Showing posts with label SHOPPING IS AN ADDICTION. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SHOPPING IS AN ADDICTION. Show all posts

Thursday, August 16, 2012

This week..16th August, 2012...Oh, who am I kidding?

This month...the past 4 weeks...

...My children are being overly gracious and very forth coming
with their "thank you"s for taxi driving them,
letting them go to the school disco
and even for their dinner.
All that whinging about not being appreciated
seems to have finally paid off.

JAS 2012

...We can attest that yes, indeed, live in Australia
and kangaroos will hop down the city streets.
Well, at least, koalas might climb (and pee in) your gum tree.

Little Boozle 2012

Little Winifred tunic-
Sarah Ronchetti

...Doing Zumba with a chair somehow makes me feel like I am pole dancing

...I am wondering if you can get banned from entering California if you arrive
with tan-free legs.

(mirror.co.uk)

...My oldest asked "Who won the Olympic Games?"
It is so good to see the end of that stupid Olympic Medal tally
where nothing counts but how many gold have been won.
How can society and the media dare make these athletes who are the best in their countries and the world
feel like a failure because they haven't won an Olympic medal,
let alone a gold one?

blog 2012

blog 2012

...I went on my annual interstate road trip
complete with op shopping, loads of wine and chocolate,
late nights and the company of gorgeous like-minded crafters.

(creativequiltkits.com)

...I am bemused that a fabric line called "Down Under" (Mint Blosssom Studio) has prints of  Kiwis
and, according to one review,  "spiny ant-eaters" on it.

(uncrate.com)

...the more that I think about my family in a 30 foot RV travelling around the Grand Canyon,
the more I worry that we will end up channelling the Griswolds from a National Lampoon's Vacation movie.

Little Boozle 2012

Liesl cardigan-
Ysolda Teague

...I finally beat my nemesis in the knitting pattern world
but I never want to make it again.

Little Boozle 2012

Little Boozle 2012
Funky Pants- Crafty Mamas

...I have been sewing. Lots.

...School bullies suck
and I want to take my beautiful boy,
smother him with hugs
and turn back time
so that he (and I) don't have to face the crap that comes with growing up
out there in the big, wide world just yet.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

This Week...28th June, 2012


Little Boozle 2012

...It has been about fingerless mitts...



Little Boozle 2012

(Camp Out Fingerless Mitts)

Little Boozle 2012

...my coffee machine demanded to be descaled again
after only 2 weeks.
Methinks I have a coffee addiction problem.

...Mr Boozle and I had 4 child-free days in Melbourne for my 20 year
Uni reunion.

AMJ 2012

...We wandered...

blog 2012

...We shopped...

AMJ 2012

(OK I mostly shopped
while the Mr played Angry Birds
or stood outside shops with other husbands)


AMJ 2012


...I had forgotten how much I missed those trams...

AMJ 2012

...We caught up with old friends from Uni,
very old friends from high school
and friends who moved away last year...

AMJ 2012

...We had (very, very) late nights,
quiet mornings dozing,
too much wine
and probably didn't miss the kids
half as much as we should have...

AMJ 2012

...Our son lost his third fish to DBUC
("death by unknown causes")
in as many weeks
and is totally disheartened...

AMJ 2012

...Our youngest finished kindy
and is ready for school.

I am a little teary and she is not.

I am not sure why I am being emotional
as I more than ready for her to go to school
and so is she.

These bloody irrational maternal emotions.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

A very sweet (re)treat.

(and a really fun road trip)

IMG_5231

I am a bit slow getting back into the swing of things.

That might well be because a 4 day trip away,
involving some gorgeous women,
lots of sewing, chatter and coffee,
a handful of op shops
and the most fun you can have on a road trip (and back)
from Adelaide to Bacchus Marsh,
made it very difficult to return to the reality of
cooking dinner. helping with homework and getting woken at 6am every morning.

While it was great to come home to sleep in my own bed
(oh, yeah, and meet and greet the hubby and kids),
the 2nd Annual Crafty Mamas retreat 2010
was as much fun as you could hope for.

