My Creative Space

Here are some of the dolls I mentioned in my last post.

As you can see they range in size, so I have quite a task in front of me.

Most of these dolls were cast back in around 1986 and most have my Aunt's initials but two are quite unique with having the mould number and designer on the back of their heads.

I asked my daughter to chose a doll as a starting point for me and I would make that one hers.

She chose this doll. After researching the numbers on her head it turns out her name is " Just Me" and the doll designer was Armand Marseielle.

Now the challenge will not be dressing her, I have been making barbie clothes since I was a kid,  it will be in  finding the right hair and figuring out how to put it on her.

If anyone knows how to do this please share. I'm new to the world of dolls and apart from one my beautiful mum had made for me I really have nothing to compare to.

PS funny, I just read the post with the china doll from my mum and said, 'i wish i could get one for my daughter'... cool huh, just have to put it out there. Now what shall I wish for next ?? lol

My Creative space...

This week I came across enormous luck when I won this gorgeous Queen Anne set on ebay for seriously less than it really is worth. I was relieved when the lady who I bought it from said she was happy I had won the auction and not someone who possibly was just after cheap furniture.

The fabric is amazing and although it looks faded it is not at all, it's just the nap showing up lighter. The cushions are heavy and super comfy like a hug from granny. 

The kitchen hutch has old style locks on the doors that the kids are fascinated with.

And then there's the old phone chair, I had to explain to the kids what it was used for! You know back in the old days when phones where plugged into the wall and If you wanted someones number you had to look for it in the phone book...lol  Oh the memories, you'd think I was like ancient and not in my 30's.

The set also has a set of 3 stacking tables too.

SO now to clean and freshen up this beautiful set, needless to say I'm over the moon and amazingly so are the kids even the delivery guys said  " they don't make furniture like this anymore'.

Check out some more creative spaces at KOOTOYOO.

My Creative space...

Forever nostalgic and trying to emulate the crochet creations of my beautiful Nana,  I hunted for the pattern online a while ago and saw it for sale but thought i could figure it out by looking at the blanket Nana made for the youngest. I was wrong. later stumbling across the pattern in an old Mon Tricot Book... again I could not figure it out!

So, when  my cousin hinted that I should try making one of these baby blankets a few weeks ago I thought I should give it a red hot go, She gave me  THIS link that has a video tutorial and so I sat in front of the PC with my soft cotton yarn and hook and followed and copied and paused and rewound and...

I think I've finally mastered it... the Mon Tricot call it harlequin stitch,Teresa in the tute calls it the square wheel stitch and others the wool eater. I call it Nana's crochet baby blanket.

Amazing what a sense of achievement it has brought, I could not be happier that now I can create what my Nana created for my children's babies and whoever may be lucky enough to get one before then!

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My Creative space...

 This is my creative space, it's a reclaimed office desk that my lovely husband painted for me years ago when we were living in Perth. It's where the magic happens.

Behind all the stuff is my inspiration board, it looks rather drab to the untrained eye but the few things on it speak volumes to me. Lovely prints from 74 lime lane, my Bronze Medallion and my mum's id for when she worked at air services Australia... it's the best picture i have of her. Behind her is my 'best mum ever' badge the kids gave me last mothers day.  All these things make me feel special and that helps me create.

I claimed these shelves from my daughter today ( she's getting new furniture) to neaten up my desk.

Under the desk is 3 plastic tubs, one full of yarn and the other 2 fabric. I did a clean out today and donated a bag of fabric and a bag of yarn to pre school,. You know how your tastes change and get a bit more fussy about what you really like. I'm there.

So that's my actual  creative space all nice and clean for now...

For more creative spaces pop on over to Kootoyoo.

My Creative space...

So very close to finishing this quilt that started a long long time ago... sounds like the start of a fairy tale so I'm looking forward to the warm fuzzies and the end of this creation. It's fox's quilt. he's been on my tail to get it finished and i tried so hard to make a 'masculine' type quilt only to be told otherwise. Never mind, I'm sure he'll enjoy snuggling up under it very soon.

My second project on the go is my Quilt for Queensland. Just after i started making this baby the foot pedal on the pfaff gave up in the humidity and who can blame it really, it's been a hell of a wet season to put it nicely. A replacement pedal arrived from the states last week and I'm just it the process of quilting it together.

