Party Pics & Presents!

As promised, I'm back with a few more photos of my medieval birthday party last weekend - courtesy of the Lovely Lilly Linda, candle-photographer-extraordinaire! :0) You should pop over to Linda's blog for a peek at her last two posts - lots of fun in HER version of the party events! :0) And since she's been mentioned ...

Here's one of Lilly Linda's photos of the two of us in our medieval finery! Don't you just love that gorgeous red dress!!! And here is a pic of the two party gals ...

This photo of Lynda and I was taken early in the night ... and this one ...

... was taken LATER in the night when we were tripping the light fantastic to the medieval sounds of ... ABBA! Tee! Hee! Hee! Both of us were ABBA girls from way back, so it seemed appropriate! :0) And we weren't the only ones ...

Don't know if you can see very clearly, but the fair maiden on the left is my bestest-buddy-since-we-were-nine Lynette and the two cuties either side of her are her daughters Emma (back) and Erin (closest on left with the gorgeous strawberry blond hair!). In the middle of the dance floor are my (appropriately named!) dancing buddies, Deb and Lynda and to the right are some of the members of the vocal ensemble, After Five, that I'm a member of. We all sure did have a whale of a time - thanks to everyone for helping me celebrate my milestone birthday in medieval style! :0)

Now ... I also promised to show you some of the wonderful gifties that I was lucky enough to have bestowed upon me. I won't show all of them ... cos you'd all get jealous! Tee! Hee! Hee! And if I posted them all, we'd be here for AGES!! So I have just picked a few to share with you. The first is the giftie given to me by my Beloved Geek Boy ...

It's a little hard to see, cos it was quite hard to photograph! It is a GORGEOUS silver bracelet that features one of my favourite Celtic knot designs. Isn't it pretty!! I think I've worn it everywhere since GB gave it to me! :0) And a combined present from my Mum and Dad and my brother Paul and his wife Ella, was ...

A FABULOUS original watercolour painting by a very talented artist from my home town of Mundubbera, Sue Ledderhose. My friends and family know that I just LOVE old houses, especially the iconic Queenslanders and this one is even more special cos I used to drive past it every day for the two years that Lynette and I caught the bus from Mundubbera to the next town of Gayndah to complete year 11 and 12. It is now looking rather fabulous in our lounge room. My almost-sister Tiff also spoilt me ... with a voucher from my Home-away-from-home ... Quilters Angel!! Oooooohhhh, boy!! Am I going to have LOTS of fun spending THAT birthday giftie!! :0)

Now, while she was partying the night away with me, the Lovely Lilly Linda presented me with a brightly coloured package and told me very firmly, "Don't Drop It!!"

Isn't that some of the most CHEERFUL wrapping paper you've ever seen - I thought Linda and caught me a rainbow for my birthday! :0) And look at the pretty vintage slipper card!! Inside the rainbow I found ...

... ANOTHER rainbow ... of sorts! This GORGEOUS Celtic knot light catcher caught my eye when I visited the local markets near Linda's place, but I'd already spent all my play money, so had to admire it and leave it. It seems Linda was lovely and sneaky and went back to get it specially for my birthday! What a sweetie! Now it's sending rainbows through the kitchen and lounge room as it catches the light. Thank you Linda!!

Another spectacularly wrapped giftie arrived in the mail the day before my party, too, from another of my gorgeous blogging buddies, Kerryanne from Shabby Art Boutique. When I opened the post box, I found ...

... a parcel wrapped in the instruction sheet from an old dressmaking pattern (the best use I've ever seen for instruction sheets since I can never follow the blasted things!! Tee! Hee! Hee!) And just look at that custom-made card!! Kerryanne has used a black and white photo of baby-me and tied it all up with a tape measure! How clever is she!! Then, I unwrapped it all and found ...

... a sewing treasures box! How pretty is this box! Did you see the writing on it ... "BEAR Necessities"! Tee! Hee! Hee! And on the inside ...

... groovy vintage sewing labels and a couple of blinged-up matchboxes to store little treasures in. Thank you Kerryanne!! I love it! And it will be such a handy storage spot for some of my smaller sewing treasures.

