Elsa's Giraffe from Sewn Toy Tales

A while ago on pinterest I spotted that my friend's sister had pinned a picture of a stuffed toy from Melly & Me's book "Sewn Toy Tales". How perfect, I thought, as she is in Ireland and Melly is based here in Melbourne it would be safe to say no one else would make her the stuffed toy. And as it happened I already owned the book! So off I set. Over the course of 3 weekends I cut, sewed, stuffed and embroidered this little giraffe for baby Elsa. Now all I have to do is pack it up and send it to the other side of the world! apologies for the cr@ppy iphone picture (my camera battery is dead)

a giant jar of peanuts....

Last weekend while out in the car we decided to swing by one of our local antique stores. They had heaps more stock then I had seen in their before and I just hoped that I would find something to treat myself with. I happened across this big glass jar for selling peanuts, it says "Peanuts 5c Salted" on the glass and the lid has a peanut on the top as the handle. The minute I saw it I knew exactly what I would put in it....all my yarn. 

And now it lives on proud display on my shelf. Oh how I love it!

so i got myself a graphics tablet

....and spent all weekend playing on the computer

My original photo:



My finished project:

Finishing what I started (BYW 2.0)

You may remember this post some time ago when I attempted (and failed miserably) to complete "Blogging your way 2.0" e-course by Holly Becker from Decor8. It started so well as you can tell by the picture below I had all my course work printed out and was enjoying the first few days.



THEN I encountered a piece of homework that totally threw me off track: "Make a blog mood board showing how you imagine your ultimate blog to look like – how you imagine it looking in the near future!"
Oh heck. That was it for me. I couldn't see it. I had no idea how to decide on what I wanted. I then quickly lost interest of course feeling overwhelmed and very un-creative.
Well this weekend the boy MADE ME A COMPUTER as my little laptop was painfully slow to run photoshop and illustrator from. I vowed that when I had a decent computer I would try more with graphic design and photoshop. But first I had unfinished business to attend. I was going to get this mood board done and start back into the e-course material.
Well thanks to my new super fast computer and a horrible cold that has forced me to stay home this weekend here it is....my long overdue homework!

I've been reading not blogging

I've been challenging myself to read more this year. So far so good! I have just finished my third book. "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. Gifted to me by my brother at Christmas he told me I HAD to read this book. I promised him I would read it soon and last week I picked it off my shelf. I read it cover to cover in a week. I read it with a pen in hand and post-it tabs highlighting the gems of advise and life learnings Randy shares with us.
This book is based on the lecture he gave at Carnigie Mellon Univercity after he had been given 6 months to live after his pancreatic cancer had gotten worse. He leaves great life lessons for his young children to read later in their lives in this book. I really enjoyed it! I did struggle knowing his impending death would leave his family and friends without him and this lecture was his chance to say goodbye. But I was enlightened by all the life lessons he shared and the good humour in which he tells these great stories. Get yourself a copy and then afterwards watch the video of the actual lecture he gave.

My Creative Corner

Helloooo possums. I thought I would share some snaps of my little workspace at home. I've finally finished my office! Last weekend I bought a new chair from Officeworks and I am really pleased I got it in white as it makes it look less like an office! I have tried to keep my shelves clutter and rubbish free which has been a challenge but I am super happy with how it looks. What does your workspace look like? Where do you keep your projects that you are currently working on? I have them strewn across the house rather haphazardly. Paper cranes in a bag by the couch, knitting on a shelf and boxes full of unfinished sewing packed away beside my desk....and that is on a good day!

A long weekend

Thankfully it was a long weekend here in Australia! I used it to catch up on some much needed rest and tackled some small jobs around the house. Of course I managed to fit in a tiny bit of crafting too....Cranes, cranes and more cranes. I think I have made nearly 60 to date. Tutorial coming soooooon!