I'm Back!!

I had no idea how much I relied on the internet until it was (all but...) taken away!!! It's amazing how many times a day I would want to check something (mostly the weather) or find some info ... I really was lost without it, and I'm surprised by that cos I didn't realise how much I use it. Funny (scary) isn't it!!? Anyway, it's back now and I'm hugely relieved :o), everything's back to normal (well, as normal as it gets around here lol).

Well in case you're wondering what on earth I found to do with myself while 'net-less ;o) ... here's what I did!!!
I made 27 of them, one for each of the lovely ladies in my quilt group for Christmas - all from my scraps :o). It was our breakup on Monday and we had a lovely lunch.

Yesterday DD2 had a friend over and they made the house all festive and Christmassy ........ about time I hear some of you say lol.How gorgeous are they??!!

There are lots of handmade bits and pieces all over the house, I'll show you a few....I made this stained glass window last year and I have another piece of fabric to make another one but I haven't gotten around to it yet ....... sound familiar LOL????These I made when the kids were quite little, in my cross-stitching days - they are red velvet. Gosh, I haven't done any cross-stitch for years.Here's a cute way to display your Chrissy cards ..... each of the ribbons hanging down is about 1.5m and there's a big ceramic star button at the bottom of each ribbon to weigh it down a bit. I made this a few years ago and I love it :o).Awwwww, pretty :o)!! Although I daresay there will be more added to it over the next couple of weeks :o). Don't you love the pressies under the tree .....??? They're 'wrapped' in UK postal envelopes ... tee hee. DD1 sent them over from London and some aren't wrapped inside so I've been instructed to not open them until Christmas ........ it's driving DD2 insane LOL.

Talk soon ....

Hugs,

Joy :o)

Internet fun (not!!)

We're swapping our internet provider and they are also taking over the landline. Unfortunately they neglected to warn me that when they transferred the landline over (which was last Thursday) that I would lose my internet connection! The new cable connection doesn't happen until Tuesday!! I finally got a dial up connection on my 'puter this morning (Saturday). I got down under my sewing table (found so much cool stuff I thought I'd lost - tee hee) and fiddled around under there until I got it right. So no piccies this post ... takes too long for them to download. But I'll be back on Tuesday and I'll show you what I've been sewing all week :o).
Take care,
Hugs,
Joy :o)

Pressies, Painted stuff and Pretty Tassles :o).

I got a lovely surprise in the mail today from Janet at Wildcraft Farm. She's running a 'last minute' Christmas Swap for those of us that weren't doing one and reeeeally wanted to ...... and she's sent a pressie already!!! She's left the card blank - and I think that's in case I want to give it as a gift ..... he he - no chance - this one is staying with ME ;o)!!! Thanks so much Janet .... you're such a sweety!!!!! I'm pleased to report that my parcel for my swap partner will be in the mail on Friday - NOT TO BE OPENED TIL CHRISTMAS!!!!! he he

I was reading Kris' blog (at Tagalong Teddies) post here last week and admiring her beautiful painted roses. It reminded me of when I used to paint (several years ago now) although I hasten to add - my roses never even came close to as good as the ones on Kris' blog!!! I haven't picked up a brush in so long I'm not sure I'd remember what to do with it if I did LOL!!!!!! But I do remember that I used to enjoy it very much ..........This cute little possum is on our keyrack ... I did him (her????) in 1995 ..... I think most of these were painted around the same time...... Could you tell I like bears LOL!!?!!? ..... This one is looking a bit tatty, but I still use it cos I love the looks on their little faces. Do you love the little Harrods bear that my DD1 sent over from London for my birthday????? Bless :o).I bought these gorgeous tassles as kits yesterday and instead of stitching this morning I made them up. They are for Christmas presents ......... well, all except for the one on the left .... the kitty is MINE!!! ;o). The blue tassle is for my darling Mum, the white one with the purple scissors is for Jill and the red scissors and tassle is for my MIL. Hope they like them ...... they were fun to make ;o). Not sure I'm going to become a beader, but it's fun to do something different for a change.

That's all for now .......................

Take care,

Hugs,

Joy :o)

The winners at last!!!