4 of us South Aussie girls piled into a car
(now affectionately dubbed The Tardis
as she seemed to cope with everything that we bought at the op shop
in spite of the fact that she seemed full of stuff already)
and ventured over the border.

Little Boozle 2010

We stayed the night in Horsham
(visiting Spotlight,
as you do,
when you have just travelled 6 hours in a car
but when the sewing gods are smiling at you
and give you a quilting evening with late night shopping and great discounts,
what can you do?)

Little Boozle 2010

Then enjoyed a leisurely morning of op shopping
and made it mid avo to Sunnystones.

IMG_5229

Set up more for school camps than us crafting mums,
it was perfect.
Casual, meals provided,
ample beds and bathrooms,
log fires.
Rumour has it that it was lovely outside
but we wouldn't know.
We didn't get that far.

IMG_5243

2 days of sewing and crafting,
eating and drinking,
talking and laughing,
learning and teaching,
discussing and supporting.

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Everything that I have come to expect from these lovely women
whom I know so well on line
and am getting to know so well in real life.

IMG_5209

(See I did get some sewing done!)

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Here's to the next one, girls!


Thursday, October 29, 2009

Adventurous Sewing

Japanese pattern books

I must admit to a love/hate relationship with Japan. After all a country that is responsible for foisting Pokemon and Hello Kitty on the world is not easily forgiven.
But then I adore the traditional Chiyogami (or Yuzen) papers. And a place that prints such beautiful and cute fabrics and sewing tape such as those by Kokka has a definate place in my heart.
And I don't need to mention the plethora of cherry blossomed fabrics, papers and the like. Can't go past a lovely cherry blossom print.
But then one of their food delicacies is eating a puffy fish which could kill you. (But then we eat the good old Aussie meat pie which one could argue is no different)
But then they created sushi.
But...
OK I could go on.
Anyhow, a couple of years back I splurged on a Japanese sewing book. Cost a bomb when shipping was included. But there is something elegant and quirky about the books that I adore.
So one of my discoveries for 2009 is yesasia.com. Prices are in American dollars but the books come with free international shipping. Suddenly they are a heck of a lot more reasonable, especially with the current strength of the Australian dollar. You need to know a bit about which book you want unless you are a fluent Japanese reader (I must have skipped that morning at school) and you will scroll through a lot of pages but if you know that book cover that you want and it's there, it's the cheapest way I have found to buy them.
My 3 purchases arrived today, perfectly packaged.

Sewing 2009

Sewing 2009
Sewing 2009
Sewing 2009
Sewing 2009
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Sewing 2009
These aren't for the faint of heart. As you can see, there is not any English to speak of. But it keeps sewing exciting to have an adventure every now and then doesn't it?
(My 1st project is going to be the little girl's dress on the cover. I've adored it from afar for ages!)

Thursday, October 8, 2009

My favourite thing # 17

When the postie arrives laden with goodies AFTER hubby has left for work!

It's when he arrives before hubby has left, that it becomes a bit less enjoyable. You know,. the explaining and all that...

Today I had 2 fabric parcels arrive. Lucky me!

I am not a fan of Kaffe Fassett fabric. No designs have ever really grabbed me. I do, however, have a thing for roses. So when I saw this stunning fabric, I started visualising skirts and bags and...

Little Boozle 2009
English roses in red

Little Boozle 2009
English roses in blue

And then the truly stunning,
Little Boozle 2009
Russian roses in black

My other parcel was part of my quest to find some great "boy" knits, now that I am sewing tees and the like for my boys. But I had to make the most of the postal charges so there might also be a couple for my daughter and me...

Little Boozle 2009

Little Boozle 2009

Little Boozle 2009
All courtesy of The Fabric Fairy (USA)

Ah, I can sleep easy now. I don't think I am expecting anything else at the moment that warrants subterfuge...

Friday, July 31, 2009

Definition of heaven?

Equals a gorgeous fabric delivery!

