"The Craft Group" plus...

Well, today my adventure begins. A "Cousins" reunion for all 15 cousins on my father's side of the family. All very exciting. Just one problem. The reunion is being held in a different hemisphere than I am in. So today I am saying goodbye to my family :( and hopping on a plane with my 2 sister :) and going to Holland for 3 weeks. Our laundry blackboard door. Do the kids sound a bit too excited??? I will try to snatch some time and some internet to keep you posted!

It's time to "Show 'n Tell" another card. This one is made my Cheryl.  The background is embossed using The Craft Group's new "Cuttlebug" embossing machine. Then she did some pretty paper tole flowers and added them to the centre of the card. Sweet card Cheryl! Just 2 days to go. I am busy busy but sometimes busy has nice rewards at the end!

Here's a quirky idea I stumbled across in the cyber craft world. These people from  Stuffed Misfit  buy orphaned soft toys from Op shops, pull them apart and recreate them inside out to reveal their new characters! Here are some of my favourites. In my craft cupboard I have all I need to make soft toys. It is something I would love to do more of but just don't have the time at the moment. Plus, when you look at different second hand shops, you realise the world really does not need any more soft toys.  Unless of course they are a quirky original! Have a great weekend! I am packing... stay tuned!

I love the Bullseye patchwork pattern. Next year, the quilters at The Craft Group are going to do a group bullseye challenge. I have made a few quilts with this pattern and loved doing them. (I'll do more of a feature on the pattern later in the year). Bev saw one of my bullseye projects and asked to borrow the pattern. My squares were cut into 4 (at right angles) but Bev made the design her own by cutting each square diagonally in half. You will have to wait for my future post for this to make sense! Bev made this quilt for her daughter, Kaitlin. She called it "Garden on flowers". The block placement in my bullseyes are totally random. Here in Bev's quilt, she has done clever things with colour and tone. Bev has a knack of taking any project and giving it a bit of extra 'wow' factor. You wait 'til I show you her $7 calico bear! On another note. We all have busy days and weeks but sometimes there is a huge deadline for certain things to ...

Ok. It is time for some serious cuteness. Here is little Mirielle modelling another crocheted creation by Nadia. Marion (the grandmother) bought this cute hat made by Nadia (the crochet guru) and gave it to her granddaughter, Mirielle (the cute one).

"Grandmother's Flower Garden" is a traditional patchwork pattern. You can Google in 'Images' to find hundred's of examples of quilts using this pattern. Here is 'our' very own example by Elaine, our quilting teacher.  I asked Elaine who she made it for (she is always making things for other people) and she said "Just for me". So this wall hanging is called "Just for Me" by Elaine. It took her 18 months to make between other projects. It is made up of tiny hexagons. It is all hand sewn using the English Paper Piecing Method. She used a pattern from a book called "Grandmother's Hexagon Garden" Lovely lovely.

Find a pretty design and pattern. Photo copy it. Place the card over a soft cutting board, secured with blu tac. Place pattern over the card and secure so it doesn't move.  Punch the holes with a special tool or a needle. (You can push the needle half into a cork to hold it more easily). Follow the pattern to do the embroidery. Stick on pretty embellishments. Frame your masterpiece with another coloured card. Punch corners for added style. Stick onto a card. Write a special message. Give to a special friend. See friend smile. That is what Cheryl did to make this pretty card. If you would like to try an embroidered card, here is a free pattern to download for this card on the right...

What have you got planned for this weekend? If you have to patch some kids ripped jeans, how about a monster patch? Pretty cute I say. Click here to see how it's done  on the blog called "Beneath the Rowan Tree". One of those things I just stumbled upon and thought I'd share. Have a great weekend!

Card making can become quite a challenge. Card crafters see cards in a whole new way when they get one given to them. Ruth had an intricate pop up card which she and her card making peers prodded and pocked until they figured out how it was made.  Then Ruth made one of her own! A pretty pink one for a special little girl.  Very clever Ruth (and advisory board!)

I would like to show off this warm cosy scarf. It was hand knitted by my Mum, Wil, using alpaca wool. But that's not all... The alpaca wool was hand spun by my Dad, John on the spinning wheel that sits in the corner of the lounge room. What a great team effort hey! Mark and I make a great team too. He earns money so I can spend it on craft.  A good arrangement.  Here is the knitter and spinner. They celebrated their  57th Wedding Anniversary  this year.   Mum loves knitting but I'd be stretching the truth if I said that Dad loves spinning (even though he is very good at it). He learnt it in his youth, out of necessity I think during the war in Holland. It's a bit like learning to ride a bike, once you know how to do it, you don't forget.   Lovely scarf Mum and Dad!

Driving in the car with her friends, Marjorie was encouraged to write her memoirs.  She has so many stories to tell and so she took on the challenge.  She is combining a mix of stories, photos and little memorabilia. She has also worked on a beautiful page showing her in her midwifery uniform. Look at this next one. Here is a lovely reference from her high school. Sutherland Primary School is a lovely old solid building known to everyone as the local primary school. Many people don't know that from 1928 to 1958 it was a girl's high school. Click  here  and then click on 'heritage' to read a short history of the school. On the right are photos of : * The Argyle Cut which you can  read about here * Central Railway station , Sydney. * The Sydney Harbour Bridg e from the Royal Botanical Gardens. These places are all significant in Marjorie's story. You'll have to wait til it's finished to know why! I love the idea of writing a p...

Isn't it lovely when someone says something nice? Maybe we should all have a sign to remind us all to "Say Something Nice" more often :) This is fun. Watch this...

A box of boxes. This red and gold beauty is by Cheryl. This box is by Pat Wow Michelle, the explosion box phenomenon has really gone off with a BANG!

The photo doesn't do this quilt justice but it is a really sweet quilt which Bev made for her great grandson! It's a really practical square size which is big enough to lay the little fella on but not too big to take on an outing. I can't tell you what the great grandson thinks of it because he is not born yet... but it won't be long. 3 weeks to go and he'll be here. He must be waiting for warmer weather :)