F-R-I-E-N-D-S Swap - Look what I got!

Just recently I participated in a Friends swap, hosted by Khris. My partner was Terri from Sew-Fantastic and let me tell you I was sooooo nervous about having such an awesome partner...mind you, my package still hasn't arrived at her end yet. Anyhoo.....I got to open my package the other day and check out what was in there...first, ontop of the package was a gorgeous handmade owl card....which you can see in the following pic.

In the pic over to the right, you can see what a great choice in colour Terri made with the wrapping....and I love how she also incorporated one of her favourite colours....orange which is the colour of the letters indicating which present was what.













And in this last pic, you can see all my gorgeous goodies, which I just love love love to bits.....sorry but I don't do the "I heart this" thing....what's wrong with saying you love it anyways.....Call me old fashioned, but that's me! Wasn't I just spoilt...now I'm back to worrying that Terri, in all her awesomeness won't like what I've sent her....ok, I'm off to chew the remaining portion of my fingernails off whilst worrying!

F = Fabric (A bit hard to see in the pic sorry, but it's gorgeous)

R = Recipe card box and owl fridge magnets (hoot hoot)

I = Icecream sundae pincushion (purple round object on right side of pic, just below the magnets)

E = Exclusive Lip Balms/Glosses (Was I right Terri??)

N = Notebook - with owl fabric - how cool is that?

D = Dishcloth....with an appliqued owl on it...now she's just showing off....with how clever she is, I still haven't appliqued anything!

S = Square chocolate mint and stationary...check out the purple dots on the paper under the pile of 's' things....am I Spoilt or what!

Thank you sooooo much Terri.....I'm so nervous about your package now......I don't think mine is anywhere near your greatness.

Hugs
Naomi

Blankets, blankets and a couple of poncho's!

Raelene and I have been busy.....well, a while back we were anyway......and this was the outcome....a plethera of blankets....all different sizes and a couple of poncho's. All these items are for sale...and have their prices and an item number underneath them. If you wish to buy any of these items....please email me at beadnv@optusnet.com.au with the item number and your postal address, so that I can give you a quote on postage.

Item # 1 ~ $14.00 (2 thicknesses of yarn used at the same time) + P&H


Item # 2 ~ $15.00 + P&H


Item #3 ~ $12.00 +P&H


Item #4 ~ $12.00 +P&H


Item #5 ~ $15.00 + P&H


Item #6 ~ $14.00 + P&H (Great for little boys)


Item #7 ~ $15.00 + P&H


Item #8 ~ $15.00 + P&H


Item #9 ~ $12.00 + P&H


Item #10 ~ $25.00 + P&H


Item #11 ~ $30.00 + P&H


Item #12 ~ $12.00 + P&H


Item #14 ~ $18.00 + P&H


Item #15 ~ $10.00 + P&H


Item #16 ~ $15.00 + P&H


Item #17 ~ $15.00 + P&H


Item #18 ~ $12.00 + P&H


Item #19 ~ $30.00 + P&H


Item #20 ~ $40.00 + P&H (Over 60" square)

Item #21 ~ $18.00 (small adult size)

Item #22 ~ $14.00 (to suit med child)

Item #23 ~ $25.00 (Great masculine knee rug)

Hugs
Naomi

Pay It Forward participants still needed!

Hi everyone,

I'm still in need for two more people to sign up/participate in my pay it forward. I'd really like to get it all squared up asap as the markets that Khris and I are doing are starting to get a bit more frequent and spare time for 'fun' crafting is getting scarce....coz she's a real whip cracker about me sewing for the stall! lol

Please click here to get directed to the original post about my Pay It Forward and please consider signing up for it....it's fun and you get to surprise someone with what you send them.

Hugs
Naomi

Woo hoo, thanks to Melissa and Sharon, all spots are now filled (5.21pm on 21st July 2009)

A whinge and almost time for a giveaway

Ok, I'm hoping to get a bit of feedback now....in Khris's C-R-A-F-T group (see links in sidebar somewhere!) we've all been commenting on how much postage is costing us for all the swaps....it's insipid (I'll have just done my Auntie Suzie proud using her favourite word!) how much they charge us to mail our swaps isn't it?

I can understand them charging more for snail mail letters, because the postal services lose big time since the internet and emailing has become so prevalent.....but, and I mean BUT by the same token, auction sites, blogs and groups have increased the amount of parcel posts being done.....recently Khris sent a parcel to Italy that weighed under 1.5kg (around 3lb's in the old money!) and it cost $52....heck she could've sent so much more in her package if the postage was't so high, and I know Khris, she wouldn't have skimped on the swap in the first place.....but I bet there's alot of future swaps that people will sit out of because the postage kills the fun of the swap.

Maybe we should all pick a day, and we should all boycott mailing anything on that day.....and get everyone we know to try and not (unless extremely necessary as is employers getting crabby) mail stuff off that day either...and see what difference we can make.

In Khris's group, we also do birthday squishies, of which there's about 15 or so of us who mail off at least one squishie a month...some months are more, but that's at least 12 a year..plus any swaps we do, and swaps we join in elsewhere on the net.....and any cash we could be spending on feeding our craft addiction goes to the postal companies in our respective countries....so what do you say? You up for joining in on the boycott? Please feel free to link to this post on your blog and lets see how many people we can get to join in on the boycott.

Ok with all that whinging out the way, I noticed when I signed in to do this post, that I'm only about 12 posts away from my 50th post.....so I'm announcing that for my 50th post, I'll organise a surprise give away....and might even start getting things together for it soon.....I'll add stuff for x amount of followers, and x amount of comments.......and then will use random.org or an independant person to draw a name out as winner....so keep that in mind if you come read the above part of the post. Once we've decided on a date for the boycott.....I can tell you in advance, that if that date coincides with my 50th post giveaway, mailing of it will be delayed for a day! lol Wouldn't help if I try and organise a postage boycott and then go and break it would it? lol

Hugs
Naomi

Giveaways I've just entered

Hi everyone, Haven't been feeling the best of late. Have had a small "womans" procedure done, that I don't believe has worked and that zapped a wee bit of zest out of me....but I'm slowly feeling better, and what better a way to help me feel better, than to find a few giveaways to enter and blog about so you can enter them too.

The first one is a frog theme giveaway and you can whizz off to that one by clicking on the photo above.

The next giveaway is really something to PURR about....Sewmeow has a wonderful cat themed giveaway.........to enter the giveaway, click on the link that's hidden behind the word PURR and good luck.

Barb's playing Santa and is hosting a Christmas In July giveaway on her blog, which you can get to by clicking here

I'll do another post soon, but for now, the above giveaways should keep you busy.

Hugs
Naomi

Latest fabric scores

The other week I visited my local Spotlight store and got encouraged by the staff member to buy some end of rolls of fabric.....she did a fantastic deal on them, and I paid $6 per roll for the thicker amounts and $4 a roll for the two with slightly less on them......unfortunately they seem to have sold all the good stuff now, or else I'd be going back before the end of financial year sale.......gotta love feeding my addiction to fabric with savings hey? lol


This next pic shows the patterns on each of the fabric rolls. The one on the far right actually has owls on it. I love owls!

Hugs

Naomi

My 1st Dottee Doll

I just thought I would show you my first ever Dottee Doll. I know they're not everyones' cup of tea, but I quite like them. It's a bit hard to see, but mine has little green seed beads adorning her body, along the edges of the watermelon. I've been told her wink is cheeky and what those people have come to expect of me.....so to Diana and Sharon-NZ, thanks, I think! lol

Hugs

Naomi

My weekend happenings

Hi everyone, I've been out with Khris and Mardi today to a Craft & Hobby fair local to where Khris and I live. I didn't buy much today.....but Saturday I did a bit of damage to the bank balance! lol I'll be able to use most of it within the next few months, so that's good.

I have a few swaps coming up, but can't post any pics of them till after they've been received...I am still in the process of making those 9 Gracie dolls....and how lucky am I, Cath (designer of lots of great raggedy patterns) has offered to draw me some new faces for my dolls....can't wait to do some different faces.

Am thinking I want to try and make some bigger dolls soon....the little ones are cute, but if Khris and I are off to markets....to sell our handcrafted items.....big dolls take up more room! lol

Hugs
Naomi

What I did today

Well today was one of those typical days where you were busy, but didn't actually get anything done! lol

I went with my friend Khris for a drive up to the Adelaide Hills to check out a few 'craft' markets.....having spent absolutely ages finding these places, we came to the conclusion not to bother going to any of them to sell our stuff at. We haven't given up entirely though, and have plans to go find some more ones she comes back from gallivanting up in Queensland! lol

I haven't got any pictures to add to this post, but better no pic than no post I reckon!

