Newest Crafty Magazine

Those that come to Brown Owls in Adelaide know already that I have a 'tiny' addiction to craft magazine. Frankie, Mix Tape, Peppermint and Hello! World Sweet World are all a must!

The newest one though is Parasol:Craft by a print a day... Fantastic.

Get your copy here, enjoy x

The Way We Wear Fair

Yesterday Mum and I headed off to the Way We Wear Fair at Burnside. Although there appeared to be less stalls than the last one (in Feb, Paynham Town Hall) the quailty and selection were even better!

I picked up this darling popup needle book, a cute as teatowel with little yellow birds and the most lovey vintage trim. The trim was a fantastic deal as Mum and I bumped in to Kelly, a fellow Brown Owl, and she had been eyeing it off to so we decided to go halves.

(the photo quality is rubbish.. sorry... our camera is broken (again!) and being repaired (again!) so this was taken with our other camera, which is also broken... I'm having no luck at all!

Hope you all found some lovely things this weekend too.

ps - next Way We Wear Fair in Adelaide is the first weeknd in March 2010

pps - check out the new Meet Me At Mike's forum - wow!

Bullion & Lazy Daisies

My embroidery skills are growing - slowly. Last night at Brown Owls Susan taught me how to do a Bullion stitch and weekend before last it was Lazy Daisies. I have to say I am throughly enjoying the process.

At a guess I've done about 70% of my square for the Quilt Project. I even snuck in a bit of stitching in the lunch room today!

Cherry x

A weekend in Sydney

Mum & I were lucky enough to meet up in Sydney last weekend for the Stitches and Craft show. Dad came too and he gets 10 big crafty points for staying at the show from 10 to 4 while we soaked up all the craft! I'll post tomorrow about all the lovely things that were seen and bought.

Tonight's post is all about the Sydney Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef - Melissa if you're reading this and don't want to spoil the surprise... don't scroll down!

WOW! It was amazing!

When we planned the trip to Sydney we had no idea we'd get the chance to see the exhibition but while at S&C I overheard a fellow crafter talking about seeing the show the day before. We decided that with a bit of careful timing we could get our fill of craftiness at the show and then drive back to the Powerhouse to see the last 30 mins of the exhibition.

The show was breathtaking, the contributors used everything from shoe laces to phone cable and of course the most vibrant coloured yarns.

Like to make your own reef - get a pattern here

Read more about the inspiration behind the show here

Cherry

Fabric, Buttons & Embellishments

Yes that's right, next Adelaide Brown Owls meeting is all about Fabric, Buttons & Embellishments

Get the details here, RSVP after 8pm Friday and we'll see you on the 26th!

Cherry

ps - memberships are still open, if you want to know more leave a comment and we'll send you details!

Here's Where I'm Up To..

Making: plans for the trip to Sydney this weekend
Cooking: actually - I'm not making dinner tonight - It's Nick's turn.
Drinking: water - just back from the gym.. My poor barbie arms are very sore.
Reading: I've just started News of a Kidnapping by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and just finished The Time Travellers Wife (for the second timee, it's still the best book ever... really!)
Wanting: my foot to stop hurting - I've pulled a muscle..
Looking: forward to going to the Stitches and Craft show on Sunday
Sewing: nothing at the moment but the list of to be sewn is long indeed - 1st on the list is a birthday present for Sophie.
Wishing: my mother in law a Happy Birthday (for tomorrow)
Waiting: for dinner
Liking: the idea of a Stash Swap at the next Brown Owls
Wondering: if I'll ever get around to planting the sweet peas that I've been thinking about planting for a year now...
Loving: Elisa Mazzone's artwork. I bought this piece at an exhibition and it looks wonderful on my wall. only trouble is now... I want another one.
Hoping: my foot isn't still sore for the trip to Sydney
Marvelling: at how lovely my little niece is - cute as a button!
Needing: to figure out what to get Nick for his birthday... Why are men so hard to buy for!
Smelling: dinner cooking
Wearing: Peter Alexander PJs
Noticing: that it's Tuesday night already, tomorrows the half way point - how wonderful!
Knowing: that my arms are going to be very sore from the gym tomorrow
Thinking: that United States of Tara is a very good show.
Feeling: Happy!

Check others playing along here

500 days of summer

I am so excited!

ps - if you have never hear the delightful tunes of She & Him you are certainly missing out!

My Home

I picked up these at the second hand bookshop while getting some fresh air at lunch today. They are filled with the most beautiful things. Even better still the shop had about 30 of them so I might drop in again to buy more.

Sorry I don't have more photos - the camera is dying... slowly and at the moment it's refusing to read memory cards. I'm loathed to take it to get fixed (again) though as they had it for 6 weeks last time... Grr

Cherry x

Summer is coming

Wasn't it a beautiful day yeasterday - 27 in August! So beautiful infact that decided it was time to get the thongs out!

