long post part 2

My last LO for Katas comp, the only one I did I think for the month, very slack

A close up of my crochet butterfly

My ATC for the F&F swap, found that quote on an email, so don't know who gets the credit for it

The Pancake Princess, isn't she sweet (this was last week note hair is brushed & tied back)

It was one of those mornings today, the grand kids arrived for me to get them off to school, the Pancake Princess would like some pancakes for brekkie, so between us we make a batch of pancakes, a knock at the door, the guys up the street doing a concrete slab for a shed need to 4 metres of sand now, is there anyone to load it, we have our own tipper, only me I say, so I leave the princess devouring her pancakes & go down the yard & fire up the bobcat, get his truck loaded, do him a docket. Meanwhile the princess has had enough pancakes, won't brush her hair & Nate informs me he forgot the book he has to take to school, we'll go to your house & grab it on the way, times flying by the way it does, Ash you will have to brush your hair on the way, so I grab a couple of brushes, clips & hair band, get nearly to his house & I realise the key is at home on the other keyring, wheel around go back & get that, all the while nagging Ash to do her hair, get his book, get to school just as the bell goes, "Ash wheres your bag?" " Don't know." "Let me brush your hair." " NO!" "Go into to school now & I'll go home & get your bag & bring it back" Do that take it up to her, get home & find another bag of books in the lounge room. Ring her Mum to find out what are they for, will they keep til tomorrow, & to warn her she will probably get a letter from the school to tell her that her daughter is a poor neglected little girl, shame on Nanna sending her to school with bed hair, not to mention the pancake batter on her uniform. LOL

See you again in about a month I guess, seeing I average about an update a month. Bye for now Helen

Long post

Hi all, it's been awhile since I updated, life is pretty dull round here most the time, haven't done much scrappin' lately, mojo has been on holiday, but my hooks & needles have been flying lately so following are a few of my finished items. 1st up is the jumper I finished the other day,still undecided whether to sell it or keep it, I'll wear it out trying it on, looking in the mirror & feeling disgusted with myself, for the extra kgs that I let creep on. Once again the photo doesn't do the colour justice, much nicer IRL.


No.2 is the blanket I crocheted for my great granddaughter, done in chenille yarn, so soft & cuddly, modelled by my reborn Amelia

No3 is the hooded cape that is knitted in the prettiest pink, like coconut ice, looks good enough to eat IRL, modelled by Sofia Rose.

No.4 is the cabled cardigan that I almost finished, so cranky that I run out of wool with only the the front bands to go. If any of you that read this have a mother, nan or auntie that happens to knit with Bendigo wool, and have any scraps of Alpaca Rich , Rich Rose, that I could buy, beg, borrow or whatever, I would be eternally grateful, the girls at the woollen mill can't help me there is no more of it in the store, if I can't find any the only alternative will be to unpick back down to the arm hole shaping and make it shorter and I really don't want to do that.

This is the label off the ball of yarn & all that I have left, which isn't much

I'll say bye for now & try to be a better blogger & update more often in future, I have good intentions but don't seem to carry them out, as my Dear old Mum used to say " The road to hell is paved with good intentions, so they say"
Susan if you reading this HAPPY BIRTHDAY !! fro Friday You will have reached a big milestone on the 3rd Sept. (I won't give away u r secrets LOL)

Hi all, it's been a while since I blogged, haven't done much since last time, a bit of knitting, a bit of reading, the only scrappin' I managed to finish was at Katas Scrapping day at the shop a few weeks ago. this months day is tomorrow, maybe I'll get some more done.
The 1st one is of Tack, I have added a title since I took the pic. I got 2 kits & reversed one of them


2nd LO is my two gorgeous great grand babies. The colours a bit pale in the photos

3rd LO is the landscape photo I took to the previous workshop. Instructions were for 2 portraits & a landscape LOL. (those nice people that were there thought it was a great joke) It is hard to see my fancy pinpricked edge, it started out as a machine embroidered crosstitch edge in purple cotton got about 2cm along & the bobbin ran out, so just kept on going without any cotton, then very carefully unpicked the little bit of sewing.

guess I better stop rambling on, check my emails & go snuggle up in bed with the electric blanket it's cold here in the office, it's cold every where at the moment, there's snow on them thar hills & the wind is blowing off it, winter is not my favourite time of year.

Bye for now, Helen

Back again

Hi, been a while since I updated,haven't done much the last few weeks, I finished the jumper I started at the end of last winter, I love the colour, it's called rich apple, much nicer in real life, the photo doesn't do it justice, I was going to keep it for myself til I tried it on, it's definitely going into the craft shop, & I got to start dieting & exercising lol, nearly too ashamed to post that photo

Have also knitted my 2 great grandsons a jumper each & a couple of cardies for my 1st great grand daughter, expected to arrive in Sept.

this bag is what we made at the workshop the local craft group had a few weeks ago, nice & roomy, not difficult to make.

