EEP! Winter Has Arrived!!

Here it is, almost midday as I write this, & the temperature is just 14 degrees Celsius, with 45km/hr winds giving a "feels like" temperature of 12 degrees! BRRRRRR! We went from 14-24 degree days to THIS! SIGH! I think the weather is finally catching up with the calendar & this weekend will see our fire lit for the first time of the year ... DARN IT! You all KNOW how I dislike cold weather!!

So ... When winter shows up overnight & it's your day off, what's a girl to do? Why make a cup of tea, of course! Tee! Hee! Hee! And sprinkle some lemon essential oil in the diffuser ...

... And have a little play with someone else's pattern ...

Looking at my supplies, can you guess what I might be making?? It's a birthday giftie for a nephew with a wonderful imagination. :0) Stay tuned!

And it's also time to tell you who the lucky OPAM prize draw winners were for April. Thanks to everyone who emailed their finishes through & updated their sidebar lists on their blogs ... It makes the collection task much easier for me & my GORGEOUS Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg. The winners of the stitchery pattern for April were ...

KAREN

&

SUNNY

Congrats gals! Email me & I'll send you the PDF pattern for you to get stitching. Have any of this year's winners started stitching their version of the prize stitchery yet? I'd love to see pics if you have.

But right now I'm off to huddle under my blankie & finish my tea before I go back to creating ... Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Finally! A Finish!!

Happy Friday to all of you out there in blogland! I hope you've had a wonderful week. Mine has been a bit topsy-turvy at my grown up job, which is a bit unsettling, but on the plus side, I FINALLY had some uninterrupted sewing time & have a FINISH to add to my sidebar tally ... YAY! :0)

My designing mojo had been taking a break for the last few months, but last weekend I found myself back with pencil in hand, fabric all around me ... & STILL had to make a trip to the Quilters Angel for some supplies! :0) Remember this photo I shared ...

Well ... There was major progress, some head-scratching as I worked out how to get the look I was imagining & ...

...I'd like to introduce you to Holly Bear, one of Santa's BEARY special helpers! :0) I am SOOOOOOOOO happy with how she has turned out! While she took a slightly different turn during the designing process to what I had originally imagined, I think she is now my favourite design ... Though I say that with EVERY new design, don't I?! Tee! Hee! Hee! 

Her face has turned out to be so sweet & the holly leaf collar just finished off the dress nicely.

And I LOVE how her elf shoes turned out! I think I want a pair for myself! :0) I'm also really happy with her striped legs ... Don't you think they make it look like she's wearing stripy tights under her pretty lace-edged bloomers to keep warm? And a sprig of holly hikes up the hem of her dress just a little to give a glimpse of her pretty bloomers. :0)

Of course, now comes the not-so-fun part of writing instructions ... BLECH! But with a long weekend here in Queensland, I'll be making a start on that chore. If you think you'd like to make your very own Holly Bear to help Santa at your place this Christmas, stay tuned for the pattern being ready. :0)

Right now, however, I need to do a couple of grown up chores before I gather up all my BRAVE to head off to a dentist appointment. EEK! Did I mention I'm kind of phobic about dentists?!! At least I'll have a three day weekend to recover. :0P Whatever you're up to this weekend, I hope you manage to squeeze in some time to relax & create. To quote a well known skincare range slogan ... You're worth it! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Still Here & Stitchin' !!

Hello to all you GORGEOUS creatures out there in blogland! Just thought I'd better quickly pop in to let you know I'm still here & stitchin'! :0) Sorry to be a bit absent, but there are a few things happening in both my & my Beloved Geek Boy's grown up jobs that have taken our attention in the last few weeks. Have I mentioned before how unqualified I am to be a grown up?! :0P

So, there hasn't been a lot of creativity being exercised around here lately, but this week my mojo finally showed up (possibly realising I was down to the last few marbles in my bag! Tee! Hee! Hee!) & I put my designer hat on. This is what I'm playing with ...

