Needle Book

Well this is my latest crafting endeavour. I have combined my love of fabric and cross stitching to create this 4 inch by 5 inch needle book for a swapbot swap. I had originally created a different needle book but once I saw this design on Meari's Musings, I fell in love with the idea immediately. I hope my partner enjoys this sturdy needle book as much as I enjoyed making it. She is a frog collector so she can add this little Hip Hop to her collection.

Sea Turtle Meanderings

I had one thing I did not get done in time for the wedding. It was Scott and my own sea turtle for the wedding table. This was sad, but, with the unsettled lead up due to health it was something I had to let go of. I managed to complete Scott's turtle and I will now ever be known as the one that was late (insert many eye rolls). 

It is 1 month after the wedding (as of tomorrow) and I am celebrating a wonderful first month by posting pics of Scott's turtle pal Percy. We each selected our own fabric and buttons for eyes. Scott has gone for a spotted green shell and latte skin tone with shell buttons for eyes. Which I then hand sewed because my sewing machine hates me. He adores it. I wish you could see the itty bitty tail, so cute. He is 40cm in length, so quite a large project.  I have also almost completed my own turtle, just the shell construction left to go (the hardest part). I hope you all like. Please note the lounge featured is our new chocolate recliner and coach set. SO COMFY!!! Good night blogging world. 

Pattern is from one of my favourite stores, Funky Friends Factory. Check them out when you get a spare moment. Wonderful patterns. 

Wedding Sewing...the beginning

Well it is time to begin. I have my pattern and now I need to make the matching pair of plushies for our wedding. Thank you again Funky Friends Factory (love the patterns). Here is a sneak peek of what I am doing, I am linking these into where we are having the wedding reception. Each of us selected our own fabric and now I need to start the hand sewing. With the 'help' of my buddies who lay on or steal everything I touch. Lock down in the office :)

The Lorax, Tea Ponderings and Cross Stitch

For a birthday catch up I went with a friend to go and see 'The Lorax.' I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. When I was little we had the book and I loved when Mum or Dad read it to us. I did treasure the book so I was a little worried about how they were going to turn it into a movie. But, it was well done. The trees were so FLUFFY! I would love a tree like that in my yard.



I have become addicted to the tea from Absolute Tea (see previous post). I grabbed a sample of their 'Rainforest Magic' because I have always wanted to try but was unsure of the flavour combo. It contains black tea, hibiscus, lemongrass, blackberries and orange. It is beautiful, so fruity. A great morning tea or afternoon tea addition. Plus, the house smells so yummy afterwards.



Finally to finish up, I am so excited about one of the gifts I was lucky enough to get. A good friend got me a copy of Phil Davison's book Twisted Stitches. I LOVE the designs in these. For those who know me, I tend to lean towards the less traditional cross stitch patters. It is so hard to choose a favourite from this book. The patterns seem clear the follow and their are 3 or so I want to do now. I would also recommend checking out the website Urban Cross Stitch if you would like something a little different to flowers, sayings and verses.

I live!

Life has become very hectic with school, wedding and social events. In the past month I have been very spoilt. I splurged and went and got highlights and my first facial (which I loved). I love the Ella Bache products, I actually have clear skin for the first time since...I forgot. My skin is starting to look beautiful again and I found the hairdresser for my wedding.

On the work front it is insane and I am trying to find ways to cope. I stopped sewing, crafting and cooking properly which was the worst thing I could do. I have started using a planner to try and get myself organised and the craziness of life sorted. So, with renewed focused I shall start these things up again. Here is a photo story of my past month. I hope you like.


The blurbs crack me up. WIll have to post a few favs.


Birdie Buddies


My cat eats flowers...she isn't a kitten anymore


Which one doesn't belong. I can't see ACDC supporting a low alcohol wine product.


I didn't mind the pink one in the middle.


Valentine's Days- special lights and dinner


Latest swap (plushie in an envie) You send un stuffed to save postage.

Little Birdie Crafting

So the last Swapbot swap I was in required us to make a 2 little birdies for our partners. My two sets are below.

However, this got me thinking. I had a secret santa to do with a very small dollar limit, so I got hold of some nice Christmas fabric and made up a set of these birdies in Christmas Tree ornaments. My secret santa person loved them. Here are the 3 pairs put altogether in their 'nest' (a nice lightweight summer scarf).

I LIVE!!!

