Let's Make A Deal.........

Cooee Possums, sorry have been watching an interview with Dame Edna.....

Well, Sunday evening and I'm yawning my head off, time for bed.

It's been a hectic weekend with 2 early starts and I'm a tad wearyo..

My first market stall for 2012 in Bright was a rip snorter ( a success!!).

It started off cold, grey and slightly gloomy, but that didn't deter my excitement as I do enjoy running my little market stall.

I set up and sorted,played and primped and and then waited for people to get out of their nice warm beds and head out into the bracing morning and come down to the market.

My little Owlies were sitting patiently in their little case wondering if they were going to find a new home.......

A bunch of beautiful Zinnias brightened up a corner of the table until the sun decided to show itself.

The lovely yellowy, green foliage are actually Parsnip seed heads.....

They were growing up next to the Zinnias and I couldn't resist the striking contrast of colours......so I snipped a few heads off.

I know I've been productive when I can stack up my makes ready to pack for the market......

A few of the hottie huggies I hope will find new homes and toes to warm in the cold evenings........

......and they did, so it will be back to the sewing machine and hope that I have enough blanketing left to whip up a few more.

It was great to be back at the market, meeting new stall holders and chatting to customers.

Bright is a beautiful tourist destination and I spoke to people from all parts of the countryside who were there on holidays

They head up to Bright to enjoy the mountains, the beautiful Autumn colours and in Winter the nearby ski resorts........

Heading home the warm car and sunny afternoon, had me feeling quite weary, so a 15 minute power nap was needed to keep me going past 8.30pm.

Plus, I had another early start Sunday morning as the first Makers Market was being held in my town this morning.

I arrived bright and early and snapped a couple of pics...

Sunlight, shadows and no one in sight.......beautiful.

Having sold quite a bit of stock at the Bright market I needed a little something to fill an empty spot on my table so I whipped up some sweet birdy brooches Saturday evening, while I could still keep my eyes open!!

The other stall holders were all crafty locals and Judy the organiser of the market makes some beautiful stained glass pieces as well as jewellery and other wonderful things.

Check out these two gorgeous pieces.....beautiful Blue Wrens.

Arent' they just stunning and as I stood there mouth open in awe I just knew that blue glass piece was coming home with me, hehe.....

Unfortunately, our windows are of the wind out variety so I can't hang it so the sunlight shines through BUT I have found a spot on the wall where it can be admired and as Judy pointed out if you don't place it directly against the wall you will get a lovely shadow.....

Anyhoo, Judy and I conducted a little business transaction....she acquired an Owlie and a hottie cover and the little Blue Wren is now hanging on my wall..........

I also conducted another of these business transactions in Bright, Sandy from another craft stall was after one of my 'Bgurk' brooches so I swapped for one of her knitted phone socks. It's lovely and colourful, so hopefully, I will no longer have to search too hard for my phone......

Continuing on .....next to me were Lauren and Chris from Indigo Ink.

They make screen printed, hand bound journals amongst other things

They have an etsy shop and you can click on the link to have a look at some of their wonderful makes.

It was interesting sitting there watching them fold and stitch paper for pages for more journals. They run bookmaking bookshops, think I will have to sign up for one of them......

Round the corner was Megan selling her wonderful crocheted beanies, washcloths, cushions and the most gorgeous baby blankets. Love those granny squares with their beautiful colours. Megan blogs over at Indigo Midge and she tells the story behind this fab cushion in her latest post.

Pop over and say 'hi'

Little did I know that there was another blogger living nearby, so it's been fun chatting about our fave blogs and wonderful things we've seen on the net.

Once again another little transaction took place.....I now have a beautiful, blue crocheted wash cloth and Megan has one of my Sewing Needle books with an Autumn leaf and saying on it......

Another great market and although there were only a handful of stall holders you know what they say 'from little things, big things grow'

When we weren't laughing, drinking coffee and scoffing yummy bikkies, we were all working away at our individual crafts.

