a mixed bag...

Yesterday, Saturday I went into the city on a mission... I had two gift vouchers which were both rapidly approaching their 'shelf life' date so I needed to spend them quickly... The first one was for an art supply shop and as I am about to do a two day workshop on introduction to botanical art it couldn't have been better spent... For the most part the voucher covered the major items on the list of requirements for the course...

The other voucher was for Clegs - a material shop - that was a little more difficult to spend without just buying more stash - however just as I was thinking I was going to have to just spend it on 'something' I spied these knitting bags - the lady at the counter was ever so helpful and opened a couple so I could see inside... Loads of roomy interior with a great long side pocket Now I am no great knitter however I saw this as a potential for using it for my needlework - I was also pleased that apart from $0.70 my voucher covered it... Not a great photo but it is rather a natty bag...

I also took the opportunity to visit l'uccello. G had visited there and in her words said it was 'neat'. To quote i'ccello's blog description - "l'uccello carries - Vintage haberdashery and ephemera, hand made vintage style homewares, craft kits and greeting cards" - see, I couldn't have said it better... l'uccello is situated at The Nicholas Building 205/37 Swanston Street Melbourne 3000 l'uccello is in room 5 on the second floor, enter via Cathedral Arcade ph: 9639 0088 info@luccello.com.au

l'uccello is well worth a visit especially if you are after something just that little bit special...

Of course my visit wouldn't have been complete had I not purchased a little something...

And of course last but not least an update on my stitching - as you can see precious little has been done... With Christmas bearing down on us like an out of control Santa and me working in retail I see my stiching hopes for 2010 fading, but I shall stitch on - when I get the chance...

Until next time - take care and stitch well..

Sharon xx

' All Stitched Up'

The last 12 months or so I have been feeling overwhelmed with 'stuff'... I look around me and all that I see is stuff - overflowing!!! I have made some real attempts to downsize and earlier in the year our local op shop was the very lucky recipient of lots of overflow from my side of the wardrobe...

I am a product of parents who lived through the Depression years here in Australia and I think that their influence of - nothing is ever wasted - has long since become deeply ingrained. I just hate throwing things away without a very good reason. We won't even approach the subject of my books!!!! I think constantly about those who have so little and I do appreciate that I have more than enough...

There is however one major area in particular which I feel like I am drowning - my stitching and craft. I have stuff in cupboards, in boxes, the drawers crammed past capacity, a pile beside the computer, a treasure trove beside the coffee table etc, etc... And I think in the long run I have become more and more despondent because I am feel so overwhelmed and to a degree trapped by the chains of obligation to finish what I have started...

I believe that choosing not to go to the last craft event was a subconcious start - whilst my budget would have been severely restricted this time - it isn't the only reason I didn't go. Once my head would have been on a pivot trying to take in everything all at once - but just the thought of that bombardment - however visually delicious - made me want to cringe... Dramatic aren't I...

I have all these lovely things - most still in the packaging they came in and while I am not ready to give them away I don't want to add to them either. But I think the worst thing is my UFO's as they are so affectionately called - there are just too many to count... Why are they unfinished? Probably because I got tired of them or the next best thing attracted my eye...

Realistically I needed a course of action so I have created myself a stitching list called appropriately 'All Stitched Up' to see if I can at least swing the balance of the scales in the other direction a tad. G has talked about her list for a while now and how good she feels about what she has achieved and I can see by what she shows me - a real sense of accomplishment. While I think hers is a great idea - I want some room to move with what I do and not feel too guilty should I stray a wee way...

My plan is to list a maximum of five things at a time... This will at least give me some room to play in - I have realised as I have got older that while I like routine - I do like to play 'outside the square'... Hopefully this list will both promote the discipline to finish things and provide the freedom to move between a selected few... I will of course have progress pictures along the way...

Over the next week or so I shall start choosing the first five... Once I have completed one I will 'show case' it here and add it under the 'Completions' - this will show what I have achieved. Mostly it will be UFO's however I will include a project from time to time that I have had on the back burner for a time.

I would like to think that 12 months from now I will have some worthwhile things to show for my endeavours...

Well if I haven't bored you so far stayed tuned for future updates...

Until then

Sharon xx

I am so in love...

... with this. I have seen it a couple of times advertised in the English cross stitch magazines... The image just captures my imagination... Yes, G I know - there are at least 50 or so in front of this, all which captured my imagination at one time or another... But this one is just so beautiful!!!

It is called 'Swan' and its by the artist Joadoor and it is produced through Lanarte needlework company...

And the Australian dollar is so good at the moment for buying overseas... :-)

My love of swan images stems from a little book I had as a child - and still have, I might add... It was called the Lord of Rushie River by Cicely Mary Baker and it was about a little girl befriended by swans when her father goes away to sea and her stepmother treats her cruelly...

The illustrations below are just beautiful and are among my favorites...

Until later

Sharon x

well...

