Technical Difficulties & Some Shabbiliciousness!

Happy Monday everyone!! :0) 

If you're like me, Monday is NOT your favourite day of the week, but let's face it ... it's going to come around every week, so we may as well make the most of it and SMILE! :0) Even if it's more of a teeth-gritted-grimace because you're once again dealing with computer/email/server issues!! SIGH!!!

Let's back up a little ... After doing all the 'grown up' chores around the house this last weekend, I decided that I was going to PLAY and headed for my sewing room. Now ... there were LOTS of things I SHOULD have been working on, but I decided I just wanted to PLAY. So I dug around in my sewing cupboard and pulled out some pretty floral fabric that I bought ... hmmm ... QUITE a while ago! I added some spots, played with some checker-board designs and have managed to put three quarters of a quilt top together ... YAY! :0) I even took some photos to share my progress with you ... BUT ... due to some 'technical difficulties' with the server me email goes through, I'm having some email issues. I can send and receive email from my laptop, but not from my phone or iPad ... that wouldn't be a problem EXCEPT ... I take all my photos on my phone and email them to myself to edit and post ... SIGH!! I promise I'll be back with the pics once my Beloved Geek Boy sorts out the issue.

In the meantime ... perhaps you would like to look at some other pretty pictures ... in fact ... some VERY Pretty pictures! :0) My gorgeous blogging buddy, Miss Kerryanne from Shabby Art Boutique has released the third issue of her GORGEOUS e-magazine ...

I'm always excited when I get an email from Kerryanne to tell me the latest issue of her PRETTY and INSPIRING e-mag is available. If you love all things pretty, shabby chic, vintage, cottage, French and cosy, then you will LOVE 

"Simply Shabbilicious"

Pop over HERE to visit Kerryanne and find out how you can take a peek at this pretty e-mag ... make yourself a cuppa first, cos it's going to take you a while! :0) In fact ... I've just had a cuppa delivered to my chair by my sweet GB and I think I'll go and enjoy another peek at the pretties. Hope your week is off to a great start (and a less technologically challenged one than mine!!) and I promise to be back soon with some photos of my 'play' quilt. Til next time,

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!

KRIS

Birdie Bunting FINISHED!!

Yes indeedy ... I have put my little head down and my little not-so-little!  butt in the air and finished writing the instructions for my most recent design. All that's left to do now is double-check the requirements list ... on the "To Do" list this coming 'day-off' Friday. :0) And then I will be ready to release the pattern. In the meantime, I thought I would share some pics with you ... yes ... I FINALLY got some good pics, too. See ... I haven't just been twiddling my thumbs ... in fact ... thumbs have definitely NOT been twiddled around here! Tee! Hee! Hee!

OK ... the big unveiling ...

TA! DA! "Birdie Bunting Hanger Set". As you can see, this pattern includes instructions for three hanging projects ...

... a largish wall hanger that welcomes people to your home ...

... a small wall hanger featuring mini bunting sewn into the bottom edge ...

... and a door hanger with a handy pocket. I had a lot of fun designing and making these three projects and as I was designing them, I thought they would make a great house-warming gift ... some pretty, quick-to-make, fun, funky projects that will help make a new house feel more like a home. Or you could just make a set for yourself ... I've already added another pocket door hanger to my "To Do" list to hang inside our back door for my Beloved Geek Boy to put his keys into when he gets home. You have NO idea how often we play "Hunt For Hubby's Keys" at the Meares' Madhouse! Quite a stressful game when you add a time element ... you know ... hubby needs to leave for work!! SHEESH! :0) This fun new Tag Along Teddies design will be ready for purchase next week ... I promise to let you know, so stay tuned! :0)

In the meantime, the rest of my week is looking busy, busy, with work, a dental visit (hopefully the last one from the root canal earlier in the year!!), a girly movie date and a Friday Night Sit N Stitch session. WHEW! I think I need to store up some energy, so I'm off to have a cuppa and put my feet up! :0) Hope your week is toodling along nicely and that you're managing to slip in some stitching time to refresh your soul. Til next time ...

BEAR BIRDIE HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Jammin', Stitchin' & Winnin'!!

Sounds like I've been busy, doesn't it?! :0) Well .. I have ... but that's not unusual, really ... it's just the 'stuff' keeping me busy that changes! :0)

Do you remember I shared my jam-making adventures a couple of posts back? Well the weekend saw me try out the orange and ginger combo ... YUMMO!! And then today I hit the kitchen again to do something with these ...

Don't they look sweet and juicy and yummy? They were, so you can imagine that once I added some sugar and heat they tasted even better ...

