Sunday, July 26, 2009

A gift from me to you :-)

I have had a busy couple of weeks! Most of my time has been spent at my parents-in-law's house packing up 30 years worth of their memories. They are moving house in two weeks' time and the pressure is on to get everything packed and cleaned. For those of you who have emailed me - if I have not yet replied - please forgive me!


So it seems only apt that while I am busy helping my loved ones to relocate their home, I have a design of a country home that I would like to share with you! It is the first of my pattern releases, so please let me know if you like the layout of my instructions or if you think there are any improvements I could make. Thank you! :-)




I designed and made this project for my swap partner Lizzie. You can read about it on Lizzie's blog, or on my last post. :-)

Other than house-moving and writing instructions for patterns, I also helped to make a baby this weekend! I am not being rude - HONEST! LOL...I mean this in the most literal sense! :-) Please let me introduce you to my first (for want of a better word) GRANDCHILD!



He's not of the human variety - thank goodness - I think I would have twins myself if he was!! :-)


My son named him Joefrey Jibba Jabba Stewart, and he weighs in at Four kilos!! As you may have guessed (I'm mad? No not that, but you might be right there as well!) my son and the rest of his classmates are learning about the responsibilities of raising children, this term. They each had to make a baby and will need to care for it at school, never leaving it unattended etc.


Joefrey is constructed using a plastic milk carton filled with sand, and once 'taped up' (oops, I mean once his umbilical cord was tied) we covered him in bubble wrap, then I made a calico head on which my son drew a face. I think he did a pretty good job!

Ah well, hopefully the new arrival should sleep well tonight... he is related to The Sandman, after all!

I hope you all have a great week and I look forward to catching up again once my head emerges from above all the boxes I'm going to be shifting around this week!


Hugs! Vikki xx

Friday, July 17, 2009

Lizzie received her parcel :-)





I had some good news a couple of days ago - my F.R.I.E.N.D.S swap partner, Lizzie, received her parcel from me. Thank you Australia Post for a safe transition!



Here is a pic of the items I hand-made. A Festive cushion, an Ipod holder, a cake pincushion, and my rendition of Lizzie's "A House in the Country". Which many of you know, is Lizzie's blog name. :-)
Lizzie has more photos on her blog.



I used a cute house button from my stash as the focal point for this piece, and bordered the stitchery with a woollen fabric. I also coloured the stitchery very lightly with pencil. If you would you like me to share my design with you, please let me know. :-)




Ooh! For me?


I was also delighted this week to receive this award from Anna of Anna Rosa Designs:







Thank you so much, Anna! You are a sweetheart.



Now I am meant to pass this award on to Ten bloggers... but you know what? If you read my blog then please accept this award as I think you are all wonderful! Just right-click on the icon and save it to your hard drive, then publish it on your blog.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend full of fun, love and relaxation.



Hugs! Vikki x

Monday, July 13, 2009

Toes company :-)





My darling son, Aaron, went back to school today so it was just the 'two girls' at home... me and Rosie! We had a pamper morning, and painted her toenails for the very first time! How cute are those Rosies toesies?!!




Rosie supervised while I wrapped up gifts for
Lizzie, my lovely friend and partner for the F.R.I.E.N.D.S swap. And then we went to visit Postman Pat to get the parcel in the mail!


{Lizzie, I am sorry these gifts weren't in the mail to you on Friday - but hopefully you should still receive them this week! :-)}


I had some exciting news today as well! I won
Sandra's giveaway, a beautiful passport cover complete with 'Alice in Wonderland' and friends.

Sandra (Pepperberry & Co) wrote the most amazing post for this giveaway, I was in story-tale heaven while reading it. Click here and enjoy for yourself!

Sandra is currently playing hide and seek with snakes and leeches in the Thai jungle... (I bet you weren't expecting that were you?!!)... while on her overseas adventure. Why not pop on over and say hello? You don't need to go play with snakes and leeches yourself... just sit in the comfort of your own chair! LOL...

Oh, and if you do visit - her current post has some gorgeous free bag tutorials listed for your perusal.

Bags.... hmmmmm... droooool...

Thursday, July 9, 2009

F.R.I.E.N.D.S - Swap Surprises!