Can you guess where my muse has taken me?? :0) I'm hoping to sneak a bit more time with this new project over the weekend .. In between the have-to-do grown up chores ... BLECH!! :0)

Hopefully more of you lovelies out there have been creating more than I have ... Which reminds me ... OPAMERS ... It's nearly that time of the month again when you need to update your sidebar lists & email your finish tally to me or my GORGEOUS Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg  Then stay tuned for the random prize draw ... Have any of this year's winners so far started stitching their version of the prize stitchery? I'd love to see them if you have. :0)

But right now, I'm off to follow my muse for a while before I get ready for our fortnightly Friday Night Sit N Sew session. Looking forward to seeing all my crazy stitching tribe! :0) Have a fantastic weekend everyone! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

A Rainy Saturday!

It's overcast, cool & drizzling rain, so how do you think we're spending our Saturday?

Yep ... MOVIE MARATHON! :0) And some relaxing stitching on my Butterfly Garden quilt blocks. Can you guess which movie series my Beloved Geek Boy & I are revisiting? Feet up, blankie tucked, kettle boiled & the diffuser going ...

... Not a bad way to spend a Saturday. :0) Poor GB has picked up a head cold so today's oil of choice is "Easy Air"  blend from doTERRA. Hopefully it will help GB's cold... & kill the germs before they catch me. :0)

I hope you've had a great week & that you spend time doing something you love this weekend. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

When Friends Pop In For A Visit!

Hello to all you gorgeous creatures out there in blogland! I hope you're having a great weekend. I'm currently sneaking in a little rest between gardening chores to give my aching back & legs a rest. With all the lovely rain we've had, the garden is thriving. Unfortunately ... So are the weeds! So my Beloved Geek Boy & I (& my wonderful parents yesterday!) have been excavating the jungle to give the garden a chance. Periodically I feel like I should put on my best upperclass English accent & say, "Dr Livingston, I presume?" :0)

But ... My weekend actually started with some of the Friday Night Sewing gals popping in for a stitching visit. Of course that meant I spent most of Friday running around like a crazy person cleaning & tidying so it looked like two reasonably responsible grown ups live in our house ... I'm not sure I fooled anyone but at least there was a clear table to sit at ...

I decided to keep it simple but pretty with some of my pretty vintage linens (which I probably should have ironed ... But I'd packed the iron & board away! )

... My pretty-but-mismatched plate collection came out, along with some of my crystal glasses ...

... And a bunch of cheerful gerbra daisies that were 'rescue flowers' ... Marked down at the supermarket. :0) And the finishing touch was one of my vintage cake plates with mini cupcakes ...

... With rainbow icing. I had a little play after seeing some cake decorating videos on Facebook ... I find them mesmerising. :0) I decided that the multi-coloured icing idea looked easy enough for this novice cake decorator to tackle ... And it was ... Once I worked out that the icing really had to have been out of the fridge for a little while before trying to squeeze it through a piping bag! SHEESH! I don't think I have a career in cake decorating ahead of me but I like how they turned out.

Here we all are around the table ... You'll notice that even though we're eating our yummy potluck dinner here, a few of the cupcakes have disappeared from the plate! Tee! Hee! Hee! We had a fun night of chatting, laughing, eating ... And maybe a LITTLE bit of stitching happened. :0) In amongst the shenanigans, of course ...

Sorry about the blurry pic, but I had to be quick to catch Gail taking my broom for a test ride! Tee! Hee! Hee! Just kidding! She had actually ducked down the side steps to grab a potted parsley plant I had spare & the broom was to relocate a golden orb spider who insists on building her web between two trees either side of the path down the steps. Thanks for a fun night, gals ... & special thanks to the sneaky "Easter Bilby" who left a Lindt bunny & eggs on the counter ... I'm sure GB & I will enjoy it! :0)

That's about it from me for now. I'll try to get some nice garden pics to share with you soon so you know all our aches & pains from weeding are worth it. :0) Have a fantastic week ... & remember to be kind to yourself. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS