Studio Sale

Kate has invited me to participate in her inaugural Studio Sale, where we will be sharing (and hopefully selling!) lots of lovely crafty things we have made. We are hoping our friends, and friends of friends etc, will come along and stock up on homemade Christmas presents. 

Here is a sneak peek of some of my makings...

 I have been making these disembodied garden frocks out of chicken wire, which look rather cool floating around the garden! You could grow beans on it, or wrap in solar fairy lights.

 Apart from the garden frocks (and possibly some garden pants...), I will mainly be selling jewelry at the Studio Sale.

 Fun and frivolous dinosaur necklaces, earrings and bracelets...

 Felt baubles..

 Sterling silver cuff...plus lots of other sterling earrings, necklaces and bracelets...

 Resin pendants made from reproductions of my daughter Diva's paintings (profits going to her University fund!)...

 Blue Sky pendant...

 A glass bead ring...

Trophy brooches...

Plus lots and lots of other jewelry, as well as all of Kate's amazing makings!

Finally, here is some GREAT advice...

Have a wonderful day!!!

xxx

Mmmmm.....vegies!

 Here I am supervising the planting of lettuces. Or should that be letti? Don't you love those glamorous gumboots? The Fabulous Husband fixed up the vegie boxes, spent hours shoveling several cubic metres of dirt, and engineered these bean-climbing contraptions. Clever eh?

I didn't spend the entire day swanning around in my fluffy boots issuing orders, I did in fact plant these two beds!

We have planted celery, leeks, parsnip, carrots, beetroot,broccoli, spinach, radishes, spring onions, lettuce, beans, peas and snow peas, pumpkin, butternut, cucumber, gherkin, yellow and green courgettes, four different types of bell pepper, and aubergine!! Oh and tomatoes and herbs.

Yummy.

Speaking of aubergine, here is some food art by Cleo. Shortly afterwards he became ratatouille.

I always suspected my youngest daughter was bananas.

Hope you are having a blue sky day xxx

Essential Life Skills

 The Awesome Husband, who can do everything, is teaching the Small to juggle.

I made him these juggling humbugs, crocheted with sock wool and filled with rice.

Small wanted juggling owls, also rice-filled, which makes them easier to grab.

 She even crocheted them a nest.

 Here she is practising with two owls, as per Dad's instructions.

It'll be chainsaws and machetes next, knowing her predilection for dangerous pursuits.

It's not terribly relaxing being her mother, but at least for now I don't suppose owls can cause too many injuries...

Spring is sprung! Hope it's sprunging wherever you are too!

xxx

Extreme Makeover - Toilet Edition

 Here is my first ever attempt at wallpapering.

 Not exactly traditional...

 The view from the throne.

 Something to appeal to all readers. Music, children's verse, car maintenance...

 ...knitting patterns, calculus...

 ...arc-welding, fishing knots, science...

...even a bit of Shakespeare!

 I just love Edward Lear!

Lots of really old-fashioned advertising too, which the kids find hilarious.

A herd of snails.

It's always nice to have something to read in the Little Room.

Hope your weather is better than mine!

xxxxxx

It's a Jungle in There

Being slightly obsessed with miniature environments, I had a go at making terrariums recently. Here are all the bits laid out and ready to go. In the glass jar are a layer of small stones, then a layer of damp sphagnum moss.

 Some of the mosses I collected from dark and mysterious regions of the garden. These go in after the potting mix, along with...

 ...some small ferns and...

 ...nice rocks!

 A fun trip to the model shop with my son Spencer yielded some tiny figures intended for model railway scenes, perfect for my 'jurassic park'!

 Don't you just love the suspense and impending disembowellment?

 Still, if I was going to be eaten by a dinosaur, I know I would like to spend my final moments snogging my husband!!

Cheerio!

Caution - Loud Shirt Zone - Ear protection Required

My Awesome Husband sent me an email from work. 'Loud Shirt Day', it said, to raise money for deaf children. It featured a lovely photo of a VERY LOUD SHIRT. "Darling," said the Husband, "can you make me one like this?" 

No.

I can make one EVEN BETTER!

Needless to say, we won the Loudest Shirt prize, a nice bottle of wine!

I rock.

xx

Mermaids

I have been making mermaid costumes for the school play.

They look a little sad without the actual mermaid inside them, almost as if the mermaid shed her skin and left it lying around on the beach...

Here's Cleo test-driving one, even though she will be a completely different character in the play. Unfortunately, since the mermaids are unable to swim, slither, or generally waft onto the stage; the feet have to stick out the bottom. However, they will eventually sit, play guitars, and look decorative.

They do look kind of cute from the back, although somewhat more see-through than anticipated. I will advise the wearing of togs underneath rather than knickers.
Do mermaids even wear knickers? The mind boggles...
Happy Thursday to all xxxx