Last 2008 hairbrush hit

has to be 'Somewhere over the rainbow' version by Issac Kamakawiwo'ole. A lovely song to remember the past, live in the present, look forward to the future...

Miss Teal

Almost finished Miss Teal, a new softie in teal/green co-ordinating fabrics. Take a peek at her.
She has the sweetest little face and I was inspired to create her from the 'woodland' and 'forest' dolls that I've seen made by lots of talented softie artists. (I drafted my own pattern).

As for the UFOs (unfinished objects), I've been forcing myself to work on them...

Mr Darcy

I'm a keen reader of Jane Austen and love all her works. I've been watching a
witty drama called Lost in Austen that's screening here in NZ, where Mr Darcy is portrayed as an austere, intimidating fellow not at all as sexy as many might imagine. I prefer this depiction of Mr Darcy's character. It fits with my imagined idea of the literary Mr Darcy as a brusque, rigid, almost unloveable person.

And as for the water scene, I know that Colin Firth does a superb job, but check out Elliot Cowan's Mr Darcy as a matter of interest:

Kraftbomb January 2009 application

This morning I checked my blogger updates and see that Kraftbomb January 2009 applications are open. I'm going to apply! 2009 is set to be my year to get my crafting goodness out there. With limited spaces available, I'll have to keep my fingers crossed that I make it in. Thinking positive thoughts!!!

ps. decided at the last minute not to apply due to personal reasons. Perhaps next time?

Sales shopping

Yesterday the malls were packed with shoppers after the boxing day bargains so we didn't go out. Today, I ventured out with our children in tow to do some sales shopping knowing that it wouldn't be as busy as yesterday. I was happy to find a collection of Lynley Dodd stories about Hairy Maclairy for Miss almost 2 and a swimsuit for myself. Miss almost 2 was exhausted after all the shopping that as soon as she got home, she flopped down on her fold up couch and was fast asleep within minutes.

My unfinished projects are bothering me so in the next few days leading up to New Years eve, I'll be working like a maniac to finish them off as I'm determined not to carry any UFO's (aka unfinished objects) into 2009. I'll post pics of each project as they're completed.

Boxing day and leftovers

Had a lovely christmas day at home with my husband and children. We enjoyed a very special lunch of baked ham, salads and trifle for afters. After a much needed afternoon nap, the children and I went out visiting. We came home about 8pm and then played games and watched a christmas movie until almost 10.30pm, then it was time for bed.

Today is boxing day here in NZ. It's a public holiday and very much associated with after christmas sales. But historically it was a day based on giving gifts to the less fortunate members of society as well as being St Stephen's day (Stephen was the first christian martyr to be stoned to death in Jerusalem 34-35AD).

We always have leftovers for the next few days...

For those of you in the Northern hemisphere, Merry Christmas!

Kiwi christmas greetings to you all!

'Ia manuia le kerisimasi' in the Samoan language means Merry Christmas. It's christmas day here in New Zealand. I thought I'd share a personal greeting and thanks to all of you out there in blogland who take the time to read my little blog. My family and I hope you all have a lovely christmas!

Today's hairbrush hit has a christmas theme

a real classic 'Blue Christmas' by Elvis Presley, so grab your hairbrush, wooden spoon, whatever's handy as a pretend microphone and get singing...

Strawberries

No crafting today as I try to get all my pre-christmas chores done. My family's favourite christmas breakfast is a fruity fruit salad with lots of berries, peaches, pears, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, watermelon, pineapple yummy! so we're off this afternoon to the strawberry gardens in Mangere to buy the juiciest strawberries for our christmas day fruit salad and trifle.

The strawberry farm also has a large barn that's been converted into a shop/ice cream parlour where they make the most delicious fresh strawberry ice cream. The queues weren't too long and there was a steady stream of people coming & going. Behind the scenes, the strawberry pickers are hard at work.

Toy Society drop this morning

I'm taking part in the Toy Society Christmas drop. This little guy is off to the Sylvia Park mall this morning in search of his new home. I was originally going to drop a Miss Blue doll that I'd made earlier but after making her some sisters, I couldn't bear to part with her so I had to make a new toy.

Dropped off at 8am, near the entrance of the mall.

Kiwi Christmas swap ornaments all arrived

All the kiwi christmas swap ornaments have arrived safely. I didn't have anything to display them on, so I made a quick trip to the Warehouse and found myself a little artificial gold tree on sale. This is the first ornament swap that I've participated in and I've enjoyed receiving all the different ornaments. It's amazing how talented everyone is. Wouldn't hesitate to take part in a swap again. Thanks Louise of twentycentmixture for organising the swap.

Fabrics direct

This morning, I went to my favourite material store, Fabrics Direct, Onehunga Mall. David has the most gorgeous and yummiest imported fabrics in stock and even the remnant bin is worth a look through. I came home with a really great selection of natural linens for some new softies that I'm thinking of making. His son, Nick, also has a fabric store in Dominion Road, called Nick's Fabrics. I hope to get out there over the holidays and check out his stock as well. There's nothing quite like adding to the fabric stash!

Hedgehog pincushion

Although this hedgehog has started out it's life as a pincushion, there's nothing to stop it returning to a nicer existence as a softie that could be hidden in a pocket or a bag. The hedgehog is made from vintage blanket scraps, poly fill stuffing and freehand embroidery.

An easy, peasy project for little hands too.

Another baby beanie

Finished another baby beanie for the South Auckland Wool programme.

Over the christmas break, I'm hoping to get a few more beanies finished. I've always knitted them on 2 needles and think that I'm going to start using double pointed needles instead.

Today's hairbrush hit is...

is 'Sway' by Bic Runga...

Sock toys under way

Felt inspired to start a couple of sock toys. I've made the bodies and have been stuffing them. I'm finding that the combination of a stretchy sock and lumpy dacron is very challenging.

Once the bodies are complete, it's then a matter of deciding whether they're going to become monkeys or something else. I'm taken with the idea of creating a softie that can be whatever you want it to be... and hope that my softies will be of interest?

Thrift shopping

Today I made a trip out to Mr Bo Jumble in Mangere, on the hunt for more vintage & retro finds. I came across this lovely stash of sewing goodies, hidden at the bottom of a bin plus some unfinished knitting & an extra ball of wool with the knitting book alongside. This will be perfect to knit up into baby beanies for the South Auckland wool programme. I love the colour of the wool, it's a rich lavender.

There's lots of bias binding (not quite sure what I'll do with this yet) as well as lots of needles (I always need needles) and self covered buttons (I was thinking that these would be ideal to make into hairties). The entire lot was $5 - definitely a real bargain!

Afghans

Today, as promised, Afghans were baked, cooled and now ready to eat. The recipe from Alexa Johnstone's book was easy to follow and after several sample tastings, I'm happy to report that this recipe delivers a lovely chocolatey, crumbley biscuit. It isn't a overly sweet afghan so you might like to add more sugar if you're after a sweeter biscuit.

A rich, creamy icing adds a lovely finishing touch. Although afghans taste extra specially nice with a walnut piece on top, I missed that as we didn't have any walnuts in the pantry. Still yummy though!

Three in a row

Just finished the 2 other Miss Blue softies. I noticed as I was working on them that I can't replicate exactly the same expression as the first Little Miss Blue. Each one is slightly different, whether it's in the lift of the brow or the depth of the smile.

I'm also working on some other softies although I haven't made enough progress to share yet.

Christmas stockings

Here's another of my christmas projects that I'm working on... 3 huge christmas stockings made from pre-printed panels I bought from Spotlight. We've never had Christmas stockings before and so this year I thought it might be a nice surprise for my 3 great children to have a stocking each filled with lots of handmade gifts and treats.

I'm adding a lightweight padding to each stocking and then lining it with some christmas fabric that I bought at last years post xmas sale. I knew it would come handy one day!(smug smile)

Spotlight also has really sweet nativity scene wall hanging panels that I would love to work on but time is running out so hopefully I might find some of it on sale later on.