New fave bag

This was my Grams beauty case and it is totally my new fave handbag! I'd been meaning to blog about it but I just remembered to when I saw a post on pottymouthmama's blog about lovely beauty case she found- its definitely from the same suite as mine!

Ps sorry for the absence. We had Gram's funeral last week and I haven't felt much like blogging. But I'm back now- regular posting has returned :)

My Husband the Jamie Drury wannabe

Mr Honi busted his guts the last couple of weekends to get the front and back gardens finished and then did a "backyard blitz" style reveal (where I had to close my eyes, then cry with delight when I saw the finished garden)


The Back Courtyard
Here's the "Mid Way" shot. I can't really call it the "before" shot though because it looked a hellava lot worse than this.

The courtyard was filled with so many plants that you could hardly open the back door!!!! We removed around 200 plastic pots!!!

The AFTER shot!! TA-DA!!

How neat does it look!! We've planted beautiful Gardenias alternating with lavender and 2 Yukkas. There are bamboo lantern poles with citronella wicks and solar powered garden lamps which look very pretty at night.
You can't see it, but to the left there is a small space where we'll attempt our own little vege garden (lets hope the possums don't attack this one!) and I'd like to have a citrus tree of some sort. Eden Gardens were selling Orange trees that had mandarin trees grafted to them, and Lemon trees that had a Lime tree graft. 2 trees in 1 - perfect for small gardens!!

Close Up Shot

and a close up of the Water feature and the BBQ area Mr Honi and Poppy Honi finished off on the weekend. There used to be 2 old miserable trees here that blocked out all the sunlight - stopping everything else from growing properly.


The Front Courtyard
The "Before" shot although again, this is only half the plants that were there. I must admit I adore plants, and this did feel very cosy but when it was messy, overgrown and filled with weeds


After Shot

Looking a lot cleaner and with so much more room to move. There's still a bit of work to do here- I'd like a day bed out there and some more "flower" pots not just plants.

Overall I think Mr Honi definitely did a good job of playing Jamie Drury!

In Loving Memory

In loving memory of the finest scone maker, knitter, sewer and all round wonderful Gram. Re-united at last with the most wonderful Graf in the world


xx

Tea and Loveliness….

Darling readers, my sincerest “thankyou” for all of your lovely comments. I'm sitting here with a cuppa reading through everything you've written to me and I’m brimming with warm and fuzzy feelings. I’m continually amazed at the politeness, sweetness and supportive nature of the crafty blogger community.

I started this blog in May 07 and I don’t think I ever expected the directions this blog would take me. 320posts later and I’ve been a part of some truly wonderful things. I’ve made some really lovely friends especially through Brown Owls and I’ve loved going to Craft Fairs, having crafty meetings and pub catch-ups.

But most un-expected of all is the daily loveliness of all your comments. I’m overwhelmed at the inspiration I gain from having a look at all of your blogs. If you comment, I will always have a squiz at your blog. I may not always leave a comment – but I do try to:)

I appreciate everyone who reads my blog - even more so when you leave me such heart-warmingly beautiful comments. I respond to each and every one of you, but sometimes I get the no.reply@blogger email address and I just can’t find an email address in your blog to respond to you individually, so please don’t take it personally!

So thankyou, you’ve ALL made my day

My Creative Space Thursday

Well, My Quilt block is 99.9% done!! YIPPEE!! Just a few finishing touches to go.

I am so proud of myself, because this is one of the very first projects that I have actually finished within a set time frame!! Normally I'm still finishing off 10 things all 2 years overdue!! Needless to say Olivia's Quilt has been placed on the backburner till I finished this. Now I'm hoping I can finish it off in a couple of weeks.

Also in my creative space this week are some more Fimo creations (following on from yesterdays post on Fimo)

These flowers are going to be a pair of earrings and a brooch I think. The earrings may be a bit big though and I might end up looking like Dame Edna!!

Re-kindled love.

Oh dear Fimo, you came into my life when I was at the tender age of 8. I loved and adored you, I collected your every variation- “brights”, “fluros” and my all time favourite Glow-in-the-dark. I lovingly moulded you into creations that adorned the ears of my mother and provided many people with super lovely presents (like little glow-in-the-dark cat figures).

