Tiny Paper Crane

I have moved

2011-12-15T09:11:00.000+11:00

A change is as good as a holiday! In order to combat my blogging drought, I've moved over here for a fresh start.

Come and join me!

Footy fever

2011-09-16T15:28:00.000+10:00

I am well and truly afflicted with footy finals fever and just had to say....

GO SWANS!

Here's hoping for a good game tonight (and a win too!). Also, congrats to Adam Goodes on his 300th game. What a legend!

It's a boy!

2011-09-15T10:23:00.000+10:00

So all is well here in the real world. We just had our 19 week scan and found out we are having a boy! The clothes shopping has now well and truly begun.

I am going to make some baby pants from this cool pattern and I just bought this book so I'm hoping this means the sewing bug has returned.

Does anyone know of any other cute baby boy sewing patterns?

Back on the wagon

2011-08-22T15:38:00.000+10:00

Look, I made something! Finally! It took all of 30 minutes but I still got my lovely and neglected sewing machine out and gave her a whirl.

This cute little pencil holder is for a friend's little girl who is about to turn 2. I think it's super cute and it makes me want to colour in. I really loved to colour in. It also makes me want to go back to Japan and buy some more fabric!

Maybe this means I'm back into sewing again. Or maybe not. I guess we'll have to wait and see....

A cupcake

2011-08-10T14:05:00.000+10:00

With today being a typically horrible Melbourne Winter day I decided I might treat myself to a cupcake at lunchtime. They have them at South Melbourne markets and I always eye them off but I never get one. Never ever. I am generally pretty good with not eating sugary, not-so-healthy foods but every now and then you have to have a treat, right? Well...I got my lovely cupcake paid the lovely lady and started to walk away. And then I dropped my lovely cupcake right on the ground! At the markets. On the dirty floor. I very nearly cried. I did in fact squeal. I threw the lovely uneaten cupcake in the bin and then ~~went back to work without a cupcake realizing that it just wasn't meant to be~~ went and bought another lovely cupcake feeling just a little bit silly. The lovely lady told me, "there's always the 10 second rule". Ummm...not when you're pregnant. And not off the dirty floor of the markets.

Anyway, my cupcake was delicious.

The reason I've been MIA...

2011-08-01T15:56:00.000+10:00

...is because I am almost 14 weeks pregnant. Hooray!

So I have been feeling very tired and uninspired to craft / blog for the past couple of months. I'm hoping I get some energy and inspiration back soon because I am really looking forward to crafting up some baby things.

And to answer the questions that everybody asks:

1. I am due on Feb 1
2. I haven't had much morning sickness at all - lucky me!
3. Yes, we are going to find out the gender of the baby at the next scan

Hope everyone is doing well and I'll try and not be a stranger :)

another break in transmission

2011-07-29T13:34:00.002+10:00

...and now here's a lazy attempt at a post.

Enjoy, and happy Friday!

it's a plus

2011-07-15T13:26:00.000+10:00

By keso

Are you on Google Plus yet? Do you know what Google Plus is? Do you really not care?

I got an invite this week and have been playing around with it. I really think it has the potential to rival Facebook in the social networking stakes. They have clearly thought about what people want, and have carefully crafted solutions to some of Facebook's problems. I like that you can group people into circles and easily share information only with the people you want to. I like the idea of the video chat (although I am yet to try it out).

What do you think? Do you think Facebook should be shaking in their boots?

(P.S If you want a Google plus invite just let me know your email address and I'll send you one over. It is a bit quiet over there...)

whilst we're talking about brooches

2011-07-14T08:00:00.000+10:00

...and we were, right?

My brooch fascination only started about 12 months ago and I really don't have that many in my collection at this stage. But I do think they are wonderful and lovely and I must have more!

So...here is another of my favourite brooches (I promise my whole brooch collection is not cat related!)

This one is particularly special because of how I came to buy it. I got it in Kyoto, Japan last year on my wedding anniversary. My husband and I were wandering through the streets looking at all of the amazing pottery stores (and I was trying very hard not to buy big breakable things to bring home). We found this little shop where a lady was handmaking and painting these cat brooches and selling them for 300 yen! That was about $4.50 at the time! Sheesh! So I couldn't pass up such a bargain of course and have been proudly wearing it ever since.

Winter blues

2011-07-13T09:00:00.001+10:00

I am sick of Winter and Winter clothes already! I always feel grumpy and I don't want to go outside because I hate being cold.

The only thing making my Winter wardrobe slightly more bearable (how many more layers can I possibly wear?!) are my brooches. I find them a cute and fun way to spice up my Winter layers of black, black, and more black. This is one of my favourites. Cute huh?

a mexican inspired weekend

2011-07-11T09:23:00.000+10:00

After hearing the lovely Pip talk about it on Friday, I headed out and bought Mexican Food Made Simple by Thomasina Miers. I had already been planning on making tacos for dinner on the weekend and was feeling a little uninspired by our usual taco fillings.

So...what followed was a Mexican inspired feast of a weekend. We had stuffed potatoes with a yummy salsa for dinner on Friday night.

On Saturday night I went all out and made the Piccadillo, guacamole and red rice to fill tacos and tortillas. And of course there was plenty leftover so it was also lunch on Sunday. If I was smarter I would've taken some pictures. You'll just have to trust me when I say that it was delicious and I am very much looking forward to trying out the other recipes.

I hope your weekend was as delicious as mine. Did you cook anything yum?

butter wouldn't melt

2011-06-29T15:42:00.000+10:00

He's been a real pain in the behind for the past couple of weeks, but gosh he's cute!

Don't you think?

not-so-lazy daisy

2011-06-24T14:40:00.000+10:00

Wow, I am so looking forward to the weekend! That seems to be all I ever talk about! I guess it just proves that we should have more than 1 weekend a week. What do you think?

Last weekend I was full of good intent but ended up being full of laziness. It was good because it was needed but this weekend I really feel like I might get some things done. Get some sewing done. I really miss the whirr of my little machine and the happy mess I make whilst sewing. It's been too long!

Tonight, I am off to see this lovely man in action. Can't wait!

being a good sport

2011-06-20T15:28:00.000+10:00

This is particularly relevant after the game I went to yesterday. Sydney Swans (my team!) lost to Carlton by 34 points after a slight improvement in the last quarter.

Now I don't want to go on and on about the game, but I would like to talk about good sportsmanship. Everyone wants their team to win but it just ain't gonna happen every round. So you do what a good fan does and come back next week ready to cheer and hope for the best. You might get a bit cranky, but you still cheer your team on until the end of the game. And if you win you celebrate, sure. You might gloat a little. But I really don't think you need to be mean about it. I don't think you need to boo the other team (whom you are beating by quite a lot) every time they take a shot on goal (and then laugh if they miss). I don't think you should laugh when your child says things like, "haha, suck it! You guys are suckers!" and "No one's ever gonna beat us!" for the entire game. I think there is such a thing as being a good winner. And a good looser.

Do you agree, or am I just being overly sensitive?

Wow, I am so lazy

2011-06-17T09:19:00.000+10:00

Hi there. Remember me? Yes, I am the incredibly lazy one that hasn't been around for awhile. I have no excuse. May I be excused?

So, what's been happening? I have had a few very busy weekends visiting friends and having friends visit. It's been wonderful but I am very much looking forward to a lazy weekend (see how lazy I am?). I might even manage to fit in some sewing. Hopefully.

Here's hoping you have a wonderful weekend too, and I will try and not be so lazy next week :)

Not quite a superhero

2011-06-03T10:01:00.000+10:00

Well I certainly haven't felt much like a superhero this week, but last weekend I looked like one! We had a great time visiting our family and celebrating my sister's 21st birthday. It was so great to have the whole family together as it doesn't happen very often (I have 4 sisters!). It was also great to see the creativity in everyone's costumes! My youngest sisters were the most creative - going as the Hulk and a blue powerpuff girl (in the pic with me).

