Craft hope - bean bags

Today I've been finishing off the first set of bean bags to send to Craft hope (they are going to the Liberian Orphan education project). They've come up pretty spiffy it I do say so! Now to finish the colour set and off to the postoffice with them!

I wish that post-offices were nicer places. I always picture in my mind: lovely uniforms, brown paper packages, high ceilings and people greeting me with "good-day ma'am" - is this too to ask, probably, maybe post-offices in Britain are like this? I hope so. I'm sad to say here in Australia: the romance is dead.

Toodle doo for now, I hope you have a lovely weekend!

Blarg

I shouldn't complain, it's only the sniffles, but I feel rubbish.

To help me keep in good cheer, lovely Meg brought me round some lemons and ginger, ahhh, that's the stuff (thanks Meg!) I can feel the cockles warming and sinuses clearing as I sip this warm drink and waste time on youtube - mmm, Soupe Opera, you make me smile.

In memory of Lewis McGee

Today is ANZAC day and we've been remembering Sergeant Lewis McGee in particular, Blair's great great uncle. He was awarded the Victoria Cross (the highest decoration for gallantry) and died in action, you can read more about him here. Lest we forget.

Chop - chop!

I must admit I'm little behind in my sewing projects! Over the last few days I've been trying to make up lost time with loads of chopping, a bit of sewing, some bean filling and some screen-printing. The voice in my head (the mad headless chicken voice, if you know what I mean) is saying chop-chop, you can't be late, you'll fall down a rabbit-hole and other such things, you may also be able to tell from my blathering that I'm a bit on the tired side.

Anyway...

Ruth and I have been putting together some bean bags for craft hope. Ruth has some awesome new skills with screen-printing, which have been totally brill for printing on the numbers and words onto the fabric!

Also above shows a bit of progress for my Urban home goods swap. I'm actually not a huge fan of pink, hopefully this project will be a bit of immersion therapy.

Some things

My pillow swap was finally received (photo of what I made here). Wow post takes a long time to get to Brazil!

On the weekend I hosted the 'Annual fondue dinner party' for my cousins - cheese fondue, tempura fondue and then chocolate fondue for dessert, oh my! fond-elicious!

Here are a few of my new blog additions to reader. schorlemaedchen, made by joel and Kriss colour stripes

and flickr faves above, capturing my mood...

flickr credits:1. 2212, 2. beginning again, 3. Bear II, 4. asian pears, 5. feathers, 6. Norfolk Royal apple orchard, 7. Crochet pillow from vintage pattern, 8. Charlie's Bucket, 9. Little Red

Humming bird

Wow! I'm so excited to be the winner of Beth-emily's competition. She will be illustrating a humming bird, and I will receive my very own print, how lovely! I feel like a very lucky girl, yes I do.

She's a wonderfully talented las with a lovely blog, I recommend you check it out over here.

Autumn

I've noticed that blogland loves Autumn, I do too! It is absolutely my favourite season. I feel blessed to live in a beautiful part of the world with four distinct seasons. Here is a cutie from my Mums garden, there are toadstools sprouting up all over the place! This is a quickie with my iphone, I can't wait to go back and have another look!

ps. Thank you so much for stopping by, I've really appreciated all the comment love and visitors! Especially Lauren, you really made my day.

Walking the walk

I've been thinking over the last few weeks about shopping. Two of the reasons why this has been on my mind: I've been watching a series on ABC iview called 'Blood, sweat and t-shirts' - six young fashion addicts swap shopping on the high street with working in India‘s cotton fields and clothes factories (excerpt from BBC). This series is really interesting, I do have a few reservations (I'd like more focus on the locals), but, still two more episodes to go, so we shall see.
The other reason being this post from Lauren and then following her over to this post from Isis.

When I think about organic/fairtrade/ethical/green, I feel a bit overwhelmed. Do you?

Until this point, I've always thought it's an all or nothing change (and have felt super guilty that as much as I do, there is always still more I could do), but I've come to the conclusion, for me, it will be a gradual change. As I become more aware, as companies become more transparent, as my sewing and gardening skills improve, as learn to shop differently, clean differently, eat differently, as all these things become part of my daily routine and culture, then I think I will be closer to becoming the person I'd like to be.

Note: This pledge is for me but with the aim to buy better for Blair and The Boy too.

THE ETHICAL CLOTHING PLEDGE
------------------------

I pledge (will do my utmost best) to only wear clothing that is one or more of the following:
1. Pre-loved
2. Handmade (preferably by me)
3. Reconstructed
4. Made with ethical / environmentally friendly materials
5. Made by a company with strong ethical policy & workers' rights

* Companies with environmentally friendly practices (such as cutting down on waste/energy/water) get brownie points
* If I get one little inkling of sweatshop labour, I'm outta there!
* Above all though, I think the most important thing is reducing the amount of things we use in the first place. Not purchasing ANOTHER piece of clothing just for the sake of it is the biggest statement we can make.

To dry for

It's no secret, I dislike drying up with a passion. With one of these babies maybe I would have a different take on the task? Maybe I'd be to busy giggling with glee? Yes, definitely the later.
Great designs from Darling Clementine and Donna Wilson, purchasable from To dry for.

Spampersand and apple

I'm pretty tuckered out from the AGDA scav hunt today, what a ball we had! There is so much to show and tell, but for now I'll just post these two images. The first one is an ampersand (&) I carved from spam, yes, you guessed it - spampersand! The second is an apple by the lovely Cathy, embellished with a quote from Squires Bounty.

I hope you've all had a wonderful Sunday, time for me to go to bed xx

AGDA Scav hunt 2010

Cathy and I have put together a little scavenger hunt for AGDA this weekend, see info below.

A scavenger hunt like no other, the 1st ever AGDA SCAV HUNT will put your design, observation and typography skills to the ultimate test.
The challenge will take place at Salamanca on a relaxing Sunday afternoon: drinks, food and good times. Come as a team or come join a team!
Meet us down at The Squire's Bounty at 3pm with you digital camera in tow, to join up with your team and collect your clues. There will be prizes for the most creative team and team with the most points, not to mention he highly coveted AGDA SCAV trophy, and let's face it, FAME and GLORY!
Come on down after visiting the market's 1st birthday market.
When: Sunday 11th April, 3 - 5pm
Venue: The Squire's Bounty, Salamanca Square (next to Kathmandu)
AGDA Members - $10.00 | Non-members - $15.00

Pincushion swap - received!

Wow, look what came in the mail, my pincushion swap buddy has sent me this beautiful pear shapped pincushion, I'm such a lucky gal! Thank you so much Sue, I love it to pieces! I also love the adorable pins, sew cute!
More swappy goodness at the flickr group and over at Kate's.

Five Faves

1. The Boys first taste of chocolate
2. Spending a beautiful day with our wonderful extended family
4. Meeting the newest member of the family, Baxter, 3 days old and cute as a button! (a huge congratulation Jody and Todd!)
3. Easter craft (above is an image of the Easter cards we made, three egg fingersprints, Blair, myself and The Boy)
5. and a few of my flickr faves

For some more faves head over to Meet me at Mikes.

Happy Easter everyone xxx


flickr faves image links
1. *, 2. Untitled, 3. granola, 4. some of my history~, 5. Happy 2010!, 6. S A K U R A, 7. (45) This is what madness looks like, 8. Late for the Party, 9. a handful of memories

Thrifty finds - great colours

Loving these colours at the moment.