Colliwood

Last Sunday Em and I went to the premiere of Charlotte's Web. I adored the book when I was little but wasn't a fan of the animated movie...but the new film version was great. Julia Roberts did a great job as the voice of Charlotte, too.

Little Dakota Fanning turned up...with a tiny pig on a leash...the "after party" was at the Collingwood Children's Farm, which they'd done up to look like a New England Country Fair complete with rides, pumpkins, lemonade stands etc. I'll admit it...I took my camera and couldn't help but snap a few shots of Dakota. Mr and Mrs Fanning looked very Hollywood and it was all slightly surreal but there were hundreds of kids who looked like they were having the time of their lives...and yes, we had fun, too!

They look like little hats but they're actually paper cones. On Saturday 16 December Em and I are having my family over for a Christmas BBQ ... that means 22 for a sit down lunch! I should be busy collecting chairs because the way we're going - people will be pulling up a nice, sturdy crate to sit on. Instead, I've been folding and sticking these - a little departing gift we'll fill up with goodies.

12 down, 10 to go.

I've just finished reading The Lost Happy Ending, a beautiful picture book by UK poet, Carol Ann Duffy with illustrations by Jane Ray. It's about a little girl who collects Endings and releases them every night into the "violet evening air". When a (very) nasty witch steals a sack of happy endings, every bedtime story ends on a bad note: Hansel and Gretel are trapped in the ginger-bread house and Snow White dies. I won't spoil the ending...
The illustrations are rich, colourful and vibrant...but, like original fairytales (before Disney got hold of them) it's on the darker side of happy.

I've also started re-reading Holidays On Ice by David Sedaris. I rarely re-read books but this guy's experience as a Macy's elf is priceless.

I crafted like a crazy woman this weekend. Yes, felt did fly. Finished my ornaments for the swap, made some rubber stamps, typed up some little cards, baked an apple cake, made an elephant, kitty, duck.. - NOTHING got in my way. My sewing machine was on fire! Fun.

I seemed to have caught the Christmas bug a little earlier than usual. Maybe it's because I signed up for the Holiday Ornament Swap over at Freshly Blended. I'm in the midst of a crafting blitz - came out of the blue but there I was late last night, cutting tiny bits of felt and flinging cotton about and jabbing my finger repeatedly with a needle...a sure sign it's time to down tools.

Anyway. Looking around for inspiration about what to make. Found some good ideas here - like the buttons but might try something different. Some sweet things here, too. These antique cotton decorations are pretty amazing, too.

Trying to find order in all this colour, shape and texture and coming up with more rings.

Boo!

Busy making some scary craft - hmmm. Sometimes my craft is scary but it has nothing to do with Halloween... First off a spooky pin cushion with owl button and ghoulish shrinky pins plus some haunting photos. Happy H.

Lovely weekend...a little crafting, a lot of baking and reading in the sun. Just as I planned...

A blissfully quiet weekend ahead so I'm planning on some crafting/cooking/reading...lots of ideas bubbling away. Hope you all have a good weekend.

Ring Ring

Made some more button rings and button hair clips recently - playing around with colours and sizes THEN I found this fantastic case to put them all in.

The plan is to take them to a market ... eventually ... after I make some more. Thinking about lovely pinks and greens for summer.

Isn't the letter B a good letter? Found this in Queenscliffe when Em and I went for a walk. The eggs aren't real but they look nice, too.

Another year, another weekend away with the girls. Had a blast. Queenscliffe was at its sunny best. Lots of drinking, talking, laughing and shopping and a few walks on the beach. It's so great to really relax and spend time with people you love.

Love the printing blocks - Emma found them in a dark corner in second hand shop near the beach. The letter 'B' was discovered on a morning walk.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend, too.

Take A Load Off.

Love my job but sometimes I feel like running away and crafting for a few hours. Will have to hold that thought, at least for a little while. Found this tiny office chair in Sydney. So cute...and yes, it swivels, too.

The Place Where Time Goes...

I have no idea where that is but the last two weeks have passed me by. I've missed checking out out my favourite places but Em and I spent last week in town, doing town things like breakfast in Degraves Street most mornings, Craft Victoria (what lovely things), the Charles Blackman exhibtion, Heide Museum of Modern Art. I love reading and re-reading about the lives of Sunday Reed, Joy Hester, Albert Tucker and John Reed...the 'Melbourne version of the Bloomsbury set'. Sunday and John Reed lived in Heide - the house is still there. I love the library. It's quite small but the walls are lined with books. We also went to the Maurice Sendak exhibition at the Jewish Museum. I loved seeing prints from his book Where The Wild Things Are. I flipped out when I saw a huge book called The Art of Maurice Sendak by Selma Lanes...with a lot of his work displayed on huge pages. Em, the sweetheart, got it for me.

Accidentally saw the Australian Idol contestants at Federation Square...me and about 4,000 eight year olds!

Here are some more pics from another craft book - this one is all about paper.

It's nice to be back and when I get a moment, I'm gonna make myself whatever the collective noun for a whole lot of these are. Thanks Nicole.