A Creative Weekend . . . . . . (& Crazy Cat Antics)

Greetings lovely friends & readers

No flowers to show this week - but remember the wool blanket seedling pots I made back in * this post* ? ??

Well Houston, we have lift off !!!! 👏

I have had them down the end of my Lounge in the hospital corner, & they've done so well .. I will now move them out to my Hothouse for awhile before planting.  I'm keen to sew up some more seedling pots. 

The Mr was away all weekend riding Moto X so I had some time to myself to do creative pursuits.    I'd pruned my final rose bushes, fed them all with sheep pellets, & saved some nice big fat rosehips for potpourri.  

A week ago I'd picked some of my lovely flowering manuka as it was looking so pretty. I hung 2 bunches up to air dry.

 Here is how it dried friends 😞  So disappointing - the flowers just disappeared.  I've tossed this lot out now & may try again - I'm wondering if I needed to give it a drink first?  If you have any suggestions please leave me a comment as the flowers were the prettiest part of it I thought, but they just shriveled up.

I gave my sewing room a good clean before messing it up again.  I found this small shelf in my stash so I hung it on the wall so I could move all my little collections up off my desk. 

I think it looks so sweet with lots of my special things on display.

Remember the thrifted rabbit eggcup that I made into a pincushion in * this post *.   I'd wanted some rabbit themed pins but could not find any anywhere so I ordered these bunny brooch pins from Temu, cut the backs off & hot glued flower head pins to their backs.  I think they turned out wonderful.

I finished an order for some Herbal Mothball sachets & decided to make myself some as I had plenty of mixture remaining.

  The recipe is at the bottom of * this older post * should you wish to make some.  I washed all my project bags & tucked fresh sachets into any of them that store yarn or wool felt. 

My friend Gail had given me this thrifted hook so I gave it a coat of chalkpaint & some leftover transfer scraps.  

I'm really pleased with how it turned out & it's perfect on my sewing room wardrobe for holding larger project bags. 

While I had the cream chalk paint out I decided to give this old suitcase a freshen up.  This took 3 coats to get a good coverage, a sand & distress & again, some leftover transfers applied to it.  A good wax & it was done - ideal for storing projects & UFO's in.

I always like to think that you can have things that are useful but they can still be pleasing to the eye at the same time

💜

And it only took 2 minutes to fill it with an unfinished project !!

The Mr always says to me "you don't have to be crazy to live in this house, but it sure does help"

Yep that's Me - A lifetime Member (!!)

Honestly friends - these cats of mine, you would surely think there were NO comfy sleeping spots in the entire house - whereas yesterday I counted 6 including beds, banana boxes & rugs folded up just especially for them.

For the last 3 nights Blackie has taken up residence in the clothes dryer in my laundry.  The Mr said to me "you'll have to put a blanket in there for him" - I said No!  I'm not encouraging him to sleep in there.  Last night I took the right-hand pic - The Mr had folded up an old towel & placed in there for His Royal Highness. 

The night before he took up residence in there, he slept in the bathtub for 3 nights.  Cold & hard & uncomfortable ??  

I have 2 litter boxes that I bring in at nights.  Yes these are filled with fresh dirt ..... my cats were once wild, it's no good giving them fancy lavender scented kitty-litter, they don't know what that's for so they have dirt!  Well Madam Pip decided to sleep in the dirt box (!!) Why - I have no idea ?? 

Oh & where is Little One I hear you ask ??  Probably tucked up on my bed ??

No - he slept in the middle of a table display where there was barely room but someone (The Mr) moved my vignette to the side for him 🙄& tried to put a soft towel down!!!   So you see dear friends - if you live here long enough - you too might just go a teeny bit mad!!!

Thank you for staying through this lengthy post - I just had to share the cat antics as I know a lot of you follow especially for the furry family,

Wishing you a wonderful rest-of-the-week dear friends,

With much love & friendship to you all,

Mushrooms, New Cushions . . . . & A Thrifted Shelf

Greetings lovely friends & readers 💛

Welcome to the month of  August !

 It's been all Yellow Vibes here this past week as I picked jonquils, daffodils, lemons & limes for my kitchen bench.  I like to squeeze some juice into my water glass each day as I enjoy the taste.  

Way back in early 2023 I won an Anthurium Plant in a competition.  It promptly finished flowering & has sulked ever since, sending up not one single bud.  Last week I noticed a flower bud poking out towards the light - this made me so happy to see & I've been enjoying watching it open.  I am hopeful it is happy where I have it situated now & will continue to flower more.  

