I need your opinion on this new journal!

Hi, thought I'd share this journal with you. I started it a few months ago and it needs to be finished. I'd like your opinion please. 

I've collected up a number of photos of me from when I was, umm, younger! LOL my aim was to put them all together in a album, and what better album than one of my journals? (I loved fishing, still do!)

I want to write about the photos, where they were taken, how old I was when the photo was taken, who I'm with in the photo and anything I might want to add. I figure that it might make a lovely gift years down the track. 

My daughter may remember where she lived growing up, but she won't know much detail if any, of when I was growing up. 

So now the special photo album is finished - on the outside at least, all assembled. What do you think?

I've just got to add the text now, add some colour, some stamps perhaps, momentos. Above left is me with my little brother. I think I would have been about 9. (My mother made all my gorgeous wee dresses and cardy's!)

I added a couple of special cards into the journal, one was a birthday card from my parents and one was a birthday card from my daughter. 

So here's where I need your opinion.....

I'm just not sure about the faded old rose on the cover. What do you think? Is it too much? I'm not sure if I like there or not. 

What do you think? 

Oh and if you'd like to make yourself a journal, and make a very special photo album, the link to class details are on the right hand side of this blog. Click on the link to find out more or email me. 

Are you all prepared for Christmas? 

Love Carole x

Preparing my voice....

This is what I'm doing this Saturday night!!!
Need I say more?

Love their poster!

Carole x

Changeable weather

Wow, can't believe it's the middle of November and one day it can be like this.......

And the next it's doing this and there's fresh snow on the hills behind us! 

Now I'm carting around a large box of tissues feeling miserable, suffering from a head cold. Darn! 

Oh well. That's what weekends are for! 

Where's that book? 

Carole x

I haven't forgotten about you!

It's been a hectic couple of weeks and my feet are only now starting to touch the ground again. For those of you who know me via Facebook or maybe you get my newsletter, you will know my latest news. And of course right at this moment in time it's very exciting!

So of course I have to share it with you. I have been working on this novel for some years. It was on my bucket list and I have soooo enjoyed telling the story. But it has sucked up every spare hour of my day and then some. But now it's out there in the big wide world and I know some people won't like it and some will, I like it, and to me that's important.

The novel is similar perhaps to something author Danielle Steel might write. Although perhaps with a little more sauce added! LOL Would you like to read the back cover blurb? Now wouldn't you just love to have Alec all to yourself???? I would!

"The life of an international rock musician is fast and furious. Work hard and play harder. But when Mac collapses on stage in front of a packed Auckland stadium, she has no choice but to make some serious life changes. She disappears from media scrutiny to spend time recuperating at a private beach in the winterless far north of New Zealand.

London based Alec Stanford wants what his twin brother has…  a home, a wife and children. But just because he’s one of the world’s most successful and respected businessmen doesn’t mean he’s good at personal relationships. With a divorce pending, maybe he’s just not marriage material. Then he meets a burnt-out rock star who’s in hiding and she manages to shift the whole axis of his universe.

  

A novel about two people from different worlds who find a soul mate in each other and almost lose everything in the process."

It's out on Amazon.com as a paper back or ebook, and you can also get it from iBooks, nook, Barnes and Noble and kobo.
And today, I got my very first review, this is what the reader said.....

"What a great first novel Carole. I couldn't put it down. It was an easy read that took me on a journey of laughter sadness and excitement. I loved your use of some typically kiwi terminology! I became totally engrossed eager to find out what would happen next and was not disappointed. For me this book covered all the bases - a great story of two people which evolved into a steamy love story. Great characters, blended with the right amount of sexiness - baked in New Zealand - what a winning recipe."

I couldn't believe it! In fact it's a wonder you didn't hear me squealing in delight! So if you want something to read..... just saying lol.

Last week I was lucky enough to be invited along to speak at the Kapiti Coast Quilters meeting. The girls were all lovely and made me feel so welcome. I took along a few of my quilts and talked about them and after they all came up and chatted to me about them. They even gave me a beautiful bunch of flowers as a thank you!

Well, I'm off to make a cuppa. I'm planning on popping back here soon and I hope you are all busy painting and stitching and creating beautiful and loving works of art.

Carole x

Forgot to show you the pics from the journal class!

A couple of weekends ago I had a journal class in Levin and we had such a great weekend! 

The girls all had such very different themes for their journals which means no two journals looked similar. Of course there was lots of kaos, very controlled kaos though with papers and fabrics and embellishments over every surface! 

Don't they look so busy. It was lovely to have girls come from all around the countryside to do the class. Julie and June from the Hawkes Bay, Susan from Marton, Trish from Masterton and Jules from Whanganui. Lisa came from Palmerston North, Wendy came from Otaki and Cheryl, Jude and Rangi all live here in Levin. 

Above is Rangi's journal. She decided to use the wee gift bag I gave each of the students in her journal. Great idea! 

This is the inside cover of Wendy's journal, love the colours, don't you? 

I think this was some of Trish's journal pages. I love how she is making that tea bag work for her! 

This pile of goodness belongs to Lisa, loving the pinks and all the little bits hanging out! 

This belongs to Cheryl, she's working on the cover. Lovely vintage colours. 

