May Your Christmas be Blessed.....

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

artwork by Georgia Hamilton aged 9

My Dear Nanna

departed this world

in the early hours of

Wednesday 10th November 2010

I will miss her more than I can express.

photo - my Nanna's mixing bowl and apricots from her orchard

Block no.3.....

Block no.3 in my

Block of the Week Project

I made block #145 Chocolate Box

from the book

200 Crochet Blocks

by Jan Eaton

I really love this block.....

it's a very clever twist on the traditional Granny Square

and works up really quickly and is very easy.

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I am trying to finish off the striped cushion this week,

it seems to be taking a lot longer than I thought it would to complete

and because of this I am easily distracted from it!

But I must get it finished as Jacob is keen to claim it for his room :)

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I also wanted to show you these lovely little

Noisy Miner Chicks

Manorian melanocephala

This nest is very close to our front verandah, it has been a joy to watch the adult birds build the nest and then to watch these sweet little chicks grow, I've been trying for a bit over a week to get a good photo of them to share with you all and finally today I managed to get one, it helps that they have grown a bit and are now easier to see :)

And here is one of the adult birds back with a little food for them.

I wish I had a big zoom lens so I could really photograph them properly and study them a little more, they have nested in one of our melaleuca trees.

I found this interesting info in -

The Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds

Only female builds a nest, but males occasionally carry materials - although not necessarily to the nest site. As many as 10 or more males visit a single nest while it contains eggs and most of these participate in the feeding of the nestlings. In a single nesting season, one female may been helped by as many as 24 males.

Thank you so much for visiting today

I hope you are having a great week.

~ Gillian ♥

my second block......

I am really enjoying my

Block of the Week Project
I am starting on some of the more simple blocks in the book

which I think will be a good way to work up to some of those

pretty tricky looking ones ;)

I loved hooking my Block no.2
#101 Into the Blue

Starting off with a circle in round one and then turning into a square,

Stitched in Treble (UK/AUS terms)

I really liked the corners on this block, although in my photos they don't show up as clearly as they do in the book (as you can see in the photo below) but I think they will be more clearly visible when the blocks are joined.

It was quite easy to hook and worked up reasonably quickly as well.

A Big Thank you to all of those who visit my blog

and to those who leave comments ♥

I hope you are having a happy day!

~ Gillian :)

My Block a Week Project...

Since I blogged about my new

200 crochet blocks

by Jan Eaton

I've been thinking about working my way through it block by block,

while I'm not sure if I can achieve crocheting all 200 blocks

I thought I will have a go at making One Block a Week.

I'm not sure how many I will make at this stage

but it will be at least enough for an afghan

and along the way I look forward to learning

lots of new stitches and techniques.

I also thought that in keeping it limited to One Block a Week

meant that it wouldn't interrupt my other projects I am currently working on

and will keep me excited as I know I will look forward to doing the next one.

- Well that is the plan anyway ;)

I should also add that I will not be doing them in order,

this is meant to be a fun project and part of that fun for me will be picking which block I do just before I start each week, and I'll also be leaving out some of the ones that don't appeal to me ;)

So here is my block no.1

in my Block of the Week Project

#93 Sequenced Stripes

I really liked the look of this pattern in the book, and loved crocheting it!
it was quite easy and a great one to get me excited about this project.

Thank you so much for visiting
~ Gillian

little ipod pouch

Recently My eldest son purchased a new whiz bang ipod touch

and of course he no longer needed his old ipod

so it was passed onto his little sister :)
But to make her feel like it really truly is hers
I made her this little ipod pouch :)

I used the left over Surprise yarn from the granny slippers

I made her a few posts down
So now she can slide around on the floor boards

in her slippers listening to her tunes in style ;)

as you can probably see it is made up of two little granny squares

Crocheted together on the sides and bottom with DC (eng/au)

and then rows of DC (eng/au) around the top

with a button loop and a little loop on the side to attach to her lanyard

also, a little opening at the bottom needs to be made

for the earphones to plug in,
this was formed by Slip Stitching a couple of stitches

when when joining the front and back together.

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It has been fun making lots of little projects at the moment,

have also been busy crocheting more washcloths

but I must get back into the striped cushion

and finish that off over the next week it.

Have a lovely week everyone

and thank you so much for visiting me ♥

book love.....

I am really pleased to have added two new books to my crochet library.