I decided to hand quilt it to give some extra loving to it's soon to be new owner. Never hand quilted before... it's a bit harsh on the finger tips but amazingly relaxing and fulfilling at the same time. You should try it.

I have one more project on the go but I will save it for later. Have fun checking out all the lovely Creative spaces over at Kootoyoo.... looks like the lovely Kirsty is trying something new too :)

My Creative space...

So much stuff to organise with insurance due to cyclone damage and endless phone calls to a telephone company that is not playing the game fairly and also to the ombudsman because someone has to stick up for the little guys. Along with that the telephone company say they can't find me in their system yet continue to sent out bills... SO frustrating because it's been going on since the first week of January.

Also dealing with our landlords DHA, who have my daughter without a room due to water and black mould in her carpet that has been removed but not replaced. It's such a circus here right now and I'm feeling a little ripped off as I thought this year would be awesome and so far it has totally sucked. What's more annoying is I'm not one to mope about and yet that is what I've been doing. I have put all my other projects in the too hard basket for now and started making a few quick little crocheted cardies'. I wanted instant gratification to lift my spirits a bit.... It took me a whole day of browsing through crochet books to finally decide what to make. I'm driving myself nuts...lol

However it's not all bad, I did manage to teach my daughter the beginnings of crochet. She has chain and single crochet sorted and has been eagerly practicing her new skills.

Sorry about the rant, my creativeness has been stood on. Can we just restart 2011 on the 1st of March and maybe things will be awesome from then on in.

Check out some less whiny Creative types at Kootoyoo :)

My Creative space...

Okay I'm just going to come right out and say it, granny squares look pretty yes but what a pain in the but to make. I had grand plans (again) of doing a granny rug but it quickly changed in to a pillow after it took longer to sew in all the threads than crochet the squares. I think in future the two tone version will be just dandy. My hat is off to the grannies and granny makers.

Some more creativeness can be found right here at Kootoyoo.

My Creative space...

This new year i have hit the ground running trying to finish off projects that were started a while back, then i decided the get some granny action happening seeing as i signed up to 'a granny a day' last year and well failed big time.

So I thought I'd start small and do a little cushion cover, i seem to be gravitating towards cushions of late... finishing off with grey edging and i might even try attaching a zip to the crochet... walking on the wild side hey!

Now I'm not the only creative person in this house, my husband Fox has made a massive scalextix table and track in the garage over the school holidays. It's been a perfect project to keep the boys busy while we've been house bound by the rain.

Trying to get a good shot in the dark of the lamp post because Fox made it ! I'm so impressed he's really trying to be creative and make accessories for the track by himself. He now has a production line happening in the shed and his track should have a bunch of street lights up by the weekend.

Now head on over to Kootoyoo for some more crafty inspiration :)

My creative space...

A little home making... iv'e been sewing and putting up sun-out curtains in the bedrooms. I chose this rather dark curtain material for good reason. We have windows on two walls and two walls of full length wall to wall, floor to ceiling mirrors...oh yes. At present the only window coverings are vertical blinds (dha standard) and well they aren't all together private or very good at keeping out light considering the cupboard doors are quite reflective lol.



We have taken down the verticals and replaced them with the curtain tracks. Probably illegal according to dha, we will put everything back as it was before we leave but considering we expect to be here for another 2 years I think it's worth the effort.

You see, the sun shows up here anywhere from 5.30am onwards and Dman gets up not long after that.... usually to tell the native birds to be quiet! We have a plan for that too. Bambini Pronto have these alarm clocks that light up when it's okay to get out of bed and so far it's been working! We set it to turn on at 6am and will slowly make it later.

So excited for more sleep ans a cosy bedroom.

Check out more creative spaces at Kootoyoo :)

My creative space...

Is more like a creative adventure, and this is the begining.

It's going to be a blanket much like Amelie's but this time I'm using some rather bold Kaffe Fasset fabric just for fun.

And now for some more viewing pleasure, turn the channel over to Kootoyoo the home of Creative Space's.

My creative space

After reading Bianca's blog yesterday I decided it was time to sort my fabric stash because so far my 'sorting' has really just been folding and putting it into a large plastic tub.

So I've seperated the plains from the prints and kind of put them into coordinating colour piles. I wonder how you sort your fabric stash? By designer, colour, florals, stripes...etc?

