Dear Santa

Well it is nearly Christmas Day, and I know I have left it rather late to be writing, but I hope you will still take this note into consideration when tallying up the nice people and not the naughty ones! I have been rather busy of late finishing presents (13 nightdresses, 3 art packs, 3 flower clips, a hooded cape and an Alice in wonderland costume at last count), packing up the car for the trip to Adelaide (presents, swimming gear, dog's gear, food, clothes, dress-ups etc.) and ensuring everybody had plenty of snacks and entertainment for the said car trip. With so much to think about I guess you wouldn't be surprised to learn then that I left two very important presents for Miss Whizzme hidden in the back closet. So, if you could please ensure Miss Whizzme could have something else off her Christmas list this year I promise to take up the baton again next year! I am also hoping that you enjoyed the Christmas singing that took place during our car journey which was in your honour! (Our dog Wally didn't seem too impressed so if you could pop something small into his stocking for being so tolerant of his owners during the 8 hours of car ride, it would be much appreciated). As for myself, I am hoping that the next two days can be enjoyed with much rest, a little eating, a little drinking and some time with my family. If you do seem to have something tucked away for me, I wouldn't mind one of those fairies that come and clean up the house while you are asleep! I have included a few photos for your amusement too. Anyway, travel safe Santa, try not to eat too many cookies and don't forget to rug up warm.

All the best

Samantha



P.s. The winner of this month's giveaway is Annie , but don't worry, I've got that one covered.



P.p.s. I'm not sure when I will get a chance to write again, but I will be thinking of you during the holidays.

oh help!

or how nothing goes to plan part 2

Yes the chaos in the Whizzme household continues.  8 nightdresses were made, finally, after me literally sitting up all night to finish them.  It also involved a lot of swearing at the sewing machine! (and I forgot to take photos - arrgh). In between nightdresses I managed a quick alteration of this dress, so that her highness would be appropriately attired for dress up day.  

(Schools know that last minute dress up days drive parents crazy - don't they?!) I then accompanied Mr Whizzme out to his work dinner that night, having no sleep and wearing my newest high heels (no pain no gain).  With no sleep and little practice at wearing such heels I managed to get through the night with no embarrassing moments (bit of a first for me and work dos).  

Yet, still no chance to relax, because I have chosen this hectic month to change just about every room of our house around!  Crazy? - you bet I am!!  Luckily Mr Whizzme is wise enough to know when it is best to humour is wife!  And, although the main moving is done, I am still sorting, culling and putting away all those books and other very important items we own.  The pile in the shed that is ear marked for our storage unit, is getting larger by the day, and the bag of items for the op shop is now beyond lifting.  Nothing like a spring clean in the middle of chaos I say!!  But now it's back to sewing a few more nightdresses, some craft packs, some costumes and maybe a shirt or two.  We leave for Adelaide next Thursday, so plenty of time!!

For those of you who have asked about PANDA, please see their website for more details.  And thank you for all your encouragement.  I am really enjoying adding this work to my life.  Not that it really feels like work.

Finally, I haven't forgotten the giveaway winner, who for November is

Blackie

Please email me (whizzme (at) bigpond (dot) net (dot)au) your snail mail address, and pant size required.

As for December, there just has to be a giveaway - so last chance to leave a comment and win for 2007.  And no matter if you are crafty or not, every one loves treats, so the December giveaway winner will be receiving a package of choccies and other treats.  Get your name in now!

nothing ever goes to plan

It has been one of those weeks.  Everything happening at once, but nothing much being achieved.  Well actually that is the whizzme household most weeks!  Mr Whizzme's parents drove over from Adelaide to see Miss L's first school concert.  It was lovely, and for a little girl who last year was incredibly shy, this year she danced and sang with the rest of them.  Unfortunately not long after the end of the concert things began to go downhill, so that by the afternoon Miss L was having a major melt-down.  Tears, tantrums, yelling, throwing toys - apparently I have a diva in the making!  I hoping it is just a stage she is going through, as we had more such dramas today at school pick up.

I also attended my last 'scholarly learning' session for the PANDA counselling, as of next week it will be more hands on.  This is a little scary, but also exciting to be finally contributing something back.  I will miss meeting up with 4 other women to discuss and learn about the linking factor in our lives - depression.  It has been another chance to gain strength from a horrible part of my life.

