A giveaway!

Firstly, I just have to say that I won't be doing this kind of giveaway very often but I figured that I honestly loved what was on offer so much that I might as well make someone else happy - sort of a payback to the North Americans for not being able to enter the Anna Maria Horner book giveaway :) I have no idea if anyone will ever approach me again to do this kind of thing but I can promise you that if they do I'll only ever present you with stuff that I'd personally like to win, and I would never ever take a freebie or a payment to host something like this.

Having got the boring disclaimer out of the way - A little while ago CSN approached me to host a wee giveaway for them, and after I had a quick look around their shops I was happy to agree because they have some really lovely stuff!  The winner will get a US $60 gift certificate to use in any of their shops (and oh boy do they have a lot!) and you can use it alone or towards something a bit more expensive.  Now they only ship within the States and Canada, but that doesn't necessarily preclude the rest of the world if you have a nice friend who lives in North America and who would send the prize on for you.  You also need to keep in mind that you need to include potential shipping charges and/or customs or other import duties you might be liable for when considering what you'd like.

So what do you need to do?  Well click on over and have a look at their Beds and tell me which one you like best.  That's it!  Personally I really like the Modus Nevis Espresso bed - we need a new one ourselves and I'm desperate for something with a footboard to keep the blankets from slipping off the end of the bed in the middle of the night!  Of course, shipping it to NZ isn't exactly practical...

But you don't have to use your prize on a bed - they have heaps of great bedding there too. Or how about on something at another of their stores like the really neat stuff at All Modern?  This is the site that caught my eye when I was checking out their initial email and while I knew I was going to be all virtuous and do the giveaway, I really REALLY wished that I could go for a product review of some of this stuff and get to keep it myself :)  How about something from Dwell Studio?  Ok, so I'm just living vicariously through one of you I know, but I do like looking at pretty stuff and there's some gorgeous gorgeous textiles and patterns on this site.  They have a handy way to limit your search to products within a price range, so you can select $0-60 over on the left sidebar there.  Or how about shoes?  Ok, so I didn't even look through that store because shoes I can't have would just send me over the edge!

So clicky clicky over to the beds from the first link up there and come back and tell me what you like. I will draw the winner with a random number generator (the internet kind!) on Friday, June 18th at 9am NZ time, which I think is something like 5pm on Thursday the 17th EST.  Don't forget to include your email address in the body of your comment or make sure you enter it into the Disqus field with your name etc., that way I see it but it's not publically visible.  And for the lucky winner, once you've chosen your prize you have to come back and tell me what it was!  Well ok I can't make you do do that, but it would totally make my day!

Far Far Away auction at Stitchbird

Lyndy over at Stitchbird is auctioning off a gorgeous FQ bundle of Heather Ross's Far Far Away in aid of the Mary Potter Hospice in Wellington. A wonderful bundle (I should know because I've got one!) and a worthy cause. I think hospices are one of the best things when it comes to contemplating mortality and how the tide should go out in a dignified and painless way.

A few thoughts on MSL's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts

I've spent far more time than I probably should have thinking about what I'd say if someone asked me what I thought of this book and should they buy it. No-one has, but I'll tell you anyways! Part of me really likes it and is glad I bought it, part of me is glad it was birthday (ie 'free') money I used on it because I'm not entirely sure whether it...mmm...how to put it...justifies its price or size?

So what I'll do is the good stuff first and I've scanned a few of my favourite projects out of it to show you - and to be honest there were this many again I could have put in so the hit rate in terms of things that make me go "ooOOO!" is pretty high. The book is organised with a large section at the beginning that covers various techniques necessary to do the projects in the book. The projects are broken down into categories like Animals, Aprons, Bed linens, Clothing, Coasters, Decorative Pillows, Flowers, Nursery, Organisers, Pets, Quilts and Patchwork, Slippers, Upholstery, Wall decor etc. etc.

In the order that Flickr gives the photos to me (which is the opposite of their order in the book!):

Menswear Mice. I'm not sure if Lucy would actually be interested in them as she's not a catnip cat and can get a bit scared of anything too big lobbed towards her, but damn they're cute! I suspect little kids would like them more.

Felt slippers. I love love love the cut-out treatment, they look gorgeous. I'd probably do the soles in something warmer than just felt though.

Dog Coats. One of my nephews is a small terrier named Duncan. He'd look adorable in one of these.