I have been eyeing off a floral paisley Stenzo fabric for nearly a year but have been put off by the cost of the fabric and the delivery charges to post it from the USA. However, with a sale on at Banberry Place, an improving Australian dollar and a freebie pattern on offer, who can blame a girl for succumbing! Heck, I was so excited when my parcel arrived this morning, I actually showed the fabric to hubby instead of discretely manouvering it out of his line of vision!

So here are my gorgeous fabrics. Seriously they are everything that I expected them to be after drooling over them on my computer screen. The choice and range was reduced as they were end of season but no complaints from this little black duck!

Little Boozle 2009
2 poplins

Little Boozle 2009
poplin detail

Little Boozle 2009
knit and cord

Sorry. Can't stay. Just want to go and look at them a bit more! They are giving me an adrenalin rush. I nearly took them to the kids' swimming lesson this morning as I couldn't bear to be parted from them...

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Binding Bliss

Another yummy parcel from my postie!

OK So I am in love with my postman.

Today he delivered these goodies from the Netherlands courtesy of the friendly Noor of Holland Fabric House on etsy.

Little Boozle 2009

Little Boozle 2009

Beautiful bias bindings with a crocheted edge. Can't wait to use them for something...then again maybe I'll just sit and look at them!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Autumn recession busting...

(single handledly!)

Mmmm, I have just looked at the (mainly on-line) shopping that I have done over the past few months and realised that I have surely contributed to the fact that the Australian economy isn't going bust.

So I feel the need to share, show off and most importantly cleanse myself of this bout of crafty shopping guilt - in prep for next time. Shhhhhhhhhhhhh!

First weakness- patterns! I only discovered the world beyond mainstream commercial patterns when I found Crafty Mamas last year. Boy, oh, boy- I didn't know about this world of boutique patterns out there! The only "commercial" pattern I have bought since entering this new world is a vintage reprint of a Butterick from ebay-soon to be sewn up as part of a vintage pattern sewalong at the Crafty Mamas forum.

A lot of the crafty mums at the forum are enamoured by Enid Gilchrist's many baby and children's pattern books. But I only just discovered that she did women's as well...and scored this from ebay.

Sewing 2009 001

Onion has some lovely patterns! Another Euro discovery. Most are also available with an English translation sent via email once you purchase the pattern.

Sewing 2009 012

Second weakness: embellishments. These are some gorgeous Farbenmix ribbons stocked in the Crafty Mamas shop.

Sewing 2009 008

No need to point out that I am also a sucker for fabric. One quilting cotton that I purchased was Michael Miller's "Hanging Cages". (I don't love the concept of birds in cages but some of the doors are open) This fabric is all for me! I visualise a jacket in a plain fabric with this fabric as eg jacket band and cuffs. We'll see...

Sewing 2009 002

And I have just discovered knit sewing. Another stash in the making.
Most of these are for my little girl but a couple I bought (like the chocolate/pink/blue rose one) are for me! These were bought at The Fabric Fairy in the USA.

Sewing 2009 005

Sewing 2009 006

I impulse bought this "nappy" bag last week at a local sale. To me it is a "crochet project" bag. A couple of local school mums run a business called Skedaddle which sells a variety of (mainly Australian made) goodies like children's hats, back packs, nappy bags, hair accessories, jewellery, lunch boxes. They had an end of season sale which happened to be in the next street on a morning when my mum was visiting and I only had one child in tow (fate or what?) But seriously, I do like to support small businesses. I bought a few things that were seconds and marked down but this medium sized nappy knapsack was just perfect for carrying along crochet projects when I am on the move. It is in cherry blossom which I adore, peach skin which is yummy and has little straps that you can externalise so it will strap onto a pram. It was in perfect condition; just ex-display and a bargain!

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And lastly I cannot resist vintage...well, anything really! I scored enough of this divine pattern green velvet off ebay to make myself a coat or a jacket. Now I am just too scared to cut it!

Sewing 2009 018

Ah, I feel much better now. Good to get things off your chest.

If I was a stay at home mum with 3 kids but no computer, we'd save heaps.

Oh, wait, what is that selling on ebay? It looks yummy........better check it out........hate to miss a bargain! Bye!