While away on holiday I took the time to stalk some of the op shops in Mount Isa.  I then returned home and did it some more.  I was on the hunt for old souvenir tea towels and some nice retro sheets.  Any fabric I could use for some little projects I’ve had floating around in my head.

Ironically I thought I would have a better chance of getting the tea towels in Mount Isa, but I ended up hitting a jackpot find in Canberra.  I scored not one, but TWO old school souvenir TABLECLOTHS!  Do you know how much fabric that is?!?!?  It was awesome.  But that’s not the best part… the best part was that they were A$3.50 EACH.  I paid A$8.50 for a tea towel in Mount Isa!!!  That’s just nuts.

I’m so happy with my finds… now if I could just get over this viral ear infection I also seemed to bring home with me I’d be in a place where I could actually start working on a few projects using these finds.

♥♥♥♥♥

Want to peek in to other peoples amazing and wonderful creative spaces, then head on over to Kootoyoo!

I have been well and truly bitten by the embroidery bug and I totally blame Carina from Carina’s Craftblog and the wonderful crew at Feeling Stitchy.  The wonderful e-book that Carina has published got me interested and confident, and then Feeling Stitchy pushed me over the edge.  Now I just can’t stop – and I’m loving it!

I managed to complete another Badbird sampler.  Again I’ve used a mix of stitches and beads.  I’m quite proud of the chain stitching and satin stitching in this piece, and when the weather and time permits I’ll get some better shots of it in the sun.  I really like this piece and I can’t wait to start on another one of Andrea‘s free embroidery patterns.

I did promise last week that I would reveal my embroidery tease from a few weeks ago, and so here it is:

It’s still not finished (the Badbird sampler got me distracted) but it’s coming along nicely.  Both Tammy and Carolyn guessed correctly, it is indeed a little bunny.  Although Gina made me giggle with the Mr Squiggle comment!  I got the pattern from here.   I’m aiming to finish this little guy very soon as it’s part of a gift I’m working on for my beautiful niece’s 2nd birthday.

I’ve been working on some other crafty projects lately too.  I’m hoping to have them finished over the next couple of months.  I’m also already planning the next craft technique I’m going to teach myself and avidly looking forward to the next Brown Owls meeting to see what wonderful thing we’ll be working on next.  (I’m hoping for a ripple blanket.)

My life seems so full at the moment and it’s largely got to do with the craft I’ve been working on.  It’s amazing how having something you enjoy to focus on can make such a positive change.  It’s also having an outlet that you can talk to other people about too.  I’m absolutely loving Brown Owls and each time I’ve been I have been absolutely amazed at the talent and warmth contained in that little community center room.  To go all high school girl; It’s totally rad. (Oh how eighties… )

♥♥♥♥♥

We’re going on holiday soon and unfortunately we won’t be having time to be doing much crafting while away, so I’m not going to be able to post my creative space for the next fortnight.  But don’t fear, you can get your fill of wonderful crafty goodness from some rather talented and lovely people via the most wonderful Kootoyoo!  So go, check it out, you won’t be disappointed – you have the gnome guarantee!

1. Ring of stitches, 2. leaves in technicolor 004 copy, 3. wonderland white rabbit embroidery WIP original design by isewcute, 4. Felt embroidery, 5. “Money Matters”, 6. pink dahlia felt embroidery

Today’s mosaic is sponsored by my new found love of stitching.  I’ve spent the past few days stitching to my hearts content.  I hope one day I can be in the same league as these stitchers.

Want to see more wonderful Flickr flavoured mosaics? Head on over to ArtMind.

Today has been a hive of activity.  Inspired by the woman at Brown Owls I’ve started on my Ginger Beer Plant.  I’m following the very helpful instructions posted over at Meet Me At Mikes.  It’s kind of an interesting looking mixture.  It reminds me of the fluid that we put in the fly trap for the backyard.  The smell is rather potent as well.  I’m crossing my fingers and hoping that at the end of this adventure I’ll have twelve liters of drinkable fluid and not just something to pour over the plants.