See!!! I TOLD you I was spoilt for my birthday!! :0) I also received some bottles of adult beverages, some very pretty necklaces, a gorgeous silver and turquoise pendant, a book voucher and all sorts of other goodies. Yep ... all in all, I think it's been worth hitting the big "4" "0"! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Of course, it may take me a little longer to recover from all the activity surrounding this momentous birthday - it seems to have been somewhat exhausting! :0) So you can guess that there hasn't been much creating going on here - well, some hand stitching, but no finishes to share ... OR add to my OPAM finishes list! I'll have to do better next month, won't I! OPAM gals, don't forget that today's the day to update your sidebar list of finishes and email Peg or I with the number of projects you've finished for March. The fabulous and tireless Peg is in charge of this month's prize draw, so make sure you stay tuned to her blog in the next few days to see if you're a lucky winner.

Right now, though, I think I'm off to make myself a nice cup of lavender tea to sip while flicking through the latest issue of "Handmade" magazine ... there are LOTS of blogging designers featured in this issue ... including yours truly! But I'll be back to show you that soon. Til next time,

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS

All Partied Out!!

PHEW!! The last week and a bit has been super hectic at the Meares' Madhouse! There was a parental visit, frantic party preparations, a fabulous party and then the clean up!! All in all, I think it will take me a week or so to catch up on some sleep and let my poor weary feet recover ... hmmm ... maybe there's something to all the comments about me being 'old' now that I've turned 40?!?! :0)

I mentioned in my last post that my dancing buddy Lynda and I were sharing a Medieval themed party to celebrate us both turning 40 within a fortnight of each other and this last Saturday was PARTY DAY! I won't tell you about the week leading up to it, cos you'd be here for ages reading the list of errands, tasks and preparations that went on!! Lets just say it was BUSY!!! So, after lunch on Saturday, the co-birthday girl, her beloved and my Beloved Geek Boy ... and GB's brother Benny ...headed to the hired hall to dress it for a medieval bash. The hall belongs to one of the oldest churches in Toowoomba and already had fabulous arches, columns etc to add atmosphere, but we hung some bright coloured bunting to add some olde worlde fair flare, some heraldic shields made by my clever GB, some rich-coloured table cloths, a few cast iron candelabras and we had ...

This photo doesn't really do the hall justice and it looked way cooler at night when all the candles were lit ... but my camera got put away very early in the night so I could assume my hostess-with-the-mostest duties! :0) I'm REALLY hoping some of my friends got some great photos that they can send me for my keepsake album. (Perhaps even some arty shots of candles ... Linda! Tee! Hee! Hee!) My honorary sister, Tiffany enjoys playing in the kitchen and put her childcare experience (she's a nanny) to good use to make a suitable birthday cake ...

We couldn't have a medieval birthday party without a medieval castle cake, right?!! :0) Didn't Tiff do a great job on this!! I would NOT have had the patience she did!! (And I have to point out that there is a little bear enjoying the castle's garden and butterflied flitting around  - these are the 'nicknames' for me and Lynda in our little trio!) So ... we had decorations, a cake ... costumes were needed to add to the medieval madness! :0)

Here is my Beloved GB in his Merlin the Sorcerer disguise and me in my Morgan La Fay get up ... minus the crystal ball! :0) GB has been growing the medieval-look goatee for a few months to make his look suitably wise and mysterious. I have to report that it disappeared the day after the party cos I was tired of scratchy smoochies and he kept feeling like he'd walked through spider web! Tee! Hee! Hee! And here is my family (minus my brother Paul and his wife Ella who were unable to travel from Alice Springs to party with us)...

Yes ... my Dad came dressed as the town executioner, complete with hood and VERY large fake axe! Tee! Hee! Hee! My clever clogs Mum made all of our costumes for the party, as well as organising the catering for the night. She worked SOOOOOOOOOOO hard in the lead up to the party and on the night ... THANKS MUM!!! What would I do without her!!! And here are the pretty maids all in a row ...

