Dog Bed

One of my sons friends came round with their dog the other day and left her tied up under the front veranda and i thought to myself, She needs a mat to lay on. So here it is. Using what i had on hand I made her one. It measures 60cm by 95cm.
The inside is foam padding covered with wool blanket, i then sewed them all together sandwich style using my over locker.
Then i made a cotton and plastic mat slip cover that has a taped enclosure so that it can be removed for cleaning easily. Nice and soft and cushion y, much better than the hard concrete veranda.

Count Down

Last night i did an inventory on the gifts i am making for the K Mart Christmas Tree. Originally i had planned on making 100 dolls this year, but i did not allow for life to happen in between, so whilst it is not 100 dolls i am on track for making 100 gifts.
Last night i thought i must do a count and i am up to 75, better than i thought! I WILL reach my goal of 100 by December 1.
I must get remember to get some wrapping paper, sticky tape etc soon.

Boys Toys

My trusty cardboard to the rescue, i made a template.
Pieces need for each pencil wallet. Template sewing Outer, lining and a stiffened insert.
Sewn, turned right sides out. pinned and lines drawn to sew on for pencil holder side and notebook on the other.
Almost finished, Use matching thread though for the real item, this is just for demo purposes only
Add an elastic loop to the pencil side and i will also be hot glue or super glue the sharpener in place to double as an enclosure. with some final adjustments and tweaking 15 of these will be made today. Back to sewing.

Roses

Just before i got into sewing today, i thought to myself, I must take a quick look in the garden to see what is happening.
These roses are looking lovely.
They are all in the front garden.
I could not just take just one photo.
So i too one from each bush. Lovely Now i can get to doing some sewing.

Meg

I inadvertently left a doll on the floor after taking their picture, and Meg was quick to pounce! Whilst the doll was unhurt (I checked her all over thoroughly) it has made me think, I will now have to make her a toy. Maybe an octopus type thingy, something she can drag around and fling.

Update

My plans for the day.
This is the latest dolls awaiting faces and dresses. They look cute don't they?
and the next batch of pencils ready to have the holders made for them.
Sewing sewing and more sewing. That is my plan for the day. I don't think i will be moving from this room any time soon. I am glad that the sun is shining, makes the room lovely and bright.

Help needed

These two views of pencil rolls from By Small Means should be a start to whet your appetite.
Crayon Roll pattern from Skip To My Lou

Pencil roll instructions from Wet Oatmeal Kisses

and i am sure that there are more patterns and ideas out there. Now for the reason for the rolls.
Wet Oatmeal Kisses is having a campaign and wants to have 500 made for charity. Think you can make some? go to her blog to get more details. They have the pencils, they need the holders..

Giveaway

How nice are these bags! would you like to win one? then hurry up and go and take a visit to Cotton Cocktails and follow the prompts.
This lady has been blogging for 3 months and her stuff is very interesting to read. I am going back to read some more.

Wedding Plans Continues...

I forgot to add in my last post about the wedding. She will Still have it at Hill End, only a small ceremony and one in Melbourne too. So in effect Two weddings.
She has 3 weeks left of Uni, then we will get on with more details like THE DATE!!

We also have question. Etiquette, Wedding gifts, My daughter and her husband to be already have furniture in storage for a house, (they are living in a garage/shed at the moment) not as bad as it sounds, like a granny flat almost. They have a bedroom with the desk and a kitchen sink, a shower and a toilet. They are waiting until they know where her partner will be posted before they look for somewhere to rent. Any ideas on what they can do? that is a question that is being asked.

My nephew who is living with us at the moment is getting married in February and will on the other hand need stuff for their place as yet they don't have one!! They would like to set up a registry or something naming stuff that they will need I think that setting up a blog page like my daughter has only for invited guests with a list that they can pick from. The guests then can e-mail them and let them know what they would like to choose. the item then gets ticked off from the box. Any large items can be jointly bought by groups, eg, brothers and sisters together get an item.

Has anyone been to a wedding recently, or have gotten married? I would love to hear your ideas.

Plans have Changed

Anyone who is doing or planning a wedding can understand this, Plans Change!!!
Originally my daughter was going to get married at Hill End in Sydney then realized quite unrealistic and very expensive for family and friends to get there,
Left right and outside of barn. So Plan two.
Barn in Bundoora Park set it up from this

to this!
Just an idea at the moment. but my daughter is keeping a book on the events as they are happening (or not) like a journal so to speak so that down the road they can see how they got from one idea to the final result. The wedding is so much more than just the day.

Some ideas in decorating from my Niece in Law is that correct terminology?
cool ideas.
Bundoora Park Church
Love it and can hold up to 60 people.
Just the right size.

