Ahoy there, Captain

I can't look at a plain tee shirt now without envisioning what I can stencil onto it! This green striper said "Pirate" to me. I'm not sure this is totally what I was after, but it was a great stencil so I had to use it. Maybe it needs some text below? What do you think?

A dear little house....

I love this house so much! I've been wanting to make one for ages now, and finally realised that I had a perfect opportunity - a little friend turned one yesterday!

I finished it in time for Ollie to present it to the birthday girl at her party, but I have taken it home to embellish it some more! I'd like to applique some windows, and perhaps a few flowers.
I have set myself a deadline - Wednesday. If I've done nothing more by then, I never will (always the procrastinator!), and I'll just hand it back for her to enjoy as is.

The tutorial can be found free online here by this clever lady. She has some really lovely tutorials, check them out.

Please don't forget that all proceeds from my etsy store are still being donated to the Victorian Bushfires Appeal via the Red Cross. I had a flurry of activity in the first week, so thank you to all who visited the store!

Amitie Fabrics

Remember this fabric I received in the Amitie blog VIP mail-out? I finally cut into it to make this sweet little elephant from More Softies. 

The elephant is a gift for a very sweet 12 year old. She was suitably impressed with both the elephant, and the chocolate mud cake covered in a delicious ganache that I also made for her!
Speaking of the Amitie blog VIP mail-out, this fabric arrived this week from Amitie. It's a delightfully bright collection of good sized scraps. I feel the need to make up a lap sized quilt with it, but that would involve an investment of more fabric....

I'm loving the colourful stripes and the red leafy one on top.

Spotlight VIP alert!

Random Photo

Has everyone received the latest VIP voucher from Spotlight? Valid until Saturday 21st of Feb, it gives you $40 off if you spend over $100 in one transaction (and using your VIP card). If you don't have it in the mail, it's available online here.

Handmade Help

I am floored by the generosity of people! I just spied the total donated thus far at Handmade Help, and it's getting very close to $4,000!

Thank you again to everyone who bought something from my etsy store - I made a second donation to the red cross today, so my store total is now $260! Amazing!

Re-stashing a crafter or two...

This bag will be filled with crafty goodies to donate to the Re-stash a Crafter Project at Handmade Help.
I've used the Charming Bag pattern from Amy Karol's BTRS Book.

One down, hopefully I'll finish another three tonight...

Love Birds

These little chickies will soon be on their way to some kids who have lost everything in the fires.

They were made using this pattern, only I made 3 in one go by cutting big long strips instead of smaller rectangles (see below).
They'll each be popping their little heads out of a bag like the one below, all of which will be filled with bits and pieces to keep the kids occupied.
If you haven't already, go to Handmade Help to find out more ways to help out.

Etsy Store Update

Thank you to everyone who has purchased something from my etsy store in the last week. Earlier in the week I was able to donate $120 to the Red Cross Bushfires Appeal. I have a further $55 ready to donate - I'm just waiting on another payment from a customer before I donate that lot.

I've just updated the store with some more items, including these gorgeous crayon and texta rolls. I've chosen some more masculine colours, since everything else in my store is a bit girly!
Remember that all of the proceeds from the sale of items in my etsy store go straight to the Red Cross Victorian Bushfires Appeal! So not only will you be contributing to a very worthy cause, you'll be sent a lovely handmade item. Postage within Australia is free, too!

Etsy Treasury!

I don't know how everyone else gets a screen shot from etsy on their blog. One of my little dresses has made it onto an etsy treasury here. Some really gorgeous bags up there, too.

Raising money...

....for the Victorian Bushfires 2009 Appeal.

Thank you so much to those of you who have already purchased something from my etsy store. 
So far we have raised $96.15, and I'm just about to add these doll's quilts to the store.
Remember that 100% of the money raised in my etsy store at the moment will go straight to the Bushfire Appeal.
The doll's quilt each have a panel (Hop, Skip and a Jump) from Denyse Schmidt Quilts. I actually sewed up the panels a few years ago, but they don't go as well with my original palette as I had hoped, so I thought this was a perfect way to use them up. 

I am, of course, a beginner quilter, so the quality of the doll's quilts has improved as I make them (it's really only the binding which gave me trouble to begin with - now I can do it!!). The pricing in my etsy stores will therefore reflect this.

Victorian Bushfires Appeal 2009

As I'm sure many of you know, Victoria Australia is experiencing our most devastating bushfires ever. Curlypops has links for those wishing to donate handmade toys to those children who have lost everything.

Image taken from theage.com.au

In the meantime donations of money are needed now. You can donate at the Victorian Bushfires 2009 Appeal.

For my part, I've decided that all money made from the sale of items in my etsy store will be donated to the Victorian Bushfires Appeal. The sale includes all stock currently in my etsy store, and I will also update the store during this week as I make more items. Items sold within Australia will have free postage.

Ripple Blanket - where to start

I've only been crocheting since August 2008, so I'm not much of a crocheter - yet! I'm good at granny squares, but don't really know much else. Someone has asked me for a tutorial for the ripple blanket I've just started. I don't think I'm experienced enough to be making tutorials, as I'm still a beginner, but I will share with you all the help that I've found online.

I've loosely followed these two patterns: SusanB's Easy Ripple Afghan and the Anna Ripple Afghan. The Susan B Afghan pattern advises that you "Chain a multiple of 16 stitches plus 2 stitches. For a 40 inch wide afghan, chain 130. For a 55 inch wide afghan, chain 178". I think I chained about 243 stitches to start with (15 x 16 stitches, plus 3 stitches, as I'm working my blanket in UK trebles).

To learn how to increase and decrease stitches, I have been using a folder full of weekly magazines from the late 70's/early 80's (found in an op shop) called Stitch by Stitch. If you haven't decreased or increased before, have a look on Youtube.

I'm using 8ply cotton, four colours of which are from the Bendigo Woollen Mills (Honeydew, New Ochre, Light Teal and Parchment) and the fifth colour is an Heirloom 8ply Cotton in blue (colour 684, maybe??). I'm using the recommended 4mm crochet hook size.

I hope that's helpful to anyone who is thinking of making a ripple blanket. It is so so easy to do, less complicated than the granny squares. Why not start out making a baby blanket - or even a doll size blanket? Let me know if you do, I'd love to see how you go!

Sunday Stash - birch forest

This is one of my all-time fave prints, so I was super excited to find Lara has done it in red on a natural coloured base cloth. Some of it is destined to become part of a skirt for me, the rest...who knows.

Find the rest of the stashers at Tamara's place.

Ripple Blanket

You've no doubt all heard about (or experienced) the ridiculously hot heat wave we've had here in Melbourne ( and other parts of the country). The only crafting I managed during this week was a bit of crochet on this Ripple Blanket I'm making for my niece's birthday. I've been plonked on the couch, feet in a bucket of iced water, fan on, crocheting away. Oh, and reading posts like this in an effort to feel cooler.