Craft Schmaft

I’ve been working on a new project for homespun magazine’s July issue. I’m not allowed to tell you any more than that but here’s a sneak peek…

Last day to bid, it’s open until midnight and at the moment Mike is in the winning seat with $110 (thank you!). 100% of proceeds go to flood relief, oh and I have proper craftiness to blog about tomorrow people so stay tuned.

I’m putting up this finished cream piggies mobile for auction, all proceeds going to the Premier’s Flood Relief Fund. Handmade with Kokka Japanese Piggies on the wings, neutral colours perfect for a baby boy or girl.

Here’s how to bid:

1. Bidding will start at $50 (Australian).

2. You can place a bid by leaving a comment on this blog post with your bid amount and email address. Please make sure that your bid is higher than the previous bidder.

3. Your bid must be in whole dollar increments.

4. This auction is open to everyone and I will cover the cost of postage (here and overseas)!

5. The auction begins NOW and will END at midnight on Monday 24th January 2011.

6. At the close of the auction, I will contact the winner (please make sure your bid comment includes your email address). The winner will pay the winning amount directly into the Premier’s Flood Relief Appeal and send me proof of payment via email. Once proof of payment has been received, I will post your goodies

7. Thank you for taking part and let the bidding begin

Happy New Year everyone!

I’m sorry I’ve been neglecting you. I’ve been on a rollercoaster ride that is moving house… and then there was Christmas and then it suddenly became January and, well, here we are. Needless to say that there hasn’t been any crafting and there wasn’t much in the way of creative cooking this year. While I skipped the gingerbread house (which made me very sad but I just didn’t have 5-10 hours to spend baking and constructing). I did spend an afternoon making marshmallow men with the 3 yr old. There was a lot more eating that constructing on his part but we had a ball anyway. I found the Marshmallow men tutorial on Pam Harris’s blog Gingerbread and Snowflakes – its from a 1960 Better Homes and Gardens magazine. How cool is that! Next time I would use one of those cake writing pens with chocolate icing for the face and buttons but at short notice and with the toddler fast losing interest I had to go with blue food colouring on a toothpick.

I’ve been putting the bugaboo hood to good use too. I have had many admiring stares and questions as to where I got it and Franklin loves staring at the flowers and leaves . Having said that the hood is quite problematic when I want him to go to sleep and often results in over-stimulation crying and me having to take him out of the pram. This is one of many “note to self” moments I’ve had in regards to babies lately. I’m sure I’ll have it all figured out by the time he’s 18.

The 3 year old munchkin came home from Kindy a couple of weeks ago and said “mummy I need a super hero cape. Can you make one?” How could I deny a request like that? I took him to the fabric store, let him pick out anything he liked for the lining (he has a thing for pink at the moment) and started searching for super hero cape patterns. God I love the internet. This clever lady over at The Long Thread has a free tutorial which is fantastic. I have to confess that I cheated on the applique using an iron-on W for our surname but felt that in the midst of market and xmas mayhem this was excusable.

.

The best bit is that Oscar genuinely loves this cape. He wore it to his best friends superheros and fairies party and had a ball and now insists on wearing it to Kindy every day. This, people, is why I craft. I cherish every day that he still loves things I make because I know that one day I, and all things handmade, will  just be incredibly uncool. But for today… I’m his hero.

An owl a day keeps the markets at bay. New owlie colours for kits at Mathildas market next weekend. I’m so excited that lots of Bizness Babes and  Craft Room girls will be there, I find that markets are as much a social event as a sales day. Once upon a time I had a job in a big team of people, talking all day long. Silently stitching is a far cry from presenting creative to clients and pub bonding sessions I can tell you.  It has been tricky fitting packing kits in around babes but my hero of a husband has been looking after them all weekend for me. Love that man.

I thought it was silly to try and move house before the baby was born. I was wrong. It’s silly to move house after the baby is born, at least when in utero they don’t need feeding!

The last few weeks have been filled with getting our flat ready to sell and a frantic hunt for a new house. On the bright side our place looked incredible once I’d de-kiddy-fied it. Like a real grown ups house. Imagine that! I pulled out old black and white photographs I’d taken in spain, splurged on new white linen, chose paint colours and added a touch of craftyness courtesy of Aunty Cookie’s amersand cushion. That bit was fun. Dragging kids through open house inspections… not so much fun.  A three year old who likes to announce he has to go to the toilet in the middle of viewing a house (every saturday!), really quite embarrassing.

I find this house hunting this very difficult. You’re not meant to get attached to properties before you buy them. That’s all well and good but I find I have to get a little attached to imagine how I would live in a house. What I would change. How I’d make it beautiful. So I go through all that and then we miss out on it. It really is quite a roller coaster ride and I think I wanna get off now! Please?

A little bit of stitching going on… but not as much as I’d like. These little owlies are just waiting for a fourth to make a new mobile kit. What do you think, good neutral colours?

I’m not doing many markets this year. I would have loved to do Finders Keepers in Sydney and Brisbane but with a new bubba who hasn’t been well I’ve decided to put family first.

Still, I couldn’t resist doing Mathildas Christmas market though and am signed up and pumped for Sunday the 5th of December. Not only will I have kits and patterns but a selection of made softies for sale too. Please come and say hi!