All these goings on have meant that the Lounge Around Pants I have made recently ready for my etsy shop have only today been listed. Phew! nothing like being 5 days late.  Some of you have already responded to the wonderful write up these pants got.  If your little Princess likes to lounge around (and lets face it, who doesn't?!) please check out my new offerings in sizes 0-1 and 1-2 here.

Finally sneaking in at the very end of the month, is the November giveaway.  Thought I had forgotten didn't you?!  This month's winner will receive a pair of custom made Lounge Around Pants for their little Princess, with some added little goodies.  So go ahead, leave me a comment to be in the draw - you have until Monday.

Me - I'll be busy sewing up 8 nightdresses' by next Friday.  End of School for 2007.

not your average joe blogger...

Wally, the not so average dog

I decided a while ago that I wanted to get to know some of the people that stop by here.  I'm often seeing interviews with some of the 'celebrity' crafty bloggers like Wee Wonderfuls, Posie, Nikkishell,  Angry Chicken.  They are inspirational and I love reading about them but, not all of us are having are doors beaten down wanting to know our secrets.  So, here is the first interview with your not so average joe blogger.....

Oh but first of course we have a winner:

David and Melissa

(email me your snail mail to receive your prize: whizzme (at) bigpond (dot) net (dot) au)

Now please read on and meet Linda from Two Pink Possums;

1. Where did your blog name come from? 

I wrote down blog names for weeks in my journal. I knew it would just click when it was the right one! I had possums and pixies in my mind and I have always called my girls "possum" especially when they were little so that seemed natural to use. Of course I have 2 girls so it was Two and because they are girls I added the 'pink" and finally I was happy!

2. What inspires you to blog?

Other bloggers inspire me to blog. Sometimes I don't feel too good and not up to my own blog but I get a lot of enjoyment out of catching up on the blogs of people I have come to know as my online friends. I also like to think of my blog as my online journal and that inspires me to make work either 2d or 3d. It's like a little bit of pressure on myself to keep creating even if I am not well.

3. How often do you read other blogs?

How often I read other blogs really differs from week to week. Sometimes it may be nearly a week and I haven't had a chance or felt like being on the computer so suddenly I feel like it (or have the time)and I am flat out trying to catch up on them all. Other times I try to look at a couple each day. That is ideally the best way for me to do it. I also try to catch up on Flickr as well. I find Flickr is a wonderful online community too.

4. If you could only read one blog, which one would you choose?

If I could only read one blog it would have to be Cindy's 2Paw (the link is fixed thanks de vliegende koe) Cindy is such an entertaining writer. Her blog is always so much fun to read and she is a wonderful knitter too. I love to see her latest creations especially her socks! As you know Sam, knitting socks is something I have down for my next life!!! Cindy lives in Tassie too so it's nice to share that as well as blogging.

5. What's your favourite crafting tool?

My one favourite crafting tool would have to be....??????? very hard to answer. I have stuff everywhere that I couldn't live without, but I would have to say my sewing machine.

6. If you could have your dream job tomorrow, what would it be?

My dream job once would of been a Graphic Artist. That is what I first studied to do a very long time ago, but gave it up after a year. More recently I studied art again majoring in Ceramics and all I wanted was to be able to earn money from it. I had to give that up in the end (after graduating) for health reasons. So now my ideal job would just to be doing exactly what
I am doing now, sewing and drawing and painting when I can but actually get paid for it!! How wonderful that would be!!


How wonderful indeed - my dream too Linda.  A big thanks for being the first interviewee.  I hope you enjoyed meeting Linda.  I plan to have more interviews, maybe one or two a month. 

Now better get ready, off to learn more about counselling.

slacking

Miss L impersonating me.

hi folks, remember me?  

