Sunday 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.

Busy Busy Busy

I'm doing the Relay for Life for the Cancer Council: You can sponsor me here

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

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

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.





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".

Sunday Nails - bright spots!

I used a toothpick to paint the spots!

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

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...



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.




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

• Bought a bike
• Did some yarnbombing
• Watched Moonrise Kingdom
• Had High Tea at Queen Victoria Tea Rooms with my mum and sister

• Stayed in a nice hotel
• Ate yummy Malaysian food at Mamak
• Finished a baby cardigan
• Went to a Brown Owls meeting
• Read Mrs Robinson's Disgrace by Kate Summerscale

What did you get up to?

Sunday Nails

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







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