Just a minute ... in October (Blogtoberfest day 31)

I am joining in with Jenaveve's Just a minute meme, where we take a few moments to recall what we've been doing during the month. So, this October I have been ...

Snapping ...

... an electrical storm. These pictures were taken late last night as the most fantastic storm passed over Melbourne. I stuck the camera out of the window (in the pouring rain) and click-click-clicked for nearly half an hour until I finally captured two strikes. I've never captured lightening before ... and judging by my reflexes I may never do it again!



Watching ...

... a television program called Man versus wild.

Each week, this Discovery Channel program follows adventurer, presenter and Chief Scout, Bear Grylls, as he deliberately strands himself in a remote location and then demonstrates localised survival techniques. Its a fascinating and fabulous show (with the possible exception of gratuitous close-ups of Bear tucking into a meal of wriggling spiders and insects). I now feel perfectly equipped to swim out of the Florida Everglades (avoiding the 'gators) should I find myself lost there.

Growing ...

... flowers and vegetables. Every spring I go a little silly and plant lots of things. Every summer I examine the poor shrivelled, brown vegetation that remains and think I shouldn't be allowed to keep plants. (see: the carrot incident, by way of example)

We have had quite a bit of rain in the last four weeks, so this month I can happily report that I am growing green, leafy heirloom tomatoes, butter lettuces, rocket, peas, plums, limes and strawberries. There are flowers on the strawberries, limes, tomatoes and some fruit set on the plum tree. I am not expecting any of them to survive.



Planning ...

... to open a very small online shop. But more on that later ... always best not to say too much ... just in case it doesn't happen. Me and my grand plans don't have a good track record. Why else would I still have 40 metres of corduroy in my stash?

Thanking ...

... the very talented and inspirational Cathy from Tinniegirl. A big hug and a kiss to you for hosting Blogtoberfest. Its been fun - and a bit challenging - writing one blog post a day for the month. Its been a lovely opportunity to discover some new and fabulous blogs. Props to the gorgeous Cam from Curlypops too for being the perfect barrel girl and keeping the huge list of giveaways and competitions. (Oooh, and don't forget, that if you would like to win a sticker maker, that I am have a Blogtoberfest giveaway. )


Thank you also to Jenaveve for hosting Just a minute. To see who else is playing along head over to her delightful blog, August Street.

Would you like a Xyron sticker maker? (Blogtoberfest day 30)

If the answer is yes ... leave a comment to be in a draw for this Xyron 1.5" Create-a-sticker machine. The refillable gadget comes with a 20-ft (6.1 metre) cartridge of adhesive.You can use it to make stickers from paper, ribbon, fabric, metal, vellum and more. Its a lot of fun!

Make sure you leave your name and a way for me to contact you and I will draw the winner's name on Tuesday 3 November at 6:00pm (Australian Eastern Standard Time). Don't be shy - you don't need to be a regular reader and I am happy to post world-wide.

My creative space (Blogtoberfest day 29)

I am joining in with Thursday's My Creative Space at Kootoyoo.

Clockwise from left:

• Embellishment in ribbon and denim


• Zipper waiting to be inserted


• Sketchy drafting for skirt facing

This skirt is taking forever and an age.

Not because its intricate. Or at all difficult. Its a simple A-line that I traced from another favourite and tweaked a little. The construction is dead easy and the denim is very nice to work with.



The embellishment is hardly anything to write home about. Just simple and fun.



So I have concluded I have been travelling slowly with this, just because I can. I'm enjoying the journey: a bit of picking up and putting down; a little mucking about here and there.



One day there will be a skirt.

Perhaps I will be the founding (and possibly only) member of the "Slow Sewing" movement?

Thank you very much Kirsty for hosting My Creative Space. Its great fun seeing what everyone is doing. To see who else is showing their creative space (or to join in), head over here.

Block loaf ... or loaf block? (Blogtoberfest day 28)

Some days I just have to be realistic and grab my craft fix where I can get it. So let me introduce Quilting with food.

Not too much cutting. Simple piecing. Multigrain on white. And of course, white on multigrain as the backing.

Idea completely lifted from here.

Ode to a paper pattern (Blogtoberfest day 27)

Ode to a paper pattern
By Hoppo Bumpo

Darling, what would I do without you?
Yes you, my dearest pattern.
You are my veneratio magister
(Possibly revered teacher in Latin?)

You entice me with your photographs
The back and front line views,
Short or long? Sleeves or not?
View A or C - what to choose?

