A few scrappy bits for Etsy

.....a few scrappy bookmarks.....

.....with glam girls on the reverse.....

.....and a range of fabric gift tags.....

.....with a plain calico back for writing your message on.....

Carole ;D

Scones for Kate!

As requested....


Date Scones

3 cups of flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
25 grams (1oz) butter
approx 1 cup of milk
1 cup of chopped dates

sift dry ingredients into a bowl, add sugar then rub in the butter, then add dates. Mix to a soft dough with the milk, using a knife, (add extra milk if needed). Tip out onto a floured bench, knead slightly, pat into shape and cut into shapes. Place on an oven tray and cook for about 10 - 15 minutes at 230 deg C or 450 deg F.
Enjoy while hot/warm with butter!

You can make plain scones by omitting the dates and sugar, and adding 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Plain ones are nice with lashings of berry jam and whipped cream!!

You can make cheese scones by omitting the dates and sugar and adding the salt and 6 tablespoons of grated cheese and a pinch of cayenne pepper!


Happy baking, and don't forget to use your pretty china to serve them on!
Carole :)

fun mail!

Patty from over at Magpies Nest sent me a very interesting envelope recently. Inside I discovered some vintage patchwork blocks. It is amazing that the fabric is so thin, obviously made from remnants of clothing I suspect. And they have all been hand pieced, and some pieces of fabric have loads of joins. Patty knows I love aged and vintage goodies, thank you so much, I would very much like to use these in some way, but I'm not actually sure what I could make. Any one with an idea for a project, let me know, as they will probably get stashed away in my suitcase with my other treasures!


Patty also included this ATC, made using Gail Russakov's techniques. It's very embossed and is covered in different textures. COOL!


Don't you just love treats and surprises?
Carole :)

a sunday afternoon,

the perfect time for a date scone
straight from the oven...

hope you're having a relaxing weekend!
carole :)

Cafe hosts meeting of famous artists!

LOL, hardly famous, I know, but sounds great doesn't it!!
Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting up with ANOTHER mixed media artist who lives in Sanson, near Palmerston North. We kind of accidentally discovered each others blogs and BINGO!
Folks, meet Debbie, you can find her over at www.mistressdebrina.blogspot.com having lots of fun with collage, paint and textures!
It is amazing to find another artist who enjoys mixed media, understands what you get so excited about, and who is totally enthused about paper, paint, fabric and embellishments, living so close!

It's like finding the gold ticket in the willy wonka chocolate bar! LOL We drank coffee and ate delicious slices and talked ourselves silly, and then it was back to the real world!

I have a feeling we will be seeing much more of each other after this discovery!

Carole :)

sheep shifters...lol

The sheep have been complaining, it's been miserable, and it's so wet that the paddocks are turning to mud. We have been trying to keep them in these front paddocks so that our farming lady has easy access to them, she is due any time to shear them and dock their tails, but with more rain due, I don't think she will come for several more days. The sheep are demanding to have another paddock, one with lots of gorgeous greeness, one with green cuisine, sheep salad, nourishment and nosh.


When they start to get hungry, they start baaing like crazy. We decided to shift them to greener pastures, they knew we were keeping a lush paddock from them.
Here they are from right to left:
Blackie, Casper, Sooty, Tuesday, Sweep, Holly, Ruby, Magpie.
I walked down to open the gate....

stampede!!!

George Orwell flashes through my mind, and tales from Animal Farm!
They rushed past me, leave me standing in the mud, gumboots stuck fast, they are heading for the back paddock, they know the way.
So many luscious blades of grass, where to start eating first??

Notice that we have now named them all? We were starting to get confused about who had begot whom.

Oh, and I bet you can't guess what that white structure is in the back paddock?

Lol, hope you enjoyed the sheepy tales,
Carole :D

a brand new Etsy store!

Scarves Especially For You
This is the beginning of my sister's fabulous new Etsy store!
My very talented sister, Arlene has been making merino scarves, and they look stunning!
Keep an eye out for other exciting additions!

Carole :D

A 4x4" swap results

Annie, Ann, Debbi, Doreen and I are a small group doing a wee swap each month. Here are the 4x4" swaps that I got in Sept. Each month we take turns to pick the project. It will be my turn again in Nov. Ann set the project for the Sept swap and it had to be no bigger than 4"x 4" made of fabric and paper, with a vintage theme.


Above: this is Debbi's gorgeous 4x4

Below: this is Ann's. It's hard to pick it up in the pic, but the background it velvet. Very tactile!



Above: this one was made by Annie, love the portrait. (it's all stitched very neatly!!)

Below: this one is the one I made, with lots of layers. As the front side is all fabric,


...the back is all paper.

Our Oct swap is an ATC.

Have a great weekend folks!
Carole ;)

a few wee delights for your books!

You'll find them in my etsy store!

Carole ;)

some whimsical goodness for my etsy store...

Hope you are having a fun Tuesday!
Carole ;)

some results from the class.....

Now prepare yourself, my New York Beauty isn't going to look anything like the previous blog post pic! I have used batiks, but I'm going to be adventurous and wander off down another pathway.
I still didn't get many (3) pics, as I was concentrating so hard on my stitching!

Here are the first 3 blocks produced by the girls in the class (there were only 4 of us).
My block is the one on the top, (bit of a crappy pic, sorry about that).

And here are my 4 finished middle blocks. There are a few discrepancies, but
nothing I can't quilt over. Perfect points tho!
I used a lot of black in a quilt I made at the end of last year, and swore I wouldn't use
it again, as I find it really hard to sew, black thread on black cotton. (note to self: perhaps I need stronger glasses!)
Anyway, just thought it made the colours pop more. The blocks are quite large at 10 1/2" each, and I will need to do quite a few
more spikes to go around the black, but I'm not going to get this
finished until university finishes. But at least I now know how to
do foundation piecing now!

What have you been doing over the weekend?
Have a good week everyone,
Carole ;)

doing a class this weekend...

.......and this is what I'm trying to make!!
a little bit over adventurous for me! LOL
However, we all love a 'tryer'.
Don't think mine is going to look like this class sample, but will show you when it's done.
The class is being tutored by Hazel Foot from Auckland, who does the most amazing work. Very inspiring!
Yesterday I had to concentrate so darn hard I completely forgot to take any pics! (hope to get a couple today!) I think the paper piecing is great, perfect points every time, but my quick unpick and I have formed a very close relationship, let me tell you! I've nearly worn the darn thing out.
I think this is one of the hardest things I've had to learn of late!
And it's all about colours too, the colours I choose will make or break it.

Oh well, back to class......
Carole ;)

spontaneous decisions!

Yesterday was one of the worsest, horriblest, rottenest days for a while! It bucketed down and was windy and bitterly cold. Then last night before tea, the worst thing happened, one of our friends sheep had it's lamb! Horror! The poor wee thing, fancy being exposed to such disgustingly yucky weather!
We left it with it's mum for a couple of hours and then we decided to put it in the shed for the night. (I think it's really an excuse so I can cuddle it and give it bottles and talk to it! lol)

This morning there was snow on the hills, and although it was cold, it wasn't raining. I gave her a nice warm bottle, so she had something warm in her tummy and put her back outside with her mum.

The reunion was very touching, and everyone stopped what they were doing to watch!

including Buddy

and then as I was standing watching too, Buddy jumped (like cats do) onto my back!! Of course he used his claws to hang on there!! And then climbed up onto my shoulder!! Here's an impromptu pic! He was having great fun, not concerned about my pain at all!! LOL

Hope you are all well!
Carole ;)

a weekend full of tags!

these were the last four books from a large pile

i have been working on my final assignment for the business communication paper

i wonder if there is the possibility for some tag art???

lol, carole ;)

a bit of sewing between assignments...

a new needle keeper for my Etsy store....

a pile of swap items ready to be posted out....

and a new quilt in the making for my Etsy store.....

Keep a watch to see what progresses....

Carole ;)

Mum, can you..........

My daughter drove down to visit for the weekend. It was so nice to have her stay.
"Mummmmm......" said she,
"yessss," I said cautiously, wondering what great tricky question was coming next.
"Could you make me a bunting?"
"I guess I could," I replied. "You would need fabric."
"Oh I already have that, but I haven't got any way of sewing it."

After a short discussion about what exactly she wanted, we spent Saturday night making a bunting!

Hope you have all had a great weekend,
Carole ;)

Neat new store to visit!

There's a new Etsy Store opened, and if you're anything like me, you'll have to go visit!
It's called Ruby Floy, and it's owned by my very clever and talented friend Nathalie. She is planning to stock vintage items, and her art works.

She sent me some antique lace, (drool) it is gorgeous, so keep an eye out for exciting embellishments, laces, journals and art - oh and she is giving away a handmade journal on her blog!

Carole ;)

a wee mini break

Some of you may of noticed a wee lapse in blog posts.
I took a few days during my mid semester break from university to drive to Auckland and visit with my parents. I also got the chance to drive to Tauranga and visit with my grandfather who is in hospital. Then I drove to New Plymouth to see my daughter and then home to Palmerston North. A round trip of more than 1400 kms.
It was great to catch up with everyone, but the most amazing thing was that during the whole 5 days I only took one photo and that was the one above! Mount Egmont from Pukekura Park in New Plymouth. My daughter took me there for morning tea, which was lovely, we sat in the Spring sunshine, sipped lattes, watched the ducks and birds and soaked up the atmosphere.

The new semester has started again, and I am working on assignments again. Just over 5 weeks until the end of the lectures! Yay!

Nice to be back.
Carole ;)

nearly finished

I've finished the top of my tag quilt.

Then I decided I might add some stitched sashings.

Thank goodness for large glass doors!

Carole ;)

An exciting meeting.....

Some of you will have already seen this post, I mucked up the type somehow and couldn't correct it. So I have deleted it in sheer frustration and will start again.
Unfortunately I can't remember what I wrote and I didn't do the copy and paste thing!
Doh!
But anyway, yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Kathy. She is from the States and lives in Salt Lake City. She has bought stuff from my Etsy Store and follows my blog, (she has yet to start one herself). She is in NZ briefly to attend a conference and was driving back towards Auckland, so we arranged to meet in PN for coffee.
Kathy is into mixed media art, collage and jewelry making, and it was so nice to spend some time talking with a like-minded soul about art! She also told me all about some of the fab classes she has done and some of the tutors she has met. I was very jealous!
We found we had several things in common, and we are both full time uni students studying in different areas of communication.

So we "speed chatted" for an hour and a half before she had to leave. It was lovely to meet you Kathy, and maybe we will get to do some swapping at a later date!

What a small world we live in!
Carole ;)