This weekend we're off to spend time with our other family - our fantastic and much loved friends in Brisbane. I can't wait!

my creative space

2011-05-26T11:26:00.000+10:00

My cowl is finally done! I'm wearing it today and it definitely passes the test - very comfy and warm! I'm thinking I may have to make another in a different colour.

That means I have officially finished everything I am currently working on. Wow, who can believe it?

The plan now is to start sewing myself a shirt (fingers crossed!). Pattern is purchased and fabric is washed and ready to go. Now I just have to find some time...

More creative spaces over here

today is all about cute

2011-05-25T15:19:00.000+10:00

How cute are my new teapot and tea cup? I think they are the cutest! Sometimes our days just need cute things, don't you think? You will also note that they are both Japanese. They sure know how to do cute! I also like how you can see my reflection in the teapot in this picture.

Simple things, people! Simple things.

my creative space

2011-05-20T11:17:00.000+10:00

Look, I'll be honest - I've been knitting this for a while now. It's a cowl and I'm sure taking my time with it. I just hope I have it done before Winter is over! To be fair, I have had a few other crafty endeavours going on at the same time.

In other good crafty news, I have finished my sister's quilt over a week BEFORE her birthday. My goodness, I am amazing! Pictures to come after I have given it to her.

Check out some more crafty loveliness over here

autumn

2011-05-18T16:00:00.000+10:00

Autumn is most certainly here!

Whilst I don't particularly enjoy the cool weather, it sure is pretty isn't it? After having lived in Brisbane for a few years I really notice this season more than any other here in Melbourne (okay, maybe I notice Winter more but that's only because I'm freezing!).

Plus, I do enjoy wearing boots!

today

2011-05-17T10:50:00.000+10:00

I thought a picture of Hell's Gate might be appropriate today...

Although it's rather beautiful, isn't it?

This week has not started out so well but there's plenty of time left for improvement isn't there? Right?

It's days like these where a lunch time trip to Spotlight generally helps. Although I'm not sure my credit card always approves.

What do you do when you're feeling a little deflated?

our weekend

2011-05-16T16:10:00.000+10:00

...was a masquerade ball, a quiet Saturday, shopping and lunch with my sister, slow cooked dinners and snuggling on the couch with the kitties.

Hope you had fun too!

my creative space

2011-05-05T15:17:00.000+10:00

...has been a bit lacking lately.

I've had a major urge to knit but haven't had any real time to dedicate to it. My focus for now is finishing off the quilt for my sister's 21st at the end of the month. The quilt is keeping me warm at nights as I hand sew the binding. As much as it's a tedious job, I actually find it quite relaxing - just the repetition and the feeling that I am getting close to being finished.

Check our some more creative spaces over here

Back to it

2011-05-02T14:28:00.000+10:00

Howdy peeps! I've been gone for a little while because I have been doing this:

Fun, huh? My hubby and I hired ourselves a campervan and made our way around the state of Tasmania for 10 days over the Easter break. It was so much fun - so relaxing and peaceful and lovely and rejuvenating. We walked and photographed and drank and ate and got a bit cold but we had a great time and will definitely head back to Tassie one day soon.

More pics to come soon.

Hope you're all doing well and enjoyed your Easter break too!

lazy and short

2011-04-18T13:36:00.000+10:00

I had an incredibly incredibly lazy weekend. My hubby and I are both still recovering from this horrid cold that is making the rounds at the moment. Ick. I almost forget what it's like to not feel stuffed up and tired. Ugh.

But, on the plus side, this week is a short week for me (and for most of us with the Easter long weekend coming up). Hooray! On Thursday my husband and I are headed to Tasmania for 10 days. We will be campervaning around and enjoying the sights as we have never been to Tasmania before. Let me know if you have any tips!

A happy (and healthy!) week to you all.

you can't find me

2011-04-15T17:15:00.000+10:00

not quite 100%

2011-04-14T17:14:00.000+10:00

I have spent much of this week enjoying some couch time. Sadly because I have a dreaded cold (which my husband now has too!). It seems to be the only time I can crash on the couch and watch trashy TV without feeling guilty. So, there is an element of enjoyment in there somewhere - even with all the sneezing and the sniffling. There's been soup and tea and some movies. I can't think of a better remedy!

Here's hoping it works and I'll be back to being 100% soon!

my place and yours

2011-04-05T11:59:00.000+10:00

This week's theme is green and I just couldn't resist sharing this cute little brooch I bought at the Finders Keepers market recently.

Today it is getting it's first outing and I think it's super cute. I would've loved a "Draw 4" one, but alas... Doesn't it make you want to play UNO?

Check out some more green things over here

today

2011-04-05T08:41:00.000+10:00

This morning my cats thought it would be fun to pull my clean washing onto the floor and sleep in it.

Today my boss is sick so I have to organise people on his behalf.

About now I am going to get a coffee.

Tonight I have yoga.

I have a feeling I am going to need it!

let the laughs begin

2011-03-30T17:59:00.000+11:00

By Wardie44B

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival has officially begun and I am ex-cited!

I kicked off the festival by attending the gala on Monday night (much laughs from the 4th row - I think my face will make it to the tele!) with my sister. We had a great time hanging out in St Kilda and laughing laughing laughing all night. I am attending a crazy 12 shows altogether this year. Yes, 12! We like a good laugh around these parts.

I'm sure I'll have some time for crafting soon :/

happy weekend

2011-03-25T13:53:00.000+11:00

It seems that Summer is well and truly over here in Melbourne and the colder weather is starting to creep up on us. It's almost time for soup, crocheting, snuggling under blankets, wearing too many layers of clothing, gloves, scarves and beanies. What ever happened to Summer?!

This weekend I am looking forward to the start of the football season (and a Swans game at the MCG!), Finders Keepers market and sleeping in. Oh, and maybe a bit of snuggling with the kitties if the weather continues to be grey and cool like this.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend, wherever you are in the world! Don't forget Earth Hour on Saturday night!

my creative space

2011-03-24T11:11:00.000+11:00

...is quilting again!

I have finished the quilt top for my sisters's quilt. Now on to the fun task of basting and quilting and binding. I'm really hoping I can get it done before her birthday!

Check out some other creative spaces here

quest for the best japanese - week 5 (Brisbane edition)

2011-03-22T14:13:00.000+11:00

Last week we were lucky enough to be in Brisbane on our usual Japanese Monday. By chance we had lunch at a Japanese restaurant at Eagle St Pier and think it definitely deserves a mention here!

Sake restaurant
Level 1, 45 Eagle St
Eagle Street Pier
Brisbane QLD

Sake is a contemporary Japanese restaurant which usually leaves me a little wary. But this place is pretty great. The decor is stylish and modern - particularly the 'caged' tables that run through the middle of the place. It was lunch time on a Monday so it was very quiet inside, but the service was good.

Tonkatsu cups

Now, the main thing is that the food was excellent! The highlight for me were the Tonkatsu cups and the Kingfish jalapeño sashimi. They have a good selection of small dishes to share, as well as a nice selection of mains.

Kingfish jalapeño sashimi

All in all, it was an excellent lunch with excellent food and excellent people. I highly recommend it!

Rating = 9 out of 10

I now return you to regular programming

2011-03-21T09:45:00.000+11:00

I am back!

My laptop decided I didn't need to see what I was doing anymore and so has been in getting a new LCD screen. But she is back and fully functioning again, and thus so am I!

I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing weekend. I had a lovely weekend of shopping at the markets, going out for breakfast and getting organised. I also managed to spend a couple of hours soaking up the sun and unusually glorious weather (30 degrees and beautiful blue skies!) in my new hammock. It was an anniversary present from my wonderful husband and is a double hammock which means we both fit in quite nicely. Yay and awww!

my creative space

2011-03-10T12:00:00.000+11:00

...has got me feeling like a bit of a superhero this week!

I wish! The truth is I spent a lot of the weekend working away on a Superhero costume for my sister's upcoming birthday party in May. It seems like a while away but we have a very busy couple of months planned and I didn't want to have to rush and end up without a costume (and thus the wrath of my sister). So...what I have is enough to pull-off a decent kind of costume and for that I am quite relieved.

I have also committed to making her a quilt so I need to really get cracking on that too. Will someone please add some more hours to the day?

Check out some more superheroes over here

i still do

2011-03-07T14:24:00.000+11:00

Today my husband and I celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary. Aw, how lovely is that? We are celebrating by heading to Flower Drum for dinner (for the first time!) and then I think we are staying overnight in the city somewhere. I have been told only to pack an overnight bag. How lovely and romantic is my husband? I'm feeling pretty luck today (as I do everyday) and feeling rather happy and chirpy for a Monday.

Happy anniversary Todd! I love you truckloads!

my creative space

2011-03-04T14:05:00.000+11:00

...has been stolen moments of crochet whilst thinking about all of the other things I need to be doing. What a crazy week!

Check out some other creative spaces here

quest for the best japanese - week 4

2011-03-01T14:25:00.000+11:00

Meiji Japanese Cafe
105 Little Bourke St
Melbourne

After last week's effort I was really hoping for some decent Japanese food this week, and by George we got it! This place is fabulous! If you live in Melbourne I urge you to go there right now! Go on! This was such a good find and we will most certainly be heading back here soon - with some friends.

The cafe is quite small but has an upstairs area as well (which was empty, being Monday and all but I imagine would fill up on the weekends). What it lacked in size provided most of the atmosphere in that I almost felt like I was in Japan! It had a real authentic feel to it, which I just loved.

But...getting onto the important part - FOOD. The food was YUM! And like most Japanese cafe's, more than affordable. We had a sizzling plate of Wagyu Steak, Japanese style Fried Rice, stir-fried vegetables and some beef skewers (whose name escapes me but were fantastic! You can see one of them next to our fried rice in the pic below)

I should've taken more photos of this place (and our food) but I was too engrossed in eating! There was sadly no Okonomiyaki on the menu, but there was plenty of other things to choose from. I loved the big menu with pictures which made ordering easy - or difficult, because everything looked so good.

Anyway, this is definitely the best so far in our quest. We will definitely be going back!

Rating = 8 out of 10

my creative space

2011-02-25T10:08:00.001+11:00

I'm late again! How slack!

By OZinOH via flickr

Anyway, my creative this week seems to be at Spotlight. I think I have visited twice this week and I still need to go back for more things. I am working on (as usual) too many things at once. I'm not sure that I will ever learn to control that. But I am working at a nice and easy pace - not rushing, which is good. I am almost finished a dress that I hope will fit because I love the fabric I used. I have one more thing to do and I want to make sure I get it just right. I have started making a baby quilt for a friend, and I am about to start making a superhero costume for my sister's 21st birthday. Oh, and crocheting a blanket too. Sheesh!

My laptop is broken so I am also lacking decent pictures, and am obviously behind with the blogging thing.

I'm sure you will find some much more organised creative spaces over here

quest for the best japanese - week 3

2011-02-23T14:52:00.001+11:00

Izakaya Hachibeh
143-145 Bourke Street
Melbourne

I'm not going to say too much about this place because I was very underwhelmed. I'm not sure if it was just poor choices on our part, but the food was very bland. It was a cool day here in Melbourne so we went for the Udon soup options - I had Fried bean curd and Todd went for the Tempura option.

All I have to say about my meal is BLAH. And we can add another Okinomiyaki fail to the list too.

My glass of Plum Wine was nice. The service was pretty good and quick so we might try this one again sometime and choose from the "Japanese Tapas" selection instead.

Rating: 3 out of 10

holly throsby is good

2011-02-21T15:44:00.002+11:00

Hope this brightens up your Monday!

Holly Throsby - "Here Is My Co-Pilot" from PEDESTRIAN.TV on Vimeo.

my (late) creative space

2011-02-18T09:55:00.000+11:00

By Mrs. Jenny Ryan

I am in love with pretty floral fabric right now. I am trying to make a dress out of some wannabe-Liberty fabric (one day I will be good enough at sewing clothing that I can use ACTUAL Liberty fabric!) and am having some issues. Yet again with the boobage and some darts that sit somewhere around my belly button. I need to unpick and try to fix.

I am so loving the floral that I might pick up some new season Liberty fabric anyway and make some pretty non-clothing things. Like maybe some pretty scarves for my very best friend who is about to take part in Shave for Cure. I think she is being very brave and is certainly deserving of some prettiness, don't you think? P.S You can donate to her cause here if you are feeling nice and generous

Check out some other creative spaces over here

quest for the best japanese - weeks 1 and 2

2011-02-16T08:25:00.000+11:00

I only just realised that i should probably be blogging this journey - mostly so I won't forget where we've been, but also because someone might be interested. You never know. I'll rate them out of 10 as well, just to make things a bit easier.

Week 1

Teppansan Japanese Cafe
179 Russell St, Melbourne

So far this is the best Okinomiyaki that we have had outside of Japan. It was still far from the wondrous thing we had in Hiroshima, but it was still tasty. This place is small and doesn't look incredibly appealing from the outside, but we very much enjoyed our meal here. It has a real Japanese vibe to it. Having said that, I can't remember what else we ate! The food obviously wasn't very memorable.

Rating = 4.5 out of 10

Week 2

Ito Japanese Noodle Cafe
122 Bourke St, Melbourne

The service at this place was pretty dreadful. I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt though as it was Valentine's Day and they seemed to be pumping out the takeaway orders (go figure!). We waited a long time for our drinks and the Sushi chef was so busy we had to have our sashimi at the end of our meal. I really didn't like that at all. Sashimi for dessert = not so good. But....we did have a delicious yaki soba and katsu curry, and very much enjoyed the Sapporo on tap.

Rating = 5.5 out of 10

Now that I'm doing this I promise I'll pay more attention next week! I'll also try to remember to take some pictures (please excuse the blurry iphone shot)

i like grannies

2011-02-14T10:00:00.000+11:00

By knittinandnoodlin

This weekend I reunited with my crochet hook.

It's been a while.

I have reignited my love of the granny square and am making a red and white granny blanket (no pics yet, sorry!). It should be done before AFL season starts so it can keep my legs warm during a Sydney Swans match or two. Last year we froze on more than one occasion and I promised I would fix the problem - in the team colours of course - for this season. I love watching the little old grannies (the people this time, not the squares!) at the football all decked out in their hand knitted or crocheted team colours. They always have granny blankets keeping them warm. They always have tea and cakes too. I think it's lovely!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend.

Happy Valentine's Day for those that celebrate it too!

konnichiwa!

2011-02-08T08:42:00.000+11:00

Last night I attended my very first Japanese class and had a whole lot of fun. It was on my list of things to do for this year (and not just talk about) so yay me! I am very much a beginner but can still remember bits and pieces from high school, and of course from our trip to Japan last year. I'm looking forward to learning a new skill and am getting excited about the prospect of going back to Japan one day armed with some language skills.

Afterwards my husband and I had some Japanese for dinner at a place we'd never been to before - (Teppansan for those Melbournites who might be interested). It was quite good. Definitely the best Okonomiyaki (Japanese style pizza) we've had outside of Japan, but still not quite right :/ It's turned into a bit of a quest for us - trying to find Japanese quality Okonomiyaki in Australia. So we've decided to turn Monday nights into a search for the best Japanese restaurant in Melbourne. I'll keep you posted!

my creative space

2011-02-03T09:08:00.000+11:00

Look what I made!

It is a clutch purse and was a birthday present for my very lovely and wonderful best friend. It is a Cath Kidston pattern from her Stitch! book and it was lots of fun to make. Plus my friend really loves it, so that's great!

Next, I'm tackling something else from the book, getting started on a couple of quilts and maybe making a dress. It's probably more than I can handle yet again but that seems to be the way I roll!

my sun-filled weekend

2011-01-31T15:24:00.000+11:00

I spent the weekend hanging out at Anglsea (on the coast of Victoria for those that haven't heard of it before) soaking up the sun and enjoying this wonderful weather we've been having. My husband and I pitched a tent at the local caravan park and spent alot of time at the beach over the course of the weekend. It was last minute and glorious!

And now the dreaded work week has begun again. Ugh.

not too cheesy

2011-01-25T08:41:00.000+11:00

This weekend I finally did a bit of cooking. It wasn't the most glamorous or difficult of cooking but it was very meaningful. You see my Grandmother was adopted and never knew her biological family. She died before she could find out about them too. My Dad has recently done a whole lot of research and found out who her biological parents and family were (yay!) Not only that, but he has found second cousins and aunts and uncles who are all equally as excited about this new discovery. In doing this, my Dad now has massively extended our family (another yay!) and was given some handwritten recipes that were kept by my Great Grandmother. Of course I never knew he,r but on Sunday I made one of those recipes - cheese muffins. They were super easy to make and they are yum! Next time I'll add some bacon or zucchini or herbs (modern it up a bit), but this time I kept it simple in homage to my Great Grandmother.

I think that's really nice, don't you?

cute things and happy days

2011-01-21T15:36:00.000+11:00

I was given this super cute bag as birthday present - bought from Lark

Need I say more?

my creative space

2011-01-20T10:19:00.000+11:00

My creative space is back! Hooray!

I am madly working on this piece of tapestry for my very best friend's birthday. It will (hopefully and eventually) become a clutch purse courtesy of a fab pattern from Cath Kidston's book Stitch. It is my first foray into the world of tapestry and I have to say that I have enjoyed it. It's a great TV watching activity, which is an absolute must for me. I always need to have something on the go which I can do whilst relaxing in front of the tele. I really need to finish the tapestry part so I can sew up the purse and get it in the mail as close to Australia Day as possible (which is my friend's birthday). Eeek! I don't like my chances of getting it done in time for that but I have warned her that her present may be a bit late this year.

I can't wait to check out what everyone else has been up to over at Kootoyoo

safe and cosy

2011-01-19T09:40:00.000+11:00

This year has been crazy so far! I'm really hoping that the rain and the flooding will stop sometime soon. My thoughts don't stray far from those affected these days. It's just all so heartbreaking. Please donate if you haven't already.

I thought I might also try and post something with a happier theme today...

So...I thought I might show you the quilted e-reader sleeve I made just before Christmas. This was for the Kobo E-Reader that my lovely husband bought me for my birthday. I couldn't find a pattern that I liked so I just made a little something up and am very happy with the results (with the exception of the zipper, which is not quite perfect but still pretty darn good considering my past experiences with zippers!). I used some Hello Kitty fabric I bought in Japan last year (yes, I am 12 years old). If you look closely you'll be able to see a special name included in the pattern on the fabric. Can you see it? Yep, it says Jodie! That's me! You can imagine my excitement when I found it in the amazing Odakaya in Shinjuku, Tokyo. That place is amazing all on it's own and I wish I had more time there. As it was we were meant to meet up with our friends so I literally ran up all the levels (that's 5 levels in 2 separate buildings!) to quickly check what was on each floor. Anyway, I squealed with delight when I found this and I knew it would come in handy at some point.

I did a bit of embroidery around one of the Jodie pictures and added a strap for easy carrying. Pretty cute huh? I'm very happy with it and it has been doing a great job of keeping my e-reader safe and cosy.

Hope you're all safe and cosy too!

the queensland floods

2011-01-12T10:13:00.000+11:00

Please donate to the Queensland flood appeal

Or you can visit the Handmade Help website where Pip is compiling a list of other ways you can help

These Queensland floods have been totally scary and heartbreaking and they are not over yet. Today I am really praying for Brisbane. I have a house there (it is safe) and lots of great friends (they are all safe too) and it really feels like my home even though we are currently living in Melbourne. My heart goes out to everyone there who is sandbagging, wet, waiting and worried. Please keep safe.

just where i left it

2011-01-10T16:43:00.000+11:00

Today was my first day back at work for the year. I considered hiding and hoping that no one would notice I was missing. I didn't.

So, isn't it great how Christmas and the new year fills you with hope and excitement for the year ahead? And then you go back to work and find that everything is just where you left it. *insert big sigh here*

I'm going to try really hard to hang on to that feeling of possibility and not let the little things drag me down. I'm not one for new year's resolutions, but perhaps that should be mine.

Hope your Monday was work-free! (or at least stress-free!)

i love holidays

2011-01-07T15:48:00.000+11:00

Today I am enjoying my last weekday of holidays before I return to work. SIGH.

I have been thoroughly enjoying my free time. I have watched movies and gone for long walks. I have cooked meals out of my new cookbooks and made bread in my new bread maker. It was been lovely and only wish someone would pay me to do this everyday!

I have also been doing some sewing and crafting. I was pretty pleased with my skirt making effort until I reached the waistband. I hate waistbands. I just don't get the instructions! At all! It seems that waistbands are my new nemesis. Grr! So my skirt is waistbandless whilst I google and read until I figure out what I am doing again.

At least I have some Cath Kidston tapestry on the go so I can keep my crafting fingers happy in the meantime. This will (hopefully) be a birthday present for someone really special.

Hope you're enjoying your Friday, wherever you are.

hello 2011

2011-01-04T12:24:00.000+11:00

Hello blog land! I haven't been around lately, and my Google Reader overfloweth. But I am back to it now! I hope you all had a lovely holiday period celebrating with your friends and family. I have to say that I had the most brilliant couple of weeks visiting my family. There was lots of swimming, eating, drinking and laughing. Oh, and a couple of days of camping as well which was just fantastic. There's nothing better than leaving the electronics behind and just lapping up some nature. We swam in the river and toasted marshmallows. Much fun!

I'm also lucky enough to have another week off before I have to head back to work. So this week is all about cooking, reading and sewing.

Stayed tuned.

the holidays are here

2010-12-20T09:55:00.000+11:00

Despite the fact that the weather is very much Winter-like in Melbourne today, the holidays are officially here! I am very excited! I am not very excited about our 15 hr drive home though.

But I have now finished every Christmas present! Hooray! They are all wrapped and ready to go. I'll share some pictures of the finished products a bit later, but for today I just want to show you (finally) the finished quilt. How relieving it was to sew the last few stitches last night and know that it was finally done. I just hope that my parents like it!

the power of the consumer

2010-12-14T16:45:00.000+11:00

By Ole Houen

I have been thinking alot lately about the power that we have as consumers (thanks mostly to an amazing talk by Tim Costello from World Vision at Fair @ Square this past weekend). Power that we mostly take for granted, and probably don't give too much thought to. I've recently started paying closer to attention to the things that I buy - reading the labels of food products, thinking about organic produce, wondering where and how those clothes that are on sale are made. I'm not being crazy about it, just curious. And since I have started doing that I have discovered so many new things - good and bad. I've found out that lots of organisations (particularly those big multi billion dollar producers) hide lots of things from us. They can because we don't really think to go looking for who uses child labour or genetically modified food or underpay their staff. It's really quite scary.

I've started to realise that I may just be one person, but that I can make a difference in this world just by choosing which company, which brand, which business gets MY business.

I don't want to get all preachy, but I do think that it's something we should all be thinking about. Especially during this crazy season of gift buying. We have immense power and we should use it.

If you're interested in more info, check out the Ethical Consumer Guide

music is good for the soul

2010-12-10T15:49:00.000+11:00

Last night (for the first time in a long time) I went and saw some amazing live music. We headed to the Northcote Social Club (on a school night no less) to see two of my all time favourite musicians - Carus and Loren. Carus has spent most of the year overseas so it was the first time we'd seen him play for a while! I have been following this guy around the country (not in a stalkerish way, just because we've moved alot!) for almost 10 years now. Can you believe that? I first came across him when he supported the John Butler Trio all those years ago. We've seen him play in bars with only a few of us actually paying attention to now packing out the Northcote Social Club where everyone seems to know all the lyrics to all the songs. I couldn't even guess at how many times I've seen him play. LOTS! It's been great watching the transition!

Going to a Carus gig is one of my most favourite things to do (and you can tell because I couldn't stop smiling all night, and because today I am bouncing around like a giddy schoolgirl). We danced, we drank, we sung - we just generally had a good time! It also brings back a lot of happy memories of doing just that over the years with my friends and my husband. Such good memories!

Last night, we were doubly blessed to also have Loren playing as well. This guy is also amazing and well worth a look! This song is my favourite Loren song :)

It's funny how I had temporarily forgotten how much I love music, and how I didn't realise just how much I missed live music until I was there again.

Live music is definitely therapeutic and you should seek some out this weekend. If you can't, then watch these great video clips and dance around in your living room :)

the envelope project

2010-12-07T11:56:00.000+11:00

Do you remember the Meet Me at Mike's envelope project? I had lots of fun putting together an envelope full of cute things and sending them off to Pip, and encouraged my little sisters to join in the fun too.

My little sister Libby (15) was one of the lucky winners (yay for Libby!) who received a big parcel full of those cute and lovely things. She was so excited about winning. This last weekend was the first weekend I had been back to my hometown this year so I finally got to check out Libby's stash. And it is amazing! I was just totally blown away by how generous people had been with their items, and also how incredibly creative people can be with items small enough to fit inside an envelope! My sister and I had such fun looking through all of the things together and saying nothing but, "this is so cute" and "look how great this is!" and "oh I love this!" all afternoon. We had a great idea to make up a bit of inspiration/mood board with the items and this is how it turned out:

We had so much fun doing this! It looks so great that Libby is going to make another couple of boards to display around her room (yes, there was that much stuff!). She's also busy making christmas cards and gift tags with some of the items too.

So I just wanted to say a big thank you to Pip for organising such a fun project and also a big thank you to all of the people who contributed such creative, inspiring, thoughtful and generous items. You guys are awesome!

my creative space

2010-12-02T11:39:00.000+11:00

I am in the final throes of Christmas present making and keeping my fingers well and truly crossed that I have left myself enough time. Why did I choose projects that require so much hand sewing?! Why?!

This is the almost completed table runner and you can see my almost completed quilt in the background there too. At the moment I am handstitching the binding on both projects. I tell you what, I am a slip stitching queen! I still need to make the making napkins and then I believe I am done. Phew!

I can't wait to start making some things for me again!

Happy Christmas crafting everyone, and be sure to visit kootoyoo for plenty of creative inspiration!

let's all be merry and bright

2010-12-01T14:42:00.000+11:00

I have one of those weeks that doesn't need to be spoken about. Ever. Again.

So...let's talk about happy things, shall we?

After a week long wait I finally received my TOMS order and am so so happy with them. Check out my black sparkles which have already become one of my favourite pairs of shoes:

Aren't they lovely? They are comfy too! If you haven't heard about TOMS and the amazing work they do, I strongly urge you to visit their website and check out their awesome range of shoes. Their one for one philosophy surely makes for guilt-free shoe purchasing! I think a voucher would make a lovely Christmas present too, don't you think?

Tonight I am going to wave goodbye to this crappy week by putting up our Christmas tree and decorations. A little bit of Christmas spirit has to be good for the soul!

my creative space

2010-11-25T11:35:00.000+11:00

My creative space this week is all about trying not to over-extend myself.

After the elation that came from finally completing a skirt that fits me, all I want to do is make another skirt. Or shirt. Or dress. Or pants. But...I am still plodding along with the Christmas presents and I MUST finish them first. Right? Right?!

Yes I must. I will be sensible and not start anything new until they are done. Or almost done at the very least. Now I just need to try and stay away from Spotlight!

Check out some cool creative spaces here

i can make stuff!

2010-11-23T13:44:00.000+11:00

Check it out! It's my completely completed skirt that almost didn't make it (Butterick B5285). Hooray! I am beyond excited!

You can't tell in these pictures but it has a zip and everything. It is most certainly a personal sewing triumph. My very first completed skirt. Finally!

I would, however, like to complain about the sizing chart on this pattern. I made the size it suggested based on my measurements and it was way too big! Not just a little bit big, but frickin' huge! I should've made at least 2 sizes smaller. So what's with that? Who makes these sizing charts anyway?!

P.S My skirt, whilst fantastic, is not really appropriate for wearing on windy Melbourne days. Apologies to anyone driving on Ferrars St today who caught a nice flash of my undies. Oops!

my creative space

2010-11-19T10:40:00.000+11:00

image

I attempted making a skirt this week but it is not yet finished. Mainly due to the fact that it is too big even though I made the appropriate size for my measurements AND was extra extra careful with seam allowances and the beautifully accurate pleats. Grrr!

Still going on the quilt and the cross-stitch. Should both be finished well before Christmas - fingers crossed!

Check out some more creative spaces here

2 days is hardly enough

2010-11-15T13:42:00.000+11:00

I can't believe that the weekend is over already! How fast those 2 glorious days go by!

This weekend I did a some Christmas shopping and am very happy to say (and gloat, if I may) that I have pretty much finished it all. How fantastic is that? Now I can happily avoid all shopping facilities until the post-Christmas sales.

I also did a bunch of sewing, but am still a fair way off finishing my Christmas presents. I started ~~sewing~~ attempting to sew a skirt for myself too. I had a massive sewing FAIL (too embarrassing to share here) so wasted a couple of valuable sewing hours correcting that (i.e. starting again). I'm really happy with how it is turning out now - pleats and all. Fingers crossed it keeps going that way!

Jasper decided to 'help me' cut out my fabric of course. If he wasn't so darn cute he would be annoying!

Happy Monday folks. Or happy thoughts at least!

a little bit of tuscany

2010-11-12T14:53:00.000+11:00

Seeing as it is Friday and all I can think about at the moment is not being at work, I thought I might share a bit about my recent trip to Italy. It's nice to think about being somewhere beautiful and relaxing on a Friday afternoon, I think.

So Tuscany is amazing. A-MA-ZING! We spent 6 days in Radda in Chianti and totally fell in love with the place. How could you not though? Everywhere we turned was stunning view after stunning view. It's such a cute little place with a small group of shops and a few lovely restaurants and eateries too.

And then there's the Chianti! I'm telling you now that if you have had Chianti before and thought, "hmmm, that's a bit ordinary" it is because you are drinking cheap Chianti made only to import to us daft foreigners that don't know any better. I was one of those people too! Keep your eye out for Chianti Classico because we can get it here in Australia (and I'm presuming in other countries too - it will have a small sticker with a black rooster on it) and it is delicious. We spent one day driving around to different places and tasting wine - mostly Chianti Classico and Chianti Classio Riserva given the region. It was fantastic! One thing we had learnt pretty early on about Italy is that they don't particularly like signage. Including road signs, signs to direct you to the toilets, or signs to let you know that an establishment is in fact a winery and does welcome people in for wine tasting. If not for the help of some very lovely locals we would never have found any of the wineries that offered tastings. Lucky for us we did because it was such a memorable experience.

I could talk about Tuscany forever but I won't. Except I have to tell you that Tuscany was also the place that I had the best pasta dish of my life - spinach ravioli with a white truffle sauce. It was so so so good! Washed down with a bottle of Chianti Classico, of course!

Now I would like to buy a farmhouse in Radda in Chianti, set up my sewing machine near a giant window and do nothing but sew, listen to music, and look out at the magnificant views forever. Oh, and maybe eat some pasta and drink some wine too. You're all welcome to come and visit of course!

Enjoy your weekend!

my creative space

2010-11-11T10:46:00.001+11:00

Image via The Purl Bee

This week I have been playing crafting catch-up.

I am currently (and will be for some time) finishing the binding on my quilt.

I am (still) finishing off that cross-stitch.

I am getting some fabric ready to make the table runner and matching napkins in the picture above. I'm really hoping that mine look just as lovely as the ones in the picture.

I'm hoping to have another attempt at making a skirt on the weekend. I have some pretty (and cheap) fabric and an "easy" pattern. Fingers crossed.

Check out what everyone else is up to over at kootoyoo

christmas wishlist

2010-11-10T16:23:00.000+11:00

Picture by rkeohane

I've got so many things going on at the moment that I feel a bit like a scatterbrain. Do you know the feeling? I have committed myself to sewing quite a few Christmas presents, plus I really want to attempt to make myself a skirt...and that's just the crafty stuff!

Did you know that there's only just over 6 weeks until Christmas (and, more importantly, my birthday!)? And did you know that this year my present wishlist is actually a list? Normally I'm saying, "I don't need anything" and "there's nothing in particular that I want" but this year my wishlist is CRAZY long. I'm not sure why. Perhaps I am reverting to childhood. Perhaps I am just greedy. I'm considering actually writing a list and giving it to my husband for discreet passing on. Is that wrong? Will that make me look totally greedy and controlling? It's just that I don't want things that I don't need, you know? I don't need more Myer vouchers or random books to fill my already full house.

I wish I was a kid again so I could spend days putting together a lovely visual Christmas wish list (with the aid of advertising material from toy shops and glitter glue, of course). Then I could stick in right in the middle of the fridge so that Santa could find it. He never seemed to mind. He used to find that list mighty helpful!

So, what's on your Christmas wishlist?

P.S The Christmas wishlist above is not actually mine. Just a cute one I found on flickr

wonderful things

2010-11-08T15:22:00.000+11:00

By simonhn

The Hepburn Bathhouse is wonderful. Especially when you spend hours there bathing and getting massaged and talking with a very good friend whom you haven't seen in a while.

The whole area of Daylesford is wonderful. Especially when you go there with your very good friends from Brisbane who you don't get to see very often and miss alot. It was only the 2nd time we had visited Daylesford but I just love it. It has lots of wonderful things and shops like Lark. The food is pretty good too (except for the maggot-infested ham I was served at a very well-known local eatery that I won't name).

Speaking of food...Mamasita (which is not in Daylesford but in Melbourne) is also wonderful. You should definitely go there if you like Mexican-y goodness like this:

Now that the fun of having visitors is over, the countdown to Christmas is well and truly on.

I have so much sewing to do!

my creative space

2010-11-04T12:58:00.000+11:00

By oversewn

I am finally up to the binding stage on my quilt - hooray! Let the hand-stitching begin!

Once the quilting was done I noticed how incredibly unstraight some of my lines are. I was tempted to unpick it and redo it but then realised that the lines are actually quite straight - it's the squares on the quilt-top that are not straight. I used them as my guide and thus ended up with some wonky looking quilting. I have decided to leave it be instead of ripping up ALL of the quilting lines and starting again. It is handmade so surely they've gotta be some little idiosyncrices? Or am I am being totally lazy? I'm not sure. When I handover the quilt I will say that it is handmade and I am still learning and it still serves it's purpose even though it is far from being totally perfect and just don't look at it too closely.

Check out some more professional creative spaces over here

not quite Venice

2010-11-01T15:27:00.000+11:00

How was your weekend? What did you get up to? Did you enjoy a gondola ride through the canals of Venice? No, I didn't either. I did have the pleasure of doing so just a couple of weeks ago though and it was totally amazing. I know that the cheese-factor is incredibly high on this but I can't even describe to you how wonderful it was. It was peaceful and relaxing and the most amazing way to see one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I highly recommend it!

Oh, and at night the gondola men even serenade their lucky guests. We could hear their amazing voices (and guitar and accordion) from our hotel room! It was truly magical!

So in light of that, our weekend was pretty boring! But it was magical in it's own kind of way. There's nothing better than relaxing at home after travelling for weeks. I got to do some sewing and watch some tv and sleep in and go to yoga and go out for breakfast. There's some of my favourite things right there!

We did attend the inaugural Men of Letters event in Thornbury, and that was pretty inspiring. We saw the likes of Paul Kelly (oh, I love him so much!), John Safran, Tim Rogers, Bob Ellis, Alan Brough and Matt Preston read out letters "to the woman that changed my life". Then we got to write and post our own letters on these super cute aerogrammes in the break. It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon. If you're in Melbourne, keep an eye out for upcoming Women of Letters.

Hope your weekend was ab fab!

here comes the sun

2010-10-29T14:07:00.000+11:00

A vegetable patch and garden at a winery in Chianti we visited

It is GLORIOUSLY sunny in Melbourne today and it is making me feel very happy (even though I am stuck indoors and cannot fully enjoy it). I love the sun. I have missed the sun! It is the promise of Summer to come. It makes me think about the beach, the smell of sunscreen, naked legs, fresh salads, iced tea and Christmas! Yes, Christmas is coming! It makes me happy to know that soon enough I will be relaxing with my family and swimming and exchanging presents and singing carols. Doesn't that make you happy too?

I'm just going to pretend that this glorious Melbourne weather is going to continue all weekend long (and not turn to torrential rain and cold temperatures as has been forecast). The weatherman can be wrong, right?

my creative space

2010-10-28T14:08:00.000+11:00

...is back!

After a 3 week break I am back to crafting - hooray! I've only been back for 2 days and I have made some good progress on my quilt. I've *almost* finished the quilting, leaving only the delightful (read: painful) binding to go. Christmas is creeping up on us! Double hooray!

I'm back!

2010-10-27T12:59:00.000+11:00

After 3 glorious weeks in Italy and London, we are back home again. There is much to tell and many photos to share (and washing to do). For now, here's a photo of one of my favourite moments from our trip - on a gondola in Venice. Cliche? Yes! Touristy and ridiculously over-priced? Most definitely! But it was simply wonderful and I'm so glad we did it. Something to remember for many years to come.

Hope everyone is doing wonderfully well. I have 3 weeks worth of Google Reading to do!

i am on holidays

2010-10-04T11:00:00.001+11:00

By Quasimondo

I am currently holidaying in Italy and London.
I will return to dazzle you with travel stories and photos sometime after October 26. Please stop by then.

my creative space

2010-09-30T10:22:00.000+10:00

I finished the quilt top! Hooray!

Now to baste and quilt and bind...oh my!

Check out some other creative spaces here

busy busy busy

2010-09-28T15:53:00.000+10:00

...and yet not at all.

Do you know that feeling? The feeling of doing a million things, thinking a million things and running around like crazy...only to have the days slowly drag by? All I have been thinking today is, we fly out on Friday night and it is only Tuesday.

I shouldn't be wishing away time like this!

Quick! Distract me!

when the sun comes marching in

2010-09-27T15:43:00.000+10:00

This weekend Melbourne produced an entire day of sunshine. Can you believe it?! So I, of course, spent a bit of time soaking it up. It was glorious. Today it is raining. Thanks so much Melbourne!

This weekend was also the much celebrated AFL grand final (Australian Football). Everyone in Melbourne goes a bit crazy for the grand final, and what would you know? It ended up being a draw! This means that the teams have to play again next week. Eek! I will be on a plane though so I won't get to watch it.

This weeks brings lots of packing, organising, google mapping, stressing and hoping that everything works out somewhat according to plan. I just want to get there safe, happy-ish and relatively on time. That is all. Fingers crossed.

my creative space

2010-09-23T13:50:00.000+10:00

Still finishing off that quilt top (only a few rows to go!)

Still cross-stitching a Christmas present

Thinking about getting starting on some other Christmas presents

Organising the last few things for our trip to Italy

Thinking about making a dress

You?

playing tourist

2010-09-20T12:08:00.000+10:00

The weekend is over yet again! It's hard to believe how quickly it goes.

We spent Saturday playing tourist in Melbourne and practicing taking shots with our new camera (my fave is above). We spent our time wandering around the Shrine of Remembrance and the Royal Botanic Gardens. We definitely learnt alot about the camera and got to experiment with all of its wonderful settings. It was obvious right from the start that it takes great shots - even on the automatic function. Plus having such a great camera does encourage us to be a bit more creative with our shots, which is always fun.

We finished up our day with a bit of shopping at Tokuya (fab!), some bubbles at Chloe's Bar and dinner at Pacific House. I really started to feel like I was on holidays!

Anyway, I am quite confident that the camera will fulfill its travelling duty. I really can't wait to snap around Italy with it.

Hope your weekend was splendid, and your week is even more so.

some things i love

2010-09-17T12:04:00.000+10:00

Today I thought I might share a couple of eco products that I absolutely adore. I have become incredibly passionate about finding sustainable and environmentally friendly options for my life. Sometimes this is very difficult. Sometimes (as is the case with these two products) I just happen upon them. *insert joy here*

image from Burt's Bees

First up is this gorgeous lip shimmer by Burt's Bees. I must admit to not being a very big fan of the Bees Wax lip balm, but the lip shimmer is AWESOME! There is a whole range of shades to choose from, it is very moisturising, it is not at all sticky and it tastes a little minty. It gives your lips a lovely lipstick shade without having to apply lipstick and then a lip balm as well. Plus the tubes are quite thin and small so they easily fit into pocket/purse/handbag for easy use. I adore adore adore these! I have 2 different shades on the go at the moment. And, for the record, my favourite shade is peony :) Get them here.

image from Keep Cup

Next is the super awesome Keep Cup. I have had my cup for a few years now but it's nice to see the concept is catching on. If you're like me and have a take away coffee every day, you really do need one of these beauties. They come in an amazing range of colours and come in universally accepted standard sizes - so they won't upset your barista :) They are a great way to replace disposable cups and are really nice to drink out of. Get one here.

Do you have some favourite eco products too? Please share them with me.

A very happy weekend to you all!

my creative space

2010-09-16T10:41:00.000+10:00

This week I got myself a new baby. One of these:

By amanda.taylor_us via Flickr

Isn't she lovely?

I am very much looking forward to taking her for a ~~spin~~ er click on the weekend. There's only so many pictures I can take of my cats before I am commonly referred to as the cat lady.

Other than that...I have almost finished my cross-stitched Christmas present. I should be able to finish off my quilt top in the near future. I am hoping to have some serious sewing machine time on the weekend.

What about you? What have you been up to? I'm heading over to kootoyoo to find out!

Simon's Cat

2010-09-15T16:19:00.000+10:00

I have just discovered Simon's Cat cartoons this week, and I love them! They are very clever and funny, and very very true to life. This one reminds me a lot of Jasper who has a real penchant for fly catching.

In between watching these videos (and working of course), I haven't been doing much at all this week. And that makes me sad :( I am still recovering from a head cold that is steadily approaching it's 2nd week of life. My doctor delightfully informed me to expect 10 days from this little beauty. And whilst its symptoms are not so terrible, they are just plain annoying. And energy sapping. I miss my energy, dammit!

So please enjoy this video whilst I continue to take it easy and (hopefully) recover.

Hope you're all well and happy and bouncing off the walls.

i have a new camera

2010-09-14T10:28:00.000+10:00

A glamour shot of Alex

On the weekend I finally got myself a DLSR and it is wonderful! I ended up with a Canon EOS 500D and I am nowhere near knowing how to use it properly yet. However, even with my limited knowledge it has already proven that it takes amazing photos (mostly of my cats so far).

I cannot wait to give it a real go when we get to Italy in a few weeks time.

Jasper eating cat grass

No more flash-induced red-eye pictures for me!

No more blurry low-light shots!

Hooray!

finals fever

2010-09-10T14:44:00.000+10:00

The AFL finals are here! How fast the season goes!

Now I'm not generally a big sports fan but I do very much like AFL, and the Sydney Swans in particular. After a season of ups and downs, my beloved team is taking on the Western Bulldogs in the semi-finals this weekend.

We will be there. Draped from head to foot in red and white.

I will be the one biting my nails and hiding behind my scarf (and blowing my nose and struggling to hear - but that's because I have a cold, ick!)

My husband will be the one yelling. A lot.

Do you like AFL too? Which team do you follow? If your team hasn't made it to the finals this year, would you mind cheering on the Swans for me? I would do it for you :)

my creative space

2010-09-09T16:32:00.000+10:00

I'm finally making some progress with my quilt - yay! It's looking pretty good so far. Hopefully I'l have the top done soon.

I spent a big chuck of time making these shirts for my Dad's birthday last week. They went down a treat and Dad had an excellent time, so it was all worth it.

Now it's time to start thinking about Christmas presents I think. Eeek!

Check out some more creative spaces over with Kootoyoo

the weekend that was

2010-09-07T17:57:00.000+10:00

We had the most wonderful long weekend (and then some) in sunny Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast with our friends and family. It was so great to see the amazing Brisbane crew again, and to see some sun! I swear I looked like a drunk person for the first few days as I happily lapped up the sun and exclaimed, "look, I'm not wearing a jacket!" at every chance I got. It was glorious!

After our short stint in Brisvegas we headed up to the coast to spend a long weekend with my whole family to celebrate my Dad's birthday. We stayed in a stunning house and had an incredible time. The weekend was filled with swimming, drinking, eating, laughing, card games, golf and happiness. Dad definitely had a great birthday, and we all enjoyed getting to celebrate it with him.

So now we're back in Melbourne town. Back to work. Back to the not-so-warm days. The countdown for Italy now begins in earnest.

happy birthday dad

2010-09-03T09:00:00.001+10:00

Happy birthday Dad!

I hope you're having the most amazing day (and weekend) imaginable.

we are family

2010-09-01T10:00:00.036+10:00

By Burrard-Lucas Wildlife Photography via Flickr

Friends and family are so important aren't they? I mean, obviously they are important but I mean they are really super important, right? Well that becomes more and more obvious when you live so far away from them!

As you are reading this, I will be soaking up some sun in Brisbane. I will be hanging out with my wonderful friends and getting ready for a long weekend with my family on the coast. That on it's own is probably not that great of a deal to most people but to me, it is like heaven! A rare opportunity to be surrounded by the people that mean the most to me in this world.

My very good friends (including my best friend of some 20 odd years) live in Brisbane and we only get to see them a couple of times a year since we moved down to Melbourne. I miss them alot.

My whole immediate family (just my sisters and their partners and our parents) haven't all been together since Todd and I's wedding about 18 months ago. I miss them too.

So (sun aside) this week is really important to me and I am sure to be soaking up every last bit of it. Do you get to see your friends and family all of the time, or just occasionally like me? Who do you miss right now?

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, I hope you are getting some quality time with your loved ones too!

my place and yours

2010-08-30T11:48:00.000+10:00

This weeks theme is: why do you live where you do? What a great idea! I'm looking forward to reading everyones stories over at helloowl You should come and play along too!

We currently rent a 3 bedroom townhouse in Melbourne where we have been living there for almost a year. We live here because of my husbands work. He was offered a promotion and we decided to make the big move (for the 2nd time!) from Brisbane down to Melbourne. It was a tough choice, but we decided we would make the most out of this opportunity. We do love Melbourne and it's coffee and shopping and AFL and excellent public transport!

Having said that, Brisbane has very much become our spiritual home. We lived there for about 4 years and have the most amazingly wonderful friends there. We also have a lovely little house with a big backyard and a vegetable garden that I miss very much! I also miss the weather. I miss the consistency of the weather mostly. I got used to not having to think about what I was going to wear, or whether I needed to take an umbrella or jacket out.

Anyway, we will definitely end up back in Brisbane someone soon. Our little house is being rented out and we will get to see it again! For the time being, we'll soak up all the Melbourne we can.

my creative space (better late than never)

2010-08-27T11:34:00.000+10:00

This week I have been continuing on with my cross-stitching and enjoying the whole process. It's really taking shape now and I'll be sad when it's finished. It's such a great TV watching activity and (unlike quilting) is not very messy, and doesn't take up a lot of space.

I have alsp started sewing together my quilt top finally, only to discover that I had put a piece in the wrong way around! Grrr! So I've unpicked it all and now get to start again. Ah, the joys of sewing!

Otherwise I'm busy getting organised for my Dad's birthday weekend, and have lots of printing and ironing to do this weekend to get these shirts ready! Phew!

Check out some more creative spaces here

tomorrow when the war began movie - my review

2010-08-26T12:31:00.000+10:00

Last night I joined a throng of teenagers to enjoy a free preview screening of the tomorrow when the war began movie (thanks to myspace and black curtain screening). Having imagined this book turned into a film for many many years, I had high hopes. I grew up on this series and am a very big John Marsden fan. I seriously doubted that the movie could ever be as good as the book but I was excited to see it come to life none the less.

The good bits

It was fast-paced - lots of action and it flowed really well
There some great snippets of humour courtesy of Homer and stoner Chris - very much geared at the teenage set and judging by the cinema I was sitting in, it certainly hit the mark!
I was very pleasantly suprised by the soundtrack - some great Aussie songs were thrown in that reminded me of being a teenager too
I think the casting was pretty good (if not perfect). Ashleigh Cummings (aka Robyn) was brilliant and sat really well with the way I imagined that character.
The scenery was great. Hell looked as I imagined it. It was shot near where I grew up so it felt really familiar to me, the way the books do.
The inclusion of mobile phones and laptops were a nice way to make it applicable to teens today

The not so good bits

I am still not 100% convinced that Cailtin Stasey was the best choice to play Ellie. She had a real tendency to overact in Neighbours, and she did a little in this movie too. Having said that, I'm not sure if I could ever be happy with the casting of a character that is so vividly alive in my imagination. She certainly had big shoes to fill, and I didn't hate her performance.
As is always the case when books become movies, some really good bits were left out and some strange bits were put in
What was with the guns? They started toting guns before the war even started in this movie! And they they then suddenly have machine guns, and a rocket launcher even makes a sneaky appearance at the end. What?!
I really don't like the way they changed the Herron Bridge scene, although I understand for the most part why they did it. What I really took objection to was the change it made to Robyn's character. Not sure how they're going to deal with that in the next movies.
What was with that last cliff-gazing scene? I believe we could've done without that.

So, there you have it. I was actually pleasantly suprised by this movie and I throughly enjoyed watching it, even though it is very much a teen movie. I really hope this brings a new generation to John Marsden and this brilliant series of books. It deserves a million times the adoration of the Twilight series, that's for sure!

So go and see it! Just take your teenage goggles with you :)

sakura season

2010-08-23T16:01:00.000+10:00

This weekend I noticed something new about Melbourne - cherry blossoms! Lovely beautiful Sakura have been surprising me on every other corner. This is only our 2nd ever almost-Spring in Melbourne, and you certainly don't find cherry blossoms in Queensland! I don't know if I would have really paid much attention to the cherry blossoms here if it weren't for our trip to Japan in March - in which we caught the very beginning of cherry blossom season. Over there they go absolutely crazy for cherry blossoms! You can get Sakura perfume and body wash, eat Sakura jelly, drink Sakura Steamers from Starbucks...the list goes on! Of course we went crazy for it too! I have more photos than I care to count of the tiny flowers from our two week trip (case in point above). But they are just so beautiful aren't they? And they smell amazing too!

I'm really loving seeing these flowering trees around Melbourne. They make me remember our wonderful trip to Japan, and also give me hope that perhaps Winter is nearing its end.

election craziness

2010-08-20T13:11:00.000+10:00

I'm not normally one to get political, so I apologise in advance for this post.

But this whole election business has been driving me crazy. For the first time in my voting life, I feel incredible dislike for one of the candidates - can you guess who? No prizes for guessing that it is Tony Abbott of course! It's not just his smug looking face. It's his policies, his racist remarks about refugees and his 1950s view of women. I just can't even think about what this country would be like with him leading it.

Not that Julia Gillard is much better, mind you.

I won't go on anymore than that. But do watch this great video from Getup! Australia which busts some myths about a very topical election issue.

P.S If you don't hear from me on Monday it's because I've had to relocate to New Zealand :)

my creative space

2010-08-19T10:09:00.000+10:00

The cutting out is done! Sound the trumpets! Hooray! (That's just the last of the pile in that picture, there's plenty more pieces where they came from)

You see what a little blogging promise can do to my motivation levels? I wanted to make sure I had something to write about today too, haha!

So now it's time to start sewing this quilt together which, quite frankly, I'm a little scared about. There's so many pieces I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to keep it all straight and beautiful. Oh well. At least I am about four billion weeks behind everyone else so I can read ahead.

I'm also about to have my first ever sewing encounter with stretch fabric (I'm obviously having a very ambitious week). Who knows how that will turn out? Any tips?

Now I'm headed over to kootoyoo to be inspired by what everyone else is doing

alex in the sun

2010-08-18T15:48:00.000+10:00

like a headless chicken

2010-08-17T15:41:00.000+10:00

I have so many things on my 'to do' list at the moment. I have fabric and other notions covering every spare space of my house. Plus I am in the midst of organising our trip to Italy AND my Dad's birthday weekend in September. Oh, and then there's all that boring housework stuff. Sheesh!

But at the end of an office-bound day, I just don't have any energy to do anything. I hate it. Why is it that sitting still and staring at a computer is so exhausting? All it makes me want to do is sit in front of the TV all night. It's a never ending cycle of laziness.

But...I'm determined to get my craft on over the next few days, and sew my way through the weekend! It's my mid week resolution (inspired by a lunch time trip to Spotlight - oops!)

P.S If you're feeling extra nice today, please vote for me (and my kitties) over here. Thank you! :)

my place and yours

2010-08-16T18:34:00.000+10:00

This weeks theme is: what's the last thing your brought for yourself?

This weekend my best friend was visiting from sunny Queensland, and we had a fantastic time. We crocheted, drank, ate, watched classic 90s movies, went shopping, talked and laughed.

We also ventured into a Japanese style photo booth and laughed like school kids as we had these photos taken. So much fun!

See what everyone else has been spending their money on over at hellowl

my creative space

2010-08-13T11:55:00.000+10:00

Guess what I've been doing this week? Cross stitching! Can you believe it? I can barely believe it! But a lunch time wandering at Spotlight revealed a cross stitch kit that I just had to buy and make for my friend. I'm really enjoying it so far too. It's a great TV watching activity, cat snuggling kinda project.

That's about all the crafting I've been doing this week. I've had a few failed crocheting projects, but I have pulled them apart so nothing to show there.

Now I'm off to see what everyone else has been doing this week at kootoyoo.

pets on quilts show

2010-08-11T12:58:00.000+10:00

I just couldn't resist entering this cute pets on quilts show. I have only one quilt to my name so far, but my cats Alex and Jasper have given it their approval. They of course, assisted with the making process as only cats can. They helped me pin everything together and carefully observed the binding process. Yep. Very helpful.

Alex is about 3 years old now and was rescued from an RSPCA shelter. He's an interesting creature. Think Garfield, and you're pretty much spot on. He has little interest in being held or patted most of the time. But he does like to follow me around the house and observe from a close distance. And he will purr madly away when he's being brushed.

Jasper, on the other hand, is your typical younger brother. He is a Tonkinese and was bought from a breeder about 2 years ago. He must be the centre of attention at all times and is very good at stealing things from Alex - namely food and toys. He loves a good pat and loves to sleep under things - blankets, beds, furniture...whatever is on offer. He certainly keeps Alex on his toes!

Despite their differences, on top of (or under) this quilt is their favourite place to sleep. It is a nice lap quilt and has become a necessary addition to TV watching in this cold Melbourne weather. As soon as it comes out the cats emerge from whatever place they had been sleeping in to take up new residence on top of the quilt (and us). It always makes us laugh. They seem to have no interest in us sometimes, until the quilt comes out! I'm not sure why they love it so much, but they do.

I must say, I'm pretty proud of it too :)