Op shop finds and a couple more blocks ...

One of the weekend's garage sale was more like an English jumble sale - in a church halls and mostly clothes piled high on trestles.  Unlike an English jumble sale there was no queue to get in, no entry fee and you could fill a bag up for $2 - how can you not like that.  Most of the things I found are to be used for the material - silk, linen, wool and a couple of stripy jersey tops to make some trousers for the girls.

a small selection of my finds!

and a couple of items were put in the bag solely for the buttons!

Some vintage embroidered doilies from the local op shop

Embroidery detail

Now you might be asking isn't the second photo just another close up shot?  Well you would be right!  But it's the BACK of the doily.  Can you believe it?  The neatness of the work is amazing - and I got the whole set for 50c!

I'm still working away on my quilt top from the ANZAC Bee - it's maybe about 2/3 done now!  A couple of extra blocks I've made:

appliqueed tumbling hearts block

paper pieced heart awaiting border

I can't seem to be able to get into anything but the heart quilt so I had better get it finished soon to allow some other creating into my life!  (And also get the kitchen table and spare bed back!!!!) xx

I'm off to a market ...

the Feilding Craft Market in fact.  Now it is technically my first market (I try to forget the one I attended at the beginning of Decmber where no-one came and then I was surrounded by a motorcycle club - yes it really did happen and I really am trying to forget!!!).  So, allowing for my bit of artistic licence, this is my first market!!!!

Wonder what's being made here?!

I'm excited, nervous, busy, tired, challenged to name but a few.  I was feeling rather reluctant to tell you that I'm doing a market but then I thought that was ridiculous because you may just be able to offer me some advice, tips, support ..... a shoulder to cry on!

Rainbow bunting

I would really appreciate any comments or feedback on the items I show this week.  Of course, it's not all one-sided I will also be having a GIVEAWAY!!!!!  What's up for grabs?  Bunting of course!  There is the rather lovely rainbow bunting as featured above and below or you may choose a more calming bunting made from reclaimed embroidered linens and doilies, which you can see over here or down below.  The choice is yours.

So how do you enter?  Just leave a comment.  In fact, every comment left this week, on any post, will result in ONE ENTRY TO THE DRAW.  If you fancy a few more then why not mention this giveaway on your blog and get 3 extra entries!

Bunting made with reclaimed vintage table runner which was worn in places

Bunting close up

All clear?  Wonderful!  Well good luck with the draw and of course good luck to me!!! xx

PS For more bunting madness don't forget to click here!

My creative space

We're off on holiday (and a little bit of crafting is coming too!)

We're going away tomorrow for a week's holiday - hurray!!!! Up to the sunny Bay of Plenty (oh please let it be the sunny Bay of Plenty!). Although there'll be lots to do up there I still might have the urge to be crafty so I've packed a little case (in fact it's the first and only thing packed so far!).

The case's contents:

2 embroidery hoops

linen offcuts

embroidery silks

scissors

material marker

ball of chunky colourful yarn

bamboo knitting needles

And the best about it to me? The case was found at a garage sale for $1, the embroidery hoops, linen and silks were all received via Freecycle, the yarn is new but was reduced and the bamboo needles cost me 50c, yes that's right reduced to 50c. So a whole case of loveliness for very little money - what more could you ask?!

All packed and ready to go! Until we get back - au revoir! x

PS To check out lots of other lovely creative spaces take a peek over here.

I'm a very lucky lady ...

I've been very lucky recently so thought I would share with you.

Last week I was lucky enough to win this giveaway on Craftykin - my first ever blog giveaway so I was very excited to hear the news and can't wait to receive the brooch!

Then I found a surprise package in the post box:



A box of crochet patterns and wonderful written letter from the lovely Julie over at Dreaming of Daisies. Not expected, total surprise and I absolutely love it! Many, many thanks. x

The garage sales have not been very forthcoming recently, in fact there haven't actually been many in our little town. So on Saturday when I saw 5 advertised I was quite excited. I trawled around 4 in the cold, early morning and wondered what on earth I was doing - should I go to the last or not? Of course I should and thank goodness. I got a wooden blackboard/whiteboard easel which I am going to repaint and give to Maia for her birthday (hence no pics!) and some lovely linen.


Two aprons - the one on the left is actually quite marked on the white fabric but I will re-use the the floral applique and ties on another one.

And if you saw this post you'll know I've taken rather a liking to linen teatowels so was very pleased to find this little lot!


The one with 1967 was in brand new condition, you can just imagine someone being given it for Christmas and then not wanting to use it, to keep it for best! So in 2009 it is finally going to be used for its intended purpose.

A very cheesy colourful one. "It starts when you sink in his arms and ends with your arms in the sink"! And my favourite:

"Oxford Street Illuminations" - when we were younger my Mum and Dad used to take us down to London before Christmast and I used to think the lights were amazing so I just love, love, love this one! x

A couple of sneaky peeks!

