A mixed up post of this & that

Hello there friends & readers,

Welcome to some new followers & thankyou all for stopping by to read my ramblings :-)

I mentioned last post about some owl orders for my friend Sandy.

Sandys daughter Abby was leaving school & wanted to give a gift to the boarding house she had been in for the past few years

Earlier, Sandy had commissioned me to make a bunting

she had chosen a lovely Owl print fabric as Owls were the theme

of the boarding house

It turned out perfect  -- the words "School House"

with a heart "flag" in the middle of the two words

Unfortunately I didnt get a pic as it was so large.

Because the School House's colours are red, green & blue

      this tartan blanket made up into such lovely Owl doorstops 

& continuing the Owl theme was perfect

This distinguished looking chap was for a friends son

who lives up in Auckland

    

At the end of last week I had the most wonderful surprise

I had a visit from a blogging friend

who lives on the other side of the island & was over this way for a few days & took the time to come for a cuppa :-)

The very lovely Catherine & her husband Rob from here

an angel in the garden   

it was so nice to meet up after corresponding lots

but the visit went by so fast & - as is usual -

I didnt get any photos + I thought of lots of things afterwards that I had wanted to share with her :-)

    Although we had'nt met in person before, it certainly felt like meeting up with an "old friend"  

that is one of the things I have enjoyed so much about blogging,

the friendships made. . .

A lovely lady contacted me via my blog to purchase one of my christmas stockings that I posted about 4 posts ago (Oct 20th)

I sent it off to her & now we have been corresponding

& she wrote the most wonderful post about it here on her blog

all things rusty and fabric 

& so I have gathered a couple of new followers :-)

thanks so much Michelle for your thoughtfullness   

& it is this sharing of likeminded interests that I so love about the blogging community  

 big old suitcases filled with flowers to you all out there :-)

Yesterday in Hamilton I filled my last stall commitment for the year

I took part in the Hamilton Creative Fibre A.G.M. Open Day

It was another full on day - some stall snaps (sorry you must be sick of these)

I found myself positioned next to a lovely lady

who sold the most amazing soaps under the label -

cheeky monkey soaps

  It was really fun to be next to her & our combined stalls smelt so delicious with her soaps & my potpourris  

The guest speaker for the day was a lady called Priscilla Lowry

& her subject was "is it art or craft"

Gosh what a interesting speaker & some of her "art work" that she bought along to show was just mind boggling

she often has shows in galleries - this was her quilt

that depicted a journey she took along The Silk Road

The above is based on a full size quilt she made & then remade it in miniature version & mounted it in a recessed frame

the detailing in her work was exquisite!

A very fascinating speaker & she had us all mesmorised!

My friend Donna that I posted about back in October had been asked to speak about a spinning course she had done

Donna had received a scholarship to do this course earlier this year

I snapped some of her display items

spun fleeces from different wool types

PLEASE can I go home to live at Julies house!!??

    A teddy Donna had made from homespun fleece & then knitted

- I could've pinched this chap - I loved him :-)

Because I work mainly in fabric, then being around fibre & fleece takes me right out of my comfort zone

which I think is a good thing for us all to do from time to time 

& makes us think "outside the square" a bit more.

The garden has shown lots of growth this past week

Earlier pic above . . .  then about 10 days later below

lavendars coming into bloom

I planted a big patch this week with helichrysems & cornflowers

to be a picking garden for my potpourri

when I came to check next morning

most of it had been eaten off completely by the rabbits :-(

I was too busy ranting & raving to take any pics ! ! !

I commented to Catherine last week that our nights have still been extremely cold

& so normally, my pansies would've succumbed to mildew by now

It is odd to have them still flowering away - but so enjoyable

After my stall yesterday I had to collect my new D.L.E cards

from the Printers in Hamilton

The green one on the right is the old version

do you like the new "vintagey" version on the left???

If I told you of the hours of agonising over these & the headaches & the tears & the rants & raves . . .

you would either not believe me,   or lock me away  !!!!!

