make a list

It's my tradition that today I make a list of what my goals and dreams will be for the next year and I look at my list from last year and feel all fuzzy about how I went with those (or not depending on the year).

So, things that I am feeling really good about this year are:
* attending 3 markets & opening my salon up
* challenging myself to make some new things
* putting some of my things into a shop
* feeding my family all year and watching them grow into gorgeous boys
* slowly getting less migraines and back pain as the year went by
* organising the house just a little bit more
* planting more vegetables around the garden
* starting writing
* finding a really good osteopath

* being encouraged into doing a blog by some good people

Things I am looking forward to next year:
* sending my youngest to school
* reading quietly during daylight
* sewing and creating more
* writing
* breathing gently
* loving my family
* loving my friends
* getting better at blogging

a time for a break

For all those who have been so kind as to have been reading my blog, thank you. I hope that you all had a very merry Christmas and wonderful time with your families.

We hosted Christmas at our house and it was just the best. The company, the shared food (argentenian bbq - yummm), the noise, the crafty/foody deco's that the kids and I spent hours/days making, squeezing everyone around our table... all made it to be what Christmas should be. We missed the members of the family who couldn't make it and remembered them with angels flying above the table. I will post some photos later when I am back with the photos of Christmas. We finished the day with driving around looking at the most amazing Chrissy lights in Ascot Vale and Moonee Ponds (and have decided to make that a new family tradition).

I am now taking a little break from it all recouperating from the year; reading, gardening, writing, op shopping, breathing & playing with the kids. See you all again in the new year.

I wish you all the very best for the new year and hope that you can find some way to get a little closer to your dreams.

Happy New Year! Feliz Año Nuevo! Glückliches Neues Jahr! Καλή χρονιά! Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! Nouvelle année heureuse ! Nuovo anno felice! 明けましておめでとう! 새해 복 많이 받으세요! Ano novo feliz! С новым годом! 新年好! Sretna Nova Godina!

surprise package

I received a lovely package in mail yesterday from a clever girl, SaffronCraig & it was such a lovely surprise. I had forgotten that by just visiting her site she sent me a gorgeous piece of her hand printed fabric. Now I have the lovely joy of thinking of a project for it!

I will be opening the Salon again this Saturday between 10am & 12pm for those who are after last minute Chrissie pressies. You can call me 0407 124 553 for the address or email me megsthreads@gmail.com.

living boxes

skip shopper had this great idea of reusing recycling to make growing boxes to give away for chrissy pressies. Mixed lettuce, rocket & coriander seeds that are just starting to sprout (and they did survive the great downpour on Friday).

John (son) had this beautiful idea at the park of a "stick star", so we now have a new gorgeous decoration to add to our collection. We just wound string around the sticks adding one at a time & hung it with fishing wire.

...and Mum handed me down our old christmas lights that don't work - but look gorgeous all the same, so I have to keep them & one day I'll work out how to fix them, in the meantime, they just make great decorations.

angels

The boys call her the fat angel, I kinda like her. They made her. Do ya reckon yellow pages could have timed it better for new books? An entire afternoon & morning activity. Yay. Wouldn`t want more than two though...

triptych

Suddenly realised how close we are to Christmas & have potted up these hanging baskets to look pretty on the day as we are hosting. They have oregano, thyme (always need more of that), basil seeds, and marigolds to keep the bugs away & to eat the petals! Made an ugly wall, well, just not so ugly!

wish upon a star

Ahh, I loooove decorating for Christmas. These are really easy to make. I stole the idea from a show that we watch on Friday nights & adapted it to use materials that we have at home. Kids can make them & you can hang them too.

Cut strips of paper from magazines (the more colourful the better), then loop the ends so that they cross over about 3cm.

Punch a hole though the middle of the crossed over bit & the middle of the other side as shown

Stick this onto your split pin.

When you have enough on there (between 7 & 12), split the pin & then bend over the ends so there are no sharp bits & you will also have something to hang a string or fishing wire from!

Check the shop, come on Saturday or Tuesday for some hand made goodness between 10 & 12(megsthreads@gmail.com) and get into the spirit.

face up

Who saw that last night? Cool huh!

New stuff in shop. New stuff in Bamakko. Open shop went well, opening again next tuesday 9 december 10-12pm and saturday 6 december 10-12pm megsthreads@gmail.com for all those who are going crazy thinking of a nice handmade something for chrissy (or just want something for themselves...)

make bunches while the rain falls

I looooove fresh herbs and absolutely love to cook with them, however oregano is one that is best dried. Now is the time that it is gows tall so I like to cut bunches of the stems before they get too "leggy".

I gather about 10 stems which works out to be about right a good amount of dried oregano for a single use.

then tie them up with the string that I used from the last bunch (just loosen the knot)

And hang them to dry until I need to crunch them over the pot of bubbling pasta sauce....soup...bolognese...mmmm

Time to go sew...

studio open!

next tuesday 10am - 12pm

come & get something for yourself or something for christmas

email me for details megsthreads@gmail.com

brrrrrr

Wow! Who would have expected such an incredible wintry day for end of Nov? I did start the day outside and the tent was sooo purtty ('cept for the mud)...however, as the tent began to fly away and the sleet/hail fell, they managed to find a tiny space to squeeze me inside. Sorry, no pics of inside stall.

