What You Do When You're Not Sewing!

Well ... still no sewing happening here ... too many boxes blocking the sewing desk ... not to mention that I haven't quite located my sewing machine yet! :0) Aaahh ... the joys of moving!

So what have I been doing ... besides unpacking boxes, which I suspect I will be doing for the foreseeable future! Well ... one step that has to happen before I can sew again is the unpacking of all of the sewing room 'stuff'. And in a bit of a flow-on affect, I need more storage in my sewing room to replace the ugly-but-serviceable built-in cupboard in my old sewing room. Enter the 'diamond in the rough' ...

... a rather well-worn linen press. Not pretty on the outside ... yet!! :0) But inside ...

... lovely shelves to house my sewing bits and bobs. So, the first step was to give it a clean up, a sand and ...

... a coat of undercoat and its already looking better, don't you think? :0) Now I just have to find time to put some nice fresh paint over the undercoat ... in between having visitors and the rolling series of house-warming parties we seem to be hosting in order to say "THANKS!" to everyone who helped us in our house selling/buying/moving process. :0) Stay tuned for the unveiling of the 'polished diamond' in the not-too-distant-future ... I hope! :0)

And for those who HAVE been sewing ... it's the end of another month, so OPAMers ... have you updated your sidebar lists of finishes and emailed your tally to me or my gorgeous Partner-In-Crime Sweet Peg? Well ... QUICKLY!! Do it NOW!! :0) Hopefully you've all had lots of fun creating this month so I can sew vicariously through your lovely finishes. :0)

That's it from me for now ... I promise to be back again soon. I'd like to say I'll be back with some sewing progress, but I'm not making any rash promises! :0) Enjoy the rest of your week. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

PS Cheerio to Steph who's feeling a bit under the weather. Get better soon, Steph!!

Better Late Than Never, Right?!!

WOW! Where did the last week and a half go?? And can I get that time refunded please!?!! :0) Life sure has been busy and despite starting to come back here for a visit several times ... it just hasn't happened, so let's see how we go this time.

Last post, I teased told you that I was getting ready for the 2014 Stitchers Dream Day Out hosted by the Dynamic Duo from the Quilters Angel, the Magnificent Marion and the Stupendous Steph! :0) This is one of my favourite-est events for the year ... meeting fabulously talented Aussie designers, playing with not-yet-released patterns, being treated to yummy snacks and lunch that I don't have to prepare or (more importantly!) clean up after, meeting lovely new stitching folks, greeting blogging buddies in 'real-life', and hanging out for some quality time with good friends ... Nothin' but SMILES here! :0)

Now ... I have a quick confession before I share some pics of the fantastic stitching weekend with you ... I got so caught up chatting, laughing, eating, chatting, laughing, drinking cuppas, chatting, helping, laughing ... I think you get the picture!! ... that I didn't actually take a LOT of photos ... OOPS! However ... I'll share what I did manage to click ... so grab a cuppa and check out what you missed if you didn't climb the 'hill' to join us. :0)

I joined the Fabulous Fiona on the Friday before this event to help Marion and Steph set up the hall ready for the influx of enthusiastic stitchers. Fiona and I are experts at tying "floofy bows". :0) No pics ... sorry! An empty, echo-y school all-purpose hall was transformed into a pretty, girly space in a matter of hours ready for everyone to come and play.

Oops! Guess who was caught taking a sneaky peeky into her gifty bag to see which project she had received! :0) It might have been ...

... a gorgeous memory board designed by Debbie McGee ... or ...

... Debbie's second project in pretty-in-pink fabrics ... a handy stitching cushion to rest your hands on when you're stitching, while under the flap ...

... pockets and felt pages to store needles and stitching bits ... or the project might have been ...

... this cute cameo bear designed by Libby Richardson of Art Smart Craft Cottage ... or ... another cute bear cushion designed by Libby that I forgot to photograph ... OOPS! Can you tell I was having a bit of an A.D.O.P kind of photography day? You know ... "Attention" "Deficit" ... "Oh!" "Pretty!" :0) 

But I did take a pic of Libby's ultra-cute teddy quilt that I fell in love with and ...

