It's BAAAAAAAAAACK!!

Yes, OPAM (One Project A Month for the uninitiated!) is back for another year of encouraging we creative types to ... Well ... CREATE! :0) And hopefully get some of the projects on our "To Do" list crossed off & added to our "Finishes" list. OPAM is all about taking some time out of busy schedules to recharge our creative batteries by playing with fabric, threads, wools, cottons & needles of all sorts. The goal is to finish at least one project per month for the year, which will give us a minimum of 12 finishes by the time we next sing "Auld Lang Syne" ... Or we will have made significant progress on some longer-term projects.

For a new year of OPAM, we need a new logo button ...

Thanks to my Beloved Geek Boy, we've got one. :0) And yes, it's the tenth year of OPAM! WOW! Doesn't time fly?! And do you see that rather large number on the badge? That's how many projects have been recorded by OPAMers since we started! Almost 50,000 finishes! WOWSERS!! Are you ready to add some more to the tally by playing along? Let's keep it simple ... 

HOW DO I JOIN OPAM 2019?

1. Send me an email to tell me you'd like to play along. Please make sure you include: Your NAME, your BLOG ADDRESS, your EMAIL ADDRESS. My email address is: kris@tagalongteddies.com.au

2. Right click on the new OPAM logo & "save as" to your files. Add it to your blog sidebar with a link back to my blog ... In case others who visit your blog would like to play along.

3. Under the OPAM badge on your sidebar, add a list of 2019 FINISHES which shows your finishes each month. You can add this as a blog page if you prefer ... As long as it's clear which finishes you've added each month.

4. At the end of each month, update your list of finishes (a blog post with photos is great to share & encourage others, too) AND email me your final tally for the month. Each month I'll choose two random prize winners who will receive a PDF copy of a Tag Along Teddies pattern I've designed as a fun, quick project.

5. Projects must be COMPLETELY FINISHED before being added to your tally ... Quilts have to be quilted & bound, cross stitcheries have to be framed or made into a project etc. if you aren't sure whether your project counts ... Email me & ask. :0)

6. Tallies should only include soft crafts ... Sewing, quilting, embroidery, cross/long stitch, crochet, knitting ... Again, if you're uncertain, email to check.

7. HAVE FUN CREATING!

There won't be a cut off date this year for sign up, people can just keep joining the fun as we go along. :0) After a few weeks, I'll add a list of this year's OPAMers to my sidebar so you can hop around visiting & encouraging each other. It means we'll all have a world-wide cheer squad. :0) And remember this is a LOW STRESS challenge, so if you have a month(or two or three!!) where life gets in the way or you're working on long term projects & don't have a finish to record ... IT'S OK! :0)

I think that covers the basics ... If questions come up as we go, I'll share them in a blog post. Other than that, I hope you all enjoy playing along with me again this year ... It's a nice, low key nudge for us all (me included, since I should set a good example, right?! :0) ) to create & finish projects. Some of us are SERIAL STARTERS! Tee! Hee! Hee! 

Right now, though, I can hear a cup of tea calling my name. :0) Have a fantastic week! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS,

KRIS

Treasures Have Stories!

Hello all you lovely creatures out there in blogland! I hope you're having a fantastic week. I'm pretty sure someone stole a few days from my last week ... Which isn't a great start to the year. By the time Christmas rolls around again I'll be missing a few months! :0)

Last post, I promised to tell you the story behind my newest treasures ...

