Wish Flower Studios

catch up!

2011-04-18T00:02:00.000+10:00

Hey there,

It has been so long since my last post, I barely know where to start!
What I can definitely say is how awed I am with bloggers who can keep up with daily or more postings.

The regional conference in Canberra was good, I'm not sure if I'd say it was amazing, but perhaps I need to find my groove! The national convention is coming up in Melbourne, but definitely out of budget.
I've held a couple of card classes at the house for a few girls and we've had a fabulous time, the next one is in early May and I'm teaching a techniques class, faux silk & faux linen.
Early November I held a fundraiser night for Women's Cancer and we all had a brilliant time, there's already been girls asking me to make sure that we have another one this year, and beyond!

A friend of mine who also does Stampin'Up is holding an "Australia's biggest morning tea" in late May, that I've volunteered to help with. I'm really looking forward to it, I already have a card in mind to teach!

The jewellery is still going full steam ahead, and I've finally listed a couple of items on etsy!

Wish Flower Studios Etsy Shop

I was fortunate to attend and show at a local fashion show for a charity called SHINE that helps teenage girls through those awkward teenage years, on many levels, such as emotional & physical.

The shop that has been displaying a few of my items planned a party for their VIP customers in November, but postponed until last month. The day before the party was to happen our suburb got a deluge of rain and everything flooded, houses, streets, schools, roads were closed, kids were stranded in schools, houses were destroyed, cars swept away, needless to say the party has been postponed again!

One of my friends has a stall at a local craft market which is really popular, she has invited me to put a couple of pieces in her stall, I was hoping to go this weekend, but it didn't work out. The next one is May 15th. Cross your fingers for me!

Chatty is now in kindergarten (on easter holidays atm) and seems to be enjoying himself, I'm not sure how much he's actually learning though, time will tell. This coming term he finally goes for the full 5 days a week, which will free me up 2 days a week since.....Mischief is in preschool 2 days a week!
Mondays have become my catch-up day for everything and I'd earmarked Wednesdays as my school volunteer day, reading in the early party of the morning with the Kindy class, and Art in the Highschool afterwards.

Sometime I really need to get back to my painting. In the meantime I continue to quilt, sew and have started cross stitching for the first time. I don't think it will become a part of my regular routine, I love the picture I'm working on, but that's about where I draw the line!

Mr WFS & I have been talking about a short vacation soon, and tossing ideas around trying to keep the time short, and budget low while also coming up with an adventure.
We've made no decisions yet, but... we might finally be going on a real life long adventure next year and I am simply beside myself with glee!

Regionals

2010-10-05T14:42:00.000+11:00

I have a regional conference coming up for Stampin'Up at the end of the month. Usually ppl will take card fronts to swap with other attendees, to inspire and show how the materials/tools can be used. I've been recommended to bring about 50. After MUCH thought, I've finally come up with a design, here's one element of it!

That's 50, hand punched, pieced, and sponged cardinals!

A new venture

2010-09-06T17:20:00.003+10:00

Some photos of my recent jewellery creations

Happy Bird-day

2010-08-02T20:34:00.002+10:00

Two very fun cards.

Cased with modifications from Mary Marsh

Stamps: Pun Fun

Paper: Garden Green, Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, White Whisper

Inks: Basic Black, Garden Green, More Mustard, Pacific Point, Pink Pirouette, Tangerine Tango

Accessories: Blender Pens, Snail, Stampin' Pastels, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Love this card! Cased from the Canadian 2009-2010 Catalogue, Page 80. I picked up this set the last time I was over home. Some minor variations due to not having the accent stamps used in the original.

Stamps: Extreme Surfer, Circle Circus, Basic Phrases

Paper: Old Olive, Pacific Point, Crumb Cake, White Whisper

Inks: Baja Blue, Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Pacific Point, Wild Wasabi, Versamark

Accessories: Embossing Buddy, Heat Tool, Snail, Clear Embossing powder, Cutter Kit, Stampin'

Dimensionals, Stamping Sponges, Powder Pal, Stamp-a-ma-jig

new things

2010-07-25T21:33:00.000+10:00

So many things have happened lately.

First off the surgery was a complete success, I've experienced no dizziness or nausea. Friday past I had my second mapping (programming) appt. My speech recognition is already at 100% and this is from sentences with no visual cues, lipreading included ;)

The bathrooms are finally back on track, thankfully with a new renovator who is definitely a world of difference to the past guy. The whole job should be done in 4 weeks instead of 4 months.

Unfortunately the spa bath we ordered from Mitre 10 is not what we ordered and this little mistake wasn't noticed until after installation, so I have the unrivaled joy of going in this week and trying to figure out what they are going to do to make up for their second major mistake with this bath. I am so not impressed with them!!

The old spa bath is almost out of the house. Salvos is due to pick up some older furniture and bits and pieces on Tuesday.

The carpet in the spare bedroom was laid about a weeek and a half ago, my fancy light with thanks from Buyster Lighting, is finally up. Their service was incredibly good, especially after I made a mistake in the first order, they were very gracious and happy to exchange the fixture. Photos to come.

We got a cheap bed frame from Spotlight, unfortunately they oversold the bed. Originally they offered us the trashed floor model at the same price as the new ones, which I understandably rejected. So tomorrow I'll be ordering their newer version, which they've offered to us for a reduced price.

Mr Chatty is now in school an additional day a week since he clearly needs more stimulation. he was incredibly difficult over the holidays, being destructive, lying, whining and generally unpleasant. He has also started dancing which is so exciting to me! He's taking Ballet, Jazz an dTap, his classes are an half an hour each one right after the other, Saturday mornings (no more sleeping in for me!!) He has recitals in the beginning of December.
He's also requested we go to church on Sundays, so I took him this morning, I think he was looking at it as a chance to see his friends another day. However, most of his school friends go to the Anglican Churches. He didn't want to go to the kids portion today, but he's looking forward to it next week.

Mischief is really developing into his own little person, and he's a quirky, fearless and moody fellow who keeps everyone around him on their toes.

For me, I finally got back to the gym today, I'm looking forward to a couple more days this week, working with and around everything else we have on. Thankfully Mr WFS has worked with the bathroom guy before so he trusts him a bit more than some of the other people we've had in the house before, which has given me a little more freedom to do my own thing. Including volunteer at the highschool art studios at Chatty's school and...

The biggest newest thing for me is that I have finally, after a few years, decided to bite the bullet and sign up as a demonstrator for Stampin Up! I am so excited that I'll be able to share and in some ways teach some craft to other people through the parties and events. There's conventions to attend to meet other demonstrators and learn new techniques too! So exciting!!

Success!

2010-06-18T19:29:00.004+10:00

So far so good, my surgery went well. Added benefits, I'm not dizzy, nor am I calling for Huey in the bottom of the bucket. For me this is a HUGE success. So it looks like the whole procedure will be a small blip in the routine instead of the predicted ENORMOUS and highly dreaded one. I am very happy!

The external device ( looks like a hearing aid with a tag on it, but no earmould) will be fitted in about 3 weeks.

Art class at the school went really well too, some massive issues with registration, (during the stage 5 - which is gr 9-10 silk screening) that I can now hope to address after my two week moratorium on driving, as long as the dizziness keeps at it's current non level.

