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 :)

Bohemian Beads.....

I was inspired to make this necklace after seeing a necklace Joyce made

on her blog Joyce Lives Here

She provided a great tutorial on how she made her necklace.

This is such an easy, quick and fun project to create
Perfect for a beginner at crochet.
I made my necklace a very long single strand 160cm
so that I can wear it doubled.Thank you so much Joyce for the inspiration :)

~ Hope you are having a creative weekend ~

17th September

Today is my lovely husbands birthday

and of course I had to make him a card

I pulled an index page out of a large vintage atlas

folded it in half and then in half again for the foundation of this card.

I pulled another page from the same atlas but this time a map page

which I cut into strips to form the side edges of the openings of the card

I zig zagged on my machine down the edge

then set to work making my collage.

His Monogram needed to be applied, sanded, gesso'd & stitched

some stamping, a few rub-on's

and a spray of glimmermist

some ink and then you wouldn't believe it

I noticed our former home town (the place of his and my birth)

was on the front of the card,

When I pulled the index page out I pulled out one of the Australian pages but

I kid you not I did not plan for Inverell to be on the front

it just happened to be there

- how cool is that!
I had to circle it :)

Happy Birthday to my lovely husband

and to anyone else who is having a birthday today :)

Finished.....

There is a wonderful sense of achievement when you finish crocheting a rug
and I'm so proud that I have finished another rug.
This is my Second Crochet rug and it's such a thrill to have it all finished and ready for my family to snuggle in it, there are still a few cool days left before the heat of summer hits so I'm sure it will be used a little this year.

Beautiful pure new wool

a hook

and a little time
= lots of warm cuddles :)

Have a happy day!

Lino Block Printing....

As I mentioned in an earlier post

I have been learning lino block printing, thanks to my friend Catherine.

This is a print from one of my first lino blocks

(a nice simple design for a beginner, getting used to the feel of the carving tools in my hand)

I have had this print it sitting on my desk since June waiting for some finishing touches to make feel a little more like 'my style'. I completed this piece for my son, Jacob yesterday.

His middle initial is T, so I placed a T in the middle of the A :)

Jacob is turning 15 shortly

so the thought of direction is on my mind for him,

I guess this is where the arrows come from

and he is an incredible mathematician so I printed this piece onto one of my favourite Basic Grey Papers - perfect to reflect his love for Maths.

Under the vintage optical lens is a definition of 'believe' from an antique dictionary.

This is my carved lino tile,

~ everyone has to start somewhere ;)
already my carving has improved, thanks to some lovely new tools and a little practice.
and here is Jacob's print framed in a lovely deep box frame.
ooohhh....while I've got you here, can you see that tall vase,
it's actually a vintage preserving bottle
with a page from an old atlas lining the inside of it, cool hey!



Have a great week ♥

almost finished...

I ♥ Crochet

I am almost finished my second rug - yay!

only a few more rows to complete then I can share it with you :)

I hope you find a little time today

to do something you enjoy!

Here is another two cards that I have recently had published - yay :)

Published in

Australian Cardmaking, Stamping & Papercraft

Vol 16 No 4

as part of the Stampers Challenge using these sweet Wings Stamps by Kaszazz.

and once again Sephi and in the same challenge,

this always makes me smile because I love her work so much :)

..................................................................

Also I have had the pleasure of being featured on Thea & Sami

as part of her Friday Followers Section ~ Thank you so much Thea ♥

Thea & Sami hand screen-print organic and natural fabrics

to create beauty for your home & body.

if you have not already found Thea & Sami I highly recommend you taking a little time to enjoy both the Thea & Sami Blog and Website

Curiouser and Curiouser!

some more published pieces to share

These Two cards were published a few months ago

in Australian Cardmaking, Stamping and Papercraft

Vol 16 No 1

in the Stampers Challenge

using Tweety Jill's Down the Rabbit Hole Stamps

what fun these cards were to make!!!

I loved seeing them in the mag alongside some of my fav Aussie Stampers Sephi Kemp, Jane Clark & Sue Smith, it always amazes me when paper artists are given the same stamps how different and unique the finished pieces turn out.

.......................................................

Trust you are all having a lovely week,
Here’s a little of what I have been up to -
I made my very first Apple & Rhubarb Crumble
This was topped with cream and devoured by my family rather quickly! :)
so I'm sure it won’t be the last one baked in our home!
I'm also working on my second crochet rug - this one is blue & cream.
Carving a lino block for a print I'm working on,
This is a new passion of mine, thanks to a dear friend who has been teaching me Lino Block Printing, so I look forward to showing you some of my prints soon.
Wishing you all a creative week ♥