Storms Brewing!!

There've been two types of storms brewing here today - firstly, we had lots of ominous looking clouds build up throughout the day and we thought we might get some good rain from it ... then it kind of spitted and spotted a bit then went away again. On the bright side, I did get my washing dry! Tee! Hee! Hee! AND the best part of this for me, was that the brewing storm pushed our temperatures up a little - YAY!! The last couple of days have been wonderfully warm - obviously the weather is practicing for tomorrow's first day of Spring!!

Now ... the second storm ... I've been SEWING up a storm!! Well, a bag, actually! Tomorrow is the start of the posting part of Linda's Bag/Bucket Swap and while I had the stitchery finished a while ago, and found just the right fabrics a week or so ago ... the cold weather had kept me from being very motivated to venture into the ice-box sewing room. So, after being a good girl and popping in a couple of loads of washing today, I hit the sewing room to stitch up my storm ... errr ... BAG! Want some sneaky peeks???


Oooooooh! Pretty fabrics, lovely lace ... what else can we spy??


There's a bear in there ...! And ...


A pretty pearl button! Don't mind the pin holding it in place - I told you I've ALMOST finished!

Of course, I've also got a few more sneaky surprises to go IN the bag before I post it to ... my secret swap partner!! Aha! You thought I was going to slip up and tell you, didn't you? NOPE! You'll just have to wait until I've posted it and it's arrived in ... a far away land!! Tee! Hee! Hee! I'm pretty sure the recipient doesn't visit my blog, but just in case, I'll say no more, except that I'm looking forward to seeing a hand-made work of art arrive in my very own mail box from my sneaky swap partner. Following a few clues, I've got three bloggers who are 'suspects', so it will be fun to see if I'm right - will keep you posted!

The other thing I did today was to drag my beloved Geek Boy along to see "Mama Mia". Now, I think I was probably Australia's youngest ABBA fan, as my family tells stories of me singing along with Anna, Freda, Benny and Bjorn from the time I was about five. I had T-shirts, albums, posters and still have a scrapbook someone put together as a birthday present for me that's just FULL of ABBA paraphernalia. Plus, I still love the music - it's just so catchy and contagious!! I REALLY wanted to see the stage production of "Mama Mia" but timing and budgets didn't allow, so DEFINITELY wanted to see the movie - and wasn't at ALL disappointed - I LOVED IT!! I'm not usually a 'Chick Flick' kind of chick, but combine the music of ABBA, gorgeous scenery and Pierce Brosnan and you really can't go wrong! Even GB had to admit it was an entertaining way to spend the afternoon. I have to say, though, I NEVER thought I'd see the very macho Pierce Brosnan wearing 70's glam rock gear - quite a change from the super suave 007! Tee! Hee! Hee! If you grew up in the 70's/80's - and appreciate a hunky blue-eyed Pierce!! - make sure you see "Mama Mia"!!

Right now, however, I'm rather weary from weathering my stitching storm etc, so I think I'm off to keep a date with my pillow - Bear Hugs!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Happy Dance!!

Here I am, taking a leaf out of Snoopy's book, and doing a HAPPY DANCE!!! OK, don't picture that, cos it may give you nightmares! Tee! Hee! Hee! Why am I doing a happy dance, I hear you ask? (Or not, if you're still hung up on that disturbing mental picture of me happy dancing!!!) Well, I got stuck in and wrote the instructions for the Angel Bears pattern - YAY!!! So ... now all I have to do is scan the stitchery designs and give them a little tidy-up in Photoshop, take a photo of the two hangings together for the cover, then print the whole kit and caboodle. (And just what IS a kit and caboodle?!?! Hmmm ... note to self - early to bed tonight!!) And THEN ... there will be a give away, so make sure you watch this space!

And now, since I've exhausted myself with my happy dance, I'm off to enjoy a hot shower before I crawl into bed to catch on that sleep that I'm obviously deprived of at the moment!! Tee! Hee! Hee! Til next time - SKIPPITTY, HOPPITTY, SHUFFLE, SHUFFLE, BOOTIE SHAKE!! Bear Hugs!!