I have had such an amazing day today! Enjoying the glorious sunny weather, having fun with my children, and then to top it all off really nicely, I received this parcel:





This parcel was sent to me by the lovely Lizzie from A House in the Country. Lizzie is my partner for the F.R.I.E.N.D.S swap hosted by Sew Prim Khris.

The idea was that each partner would create or gift an item, the name of which would begin with each letter making up the word FRIENDS. Seven gifts in total... and a fantastic opportunity to make a new friend and find out what makes them tick. :-)

I took these photos after each individual parcel was unwrapped... The pictures do the talking - literally!! :-)







Oh OK... I have to speak here!!! Isn't this needle case beautiful? Lizzie created it with her own fair hands! I LOVE IT!





It is unusual for me to be lost for words... but when I opened my parcel it took me some time to be able to find the right ones to thank Lizzie. I was overwhelmed! Her gifts are "me", with favourites (including tea, miniature teddies, chocolate orange and lavender hand cream) that I wonder how she could have known about? I feel humbled, and most of all, very nourished... to have received the love and thoughtfulness that Lizzie has so obviously put into her gifts for me.

Thank you Lizzie for everything! I look forward to our continuing, heart-warming friendship.

And thank you Khris, for hosting such a spiritually-rewarding swap!

Until next time... cherish the moment! :-)

Monday, July 6, 2009

Christmas in July giveaway!


I am a Christmas fanatic! So imagine my joy when I emigrated to Australia five years ago to discover that the Aussies celebrate the season not once, but twice a year!


Christmas in July is big news in the southern hemisphere and I believe it came about because many expats couldn't quite get used to the Australian December heat, preferring the cold wintry, snowy, weather of Europe that equates to the 'postcard perfect' quintessential look and feel of Christmas.


So Christmas in July was born! A time to celebrate yuletide while the weather is cooler! Winter in Australia is still mild compared to that of England... but oh what joy to celebrate Christmas all over again... and better still... to have all the craft magazines packed to the rafters with seasonal projects!


This leads me to my point... (yes there is one!).... if you are a festive junkie such as myself, you really must go and visit Barb at Barb's Creations. This generous lady has handmade a vast array of gorgeous Christmas goodies and is giving them away! Her creations are beautiful.


Just click on the button below to pay Barb a visit and enter her draw!


Ho ho ho... and... Good luck! :-)

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Fancy a cuppa?



Fancy coming over for a cuppa?



I serve healthy tea... but watch out for the pins! :-)



This is the pincushion I made for my lovely blogging buddy,
Mai. We decided to do a pincushion swap a few months back. Click here to see the amazing creation that Mai made for me. :-)



The pincushion was made from a pattern called 'High Tea' by
Cynthia Martin of Tasmania. I purchased the pattern from Kirkbride Quilting.

As for the little pin topper, I made it from air-dry clay and a polymer clay mould, then painted it with acrylic paints before giving it a satin varnish.

I am fixated with pin toppers at the moment - check out
this link to see my favourite pin-topper creator - Pinks & Needles!! I promise you won't be disapointed! :-)

So... all I need to know now is....

When shall I pop that kettle on???


Hugs! Vikki

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Beautiful gardens & Puff is finished!



On Sunday, my family and I headed up into the hills to visit some gardens. It was cold but the fresh air and serene beauty filled us all with renewed vigour!





I don't think I need to write any more words here! I'll let the photos do the talking!


























Puff is finished!





I completed my Puff the Magic Dragon quilt too! :-) He embarked on his plane journey to England yesterday... It would have been cheaper for him to fly himself... but he said that his wings were too new to be broken-in on such a long trip. What can I say? I'm a big softie!




I really love the fabric used for the back of the quilt. I had earmarked it for a fairy house, but it just 'went' with this project so well. Sewing on the binding was pure bliss, just looking at the colours and how they play with eachother put a big contented smile on my face. I know... I should get out more often eh?!! :-)




I quilted the curly smoke being breathed from Puff's mouth. And because Puff 'lived by the sea', I quilted waves by his feet. The 'Autum mist' was insinuated in the white clouds above his head. However, I don't think the quality of the quilting portrays these ideas. But that doesn't matter!


I hope you are all having a good week?


Until next time - happy creating! :-)



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