Home Is The Sailor Home From Sea!

You know how I've been teasing you by telling you about SOOOOOOOOO many finishes coming out of my sewing room, but not SHOWING you cos they're Secret Squirrel projects? Well, I can now show you one of them, cos it arrived where it was travelling off to.

Now, it was the lovely Kerryanne's birthday last month, but since I was so snowed under at the time, I sent her a cute card and an IOU for her giftie ... which I finished last week and was so excited that I just wanted to borrow Dr Who's Tardis to deliver it STRAIGHT AWAY!!! Are you like that?? Whenever I make/buy a giftie for someone I want to give it to them RIGHT NOW so they can start enjoying it! Well after a quick (remarkably so!!) trip via Australia Post this is what arrived at Kerryanne's door this week ...

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRHHHHHH! Me Hearties! Yo, Ho! Yo, Ho! A Pirate's Life For Me!! (Pirates have 'colourful language, right?! Tee! Hee! Hee!) Hmmm ... it seems he was getting into the swing of his piratey character here - a treasure chest, a ship, a pretty mermaid and a bottle of rum ... what more could a buccaneer bear ask for! :0)

Since Kerryanne and her family have recently undertaken a 'sea change' I thought a salty sea-dog ... er ... sea-BEAR ... might be just the ticket for her birthday! He's yet to be named, but Kerryanne tells me he's already being accepted as part of their family and he fits right on in with her sea-side themed decorating. I did warn Kerryanne that bears can be just a WEEEEEEEE bit mischievous and I'm sure he will lead her into many new piratey adventures! Hmmmm ... or will that be KERRYANNE leading the BUCCANEER BEAR on adventures! Tee! Hee! Hee! Can't wait to see the photos ... especially now that Kerryanne's camera is back from it's check-up! (Snicker!!!) So I wish my little beary friend and my bloggy buddy fair winds and following tides. "Drink Up Me Hearties - Yo Ho!"

In other sewing news ... I have been busy in the sewing room, but once again, I can't show you. Not because I was working on surprises this time ... I just forgot to take a photo before I delivered things! Oops! My friend Lynda ended up 'volunteering' to co-ordinate the craft stall for the annual fete at her kids' school, but very little assistance was forthcoming from other parents, so I whipped up a few sets of coasters, made a small herd of clothes peg reindeer and helped add some simple applique to some bag-bags. (No, I'm not stuttering - they're the bags you store your plastic shopping bags in, although I've noticed a decline in our stash since we now mostly remember to take our green bags.) I delivered everything to Lynda today and spent a few hours helping and encouraging her - but yes, forgot to take photos! Ah well ... next time!

And now I'm heading off to pop the kettle on and make a list of the projects I want to work on this weekend, cos we actually have a WHOLE weekend free of plans ... so far! So, I'm hoping to spend quite a lot of time in the sewing room - I may even be able to show you the things that I work on this time! Tee! Hee! Hee! I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and find some time to do something just for "YOU". Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Grand Opening Give Away!!

No, no, no ... it's not ME who's having the Grand Opening Give Away ... it's my gorgeous blogging buddy, the very talented Miss Kerryanne over at Shabby Art Boutique!! She's just re-launched her fabulous web-based boutique and as well as all sorts of DELICIOUS treats to buy (Christmas is sneaking up on us after all!!) she is having a Grand Opening Giveaway on her blog, so hop on over to find out the details!!

As well as some wonderful folk/canvas art patterns that are sure to inspire you to pick up a paintbrush, Kerryanne has a range of ready-to-purchase canvas artworks, but the SWEETEST corner of her boutique is reserved for her incredibly realistic faux cakes and sweets. Or as some of Kerryanne's new neighbours like them to be called "Fake Cakes". Tee! Hee! Hee! (you'll have to read Kerryanne's post about her market adventures to understand that!!) Now, in case you haven't yet been introduced to the GORGEOUS goodies that the lovely Kerryanne creates, here is a photo of my own little stash of faux cupcakes I have displayed with some of my pretty china in the lounge room ...

Aren't they SWEET! And that's another of Kerryanne's decorative paintings on a re-vamped vintage tray at the bottom of the photo. Here's a close up of the cuppies ...

Don't they just look good enough to eat!! But the best part ... NO CALORIES! Tee! Hee! Hee! And to coincide with the launch of her new web site, Kerryanne has added some scrumptious new cupcake treats, so you REALLY should pop across for a little look-see.

In the meantime ... suddenly, I feel a little bit peckish, so I think I'm off to put the kettle on and find what treats I might have lurking in my pantry! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

A Couple of Reveals!

Well ... my productive week has just kept rolling right along! While I didn't get much done yesterday due to "After Five" rehearsals, today was a VERY productive day! YAY! As well as catching up a bit more on tackling Mount Laundry, I've almost finished another Secret Squirrel project - but ran out of homespun - don't ya just HATE that!! And I also finished a birthday giftie for one of our nieces ... it's only a couple of months late - OOPS! :0} (sheepish grin!) The good news about that is ... I can SHOW it to you!! After lots of Secret Squirrel stitching, it's nice to be able to share something, so here goes ...