CHEERS!
KRIS

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

Calamity & Casualties!!

Yes, calamity struck our lounge room this morning in the form of "The Handyman"!! You see, I have a little table full of treasures (almost a shrine to the talent of Kerryanne English!! Tee! Hee! Hee!) in the lounge room. That's the start of the story. Now, in winter, the only place for the gas heater to sit is in FRONT of this little table. So far ... no dramas. In fact, it's sat there for the past two winters and there haven't been any problems - until today!! After a warm couple of days, today dawned cold and blustery - AGAIN!! - so we turned the heater on. Uh oh! Heat works, fan doesn't! So ... "Handyman" (AKA my Geek Boy who's not quite so beloved this morning!!) decides to fix it. OK, not a problem, he's actually pretty good at the whole fix-it scene. Just one small (read: HUGE!!) problem - he didn't think to move said heater AWAY from the table full of breakables!! I'm pretty sure I don't have to paint you a picture! The result??


These pretties were the casualties. One of the cups from a trio set - my best buddy Lynette has been buying this set for me a piece at a time for the last few birthdays and Christmases. SIGH! And one of the faux cupcakes I bought from Kerryanne - looks like the mouse I'm currently hunting (another story there!!) has had a go at it, but the 'icing' actually cracked when one of the plates fell on it. SIGH!! Here's what the teacup looked like before the accident ...


The poor little bear was actually in the broken cup when it toppled, so he's a bit traumatised and is now resting in one of the remaining intact cups, wishing someone had slipped a little whiskey into the tea!!

I suppose I should be thankful that there wasn't more damage and after initially being very defensive and telling me it was all my fault for putting things too close to the edge (silly me to not foresee a scenario that involved banging and kicking of the heater and thus the bumping of my table!!!) GB was very sorry. I know they're only 'things' but they are things that have come from friends, so that imbues them with a little bit of magic and lots of semi-mental value. Plus ... I'm a GIRL and I reserve the right to cry over things that a man might see as trivial!! So there!!

So ... not a great way to start the morning, especially since it really is quite nasty and cold and the heater isn't working properly (yep, all that banging and damage didn't make any difference!!) Perhaps I'll just crawl back into bed with a book and come out again tomorrow!!! Hope you're day is a little less traumatic!! Bear Hugs!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Bags & Beautiful Bloggy Buddies!!

It's been a funny sort of day today, weather wise. I got up and it was sunny, so I popped a load of sheets into the washing machine, with the thought that by the time I'd enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, it would be time to hang them out. Well, 15 minutes later, as I sipped my morning brew, I heard a peculiar noise ... which got louder and heavier ... OK, where did that rain come from?!! I looked out my window and the sun had been replaced by dark clouds, which of course, is where the rain was coming from! Drat!! So, into the dryer with the towels, so much for reducing my carbon footprint!!

Now oddly, considering that gale force winds quickly joined the overcast weather (the rain didn't last very long, unfortunately, just kind of loomed and threatened!!) it wasn't overly cold, so I headed into the sewing room for some bag sewing. No, not for Linda's Bag/Bucket Swap (though with that deadline looming I need to get myself busy soon!!) this is what came out of this morning's efforts ...


It's a book bag for one of our nieces for her birthday last week - oops! Late again!! I fell in love with the ladybird fabric - it's just so funky and bright and cheerful, perfect for a 3 year old's book bag. And what is inside this eye-catching bag?


Silly old bear!! It's Winnie the Pooh - the original type illustrations, before Disney messed with it. I love Winnie the Pooh stories, they're just so much fun, but also show the value of friendship. Wonderful!!

And speaking of the bag I'm making for Linda's Bag Swap (which I did in passing back there!!) I showed some pretties a few posts ago that I was going to use to make it. Well ... I changed my mind!! Tee! Hee! Hee! Actually, had it changed for me, when there wasn't really enough of the fabrics I wanted to use - don't you hate that!! So off I trotted to my handy fabric shop, Quilters' Angel, and came home with ...


Aren't the colours pretty? I tried to get a little creative to show these off, hence the triangles, although now that I look at it, it would be a pretty pattern for a patchwork project ... hmmmmmmm........ Just kidding - for now! Too many things on the "To Do" list already. So that bag is on the weekend's agenda of projects to tackle. Will keep you updated.

Now to the second part of my post title, "Beautiful Bloggy Buddies". The particular Beautiful Blogging Buddy in question (initially!!) is Miss Kerryanne of Shabby Art Boutique, who, by the way, has been seen sporting a lovely Mermaid blue scarf this week ...


Isn't she GORGEOUS!! And all snugly warm to face Melbourne's chills - she and I sympathise with each other over coping with the cold!! I borrowed the photo from Kerryanne and she said it's a bit blurry cos she was in a hurry, but I think it's cos she goes everywhere at the speed of light and like a superhero, you can never quite get a clear picture! Tee! Hee! Hee! Now, last weekend, Kerryanne very kindly awarded me the Wylde Woman Award - which made me a little teary and a little blush-worthy, but also very chuffed!!


Now, the rules of the Wylde Woman Award are:
1. You can give it to one or one hundred or any number in between - it's up to you. Make sure you link to their site in your post.

2. Link back to this blog site http://www.tammyvitale.com// so Tammy can go visit all these wonderful women and remember the Purpose of the Award: "To send love and acknowledgment to women who brighten your day, teach you new things and live their lives fully with generosity and joy."

How flattering to be told by someone I admire that I brighten her day!! When I first began blogging, it was a bit of an experiment (not knowing much about WHAT blogging really was!) to see if it brought more visitors to my business web site. It was Kerryanne's blog that inspired me to 'give it a go' eventually, but she was also the most encouraging friend and mentor along the way, for my designing as well as blogging. And through our toing and froing, we've become blogging buddies - how wonderful!! So, my response to choosing Wylde Woman Awardees would be - right back at ya, Kerryanne! And my second nominee would have been Lilly Linda of Lilly Cottage - but Kerryanne stole my thunder there, so I can only say that great minds think alike!! So then I started thinking about blogging buddies who brighten my day, teach me new things and live their lives fully with generosity and joy. Hmmm ... that would be ALL my blogging buddies!!! But I decided to mention three especially.

The first is Natalie Ross of In Stitches - Nat has shared a few of her roller-coaster ride downs as well as the ups and has definitely been hit with some challenging situations in her life - but what I love about Nat is her sense of humour that helps her rebound quickly, and the creativity, joy, beauty and sparkle of mischief and imagination that she shares with us through her designs. Thanks Nat!!

The second Wylde Woman is Rosalie Quinlan. Rosie, too, has faced hurdles, the biggest being her brush with cancer - yet through it all, she has continued to encourage others to explore their hidden creativity, especially with her recent book, "Gift", which encourages us not only to NOT take our everyday gifts, like good health, good friends and loving family, for granted, but also to live every day to the fullest and to share that joy with others. Thanks Rosie!

The third Wylde Woman would have to be Peg, from Happy in Quilting. Now Peg inspired not just me, but hundreds of stitchers all around the world, to tackle some of their UFOs. That and the resulting organisation deserve an award to start with!! But Peg also opens her home and life to share with, and encourage other people to express themselves through stitching and it's all done with a generous heart and a spirit of fun. Thanks Peg!

So ... I could go on and on, working my way through my list of blog favourites - not to mention a long list of non-blogging buddies who fill me with awe, admiration and inspiration. And do you know what that tells me? Scratch the surface of most 'ordinary' women and you'll find a Wylde Woman lurking there!! Tee! Hee! Hee! If you haven't visited the blogs of my wonderful, inspirational blogging buddies, I'd encourage you to do so - but I'd make a cuppa first, cos you're sure to spend a while enjoying their writing!! There's just one drawback that I've found with this award ... Suddenly, I have a song stuck in my head - don't know the name or who sings it, but the chorus includes the line, "Wild women do, and they don't regret it!" So ... I'm off to continue my Wylde Woman adventures - hope you do too!! Til next time - Bear Hugs!

CHEERS!
KRIS