Sorry I'm late. I know I promised to do the draw last night - but here it is. I put all the entries into this cute Cinderberry Christmas Bag .....Then I shuffled them all around - mixed them up real good - no cheating!!!!!! ....... Then DD1 was kind enough to do the draw for me ...... she reached in ......and drew out 3 winners ............................. and here they are ...............ddddddrrrrrrrruuuuuummmrrrrrooollllll ...........Jane from Sew Create It came out first ...... then Narelle was drawn out second .... and lucky last was Julie!!! Yay!!! Congratulations to the winners :o)!!!!!!!! Could you all please email me and let me know your snail-mail address and then I can pop your pattern in the mail for you!!!!
I'll be putting this pattern on my website in the next couple of days :o).

Take care,

Hugs,

Joy :o)

Focus!!!

I really should focus on one project at a time rather than flitting from one thing to another ... at last count I have 6 projects on the go right now!!! I'm sure there's more but I'm not looking any further ....... I need a day (a week?? a month - eeek????) to get them finished before I start on anything else. Trouble is, when I buy a new pattern - or get an idea for one - I want to start on it right away, I know you know what I mean, I can't be the only one that does this LOL. Here's a couple of the stitcheries I'm working on now ... these are great for keeping me awake at night when I'm watching tv ... although sometimes, I must admit, nothing can keep these poor old eyes from shutting LOL.As you can see the little basket is already making itself useful. The tutorial to make one of these little darlings is at Pink Penguin's blog. I know I'll be making more!!! The pink stitchery is for the giant pincushion and the white ones are for more Cinderberry bags. ..... And just to add to my "wanna do it now" list ... my dear friend Valerie (no blog) just came home from a holiday in NZ and brought these home for me ....... bless :o).I can't wait to make something from these, I haven't worked with batiks before (can you believe it????) and these look like a bag to me :o)!!!!

Last night was a busy one ... DD2 had her "semi-formal" - which, for those of you who don't have high schoolers, is the year 10 dinner. I guess it's a lead up to the year 12 formal. Anyway, a bunch of her friends came over before the dinner for photos - they all looked gorgeous, but none more so than my DD2 :o) - all grown up and looking so beautiful (ok, I'm biased). Here she is with her date......Don't forget to leave a comment here for my giveaway - I'll be drawing the winners on Saturday night Australian time - so that's probably Saturday morning for most of the rest of the world ;o).

That's it from me ... got to get ready for the day. If the weather sweetens up a bit I'm going to take my dear Mum and Jill up to Tamborine Mountain Distillery. Jill leaves in a week so she's buying some pressies to take back to UK for friends. We're really going to miss her [sigh].

Take care,

Hugs,

Joy :o)

P.S ... I just found a great giveaway here ... go and have a look :o)!!

Cinderberry Stitches Christmas bags

I won a gorgeous pattern from Honeysuckle Cottage a few weeks ago and I though I'd make up some of these pretty bags for some gifts I have for friends. They are really quick and easy to put together ... so who knows, I might make some more!!!!! :o) They are designed by Natalie Lymer of Cinderberry Stitches and these are just 2 of the bags you can make from the pattern.

Don't forget to leave a comment on the previous post to be in the running to win my "Old Fashioned Favourites" pattern!!!

Take care....

Hugs,

Joy :o)

Time for a Giveaway!!!!!!

I haven't quite finished writing up the pattern yet, but I should have it done very soon (she says with fingers and toes crossed - hehehe!!) so here it is ... I'm so pleased with how they all turned out. I've called them "Old-fashioned Favourites" for the moment ... but if you have a better idea I'd love to hear it - "Memories of Donna Reed" was one name I was tossing about, but it seemed from conversations with others that I was the only one who remembered Donna Reed [sigh]!!! Showing my age I think LOL.

There's a fully lined apron ...... and a pot-holder (do you love the little pink vintage button??) ........

and oven mits......and a cute little recipe book cover, complete with bookmark ;o)!!!!!I've really enjoyed putting this pattern together - I'll be giving 3 away and you can win one just by leaving a comment on my blog ... and if you want an extra entry just mention the giveaway on your blog and link it back to here - easy!!! Overseas entries are more than welcome and I'll draw the winners on Saturday night, the 29th.

I've also been busy stitching other things ... I've been making things for my Christmas Swap partner, (organised extremely quickly by Janet of Wildcraft Farm :o) thanks Janet) and since we are swapping with each other I don't want to give away any surprises - he he it's ok Dawn, no need to cover your eyes, piccies of those will have to wait ;o). I can show you this though ..... I think I must have been the only blogger that hadn't made one of these ... so now I have, I love it, I know I'm going to make lots more - the bears are looking pretty comfy too doncha think?!?!!That's all for now ........

Take care,

Hugs,

Joy :o)