... Debbie's delicious dollies. Aaahh ... so many pretties to make, so little time and play money! :0)

And I took a pic to prove that my Bestest-Buddy-Since-We-Were-Nine Lynette did actually do some stitching (which is a lot more than I stitched, I confess! Tee! Hee! Hee!). Can you see that Lynette was fully in "Nanna Mode" ... glasses on the end of the nose and a blankie over her knees! :0) She is so going to kill me for that! Tee! Hee! Hee! It was a bit coolish that weekend and she IS from Brisbane, I suppose! :0) And what was I doing when everyone else was stitching? Well ...

... there were some cuppas ...

... there was some catching up with fellow designer and bear-lover Libby Richardson ...

... some catching up with fellow designer and chatter Debbie McGee ...

... there was some chatting and catching up with blogging buddy and fellow designer Toni Alexander from the Red Boot Quilt Company. Hmmm ... I guess I know a few other designers! :0)

... there was some meeting of new friends ... and photo-bombing by blogging buddies!

... some laughing with more blogging buddies ... lovely to catch up with you gals! :0) (Sorry! I didn't remember everyone's blogs or I'd come over for a visit!!)

... And MORE blogging buddy catch-ups! Did I mention that there had to be several "Naughty Tables" set up this time?! :0)

As always, Marion and Steph spoilt us all completely, providing us with a relaxed, fun weekend of stitching, laughing, chatting, eating and catching up with friends. Thanks Marion and Steph! And a big thank you to Debbie and Libby for sharing their sweet new designs and their hints and tips with us! Next year marks the 10th birthday of Stitchers Dream Day Out and it is going to be a BLAST!! My Bestest-Buddy-Since-We-Were-Nine Lynette has already added the date to her calendar ... maybe you'd like to come and play too ... I guarantee you'll have the BEST time! :0)

Well ... that's what I got up to two weeks ago ... I am sooo far behind! Life just seems to have continued to be crazy busy and it's actually taken me three goes to get this posted - EEP! I promise to try to come back to visit with you all again soon, but I'm hearing my pillow calling my name at the moment, so will sign off. Hope everyone is having a fabulous week. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Still Unpacking & A Tour!!

Hellooooo!! Yes, I'm still here and still a bit quiet on the blogging front because there's still a WHOLE LOT of these ...

... waiting for attention ... SIGH!!! Apparently the unpacking fairies are running way behind in their schedule to visit us. Oh dear! I may still be unpacking boxes at Christmas time ... NEXT year!!

Since this photo was taken in my sewing room, you can guess that there's been no stitching or sewing happening, so I don't have any photos of stitchy stuff to share. BUT ... I thought (since quite a few of you have asked so nicely!!) that I would share a few pics of our new house with you. Now, considering most of the rooms still look like versions of the above pic, I'll share the real estate photos that first helped us fall in love with "Edward House". These were borrowed from the Elders real estate site ... I think they've now been taken down ... cos the house is SOLD! :0) 

WARNING!! There are a LOT of photos to follow, so you might want to grab a cuppa ... and maybe a bickie to tide you over. Brace yourself, Chookyblue, for one of my mammoth posts! :0)

Our new home started it's life in 1890 and was in a rural area on a large historic property about an hour and a half west of Toowoomba. It was moved to it's current spot three years ago and has been extensively renovated and remodelled to make it a fabulous, roomy place to live. Here we go ... and we're walking ...! :0)

Welcome to "Edward House". Our front path.

Approaching the lovely wide verandah ...

... where you can sit and relax a while. This sweet wicker set belonged to the previous owners and I'm on the lookout for something similar. In the meantime I have a flea-market-find table there with a couple of director's chairs ... not quite as picturesque, but they do the job. :0)

Step inside the front door and walk down the hall. I love the arch ... it's very similar to the one in our previous cottage, though a bit wider.

