daisy chain

Down Memory Lane

When I was having a blog browse I came across this entry from the wonderful Lark.I remember those cards! I immediately had a search and sure enough to my amazement and delight I still have the game-intact and fabulous!

I love the images and spent many a happy day playing this game with my sister.

I then came across this Knitting Nancy-still a WIP!I think we got the grumpy version!I can't blame her for being so impatient!

And lo and behold look what she was in!

Ahhhhhh! The good old days!!!!!!!!!!!

A Creature of Habit

When I was a kid and mum took us regularly to the library I was definitely a creature of habit.I used to head straight for two sections of the library-one was where the Fairy Tales were and one was over to the section about making things.

I loved borrowing books and read so many Fairy Tales! There was the Red Fairy tale book, the Blue, the Black and so on-quite thick volumes. Looking back some of them were often gruesome and I definitely liked the ones with a happy ending.

One of my favourites,without a happy ending, was The Little Mermaid-you know the one where she has a beauiful singing voice and she falls in love with a human prince and she sacrifices her voice to be able to live on earth and then when every time she walks it is like swords going through her body. and in the end he marries someone else and her sister's cut off their beautiful hair so she can return to the sea!Heavy stuff indeed! I have always liked mermaids and had a go at making one out of felt.

I am still a creature of habit and now as an adult not much has changed. I still head to the epic fantasy section and the craft section whenever I am in the library or bookshop!

I have finished a third bear now for The Mother Bear Project.That's right I have knitted Three Bears. I need to hurry up and finish the fourth so that the Cheeky Whatzit in my house stops calling me Goldilocks!!

Friendly Strangers

Not far from my workplace is this wonderful quilt shop. There is also a wool and second hand bookshop on the same stretch of road. These shops have proved to be very dangerous if you only have a few minutes to spare as they are definitely browsing shops-not "I'll just pop in and get X,Y or Z" kind of shops.They are the kind of places that assault the senses, where you have to touch and ponder and oggle.They are the kind of places where you wished time stood still because before you know it you've been ages-"hang on it can't be that time already, I've only just got here!"

Anyway, yesterday I was "ooing"and "ahhing"over some Japanese fabric (I just had to get some!)

when I spotted a woman with this book, pages popping with sticky yellow post it notes, in her hand.

I had become interested in finding out where I could get my own copy after reading all about it on Prairie Mouse's blog.

She had my attention as I knew this book wasn't available until September 3rd. My curiosity was aroused. As my attention wandered from the fabric in my hand to the book in hers, I hoped she wouldn't think I was a stalker! It was easy to start a conversation and of course I should have known a fellow friendly crafter always ready for a chat and we conversed comfortably and happily about "many things crafty".

It worked out that a member of her family works for the publishing company in Sydney involved with the Softie book and she was sent an early copy-lucky duck! Of course I looked at the book (quite extensively) and yes it was wonderful and exciting!

Another thing that is wonderful and exciting is my local Farmers' Market where every Saturday I come home with a basket laden with fresh seasonal goodies like this...

I often have at least one conversation with a "friendly stranger" when I'm there, just like in my quilt shop. It never ceases to amaze me that you can often share such a momentary bond with a complete stranger and then never see them again!

Beads from the Sea!

Like lots of crafty people I have vast collections of 'I'll definitely use it one day-I'd better get some more" STUFF!!! I am lucky enough to live 500 metres from a glorious stretch of coastline so often come back from walks with pockets full of much needed and treasured STUFF!!

Some of this includes quantities of driftwood (I convince myself that they are from famous wrecks or even pirate ships!)

How about a whole lot of sea urchins?

A few drilled holes in the driftwood and you've got perfect beads from the sea!

Now, what am I going to do with all this glass??!!

Weekends Rule!

Yesterday my long time friend Jan who lives quite far from me and I met at Hahndorf as it is roughly the same distance from both our homes. It is a quaint historical town filled with wonderful craft shops,galleries and umpteen yummy places to eat. It was so enjoyable wandering down the main street and having a look at other people's amazing art and craft.

One shop I loved was Storison's. It is a contemporary gift store that makes its home in the 1880 village blacksmith building in Hahndorf's main street.

Whoever owns the shop has amazing taste and a lot of the products are eco-friendly recycled creations and handcrafts from around the world. The range included jewellery, textiles, cards, world music, books and gifts. There were lots of different and unconventional items.I could have spent a fortune! The owners were in Melbourne at the trade fair so I'll have to have another visit soon!

I treated myself to this luscious book.                                                 

I really liked this bedside organiser idea. I have a basket by my bed that often gets full and messy! How's this!

I saw some lovely (and very expensive!) notebook covers and decided to have-a-go at making my own.

The material is hand dyed from a workshop I did a while ago with an extremeley talented South Aussie quilt artist named Julie Haddrick. I was happy to use some wool I had felted and some of my vintage buttons I bought on ebay.

I also finished another knitted bear for the Mother Bear project.They are addictive those bears!

May your week find you amongst friends :)

You're Supposed to be Asleep!!!

I know I should have pruned the roses by now and I definitely will do it this weekend but I have been a bit reluctant when they are still flowering profusely. The weather is certainly confusing them. Here is one of my favourites called Angel Face.