Merry Christmas

Final 2 days of 7 Vignettes

The final two days of 7 Vignettes were "Shine" and "Monochrome"...I must admit, I found these two days the easiest probably because I already had ideas from when I first saw the list of themes...

And just to sum up the whole week....

7 Vignettes days 4 and 5

The themes for days four and five were "wish list" and "wrap it up".  I must admit, I really struggled with the wish list and posted my photo very late yesterday.  As for wrap it up, I had so many ideas and decided to do two....here they all are

Child's Play

Day three of 7 Vignettes is Childs Play. I am trying to ensure a link with each day's vignette and am using a small Christmas Tree I bought last year to help me achieve this.  I have also popped some of my favourite miniatures under the tree along with a Rudolph a friend made.

7 Vignettes

One of my favourite blogs and Instagram people is Jen at The Interiors Addict.  Each month she sets her Instagram followers a challenge called 7 Vignettes.  Each day for the first 7 days of the month there are pre-set themes where anyone can take a photo of the day's theme and share it on Instagram.  I have wanted to participate in this for some time now, but whenever I see the standard of what others are posting, I feel a little intimidated.  Anyway, I decided to take the plunge this month.  Here are my first two days installments...day 1 was "tree" and day 2 is "white".  I will continue to put the photos here on my blog, but you can also follow me on Instagram.

A few days away

I returned on Thursday from a lovely few days visiting friends who live in Bright.  The weather was stunning and it was lovely to catch up with special friends.  I especially enjoyed walking around their garden and was inspired to do some work at my place.  Here are just a couple of the myriad photos I took.

This last photo is one I took when I decided to take drive to Mount Hotham.  Unfortunately there was quite a lot of cloud cover which meant I was unable to get any decent shots from the summit....it was also about 20 degrees colder than Bright...and there a small amount of snow still on the ground.

Apologies to readers

Hi all, My apologies to anyone who has tried to look at my blog in the past week or so...it seems I may have had a bug....I had a widget/gadget thingy on my side bar and it seems that whenever I tried to look at my blog, this other thing popped up....it wasn't until I managed to get into my settings and remove the offending thing that I can now read my blog...so hopefully you can too..Sorry for my ramblings!!! 

I have been busy with lots of things.  One piece of news is that I am hoping to set up my own Etsy shop in the next little while so stay tuned for news about this.   I am really excited about this new development in my life.  
I am also going to have a small market stall next month and I have been busy making things for that.  Here is a little sneak peak of what I am going to be selling on my Etsy shop...until next time.....Lisa

Indigo

On Saturday I attended an Indigo Dyeing workshop at Kraftkolour....a supplier here in Melbourne of all things related to fabric dyeing.  Because I love anything blue and white, I bought some indigo supplies earlier in the year and had a go at indigo dyeing myself.  It was such fun yesterday to get together with others to share the experience.  It was like opening presents each time we withdrew the fabric out of the dye vats and opened them up to see what results our folding, tying and pressing came out like.

Here are a few of my favourites.

New things around the house

I have been changing things around the house in recent weeks.....trying to throw out some surplus things, minimize and rearrange.  I have bought a new chair....which my cats have been enjoying and also rearranged a few things in the lounge room.

I am really loving this little vignette and minor minimizing

More Sewing!!!

I have had a productive couple of days making a couple of things for a friend....the first a sewing bag and one of my favourites to make, the pear pincushion....I am also really loving the colour combinations.  Just a shame that my "stitching" is a bit on the wonky side.

Makings

My niece and nephew came for a sleepover last weekend and whilst Tom was playing "Minecraft" Kate and I set to work on choosing some fabric and making this....Kate did most of the sewing, with me giving a guiding hand...she did a great job!

Update re prayers

Just wanted to update you all that the family I requested prayers for last week, the Dad passed away this morning.  Please continue to keep this young family and extended family and friends in your prayers as they deal with their loss and for God to uplift and sustain them in the time to come. Thanks.

A call for prayers

This is a request to those who read my blog for some prayers for a young family from my church who are facing a huge struggle at this time.  They are a young couple in their 30's with twins who are around 3 years of age and a 5 month old.  The father last year was diagnosed with bowel cancer which had spread thoughout his body.  He underwent chemotherapy, but has just received the news that he perhaps has only weeks to live.  My church has been praying for he and his family since his diagnosis but I have had it on my heart to put a call out to my overseas and interstate friends and readers of my blog to keep this family in their prayers also.

Thanks

More Happy Mail

Today I received the quilt from the ALQS which I participated in earlier this year and posted a photo of the quilt I sent.  The most lovely Hawaiian style mini quilt from Cathy in the US.  I also received some fabric and fabric postcard...thanks...love them all!

Softies

Another work colleague is having a baby soon, so I made one of Melly and Me's "Mrs Perkins" giraffe....I love making these softies and thought I would take a photo of it enjoying the garden!

Another Little Quilt Swap

Over the past few years I have participated in a swap run from the UK.  We each make a small quilt, send a photo and then participans list their favourites and eventually we receive a lovely mini quilt.  This is what I made, which has been sent to its recipient...hopefully it will arrive soon, and I am really looking forward to my own surprise package.

HAPPY MAIL

I have recently participated in a Mug Rug Swap and today I received my special package.  I not only received two lovely Mug rugs, but also a lovely tiny pincushion, two decorative pins, a chocolate and a lovely card from the area of my swap partner.  Here are a couple of photos...thanks so much Ulla.

Baby present

One of my work colleagues is leaving to have a bub soon and we are having a morning tea for her tomorrow.  I made this change mat which also holds some wipes and a couple of disposable nappies.

It folds very compactly to carry...

Completed Quilt

I have finished my first quilt for the year.  I have decided to try and finish a good lot of quilts this year in an effort to reduce my stash.
Here are a couple of photos....one of the front and one of the back which I pieced.   Once again, done in my favourite colours!
And on a completely different topic......I have recently upgraded my iPad and have discovered the Blogger app which means that I can do blog posts anywhere and not rely on my computer.  I actually think that the app is easier to use than doing posts on my computer, although I probably don't have as many editing options...overall I am quite impressed.  I actually inserted these photos using the app!! Cheers!
PS....the post is dated the 5th February which is when I started this post, however today is actually the 19th!

Sourdough

Late last year, I somehow got into my head that I wanted to start making some sourdough bread, so armed with my new book, Tartine Bread, the good old web and a local supplier of all things for home made bread, I made the beginnings of my sourdough starter.  I have really been enjoying making the most delicious bread and thought I would share a photo of my latest creation....With my previous loaves, I have been using mainly the artisan bread flour which I bought and a small amount of Rye...however, as I am almost out of the Artisan flour and I have some wholemeal on hand, I thought I would try half and half of the wholemeal and the Artisan, still adding a small amount of the Rye.  I have also recently started using a bread tin which I have had for some years as I found the free-form loaves weren't as useful for sandwiches and toast etc.  The free-form ones are great to take to freinds or for a shared lunch at work...Anyway, thought I would show a photo of my wholemeal loaf....