awesome star wars plates

via

blog love- sweet william

A lovely blog, pretty illustrations and prints (etsy, madeit), and a collection of vintage tins.

What more do you need to love? *sigh*

hey!

Cathy from Chunky Chooky stitched another of my designs! Yay!

snowglobe pincushions

(Please excuse my grubby fingers.)

A while ago I bought some tiny horses and deer from this shop, and this week I turned them into snowglobe pincushions. Because they ought to go together, don't you think? I think they need a shorter name (snow cushion? globe pin?) and I'm still working out the best way to make them, I think my glitter is a little clumpy from the glycerine, and the sealer kinda smudged the glass a bit. I like prototypes though, it's a bit exciting to try new things. I can show you how to make them if you like.

.

Do you have prototypes? What do you do with them? I'm collecting a bit of a drawer of first-go's and 'oopsies' (or @#%$, depending on the case). I was thinking of using them for a toy drop, but it feels a bit rude to use something I wouldn't sell. And there's a limit to how many I can give to family and friends. Really. Maybe I will chop them up?

.

Do you remember this prototype? Well I have some real-darn deer to show you, with antlers and everything but I left my camera at a party on the weekend, so I can't. It was a good party.

I am feeling sad

So I bought a vintage owl night light that I couldn't afford.

brown owls @ the pub

On Wednesday night (I know it's Saturday. I um forgot I had photos to post) we had a lovely Brown Owls gathering, knitting and embroidering and chatting away, meeting new owls and owls from different places, and learning new things. Beer was had, wedges were shared and the turnout was so big we took over an entire section of the pub. (Please excuse the photos which are dark and blurry, due to blown lighting we were sitting in 'mood lighting', which made for a bit of squinty eyes, a few missed stitches and not-so-good photos.)

.

.

We chatted about having a meeting at the premises of ArtSparks, an art & sewing school for kids that has facilities including big tables and a bank of sewing machines! We chatted about work and babies and projects and admired one another's handiwork. I learnt about circular knitting needles and that yarns are made from twisted together strands called plies, which is why the more plies in a wool the thicker. Ah-huh. Also wool comes in skeins, not just floss. Also how to pronounce skeins (like 'veins' not 'vines'). I started a white soft scarf (because I still can only knit in straight lines). Plus I arranged to adopt Amy's market umbrella for my upcoming markets. It's all coming together..

.

.

Much fun for Brown Owls! Yay!

Howard

A film by Julia Potts via The Ever Dazzling

Julia also has lovely prints of her illustrations in her shop. Very lovely.

eeeee!

there's my VW embroidery pattern stitched by the lovely Cathy from Chunky Chooky, featured on the Feeling Stitchy blog!

there's my Winter Fox featured on Kid Independent!

tonight, we knit

Zebra Quentin Blake

tattoo

.

Tonight I am knitting with Brown Owls. In the interest of research (and to stop myself looking at the clock quite-so-much) here are some knitting-related badges and magnets.

.

.

(Procrastinate? me? noooooo..)

life is too short

via

Love Combating Fear

via

Did you know that today is the International Day against Homophobia? It is held each year on May 17 marking the World Health Organization’s removal of homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in 1990. Isn't it amazing that homosexuality was considered a mental disorder in 1990! While we were watching Growing Pains and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, gay men and women were diagnosed with mental disorders for liking someone.

A friend's partner is showing work at the (free) IDAHO Exhibition in Sydney, at Kudos Gallery, Paddington 18 - 29 May 2010. One of the main goals of this years exhibition is to promote the message 'Love Combating Fear'. Every decision a human makes is either based on Love or Fear. The exhibition aims to promote a message of Love to combat homophobia and the negative consequences it has. His photography is amazing, and I'm looking forward to seeing all of the work, and showing my support for the inclusion and total acceptance of homosexuals in society. I don't really give a toss who people are attracted to, and I certainly don't think anyone should be discriminated against in any way because of it.

.

.
.

