My Place & Yours

Playing along again this week with Pip from meet me at mike's. The theme... bedside. I thought about not playing this week as my bedside is embarrassingly uninspiring. Then I saw it this morning, with the contents of my knitting bag stacked on the window sill above my bed, it was at least a little crafty looking. I'd love for this to be a show and tell blog of all the cool stuff I make. Reckon I need to pick up the pace... I have been finishing stuff though. I'll get around to photographing and posting soon. Head over to meet me at mikes's to see who else is playing.

Mx

Homework

A little up close, but...


This is one of the photos I took this week as part of my assignment for the 'Bones of a Poet' e-course. It's as brave as I could be for a self portrait. I'm never sure what to describe my eye colour as. What would you say?

Sunday Quote

[image]

"Love is giving without remembering.

Receiving without forgetting"
- Marianne Williamson
A Return to Love

the above image is from the Bones of a Poet group pool for this week, and is one of my favourites. So lovely.

Mx

On the shelf

I am playing along with meet me a mikes 'My Place & Yours'. This is my first play along, and the theme this week, On the Shelf.

Here is part of our wedding present from my parents.


They are by Fremantle ceramics artist Fleur Schell. DH and I actually had a tussle over this, I wanted something meaningful, something we would pass on to our children, he thought we should ask for something practical, like a dishwasher. I'm glad I won, I think he is too.

[don't look too closely, I have to dust]

All the houses I've visited and really loved have been artist's homes. I think they have a lovely feel, and I think part of that must be all the art they have in them. I started buying art quite late, but now I love it. I don't have a lot, but I would like to own a piece by all of the artists that I know personally. Fleur is the Mr's cousin.

Mx

Spoilt Rotten

So, I turned 33 the other day. And all the people I love, indulged me in my book obsession. This is just the start of it. My parents bought be a couple of sewing books plus Wary Meyers' Tossed & Found. A couple of dear friends found a book combining my green bent and parenthood, and my darling Husband and a good chunk of the rest of my friends combined their powers to get me 600 US spankers to blow on Amazon!! I think I might just be the happiest girl on the planet.

Now, I just have one small issue of limited book storage in a one bedroom flat... however, I shan't let that trifling matter concern me. Any favourite book suggestions out there?

Mx

Laverton

The beautiful old Coach House in Laverton, sadly in neglect. The clouds were magical on the flight up here, like stationary ocean waves.

Mx

Wildflowers

We had a great weekend looking at wildflowers around Moora, and then we topped it all off by camping at the beach. I would just like to point out my loud hiking boots that I picked up at the op-shop for $6. When I first showed them to DH, I got the vibe he was hoping I wouldn't wear them in public (but I think they rock!).

I also thought the hex paving at the wildflower farm was pretty cool. I am currently trying to figure out how I can make my everyday life have that carefree feeling that goes with camping. I think part of it is spending a lot of time out doors. Its good for the soul.

Mx

I'm a winner!

woohoo! What a great way to start a Monday morning. To find that you have won your very first blog give away :)

We got home tired and dirty last night from a weekend of camping and while I let DH have the first shower I checked the number 1 blog in my reader...SouleMamma, and left comment approx 859. She really has a lot of readers over there, and for good reason, you should check out her sweet blog if you haven't already.

I am pretty excited, because it is Bones of a Poet ~ Yes! a photography/journalling course by Madelyn Mulvaney of Persisting Stars, and I have been wanting to improve my photography since starting this blog.

[image]

Above is the image I chose from Madelyn's Etsy Shop as part of the giveaway. Isn't it cool? It is perfect for me. Ever since I did a school assignment on John Lennon when I was a kid and read about John walking into Yoko's exhibition and reading the word 'yes' its always stuck with me. Plus we totally have a thing going with scrabble at the moment.

I can feel it, this is going to be a great week.

Mx

I finished it!

well, I finished them. I have to say that publicly declaring my intention was very helpful at keeping me on track.


Oh, and I did have some help from one of our kittens. I still call them kittens, even though they are very obviously cats now. I suppose I'll be one of those mothers that calls her 25 yr old her baby.


So, the curtains are finished but not yet hanging, I need to get more rolling hooks (I did ring and get a price for them today though, and I should pick them up tomorrow). I will post photos when they're hung.

Mx

Finish it Friday

Even though it is Saturday morning already.

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been making curtains to cover our wardrobe. If I was more specific, I could have said I was making curtain, because I only made one drop out of 7. Actually that one is not even finished as I bought it home to test hang and pin up the hem.


However, I am so excited by the effect just this one panel has had (look, look!). And so, I declare this curtain project a 'Finish it Friday' project as inspired by Creative Organizing blog. Which means "getting a nagging to-do off of your to-do list before the end of the weekend". And this being a long weekend here, gives me an extra day to accomplish my task.

I would much rather be sewing anyway, than watching the grand final football game (Aussie Rules of course) the rest of the country will be watching.

