2010 revisited.

wayyyyyyy back in january, i made myself a little list of creative-type things i wanted to get done over the course of the year.
i thought i'd have a little revisit of that list today and have a bit of a think about how much i actually got done...



* fill and plant out the 2 remaining planter boxes
i managed to get one of these done, it's now full of lovely herbs. the other one i intend to fill within the first few days of the new year, that counts right?
* plant out the big planter box that's full of dirt but not of life.
so it's not completely dirt anymore... there's passionfruit vine in there now, something's eating most of the foliage, but a few runners are greening it up a bit. there's also some sad-looking beans in there at the moment, they self-sew! and some equally sad looking basil.
i think the answer to this plant sadness is probably fertiliser, more water and definitely some mulch.
* paint some canvasses up, my walls are tooooooo plain!
never quite happened. however with my new supplies, it may happen in the very near future.
* do something amazing with my dresser, it's boring as hell currently.
check. much less boring now!
* make beanies! 10 this year.
check to this one too!
* finish big blankie. he's as long as my thigh now. i can comfortably cover my lap while crocheting, pity it's summer and that's the last thing i need!
sooooooooo close, so very VERY close. much longer than just my thigh now :D
* get some stuff made to whack in an etsy shop. i've been planning in my mind for a few months now, just need the time.
still mind planning at this stage. more ideas now though...
* play my damn guitar! it's been sitting next to my couch since i moved in, it's actually in the garage at the moment i think.
yeah this never happened. it's not in the garage any more though, it has migrated to the study.
* organise the garage so it's actually semi-functional.
this happened. more than once. it needs doing again now though. i need to fix the cupboard system in there...
* write some lovely little poems. i have a devilish idea for these...
the idea is still there, motivation has gone out the window though...
* two words, window boxes. this'll be another ask dad to help/make everything for me jobbie i think.
seeing as how i still have empty planter boxes, i didn't think it would be a good idea to make more things to plant other things in. and now i'm not so sure about them. hanging baskets on the other hand... i've got big plans for some of those!
* make a cover for our futon. it's pretty skanky at the moment. i should really do this one in the next week...
oh DEAR i still desperately need to do this. working with large enough quantities of fabric to make a queen sized futon cover kind of scares the bejeesus out of me though... a fear to overcome...
* make myself some clothes from scratch. well patterns, but still, not store bought.
hrmmm yeah. i bought some pattern. that counts right? well i bought a pattern. and i altered a fair few clothes...

um, so yeah, about half and half really.
but i've done some other things this year too...
* i started and finished a big blankie project.
* i finished my bachelor's degree.
* i managed to recycle about half the clothes in my wardrobe (still need to tackle the shoes...)
* i actually got around to making things for christmas this year.

i think this is one of the things i love most about blogging, the ability to look back on the year and see what i've accomplished. it's also really interesting to see how your goals change for the year (and how your writing style changes too ha!)

did you reach your goals for 2010? did you make any?

well i'm off for the year (ha!), the boy and i are off to the beach with some lovely friends to ring in the new year (and hopefully stay cool). i'll be making a pit stop at spotlight though, i have a new big blankie project in mind (must finish ripple first though...)

have a happy and safe night all! see you next year!

cute things come in small packages.

and boy this is a cute little note-book. aptly covered as well i think...



while i probably won't fill it with 'bloggers i've met and liked', i may fill it with ideas about my blog, future blog post ideas and the like.
it's just the perfect size to fit in my handbag so it'll always be close by if i have a spark of creativity. now if only i could find my good pen that used to live in my handbag too...


i love what was written on the back of the packaging.
"140 pages of unspoiled creativity"
well it most certainly is!!!
thanks brianna for such a lovely gift. i'll definitely have to thrift you more vintage chenille in the future :D

heirloom knits.

as i mentioned yesterday, i was VERY spoilt this christmas! and one of the fantastic gifts i received was this lovely book.


it was a gift from my boss no less. who says you can't have a good relationship with your boss ha ha?
i've been looking through it in any spare moments over christmas, and i think i've worked out my first project...



we so badly need a new bath mat, our old one is literally falling apart! hopefully this one will last a little longer, i'm pretty sure i bought the last one fairly recently, maybe last christmas. they don't make them like they used to :(



i've sussed the second project too. something a little bit pretty but a little less functional.
but sooooooooooo pretty!
they're going on the end of my very long to-do list... and i'm off to do some work on that list!
have a good wednesday!

season's greetings!

