Do you like soft toy patterns?

 When my Jess (Mrs 28) came to visit us in June/July she designed and made some really cute soft toys for her kids to play with. She decided they were so cute she would write a pattern for them and put them in her etsy shop. So, if you like to make soft toys check out her etsy shop here. Brand new to her shop are her Gentleman Mouse and Gentleman Lion patterns.

Gentleman Mouse

Gentleman Lion

Of course, she also has her old favourites in the shop too, the dragon and sheep.

Dragon

Sheep

It has been a cold day today in most parts of Australia. We are all busy enjoying the ducted heating and our quilts tonight here as we snuggle up in front of the television! Don't you love Friday nights? Ash (Mr 11) has had friends over to play and we are all smug with the anticipation of the weekend! That means sleeping in for the teenagers and a day without particular responsibilties for the adults. What does the weekend mean to you?

Are you into Retro/Vintage?

My son Joseph is. His interest started out by wanting to relive all things connected to his childhood. (I know right, how old can he be? I am barely any age at all! He began wanting to relive his childhood at 17, and he's 23 now so he's well into it!) He started spending a lot of time in secondhand shops as a result and has become interested in all things retro. He loves to find old phones and do them up so that they can be used again. (He has always had a passion for phones. He has had more mobile phones than a phone shop!) He began getting such a collection that he decided to sell some on eBay, and just recently he opened an etsy shop.

black phone from 1970

ivory phone from the 60/70's era

ivory bakelite phone from 1955

Yes, he has even found bakelite phones! They are all cleaned and wired for the current phone network so they can be used on any telephone line. So, if you are interested in having a blast from the past (they actually have bells inside of them rather than a digital ring!) check out his etsy shop.

Rhythm.

I think this posting every day is beginning to form a bit of a rhythm for me. Whilst my "resolution" only started January 1st I have been posting daily since December 12th. I was inspired and intrigued by blogtober, although it took me a little while to begin to post every day. Tonight my words are all jumbled and I am having to use the delete button a lot. Yes, sure sign of a headache for me. Not to worry though. I am off to bed as soon as I have posted this. I did go to bed about half an hour ago, but couldn't settle because I hadn't blogged. Weird, huh? You see what I mean about a rhythm!

Grandson waiting on the stairs for his foph (aunt) last August.

We went to look at the house this morning. It is great. Not the colours I like or anything like that, but it is BIG. I really want BIG just in case anyone wants to pop in and stay for a little while. You know. Anyone like the guy above who we are all missing terribly at the moment. (And his sisters of course!) We have filled in the application forms and now we just have to wait to hear whether we get the house, or not. We shall see I guess. So, the decluttering and destashing has begun. (What else would give me such a headache!) I guess going to look at a house made the whole moving thing seem real. I have made a bit of a start today uploading junk great stuff to eBay. Hopefully tomorrow I will begin to add the destash to etsy. As soon as I do I will let you know.

Over the weekend.....

I'm sure I've said this before, but here goes anyway. When I was in grade one at school we had a book devoted to what we did "over the weekend". It starts with me drawing and the teacher writing and ends with me doing the whole thing myself. Every caption in the book begins with "over the weekend". This book has had a profound effect on my life. I now remember things I'm sure I wouldn't have from that year of my life because I kept the book. Anyway, back to the sewing and crafting! Over the weekend I sewed some new coasters to put in my etsy shop. I also made a whole bunch more "fresh" log cabins for my bag project. It was all so fun. Cutting out and sewing. It's ridiculous how much I enjoy it. So, if you love my Licorice Allsorts Coasters rush over to the etsy shop and make them yours!

February round up and Loz, what have you started???

February has been a mixture for me. What a month. Some great times spent with Brad and (some of) the kids. This is one of the clydesdales that pulled us on the tram across the causeway to Granite Island this month. Mr 8 was very excited about that ride. He and I went to the Maritime Musuem this week. He was passionate about that too! We had the best time.

It makes me think about Charles Dickens' opening line in "A Tale of Two Cities". It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Strange how those two so often go together. February was also a shocking time for most Australians as the Black Saturday fires in Victoria took over 200 lives and over 1800 homes. Over 7000 people are homeless, some because of deliberately lit fires. We in South Australia were shocked because it could so easily have been us. Our state is so dry at the moment and we suffered the same high temperatures and strong winds that Victoria did. What was the difference? I don't know. I feel in my gut that it was the police who made the difference here. They have an operation all through summer where they visit known arsonists (and even suspected arsonists). Especially on days of extreme fire danger. They just let them know that they are being watched. This is not a scientific deduction of what happened, just how I feel. I think we were lucky that the police have been running this program all summer.

And my sewing room finally settled down a little, first time since Christmas and the move to a different room. My new desk can be seen above. These are some of the things I spend time looking at. Oh! I posted my 300th post and opened an etsy shop too. Busy, busy! I enroled for the Quilt Fabric Delights retreat in April as well. Who of you are going? Comment and let me know!