Not a lot been happening on the scrappin or cardmaking, hardly been home long enough in the last 3 weeks to do much, scrappin is a bit hard to do in the truck or the support vehicle, that's the reason I got so much knitting done, it's portable. Did a fair bit of reading too.

Did get half the day off on Sunday to meet the David & Pat, would have liked to have spent more time with them. Didn't even get to say goodbye to them properly, they were coming to visit on Monday morning as I wasn't supposed to be working, but as usual Monday morning the plans changed, & I had to go to work after all. Maybe one day we'll be able to retire, & do what I like, when I like.

LO & cards

Hi, wonders never cease, it's only been 3 days & I'm back again, first pic is the sky at sunset out over the Co-Op on Sat evening I think, had one of those days on Friday, that happen sometimes, got out of bed & it went downhill from there, knocked my 2 nd full cup of coffee off the bench, had to clean that up, then realised some feather brain about my size forgot to go to the supermarket & buy some fish for Good Friday, scrounged through the pantry & found a tin of red salmon,(6 bucks a can,supposed to be a luxury) so boils up some spuds & makes salmon cakes, shapes & crumbs them, put them in fridge to set for 2 hrs. Lunch time gets out the deep fryer, new oil, put them in the basket lower them in to hot oil give them a bit of a shake to stop them sticking, so what happens is they disintegrate into an oily mess, tip them out onto kitchen paper & try again this time lower them gently into oil, no shaking, they came out looking OK kept their shape mostly, 3 left, I'll shallow fry them tonight. Meanwhile I put the red salmon mush out for the cats, told them what a treat they were getting, the bloody ingrates wouldn't eat it. thought maybe they weren't impressed with the oil, offered the rest to the MOTH that night & the ingrate said he would pass, in the meantime Vic had given me a few pieces of frozen crumbed fish out of her freezer, so we had a decent bit of fish for the evening meal. gave the 3 uncooked fish cakes to the cats next day, wouldn't eat them either, the European wasps ( thats another story that I won't go into, but theres a clown in every circus, LOL ,I was too pee'd off to take pics of that fiasco) found them & had a feast, until I disposed of what was left.
I made a couple of cards, excuse the crappy photography, got the paper tole pics from Vic's Popcorn Bear CD, they are belated birthday cards, which I ought to make by the dozen LOL

This LO I have been trying to do for about a year, I had it sitting on a lt green cardstock, I'd get it out & put different paper backgrounds & embellies on it, never happy & put it away without sticking anything on then the other day got it out ditched the green CS, put it on a very vanilla cs run a few rows of stitching around & the rest just came together, only thing I not sure if i like the natural chipboard, but I can paint that later if I want to I guess.

Been a quiet Easter break Vic & I took ourselves for a drive to Tumut Sat morning had a browse around the shops, didn't buy much, then went to the Chit Chat Coffee Shop & had lunch, just the two of us, no men or kids, thanks to mobile phones we still managed to get harassed by one of them wanting to be taxied somewhere. Lunchtime again so I better sign off & go organise some tucker, as they say a woman's work is never done, I got home from Tumut on Sat arvo at about half past three, Mikey & Pop here, we haven't had any lunch yet, so I cooked them toasted sangers, told them how useless they were, they are big enough & ugly enough to get themselves a feed, they deserve to go hungry, ones 64 & the other is 15. Anyway better go now & find them something to eat.

Til next time, be good. Luv Helen

A couple of LO's

Hi, I haven't done a lot since my last update, finished & posted off my Family & Friends ATC's for March, & only managed to do 2 LO's. #1 is from the the Sunday class with Kata a few weeks ago, #2 for the comp at Kata's shop.

We had the local show last week, a couple of hectic days for me, being a steward, getting the knitwear organised & ready for the judge, with the help of Vicki & Gloria we managed to get it done & displayed & guess what spaghetti brain forgot her camera as usual so no photos again this year, the pavilion looked very impressive again this year, top marks to a dedicated band of workers, that don't get a lot of thanks for the time & effort they put into it. There were not many sideshows for the kids to waste their money on this year

I hope everyone has a HAPPY EASTER!!! & that the Easter Bunny is kind to you & brings you heaps of chokkies & if you are going away, that you have a safe trip & enjoy yourselves. As per usual we will be going nowhere, doing nothing more exciting than getting the tipper ready for Rego. & pushing up apple trees into heaps to burn off.

I guess I better go and do some shopping so we don't starve over the exciting weekend ahead of us.

