I sewed a dress!

I sewed a dress!!  From a pattern!!  All by myself!!  

Some may think this is no big deal.  But for me it was a first.  I'm not good at following instructions, nor do I like it.  It was a learning curve for me to do exactly as I was told.  Slight problem though.  The instructions sucked!!  I sewed this dress purely by the diagrams included with the instructions.  Thank heavens for them!

Lucky for me I have the most gorgeous model to show off my dress.

The pattern wanted me to do button holes.  I was too scared to do it, cause I've never done them before and I didn't want to wreck the whole dress, so I ended up putting in a couple of loops, which I think I like better anyway.

I'll definitely be using this lovely vintage pattern again!  

Here's one more photo.  My nephew was jealous that I was taking all the piccies of my niece, and he insisted that Woody can smile better then his sister.  

I complied, because it was his birthday :)

Flea Market Finds & the things you find in Nanna's cupboard.

I was at my Nanna's the other day.  She was excited I came, because she had a box to show me.  It was an old box full of crafting supplies and she just KNEW I'd want some of it.  This isn't the first time she has given me the opportunity to raid her stash.  Last time I took about 70% of what was on offer.  That's why she was wanting to show me this box.  Here's what I ended up with...

Can you guess what it is?  I didn't know at first...

It was made by my great grandma, which is pretty cool.

It's a needle holder!  I think it's pretty neat!

Do you know what this is?

Nope, it's not a puppet.  It's a pot pad!!  Another of my great grandma's creations.  It seems this crafting gene has run through a couple of generations now.

Vintage lace!!! The one on the left is from a formal gown my Nan made once, and the lace on the left is from her wedding dress. 

And then I got a life supply of..

Paper doily's!!  She didn't think I'd want these.  I'm so glad she showed them to me 'just in case'.  I was so excited when I saw how many there were.  There are even a few gorgeous gold ones too..

And now for my finds from the past few weeks in Oppy shops, I haven't played along for a while so have some catching up to do! 

It was the first time I'd ever seen one in an Op shop with my own eyes.

It reminded me of Sophie, but I didn't buy it.  Just took a picture for everyone to drool over how gorgeous it is.  I promise I did buy the rest of the items in this post though..

Two pillowcase sets, which will make perfect summer dresses.

More gorgeous fabric cause I couldn't help myself.

I love this!  I was so stoked to find it!  A cotton holder, which quickly made me realise I have hardly any cotton at all!  I really do need to work on that.

How gorgeous are those little berry iron ons??  I can't wait to use them!  Also a new yellow zipper, and some lovely binding.

BUTTONS!  Cause I 'needed' more.  (Hey Wendy, are those the kind of buttons you are after for your Eskimo Jackets?  If so, you can have them.  I only impulse bought them anyway.)  Some cute doily's and a box I have no use for as of yet.. I'm sure I'll come up with something to put in there soon haha!!

And an Atlas I plan on tearing apart and using for little projects.

I have one last thing to show you.  It's a little giveaway item actually, for first in best dressed.  It's a small quilt pattern booklet that my Nan gave me but I will not ever use.  I'd rather it go to someone who will appreciate it, and who like that kind of quilting style.  So let me know if you would love to be the next owner of it!

As usual, I am getting in early with my post, but be sure to link up over on Sophie's!

My Creative Space - collar trouble

I have been experimenting with a delightful vintage girls dress pattern.  The collar wasn't sitting right and it was irritating me.  So back to the instructions.  I sewed it on wrong.  I think I ironed it out of shape too, so will probably just cut out a whole new collar and try again.  Other thing is, I don't know what size it is.  The pattern is VERY unclear.  The instructions are weird, and are a jumble of confusing words.  Thank heavens for the little pictures...

Check out everyone else's spaces here.

Rebirth of a Craft Room.

My Craft Room set up has taken another turn of late.  New carpets were to be layed, so I took advantage of destroying my room again, and this time set it up RIGHT!

Before:

During:

Putting it all back:

With a new table to assemble...

Stay tuned for the final product!

Softies that make ME smile!

I have received more parcels of late, containing delightfully GORGEOUS softies.  I MUST share!!

Looooove them!

 Thank you so much Tammi!!

And then on Monday I got this big box in the post.. I was so excited to find these little guys inside!!

Thank you so much Lisa!

You are both so talented and I know these will bring MANY smiles to the faces of their new owners soon.

Good news is all of the beautiful softies that have been sent, will soon be shipped off to the town of Theodore, which is in North QLD.  Let me know if you still plan on sending through any softies please!  I think this is all of them, but I really can't rely on my memory much these days!  

Be sure to check out these clever ladies blogs!

Featured!

Today I have been featured on Jill's blog - Creating my way to Success!!  I'm excited!!  I was able to answer some questions and share a little about myself, my blog, my crafting adventures and plans for the future.  You can read it below, or go to Jill's blog and read the blog post for yourself!!  Thanks so much Jill!!

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What do you create? 

