Surprise Packages

Is it just me? Are there other people in bloggy land that write posts - but because they haven't added pictures yet forget to post them till WAY later??? This is what happened here! I wrote this post almost 2 weeks ago...

Last week (while total chaos was taking over the house) a surprise package arrived at my place. Jenn of Jennysunshineonline sent me a great little package of goodies - just because she's sweet and she could.

In the package were an array of pretty crochet hooks for my new found hobby

Some Kool Aid (which as far as I know, we can't get in Australia) so that I can buy my own yarn and dye it

And some U.S. Animal Flashcards for Jellyfish.

He pounced on the cards as soon as the box was open and wanted to go through them right away. Out of all the animals in the pack - his favourite was the chipmunk. (No real surprises there - we used to watch LOTS of real life chipmunk clips on YouTube!)

I am spoilt! Thanks so much Jenn. Now I just need to go and buy some white woolen yarn to dye. Anyone have any good suggestions for where to source the good stuff?

Christmas Stitching

I promised you (on Thursday) that I would give you a look (on Friday) at some of the yummy fabric I have bought recently.  I was a bit lazy and got distracted with other things, so the weekend took over, and here we are, and it is Thursday! Sorry.

I have taken a couple of trips to Spotlight now to source some other fabrics. I have been getting most of my stuff (as you know) from the Craft Depot, but I decided it was time to look for other styles. I am going to mix the ones pictured with some vintage ones from my stash. I will give you a glimpse when I have done some more - but not too much, or it will be a giveaway! These are for Christmas, and are my first proper sewing since I was 14 (don't ask how many years ago that was!!!), so the knees are bound to knock a little.

Wish me luck!

My Creative Space - Birthday Menu

Well, there have been little bits and pieces happening here this week. The one I am trying to get finished today is the plans and odds and ends for my brother-in-law's birthday breakky which is next week.

I created a menu for his birthday using my Everyday Gourmet breakfasts recipe book (which I couldn't find on line - and it's a 2010 edition!) that a friend gave me a couple of months ago, sourced the food and covered the costs, and enlisted the help of my gorgeous nieces to prepare and serve it for him since they live in Tassie and we can't be there to celebrate it with him. Now I just have to get the official menu into the post tomorrow!

SHOPPING LIST 2   Pears    4  Oranges    Crystallised ginger   (4 cubes) 12  Portobello Mushrooms   1   Fennel bulb   100g  Sun-dried Tomatoes 2   Garlic cloves   125g  Cheese - strong (Or skip this and add a sharp Parmesan since you are getting that anyway) 50g  Fresh Grated Parmesan Fresh Basil 3 tsp Fresh SHAVED Parmesan 25g  Cocoa Powder 80g   Caster sugar Thickened cream 500g  Frozen berries 1   Lemon (juiced)

(And a BIG thank you to Mr. Kelp for helping me out with the HTML above so you could see the delish food on the shopping list!)

Will show you some scrumptious fabric tomorrow when I have time to get the camera out in some decent light!

Pop over to Kirsty's for more creative spaces.

My First Crochet and Knitted Lace

Remember these?

Well here is the final product.

A crochet cotton bikini top (pattern found here)

and a knitted dish cloth. (pattern found here)

Not by any means perfect - but I am pleased with them non-the-less.They were made to send to my friend in the US for her bridal shower (and should arrive any day, so I can finally post about it!) The hand-made tag that goes with them says "Something to wear while you do the dishes". I hope she likes them - she is a great gal with a fab sense of humour, and was also the one that got me into knitting something other than scarves and kept encouraging me to learn to crochet! Here is her old blog where you will find some of her creations, and a link to her new site.