Shhhhhh!

Its all been about secret sewing lately, keeping me very busy, but not being able to blog about it is killing me so.....here is a peek!

 LOL.....I know it is rather vague but it is afterall supposed to be a secret!

On another note, I have posted on my other blog for the first time in months. You might find it interesting to see what I cooked up in my kitchen this weekend. 
 

Photoaday recap

The Photoaday project got the better of me towards the end of May and I opted out for a couple of weeks but the good thing is you can get back on board at any time so here is my contribution for the first week of June

Day 1 - B is for

 B is for Blossom.....I just had to use this shot out of my archives for this one because I love it so much.

Day 2 - a moment

 I love this photo of Callie at the moment she thought she spotted a Eastern Dragon Lizard in the creek.

Day 3 - On My Table

I took the photo of this centrepiece on my table really early one morning when I spotted it bathed in sunlight.

Day 4 - After Dark

I remember the Ooohs and Aaahs we expressed when Miss M and I saw this after dark sight.  It makes this photo really special.

Day 5 - Environment

This photo was taken at Lough Key, Ireland when my brother, mum, daughter and niece spent an enjoyable day together exploring the local environment.  It was the last day I spent with my brother who passed away 10 months later.

Day 6 - Transport

Another great memory taken from the top deck of a tourist bus in London.  The bridge is Tower Bridge.

Day 7 - Bright

A chance to think outside the box.  Who doesn't love a bright array of stationery, especially textas!


I mostly used photos from my archive this week but it was memorable going back over photos that fit the prompt and remembering good times.

I would love to know which is your favourite out of my Photoaday shots.
 

Spreading a little Sunshine

Has everyone heard of a "Sunshine Box"?  I first came across this idea earlier this year while blog surfing.  I wish I could remember which blog it was so I could give them credit but the idea stuck in my head and I long forgot the place where I first saw it.

The right reason to make a Sunshine Box became evident to me a few weeks ago when someone I work with really needed cheering up.

I have mentioned before that I work with an amazing team of people.  Not too long ago we had a new member join our Customer Service team and it didn't take long for this lovely lady with an amazing spirit to become a much loved part of my working week but recently she needed a lift. What better way than with a Sunshine box.

I started looking for yellow "sunshine" items to put in the box and found

• Butterscotch Tim Tams
• Caramel Lindt Chocolate
• Honey, Lemon and Menthol drops
• Twinings Camomile, honey and Vanilla tea
• Yellow bodywash
• Yellow novelty shower scrub
• A yellow polka dot coffee mug
• Yellow lollies like bananas, yellow gummy bears and a variety of others (yes, I sat and picked out the yellow ones with a pair of kitchen tongs! and packaged them in a yellow box with cellophane   and ribbon) 
• balloons, yellow boa and a bobble headband (for fun)

Here is everything packaged in the box and all that was left was to do was decorate the outside of the box.  I searched Pinterest for ideas and/or printable labels that I could use and then added some silk gerbera flowers that I deconstructed and attached to the box with buttons and ribbon and lastly tied it all together with a big yellow bow.

I wanted smiles, and didn't expect tears....oh no! But the smiles were soon back when the box was opened.  You gotta smile when you open a box of sunshiny happiness.

 

And the winner for May is.................

I have not been around much over the last week or so......I am so busy with secret sewing, dealing with an absent husband and a whole lot of stress at work! However, since I suddenly realise that it is the 2nd of June today, I bet you are all just hanging out (haha) to know who won the giveaway for May.

buttons used in secret sewing

Random Generator please give us a number. The fourth post of the month was drawn first....."A little Retail Therapy" and 7 of you left a comment for me so which one did Random Generator pick out.

It was number 5....my good pal SUSAN from Susan's Sewing Space

Congratulations Susan, I will be sending you a little surprise in the mail as soon as I get your snail mail address.

For everyone else......Thank you so much for ALL your sweet, kind comments throughout the month. I really do appreciate each every one of you for taking the time to read my posts and for leaving a comment for me.

