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And ta-da! A new tote bag for mum to stash her x-rays in.

 
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A while ago, when it was really cold, Hannah came by wearing a scarf I had made her quite some time ago. It was literally on its last threads and she requested a new, school-friendly one. I was more than happy to do it because I love keeping Hannah in little crafty things. Unfortunately, I tend to be a little on the slow side, which is why I’m a terrible crafting cousin: I finished her new scarf just in time for spring.

It’s a basic vanilla scarf – stockinette with a garter stitch edging – in a solid navy. I didn’t want it to be too fancy, so it would be acceptable for school.

But I didn’t want it to be too sensible, cause she’s still a little girl, so I stitched on a two iron-on patches to brighten it up a little.

And because everything looks better with a bow: the ‘wrapped’ scarf, resting on the baby blanket I’m working on.

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I had great plans for this weeks WiP Wednesday. I had visions of presenting you with photos of my muffin army. Rows and rows of cupcakes marching towards the camera.

Turns out they take longer than I thought to make.

So instead of my mighty army, I give you my piddly gathering of muffin tops and one muffin bottom.

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I had a bit of an incident this week – one which has been met with laughter from almost everyone. On Saturday I was swooped by a magpie, hard enough to draw blood. The thing just came out of nowhere!

The only person not to simply laugh at my plight (for which I am most grateful) was Renae. And Renae, being the wonderful and weird person that she is, didn’t leave it as mere sympathy, but was kind enough to make me a Magpie Protection Helmet!

It has feathers so the birds think I’m their friend, bells to scare them away…

And a face on the back so they know I’m still watching them!

(It’s very hard to take a picture of something on your own head!)

For some reason, this very sensible precaution was also met with laughter…

And Renae, I told you I’d put it somewhere on display, so I put it on top of my dresser… I think I have to find somewhere else so it can stand out a little!

Remember my saying I wanted to build up a stash of birthday cards? Well maybe if people would stop having birthdays it would actually happen! As soon as one makes it to the pile, it gets taken out. One the one hand, I kind of like it, because at this point I’m still making personalised cards for everyone, but it’s not doing anything to ease the rush factor.

Oh well, two cards. One for David:

And one for Grandma:

I decided a while ago that I was going to make an effort to give handmade gifts more often – at least, when appropriate; not everyone is the crafty-gift time. But then I realised that – sheesh! – there are a lot of birthdays this time of year!

Anyways, I had another birthday sneak up on me this week, and I asked started thinking what I would make David… he’s a new-ish friend so I was a little unsure. But then I remembered a conversation we’d had a few weeks ago and – voila! I knew exactly what to make him…

(awww! Look how cute little bubba-Harry is!)

Harry Potter.

Nah, just kidding. He is lacking a Harry Potter scarf, and so that is what he is getting. Well, actually, since his birthday was on Tuesday what he actually got was a card with some strands of wool knotted inside, but he got the idea.

I see David on a Thursday night when I go have dinner with Brett, so (since it’s an easy one) I’ll take it with me he can watch the progression of his scarf.

On a bit of a side note: I think I’m suffering from a pattern-aversion, I keep seeking out things that don’t require patterns…

We don’t go to the markets often – mainly because we usually end up spending money we shouldn’t – but Beth and I did pop in this week… And did you know there was a ribbon stall?

I didn’t!

It’s not there every week as the owners do the craft shows in and around Sydney, but they do have a website. Each of these little bundles were $2 for 2m, which I thought was pretty good.

I didn’t have a chance for a long look, but I’ll definitely be going back.

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*WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING*

If you are Brett – STOP RIGHT NOW. This is about your birthday present, so go away. Now. Go sit in the corner and wait. Okay. Good.

So, those of you who aren’t Brett…

For those of you who don’t know Brett, his birthday is coming up in November and I thought that I’d make him a lapblanket. His computer is low to the ground and he sits with a cushion to use it and so I figured that a blanket was in order.

I originally intended to make him a star-shaped blanket, but the pattern wasn’t behaving, and so I resorted to a plain old granny-square afghan, but in a rainbow pattern. And no, it will not be a repeat of my own never-ending rainbow ‘lapblanket’; I learnt my lesson, it will not happen again.

I’ve been crocheting up squares this week (I have also done some yellow since this photo was taken) and am sitting on about 34 done.

It’s the most relaxing kind of crafting – requiring little concentration (meaning I can continue while chatting away/watching tv/checking email) and is small enough to chuck in my bag so I can do a bit here and there. Because of this, it’s getting made up far quicker than I had anticipated – Amy needs a blanket for her house, I guess I know what she’s getting for Christmas now!

On a bit of a sidenote: I went into the backyard to take these pictures this morning, only to discover that I had a very curious audience. The builders next door have demolished the old garage, so they can see right into our yard (only a temporary wire fence!). I suppose I looked rather ridiculous waltzing out of the house in my purple flannel pjs, and plopping down on the grass to take photos of a bag full of wool… Next time I’ll check if they’re there first!

I’ve been trying to improve my photography skills, with very little actual success of course. I have finally realised, however, that taking pictures outside, with actual light, usually results in better photos.

Unless it’s windy of course.

Isn’t the grass pretty? Every time I’d line up the shot, the card would go flying!

I did eventually get it to stay put however, just in time to attach it to Hannah’s birthday present as we ran out the door.

I made the card on a luggage tag folded in half, partly because I wanted to slip it onto the ribbon, but mostly because I saw someone else do the same on a blog Renae sent me (don’t remember which one). Pink and purple are, naturally, the only colours appropriate for Princess Hannah – and of course a princess needs all the bling they can get, even if it is only on their birthday cards.

Beth and I had some fun stamping some wrapping paper too…

Brett, Vicky, Alex and I have a little side project going over at Coloured Scribbles. Every fortnight we get a topic to interpret and draw however we like. This week’s topic (our inaugural topic) was X-Men.

I decided to go for a variant, however, so here’s the X-Kids. From left to right: Storm, Xavier, Cyclops, Jean, Rogue and Wolverine.

(click for larger)

We recently received news that the daughter of one of my mother’s best friends is having a baby – very happy news! Last night, mum came in and, quite enthusiastically, said “We should make something for Katherine’s baby.”

I just looked at her and waited. Finally I had to prompt her, “…we?”

“Yes,” she said. “I had the idea, now you make it.” Well it’s kind of hard to argue with that kind of frankness.

In light of my already crazy wip list, I decided to go for a simple patchwork cot quilt. Since we don’t know if it’s a girl or a boy, I tried to go with pastels, but soon learnt that I don’t have a whole lot of pastel in my stash. In fact, I have a whole heap of blue, a whole heap of pink and very little in the way of green or yellow. I think I made it work, however. What do you think?

It’s all from my stash except for the lime dots that I picked up from Spotlight this morning for the backing.

So this is my WiP for this week – completed photos to follow!

One of the many (really, many) things I like about Wendy’s craft room is the collection of handmade cards she has on hand ready to use. I’ve been meaning to start up a stockpile of my own for some time now – I love to give and make cards, but usually forget until the day of and then it’s always a rush.

And so! The first for my pile.

Of course, there are few people who I would actually give this one too – so Renae, Wendy, this card is probably in your future.

I also made up a gift-certificate-holder/card for my cousin, Leah’s kitchen tea this weekend. I didn’t quite make it there, but I sent along the card with those lucky enough not to be working.