Artsy

2010-06-09T21:39:00.002+10:00

The art teacher from my sons school called up today and we had a bit of a chat, and I'm terribly excited to say that I'm going to be going into volunteer once next week for sure and hopefully the following day, since that class is the silk screening class which I would LOVE to help out with. The class I will be helping with is doing 3D paper mache sea creatures. Unfortunately due to my rescheduled surgery next Friday I can only go next week.

I've been looking into what sort of university courses I would need to take to teach art to kids or adults. I haven't gotten too far yet, since I need to pop up to the uni to talk to some people to see what my best route would be.

Graciousness

2010-06-01T10:44:00.002+10:00

There are a couple of people lately in my life that have bucked the trend of being disagreeable and surly. I am incredibly grateful for their thoughtfulness and kindness.

One of the people is a lady who we sold our old spa bath to on ebay. Unfortunately between my surgery, the problems in the renovations downstairs and one of the bathroom guys other clients suffering a stroke and needing a quick bathroom upgrade to allow her accessibility, the projected removal of the spa bath (or jetted tub) has been thrown behind by at least a month. I expected the buyer to rant and rave and be generally nasty, I had been stressing over letting her down and the expectation of a nasty response. I couldn't have been more wrong. She was so gracious and and relaxed about the whole thing. It's such a relief to deal with nice people who don't raise their hackles the minute something goes amiss.

There are a couple of other people who have pleasantly surprised me lately as well, one of which I hope to share the details with you very soon about...

3 weeks

2010-05-31T16:06:00.002+10:00

After 3 weeks of being sick I desperately hope I'm on the road to recovery, I've felt horrible and terribly fatigued. Which is why you haven't heard a peep from me. The doctor diagnosed bronchitis and has given me some loverly drugs which I'm desperately hoping will mean good health for me!

Everything is backed up since I've spent most of my waking hours with my bum parked on the couch.

The bathroom renos are stalled atm since the fellow doing the job needed to go do some work for a lady who had a stroke. There's quite a few details to be ironed out before he starts upstairs.

We had the spa bath delivered today and it is just another mistake to be added to the long list of problems that have arisen since the beginning of the whole renovation, this has been one of the most problematic renovations we've ever had, and we've had some doozies, like the discovery of a septic tank while doing landscaping work the very same day that council was coming to inspect the location of the footing for the deck extension, which was to land directly on top of the open septic tank....or the kitchen countertop laminate which wouldn't adhere to the countertop itself and a new sheet had to be shipped from another state since it was actually discontinued and that was the last sheet that we could find countrywide.

If the drugs work, you'll see some more of me as my energy returns and the infection gets flattened by them instead of me getting flattened by the infection.

Surgery

2010-05-20T22:22:00.002+10:00

The surgery has been postphoned, poor prof had to go into the hospital himself for surgery. He's had a bad run of it this year.

I, on the other hand am so relieved. I had become a radiating little stress balterRyere is so much going at the moment, and do much to be done. So now, I am making lists of all the things that need to be done before I go in, and actively conquering it!

A little something

2010-05-18T23:49:00.005+10:00

A couple of weeks ago a lovely lady from www.buyster.com.au contacted me about a special something, that I'm hoping might fit in right in with our current renovations. I had a terribly hard time choosing just the right thing since they have so many amazing things and I can honestly very reasonably priced, and yes, I have done the legwork, way too much of it! Take a look at the entertainment units, so many choices here, and they deliver to your door. I wish I'd known about them before we trekked into the big city to a certain Swedish box company, it would have been so much easier.
No arranging kids to be looked after so that the carseats could be left behind and then watching the husband swear left right and centre that said items would not fit the car (he was of course wrong, we women can eyeball lots of stuff and figure out exactly how to make it fit, even if it means that our knees are sitting under our chins.)

Countdown to surgery 36 hours! eeks!

Next time I 'see' you I'll have a swollen head, literally ;)

Holly Jolly Swap Blocks

2010-05-13T22:17:00.004+10:00

I don't have much of my own quilting to show you at the moment, since I'm slogging away at the last snowman stitchery, it's a whopper, I'm hoping to be done by the end of winter.
The holly jolly blocks arrived around the beginning of April, just as we were beginning to start the renovations, of which the downstairs area is supposed to be finished by the end of tomorrow, here's hoping!

The blocks were a definite mix, I've tried to group them together as best as possible.

This group includes my own submission.

The softer colours

One of my favourite blocks and definitely one of the ones that would have taken the longest since it's needleturn. Isn't he cute!

Cute snowmen, buttons to be added for detailing after quilting.

Another favourite, the plum pudding is very cheerful. Love the stripy dish!

Which ones are your favourites, colour or pattern?

Some news, I was going to post mid last week, that I had put my name on the waiting list mid March, (late March?) and had been told that it would be about 6-8 months until my surgery. On Thursday last week we received a phone call to let me know that my cochlear surgery had been scheduled for May 21st, and did I want to go ahead at this time? EEK!! As if we didn't have enough going on with the renovations! Not knowing when the next available date might be, I jumped in with both feet. Talk about being ahead of schedule!

If you don't see much of me in the next while it'll be because;

- I'm trying to get all the final details sorted for the upstairs bathrooms, since I won't be driving for at least 2 weeks after surgery, if not longer, I'm hoping not longer!!

- sorting out stuff for the kids during that time period, my in-laws who now live locally will be a big help in this regard

- maybe sorting some meals out? at the very least making sure that the pantry is figured out and flush!

- general stuff that I might need to have done in that two week period afterwards, I will be trying to get most of it done beforehand on the off chance that I'm too dizzy to even read, which I'm desperately hoping won't be the case since I live off reading!!

- stamping up catalogue launch party at a friends tomorrow night

- 3rd birthday party Saturday for a good friend's son

- Preschool picnic & church service Sunday, at which I've volunteered to direct some of the kids craft.

- there's probably more that I'm forgetting, my head has been spinning trying to figure it all out so that we can just slideit into our lives, rather than having it stop everything dead in it's tracks.

Normally we stay home on Wednesday's, yesterday was no exception, what was an exception was how the day went. Normally the day melts down into a horrible mess, with some stuff done around the house, but lots and lots of yelling and fighting and is generally unpleasant.

Yesterday was amazing, it embodies what I had in mind for our Wednesdays, by no means am I going to try to say that there wasn't a single voice raised or anything like that, we aren't perfect.

We baked cupcakes, the boys coloured, painted a tad, built Lego towers and stores, Chatty and I did some piano together (we're both learning, as our schedules and moods allow) we danced to music, James Blunt, oo how lovely is the sound! Chatty spun around with his hands in fifth position, inspiring me to try to show him all five foot and arm positions, he did all of the positions with help and even attempted a couple of demi plies in first and second positions. Boy was I rusty though, first and second positions came back fairly, but I just discovered while looking at the demi plies, that I mucked up the third arm position. He seems interested in trying out a class, so I'm hoping I can find an afterschool (or wed?) class next week for him to go for a play. I am hoping that the girls in his class won't be snarky...the last thing I need is for him to be turned off of the idea by a few girls!

Geocaching and more

2010-05-03T11:05:00.004+10:00

Yesterday Hubby had quite a bit of work to do and I've been feeling a little stir crazy with the reno's on, so the boys and I went for a long walk. We recorded the co-ordinates for a couple of geocaches and set out. Chatty found a soccer ball well hidden amongst some bushes, so we picked that up, and took it with us down to the first location where we had some lunch while searching high and low for the cache, we found the location and all the hints, but no joy on the cache. Mischief & Chatty played soccer on the field nearby. Mischief is really good at dribbling the ball, natural skills!