I also got out the CWA’s cookbook and made some chocolate biscuits.  I just love and adore chocolate so I couldn’t resist getting this close up shot of the milk chocolate melts.  The biscuits were baked and ready in under an hour.  They’re not bad, but a little dry.  I’m going to make some ANZAC biscuits tomorrow.  I’ve been craving them for the past couple of days, I’m hoping they’ll be a little better than today’s batch.

I’ve also been working on my Dolly Donation.  I’ve finished the girl and I’m half way through finishing the boy.  Hopefully they’ll be done by Monday and I can put them in the post.

Today I’ve spent a lot of time amusing myself and avoiding the chores.  That’s going to have to change for tomorrow…

Wanna see other people’s Creative Spaces? Head on over to Kootoyoo.

1. Roller Derby – Skate of Emergency, 2. Baby Kylee’s Bathtime, 3. two little owls!, 4. MOVIES TIME :D

I’m running a little late this week with my Flickr Faves, and I’m sure it won’t be the last time.  I’ve had a busy week with lots of new adventures.

On Saturday I went to my first ever Brown Owls meeting.  Much fun was had and I feel like I’ve got a brand new chapter happening and that’s exciting.  I backed it up with my first ever Roller Derby social skate on the Sunday.  Freshmeat doesn’t start until mid March, but already the new recruits are hyped.  It was a great day out in the sun.

On Monday night we went to the movies with COUSIN and LEE LEE.  We also ran into M and R while we were getting some pre-dinner food.  It was awesome.  We went and saw The Blind Side. It was spectacular.  It’s the first movie I’ve seen in a long time that had a positive vibe to it.  There was a happy marriage and family at the centre of it and the message of the movie was one of hope.  It was awesome.  I left the cinema on such a high and feeling like we can all make positive changes in our lives, and the lives of those around us.  I was also grateful to see a positive marriage portrayed.  I feel sometimes like the world just gives us all negative messages about marriages; that they’re all doomed to fail.  Sandra Bullock rocked in her role and deserves her Oscar nomination.  Tim McGraw was also a great surprise.  I can’t talk highly enough of this movie, if you can afford the movies – go see it!

We also got some wonderful news; my sister-in-law is pregnant!  It’s such great news.  It’ll be the second grandchild and it’s going to be loved like nothing else.  It may also have another cousin some time soon.  We got some great news from my Gynocologist.  We are able to start on IVF.  I’ve been scheduled for an examination on my tubes to see how much damage was done from the surgeries I’ve had.  Once that’s known we can start.  It’s going to be awesome.  For the first time in five years I feel like we may just, finally, get that family we’ve always wanted.

All in all a pretty outstanding week.

I must admit I don’t watch the news that often.  I find it depressing and superficial.  So I missed the whole Haiti Earthquake when it happened.  If it wasn’t for a friend telling me about it one day at work I would have been oblivious.  To this day I’ve only caught glimpses of what’s been happening.  Ever since Hurricane Catrina there’s been a rule in our house that bans me from watching CNN or any other news source that’s covering world disasters.  Apparently HUBBY doesn’t like having to deal with me all teary and gun-ho on the couch.  Men?!?!

When the Hurricane happened I wanted to pack up and move to New Orleans to help them rebuild.  Obviously the last thing a city suffering under a crippling natural disaster needs is a gnome that knows nothing about anything.  But I wanted to help.

I didn’t know how to help.  But this time with Haiti I’ve found the perfect way to feel like I’m helping in some small way.  I’m going to make a Dolly for the Dolly Donations Drive.  I’ve got all the materials that I need right here at home and I finally know how to sew so there’s no excuse.

My goal is to have made and posted the Dolly by Wednesday 24 February.  Hopefully that way it’ll make it to it’s intended destination in time.

If you want to participate too there’s a free doll pattern and tutorial on the blogsite.  There’s also some really helpful information about how to give your doll personality, i.e. a face.

It’s something small, but you just know that some child will love having a companion to listen to their fears, thoughts and laughter.  Not to mention provide them with unlimited hugs.

Back at the beginning of December I wrote about the new bag pattern I had acquired.  While I started making the bag in December I didn’t end up finishing it until the middle of January. The level of difficulty of this pattern was a little higher than what I was used to and I’m afraid it’s reflected in the finished product.  While I love the bag and plan on using it for many years there’s a few things that I would have done differently had I known what I was getting myself in for.

I had never used Cotton Twill Tape before, so had I known that it would be visible I would have gone for a matching colour instead of plain white.  (It would have been nice to have this fact stated on the pattern, but maybe it was just my inexperience that didn’t realise what it would be used for.)  I ended up using gold colour rings instead of silver.  It’s not that big a deal, but I wish I had have been able to find silver at the time.  I also probably would have chosen a different cord for the bag.   This one seems to be a little too fragile for the type of work it’ll be required to do.

I was really happy with the material that I got for this project.  I nicknamed the bag “Birds and Bees”.  The material is from Patty Young’s Flora and Fauna collection.  It’s a great little collection with lots of mix and match options.  You can’t see it in the photo’s but I used a cheeky material to line the backs of the side pockets – it just seemed to go with my Birds and Bees theme.

As I do more and more sewing I’m coming to appreciate the different pattern styles.  Some patterns are really easy to understand and come with photo’s and definition and then others assume a certain level of knowledge that I sometimes don’t have.  I don’t know what people used to do in the days before the internet because I rely heavily on other people’s stories, experience and blogs to sometimes finish patterns.  It’s amazing what effort people will go to to help others.

Would I recommend this pattern?  Not unless you’re an advanced sewer.  It’s quite challenging, and while this is the second Melly & Me pattern I’ve used the patterns in this range don’t get any user friendlier with time.  The end products though are something to be loved.  Plus, it’s always great to support an Australian and someone who’s sharing their enormous talent with the world.  So if you’re looking for a challenge and a funky bag that’s like the Tardis on the inside then this is a good little weekend project.

My next project is going to be an Amy Butler tunic – just have to decide between the Mini Dress and the Lotus.  I have been sitting on the material for the past couple of weeks while I wait for the pattern, but it’s on it’s way so I know what I’ll be doing next weekend.  (Thanks to the lovely ladies at Patterns Only for ordering the patterns in for me and sending them pronto when they arrived, I really appreciate it!)  So that’s my plan for sewing in February, what’s yours?

P.S. The bag pattern is on sale at the moment over at Patterns Only.  Go on, treat yourself you know you want to!

It seems 2010 is racing away even before I’ve had a chance to acknowledge that it exists.  I can’t believe the first week of January has been and gone.  It’s already proving to be a wonderful year in Casa Gnome, which makes a wonderful change from the year that was 2009.

To motivate and celebrate the beginning of the year I thought I would take the intiative and give you a guided tour of the area where I make my own brand of magic happen.  I also wanted to enter the current $100 sewing pack giveaway being run by The Oz Material Girls.

At the moment I don’t have a dedicated craft room (but I’m working on changing that) so I multitask in our dining room.

Our 1930′s dining table is just the right size to manage a sewing machine, sewing accessories, pattern and material.

What craft supplies and materials I can store in the ikea shelves and drawers I do.  These shelves are home to all my beads, stationery and miscellaneous tools and office supplies.  The hold a lot more “stuff”than I thought they would and have been a blessing.  I tend to horde glass jars to use as storage containers.  The other great storage solution is using fishing tackle boxes.  They have all these great compartments and come in a range of sizes.

Another handy storage tip.  Because I use a central room to do crafty things I use storage boxes to store all my fabric, sewing accessories and bulky items.  When I’m down with my projects I can pack everything back into the boxes and store them in our garage.  Safe in the knowledge that they protected from damp, dust and beagle.

It’s become a family joke, but I love and adore clipseal bags.  They’re so handy; for everything!  I don’t have a sewing box as such so I store all my sewing implements in clipseal bags and then store them in an ikea storage box.  It makes everything easy to find and organised.  It also stops messy threads from getting tangled and knotted.

The other great thing about using the dining room for my crafty activities; it’s proximity to all the good things in the house.

It’s central to the kitchen.  Which is handy as I’m always wanting something cold to eat or drink in this summer weather.  It’s also close to our “office space”, which means I can check twitter and look for helpful hints and tips on the web.  (Thanks to my lovely model M for showing how handy being able to plug the iron in at the same place your sewing is!)

It’s also handy to the lounge room, which is the one place in the house I’m almost always guaranteed to find HUBBY.  There’s also a downstairs bathroom that’s handy to the dining room.  Once we have air-conditioning installed it’s going to be the most craft perfect place in the world!

Oh and I can’t forget, it’s right next to Sir Reg’s home.  Which means that I get to be serenaded while I’m working.  What else could a girl ask for?

I thought I might make the most of the end of the year and do a quick summary of things that I’ve found this year that I can’t live without.  So, in no particular order, here’s the things that have made 2009 enjoyable:

1. Twitter - So many wonderful moments spent on Twitter.  I’ve met so many tweeps that make me crack up on a constant basis.  I also got to be a guest tweeter, which was awesome.  Who would have thought that 140 characters would be so much fun?

2. Etsy – I’ve found so many wonderful artists on Etsy and purchased so many great items for our home.  I visit Etsy multiple times a day just to see what’s on the front page.  It’s such a wonderful place to “window surf” (it’s like window shopping but on the net… get it?!?!?).

3. Threadless – In a matter of weeks I have tripled the amount of t-shirts in our house and all because of the wonder that is Threadless.  There’s so many wonderful artistic and humorous t-shirts available.  The quality of the shirts for the price is also brilliant.  I can’t wait to be able to fit into the smaller versions!

4. Sewing – Who would have thought that I would take to sewing; not I.  But for some reason I’ve really enjoyed it.  I’ve made so many little projects over the past few months, it’s been brilliant.  I’m looking forward to what patterns and fabrics I’ll find in the new year.

5. Flipping Out - I can’t get enough of this show.  Jeff Lewis is hilarious.  It combines my love of home design and reality shows. Woo Hoo!  HUBBY and I make a point of watching it together each week.  The relationships are just so wrong they’re funny.  I can’t wait for the next season!

6. Lush Lampwork – These beads are wonderful.  I love them and they add personality and sparkle to my bracelets.  HUBBY also gave me another set to go with my necklace for Christmas.  Another great find thanks to Etsy.

7. Charmish – I purchased my first Pandora bracelet in April 2009 and haven’t looked back.  I’ve always wanted a charm bracelet and this is a great way to collect charms and be secure in the fact that they’re not going to come off the bracelet.  It’s a shame that  Pandora don’t make cool charms.  That’s where the wonderful  Charmish comes in handy.  The charms are wonderful and detailed.  I have added so many to my collection that I’ve needed to buy another bracelet and HUBBY gave me a necklace for Christmas.  I can’t wait to see what new designs the new year brings.

A week or so ago HUBBY asked me to whip him up a laptop sleeve.  I’d never made one before but I figured it would be pretty simple to do.  So I hit the internet and looked for a pattern.  I was lucky enough to find Ali Foster Patterns.

I seriously don’t know what people did before the internet.  To be able to download a pattern and print it out is awesome.  I’ve purchased three more patterns since finding out that you could download patterns.  It’s brilliant.  Although I have needed to start a pattern ring-binder so that I can keep them all together and organized.

Anyway, I purchased Ali’s Laptop Sleeve Pattern.  Originally I’d planned to make the entire sleeve with an Aeroplane patterned material.  (HUBBY is an aero-nerd.)  However, HUBBY thought it might be more “professional” (yes, those are air quotes!) to use a more manly pattern.  So yesterday we headed to Addicted to Fabric and he chose a material that he liked.

I still managed to get some fun in there by using the aeroplane material for the underside of the flap.  I used a light blue flannel to line the inside of the sleeve, this should keep his Mac happy.

It only took and hour or two to whip up and I’m really happy with the outcome.  It looks like something you would buy not like something I whipped up.  HUBBY is really happy with it and has subsequently asked me to whip him up a compendium type thing for his car.  Now that should be interesting!  I’ve not been able to find a pattern for one so I’ve purchased two patterns that I’m going to bastardize.  Wish me luck!

But before I get on with that little task I’m going to make myself another bag.  I purchased a Melly & Me pattern while at Addicted to Fabric.  I just fell in love with Toffee Apples.  This is what the Melly & Me bag looks like, stay tuned for my interpretation.