Didn't Mum do a FABULOUS job on our dresses!! Mind you ... after an evening of struggling to keep my sleeves out of the dip ... and the drinks ... and getting tangled when changing gears in the car (I was SOOO pleased I didn't get pulled over on the way!!) I don't think I was meant to live in medieval times! :0) And another trio of pretty maids ...

The trio formed when we met through belly dancing classes that has outlived the dance classes ... Dancing Buddy Deb ... Yours Truly ... and co-birthday girl and Dancing Buddy Lynda. We don't scrub up too badly at all, do we! :0)

We had a wonderful evening of catching up with friends and dancing the night away to ABBA and other 70's/80's music and despite everyone being told NO PRESENTS ... I was thoroughly spoiled, but will share photos later in the week. I think the highlight of the evening for me, was to have so many of the special people in my life gathered together to help me celebrate my birthday and it made me feel hugely blessed to have so many wonderful people to call my family and friends. A big thanks to all who travelled for the evening ... including my bestest-buddy-since-year-four Lynette, my blogging buddy the Lovely Lilly Linda and her beloved Tim and a friend from uni days, Tony, who travelled from Maryborough to dress up as a monk and help me celebrate. I'd also like to say a big THANK YOU to all of you, my blogging buddies, who stopped by to wish me a happy birthday - I felt truly spoiled to be receiving birthday well-wishes from all over the world! :0)

So ... that's a quick little wrap up of my 40th birthday party. I promise to share photos of some of the GORGEOUS gifties I received later in the week and maybe some more party photos if I can track some down. I hope you all had a great weekend, too. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS

A Special Day!

Today is a special day for a couple of reasons. Firstly ... it is the Autumnal Equinox in the southern hemisphere (and of course the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere, so still special!!) The Celts held a festival called Mabon (Mar-bawn) to celebrate the day when daylight and nighttime hours were equal and to give thanks for their summer harvest. Traditionally, I hold a DIFFERENT ceremony on March 20 each year ... my BIRTHDAY! :0)

This is me when I was about one ... cute, wasn't I! Not sure what happened as I grew up! :0) This year's celebration is actually a bit more significant, too, as I turn 40! PHEW! Not sure where all those years went, and mostly I don't FEEL 40, but there you go!

Although today is going to be a bit of a quiet one, next Saturday sees the party frocks come out as my friend Lynda (who turns 40 a fortnight after me) and I have a combined birthday party. It will be an evening of Medieval madness, with costumes and lots of fun, so I promise to share lots of photos after the event. Mum and Dad arrive on Monday so Mum can take charge of party preparations and catering (what would a girl do without her Mum!!!) so I may be a bit quiet during the week, but I promise I'll be lurking around blogland keeping up-to-date with what you're all up to.

For now, I'm off to follow the lovely Marion's suggestion of how to spend my birthday (she rang this morning to wish me happy birthday, isn't she a sweetie!!) ... I'm going to curl up with some craft magazines and a book or two ... and perhaps a sweet treat to celebrate! :0) Hope you're all having a celebratory weekend! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

My Bearbie Is A Cover Girl!!!

I'm VERY excited!! I just popped across to the "Handmade" page of  the "Craft Lovers" web site and discovered that my bearbie, Annie-Rose, is indeed a COVER GIRL!! :0) How EXCITING!! You might remember that I showed you a sneaky peek of her a little while back when she arrived home from her photo shoot in Sydney.

Well, if you pop over to the "Handmade" page, you can play with the very cool little animated magazine to see her in all her cover girl glory, then click on the magazine corners to 'turn' the pages to see how she looks inside the mag - I love the background they've used to take her project photos!! :0) There would be lots of Happy Dancing here, but ... the tummy still isn't completely stable, so we shan't rock the boat! Did you just hear the neighbours give sighs of relief that there would be no clog-dancing-elephant impersonations! Tee! Hee! Hee! This issue of "Handmade" hits newsagents next Wednesday, March 31, so keep an eye out for it.