This area is currently under development and hopefully we'll see many of the features that were recommended by the group I sat on, installed. If so, we'll have an Ampitheatre, basketball hoops, cricket pitches, junior & senior skateparks, an early childhood playspace including dry creek beds, large boulders, tunnels, an older playspace with zip lines, one of those giant spider web domes, a small water park connected to the pool water, a fully self sustainable community garden, dirt mounds and trails for mountain bikers, etc. If the council really gets behind the plans, this park could become an absolute Mecca for the community, instead of the barren Teenage garbage heap it sadly currently is.

We headed on towards cache #2 along a walking & bike trail that I adore, it's punctuated with a couple of playgrounds as well which appeals to the boys.

Last time we went on this trail I promised Chatty & myself to bring sketchbooks - you can see Chatty here with his. Mischief demanded to get out and walk. He found flowers and ran and had a great time.

I did some sketching, which I haven't done for years, so it's a bit basic. Here's a photo of the general area I sketched and the sketch. I'm happy I got a chance to do it!

The trail has some many features, and such lovely scenery.

Hubby joined us a bit later in the day as you can tell from the lighting, he got to help try to find cache #2, no luck. The GPS program recommended by the Geocaching group for the iPhone really wasn't very accurate. I hope it's just the user! I'm going to give it a few more tries, especially since I finally managed to get Chatty to understand that he actually had to search for the cache, no one was going to arrive at the locations, and hand it to us!! All in all it was a beautiful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Mischief gets Mischievious

2010-05-03T01:02:00.002+10:00

On the 12th of March we finally moved Mischief out of his crib into a bed. He did really well the first couple of nights and was very excited to be in a big bed. After the novelty wore off he begun to take advantage and was in and out of bed more times than we could keep up with, he was also leaving his room at the crack of dawn before anyone else was awake and getting into Mischief!

The day after Chatty's birthday, at 7am he was up again, roaming around the house. Hubby was woken by a loud thump, upon investigation he discovered my iron at the far end of the family room lying flat on the floor. Later he realised that there was a warm spot on the carpet, which I simply figured must have been where Mischief had been sitting. While dressing the monster I noticed he was wincing, but he still hadn't cried once. Looking at his body I found burns, bad burns on the inside of his right wrist and the side of his thumb. Until this point we'd been pretty complacent, simply figuring he had just been playing pretend.

The doctors wasn't open yet and the radio doctor (does overnight house calls) was closed, we were in that no service period...

The doctor determined 2nd degree burns, to be bandaged until the 2nd degree part had healed enough to block out bacteria etc.

Here's his first bandage, which peeled away in a less than a day. The bandages became more and more elaborate to try to protect him, while also going with no tape since he screamed more about the removal of the bandages than anything else!

A few days later, some healing has started, thank goodness!

You can still see a scar from the 2nd degree burn now, a month and a half later, and he still makes sure everyone else sees it. He still points to the floor, his arm and the iron and says they're hot. Hopefully that sticks with him. What's a bit worrying is that his favourite toy at Chatty's preschool is the pretend ironing board and iron, so he hasn't been scarred for life by any means, which in some ways is good, but in other ways makes me wonder what he would do next time he saw a real iron out.

FYI the original iron was actually cold, and had cooled overnight from some sewing I had been doing, it had been too hot to put away in the linen cupboard. He had carried it all the way across the room, unravelled the cord, unplugged the TV and then started playing. I had never predicted he would do anything that silly. I would never leave a hot iron in reach of kids, but didn't think twice about what he might do with a cold one!

The following Saturday morning he was up roaming early in the morning again, and quietly I might add since Hubby is a very light sleeper. He rearranged the dishes in the dishwasher, mving the glasses from above his head to the lower rack across the slate floors, and the cutlery basket with the knives in it, above his head onto the upper rack.

He now, for his own safety has a latch on the outside of his bedroom door for when he's sleeping. If his mischieviousness had been predictable sorts of things we probably would have simply childproofed the house more, but since he's picking such wild things to do, it seemed impossible to figure out what he might pick next.

Basement Improvements

2010-05-03T00:22:00.005+10:00

Another project we've been working on is our basement. When we first moved in 7 1/2 years ago, we had all sorts of ideas for the space downstairs which consisted of this classy toliet space, there were no walls or ceiling, the toilet was plastic, it leaked frequently, and the sink was definitely a hand basin at best. Since the ceiling was unfinished, the area was constantly dusty and dirty from whatever the winds brought up the hill.

The toilet never got used and the room the the previous owners had dug out of the hill slowly became just a storage space and unused gym equipment, the corridor leading to the toilet space had a grubby workbench and an equally grubby gardening bench opposite.

As you can see we're not finished yet, but our reno guy has told us that it should only take about one more week.

Bathroom space - with doors, walls and even a ceiling! The block in the back couldn't be gotten rid of since it's actually part of a retaining wall for some stairs on the other side, weird I know. So we've incorporated it in to the shower space, and it will serve as a seat, which will be perfect for when one needs to shave their legs.

The builder planned on putting the window on the right in, which sounded great since it meant bringing extra daylight into a light poor area. For some bizarre reason, his initial plans were to actually wall in the old window though! For obvious reasons we changed his plans, which he complained about the extra work, but that's life!

The corridor leading to the new bathroom has been converted into a laundry space, the machines are slated to be moved tomorrow.

Unfortunately this photo doesn't really show this room well, but this is the old gym/storage heap, we had two of the support poles removed, and replaced with a beam, the last two will just have to go into a cupboard once we get that far. It's to be the new guest room. The walls will be the same sandy off white that is in the laundry corridor. Floors will be a darker sandy carpetting, again, that won't be happening right away!

And lastly the existing laundry room is likely going to become an office, which I'm hoping will really help hubby. Right now he works upstairs in our bedroom, and the kids can be very distracting.

Chatty's circus Extravaganza

2010-04-30T20:57:00.011+10:00

For Chatty's 5th birthday party, we went with the circus theme inspired by the phoenix cards we picked up at my friends' "Home party" thanks to this amazing lady I barely had to even think of anything it was all laid out for me already!

I made these pennants, the bowties, and the hats are simply the cheap ones with a pompom hot glue to the top! The photo booths, and games were all homemade too. I picked up the noses, animal masks, tattoos, plastic goldfish, circus loot boxes, photo cut out and the very popular body boppers from the Oriental trading company. I'm fortunate enough to have friends in the states that I could have the items shipped to who then shipped them on to me, to circumvent the extreme shipping prices that American Companies charge anybody outside of the country.

I didn't get photos of everything since I was a bit busy, the weatehr was all over the place, we had light showers at one point which meant everything had to be brought in, unfortunately the weiners for the hotdogs were cooking on the stove at the same time, when I got back to them all the skins had split, and the whole lot were a very unappetising pink mess, thankfully Hubs had insisted on sausages for the adults, we had enough to cover the kids appetites too!

Food was kept pretty simple for a change, some candy, popcorn, cupcakes, cake, watermelon, BBQ'd sausages, drink was simply lemon cordial or water.

