My book find

Here is my book find,

Of course you all will know what I'm going to do with this book won't you?

Carole :)

A visit to the Arts Recycling Centre

Last weekend while Traci was visiting we had a full day of bargain shopping. It was hard out and a day which you would need to be seasoned bargain spotters. 

Think there is probably a market for bargain shopping training days :)

One of our stops was at the Arts Recycling Centre here in Palmerston North. 

It's a regular treasure trove.

This corner, for obvious reasons, is my very favourite part of the centre.

Mainly because I like to rummage through all the sliding draws.

I especially like this draw.....

...but Traci was enjoying hunting bargains in the fabric room.

And I found some lovely crochet cottons which are great for hand quilting or embellishing.

On wooden reels too, oh, and pegs.

And I found a lovely book, I'll show you tomorrow.

What bargains have you found lately?

Carole :)

New lambs have arrived

Our lambs have started to arrive, it's a very exciting time here.

So far we have 5 lambs, with 2 sets of twins.

One of the lambs is a little runty, so I have been feeding her to keep her alive. Her sister is feeding well from their mother, but she doesn't get the hang of it.

It's fun to go out and feed them. 

It's 3 bottle feeds a day, and there's a bit of competition to get to the bottle!

This post was for you Patty - seeing you can't be here in person to help feed them :)

Carole :)

 

Craft market unpacked

Well Alt.Shift.Craft market that Traci and I went to on Friday night is behind us now. 

The creating, planning, preparations and practices are all a thing of the past, lol.

I must admit I was a little stressed before hand, although with having Traci and Mr M&M with me to help set up was great. 

(above: lavender bags)

The market was held in the museum here in Palmerston North, a lovely spacious venue, and the Feilding Ukulele group came and provided music for the stall holders and shoppers. 

There was plenty of room for more shoppers too!

And here was our stall. Traci had been busy making cushions and loads of buntings, all from recycled or re-purposed materials. They were totally gorgeous, but then I am her mum! lol

I think on reflection that perhaps our stall was a little cluttered and next time I plan to make it a little more simplified.

We had lots of lovely comments on how lovely our table looked, but I think I can improve on it.

I like a challenge!

Here we are towards the end of the night. Tired from our experience, but happy at selling our crafts to those who stopped by our stall.

Now it's back to normal for a while :)

Carole

I wonder....

What do you think about when you can't sleep at night?

Bits of fabric?

Ideas?

Art projects?

Blogs that inspired you?

I KNOW!      -     TELL ME ABOUT IT!!

Carole :)

just to reassure a certain group of young girls...

In case you are wondering if I'm working on my hex's

I really am!

Carole :)

I just had this thought....

 

If the girls who are doing my online classes, turn up to class while they are having

a "bad hair day" 

-how will I ever know?

Carole :)

Here we go again....

I am having a table at this craft market. It's a night market and very busy.

This is the real thing. 

I don't know if I should be nervous or not!

Am spending the weekend in my sewing room!

Keep you posted.....

Carole :)

Before class starts I have to show you these....

Ahoy me matey, I just wanted to share these pics with you.

Last weekend my better half and I went to Wellington to see the World of Wearable Arts Show, which I might add was incredibly clever. (No cameras were allowed)

Although Wellington is only 2 hours from home we decided to stay over. I want to show you where we stayed.

There was a few stairs to climb to reach the door. (That's our car way down there)

Exciting!

Behind this large handle was a very well-stocked kitchen with everything you could wish for in a bed and breakfast. We had been left bacon and eggs and tomatoes and mushrooms, a loaf of bread and crumpets, and assorted cereals. And then there was yoghurts and fruit juice and toppings for toast.

And chocolates.....

And I could have sat at the kitchen window all day long drinking tea.

And then there were some more steps....

And there was our bedroom!

And even more steps.....

And we arrived in the lounge, where we could sit back and relax and watch the world go by...

The view was amazing. Planes and ships and cyclists and little boats and people walking and seagulls.

It was a very nautical sleep-over, and as it got dark lights started to twinkle everywhere.

I was happy just watching the inter-island ferries making the crossing to the South Island.

If you look closely you can make out the mountain range on the eastern seaboard, at Kaikoura. The boat trip takes 3hours from North Island to South Island.

But, the next morning it was time to leave.

It was a great experience and I recommend it to anyone. Although not suitable for children or for groups. It is however, the perfect place to spend the night with your very own Salty Sea Captain :)))

So if you happen to be in Wellington for a night, and you'd like to stay in Island Bay, 

you can find it here.

Carole :)

Excitement mounts

Class starts this weekend.......hope those girls have done their homework!!

Carole :)

goodies from the fair

I did promise to show you some of the bits I bought at the Vintage Textile Fair in Auckland recently.

I didn't actually buy a great lot, but there were so many things to look at, and I could have happily spent a small fortune. But I was well behaved, ask Shane :)

These took my eye, I thought I could find a very practical use for them.

There were loads of laces, some extremely pricey. A couple of nice pieces were added to my collection.

These beauties were too good to pass up and reasonably priced.

I fell in love with this vintage needle keep too.

And this which I have no idea what it actually is, but I think it's an egg warmer lol.

I fell in love with this too. It is full of darning thread for stockings. (perhaps I could learn how to mend the pile I have here)

I thought this find was very special too. I was told it is a bride's handkerchief.

It is very fine and I'm sure you would never use it. Perhaps only to dry the lightest of tears? (of happiness of course)

And to end a fabulous day, Shane gave me this wonderful bag she made which was crammed full of exciting things she'd made and bits I can use. It was like opening a treasure chest of goodies! I was thrilled to bits to have some of her art work too.
Thank you Shane, I felt very spoilt.

Back soon :)
Carole

thought I'd share this with you

While I was away on holiday, 

my mum had loads of old photos for me of when I was a toddler.

I thought I'd share this one with you,

I'm about 3.

Mum made all my wee outfits and in all the pics I was always dressed beautifully.

Even when I was out playing, I was dressed beautifully complete with little ankle gumboots.

I love the photo, but do you think I've been caught doing something I shouldn't have been doing?

Carole :)