yes i'm a little late, yes it's closer to new years now but they don't call it the silly season for nothing!
i had VERY good intentions of getting a little blog time in on christmas eve, before i had to work and then drive the hour and a half to be with family but the boyfriend (along with his list of un-bought and non-wrapped presents) had other ideas for me. needless to say, all the christmas presents got wrapped (beautifully, i must say), i got to work on time and many happy family christmas times were had!
did you have a good christmas? did you indulge in ridiculous amounts of delicious food and equally delicious beverages? were you a good girl/boy and did you get lots of presents from santa?
i answer yes to all of those questions :D



look at the amazing presents i got from "santa"
by santa of course i mean my lovely friends and family!
it's going to be a very creative new years by the looks of it!



oh, and i managed to get those pesky stockings finished too. i think they turned out ok, and i think they had a fairly warm reception on christmas morning... (apologies for the interesting looking photo, iphone pictures with flash are WEIRD!)

i hope you all had a lovely and very merry christmas!

how many sleeps til christmas?

only 3????
but i still have soooooooo much to do!!!
i feel like i am slowwwwwwwly getting through my christmas craft stash...
and after talking talking talking about them so much...



i've actually finished some of clare's party frocks! i've had them cut out for a fair while but last night i finally got a chance to put some together. they were a little tedious, but i think that's because i'm not much of a sewer... i've still actually got about 8 more cut out and ready to go (silly me, only bought enough tulle to make 4 and enough ribbon to make 5) so i might make some more if i get a chance to get to the shops.
might not happen as i've still got to finish the christmas stockings i started yesterday and i just booked in to give the perfect gift, inspired by the wonderful curlypops.

also i was very happy when i checked the mail box yesterday as it contained the first part of my one pearl button giveaway win!




i've been checking my mail box every morning waiting ha ha. i do LOVE mail :D especially when it happens to contain gorgeous little parcels like this one! these two amazing bracelets are from alamod vintage. you should definitely have a look-see at their shop, it's full of the most gorgeous little vintagey bits and pieces.

anywho i'm off now. have to embroider my fingers off and drink my own body weight in water (i have pesky little veins...), oh and hang another load of washing out, this weather is just glorious for drying washing :D

kris kringle, revealed!

last night's kris kringle swap was amazing! lots of great food and even better company, and now that my swap partner has been revealed, and she's got her present (and i think she liked it to boot!), i can share my little late night crafty project with you!


i started by picking some vintage floral (of course). thanks be to susan l for this cute piece.


i then measured the diary against the fabric, and with a bit of a press and a few seams with my machine...


ta-da! a nice little vintage wrapped diary for next year. i was pretty happy with how it turned out, especially considering i wasn't using a pattern and i started making it at about 10 at night... much like this project from the start of the year really.


this project took a little longer as i wanted to add a little personalised touch. as much as i'm not a big fan of embroidery (especially at 11pm!), it does add a lovely little bit of personalisation :D

merry christmas adelaide!

now i'm off to do some more christmas gift stitching, 3 christmassy stockings, lined with some cute vintage fabric. 3 hours til work, wish me luck!

kris kringle.

i made a little something for my kris kringle this year, but i can't share it with you yet because i don't want to spoil the surprise, perhaps tomorrow?



how's all your christmas shopping/making going?

friday flashback.

thought i'd play along with curlypops' "flashback to the 70's idea"... only the 80's version, late 80's-possibly early 90's version... i'm not entirely sure how old i am in these pictures ha ha.


i think this one may have scraped through in the 80's. maybe. anyway, i pretty much rock the overalls covered in pegs look, don't you think?



i don't know if you can tell in this pic, but my aunty is rocking a perm pretty hard. early 90's me thinks as i remember my brother being around... gosh i was a weird looking kid. and no i didn't just pick my nose.

ah memories.... for more memories, check in with curlypops!

just something to start the day...

what a packed afternoon! the boyfriend, his family and i headed out for his university graduation ceremony (and then for a delicious dinner at cookie afterwards!)
but before we headed out this morning, i had a little bit of quiet time. with no pressing housework or yardwork to be done (pretty sure i covered it all yesterday...), i used the time to pick out some more festively coloured wools to make some more of pip's christmas baubles!



these ones will be slightly smaller than the others so i might actually be able to use the original pattern and not have to play around with it too much!
speaking of the other bauble i made, would you like to see?



i made up the entire pack of four baubles in the same wool. i had just enough to make all four so it was surely fate :D
i'm contemplating giving one each to my neighours, the ones i talk to that is, with a nice packet of shortbread or something. that reminds me, i need to make shortbread... does anyone have a good recipe?

hope you've had a fabulous wednesday!

oh for the love of sunshine.

isn't it a glorious day in melbourne town today?
i spent my morning in my back yard, mowing and trimming and planting and training and generally tidying.