Yep I've been living up to my self given label again and been procrastinating nicely at home.  I really have lots of things to post about, and lots of thank yous to give, and some tags to do and well it all just seems to be a bit much at the moment.  I had a nasty bout of food poisoning last weekend, which has been followed with the preciousness of having that monthly female curse.  If I haven't been about to burst into tears I've been reorganising cupboards and sending things off to the op shop. I am really enjoying the counselling training at PANDA, and it has led to some interesting discussions at home about family beliefs, values, myths we have about ourselves etc.  Miss L seems to be going through some sort of 'phase' ("you don't understand mum")- which involves a lot of tears and dramatics. Boy is she going to be a treat for some therapist later on!! Therefore it may be another week before posting really returns to normal here (whatever normal is!) so I think I might just have time to sneak in the October giveaway.

Leave a comment - anything you want to say - just hello is fine.  I will draw a winner and let you know on the 1st of November.  Good luck.  Oh, and the prize - well, there's a craft book or two and who knows what else I might throw in the lucky winners parcel? maybe some chocolate if I can stop myself from eating it!! 

IF

If I was going to make a Babette blanket I would probably use colours something like this

and my squares would start to look something like this...

but I wouldn't be doing anything so silly as starting another project, so instead here (finally) is the progress I have made on the hexagon blanket:

This blanket is actually the reworking of a wip that was looking like this.

A gorgeous striped cardigan for Miss L in Rowan wool cotton.   Unfortunately, the completed back you see here is a size 2, and given that Miss L is now 5 I might have just left this project a little too late! (now there's an understatement).  There wasn't enough yarn to complete a bigger size so the perfect excuse to start some hexagons.  Miss L is monitoring the blanket's progress quite closely, including sizing it up to her bed!  Nothing like cracking that whip over your mother!!

When my little overseer has retired for the night, I have been trying to still work out a colour way I like for the chevron scarf.  I won't bore you with photo's of all the versions I have tried, but I think I finally like this one - I think!  

And I've also grown attached to this version - in 3 ply hand dyed cashmere (purchased from AK).

So you can see it is really very lucky that I haven't started any other projects this week (she says nudging the Babette blanket under the cushion).  But I know you are really here to find out if you won this month's giveaway.  My helpful little barrel bunny (or bowl bunny as the case may be), Pebble was very excited to be able to choose this month's winner.

The prize is this great book.

And the winner is

so Gwen email me your address - whizzme (at)bigpond(dot)net(au).

Finally, because so many of you have been so lovely about my knitting tote's, there are now 3 available in the shop - all sporting great Aunty Cookie fabric. (hey Jo, look, I finally made something for the shop?!)

Now I hear Miss L saying something about blankets....

hello spring

I know I promised hexagon's but I haven't managed any photo's yet, as once again I have succumbed to another infection - throat this time - no talking?  lucky I can still type!! so here is a little bit of the activity spring has brought.

A finished tote and crochet holdall for the back to school swap.  The swap also included a journal and photo album.  Once again I used my version of the tote from the simple gifts to stitch book - and I lined it. - so much better.

The crochet holdall was  based on an idea from this book.  

ISBN 978-4+415-30004-7

(Ok, a few more japanese craft books seem to have snuck into the house...)

I also added lining to the aunty cookie tote's.

 

doesn't that look better?! the one on the left is now on its way to a new home.

Miss L had a friend over to play so I fashioned the trampoline into a cubby.  This kept them out of my hair amused for hours.  Which meant I could get busy on my quilt for the Four Seasons Swap.  Here is a sneak peak at the fabric's I'm using.  

This is a very new colour way for me, and I'm quite enjoying it.

Meanwhile, I'll still be hexagoning, chevroning, sewing, dreaming, reading, oh wait it's school holidays - there goes all my free time - hmph!

Sorry this post is so short, but if you leave a comment you'll go into the draw for this month's giveaway - the prize will be announced with the winner. (mysterious!!) You have until Monday.

Not up to much - but I have a winner

August Favourites, originally uploaded by whizzme.

This lurgy thing is hanging around which is starting to really annoy me - begone oh dreaded lurgy! It has put a serious dent in any sort of crafty output this week too - begone I tell you, begone. However, I got Miss L today to help me choose a winner..... drum roll please....no just one Miss L..... ok the winner is:

knit_tgz
so send me your postal address for your surprise parcel


Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes. I enjoyed reading what people like to do on their birthday. I now have so many bloglines to catch up with it has become ridiculous. I apologise for my slowness now in visiting and emailing you all, but I am very much the turtle and not the hare at the moment. And because I am yet to upload the weekend photo's I have left you instead with some things that I am loving at the moment.

it's my birthday and I'll give away if I want to...

