My Creative Space

Every month or so I head over to Creswick to the woollen mills for a rustle around in their bales of blanket offcuts.  I love the soft shades of fawn & cream & the lovely bunny grey but the best bit is you never know what colours you will find until you get there.

This week I was so excited to across a piece of beautiful deep red, amazingly soft alpaca!! Wow! I'm not sure how red bunnies will go down but you know what, I don't really mind as I'm just loving playing & sewing with this gorgeous, tactile, electric fabric.

Even the fringy bits!

My space this week has been busy & colourful & fun this week. New cute cardigans, baby chickens, brooch making, spring weather, visits to ace mates, brooch making, walking (yep, actual Exercise!), plotting Chrissie presents with a certain woman of the south (big secret) and a special trip to Melbourne to see my Just Finished Her Last Exam daughter! Woo hoo!

As she chatted on her new fancy phone I waited patiently in the glow of her pretty lanterns. Can you see that extremely happy and relieved look on Char's face? Yep, school is almost over.

Back at home I am in full market prep mode. I'm trying to keep my sewing space uncluttered so I have been sorting out, chucking out & re organising. Sunday helped me sort out all my threads today, giving high priority to the 'best' colours, ie: red, pink & purple, of course. My sewing table is nice and tidy now and I'm feeling inspired to finish up my bunnies & bits to take to Sugar & Spice in Ballarat on the 28th of this month.  I can't wait!! Lovely Ali has posted a little interview with moi on the Sugar and Spice blog, if you get a sec have a look!

What's happening in your space today? I'm off to Kirsty's for a sticky beak...see you soon xo

This morning

This morning we are getting to know our new baby chooks.

Giving them some love,

admiring chicken hairstyles,

and watching them from the kitchen window, in their repurposed dog kennel & yard.

Meet Veronica (hair do), Texta (named & claimed by Charlotte) & the little grey one who isn't named yet (Billy is still thinking).

This morning I'm thinking about the lovely Phillippa & Tania who I saw yesterday at the Daylesford Maker's Market.  Both these clever girls had tables full of original, gorgeous wares....but where were all the customers? It did seem very quiet, which was a shame. Anyway, it was great to have a chat & a laugh or two!

At home we having been busy making things, such as these cute cut out dolls we found at Merrilyn's shop. Aren't they cool?

More dolls destined for the market...

and some crazy cartoons. Bill has been hard at work creating his own comic, lots of explosions & evil guys! Oh, and the odd chicken.

We have been loving the warmer weather, planting vegies, playing outside, hanging washing on the line and smiling at our lovely ducks who like to relax under the apple tree.

I'm so happy about the more frequent sunny days and big, blue skies. What's happening in your world?

Hope you all have a wonderful week, see you soon xo

ps. here is a super big blue sky for you x

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Come with me down a winding road from Daylesford, to my mum's house in Hepburn. 

You may remember she bought an old church last year & she has been spending many happy hours fixing it up & giving it a new life.

Mum is a great home maker,  she is one of those people who can create a beautiful, original space where you feel immediately comfortable.

 She has filled her new little home with so much colour & life,

and everywhere you look there is something sweet or interesting. I love going to Mum's as amongst the colour & busyness there is order & calm. Not like our house!

Have a peek into this little guest room. When we first looked at the church the pastor was using this as his bedroom. It was musty & dusty and not very nice. Now it is such a lovely room, to and great for sleepovers!

This painting my Dad did in the 60's hangs in Mum's bedroom. It depicts our home in the Dandenongs, our goats, trees & bits & pieces of our life then. I like the colours & mood of this painting, and the way it takes me
back to another time

This old toilet block has been transformed into a great shed, can you see the yellow rose growing over the top?

I gave it to mum last year on her birthday, it has grown so much! I wish my roses were this lush & healthy!

The garden was originally just lawn with a few good trees & some sad looking bushes.

 But now it has so much colour & so many different plants.

I love all the cuving path ways that lead you around the building in circle.

Did I mention that this little church began life as a school house and was

moved by horse & cart to where it is today?

Amazing! I like to think of all the students that studied here,

once upon a time.

So there you go. Did you enjoy the tour?

I'm off into my own garden now to finish off planting my seedlings.

How much fun is the garden lately? I'm loving it. 

I'm hoping to buy a couple of silkie's or bantams tomorrow at the Farmers Market and set them up in

the garden outside my kitchen window. That's if I can persuade Mark to get

the (heavy) old dog kennel, to use as a chook house, from way down in the back of the garden to up the front. Hmmm..

Oh! Before I forget, if you are in Daylesford tomorrow do pop into the Makers Market and say hi to this gorgeous girl. Phillippa is a super talented, super wonderful friend who will be there selling her amazing fabric & other bits. Look out for Fippa & say hello! Another ace mate who will be there is Tania from Myrtle & Eunice..yay!

Bye for now lovelies,

xo

Cup Day

Yesterday was Melbourne Cup Day & we headed out to a friends house for a combined Cup Day,

and birthday celebration for Trish!

What a fun way to spend Cup Day!

The theme was 60's race wear & there were some fantastic outfits.

One of the best parts of the day is the Sweep.  The horses are cryptically linked to an album cover & there is a lot of time spent trying to make sense of which is which. This year however, I didn't think too hard and picked "You Must Remember This" which turned out to be So You Think! Funny.

I wish I'd taken some more photo's of the garden as it looked amazing. The wisteria creeping up the veranda posts was beautiful,

and the green, green garden had so many little hidy holes and secret spots. 

 There is even a maze! Not somewhere I would want to stumble into after a few champagnes...

 After Fashions on the Field was judged,

...and we ate some delicious food, had a drink or two & chatted with some lovely friends, it was time to go home. Thanks so much Chris & Trish & Dom for a fantastic day!

Life has been very social & busy lately so I'm planning to have a quieter week to catch up. What are you up to this week? Hope you have a fun one xo

At my house

At my house today I'm excited about it being the first day of November!

And I'm recovering from a huge weekend, phew!

We had our school fete yesterday, what a great day it was! Jo-anne and her helpers did an amazing job with the cake stall as usual, so many yummy cakes...

 Lots of beautiful people from our school community helped out, including the very gorgeous Linda.

Janet painted faces in pretty swirls & flowers,

& I sold three million (it felt like it) books, with the help of Ali & Tracey, thanks girls!

It was a beautiful day, a great way to celebrate & have fun with school friends and the wider community.

And then of course it was Halloween! Rosie dressed up as a fairy.

 Bill was a headless monster..of course! We did a bit of reluctant (on my part) Trick or Treating which they all loved.

I was pretty pooped by this point and was sad to miss a drink or two with a gorgeous friend. AND it was Mark's birthday so there were some low key celebrations to finish the day. Luckily we had snuck out the night before for dinner at our favourite pub, The Farmer's Arms. Suzanne & Claire are the best hosts ever and even treated us to donuts with chocolate & icecream! Mmmmm...! Speaking of chocolate I will post my chocolate mousse recipe soon, I haven't forgotton!

So that's my house today, recovery mode! Not for long though as we have a combined 50th & Melbourne Cup party (60's theme) tomorrow. Wow! Life is busy. Hope you are having a great Monday, I'm off to check out Lou Lou's and see what everyone else is up too & then plant some seedlings. See you soon xo