Ta da!! I've stitched some fun, funky, bright ... and sweet ... applique shapes onto a plain white pillow case, along with a big letter "T" for "Taylah". I machine appliqued it so it should stand up to frequent washing a little better - hope she likes it!

Now, the other chore I tackled this morning was to clean up the kitchen COMPLETELY so I could FINALLY take some photos of the finished renovations to show you all - you have all been VERY patient waiting for the final reveal - probably a LOT more patient than I was waiting for it to be finished! :0) Ready???


I feel like there should be a "Tarant-ta-ra" fanfare to herald the unveiling! I'm REALLY happy with how it's all come up! This photo doesn't really show the bench top, but it shows our newly finished floor, the fresh apple green walls, the clean white cupboards and the red dotty curtain I was encouraged by Jenny to get done last month. I wasn't sure originally whether to put a lower curtain up, but after living with curious passers-by peering in the window, I've decided this will be one of the next jobs on the list ... as soon as my Beloved Geek Boy gets around to putting up the brackets for me!!


And here are some of my pretty kitchen collections - including my pretty vintage green-with-folk-art-roses trio painted by the clever and talented Kerryanne and my set of three jugs that look oh-so-pretty holding milk when visitors come to visit for afternoon tea.

Beside the coffee machine is my brand new kitchen plant, given to me last night by a friend when we had her and her fiancee over for dinner. It's a "Kitchen Warming" giftie. Isn't it LUSCIOUS and just the right red to fit in with my kitchen decor!! Thanks Amelia & Matt! Hmmm ... now I just have to manage to keep it alive - my track record with indoor plants is NOT the best, though I really like them! This wall is a bit bare at the moment and I'm not quite sure what I want to do there - I'm thinking of keeping an eye out for a vintage look plate rack or a little shelf unit to display some of my tea cup trios. No rush ... the RIGHT thing will jump out at me one day! :0)

So ... there you go ... that's been my productive weekend and since I've worked SOOOOOOOOO hard ... I think I might see if GB would like to order pizza for dinner! :0) Hope you've all had a great weekend and if it couldn't be productive like mine, then I hope it was restful and relaxing! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Return Of The Sewing Mojo!!

Hmmm ... that sounds a little like a bad "B" grade superhero movie title, doesn't it?! In fact, it was a wonderful thing that happened this week - especially wonderful since my sewing machine and needle and thread were starting to feel neglected after three weeks of nothing stitchy happening. I have to say, I've more than made up for that this week, with four finishes already added to my OPAM sidebar list, plus some progress made on another project. The only problem is ... I can't show you any photos cos they're all ...

... Secret Squirrel projects!!! Sorry about that! One I should be able to share in a week or so, once it's winged its way over the border to wish a special someone a belated Happy Birthday! :0) I can't give sneaky peeks, cos I know she visits my blog and I want to keep her in suspenders! Tee! Hee! Hee! So ... instead, I thought I would show you what followed me home from my Home-away-from-home the other day ...

Aren't they pretty! Now these are for a special project that I'm planning ... but I can't tell you what it is!!! I know, I'm a terrible tease ... but at least I'm showing you my pretty fabrics, right?!?! I just love how fresh these colours look together - perfect for summer, wouldn't you say? And look at those cute little bears on the top two fabrics - hard for a bear-addict like me to go past these. I promise to give you a hint about what these yummy fabrics will become as soon as I can.

Oh ... I thought I'd also share a photo with you that I took at work this week. As most of you know, I work four mornings a week as Admin Assistant at a retirement village and we are VERY spoilt with the beautifully landscaped, spacious grounds and gardens, as well as our panoramic views of much of the surrounding area. It seems that no matter what time of year it is, there is SOMETHING gorgeous to admire in our gardens and for the last few weeks, it has been the showy jacarandas. Being a bit of a colour-freak, these trees always grab my attention and this is the one I see as I walk out of my office ...


Don't you just love the combination of the green, purple and blue?! I really am spoilt working where I do! :0)

And now ... I'm heading back to the sewing room. It really does feel WONDERFUL to be sewing again, and better still, to see some FINISHES happening! Hope you're all planning to enjoy a wonderful, relaxing weekend with some time scheduled just for "YOU". Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Mayhem & Murder At The Music Hall!

OK, so it's taken me a couple of days to get back with some photos of the theatre restaurant production that I was in, but it took me much longer than I thought it would to put the photos through PhotoShop. This was a necessity since the photos were taken by Tiff on my little point-and-shoot digital camera that has a piddly little flash that didn't cope at all well with a darkened room!! As a result, the photos are DEFINITELY not the best quality (and still have some REALLY peculiar colours!!) but they will give you a little bit of an idea of how it all looked.

So ... for those of you who tuned in a little late ... the production was called "Murder At The Music Hall" and was set - funnily enough - at an old-time Music Hall performance. It all started when act one was interrupted by a 'member of the audience' dying dramatically and noisily onto the lower part of the stage and the rest of the show alternated between the murder investigation and 'flashbacks' to the victim's previous 24 hours, which saw him attend two Music Hall performances. Got all that? I might add, I had to explain all of this to my Mum so she didn't spend the whole show driving Dad mad by asking, "Who's he?", "Is he a good guy or a bad guy?", " Why did he do that?" Tee! Hee! Hee! To get the ball rolling, here is our entire cast photographed after our last dress rehearsal.

