Gone, all gone

All my bits for Crafthope have gone, and I was very happy with the outcome of Sunday's efforts with the japanese linen & red spots:

The colour combo was just right, good size, zip went in beautifully... a slightly different experience to the original combo.  Obviously the god of sewing wasn't keeping her eye on the original pouch.


I have a bag of disasters, in the small but perfectly formed room, where I keep everything I've started to make but which has gone horribly wrong - I don't know why I keep them, they don't teach me anything except to perhaps be more careful... 


Other items of note in the Golightly Garden - the flowering gum is:

They're just like aliens, aren't they, waiting to burst forth from their pods... but very beautiful.

And the Crepe Myrtle, also flowering but on its last legs - it's been so pretty this year:

I was trying to be a bit artistic here and get right into the flower with my digital macro lens, but it was windy and do you think I could get the wind to stop blowing when I wanted it to?  Obviously the god of wind wasn't paying attention when she should have been either.  That's my excuse for the blur.

And we have a visitor in the garden - who is very welcome, even though I'm not that keen on them per se, and I don't like them in the house, I love seeing them in the garden because their job is to eat mosquitos, which means the mossies don't eat me, and that's got to be good!

And yesterday was my friend Deb's birthday... she's had a torrid few months, lately, what with one thing and another, so I've pushed the boat out a bit for her birthday - but still in keeping with the handmade vow, I got her this:

from the lovely DiTerra, in Minneapolis... and I didn't make her anything.  Is that good or bad?  Who knows!

And then there were three...

All of the things I donated to Craft Hope have now sold!  And now, I have to make them!  It's a bit naughty to sell something that doesn't exist, but I'm thinking its only fraudulent if you don't intend to make them - I spent this morning making one of these:

But I couldn't find any more of that pink, red, blue & white stripe (any ideas where it came from?  Nope, me neither, I'm thinking maybe Spotlight?  Ooooh, scary!) so I used Sandi Henderson's Farmers Market in this:

Which looked surprisingly good, I must say.  I hope the generous purchaser likes it!


Then I had to make a box pouch, so I thought I'd go with the nice japanese linen with the green flower on it, lined with fantastic owls:

and I cut out and appliqued one of the owls onto the front, and then, when I was sewing it up, I realised I hadn't caught the end tab in properly, and when I tried to fix it, completely screwed it up.  So, from being 99% done, it was 99% screwed.  So I had to start again, from scratch.  And I said the big F word, really loud.  I'm sure I shocked Mr Golightly, who doesn't normally comment on my swearing, of which there is often quite a lot (but of course, only when really justified, (yeah right)...) but he did check if I was OK... kind of- he yelled from the study "did you break something?".  If I'd been lying on the floor stabbed through the heart with a pin it would have been too bad, eh?

Anyway, I've given the owls up as a bad job, and gone to this combo instead:

 , 

which I must admit I quite like... so I'm cut out, pellon bonded, zip inserted, top stitched & rearing to go.  Tomorrow...  

And christ, it was hot today.  We took the 'shut up the house' option & kept the doors & windows closed, until the southerly whipped through at about 4.30 - just enough to lower the temperature by 18C, thanks, and to make us rush outside to get in the remnants of the washing in from the big fat rain drops... which lasted just until we'd got the washing in!

Ah well.  At least it wasn't humid, hey?  We'll sleep tonight, whoo hoo.  Flanellette PJ's here we come!

Well, this is probably a better idea anyway...

 Given that I already donate on a regular basis of MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders), I wanted to do a little more, in light of the horror that is going on in Haiti.


Anyway, I'm going to send a bunch of listings to this shop, which is doing a sterling job in raising money for Haiti by selling crafty things made by people like me... please consider making a purchase or a donation for those poor people.