UPDATE: we are back, and had a lovely time but I have come back with a dreaded lurgy, so please bear with me while I convalesce - back soon.

Yes folks it is another year since I celebrated my fabulous birth - thanks Mum and Dad! So, far it has been a wonderful day, with breakfast and stories in bed provided by Miss L. R gave me two new books, The Passionate Shopper by Marion von Alderstein and Bags: A Lexicon of Style by Valerie Steele and Laird Sorrell. Me thinks the boy is going soft in the head, encouraging my materialistic consumption like that, but I ain't complaining!

Then a sumptuous lunch of lemon risotto and a glass of champagne followed by profiteroles covered in chocolate sauce with my girl friends. Talk about rolling out of there!

Followed by some browsing, and only a small amount of purchasing, just this, this and this, sort of a present to myself, you know!

Cards in the mail, and even a surprise present to be found in the spare room - getting sneaky in your old age Mum!!

Now Miss L and I are happily playing with her latest Felicity Wishes outfits and waiting for R to come home to cook us up a feast - something he has proven to be very good at.

I like my birthday's to go on as long as possible - must be the Leo in me. So, on Friday morning Miss L, R and myself are heading up to the Alpine Country for 3 nights. Fresh local food, frolics in the snow, and cruising the local shops. Something for everyone.

Finally, because I like to give as much as recieve I am having an early giveaway this month. Shrouded in mystery, the winner will receive a goodie bag created uniquely for them. So leave me a comment about what you like on your birthday. When we get back from our little break I will draw a winner. Good Luck - and Mary this even means you - craftiness not required!

P.s. I haven't heard from all the winners of last month's giveaway, so check below to see if you won.

P.p.s I also still have some magazines up for swapping so check here to see if you would like some.

a little bit of this, a little bit of that

so Harry Potter is finished and I'm sad that now there will be no more, but I was satisfied with the ending - don't worry there will be no spoilers here - you'll have to read it for yourself. I guess I'll just wait for the movies now! Anyway, thanks everyone once again for entering the giveaway I wish you could all win, and I have even included an extra prize this month, because I have so many magazines taking up precious space, so here are the winners

please email me your address at whizzme(at)bigpond(dot)net(dot)au so I can send your goodies to you. And for those of you who didn't win this time, there is always next month's giveaway. However, as I do have so many magazines that need to go I have the following magazines available to anyone who is interested to swap or purchase, once again just email me: whizzme(at)bigpond(dot)net(dot)au.

Piecework issues:
2007-July/August, May/June, March/April, January/February
2006 all 5 issues
2005 - March/April
2003 - November/December

US Knitter's issues:
2006-Summer
2005-Spring, Winter, Fall, Summer
2004-Fall

UK Knitting issues:
2006-March
2005-November, August, April, March, February
2004-October/November, April/May, February/March, January/December
2003-October/November

Australian Creative Knitting issues:
1 to 10, 13 & 15

Now, on to some crafting items that were finished before Harry Potter arrived on the scene.

I entered in the second round of the Doll Quilt Swap. This is my finished quilt sent of to my partner.

I was very happy in the end result, which is hand pieced, embroidered and quilted. It isn't the original idea I had for this swap, that little mishap is still sitting waiting to be saved from "stupid thing" pile!
I received a beautiful quilt from Ros in the UK (who studies in the US).


A little project commissioned by Miss L when we were in Wangaratta - a poncho for her elephant. Yes, elephant's get cold too. As it happened I had just that day bought some sock wool and mum had picked up a poncho pattern, so with a little bit of swatch testing and guesstimating it wasn't long before Elle was sporting her new winter wear.


And here is proof of just how much my mother loves me! A wonderful cardigan from Knitscene, with some beautiful wool I purchased a year or two ago from La Lana.

It was originally planned for a shrug from Interweave Knits, but once the wool arrived I wasn't so sure anymore, and had never started. Mum and I flicked through patterns, worked out tensions, wound skeins, re-wound skeins trying to figure out how best to balance out the hand-dyed colours. Unfortunately I cannot show you the finished beautiful product, because my part of the project is the sewing up - ah yeah, any day now!!!