These lovely trio sets. Don't you love all the pretty flowers? Well ... Each year when the Marvellous Marion & Stupendous Steph of the Quilters Angel  host Stitchers Dream Day Out, a lovely lady called Jean is driven up our 'hill' from Brisbane by her husband to attend. She's a real sweetie & the sister of one of the ladies who is a resident of the retirement village I work at as my 'grown up' job. Last year was the first time in many years that Jean couldn't come to Stitchers Day ... Because her husband & driver was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) last year & has had to give up driving. So I missed catching up with Jean last year ... Or so I thought! On my last work day before Christmas, I got a call from Jean's sister Joyce to say that Jean & her husband were visiting thanks to their daughter driving them up & wondering if I'd like to see her. An hour later I finally hugged her goodbye after a lovely catch up. :0)

So what does that have to do with teacups, I hear you ask? Well ... During our chat, I mentioned that my Bestest-Buddy-Since-We-Were-Nine Lynette & I collect pretty vintage treasures & Jean said she was in the process of downsizing ... Would I like a few pretty pieces if she couldn't keep all of her china collection? Do fish swim? Is the Pope Catholic? Does my Dad love pavlova??! You bet your bippy, baby!! Tee! Hee! Hee! Fast forward a few weeks & Joyce rang me in my work office to say Jean had sent a few things for me ...  16 trio sets & a selection of pretty mis-matched treasures! WOW! Talk about Christmas all over again!

And every time I look at these pretty treasures, I'll remember the sweet lady who allowed me to adopt them. :0) I think that's a big part of the appeal, for me, of collecting vintage treasures ... They come with a story. Sometimes they're not perfect, sometimes they might be a bit worn, sometimes they're a bit damaged & show the years they've seen, but they remain uniquely beautiful ... to those willing to see beyond the imperfections! And wouldn't the world be a much nicer place if we remembered to apply that same principle to the people we meet?! :0)

So that's the story of my new teatime treasures. Of course ... Now I have to find somewhere to display them ... I think Lynette & I need another play date to find some vintage storage for my vintage treasures! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Oh ... A big thank you to everyone who emailed & commented after my last post to wish me a quick recovery from my nagging headache. I felt very loved! :0) Sorry I didn't reply to everyone. It turned out I'd been sideswiped by a tummy bug & spent four days feeling like I had a head full of concrete & a tummy that was on the high seas, as well as having zero energy ... One of the reasons it's taken me a while to pop into the blog again. All recovered now, though ... With a new appreciation of how my Beloved Geek Boy feels when we travel by boat. :0)

Righto ... I'm off to play Polly & put the kettle on for a cup of tea. There are some who can't understand how a cup of hot tea can be enjoyed in mid-30's temperatures we've had consistently for the last three weeks but I say ...

It's ALWAYS a good time for a cup of tea! :0)

Til next time ... When I'll have an OPAM launch announcement ... 

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS,

KRIS 

Still Here & OPAM Wrap Up!

Hello lovely Bloggy Buddies! How are you this rather warm Tuesday? I hope you're more alert & awake than I am! I just can't seem to get out of my own way today. I think it's because I woke up with a headache that I can't seem to shake ... Not a migraine (thankfully!) just one of those dull hangy-ony type headaches that sap your energy. Frankly, I don't have a lot of energy to spare, so I wish it would go away! :0)

However ... I'm overdue in popping in to visit with you all, so here I am, catching up. I meant to post on the weekend but someone stole it! :0P This does not bode well for my year if I'm already losing days & it's only January! Tee! Hee! Hee! And that means I'm overdue in doing the last OPAM draw for 2018. December must've seen some hustling & bustling in craft caves all over the world because we had our biggest tally for the year with ...

253 FINISHES!

WOW! I guess lots of us were making Christmas gifties. :0) The really amazing part is that takes our total number of finished projects for 2018 to ...

1,631 FINISHES!

WOWSERS! What a creative lot we've been! :0) So I guess there must be a lot of craft caves with empty stash cupboards now, right?! Yeah ... I'm snickering here too! Tee! Hee! Hee! Well done to everyone who has contributed to that tally, even if it's only been one finish. In a world where we all seem to be constantly busy & made to feel we're not reaching our full potential if we're not ... It's good to take some quiet time out to be creative, which is what OPAM is all about. I hope you've enjoyed playing along with my GORGEOUS Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg & me. :0)

So ... The final prize winners for 2018 were ...