Massive thanks to all who helped out. Lou, Rob, Fiona R, Vish, Pete, Milly, Tansy, Matt (my love), Mum, my boys, Ric, and Caroline - I couldn't have survived the day without you.

Thanks to all loyal customers who hunted me down and found me! It was great to see you again.

I will be opening my doors v. soon for "shop mornings/evenings" during the week and/or the weekend. Just catching my breath & working out which days. Watch this space.

ahhhh

a month of handbags

new & cute purses

fresh new tees

stacks of hats

did someone say pens down yet?

see me tomorrow at market 3031 whatever the weather... :)

why oh why

Why oh why does kinder finish 1/2 hour earlier than I am ready? An extra 1/2 hour would have enabled me to actually finished this wrap tunic in one session rather than drawing it out over the entire day...
And why oh why did I make this tunic in size 10 when I am not even nearly near that? I really like it, and Bessy gets to wear it until I sell it at the market. It's cute and it wraps (I do have a bit of a thing for a wrap).

Thanks Caroline for the pattern & thanks Jo for the fabric.

Now I'll need to make another in my size for me after I resize the pattern (my least favourite job).

a little house keeping

I have realised my "labels" on my blog were getting a little out of control, so have done a little bit of housework & cleaned it up. Now hopefully it will be easier for you, the reader, to find out about the bits that you are interested in. Would be very pleased to get your feedback on site. Send me an email on megsthreads@gmail.com or leave a comment.

board of inspiration or bored

This is my inspiration board which I did refresh not so long ago, however, when I was taking photos, I began to wonder whether it or I was a little bored...maybe it's time for a change (or maybe I am procrastinating again). Looking at it, I do seem to like the flowery thang....

Hey, been playing with t-shirts, and am quite happy with the result

the grass is greener

I do get very distracted at times by my garden and I know that it is not very big (inner city chick), but I have packed a lot into a small block and I love to get down to ground level and pluck the weeds and check the vegies and admire the fruit trees. I am always amazed at the vast amounts of time that I can pass whilst out there. Being passionate about indigenous plants (which are local plants to the area) and productive plants, I have been spending a lot of time admiring my indigenous lawn as it comes into seed. The seed is feeding the bare patches and also feeding the poor hungry birds with the proper foods that they should be eating. Ok, I do spend a lot of time crawling around plucking out grasses that shouldn't be there, but I am winning the battle. The grass is green and the birds are fed! Joy.

Tomatoes are in. With basil. Good. Corn and bean and cucumber all planted. Good. Everything else is going to seed. Great! Herbs gone beserk. Fantastic.

Figs fruiting. Beautiful - love the shade of the leaves.

Passionfruit flowers. Aren't they GORGEOUS!!! I can't wait for the fruit to be tipped over yoghurt. I love it. Must remember to stick some more compost around the roots.

Nectarine...I do love them, however, feel a little ambivalent due to the fruit fly outbreak on it last year. Here's hoping we get to eat them this year.

mmm, packham pears. Delicious

Really happy that the grapevine cuttings have taken off - even the one that looked like it was dead, and then after 2 weeks of bucketing....reserection

I am constantly amazed at what will continue to grow without watering or with just buckets of water from inside. We water only once every 3 months or so because we are basically too lazy to get out of bed & remember when it is our turn to water, so it really is just up to our garden to survive!

As you can see, it is very easy to get distracted, and I really am only scratching the surface here. Too much to look at. Who would think that I have a market to get ready for...

found fabrics

In this last week I have been really lucky to have 2 friends pop by with unwanted fabric and clothing for me to rip into and allow my creative juices flow which has been a bit of fun (and a little overwhelming). Some of it I may not touch for a while as my time is quite limited and it just doesn't "talk" to me yet, but is too good to chuck, some is too bad to store & has moved on already and some bits just got me thinking a little left of field (more on that later once I can get it to work...).

Anyway, I am pretty happy with the wrap skirt with the big pocket which was a great piece of fabric that I found at the bottom of one of the boxes (that will be at the market3031 on 22 November in Kensington and you can see me there!)

The other thing that I was inspired to make yesterday was from a great big pile of shirts that came from my second chance encounter. Now these clothes were huge which has some advantages on my part. There is HEAPS of fabric. So the first thing that came to mind was a light spring scarf as seen on my male model below.
Now what to do with all those collars and sleeves? Trust me, I'll think of something. I hate to see anything go to waste. Oh, and there are a few suits I have my eye on chopping and changing. Oh what fun!

and another thing

Have just joined Veg About, not exactly sure what this entails other than popping some more posts on about what I'm doing in my garden as well as in my play room.... Hey check out what the other creative half gets up to when he's let loose...hmmm

lazy weekends

Phew! Love a long weekend. Time to play in the garden, hang out in the hammock, play with the kids, renovate the bathroom, hang the odd door, make a few reversable hats and brooches and sit back and relax. Thank goodness it's back to school and work today!