Covered button boutonierre. I love this, so small and perfect. Though I never have floral wire or tape around for these sorts of things and I never do them, maybe I should lay some in.

Stencilled curtains. These are actually very similar to the fabric we used to make the curtains in Hazel's room and I love the Scandinavian feel to them. Beautiful.

Girl's shirt dress. Can't get enough of these little girl dresses out of men's shirts! This one looks very cute and has the added bonus of a great construction technique with means you don't have to pfaff around with sleeves etc. Now if only Mat would tire of his shirts before they were worn out! This picture is like my fantasy little girl shot, so demure, the freckles, the sweet little (non-pink) cardigan. I think Hazel would run screaming the other way if I tried it though...

Little felt bags. These are the ones that inspired the Totoro bag. Nothing startlingly new but I just love the colours and design. Hazel likes the birdy one best and I'm very keen on the cat. There are several other more grown up versions in the book as well.

Menswear Bunnies. Oh my goodness I heart these bunnies so much! Wook at deir widdle faces! But really, how cute. These definitely got a "can you make me one mummy?" from Hazel and I will!

Sashiko. I've only recently become aware of this Japanese style of embroidery and I love the patterns shown here and in a couple projects in the book. It's used particularly effectively on the edges of pillowcases in one project. The circles are my favourite but they're all just so elegant and restrained. Again, love it!

Ok, so that was the good. And it was pretty good right? Plus there are lots of projects for things that I don't need right now, like curtains, but might in the future, so it's a good reference book as well.

The bad. Even I, with limited access to the MSL magazine, recognise some of the projects. Like the stencilled curtains - a couple of projects come from that particular issue, which I picked up last time I was home for a visit, as do some of the upholstery ones which I know from another magazine from a previous visit. Needless to say I've been treasuring them since, but I think it illustrates the point that if you have every magazine then you probably have a decent section of this book already.

The same goes if you're an online tutorial addict like me - many of these projects rang a bell or two as to tutorials I'd come across elsewhere. Not identical or anything, but there are only so many ways you can make a small felt purse, or a small dog jacket if you know what I mean. A little searching and perserverence will yield similar projects.

Some of the techniques are in reality quite complicated and I don't think that a page or two of rather superficial instructions are going to get you good enough to tackle the projects successfully. Like the sashiko - to be honest I'd go elsewhere for instructions because I'm not sure I'd get good results based on the book's. The pictures are pretty and it's fabulous to leaf through and read, but I'm not convinced about the achievability of many of the projects. But actually, maybe that's not the point? It's quite likely that the intended audience isn't going to try 90% of these projects, just like they probably don't from the magazines, so I may be judging it by criteria that it simply wasn't meant to meet.

My final verdict? Well I think it depends on how you feel about the Martha Stewart brand and the styling, as well as what you want from a book like this. If you have all the magazines probably don't bother unless you want one of the new projects. Personally I'm a total sucker for the MSL styling and the aesthetic, if not the über-frau ethos. But if it irritates you then don't buy the book. If you need all the projects to be practical or achievable based on the instructions included then be wary but not totally put off, most of them are achievable with just a few that you'd need a gazillion dollars to do, or a personal coach to show you how to do it. If you are more of a free online tutorial kind of person then stick with that because there isn't much in here that you couldn't get online.

On the whole though, I'm pleased I've got it because really, nothing beats sitting on the couch with a cup of tea looking through a lovely great big book, with the promise of page after page of neat and wonderful things stretching out before me. Computers are great, online tutorials are great, but a book's a book and it doesn't need to be plugged in or printed out. So I like this one, it's like a chunk of the crafty internet made real.

Totoro felt bag

I'm still in the process of trying to figure out which projects in the Martha Stewart book to show you, but one that I will are some cute little felt bags. Nothing stunningly innovative, but they're really quite adorable and of course the second Hazel sighted them it was the standard "can you make that for me mummy?" I love little projects like that because they're so quick and creatively satisfying so I said yes. Then Totoro came into her life and I had the clever idea I could just whip up a Totoro bag for her - you know, slap on a few bits of felt and voila! there would be a Totoro. Two days later...

Hazel told me tonight that she really likes my sewing, which was a huge compliment and I have to say I'm more than a little pleased with how it turned out! You know when you do something that you just like looking at because every time you do it gives you a wee rush of pleasure? I don't get it with everything but I do with this.