Yep ... I've been Jammin'! :0) I've had fun playing in the kitchen and do you like the little spring seal bottles I found at one of the cheap shops. We now have enough jam for the next year or so ... I think family members will be receiving sweet birthday gifties this year! Tee! Hee! Hee!

On to the "Winnin'" bit ... OPAM gals ... Congratulations to all of you who had finishes to add to their list this month!! We had a total of 417 finishes for July - WOO! HOO! There were some fantastic projects on display when Sweet Peg and I were blog-hopping the other day ... well done! I hope that you've all enjoyed some relaxing time stitching, whether you managed to add some finishes to your list or not ... that is after all what OPAM is all about. :0) Big thanks, too, to the gals who emailed me and my Sweet Partner-In-Crime! Much appreciated ... sorry I haven't got back to everyone who emailed to me ... I seem to have lost some days again this week!!!

On to the winners of the random draw ... drumroll please ...

DEBORAH  R

&

ROSE MARIE

Congrats, gals! Drop me an email with your mailing address and I'll pop a little something in the mail for you.

Just before I head off to play Polly, I thought I'd share a pic with you of one of the projects that will be included in my "Birdie Bunting" pattern. There will be three projects, which are all finished, and I'm about two thirds of the way through instruction writing ... BLECH! :0) Since that's taking a little longer than hoped, I thought I'd share one of the projects with you ...

Gotta love some Tilda fabrics. :0) Once I finish writing instructions, I'll share the full set of projects ... promise! So Stay tuned!! :0)

OK ... off to put that kettle on. Hope you're all enjoying your week and managing to find some time to "BREATHE". Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Giraffes Can Stitch & A Book Review!

OK ... so did you read my bog title and decide that I had finally misplaced the last few marbles left in my marble bag? Possibly that IS the case ... but in this instance there is a good reason for my odd blog title! :0)

You see ... every second Friday night, the lovely Marion opens up her shop's workroom for a Sit N Sew evening from 7pm til midnight. It's just $15 and we all work on our own projects and sit, stitch and chat while we are treated to a DELICIOUS supper and coffee. (If you're local and interested in joining us, you MUST ring the shop and book a spot, as numbers are limited by space.) You may recall me explaining earlier in the year that I've never really joined a sewing group before cos I've never found anywhere that I 'fitted'. The Friday night gals are a wild, woolly and wacky bunch who've made me feel right at home and we always have a blast. Stay with me here ... I'm getting to the giraffe! :0)

So ... this week, we were all settling in for a quiet (???) night of stitching, when the door swung open and in came a GIRAFFE!!! I'm not kidding! It's not some strange variation of the old "A horse walked into a bar ..." joke!! I have photographic evidence ...

See!!! I HAVEN'T lost my last marble ... but you're probably right in assuming there's a hole in the bag! Tee! Hee! Hee! OK ... so it wasn't a REAL Giraffe ... that would just be SILLY! How on earth would a REAL giraffe duck its head low enough to fit through the door ... honestly! :0)

It was the inimitable Nikki Tervo of Nikki Tervo Buttons and Brandy Gully Designs in her new 'onesie'. Nikki found herself  'in the neighbourhood, saw the lights on' and joined our fun. Great to catch up Nikki! :0) And we also got to take a peek at her latest BOM ... VERY pretty!! As always, we had a great time chatting and laughing ... and we even managed a bit of stitching. Thanks for having us at your place, Marion! :0)

OK ... to the second half of my post title ... a book review. When I recently popped in to visit blogging buddy Jenny from Elefantz, she was telling us about the latest issue of her e-zine ...

(borrowed from Jenny's blog)

Not only does this issue include some lovely original designs by clever-clogs Jenny, it also includes a profile feature of another of my good blogging buddies, the gorgeous Kerryanne from Woodberry Designs/Shabby Art Boutique ...

(photo borrowed from Kerryanne's blog!)

... and a book review of her first e-book (she's written three now!!) "The Creative Mumpreneur".

 I left a comment on Jenny's post to say how wonderful I thought Kerryanne's e-book was ... and Jenny asked if I'd like to do a short book review of it for her to include in her e-zine. So of course I said ... YES! LOVE TO! :0) So if you buy a copy of this issue of  Jenny's e-zine, you'll get a few words from me, as well as learning more about my very first and dearest blogging buddy ... the lovely Kerryanne! :0) And Jenny has also invited me to be her featured designer in an issue of her e-zine later in the year ... stay tuned! :0)

Righto ... I think that's it from me today ... except for a GENTLE reminder to OPAM gals that you need to email my Sweet Partner In Crime, Sweet Peg, or me with your month's tally of finished projects if you want to be included in this month's random prize draw. Sweet Peg and I have already done a blog hop, but if you hadn't got around to updating your blog list yet, just drop one of us a quick email with your tally ... I'll give you a couple more days to catch up before I do the draw.

