Morning all....just a quick one today.  Once upon a very long time ago, in a crocheting world far, far away, I started a ripple blanket for the first born. I am pleased to tell you that it was delivered at Christmas time, and here it is living in its new home...just between you, me and the gatepost, I quite like it!

I missed the whole rippling thing, so I started on a cushion. And here it is, still incomplete, but resting nicely in my new/old indian parat from Lived In Coogee. Vanessa was brilliant. I saw on Facebook that she had some new parats in stock but they weren't in the online store, so she took some photos of what she had, emailed me and hey presto a few days later it was here! So happy with it.

To see a multitude of creative types, head this way...and I'll see you next week. Thanks heaps for this one. I might do some more crochet...or perhaps I'll just read a book  J

Nat, a work colleague had her first baby a few weeks ago...Willow Elizabeth...how gorgeous is that. And...get this...she was born at 10 p.m. on the tenth of the tenth, 2010! Now that's impressive timing and I'm sure must be very lucky.
I wanted to do another 'like no other...' painting like the one I did for a friend's baby boy...that one was cars...you can see that and the explanation for why I went with 'like no other' here. But I thought...perhaps not cars for Willow, so...

...babushkas this time. Nat likes bold colours so I wanted a reasonable contrast between the first eight and then the ninth...the 'like no other' bushka babe! I hope the first eight aren't too pastel-ly, but the contrast is the point. I started by doing all the similar ones first, after a little trial run...and some lovely feedback from my Facebook page when I posted the beginnings...thank you Tina, Kim, Jane and Sharon! Oh, and the 22 year old thought it was ok too :)

The faces were the hardest bit...I'm sure at least one of these poor 'bushkas is cross-eyed...oh well :)

 

But all in all I'm quite happy with how it turned out..just need to frame it now. And I look forward to making some more.  Perhaps butterflies? Different coloured pencils? Flowers? Any ideas you clever blogsters?

Off to work...don't the weekends fly by, more's the pity!
I'm linking up to Somewhat Simple and Someday Crafts. Please go and see what others have been up to :)

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. I did. I let myself do a bit of playing.
Socially: a baby shower, a 60th birthday party and a visit to the Ranamok glass art prize...I'll bring you photos of that later in the week. There were some extraordinary pieces.
Creatively: playing around with watercolour crayons and pencils and a bit of whimsy...

Perfecting to do for sure, but just a bit of fun on a Sunday morning...and no offence to the British intended!

Made a few changes to the boat painting and I think it's looking better...

I made a 'lamp' by stuffing a bamboo lantern with a string of fairy lights (that I'd previously made little tulle skirts for...see here) but I like this better...

the cord coming out of the top is a bit annoying but never mind...

...took a few photos of the few things in the garden worth looking at...which is very little (hurry up spring!)

...and scored myself a lovely bunch of daphne from a friend's garden to wrap up the weekend...it smells divine

...and desperately trying to finish The Catcher in the Rye for book club tonight...I may not make it!

Welcome to the new week. I hope it's a good one for you.

all images by me

The cushion making keeps on keeping on.
I had a little cushion that had seen better days so I decided to make a new cover for it in my new best friend fabric...felt! Here it is with last week's felt heart cushion.

Like most of my projects it was a tad fiddly (you think I might have learnt by now). But the thing I liked about doing this was that I had an idea and I managed to execute it! Here's a collage of the preliminaries...

First I printed out the word on a piece of A3 paper and cut the letters out. Then I traced them onto the felt and cut the template, starting off with a quick unpick before using the scissors.

I put a pretty poplin behind

...and stitched around each letter. Next word will have more straight edges!
So here's what I'm thinking...a 'range' of felt cushions called feelings...with words describing things that we've felt...get it!  I know, I know...
I'm thinking of words like: love (of course), lust (well why not!), joy, harmony, cherish...maybe even blah, blah, blah (for a laugh!)
Do you have any suggestions for me, including what I might do with these!

And of course it's not a project without the vampire slayer now is it...claws out ready to strike...nothing blissful about her.

In the only place she will sleep...completely ignoring the very expensive fur lined basket that I've now donated to a much more deserving cat!

Head on over to Kootoyoo for a bucketload of creative spaces...

Yep, well...remember how I started to silver-leaf this chair? You probably don't...it was back in May!! 

It was more than a little difficult, even after my lovely bloggy friend Kerri gave me a few good tips. Something about white cotton gloves, a soft brush and...oh yes, it's probably easier to start with flat, not curved surfaces Kerry with a 'y'...hmmm.

So I decided, despite the fact that I loved the idea, and the way it was looking, there was no way that I was going to persevere with it.  Shirley Conran once famously said that 'life's too short to stuff a mushroom', but I'm here to tell you mushroom stuffing's a walk in the park compared to silver leafing...and a whole lot less messy!

Anyway, sick and tired of looking at an unusable chair, I skedaddled off to Bunnings, and resorted to spray cans...a primer and a metal look paint..

A big sheet of plastic in the courtyard, a quick sand down and the primer on...this took a few tries to get good coverage (on the left), wait for 40 minutes and then the silver paint which went on much more smoothly than the primer. A couple of pot plants may have a few painted accents that weren't intended, but overall I was quite pleased.

The silver paint has a slightly more industrial look than the silver leaf but I think that's ok.

It's probably going to go here, in the lower part of my bedroom. The black curtain separates the 'sitting' area from the bed. The large mirror will be framed at some stage and there will be a gallery wall in here as well.  And of course the chair seat needs to be sorted...maybe on Wednesday...but this is likely to be the fabric.

And I managed to do quite a bit of reading and get a heap more granny squares crocheted as well. Not a bad effort...balanced weekend :). Now we just have to see what balance our new government will have...bated breath bloggy peeps...bated breath...(and yes that's the correct spelling...I looked it up!)

Yes, well...I said I was going to paint this...a gorgeous photo taken by Chania.

And I did...well, more accurately, I am. MUCH more difficult than I thought, which I am stubbornly putting down to the fact that it's been at least five years since I tried a 'serious' painting. Refusing to admit that I'm no artist!

I've taken a bit of 'artistic' licence as you can see (I added more rope after not one, but two people said they couldn't recognise it as a boat when it was like this..). Sheesh...everyone's a critic! Knitting dishcloths is much easier!

...but I am at the stage where I really can't stand the sight of it, and luckily back to work for two days means I can't do anymore for the moment anyway. Perhaps I'll be more enthusiastic come the weekend.
Thursdays are normally 'top ten' days, but because Wednesday is my non-work (aka stay at home and be creative) day, I've decided that each Thursday I will link up to Kootoyoo's fabulous my creative space meme. I've been ogling her site and others of her ilk for ages now. Do go and have a look at the real talent over there.
So from next week the top ten will be on Tuesdays, reserving Monday for 'my weekend project' posts. This is the only sure-fire way to ensure that I get off my butt and do something other than read on Saturday and Sunday. You lot keep me honest! Speaking of reading, I finished another book and the review can be found here.
Feedback from proper artists and art critics of the amateur variety gratefully accepted...I'm not giving up just yet!

A quick and easy project this weekend...but you should see the looooong list of others on my radar. Oh my, I need a month of Sundays!!

Sometimes we have beautiful pieces of jewellery that we don't, or can't wear. In my case, these (a bracelet and a necklace) were stuck in a drawer for different reasons and I wanted to do something with them.

This bracelet is kind of a family 'heirloom'...I remember this as a child and I'm not sure how I managed to end up with it, but I do know I've had it in my possession for a long time.

It's been in the 'treasures drawer' for ages...you know the one...alas, far too small to fit around my wrist. 

It's made of Australian threepences spanning the WW2 years, so it has some significance because of that...in my view anyway. I phoned my mother to ask where it came from but unfortunately she doesn't even remember it. I find that a bit sad. So I called my older sister who lives in Perth and she certainly recalls it. It seems we were both enthralled by it when we were young. She thinks it was given to our mother by our grandfather, who had it given to him by a mate. But as neither of our grandparents are still alive, and mum doesn't recall, that's a bit of conjecture. Still, in sits well with the dim dark recesses of my childhood memory, so perhaps it's right.

And this fabulous choker was given to me by my wonderful friend Chris (who shall now be known, for forever and a day, as the chandelier fairy). Alas, I loaned it to someone who didn't value it as I did and so the chain that was attached to it got broken and it can no longer be worn...but I think it looks rather lovely framed as well. Like something from an archaeological dig!

For the moment they're living in my bedroom and the study. But once I've painted the bedroom (now that the plastering is done...hooray!) they'll find a place on the gallery wall that I'm planning there. So a very quick and easy project...two pieces of jewellery, two box frames, two pieces of fabric...and voila!

Thanks so much for all the very lovely comments last week about my beautiful daughter. And all the others, especially, the ones that made me laugh out loud (these were invariably about the knitted dishcloth...oh you're such a funny lot!!). And Jules you cheeky monkey...Sibella so would knit one if she could...I'm sure of that :))

Have a wonderful week everyone.

I'll be linking to Metamorphosis Monday at BNOTP and Motivate me Monday at Keep it Simple and Flaunt it Friday at Chic on a Shoestring

all images by me

I am afraid that I may have gone a little mad...around the twist...a bit gaga (and not as in the lady...if lady is indeed the right term)

Oh I wonder what her majesty was thinking...and that cute little bespectacled kid in the band...captions please!

The dishcloth obsession started like this...

• went to my friend Susan's beach house for a bit of a break (a tour of her lovely house is here);
• was forced volunteered to do the washing up...Richard did most all of the cooking so, in retrospect, it seems only fair;
• Susan had a knitted red dishcloth bought from some fancy schmancy shop in Milton; and
• it was...without doubt...the best messy bench wiping up thing I'd ever used. Chux wipes?....Ha! You are history. 

And knitted ones are ever so eco chic aren't they? Yes. They most certainly are.
I did cunningly suggest to Richard that we take a drive to Milton so that I could source one, but it poured with rain that day and staying in and drinking wine seemed to be the preferable option.

But do cut me some slack...I was on holiday...it was my birthday...so, in my mind, perfectly reasonable if not positively essential. Although...
Anyway, I came home from the coast and couldn't get the knitted dishcloth out of my mind. The term 'small things amuse small minds' has just occurred to me, but I've decided to go with the 'joy of simple pleasures' instead.
Just as an aside, my friend Chris (she of chandelier fairy fame)...having stayed at Susan's just the day before us (you still with me)...was also enamoured of said dishcloth and when the man and I went to dinner at Chris and her lovely husband Terry's a few Saturday nights ago and I pulled out the knitting to show her....well let's just say she completely understood! The eye rolling from respective men won't be mentioned here....but I haven't forgotten. And revenge could be sweet.

So off I went to...

...bought the cotton and some teeny weeny knitting needles and started to make my own.  Because, after all, I had the crochet granny squares completely under control and I already knew how to knit...just ignore the fact that the last time I'd done it was around 1982!
Not a problem....except... (you know by now there's always an 'except' with me don't you!)...except, it took forever. 

Fine cotton, stupidly small needles, and not quite wide enough in the end. So I tried with different cotton, and different size needles...I can't begin to tell you how many stitches I cast on, took off, tried again...

because I had a certain look in mind, and dammit...I was going to get that look! I even tried cotton and bamboo thread...
with small needles first (note: this is damn near impossible) so I did the golden arches upsize trick with the needles and ended up with...

not exactly a dishcloth, more a...potholder. It's fab though...so soft and thick and...well, potholderish. I'm making more of those!

And I am going to persevere until I've perfected the perfect (as in perfected) knitted dishcloth...even if it takes...

...maybe. I will keep you posted. It should be sorted by Christmas at this rate! Stocking fillers anyone?
And by the way, if I have any credibility left at all...these knitted dishcloths really do feel fabulous and work incredibly well! 
for like ever poster from here. others me or the magic that is google images.