Drum Roll Please....

OK so random.org was not working for me today, probably user error so I went a little 'Old School' for our voucher draw.  I knew that empty cd lid would come in handy sometime.

Here's my 'Barrel Boy' Bryce.....

mixing, mixing, mixing..... come on already

and the WINNER IS......

NECIA ARMSTRONG !!!!! Congratulations !!!!!!

but wait there's more, I've always wanted to say that. I'm so grateful for all the support and the wonderful feedback I've received since I started my page so I've decided to also giveaway 5 x $5 vouchers to another 5 people. Those lucky people are....

Sasha Peppinck

Ani Blanco

Renee Orchard

Jackie Guest

and lucky last Vikki Clay.

Congrats again and keep spreading the word as we will be having another giveaway just in time for Easter.

xxxxx

Treasured Childhood Memories

I'm pretty sure that my love of sewing started when I was much younger and used to go to my Nan & Pop's in Renmark for school holiday visits.  One of my earliest memories of my Nan is her sitting at her sewing machine taking up a hem or mending a torn knee  while I sat on the bed next to her watching intently and waiting for her to ask me to pass her something out of her sewing cupboard. The sewing cupboard was full of the most amazing items - pretty coloured rick rack & bias bindings, yards & yards of laces and my favourite The Buttons, what a treat it was when Nan would let me pull out all the buttons and sort them into colour or size or just line them up anyway I wanted.

Some years later my Nan bought me my very first sewing machine and my love of sewing has continued since then. As my Nan has gotten older she has sent various treasures down to me from that sewing cupboard, many of them I have used but most of the pretty rick rack, buttons & fabric from the 60's & 70's I can't bear to use.

This past weekend my Mum brought back the last of her treasure, her sewing machine, an early model Janome complete with her sewing trolley....

I love how the top of the case holds all the basic bits & pieces and of course my Nan would have a matching bobbin for each reel of cotton ready to go.

What surprised me the most wasn't that the instruction book was in mint condition but that it was an instruction book, not just for the machine but for the basics of sewing so that anyone who purchased the machine could actually read the book and start sewing without having to wait for their 'free lesson' or sign up for the lessons at further charge.

 Step by step zipper insertion

                                     

Even shows you suggestions of where to use the stitches, like the topstitching

Love this little suit, and the flippy hair :)

Some decorative stitches, a must have for your tea cosie

I don't think that little girl would be let out of the house with a dress that short these days.

I can't wait to get the machine serviced and put it back to work. 

How spooky, the phone just rang and it was Nan, must've known I was thinking about her. Love you Nan

xxxxx

If you can't beat 'em....

I have a mismatch of storage in my sewing studio, some new steel storage cabinets, a malamine bookshelf but mostly old and each serves it purpose. This old green painted wardrobe is great for hanging up freshly sewn items so they don't get crushed, the drawers & half cupboard hold all my scrapbooking items for when I get that free time to do some pages. The closest I've come lately is getting photos printed off for the photo calendars for my two Nan's for Christmas.

Cooper spends alot of time with me in my studio, he has lots of drawing paper, blocks, games etc for him to play with but this old green wardrobe seems to scream to him all the time "draw on me, draw on me" so he does, quite regularly with whatever he can get his hands on, crayon, texta, his older brother's permanent sharpie, he's not fussed. So instead of getting frustrated or annoyed at the scribbles, it is an old wardrobe, I decided to make both him and the wardrobe happy...

                                          
and paint it with blackboard paint, chalk is much easier to clean off of normal walls than texta or pencil anyway.  I also painted the top half for me for notes or a list of what I need to pick up for orders. Then as those who know me will easily guess, I got a little carried away and started painting elsewhere. Maybe Coop gets it from me but those bricks were screaming out paint me, paint me and who am I to say no.

I was hoping that the older kids would use these to leave notes or thoughts for me and I didn't even have to ask they just started writing.

These ones will be for notes or alterations I need to jot down while sewing.

and these ones, well I just didn't want to leave a blank spot and Jaimee has already left me a rainbow. :)

xxxxx

Car Seat Cover

I've had these pieces of Thomas Flannellette hanging around for awhile, they're only a metre long so not big enough for PJ's for Cooper but too big to use for smaller projects. Yesterday while cleaning out Coop's car seat for the millionth time and promising myself that I would get around to making a cover I remembered the Thomas fabric. So set to work....

This is the first prototype, worked out that because the centre panel actually sat flat enough I could make it from 1 single piece of fabric, just adding in darts where needed to create the shape.

VOILA ... the finished product. Not fully fitted but close enough for me to be really happy with it. The slots are all placket style with topstitching to provide strength. The clip slot is fully edged with bias tape and the elastic is fully enclosed in own bias casing.

The most important thing is it received the Cooper Seal of Approval

xxxx

Towel Winner Drum Roll.....

OK so now I've worked out how to put one of those number generators in here we are good to go. We had a total of 10 people comment and I've given each of you a number in order of comment.


The winner is # 3... Krista Playford !!! Congrats Hon

Also I am going to give away a set of Felt Clippies in your choice of design just because I'm feeling extra generous.


Congrats to #6... Honey Marley Inia.

Will email both winners to organise the details. Please keep sharing and we will be having another give away real soon.

xxxxx

Good Morning Monday

Welcome to my little corner of the bloggy world.

Mmm I suppose your wondering what you are going to get for your money here, well lucky it's free so what ever it is will be value for money. I hope to bring you a little of everything, blending my work life with family life with things I love to do and share.

So lets begin...

My first posting is because a wonderful lady on facebook - who shall remain nameless so as not to ger her into trouble, we'll call her Madam X to make her even more mysterious - emailed me to warn me that doing my 300 likers giveaway on my facebook page would probably end in my page being deleted so suggested that I start a blog or website and do the giveaway from here so no terms and conditions are being broken. We all know how important those terms and conditions are to keep things fair and honest don't we, OK stop laughing.

So I have removed all traces of the giveaway from my page and put them here, well below here to be exact.

So everyone is safe and nobody has been lost. I will draw a winner using a random generator later today, once I've had a chance to email those who commented so no one freaks out when it disappears from my page. I am allowed to share the winner on my facebook page so that will be done so everyone knows who the lucky liker was, I'm also going to add in another little giveaway just for fun. 

xxx