Sunday 29 December 2013

Simple Truths

Rather than doing my usual thing of posting something crafty, I thought I would create a post with some of my favourite sayings and  quotes that I've seen in my travels around the WWW.

I am a firm believer in "paying it forward", nothing in this life is free and if you choose to help others, hopefully, in return it will come back to you.

If I have to purchase a ticket to park somewhere and I am out before the time is up, I have no qualms whatsoever in approaching someone and asking if they would like my ticket. It's only a small thing, but sometimes it can mean a lot to someone. Especially to a mother who is trying to juggle children, organise things and unload everything she needs, before she can even think about getting to the ticket machine, this can make it just a little easier for them.

I am also a firm believer in Karma and believe that you should treat others as you would expect to be treated. I was brought up with respect for people and possessions and have tried my best to  instill this in my own children :)

Friends and family are a very important part of my life, without them, you have no grounding. They help to keep me sane and some days they are also known for trying to send me insane, but at the end of the day, I know that the ones I can rely on to stand by me and support me, will always be there.

Rather than ramble on, here are a few of my all time favourites that I would like to share with you :)

I hope they help to put things into perspective for you, like they do for me!

This one for the special people in my life :) 

When I'm feeling unsure, but know there is a solution...somewhere...

for the curious side of me....

This helps keep me thinking positive :) 

For those days when I feel like it's "one step forward, two steps back"...

This one is so true....you do so much more than just exist...

When I'm feeling like everything is overwhelming me...

To remind me that people come into our lives for a reason...

Truth, kindness & love....so important...


To remind me that it's the little things that count...



I hope you had a very Merry  Christmas  and wish you nothing but good things for the coming New Year :)


Saturday 21 December 2013

Off The Hook :)

I mentioned in my last post that I was making a shawl for my mother in the nursing home. I finally managed to finish it off last night and I'm really happy with how it turned out. The Bendigo Woollen Mills 4ply cotton was a dream to work with, it doesn't split or catch at all :)
I used the shades called Pink Rose and Blush, I had planned on throwing some cream cotton into it to break it up, but I ended up not thinking that it would need it.

I decided to fancy it up a bit and give it a nice edging as I thought it was looking a little plain, so I hunted through my patterns and came across Doris Chan's "All Shawl" pattern and loved the wide edging in the pattern. So I chose that to finish it off and I LOVE it!

Here's the finished piece:


I plan on hunting through my felt stash and making a little tag to sew on with mum's name on it and a little "handcrafted with love" message on it. I just have to decide where the best place will be to attach it.

The "happypotamus" has had to take a back seat, because I wanted to get this finished as soon as possible. I have to re-stock my stuffing supply as well, so that will have to wait until the new year and it will be a belated Christmas or "just because" present instead. Lucky for me, I thought about buying a gift in case I hadn't completed it, or I would have been in a bit of trouble LOL.



Tuesday 17 December 2013

Busy, Busy, Busy....

Life has been pretty hectic of late and I've barely had time to scratch myself, let alone sit and post something here. Finally, I have a little spare time on my hands and thought that I had better do it while I have the time :)

I've been working at my teaching position for the past few months and managed to pull off getting another teaching job at the same time, so the hours away from home and doing what I love have been  minimized  significantly. Last week was my last stint of teaching for this year, so I finally have a little time to catch up on WIP's and get as organised as I can be for Christmas.

At the moment I am frantically trying to finish a shawl as a gift for my mother in the nursing home. I found a really nice one in a book called Chemo Caps & Wraps by Annie's Attic. They don't have a preview of it anywhere online, but for those that have this book, it is the green shawl called "Simple Shells Shawl". I did toy with the idea of making her the one that was more openworked and had pretty flowers, but mum's hands are always busy and I was worried that she may get her fingers tangled in it, so I went for the denser pattern.

I paid a visit to Bendigo Woollen Mills a little while ago and bought some lovely 4ply cotton yarn in shades of pink and I'm really liking how it is working out. I don't have any photo's to share at the moment, but I will take some and include them in my next post :)

I'm also trying to finish off a happypotamus by Heidi Bears, for my future daughter-in-laws sister. I'm making it in shades of pink and purple with white and I am about 3/4 done with all the motifs. I just have to put the edging on about 20 of the hexagons and then make the final 6 motifs and I can begin sewing it all together and stuffing it :)

The rest of the Christmas gifts are well and truly under control and wrapped and under the tree!

This is only a quick post for now, I promise the next one will be a lot more entertaining, but I'd like to close this one by saying.....


May it be filled with lots of love, happiness and good health for you all - from my family to yours!