You help me through the purchase
Of fabric, zips and thread
Without your steadfast guidance
I could so easily be misled

(I'd surely select wide wale cord
Instead of slinky satin
But you keep me right on track
My darling paper pattern)

You also keep me on my toes
With all those pattern pieces
Twenty-eight for one garment?
The cutting never ceases.

And why are twenty-seven of those
All printed on sheet one
Yet the last piece hidden, on sheet two
Is this a joke or bit of fun?

And thinking now, your multi-sizing
Really is a killer
Was I following dash-dash, dot-dash
Or something else altogether?

Actually dearest pattern
You really have a darker side
Once taken from the envelope
You ain't never going back inside

Despite your papery thickness
Being measured in microns
Unfolded, you grow exponentially
That's for certain; odds-on

So pattern, dearest darling one
I'm falling out of love.
Maybe ready-to-wear ain't so bad
(If only it fitted like a glove)

Proud (Blogtoberfest day 26)

Me: Tell me about your lovely drawing.

Bargy: Its a quilt, mummy. Can you make it for me?

That's my boy!

Eye spy ... something cuddly (Blogtoberfest day 25)

I am playing along with Bug and Pop's lovely "Eye Spy" each Sunday. This week's theme is from the delightful Bek of Red Chocolate. She has asked us to show something cuddly.

This grainy photo - that I love so much - was taken 4 years ago. Its baby Argy at just under 3 months old. He was beautiful; very cuddly indeed.

(Cuddly sounds kinder than chubby, don't you think?)

Thank you to Cindy for hosting Eye Spy and to Bek for the theme. To discover other cuddlies, head over here. (This post brought to you as part of Tinniegirl's Blogtoberfest - a post a day in October.)

The party (Blogtoberfest day 24)

We had wee party today.



There were sparkly hats.



And painted faces.



And jellies with a cherry on top.



Hip-hip-hooray!

The forecast (Blogtoberfest day 23)

A ridge of pressure has been gradually moving in today, with a period of very high activity expected by tomorrow morning. A local alert has been issued for rising panic and possible strong exasperation.

The long range outlook is for calmer conditions and a 3rd birthday cake in the shape of a castle.

My creative space (Blogtoberfest day 22)

I am joining in with Thursday's My Creative Space at Kootoyoo.

Clockwise from left:

• Sticker maker
• Cartridge of repositionable tacky stuff
• Paper trimmer
• Inputs
• Outputs

This week's post should really be entitled Blogs made me do it. How else can I explain the sparkly new gadget sitting in my creative space?

I first saw one of these little gizmos over at Sadie and Lance, when Bianca showed her gorgeous homemade stickers created for a birthday party. "Oooh" I thought "that looks really fun". Did I need one? Maybe. But how to justify another craft gadget?

Luckily, with blogging, the answer is always just around the corner.

And as would be my luck, a few days ago I received the clincher. It was an e-mail titled Another reason why you need a Xyron Sticker Maker and the sender kindly directed me to Lynsey's beautiful creations at Swirly Thoughts. Wow, beautiful stickers using recycled catalogues. How could I not buy one?

(Just quietly, that CurlyPops is a complete enabler!)

XYRON 150 Create-A-Sticker
Makes stickers up to 3.5cm
AUD$16.95

Thank you very much Kirsty for hosting My Creative Space. Its great fun seeing what everyone is doing. To see who else is showing their creative space (or to join in), head over here.

Never work with children, animals or granny squares (Blogtoberfest day 21)

I have just participated in a crafty mail swap, with the theme of "decorated enveloped".

I decided to use water-colour and ink to decorate my envelopes. Clearly a medium selected prior to imagining what might happen if the envelopes got wet in the post. Ooops!

Anyhow, ignoring the dangers and forging on with water-colour, I selected a motif I thought each partner might like.

One envelope was decorated with a cat (above). Unfortunately it has a bit of a deformed head. I think the cranial miscalculation occurred about the time I was saying "Stand back. The cat does not need extra purple crayon on it".

The other envelope (below) has been decorated with lots of crochet granny squares. Er ... or should I say something wonky and colourful that is meant to resemble granny squares. You see I think I had the tension all wrong while I was drawing. You know ... the sort of tension you get when someone is wielding a purple crayon near your artwork?



I hope my swap partners like their envelopes.

Three (Blogtoberfest day 20)

At 1.00pm on 20 October 2006, the enormous vessel SS Hoppo Bumpo sailed into dock. The passenger disembarked shortly thereafter.