Games, were kid led with the exception of the pinata, that Chatty, myself and a lovely friend from Canada, who is now an expat herself made together, we had the goldfish toss, a stack of clear cups with a mix of plastic goldfish or goldfish shaped envelopes with bubble bath gel inside, the kids were given a goldcoin to toss, whichever cup it landed in was theirs to take home, there was a basketball throw, a very small cardboard clown ring toss, the body boppers, plastic bowling pins, and lastly a clown face with holes where the nose, mouth and eyes should be for the kids to try to throw balls in. We also had Chatty's new trampoline set up, the sandbox and the cubby house were all available.

I wish I could say I had made the cake you see in the photos, it was amazing. One of my friends made it. Isn't it beautiful?

As much work as this party was to put together, it has gotten my creative juices flowing and now I'm dreaming up all sorts of other theme related party fun, eg -

dinosaur - use the sandbox to recreate a dinosaur dig;

robot - spray paint all the empty cereal, yoghurt etc bits and pieces silver and then set the kids loose on them to make their own desktp robot or even their own costumes;

rodeo/cowboy - make stick horse with wrapping paper tubes and self coloured horse heads, wool/yarn for reins and then hold stick horse races! ( I already have a cowprint fabric in brown & white for the photobooth for this one!)

Needless I can't wait for Mischief's 5th birthday!

Another recap

2010-04-30T20:51:00.003+10:00

So many things have been going on in the last few months, so instead of doing everything in one post I'm going to break some it all up!

The last couple of months

2010-03-10T22:38:00.004+11:00

The lovely Homemade pasta I made the other night, thanks to my amazing new mixer!

The Holly Jolly Blocks I designed, the horrible computer drawing I did (I am NOT good at freehand computer graphics!) and the finished block, with the 9 patches that were included in the swap. I went for something a bit more summery and less traditional than the usual green & red. If recollection serves me, the shifted colour pallette was inspired by a Christmas item I saw by Hot Possum.

A few of the cards made in the last few months at parties, workshops and a couple I've come up with myself. I'm really enjoying using the sweet treat cups from stampin' up.

The purple card uses Versamark Resist & The Brayer.

These three cards were done at workshop hosted by Vanessa Webb.

This sweet little stamp set is one of the ones I picked up over the Christmas Holidays in Vancouver. I probably need to use markers on the bugs instead of chalk, but I'm happy with it for now.

We're planning on a circus themed party for Chatty's 5th Birthday, I picked up some invitations, which is where we got the circus inspiration, at a friends Phoenix Cards party and quickly realised that the package of 10 wouldn't be enough, so instead of buying another set, Chatty and I sat down and did our best to case the Phoenix ones, I think we did a good job!

Today while making these two magnifying glass cards, Chatty made himself an elephant - cute isn't it!

cooking

2010-03-08T20:43:00.003+11:00

Many projects on the go atm, including some handstitching that I can't wait to be through with.

But the best thing is my fabulous new Kitchenaid Mixer, so far I've made pizza dough, banana bread, pasta. I'm finally enjoying cooking again, which is huge for me, since I've been hating it so much lately.

Random thoughts

2010-02-13T14:52:00.002+11:00

Random Thought 1 - I'm currently watching the Olympics Opening Ceremonies, they are so good! Doesn't hurt any that they are boosting my pride in my hometown. I really enjoyed (bear with me on the descriptive part instead of proper names - there's no captioning) the Blizzard with the Aurora borealis (Northern Lights) that finished off with the orcas swimming in the ocean culminating with the native symbols for the wildlife, that was brilliant!
The Punk River dance is an absolute visual treat, of joy and spirit.

Random Thought 2 - Meanwhile my heart breaks along with so many others for the family and teamates of the Gregorian Luger. I had a look at the photos of where he hit, and wow, I'm not surprised at all that someone might hit a pole, they look like there might be 4 ft in between each pole, at best. I desperately hope that his death was not in vain and that this will lead to some serious design changes, in theis day and age I would have thought that there would be a much safer way to design a tube/run meant to contain a human hurtling along at the same speed as most cars on the highway. I have read many nasty comments, regarding the sport and how any participant should expect to be injured/die if engaged in it, I can't fathom why anyone feels the need to be so heartless.

Random Thought 3 - On that same note of heartlessness, someone I've known for a few years is on the outs with her husband and has been quite scathing in her posts and info on Facebook. Her most recent post was to complain about her husband for having the nerve to send her flowers with a printed card which he'd ordered for her online. Personally, not that I am complaining, it simply is, I cannot remember the last time my Hubby got me flowers and I'm not expecting any, but I'd like to think even if I was annoyed with him and he made the effort and paid the money to get me some I'd at the very least try to acknowledge that with a smidgen of grace. Even though it will likely bite me in the backside I did try to point out to her that she was lucky, only to be usurped by another ungrateful woman who was filled with the same sort of festering hate toward her husband for the very same reasons.
We are so quick to point out our partners failings, especially so when angry with them, frequently I hear stories (and I'm sure have told the odd few) where the woman complains about how little effort their spouse puts forth, and yet when things are going sour, even if it may seem like a pathetic last ditch effort, these ladies are being so vile. It's no wonder so many marriages do not work.

Random Thought 4 - Mischief is INHALING water, and it's not all that hot today. I'm starting to feel a bit concerned.

Random Thought 5 - Quilting has been on the backburner for a while, but I have a couple of deadlines looming so need to get back into the groove.

Random Thought 6 - Studio is almost 90% done!!

Random Thought 7 - Working hard to acquire and make all the things needed for Chatty's 5th birthday and have got almost everything needed, now to make the bowties and pennants.

Random Thought 8 - In-Laws have bought a house 5 mins drive away. I have mixed feelings about this, see below.

Random Thought 9 - Cochlear surgery is likely going ahead, I have been told that my balance may be at risk for 2-3 months - which likely means no driving, great timing for the in-laws to moving down!

We're back!

2010-01-24T00:43:00.002+11:00

Hi there, sorry for my long absence. We've been busy. Since my last post we celebrated Mischief's 2nd birthday, travelled home to Canada for 7 weeks, where we caught up with family & friends for Christmas & New Years, shortly after we returned, DH and I went up to Sydney for a quick jaunt. We spent a couple of nights at Star City which was fabulous, they upgraded us and we ended up with a couple of unexpected extras.

We saw Mamma Mia and I had a couple of tests done to explore whether or not I'm eligible for the 2nd cochlear. The first test went well, since I only succeeded in 8% word recognition in the right ear. With my left ear (with the cochlear) I succeeded in 68% recognition, apparently the average for cochlear users is 38% so the cochlear is going really well for me, but the hearing aid, not so much! The second test I'm a bit more apprehensive about, it was a balance test to see how much the left cochlear had compromised the left ear, if it's too much then they won't interfere with the right ear, I figured that it would go very smoothly, unfortunately it didn't go as well as I had expected, but I haven't heard anything yet, so I just need to wait and see.

So now that we're home, we're slowly getting back into the swing of things. Hopefully I'll have some photos soon.

New Hearing Aid

2009-11-11T23:26:00.003+11:00

Warning this is a LONG post!

On the Friday before Canberra, my right hearing aid a Phonak PowerZoom P4 AZ, started to cut in and out. It's had a good run I got it in 2001, I used to wear two of them, but I had a cochlear implant in Feb 2004, so between the two of them they lasted 8 years, which is just about on par since the average life span is 4 years.

I have quite a significant loss which has been progressing for many years and I'm now left with profound hearing loss. The hearing aid I've been using, hasn't been giving me much help with speech , but has been useful to discern what direction sounds are coming from and a few other minor sounds.