Some linen found this morning at a local garage sale

Something that's been in my head for a long time and may almost be at fruition!

Cat and Mouse

Before we left the UK we had a few items shipped over and one was my sewing machine. It was new to me but not new to this world being a 1960s Bernina 730 Record! I found it in a local sewing machine shop by chance. I had actually gone in to look at another model but realised it wasn't for me when the owner let it drop that she had another Bernina but that I probably wouldn't want it. When I asked her the model I was more than keen! It is the same machine that my Mum had when I was a child and I learnt to sew on and which my Mum still uses now, even though she's upgraded it's the one that always finds favour and is set up in her sewing room!

Therefore I was somewhat upset when I unpacked the shipping and found that the only thing damaged was my machine - from the looks of it I suspected it had been dropped on it's poor little head! However, a brilliant man in the nearby town was able to revive it for me and so I was able to potter away whilst at the beach. Nothing serious happened because the only place for it to go was on the dining table and so had to be hefted on and off for each meal time!

I made these cats out of a book I purchased here. For the life of me I can't remember the title and it's still in one of the myriad boxes scattered around the house!

The one with pink trimmings was made first and when I made the second there were some alterations to the process. I just never seem to be able to do as I am told!

The happy couple!

Needless to say these were Christmas presents for my little ones!

What I like most about these is that all the materials are completely recycled! The green cord material was from a large men's shirt that cost me 30c (it was one of the items in a $2/bag stall from a jumble sale); the pink material was from a pillow case I bought for 50c and made a dress and bandana for Maia from (will have to see if I have a photo of it); the pink ribbon came on a gift and has been stored with all my other ribbon/trimming paraphenalia; the buttons for the eyes and the embroidery thread came from Freecycle and the bell on the collar was, if I recall rightly, from a box of chocolates! So I was actually really impressed what you could do with what someone else would call rubbish! But then again that seems to be the story of my life!

These little fellas came from a 1970s craft book for children, which again is buried in the depths of a box! (Note to self I really must start to unpack these boxes and leave this computer alone!) The green one is made from shirt fabric from a shirt going FREE at the local recycling shop and the floral material is an old bedsheet that I had cut into to make a reversible sunhat. The pink one is made fromn vintage Laura Ashley material that was once curtains and was kindly given to me by a Freecycler in Stratford. The filling in one is split peas, but when this really started to smell after I had finished it I used rice for the second!

The good, the bad and the ugly ...

The good - I realised that I had never shown this although it was finished in July! I first blogged about it here and said I needed to make some contrasting tops and bottoms. Well here's one finished and as for the other? Well Cassia just wears the floral dress on its own!

The bad - I started this tanktop all the way back here and finally decided to do the front the other night. I was just going to rejoin the yarn to finish the last shoulder and held it against the back. Aaaaarrrghhhh I had done it wrong - all the way back to the shaping of the armhole! I guess I will unpick it one day but until then it will sit languishing in my knitting bag!

The ugly - I thought I'd make something for Cassia a while back and decided on a named wall hanging. So I was happy with the fabric square, I was also happy once I'd sewn on the letters of her name and then it all went down hill. I didn't really have the right material for the backing or binding but just wanted to get it finished so 'made do'. Why did I do it? I was working on it knowing that I wouldn't like the result but continued anyway. It's all out of square, the binding was atrocious and it's been stuck under a pile of fabric since it was finished! Lessons to be learnt - 1) be patient 2) sometimes you can make do and somtimes you just can't!

Into the house ...

These beautiful little creatures arrived at our house last week. They came from the talented Becky over at different-choices and were a swap for some crochet hearts. Very many thanks - this is the only time that they have all been together since they arrived because the girls love them!

A jar of apple jelly. Whilst we were at my mum's she made this and the colour is beautiful. They were very small, very red apples which produced this. When you ate them the red colour bled into the flesh hence the vivid colour of the jelly. Thanks Mum!

Some pretty old hankies from my lovley aunty A. Thank you!

Now I know I should be clearing out because of the move, and honestly I am, but a few more things have sneaked in via the car boots!

And the best thing I've found recently? A Buzzy Bee for 50p - to you Kiwis that's about $1.30 - which is an absolute bargain since they cost $30 new! We were given one when Maia was born and the two girls fight over him so when I saw this I just had to get it - and at that price I had a smile from ear to ear!

What mothers do ......

.... especially when it looks like nothing!

This is the title of a great book I borrowed from my LLL meeting library (click here to see book) and also what I've been upto the last few days! Since having two children I've found that sickness seems to linger - one gets it, the other gets, one gets a relapse etc, etc and we all go stir crazy!

So today, whilst it may have seemed to me like I was doing nothing, I was in fact:

• making playdough flowers
• making a hospital from playdough - and a boat to get the patients to the hospital!
• doing jigsaws over and over again
• making friends with a spider, who Cassia called Toad and despearately wanted on her hand - this actually took over half an hour!
• reading, reading, reading lots of books to Cassia
• drawing, gluing and sticking
• making and eating food

amongst all the other day to day things us mothers do!

