Summer Crochet....Name Bunting

Hello there!

It has been a very hot day here, so the boys and I went to visit some family on Phillip Island, about an hour away from here.  We spent a very pleasant morning on the beach, the water was really nice and refreshing and we had fun catching waves and generally frolicking around.  Then we had a sun bake, some lazy reading and chatting on the beach, catching up with my cousins who I don't see very often, a lovely day indeed.  I was going to take some photos of our day, but when I went to use my camera I found the card thingy was missing. Doh!

So instead I am showing you pictures of some name bunting that I made for my nieces, supposedly for Christmas, but actually  finished a few days late.

The pattern was based loosely on the one in Granny Chic by dottie angel, although I had to make it a fair bit bigger and I added the scalloped edging for a bit more colour. 

(You can never have too much colour!)  :)

The colours look quite different inside.

I am pretty pleased with these little banners, I think they will look really cute and vintagey on the girls' doors.  

 I am also doing quite well with my big blanket progress, so hope to have an update for you later in the week.  I am very sorry for the slow progress of updates for my CAL, hopefully you ladies who have stuck it out are not too upset with me and have other projects to go to in the mean time, or better still are making it up as you go along, kind of like what I do!  Anyway, I am trying to get a fair bit done over the next few nights, we are in for a couple of scorcher days and nights, so I think I will try and get some crochet done when it's too hot to sleep.

Till next time, 

Bye Bye!

Christmas 2012

Wishing you all a very festive Christmas season, much happiness and good health from my family to yours.

It is an early start here, so time for a quick Merry Christmas before we head of for a day of good food, great company and unwinding after the hectic last few weeks.....I hope you all enjoy your day too!

I think I might have a little bloggy holiday till the new year, so see you all again in a week, with lots of plans and new years resolutions that I will probably not keep! 

This was the scene at our place about 20 minutes ago, a lot of present opening and wrapping paper!  Nothing like an action shot of Christmas morning!  Pjs and presents!

Happy Holidays everyone, thanks for all your lovely support over the year and thanks for popping by here to see what's been happening around my little patch.....I really appreciate it!

xxxxxxxxxxxx

More decorations......

Hello!  Just a quick post to show you the other lovely decoration that came my way from the Handmade Ornament Swap.  Isn't it gorgeous !  And it looks fantastic on our quirky tree.

Megan from Silver Threads of Happiness made it for me, thank you so much Megan!

xxxxxxxxx

December things...

Hello. 

How is your week going?

We are getting a bit Christmassy here with our Christmas tree up and kind of decorated!

I think this time of year is my favourite, so much good will and fun anticipation, 

(even if it is super busy with end of year things)!

Our tree this year has a bit of a 'Stray-ya' feel happening, with lots of open space 

and nice airy bits,  just like our lovely country!  

I do like the spindly effect and how it brushes the roof, I had to chop out the top to get it inside, so it has lost it's pointy top. I guess I have to get lots of stars for the multiple tops now! 

I think our tree definitely looks like it was made for a hot summer Christmas, all it's branches are splayed out trying to keep cool!  Not everyone at our house likes this sparse look though.  Middle (Andre) is not at all impressed, and doesn't think it looks Christmassy at all.  I am going to put him in charge of decorating the rest of the house, and we can have Christmas decorating 'Andre Style'!

......lots of crochet bits and bobs.....

.....a little crochet decoration from the lovely Lucy's pattern collection.....

....and a sequin masterpiece from the Christmas of 2005 at the Bittern Kindergarten.....it is still as shiny and pretty as ever!

....and here is a new addition to our handmade decoration collection, this little beauty was sent to me by Tania from Ivy Nest blog as part of the Handmade Ornament Swap.  Isn't it just gorgeous! I just love it, the stitching is so fine and delicate, ( I wish I could embroider like that) and I am very partial to a bit of lovely bunting!  Thank you so much Tania, this little tree will be perfectly at home on our big tree with lots of lovely happy Christmases to come! 

A Little Christmas Crafty Tadah.....

Hello.

How's your day going?  

We're going pretty well here.

So this is what I have been up to craftily speaking, 

I have finished my little Christmas decorations for the swap! 

And with heaps of time to spare. Yay!

 They are little crochet Christmas trees, (in case it's hard to tell), and I am pretty pleased with how they turned out.  The crochet bits were straight forward and then it was fun adding the pom pom bits and trims.  I was hoping they would look a little bit over the top, in a colourful kind of way.  

They make me smile, so I think that's a win.  

I kind of made up how to put these together after having a think about how to crochet little trees.

I think they are reasonably tree-like.

I hope my swap partners like them.  

......blues and pinks and greens in this one...

....and keeping it a little more Christmassy with this one.....

Have a fun crafty day! 

xxxxx

PS. Thank you so much for all your kind words on the death of my father in law, there is a lot of comfort to be found in this great big bloggy community, and both Gary and I were touched by your sympathy, good thoughts going out to you all.

Happy days....

Hello.

How has your week been?  Busy? Quiet? Middle of the road?

Mine has been spend in a haze of sneezing, coughing, and nose blowing, just generally feeling pretty ordinary really, as I finally came down with the cold that has been visiting our house for the last few weeks.  I think I also had a dose of hayfever to top it off, 'allergy eyes' are not much fun.  

Anyway, enough with the whinging, I'm feeling on the mend now, so should be back to normal tomorrow I hope.

And I did some good things this week too! 

 Last night I went out and saw a fantastic concert in Melbourne.

My sister, a couple of her friends, and I went to see Mumford and Sons, and what a great night!!

They were supported by Willy Mason (who we missed because we arrived too late) and Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros, these guys and girls are just so amazing!  Their music is so joyous and fun, I had a smile on my face for their whole set, and so many different instruments!!  I'm sure everyone knows their sweet, sweet song 'Home', it was awesome to here it live, and Edward Sharpe is such a character on stage, very,very entertaining.

Mumford and Sons were totally brilliant.

 That voice of his!! 

 Soooo much passion and feeling, and who can resist a bloke who can play the guitar and keep a bass drum going with his foot at the same time as singing pure musical poetry!  Completely blown away by all their talent!

Had to be one of the best gigs of the year.  I came home so full of happiness and I've been on a musical high all day.  ( Maybe it's because I don't get out much!)

So today I have been out shopping with my mum, always a nice way to spend some time.  We went to the Robert Gordon factory in Pakenham, about an hour from here, for their pre Christmas sale.  There are always lots of lovely things at this place, they are basically a ceramics factory, but they also import lots of cute homewares from overseas.  

Wanna see what I bought?

Well I'm going to show you anyway! Haha...

Some cute asymmetrical cups and little ceramic bottles that look good as vases, in the top photo,

and I bought a few more milk bottle vases in various sizes and colours, I really like the yellow striped one.  I have quite a few different ones of these now, probably enough I think!

......lots of cute cupcake holders and muffin papers  (I am doing some cooking for a friends wedding next week and thought mini cupcakes in these would be nice)

........a couple of small baskets for crochet projects, (they keep multiplying when my back is turned) and a  bag for carrying stuff to the beach (you can't tell from this photo, but it is that water proof type fabric)...

...and mum bought this super cute Advent Calendar for the boys (and me), looking forward to filling the windows with little treats for the kids. Yes indeedy, Christmas is on it's way!! Yikes!

Some of these things are destined for Christmas pressies, so I don't feel quite so guilty about my big shop, it was fun and I don't shop often so I go for it when I do!  I also bought some lovely shallow asymmetrical bowls that match the cups, but they were in the dishwasher by the time I got around to taking a few piccys.

In other riveting news, Gary has had our eternally dripping tap fixed! Yay! I will miss it's gentle dripping all night ( like a hole in the head), it has been like that for over 10 years. Several earlier home handyman efforts have given no joy (I am married to a brilliant accountant!), so it was time to bite the bullet and call in the professionals, and half an hour later it was fixed! Hooray.

We do live an exciting life  :)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Crafty Christmas Star(t)s.....

Hello!

Well, It's October now and that means it's the perfect time to start thinking about Christmas in terms of hand made presents and decorations.  It's not too early and not too last minute, yep, the perfect time!

I do love Christmas time, it gives the crafty inclined a good excuse to make stuff. 

 It's so nice to have a purpose when crafting, don't you think?  I do enjoy pointless crafty action for it's own sake too, but I really like a reason to craft it up as well!

So with that in mind I found the knitted stars I made last year (way too last minute to make it onto the tree), and am determined to get them finished properly (sorry if you've seen them before on my blog) and make a heap more to give to my family as little Pre-Christmas pressies for their trees.  

I am still looking for the pattern I used, it's on the internet somewhere, I'll try and find it before I end this post. 

(here is the link to the Dutch Sisters pattern)

One of the things I liked about these stars is that they only take tiny amounts of wool, so I can use up all the scraps from my blankets and other makes.

I think some made from these lovely Christmassy colours would be great, I only have little bits left of this Pear Tree super soft merino yarn and I think some little stars would be a fittingly gorgeous way to use it up.

Then I have this lot to tackle!  I am thinking some mini ones using 4ply and smaller needles would be a nice contrast, and then I could thread them together and make a starry  garlandy thing.... so many possibilities !  Maybe a mobile, or a starry wall hanging........

So are you thinking about Christmas too?

Do you make things for presents? 

Or is it still too early for you?

I'd like to do a hand made Christmas this year, but I don't think I could come up with presents for my brothers in law ( or at least anything they would want!), so maybe I'll make things for the people I think would like it and leave the others with bought stuff.

So with good intentions I am going to start my Christmas crafting! Yay!

Let me know what you are making, I'd love to see!

Ok, that's it for now, have a great day!