Yesterday I:

• Walked in to town
• Shopped in the Mall
• Ate pancakes cooked by my brother (he's very good at them)
• Helped to choose a birthday present (shhh...)
• Learnt to do Lazy Daisys and French Knots Thanks Susan!
• Read Frankie in the sunshine
• Cooked Lemon Chicken and Fried Rice
• Helped Ange with the cutest ever baby knickers from Meet me at Mikes
• Watched Coraline in 3D really good!

Red Berries on my walk

Parkland in the sunshine

It was a very good day!

Fancy free for 48hrs!

Ah I am so glad it is Friday! 48 hours to to what ever I fancy!

Tomorrow I have two friends coming over for craftanoon tea. Ange is finishing of some baby shoes and Susan is going to help me improve my embroidery skills - she's really good and I need help if I'm going to complete my square for the Quilt Project in time.

Here is the latest photo of my work. I'm not convinced that my satin stitch is very good but I'm following the advice of stabbing rather than scooping. I'm certainly enjoying the embroidery. Have also noticed red floss turning up all over the house. It must attach itself to my clothing and then drops off in random spots.

Have a lovely weekend

Cherry

Sydney Stitches and Craft

Oh my goodness we are both so excited that we are going to the Sydney Stitches and Craft show.



The guide was released today - Will require some careful planning as we are only able to make the show on the Sunday.

Send recommendations if you have any!

Seahorse softie

I thought I'd show off my latest softie creation. It's a birthday present for a very dear friend of mine.


The pattern is from One Red Robbin and was my first step in to the world of patchwork and quilting. The One Red Robin patterns are fantastic and very easy to understand too - esp for a new sewer like me. You can see my first softie on One Red Robbins blog here, the pattern was from Meet Me At Mike's book (so good!!)

If you're an Adelaide Brown Owl don't forget to RSVP for the meeting tomorrow night. I'll be stitching for the Quilt Project.

Cherry

Days go by

On Saturday we decided to head to the coast - Batemans Bay via Braidwood - It was a beautiful day and lovely scenery. We eventually hit the beach at around 1.30 - it was a delightful little bay and we found a sunny spot just out of the breeze - oh heaven - warmth - sun - lapping of the waves and our delicious picnic lunch - couldn't help taking a picture of our dessert - cherry, almond and chocolate tart and orange brulee ( From Silo in Kingston ) mmmmmmmm and then an afternoon snooze.

I finished the box for my paperwork and cards today. Its a little rough for my first try but I am very happy with the design - particularly my divider and the outer pocket for the cards I collect - I may even put more pockets on the outside !

This is my favourite cochet pattern at the moment- its called slanting diamonds. - very easy a one row pattern. I think i will make it into a cardigan

Let me know if you want more info Cathy x

Scarf pattern

Pattern for flower

Use size five needles – wool/cotton to suit these needles
Petal
Cast on 6 stitches
Row 1 (RS) K3, yo, k3, - 7sts
Row 2 and all WS rows – Knit
Row 3 K3, yo, K4 – 8 stitches
Row 5 K3, yo, K5 – 9 stitches
Row 7 K3, yo, K6 – 10 stitches
Row 9 K3, yo, K7 – 11 stitches
Row 11 K3, yo, K8 – 12 stitches
Row 12 cast off 6 stitches, knit to end
Repeat rows 1-12 for flower petal
Repeat 5 times for flower, cast off remaining 6 stitches. Thread wool in and out of hole pattern, pull tightly and secure to make flower.

Border of scarf - use above petal pattern repeat till the scarf is the length you want – edging is looped into a long oval - flowers are stitched together to fit in the middle then edging is attached to outer edge of flowers
The scarf I made had 16 flowers and the edging had 38 points
Crocheted leaves (optional) If you know an easy knitted leaf - use that one instead
10 chain turn sc in to first chain, dc in to next chain, htr into next chain, tr into next chain, dtr into next chain tr in to next chain, htr into next chain, dc into next chain, sc into next chain, - turn and repeat above into other side of chain
Purl buttons and sparkle buttons were added to the centre of each flower.
Original pattern : Nicky Epstein's - Signature Scarves

The luxury of time

I am not working at the moment and what a luxury it is to wake up and think mmmm what will i do today ( I think my daughter is quite envious) it will gradually end (beginning part time next week and will go back to full time next year) but I am making the most of it now.

My latest project was a very needed pin cushion. The covered button in the centre was made from a doily.

The next project was a cushion cover. I used fabric from Ikea (great quality cottons)- it was a large pattern so i cut it up into squares -machine wool embroidered extra colour and put it together as a patch work -

The next little project was felted beads. I have been making these for awhile with wool roving - then I experimented with wool scraps which worked beautifully - especially after I made some pom poms (later about those little hand made gems) this time i decided to try just a lenghth of wool - yeh it worked beautifully - even quicker than before - you unwind about 180cms wool -grab it into a very loose bundle and start to needle felt it - you will have bead before you know it - I am making a necklace - will show you the finished product when done - here's a photo to give you an idea
I have loads more pictures and am very happy to give more information on any project. happy days Cathy

Oh what a day!