A true Makers Market.....

So that's my weekend in a nutshell.......tomorrow is meant to be a day spent in the garden. The whipper snipper is now back in working order, so I can't put it off any longer and have to whip those weeds and edges into submission.

Hopefully, a little later in the week there will be time for some stitching fun and then next weekend is the annual

Yackandandah Folk Festival

We're looking forward to a weekend of great music, fine weather and lots of fun.

I hope whatever your week brings it's enjoyable.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit and thank you all for your lovely comments on my last post, it's always great to hear from you.

Take care ,

Claire♮♬♪♩

Got a Minute?...........

Hello lovely people and welcome..........

A little bit of what I have been up to this past week.

In preparation for my first 2 markets of 2012 which are being held in Bright next Saturday and in Yackandandah on Sunday morning, I have been stitching away.

I needed a good break from markets and from making the usual things to recharge the creative batteries.

Now, I think I'm ready to jump back in.....

Of course leading up to Winter, I wanted to make some Hottie Huggies.

Finding unloved blankets at the op shop bringing them home and giving them new life in a different form has been alot of fun.

I have a little stack of them just waiting to be stitched, but this little vintage caravan is the latest offering........

"Wherever I park my van, that's my home"

You can't see inside the door, but let me tell you in this little 'home on wheels' there are crocheted blankets, a handmade cushion or two, red and white polka dot mugs for a nice hot cuppa.

Lots of crafty mags, a bag of beautiful, bright yarn and a crochet hook, plus lots more wonderful things...

Oh well,a girl can dream can't she?.........

A couple of weeks ago, I thought I would have a go at making an Owl softie.....

I'm quite happy with the outcome, but have tweaked the pattern a little and changed the wings (sorry no pics).

Much happier now and hopefully, some owls will be flying off to new homes over the coming weekend.

I discovered this floral fabric at Spotters recently and at $4.00 a metre, I couldn't go past it. I do love pink and red together.

The hearts are filled with polyfill and homegrown Lavender.

The little hangy thingy was once used for cutlery. Give it a coat of cherry red paint and it's ready for it's new role.....

♥♥♥♥♥

The sewing continues this week, finishing off the Hottie Huggers, stuffing and stitching, hooking a little bunting goodness and maybe some more hearts...........

Sunday afternoon, driving home from the last gig, we pulled off the road so I could take a few pics.

I looooove seeing rows of mail boxes on the road side......this would have to be the most I have spotted.

Love the shadows created.

I do think they need to be a little brighter, perhaps a splash of red, yellow or blue paint !!

20 in total.

There's something about them all lined up waiting expectantly that really appeals to me.........

The Delatite River at Mirimbah Park, at the foot of Mt. Buller a beautiful spot to hold 'Picnic in the Park'.........

There were 100's of people some of them mud splattered and lycra clad having competed in a mountain bike event.

It was great to see large groups of people with their picnic tables set up with gourmet goodies, all relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather and stunning surrounds.

Food and wine stalls catered for others and the lineup for the icecream stall snaked around the grounds.

I was tempted, but we decided to head back to Mansfield for some refreshments when he was finished.

Best decision as we found an icecream shop in the main street, no queues and yummy icecream too.

I had forgotten that Monday was Labour Day hol and hubby would have the day off .

My plans were to sew, sew, sew, but I quickly changed tack and we headed out to Ceccanti Winery for lunch.

A small family run winery situated in the Kiewa Valley, not too far from Mt. Beauty.

It's off the beaten track, you have to drive up towards the hills along the dirt road, winding your way among the gum trees.

We sat outside so we could admire the view and watched a pair of eagles soaring on the thermals........

We admired the food, before we devoured it, hehe.......

Fettuccine Carbonara, absolutely delicious. In fact we all chose it as a main.

Hubby started with the Antipasta platter but No. 1 and I decided to save room for sweets.

I had the most beautiful ricotta cheesecake, lovely and light and still warm from the oven. No. 1 ordered the chocolate tart, mmmmm.

Surprisingly we only needed soup for tea!!

My only gripe would be, as we are not drinkers and yes, I realise that being a winery they want to make their money from the sale of wine.........the only drinks we could get were lemonade and there was one diet coke left!!

Bit of an afterthought........alot of wineries now do food, hopefully they are catering for the non drinker who would like also like to enjoy good food!!

A tasty finish to a busy but enjoyable weekend and there was still time for some sewing when I got home......

-------OOOOO-------

It's back to the usual routine today, the weather is still holding out in fact I think we are heading towards 30deg. today before some rain later in the week.

Next week, will be spent outside in the garden, the Zinnias are still holding their own, the trees continue to colour up. The mornings are cool and dewy and there's another blanket on the bed at night.

I hope wherever you are, you are enjoying the change of season.........

Whether it be slowing down and moving into Autumn or gearing up for the delights of Spring.

Take care and thankyou for popping by for a visit,

♡♥ Claire ♥♡

Here We Go Again........

Hello there my lovelies.........

Am I the only one that thinks Mondays are rolling around just a little bit too fast?

A day at home and sewing was on the agenda. I wanted to whip up a few bits and pieces for my first market of 2012, but somehow I found myself cutting into a recycled woollen blanket and before I knew it a teacosy was taking shape.

Autumn's making it's presence felt inside as well as out.......

'Delicious Autumn, my very soul is wedded to it

and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth

seeking the successive Autumns.'

George Elliot

Does that verse resonate with you too?

I'm happy with the finished result......now what was I meant to be making today!!

Come with me as I take a wander outside in the sunshine......

Let's feast on that beautiful blue sky, you see we nary got a look at it this past week.

It's been raining cats and dogs for the most part.

We've had 296.5mls over the last seven days.The creek's turned into a lake and there's been road closures but overall things are fine in this neck of the woods.

Unfortunately, folk in other parts of the state haven't fared so well

Umbels of Parsnip flowers........beautiful, lime green

This was the first time I had grown Parsnips......love them roasted, the smooth, nutty flavour.

Sadly, they weren't a great success. I have since found out there was too much manure in the soil which caused them to grow into some weird, munted looking thing.

Still the 'bits' I did use were very tasty.

I won't be put off and will try them again .

Once outside, I thought I would do a bit of pruning.

My poor neglected garden was looking a little sad, so half an hour with the secateurs has it looking a little neater and tidier.

The Dahlias are about to finish flowering, so this will be the last bunch I pick.

I love that white/crimson bloom......

It was a surprise buried under some of the foliage.

Tig is enjoying the dry weather, he can get outside and do what cats do best....sleep in weird and wonderful positions!!

-------OOOOO-------

You know I had a week of being cocooned inside while the rain beat down outside and I loved every minute of it. Hearing it on the roof at night, watching it beat against the window.......I love it all.

The boys were away for the weekend, so early Saturday evening when it was bucketing down.....I made a very important decision.

I decided to light the wood heater.....

I know, I know, it wasn't particularly cold or anything, although it was the weather for long sleeves and slippers but I needed some company and you know a fire is great for bringing a bit of life into the room.

I sat there with a milo and marshmallows and enjoyed the evening twilight......bliss.

So that's a little bit of what I have been doing......nothing too outrageous or even wildly exciting just 'doing the do'.

So what have you all been up to?

Thanks for coming over for a visit, hope you've got time to say 'hi'

Take care,

Claire XX

Stuff, BIts 'n Pieces, This 'n That....✄✄✄

Hello, how are you all?

Hope you had an enjoyable weekend......

Autumn's on my mind.....

The Maples along the driveway are starting to change.

There's a nip in the morning air, dew on the grass.....

'Every leaf speaks bliss to me....

Fluttering from the Autumn tree'

Emily you said it so well...

I woke this morning to heavy rain......it was lovely lying in bed and listening to it.

Definitely a morning for breakfast in bed....

a mug of tea, toast and home made plum jam, yum...

The boys are away for the weekend, so I can please myself....

When I fed the girls this morning I discovered that a feathered beastie had been visiting the orchard again and been twice as destructive as last week, aaargh!!

He must've known I was having a sleep in!!

Let's turn the clock back to Saturday shall we?...

I had a list of things I wanted to do, I was planning to stitch up a storm. Somehow that storm was downgraded to a mere blip on the weather radar, but I was happy with the end results.

Why am I stitching hottie covers when it's 35 deg?....

Yes, I had the aircon cranking, certainly made it alot more comfortable.

I'm enjoying using the pastel shades in this blanket, very subtle.

I've decided to do a couple of markets next month, so I'm hoping someone else will like these and I won't be bringing them home with me.....

Ok, back to Sunday......when I should've been doing dishes, ironing or vacuuming this morning, I was sitting at the machine stitching a little something.

Not sure what I was aiming for, but I had to get this out of my system before I could do any of the boring stuff.

A scrap of wool, a scrap of fabric and some stitching...

It's not finished, I have been doing a little hand stitching on it this evening.

I think it's turning into a cuff of some sort.

No plans just playing and see what the result is.

There's always the possibility it will end up in the bag of scraps.

Thought you might like to see the view from my sewing room.......

So peaceful watching the rain fall on all that greenery....

The 'Wild Wood' of Silver Birches.....beautifully green and cool in Summer, golden in Autumn and stark, white, papery trunks against the sky in Winter.

Parrots visit and the chooks love scratching in the leaf mulch when I let them out of their run.

The windows are of the wind out variety, shame about the bar in the middle......

No flash.....that way you can't see the mess either side of the machine.

When the inspirations flowing, the tidying up has to wait.

More pin cushions waiting to be stitched up....

The stock for my market stall is growing slowly, which is better than leaving it to a mad rush in the week before, which is usually the way.

Pretty ✽✽✽ .......

-------OoOoOo------

It's been a weekend of mixed weather.

After yesterday's heat today has been extremely damp.

It was looking very Wintry outside, low cloud obscuring the mountains and driving into Big Town it was foggy.

You could imagine it was a pea souper in Winter, except for the fact that the paddocks are brown......it just looks wrong.

I thought I heard a collective sigh from the garden as the rain started to fall.

The plants were looking very droopy and sad last night.

Might be time to get into the garden and pull out a few weeds this week.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

Whatever your week brings, weeding, sewing or doing the 'boring stuff' I hope you find some time to be creative.

Take care,

Claire♡♡♡

Stitchy Happenings and a Vegie Swap Report

Hello there and welcome to a rather, dull, damp corner of the globe.

Thanks for popping by and if you are visiting from another dull, damp corner I hope I can brighten your day a little.......

Today, was meant to be all about the garden as the sun was hiding and the temp. was low even though we were forecast 30deg.

BUT, somehow, between the dishes and getting ready to start the day, I got side tracked and found myself sitting at the sewing machine.

I seem to have built up a collection of feathers, from chooks to magpies, cockatoos, parrots and anything in between that appeals so........

.....a little pin cushion with a feather using left overs of woollen fabric was calling out to be made.

Why is it that ideas for crafty makes have a habit of popping into my brain when I'm about to go out and won't be able to get to my machine for hours....very frustrating.

Somehow I think there's a fine line between feather and leaf, here's hoping I got it right!!

Feathers one side and some chooky fabric which has been sitting unused in my fabric stash for 3 years or so.

Just need to stuff and stitch it up this evening.

It's a good little project to work on in the evenings when I'm watching TV

......I don't feel so guilty then!!

Do you like to work on a crafty project on when you are watching TV?

