Hipstamatic groupie

I have just been reading a recent post over at My Folk Lover where Catherine talks about her love of the Hipstamatic. I had to share. I downloaded the app for my iphone a few months ago, and just love playing around with it. Partly I like that it is like looking through an older style camera, but the effects you can create are fab. If you are a fan too can you please share your links in the comments? I'd love to see.

Have you seen this girl?

Whizzme blog is putting out this alert for its owner. As it has now been some months since our last post our concern for our owner has increased.

Last seen crocheting granny squares. Samantha has shoulder length dark brown hair (often unbrushed), grey eyes with dark smudges underneath from a bad nights sleep. Often accompanied by Miss Whizzme or Wally dog. If you see her in your travels please encourage her to return to her forgotten blog home.

The thing is...

it seems that no matter how good my intentions, new year resolutions or personal goal setting is this liitle blog is continually neglected. So I thought I'd come clean to you the few folks who loyally pop back on the rare occassions a post appears. Life at the moment has taken a turn that I hadn't seen coming, was ill prepared for but excited to take. As those of you who have been with me for a while know, for the past few years I have been involved with PANDA.
I started there as a volunteer counsellor, moved to working admin 2 days a week until august last year I was given the opportunity to oversee a funded project for a year. This role change has been exciting and challenging but most of all it has brought about some readjustments for the Whizzme clan. Now at work 4 days a week, I find very little time to do any crafting, let alone reading, writing or browsing! It seems the project has slowly consumed my mental capacity leaving little at the moment for my personal pursuits. I am frequently frustrated by this, sometimes even angry but on the whole I am resigned to the fact that it is a temporary situation. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the work, and even passionate about its creation, I just wish I could fit a little more 'me' into each day! Miss Whizzme has been most effected by the role change. She often voices her longing for the mum who was constantly available, attended all school events and was free during holidays. This too pulls at my heart, and sometimes makes me wonder about my choices. The realist in me however, is quick to remind me of all the pluses this involvement has brought; self-esteem, use of my latent degree, challenging new content and overall a deep satisfaction of creating something that will be useful for the wider community. I guess what I am hoping you my loyal reader will understand, that for the present this little blog will be altered from its original crafty purpose. I will post when I can. I will share what I can, but I can't promise any creative content for the time being! I hope when the project ends that my dreams of bringing you more creative pursuits might be possible. Until then, thanks again for sticking around.

Miss Whizzme Grows Up

On Monday Miss Whizzme turned 7. It is hard to believe it is already seven years since we welcomed our new little bundle into our family. And it still amazes me just how much they learn and change in this relatively short time. Mr Whizzme & I often look at each other and say "she goes well"! Who knew parents could get so soppy?!

Our little girl is becoming quite the individual, showing her personality more each day: the scientist with a love of facts and research, the actor who can play any role time and her toys require, the adventurer who has a curiosity for new experiences yet wisely assessing the risks beforehand, the circus performer, the budding author, the open minded friend. It continually fascinates me to see another facet revealed. It also sometimes overwhelms with the love I have for this little person- somedays it is like my heart swells to the size of my chest. Being a parent is just a fantastic job.

So I figure that by writing this post the next time Miss Whizzme decides to make something from my newly purchased fabric, or use kitchen utensils to unearth discoveries in the backyard, it will remind that it is part of growing up!

Now I must run and pack: the Whizzmes are off to camp at Port Fairy. Happy Easter.

Posted with LifeCast

reFashioning Fun

My feet hurt, I think I might be a bit smelly, but I have had the best fun today! I have spent the last two days at the Stitches and Craft Show here in Melbourne.  No, not buying, although there are plenty of things to tempt you (see below for more on that).  But playing working on the Wardrobe Refashion stall. You may already know all about Wardrobe Refashion, but if not I'm sure you will know the creative genius behind it Nichola, Nikkishell.  I have had such a good time making things, brainstorming and seeing people walk away with their creations.  These are just a few of the creations but there were so many amazing items.  

I'm back there saturday, so if you are going to the show be sure to come past so we can sew up a storm together.  And you can see even more creations here. But for now I am off to sit and watch some Friday night TV with some takeaway from the local asian restaurant. 

Listed below are just some of my favourites you will find at the show:

Shannon

Justine

Jodie

Fiona

Cheeky Beaks

ink & spindle

One Red Robin

Amitie

Thread Den

and you must see Handmade Nation.

not all talk

1. melways cover, 2. owls looking at you, 3. new top, 4. quick skirt, 5. new dresses, 6. she wore flowers in her hair, 7. pirate, 8. alice in wonderland, 9. keeping me warm, 10. nightdress, 11. superhero, 12. take away art

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

I have promised for over a month now to show the crafting that went on during the summer holidays, and at last I am making good.  Miss Whizzme is home from school today with a slight fever.  This means a lot of colouring in, watching Charlie & Lola and eating cinnamon toast.  It also means that I have been able to finally organise and upload all our holiday picks - phew what a task. You can click on the links to see further details of each project. See, I'm not all talk! sometimes I even get stuff done.