I have so many other projects that are in varying stages of chaos production, but the next two days will be spent sewing with some friends. Catch you soon....Oh and here is Miss L's latest photo shoot.

I don't mean to be rude

But I'm just too busy to spend anytime doing anything else except read the latest Harry Potter book. I really can't concentrate on anything else, so while I'm away discovering who dies etc. I leave you with this month's giveaway.
CRAFT MAGAZINES.
There are 4 categories, and each winner will recieve at least 5 magazines from their chosen topic.

So go ahead, leave a comment and tell me just what you want to be reading.
I will be back on Friday to choose a winner - GOOD LUCK


The images are from the following sites, from top to bottom, secretsof.com, superiorlabels.com, cucitoericamo.com, girlguides.ca.

what do you mean I didn't win?!

No, sis, you didn't - but - there is a bag of yarn heading your way as I write this - OK? :)
Sheesh! the pressure you can get from family!! Only joking.
As for everyone else, I won't keep you in suspense for much longer, but even if you didn't win this time I will be having another giveaway next month - craft books- and I know you all love them, so keep your eye out for it. So, the winners for this month are:


Please ladies send your snail mail details to whizzme(at)bigpond(dot)net(dot)au so I can pop these gifts in the post.
I was going to have a shop update to tempt those of you who weren't so lucky this round, but the light hasn't been great for photo sessions this week. My main task now for next week is to update the shop - I have a few things up my sleeves and um, clogging up the crafting area so I will let you ASAP.

Otherwise, Miss L this week has been keeping me busy with science. Yes, we have been donning our lab coats after school and playing with fire - literally! (all under supervision of course) In fact our experimentation has been so successful Miss L got to show a couple to her class - and suitable ooh's and aah's were given.

Which, reminds of me of this morning's little soiree where there was an abundance of oohing and aahing. I had a Tupperware party. Yes, I have always loved the plastic fantastic, and am now hocking everything to afford all the pieces i need want. Excited about the little hostess gift I received (shown below - egg separator, small sieve and funnel) Mostly, though I am trying not to eat all the leftover cake and biccies.

Speaking of which, Miss L is being quite insistent about my attendance at her tea party, so must go find my gloves and hat. And, so the school holiday's begin! Below are some things that have cheered my week. Hope yours has been a good one too.

-eating pizza at a new restaurant with Miss L and telling really dumb jokes.
-finding the latest little fabric mail out from Amitie in the mail.
-lying next to Miss L at bedtime and reading The Folk from the Faraway Tree
-having dinner with bestfriends as their leaving date gets closer (the dinner cheered me not the leaving date!)
-having an old friend from school email me about joining them on facebook
-watching a great off the wall movie (Thank you for not smoking) in the middle of the day while,
-knitting up odd's and end's into little finished projects
-applying to volunteer at panda

and a few links too
-admiring Jen Corace's artwork
-amazement at the Dirty Car artwork
-loving Bill Wadman's 365 portrait project
-spending too much time browsing on sk*rt

panic can lead to good things

what's that you say - panic leads to good things? how does that work?!
Well, it works for you....
It would be an understatement to say that after two weekends away the household for the whizzme clan was very much in disarray. My to do list had reached two pages when I just gave up writing things down - where to start? Then we hit panic stations. Friday we were informed that my car I had recently battered with a few walls and fences was finally going in to be repaired on Monday - no problems, all weekend to clean the travelling brothel out. Stay with me, there is a good ending to this story! Then later on Friday, more good news, our new couch for the spare room was arriving Monday too. Those of you who have seen our spare room recently, know that space is not a premium in the craft, come storage, come washing haven. So, we did, what any family would do and panicked! It took most of Saturday and all day Sunday to sort through our treasure trove to leave a car load of goods for the local charity shop, a bag of goodies for the school, some gifts for friends and family and of course, what you've been waiting for....giveaways.


Fuzzy Wuzzy is a collection of beautiful mohairs and silk fleece for felting.
Hippie Chick is a collection of handspun and hand dyed wool yarn.
Fancy Schmancy is a collection of special and novelty yarns.

The rules are simple
- anyone can enter (even family!) by leaving a comment, with their desired giveaway.
- oh that's it for rules
so go ahead, write a comment!

