no medication required

well, what a week! but look at what i have achieved....some things are 100% finished even

• gifts for school - check
• cushions for bed - check
• clutch for wedding - check

boy, it has been a huge week. and thrown into the mix - a wedding (beautiful), mother's day (ahhh) & missing out on a rug on ebay by $1 - a story for another day.

the clutch went without a hitch. amazing for me i can tell you. i kept it simple & it went perfectly. great size, great fabric, great to finish something!

the wedding - just beautiful. really special. the boys were amazingly behaved & they made me very proud.

then out to brunch at tenneriffe for mother's day - delish! then home for a very lazy afternoon & takeaway dinner. i scored some great gifts......a handstamped necklace with the boys' names & birthstone crystals from here. and i got my pinking shears!! and slippers. and got to be totally lazy all day. i even managed to sew my cushions for my bed & they look great.

but today.....i have loads to catch up on. better get to it. and i am avoiding ebay.......promise!

wedding day

this is the big day......our friends' special day. this photo is from here. the sun is shining, my hair is straight (god i love ghd), my frock is pressed, my clutch is sewn.........i am nearly ready.

i am so excited for our special friends. he was our best man 14 years ago & she i have only known for 10 months but it feels like a lifetime. you know the sort of friends....

speaking of friends. i have the most amazing friends in the world. one in particular is the most amazing woman i know. she has been close to my heart of late in a way she may never truly know or understand. i am so blessed to be surrounded by some amazing women. in a household full of boys, it is the women in my life that fill something else in me & give me something every time i spend time with them. i have learnt alot about myself this last month & alot about other people too. i have popped out the other side stronger & thankful for everything in my life. it is a journey & i am doing my best to give it all i've got.

girl friends, i cannot put into words how much you mean to me. it is not that simple. words seems so inadequate. i hope to give something to your journey the way you have given to mine.
you have blessed me with so much & for that i thank you from my heart. i wouldn't be here without you! i love you & feel so lucky....xxx

tea bag wallet & midwifery skills

so i changed my mind after inserting ribbon as the ties for the little wallets. i wanted a snap closure with a tab. i had already done 4, so i needed to ammend these first.

now, because i am so used to working in confined spaces with 2 fingers figuring out where a head is, how dilated the cervix is & what position a baby is in from the landmarks on his head, i thought nothing of squeezing my 2 fingers into the wallet, inserting a press stud & redoing all the tabs. i carried on for 3 wallets.......then it dawned on me.....if i actually unpick half of my wallet, i can achieve everything with full vision & redo it all sooo quickly. and finish with a quick restitch up.

i had been working through a 5cm space & turning things in & out for adjustments 100 times through this tiny space......beacause i am used to working that way!

3 down, 7 to go!

dear god, i have to get out a little more....

final note: these need neat hand stitching to close the opening & a tidy up of threads...a bit like after a vaginal birth.....just saying!

bipolar sewing

ok, so maybe i am bipolar...in a crafty way.
i have sooo many grand plans for some little projects & have a mountain of fabric around me. I have to prioritise though or i will need to be medicated to achieve it all.
here's the list:

• finish tea bag wallets for school mother's day stall
• make labels for wallets & heat packs
• package up the chocolates & other goodies i am donating for the stall
• make clutch purse for wedding
• make cami for new witchery top that jumped in my bag when i was buying the dress for the wedding
• make cushions for my bed with fabric i bought from here at craft fair
• decide which amy butler quilt i am going to make & sort the fabric out. check out her designs here. The patterns are all free. i have printed 2 off....august fields & lotus brick path
• make a little something for a friend's birthday. i know just the project & i have 10 weeks for that one. phew!

so, my list is long. there are lots of fiddly bits....i need to design the purse pattern first and then cut into some gorgeous lace i found yesterday at spotlight. it is metalic silver fine lace & might look fab over some plain black fabric....we'll see. it was $4, so if it ends up in the corner, the boys still get to eat. no promises on the clutch ever eventuating btw. i am a realist now.

i only have until tuesday to have all the gifts sorted for some lucky mums. i decided to make extra & donate them for the teacher to give quietly for the children who may have nothing for their mums next weekend. many families are doing it tough & i wanted to quietly contribute. only the teacher knows it is me, so i feel a little like santa....& it feels great to give.

more on the tea wallet fiasco to come.......

lavender & lace make me vomit

ok, so i made it to the stitches & craft show...and i went with my best attitude...and i respect the older community...and i respect the traditional quilt makers....
but OMG there was sooo much lace and country style quilting. i was a baby compared to most crafty peeps there. and i am over 40 now!
i learned some quilting from these masters & so have great respect for their knowledge & skill. but please can we have more mod shit here please????
i did find a few stalls with my sorta style. bought some heather bailey fq's from here and these helpful ladies were great. they tell me they have cool stuff in their shop at toowong...i also bought the new real living mag (half price) & some yummy fabric from here. it was a relief to find some of the owners of blogs i check in on regularly. i was too shy to reveal myself as a stalker. i am not normally described as shy, so i am sure my friends & family would die of laughter reading that!! i had just a little cash to spend as i have been buying up a fabric storm of late. so i was restrained. for me.
i saw some gorgeous little bird houses that i have admired online before & now i just have to have one...i will chase one down from somewhere. nerida is sure to know where to get one. she might have even posted about them before.....she has been my go-to girl for most things bloggy of late.....she always comes up with the goods too.
photos when weather improves & sun shining...
today i found a little joy, so that is good....i needed some joy today.

intuition

months ago i put this artist in my fave's. never heard of her before. don't know how i stumbled upon her. nothing. just liked what i saw. thought, one day i'd like to see one of her exhibitions....

then, on masterchef, i see this woman who i vaguely thought i recognised when they went to her paintings....and sure enough, when i checked today. it was her!

i have so many spooky moments in my life that i could bore you with. wierd stuff that i just know.... or i just stumble across things that reveal their true meaning later..

i would call it intuition...i love a good psychic and all but i don't think i am psychic. i am just a little creepy in a friendly smiley way. just ask my husband....but i do know stuff....

this made me cry this morning. i am a bit teary of late...you know. i have had a very emotional week & am bunkered down to regain strength.
and the biggest loser is over....how amazing were they all at the end. except for tanya as she appeared to not try very hard at all. she is a tanty thrower & expects others to do the work for her. she will always be fat....just saying!!
the good thing is, i am now loving masterchef. anyone else into it? this can be my new addiction.
well, of course i had to cook a citrus tart last night - it turned out very citrusy. a little too tarty maybe. i will be posting the recipes on my other blog when i find time.
and we had some panfried snapper with spicy chickpeas....omg, so yummy!! from the latest edition of delicious i think....officially i was on tart duty. and i only chopped the onion for the main one...so cannot really claim is as my own. so yum though. i have been a little fearful of chickpea after effects, but so far, so good....for everyone.
have much sewing to finish off for the mother's day stall at school. a great way to avoid the pile of ironing...
and i am off to the craft fair tomorrow. i am sneaking in at some stage. i hold high hopes but feel i may be disappointed. i know the melbourne one would have been amazing, just a little scared it will be a little country up here. i am going with my best attitude though & am sure i will be pleasantly surprised....brisbane is all grown up now & there are some amazing crafters up here, so there is much hope!