It's a bit of a mixed basket.  My desire to make things changes with my moods.  I have recently come to the conclusion I am a bit of a Jill of all trades.  I make greetings cards and other cardboard crafts like gift boxes and voucher books, I make hair accessories and brooches out of ribbon, fabric & felt, I make soft toys, I make children's clothes, magnet pegs, embellishments, library bags, hats... I really could keep going on and on.  I make whatever tickles my fancy each given day!  My list of what I WISH I knew how to make is also growing!  I also spend alot of time creating for my blog.  Some may not think this is a craft or skill, but it's hard work and can be very time consuming.  I spend alot of time trying to ensure what I post is not only entertaining or interesting, but visually appealing.

Why do you create? 

It is necessary for my sanity.  Crafting is my outlet, and without it I become a crazy lady!  Just like every other woman out there, my life is hectic, over-scheduled, full of time constraints & stress!  When I sit down at my craft table, I can channel that stress and tension into making something awesome!  It also gives me an opportunity to most importantly, be still, and think through the things that are troubling me.

Do you sell your creations? If so, how? Where? And is it profitable?

Although it can be hard at times to let go of something that I've made and love, of course I sell my creations!  I have a Madeit store which is where I am concentrating on selling my creations at this point in time.  I have done a few markets in the past year and am not a fan of the stress that occurs leading up to market day.  I like that I can work towards my Madeit store at my own pace, and put things in there as I want to.  It doesn't matter if my store looks bare!!  Infact, that's a good thing because it means people have been buying up!!  I am still fairly new to the Madeit scene, but have started to see the money rolling back in - which is my husbands favourite part.

What mistakes have you made or lessons you have learned?

It doesn't bother me to make mistakes.  I have made a few items that just look terrible.  So I take them apart and try again.  Trial and error is the best way to learn.  But probably the hardest lesson I've had to learn is to believe in MYSELF!  If I don't believe in myself and trust my abilities, how can I expect others to?  It all begins with me.  Since having that light bulb moment I have had greater success in selling items, made a tonne of great blogger friends, and enjoyed the blogging and crafting experience ten fold. 

What, to you is success? Have you achieved it yet, or are you on your way towards success?

Success is a term generally used for huge achievements.  Success to me is when you sell a $2 embellishment, or finish sewing a dress, or learn a new skill.  It doesn't have to be a $50 sale.  So YES I have achieved success, and I have hundreds and hundreds of successes ahead of me in the future. 

So, what's next?

I don't have any huge crafting goals for the upcoming year.  I just want to keep up with the pace of making, selling, blogging, befriending, networking and developing better photography & editing skills to showcase my products more effectively.  So my goal is to be better, gain more skills, and develop my existing skills to a higher standard.    


 

Crunchy Salad Recipe

WARNING:  No pictures to make you feel hungry.  But maybe that's a good thing?

I will be the first to admit this is a STOLEN recipe.  I am not genious to come up with it on my own, but I am sharing it because everyone must have the opportunity to eat such delicious things, plus people asked for it.

INGREDIENTS:
- Half a cabbage, finelly sliced

- 2 carrots, thickly grated

- few stalks of a celery, finely chopped

- small red onion, finelly sliced
- couple shallots, chopped

- 1/2 packet Chang's Oriental Fried Noodles

DRESSING:

- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

- 4 tablespoons mayo

These are all approximate meausurements so use some of your own judgement.  Basically chop all the vegies and mix in a bowl.  Mix the dressing in a seperate bowl and then mix it through the vegies.. I just add a little at a time till there's enough.  Then I add the Fried Noodles right before serving.  If you add them too early, then you can just call this "Salad", cause there will be no fun crunchy left!! 

This should make about 4 serves, and if you use low fat mayo, it is only 2 1/2 points per serve according to Weight Watchers, so it is quite a healthy salad.  But I will not lie, full fat mayo tastes better in this salad.  So realistically it's probably about 4 1/2 points. 

Enjoy!

Organised Home - Project Beads

I have a big bag that I put all my beading supplies into.  I haven't been good at keeping it organised.  I have 5 plastic containers, each with compartments so I can seperate the different beads.  Then a few boxes holding tools and old jewellry to be taken apart & fixed, leather & wire, and all the other bits and bobs that I'd thrown in the bag and box over the years.  

 I threw out old stuff, ugly stuff, broken stuff.  I took stuff apart.  I finally fixed other things.  I put together two big bags of beads to giveaway - which was excitedly received by a family at church with three preteen/teenage girls.  

After about 3 hours of sorting and such, it's finally all looking lovely!  I might even want to start making stuff again now that I can see what I have and it's all sorted nicely.  

Now I just need to finish organising my craft room and the new furniture additions that it now holds so I can show you!  Hopefully this week.  I have been silly busy this week and haven't had much time for anything at all, so hopefully this upcoming week I can concentrate on catching up on this blog of mine and showing what's been going on (and our new cheery grey carpet).  

Pop over to Mousehouse for more Organised Home Projects!!