JUDY S

& 

ONDREA

Congrats ladies! Drop me an email so I can send you the PDF stitchery pattern for you to play with. 

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! Right back at the start of last year Sweet Peg said she wanted to make a special quilt that will go to ...

ONE OF OUR OPAMERS! YAY!

All of our 2018 participants will go into the draw & Sweet Peg will announce the winner on her blog soon, so STAY TUNED! :0) 

So ... Some of you have been asking whether OPAM will run this year. In a word ... YES. BUT ... I'll be flying solo to host OPAM 2019, as my truly GORGEOUS Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg will be hanging up her Hostess-With-The-Mostest hat. :0(  Sweet Peg joined me to co-host OPAM in its second year & we've encouraged you clever crafters together for 8 years. (Year 1was co-hosted by May-Britt & myself) Sweet Peg was about the fourth blogger I 'met' when I stepped into blogland & she has always amazed me with how much she fits into her busy, busy life, juggling full time work, family, sewing & lots of other activities, but she's decided she needs to make a few changes & slow down a little to have some more Peg Time.Thank you Sweet, Sweet Friend for not only co-hosting our world-wide crafting circle, but also for being a gorgeous, generous friend. I know we'll still catch up with each other in blogland, but I'll miss my Sweet co-host. Big Squooshy Bear Hugs to you lovely lady!!

It will take me a little while to get set up for OPAM 2019 ... And sweet-talk my Beloved Geek Boy into designing an updated badge for us. :0) ... so sign up will start near the end of January ... Stay tuned for the date & details! I hope lots of you will join me again for a year of striving to finish some of our craft projects, whilst having fun, taking some time out for ourselves & encouraging fellow crafters. :0)

Since I think that's more than enough from me for one post, I'm off to see if a cup of tea will kill my headache. Maybe if I use one of my lovely new teacups it will help ...

I'll share the story of how this pretty collection came to live with me next time. :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Aaaaaah! Holidays!

Happy New Year to all of my lovely Bloggy Buddies out there! I wish you all a 2019 full of fantastic new adventures, fabulous friends & ... Of course ... FABRIC! :0)

I've been enjoying my staycation over the Christmas/New Year period, though I haven't crossed off many of the things on my holiday "To Do" list. However, I HAVE spent some time playing with a new quilt design ... Quite a LOT more time on the editing stage than I'd anticipated. When I'm working on a new design, I do a pencil sketch, then go over it in felt tip pen, then tidy it up in Photshop to neaten wobbly lines etc. Apparently there was a bit of a hiccup when I scanned my rough sketch into Photoshop & it required a LOT more editing time than I counted on. Whoever thinks pattern designers just scribble a quick sketch & sell the pattern for quick & easy money has not spent several days staring at a computer screen fine tuning a sketch to get it ready for others to easily use. Good thing I enjoy what I do ... Mostly! :0P But today I'm reaping the rewards of my computer time ...

Today I'm STITCHING in front of a favourite movie ... Can you guess which one?? :0) 

In preparing my stitching, I've also had another little play ...

... With my watercolour pencils. I'm pretty happy with the results, but don't want to reveal too much yet ... My new design is still Secret Squirrel.

Stay tuned. :0)

In other news ... I'm a bit behind in the end of month OPAM gathering, so if you haven't already emailed your list of December finishes to me or my GORGEOUS Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg  you'd better hop to it. The hop around will happen over the weekend. As for OPAM this year ... Our numbers have dropped quite a bit & I've noticed a few people who signed up this year haven't followed through ... They haven't blogged, haven't added the badge or a tally list or been emailing tallies ... So ... Do we keep going? Are many of you interested in playing along with OPAM still?? Let me know what you think.

But for now ... I'm off to put the kettle on & get back to my stitching. Enjoy your weekend! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS,

KRIS