If you are not interested in crafty things, then maybe you might want to check out my summer op shop finds.  Or maybe you would just like to see how good a dog's life can be....

i've been a little bit naughty*

(photo by Carlos Porto, found on flickr)

Books, books, and more books.  In case you hadn't noticed I really love books. I did a quick scan and realise that there have been 14 previous posts on books.  There have also been some photos supplying evidence of my book collections.  But there is no such thing as too many books. Well not in my world anyway, and, thankfully Mr Whizzme has nothing to say on this subject (which is quite amazing given how much he has to say on most other things!)  Anyway, today I discovered a like minded soul who likes to have several books on 'the go'.  Over the years I have been asked about this bigamous reading habit a lot.  I know many people prefer to read one book at a time, cover to cover, until beginning the next.  And, yes, sometimes I do too.  But generally, I like to have a selection next to the bed, so that no matter what mood takes me, I have a suitable book.  Don't get me wrong, this habit can have its down sides;  it can take a long time to finish a book,  sometimes I have to re-read bits because I've forgotten the gist of the story line between readings, and some books can sit on the bedside stack never being chosen, forgotten, neglected, buried beneath more recent purchases.  Our discussion of this phenomena led to confessions of the books we currently have waiting for their reading moment.  I thought this would make a interesting meme (and has probably been done before but I missed it).  So, in no particular order here is my list of current books that keep me company in bed.

• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (about a third read, my favourite read this week)
• A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Sonit (purchased after reading about it on Keri's blog, and have been randomly reading chapters)
• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (recently finished and kept because I still have book questions to answer)
• The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall (recent purchase - not yet started)
• The Dressmaker's Daughter (another recent purchase not yet started)
• The Art of Domesiticity by Jane Brocket (about 2/3 read, my second favourite read this week)
• Australian Story - off the record (also a recent purchase not yet read)
• The Meaning of the Night by Michael Cox (bought from the secondhand bookstore because it looked good, but haven't started it yet)
• The Bay by Di Morrissey (present from Mum at Christmas, but haven't looked at yet)
• The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (a favourite of mine, and there in case I need a book to read to Miss Whizzme when she is sharing my bed if Mr Whizzme is out of town)
• A Vintage Ladybird Annual (same as above)
• The Passionate Shopper by Marion van Alderstein (a gift from Mr Whizzme that I love dipping into)
• Agatha Christie by Andy Easts (a vintage quiz book given to me by a friend who knows how much I love the queen of crime although the quizzes are quite hard!)
• On Friendship by Michel de Montaigne (a gift from the best friend - I just like looking at the cover)
• A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf (also a gift from the best friend, but have only read a few pages so far)
• Crochet Handmade Style (a little inspiration, and for when I'm too tired for words)
• It's in the details by Lucinda Ganderton (there for the same reason as the previous book)
• Book Lust by Nancy Pearl (in case I'm hunting for a particular book)
• So Many Books so Little Time by Sara Nelson (purchased a long time ago, keep meaning to read it one of those buried at the bottom of the pile books)
• Then there is the magazine pile which includes the lastest issue of Frankie, the last few issues of Dumbo Feather, some Marie Claires, an Australian Country Style, and an older issue of Home Companion.
  

Phew! No wonder my little reading light's batteries keep needing replacement!

Well, that's me, now I wonder what these people have on their bedside tables?

Stacey, Jodie, Martine

or feel free to play, but please let me know so I can check it out too.

*If you are Mr Whizzme don't read any further because it good cause you some distress.

I visited one of my favourite, very well stocked, book stores today and spent a while in absolute bliss finding new titles to add to my book list.  In fact, the sales assistant was feeding me so many 'have you seen this one' titles even I became a little overwhelmed. So, it probably would come as no surprise to learn that this visit unearthed two titles which have been burning holes in my book list for a while now.  They. Had. To. Be. Purchased.  I know you understand...

recovering

you and me both! You from reading that last mammoth post - sorry about that - too much tea that day I think!
I'm recovering from helping a very talented gal at her first market. It was a ball, but my legs are pretty tired today, and I must say the brain is functioning pretty slowly!! Of course we made lots of sales, because who wouldn't want their own Aunty Cookie masterpiece-right?! And we met lots and lots of fellow bloggers, which was quite exciting - a bonus of being an Aunty Cookie roadie! A couple days to recover and once again catch up on bloglines then I should be ready to share the latest sewing expedition with you. A bit of a pattern test run. While you wait - go check out the new flickr group for showing off aunty cookie fabric inspiration.

eye candy

originally uploaded by whizzme.

1. autumn leaf, 2. Finished!, 3. wip, 4. paperbag swag swap kristin's book 2 closeup (right side), 5. Untitled, 6. Lily's Christmas doll, 7. niñalvientoconflores, 8. adoption february, 9. happy spring (i think)!, 10. Untitled, 11. clara cards, 12. models martha, 13. Doll Quilt, 14. Robots, 15. Polar, 16. tangency

So I'm still enjoying having my partner home, and Miss L is just daddy focused, which means I can get some crafting done again. Yay! But because I still don't have any of my own pics to show you, (and really because I've been spending too much time browsing) I thought I'd show you some of the wonderful treats my eyes have been feasting on. I promise a real up-to-date crafting post soon. Until then, enjoy.

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

scrawl

scrawl

This is all I can manage today. Miss L and Miss V have extracted all my energy. I was quietly catching up with my bloglines when I read this at aunty cookie and thought I could just manage that without moving. (thanks Shannon) So excuse the fuzzy photo, but used the camera phone. I did this morning manage some fabric pouches, but more about this later.... how I love a rainy weekend for doing some craftiness.