Preferably one that doesn't require to much concentration...

More Hottie Huggies in production.....

A little cottage, it's inhabitants sleeping peacefully.

A little saying to go on the back...

Every sleepy boy and girl

in every bed around the world

can hear the stars up in the sky

whispering a lullaby.

by

Mary Chapin Carpenter

After making the bunnies I thought I would make one more appropriate for a little boy....

I haven't used this blanket to make anything yet, but love

the bluey greens and browns

It definitely had to be a teddy bear and it took me ages to find

the sort of Teddy I wanted.

It all looked hunky dory on paper so I traced the pic onto some fusible 'stuff' which I ironed onto the back of the brown wool.

Cut it out, iron in place and sew it down.

Too easy.

My invisible pen wouldn't work on the fabric so I had to cross my fingers and 'ope like 'eck that it would be OK...

Well, it looks like Ted has been overstuffed somewhat.....

No.1 suggested Jenny (Craig) might be able to help him!!

...thanks mate...

I'm not giving up that easily, I'll have another go and get it right.

Come on Ted you sleepy head.

We've had fun playing now

it's time for bed.

The community vegie swap took place on Saturday.

Nice to be part of it as I wasn't doing the Bright market.

I got up early picked 3 bunches of Zinnias, some punnets of mini Roma toms. half a bucket of Nashi pears and some Royal Gala apples.

Packed it into my basket and headed off.

I swapped a bunch of Zinnias for a jar of strawberry jam before I even got there, hehe......

There was plenty of produce,

Zucchinis, Button Squash, more tomatoes apples, plenty of plums,

Spring onions, cucumbers, jars of olives, jam, home made Ginger Beer, Silver beet, herbs, seedlings, seeds and even......

....some cute little Muscovy ducklings and a good home was found for them too.

The wood fired oven had been stoked up on Friday evening and was ready to bake, pizzas, muffins, pies, cakes and even a roast.

It was great to see so many people there with young families enjoying lunch and making new acquaintances.

Trays of Kipfler potato chips which had been baked in the oven and platters of watermelon were passed around.

A successful day for the organisers.......

I came home with my basket full of produce and as it was a little warm I thought I would enjoy a cool drink and try the ginger beer.

I had only turned the lid a smidge when 'BANG' it blew out of my hand and

WHOOSHKA, a metre high fountain of ginger beer shot up into the air!!!

After wiping the benches, mopping the floor and drying the inside of the pendant light I had been standing under....

I sat down to enjoy the inch of ginger beer left in the bottle hehehe.....it was delish.

Didn't realise it would be such a volatile brew...

My mum used to make it when I was a kidlet, I don't recall too many of these incidences.

Sunday morning while we slept peacefully a feathered intruder found our apple trees.

Wouldn't mind too much if it ate the whole piece of fruit, but taking huge chunks out and dropping them on the ground is not

going to endear the feathered marauder to us at all.

Yep, it was a cockatoo, noisy, destructive feathered beastie....

Stay away you're

NOT WELCOME....

-----OOOOO-----

Well, the sun has actually shown it's face through the rain and bathed the hills in a beautiful golden glow and

a full, double rainbow has added to the scene....

The temp, has dropped and I've dragged out my Winter slippies and a long sleeved top, very snuggly.

I'm feeling rather Wintery, better crack on with my granny square blanket. I have let myself get side tracked with the crocheted bunting and it's not really something you can snuggle under on a cold evening...

So that's just a snippet of what I've been up to the last couple of days.

How about you? What's happening in your little nook?

Thanks for all your lovely comments.

I enjoy reading them all and finding out where you are visiting from.

I appreciate you taking the time as well.

I hope you all have a great week, Im off to stuff and stitch some pincushions and drag that granny square blanket out of hiding,

Take care,

Claire ❀❀❀

P.S. If you've made it to the end of this rather long winded post congratulations you deserve a gold sticky star.✮✮✮