Just a Quickie

Super quick blog post tonight!

'Twas a lovely surprise to see my Heart Brooch as one of Lauren's Made It Picks this week. Hopefully next week I'll actually have some spare time to make some more.

I have some really really exciting news to share, but alas, I can't spill the beans just yet.... and I still have my fingers (and toes) crossed for Finders Keepers. The suspense is killing me!!!

Time for a Thankyou

I'm interrupting the Hottie transmissions thismorning for a couple of overdue thankyous!

When I opened up the hottie package from Ady last month, there was also a lovely little surprise package waiting for me.

Ady had quite obviously read my mind! I'm still wandering around with my keys attached to the wrist strap that I bought at the Design Market in July 2008. After three years of everyday use, I guess you can imagine what it looks like? Manky!

But look how pretty this new one is!

I'm going to put the coaster to very good use too........ right next to my sewing machine (I always have a cup of tea next to the machine).

Thankyou so much Ady!

I have one more thankyou for today too.

A little while back I appliqued a little tee for Lauren's bubba's 1st birthday party.

Look at the beautiful Convertible Kimono Cord Necklace that Lauren sent to me as a thankyou. Absolutely gorgeous!

Here's Humphrey

Lauren sent me a request last week, to see whether I could put a little tie applique on a t-shirt for her bubba who has just turned one!



He's having a birthday party this coming weekend with a The Very Hungry Caterpillar theme.

In the absence of any humans (or mannequins of the correct size) to model the finished product, Humphrey B Bear volunteered to step in.

After all, he gets a bit chilly sometimes..... considering that he has no pants.

Humphrey B Bear has been with me since the 1970's (as you can probably tell from the state that he's in). That rock hard plastic yellow hat caused many injuries over the years. His little pocket hankie is hanging on for dear life.

I suppose it's inevitable considering that he's moved house with me at least twenty times over the years.

I made a little cardboard template for the tie, so I thought I'd share it just in case anyone else wanted to whip up a quick appliqued tee.

If you right click and save the image above - it's an A4 landscape scan. So basically, the tie is the height of an A4 sheet of paper.

Or you can use this one that has measurements.

My template suited a Size 1 tee. If you'd like a smaller applique, just reduce the size, or for larger increase the size.

Have fun!

The one where I finally say thankyou

Lauren Williams Button Necklace and Betty Jo Lino Flower Brooch

Life suddenly got a whole lot busier this year, so I've been a little slack with keeping up to date with the thankyous!

Lovely Lauren gifted me this gorgeous button necklace at the market on Saturday (it features one of my favourite Ume Komachi fabrics) and lovely Liz gifted me a gorgeous (extremely limited edition) floral lino brooch.

In the mail last week, I received these fabulously funky retro tea towels and a gorgeous scrappy brooch from lovely Steph at Moo Bear. She stumbled across them at a garage sale....the floral motifs and the colours are absolutely amazing.

...and last but certainly not least is this absolutely beautiful tea towel from lovely Mandapanda at Krafty Panda.

 I desperately need to make myself a new tote bag (the grubby penguins need a wash), so this will be the perfect size and print!

Thank you so so much to all of you for the super special pressies!

A broochfest

There seems to be a little bit of a broochfest happening around crafty blogland, so here's my show and tell!

I try to co-ordinate a brooch to my outfit every day, even if I'm just schlepping about the house. Brooches just seem to make me happy.

• Top row - Beaded Heart and Flower Brooches by me
• 2nd Row - Aunty Mabels Handbag & Owl by Betty Jo - Wonderland and Chocolate by Sophie Isobel
• 3rd Row - Flower by Greenolive, Owl by Hokey, Vintage Diamante Cluster bought from second hand shop in Clunes, INXS badge from the 80's gifted to me from Steph.
• Bottom Row - Necklace / Badge Combo by Lauren Williams, 3 vintage floral & 1 Pippijoe fabric badge from Starashan.
• Cluster of badges on the right hand side made by me at Brown Owls last year.

Do you have a little bit of a brooch collecting obsession that you'd like to share?

The Three Two Musketeers Marketeers - updated

Yesterday, Tinniegirl and I set off on a marketeering mission (after a nice relaxing breakfast of course).