Happy birthday, Bargy!

The definition of optimism (Blogtoberfest day 19)

The definition of optimism is ...



... "the tendency to anticipate the best possible outcome" ...



... or put another way ...



... flying in the face of facts and cutting a jolly big hole in the door.

Today's entertainment courtesy of Mr Hoppo Bumpo and our adopted cat, who refuses to use the lovely cushion or cat house that Mr HB bought her.

Eye spy ... bed (Blogtoberfest day 18)

I am playing along with Bug and Pop's lovely "Eye Spy" each Sunday. This week's theme is from the delightful Miss Muggins. She has asked us to show our bed.

Hmmm ....

I suspect showing the bed on the world-wide interweb net might be stretching the friendship with Mr Hoppo Bumpo a bit.

So instead I present you with this vignette. Its a little something that I found this morning, after an uncomfortable night's sleep. Some kind soul had put it inside my pillowcase.



How times change. Once upon a time, when I used to travel for work, there was often a fancy chocolate on the pillow. Now it appears its an Imperial Storm Trooper in business casual.

Thank you to Cindy for hosting Eye Spy and to Laurel for the theme. To discover other beds, head over here. (This post brought to you as part of Tinniegirl's Blogtoberfest - a post a day in October.)

Looking for the proverbial (Blogtoberfest day 17)

Taken last Sunday, outside the Exhibition Buildings in Melbourne, following a bit of shopping at CraftExpo. The pot of gold would have come in handy.

Balloons (Blogtoberfest day 16)

At 23:30 last night, after an evening of frenetic painting and printing, I did the big ta-dahhhhh.

Bargy's party invitations were finished: water-colour and Gocco print on 300gsm water colour paper.

Mr Hoppo Bumpo took one glance. Couldn't you have just done those on a printer? he said.



I felt deflated, like a .....

My creative space (Blogtoberfest day 15)

I am joining in with Thursday's My Creative Space at Kootoyoo.

Clockwise from bottom:

• Party invitation idea
  


• Gocco screen
  


• Paper trimmer (bearing same mysterious red dot stickers as our cat)
  


• Paper folding gadgets - scoring blade for trimmer and brand spanking new, ridiculously single-purposed Martha Stewart paper folder/ smoother thingy (shhhh, nobody let Mr Hoppo Bumpo know)
  


• Water colour paper
  


• Water colour pencils in shades of red and fine brush

This week craft goes mostly functional and a little tiny bit experimental.

Bargy's 3rd birthday party is soon - very soon - and I have yet to send invitations. So today's fantasy involves creating something beautiful using dreamy red watercolours and a black Gocco print. I have no idea if layering a Gocco print over water colour will work.

Perhaps tomorrow's reality see party details sent by text message?

Thank you very much Kirsty for hosting My Creative Space. Its great fun seeing what everyone is doing. To see who else is showing their creative space (or to join in), head over here.

Noxious (Blogtoberfest day 14)

Only at Chez Hoppo Bumpo, would we discover ...



... that the prettiest plant in the garden is considered in some parts ...



... to be a weed; an alien invader; a garden thug ...



... and that its botanical name is allegedly derived from a Greek word meaning ...



.... bird poo.

These delightful facts brought to you as part of Tinniegirl's Blogtoberfest - a post a day in October.

Stand-back-and-throw: Lassie soup (Blogtoberfest day 13)

Lassie Come Home is the story of a beautiful white collie. Sadly Lassie's owners fell on hard times and had to sell her. The poor collie went to pieces.



But after taking stock, she planned an escape - she would make the journey.



It would have been difficult even for the most seasoned traveller.



Lassie faced many perils along the way, but never ran out of steam.



She was a tenacious collie; telling herself, ricotta keep going, ricotta keep going.



Finally Lassie was reunited with her family. She blended right back in. What a souper ending.



For an easy and delicious stand-back-and-throw Lassie soup, cut one washed cauliflower into florets. Place in a large pan and partly cover with stock. Season with a little nutmeg. Cook until the cauliflower falls apart. Add a tub of ricotta and blend until smooth.

Warning: children are a health hazard (Blogtoberfest day 12)

In these litigious days, its a wonder that child-raising texts are not obliged to warn of the true dangers of having children. Does anyone recall the chapter in Benjamin Spock's classic Baby and Childcare that discusses parental injuries?

No.

