Day to Day

Starburst cushion update

I had a million things to blog about this week, but have been super busy doing a zillion things at home instead of blogging.  So, rather than putting a back log post up here (are you still following?) I thought I'd share my starburst cushion update instead.  Hooray!

It's coming along nicely.  A few of you asked about some details, so here you go:

- I'm aiming for 16 squares on the front

- Using 8 ply Moda Vera pure wool from Spotlight

- 3.5mm crochet hook

- Each square takes approximately 20 minutes to crochet and join.

- I'm joining as I go, using THIS tutorial.

- The starburst pattern is using THIS tutorial.  I'm adding another round of white on each square.

I'm thinking just plain white for the back, because nobody really sees the back anyhow.

There were good intentions of sewing in those pesky ends as I went, but they went out the window pretty quickly.

I hope to finish off the front within the next week or so, and then the back will be calling me.

Creating

Here's what I've been busy with:

New Blythe headbands for my Etsy store - available HERE.  There are some new knitted dresses (also for Blythe) too.

Vegetable patch cake

A few of you emailed and asked for more details about the vegetable patch cake, so I thought I'd pop back and share.  It really was an easy peasy cake to do...and fast...I do love fast!

The cake was out of a Women's Weekly cake book, that I picked up at the supermarket a couple of months ago.  There are some really gorgeous cakes in there, plus a lot of brand new designs that I haven't seen before.

The cake is vanilla, iced with chocolate frosting and sprinkled with milo - for dirt!

The tomatoes are jaffa lollies with fondant (dyed green) for their tops and stalks. The carrots are a combination of mint leaves that have been cut with scissors, and orange fruit sticks that have been shaped into carrots with a knife.  The cauliflowers are raffaelo chocolates that have wrapped in tiny pieces of green fondant.  Easy and fun!

Turning eleven

Our sweet girl turned eleven today.

We celebrated with pancakes for breakfast and a vegetable patch cake in the afternoon.

{Sneaking moments on her new iPod touch}

Happy birthday beautiful girl, we love you!

Keeping craft supplies tidy

Keeping our craft supplies tidy in this little house can sometimes be tricky.  Until I recently had the biggest craft cleanout of all clean outs, our cupboards seemed to be overflowing with trinkets and treasures from years ago.  Like a huge roll of fluoro (yes, fluoro!) orange felt from my time creating projects for Australian Home Sewn.  Oh, and the twenty million pieces of scrapbooking papers from 10 years ago, that I was saving *just incase*....  I could go on and on about the craft treasures junk that I found stashed away, but I won't bore you with too many details.

It felt so good to let it go though!

Since I was having a clean out, it only seemed fair to insist that Bella had one too.  I'm not actually a hoarder - you might think that from reading the first paragraph of this post, but I'm really not.  The other three in this family have serious issues in even parting with the scrunched up piece of sticky tape in their bottom drawer though.  You name it, they want to keep it.  

But without too much coaxing, Bella parted with quite a few craft supplies from her humble little stash - teeny bits of fabric, tangled cottons that were never coming untangled, broken pins and all sorts of other goodness that had seen better days.

She had quite a few unfinished projects in her treasure trove of craft - we kept all those, of course.

After everything was sorted, we set up the ironing board and Bella set to work ironing her fabric stash.  I love that we both have neat craft spaces now, all refreshed, tidy and ready to go with a new project.

It feels good.

Chocolate hearts

 

Good morning lovelies.  

I'll be back a little bit later in the day, but I'm just popping in for now to announce who'll be receiving some chocolate heart goodness in their mailbox.

I enjoyed reading every one of your Pap test comments and some of them had me in fits of laughter.  There were a couple of naughty people (you know who you are!) that have been dodging the Pap test commitment, but it was lovely to read that you're onto it now.

So, since this was just a very tiny give away for fun, I chose the first 5 comments for chocolate:

• Tamar
• Nicky
• Jaki
• Michelle
• Christeen (Hooray for having your Pap test the day before my blog post)

Pop me through your mailing details girls (onecraftymumma@internode.on.net) and some mini hearts will be heading your way.  I'll be keeping my fingers and toes crossed that your chocolate doesn't melt along the way!