And we sold a car. It was due a service this morning and then we got the news that the repairs were going to be over a thousand pounds - ouch!!!!! So we sold it and got an OK price for it. Now all that's left to do is sell another one, rent out the house, sort, organise and pack and then get on that plane to NZ!

Oh we also found these:

Vintage Rupert the Bear snap cards - aren't they just awesome? And great to see a golliwog!

Party photos ...

Iced and ready to go - now I could have sworn there were two dozen last night!!!!!

Looking pretty on a stand - and they tasted pretty good too!

The birthday cake - yep that tasted quite good too! Along with the scones and tarte tartin that my mum made!

Vintage table cloth picked up at carboot for 10p

All laid up and ready for the guests

The birthday girl - in a dress that I had when I was little - she picked it as her 'party dress' -

of course I was very happy about that!

The birthday girl's little sister with felt all over her face - she must have been practising her moko whilst watching the All Blacks!

Birthday preparations

Tomorrow's the day! Thank goodness I changed my mind at the beginning of the week as to what we were going to do for Maia's birthday party. It is currently heaving it down so I think it'll all be inside tomorrow - unfortunately for Maia, because she loves to play cricket with all of her cuzzies! Can you believe for her 2nd birthday we were all outside and in a swimming pool?! We headed over to my mum and dad's this afternoon and got most of the things organised so that they'll be no mad panic tomorrow (and of course not forgetting the finale of the Bledisloe is at 10.30am our time!).

I have now made 52 cupcakes in 5 days - waaaay too many!

The actual birthday cake is the one pictured above - an old family favourite. My brother and I always used to ask for this (he's going to be 40 and I'm 36) and I made it for Maia last year. When we started talking about this year's birthday she said straight away that she wanted a clock cake - a tradition continues! The recipe book is a copy of an old Hamlyn one that my mum had and I learnt to cook things out of when I was growing up. One Easter I went to the Book-a-rama in Tauranga and found the exact same book for $2 - I think the ladies were somewhat nonplussed at how happy it made me but hey! I've since found out that my sister has found a copy too so it's a real family book.

Just put the cake in the oven so all that's left to do tomorrow is the icing and decorating the cupcakes - and the girl's are 'helping' with that! It's strange for me to feel so calm and to be ahead of the game - fingers crossed there's no big hiccups tomorrow!

A happy handmade birthday!

Vintage cards for a 4 year old? Well of course these weren’t sent to Maia this year but to me in 1976!!!! Now if you didn’t believe I come from a family of hoarders, who I really must blog about one day soon, you might now! I was over at my mum’s the other week and was looking through one of her old sewing boxes and came across these – how cool is it that I have these?

So Maia turned 4 on Tuesday and what a day we had. Monday night was spent baking cup cakes for her to take into pre-school. She was so excited about going in with her tin of cakes but was very worried that no-one would know it was her birthday. When I said she could tell them she replied ‘no, it’s a secret!’ – childhood logic for you!.

She opened her presents first, many handmade of course!, and seemed very, very happy with them.

You may all recognise these from previous posts – but they were just what she wanted! The pink gluing picture is one that Maia made for herself 'It's for my birthday mummy'

We had planned to go to the Cotswold Wildlife Park which I know both littlies would have loved but due to the rather inclement weather we have been having (and that really is an understatement but I tried very hard not to mention this topic!!!!) we decided to go to the Butterfly Farm, which I will blog about another day because it was sooooo cool, but I am really tired now!

The birthday girl singing and dancing in the rain

Out for tea, which is a really special treat, and then home for bath, books and bed – both girls were asleep in 5 minutes!

What a lucky girl I am

Following on from my post They say things happen in 3s ....... this is three good things that happened today:

I knew these were coming - 41 Golden Hands Encyclopedia of Crafts booklets - a snip at 99p on ebay (of course there was the postage but we'll keep quiet about that!)

As printed on the front cover HOW TO PUT YOUR LEISURE HOUTS TO MORE CREATIVE AND MORE PROFITABLE USE - don't you love it?

These were delivered to me by a lovely lady from freecycle after I posted a wanted for sundae dishes/banana splits

Now, I know they are plastic and I know they are garish - but aren't they just the thing for a little girl's party?

And finally, a totally lucky event which puts meaning into the saying being in the right place at the right time

I was on my way to pick up Maia from pre-school this afternoon and passed a couple working in their garden. The house is just around the corner from us and I had noticed the beautiful lavender every time I passed. It took the trip into town to assimilate what was going on but on the way back we stopped and politely asked what they were doing with all the lavender they were cutting - nothing!!!!! Can you believe our luck - you can't see the scale on the photo but there's heaps and they were so happy to give it to us. I feel a homemade card winging its way to them!