... I just couldn't resist this little face which emerged from amongst the jumble of craft bits and bobs at the local op-shop... As soon as I pulled it out from the drawer I knew that it was coming home with me... I have scanned it so it is not the greatest of pictures...

What do I intend doing with it? Not sure as always, but at the quick glance I decided to unpick all the foliage, redraw it if necessary and re stitch it in again... It is stitched in what looks like some ply of, I assume, tapestry wool... I am wondering if it was all stitched by the same person as the koala is so well done where the flowers look hurried, almost child like in the stitching - obviously the piece wasn't ever finished and I do wonder what it was destined to be... I would like to make sure it is completed and made into something as for some silly reason I want this little piece to 'live on'...

Any suggestions out there??? I am usually not into this kind of flora and fauna stuff - but this little piece just grabbed at my heart strings... As it is I keep stroking its little head and telling it is home now... Mad aren't I... Now that you don't have to answer :-)

What did it cost me - that and some buttons - the mighty sum of three dollars...

Until next time

Sharon xxx

creating a space....

I have complained for as long as I can remember about not having 'a space' - a space where I can create but as important - leave it undisturbed!!!!! Previously I have had the dining room table - great aspects t0 look at - the park over the road - but a nuisance as we either ate on trays off our knees or I would have to clean up and put away my stitching if we were having visitors or wanted to eat at the table...

For those of you who do that or have done it - nothing cuts into the creative flow more that being under the pump to put away every time you finish 'playing' for the day. Or worse still have a small gap of time to get on with something and have to unpack it before you can 'play'... As we are not likely to shift any time soon or in the position to make changes I had to think more laterally about what we had and how I could make my creative space...

I thought about all the areas in the house that I could utilize - then I had what must have been an inspired thought.... Why didn't I simply pack up my desktop computer that no longer worked, tidy my desk from all the stuff that seems to be attracted to its flat surface. Well I did, and voila - a space appeared!!!!! Now the photos I am showing you are not ' the before' photos but rather ' the after photos' but you get the general idea - a flat surface which is all mine... The shelving off to the side of the desk is full of 'stuff' - some I use most of the time - some I still need to cull... But I do have a flat space in which to spread out, play some and best of all - leave until I can return to it!!! Yay!!!! Happy dance here!!!! Admittedly, I do have to share the room (not the space) and sometimes that can be a little frustrating for both of us however it is something we can work on - but best of all - because it is in another room so I can just walk away from it and close the door if I need to!!!!!!

Why haven't I ever thought about doing it before???? Well, we were/are considering fixing the desktop but until/when that happens I have a space... In the mean time I can push my laptop to one side or remove it to somewhere else if I need all of 'the space'...

I think in some ways it was making me depressed at having no where of my own - even a space such as it is now - to create...

At the moment I am too enthralled at looking at 'the space' to do anything more than type this on my laptop....

In some obscure way I think this is all part of my 'down sizing' - making do with what I have and thinking of new ways to use things - even space!!!!

Until another time

Sharon xx

Not stitching - but page turning...

I'm known amongst my family and friends as liking a bit of a read.. That would be probably be an understatement really... The amount of books contained in the house is frightening - and I am a bit of an obessive compulsive craft magazine buyer - although in fairness to me -I have cut back a fair bit....

This little pile is what I have had beside the bed of late. The three books are library books - I am loving the Jane Brocket's Quilt Making it is packed with great quilts, great photos - just delicious from cover to cover - this title could be one of my own very shortly...

The Embroidered Flora and Fauna book is also brimming with wonderful life like projects in three dimensional embroidery... Mary Corbet does a more indepth review plus pictures over on her Needle 'n Thread website... Worth having a look... Amazing work - the sort of work I will only ever dream about..

The Framer's Wife Sampler Quilt is another great book with insights into American farm wives in the early 1920 and the blocks they inspired... I found the author Lauie Aarron Hird's blog so I will direct you over there for more of a read... I would love to have a go at the blocks - maybe in my next life...

And of course there are the magazines - I am trying to cut down my stash of these but unfortunatley each of these had something worth keeping... The Quilting Arts magazine was bought by daughter's friend for me - see I even have people outside the family buying for me - not that I mind... :-)

The Australian Homespun magazine probaly keeps me upto date with what is going on in the 'local' stitching world... A lot of the blogs I read now was because I found their authors and work inside that magazine... Homespun I buy montly and I have all it editions except two that I know of...

The English Stitch magazine is one of my favorites and I have kept up my order with the local newsagents for it... Have I ever done any of its projects??? No and probaly never will but each copy offers something lovely to dream about...

I couldn't resist this latest edition ofThe World of Cross Stitching magazine as it had the nicest little kit on the front - usually I pass them by as I have enough to stitch for 100 years or more but this little kit was just lovely....

Until next time

Sharon xxx

just to say...

... I haven't faded away - just busy...