Happy Australia Day!!! … and the winner is ;o)……

Happy Australia Day all my Aussie mates!!! Hope you had a great one!! Ours was a bit humid and loads of fun. Thankfully the rain held off for most of the day and the skies didn’t open til after all the fun and frivolity was done – well, for us anyway ;o).
Alright then ……… I won’t keep you in suspense any longer. The 3 winners of my “Dear Diary” giveaway are…………………
 Gill Smith said... Hi Joy, what a lovely giveaway! PLEASE put my name in the hat! Hugs Gill xx  Anne said... As everyone else has already said - it is a great pattern. Thanks for the opportunity, would love to win, but we'll see :0). Larissa said... What a great giveaway Joy ... that pattern is gorgeous!!! Thanks for the opportunity to win this little beauty ... your fifth version is very cute!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU ALL!!!!!

Please email me at  joy at joypatch dot com with your snail mail addresses and I’ll get your patterns out to you post haste.
Thank you so much to everyone who entered, and also for your very kind words about my little pattern. It means so much to know that you like it :o).

Don't forget my giveaway!!

Would you like to win the pattern to make one of these?????

Okie Dokey ... then all you have to do is leave a comment on my Giveaway Post - but you'd better be quick cos I'm drawing 3 winners tomorrow night (26th January) at 8pm Brisbane time. Each winner will win a copy of my "Dear Diary" pattern :o)!!

You've gotta be in it to win it ;o)!!

FOR SALE (or … “I got a bit carried away!!”) – and a Giveaway reminder :o)

Goodness, that title is almost as long as this post LOL!!!
But I didn’t want any of you to miss out on my giveaway!! It’s for my new “Dear Diary” pattern…You can whip these up in no time, what a fabulous gift idea :o)!!! And if you’d like to be in the draw to win one of 3 patterns I’m giving away ON THURSDAY 26TH you can leave a comment on my previous post :o).
So here comes the “I got a bit carried away” bit …………. Oh, and the “For Sale” bit too :o)!!!
I’ve been making some store samples and I just kept going and going LOL!!

So now I have 5 of them –EEEK!!!

TIME FOR  A SALE!!!!!!!!

These are all made by me, they’re $25 each plus postage and come complete with the books and the pen or pencil you see inside them :o).

This first one is “Teacups” and it has a notebook, pen and 2012 diary inside… SOLD 

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Next is “Butterflies” and it has a notebook, mechanical pencil and sketchbook in it (although if you prefer I can replace the sketchbook with a 2012 diary) …
SOLD    

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I do love this one, this is “The Ghastlies” and once again it has a notebook, pen and 2012 diary…
SOLD

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I think this one would be great for a student as it’s so fresh and bright, this one is “Springtime” and it has matching notebook, pen and diary…
SOLD

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And lastly is “In Stitches”, a sewing themed one with notepad, pen and “To Do List” book (again, I don’t mind switching the “To Do” book for a 2012 diary if you prefer).

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SHIPPING

All of these weigh just over 500g so if you would like to work out what the postage would be (in Aussie dollars) to send the parcel to either your Aussie postcode or International address you can do it  HERE. They will be travelling from Australian postcode 4161.

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post stating which one you’d like and I’ll email you with payment details. International buyers – I’m sorry but the ONLY payment method I can accept is Paypal.

It’s raining in Brissy today, perfect stitching weather, so I’m off to do some :o)……

Done and dusted :o)

Before I tell you what is done and dusted, I’ll show you what I made today…

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I still had a little bit of “Oh Cherry Oh” left in my stash, so I made one more ‘Dear Diary’. In this one I put an A5 sketch book and a notebook so that if I have any bright ideas when I’m out and about I can draw it and also scribble some notes if I want to. I think I should go out, just so’s I can test it ;o).
So I bet you’ve now guess what’s done and dusted???? Yep, the “Dear Diary” pattern is written and printed WOOHOO!!! There’s always a big sigh of relief from me when that part is done … ;o).
So of course you know what that means don’t you???

A GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
Edit:  this giveaway has now been drawn :o)

So if you'd like to win a pattern for "Dear Diary", there are no fancy rules … just leave a comment on this post (just the one please) and I’ll pick 3 winners next Thursday 26th – that’s AUSTRALIA DAY here in Oz :o).
Good luck everyone!!!