Hello blogging world,
You may have noticed I have not written in a while (well for me that is). I have been quite ill but am recovering. It has been a very busy time while I have been ill with many exciting things happening. A few new things to report. My wedding invites have arrived!!! From the lovely people at Orchard and Brown. Scott and I are both very excited about this.

School related stuff first. We have been very busy in the classroom organising a number of events. The first was some Christmas relief for a troops and canine units serving internationally. We have managed to get students to write Christmas cards and create care packages to send to our men and women currently serving. The kids (and I) got right into it. I sent to the Canine Units with 2 sets of dog treats and packets to Aussie Mix lollies for the handlers. I hope it reminds them of home.

The next thing we decided to do was make bags with our whole class using recycled materials (fits in with all the sustainability we have been doing all year). I was allocated by my class a set amount of materials and had to create a bag in 1 hour that met the design brief given. It was expected to be to an A standard. I was admittedly nervous. But here is the finished product. Pretty good for the first time I ever made a bag (not to mention not allowed to use a pattern).
Finally Swapbot news. Because of my illness I actually fell a little behind. The last time that happened was when mother nature decided to drop Cyclone Yasi on us. That was certainly an experience. But, I have some wonderful partners who I managed to stay in contact with and gave me a few extra days to complete my projects. Shaking hands make hand sewing difficult. But here is my final product for the Handmade/Altered Christmas Decoration Swap. A door hanging decoration of Chris the Christmas Mouse although I will not be suprised if he is given a new name.

Sneak Peak

Working on a few crating projects for swaps at the moment. The bird sewing project should be a lovely afternoon of hand sewing. The other will take a little longer and be a little more fiddly. But, it is still exciting to be crafting again. Here is a sneak peek at what the projects looks like.

Spooktacular!

So I have finally finished one of the crafting projects I have been working on in the past 3 weeks. This little guy is for a friends birthday. She is very much into Halloween and Skeletons. I got the pattern from Dolls and Daydreams Etsy Store. I love her patterns and ideas. I just need to get used to working on them. So many choices so little time.

This weekend may be heading on a ghost tour of my local town. Kinda freaky so will take some pics and let you know how it went. I scare easy so I am sure I will have a great time. Until then...BOO!

Cereal Boxes!

Okay this is going to be a random post. I LOVE cereal boxes. They are just so handy to have. I use them in my classroom all the time to help students create art works, make displays or even in hands on mathematics lesson. However, I use them at home all the time so sometimes I have to eat LOTS of it so I can get my own crafting done on top of what my students need.

As a lot of you know I am newish to the sewing game. In fact I have only been making softies etc. for the past year. It is good fun. I am tired of tracing around baking paper traces of my patterns. So I have begun the process of cereal-fying my crafty patterns which I got as freebies online or from Funky Friends Factory or Dolls and Daydreams. It will be a long enough process but it will make life easier in the end. I managed to get hold of some cheap expandable folders so I was going to put them in order of purchase so I can just whip them out and go. Cut down on the prep time which I find arduous at times. Here is my first pattern I am cereal-fying from Dolls and Daydreams, Skeleton.

Second cross stitch done :)

So I have been trying to get this one done for the past month but have been so busy at work. However, it is finally complete. I give you 'Got Brains?'. It is from the same pattern book as my previous cross stitch. I have a few cute ones to work on now involving kittens and hedgehogs. They are nice and small so hopefully will be more manageable. I am also in the process of finishing off my own personal Ellie the Elephant. I got this pattern from a wonderful website called Funky Friends Factory. Well that is the latest crafting update. Have a great weekend everyone.

Stitching the Undead

Zombies might make you swoon, but those bad boys have one track minds. This little sampler is a daily reminder to keep your precious heart from falling for a shuffling step of a zombie brain digger.



So this is my first attempt at cross stitching and I wanted to do something a little bit less traditional. So this pattern was taken from a pack sent to me by Steve. It is called 'Zombie Cross-Stitch' by Kristy Kizzee and Erika Kern. Their are 12 different patterns that come with a beginner kit. This kit contains enough thread to complete 3 zombie projects. Although the thread is not of the highest quality it is good to start out with and I loved the patterns. I was kinda over the religious and sentimental patterns I have seen around. Nice for a change of pace. The next cross stitch book I think I want to get hold of is Subversive Cross Stitch: 35 Designs for Your Dark Side. Although I do have a few super cute kitten ones as well. We will have to wait and see what mood I am.