My Place and Yours: My Secret Weapon

I found the meme theme for this week a bit of a challenge I have to say. This week's choice was set by Deedrie from My Bricole.

But after much thought I think I'd have to say My Secret Weapon would have to be my hands.
I came to a realisation the other day, that if I get out and do something with my hands, (whether that something is crafty or even making an item that is needed around the house), then it can pull me out of a particularly low moment. You know those times when you just know that you're wallowing in your "lowness" and it's hard to kick it? Happens way too often around here!
I mean, I've probably always known that "doing" something will help to lift you up, but this realisation was, that it's actually creating "that something" with my hands that does it for me! Not just reading or walking etc. Mind you the ultimate trick is getting myself to "just do it now"!!! I can find that extemely difficult sometimes depending on how low I am at the time. But then I'm sure there are many of you in the same boat.
The thing I made the other day that led me to this epiphany was only a play tunnel for the cats, but after feeling how I felt when I was finished (as well as seeing how much the cats loved playing in it), I started to think about other times I had created, with those hands when I had told myself to just do it. About how I had felt and also what my internal dialogue was, afterwards.
Voila! Huge realisation. :)
To see other people's secret weapon, visit Meet Me at Mike's.


According to the laws of aerodynamics, the bumblebee cannot fly.....
I guess no one bothered to tell the bee. ~ Unknown

Christmas is just around the corner again!!!

Yes it is!
And it's almost time for the changeover for November for Chocolate Crow (on the 15th) and it's the Christmas Edition which only belts that fact home even harder. The time between now and then flies so fast for me. So much faster than the break-neck speed that the rest of the year manages to do. Help!! That's how loud my pleas sound in my ears when life starts to spiral out of control like this. :-) Oh well, I usually get there in the end, as I imagine most of us do.
Joolz wasn't able to manage an item for this change, so I've done two and Clare has done a great job on hers.

I've gone all out with the Christmas theme and dipped into the chenille again! What a great shade of Christmassy green for the stocking and tree don't you think?

I also decided to try my hand at some faux food with a Christmas Pudding that came out very scrummy looking, even if I do say so myself! :-))

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SUMMERTIME DOLL & BEAR FAIR

The Coffee Shop Auditorium

RNA Showgrounds, Gregory Terrace

Brisbane.

This weekend coming, 15th November from 9am.

Joolz and I are selling from Table No 71, and we'd love to see you. So come and say hello and have a chat. To make it interesting........if you mention you read this post, then I'll take 10% off any of my goodies that I'll have up on the table. This is only for my things though. Not Joolz's.

Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...it's about learning how to dance in the rain.

AND THE WINNER IS...........

I've drawn the winner for a bit of Spring Bling, and she is elaine r!!!
Well done Elaine. Congrats. All you have to do now is send me an e mail with your postal details and I'll post your bear off to you asap!

I'd like to thank all of you who entered the giveaway. Thanks for commenting and for becoming a follower if you did.

SPRING BLING BEAR OPENING/CLOSING GIVEAWAY

I'VE FORWARD DATED THIS POST TO KEEP IT ON TOP

Given Spring has already sprung, that I actually opened my new selling blog store (The Studio Downstairs) two weeks ago, and that I am in the midst of closing down my web site (Cloth to Creation) you could probably say I'm a tad late in offering a giveaway for these things combined!!! :o) But what the hey I thought!! Let's do it anyhoo.
So I also thought that this little Spring Bling Bear would be an appropriate thing to offer up.

To enter all you have to do is click through to my selling blog The Studio Downstairs, to see what you have to do to be in the running for the giveaway! I'll be drawing the winner on the morning of the 1st of next month, November (don't forget I'm running on Australian time.

Good luck!!!

Blog HQ

The meme theme this week for My Place and Yours, is Blog Headquarters, and was chosen by Ninon. In other words where ever it is I blog from, and that would be the room we now call The Office. Very officious don't you think? :o)

My husband and I share the room and both have our own pooters, printers and filing/storage areas which includes a three drawer filing cabinet. Very civilised, yes?

But of course I'm only going to show my side of it all. After all he doesn't even blog!!! lol.

I have the best seat in the room of course....beside the window.

That desk that all my things are on is a beautiful big old silky oak one that belongs to my mum.

I suppose the desk is usually as tidy as it looks here. But only cos I put any mess behind me on the filing cabinet! lol. I hate trying to work the mouse around any clutter.

And this is the view out the window to our backyard. Nice to be able to see it whenever I'm working on the blog or the store.

Below is a pic of the finished chenille stockings from the previous post. Don't suppose they look too bad......

Ooh... Have to go now. I hurt my back earlier in the week and sitting here too long is very uncomfortable.
Ciao!



The time is now, the place is here. Live the time and place! ~ Robert Eyre

Hello! Meet me at Mike's beside the bed!

The meme theme for My Place and Yours at Meet me at Mike's this week is "Bedside". So here are three pics of what's beside my bed.

Nothing too exciting believe me! This is my side of the bed, and I've been wanting to change to this "bedside table" for an age, but just haven't made the time for the change around. Cos it meant swapping and dragging and changing things around. But the meme theme this week has motivated me into just doing it! Given that I have a wee obsession with old suitcases or ports, I had plenty to play with. :)

I think my walls could do with a little more something on them. Not sure what yet though. The frame you can see on the left of the shot (not very clearly) is a colour pencil drawing that was done my my dad, when he was alive, which is looking worse for wear. I'm now 53 and I think it was done well before I was born.

On top you can see a folk art painting of some sunflowers that I did back in 1999!! I had a wacky idea of doing out each bedroom in the theme of a different flower years ago, and even though thoses themes have long gone, this painting has stayed, mainly because the quilt cover on the bed has sunflowers on it too! Will get rid of that one day.......some day! One wonders sometimes where one's brain was vacationing when these decorating ideas manifest!! But I like the painting anyway.

You can also see a glass of water (a must-have for thirsty moments during the night), a fan (for the hot moments that I am prone to these days/nights!), lip balm, small bees wax candle(who knows why!), a very cute biro(just cos I love the velvet violets stuck to the end of it), tissues(why not) and a book that has been laying there for months (the number of which I've lost count of!) waiting for me to start reading when I finally get around to going to bed at a decent hour! Hahaha! Big joke that! Reading this book is something I probably really need to do, if you can see the title of it! The only thing organised around here is my studio. But hey, is that a problem? Nup, not from where I'm standing/sitting/lying! lol.

Don't you just love that look of old cases? So vintagey(it's a word in Pam's dictionary) and characterful.

I have done some work!!

I haven't done a great deal of sewing or craft or art the last couple of weeks since I finished my Chocolate Crow items, but have managed to run up these three Christmas stockings from some of the chenille that is now overflowing from my studio! :) They're not quite finished, about half way there.
In between stuff that really needed doing around the house, making houses and enclosures for a mother cat and her kittens and a heap of work for the new blog store and winding down the web site, I haven't managed a lot of time to create. I'm hoping the change that this week.


As long as we have memories, yesterday remains. As long as we have hope, tomorrow awaits. As long as we have ART, today is beautiful! ~ from an article about Kay Tangner

Last chance to win...

Time is running out to enter into the giveaway over at Life in My Studio which is drawn tomorrow (US time). Debi is giving away 5 wonderful goodies in this one. So don't miss out!

Here's pics of a couple of them.

How lovely are they??