My first Blog Award!

My friend Hannah over at http://www.hannahmshaw.com/ gave me a blog award! I am really excited as this is my first ever blog award!

“This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

I am supposed to pass this award onto 8 wonderful people, but in the spirit of the award I have only selected 6 people that have been very supportive and kind to me and saved me from talking to cyberspace! This award is passed on to:

1. http://madebylova.wordpress.com/

2. http://zenforyou.dalefg.net/

3. http://appelligartafamily.blogspot.com/

4. http://sewkalico.blogspot.com/

5. http://theindecisivepinay.wordpress.com/

6. http://majik078.blogspot.com/

Ladies, you all deserve this award for being considered blog friends and leaving kind comments! Pass this award on to other blogger friends!

Creative Swap update

What a lovely birthday surprize to find this parcel in my post yesterday! Tulsi, my swap partner in the Creative Swap, sent me the most fabulous stuff!


I am crazy about the brown fabric with pink flowers and butterflies on it! Tulsi even sent me matching plain pink fabric and brown thread! The yellow fabric also came with matching thread and is ideal for my kitchen I am re-doing in yellow. I also received two handbag patterns! cannot wait to make them!



A box of cereal with all my favorite ingredients that I will be enjoying soon and a lovely card with a handwritten note inside. Thank you so much Tulsi! I LOVE everything in my parcel! I appreciate all the trouble you went to to get me stuff that I like.

Seams to Me projects

I recently did a review on my blog about this book by designer Anna Maria Horner. I love this book more and more every day! Within hours after receiving it I was busy making the Taxi Tote featured inside! What a fabulously simple and pretty bag this is!

Here is my first attempt at it with pretty pink and blue material. I had such fun making it that I have cut out another two already! The full size patterns in the book makes it possible to start a project immediately. With this one I used a stiff interfacing which I will not repeat in the next two. I think this bag is meant to be a bit floppy.

This is a view of the inside of the bag. I used a lovely pink gingham inside that matches the pink flowers on the outside fabric. The loop and large covered button matches the inside fabric. I put more pockets inside than the pattern requires and I have made the next two smaller than the first bag. The bigger my bag, the more stuff I tend to put inside!

Birthday fun!

I had a great birthday yesterday! Spoiled by the men in my life with fabulous presents. We had a few family members over for tea and visited until late. On the weekend I was trying to finish a few projects to show off at my birthday. I only managed to complete one item though. Here is a picture of my new tray cloth complementing my new set of yellow mugs with ladybugs on them.

I found a tutorial on the internet to crochet the edge of your tray cloth or it can be used for placemats and napkins as well. Not very clear on the photo but I embroidered the edge with a blanket stitch in yellow embroidery thread and used a stiff interfacing inside. I found this fabulous yellow fabric last weekend at my favorite habberdashery shop.

I have also cut out placemats, coasters and a stunning tablecloth with a frilled edge from this fabric but did not finish it. I cannot decide on the embellishments...

I also bought foam to make some cushions for our lapa (outside entertainment area). The other night I found this small piece of home dec fabric in my stash that was ideal for the cushions. This was a quick, fun project to make.

This is an oilcloth tablecloth I am busy with for the outside table. I am busy sewing the hem with some cute light blue embroidered lace I bought. I will post a photo of the completed project soon.

The cutest pink flowers from a colleague at work and chocolates from a client for my birthday!

It's my birthday today!

I have not posted for a few days and feel really guilty about it! Although I have been crafting a little bit, I have not taken any photos yet. I have spent some time on making some stuff for our entertainment area since we are getting a few people over for supper tonight to celebrate my birthday. My husband and the boys woke me up at 6am this morning to give me my presents! All craft-related. Lovely! I will share some photos later this week.

Designer Fabric Doggie

I had so much fun making this project! It started off with me buying a book from a local second-hand bookshop. The book was published in 1978 but has some great projects in it. I wanted to make this fabric dog in lilac for a colleague's baby due soon but I decided to first make one for myself. In pink of course!

The original pattern shows the dog made with corduroy and I tried that with the bright pink corduroy shown in the photo as the dog's "cushion". What a mission! The fabric is too thick and turning the body right side out was murder! Not to mention all the fluff this fabric shed all over my room! It was also too large. I had the pattern enlarged as per directions but boy it was big! So I downscaled the size and changed to cotton. The Heather Bailey pink peonies was perfect for it!

A close-up picture of the doggie's collar. I made it from a piece of pink felt and handstitched it and added a little bell I bought at a local fabric store. How cute is this?

A close-up of the doggies face. It is meant as a decorative item for your bed so the doggie is sleeping. Isn't it the cutest little thing? The eyes and nose are made with scrap pieces of felt and handstitched. The nose template is a heart shape. It now naps away in my craft room every day...

Book review: Seams to Me by Anna Maria Horner

Wow! I cannot get enough of this book! My friend Lova at http://madebylova.wordpress.com/ recently posted a review on this book and that prompted me to buy it. I am not sorry at all! Thank you, Lova!

I received the book on Tuesday and that night I was already cutting out the pattern for the Taxi Tote, above. What a lovely bag. And not like anything else I have seen on the internet.

This apron is another favorite. Simple but so different than any other patterns available. I love the BIG fabric-covered buttons! I went to my local fabric store earlier today to buy some buttons for this pattern.

This caddy is another project I plan to make. Really cute and useful. I highly recommend this book to any fabric-crazy person like me! Anna Maria has done a great job with this book. All the projects are old favorites but with a fresh, new twist to it. Lovely pictures and step-by-step instructions on each project. The best of all?

At the back of the book - in a beautiful envelope - are FULL SIZE patterns! I have had so much trouble recently enlarging patterns that this was the utmost GENIUS for me! Overall a fantastic book and I highly recommend it!