What fun!

I went to my first Northern Craft Bonanza last night. I thought I would have to procure some fake ID with a more Northerly address just to get in (me not being from the North and all) but Cathy assures me that the night is open to anyone and made me feel very welcome!

There were lots of lovely peeps, plenty of coffee and chais going around, loads of chat, catching up and exchange of ideas, and of course a little bit of crafting too!

There was some lovely knitting...

Beccasaurus was covering some buttons... (do you think she needs to cover that cleavage as well? Sorry Bec, I'll do better with the camera angle next time!)

The very lovely Lara from Thornberry brought these gorgeous snoods that she had whipped up... (if that doesn't inspire a girl to master the art I don't know what will!)

Liesl was crocheting with the most delicious looking chocolate yarn I've ever seen...

And Curlypops was making tags for her gorgeous gadget pouches (and a sale or two as well!)...

I took along my pitiful crochet attempts and was lucky enough to get some instruction and handy tips from Liesl and Lara. Liesl most helpfully agreed with me when I stated that I had just made the world's worst crochet chain, and patiently waited for me to unravel and start again. More than once. Lara had some fab tips about 'blocking' which I'm hoping will make my 'Granny' more 'Square'. 

The Bonanza is on fortnightly, hope to see you there.

Thanks Mum

My sleepover at Rancho Relaxo was wonderful.

We went out for lunch here. Delicious.

Then back to Mum's for 2 hours of relaxing in the spa with a refreshing drink and a good book:

Followed by a spot of relaxing in front of the fire, listening to some beautiful music, (and I was given a very very special gift by my mum which I will share with you tomorrow)

Then a gourmet meal of Rack of Lamb, Dutch Cream Potatoes pan fried with garlic and rosemary, and steamed beans and carrots.

Some more music and relaxing before heading off to my cosy little bed:

(with a nightcap)

And above my bed were the books of my childhood (and my mum's childhood), aren't they fab?

All topped off by a sleep in 'til 9am. Heavenly. Thanks Mum, it was exactly what I needed xx

Going home to Mother

I'm off to my Mum's for a lovely girly (child free!) sleepover! The Bloke Who Lives At My Place will be spending some quality time with his little 'uns: The Junior Crafter, Captain Underpants and Poor Point 3, while I will be spending some quality time catching up on some much needed sleep.

Mum and I are going out for lunch, then doing a little spot of shopping, then home to unpack a few boxes (Mum has just moved back into her house after a housefire earlier this year), and spend a little girly time together. I'm hoping Mum will teach me to crochet so I can have a go at one of these. And then I'm having a very early night and hopefully a lovely sleep in...I think the last time I had a decent sleep was around 2001!

Need more time?

It's a busy time of year for everyone. I get that. But lately, I simply do not have enough hours in the day to cope with all the Christmas preparations (not the crafty kind unfortunately), the many end of year school and kinder events, not to mention preparations for my sister-in-law's wedding (which is next week. Yes, really.) and which includes two of my three kids in the wedding party. And all this is being done on next to no sleep thanks to my little Poor Point 3.

It's little wonder really that I have no time left for crafty adventures! However, I seem to have found the answer to my problem in this great little Crafter's Clock I picked up at the Daylesford Makers Market.

Jodie, you're a genius. I'll be back on top of everything by Tuesday.

The Ultimate Secret Handshake

What a fabulous day we had at the Daylesford Market on Saturday! Armed with "The Ultimate Secret Handshake" we were warmly greeted at the door with "I spy some bloggers!" which was a lovely welcome. The next person I spied inside was the lovely Liesl with...was it Argy or Bargy? That was a lovely surprise, as I haven't seen Liesl for aaaaages!

Big thanks to Julie for the scrumptious yo-yo biccies, what a yummy way to start my market outing!

I saw some lovely creative bloggy friends, including Cam. I am now the proud owner of that gorgeous little heart shaped brooch on the bottom left of Cam's display :)

There's the very talented Jodie from VintageRicRac peering out from her awesome display shelf.

I think I have a blog crush.

(sorry the picture is blurry, but I think it hides my wrinkles rather well, but Jodie says it's because she's drunk).

We took a refreshment break from all our shopping at Frango & Frangos, and marked off purchases against our Christmas Lists.  See my "Secret Handshake" in the background behind the glasses? (No, they weren't both for me!)

We headed back to the market for some more shopping (pics to follow), then made our way to Lark. Heavenly. I want to live there. A quick stop at the Mill Markets then back on the road again, where we were met by this:

We made it home safely, exhausted, inspired and buzzing from such a lovely day out. Thanks Marketeers :)

Oh happy day!