I'm thinking about either hosting a swap soon, well maybe in August or September....any suggestions as to what sort of swap???? I'm currently in a F-R-I-E-N-D-S swap, and two Xmas in July swaps, although one of those is only a really small one ($5 value) but it all counts.

I've only been in two other swaps this year, and they were an Annie Doll swap....and a heart swap...so I'm not really the best for using my imagination for swap topics......perhaps a pincushion swap????

I'm hoping I get a few ideas, and then perhaps what I can do is number all the ideas, and select one of them via random.org and whoever's gets picked will earn themselves a small prize.....yet to be decided on.

In the pipeline, I currently have 9 Gracie dolls cut out, partly sewn....and OMG aren't I beating myself up over that....guess who forgot to trace the faces on before she sewed the bodies up? Yep, ME, ME and only ME.....I can be such a klutz for someone who likes to think she's fussy....lol

Ok, don't forget to leave a comment and tell me what you think would be a good idea for a swap for later in the year, and then as to whether you would participate or not so I can weigh up whether it's worth it.

Hugs
Naomi

Look what I just made

Ok, not technically correct, as I already had the tin set up as a money tin, it just still had the coffee label on it! lol I've now put a pretty pink sleeve on it and hand embroidered an owl onto it.....c'mon, you already knew something about it was going to be purple didn't you? lol

Ooooh this one even has money in it! lol Excuse the toe of my sneaker visible in this shot!

This one proves that dust bunnies live here and are trying to steal my savings!

This was supposed to have a bee stitchery on it, but I kind of miscalculated the sleeve that matched that one, and Raelene helped me with the measurements on the pink one, which is a prototype for the ones I'm hoping to sell.

Now, what I'm hoping you'll do, is leave a comment, and say whether you'd buy one, and if so, roughly how much would be a fair price to pay for one? Thanks heaps. I understand that most of the people that will visit and make a comment already make great items themselves, but everyone needs a bit of advice sometimes right?

Hugs

Naomi

New Dolphin bag for Chrissy

I've just made another dolphin bag for my friend Chrissy....it's made from two cushion panels that I ironed vlieselene stuff (lol) onto them, and then when I backed them with Calico, I kind of quilted the panels.  I made the body of the bag (badly - long story so wont bore you all with the details) out of turquoise corduroy fabric....it's a super large bag so she can store a whole knitting project in it and pop her pattern and spare needles in the outer pockets.

 

I've put one pic up of a cd next to it (the pinky round thing in front!) so you can kind of get an idea how large the bag is.

 

If I were to make another one of these, I'd definately make it with uniform cushion panels....one of these was way out of whack and really peeved me, but I used it anyway...coz I'm a dag!

 

Hugs

Naomi

Dolphin Shower Bag

My good friend Chrissy is going into hospital on 6th May....and has struggled to find a shower bag (I still call them sponge bags - but apparently that's old school now! lol) that she liked...so, knowing how she loves DOLPHINS...I decided to make her one. I quilted the fabric first....nightmare - long story too! - but I finally managed it...after lots of words that would cost me a fortune in a swear jar! Then I backed the quilted piece with some pale blue plastic I had.








If I'd had a little more time, I would've made a totally different bag so that the dolphins were the right way up, but at least I didn't sew them on the inside of the plastic...which, knowing me, was a vague possibility! lol In the pic, it's a little hard to define the plastic, but trust me, it's like a shower curtain type of plastic, so whilst it won't waterproof the inside, its not going to matter if she puts a damp face cloth in there, if she needs to.

I'm going to be giving her the bag tomorrow...and I'll let you know what she thought of it.

Hugs
Naomi

Pen & Note pad holder

I bought the holder on the right at a thrift store...thinking I could make something similar and give them as gifts...well yesterday, I decided it was about time I made one....so the one on the left is my attempt...did I do ok? Would you be happy to receive one?? I don't want to go crazy making them if no one thinks they're an ok thing!

Hugs
Naomi

Pretty Flowers

Ooooh Aaaaah such pretty flowers hey? These orchids were bought for me by our good friend Penelope when she came to visit on Wednesday...yes I know, I'm slack for only posting pics now...at least I remembered to take the pics while the flowers were so fresh and vibrant looking. Thanks Penelope.