So bye for now Luv Helen

Back at last

This post is a bit mixed up, this pic of the family & friends atc is supposed to be under the quilt one but they loaded in the wrong order & I forget how to move them around, I have done it before, but it is not happening tonight for some reason. I ended up deleting the other pics.
I had intended to put a pic of the cakes & jar of relish so my girls could drool & think about the snags cooked ,threaded on a green stick over the campfire & dipped in relish, way back when they were kids.

Hi, I'm back in blogland at last been meaning to do this for the last couple of weeks, so this will be a long post, been a bit crook the last week or so, not sick enough to waste money on a visit to the docs, just feeling yuk, no appetite (which is probably a good thing, seeing as I'm carrying a few extra kilos) tired & full of aches & pains that people never die of, must have picked up a bug of some kind. I seem to have shaken it anyway. I worked like a trojan today, did 3 loads of washing, cleaning, defrosted the fridge, cooked up a storm, made tomato relish, an Armenian Nutmeg Cake, a new recipe, if I make it again I will replace the walnuts with almonds I think, a double batch of patty cakes, as well as a casserole for dinner.

Below is a pic of the the quilt top I made with the blocks I won, I mentioned in a previous blog that I won one of the booby prizes at the last district patchwork friendship day, last year. the last one was in Tumba, a couple of weeks ago, so the week before it was on I set myself a challenge, to finish it for the day, didn't do it of course, got the top finished, but didn't manage to get it quilted, maybe tomorrow I will get to craft and get it sandwiched together on the big table & ready to quilt. Not the most brilliant photo, the colours look a bit wishy washy, looks better in real life.

Guess I better say Bye for now & go sleep, so until next time, be good , if you can't be good enjoy yourself. Luv Helen

Hi, been awhile since I updated, I been very slack the last month, must be getting old, not enjoying this heat one bit, this little effort for the comp at Kata's shop is the 1st LO I have completed since Christmas. I'm not very confident with vintage LO's.wasted most of the day yesterday making roses & flowers to put on it, the rose in the bottom corner is a bit different, from normal, some dill forgot to change the size of the photo to 4"x"6", & tried to print the 1st photo A4 size on a 4x6 photo paper, so rather than waste it I made a rose out of it, very creative LOL

Below is a close-up of the detail in 3 of the corners, a couple of roses from the page of the old book.

The photo rose & folded ribbon roses

A crochet butterfly & the little scrap of leftover lace made the birdies wing, birds have to have wings.

Last is a pic of the moth we found on the screen door, how cute is that.

I guess I had better go & get this food dished up, as it is all cooked. Maybe I'll get a walk in this evening before it gets dark. so bye for now folks, be good & if you can't be good, enjoy yourself
Luv Helen

Hi all, I'm back again, been a while since my last update, haven't been doing much lately, life around here is not very exciting, same old routine every day.
I surprised myself & managed to do 3 LO's in 2 days, the 1st one is the kit from Katas scrappin day last Sunday, not quite complete, have to do the journalling yet, have to check on the details, I think it was Ash's last preschool photo in 2008

This one is one of this years Christmas pics

And this is my masterpiece that may win me a prize. LOL (in my dreams I'm competing with real scrappers there)

That's it from me for now. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

Good health, more Wealth & much Happiness.....

PS, Something gross just happened, something hit the window beside me with a thump, I thought, there must be kids out there throwing things, went outside to check it out, a starling has committed suicide, it is laying on the lawn dead & it's eye is stuck to the window, it must have hit with a bit of force.

Another ATC

Hi, I finished my ATC's for the family & friends swap, the title is "Owls". Below four of the nine I came up with, I spent hours cutting out all those limbs & twigs & owls, it was worth the time spent on it. I have to buy some big envelopes before I can post them off to Amanda


above is four of the nine, the photography is not the best, the colours are a bit light, the moon is actually yellow in real life. the ones I took last night in the craft room with candle light, (those new eco friendly light globes aren't much better than candle light) were crappy, so I left it til morning to take them out side in natural sunlight, and they were only a a little better

A close up view of one.

Guess I better say bye for now & go to bed, first I will have to wipe my keyboard over, the grandies were on it today & the keys are sticky. So be good & if you can't be good enjoy yourself. Luv Helen

Hi All, I'm doing well it hasn't been a month since my last update.

Ta da! I have actually finished the double layout from the scrappin day we did a couple of weeks ago, I think I'm happy with it, except for the untidy handwriting on the journal cards, I didn't use all the embellies that came in the kit, I made some cardstock flowers to put on the white ones that came with it, as well as the butterflies, and bought an extra birdie, to which I added some wings cos birds have to have wings.

All of my grandchildren taken last time they were all together, which was Xmas 2007, so they are all 2 yrs older now. The individual pics are all taken either at the end of 2008 or in 2009

The double LO, Colours aren't real good in the photos, as it is overcast again

Now I will have to do one of the great grandchildren, what am I saying, I think they are all great kids, but maybe I am biased.

Well I had better go and do some veges, roast lamb for dinner tonight & it smells so good my mouth is watering already. So bye for now & be good & you know the drill

Luv Helen

An update

Hi all, thought it about time I updated my blog, last post it was cold & wet, well it's not cold today, the weather has gone to the other extreme & turned hot, not quite as hot as Sth Australia, the last few days, I feel for them. I haven't done much in the last month, but seem to keep myself busy doing it. Finished my ATC's for the Family & Friends swap, pics below, the photos aren't the best, the colours look a bit pale.

A double shot with different advantages.

A close up shot the colours are a bit better on this one

I have made a few cards this week, tried out a bit of paper tole. I got the Popcorn Bear images from Vic's CD, she bought from the Crafters Companion. I reckon he's pretty cute. ( I luv bears, LOL). I nearly need to make a heap of belated B'day cards, as I have done it again, sorry Krystal you card is on it's way.

That's it for me today, better go check the mail & get a few groceries, then get stuck into a bit of housework, as the housework fairies are only a fantasy. Bye for now, be good & if you can't be good enjoy yourself !!!

Another ATC

Hi, it's cold & raining here again, it's supposed to be spring, we have a few nice spring days to tease us, then winter comes back again. We can't control the weather just whinge about it.

I haven't done much since my last post, but been busy doing it, all I have to show are my Heart ATC's for the family & friends swap & I made an Xmas wall hanging, plus the centre panel of another quilt, pity I had to stop on that one when I was on a roll, but living in a small town without many shops I had to wait til I went to Albury, I stretched my alloted 10 mins in spotlight to over half an hour, didn't take me long to choose the fabric, it took forever to get served, a heap of customers & one girl on the counter & when someone came to help her there was still only one cash register, once my fabric was measured , had to wait for the till to be free.
sorry whingeing again, must be the weather.

Wall hanging (not quite finished got to get a hanger for it & add some tabs) my Hearts ATC

Tried to move my pictures around but don't know how to move them. LOL
click n drag won't work, it wouldn't let me cut n paste, so I gave up.

That's it for me for today folks. be good & if you can't be good, enjoy yourself.

Luv Helen

UFO's

Ta da, another ufo finished, a queen size patchwork quilt, been a work in progress for a few years, I reckon the next one I do I will have professionally quilted as it's getting too hard. Getting old, my neck & shoulders ache, trying to manoeuvre all that bulk around on the sewing machine, I tried to quilt it in the ditch, but like a drunken driver I kept steering it out of the ditch, LOL, looks OK from a distance, just don't look too closely at it. 1st pic is it folded into to four. 2nd pic is it laid out on the bed.

Now I have that out of the way I can get back to scrap booking.

Lousy day today it was snowing this morning, didn't settle but thank goodness, but it is so cold 4got to switch the electric blanket on, so I'm updating the blog while it warms up, better go and get some shuteye, as I am going to Albury with Karen & Jess tomorrow, as it is nearly one o'clock, it will be time to get up again before I get there at this rate.

That's it til next time, be good & if you can't be good, be careful. Cheers Helen

Update

Just a little update after the last post when I mentioned all my UFO's, that I would have to get stuck into doing some quilting , look at what I won today, nine patches to be turned into a quilt, talk about the booby prize, trust me to win something that involves work. LOL

A close up of one of the patches

The nine patches laid out together

This is a pic of the quilt made with the last set of patches I won about 3 years ago, that pack had the 4 heart patches & a bundle of 3.5 inch charm squares that i turned into nine patches & i made the butterfly patch in the centre, so I guess in a few years time I will post a pic of the finished article

So til next time be good, as the old saying goes if you can't be good be careful. Bye for now, Helen

More ATC's

Hi it has been a while since my last post, haven't done much, finished a couple of atc's the pics will follow. It was a beautiful day here today, I washed the caravan, it has to go for a rego check, this week, dunno why we bother, it just sits in the yard year after year & doesn't get used except for the rare occasions that we have visitors, it comes in handy for a spare room.

I will have to get myself motivated to finish quilting my patchwork quilt for the display at the Apple Blossom Festival in October, plus a few more ufo's that are hanging around waiting to be finished.


The Family & Friends ATC. "Teddy Bears" I took a photo of one of my own bears that I made, cut it out & sat him on a log, another one of the bush pics I took out in the Granites area


These 2 pics of the local ATC swap, "Apple Blossom" hand made felt blossoms & buds, I'm happy with the result, even though they took a bit of time to do, it was worth it, I think.


That's it for me folks, take care 'til next time