The first is

Gifted - lovely little things to knit & crochet

by Mags Kandis

which my lovely friend Catherine recently 'gifted' to me ♥

It is just the most darling book!!!

so many fabulous things to make

and I love that it celebrates gifting handmade things :)

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And today my copy of
200 Crochet Blocks for blankets, throws and afghans
by Jan Eaton
arrived :)

I've been looking forward to this one coming

and it is all I hoped it would be and more!

No wonder it has been reprinted so many times, it really is an amazing book.

I would love to work my way through it block by block

(although this is probably only a crochet addicts dream......)

can't wait to get crocheting with it ~ so much to learn!

I hope you can find a little time this week to pick up your favourite craft book

or magazine and learn a new technique or new craft.

until next time

happy crafting :)

sweet softness.....

I have been admiring the beautiful Crocheted washcloths around the blogging world for a little while now and have wanted to have a go at them myself.

Well I finally joined in on this sweet crochet trend and made my very first set of washcloths.

I found this beautiful pattern while perusing the Ravelry site
it is a very simple pattern to follow so they work up quite quickly.
I will be making a few more of these to tuck away into some Christmas gifts this year.
Thank you so much to Helda for sharing this lovely pattern
and for providing such easy to follow instructions.

The Pattern can be found on
helda's blog Heldasland

and also on Ravelry

I hope you are all having a lovely week ♥

Granny Slipper Love......

We are in Love

with Granny Slippers :)
I made these sweet little Granny Slippers
for Georgia today
using a brilliant pattern I purchased from
Michelle from The Royal Sisters Etsy Store

The yarn I used was 'Surprise by Lincraft'

it was so much fun watching the colours change as I crocheted Georgia's slippers

and I love that the colours are a little different on each slipper :)

Thank you so much Michelle for making another FABULOUS pattern!

Find the pattern at The Royal Sisters Etsy Store

Michelle's Blog The Royal Sisters

and on Ravelry

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Until next time

Stay Happy

Gillian ♥

Paper and Yarn....

My Eldest is turning 15 - gasp!

can't believe it

anyway, I needed to make a card for him

~ teenage boys...hmmmmmm

anyone who makes, cards knows cards for teenage boys can be as difficult

as sympathy cards to get your head around.

But it had to be done ;) lol!

So, here it is ~ Simple Clean Lines.

I was quite pleased to get a new phone a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to protect my new toy.

So finally plucked up the courage to have a go at making a cosy for it.
I was pretty pleased with how it turned out, it even matches my little coin pouch :)
I found a pattern on Yarn Pixies Blog
for an MP3 Pouch,
My phone was a little larger so I added a couple of extra rows
and a little 'pinkie finger loop' instead of the drawstring top on the original pattern.
You can find the pattern on
Yarn Pixies Blog
& on Ravelry

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Have a Creative weekend Everyone :)
and thanks so much for visiting me ♥

sweet things.....

I just had to share these cute little coin purses I made last night

I used Melissa Mall's Pattern

Hundred Yen Pouch

These little pouches are so quick and easy to crochet and of course after I made one for myself I had to make one for my little miss.....

I threaded buttons onto the drawstrings on Georgia's little coin pouch.
For both little pouches I crocheted two different yarns together which makes the pouch quite sturdy and strong and gives a lovely interesting texture.

Thanks to Melissa for making this gorgeous little pattern I had so much fun making these two and I'm sure I'll be making some more very soon :)

Pattern can be found on Melissa's blog

and also on Ravelry

Thanks so much for visiting

I hope you are having a creative week

Gillian ♥

Making progress.....

I am indeed making progress on this striped cushion

It is a slow project but very enjoyable and rewarding.

All Double Crochet (uk/aust)

and beautiful crepe wool.

The front is now complete and I am working on the back which will be in two pieces which overlap and close with buttons & buttonholes -another first time technique for me

The children went back to school this morning after two weeks of school holidays so I thought I'd bake them a treat for their afternoon tea this afternoon

This is a new favourite of theirs

Muffin Carrot Cakes

recipe courtesy of The Australian Women's Weekly kids cooking book

I think they like the Cream Cheese Frosting the best ;)
Also this week

I decided I needed a couple of covered coat hangers for my wardrobe

and wondered if I could possibly make them myself

well I found a pattern and whipped these up plus 2 more.

It's been a great couple of weeks in our home

The kids as I mentioned have just had two weeks school holidays,
Andrew had three weeks of Annual leave,
we built another vegie garden,
had a couple of day trips, dined out a few times,
had my parents come and stay for a weekend,

And I celebrated my 40th birthday and it didn't hurt a bit! :)


Have a Blessed week everyone ♥

it's been a busy weekend....

It's been a little while since I made an ATC

and as it is Georgia's and my special weekend

I thought I'd make her one for her collection.