Soon it will be put back into the tub in their piles but I'm guessing it will not be long before it has to get done again... more fabric arriving soon... shhh :)



So maybe not such a creative space, but soon to be a tidy one in prep for some sweet creations.

Pop on over to Kootoyoo for some really exciting Creative Spaces!

My creative space

My eldest sister is having her birthday next week so I decided to make her a Cosmetic purse using Nicole Mallalieu Design's Kit. And a matching little tote with Jennie McClelland's cute pattern out of the Meet me at Mikes book.



And now I'm off to a friends birthday lunch... hope you have a lovely day and keep warm down there in the southern reigons of Australia. It's a bit cold here too in Townsville...lol no really I have a cardi & jeans on :)

Pop on over to Kootoyoo and see what other crafty types are up to.

Edit - My husband keeps telling me (nagging) i need to put my own label onto the gifts i create, but i have no clue where to look for them, any hints on where i could pick up some cotton tape labels? thank you, trying to keep the man happy, you know x

My creative space

On the countdown to my newest nephews arrival in 5 weeks.

I'm crocheting him a waffle cot blanket to keep him warm in chilly Goulburn.

He will be my 14th niece/nephew but hopefully not the last.

Kootoyoo has a mountain of creative spaces, check it out. x

My creative space

More beanie making for our camping weekend. Meeka chose the colour to match her cardigan and I actually followed a pattern with this one.

But sadly it does not fit. It won't even fit Dmans head so I guess it's suited for a 1-2 year old and I just so happen to know a little girl who will be one next winter.

So it's back to the hook to whip up another...

Check out Kootoyoo to see what's going down in craftland.

My creative space

This week I have made some crochet trim to go on a top for self stitched september.
It was a little tricky sewing it on because of the bulk, but I tacked it first which made it easier.



Thanks for checking in.

For mor creative spaces check out Kootoyoo.

My creative space

It's all about Lego, buliding, creating, smashing & creating again. Dman likes me to copy the catalogue pictures and recreate the scenes before he smashes them apart and makes his own.



Fox went to the big smoke (Brisbane) this week and picked up this awesome toy story lego.
Toy Story is the one movie that our whole family is happy to sit and watch together. And it looks like this Toy Story 3 will be the first ever moovie we take Dman to see at the cinema. He seriously can't sit still, which kid can? I'm game... So it will be interesting to see how that goes...lol.





In the mean time, it's back to playing lego.





Visit more awesome creative spaces Here at Kootoyoo

my creative space

Every wednesday morning i meet up with a bunch of crafty girls and a very lovely lady takes care of our kids while we get our craft on.
At the minute, apart from dreaming about what kind of quilt i'd like to create my other project is making some clothes. But not wanting to carry my machine to and fro, I thought i'd attempt to make Morris the sensitive Panda from Pip Lincolne's Meet Me at Mikes book so I had something to do this week.



Check out what's being created in crafty blogland this week right here with Kootoyoo

My creative space

After watching a documentary on the throw away fashion industry and getting an insight on how the sweat shop workers live I really want to cut back on feeding this beast.

I don't really trust my skills to be able to grab an op shop dress and turn it into something beautiful just yet. So Iv'e bought a pattern with a few different styles so I can make some mix n match clothing. It's always summer here so this pattern will be perfect I think.

I'm making bathers for my big girl & a top for me. The bather's pattern I made myself using an old bevknits master pattern for bikini briefs and just kind of put a top on it, we'll see soon enough if it works out or not. wish me luck!

Find more creative spaces at Kootoyoo

My creative space

Amelie's Baby Blanket

Nearly finished, just putting the edge on and it will be on it's way...

The camera (or me) makes it look shiny, but it isn't at all.

More creative space's right HERE

My creative space

This week I'm trying to finish this baby blanket.
My beautiful friend Dani had a baby girl Amelie on Easter Monday, this is for her.
I saw a blanket like this somewhere in blog land but cannot remember where. I loved it so much and now I know how to get crochet on to fabric, thought i'd give it a go.



Four more squares to go.




Meeka has created some lovely Owl drawings (she did 3 all up, pink, purple & green) they are on her bedroom walls now and certainly brighten up her room. The little Dman kept running through the shots...



Con has been coming up with some lego beauties. He likes me to guess what they are and I always get it wrong! Can you guess what it is?






This is a cannon ship with a star wars clone flying it. It is a cannon and it flies.

The home of Creative space's is over at Kootoyoo, check it out.