A Sign

We spotted this sign outside a little seaside cafe in Robe and I could not resist. Nothing to do with design or crafty things, but it made me smile!

Some would say this sign & I share a bond with my love of food and Nana naps!

Rainbow Bright Books

'Me' week is going along splendid so far, trips to purchase fabric, an extreme visit to IKEA armed with notepad & pen to mark my wants under the careful instruction of my sister - she's a bit of an IKEA guru! Who knew what an experience that would be, self check out with a full trolley, find the spot to redeem your free parking, check your trolley into the holding area so you can return to jam pack your car, I think we could have nearly boarded a plane after all of that scanning & checking in of things!

I've also spent some leisurely time doing some good old web surfing. I don't know if I'm just way behind the times, but for the first time ever I have noticed colour co-ordinated book shelves. I don't know about you but I love a library and I have always wanted to have one in my home, but I don't think I would ever have thought about colour coordinating my books. I recently cleaned out my wardrobe & kinda put things back in some sort of colour & garment order. Don't you love it how you do that, you think it will stay like that for another 6 months and within about 2 weeks you wonder what happened! But to do it with your books and have them being functional and pretty, that's just GENIUS!

Image courtesy of  Colour Lovers

Image courtesy of The Inspiration Blog

Image courtesy of Design Sponge

Also, I can't go without mentioning the devastating floods disaster that has hit our sunny state of QLD. Being home this week I've found myself at times just sitting in front of the TV watching it unfold before my eyes. My heart goes out to all of those effected, I can't begin to imagine the impact it has and will have and the mammoth clean up task that is in store for the coming days, weeks, months & years.

Road, Rocks, Sea & Sand

I must say how nice it is to be home, my own bed and unlimited access to all my things! What a wonderful time we had on our road trip, driving through the locust plagues was like watching an animated bug movie in 3D, only it was FREE! Our first stop was the Grampians where we spent a few days and then to mix things up a little, we made the trip across to the gorgeous seaside town of Robe, SA. The change in scenery along the way was amazing, we discovered a few little spots of paradise and it was a great mix of outdoor action, adventuring and relaxation with some lovely surprises along the way...

A curious visitor popped by our cabin to say hi

The Grand Canyon in the Grampians - Spectacular

Natives

McKenzie Falls - Serious power in that water

Nice view to wake up to!

Something about that red sign...

Azz's dune adventure stomper tracks

The Happy Holidayers - That's Us!

Couldn't resist a little rust & water

This bug was on one big journey over the dunes

Ah, the end of another glorious day.

Now this is a little off track, but I can't go without mentioning how I surprised myself while we were away, I managed to get eight days into the new year without writing one list (OK except this one), not even a shopping list, no concrete plans and I don't even have a 2011 diary yet. For those who know me well, this would come as a big surprise as I am list crazy, nuts or maybe even a little obsessive about organisation and structure, you could say my life is a notebook! Anyway, I have one week left before I'm back to full time work so it's time to snap out of holiday mode, get serious, get a diary and get planning as I am excited and inspired to see what comes of this years to do's!

Twenty Elevens

BLINK, wow was that Twenty Ten?...
Well hello and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

These are my Twenty Eleven creative space do's, in no particular order:

1 Have a little rest before getting back into the full swing of things
2 Decide on a brand name for my crafty creations
3 Sew, Sew, Sew
4 Check in on my fav blogs
5 Get to more creative events
6 Create a logo & identity for my crafty creations
7 Expand the overall range of graphic design projects I undertake
8 Have some tags made
9 Host the Feast & Stitches first ever giveaway
10 Get into some serious sketching & pattern creations
11 Discover some new blog reads
12 Visit more markets
13 Design & style a cute little local market stall set up
14 Get more in touch with type
15 Transfer patterns onto MAC and practise the tricky step & repeat
16 Set up some sort of online shop
17 Sew, Sew, Sew
18 Source fabrics
19 Take a screen printing class
20 Enjoy the ride along the way!

I'm crossing off #1 tomorrow and heading off on a road trip that I have been hanging out for! I'm very much looking forward to spending some well overdue quality time with my camera, soaking up some of the outdoors and relax time, ohh and the wonderful man in my life! Upon my return, I'll be sure to post about any bits and bobs of inspiration or finds I fancy along the way!

All Stops

Well I've certainly pulled out all the stops this Christmas! You see my mother in law has been using bricks covered in wrapping paper as her door stops for years. She's knows I have always been creative and into making 'stuff' but it was usually limited to either design and print, drawing or cutting and pasting. Now that I have added sewing into the repertoire of things I do, my MIL made mention that some 'proper' door stops might be a good idea....
Well I say not a good idea, but a great idea as I loved making these 3 little guys (Sorry gals, but I think they should be guys as they remind me of little soldiers on guard the doorway!) After a flick around the big wide web world, a quick sketch of how I wanted my doorstops to look and some advice from my wonderful sewing teacher, I created my first ever pattern from scratch and my new project was underway. I am delighted with the finished product, they will be a great little Chirstmas gift for my MIL and I will definitely be making more of these. I think I may have to do a little more research into the filling as it needs to be something that is weighty and doesn't attract any weevils, mice etc. I've used wheat in this first batch as it was really cost effective and I know it's used in wheat bags that often lie around the house, so I think these will be my test dummies and fingers crossed they don't attract and furry or crittery friends!

Little matching loopy handles - my fav part!

In position and on guard

Sewn, Stuffed & Plumped

For the first time since I started this little blog, last week my regular post was MIA. It wasn't because I didn't have anything to write about (that would never happen as I always have so much to say!), I have just been a little quiet because I have been going cushion crazy! I've sewn up some of my original favs and put a few new fabrics into action, some ready for gifting and others to become my very slow growing collection of stock. It's funny cause I was thinking that maybe I'de get sick of the whole cushion thing after a few, but I can't help but get excited once their sewn, stuffed and plumped!

My Cushion Castle! 

Delightful Treats.

What delightful weekend filled with delightful treats! I got heaps of sewing done this past week with a new little project on the go, but before I go showing off my latest creations I couldn't resist a chance to blog about a feast as opposed to my usual stitches.... This is a beaut recipe for a Christmas delight 'Mum's Cranberry Slice', it's super easy and I made it for one of our Chrissy catch ups this weekend. It always goes down a treat and if you happen to be a fellow chocoholic, the icing gives you just the kick you need! As per most of my cooking creations this is a hand me down from my wonderful mum who is a hell of a cook!

Mum's Cranberry Slice.

Ingredients:

pkt Marie Biscuits

1 cup coconut

90gm butter (melted)

1 can condensed milk

2 handfuls cranberries (chopped)

Block of White or Milk cooking chocolate depending on 

your preference

(I always use the Plaistowe brand of chocolate)

Method:

Crush biscuits, mix in bowl with coconut, add melted butter 

and mix together. 

Add chopped cranberries, mix and add condensed 

milk. Once all mixed, 

press into slice tray and place in fridge to set.

Chocolate Icing: Break up chocolate in bowl & add 1 teaspoon of oil.

Melt Chocolate (I melt in the microwave on medium heat

for 30 seconds to make sure it does not burn & the oil stops it cracking).

Spread over slice and put back in the fridge to set.

Slice up and share with everyone to enjoy!