It's a dark & overcast this afternoon so it's hard to capture

the colour and the texture,

but it has lots of layers of Stitching, Ink, paint & rub-on's

and is a little more pink and pearly than it appears in this photo and she loves it :)

Of course a Girly weekend wouldn't be complete without a trip to the markets,

now would it!

We both fell in love with these butterfly brooches we found at our local market

and we had to have a 'mummy & me' pair :)

I've been following the very talented Katia Donohoe for a little while now through her blog Plushka's craft blog she makes the most gorgeous items, I was really quite chuffed to find that she had been featured in Septembers issue of Notebook Magazine. Along with her feature there was instructions for making one of her sweet little 'owl babies' when I showed this to Georgia she immediately wanted it on the list for our girly weekend.

Georgia only needed a little help with stitching some of the smaller pieces but apart from that she did everything else and is already hooked on making softies!

Thank you so much Katia it was fun to watch Georgia create with so much excitement as her little owl baby came together :)

If you'd like to be inspired by Katia

Here is her Blog Plushka's craft blog

Her madeit store Plushka

and the Baby Owl Tutorial & template pdf

Thanks for visiting and sharing our Girly weekend!
♥ Gillian & Georgia :)

The start of our girly weekend....

Well Georgia and my girly weekend is underway :)

here is a couple of our projects from last night.

I started this crochet cushion cover

which will be my night time project for a couple of weeks I think.

And Georgia Started and Completed this Gorgeous little monster out of this issue of Australian Homesewn, it's been tucked away in our magazine rack since last year and Georgia pulled it out and put this on our 'list of things to do' for this weekend.I think she did a great job :)

today we have been baking, shopping, treating ourselves to some yummy food and we are going to make another softie this afternoon :)

Hope you are enjoying yourself this weekend,

I know we are!

Gillian & Georgia ♥

Another granny.....

I finished this rug last night

it took 12 days (mostly nights, actually) to complete.

it is for my Georgia to use as a 'play-mat' in her room,

she loves to sit on her floor and play with her dolls and and read her mags and books....

she often plays school with her rather large collection of beanie kids

so I know she will use this on a daily basis ;)

Georgia helped choose the colours, it's made up of all of her favourites!

This was another easy rug to create,
and I enjoyed making it very much, almost as much as Georgia loves it!
and I want to say Thank you to
Alice from Crochet with Raymond
for sharing the pattern :)
If you click here it will take you to the pattern

Georgia and I have a very busy weekend planned,
All of our boys are away for the weekend, and we are planning lots of Girly things and lots of craft, to keep us busy!
I will share some of our creations soon.

Have a lovely weekend
Gillian :)

Lovely Granny Stitch.......

There is something very sweet about Granny Stitch

I really love it :)

I finished this cute little tissue box cover yesterday

and wanted to share it with you.

and more importantly share where the pattern can be found

Michelle from The Royal Sisters Blog

has Kindly shared it for all!

If you Click Here it will take you to the pattern

Thank you so much Michelle for making such lovely patterns!

This is a great pattern to follow, Michelle has provided lots of photos with the pattern so it's really great for beginners :)

I learnt a couple of new stitches & techniques by making this little tissue box,

& I love to learn new things!

I love this shell edging, I've always wanted to have a go at it and now I have :)

Thanks for visiting!

♥ I hope you are having a creative week ♥

A new cushion.....

My very first Crochet Cushion

I'm quite chuffed with it

and look forward to making some more soon.

I used 5 x 100gm balls of Lincraft Baw Baw Yarn

It is 50% Wool & 50% Acrylic and is a lovely chunky yarn.

And this Gorgeous 15mm Chunky Crochet hook.

I crocheted a tradional Granny Square of 9 rounds

and finished with a round of double crochet (uk/australian)

Of course this pattern could be adapted to any yarn and size you require.

I then Stitched the cushion cover up like an envelope,

stitching under the Single Crochet round using invisable ladder stitch, so the stitches could not be seen as per my photo below.

After the bottom half of the cushion cover was sewn together,
I covered my cushion insert (I actually used 2 cloth serviettes that have never been used, they were the perfect size and I really liked this colour for my cushion)
Next was placing the insert inside the cushion cover and stitching the last two seams.
When the time comes for a new cushion insert (as we all know they flatten over time)
I will be able to undo the two of the seams and replace the insert
This cushion was Very quick to make because of the large yarn and hook and super easy, if you can make a granny square than you can easily make one of these cushions :)

Thank you for visiting

I hope you have a lovely day :)