Catching up - bits and pieces!

Well it's lovely and SUNNY here this morning, the type of morning where you feel like jumping out of bed, and doing all sorts of things, just because the sun is out!

I can now tell you that all my exams are over. (relief!!) So now all I have to do is wait for the results. I hope that I have passed all 4 papers I was doing, which will mean that I have completed 8 papers this year, and I only have 3 left to complete in the first semester of next year. It also means I can now read some books of my choice as opposed to reading serious academic stuff for research.

The new Dan Brown novel (The Lost Symbol) was in the library and DH bought it home for me. I really enjoy his books and this one was just as gripping. It moved at a past pace and I completed it in 3 days.

I have also been working on my large Leanne's House Quilt, as I am hand quilting it, so I try and do some every night if I can. I am quilting it using no.8 perle cotton in pale green. It is looking lovely so far, but I am very much a novice when it comes to hand quilting, and I find it hard to quilt using a hoop.

Here are some ATC's from my swap with Ann, Debbi, Doreen and Annie. Our theme was flowers and what beautiful, and different cards I have! Top middle card (12 o'clock) has been made by Ann using a fab mix of fabric, paper, stamping and paint, card at 3 o'clock was made by Debbi and it looks like it has been painted, stenciled, stamped, stitched and sprayed. The card at 6 o'clock was made by Doreen, she has layered some flowers between 2 pieces of card and pounded them with a hammer to make the background and then stamped over top! The card at 8 o'clock was made by Annie and she has made hers using bright coloured paper and cuttlebug flower shapes. And the last card is mine made cut from an old doily.
They are all lovely cards, thank you very much girls!


Yesterday I decided to do some cleaning and sorting. I HAD to clean my sewing room, as things had begun to mount up, you know, when you rush in and dump stuff on your work bench thinking it will be great for a certain project, and it sits in the same place until you rediscover it 6 months later LOL!
Well, I was getting to the stage that I was too scared to go into the room, just in case everything suddenly collapsed on me, it's only a small room, and I was imagining myself buried under a mountain of fabric and paper and books and other miscellaneous ephemera! So I sorted things out into containers, put fabric away, put books away, found a place for everything. Nice clear table top! Rediscovered the things I had dumped on the table 6 months ago! haha I feel like I can start work in my sewing room again now.

While I was on a roll, I decided to go round the house as well, and cleaned and chucked out anything I thought I wouldn't need. Then I went round and picked up little piles of rubbish and vacuumed. Lovely! (By this time it's 9.30 at night) I feel like I've achieved something!

Then I discovered this wee fellow! I mean how could one not notice this???? Buddy had sneaked it in, I think it was a gift. Maybe he appreciates a clean tidy house too?
I picked it up, it was still warm, and it had the cutest little nose and mouth, and whiskers and ears....... All I could see was Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit! Ah well, at least he won't be spending his nights eating all the veges in MY garden!

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend!
Carole :)

OH NO! I missed your birthday!

This is a very belated birthday greeting to 2 of my blogging friends.
Fannie who had her birthday on the 1st Nov,
and Jenni S (who doesn't have a blog) had hers on the 25th Oct
and I missed both!!
I am thinking of you both and hope you both celebrated instyle!

Birthday Hugs
Carole

whew!

another exam done! one more to go......


stay focused!

it's pouring with rain again :(

Here are a few pics taken during a couple of hours sunshine yesterday.
My garden has turned into a patch of madness and mess!
But there are the odd patch of colour and cheerfulness!

There are these....

and some of these....

....and this is flowering like there's no tomorrow! Beautiful!

And these are growing tall and bright....

and this is full of fragrance!

But best of all, there are lots of these!!!

I hope you can see the promise of Summer! :)

Carole :)

Mail coming in.....

Cool eh!! I got this ATC from Annette in Oz. Isn't it amazing? It's an etching on brass. I totally love it! It is so different from anything I would make, as I'm not really into working with metal. Although when you visit Annette's latest post, and see her beautiful etched pendants, it would inspire anyone to try!!




I love this ATC, thank you very much Annette!
Carole :)

mail going out....

I have been trying to get all the bits together so I can post out to all those fab girls who are stitching for my blogging buddies quilt!
Envelopes are done and they will be mailed out over this coming week!



Carole :}

Go see it!

We went and saw the MJ movie today. It was amazing and yet sad, and I doubt I will forget it in a long while. This guy was so very talented, there wouldn't be many, if any musicians who would equal him in talent. His whole life evolved around music, he lived for music, he was music. He was way more than a tall poppy and a lovely and trusting guy.
Go see it if you get the chance.

Carole

Thinking about building an ark.....

We've had a lot of rain lately, in fact 40 mm in one day, a couple of days ago. It rained hard last night too. I'm thinking we should build an ark, so that the animals can go in 2 by 2....




So they can keep their feet dry while drinking!



These pics were taken from a dry vantage point on our property! LOL (not)


ROLL ON SUMMER!!!

Carole :}

here's a wee laugh for you....

Brian invited his mother over for dinner. During the course of the meal, Brian's mother couldn't help but notice how beautiful Brian's flatmate, Susan, was. Brian's Mum had long been suspicious of the platonic relationship between Brian and Susan, and this had only made her more curious.

Over the course of the evening, while watching the two interact, she started to wonder if there was more between Brian and Susan than met the eye.

Reading his mum's thoughts, Brian volunteered, 'I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you Susan and I are just flatmates.'

About a week later, Susan came to Brian saying, 'Ever since your mother came to dinner, I've been unable to find the beautiful silver gravy ladle. You don't suppose she took it, do you?'

Brian said, 'Well, I doubt it, but I'll send her an e-mail just to be sure. So he sat down and wrote:

__________________________________________________________

Dear Mum,

I'm not saying that you 'did' take the gravy ladle from the house, I'm not saying that you 'did not' take the gravy ladle. But the fact remains that one has been missing ever since you were here for dinner.

Love, Brian
__________________________________________________________

Several days later, Brian received an email back from his mother that read:
____________________________________________________

Dear Son,

I'm not saying that you 'do' sleep with Susan, I'm not saying that you 'do not' sleep with Susan. But the fact remains that if Susan is sleeping in her own bed, she would have found the gravy ladle by now.

Love, Mum

LESSON OF THE DAY -
NEVER LIE TO YOUR MOTHER

lol, Carole :D

I've been meaning to show you this.....

remember this from a while back? well i've finally finished it, have been meaning to show you


i was quite out of my comfort zone, with the use of paint and collage, haha, but you will notice i have tried hard to get a little fabric in there!!



and then i found just the right coloured bead - and an egg was born!


back soon,
carole :}

Many thanks, .. oh, and a new quilt!

Well first off, thanks for your comments on how I should go about lining my new old hat case. Some times it pays to ask around lol, as there is always someone else who has 'been there, done that'! Nathalie, I think I will take your advice and do some padding, I have some lovely fabrics and laces etc to help in that dept. I will keep you posted on progress...


Meanwhile, here is my newest quilt out of my sewing room for my etsy store!
I tried to do something a little different from the florals for a change, and I think it looks fresh, and crisp and quite vibrant. I've used all the scraps up on making a nice reverse-side to the quilt and with the binding.
It measures 51 1/2" x 62", so a nice size to snuggle up on the sofa with, cover a table with, throw over a chair etc...
I actually think it might make a nice chrissy present too!!




Now to plan the next project!!!
Carole :}

Today was my birthday, ...... so a little treat!

TA DA!!
A hat box! Gorgeous isn't it? And it's totally Nathalie's fault that I had to buy it! LOL
I thought it might be the perfect place to keep my vintage lace in, what do you think?
It's in very good condition, made of hard cardboard, but I thought I might line it with fabric, but I'm not sure how I would attach it.

Maybe I could glue it on with pva or gel medium? But I'm not sure if this would cause the cardboard to buckle? Does anyone know a suitable way of attaching fabric?

Thank you Nathalie for inspiring such a great purchase!!

Carole :)

My book pages come home!

Remember my book cover I made recently?
Well, it has arrived home again after visiting with Patty, Nathalie and Linda in the States, and Margaret in Switzerland! Each of these clever girls made a page for it, and now it's home!



above: left is mine, right is Linda's
below: left is Linda's, right is a card from Patty




above: right is Patty's
below: left is Patty's, right is Nathalie's




above: left is Nathalie's, right is Margaret's
below: left is Margaret's, right is a card with notes on it from all the girls!

Thank girls, this has been a fun exchange, and I love all the pages that have been made for my Heart Art book!

Carole :)

lots of posts to catch up on!

I've been trying to spend a little less time on the computer this week, but now I have lots of blog posts to catch up on!
Earlier this week I received a surprise package from Margaret from Alice and camilla. A lovely card, some papers for crafting with....



a few fabrics to play with....


some very interesting mags for evening reading....


and some dainty lollies in a wee organza bag!


Thank you Margaret! What a fun time I had exploring this package, and you did really well to cover all bases! (crafts, mind and stomach!!) lol

Carole ;)

Would you like to stitch with me??

I have been saving floral fabric for a long time.

Why?

Because I love it!

I have made 2 floral quilts now, but I still have lots of florals left.

I am very much in love with my tag quilt I just finished and I think I will make another one.....with a twist!

What I would like to do is make another one using more of my florals,
but I would like to invite YOU, my blogging buddies, friends whom I have met via this blog, to do some of the wee stitcheries for my quilt!

What I plan to do, is send those of you who would like to stitch
a piece of 7"x4" calico fabric and some thread.