i'm making an attempt to train this ivy plant that's growing through the fence from next door (thanks to my lovely neighbour). i'm trying to get it to grow across the fence rather than down it (and subsequently all over my lawn).
i do so very love beautiful climbing plants :D



i popped the jasmine that i rescued into the ground as well, it can happily climb all over this section of the fence (yeah i don't really like fences, can you tell?).



and my grape vine, that started off as a teeny tiny stick with a few green buds on it (quite literally NO leaves), had completely overgrown the little pot it started in and needed a new home. it should be happy here for the next couple of weeks... then i should have the funds to be able to fill the last of my planter boxes and transfer it into there. then it can climb and grow all over the trestle section (and hide yet more of that blasted fence!!)

now i'm off to fold some washing (yet another reason to love this sunshine, fresh dry washing :D), throw together a curry and maybe, finally, get to actually starting these dresses.

hope you're all enjoying the sunshine :D

i have an addiction sir!

in the words of miss carrie bradshaw, 'i have an addiction sir' though unlike her, i'm not addicted to the deadly nicotine. i have a far wilier addiction... i'm addicted to buying christmas craft supplies. even though i know i will definitely not have time to make anything with them.
to be fair, i always buy things with a specific plan, a pattern or an idea. but i know i will just not have time to actually make said things.



this years haul includes but is not limited to: christmas fabrics, glass baubles (i'm constantly terrified of smashing them), ribbons of all widths and lengths and patterns, christmas stickers, sequins and bon-bon crackers.
but i have been good on one front, wool! i'm only using wool from my stash for any wooly christmassy plans i have. small steps, small steps.

my creative space.

after a morning at yoga, it's time to get to some christmas crafting! (and tidying and washing and cleaning bleurgh!)
i need to finish up this little crocheted bauble. actually it's not little at all, it's quite large. i've had to change up pip's pattern a fair bit in terms of number of stitches and rows and such but i'm super happy with the wool :D i found it hiding in my stash. red with little gold bits in it, perfect for such a christmassy project!


now i'm off, the washing machine is beeping, my stomach is growling and i promised the boyfriend that i'd finish up a secret christmas present today as it's currently taking up a lot of floor-space in his study (read - mancave).

lots more creativity going on at kirsty's!

billie cards.

yesterday as i was running some errands, i stumbled upon this little shopfront.




a cute little wreath in the window and a gorgeous little wooden tray table filled with the sweetest looking cards led me inside...




inside into a skinny little shop, filled with gorgeous displays of gorgeous things.
the walls are decorated with handmade totes, buttons and more of those little cards.




and then there are tables of cards too!




i know where i'll be sourcing any birthday/wedding/engagement cards from for the next little while...

with ridiculously reasonable prices, i was completely powerless to walk away empty handed, so i came out with these two cuties.




you should definitely have a lookee at billie cards...

and then there were 50...

while i was at work tonight, my follower count ticked over to 50 (thanks megan)!

so after cooking (yes cooking! i ignored the call of the drive-thru, eve though i'm home alone tonight) i got to writing down 50 names, on 50 little pieces of paper (seeing as how there's not really a numbering system to blog followers...)



can you see your name in there??

so without further adieu... the winner of my little heart garland issssssssssssssssss...............

bec!

hopefully this will be a nice little surprise for her to wake up to (especially after being kept awake by those 7 year olds talking all night)!

once again, thanks everyone so much for following along with my little piece of the blogging world.
it makes me so ridiculously happy every time i think about you all!!!

hope you're all having a great saturday night!

grateful for...

this saturday i'm grateful for...




fresh strawberries for breakfast. they're massive AND delicious!



almost fresh strawberries from my garden.



friendly neighbourhood pets. he likes my bag just as much as i do.




and, as much as everyone hates it, i'm grateful for this weather. my plants are LOVING the intermittent rain and shine. some of them have grown double their size and this jasmine here, it's started growing again :D
i rescued it from a construction site, it was being ripped up by a tractor.

maxabella has more things to be grateful for.

ps. don't forget to follow along to be in the running for my giveaway. only 1 followers to go!!!

my creative space.

i spent the large majority of the day at work, so have only got up to mischief creating this evening, hence the late-ish blog post :D



a spot of kitchen-y time... and these lovely looking shanks are now cooking away slowly in the oven.
and what to do in the meantime... 2 and a half hours of oven time and i think i'll be able to get a few of these cutout and ready to get sewing. i do love to make pretty christmas decorations... especially ones that are a little less traditional. thanks for the pattern clare! and thanks for keeping the store open for me to get the fabric brianna!




check out other creative spaces over with kirsty

also don't forget to follow along to be in the running for my giveaway. only 2 followers to go!!!