Hugs
Naomi

Test Post

Well I've decided to trial out this thing that my friend "Aunty Sharon" recently learnt how to do...you can see her fantastic blog here.  I'm actually posting this direct to my blog from my email service!  How cool is that?  I think it's brilliant, and if I've set it up correctly, it could mean I'll be posting more often!

 

I'll even try and attach a pic just so I can see whether it all works!  The pic I've decided to attach is my version of "Gracie".  This pattern is from Cath Ü's wonderful site

and if you click on that link, it'll take you to her blog and you can check out all the wonderful things her and her gorgeous hubby, Ronnie make.....aren't they brilliant????

 

Hugs

Naomi

Salad for Breakfast is.......

Not something I believe I could eat...not first thing in the morning anyway! Maybe for brunch....anyway, as usual, I digress from why I'm posting.....Salad for Breakfast is actually hosting a giveaway for a talented young Aussie who has an ETSY store called Nooshka. Anyhow....go on over to Salad for Breakfast by clicking on any of the links in the body of the message and follow the instructions there to win Kirby....although I'd really like to win him myself....I love owls.

Good luck and if you win, come back and leave a comment so I can be truly jealous!

Hugs
Naomi

2 more Bootie/Booty bags and a RED scarf

Raelene went to NSW today to see her family...and go to her Dads surprise 75th birthday party, so SSSSSSHHHHHH don't tell him she's coming!

I decided when we booked her ticket on TUESDAY, yes, you read right, 3 days ago! that I would make a gift for her daughters, so out came the denim jeans/skirts and the final product was these two bags....they're both totally different from each other....what do you think of them?

The little spots you can see, especially down in the stripey part of this bag, are actually glued on bling! This originally was a skirt, but not anymore! lol

I think the belt should've been a little bit wider, but because it's only a relatively small bag, thought a thinner one went best, so that's what it got.





This next pic is of the other bag, which has an unusual front pocket detail, it's where all the buttons are.

Once again, it could probably have done with a better belt/sash, but with the time constraints...I only finished them last night! figured that this was better than nothing.











The other thing I made for a present, was a red feathers (well not the real feathers yarn, but the knock off version - Spotlight Flurry to be precise) scarf. I know one person in particular who was dying to get their hot little hands on this....pity I know she can knit...otherwise I would've made her one! (Bad luck boss!)

Anyway, I'm part way through making another PETAL doll for our next door neighbour...she has ordered one for her Mum for Mothers Day, so apart from a trip to Spotlight and the Post Office tomorrow (Saturday) you will all know what I'll be busy doing....I've sewn the body up so far, have to stuff it yet though...then it'll be clothes, petals and her teddy and pic to put on the net...oh wait, can't do that as I sent our camera away to NSW with Raelene! Derr Naomi...must be sleepy hey?

Alrighty, hope everyone has enjoyed reading my latest dribble. I'm now off to bed, so I can hopefully make an early start on all my chores....when I finally wake up.

Hugs
Naomi

My grand daughter

I believe I've made a few mentions of my DGD TaShie, at one time or another, but haven't really posted any pics of her...so this is one I took within the last two weeks when she came for a visit...she's eating some Zig Zag Twisties, out of a bowl....with, get this.....a spork! you know, one of those bbq cutlery items that isn't totally a spoon and isn't totally a fork? Yeah, I knew you would. Anyhow, here's her pic, isn't she gorgeous? Of course, I would think that, I'm SOOOOO biased when it comes to her. For those wondering, she is 1/4 caste West Indian which is where she gets her brown (ringlet curls starting up - thankfully not afro curls like her momma - Hayley's hated them all her life) hair and big baby brown eyes.






Telling us that she's not going to spill them.....but she did!

















To the right, is my gorgeous daughter, Hayley, and of course darling little TaShie. Not only did Hayley steal my good looks and left me with none, she also stole my skinny body and threw all her fat to my rounded body!

You don't know how many attempts I had at trying to get them both looking at the camera at the same time, and both smile....this was as good as it got!

See the corner of the table they're sitting at....we painted over the original wooded varnished colour (after sanding it back) and I got this great pinky/lilac paint called "CHICK FLICK". . . isn't it lovely? I think it is, but just wonder what the paint mixers were thinking....threw some colours together and stirred it up, and said "this one looks like a chick flick"???? Stuffed if I know, but it looks nicer in person than in the pic.

Hugs
Naomi