Last Monday I went to the audiologist to start looking for a new aid. After testing the salesman - yes, salesman since he was 70% salesman & 30% audiologist which annoyed me to no end, recommended the Phonak Naida IX with a whopping price tag, which blew us away.

It was supposed to be ready for me to pick-up on Friday, Thursday I rec'd a call saying that the salesman had never fitted a Naida before, so he wanted to have a more experienced audiologist there at the same time. I was rescheduled for today.

After 2 hours of fiddling neither audiologist was able to get the volume & sound quality to a manageable level at the same time to make the price of the darned thing worthwhile. The seasoned audiologist was much more personable than the salesman and asked me questions about the cochlear etc. He came up with the idea to get in a Phonak rep to see if he/she might be able to adjust the HA to suit my needs, so now it's a waiting game to see when the three schedules (if not 4) all coincide.

At this time I'm starting to think that maybe the next logical step is another implant. I love my implant, it gives me better sound quality than I ever experienced with any HA's. When first confronted with the implant idea at the age of 19, it terrified me, I had visions of Frankenstein with huge bolts coming from the side of my head with the wires attached to a cumbersome & annoying body aid like the original HA's from the 70's.

When I actually did discover that the hearing in my left ear - the dominant ear was gone, I was devastated, I had moved to Australia only a couple of years beforehand and one of the things I had been more or less forced to write in my immigration application was that I wasn't moving here to get a cochlear & that I had no intentions of getting one for a long time, infact my ENT's letter said something about 10-15 years at the earliest. No one had predicted an infection that would wipe out almost everything I had left in less than 5 minutes. it happened so fast that I automatically blamed the HA, and sent it in for repair not once, but twice, after the second time of it coming back and not working we tested the hearing... 4 weeks later. The damage was done, the ENT prescribed steroids were useless.

After many tests, including one for the auditory nerve - ouch! psychological, balance, etc we waited and waited to see if I was eligible, I was sure they were going to reject me based on my immigration paperwork. One month before Christmas my right ear crashed... I was petrified, I'd never learned sign language, I had been mainstreamed my entire life, even if I had learned it, I'd would have known ASL not AUSLAN. Thankfully I still had the stroids from the previous episode which I took immediately, the next morning some hearing had already been regained, I likened it to coming up from deep water into the shallows, I only lost 10 dcB that time.

A short time later we found that I had been accepted for the cochlear, and it has been the best thing that has ever happened to me when it comes to my hearing. I have said before that I wish I had taken a hot poker to my ears years ago, the difference is astonishing, I found myself able to hear where my dog was from the jingling of her tags, and so many other extras which I now take for granted.

In some ways I hope the hearing aid doesn't work out, there are so many benefits to cochlear, sound quality, no earmold, no more or far less ear infections, the external device doesn't need replacing as often, the running cost is higher since they chew through 3 or 4 depending on the model, batteries every 2-4 days.

One other silver lining that lies close to my heart is that if I no longer have any hearing to lose, since my type of loss (LVAS) is pressure susceptible, then I might actually be able to experience a natural birth with any other kids we choose to have. I had scheduled Caesareans with both my boys which were really good experiences, I cannot recommend my OB highly enough for scheduled C-sections, he did a lovely job, I was up & walking aorund with ease within 48hrs of both, mostly drug free, but I always wanted to have a very quiet, natural stressfree labour, this might be my chance.

Update - halloween party

2009-11-11T22:50:00.003+11:00

The Halloween Party went well, even though I spent the whole night before with the stomach bug that the boys had the week before. I was a little worried about how big it would be since so many people didn't bother to let me know that they weren't coming and being on a Saturday, I knew it had the potential to blow out of control with the addition of school age kids. So giving out invites the same week as the party worked in our favour in that respect since we ended up with only 5 families, in addition to ours, so it was a nice cosy group, the weather worked beautifully this year too, it was so nice out and not too hot that the kids played outside whenever they weren't eating! The planned craft & games have been put away for the next Halloween Party we have, since they weren't touched.
The food went well this year too, unlike the first year where I used all untried recipes that were cute and looked great - oooh boy did they taste FOUL! I decided that I wanted to send the kids home with caramel apples instead of the usual sugar laden, itsy cheapo toy filled loot bags. I knew that finding the right kind of caramel here was going to be an issue, so I mentioned to my mum that we'd all be thrilled if she could send over some candies, well she stumbled across these AMAZING sheets of carmel specifically for apples, they even included the sticks. I went from thinking I was going to need to make the caramel from scratch to simply wrapping an apple, putting a stick in and popping it into the oven, so fabulous!
The other treats were scrambled eyeballs - red jello, with a marshmallow & a blueberry floating on top, and scrambled monster brains, which were based on the popcorn balls recipe over at Pleasant Home. We used strawberry jello, squashed all up into the ball it looked a bit like brains, and it was fun! Jodi has hundreds of inspirational ideas, please go have a look!

The Joys of Kids

2009-11-09T10:50:00.002+11:00

Mischief has decided that his nose is a most excellent repository for small bits of cereal. This morning I had the immense pleasure of retrieving a Rice Crispy/Bubble from one snout only to need to dig around in the other one for cornflake pieces. I don't think I got it all since his snot is cornflake orange. JOY!

I'm still here

2009-11-01T14:49:00.002+11:00

Hi all,

I am still here, just have had quite a busy week leading up to the Kids Halloween party, a getaway weekend in Canberra, Mischief and I have have been sick but not at the same time.

I haven't picked up a needle all week so have had little to share on that front, but I will have to get crackingthis week to get the Christmas swap blocks & the Margaret's Hope Chest Quilt top done, amongst audiologist, optometrist, allergist appointments, Christmas Cards, and Mischief's Birthday Party Planning.

I expect my blog posts will be sparse over the next while, but if I find myself suitably inspired I imagine I'll be back with a vengenance.

Winner

2009-10-23T00:43:00.002+11:00

And the winner is.... Kate! I've sent you an email, go check your inbox!

Thank-you for all your insightful comments!

One day

2009-10-21T20:41:00.004+11:00

Was it ever hot today, after weeks of cool weather we hit 33C, the average seemed to hover around 30, a shock to the system when most days have been around 20C.

I'm currently working on the last two stitchery blocks in my Winter Wonderland Quilt from Crabapple Hill. The second one down on the left, the family one. The last one which I haven't even finished tracing yet, which is HUGE is that one at the top, to be honest I'm dreading it.

I'd almost forgotten how pleasant stitcheries can actually be, time consuming, but a nice smooth rhythm. A lot like knitting garter or stocking stitch, while you do need to look more than when you knit, it's pretty thoughtless and the needle slips through so easily.

The batik backing has been washed but isn't photographed, that's coming soon.

So I failed miserably with the Procrastinator's Party. In fact I didn't do a single thing, however I must get it done before Halloween since we have some kids coming around for a party. It might even be good to try to get the shelves into the sunroom before this wkd, as I think I can rope my FIL into anchoring them, as long as his wrist will hold up.

One day left until my giveaway.

Morning Drive

2009-10-21T12:54:00.005+11:00

I had to go out to Chatty's school to do some paperwork, and took Mischief to their music class, which I've been meaning to do for around 6 months. It falls into the same time block that I try to get to the gym. I thought you might like to see some photos of the drive out. I love driving out here, this is only 5 minutes from my house. The dairy cows are regularly moved from paddocks to the milking barn, some days we've been fortunate enough to be there at the same time, it's bizarre to see the road thick with cows, brushing past your car as they go.