Guess who's going on a road trip to Daylesford tomorrow? Yes, little ol' me (ok, less of the 'old' methinks. Just because there was a birthday last week, no need to get too excited.)
The Bloke Who Lives At My Place will be spending some quality time with The Junior Crafter and Mr 400 Questions Per Day, while PP3 and I will be driving to Daylesford with my gorgeous and dear friend Leigh.
On my itinerary:

• Daylesford Makers Market of course!
• The Mill Markets There was too much to see last time, it requires a 2nd visit
• Red Pepper Gallery Just to drool over artwork I wish I could afford, if you get the chance this place is really worth a look.
• Lark Just because!
• A spot of lunch somewhere nice, with maybe a little glass of something bubbly...
• Some 'me' time, and some girly time with a great friend
• And, of course, looking forward to seeing some yo-yo wearing friends while I'm there!

Lost: my sanity

I wish to apologise for my lack of posts this last week. Don't you just love Domestic Bliss? Will be making a concerted effort to regain my sanity by prioritising just a little bit of Me Time this week.

Why do I create? Blogtober day 17

I have just finished reading The Crafter's Companion, edited by Anna Torborg. Seventeen crafters have contributed a project to this book, and they have all been asked the question: Why do you create?
It's not a something I have really questioned in myself much before, creating is simply part of who I am. But the book got me thinking more deeply about the reasons I like making stuff.

I think mostly it is some innate part of my being, this need to be creative and productive. And I like to have something tangible to show for my efforts. I really really love having an idea in my head and then seeing it come to life in 3 dimensions. As you know, I don't have a great deal of spare time on my hands, so when I sit down to make something, I like it to happen quickly and easily. I don't have enough time to make up templates and samples, try them out, unpick them, adjust them, resew, scrap that idea and start again. So what I do is think through an idea in my head until I'm pretty sure it's ok. I start with a little seed of an idea, toss it round in my head, think it through, actually 'create' it in my mind and watch each step coming together to kind of see if it will work before I actually invest any time in it, write it down, or take to fabric with scissors. Of course, my ideas don't always work, but this process seems to work for me most of the time.

Another thing I love about creating is that it is all about me. Those of you out there with young children will understand what I mean. I gave up my career (gladly!) to stay at home and raise my children, a decision I have never regretted. But I have discovered that when I spend 23 hours a day being on call and caring for three little ones, it is really terribly important for me to be able to put aside the other hour of the day just for me. To do something just for me. Me time. And I love it.

I'm still experimenting with mediums. At the moment, it's all about fabric, but in the past I have dabbled in papercraft, cake decorating, knitting, scrapbooking, decoupage and painting to name a few. But I am loving fabric and all it's possibilities, and I'm learning so much!

Someone in the book mentioned that Craft Blogs are actually taking us back to a time when women used to get together and sew, knit, crochet etc in a group - it's connecting us so we can share our work, inspire and support each other and learn new skills from one another, and continue the wonderful tradition of women being creative together - even if it is in a virtual world!

Aah, I love it when the www is used for good instead of evil.

Knitting Needle Roll - Blogtober day 16

All my moaning and complaining about lack of crafting time seems to have paid off! I have completed yet another little project, a knitting needle roll. It's my first attempt at a needle roll, and also my first attempt at piecing *gulp*. It's not perfect, but I'm pretty happy with it.

Inside

Lift the flap

The outside

Detail of the piecing on the outside.

The roll is a gift for my mum who knits these wonderful colourful blankets for all the new babies in our life. She has knitted one each for my three little ones, these two belong to my two boys:

Aren't they gorgeous :)

The needle roll was inspired by Tania Howells' needle case in "The Crafter's Companion" edited by Anna Torberg.

Why? Blogtober day 14

Why are there two letters for dad in the letterbox?

Because the postman left them there.
Why did the postman leave them there?
Because that's his job, his job is delivering letters.
Why is his job delivering letters?
Because there are lots of letters that need to be delivered, and someone has to do it.
Why does someone have to do it?
Because otherwise the letters wouldn't get delivered, and there wouldn't be two letters for dad in the letterbox.
Why are there two letters for dad in the letterbox?

Why don't I have time to do any crafting?

Let's start at the very beginning...

...it's a very fine place to start.

So I'm totally new to blogging, but have been crafting for quite some time. Although I do consider myself a 'beginner' in crafting as I'm still experimenting, trying new things and generally finding my crafting feet. So I will attempt to publish new craft projects as I do them, but will also randomly publish projects I have already completed.
I have three young children, Princess Z aged 7, Mr Jumping Bean aged almost 4, and Poor Point 3 aged 6 months, so forgive me if my posts are spasmodic and/or slap dash at times!
Crafting and being creative is the thing I do to keep me sane, have a break from my everyday life and to have some all important ME TIME! I love it.
My gorgeous friend Sam recently moved overseas and bequeathed me her Janome, so I dived into 2 terms of beginner sewing lessons and now the Janome and I are in love and are quickly becoming inseperable. I am about to attempt a quilt *gasp* for Princess Z, so will keep you updated on the progress of this project.

TheCraftGypsy
xx