on the art desk today.

A lovely Wednesday afternoon, inside the journal, I'm just reworking old pages I didn't like or have sat unfinished, I have a few of these pages sitting there, so my mission before I went any further was revamp...I added some fabric to the side of the page, scrapbooking paper old photographs, some acrylic ink flowers washi tape and pitt pen.

remember that pocket I showed u on my last post I think...well I decided to give it some flare. adding little elements like this to a page, just makes it that much more eye appealing...they are simple to add, usually I'm arting at the buss stop and just doodle where I want things come home and bring it to life with inks and paints.

adding photocopies of other artworks from other journals and glueing them down to alter and create new work, is also a new idea I'm exploring...what new art can come from my old art...who knows!
also in the shot is a cute old envelope I found it was one of those 'reply paid' ones for something, and I created a new look for it, by turning it inside out, washii tape and a little patterned paper to to the inside, label tag and away we go! making new from old, gotta love it.

getting my sewing things ready for my trip to armidale in a couple of weeks, to get my sew on with my best friends, as a birthday treat from the love of my life.

hope you enjoyed todays post, if you have any questions feel free to contact me, or leave a comment, I do love reading your comments and emails about things, makes me realize Im not talking to myself!
xx Courtney

Five Year Old Friday

Evening my dears, it is indeed Friday here in the nook and as promised, I have Five Year Old Friday, the world through my little mans eyes. He has snapped over 300 shots, but I had the task of choosing only a few, here are some of my faves for...

today's shots were from our walk, a trip to spotlight and a trip to a garden center. Waiting at the traffic lights before we could cross.

this is one of my favourites he took, and I'm not even sure I know why but I saw it and it made me smile.

he went off into his own little world while I looked at fabrics, and captured things that I wasn't even sure of what they were...a bright glittery trim of some sort.

the last of their Christmas stock, bright tinsel.

after the craft store, we went to look at plants for our little garden we are thinking of having, he captured the sunflowers beautifully.

and these little deep pink flowers aswell, he didn't want to leave the plant place, as he wanted to keep taking pictures of the flowers. He really is adorable with his little camera held tightly in his hands.

my only image from the entire day was snapped while we were out on the ipad. Bolts of fabric I'd chosen to make my man's mum a quilt for her birthday. She makes so many beautiful things for my little ones, dresses and shirts, shorts and adorable skirts, I thought it was time someone made her something, so I chose some lovely Denise Schmit prints for the quilt.

so that is our day, from Elijah's perspective and a single shot from mine.
I hope you enjoyed 5yo Friday, it will be back next Friday, I wonder what photographic treasures eli will come up with next week.
xx Courtney

pop into my home for a cup of tea and some sewing.

Another hot summer day here in the nook, with the kids slumping from the heat, watching carebears and playing inside games in front of the fan. While they sat silent for a while, I got the boy to snap a selfie for me since its rather hard to shoot at that angle.

yesterday I mentioned we bought a simple little desk for my sewing table, and today I got a chance to put it together ready for the days when the little ones are at school and daycare, where I can concentrate on the little work in progress basket and to start some new projects, a few quilts need to be constructed this year, and with the purchase of a walking foot, I think I'm ready to go!

one of my fave things...my handmade cushion by the darling quilt goddess Ellie.

I thought I would show you lovelies a few sections of my house as the year progresses. Here is my favourite teapot in the kitchen.

and a sneak peek at the little lily's room. I secretly adore her room, I'm a young girl at heart and all that pink and white just makes me gush!

and on the arty front, using some of my blog photos in my art journal to create little photo journal pages so that I can see my year in pictures within my journals.

playing with my watercolour crayons since it's been too long since I got them out, on Sundays I'll be doing a Sunday Supply post, where I feature my favourite supply for the week, and show how I used that supply within my art work, and also links where to purchase them for the best price.

that's all from me today, it's too hot, I'm going to grab my book (Flowers in the Attic) and read in front of the cool fan.
xx Courtney

Get Your Art on Day 14 - Doll one Done..Almost

The night is young and yet I have alot of things to do, pack for sydney..clean the house well tidy up a little, make sure dogs stuff is sorted for his babysitting make sure my art journal is with me...and my new art journal since I have an inkling I shall finish my current one in Sydney.
This little darling is what I've spent two grueling days on, so my art time..is the art of doll making. I just have to knit her a little red scarf to go around her neck, and she be done. This little dear is Emma.

I'm so sleepy lol, these dolls might be small but they sure do take some fiddling. I have the proper enlarged size now, so if I'm game enough I'll make my little girl one, and my niece.

