Where I'm at.

I feel like I'm all over the place at the moment. Little bits scattered here and there.

I'm so tired after two big nights in a row. One spent drinking fancy cocktails and eating gorgeous food with my boy and the other driving down dark, windy roads somewhere out the back of anywhere to pick up Jazzy who had changed her mind about a sleepover at midnight after the lights had been turned off.

She's so sad today at the thought of her besties waking up together and having adventures today without her.

Indi is cutting out and colouring in paper dollies for her birthday party invitations. After weeks of agonising over the guest list, she's decided on the six old faves and I must say I'm pleased too.

Bren and the boys have revolutionised the egg department and now all of a sudden they have so much more time. Time for all the projects we always dreamed of but never believed there would actually be time for. First off they've been leveling the ground for a kitchen garden. Yay! I am beside myself excited to have vegies and herbs right outside the front door rather than down in the paddocks.

And Miss Pepper said she's tired of trying on clothes for me these days. She wants me to keep being her bunny rabbit and to eat the carrot she's trying to feed me.

I've cut out a pile of these smocks and am slowly sewing them together. Pepper lives in the four I made for her last year. They are the most practical things in her wardrobe. The one that is too small for her is hanging on a hook as decoration.

This one is made from vintage sheets and lace, a tree I screen printed last year and some crocheted ric rac around the hem to finish it off.

The Tree Dress is now in my shop.

I'm off now to cuddle Jazzy, check the details with Indi, discuss sleepers versus bricks for the garden beds with Bren and eat Pepper's carrots. And in between all that I'll be washing school uniforms, making lunch and knitting some more leaves (top pic), a quick project is a good project today.

I wonder if its the wind.

Happy Sunday. X

In my...

In my shop...this new addition to the Everything But The Thread range.

This Blue Ruffle Dress is size 4-5.

It is made entirely from vintage sheets, thrifted lace, button and trim and a doily from Rie.

How cute would it look on your princess!

In my mail...over the last week I have been lucky enough to receive this awesome book from Cath. It is like an encyclopedia of needle crafts and looks like it'll be one of those books I am always pulling down from the shelf. Thanks Cath!

Thanks Rie for the package of crafty odds and ends. I only included the fabric and the flowers because the rest is either already in use or been claimed by one of the girlies. And I am embarrassed to say that I cracked one of those long, brown buttons when I thought it was a licorice bullet and took a bite. True!

Thanks Caroline for the beautiful floral fabric fat quarters. Love, love, love! A dress? A skirt? A top? A hat?

And thanks Fran for the stunning scarfette. The only good thing about the freezing weather we are having is that I'll be able to wear it lots.

In Pepper's wardrobe...this cardi Bren's clever Mum knitted. I cannot get over how perfect all the stitches are and how complex the patterns. Kind of reminds me that I've got such a long way to go and so much to learn.

In my birthday loot...Six balls of this deliciousness. Mmmmmmmm

In my mind...a huge thank you for all your wonderful birthday messages. I had a fantastic day. The kind of day when I knew it was my birthday all day long.

The celebrations continue tonight with a dinner date with my farm boy (thanks R&J XX).

So what's going on in your...

I hope its happy. XX

ps. No that kid on my right is not mine.

My older creative space.

So do you think I look older??

Well I am!

A whole year older than last time I posted.

Last I night I lay in bed wondering whatever happened to the magic that surrounds your birthday when you are little? What ever happened to counting down the days in anticipation and excitement? To not being able to sleep the night before? To hinting at gifts and planning your party? And to bouncing out of bed on the day to see how much you'd grown?

This birthday edition of my creative space may not have me taller or smarter but it does have me spoiled rotten with giant cards, poems, a craft book, the promise of a macro lens, lots of phone calls, a blog post and so many renditions of 'Happy birthday to you' sung by my family and accompanied on guitar by Indi.

I have no idea why I wasn't excited about this day because so far its pretty amazing.

This dress is a little something I am working on at the moment. Don't look at the fabric, I know it's not me, but that makes it perfect for an experiment because its not too precious to play around with.

After cutting a pattern off a dress that fits me well, I tried to add shape with shirring.

And when it still looked like a tent I did some shirring in the back too. Next time I'll shir higher because let's face it, it's not very flattering where it is. Looking at these photos I can also see that it's not really working on the underarm bit, better work on that too.

This is one of those put it on and have a look, take it off and cut some off, put it on and have a look, take it off and shir some more....projects.

I think I've learnt all I can from this one and am ready to start a new one, still in not quite right fabric, but one step closer to what I want.

This is definitely a long term project.

Maybe I'll wear the final version to my birthday party next year.

Have a great day on my birthday y'all.

See ya. X

Softie 4 Mirabel.

Well hello there!

Actually, truth be told its goodbye!

You see I am leaving the farm today and heading into the bright lights of the big city for a real adventure.

I am dressed in my fanciest outfit. I have my matching shoes, scarf and hat on and my designer handbag is filled with all the important stuff that a girl simply cannot live without. I've spent hours getting my hair just right, I just hope this rain doesn't make it frizzy. And I've been hiding from Miss Jazzy who wants to cover me with glitter and make me look like a rock star. You see, its just no good for my complexion.