I'll be posting winner's on Friday. Good Luck

P.s.the new couch has become my favourite crafting spot already!

winners are grinners

Well it has taken all day to get this post together - some of it my slowness and some computer slowness, but finally I think we have both got our acts together. I mentioned previously that I belatedly became interested in Project Spectrum. There's even a Flickr group. For April and May the colours are Pink, Green and Yellow, and there is nothing like leaving it until the last day to post your entry! I decided to use it as a chance to practice with the camera, and get outside.


This little mosaic combines some of our garden, the rubbish bin, Miss L's hullahoop, the dog's ball, a vintage hairbrush, my new drink bottle, Miss L's bedroom light and a very unusual bean bag! See if you can work them out. Before I did this I would have said that I predominantly surrounded with green - my favourite colour, but it is amazing what you find once your eyes are open to it.

Anyway, I know you are really here to see if you a giveaway winner so I won't bore you any longer...

Ladies please send me your mailing address to whizzme (at) bigpond (dot) net (dot) au, and I will post your prize out asap.
Thanks everyone for entering it was fun, and interesting to see how many of you are fabric whores and didn't care what colour fabric you got!! And Stacey the bribe enticement was tempting, maybe we can work out a deal for a hair clip anyway?!

But wait don't go yet. If you did miss out this time, I have decided to have another giveaway next month - still some spring cleaning left to do, so stay tuned. And if you can't wait, I have dusted the cobwebs of my etsy shop and placed some more fabric bundles and other items up for sale. Go check it out.

Show and Tell = Giveaways

Friday turned into the mother of all spring cleans for my crafting stuff. At 3am I finally called it a night to get up Saturday and continue on the rest of the house. The car boot is now full of packages for the local op shop, fabrics and papers but aside for friends and best of all three yes 3 bundles of fabric to giveaway. Well now that I have your interest I must warn you that this post will contain gratuitous photo's before you get to the how to win some fabric part. Of course you could cheat and just skip to the end, but then you will miss out on all the stuff my spring cleaning turned up for Show and Tell! And you wouldn't want to miss that - would you?!

Firstly a selection of just some of the fabrics that have come through my door of late.

-The gorgeous green japanesy print I bought from pyglet and she threw in the other green fabric and patch. Spoilt.
-The scraps are all from Patchwork on Central for only 50c each! I so love a scrap box. Why don't more fabric shops have these? Edited: Sorry should have been clear that I got the scraps from the store- not from the website - sorry.
- A selection of fabrics i just had to have from Cia's Palette. (please excuse the bad spelling above.)
- And finally an even larger selection of things, including some great oilcloth from Sew Mama Sew.
There was also a small parcel from purl with some of this and one of these - but shh it was only small!!


I have also had some wonderful finds while thrifting lately.

-Gorgeous old children's patterns, including little ballerina outfits - I am moving that one up the to do list as we speak.
-A pattern making book complete with stencils for drawing pattern curves - for all that pattern making I do - NOT!
-A vintage Rowan knitting pattern book, and a lovely little book of crazy knitting projects.
-But finally my new pride and joy, is this beautiful vintage, electric sewing machine that I bought for only $20. It is in perfect working order, came with its original toolkit and instruction booklet, and carry case. It is perfect for Miss L to use as it only sews straight stitch (backwards and forwards), and is so heavy it won't move from under her. Even R admitted it was quite lovely to look at. I am a very, very happy camper!!


And despite all the fabric buying and op shop hunting that has been going on, I have managed a few crafting bits and pieces.

-Bibs for some newborn babies that have just joined us.
-A ballet bag for a friend of Miss L
-More doll quilts coming along....

But finally, we come to the part that will really interest you....

I have three bundles of fabric (and a few little surprises) to give away. I have bundled them into this month's Project Spectrum colours (more on that in another post) Yellow, Green and Pink. All you need to do is leave a comment saying hello, and telling me which colour bundle you would prefer. For all those shyer readers, now is the time to dip your toe and leave a comment. Family members are allowed to enter but will not receive any preference - ha! And I will post to anywhere - so get commenting.

I will draw the three winners sometime on Wednesday night, so stay tuned to see if you won.