But for now, I'm off to play Polly and put the kettle on for a cuppa before I finally make myself sit down and work on writing pattern instructions for my newest pattern "Birdie Bunting". GROAN!! I'm really pleased with how the three 'Birdie Bunting' projects have turned out, but it means there are THREE projects needing instructions ... SIGH!! I'd better get cracking, hadn't I. maybe I need Chookyblue to crack her organiser's whip at me to get me motivated! Tee! Hee! Hee! Hope you've all had a great weekend and that the coming week includes some  pockets of "YOU" time so you can put your feet up, relax and create. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Stolen Fruit Tastes Sweet!!

Well ... another week has gone whizzing by and I haven't really achieved very much. I've been back at work after my two week break and playing catch up ... as you always do when you have time off work! :0) However, my Beloved Geek Boy has still been on holiday and working around the house, so the chaos has continued. The funny part is ... I thought I'd escape the noise, clutter, disruption, paint fumes and warnings of "Watch Out! That paint is wet!" by being out of the house and back at work. It turns out the maintenance boys at work were scheduled to refresh the paint in our community hall ... where we have smoko and where the loo is ... so I was STILL getting those wet paint warnings!!! You'll be happy to know I avoided all wet paint and didn't end up with a skunk's white stripe on my jumpers! Tee! Hee! Hee!

So ... with very little to share with you from this week's sewing efforts, I thought I'd share another of the adventures Mum and I had together when she and Dad were visiting last week. We were out in our back yard and Mum pointed to our side fence and said, "There're a lot of oranges from your neighbour's tree hanging over your fence. We should make some jam." Hmmm ... hadn't really noticed (isn't if funny how you don't notice things right in front of your nose sometimes! Tee! Hee! Hee!) but the jam sounded like a good idea. So out came the step ladder ...

Here's Mum up the ladder saying ... "You are NOT taking a photo of me up here!!" There is no photo of me standing at the bottom of the ladder giggling as I put my phone back in my pocket! Tee! Hee! Hee! We decided Mum should go up the ladder cos I provided a larger and softer landing spot if she overbalanced! :0) After collecting all of the oranges we could reach from our side of the fence, we were ready to start jam making ...

Don't they look tasty? Do you like my fruit-filching basket? It's quite an old one that a friend of my grandparents' brought back from New Guinea for my Grandma many years ago. It's a lovely roomy and sturdy basket ... just right for raiding the neighbour's fruit tree! Tee! Hee! Hee! So ... some time spent in the kitchen with two of us chopping and chatting (OK ... maybe more chatting than chopping, but we got there in the end!!) add some sugar, a bit of water and boil in a large saucepan and ...

VOILA!! Home-made orange jam. And let me tell you it is YUMMO!!! Our recipe ... well ... we honestly didn't HAVE a recipe! :0) Our "formula" for those wanting to make a batch of orange jam was cup for cup, fruit and sugar (we used four cups of fruit and four cups of sugar) and half the amount of water (we used two cups) plus the juice of one lemon to help it all set. Pop everything into a nice big saucepan over low heat til you melt the sugar, then bring it up to a good low boil until the fruit rind has softened and the jam starts to thicken quickly when you put some on a saucer and sit it in the freezer for a few minutes ... like most jam testing.

Oh ... and in case you're worried that the Police are going to come looking for Mum and me to arrest us on fruit theft charges ... you'll be pleased to know that I rang our neighbour to confess and offer him a bottle of jam! :0) Not only did he accept the jam with thanks ... he gave me some more oranges from HIS side of the fence!  So I guess there'll be another batch of orange jam cooked up this weekend. Hmm ... I think I'll try adding some diced preserved ginger to this batch ... YUM! :0)

Has your week been a productive one on the stitching front? I'm hoping to get a bit more done over the weekend, but OPAM gals ... It's that time of the month when you need to update your sidebar finishes lists and email Sweet Peg or me with your tally of finishes. Even if you didn't have any finishes, a quick email to Sweet Peg or me to let us know would be a great help. We'll be blog-hopping in the next couple of days so stay tuned for the random prize winners.

Okey doke ... that's about it from me for today. I'm off to play Polly and put the kettle on for a cuppa to enjoy a bit of a read before bed. I'm catching up with some Angelic stitching friends tomorrow, so need a good sleep to have sufficient energy for a play date! :0) Hope your week has been fantastic and that your weekend includes some time to do something that makes you smile! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS