And then there were six...

I finished the last tree & then discovered that it wasn't quite big enough to be in the centre of the beautician's window - so I had to make another one, which I got the photocopier guy to make A2 size - then I had to make an emergency dash to the lovely ladies at Cottage Quiltworks to get some more fabrics, just in case.  This one is the same fabric front & back, but without the decorations - instead I just attached a bunch of bells, all over the tree & one on each branch - it's going to jingle every time the door opens, the breeze blows, the reindeer land on the roof...

I also helped My Best Friend's Kidlets to make some more fridge magnets, and I made a set for Christmas, which are in the shop:

the book is, somewhat ironically, Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol".  Deliberately chosen, of course... I have the whole set, which were a constant presence in the house when I was growing up.  They were originally published in the 1930's and they aren't worth very much, but I wouldn't part with them for all the money in the world.


What else?  I spent some quality time showing my WMIL* how to start a blog for her Strata Plan, we had a lovely family dinner to welcome back Mr Golightly's nephew & his partner from The Biggest Smoke (London) on Friday night, and I made a small pouch, also destined for the shop:

And now, Gentle Readers, the sound of the rain falling on my back roof is so loud that I can't think, so I'm going to trundle off to bed!


Ciao!

Arrgh, get on with it!

Even though I am desperate to get the final tree finished today, I can't seem to get away from the computer.  I spent an inordinate amount of time uploading photos to my Flickr account today, into the Arches in Architecture group, because, as you know, Gentle Readers, I love a good Arch.  Check out the group.

Now, I'm fiddling around with Mozilla, Greasemonkey and Etsyhacks because I'm too lazy to recreate my fridge magnet listing for all the entries I want.  Everytime I go into the sewing room, another PC lightbulb comes on & I'm back in the study.  Arrrgh.

Anyway, good news that there's a re-finished Amy Butler tree for you to admire:

 And now I really must get on.  I'm expecting an influx of orders for Fridge Magnets and I need to get the gnomes working... or is it elves?  Back to that tree!


Ciao!

Welcome, Newest Gentle Reader

Did I mention, Remaining Gentle Readers, that I was happy to see a new Gentle Reader join your discerning ranks?  How nice it is to have your company, ArtyGal, and how inspired I was by your running blog (not quite inspired enough to get off my lardy arse & join in, but inspired nonetheless!) - I gave up running after item #14 on the Life List of Things I Never Want to Do Again, Nosireebob - running is way too hard with fallen arches & pronating feet, you just keep falling over.  

I used to enjoy it, when I was a teenager, out with the dog(s) every day (only one at a time, sadly, we had Honey first, and after her (hit by a car), Chocky (came to us because her family was temporarily living in a caravan park & couldn't keep her)... pictures?  Sure:

Taken in 1973.  See, I knew how to take pictures even then.  Joke.  Honest.

I'd love a dog now, but Mr G quite rightly says it isn't fair to be out of the house 12 hours a day & leave a dog on its own, but MGF Kaz is working on convincing him that two dogs (Remember that great joke, the punchline of which is "why do you ask, Two Dogs Fu**ing?") would be fine together (No?  Ask nicely, I'll tell you it privately)... he's not convinced.  Maybe I would be better to dedicate some Sundays to spending time with the waifs and strays at Monica's Doggie Rescue???

And back on a crafting note, I have finished the four small trees, and I did a few gussying-up thingys on the Amy Butler one which I will post at some point today.. I showed them to two separate yet equally biased audiences yesterday, and all audience members seemed to think they were just the ticket, so hopefully Kerry The Beautician will be equally pleased. I plan to do nothing more complex than a little sparkly beading on the Japanese balls, as it is glorious enough already... but as always, suggestions welcome.

And that, for now, is it.  I'll be back when the sun is up, and after a pleasant cup of coffee with My Best Friend this morning.  Enjoy your day!

Ciao! 

Is the server doing what it should today, hmmm?

Yes, indeedy.  Fridge magnets as promised.  I'm going to put some in the shop.  I was thinking 3 for $7.50Aus, but price suggestions welcome.  


Final christmas tree:

It's a bit plainer because that Amy Butler fabric is pretty much a decoration in itself.  This is  the back:

And this gorgeous Japanese cotton is going to be the biggie:

And this interesting coral print is going to be the back:

I think they look pretty good together:

What do you think?

Ciao!

Spiders are people too!

This is what’s happening in my mailbox right now.

You know, Increasing Gentle Readers, that although I have worked in IT for a number of years prior to my current sojourn, it was a particular form of IT, and not one that's particularly useful around blogs.  I keep trying to link to other people's posts and just end up with this link in my post, and nothing on their post.  What am I doing wrong here?  I know, I could read the online help.  Revelation.


Second revelation:  It's the international Year of Biodiversity, hence the link to the lovely Fluid Pudding's spider related blog post - if you were so inclined, you could visit here, and sign their petition to try & save the planet's remaining Whale population.  Of course, you might not be so inclined, but it's worth a try.  See, they are so too related.




Third revelation - I have discovered how to avoid chocolate - if I give Mr Golightly the bar of chocolate, and he asks me if I want some, it's very easy and painless to say "no thank you". if I have the bar of chocolate, I'll just sit and eat it till it's gone.  Genius.


Fourth revelation - I quite like making Christmas Trees, and here's the photos of the ongoing project:

then there's the fridge magnets, mine this time, not the kidlets:


Once the server stops playing silly buggers I will post the other tree & the fridge magnets... honest.

Button it up, baby

I had a lovely day yesterday at My Best Friend's house, helping the kidlets with a school project - I cannot believe what they want 10 year olds to do these days - they have to come up with a product, write a marketing strategy, do a presentation to the board, design a logo, then make the products, cost and price them and them sell them at a profit... they're ten years old, forchrissakes.  Anyway, the Kidlets decided to make fridge magnets, using 1 7/8" buttons and some squares from my 5" stash - they had a lot of fun:

Then we had a bit of fun choosing a new collar for Elliot, and we had Mia to help us - 

Mia has a bit of a ribbon fetish... as do I!

I also found a new button supplier on Etsy, who has all the buttons I ever wanted, and who is here in Australia!  Yay!  I lurve being able to get things locally...

What else?  I bought a lovely book by Joel Dewberry, "Sewn Spaces", which had a lovely birdy pattern in it, and hooray!, you can sell them items made from the patterns!!  I'm going to make some birds & see how they go in the shop - maybe a set on ribbon?  We'll see.  I've got to finish the Christmas trees for Kerry first, but progress is being made - but not today - I'm feeling a bit crap today so I spent most of the day as a horizontal zombie - so nice!