trying something new...

So you may know that a wee while back I won Jessicah's giveaway and was lucky enough to receive this beautiful tussah silk.  But I must admit that I didn't really know what I was going to do with it!!!  So I wandered into our local fibre shop to ask the advice of the experts there.  They told me that one of the things I could do with this beautiful fibre is to make silk paper.  So I decided to give it a go.  I also watched a couple of you tube videos to help me on my way.

I began by laying the fibres out on a piece of tulle, first in one direction, then the other.  I then covered it with another piece of tulle, wet it and applied textile medium and left it to dry.  I just tried a small piece to start as I didn't want to waste the fibre in case I did it wrong!

But it seemed to work pretty well and this is the result!  Its slightly bubbled and you can see the imprint of the tulle which annoys me a bit... but the colours are stunning!  Maybe someone out there has some advice for me for next time??

And next...I took to it with the scissors!!  Now I don't know about fibre art, but this may be totally against the rules?!?  Oh well I did it anyway!  I just thought the paper would make beautiful petal or feather type shapes.  I'm still experimenting, but I hope to make a brooch or something out of these pieces.

If anyone wants to give me any advice or other ideas for felting or making silk paper they would be most welcome!

Jessicah's shops are here and here, if you want to check out her lovely wares.

stitching to swap

Well I've joined in my first craft swap, organised by the lovely Stella.  Here's a tiny snippet of what I'm working on...

I'm really happy with the idea I've come up with for the swap...now I just hope the others will like it too!!

Friday wrap up...

Friday again.  I had one of those really good sleeps, where you wake up and you can't remember what day it is.  Love that.

 :: Plan for today...
Finish up and package this order of animal pegs.  I love making these and think they are so cute.  I must remember to make a set to keep for myself!  Isn't it like that with crafting, you're always giving your best stuff away.

List a few items in my felt shop.  I might list a couple a bibs of a new design.  This pattern comes from my husbands very talented Auntie, who also happens to be the mama of these lovely ladies.

Will also list these cute gift tags.  They will be a one-off as I don't have anymore of that lace, but I hope to make something similar soon because I really like how they turned out.

During the weekend I hope to try a new craft I've never attempted before!  This photo will give some of you an idea of what I'm up to... I'll let you know how it goes next week.  (For those of you who worked it out - wish me luck!!)

Have a great weekend xx

giving

A gift for one of my husband's work colleagues who is leaving to have her first baby.

My little gift contains a knitted vest, a bib, a muslin facecloth and two cute pegs!
I think its a pretty sweet little pressie, hope she likes it too.

I like it when people give me stuff.

This has happened 3 times over the last few days.

Fabric bundle on the left from my friend Clare who came to Stitch and Bitch on Sunday.  She's an amazing knitter - but not so keen with the old sewing machine. 

Pumpkin!  Huge pumpkin!  From my lovely neighbour.

Fabric bundle on the right, sent from my Nan's sister.  She was very impressed by my crafty escapades when she was down the other week for my Nan's funeral, so she decided to de-stash a bit - and I was the lucky recipient.

Now all I need is a magic fairy to come and tidy the sewing room and I'll be a happy lady.

today

Washing:  done
Baby food:  done
Dishes:  done
Decide what to make for dinner:  done.  Fried Rice.
Go for a walk:  nope.  Raining.

Yay!  What to do with the afternoon!?
Knit?

Brooches?

or Bibs...?

Maybe a bit of everything.  I have a short attention span.

Stitch and Bitch

The first meeting of a new stitch and bitch group took place here yesterday afternoon.  Though in our case it was more stitch, wrangle babies and eat yummy treats. 

I was joined by the lovely Miss Smith, Amy and Clare.  Yes that's another Clare, I'm not talking about myself!  We ate homemade bread and yummy fruit tarts.    

I made this sticky lemon slice.
There was far too much leftover and I had to eat about 3 slices for dessert...oooh sore tummy!

 

We were all knitting.  There was a variety of items on the needles, from hats to blankets to monsters!  Man, they were so cute.  You can make me the set anytime Amy!!

The soundtrack to the afternoon was Iron and Wine. 