Pop over to Traci's blog to see her finished journal page spread, I shall see you tomorrow with whatever I do in between the crazyness of packing two small humans and a mamma up for two weeks away.
xx Courtney

quilting progress

As I've mentioned before, I started a quilt for my daughter Lily, who kinda drew the short straw being the second kid, she doesn't get alot of new things since I had alot of things from when Eli was born, so I thought it was time she got something special from her mummy.

I started cutting the squares with my mumma last week, and the ironing and the sewing began! 5 blocks across 7 rows down. with a bright pink polkadot sashed boarder, the backing is a smaller dot in pink, and the binding is a baby pink with white dots...can you tell I like dots lol.

the sewing of the blocks took me maybe 3 hours from start to finish. Then it was a trip to the fabric store in town for some batting and backing. I then started the AWFUL task of basting, which I must say I suck royally at! Next time I will wait for help lol, all this has been a learning curve but one must start somewhere.

I have started straight line quilting this little gem and its a slow slow task but I know it will be worth it in the end. It has shifted a little so some of the sashing will be trimmed to even it back up, I shall make up for this by making a decently think binding.

my sweet flower at the park a few weekends ago with my man and eli. She was so serious on the swing till I pushed her a little higher then the smiles came out to play hehe.

so thats where I am up to! I'll keep straight lining all the way down as straight as I can (which isnt that straight lol) then hopefully it will be ready to bind at 'Camp Courtney' a little craft camp at my place with the women I adore spending time with! hopefully the goddess Ellie will share her binding wisdom and it can be finished!

two blogs in one day! can you feel the love?

enjoy your afternoon, I shall enjoy mine with tea and cake with the lovely Emily.

xox Courtney

a quilt in the making, and emerald alice.

I haven't done my collage for today yet, but I thought it was time to show off another side of me, I am still very very beginner but slowly Im getting better at quilting! My darling grp of girlfriends and I decided to embark on a quilt round robin, where we each got a partner for the month and we would get their base fabric and sew them a block for their quilt using a matching fabric we ourselves bought for them. Its been such an amazing experience, getting their fabric cutting and sewing, a bit of swearing here and there, laughing at stupid mistakes.

I decided in my moment of madness as the crazy art student of the grp, to have every triangle a different fabric, meaning each block would stand as a colourful work of art. Easy way to stash bust and a way to go a little wild with fabric matching. I have however stated that the same print cant be used in other squares just no two same print on one block, just to make it a little easier!
so far the girls and I have made 12 blocks for my quilt, with some women sewing me more than the allotted two, as I declared that I wanted to make mine a king size quilt to begin the idea of an heirloom in my little family. These woman are helping me create that heirloom, and their names will be embroidered on the backing of the quilt as my homage to them.
They are my world, as if they were family. - Souls sisters if you will.
So below feast your eyes on the manic beautiful rainbow that are my progress shots, atm its a decent lap blanket size.

on the topic of quilts, my dear dear girlfriend Ellie knows my obsession with Alice in wonderland, that I have all vintage copies of the books, that I have rubber stamps in all the characters and that last years birthday invites were for a mad-hatters tea party with Alice invites and all!
This lovely lady for my birthday, which isn't til next month started sewing me something that I know Im going to cherish for the rest of my life. With my favourite colour and my favourite book character, I present you Emerald Alice, a lap quilt that will be used every moment I can think of! It makes me smile just looking at her.

many people want the quilt and many have been told no, Ellie has been asked if they can buy her, I've said no amount of money can make me give that quilt away. So suck on that she's mine.
I love it to bits, as much as I love the woman who made her for me.
have a great friday!!
oxo Courtney

My Creative Space

An afternoon away from yarn, who would think my creative space wouldnt be about dyeing today! although my life does revolve around the dyepot and my little business I thought it was time to take a moment to enjoy the things I dont get to do often! like embroider, and play with my small and quint fabric stash. Im making a few little gifts for friends and penpals, and for once its not a skein of hand dyed yarn.

My sewing box is as messy as they come, with things thrown everywhere and tapemeasure with a life of its own, I can never find it when I need it! Im making a few little pin cushions and a few little embroiderd buttons with the word knit on it to work as brooches. 

One of the fabrics I love is this one, it will become something for a friend, Id like a little project bag out of it, but my sewing machine and I dont love eachother to any degree! this is where I wished I was a seamstress and not a knitter. The skein of yarn is a custom for a sweet girl called Lisa. 
 I hope she likes it. It makes me smile, its a soft stage dance  that turns into a vibrant salsa. I ended up talking  yarn anyway! hehe cant keep a good dyer down.

For more creative spaces, Pop on over to Kootoyoo's Blog to discover a hive of creative spaces.

Tea and Yarn

Courtney