Fat Quarter Swap - May

This month was my first swap and  co-ordinator, Cathy from Cathy's Sewing Room was kind enough to swap with me as I had joined after the swap allocation.  This month was Receivers choice and I gave Cathy these keywords to help her make a selection:  Girly, Pretty, Romantic.  Cathy sent me

and Cathy asked me to surprise her (as long as it wasn't Childrens Novelty patterns) so after reading about Cathy's likes and dislikes I sent

 This is so much fun.  I loved finding just the right fabrics and putting the package together, getting my own squishy in the mail, oohing and aahing about the contents and adding it to my stash while I think about how I can use it. Bring on June!

 

Curiosity killed the cat

Well fortunately that is not true today but I was a bit concerned when I saw what was upsetting my furbabies so much this morning.  We had a visitor and the girls were not too happy about it. 

Neighbours who have recently moved in have a cat that is very adventurous and quite curious. The commotion woke me up and I was suprised that this guy did not take off in a hurry since an aggressive (hackles up) boofy labrador was trying to climb the fence to grab it. The barking and hissing and whining (from Lila) was deafening.

The photo above was taken when they had calmed down after I approached the kitty and was patting it.

Wonder if another visit will be on the cards any time soon!


 boofy [ˈbʊfɪ] adj Austral informal 
1. muscular and strong but silly
2. (of the hair) voluminous 
3. puffed out boofy sleeves

His name in lights

I don't normally share my families identities here on my blog but I am just so darn excited! A few months ago, my son Ted, had a short story accepted for publication in Voiceworks Magazine. It is an Arty Magazine specifically for short stories and poetry.

 As soon as the mag was printed and available, we ordered two copies.  One for him to keep and one for his very proud mum & dad.

 I haven't had time to read it yet as I got home from a very hectic workday at 6pm to find it had arrived in the mail.

 I am really so happy for him.  He has been interested in doing this for a number of years now and even though he has a published e-book, this is so much more exposure for him.

 All the published contributors names are on the back cover.....looks like his name in lights!

Shh, secret stuff happening

Doing a little secret sewing while I watch Criminal Minds.

Keeping Busy

I did spend most of my time in the Creation Station today. It was a great day for doing so as it was mainly overcast and a little rainy earlier on. I revisited my fabric bolt storage and, believe it or not, I have found yet another method of creating fabric bolts. I am determined to get this right!

  Not that I didn't like my spare cardboard wrapped in contact but the boxes were changed up a bit and the colour was not doing it for me (even wrapped in contact) and the contact was hard to find. Whatever happened to the stuff that my mum used to line her kitchen cupboards with??

Because of this, I decided to play with other options.  One of those options was foam core board with is obtainable from the Art shop.  I loved it but could only get 5 bolts out of one A2 board and one of those 5 was taped together scraps. You can imagine my delight when I went to Bunnings with my daughter to find HUGE sheets for the same cost as the A2 boards.

I got 21 bolts out of this board which works out at 33c per bolt. That is good enough for me so I am sticking with this option and I promise I won't revisit this dilemma again.

The beauty of foam core board is that it is easy to cut and since I don't have to wrap it in contact which is a tricky procedure,  it is much quicker to get my fabric rolled on. If you decided to follow my lead and use the foam core boards to organise your fabric let me give you a hint or two.

 Firstly, you can find this stuff at your local hardware store (Bunnings, for me) around where you find the sheets of mdf or particle board and it comes in various thicknesses as well.  I picked the cheapest of the lot and find that it does the job just fine.  When it comes to cutting, I found (the hard way) that it is easiest to make the long cuts following the natural line (see picture above) and as you can also see, I used a teeny tiny cutting knife and it was not a problem at all.

So, because of that brilliant idea that came to me in the small hours of a sleepless night (does anyone else suffer from that) I was able to get 42 mini bolts of fabric into my glass fronted cabinet.

 

 

Sunday Stitching

I did it! I made a vow to finish the stitching for block 3 of Tails of a Feather on Mothers Day and it is done.

 I am so far ahead with my goals this month so tomorrow I am going to start with my secret sewing for Christmas in July swap.