My friend Gail told me about a project she'd seen where they made mushrooms in cleaned out eggshells.  The idea fixated in my head & I bought a bag of fine cement from Mitre 10 during the school holidays with the intention of making some with the Grandsons.  This didn't happen as I wasn't at all sure what I was doing & figured I had better give it a trial run first myself. 😉 

 I saved my eggshells & washed & dried them out.  I trimmed the edges although in hindsight, this isn't necessary.  

Still not having a clue what I was doing - I mixed up the cement powder in a container with water, unsure of quantities but making my mixture quite "sloppy".  The first batch is above left, the 2nd batch on the right.  

I used twigs from my plum tree for the stalks ... use thicker ones, the first batch were too thin & flimsy.  Once dry (by the fire) they were easily removed from the shells.  

Also in the 2nd batch I poured more in so these mushrooms turned out deeper (much better).

Next came the painting.  I just used what I had on hand, Resene Testpot Hot Chilli.  I gave them two coats & then added the dots with some white poster paint I found.  This was easier than I anticipated.  I gave mine 2 coats matt finish spray varnish as I figured this would protect them more & make them wipeable.  

I have to say ... I'm delighted with how they turned out.  I tied up 2 "bunches" for gifting & the rest I've put in my indoor plants, where the pop of red is just so cheerful.  🍄

I'm thinking of trying some pink ones next - why ever not?  I'm also thinking of trying them in Kinder Surprise Eggs as these might be just that bit larger.

I'd purchased 2 metres of Hessian several months ago in a Spotlight Sale.  I knew I needed to make some new cushion covers for my outdoor cushions & it only took half an hour to sew them up. I also replaced the inners as these were looking flat & out of shape.  

Just look at that None-too-impressed-face !!!

No sooner had I put them on my outdoor seating area to photograph, but along came Madam Pip who very generously tried them out for me & declared them to be Okay but nothing to rave about!!!!  😉  

Longtime readers of my blog may remember back in * this post * where I purchased this sweet little blue china bowl for $8 & planted a baby houseplant in it.  The plant is a Goldfish Plant which grew & grew & now trails the floor.  The youngest furry member of our household insists on playing with these trails, having a wonderful time pulling them off & generally making a big mess!!!

During my recent trip away, I purchased this little shelf in the Taupo SPCA thrift store.  It was $4 but because it was in a box by the door, it was 50% off!!  The shelf was in bad repair & needed a good sanding.  I ended up giving it 3 coats of chalk paint, vintage white & then quite heavily distressed it.

I am so pleased with how it turned out & the plant pot sits perfectly well on it - the plant is now well over 3 feet off ground level & out of reach of any furry paws 🐾😺

Just perfect & all it cost me was $2.00!!

I love it when fellow bloggers share good books they've been reading & thought I might share these 3 above.  I wish I'd read the Mel Robbins one about 30 years ago, I loved the Salt Path & also Jacinda Arderns autobiography.  

I should mention a couple of things ... I know there is controversy now surrounding The Salt Path but I still thoroughly enjoyed her style of writing & the story itself.  Also I read Jacinda's story purely because I am interested in biographies & NOT for any political leanings)

I've sent the pattern I used for the wool blanket seedling pots in my * last post * to a couple of you, & thought I would share it on here as there's been lots of interest.  I made my sides 8 cm but you could easily make them larger. 

Lastly, The Mr sent me this photo through of dear Fluffy Cat at the farm.  She is reclining on his bonnet in the sun.  I thought she was looking really well, despite living wild in the haybarns out there. 

Thank you as always dear friends, for your welcome visits here today,

Sending much love & friendship to you all,

July Sewing (~ Part Two ~) ... Christmas In July

Greetings lovely friends & readers

Instead of flowers this week I am enjoying this $2.50 thrifted glass pedestal bowl filled with oranges from my tree.    Though they are smaller in size this year, they are sweet & juicy & the tree is laden.

After a week of heavy frosts (-2 degrees on some days) we now have a cold southerly blowing.  I have a Fridge Drawer Stew simmering away in the slow cooker which will last us 2 or 3 nights. 

 

I have been finishing off some more kitsets, these ones with a Christmas-in-July theme.  This Christmas Stitchery Roll was a recent purchase from Millymac Supplies & it came with everything required to make the roll although I added in lots of my own embellishments.  

Really hard to get good photos on this grey overcast day.  Stitched on linen, I backed mine with a thin wadding & then once stitched, I lined the entire roll with a length of Lynette Anderson Christmas fabric (included in the kitset).

Finished length of the roll is 50 cms not including the tag.

It is the sweetest little snippet roll - my photos do not do it justice.  I am not sure how to display this at Christmas time, but definitely unrolled ... perhaps over the edge of my mantel? 

The second kitset was purchased about 3 years ago now - from Tis' the Season - Matangi ... a beautiful patchwork store not too far from where I live.  