Here's the main bedroom and that walk-through to the right leads to ...

... the ensuite. We've never had an ensuite before, but we're finding it very handy when we have guests ...although ... it does mean there are now TWO bathrooms and toilets for me to clean ... GROAN!! One of my least favourite jobs! :0) You'll notice a lot of doors in odd places as we tour through ... the folks we bought the house from reconfigured most of the rooms from the inside (like a lot of farm houses, it was a bit 'rabbit-warreny'!) but they've kept all the original door and window placements.

Next is the guest room ... I'm loving the size of the two main bedrooms ... my collected treasures, vintage finds and antiques are all shown off much better. :0)

Then we come to the sitting room ... doesn't that sound flash?! :0) With the open fire place, it will be a cosy spot for my stitching friends and I to hang out ... although, there's no furniture in there as yet, just more boxes. :0) And LOOK!! I am now the proud owner of a chandelier!! Tall people will need to remember to duck, but my Beloved Geek Boy and I are both shorties, so we won't be ending up with concussion from passing through this room! :0) Do you see the double doors to the left there? They lead to ...

... a sun-room/sleep out/library/nanny-napping-nook. :0) We've put an old single cast iron bed in this room (the one I showed you in the office of our cottage in a previous post) and GB has already ascertained that it's the perfect spot for a nanny-nap! :0) And the sleep out leads into ...

... the sewing room. That lovely stained glass door is the one that connects the sewing room to the sleep out. The sewing room is a smidge bigger than my last sewing room, but with no built-in cupboard (ugly as it was, it was handy!) so I'm working on more storage solutions for my creative space. Stay tuned! :0)

From the sewing room, you walk past the laundry (which has a LINEN CUPBOARD! WOO! HOO! I'm very excited about that as you can tell!! :0) ) into the walk-through office. You can see to the right of the picture that the office is also entered from the sitting room. Our office desk isn't as grand as the one pictured, but it does the job ... though GB has been told he has to keep his desk tidy, since you have to pass through the office to reach the main living area. What do you think my chances are of holding him to that?!?! :0) Passing through the office, we go into ...

... the kitchen/dining/lounge room ... which for the sake of brevity and not twisting our tongues into knots, we refer to as the 'back room' or 'living area' ... since this is indeed where we predominantly 'live'. :0) Those two sets of French doors let in lots of lovely sunlight in the morning (will have to be a bit careful of fading of any fabrics in this area) ...

... giving the room a warm, open feel. And the best part is (besides the combustion heater snuggled in the fireplace!!) ...

... those French doors lead out onto a nice sized back deck, making for the perfect entertaining space ... and yes ... there are already more 'house-warming' events being planned to test-drive this space! :0)

The kitchen looks fabulous, though I have discovered it isn't the most practical in some respects ... and like GB and his office desk, I'll be challenged to keep the kitchen a bit neater because it's open for all to see ... no hiding cooking clutter behind handy dividing walls! :0)

And finally, the view we have as we wave you goodbye after a lovely, relaxing visit! :0)

So ... those were the photos that started us on the road to falling in love with this house. You can see why we think all the rush, stress, work, headaches and pain of the last few months was worthwhile. :0) I promise that as we get rooms set up, furniture arranged to my liking (don't ask GB how many times he's heard the words ... 'maybe it would look better over there'.!!! Tee! Hee! Hee!) and my pretties hung, displayed and arranged, I'll share some more pics as we make the house our own. I'm struggling with the very neutral colour scheme at the moment, being a colour freak as I am. As much as I love all those lovely photos of serene, French-inspired, shabby-chic all-white houses ... apparently I'm too much of a colour freak to be able to live with neutrals for too long! :0)