There have been many accidents since the arrival of Argy and Bargy; from the relatively minor (rolling down the stairs atop a Matchbox car .... who-oo--ooaaaa) to the more serious. The injury list includes a broken toe (accidental stomp from a size 5 foot); one broken rib (overbalancing picking up a boy); the poke in the eye (deliberate) and the elbow sprain (the tricky drop-while-holding-hands manoeuvre).

And today? There was a collision with the 9.42am seat express. A train of chairs appeared out of nowhere - I honestly never stood a chance. I'm sporting a big bump and a large green bruise right smack in the middle of my shin. And it hurts ... even with the pink pony bandaid.

Parenting is a dangerous business.

Brought to you as part of Tinniegirl's Blogtoberfest - a post a day in October.

Eye spy ... a favourite corner in my house (Blogtoberfest Day 11)

I am playing along with Bug and Pop's lovely "Eye Spy" each Sunday. This week's theme is from Cindy herself. She has asked us to show a favourite corner in our house.

This would have to be one of my favourite corners - right here in our upstairs study. Its where I write this blog.

The desk is pushed into the corner and there are windows on each side. They look out over the tops of some old trees that used to be part of an orchard. In the spring and summer the branches are full of birds. Today there were squabbling magpies and ravens, but in a few months - when the trees are laden fruit - there will be an army of rainbow lorikeets.

Sometimes, late at night, there are other visitors. It is not unusual to hear growling outside and then have a large, myopic possum peer through the window. I am not sure who gets the bigger fright.

Apart from the wildlife, I love this corner for the view. The windows are north and west facing and are quite elevated. This is where I take the pictures of the sunsets that you can see in the sidebar (link). Its a very ordinary suburban view, but nature gives it a make-over ever day.



Thank you to Cindy for hosting Eye Spy and for the theme. To discover other corners, head over here. (This post brought to you as part of Tinniegirl's Blogtoberfest - a post a day in October.)

Wearable art (Blogtoberfest day 10)

The measure of a great craft market is always in the cold cream.

An afternoon of arts and crafts ... or how my children are acing business school (Blogtoberfest day 9)

Hello girls and boys. Welcome back to Business School for Shrewd Preschoolers. Today we will be continuing with the topic of delegation.

As you know children, successful delegation is the handing over of both the responsibility and authority for completing a particular task. Let's see how much you remember.

Let's say Argy and Bargy's mummy has set up a table of art and craft. There are some large sheets of paper that need to be drawn on. What should Argy and Bargy do after 10 minutes of polite scribbling?

That's right. They should say: "Mum can yooooou draw a picture? Can you? Can you?". This is rule #1: Delegate the whole task to one person.

Now what should they do next?

Correct; it is best if they say: "We want a picture of a teddy. Oh, go on. Please Mum. Pleeeeeeaaaase. In orange. And blue." This is rule #2: Clearly specify your preferred results.

And finally?

Very good, yes. Rule #3 is Don't hover; independence is important.

Once their mummy is fully engaged in the task, Argy and Bargy should clear off.

She should be left to draw quietly until such time that she realises that a pleasant afternoon of arts-and-crafts has turned into someone-drew-with-orange-crayon-on-their-bedroom-wall and how-did-the-cat's-drinking-water-end-up-on-your-brother.


Next week: Managing upwards - how to make your parents do what you want.

Brought to you as part of Tinniegirl's Blogtoberfest - a post a day in October.

My creative space (Blogtoberfest day 8)

I am joining in with Thursday's My Creative Space at Kootoyoo.

Clockwise from left:

• Medium weight denim
  
• Chocolate grosgrain ribbon stitched in place
  
• Start of some (wobbly) hand-stitching in cream
  
• Ribbon scraps and petersham rosettes, awaiting placement

Welcome to the House of Hoppo Bumpo, home of the slipshod garment.

This week I present to you the makings of a skirt. I've traced the pattern from another well-worn A-line skirt. It is cut from two pieces, has a facing rather than a waistband, darts at the back and a side zipper. The shape is strangely wobbly - possibly mirroring my body shape.

The fabric and ribbon embellishments are bargain basement bits and pieces from the stash. The embroidery in progress is dodgy.

And I guess sitting on the floor to sew is a bit questionable? But as they say: a numb bottom and crooked seams are a small price to pay for a good view of the television.

Thank you very much Kirsty for hosting My Creative Space. Its great fun seeing what everyone is doing. To see who else is showing their creative space (or to join in), head over here.