Sweet Friends, Sweet Treats & Sweet Angels!

For all of you who have shown concern for my beloved Geek Boy (that should give you a clue that all is well, as he is once again beloved!! Tee! Hee! Hee!) after the 'cracking' start to our weekend - order has been restored and he's no longer sleeping with the dogs in the laundry ... the dogs complained that he snored and sent him back inside! Tee! Hee! Hee! I'd like to thank all of my sweet bloggy friends for commiserating with me over the breakages mentioned in the last post - it's nice to know you all understand that part of me knows they are only 'things', but the other part thinks of them as 'priceless treasures'. I did rather like Lilly Linda's take on the situation and may yet follow that through!! (check her comment on the previous post to see what I mean! Tee! Hee! Hee!)

Now in the wake of the calamity, I received a lovely call from one sweet bloggy friend who must've been reading the post about five seconds after I put it up! Bek of Bek's Shabby Dreams (who also lives in Toowoomba) phoned to offer commiserations and to invite me to visit her to choose a couple of her faux cupcakes to fill the void - What a SWEETIE!! Now, Bek and I have actually been trying to catch up with one another ever since we discovered there were two shabby chic/country/cupcake fans blogging in Toowoomba, but we've not been able to match busy schedules until now, so off I trotted. We had a lovely visit and I admired the cupcake-bedecked sunroom at Bek's place where she has her faux goodies displayed (which she sells on eBay and through her blog) and her three kids helped me pick out a couple of pretties to display with my tea cups. Thanks so much, Bek!! It was a lovely and unexpected gesture and the cupcakes look right at home on my coffee table, don't you think?


Aren't they sweet? So ... I have new pretties, a newly met-in-person bloggy friend and GB did some chores around the house to get back in the good-books. All in all, a day that started badly, turned out rather nicely! The only problem now is, there are TWO blogs of cupcakes to drool over - Bek's and Kerryanne's!! Oh dear! BUT, I maintain these sweeties are still better for me than the real thing - no calories!! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Now, I was going to give you this update yesterday, but it was a little warmer and so I ended up disappearing into the sewing room (tied a safety rope around me first! Tee! Hee! Hee!) where I had a very productive day. I showed some sneaky peeks a little while ago of some stitcheries I was working on for a new pattern ... well, I FINALLY got my act together and finished then off. Here they are ...


This is the 'girly' version (obviously!!). My dancing buddy, Linda, said the border fabric couldn't get much more perfect to her - it's pink and it has butterflies!! Two of her very favourite things!! Oh ... and a cute bear, of course! Tee! Hee! Hee! and ...


This one is the 'boy' version. I wasn't sure about this fabric when I bought it, but it has really grown on me and now I'm wishing I'd bought more - isn't that always the way!! The pattern will include the outline and colour charts for both versions, making it a handy one to have on hand for the arrival of nieces and nephews (the two 'angels' mentioned in these samples!), christening gifts, even birthday gifts for slightly older children, as their birthday will always be the same!! They'd also make great door hangers ... or library bags ... or quilt panels ... or ...!!! Soooo many ideas, so little time and play money! Tee! Hee! Hee! Of course, the BAD news about finishing these samples is that I've run out of excuses to avoid writing the instructions - GROAN!! It really is my least favourite part of the whole designing process, though I've been a little encouraged to find other designers like Natalie Ross of Natalie Ross In Stitches, Melly of Melly & Me, even my inspirational and highly organised buddy Kerryanne! all dread the instruction writing phase of a new design. I'm sure it's because basically crafters are 'doers', no matter what their chosen craft is, so that's what we'd rather be 'doing' instead of sitting still and writing and ... THINKING!!! Still, once the instructions are written and the patterns printed ... there will be a give-away!! So watch this space!!

Speaking of giving away patterns, today is the second Monday of the Stitchers Angel pattern swap at Hugs From Helen. This week's designer is Natalie at Cinderberry Stitches and she's designed a pretty little bag (Attention all you bag-swappers out there!!) which features blue wrens. Make sure you pop over to Helen's Blog and check back in each Monday for the next five weeks (seven all up!) to collect these fantastic FREE project patterns. Oh boy! That "To Do" list just groaned as a new item was added! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Well, I think that's about it from the home of Tag Along Teddies today, which means I've stalled as long as I can on the instruction-writing task, so I'd best go make a start ... or maybe I'll just go have a nice cup of tea instead and catch up on a few more blogs!! Oh! For a fun (and VERY sensible!) suggestion on lifestyle guidelines, pop in to Kerryanne's blog to check out her latest post - very funny, yet very zen! Tee! Hee! Hee! Til next time - Bear Hugs!

CHEERS!
KRIS