*More information on Pap tests can be found on the ACCF website here, and facebook.*

Handmade gift: starburst crochet cushion

Thank you for all your kind words the other day about my sister's crochet cushion. I really enjoyed doing it and all your sweet comments spurred me on to starting another one, yes!

I've had a hankering to start a starburst kinda cushion for a while now - that's what I call them anyhow - splashes of bright colour in the centre, with white around the outer edge.  

This one is going to be for a swap that I'm participating in with some lovely friends.  There are a few of us exchanging gifts for Easter and we all have a secret partner.  I'm keeping everything crossed that my partner will like how this turns out.  Easter really isn't that far away, so I thought I'd better pull my finger out and start.

Don't let those curved edges on the squares put you off - they're from the circular centres and seem to straighten themselves out as I join each square.

I have literally a million zillion things to blog about this next week - I might have to squeeze in a couple of posts on a few days to get through everything.  But for now, it's back to my crochet.

February photo challenges- week 2

Good morning lovelies! Just popping in with my instagram photos for week 2 - it was a fast week, so crazy to know that we're half way through February already.  

I'm combining this post with my #blytheaday and #febphotoaday photos :)

Day 8 :: Sun :: What sun? We had zero sunshine on day 8.

Day 8 :: Friends :: Bella and Blythe

Day 9 :: Front door :: The view inside from my front door

Day 9 :: Hat :: A cute Blythe sized hat that Bella knitted a while ago

Day 10 :: Self portrait :: This is me, cutting out doilies for my Etsy store & wearing my favourite bracelets that I bought in Hong Kong.

Day 10 :: Funny :: Blythe meets Star Wars

Day 11 :: Makes me happy :: Organic honey....mmm...

Day 11 :: Serious :: It's serious business looking up Blythe clothes on Etsy!

Day 12 :: Inside my closet :: I keep fabric supplies in my closet :)

Day 12 :: Hair down

Day 13 :: Blue :: Our Dr Seuss Russian doll set

Day 13 :: Outside

Day 14 :: Heart :: Sending love to my dear friend Tamar for her chemo today

Day 14 :: Valentine ::  Will you be my Valentine?

 

 

 

Handmade gift: Granny square cushion

I finished my first handmade gift for 2012 a couple of weeks, only I couldn't share it here because I was waiting for my sister's birthday to tick over.  She reads my blog and I didn't want to spoil the surprise.

I worked on these little squares through season 2 of Breaking Bad.  Mr Goodsell and I watched it in bed every night - one episode a night - and I crocheted while I watched.

The back was done over series 3. I know, there's nothing quite like crocheting, watching t.v and kicking over a handmade gift at the same time.

I added some buttons on the side, because we all know how easy white cushions are to get all grotty, and how many times they might need washing.

I'm all itchy to do another now, but it's always tricky to know who would like a crochet pillow and who wouldn't.  Do you find that with handmade gifts - always wondering who to give what to?  Then, there's always the problem of deciding which colours to go for.  I'll have to put my thinking cap on...

It feels good to have ticked over one handmade gift for the year!

Do something important on Valentine's Day

{sponsored by Nuffnang}

Valentine's Day. It's a celebration of love; traditionally, romantic love... This year on the tail of a recent Newspoll survey, the Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation (ACCF) is urging Australian women to remember themselves with a caring gesture to their most feminine parts on Valentine‟s Day, by committing to make a date with their doctor for a Pap test.

I had my first Pap test in my early twenties, and have been having regular two year tests ever since.  I'm sometimes a little surprised when I hear that my friends or family members aren't having regular Pap tests themselves.  It's very naughty and also scary, especially when you read the facts: 

...and this one:

Did you know?

Something else really interesting from the January survey, is that two popular occasions for personal grooming are Valentine's Day and Pap tests.  Yes!  It seems very sensible to combine the two and kill two birds with the one stone....

If you don't shave or wax, never fear...I have a different formula for you:

So, this Valentine's Day, do you something important for yourself and book in for a Pap smear.  It could save your life! 

To share the Valentine's Day Pap test love, I just popped down to the shop and bought fifteen mini chocolate hearts for you!  Leave a comment on this post about your own Pap test story (naughty people confessions also allowed) and I'll choose five Aussie girls this Friday to post out 3 mini hearts to each.  It's just a fun teensy give away :) 

Everyone needs chocolate hearts and Pap smears xox

More information can also be found on the ACCF website here, and facebook.