A big thank you to all of my wonderful blogging buddies who have stopped by in the last couple of days to wish me well and to see how I'm feeling. Stina even stopped in twice in one day just to see how I was getting along! How lovely to have so many thoughtful friends out there in blogland! And I am feeling much better, thank you. As I said, the tummy still isn't 100%, but if I don't move around too much, all is good. So, I'm doing some quiet hand stitching in front of some of my fave DVD's and when I move around, I'm careful not to upset my delicate tum. Imagine if you will, me, gliding carefully and gracefully slowly around the house rather than walking ... and you'll probably have a hilarious mental picture of the reality! :0) My Beloved Geek Boy has also been taking wonderful care of me and has been Chief Cook for the last few days. He's even made some special trips to the supermarket in search of bland-but-tasty food for me - isn't he a SWEETIE!!! :0) Hopefully a quiet weekend will finish off the recovery period for me and I'll be in top form next week - I have to be, cos there's big doings in the Meares' Madhouse next week!!! Stay tuned!! :0)

And now, I'm going to glide off back to the lounge room to stitch. Hope you've all had a great week and that you have some fun stuff planned for your weekend. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS

Too Hard Today!!

Do you ever have those days where it's all just too hard? I think that's me today. A tummy bug managed to ambush me and I just feel ICK! I managed to drag myself off to work and am hoping I won't find too big a mess there tomorrow when I find that I made lots of stuff-ups while not completely compos mentis! :0)

I think my antedote to said icky tummy bug and a bad case of the "BLAH'S!" is going to be some toast and Vegemite for lunch and a bit of ...

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!

Be back when I'm feeling less "BLAH!" Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS
CHEERS!
KRIS

Virtual World Tour - Next Stop: Toowoomba!

Now some of you may be wondering what on EARTH is she going on about?!?! And, OK, it may not be the FIRST time you've thought that about me! :0) But ... there IS a perfectly good explanation for my title today. You see, back on THIS post, my blogging buddy Chookyblue, planned out her blogger's world tour that she would take when she wins the lottery. She listed some of her blogging buddies from all around the world that she could drop in to visit - what a WONDERFUL trip she planned! (although I got left off, cos I forgot to leave a comment on her original post! Oops!) But because she hasn't won lotto ... YET ... Chookyblue invited her blogging buddies to post some photos of their home-base so we could ALL take a little scenic tour around the world ... bloggy style! :0) I have to say, my Beloved Geek Boy and I have joked on occasion that now that I have blogging buddies all over the world, we sure could have a FABULOUS holiday visiting them all ... but we too have to wait to win the lotto! :0) (Note to self: it is more likely that you will win lotto if you actually buy a TICKET!!! Tee! Hee! Hee!)

Now ... in my last few posts, I've been telling you about our overcast, foggy, wet weather, which didn't really lend itself to photo shoots, but yesterday was a lovely warm sunny day, so after work, I grabbed my trusty point-and-shoot and off I toodled to take some scenic shots of Toowoomba for you all.

Toowoomba sits atop the Great Dividing Range, about an hour and a half drive from Brisbane, and was settled by pastoralists in the 1850's. Many of the original historic buildings make up the streetscape in older subburbs. It has a population of 121,000 in the city, with around 151,000 in the Regional City Council area. Canberra (Australia's national capital) is the only bigger inland city than Toowoomba. Here's a map to help you picture where we are ...

Toowoomba is known as "The Garden City" and some of you may remember I showed lots of photos of some of the spectacular gardens I took during last year's spring "Carnival of Flowers". As a result, Toowoomba has LOTS of wonderful parks that are great to enjoy a picnic, some serious play time for the kids, or just a quiet snooze under a tree on a weekend ... as long as those kids aren't indulging in their serious play anywhere near your tree! :0) One of the most spectacular parks to visit in Toowoomba is Picnic Point, so here are some of the views I took photos of for you ...

