Sunday Nails

Strawberry Nails

Love this strawberry nail art I created ! I used OPI polishes, and a Sally Hansen Nail Art pen for the white dots. I freehanded the green leafy bits.

Strawberry Nails

Blowing in the wind


Walking to work the other day, I saw these pom poms and streamers hanging from a tree, it made me smile.


Beatnik Sweater - WIP Wednesday

Beatnik WIP back

One of my current WIPs is the Beatnik sweater from Knitty. I started it a while ago (maybe six months?) but stopped to work on various other projects. It's looking like we may be having a white Christmas though, so I am inspired to pick up my knitting needles and power on. It's a fun cabling pattern, but is pretty time consuming as it's a bit too complex to memorise, so I have to keep flicking pages to check the chart.

To see other WIP on WIP Wednesday, check out Tami's blog here.

Night Noodle Markets

Sydney Noodle Markets

This afternoon we checked out the Sydney Night Noodle Markets in Hyde Park. It is part of the Sydney Crave food festival, heaps of local Asian restaurants have stalls with limited menus, there's also a few bars set up. There is a few different areas of seating, tables, picnic rugs and bean bag chairs in front of the stage.

We went pretty early, as we were seeing a movie at 6.10pm, so we were able to grab a nice seat with a lantern. It would have been good to stay for a while, have a drink, listen to the band, and watch the fairy lights and lanterns light up. I've been previous years, and I know it gets really busy, but has a great atmosphere.

I had a red beef curry with roti for $12 from Thai Kanteen, and the boy had a mixed plate from Himalayan Yummy Kitchen. I would have gone to Mamaks, except we ate there recently!

Sydney is such a great place in Spring and Summer, there are so many fun festivals and stuff going on. I can't wait for the Sculpture by the Sea, which we unfortunately missed last year and is always amazing. There are so many different sculptures and styles, you are guaranteed to like a few, and the scenery along the Bondi to Bronte walk is stunning without the added bonus of art installations!

New craft studio

Yes, I am calling it my studio, even though it is a desk in the corner of our spare room.



Craft area

After spending hours building the desk (after wheeling it home in a shopping trolley in the rain), I then shoved piles of fabric, yarn, sewing notions and miscellaneous paper onto it.

I showed the boy and said "Well, this is it... of course, it'll look better once I've organised it all".
His reply? "That's not gonna happen, is it?"

I admitted that this could be the best it will ever look... But I am going to put up some kind of handmade bunting/garland, and an inspiration mood board.

I think I have to accept that my decorating style is "cluttered".

Felt and Fabric



I ordered some stuff to make some tote bags - I'm playing around with ideas for my etsy shop that I'd like to open in November.

I ordered some organic cotton from Funky Fabrix, and some beautiful felt from Winterwood. I bought the commercially dyed felt, but may try some hand dyed felt next time, it looks gorgeous.

I've been struggling with a cold for the last couple of days, but today I bought a desk. We don't have a car, but the shop let us borrow a trolley, which we used to wheel the flat pack boxes home. I then spent the whole afternoon building the desk, while The Boy baked banana bran muffins! I've started putting all my crafting supplies on the desk, but will work more on that tomorrow.

Tonight I think it will be an early night, I hate feeling all stuffed up!


FO - Cute Little Girl Sunhat

Crochet sun hat

I crocheted this cute sunhat as a gift for a special one year old!

This pattern from 52 Weeks of Crafting was really clear and easy to follow. I didn't do the last couple of rows for the floppy brim, so it is halfway between the cloche and floppy hat. I was able to crochet this in one night, very lucky since I kinda ordered the yarn quite late and got it two days before the party...

Crochet sunhat 2

Yarn: Spring Cotton from Bendigo Mills, and some stash cotton for the blue contrast.
Hook: 4mm plastic hook (not the best, really need to get some more of those Clover ones).

I've been using Bendigo Woollen Mills yarn quite a bit recently, they seem to be a great Australian company. The yarns I have ordered so far have been good quality and great colours. The prices are extremely reasonable, and service is always very quick. If you are in Australia, I definitely recommend checking them out.

Once I finished the hat, I crocheted a quick little flower,  using a pattern from The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller.


crochet sun hat close up

There's plenty more finished objects on Tami's FO Friday blog post, so check them out!

Craft Room Inspiration!

This weekend, I am buying a desk and setting up a craft area in a corner of our spare room! I'm so excited and motivated, and love looking at all the inspiration on pinterest and flickr!

Here are some of my favourites:

Image from Better Homes and Gardens

Image from Wren handmade via Apartment Therapy

Image from 91 Magazine found via decor8

Image from Country Living






I'd love to hear if you have any great storage tips - I have yarn, knitting and crochet supplies, sewing notions, a sewing machine, a stash of fabric, and lots of crafty odds and ends!

The Simple Things

I have so many plans in my head of things to sew, and I rarely just sit down and do it! When I do, these simple things like drawstring bags, totes, or zip pouches become the things that I use daily.



This little drawstring pouch is something that I sewed quite a while ago. I use it for my current WIP socks. It's the perfect size to fit a skein of yarn, a sock WIP on a circular needle, small cutters or scissors,a tape measure and a folded copy of the pattern. I really should make some more in vaious sizes for other WIPs, but for some reason, I haven't done so. Maybe this weekend is the time!

How about you - do you procrastinate on projects that would be easy and quick to make, and then useful to have? Why do we do this?

In September


What did you get up to?

Sunday Nails

Okay, I know it's Monday, but it's a long weekend here in my state.



green triangle nails (2) green triangle nails



 I used OPI nail polish and sticky tape to make the triangles.

Blogtoberfest 2012

I've decided to do Blogtoberfest 2012!

Details here on I Saw You Dancing!


Sheepish yarn bomb!

I was quite nervous about this, it's something I've always wanted to try, and luckily Sheepish Yarn Bombing Day gave me the motivation and courage to actually do it!




These are cute little crocheted flowers that I whipped up last night. I tied them to the railing of a pedestrian bridge that I walk over every day - I wonder how long they stay there?



Little Coffee Bean Cardigan

CoffeeBeans cardigan

FO Friday!
Another project that has been sitting unfinished for MONTHS, and only needed 20 minutes to complete! I just had to sew in the ends and the buttons.

I made the Little Coffee Bean Cardigan (link to Ravelry free pattern) for a friend's baby as a first birthday present. Her birthday was in April. Then we moved. Then I procrastinated. Now it is spring and warming up each day, in fact today it is 31C.

I am really pleased with it, but not so pleased that she will probably never wear it, since next winter she'll be too big! This is a really cute pattern for babies, easy and fast to knit, and the pattern is well-written and clear.

close upbutton

Yarn: Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 10ply in colour and colour.
Wooden buttons from Lincraft



coffee beans cardigan 2

For other great projects, check out Tami's FO Friday!

WIP Wednesday: Monkey socks

I have been knitting these socks for a while. They are usually my portable project, so I really only knit them at Brown Owl (my craft group) meetings.


Monkey socks (2)

As you can see I am practically at the toe decreases, so I should just sit down one afternoon and finish this sock! It is a long weekend here in Australia next weekend, and although we have a few nice things planned, I should be able to fit in some crafting time.

Socks: Monkey from Knitty
Yarn: Umm, not sure, but I think it's Ranco Multy
Method: I always use Magic Loop on one circular needle to knit socks.

Check out other people's works in progress (WIPs) on Tami's blog here.While you're there check out Tami's beautiful new yarn colourway, Witch's Brew. It's so pretty!


Roarrrr!

On the weekend I went to Daiso, a Japanese dollar store, where everything costs $2.80. When we lived in Japan, I would often visit Daiso, or the hyaku-en (100 yen) store to buy cute stuff for our home. I recently discovered that one had opened in Chatswood, near where we lived in Sydney, and I was so excited!

I found this cute little felt kit to make a lion, there were also other animals. Lion kit 

All the instructions are in Japanese, but it looks fairly easy. I also have an amazing Aranzi Aronzo book that shows you how to make these “felt mascots” if I run into any trouble. I’m looking forward to cutting and sewing sometime this week!


lion kit

Spring Nails

Nails coral polka dot

These nails make me bright and cheery!

Nails coral polka dot with polish

I've had a hard week, but painting my nails relaxes me, and then whenever I look at them, I smile!


Spring Inspiration

I'm feeling all inspired as the weather starts to warm up.

I've been thinking about starting an etsy shop.

I've been working on knitting a sweater.

I organised my embriodery threads.

 We walked to the library today and I got out some inspirational books, then stopped for a green tea.

You got Mail!

I joined iHanna's 2012 Postcard Swap again. I did it last year when I was off work, and really enjoyed creating postcards, then finding more in the letterbox! I received some amazing postcards, in fact, three are still on my noticeboard at work, and I'm looking forward to adding to it.

This year I tried a few different techniques to make my cards. I used a combination of:
  • watercolours
  • mt washi tape
  • fabric tape
  • rub on transfers
  • Black Sharpie pens

handmade postcard 8 2012handmade postcard 10 2012handmade postcard 7 2012handmade postcard 1 2012handmade postcard 4 2012handmade postcard 2 2012handmade postcard 5 2012handmade postcard 3 2012handmade postcard 6 2012handmade postcard 9 2012

I had ready made cards that I bought in Japan years ago that have lots of space on the front. I really enjoyed creating my designs, I liked using a variety of techniques to create different looking cards. They are now flying around the world - to the USA, Canada, Sweden, Norway and South Africa!

I can't wait to get my cards and see what everyone has made!

If you want to check out more postcards, have a look at this blog post by iHanna, or this Flickr group!