"The Craft Group" plus...

Some people are just so clever! Jenni and Leanne met Anne K in the train on the way home from the Craft Show at Darling Harbour this year. Leanne had previously made a bag, from a pattern, and Anne was admiring it. She had a good look at it and said "I think I will make one like that too."  Leanne would have been happy to share the pattern.  Pattern shmattern. Who needs a pattern? (That is not a quote from Anne by the way).  So home she went, inspired by all things crafty and she made this cute denim backpack, just creating it out of her stash of fabrics and her clever mind. Cute project Anne. 

You know how sometimes something bad happens and just because you were a small part of the series of events you get the blame? Don't you hate that!!!? Well, I am doing the opposite. I am claiming all sorts of undeserved  glory for these 2 lovely quilts! Pat, at The Craft Group, asked me if I knew anyone who could help to make 2 quilts as a farewell gift. Their Pastor was moving to another place and they wanted a special gift for his 2 daughters. Well, it's pretty hard to find someone willing to do that but I recommended Bev because she is a) a lovely quilter b) she knows the girls who are leaving and c) she is a very generous, gracious, giving lady, so it would be worth asking her! Well, I really had nothing else to do with the quilts apart from holding them up to show off to everyone, but they are so lovely, I will happily bask in the glory of another successfully finished project!  ;) I think Bev did most of the work but she said it was a group effort i...

How nice is it when someone was really kind to you? The message of t his video is to pass it on... http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=WD7GWPNX

Here is something I really want to show you. When I recently jumped into a new decade, the card making ladies at The Craft Group set to work to make me something really special. First I received this beautifully made box incorporating a plastic window which gave me a glimpse of a special card inside. Apparently the window was Hans' idea. That is Elly's husband. Don't you love it when husbands (who have totally different hobbies than their wives) look on and give suggestions for our creations. Sometimes we might think.... ''you can't be serious!" and sometimes, like with this window idea it's more like 'now why didn't I think of that!?' Box by Elly.   Inside was this bulging card, tied closed with a ribbon, full of birthday good wishes and blessings! When I opened the ribbon and spread the card out I saw that 12 ladies had made a special insert for the card. They made a big star card to display them in. (Ignore the ...

On friday morning my husband and I went on a lovely early morning drive. We left home at 5:30am and it felt like we were going on holidays! (That's the only time I ever drive anywhere at that hour!) Our drive took us over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I love 'our' bridge. It is much prettier driving over it than driving through the Harbour tunnel. Then we got to our destination... The 'before' shot, still smiling and enjoying bending my knees. Then, here goes, I will be brave and show you the 'after' shot which my husband so sweetly took! (I will make it as small as I can!) And here is the lovely salmon lunch 2 days later which I could hardly stomach! Here I am home again. Knee reconstructed with a new ACL! Yay. So, here I sit. I have a basket of fun things to do and read during my recovery but I haven't been up to touching anything yet. I am keen to do plenty of blogging though as soon as I feel like doing som...

Meet the latest in Nadia's creations. Lalaloopsey is one of the latest crazes in little girls' dolls. Did I know this? No. Not until I saw Nadia's dolls and was enlightened by the young mums and grandmas of 'The Craft Group'. (I really need to watch more TV... not). Anyway, here are Nadia's lala cousins...  (she sells them if anyone in the group is interested) Very clever Nadia.  Did I tell you that after having 3 sons, Nadia is expecting a girl? Watch this space, no doubt, for Nadia's future pretty little girl crochet projects!

My girls love to do their nails in fun and creative ways. Recently when Annalee was sitting for days after her knee operation, the smell of nail polish often permeated the room. This is one design she did for Heidi: and then she did these rainbow nails for Heidi: For herself, she experimented with shading 2 different colours. Black and Burgundy: You can see the shading clearer here. She found out how to do it on the internet. It involved pouring a little polish onto some plastic and dabbing it on with a makeup sponge. My photo doesn't do it justice. It was very striking. Oh to have time to do your nails! Although when I sit for a few hours (my knee op is this fri eeek!) There are many other things I'd like to be doing. My list is way too long! Pretty!

Pat took on the challenge of making a card to say farewell to the minister of her church who is moving elsewhere. A farewell card for a male. Well she did a great job in choosing a design.  The card is quite large (which you can't tell here) and she has pages of signatures and messages which she will insert. The birds are looking wistfully into their future... Nice card Pat. I hope he doesn't secretly check out my blog to spoil the surprise!

The benefits of being part of a Craft Group is that we often nag  encourage each other to finish a project and that is a good thing! Last Thursday Bronwyn passed this gorgeous quilt to me to show during Show 'n Tell time. She hadn't shown Karin yet that it was finished.  Bronwyn is a full time Carer for her mother at home. She bought the kit for her Mum and gave it to her for her birthday 3 years ago. Her mother loved the colours and gave it back to Bronwyn to actually make. For the last 3 years her good friend Karin has been pesting  encouraging her to finish it so her Mum can enjoy it. So the big reveal was on thursday and there was a real look of surprise on Karin's face. See... all that persistence paid off. What a pretty quilt for Bronwyn's Mum to enjoy.  On the back she used a variegated thread to free form machine quilt, using the flowers as a guide. So it looks pretty on the underside as well. (I never knew how to spell 'variegated' ...

I had so much fun making these goodies to give to all the guests at my party. I wanted to hand make something which showed how much I appreciated everyone coming to help celebrate. I made a wrapped, super sized freckle chocolate for everyone! Step one: melt a packet of "Choc Melts" according to the packet's directions. I figured out that adding just a tablespoon of melted copha in with the chocolate helped to form smoother shapes. Step two: spoon some chocolate into patty cases in a muffin tray. Make them about 3 mm thick.  Thin and even is best. Step 3: pour heaps of 100's and 1000's into each case. When they are completely cooled (the fridge helps), shake the loose 100's and 1000's off over a bowl. They can be used again. Step 4: Now cut little pieces of plastic wrap and wrap each freckle individually. Maybe just taste test one to make sure it is OK.  ;) Step 5: Make and print on your computer some circles with a...