All I did was find an image from the rainy bus-stop scene (You Tube clip in the post here) and print it off, cut the various bits out and use them as patterns. I cut the brown felt out first, then cut out the tummy, eyes and nose pieces from the picture. I cut the various shapes very carefully and used the empty spaces left behind to position the felt elements on the brown background, and then stitched them down. After I had the tummy, nose and eyes done I cut the arm shape out and attached that. If I were to do this again I'd make the tummy round and put the arm over the top instead of the fiddly way I did this one with the shaped edge. I had planned on doing the little chevrons and claws out of felt but that proved insanely fiddly and essentially impossible so they're embroidered instead. The umbrella gave me no end of grief and there were many versions trying to replicate the inner and outer you can see in the picture. In the end I just made the outside and skipped the angled look to it. I'd love to try and make her a larger backpack with fuzzier fabrics though, that would be freaking amazing!

Other Totoro crafts I've found and bookmarked:

Blue crocheted Totoro from Heaven's Hellcat
Tiny Totoro doll's hat from Netherwood Creations
Knitted Totoro Hat by Hello Yarn
Totoro Norwegian-style mittens by Andrea (free Ravelry download)
Paper Totoro by Cubeecraft
Totoro bag pattern on DeviantArt

And here is Hazel "My destiny. It is out there. I face it with my Totoro bag."

And look at those lemons! They'll be ripe in a couple of weeks and then it'll be lemons, lemons and more lemons. I'll have to make some lemon curd and some tarts and... They're not lemony lemons if you know what I mean, I think it must be some sort of Meyer cross, so they're fat, sweet and juicy but not very acidic. And they come all at once! So if you visit me in the near future I will probably offer you lemons to take home, which is never very successful in Auckland because most people are having similar problems!

The even more mysterious box

Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to respond about my mysterious box - I'm even more puzzled about than ever as there seems no rhyme nor reason to who can see it and who can't. I just checked and it shows on my computer if I use Safari. O_o  Don't you just love the vagaries of computers and the internet?  If I have time I'll check into it further in case anyone other than me and Anna have a box they don't want!

The mysterious box on my blog

The other day I was having a look at my blog from my computer at University (a PC using IE) and I noticed that there was a box and shadow around the text area of the blog that made it stand out from the white background. It doesn't appear on my Mac using Firefox so now I'm wondering who it appears for. If you can see it I'd be curious to know what kind of computer/browser you're using.

I also need to say hi and thanks to the mysterious person(s) who have been submitting my images to Craft Gawker! It's not a site I'd come across before but it's quite neat and I've been enjoying looking at some of the other images that appear there. It's an eclectic mix!

I'm in the midst of completing some UFOs - the boring stuff like hems, repairs and taking in. Need to get it done so I can get on to more fun stuff! This is the point in projects where I tend to fall down, get it all done bar the final finishing touches and it languishes for far longer than it should.

I made some focaccia with 'Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes' and it was great! Onion and rosemary and it really was wonderful. It took a 1/4 of the dough so the rest of it's sitting in the fridge waiting to go - problem is that I'm meant to be trying to lose weight and having yummy bread minutes away is an awful temptation... I'll post more about the book when I've had a chance to try some more of the recipes but it's looking VERY positive so far :) Not that I doubted it because it's had such rave reviews everywhere I've come across it on others' blogs.

Opera 'n stuff

Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been mostly reading about crafting. And watching My Neighbour Totoro which is the most amazingly wonderful movie EVER. Rent it, buy it, watch it with your kids and your significant other(s). This clip is in the original sub-titled Japanese, but the English version that we've been watching is extremely well done.



Last night Mat and I went to see the Marriage of Figaro.

I enjoy opera though I suspect I probably wouldn't go if he wasn't keen and organising it. Personally I prefer the more modern operas like Verdi's because they don't sing the same thing over and over again ad nauseum - you know, snappy plot lines, everyone dead at the end :) But I was thinking as the lights went down that opera really is a cultural connection with the past. I mean, you can sit in an opera house and listen to the rustlings and coughs, clap when the conductor comes out, dash for the refreshments at interval, people watch, admire shoes and dresses, gossip about fellow attendees, run into friends and generally do things that people have been doing for hundreds of years. Pretty cool. Oh, and if you've had a long day you can doze off too. Ahem.