Inside my Old books

2009-10-20T23:47:00.007+11:00

Some excerpts from the old books I picked up. Please feel free to click on the photos to make them larger. Most have some illuminating insights into our living history, I'm really enjoying looking through them.

Here's a bit about Brandy being helpful in a case, as well as digitalis.

I love this book plate! This little glimpse into the past fills my imagination.

With colour plates, what a luxury!

This book is hilarious. There are excerpts in it dating back to the 1800's.

Be sure to enlarge this page if you're looking for a recipe for liver sausage sandwiches!

A guide to keeping a happy & clean home.

How to make "a pretty nightgown", pattern included on the following pages.

Space Travel info pre moon landing...

A guide to making some things for your home.

Information on how to dress, and appropriate careers as well as budgetting are included.

While these might not be the glossy Bestsellers that are available, I think I will have much more pleasure in these, and the memory of them will last longer. I can't wait for next years Book Fair!

My Books from the Book Fair

2009-10-20T23:27:00.004+11:00

Paperbacks, I had two Patricia Cromley's as well, but had to put them back!

Some classics which I don't recall reading

Some lovely old ones with some great history.

More fabulous books with character.

I have more photos of the old ones to show you in my next post.

Lucky Me!

2009-10-19T11:32:00.005+11:00

I just won this awesome Christmas Jelly Roll over at the Mad Quilting Librarian!! I am so excited!

Funny thing is that I just started cutting some fabric last night to make a simple top for Margaret's HopeChest which is what Meg was promoting.

I'm off to the quilt shop today to get some plain white & some lime green.

On a side note, Mischief is starting to grow up, saying the odd word (or what sounds like certain words) apple - comes out exactly how it's written, DH says he sounds French when he says it. dirty, and a few others, he was having a blast last night at dinner playing with his tongue to make exaggerated "L" sounds. He now lets us know when he want's his diaper/nappy changed, and his understanding of what we say seems to be leaping forward.

Batik Backing Fabric Update 1

2009-10-18T18:08:00.003+11:00

Here is a few photos of the Batik Backing prior to washing, post unpicking from the red & aqua table runner, as promised.

Girl's Night In with Andrea

2009-10-18T17:49:00.007+11:00

My prizes from the Girl's Night In on Friday.

These are the sweet little cards we made for the stamp a stack. Don’t you love the sparkly edge on the pink ribbon? There was a yellow daffodil set too, which I only briefly looked at, I was too dazzled by the sparkles!

There was yummy food, I didn't try everything by any means. There were these beautifully presented little cupcakes, with white icing and a single raspberry sitting right in the middle. raspberries are a total weak spot for me. You don't want to know how much 1/4 punnet of them costs here. Let's just say that it would be a good investment. Oh they were scrumptious. There were more raspberries inside and white chocolate chips too.... swoon

The games were fun ones, even for me and I'm not much of a party games person. Missed out on dead or alive though with Faye Dunaway, I confused her with Farrah Fawcett, but to be honest I was astonished that I lasted as long as I did, I was winging it until then, I don't follow the celbs much either!

Life line Book Fair Treasures - Kids Books

2009-10-18T17:14:00.006+11:00

We had a very successful trip to the book fair, I was itching to go back, I missed out a few scetions, only so long the kids will tolerate being dragged around to look at old books.

Here are the kids ones I picked out, a couple educational ones, the Go Lightly book is all about teaching kids how to be creative thinkers and writers, specifically in poetry. The stories of Ballet is more for me atm. I'm looking forward to reading through it, I've never really known the whole story behind Swan Lake etc. The illustrations in a few of them are stunning.

Inside "It's Raining Cats and Dogs."

Inside "Milton, my Father's Dog"

Inside "Those Wicked Rats Again"

Inside "The Trouble with Trolls"

These are the books Chatty chose. He chose a few other cartoony/disney ones and I kept saying no, please find something unsual with lovely pictures, he came up with "Ollie's Folly" which has some fun illustrations and a quirky story. I desperately wanted to say no to the Treasure Island book, but the kid is big into pirates atm, so I said maybe and then gave him a bag to carry it in.

Later while I was perusing the Classics section, an older gentlemen and his wife started talking to Chatty across the table and asking him questions about what books he had found and what he was getting. Chatty of course told the gentleman about the pirate book and struggled to get it out of the bag which he had since slung crossways over his chest. The gentleman gave Chatty the $2 he needed to buy the book! When we said thank-you he said, he said just liked to see kids smile. Wasn't that lovely!!

A little bit of everything

2009-10-17T01:23:00.007+11:00

Lots of things on today.

Started out by going to the Lifeline Big Book Fair. Picked up some great old books for a song and some beautifully illustrated childrens books as well.

After that I signed myself up for Aunt Pitty Pat's Christmas Block Exchange. I chose to do Christmas Trees, just waiting to hear if wild colours and embellished stuff will fit in, or if I need to tone it down a little. I have this vision of a portion of the tree, in lime green, with hot pink ornaments, two or three of the tips of the star and a rick rack garland, a bit more Australian I 'd say!! If it doesn't suit that's no problem, now that I have the vision I might do my own with that in mind.

We've discovered a number of these sweet little birds called Silvereyes in our yard too late recently, I'm pretty sure they've been hitting the wall of glass. I found another one today, but got lucky, once I'd gotten a shoe box & blanket he'd flown off. They flit around and are a delight to watch, so it's been quite disappointing to lose so many, and to feel so directly responsible for it.

I have my shoebox ready now in case there are more, and will be checking the yard a bit more frequently too.

Lastly, I had a very fun night out at A Girls Night In, making some really pretty cards and playing some fun games. Saw some old faces and met a couple of new ones. Got lucky, won four prizes, one because I read fairly quickly, two by auction and one from a coin toss, so now I have lots of paper, some extra embellishments a store of old stamps and only a few stamp pads, guess what I need to stock up on!

I will have some more photos tomorrow of the cards, prizes, books and the batik backing before washing.

How Much Fabric do I need?

2009-10-15T00:47:00.003+11:00

Do you ever get stuck at the fabric store trying to figure out how much fabric you need for that garment you're making, and you've left the pattern at home?

Kathleen is giving away a set of these uber cool purse reference cards to one lucky person. Are you that lucky person? Go on Click.

Batik Backing Fabric

2009-10-14T23:25:00.002+11:00

So, I went down to the LQS today to talk to them about the batik backing on the Summer Fish Quilt the owner had a few ideas.
1. the salts used in the batik dying process cause the fabric to be very stiff, so prewashing (with vinegar to prevent colour bleeds) might help soften it.
2. Use a lighter weight thread in the bobbin, so that the machine doesn't struggle so much to maintain tension.
3. the ripping should "close" over once the quilt has been washed.
4. Use the thinnest sharpest needle possible. I was already using a #11 Blue tip, however when we looked a bit closer at it next to a #11 Top Stitch Needle, the Top Stitch actually looks a touch thinner, so she is going to research into what the actual difference between the needles is, because while she knew what they were for etc, she didn't know how they work, if that makes sense.

So my plan of attack is this:
Use the backing currently on the table runner as my sample piece.
First up is to remove the stitching currently there.
Wash the backing only throughly - will the stiffness decrease & the holes close over?
Then try the lighter weight thread on the bobbin, which she sent me home with free of charge until I figure out if it helps. If that doesn't work, fiddle with the tension on the needle (not bobbin.)

