend to the max. Knitting, crochet, sewing, embroidery, quilting...it's all there. How great that we can embrace these wonderful crafts and recreate them in a contemporary fashion that appeals to the new generation. I never would have imagined myself looking at quilting books a few years ago - in fact I thought it was the most horrible craft out there. Those revolting floral print fabrics....uuuurrrgh.....I hated it. Now, I'm looking at it through new eyes.

Check out these adorable crochet hats at babai alainn . How about Carol's great bags over at Yorktown Road, hand knitted clothes at Belkemp or this smocked little girl's dress at AnnaFabo. Wow and this fabulous quilt at StichinDye. There are so many talented artists & crafters on Etsy all using traditional skills to create "now" looks & fashions.

All I had to do was look at the latest thing I made ..... oh yeah....Granny Chic! Chandeliers, flowers, chenille (think grandma's bedspread).....and the reverse sides are brown velvet.

calm mothers

I'm yelling out to all you Mums who sit up blogging, creating &/or reading into the wee hours of the morning like I do. Happy Mothers Day to you! I don't think I'm alone???? 10pm and my brain kicks into action....the house is quiet......time to think......time to chat in forums & meet interesting people. The only downside is the 6am alarm singing "Maaammmaaaa, Maaammmaaa" (that's me impersonating my 17 month old son).

Had 4 generations of women in the house today for lunch. GranNan (90), Nanny (61), Me (36), Ruby (2). I love that...it's so cool. I love that we can do that now that we are back in our home town. Mum dropped by on Friday with furniture polish in hand....she came to clean my piano! Whoa. Totally OK with it, in fact I say bring it on. Piano looks fab! Thanks Mum xx

This was my gift today from the kids & Dean. Mmmmm.... is there a not very subtle message behind this????
Oh well, I have broad shoulders! In fact, I admit to probably needing a bit of calming after the chaotic last few weeks.
The book is titled "Buddism for Mothers - a calm approach to caring for yourself and your children" by Sarah Napthali. I like the first paragraph of the blurb on the back page.
".....yet parenting books invariably focus on nurturing children rather than the mothers who struggle to raise them. This book is different. It is a book for mothers"

Hopefully it will be a good read. The reviews I've seen a mostly positive so I'm feeling optimistic that it will inspire me with new ways of thinking. My constant challenge is balancing life as a full-time Mum to 2 toddlers while creating a business that I'm passionate about. I think it's important to be fulfilled personally in order to be a happy person for your family, but it's very easy to become sleep deprived in the process which can equal grumpiness! I'll let you know my findings when I finish the book.

dancing delores

Mum & I had a little brainstorming session a while back and reminisced about childhood toys & techniques. Mum remembered making these dolls from scrap wool as a youngster & created one to show me. I've never seen them before and marvelled at the simplicity.


They are made from looping wool in 2 directions and then tying and cutting the ends to suit. You can make them in all sizes - tall, short, thin, round. We had a lot of fun and named this lovely lady Delores.


At this stage I haven't introduced her to my Etsy shop as she would look a little lonely on her own amongst the building tools. I'm wondering if she is a desirable design in the highly competitive selection of dolls already on Etsy. Admittedly there's a little bit of improvement & tweaking required before she's ready to go public (in particular her face) but me thinks me could have a lot of fun with the Woolly Dolls!!

I'm back....& sewing again

How I've missed you my little blog!!! Sorry for being so absent over the last few weeks.

The move is almost over...just a few more boxes to unpack. This is the current state of my workspace.....aaaahhh! Where are my favourite scissors & my battery charger??????

Good to be home in Adelaide. Even better to feel that we've made the right decision to move. Yay!


The Autumn Harvest Exhibition is just around the corner and I still have much work to do. I have managed to be a little productive while in between houses and took advantage of my Mum's Janome sewing machine. To be honest, I'd be happy with my vintage Bernina 730 any day - she's just a good ole' solid, steady piece of machinery that I have grown to love & cherish.


Thought I'd show you a couple of cushions I've completed for the Autumn collection (yes it's Autumn down on this side of the world). Don't you just love these over sized red buttons? I've been saving them for something special. The button holes challenged me somewhat on Mum's machine - they were bigger than the machine foot so required a little fudging....we got there in the end though.












The next one is not quite finished and I'm hoping you can help me out. I got to this stage in the early hours of the morning & while suffering brain drain couldn't make a decision. The centre of the stitched circle needs a little embellishment (in my opinion anyway - you may disagree). I'm swaying between one big bird in the middle (in the charcoal wool fabric shown on the reverse), or a series of 4 little birds sitting on a line just below the middle. What do you think???? I'd love your comments - any alternative ideas are also most welcome :)