In the meantime, I'm in the middle of a much-anticipated week off work, so I think I shall go and play Polly to put the kettle on for a cup of tea while I take a little hop around blogland to see what everyone else is up to. OH!! OPAMers ... thank you to everyone who emailed their finishes to Sweet Peg and me. We've been experiencing some internet issues since the move (rural area, so slower, less-reliable internet coverage ... GRRRR! Telstra!!) so I haven't managed to email you all to say thank you and well done ... so consider yourselves now congratulated and thanked! :0) My Sweet partner-in-crime has done the prize draw, so if you haven't yet caught up with the news, you'd better pop over to visit her. Thanks Sweet Peg for holding down the OPAM fort while I'm in the midst of moving-madness!! :0)

I hear the kettle calling my name, so shall sign off for now ... I'll be back after the weekend to share the fun of our annual Stitchers Dream Day Out which is on this weekend ... WOO! HOO!! :0) My Bestest-Buddy-Since-We-Were-Nine Lynette is climbing the hill to join me for a sleep-over play-date and my quirky-clever-clogs blogging buddy Toni will be joining us for the day on Sunday, too, along with the Fabulous Fiona and my dancing buddy Lynda. I hear there are a few other bloggy gals coming to play too ... let me know you're coming, gals ... and if you see me swanning around chatting (cos I've been told that I seem to do more chatting than stitching at this event!! Tee! Hee! Hee!) , make sure you grab me to say "G'day!" :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Checking In From Amidst Chaos!!

HELLOOOOOO!!! Yes, I'm still in the land of the living, just a wee bit buried under a mountain of boxes and unpacking. We're all moved into our new house safe and sound ... though not without a few 'adventures'!!

The biggest adventure occurred as we were packing and cleaning our cottage ready to move ... my Beloved Geek Boy had been up in the roof storage/attic space and having finished, he stepped onto the ladder to climb down. That's when he felt the ladder slide out from under him and he fell 11 feet to land flat on his back!! Mum and I were in another room and all we heard was some swearing (Oops!!), the clatter of the ladder falling and one humongous and very final sounding THUD! I think my heart stopped for a few beats ... and again when I raced into the room to find GB flat on his back and gasping for breath! EEK! After he caught his breath and found that everything moved and wriggled that should be able to (Thank you Lord!!) I picked him up off the floor and carted him off to the chiropractor ... who said nothing was broken, his pelvis which bore the brunt of the abrupt landing was out of alignment (which he fixed) and the spine and muscles were badly bruised. With rest (HA!) and anti-inflamatories, he would live to fight another day ... as long as he steered clear of ladders for a while!!

Well ... almost two weeks on, GB is still hobbling around (and just quietly reminds me of the old-fashioned sailor with a rolling sort of gait! Tee! Hee! Hee!) but is on the mend. I think his guardian angel is missing quite a few wing feathers, tho! And we are incredibly thankful that things didn't turn out worse. Really, as difficult (and frustrating for GB!) as things have been, it really was the best worst-case-scenario possible in the circumstances. And we were extremely blessed to receive huge help and support from friends, workmates and family members ... we'd have been lost without my folks, especially! Thanks Mum and Dad! :0) They went home to rest for a week or two ... or three! Tee! Hee! Hee!

So ... now it's just a matter of continuing the endless task of unpacking, rearranging furniture and wrapping our heads around fitting our belongings into a different space and house configuration. Not to mention finding homes for everything ... and then trying to remember where you put everything! SHEESH! We're still playing hide-and-seek with our belongings just to get ready in the mornings! :0) And there are many 'mysterious mounds' like this around the house ...

Did I mention I was paranoid about my breakables getting broken in the move?! :0) On the up side ... newspaper is great for helping to get the wood heater going on our freezing evenings and frosty mornings ... one of the HUGE plusses of our new house! :0)

There's still quite a bit of unpacking to do ... I haven't had any time off work during this process and GB's been handicapped ... but we're just muddling along, doing a bit more each day until one day we hope it's all unpacked and in new homes. Then maybe I'll get back to my sewing!! :0)

And when it all gets a little too much and we start to ask ourselves what the heck we've done ... I make myself a cup of tea and go for a stroll around our lovely large new garden. There are lots of plants I've never tried growing before, lots of deciduous trees and mysterious bulbs beginning to dress themselves in their spring finery, not to mention a few veges and some mystery herbs. (Note to self: find a good herb reference to make sure the herbs aren't suspicious! Tee! Hee! Hee!) The showiest of the plants at the moment is this pretty lady ...