If you click on the photo, you might be able to pick out the main highway from Brisbane that winds up the range, which we affectionately refer to as our 'hill'. You can also see one of the lucky suburbs that enjoys range views. I found it was actually a bit tough to get any pics looking back over the city, because of all the lovely big trees. Still ... if you've seen one city ...! :0) Here're some more views

This is looking back down into the Lockyer Valley (which you drive through when you come from Brisbane) and that plateau is known as Tabletop Mountain. Lots of people hike up it ... I'm NOT one of them!! (I'm one of the ones who would NOT climb Mt Everest 'because it's there' ... I'd just say, "Yep, there's a REALLY big hill" as I looked out my comfy, heated ski-lodge window! Tee! Hee! Hee!) And occasionally, someone falls off it and has to be rescued by the local SES (State Emergency Service) volunteers. Personally, I'm happy to look at it from here! :0)

There we go ... I did manage to get a little bit of the city in this shot. Hmmm ... is that MY house?!?! Just kidding! :0) Picnic Point has long been a gathering spot for community events and there are still live concerts held in the rotunda ...

OK ... perhaps I could have planned this photo better!! That little shelter on the right is an information point ... the rotunda is in the background to the left ... behind the big trees. Hmmm ... are you starting to get the feeling that if you come and visit me in Toowoomba you're going to see a LOT of big trees!! Tee! Hee! Hee! You'd be right!! Picnic Point is also home to Australia's biggest flagpole and flag ...

Isn't that nice and patriotic! :0) You can see it was pretty windy up there yesterday, too. And to help you all work out how long it will take you to come and visit me, there is a direction sign to help you (you should have seen the funny look I got from a man walking past as I walked around the base of this sign to photograph all sides! Tee! Hee! Hee!...

Can you see your place listed there? If not, what about on THIS one ...

Still can't find your spot in the world? Try THIS one ...

And if you STILL can't find yourself on there ... you might just need to hop across to one of the places on the list before you start your trip to come and visit me! Tee! Hee! Hee! Picnic Point has lots of little pockets, vistas and 'garden rooms' to enjoy, but I think this is one of my favourites ...

Doesn't it just look like a tropical paradise down there?? (I took it from the top level to get the full effect of the lush leafy plants.) Hmmm ... OK, perhaps we'd need to clean up that water first - it's a bit muddy and stirred up from our recent rains. So, now we've seen Picnic Point, we could go to Queens Park for a little look ...

More gorgeous big trees and some playground equipment to keep the kids out of your hair ... er ... amused!! Queens Park was established in the 1860's and lots of the original trees are now HUGE!! The Botanic Gardens are also at Queens Park, but they're at their best in September when the Carnival of Flowers takes place. That's when you see gardens around town that look like this ...

And this ...

And this ...

OK ... enough gardens for now. I DID tell you there were some wonderful historic houses in Toowoomba, right? Like this one ...

Isn't it GORGEOUS!!! The owners have really done the garden nicely - that pot that you can just see to the left of the front gate has a fountain bubbling in it. Aaaaaaahhhhh .... how's that SERENITY!! As well as taking my blog world tour when I win lotto, I'm going to buy this house!! But for now, I'll just have to live in another historic building ...

OUR PLACE!!! :0) Which was built somewhere between 1910 and 1915. (OK, I realise some of you gals from overseas are thinking that a house that's less than 100 years old is NOT historic, but you have to remember, Australia's only been settled since 1770!!) Uh oh ... can you see the Triffods in the front yard that are plotting to take over the world?!?! Actually, they're Geisha Girls and whenever they're flowering, I just don't have the heart to cut them back!! Plus, the recent rain has curtailed outdoor activities for a few weeks ... I think this Saturday will be designated "Gardening Day" in our household ... unless it rains again! :0)

The other spot that is a MUST SEE when visiting Toowoomba, is actually about 20 minutes drive north, to Highfields. Let me show you the views from my workplace ...

The property the Retirement Village where I work is built on, is 120 acres of former dairy farm and although the top corner is now home to some very happy retirees living in lovely units, the rest is still used for grazing and our views look west towards the Bunya Mountains. Everything is so GREEN at the moment, that it just about hurts your eyes to look at it! Such a nice change from just a couple of months ago!!! I often joke that one day, someone is going to find me playing flat on my back, knocked out, in the middle of somewhere at work, cos I'll have been so busy enjoying the scenery that I'll have run into a post and knocked myself out! Tee! Hee! Hee! It really is a great spot to work!

You can just make out a couple of the outlying communities that have grown up around Toowoomba ... rural living that's handy to a major city! :0) And of course no visit to Toowoomba, Highfields or ME would be complete without visiting ...

My home-away-from-home, Quilters Angel!! I've now introduced a few blogging buddies to my H.A.F.H ... Lilly Linda, Chookyblue, Joy-Belle, Bluebird Lyn and Miriam from Bubba Chenille ... although I'm pretty sure Miriam had already discovered it, it was just a REALLY good excuse for us to meet up there for lunch and some retail therapy! Tee! Hee! Hee!

So there you are ... a bit of a look around the place I call home. Hope you enjoyed it! And of course, if you come to visit in person ...

... the spare bed is always made up ... you just have to share it with lots of dolls and bearbies! Tee! Hee! Hee! And even if you're just passing through the Garden City, drop me a line ... I'd love to meet up with you for a cuppa ... perhaps I can show you my H.A.F.H in person! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Thanks for starting the ball rolling with the Virtual World Blog Tour, Chookyblue! I had fun running around playing tourist to get the photos! :0) And now ... I'm off to another room in the house that I am NOT showing photos of cos it looks like the cupboards spat all of the contents onto the floor and other furniture ... the SEWING ROOM! :0) Hope you're having a fabulous week! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS

It's Jeans Weather Today!

Actually, even though it's raining ... again ... still ... as the Lovely Lilly Linda says, 35 more days and we're going to need an Ark! :0) But that's beside the point, because the temperature, while cooler isn't REALLY cool enough to warrant jeans. Instead, I've been ensconced in my sewing room RECYCLING an old pair of jeans. The weather part of that comes in with the rain - if it was sunny, I'd feel obliged to go outside and pull some of the Triffod weeds out of my garden, but since it's raining, I stayed inside to recycle the jeans! :0)

So ... this little experiment started last weekend when Mum and I made a visit to an op shop being held in a little country community hall where you could take whatever you wanted for a donation. I spotted a pair of jeans that made me think they'd make a great bag and since I've been 'meaning to' have a go at chopping off some jeans to make a bag for quite a while now, I brought them home. Then I had a little dig in my stash to find something suitable to line the bag with. Here are my starting point items ...

Some stripey, out-of-date jeans and a couple of pretty pieces of fabric. Hmmmm ... After some measuring, chopping, pinning, swearing ... oops!! That was when I stuck myself rather hard with a pin and bled everywhere!!! BLUSH!! ... some stitching, some head-scratching, some faulty maths (oops!) and a little bit of 'fudging it', the result of my experiment was ...

Ta Da!! A groovy, roomy bag with LOTS of ready-made pockets! :0) Hmmm ... please don't look too closely at the profile, there, as it's NOT my most flattering angle, but there are apparently SOME things my Beloved Geek Boy won't do for me ... and that list includes modelling a handbag! Tee! Hee! Hee! So it had to be me who modelled it. I looks a little lumpy at the bottom there, (the bag, not me ... although ...!!), but it actually sits pretty well in reality. And what happened to the pretty red fabric, I hear you ask ...

It became the lining. It also caused some of the head-scratching and faulty maths, cos it was a fat quarter and not quite wide enough to fit the bag, so I had to pop a little bit of the green fabric into it to fit ... and decided to add a handy INSIDE pocket to house my Iphone to protect it a bit. I'm also hoping the fact that the phone pocket is a different colour to the rest of the lining will help me find my phone in a hurry ... but knowing the warped physics that seem to apply to the inside of handbags, I'm not counting on it. You know what I mean ... no matter which pocket you THINK you put your keys/wallet/phone in inside your bag, its moved when you go to get it and whatever object you're looking for is bound to be RIGHT at the BOTTOM of your bag ... even if it was the LAST thing to go into the bag, so it should be on TOP!! :0)

So there we go ... how to entertain yourself on a wet afternoon AND be environmentally responsible ... sort of! :0) And now ... I'm off to make myself a cup of lavender tea and have a little read  ... I might even treat myself to a white Tim Tam ... I think I've earned it! :0) Hope your weekend has been relaxing and enjoyable! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

A Homecoming!!