Would you like a little tour of my cave?

I’ve been tidying all week.
You might not believe me when you see these pics … but it’s true, I really have!!!
Here’s how I fit WAY too much stuff into WAY too small an area LOL.
Firstly my desk/cutting table/ironing board. I bought this desk off eBay for a ridiculous $80!! It’s an old Canadian banker’s desk and it’s fabulous!! As you can see I’ve got everything but the kitchen sink on the shelves above … essentials like family pics, the ‘puter, licorice allsorts mug, ruler shelf (with a drawer for my cutters), books (invoice/order etc.), … things I need on a daily basis ;o). Oh, and the gawjus little drawer my iron is sitting on is an old treadle drawer, love it!! I can keep little knick-knacks in that too!!
Round to the right of my desk is my Rosie – my beautiful Janome Horizon :o). As you can see, she too is surrounded by various fabulous storage pieces … every one of which is absolutely chokkers lol!!! Top left is another cabinet of old treadle drawers – I have a hard time resisting these have you noticed he he. The funny long tail thing hanging from the drawers on the left is my zippers, all on a ring and hanging from the handle. To the left of these drawers is a built in wardrobe … all my pre-cuts and special fabrics are in there – along with a LOT of other stuff!! My threads are all lined up on the sill … my scraps stash in the clear drawers under the table. Directly under Rosie is Bertha, my Janome 6500 (still for sale if anyone’s interested!!). More clear drawers on top of the terrific little cupboard my Dad made for me years ago.
Next is one of my favourite parts of the room, I just love to drool over all of these pretty fabrics … and to browse through the pages of these books… a great way to while away some spare time ;o). That’s my printer on the right by the way … this room is so small that I couldn’t get far enough back to take a pic without getting the printer in … as it was I was leaning right back over my desk LOL.
Tucked in the little corner between the book case and Rosie is this … another treasure trove of much loved gifties … pics of dear ones and more treadle drawers lol – gawjus!!!!!
So here’s the last bit … my trusty printer sits on YET ANOTHER set of drawers!!! That’s my notice board on the right and it’s under another ruler shelf. Both of my ruler shelves were made by Cath’s husband Ron, they’re a really practical way of storing rulers and yet still keeping them very handy to grab. I love them!! This one is even better cos it has a shelf under it for my stapler, sticky tapes, stamps and stickers etc, and also a bunch of hooks where I can hang my scissors and pretties :o).
My room is filled with sweet treasures and gifts from dear friends …. each one is cherished. Not a square inch is wasted LOL.

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This is my workspace, my sewing room, my office – sometimes even my refuge ………….. it’s my cave and I love it :o).
I hope you’ve enjoyed my little tour :o).

Got some pretty cool mojo happening here :o)

All small stuff …. but getting plenty done. I think that bit of time over Christmas without my sewing must’ve made me toey to get in my cave again  lol. Wanna see what I’ve been making??? Well I’m going to show you anyway ;o).
My gawjus DD in London sent me some beautiful Cath Kidston tea-towels with my Christmas pressie. Those of you who read my blog often would know of my love for all things Cath Kidston ;o). They’re much too pretty (I think) to be used for drying dishes, so instead, this is what I made from them …I popped a super-cute button on the pocket, and I even stitched the label back in :o) …

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I also made one of these cute thread catchers that I’ve seen on various blogs. I wish I could post a link to the tut, but I can’t find it again!!! And lastly … a new design from me, yay :D!!! This one I’m going to call “Dear Diary”, and as soon as I’ve written up the pattern I’ll do a giveaway. There are various versions pictured below, hope you like them :o) … The first one I made – the ‘prototype’ lol …

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A “Ghastlies” one …

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love this fabric :o)!!!
One for DD Bear, she loves owls :o) – see her name in buttons on the red stripe??!! …

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And a pretty one – this one’s my favourite :o) …

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I’ve put a notebook with either an A5 diary or ‘To Do’ book in mine – but there are so many pretty A5 books around, you could put in whatever you like :o). These are SO easy to make, and I hope you like them!!
I’d better start on some pattern writing then ;o).

**EDIT** ..... Thanks to Karen I can now give you a link for the tutorial for the cute thread catcher. You can find it HERE. Thank you Karen :o).