Looking at the quilt, it's only the fish & bubbles that are really bad, if the ripping can be improved by washing that is. Granted the tension isn't going to change, but if the ripping & the horrible fish and bubbles aren't there I think I could live with it. So I will rip them out and get a new quilter to do them.

I also got the name of a new quilter who was well recommended by the girls at the shop who does custom work as opposed to just continuous line. I was told that many quilters simply aren't accepting any new work atm because of the push for Christmas, I'm at the point that I want it done right, not right now, so hopefully this works out!!

One of the ladies also gave me some quilting ideas for the red & aqua table runner that should create an interesting pattern, without scaring me off of machine quilting!

Nothing concrete yet but lots of good information! Wish me Luck!

Summer Fish

2009-10-13T16:09:00.004+11:00

Summer Fish, from the Strip Staccato Pattern in Judy Hopkins Triangle-Free Quilts.

I had planned to enter this into the local fair, with hopes (yes hope, not faith) that it might actually move on to the state fair. I spent a lot of time on it, egtting everything squared up perfectly, ran out of fabric at one point, so had to incorporate a new print. Spent more time picking out just the right design for quilting and thread colour from the quilters abundance of neutrals and faint colours. The quilter who I've used before with great success, had it for 4 months.

Putting the binding on.

My first label.

This how it came back :( the circles / bubbles are all misshapen, the fish (which I drew from memory to be like the pepperidge farm goldfish crackers) are also mishaped, lopsided etc. A friend of mine (the boys godmother) who has been quilting for a couple of decades determined that the needle must have been dull. The tension is completely off, the needle as actually torn the backing fabric. The backstitching which my friend deemed completely unneccesary has been placed in the worst spots (on the bright white fabric instead of one of the darker ones.)

She and the other ladies at the quilting group I was at were all saying that I should really take it back to er point out the horrible things and basically see if she at the very least had the decency to refund my money.

How would you say this without being completely rude?

I discovered last night while trying to machine quilt the red & aqua table runner that the fabric really is horrible. The tension problems and ripping occured on my machine as well, even with a brand new needle. So now I'm really left with a quandry. The shaping & backstitching are definitely problems with the quilter, but the fabric is directly at fault for the tension & ripping.

Would you rip the whole thing apart & request a replacement backing & refund on quilting?

Noughts & Crosses

2009-10-13T15:24:00.006+11:00

I picked up the pattern at the Gerringong Show last Christmas. I think it's a great way to showcase a jellyroll you love the fabric of, the white balances out the busy prints so nicely.

The pieced backing, label is designed but not made yet, partially because I need to find a new quilter, and I like to include the quilter's details.

You might be able to make out the Company name? The flash bounced off right where all the info was!! Noughts & Crosses

So my surprise for you... How would you like my (gently used) copy of this fabulous pattern?

To win, easy peasy - 2 steps

Step 1 - Become a follower.

step 2 - You will find that I have asked a couple of questions here and there, my blog is new, so there aren't that many posts to read to find them. Your challenge is to answer one (or more if you get on a roll!) of the questions with constructive criticism or thoughtfully. Post your answer on this post.

Feel free to link to me on your blog, BUT please don't link to me as a giveaway or blog candy.

Deadline - October 22nd 12:00 am. UTC GMT +11 hours

thanks!

Good Luck!

More WIP's

2009-10-13T15:00:00.005+11:00

This tulip runner has been a challenge. I believe the pieces are put together the same way as cathedral windows? A very steep learning curve for me, especially gettiung the points to line up perfectly (almost) with all that extra fabric! But I've enjoyed learning something new.

Some close up's of the turned edges - yes I am going blind from the fold back handstitching.

I dug around in my stash of threads that I picked up from my grandmother's house before it was sold, since I wanted to use silk for the topstitching. I found these lovely old wooden spools with this handspun silk. I've tried to find comparable thread in case I run out, to no avail. YLI is nice but just doesn't have the same smooth sheen.

I love this sweet stitchery, I'm trying out my machine quiting skill on it, the ugly blue lines are my guidelines for the quilting.

View from the deck

2009-10-13T02:06:00.003+11:00

I have more WIP's to share with you tomorrow, plus a little surprise. For now I'll leave you with the view from my deck this evening.

Some current WIP's

2009-10-13T01:03:00.005+11:00

Here's a quick post of some of my many WIP's (Work's in progress)

This red & aqua table runner is made up of leftovers, from my Disappearing 9 Patch Squares (which I foolishly never took a photo of, thanks Jane!)

for Jane's Swap. It was a quick stitch, since most of it was already put together. I haven't yet decided on a quilting pattern or how I want to finish the edges. Any Suggestions? I'm considering the echo style of quilting.

Started this Wall Hanging long long ago, I think maybe 6 years ago? It just keeps getting put aside for more interesting, less fiddly projects since it's supposed to have all sorts of little sweet add ons, like a frayed scarf on the dad, etc.

This is a filler quilt for Chatty while I design a shark one for him. I realised the irony of giving this mature, simple quilt to a 4 year old while my favourite quilt for me was the Fairyland one as I was taking the photo! Still Trying to figure out the border on this one but I've been inspired by Jodi's (Pleasant Home) Prairie Points & Pinwheels quilt, so I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate that in now!

This little wall hanging is waiting for some binding and a sleeve or a frame and then it's finished. It was inspired from the 2008 Stampin' Up Catalogue.

Here's the label on the back, it's my second one and I love it!

Goody Giveaway

2009-10-11T12:44:00.003+11:00

How would you like to win one of these? Cute, eh?

Go Visit Michelle.

Halloween Decorating & Table Runner

2009-10-10T16:50:00.005+11:00

Some close up photos, since my camera battery died last time!

The table runner is just the top atm, because I'm not very happy with how it came together (also why I'm not showing the whole thing) I think I'll be taking the stars & surrounding blocks apart and redoing them for next year. I also think this display table would probably be better off with Just the runner & a couple of tidbits, or a black cloth with all the bits. It looks very busy to me! I kinda like the old tarnished silver in there, would like to play with it some more.

Spiders & Cobwebs everywhere!

Quilt Festival

2009-10-09T21:42:00.012+11:00

I found lots of quilting blogs through my friend Andrea last year when she entered her quilt into Amy's Quilt Festival .

This year I finally, after some prodding, and lots of guilt have thrown myself into this blogging thing (I just figured out the clean way to link - yay me!) Posting photos has always been my biggest hang-up, but I'm very happy with the ease I seem to be experiencing here. Now If I could just figure out how to add side buttons, where direct code hasn't been typed out for me, everything would be wonderful.

Anyways, on to the quilt!!
It's Fairyland from Birdhouse Designs . I spotted the elephant on the cover with these fairies that weren't the country style ones or overtly frilly fairies, out of the corner of my eye while on a road trip along the Great Ocean Road January 2006 from the Fragrant Cottage in Warrnambool, Victoria. I must add that the ladies at the store were exceedingly helpful, volunteering to ship items home for my mother (Canada) including items that were not currently available in the shop, and they did so, very quickly.

I walked out the door, and across the street, then turned to my mother, who was visiting for Christmas, and told her that if I didn't go back and get the book I was going to regret it. So back in I went to get this distinctly girly pattern just for me. So many have questioned who I'm making it for since I have boys, my answer, me until there is a girl and I'm willing to let it go!

It's still not 100% complete, since there is still much more handquilting to do on the border - see those butterflies? I've only gotten one long side finished so far. I didn't do the machine quilting, I took it to a lady who did a lovely job, unfortunately the same cannot be said for the last quilt I took to her.

The elephant block is still my favourite and always will be!

I hope you enjoyed your look around and that perhaps I've inspired you to try out an applique quilt.

Baking

2009-10-09T21:20:00.004+11:00

Had a good day baking today. Chatty & I made Rice Krispy (Bubbles) Squares for the first time since I moved down here to Australia. I'm not a big fan of the marshmallows available here, so it's on my list to make some. The Squares were a hit with Chatty, Mischief wouldn't touch them. Also made some fresh bread, I haven't been happy with any bread I've made down here yet, and i thought it was my bread maker, but the same strange flavour came out in the handmixed, kneaded loaf I made today, so now I'm thinking that it has to do with the ingredients again. I've been using homebrand flour etc.

Also did some of these Superpower breakfast cookies from http://jchandmade.typepad.com/jc_handmade/2009/09/superpowers.html

superpower breakfast cookies

recipe makes about 3 dozen
: preheat oven to 350: combine wet ingredients (we used organic whenever possible)

1 egg
1/3 cup greek yogurt (we used nonfat)
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (packed) brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup sunflower seed butter (or peanut butter)

: in a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients (again, organic whenever possible)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 cups oats
1/2 cup whole ground flax seed meal
2 scoops protein powder (we used soy)
1 cup dark chocolate chips (we used 60%)
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 tsp EACH of baking soda, baking powder and salt

: stir dry into wet until just combined - do not overbeat.: spoon onto cookie sheet - we used a 2 oz. ice cream scoop and flattened them with the bottom of a glass: bake for 9-10 minutes on 350, place on a rack to cool.

We didn't have any yoghurt the first time around so I mashed some bananas, but I think you could also use applesauce or really whatever your imagination leads to as long as it's that moist & thick.

Also swapped out the walnuts for almonds, and this time used a few pecans too, yum!
Last time I replaced the ground flax seed & protein powder with LSA, didn't have any this time, so have used sunflower seeds & whole linseeds, which really need to be ground for the goodness to be absorbed, otherwise they just pass through..

Chances are, whatever you use, it will work.

Lastly we made Banana Muffins, which smell great!

Gotta love school holidays!

2009-10-09T12:36:00.003+11:00

Using some other actions from Pioneer Woman.
Here is the SOOC.

Adjusted, w/Portraiture & Bring on the eyes

Adjusted, w/Portraiture, Warmed & Bring on the eyes

Adjusted, w/Portraiture(a bit more exaggerated), Warmed & Bring on the eyes

Which is your favourite, and why?

Some photo fun

2009-10-08T18:28:00.010+11:00

Using Pioneer Womans http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/ Actions. I came up with a couple of photos I really like!

Here's the SOOC (straight out of the camera) shot of Mischief.

Portrait w/ "Bring on the eyes"

Soft & Faded w/"Bring on the eyes"

Lightened Old West

Old West

Which is your favourite? and Why?

A little early Halloween decorating

2009-10-08T16:22:00.003+11:00

A Head start on some Halloween decorating. Chatty helped (see the Lego?) and wanted to pose with some of the display. The area under the shelves usually (and did until just before I took this photo) has school bags, my purse, gym bag etc, so I wasn't really aware of how bare it looked in relation to the top. I've been thinking of getting some baskets to put everything in, but I'm unsure what colour would be best. White with coloured liners, or natural with white liners.

The camera battery died right after this shot, so no closeups, unfortunately.

31 days to a Better Dressed Nest

2009-10-07T10:41:00.002+11:00

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ithIyBcoOoo/SsPcnw1VrtI/AAAAAAAADEs/2oY4-owxfFs/s1600-h/-1.png

Jane's Fabrics and Quilts: And the winner is.....

2009-10-06T23:53:00.000+11:00

Jane's Fabrics and Quilts: And the winner is.....

Procrastinator Party now with photos!

2009-10-06T22:53:00.003+11:00

I'm participating in The Inspired Room's Procrastinator's Party! It is a chance to finish one of those inevitable projects that tends to be put off. My project is to get my studio together.

Step 1 - build the new TV Bench

Step 2 - clear out the old shelves in the family room

Step 3- Move old display cabinet out of the sunroom (aka New Studio, aka room to roast in during summer) The glass door on the left smashed last year when some wind tunneled through the house when our new mattress was being delivered. Now Mischief uses the empty spot as a hidey hole.

Step 4 - Move old shelves into the Sunroom

Step 5 - Anchor shelves to uneven brick wall

Step 6 - fill with art stuff that is currently squirreled away all over the house

Step 7 - Make curtains for the front of the shelves, or everything inside shelves will get bleached out by the sun

Project 2 -
The BASEMENT I'm not saying anymore since this project will not be started until the first one is finished.

Lexi

2009-10-06T21:32:00.003+11:00

We got Lexi January 2003 from the pound, she & her brother were found roaming the streets. No one really knows what breed mix she is, some guesses have included kelpie, staffy, lab, ridgeback, the list goes on. What do you think?

After stumbling across some portraits of a Hugarian Viszla I'm certain that she is part Viszla, however, her nose & ears are not nearly as long, her snout is a little pointier too and she has this weird very bony ridge at the top of her head

There's no way she's a purebreed, both because of the differences, and also because she was found roaming the streets as a puppy. These are big money dogs, no way a breeder would allow their adult or puppies roam the streets, not here, where they are even more unusual.

More photos

2009-10-06T20:56:00.002+11:00

more old work - cards

2009-10-06T20:14:00.001+11:00

I have some more that have no photos yet. Tomorrow night I'm off to create more at a Girl's Night in, http://vanessawebb.net/blog/?p=1058 should be fun!

Old Projects

2009-10-06T01:48:00.001+11:00

Some previous projects.
Some good, some bad, some ugly!

This is my first quilt, It was a grab bag, a surprise one, it's so NOT me. It resides in the back of my car for diaper changes, impromtu picnics, late night drives home on cold nights for the boys.

A Baby Quilt for Chatty. The quilting was done with stranded Rayon. That was not fun, it frayed and pulled apart after 20 stitches.
These socks were great, for a while. The yarn was lovely and soft, unfortunately it was too soft, the heels wore out in no time at all. I've yet to do anything with them, darning seems like it would an exercise in futility. Perhaps they are destined to be sock monkeys?

2009-10-06T01:26:00.001+11:00

My four year old son Chatty has dubbed the Dandelion seed heads as Wish Flowers. Hence the name of the blog, we all need a little faith in simple things like wish flowers.

I've tried to maintain blogs before, perhaps this will be the successful one. If it's easy to post photos then we'll do well.

A little about me. I have two little boys, Chatty, and Mischief. I quilt, knit, make cards, do some beading, some sewing, although I have difficulty with patterns since I never fully learned, so garment making is something I haven't delved far into. Much less frequently I also paint, do some photography and pottery. I'm in the process of setting up a studio for myself & the boys which will give us a bit more space to create. School Holidays start tomorrow for 2 weeks, my goal is to have the furniture & everything set up by the end, if not before.

So on with Blogtober and Amy's Quilt Festival http://parkcitygirl.blogspot.com/