What you stitch on the fabric is totally up to you,
could be words, a saying, a picture, your name,
as long as you use the same colour thread. Then all the stitcheries will be done in the same colour!

When you have finished, you need to post it back to me, and when I have collected them all, I will put together my Blogging Buddies Quilt!

If you would like to sew a wee stitchery for my quilt, use the EMAIL ME link on the right and let me know you are interested, and give me your mailing address.

If I am organised enough, each person stitching will get a wee thank you tucked inside their envelope! :) Along with their fabric and thread.

There is no set time limit to have these completed by, but they are quite small and shouldn't take long to complete.

I would love to have you join in and be part of my quilt!!

I look forward to hearing from you!


Carole :D

(thank you I think I have enough offers of help, if I accept any more my quilt is going to be toooooo large!!! LOL)

A quilt is finished!

Remember this tag quilt I was working on with all the wee stitcheries? Well I've finished it!
And I love it!

It has lovely soft flannel on the back. And large stippling all over it.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend!
Carole :D

A halloween surprise and a quick unpick!

It is my birthday next week, but I think it has come early! I have had a week of the most incredible mail deliveries! In fact I don't know if I can take much more of this excitement! LOL
This arrived in the mail a couple of days ago! It was from Linda, who knows just how much I love mags!!

BUT WAIT! .......

There was something else,

A little brown envelope?



Very interesting! Love the bird stamp!!

But did you notice Linda had sewn it closed! What was in it? I rushed to get my quick unpick, one learns not to rip things open!



A halloween ATC! Very cool indeed!

I really like the gorgeous rosette with the bird, not to mention the 2 wee beauties! lol
Thanks Linda, they were a lovely surprise!

Wouldn't this rock your socks off!!!

Inquisitive?

Want to know what's inside?

It's the package that arrived from my bestest buddy Nathalie in the States a couple of days ago.

Nathalie has a very keen eye for finding the most fabulous things! NO KIDDING! She is like the Sherlock Holmes of mixed media artists! LOL (and if you don't believe me check out the exciting thing she lists in her Etsy store!!)

This was what was in the package.......



Now would this just rock your socks off? I couldn't believe the gorgeousness of it! The lace was stunning, only wish I knew the history of it, the stories behind it. It is VERY vintage, and I spent ages picking it up and looking at it.





Remnants of satin ribbon...




It was so delicate, some was exquisitely fine, I'm sorry Nathalie, I just don't know if I'll be able to cut this up and use it in my fabric collages? But I do have my eye on a special case which would be perfect to store my treasure in for the mean time. I thought it might be kinda cool to invent histories and make cards or labels to go with each piece that explain the history of each piece!


Nathalie also sent me some huge tea bags to use in my sewing! My mind has been racing with ideas for using these!

Overall, this was an amazing gift, took me ages to calm down after opening it LOL. Thank you so much Nathalie, you really know how to get my blood pumping and my heart racing LOL!

Carole :D

Sometimes I could just darn hug the mail lady!!

Yep, I could drag her out of her Rural Mail Delivery van and give her a great big hug when she pulls up and slides a padded brown bubble envelope into our large green mail box!!

I have, over the last couple of days received some incredible packages! Some I knew were coming but had forgotten about them, one I thought was lost in the postal black hole of never-to-be- found again packages, and others that were total surprises!

It has been a couple of few days where my little fingers have been unsteady with excitement!

This was one of those packages.....

Do you remember not long ago, I met with Kathy from Salt Lake City, she happened to be in New Zealand to attend a conference and we got to meet for a brief period of time? Well we decided that we should do a swap, (Kathy doesn't have a blog yet), so we decided to do a small swap with a bird theme.......and it has just arrived!

A little gift card with lovely words on the back......


And here is the 1st of 3 cards Kathy has made for me......



Here is the 2nd.......


And here is the 3rd.......
Totally gorgeous! Kathy has used alcohol inks to make the background sky, they are soooo perfect! I adore the birds on the wire!


But Kathy had also added a couple of extra wee gifts, some fat quarters of pretty fabrics which I will be able to use on a future project! I was very impressed.......


But then I discovered a set of Tim Holtz stamps! I nearly died! These will get lots of use!



What I couldn't believe was that Kathy had only met me in person for an hour or so, and yet she sent me these lovely gifts, that were just perfect? How did she know exactly what to get me?

I think it is amazing how we make art friends through the internet and that we all seem to have a special bond, a common link, mutual likes, understanding and acceptance.

I think I have some amazing friends.

More mail deliveries soon.....
Carole :D

A few scrappy bits for Etsy

.....a few scrappy bookmarks.....

.....with glam girls on the reverse.....

.....and a range of fabric gift tags.....

.....with a plain calico back for writing your message on.....

Carole ;D