First stop on the whistlestop tour was the Newport Substation. I hadn't visited this venue before, and I didn't realise what a beautiful building it was. It's been fully restored and is now a fabulous space for all sorts of arty and crafty ventures.

We specifically went along to visit the Artists Market, but there was also an art exhibition downstairs which was great to have a look at. We had a chat with Leonie, and I bought one of her lovely handmade lavender sachets to hang in my wardrobe. I was very restrained with all of the other beautiful things on offer.


We also had a chat to Melanie from Pieces of You. She makes the most amazing refashioned suit jackets, and scarves and bags (sorry about the terrible photo - head over to her blog for decent ones!).

Next stop on the whistlestop tour was the Yarraville Market.


I bought a lovely quilted baby playmat from Beccasaurus (I'd been meaning to make one for a friends little bubba who is now four months old, and I finally realised that I'm never going to get it done)! I also bought a lovely little crochet flower (in my favourite colour combo) from Fiona.

Edited: I also got to meet the lovely Meg from Megs Threads who was also at Yarraville. It's so nice to put a face to a blog!

We stayed in Yarraville for a very yummy lunch at Cornershop in Ballarat St. I highly recommend it if you're in the area.

As we were leaving Jane tipped us off about a little op-shop that we'd actually driven past, but somehow missed. Inspired by all of the re-fashioning going on over at Myrtle and Eunice and Clutterpunk, I picked up something that might just fit the bill (I'll hopefully play show and tell later in the week)!

By this time, we were nearly all marketed out, but we still wanted to visit the Sisters Market. We decided that if there was a car park right out the front of the market, then a little visit was 'meant to be', but if there wasn't then we'd keep on driving. Lo and behold..... a visit was 'meant to be'.

As soon as we walked inside, we bumped into Melanie and her beautiful little bubba, and then it was time for a quick shopping spree before pack up time.


I picked up some lovely cards from Printspace and the funniest little monster cards from Wendy June.


Then of course I couldn't resist these beautiful fabrics by Caitlin from Pippijoe. I'm promising that these won't be staying in the stash - I have plans for them....


I'll be saving up my pennies for a Philippa Garrard print on my next visit...

We had a quick chat to Jay from Finki, Margaret from Konstant Kaos, and Lauren from Lauren Williams Handmade...... but then the clock struck 4 and our time was up....

Phew! What a fabulous day.

Watcha Wearin' Wednesday

I haven't played along with this one for a while.... mainly because I'm usually wandering around the house in a pair of mocassins on Wednesdays.

But, today I'm wearing my lovely Lauren Williams button necklace, which you can find here.

Love Handmade Jewellery

I've realised lately that I have a passion (some may say addiction) for handmade jewellery.
I have a huge array from casual and funky, to formal and dressy, but I absolutely love all of it!

Usually the most difficult question I ask myself each morning is "Which pieces of jewellery shall I wear with my outfit"?

Following my passion, I bought myself a pair of these beautiful Belle earrings from Sharon at Handmaiden. They're a lovely silvery grey, perfect for an occassion where I need to dress up.

Sharon has just launched her Etsy store this weekend where you can find all of her beautiful creations.

I've also been coveting the lovely jewellery creations of Lauren Williams for quite a while now.

I was lucky enough to do a swap with Lauren and I received this gorgeous necklace and matching ring. The necklace pendant can be taken off and then it doubles as a brooch. Yah for multifunctional jewellery!

Lauren has a Made It shop full of lovely creations to check out.

Now..... I need to decide what to wear today!

Eye Spy....something beginning with J

I wandered around the house looking for something beginning with J, but with all of the clutter underfoot, it was a little hard to find.

So I'm going with this: Eye Spy with my little eye..... lots of JUNK.

I have boxes of junk that haven't been unpacked since I moved into this house over 6 years ago. I have more boxes of junk from when I packed up the old kitchen to renovate two and a half years ago..... and then there's my tendencies to bring home even more junk from the oppy, or from the hard rubbish.

I'm hoping to do a little de-junking very very soon!

Head on over to visit Cindy for more Eye Spy players (and while you're there, check out her whizz bang binding foot.....eeeek I'm in love). Thankyou Lauren for making me see the error of my junk collecting ways..... ha, we'll see how long that lasts!