There I am in the bottom right hand corner - the one with the bright pink feather boa! :0)


Here I am before the show got underway, chatting to Lynda and Deb. Lynda said she didn't think she'd EVER see me wearing anything pink! :0) Her daughter also loaned me the feathery thing in my hair - thanks Amy!


And here I am with Grandma - not sure what she thought of my new look! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Now, as the story started to unfold, it quickly became clear that the main character, James (the one who died dramatically and noisily!), was a bit of a ratbag. As his most-recent fiancee said, "He was always trying to 'find' himself. Every night he'd go out searching for himself and along the way he's find Gladys, Ruth & Amee!" Added to that, he was blackmailing a society dame, chatted up a waitress who realised he was four-timing her, dumped a vengeful dancing girl with a brother who was a heavy-weight boxing champion and, most importantly, borrowed money from the Music Hall owner, Big Lil ... That was ME!


Here I am with "My Boys" - my somewhat inept thugs who are SUPPOSED to take care of any problems ... but actually seemed to cause a few more! :0)


Here's "My Boys" questioning James' finance Sandra about why he didn't stick around for a 'chat' with Big Lil about his gambling debt.


The murder investigation was broken up by performances from the Music Hall show and this was a touching little tune called "Hang On The Bell Nellie".


Being a fairly small group, we often had several characters that we were playing and this was one of my alter-egos - a 'cute' little girl who, after a run-in with the Chairman, sang "Good Ship Lollipop". I might just say that the audience's sympathies in both performances were with me rather than the Chairman! Tee! Hee! Hee! Don't know if you can see very well, but my hair was in pigtails for this - an 'interesting' new look that I'm unlikely to adopt!!


This was the delightfully-dated look for "The Swimming Master".


The story was set in the 1920's and this group of energetic gals performed a Charleston-esque version of "When The Red Red Robin Comes Bob Bob Bobbin' Along". Hmmm ... I think it just took me longer to type that than it did for the girls to dance it! :0) They did a great job, actually!


Every good Music Hall show needs a potted pantomime - and ours sure was a 'potty' version of Cinderella!! Here I am in another of my guises as one of the best looking Ugly Sisters you've ever seen! :0) I had a bit of a giggle every time I looked at my 'sister's' wig - couldn't help but be reminded of the Bride Of Frankenstein ... or Madge Simpson ready for Halloween! Tee! Hee! Hee!


Here's Cinders getting ready for the ball, with her footman and coach ... er ... scooter ... and her hairy, fairy godmother - who was a bit of a cross between Dame Edna Everage and a footy player at the annual fundraiser concert!!! :0) Not a pretty sight, but he sure did get some laughs ... especially since it was HIS foot that fitted the slipper to run off with Prince Charming!!! As Cinders said, "I should have gone for Ginger Meggs, cos you just can't trust a fairy with hairy legs!!" Aaahh ... I'm sure the Brothers Grimm would be so proud of us! Tee! Hee! Hee!

And finally, after we found out that the Doctor dunnit ... the show ended to a rousing rendition of "Goodbyee!"

We had fairly full house for both the evening and matinee performances, though the matinee audience seemed to join in a little more and sing along more often. We decided that a greater percentage of that audience were ... er ... a little older, shall we say ... and so were more used to interactive stage shows and sing-alongs. The Saturday night audience were still pretty responsive, though in my role as owner of the Music Hall, Big Lil, I DID have to deal with a couple of hecklers ... which I did! :0)

So ... after three months of hard work, lot of learning lines, hours of rehearsals, many late nights and MANY bizarre dreams about various songs in the show ... it was all so very worth it! Not only did I rediscover my love of amateur theatrics and get involved in a great choral group, I met so many fabulous people who I look forward to getting to know better as we continue to sing together in "After Five" - that's the name of the choral group. In fact, last night was the first rehearsal for our NEXT 'gig' - a fund raising concert at a local Anglican church. After a week's break it was great to catch up with everyone as 'themselves' rather than characters - though there were quite a few lines from the show bandied about throughout the evening! :0)

There you have it ... the promised report of my theatrical adventures - hope you haven't dozed off! :0) Other than recovering from the show and its heavy rehearsal schedule and catching up on the HUGE mound of washing that had piled up over the last few busy weeks, I have also managed to spend some time in the sewing room this week - YAY! I actually hadn't done ANY sewing of ANY kind for about THREE WEEKS, so you'll appreciate how great it was to get my sewing mojo back!! I've even been able to add three finishes to my OPAM list on the sidebar ... but I can't show you, cos they're part of the package for my SSCS partner - Sorry! :0) I do hope to get a few more things finished in the next little while, though, so promise some stitchy photos soon. Hope you've all been keeping well and not TOO busy during my little hiatus (I haven't even been able to visit many of my usual blog haunts!!) and I'll try to get back here to chat again soon. Hope you're all having a great start to the week and ... til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS