OPAM Update & News!

Well ... I ran out of weekend before I got around to writing this post and I almost ran out of Monday as well! SHEESH! I'm pretty sure someone is stealing hours out of my days. :0P

So ... Remember how my GORGEOUS Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg and I said we wouldn't be able to do monthly prizes this year because of the cost of posting prizes? WEEEEEEEEEEELL ... We had a little think, cos we really enjoy encouraging you gals in your creative efforts, SOOOOOOOO ... We came up with a little solution.

Each month Sweet Peg and I will take turns to choose THREE random winners, who will receive ... A PDF copy of an original Tag Along Teddies stitchery design! The stitchery will include the design to trace and stitching instructions and can be made up into whatever project you like. To show you how it can be used, I made it into a pretty and handy drawstring bag ...

It's not the best photo, as the shadows at night make it a bit tricky to get photos, but it gives you a bit of an idea. The wording says, "You are bee-utiful!" I'm looking forward to seeing how our prize winners use this cute stitchery. :0)

But wait! There's more!! :0) Sweet Peg has been playing in her sewing cave and created a special QUILT that she will be giving to a very lucky draw winner at the end of the year. All finishes for the year will go into the mega-draw for that gorgeous quilt from Sweet Peg. Are you a bit excited?? We are! :0)

So our first three prize winners for 2018 are ...

TONE

JEANETTE

BRITTA 

Congratulations gals! Drop me an email and I'll send your PDF stitchery to you to play with. Right now though, after a very busy day, I think I've earned a sit down with a cup of tea. :0) Enjoy your week everyone and happy creating! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

PS. Google and I seem to be having some kind of "ISSUE" at the moment, so I'm hoping this uploads OK ... did I mention there are days I'm really unfond of technology?!?! SIGH!!!!!!

Oops! Sunday Ran Out!!

That seems to be the case most weekends ... The weekend runs out before I'm ready for it! :0) I was supposed to tell you some exciting OPAM news ... But GB & I ended up out in the garden & lost track of time. I'll be back tomorrow night I promise.

I thought I'd share a cute pic to compensate. This little fella was watching us tidy up his home ...

Isn't he cute!! It's the tiniest bearded dragon I've ever seen. We named him "Lou" the lizard. :0)

I hope you had a fantastic weekend ... I'll be back tomorrow to share mine ... Along with the OPAM news. :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

 

Laundry Safety Warning!!

Here's a laundry safety tip for you all:

If your front loader washing machine decides that it's gobbled up one too many bra underwires (GRRRR!) & gives up the ghost, refusing to move on from washing ... & washing ... & washing ... 

DON'T OPEN THE DOOR!! 

Cos all that washing & swooshing causes enormous amounts of BUBBLES & just like toothpaste once you've squeezed it out of the tube, once those suckers are OUT ... They ain't goin' back IN!!! 

SIGH! The machine is currently holding my towels to ransom. :0P This is NOT how I envisaged my Friday going. There goes the little cash stash we were saving towards a holiday. SIGH! I know I've said it before, but ... Being a grown up SUCKS!! :0P

I hope YOUR Friday is less stressful ... & that your bubbles are in a glass rather than spilling out of your washing machine! :0P Good thing I'm getting together with the Friday Night Sit N Sew gals tonight to soothe my battered sanity. :0) Have a fantastic ... & laundry-bubble-free weekend! :0) Til next time ...

BUBBLY BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS,

KRIS

 

A Bit Of A Catchup!

Here I am again, wondering where the days are going in this year. I'm sure we just had Christmas & now it's almost Easter! YIKES! At this rate, maybe I should just put my Christmas tree back up & be done with it! :0)

To be fair, this last week has been a wee bit busy (which seems to be the norm around the Meares' Madhouse!) with my Beloved Geek Boy away for work for a few days, which then ran into the weekend when I disappeared for a day to play with the Friday Night Sit N Sew gals for a mini retreat. I only went for the Saturday, but managed to pack in a lot of fun & laughs ... If not very much sewing! Tee! Hee! Hee! 

However, others did have their machines humming ...

... Linda finished this cute little bag ... Perfect as a gift for a little girl. Linda also finished a gorgeous quilt top ... But I forgot to take a photo. :0)

Julie finished the this quilt top ... Though she DID have a bit of a head start. One of her workmates decided she no longer had time to sew/quilt, so had a huge clean out, bundled all her sewing projects into a big bag & sold them to Julie. It was just like a stitcher's Christmas wish come true! There were lots of complete quilt kits, some just needing borders, some needing quilting & some like this one had some stitcheries to finish off. We're all always very interested to see what project Julie has found next to work on. :0)

And of course we all know you sew better after a drinkie or two. This was Julie's balanced quilting sustenance ... Balanced, as in ... One glass for each hand! Tee! Hee! Hee! As always, a HUGE thank you to the Marvellous Marion for organising our retreat. We're always completely spoilt with yummy food & treats.