I'm hoping that publicly announcing my intention to finish the curtains will hold me to it.
I'll let you know how I go

Mx

btw, the above photo was taken with my new iPhone that I finally got yesterday! just another thing to be excited about this Queens Birthday long weekend :)

Family Craft Day

The only finished project from our tri-weekly family craft day this week. A colourful head scarf made by my SIL from vintage fabric of my mother's. Mum made curtains out of it, and still loves this fabric, now we get to enjoy it all over again.

I worked on curtains to hide our wall of Elfa wardrobe, and I pinned my quilt sandwich together. Big projects, so no FO's yet.

Mx

Hulbert St Fiesta

Highlights

the tiniest skateboard I've ever seen
(I love tiny things)


swing dancers from the Perth Swing Dance Society
love the outfits! if only I could get the Mr to don braces and woolen pants and hat.


young buskers having a go


the surprise of this lovely tree sculpture under a blue tarp
(Saturday morning was a little damp)


the sweetest sign ever

and two things I didn't get pictures of - homemade cupcakes with butter frosting (yum), and the bicycle powered DVD player in the City of Cockburn tent. Another great Fiesta, it gets better every year.

Mx

Sunday Quote

The love we give away is the only love we keep - Elbert Hubbard

I hope you are flinging your love about with gay abandon.
Mx

In a galaxy far far away

I have a new ironing board cover! and when the text looks like its receding to a point it reminds me slightly of the intro to star wars. Anyway, I made it myself, and I'm very happy to have an FO to show you all (finished object - for those of you still learning your bloggy acronyms like me).


I was inspired to start this blog because of all the crafty blogs and mommy blogs I like to read, but I'm a bit slow on cranking out the projects, and we don't have any children yet, so its neither, but here is a crafty offering.

All I did was clip the elastic of the existing cover so I could lay it flat on my new fabric. The elastic had already gone, and was the reason I was replacing the cover (apart from the awful fabric).


I traced around with a lead pencil allowing for hem, and cut out. I should have thought to fold the cover and fabric in half first, but I didn't until I had started cutting it out and realised the sides were not equal. Easily fixed, fold and recut. Then all I did was sew the hem with room for the elastic, and thread through the elastic. I didn't even sew closed the hem opening. That could be laziness, but if I ever need to replace the elastic again, no unpicking :)


I'm looking forward to using my new ironing board without the cover lifting every time I move my ironing. Yay! anything that makes ironing less of a chore is a good thing, plus I think its really cute and will look so much better in our flat. I also sewed proper batting to the board to replace the ridiculously thin piece of foam that it came with.

Mx

Ingredients for a sandwich

A quilt sandwich that is.


I've had this quilt on my mind since my thesis year at uni (2 years ago). And I'm nearly there!

I have my top ready to go, I've purchased the batting and I've sewn up the fabric for the back. Now all I have to do is sandwich the layers, pin them together, quilt and bind the edge. Reckon I could have it done by the end of the year... I do have plans to make the sandwich next week, so I should have it done earlier than that, but you know how these things go.

I'm so excited.

Mx

Sunday Quote

"The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I hope you all have wonderful baubles of friends. I do.

Mx

Hulbert Street Sustainabiility Fiesta

I don't know what I'm doing this weekend. If it would just stop raining for one day, I'd clean and dry all our camping gear from last weekend. But I know what I'm doing next weekend. The Hulbert Street Sustainability Fiesta!

click to view larger image
[credit]

Such a great weekend. There are two open houses, seven open gardens and five open artist studios to visit, the highlight for me is definitely the Painted Fish, run by Tim and Sharni, a couple of Freo's coolest sustainability/community pioneers. There is also a Living Smart speaker’s tent, buskers corner, cafe, family activities, and street stalls for community groups, local artists and businesses selling sustainable products. Last year I bought the coolest hemp linen teatowel from fattydemonsey or was it the year before?? Anyway, as Tim says over on the Painted Fish blog "you should be able to spend the whole weekend here, and learn heaps about making your life more sustainable".

Hope to see you there, I'll be at the welcoming table for the Painted Fish on Saturday morning.

Mx

hehehe

found this over on icanhascheezburger (always good for a laugh) while looking for the Puritto to send to my friends after our mexican dinner last night.



the Mr and I sometimes talks like the lolcats and we say kitteh alot
Mx

retro cool

I remembered to take my camera last night so I could take some pictures of the coolest bowling alley in Perth, Rosemount Bowl in North Perth. It is only my second time there and I need to stop myself from clapping every time my ball makes it up the ball return. Hard though, cause it is the best ball return ever. Just look how Jetsons it is.


I also love the shoes.


And then as if things couldn't get any better, we all ended up at this Mexican place with really random toilets that forced us to go through the sqaush courts next door. So worth it though, this is the ceiling of the squash courts. I don't think I've ever seen so many colours on one ceiling. What a delight!


Mx

lmnop

Look, I don't even have kids yet and I love this free zine. If you do have kids or just like looking at good design go download yourself a copy.

image

Issue 8 is out today. I only found this zine last issue - the alphabet issue. One of my favourite finds was Geninne D. Zlatkis and her wonderful artwork. You can see her stuff on her wonderful blog.

images

Birds find there way into a lot of her work, which I particularly love, though I love it all!

Mx