This is Woolen Heirloom Santa, based on a design called Scandinavian Snowflake Santa by Cameron James Designs  It was re-kitted with permission & a definite Heirloom look to him.  Everything was included in the kit (except the stuffing).  

This project took some time & patience, & brain power (!!)  But I love how he has turned out.  He has handmade felt boots, mittens & all his clothes are fully lined. 

The length of Tibetan Lambswool used for his hair, beard, moustache & eyebrows was included but you had to cut these items out.

Now that he is complete, he is hanging out in my sewing room.  I have told him he can stay out so long as he behaves himself 😉

Another finished project was these wool blanket seedling pots.  I was given one for my birthday so I used this as a guide to make up my own pattern.  I have lots of wool blanket offcuts from my many years of sewing for my craft cottage & these were a good way to use up the smaller scraps.  I cut out & sewed up 20 of them.

There was no ironing required as I had an extremely helpful assistant 😸 that kindly helped with this task (!!)

My brother was having a birthday so I made up a gardening parcel to post to him along with some of the seedling pots, I also sent some South to a dear friend.  The rest are filled with seed raising mix, waiting til my moon calendar tells me its good planting time on the 29th of this month, when I will sow my sweet pea seeds.

Blackies latest night-time sleeping place is the computer chair.  Last night a certain Ginger Miss decided she wanted it too ... as you can see there was not a lot of room for two rather overweight large decent sized furry felines (!!)  You surely cannot tell me that either one is comfortable ??!!

Thank you as always dear friends, for your ever welcome visits here today,

With much love & friendship to you all,

July Sewing (~ Part One ~) Kitsets Etc . . . . . . . .

Greetings lovely friends & readers

I have decided to split this Sewing Post into two parts as it is rather long-winded.

 The first bunch of daff's & Jonquils picked earlier this week - these looked so cheerful on my kitchen bench  💛

(The marks at the top are just the velour been rubbed the wrong way, not dirt as it appears)

Using some birthday money I purchased a new sewing chair in the 50% off sales.  My old one came from an Op-shop & was always uncomfortable.  I adore this new pink velveteen one & - so far - no cats have discovered it (!!) 🤞

When I did my sewing room clean-out in * this post * I put aside quite a variety of kitsets that I'd either been gifted, or purchased in recent years.  I wanted to get them made up & either used, or put in the gift box for someone else to enjoy.  I decided to make a start on some of these.

The first one I sewed was this triangle pouch made in a sashiko design fabric, fully lined & with a cute owl zipper-pull.  

The fun thing about kitsets is that everything is there, you don't have to think about what fabrics, trims etc ... you just Sew!

Choosing the simpler ones first 😉, I next made up these "Woodland Santas" hanging tree decorations.  These are only the size of a pen, so not large.  I thought these might be the perfect size to include in my Grandsons Advent calendar stockings.  

This Snowflake Table Runner was included in a Tilda Christmas box that I purchased in 2022 from Kitty Rose Cottage.  There were 6 kitsets in the box & this was my last one to be made up.  I loved the fussy cut hexagon Tilda bird in the centre.  I had started the English Paper Piecing on this awhile ago, put it aside & not come back to it.  I am so pleased it is finished now & can be used in this years Christmas decorating.

I hand quilted mine & also added a snowflake charm to each corner as I found a packet of different snowflake charms in my stash. 

When I visited my friend Claire in * this post *, & she presented me with the china bowl filled with beautiful goodies ... included was a tiny French General Charm pack.  So I sewed it up into a small mat ~ this one was machine quilted ~ I just adore this fabric range. 💓

Next project (not a kitset) was a new ironing board cover.  I'd purchased a generous length of Cath Kidston fabric last year to recover my board & make a new curtain for the spare bedroom. (A curtain for a shelf, not the window) 

To make a new cover I simply remove the old one, take out the elastic, lay it on the floor & cut around it, sew a casing, thread with new elastic, Viola ~ Easy Peasy !

The same with making the curtain - I used the old one for a "pattern". 

As you can see above, I had the usual supervision assistance with this project (!!) 😳 

And Yes I did have to wait 'til she woke up again to continue because I am pathetic like that ! 🐈

But the new curtain turned out lovely & so fresh looking.

I had the loveliest visit from my friend Sally last weekend & she presented me with this beautiful book as a birthday gift.  I absolutely adore Jessie Chorley's style & work,  & this book has inspired me to do more slow stitch work. 

This verse above rather sums up my sewing room currently dear friends & I have lots of "ideas lying around"

I am off to have a tidy-up but I will be back during the week with Part two.

Thank you as always dear friends, for your welcome visits here today,

With much love & friendship to you all,