I started working on some of the embroidery elements of my Butterfly Garden blocks, but really didn't make much headway, so no finishes for me to show off ... I'd better get busy tomorrow, hadn't I or that will be two months with no finishes for my OPAM list. Speaking of which ... Have you signed up with me or my GORGEOUS Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg to play along? There's still room for more people to join us. And those who HAVE signed up ... Have you added your list of finishes under the OPAM badge on your blog & emailed your tally to Sweet Peg or me?? Well ... Get hopping, cos tomorrow we run out of February & we'll be doing our January/February prize draw ... & will reveal a little surprise we've been keeping up our sleeves. :0)

But right now, I think the kettle is calling my name, so I'm off to make a cuppa. Before I do, I've got a question for you ... How many stitchers does it take to wind a skein of thread onto a bobbin card??

Three ... Apparently!! :0) two to hold the thread & keep it from getting tangled & one to wind it on. This was some of our entertainment at our last Friday Night stitching session. Three of my crazy tribe ... Love 'em! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

 

 

 

 

A Week Of Madness & Mayhem!!

That's what it's been here this week, with the Meares' Madhouse living up to its moniker! :0) I have to say, "boredom" doesn't ever poke its nose in around here! Tee! Hee! Hee! 

The madness & mayhem started with some wild storms earlier in the week. I have to say, we've been fortunate enough to be bypassed by other REALLY nasty storms, but felt this one. After very strong winds & hail had finished their work ...

... One of our lovely big gum trees was missing a good sized limb. Can you see where the bottom left branch has been truncated ... Get it?! TRUNK-ated ... Tree ... Never mind!!! :0P Now, thanks to gravity, that branch went down ...

And although we weren't home at the time, I imagine it made a pretty big noise as it ...

... Landed on our temporary shade shed where GB stores the trailer, ride-on mower & wheelbarrow. And do you know, despite the poor shade shelter being toast ... Nothing else was damaged! WHEW! A small garden shed that was in the process of being relocated also met its demise when the storm folded it like origami & landed it against the back fence. No damage to the house, though, so our guardian angels were clearly working overtime ... Especially when you consider that I should have been driving home at the time the storm hit, but I'd popped into Mum & Dad's to pick up some bottles to make jam. A second storm that had hail in it followed me home & hit ... Just as I walked in the back door!  BLESSED!!

So then move forward in our week (through the usual mayhem of two unqualified adults masquerading as grown ups! :0) ) today is my day off. A day to sleep in, relax & sew ... HA! It was all systems go from 7am! Firstly ...

... We had two new rainwater tanks arrive from Bushman Tanks in Dalby ... Where the Fabulous Fiona's Sweetie works. He gave great advice on size etc. & we were very happy with the price after comparing with other companies, so would recommend them if you're tank shopping.

 We were fortunate that both Dads were on hand to help with the unloading & positioning ... My Dad in the red shirt at the back & GB's Dad at the front. Tanks were rolled off the truck ...

... And carefully manoeuvred down the side of the shed to their new home behind the shed. Blessed again to have both Dads living close & being willing to lend a hand. Hopefully the new tanks will help keep our garden alive through future dry spells ... As long as we get the rain to fill them. Might be time to drag out the feathered headdress & tomahawk to perform a rain dance ... Don't try to picture that or you'll never sleep again!! Tee! Hee! Hee!

And while the manly men were wrestling large tanks, I was inside instructing two lovely young blokes ...

... As to where we wanted our new ceiling fans installed in our open plan living space. 

It's a bit hard to get a good pic with the light, but you can see they're a heritage style fan with timber blades. The timber look is a bit darker than I was looking for, but the lighter colour has been discontinued ... & these not only look good, they are making a HUGE difference to the temperature in this room. They were installed by Active8 Electrical & the guys were some of the friendliest & neatest tradies I've come across ... Highly recommend them. :0)

And since the flurry of activity is now over, I think I'm going to sit under my new fans & enjoy a cup of tea before I spend some time with my re-discovered quilt friend I introduced you to last week. What are you up to this fine Friday? Whatever you're doing, I wish you all a restful & enjoyable weekend. Til next time ...

COOL BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS