A little blackboard love

A little something different is finally finished and listed in my Etsy store. 

My Love Notes Blackboard range!

These mini blackboards can be used for 1001 uses, and then some.
Use your imagination, hang one in your husband's wardrobe where he'll see it when he dresses, use them at parties, in the office, for inspiration, in your sewing room, the ideas are endless! 

 A little machine stitching and a little hand stitching.
Add a little fun to your life!

 Carole x

a little internet goodness...

Oh goody, a new Etsy store and it belongs to the fabulous Margaret. She has called her store swisspaperplus, and of course you can see what kind of goodies she stocks!
I am a very big fan of cabinet cards, I think they're gorgeous and hold lots of stories for those of us with wild imagination :)) She has all sorts of Swiss paper ephemera for those who like to collage.
If you're making a purchase don't forget to tell her Carole sent you!
Carole x

it's the last week of March

Which means it's the last week to go into the draw to win this lovely linen fabric!
All you need to do is leave a comment during the month of March to be included. If you want to know why I'm giving this fabric away you can read about it here.

Good luck!
Carole x

A little stitching

 Hand and machine

Carole x

It was like the secret garden

Weeding the garden on the weekend was like exploring a secret garden.
Look what I found! A large patch of swan plants and hundreds of caterpillars munching away. Think of all the monarch butterflies I'm giving the world!

It was definitely a case of making hay while the sun shone. For me and the caterpillars! It's been windy and wet ever since the weekend.
Carole x

I lost the weekend!

The weather was so nice over the weekend that I spent quite a lot of it out weeding the garden. Actually I had to weed, I couldn't find the garden! LOL

But I also managed to find a little time in my sewing room.
Remember the QB5 girls are making zines? Well I've made my zine. Yep, believe it or not, but it's all put together.

However, there's nothing in it yet! So I guess you might say ... here are the bones of my zine!

I'll be back with an update soon :)
Carole

Let me introduce you to our Toll Duck

This is our Toll Duck.
Not everyone has one of these little cuties. 
She actually belongs to the neighbour but she lives on the road frontage between our properties.

Every day when I drive down our drive to the gate she sees me coming and stands in the middle of the drive and won't let me pass, unless I throw her some bread.

Some mornings she sees my car coming and runs up the drive stopping me half way. This of course means I have to get out of the car, run down to the gate, get her attention by throwing out the bread off to the side of the driveway, open the gate, run back to the car and get in and drive down the drive and through the gate before she's eaten all her bread.
Some mornings I need to leave the house an extra 10 minutes early, just to get through the gate!

I think I would be the only person in Palmerston North who drives to work with a spare piece of bread in their car for the return trip. Yes, she's waiting for me when I get home too.
And Mr Madness and Mess also meets with the same demands. Often she's just sitting on the grass waiting...

We put a dish of water out for her which she loves. She's getting quite friendly now, and she chatters away to me in duck language when I talk to her.

There, so now you've met my Toll Duck!
Carole x

Making rhubarb fizz

I have a lot of rhubarb growing in my garden. I freeze it, I cook with it, puddings, muffins, shortcakes, so I have almost run out of things to do with it!
Then I found a recipe I've never tried before. Rhubarb Fizz.

It's not bad either, nice and fizzy, and it's like drinking ginger beer, except it doesn't have the ginger flavour.
It's a little cloudy and I'm not sure if it should be clear or not.

 Here's the recipe if you'd like to try it:

Rhubarb Fizz
Put 4 cups of chopped rhubarb and 1 chopped lemon into a plastic bucket (don't use metal).
Then add 680gms of white sugar, 4 and 1/2 litres water and 1 teaspoon of white vinegar. I stirred with a wooden spoon a couple of times.
Put the lid on the bucket, (I used a pot lid) and leave to stand for 48 hours.
Strain the liquid off and bottle. Leave space at the top of each bottle. Store at room temperature for at least 4 to 5 days. The longer you leave it the fizzier it will get. Every week you will need to release the pressure a little.
Chill before serving.

I added about 6 strawberries to try and make it a little more pinkish, but I would like to try strawberry fizz. I think you can make it with most fruit. Let me know if you try a different fruit fizz.

Carole x

Of course you all know what happens in March?

Did you guess it's my blogging birthday?
That's right I'm celebrating my 5th year of blogging, totally amazing!
So each March I have a wee give-away, just a wee something little to say thank you to my readers and friends who pop by and leave such lovely comments.
This March is no exception. This March I'm going to put all comments into the draw to win four fat quarters of this beautiful linen fabric, held together with string and one of my fabric brooches.

So all you have to do to enter is leave a comment on my blog between now the end of March. If you don't have a blog, make sure you leave a contact for you.

Each year I'm amazed that I still get so much enjoyment from blogging, and it makes me realise that the friendships I make mean so much.

So here's to another year of friendships and creativity, I hope you'll join me on the journey!
Carole x

a little shopping online...

Two weeks ago I did a little shopping online. I was tempted by an Etsy store called Rubyfloy.
I am a fan of old letters and correspondence and couldn't pass these by.

It's like peeking into someones life.

But these letters are great to use in art journals and to take copies of to use for backgrounds etc...
You will only be limited by your lack of imagination.

Think of the stories you could create!
I also found some interesting book cover sandwiches. In between the covers are an assortment of papers and interesting things for collage and journaling.

If you're looking for something different pay Nathalie a visit over at Rubyfloy, and tell her Carole sent you!

A little lunch with a friend

I met a friend for lunch today and she gave me a little package to unwrap, a gorgeous measuring tape necklace carefully wrapped in pattern paper.
She said she thought of me when she saw it.What a lovely surprise, I know I'm going to enjoy wearing it.
Thanks Faye for making my day today, I'll think of you each time I wear it!

On my desk right now...

Is a lovely pile of fabrics, can't wait to get my grubby little mits on them!
However, what's sitting right beside this pile of pretty fabrics are these....

Need to work on some more blocks.....

What's on your desk right now?

Carole x

A little zine is finished

We QB5 girls are all busy making zines. And when they're finished we send them on to each other to add a page or two.

The first zine to arrive in my letterbox was Patty's... it's a very textural zine with a cover made from velvet. Patty's theme is medieval. Dear me was New Zealand even here in medieval days?

And here is Patty's first completed page. I have no idea what to do at this stage!

We're just not that old over here in New Zealand! So I thought I better improvise for my page.

A little bit of tissue, some ink and BINGO! Grubby! Were they grubby in medieval times? Now, I need layers....

Mmmm, some layers and a Tragedy! What a combination, that's got to be good for medieval zine!

Layers, a Tragedy, London, 1623.
Perfect.
Made in Palmerston North, 2012.

That's the page done. Hope you like it Patty!
(The links to the QB5 girls are all on the right if you want to follow zine progress)

Carole x