Oh what a lovely way to start the week! When I opened my email today there was an email from my wedding photographer Robyn with more photos of our big day (April this year). I thought I’d share some of them with you. Alice from Flowers By Alice did a divine job with the flowers. I spent the year leading up to the wedding collecting vases for the tables and on the day she filled them with the most amazing flowers I have ever seen.

To market, to market...

Just got back from the Rose Park Child and Baby Market. Today was the first market and it was lovely. I went early to beat the crowd and even still there were lots of shoppers.

Gillian, a fellow brown owl, had a lovely stall where I bought this dress for my niece.

Also met Shannon who has a blog dedicated to one of my favourite accessories - Brooches! You can check her blog here, broochthesubject. Shannon's blog has a fab post all about Naomi Murrell's brooches and jewellery. I love Naomi's work, plus I was lucky enough to have Naomi design my wedding stationary too.

Cherry x

Crafting in Canberra

Canberra certainly has the right weather for crafting - you just feel like staying in doors with lots of cups of tea. When I venture out I have had fun looking around markets, gathering ideas and going to op shops.

I finished my scarf - I reworked the edging - reduced the length - changed cool grey to a warm grey and it made all the difference - I have the pattern for the scarf if you are interested - the flower and the edging are all the same pattern very simple.

I added pearl buttons and some sparkle buttons just for a bit of glitz.


I made some bedsocks from an old jumper.. I used the rib edging of the sleeves and the hem for the top of the socks - I got 3 pairs from the one jumper - I have photos and a pattern if you would like to know more - they are sooo warm

mmmmm what else have I made - well a bit boring but I needed one - washing bag for my bras - I know I can hear you all going OMG - well - sorry but I hate wasting money on things like that when I could be picking up some buttons or something else - here goes - I have photos and a pattern for this also - my design worked well in the wash (button attached to elastic) - the only thing I will do next time is make the netting stronger -

I am on a roll so I will be posting again soon . Remember if you would like any information on the construction of any projects just let me know.

Cathy

Redwork so far

I thought I'd show you my progress on my square for the Quilt Project. I taught myself stem stitch the other day - not too bad for a beginner!

See other works over here!

Check these out

Here are some links that are worth visiting:

Handmade Market in Canberra - handmademarket.com.au

All about setting up an etsy shop by bugsandfishes

Some delightful necklaces from Orange Poppies found via lovelysweetwilliam

Movies I'll never get tired of

There are just some movies you never get tired of! Here are 4 that I just love...

Clockwise Amélie, Garden State, The Darjeeling Limited, The Royal Tenenbaums

What are yours?

Morning dose of craft

A few days ago I came across the Craft Sanity pod cast via Button Tree Lane. Wow! They are great! What a perfect way to get your dose of craft in the morning on the way to work.

Today I listened to an interview with Abby Glassenburg. Abby makes soft sculptures from vintage fabrics and materials. The interview was fantastic. I really enjoyed hearing about Abby’s transition from craft to art and where they blend in the middle. Very inspiring!

This is one of the owls that Abby has made – pic sourced from craftsanity.com

My Hip to Hook parcel arrived today! Will post about that tomorrow.

Cherry x

The Quilt Project - Planning

For the past few days all I've been seeing are patterns for my piece in the Quilt Project. Patterns in wrapping paper and fabric, in brick works and windows and even in the garden. Last night, overwhelmed with ideas I got out the sketch book and drew... Here is what evolved



I'm not sure if this will be my final design - only time will tell.

Can't wait to receive my parcel in the post so that I can get stitching

Cherry x

Just arrived in the post

Look what the postie delievered today!



Mum - you are going to love it!

Cherry x

Finally a glove!

For a few years now I have wanted to crochet a pair of fingerless gloves. I found a lovely pattern in the Happy Hooker a while back but was very frustrated that I could never figure out much past row 3...

Then a few month ago - it hit me! It's a US book which means a single crochet is a double crochet (not a uk single crochet!) Of course, how silly was I! With renewed confidence I finished a glove but when I joined the seams I realised it was way too big.

I wasn't ready to give up again so I tried to remove some rows here and there and took some chains of the end - this worked and I did end up with a smaller glove but in my excitement to finish the project I forgot to keep a track of the rows I'd removed. This made it a little tricky to make the other glove...

With the second glove careful to write down every stitch but couldn't get it 100% like the first. When I finally finished something that was close enough and stitched up the seam it had a twist in the glove that made the lace pattern pull. Hmmm...

The next morning I was putting on my mimco gloves to walk to work when lightening hit (again)! The thumb of the glove needs to be on the palm... not out to the side! Hurrah!

So with this knowledge I made my own pattern, simple double crochets and a thumb on the palm. I'm so proud of myself for working out how to stitch the thumb. Of course I was still too excited to write the pattern down as I go but I'll keep this one glove as my base. For my next glove I'm going to try 4ply sock wool. Who knows... maybe I'll even end up with a pair of gloves one day!

Cherry x