Photo Postcards.

On our recent trip to Daylesford Claire and I found a great big shoe box full of old postcards, with people's portraits on them, there really wonderful, I like the old names like Mrytle and the hazy colours and the scrawly writing.

study flowers

I've got so much study to do, before I finish my degree for good, these flowers sitting on my desk are making it a little more plesant

emily's quilt.

Quite a while ago a friend of mine asked me if I would make her a quilt, I set about it quickly but then succumbed to study pressure a progress halted slightly. Earlier this week though I managed to finish it off and hand it over to her. I really like how it turned out, all the fabric is second hand, mostly found at op-shops and savers even the backing, which makes me really happy.

happy birthday...

Today is Claire's brithday, she is 24 which I think is great, yesterday to celebrate we went on the best drive, our favourite drive, early in the morning through Woodend, stopping off at Burkies, bypassing Trenthonem and then arriving in Daylesford to do a lot of scavagging. We start at the trash and treasure market, then on to some op's then down the main street to see the shops then up to the mill to have a good good look around, somewhere in here we manage to stop of at Cliffy's for lunch and also the chocolate shop for a treat, Daylesford is the best, I really mean that, we always have the best time when we are here, it was a great way to celebrate a birthday I think!

This is what her gift looked like, all wrapped up in brown paper, with an origami crane to finish, its not hard to tell what it is but at least it looks a bit nice.


Happy Birthday Claire xo

ghost hug!

I saw this post the other day on Jesses blog and realised I owned the exact same shakers, except I didn't know it. I thought they were just standard ghosts, but know I know they hug and its really good.

little holly..

I found this jigsaw of Holly Hobbie at an op-shop a while ago, i really like her, and her quilted apron, floppy hat and mis-matched patterns!

mothers day

Happy mothers day to all Mum's, this is the gift I will be taking my mum today, I found a new way to use old doileys, I'm not quite sure how original it is but I think it looks quite good.

japan

The other week one of my very favourite co-workers returned from a wonderful trip to Japan. It sounds like an amazing country filled with so many wonderful things, she had such a good time that she has already brought another ticket back in October. She brought me a gift which was extremely lovely, these two lengths of fabric, they are so different but so wonderful together at the same time, I want to make something really good out of them, I'll probably have enough to make a couple of things, all I have to do is decide.

babar too...

babar was also there too, i remember loving watching this cartoon, i love thinking about elephants drinking tea!

A New Bag!

Today I made myself this bag. I seem to spend most of my sewing time making thing for other people so it really enjoyed making something for my self. I also liked the fact that if I made a mistake it didn't matter because no one will see it but me. I enjoyed making this bag so much I had to make a second right away, so I will pop that one on the McCranky! Shop today.

winnie

at the same garage sale we also found this old old story of pooh. i think jess might like it! growing up eeyore was my favourite.

little book of proverbs...

a while ago we found this book at a garage sale and were instantly taken by the little pictures and sometimes strange words, language like this seems to have died, as most of the proverbs were new to us and made us laugh and smile.

Vintage Winter Combo

Last year I found this winter coat and matching dress at the Mill Market in Daylesford. Its really good, it has a fake fur trim, which is good and is one of the lovliest greens. The only real problem is that it doesn't have any pockets which is what I love most in coats, maybe I will ask josie if she will work some sewing magic and add some for me, I hope its possible.

This will be me...

...for the next few days, reading books that should have been read ages ago that is due way to soon for my liking. If only I was one of those super organised people that could start working well in advance of when things were actually due, for now though I'm just going to have to endure the pain and sacrfice a few hours of sleep a night.

Dreaming of Crocheting.

It has been mentioned here a lot by both Claire and I can't crochet, we've tried, we have read lots of books and seen lots of demonstrations but we can't seem to get the hang of it. This doesn't mean we are going to give up, just that when we do manage to learn it will be all the better. There really is no reason why we shouldn't be able to crochet either. The blanket in these photos was created by our Aunty and given to our Mum for her 21st Birthday I think. Aunty Shelly is a little younger then Mum too, so she must have made it when she was in her teens I think and means that this blanket is more than 30yrs old, I hope i'm not insulting Mum when I say that. I really love it, I like the colours and thinking about why our Aunty choose them for our Mum, and all the time, effort and planning that would have gone into making it. It would have taken a while, because its huge, probably about the size of a queen blanket. Its perfectly made too, everything is the same size and tension (i think that is the right terminology) and it only shows a few signs of aging. I can't wait to master the art and get started on my own.

Brown Owls '09'

Claire and I are Brown Owls this year, and really couldn't be more excited. We have yet to attend any classes, which is really lazy of us, but are keen to attend soon, I know we both want to develop our lack of crocheting skills, but a nice 'bring your own' session sounds like fun too.

I like these badges ALOT, I have chosen the blue one for our blog, because I think it will match and because I think its Penelope's favourite colour. I'm going to put the purple one up for Claire, because I think the two will look good together and its Mum's favourite colour, but she can change it if she likes. Thanks to threebuttons for designing them, they really are just lovely!

A visit to Yarn Barn!

Today mum and I visited our favourite place to buy yarn, the Yarn Barn in Coburg. It’s a great little shop full of great range of colours and fibres. Mum is going to knit a jumper out of the cream wool on the cone and I am determined to teach myself how to crochet Grannie Squares. I’ve been trying very hard to learn but I don’t seem to get anywhere. I think the colours I picked would look great in a blanket so I won’t give up. I hope that in the weeks to come I’ll have some squares to show you.

Lemonade!

The lovely beck from Dandelion has awarded us with a lemonade award, which means she thinks our blog shows great attitude or gratitude, which is so kind of her. We really like her blog too, her country adventures in our favourite town, her trips into the city and all her nice thoughts on her family are just great.

In the same vein other blogs we are always apperciating are, Handmade Romance which is just full of the nicest images and thoughts, fine little day which is new to us but really amazing, and teddy bears wednesday which is always fun to read!

Something New...

I recently brought my self a new lap top. Its pretty exciting, but the thing I'm most excited about is that I got to make a new bag for it. I'm really proud of this bag I think Its the most well thought out thing I've ever made. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. The fabric is from IKEA, I've had it for a while now. I knew I had to use it for something special because I love it so much. I also lined it with denim and padded it with quilt batting. The only problem I had with it was that at some parts it got so chunky I had to hand sew on the handles.

Camberwell Market.

On Sunday I will be at the market selling things, not McCranky things but other op-shop finds i have been holding on to for far too long, prices will be low and hopefully there will be a good range of things to see, come and visit, I will definitely say hello!