I tried to photograph the other side but my camera is having a "moment" so gave up  . . . 

Thanks again folks for taking the time to stop by & reading my posts  - a couple of Peles pics to finish off today. . . 

Matryoshka cushion image

embroidered heart detailing on cushion

note-books covered in vintage linens

    Have a lovely weekend out there - take good care everyone

Love/hugs/friendship, Julie Xoxo                

Owl-ing, Angel-ing & Potpourri-ing ! ! !

Hello there friends & readers & new followers  :-)

It has been a busy week again & I am sure looking & feeling threadbear!!!
I had quite a few gaps in the cottage after the last couple of groups had done some christmas shopping
so it was time to focus & make some more stock

 

I decided to make some of my blanket owls

This pattern is a Cameron James design which makes up the small size owl
I then enlarged the pattern to make the bigger size
When I had stuffed it, & finished,  I thought "whats the use of that"
So I unpicked it, took out half the wadding & then filled it with wheat to be used as a doorstop

I am just about to finish 2 doorstop Owls made from a lovely tartan rug for an order for my friend Sandy
(photos of these next post)  

We got a couple of nice warm days sunshine this past week
& I took my sewing out onto the deck to enjoy the nicer weather
Mr Wolf likes to sit at my feet as I work out here
He likes me to put my foot on him as he sleeps

There is something quite comforting & repetitive about stitching away to the rise & fall of his breathing in the sunshine :-)
I made some angels - an old pattern of mine from many years ago
called Wee Lil Angels
I decided to make 2 christmas'sy ones

    
which I adorned with cinnamon sticks etc
& then 2 pretty ones    -     just because . . .

They have a "boxed" base filled with wheat so they sit really well

On Saturday I took part in a big craft fair at our local Rose Gardens
Te Awamutu is called the Rose Town of New Zealand
because we have spectacular rose gardens
I had booked this annual stall many months ago
the weather was sunny but wind kept whipping through & some gollies took a nose-dive a few times ! !
I remembered to take a few snaps of my stall

       
You can see my Owls sitting on my stall :-)
It was a HUGE day - up at 5 to get set up & then you are not allowed to pack up til after 3 
then get home & set it all up in the Cottage again
as I had a busload the next morning at 10 am
No wonder I am feeling slightly threadbear !!!

 
Next morning a lady from the bus group happened to ask me what would be my best seller in the cottage
"my homemade potpourri" I answered her
"Oh" she said "well thats simple, you just dry a few petals & biff them in a cellophane bag - no work required there"
this made me think after she had gone (& I had finished choking!!)
about how much time & energy I actually spend on my potpourri making process??!!
Now that the roses are in bloom I spend ages picking & drying the blooms, turning them each day as they dry

freshly de-headed roses ready for drying

sorting out the good ones, making the potpourri & then "curing" it & adding other dried flowers to the mix for colour,
  bagging it all up & making it look attractive   

    
Lucky I dont keep count of the hours involved
(cos I would probably be crying in the corner)

   
All for just $4.00 a bag ! ! ! 
I wish she would come back again -
(so I could tell her what I really think!!!***)
 
 I did laugh to myself as I followed the last group of ladies back to the bus - listening to their conversations. . . 
"did you see that huge fluffy dog inside" they said
(they often come inside to use the toilet)
"Oh he didnt even raise his head at me" said one
"I took his photo" said another "& he lifted his head, looked at me, then flopped it back down again" 

Help yourself to whatever you want ladies,  just dont disturb me!!!

    
You can just imagine !!!!
the great guard dog    :-(

Finally friends, a couple more of Peles photos from last week to share with you all . . . 

Image through the mirror of cottage

tea-dyed doiley cushions

Queenie & Claudia - felt gollies - made by me (a Lil Blokes pattern)

Wishing you all a wonderful rest of the week out there.
thanks so much for stopping by :-)
Hugs/love/friendship,
Julie Xoxo