During my turbulent teens I let you slowly decay and harden in my toy room until the day I resurrected you only to find that your once malleable form now crumbled in my hands.

You do not know the delight I experienced when I glanced upon your bright form in Lincraft the other day. We’ve both changed a lot since I was 8 – I have matured and aged where you have clearly improved over time by now expressing a flamboyant side by including Glitter in your form and a new “softness” never experienced before (no longer requiring many hours of kneading). Yet your familiarity is still there, including your glow-in-the-dark gloriousness.

Let us never part again – friends and family, prepare yourselves for an onslaught of glow-in-the-dark cat figures this Christmas!

and little girlie brooches!

Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?

Mr Honi and I worked furiously this weekend (he did all the manual labour type stuff) and we finally got our back courtyard garden sorted out. I will post some before and after shots soon. It is now our own little tranquil haven.

After much searching, I realised that I couldn’t find a pair of red ruby “Dorothy” slippers that matched what I wanted, so on Saturday night I decided to make some. I used:
- a pair of ballet flats ($14.95 from Rubi Shoes)
- a glue mixture I made up which consisted of red glitter poster paint, mixed with Tiger grip craft glue (which dries clear)
- some red glitter.
Then all I did was paint the glue onto the shoe in sections and tipped the glitter over the gluey area. I then let them dry for about 48 hours. I totally love them, and the glitter seems to be holding pretty well!

I'm considering making customer orders....what do you think??

Bum...

It's always good when the company picking up your skip bin, KNOCKS OVER A WALL and doesn't tell you, so that you just come home to find it like that!!!!!



Apparently the office chick "claims" she hasn't heard from their driver. Wonder if they'll attempt to tell us oh-so innocently "it was like that when we got here, there's no way we did that when we moved the 2 tonne bin with a truck!"

Not happy Jan....

UPDATE: As at 10th sept this company is denying that they've done the damage and that "something else" has managed to knock over a double bricked wall between the hours 8.30 and 11.30 on a Friday morning.

Ooo Ahh Just a little bit ooo aahh a little bit more!

I've totally had that song in my head for a few days now! Each time I think, "just a little bit more to go on the quilt" that song floods into my head.

Anyways, here are the pics I wanted to post yesterday for My Creative Space. The dragonfly has hand sewn sequin wings, and I'm loving the raised herringbone stitch for the leaves - as taught here at Primrose design


and here's the full view. I am having so much fun doing this!!

My Creative Space Thursday

I did have a lovely updated picture of my Quilt block, but I left my camera at home so you'll just have to check back tomorrow for a peek!!

Brown Owls was a complete classic last night - Amy from Badskirt has done a little write up here. I'll be taking orders for the "boob light" soon*

So now the only thing I can post about for my creative space this week is my cleaned out garage. It doesn't LOOK cleaned out, but it is compared to this pic. Most of the items I had up for grabs went out on council clean up as no-one really wanted them. But then most of the stuff was swiped from council clean up, so least it went to someones home!

*ok, so I won't REALLY be taking orders. You can purchase this dinky little light from Borders. I will however start charging people royalties if they decided to use their cleavage as a stabilizer / holder for the light ;)

Council Clean-up paydirt

For my area i totally hit the motherload in our council clean-up!! It's nothing like the crazy booty found by a certain lovely lady, but I was pretty stoked with it!!

There aren't really a lot of old ladies in our complex, but maybe someone was cleaning out their mothers or grandmothers place or something. But what I do know, is that they discarded some VERY cool vintage fabric!! YIIPPEEE!!! ( I also salvaged a belt and daisy fridge magnets)

The blue flower one is a a heavyweight satin like fabric that will make a perfect summer frock!



ps - does anyone else LOVE the word frock like I do???

Look Ma, I'm famous!!

Well, my favourite group of crafty girls - the Brown Owls are famous!! New magazine "Australia Today" has done an article on Crafty groups, and we're featured!! Well done girls. Go grab yourself a copy from the Post Office!!

Well, you can see the side of my head, third from left..

Weekend Wrap Up....

We ate, we drank, we relaxed and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in the most idyllic place on earth.

Thanks Mr Honi the most wonderful weekend away. And you're right - after Disneyland, it's the most magical place on earth!