And we had lovely morning and afternoon teas made by Trish, the owner of Krazy Cow Quilts. She squeaked her way up and down the store with the tea trolley laden with yummy food! 

It was a great weekend and we all had loads of fun! Thank you to everyone! 

Happy stitching everyone! 

Carole x

Another class today...

Today I spent the day with the girls at Kowhai Quilters in Feilding. They were going on a road trip... Here's some of their work from today.

They were right into making the project their own and Barbara made a small wall hanging and Joyce was making just one row with rolling hills and a fence with her letterbox. It was her place from the roadside. Great idea! 

Marina got very sporty with this little number! She was aiming to add over 30 cars to hers, one for each car she and her husband had owned! 

Thanks for having me girls, it was a lovely day! 

Carole x

Blog hopping

The very talented Catherine Parkinson has invited me to take part in an international Blog Hop. As I never have before, I thought I would.

It involves me answering a few questions and providing the link to Catherine's Blog so you can see what wonderful work she creates, (and she has this amazing quilt called Floating that you MUST see!) and then, giving you the link to another wonderful artist somewhere in the world.

First up I want to show you some Madness, 'cos that's what I'm all about really!

 

This weekend I've been teaching a Journal Journey class to a wonderful group of girls. I can always tell it's going to be a great class by the amount of disorder there is in a class. I'll post some more photos soon!

The first question is what am I working on at the moment? I am working on several projects, as we all do. One is a large quilt which will be an enchanting mix of old and new, heavily embellished. It's coming along nicely.

 

The second project I'm working on is this quilt. These are the first blocks almost finished. It just needs joining. Of course there are many more to make yet.

And anyone who has been following me on Facebook will know I have spent a lot of time on this of late. What is it you ask? Well it is my very first novel. Women's fiction, all 221,000 words of it! It has been a labour of love for the last gazillion years and it's almost at publishing stage!

How does my work differ from others of its genre? Several aspects make my work different. First I love to embellish, and in some cases embellish excessively. I also love to use free motion stitching in much of my work. Lines of stitching don't have to be straight, seams don't have to match, when I'm creating it's all about the journey and having fun along the way. I also challenge people in my classes to be somewhat 'freer' with their creations, not to worry if they make a mistake, the world doesn't stop, and everything can be repaired  -  and if not there's always embellishing! LOL

 

Why do I create what I do? Why do we create what we do? I love to re-purpose everything. I'm a hoarder you see, so it happens that I collect everything that passes my way. I love to embellish and I find these work well on the smaller items that I make. However, I'm finding that more and more embellishments are working their way into my larger quilts, which is surprising and exciting.

How does my creative process work? Often if I've decided to make a quilt, or a smaller project for that matter, I need to leave the fabrics spread out on a table in my studio for several weeks.Sometimes something speaks to me straight off. I'm very tactile and love to create things with depth that I can interact with, even if it's just that the viewer can run their hands over it.

This quilt that I'm working on at present started with a block I made some years ago. I loved the fabric and made a block up. It has sat on my inspiration board for a long time. Over that time I have got it down and placed it with other fabric, nothing spoke to me. Then after all these years, I came across some fabric which I bought, rushed home with and suddenly there was a quilt! I could see the blocks, the fabric was perfect for the design in my head.

Sorry about the nudity, but unfortunately Buddy likes to stretch out in front of the fire without regard for anyone!

Although I think Facebooking has taken over from blogging in numerous ways, I miss the blog family out there. It's a shift with the times, it's so much quicker and easier for many people to fly in and out and with one single click of the 'Like' button they can let you know they dropped in and they love what you do.

 If you'd like to participate in the Blog Hop and share a little about yourself, please leave a link to your blog in the comments! We'll come on over and say hi!

Carole x

A wet spring day

                                      

The cherry trees are trying hard to be spectacular, but it's rainy and windy and far from nice. As I write this it's hailing! 

I'm still enjoying looking at them them though the window though! 

Carole xx

A stitch in time for nine

On Friday I spent the day playing in the Studio getting ready for another class. It was a gorgeous outside so I opened all the windows wide. There was not even a breeze, just the birds for company.

Thought I'd get all the wee gift bags for my lovely students ready! They are made from ticking, I think it's rapidly becoming my most favoured fabric! 

I make one of these little bags for every student in every class. It's my way of saying 'Thank you'. The class is next weekend, and it's the journal class, it's going to be lots of fun! I think there is one seat left if anyone wants to join in! (Contact the Krazy Cow Quilts in Levin).

I'll take some pics for you next weekend. 

Carole x

It's spring here in my garden!

Did I tell you how much I love spring? Today was a beautiful day.

                                  

The Kowhai trees are breaking out into bloom which of course brings the tuis. The birds feed on the nectar and each morning there are about 30 birds feeding. The trees are late to flower this year, but it won't be long before the lawn turns into a carpet of yellow. The birds a hard on the flowers and break lots of them off. 

        

I've got lots of pretty daffodils out too, almost an overload of yellow!

         

These are flowering outside the studio. The little wax eyes are enjoying the apples at this time of year too. There were four trying to eat this one. It hangs outside my kitchen window so I can see who visits. 

        

It was lovely to hear from those of you who left comments on the last post, it was interesting to hear about what you feed and who pinches it first! 

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend!

Carole x