Where ever you go in Bundoora you get nice views

lovely lovely trees and ponds and wildlife and open spaces. It is really talking to me...
More on this adventure later and keeping you up to date on the wedding stuff.

charity

These Cross stitch kits that i posted previously had no entries so now they are going to go under the Christmas Tree at K Mart this year.

A New Kitten

This kitten is adorable, and she is a Tonkinese and her new mum is so happy to be getting her at the end of November. Her new mum is a friend of mine and a very talented artist. Do check out her web site. Doreen Backway, Rivendell Studios You will fall in love with her work.

Ebay, yet again

This is my latest Ebay purchase. The last for a while, i have been getting into it too easily for a while. Much better condition than my own dummy. $60 a bargain.

This is my own dressmakers dummy, I think you can agree that it is in a bit of a state. Battered bent and broken, even the stand. It was not always like this, when i lent it out it was supposed to be for two months and it was like new. and this is where my tale of caution comes in. When you lend things out, don't expect people to treat your things the way you do. Not everyone's value system is the same. I am afraid this is one friendship that broke after this, not only did it take me a year to get it back, she did not even say sorry. This is one lesson i have learned the hard way. It will now make me think twice before i lend things out. I now think, Do i value the friendship or the item? Treat it the same way as what you would do if it was a loan. Don't lend out money you cannot afford not to get back.

Tilli

This is my Cat of the Day pictures. Tilli wrapped up in a ball in one of the cat climbing posts.
Very cute.

My Little Sister

Latest Wedding Happenings.

My adorable little sister Helen, Her husband Gordon and their adorable baby Thomas is coming to the wedding!!! All the way from England.

Knitting

I have 18 ready to be sewn and stuffed. Originally they were for the Red Cross but there is not a distribution point in Victoria at the moment, and i don't have the money to post them to the ACT so instead they are also going under the Christmas Tree at K Mart.
I used to have a lady come and pick them up from me ready to stuff and have their label put on the front but she moved.

Make your own teddy by going to the freebies on the right of this page

Arrived

My cottons have arrived!!!
Now all i have to do is look for a tin to put them in, I know i have just the thing some where, then i Must Must Must get back to sewing.

Sharing Your Loves

My youngest son had his birthday this week and he and his girlfriend came round, She is a lovely girl and so busy, being a new teacher and all that, But they both came around that day and she asked me to keep an eye out for some red,green,white yarn/wool for the kids to make some Christmas tassels. Well, i just so happened to have some of these colours and i gave them to her.

I don't know quite what happened next but the conversation came to knitting, She said that she would love to be able to knit, her mum tried to teach her but she could not do it. I said i would teach her.
Well i gave her some needles and together we knitted a piece. She is a natural! it took her no time at all, and she made herself a strip of knitting (garter stitch) and when she cast it off she was so very happy. and when i proceeded to put it around her wrist, well she just cried! She is going to add some funky buttons to it.

She went home armed with 3 sets of knitting needles, all different sizes and lengths, some yarn and crochet hooks that she will learn to use the next time we see each other.

Well my son yesterday told me that she loves to knit now, and is happily knitting in her spare time, How cool is that! She is finding it a very relaxing thing to do. The next time we meet i will teach her how to purl, increase, decrease and other types of casting on.

She also wants to learn how to crochet. How much fun is this!!!

Giveaways

A 12 Month Subscription is on offer to the winner, What a lovely offer this is! If you want to enter this draw just go to Molly's Place to find out more.

This is a fabulous giveaway from Don't Look Now Such a lovely design, young and fresh. You have until Monday 26th of October to enter the draw. Do check out the other lovely designs too.




Pumpkin Patch Primitives Quilt Shoppe has a fantastic Giveaway.
The loot? A Fat Quarter Bundle of Red Rooster's Pumpkins & Spice Fabrics by Whimsicals. Hello! Yes, that's 27 fat quarters.
This draw is closing on 31st August, that is Halloween, so don't wait! do go and check it out.

Boys Toys

This is a selection of fabrics i am going to use to make some pencil and book holders. Not an original idea, but one i read on One Red Robin only mine has a temporary book until i get some from the stores, and will have 5 colouring pencils, a drawing pencil a sharpener and eraser.
I am planning on making 20 of these. All part of the K mart Christmas Tree plan. A good way of giving me a break from dolls.

Dolls Bodies

Dolls Dresses.
Measuring and cutting out and pairing up dresses ready to sew for dolls.
Getting there, arms and legs attached today. Just some of the sewing i did today

Ebay Again

Have i bought a bargain? I don't know, but this is my latest purchase on Ebay, 100% cotton thread, 159 reels of 150 metres for $58.00 I just love to add to my stash. I was supposed to be looking at wedding stuff. My husband worked it out that it would be about 40c each, and to me that sounds great. Looking forward to having a visit from the postie real soon.