For more information, visit the website. You can download posters, add a button to your blog, and read more about it.

this week/ last week

via

Last week I
- had a cold
- found some books in a lane way
- stuffed plush raindrops
- received an invitation to my high school reunion
- watched Avatar
- rearranged the studio
- cooked yummy soup
- dreamt of camping and crocodiles
- made a snow globe pincushion
- was cranky at work
- ate peanut butter ice cream



This week I am
- still coughing
- looking forward to knitting at Brown Owls
- watching Robin Hood at the movies
- have a pimple on my chin. Arrgh!
- working on new cushions
- making new blog friends
- wondering about my job
- looking forward to the forecasted rain
- hoping your week is lovely

this weeks blog love

Sophie's blog Shine a little light* is lovely. She practices thankfulness, something I am working on. It has thoughts, so many pretty things, photography, food, friends and bicycles!

You can also see lots of pictures from her recent and very pretty wedding, with lego people on the wedding cake! And you can also find out why her husband didn't wear underwear for a month. I bet you're intrigued. It's not what you think. (what are you thinking?)

Sophie is lovely too. It was her birthday recently. She also likes tea, like me. Don't take my word for it. Go and have a look, do.

yay for clouds!

I've been sewing, I have, but waiting for that elusive photo weather, bright but cloudy when I can get the pictures I like. This morning when I was sipping my third cup of tea and sitting at my desk, I looked up and realised that the light was nice. Nice indeed, so I pulled out the new foxes, and giraffes, and rattles, and balanced in the garden bed taking photos (and possibly flashing my undies to the passers-by) until the darn clouds moved away and the sun shone too brightly. My fabric tags arrived, do you see them on the foxes? Aren't they swell? So now (hurrah!) I can show you and update my shop, too.

Playgrounds from the 70's & 80's

I remember growing up near a park with a rocket like this, and horses too. Mine was called 'Red Indian' and my sisters was called 'Sunshine'. Yep.

I've been working (read: working hard and then periodically looking at random websites to 'rest my brain') and I came across these playgrounds from the 70's. Do you remember these?

.

They were AWESOME! Dangerous, exciting, interesting things full of angles and metal bars and moving parts with no guards. Awesome. Not sure if I'd like MY kids playing on them, but gee they were fun.

.

(images via and via)

Welcome Elsa

My incredible big sister and her hubby have just produced this adorable gem, my new neice Elsa Grace (and the name! so lovely!)

Well done you guys! We have quite a family tradition of having adorable babies. She weighed 9 pounds 3 ounces and is settling down to feeding and sleeping. Oh my she is cute. I can't wait to meet her.

.

.

This has prompted a bit of wishful online shopping. It turned out to have quite a hedgehog theme. Dear big Sis, if I had money I would get you and Elsa one of these. I would.

Sock Monkey ALL Sizes Hat PATTERN

Hedgehog Baby Shoes

Modern Baby Clock - Hedgehog

Mabel Hedgehog

I love my aunt onesie
Children's Wall Art Woodland Animals 8x10 Print

my week in pictures

We had a house BBQ to welcome our new housemates. They are awesome. I made party bunting and candle holders from jars and wire. We stayed up Very. Late. Indeed.

I found random mosaics on the way home.

.

Played Stratego with the Boy. Lost. Several times...

Foxes. Pretty bright foxes with lovely tails. (blogger? sideways pictures again? why?)

I saw a possum


The lovely necklace from this giveaway arrived (isn't it pretty)!

Also bleached hair on impulse. Kindaaa turned out pineapple. I hope I'm a cute pineapple.

Oops I forgot!

My Friday Follower! Sorry ‘bout that!


This week I introduce the lovely Kathy from Chunky Chooky- if you haven't already met. Kathy was one of my first followers and her encouragment and comments really kept me going in those weeks where I wondered over the sanity of blogging in between working, studying, life-in-general. She makes VERY CUTE plushies and rattles in lovely bold prints, the kind of stuff that makes me sigh and think of little fingers holding them... ANYWAY, do go have a read, she is down-to-earth, lovely, kind and funny. Here's her etsy shop too.
.
.

Considering my unpredictable schedule I figured that setting up a regular blogging theme like this doesn’t really work for me, but I still want to show you some of my favourite blogs and say thank you to my followers, so instead I give you the blog love of the moment tab on the side there. I’ll keep featuring followers and my favourite blogs, but gives me some more leeway in scheduling! I love finding new bloggy favourites through other people's blogs, I hope this will give you a chance to find some more too.

I want

This Book. You can buy it here, or a signed copy here.

Or buy me one. If you like.

Papercuts, I love. Mister rob does them very well. Check out his lovely etsy shop.

If you like paper too, check out this blog.