And Loz is responsible for this little gem. She had a wonderful post entitled "Whatever happened to that young thin person?" and I have included this photo of the young thin person I was in homage to Loz. My Bradley, me and Mrs 24 when she was about 9 months old. She was superbaby! She was tiny, but at 9 months she could run (that's what happens when you start walking at 7 months!) and she ran rings around us, her young, inexperienced parents! I guess she prepared us for what was ahead - another 7 wonderful babies from whom we learnt all sorts of different things! I know I wouldn't be the person I am today had I not learnt all that I have from my children. I think sometimes we mistakenly think we are going to teach them, but some of the biggest life lessons are learnt from the other direction! So, February was great and shocking all at the same time. I'm looking forward to March!

Giveaway post (celebrating 300 & etsy shop opening)

We went for a drive to Goolwa on the weekend. I hadn't been there since before the Hindmarsh Island bridge was built. (Can't even remember when that was!) I was lucky enough to be able to snap some sailing boats on the River Murray. I have been feeling very restless and "done" with everything the last couple of weeks. Not enough sewing or creating perhaps. The devastation of the Victorian fires has been sobering for everyone I think. (Official death toll stands at 201 with a firefighter killed today. The fires are still burning and fire fighters are still risking their lives. They say the toll will rise, because there are still people missing.) I can't pretend to have really been affected by the horror of the fires, to do so would negate the suffering of those who were actually involved I think. I think I feel like Loz described in this post. She described it in a way I hadn't even thought about. Thanks for blogging that Loz. You helped me clear my head a little.



I have been doing a little sewing this week and have actually added some bags to my etsy shop. (Have a look on the side) I "made" my etsy shop last year in January and then just let it sit there. It was all a bit scary. Mrs 24 (picklesticks) came over with grandson yesterday and I was able to pick her brain and actually get my shop up and running.



Now for the giveaway. I am working on a pieced and quilted bag.


The fabric is from a range called Soiree. I had to look "soiree" up in the dictionary. It's one of those words that I think I know what it means, but find hard to explain! A soiree is an evening gathering or party, usually for some particular purpose. So, join me in my soiree. Leave a comment and help me celebrate my 300th post and the opening of my etsy shop, and I will send a bag and some other goodies to one of you. The comments will be open until Sunday night. Check back on Monday to see the winner! I will post a photo of the prize as soon as it is completed.


Edit: A new blogger, Judith Tetley, is having a giveaway too. Pop over and have a look.

Art at the Hart

This is us at "Art at the Hart" on Saturday December 1st. We discovered the details for this artist's market in the Advertiser some time ago. It is a 2 day market that runs in tandem with "Celtica", a Celtic music festival. We initially enquired whether we could just come for the Saturday because Sunday is our Sabbath and we don't engage in commercial transactions on the Sabbath. The organisers really wanted artists who could be there for the 2 days so we asked them to keep us in mind if they got anyone who wanted to be there just for the Sunday. A few weeks ago we got a call! Mrs 23 (Picklesticks) had her toys (and sold heaps), and Miss 17 had her photography (and sold none), I had some bags and postcards (and sold 1 postcard). Mrs 23 was very happy. Miss 17 and I had fun!


The day started out with quite a few of us there. We brought a tall boy to help us with our setting up, which meant we had to bring a small boy too, because you can't leave 7 year olds at home on their own!!! Miss 10 came too because she had her basketball game at 8:30am. Fortunately her game was at Port Adelaide and you can see the stadium from the Hart's Mill complex, so even Basketball SA was smiling on us that day! As the day wore on we dwindled in numbers because Bradley came to pick up any children who were bored.

This was the view from our stall. I'm refering to the water view here, not the guys!!! Hey! Miss 17 is a photographer, and we gave her the camera. She's 17, there were always going to be photos of guys! Don't you love the fly on the lens!!! There were so many flies in the morning. They thinned out as the day went on (perhaps they got bored too!)

It was an interesting day on the Port River. There were yachts racing and rescue craft and dolphins.

Now that it's Tuesday (ie a long time since Saturday) and the photos look so beautiful here on my blog I remember the day as a lovely day! On Saturday afternoon, however, it was HOT (38 degrees) and sunny and the flies were buggy and the music got louder and louder as the day went on and my head hurt! (In fact it hurt Saturday night and Sunday and Monday too!) All of us decided that we are not outdoor market kind of people. I remember a fervent discussion we had on the way to the car after packing up. We discussed the idea at length and came to the conclusion that we are etsy people. Cause you don't get sunburnt (aka skin damaged) from the light of your computer, and all the people you meet online are so nice, and we decide to open an etsy shop instead of doing another market! We just aren't outdoorsy people!

Of course, that's not to say that we didn't meet truely wonderful people at Art at the Hart, cause we did! It was a wonderful day and next year (Yes! It's on again next year!) I'm definitely going to go. As a customer only. There were so many beautiful handmade items there. It's a brilliant place to go Christmas shopping!