Yesterday, I felt a little bit like parents must feel when their children have been away from home and return ready with big hugs. Now you know I don't have CHILDREN, but I DO have ... BEARBIES! :0) And one of my bearbies returned home from an exciting trip yesterday and it was so lovely to greet her with a big bear hug ... once I managed to untangle her from the postal packaging! :0)

My bearbie's name is Annie-Rose and she has had a little holiday down with the team of "Handmade" magazine because she will be featured in an issue coming out at the end of this month - how EXCITING!! Now, because she's going to have her photo in the glossies (Tee! Hee! Hee!) I can't show you a full photo of Annie-Rose, but I thought it would be all right if I show you a little sneaky peek. Ready???

Awwwwww!! How's THAT for a cute furry face! Of course ... I may be just a LITTLE biased here! Tee! Hee! Hee! Even though you can't see all of her pretty outfit, you can see Annie-Rose is a bit of a 'girly' girl from her delicate lacy collar and pearl brooch. And what's that she's holding??

A special Mothers' Day message that we should remember all year round. Annie-Rose is named after one of our nieces who is definitely a 'girly' girl, but it also has a little bit of my Mum in there too, as her middle name is "Anne" and I surely do believe that my Mother is a precious gift!! :0) So keep an eye out for this little media star in "Handmade" issue 27-11 which comes out on March 31.

And now since it's an overcast, showery, foggy sort of day again (thick, thick fog til just a little while ago and still in some lower parts of town) I'm going to spend the afternoon doing some Secret Squirrel stitching. Hope you all have a fabulous weekend planned that includes some time just for you to read, stitch, watch a movie, have a cuppa with friends ... or just have a well-earned snooze! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

March OPAM Winners!!

Here I am, reporting from COLD, FOGGY, WET and WINDY Toowoomba! Yep, it's almost wintery weather here on top of our hill, and although the gale force winds just about turn you inside out each time you step out the door, the rain is WONDERFUL! We've already had over three and a half inches (92mm for those who work in metric!) and it's still raining heavily and steadily. Fingers crossed that this is going into our dams, cos this region's water storage levels are below 8% capacity. Keep that rain coming, I say! Not to mention that the cold, wet, overcast weather is just PERFECT for curling up with a cuppa and a good book! Tee! Hee! Hee!

However ... I've dragged myself away from my comfy little nest to let you know who the lucky winners of the end-of-month OPAM draw were for February. There were 579 finishes recorded for February - which I think is pretty impressive for the shortest month of the year - well done to you all! And from the emails some of you sent (thank you for that - it's a GREAT help!!) and from visiting blogs to check sidebar lists, I know some of you have been working on bigger projects that you've made good progress on, so well done to you, too. Let's face it, any time spent stitching is so worthwhile cos it feeds our souls even if it's a little while between finishes and even though some of us are better at STARTING projects than we are at FINISHING them! Tee! Hee! Hee! Thanks too, to my wonderful co-host Peg for her help in blog-hopping to collect finishes. It sure makes the job easier when we're both hopping around! :0)

OK ... drumroll please ... The winners of February's OPAM draw are:

Fiona

Wendy F

Susan In Texas

Congratulations, gals! Not only do you have the satisfaction of crossing some things off your "To Do" list, you will also have a little surprise coming to you once you email me with your snail mail addresses. I would show a photo of the prizes here, but the batteries in my camera have died! DOH!! Note to self ...!! And if you have a spare ten or fifteen minutes, why not make yourself a cuppa and hop around some of the OPAM blogs to see the GORGEOUS projects that peole are creating. It truly is inspirational and we all know how nice it is to have comments left by fellow bloggers when they visit! :0) One of the best parts if being involved in OPAM is that we each have a big, world-wide cheer squad encouragin us in our creative endeavours! :0)

And now ... I think I'm off to make myself a nice hot cup of lavender tea and curl up back in my little nest to read while I listen to the magical sound of rain falling on my roof.

Hope you're enjoying the first days of autumn ... or spring as the case may be! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS