Gettin' my Geek on ...

I got an iPhone last week. I am surprised at how much I adore it, but it was love at first byte. (groan) I took took some pictures with it today - just random shots. I am pretty impressed with the quality. In 'tech years' my digital camera is pretty old and has less megapixels than the iPhone.


Shot#1 (above) is Pixie trying to work out what I'm pointing at her. How cute is her red nose? Well its cute until its being rubbed on your face at 4am!


Shot #2: My thread holder - somewhat organised by colour.


Shot #3 - A cute old cocktail cup. It sounds kinda morbid but the very top of its head comes off so you can pour the drink in. There is also a straw hole in the back of its head. I just like the cheeky side-smile.


Shot #4 - Pixie had to bear the brunt of my photo shoot. She was very accommodating though and made some pretty cute faces.

I'm off to Melbourne this week to visit my best bud. I have the Friday and Monday off - w00t! We're going to check out the 'Persuasion: Fashion in the Age of Jane Austen' exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria and I'm sure there will be coffee, cake and some shopping involved too.
Bell xxx

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My First ... Amigurumi!

I was awed by Amy's amigurumi's and inspired to try it out myself. I really didn't think I would be able to do it but after some google'ing I found a great video on making the adjustable 'magic ring' and also great tips, tricks and instructions for Amigurumi at PlanetJune. I came across this pattern for an owl and thought I would make it for an owly friend who has just graduated. Please meet Professor Hooter ....

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Just a minute in May...

I've been meaning to join Jenaveve's 'Just a minute' roundup for a while now. I've been lurking around reading everyone else's and thought it was time I made a contribution.

Dreading... Winter. It is only two days away and it is so cold already! I hate getting out of bed when it is freezing. It is already starting to get dark at 5pm. Which is pure trickery when you are at work thinking it must be home time and then realise its not. :( The upside is that I finally get to wear my gorgeous leather boots I got in Rome.

Laughing... at the way my blog name displays in FireFox tabs. I reckon if I could sew gspots I'd make a fortune on Etsy!

Cooking... Yes, you read right. Me, cooking! It has been a while but I made Apricot chicken on Coconut rice, Tuna pasta bake and Vegetable Soup this week. I got the Vege soup recipe from Jenaveve and it was awesome. It was even better the next day.

Watching... a bag of Haigh's Coffee Chocolate Buttons disappear as I write this post. Yummers!

Reading... 'When in Rome' by Penolope Green. I really love the honesty of the author and the aussie slang.

Listening... to the rain that seems to have settled in and also to the usual suspects on my iPod - Seether, Tool and Nickelback. Yah, I'm old skool grunge era.

Learning... how to give my cat a tablet. Milly had to go on antibiotics after an abcess burst on her leg. (I know - soooo gross!) I gave her a tablet without any problems the first night. But the next morning she knew what was coming. I tried stealth moves, coersion, treats, force, begging and traps but she kept managing to escape. I ended up taking her back to the vet and they gave her the tablet and then helped me while I practiced on Milly. Ha! After my vet session I was able to get that tablet down her throat before she even knew what was going. Hurrah!!

Wishing... that I was in Melbourne hanging with my bestie so that we could have crafting sessions.

Meeting... up with the Sydney Brown Owls each month. There is a great mix of people and crafts. There's always something interesting going on. I haven't done much crafting in the meetings because I'm usually chatting. The next meeting is June 4th and Amy (badskirt) is going to teach us how to piece hexagons. A few of us are also going to meet up at the Sydney Craft & Quilt Fair on June 12th. Good Times!

til next time,
Bell

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Handmade Help Kits

I put together a stack of knitting kits for Handmade Helps Out. They contain knitting needles, yarn needles, row markers, scissors, a knitting gauge, crochet hooks and a pattern book.

Pixie was trying to "help" and got caught in a bag.

*sigh* - she wasn't impressed ... especially since I was taking pictures and not helping.

At our last Brown Owls meeting we made up a bunch of fabric and embellishment packs.

My work very generously couriered them to Meet Me at Mike's so hopefully they have arrived safely and will help some crafters build up their supplies.

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Sunny Day Owl

Last year I joined a crafting club called "Brown Owls". I was given my very own member name - Sunny Day Owl. I was very excited to be chosen as a Brown Owls Prefect for the NSW chapter. There are four of us BOPs in Sydney and we'll work together to organise monthly meetings and events. We met up last month to plan the first meeting and everything is all organised for the 5th March. The first meeting is going to be an Owl theme (of course). We're each going to make up some craft kits if members want to try something different. Here's a prototype of my "Sunny Day Owl" badge. I got the inspiration from an owl design on a pair of trackie pants I got from Target.

I'll blanket stitch all the pieces in place, stitch the back on and stuff it a little bit. I might get rid of the tummy piece I think.

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Tea Cosy

I made this tea cosy for a friend's birthday. I was really happy with how it turned out. I love the colours.

I don't actually have a tea pot so I made a card board cut out so I could see how it looked. :D

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Re-stash a Crafter

Don't get me wrong, donating money is most important, but I still feel like there's more I can do. Then I started reading 'Handmade Help' and realised that there is a lot I can do. Last year I got bags of knitting and crochet supplies from Spotlight. I'm going to package them up into kits and donate them to 'Re-stash a Crafter'. I think it is a great idea. It is so inspiring to read all the blogs and community groups who are getting together to make bags, quilts, toys, appliqued clothes and lots more crafty goods for people affected by the bushfires. I started thinking that buying sewing or crafting supplies is going to be waaaay down the shopping list for people who are struggling to get their lives back in order. They will have lost all of their supplies that they have probably spent years collecting. If I can donate some knitting, crochet and sewing kits then hopefully it will give someone a starting point for their new stash and the opportunity to keep doing what they love.

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On my sewing table ...

I'm very much a gadget girl. I love all the sewing gadgets from Clover. I love my new purple Clover magnetic pin holder.

It comes with a plastic cover (to stop the kitties pulling the pins off!) and the groove makes it easy to get the pins out. I also recently got a pair of duck billed scissors. It makes trimming seam allowances so much easier!

As always Milly has to sit right where I'm trying to work.

This is my mini design wall. It sits above my sewing machine. It is great for sticking the pattern instructions up so I can refer to them while I'm sewing. The sheets are self-adhesive, reusable, leave no residue and nothing has fallen off it yet. They're by Gripping-Stuff and I got them from OfficeWorks. Very handy.

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Peggy's Bag

I made this bag last month for my mum-in-law to be. I made it using the "Pleated Beauty" pattern from Bend-The-Rules Sewing.

I was having sewing machine issues but gave it a good clean out, a jeans needle and was finally able to finish my bag for Peggy. The fabric is chocolate cord with a small floral pattern. I made the flower design on the fly.

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Its getting hot in here ...

Well, the weather is warming up and the reptiles are coming out.

Here are some cold-blooded locals we snapped up on our last Mudgee visit.

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In Progress - Hummingbird Bag

This is my first zipper project and my first attempt at sewing in a curved gusset! The gusset was tricky! I had to unpick it 3 times - but the fourth time it all lined up. I was so excited about making this bag though because it is so different from anything else I've made. I used a pattern from "Quilted Bags and Purses".

The fabric is a mix of Junko Onishi's Hummingbird fabric and rust coloured velvet and woven material from a curtain shop's offcuts. The lining is chocolate brown cotton drill and the zip is dark chocolate too. I also used fusible pelon and woven interfacing for the first time.

The bag is designed to be carried in your hand but I like wearing bags on my shoulders. So, I'm going to make some more strap lengths and attach them to the existing straps with 'D-rings'. The bag is the most layers of fabric I've ever had to sew and my machine suprisingly went through it all. Using brand new needles really makes a difference. My new "hump jumper" also helped stitching through all the layers enormously.

Finished bag to be posted soon ...

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Baby quilt for Rich & Elsa

I am really happy with how the quilt turned out. I love the fabric.

The brown coloured material has the words woof!, bark!, arf etc all over it.

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Baby Quilt

It has been a while between posts. I've been working long hours and weekends. I haven't had a chance to do any sewing or blogging. :(
Hopefully this weekend I can work on a baby quilt for friends who are due next month. Very exciting.

I was going through my fabrics and Monkee was offering advice. She is convinced that the green spot should definately be included.

When I disagreed she started to eat the green binding in protest.
After picking out the fabrics and looking at them for a couple of days I think they are too girl-ish and they don't know if it is a boy or girl. So I went to Spotlight last night and they had a huge table of 50% patchwork fabrics. I got some very cute fabrics in blues and reds. I will post some pictures later.

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Etsy Love

I was just browsing Etsy and came across these gorgeous hand painted pendants from margrietje.
The exchange rate is so good I just had to get two. :)
Ok, I confess - I couldn't decide between these two so got them both.

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BTRSswap - Pleated Beauty

I finished my bag for the BTRSswap a couple of weeks ago and haven't had a chance to take a picture. Here it is! I'm really happy with the colour combination. I even remembered to leave a gap in the lining to turn the bag inside out!
I used magnetic snaps for the first time. I'm not sure if they are too strong though. They take a little bit of effort to get them apart. Next time I might use some smaller snaps.

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