Thanks for coming ladies.   I hope you all enjoyed it and we can do it again sometime.  If anyone in Nelson is keen to join feel free to send me an email...

cuppa

You might have all guessed by now, but I love a good cuppa.   In fact I thought I'd better take a tally of my hot beverage consumption in a day.  Yesterday's total was 8!
So is that an unusual amount in your opinion?  Or are you similarly addicted?  That is 8 hot drinks, but not all tea.  Some green tea, hot blackcurrant and decaf in there too...   And to tell the truth I guess they weren't all drunk while hot either!  You know how fast a cuppa goes cold when there are babes around demanding feeds, changes and of course lots of cuddles. So I'm interested in your hot drink of choice and frequency of intake.
You know, if you wanna comment ;)

Bibs in top photo will be available in the shop next week!!!

collections

We have quite a few collections in our home.  Some intentional and others that have just appeared.

I love collections.  I just rearranged our book shelves by colour yesterday, and I really like the result!  I'd love to see your collections too...

squidgyums!

A little something arrived in the mail one day last week, and it definitely brightened my day.

Yay!  A squidgyums hoodie for the babe!  I was lucky enough to win Kristin's giveaway a wee while ago.  Isn't it gorgeous.  You can grab some squidgyums goodies soon too - she'll be at Craft 2.0

catching up

Thanks for all your sweet comments on my last post.

I've got plenty of catching up to do this week.
Catching up with myself, my thoughts.
Catching up with the housework and the WASHING, as I am hosting the first gathering of a new stitch and bitch group on Sunday! 
And catching up here with a few wee things that were made or appeared in the last week or so.
So on that note, here's a late mothers day pressie post.  Based again on the lovely Melissa's techniques.

 Seriously addictive, and it satisfies my urge to get immediate results in my crafting.  Patience is a virtue I'm afraid I do not possess!

goodbye.

I lost my Nana suddenly last week.  That makes two Nana's gone in the last 6 months.
It was a week of tears, and sadness, which she wouldn't have been happy about.
But it was also a week with laughter, tea, family togetherness, looking at old photos, scones, more tea, biscuits, teamwork (on her casket which we handpainted and collaged with photos) and just being together, which she would have LOVED!
She was a fantastic knitter and such a giving person.  I have many bits and pieces of her knitting which I will treasure, along with all the mementos I have from my other Nan too.  Every so often I am going through my crafty notions and I'll find some wee piece or other that will bring back a sweet memory of one of them.
So to all of you with Nanas still around give them a call today, or better still go round for a cuppa and ask to look through the photo album - she would love it, and I bet you will too.

real life

Thanks for all those recipes.  I'll be away for a while.  But don't worry I'll be back.  Just don't know when yet.

a plea...

A plea for some dinner inspiration!!  HELP!

I'm in a cooking rut and I need your help.  Even though it's the start of a new season and I should be embracing all those warming hearty dishes for cold winter nights etc etc, I'm just not feeling it.  Do you ever just get sick of food?  I mean I love eating - but sometimes I wish someone would invent a new food, an entirely new taste cause I'm just sick of everything!  So can you help me out?  What are your favourite recipes?  What do you cook over and over again week after week?  And lets be honest here - it doesn't have to be gourmet, organic and cooked from scratch.  I want to know what gets you by, what gets you through the week, and I don't care if it comes from a jar or a packet.  If you love it - share it with me!!
I'll start. 
My standby dishes that we ALWAYS have are vegetable stirfry (with frozen vege and packet sauce), these little gems, that I've mentioned many times before, fish burgers (with frozen fish), potato bake with veges, pasta bake and lately I've made fried rice with chicken a few times and its been yum.
Let me just say again I don't want to know your flashest, most complex, show off meal!  I want easy!  (And bonus points for healthy and cheap!)
My stomach - and my husbands - hungrily await your replies!

Above image:  Last nights dinner, vegetarian Shepards Pie.  Another Alison Holst recipe, similar to the version shown here.  (We used to be vegetarian, for about 6 or 7 years, but not anymore, although we still eat a lot of vegetarian meals.)

a winner or two...

Yup two!  I decided to giveaway both sets.  So the main winner (who gets the animal pegs too) is...

Widge chose the boys set.  So then all those who picked the girls set went back in the hat and out came...

Yay Stella!  Congratulations ladies, I'll be in touch soon. 

As you can see there has been much cutting and pinning going on here.  These are some new items for my shop in progress.  Nearly run out of pins (as you can see I like to pin a lot!) so hopefully I can get some sewing done this afternoon, and then start all over again.

last chance...

Last chance to enter the giveaway!!  Remember it will be drawn at noon tomorrow.

I really enjoyed those photos yesterday, capturing little corners and moments in my home.  I know I won't be in this house forever, and as this blog is primarily a record for me to keep I wanted to add some more pictures today.

round home...

I'm lacking words today.  So just some images from my place...

Have you been doing anything exciting today?