A girl's got to look her best you know. She simply has no idea who she might meet on her travels.

I must be honest and tell you that I am most excited. This farm and all the dirt and green is OK for some, but you see I am a lady who appreciates the finer things in life. I love nothing better than shopping, gossiping and lots of long lunches.

I have my sights set high and I wont let anything get in my way on my journey to the top.

So its farewell from me for now.

I'm heading to Pip's and from there to my new best friend's place. I cannot wait to see what delights my new future holds...a star on the Hollywood boulevard? A hit music video? The new female lead on the next Twilight movie?...the sky's the limit.

So ciao ciao for now.

Oh and if you want my personal details so you can text me, I am Raveled here.

World Rural Women's Day.

To celebrate World Rural Women's Day today, Bren and I spent the day at a festival in the grounds of an estate in Smeaton which is about 20 minutes from here.

There were lots of talks about issues facing rural women, and about women in agriculture, and a talk about 'wonderful organic women', WOWS (I thinkI need a t'shirt). There was also a farmers' market where we sold eggs.

The highlight for me was meeting a woman who was spinning some wool that she had dyed using eucalyptus leaves she'd picked on her neighbouring property.

She was just learning and experimenting with all different types of natural dyes and mordants and had skeins and skeins of wool labelled with the fruit/seed/leaf/bark/berry that she had used to dye them with.

Unfortunately for me she wasn't selling her wool because she said she was too attached to it and was so excited by looking at it all together to separate it.

She was really generous with her information though and took my address to post me some photocopies of different dying techniques and different mordant/natural dye combinations.

Here she is with her copper dying with eucalyptus leaves that apparently don't need a mordant at all. That orange jumper was knitted from wool dyed with these same leaves.

Of course there were also some of our woolly friends on display too.

We had to leave early to pick the girls up from school but just before we left Bren heard his name being called for the raffle. Imagine his surprise to have won this lovely work of art. The potato farmer next to us thought it might be the patron saint of chookies.

So happy World Rural Women's Day to you all.

And happy Melbourne Cup Day if you live around here.

Bye now. X

Testing 4 Nikki.

Late last week when Nikki was asking for beginner bag pattern testers, I put my hand up as quickly as I could. While I am not necessarily a beginner sewer, I have never made a bag from a pattern and was keen to give it a go.

This morning while my Mum was videoing the girls doing film clips to their favourite songs, I printed out the pattern and the pattern pieces and set to work.

Once I saw what I was making I realised that I have sewed a shopping bag before, a few probably, but I loved the idea of following Nikki's pattern and making it by the rules. I love that there was no guess work and therefore less room for mistakes and unpicking.

Nikki's Beginners Shopping Bag Pattern is brilliant, easy to follow, full of little tit bits of information and tricks and the end result is so neat and cute and practical. I learnt quite a bit along the way.

I think this would be a great pattern for a beginner or a refresher course for someone like me and I love Nikki's idea of wrapping her Christmas prezzies in these bags.

I made this one from a thrifted sheet and kept it plain but I have plans now to make some fancy ones.

My Mum keeps on saying how practical it is and what a great shape for toting writing books about in the city. Something tells me this one is going to be leaving my house tomorrow when she does. Lucky I've got the pattern and can make as many as I want and so quickly too.

So lovely readers, I hope you are having a great weekend.

We are off to listen to my sister Emily play in a cafe in town and maybe drink a glass of cider or two. That's about all this weather is good for.

See ya!

Critical Mass.

Today I am grateful for choice, opportunity and freedom of expression. Today I am sitting here thinking about how lucky we are to be living in this time, in this place with endless opportunities and only our own imaginations to limit us.

Late yesterday afternoon about 60 cyclists from the Daylesford area met outside the primary school and proceeded to ride their bikes up and down the main street of our town. Exactly the same thing was happening in over 300 cities all around the world.

These bike rides are called critical mass. While they do hold up and block the car traffic, they claim not to be protests against cars but celebrations of bikes. We aren't blocking the traffic. We are the traffic is a popular critical mass catch phrase and the name of a documentary about the phenomena.

This was the second Daylesford critical mass and the first one with an angry swear word yelled from an irate car driver with a hand gesture. It seemed so strange considering the happy, peaceful feeling amongst the riders claiming the streets of their own town for ten minutes once a month.

It is such fun and such a great feeling to reclaim the streets of your own town, to blow whistles, ring bells and to laugh and chat with your fellow cyclists. It is such fun for me to be the event photographer and to run up and down the street snapping away and watching my family riding/scootering.

Gif animators

If you are in the Daylesford area on the 26th of November (the last Friday of the month) at 5pm you should come along. If you would like to ride along but live somewhere else why don't you google critical mass and the town that you live in, grab your bike/scooter/pusher and cycle on.

Like I said, today I am feeling grateful for where and how I live and for my right to be involved in events like the critical mass without fear of any retribution.

Sometimes I do take my freedoms and rights for granted but today I am feeling grateful.

How about you? What are you feeling grateful for today?

Oh and if you are reading this as an email, why don't you click on the Foxs Lane link here or at the bottom to view the blog and the animation the way they should be seen..

See ya!