It's not the best photo, as I snapped it in a hurry as I scooted past to head off to work this morning, but don't you just love those fresh spring colours? It makes me smile to see the garden coming out of hibernation! I promise I'll give you a tour when more spring beauties are showing their colours. And a house tour will also be on the agenda ... just as soon as it looks like a house instead of a giant jumble sale. :0)

Hopefully some of you out there have been stitching away madly to make up for my lack of sewing industry again this month and if you have ... OPAMers ... don't forget it's only a few days til the end of the month, so please update your sidebar lists of finishes and email your tallies through to me or Sweet Peg. My lovely Partner-In-Crime has been a rock as I've been a bit unreliable in the blogging/emailing/OPAMing stakes during the process of preparing for auction, selling our cottage and buying our dream house ... thank you so much, Sweet Peg! MMMMMWAH!!!

Well ... that's about it from me for today and since the sun has finally peeked out from behind the storm clouds, I think I will play Polly and put the kettle on for a cup of tea, then take a promenade around the garden to see what new surprises I can see. Enjoy the rest of your week!! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Feeling Shabby!!

No, no!!! I'm not feeling shabby health-wise ... I'm feeling shabby in a CHIC sense ... you know ... decorating-wise! :0) With the bubble wrap and boxes outnumbering the people in our cosy cottage by a large margin at the moment as we prepare to move to our dream house next week (EEK! How did that time go so slowly, then quickly?!?!) you won't be surprised that I've been thinking about decorating, furniture arrangement and how best to display my pretties in their new nest. If you ask me what my personal decorating style is, I'd have to say it's kind of a mish-mash ... Shabby French Provincial Country Cottage Chic ... about covers it! Tee! Hee! Hee! Does that mean I'm incredibly eclectic or just plain can't make up my mind? Perhaps a little of column "A" and a little of column "B"! :0)

If I had to choose one decorating style that's "speaking to me" at the moment, though, I'd probably say "Shabby Chic" ... even if I can't convince my Beloved Geek Boy that purposely sanding patches of paint off a freshly painted piece of furniture is a good idea. :0) So ... with my thoughts (and Pinterest boards!!) leaning towards decorating in a chicly shabby style at the moment, imagine how EXCITED I was when I got an email from my gorgeous and talented blogging buddy Kerryanne over at Shabby Art Boutique today telling me that the latest issue of her e-mag "Simply Shabbilicious" is now available ... WOO! HOO!!

I've only had a chance to have a quick flick through this GORGEOUS mag, but I can tell you I'll be revisiting it again ... with a cuppa and a comfy chair!! ... really soon. :0) If you, too, love country, shabby chic, French Provincial, farmhouse, vintage, cottage kinds of decorating then hop over to Kerryanne's blog HERE to see how you can enjoy this beautifully styled mag ... it's well worth your while! :0)

And like a sign from the decorating powers of the universe, another email landing in my 'in' box today included a link to an interview with the Queen of Shabby Chic Ms Rachel Ashwell herself ... along with some FABULOUS photos of her latest venture ... a shabbily chic decorated B & B ... WOW!! Pop over HERE for a peek ... it will make a shabby chic gal's heart sing. :0) 

This will probably be my last post for a week or two ... until we're able to sort out the internet at the new house ... but I'm sure I'll find a bit of time to hop around blogland to take sneaky peekies at what everyone is up to. And even though I might be 'off the air' blog-wise for a little while, you can still contact me by email ... just in case you miss me and want to have a chat! :0) I hope you all have a fantastic end of the week, a fabulous weekend and that you ensure you're kind to yourselves and include some "ME" time in your schedule in the next week or two. :0) Til next time ...

SHABBY BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS