I love op-shopping...

Where else could you find these lovely things...

Now I need to work out how they are made... So I can finish them off with the black wool and join them together... HELP! Does any one know how? PS. Here is a sneak peek at the "Pay it Forward" gifts I am in the midst of making...

Eye Spy... a discovery

Megan, blogger of The Byron life, has the honour of choosing this weeks Eye Spy theme - Eye Spy... a discovery.

Well, yesterday was full of discoveries...

A trip to the Fortitude Valley markets with the baby and my sister, where we discovered many beautiful things for sale... especially a beautiful blue dress for a certain exhibition a certain sister is in... Exploring the corridors between the malls... and finding a cool ceiling. I love the juxtaposition of the old and the new in this photo. Isn't it amazing what you can discover sometimes if you just look up? Discovering a rather strange and fun installation... But forgetting the artists last name... first name Zoe... Discovering ducks in Chinatown... Re-Discovering yummy sushi and Japanese lemonade... hmmm... Discovering that the baby loves a big day and seems to forget about his teething pain... Discovering that the UQ Art Museum has a free Margaret Olley exhibition on until the 19th April - go if you can, it is beautiful, even the entrance doors are beautiful... Discovering on our way out that you are allowed to take photos in the UQ gallery... would have loved to have shared some of the Margaret Olley with you, but we were running out of time by then. We did stop and photograph this piece on the way out....

Peter Hennesseys's "Humvee"

It is 6 meters high and made out of plywood! Pushing the line between what is 'art' and what is 'craft'?

Then last night hubby, baby and I went to an exhibition opening at 19 Karen Gallery. I just loved the work of Abigale Wittaker!

"And I wanted to give you a chance to miss me" - 2009

Thanks Cindy at Bug and Pop for the meme - hop over to check out other Eye-Spyers...

Sewing and baking...

Last night, when the baby went to bed and the husband went off to play sport, I finally sat down in front of the sewing machine and managed to do this...

(48 squares for my quilt are now sewn together, only 96 more to go...)

Inspired by (Inside A Black Apple)'s Macaron cooking adventures, using A La Cuisine!'s post as well, I tried my hand at the difficult task of making my first Macaron's...

Ready for the oven...

(not supposed to have that peak)

Out of the oven...

(sort of have frilly feet) Ready to eat... (Oh, er... are they supposed to taste like this?)

Oh dear, I wish they looked and tasted like these....

Hmmm... do I try again?

My Creative Space...

A teething baby does dampen the crafting spirit some what, and gobble up time, especially when said baby doesn't want to sleep and wants to be held all the time...

(He is sitting on my lap right now.)

So my Creative Space has not changed at all in a week,

look familiar...

I didn't even notice until I sat down to write this post... scary isn't it?

Where does the time go?

However, I have managed this week to take baby to the doctors, list some of my unloved clothes on ebay, go to a parent's group and out to dinner on the same day, I have washed a mountain of clothes and you could eat off nearly every surface of my house after my domestic goddess cleaning effort today, the bills are paid, emails read, lots of blog hopping, give away entering and some comments left... phew... while comforting, feeding, playing with, bathing the baby and keeping my eye on him as he tries to roll over in his cot and play gym...

(last night he ended up with one leg sticking out between the bars of his cot - he was stuck and not very impressed about it!)

But crafting related news: there has been fabric goodness in the mail...

(part of the reason why I am banned from credit card usage...)

I couldn't resist buying this gorgeous hand printed olive bonsai fabric from the lovely INK & SPINDLE shop...

... and I gave in and brought some Amy Butler fabric from ebay seller 'the persian bazaar'. So pretty...

I brought these fabrics to go in the quilt, but they don't really go now that I have them all out together... I'm not worried about this though. Who would be? Now I have the beginnings of another project that I can day dream about...

PS. Check out other Creative Spaces at Kirsty's blog Kootoyoo

I heart 'Her Library Adventures'...

Sophie Appleby, of Her Library Adventures blog, has a beautiful first anniversary give away here...

But your not allowed to win ok? You can go buy one though ok? Because I am banned from the credit card. So I have to win the give away... because I want those three custom design brooches.

I heart this brooch from Sophies Etsy store...

Pic from her shop...

Eye Spy... something beautiful in my backyard

I'm playing along with Cindy's Eye Spy meme and beyond pink and blue's theme...

I am rather biased when it comes to 'something beautiful in my backyard', as everything that is there now was put there by hubby and I.

This was what the backyard looked like when we brought it... nothing but a sad little lemon tree....

Then we started to make a mess...

Then there is a lot of other photos between the one above and the one below, but I will try not to bore you... plants, rocks, fencing...

I love bamboo... The other plants have gotten bigger... and the mess meant we now have lights and a waterfall and creek...

And today it looks like this... no lemon tree... still a work in progress...

our Japanese inspired garden...

Which wouldn't be complete without a temple goddess... Yesterday we started on the front garden...

Meanwhile our little man, who's three and a half months, seems to be teething... poor baby... so lots of hugs, bonjella, panadol and a refrigerated water filled teething ring... any other suggestions? I miss his smiles and happy faces...

My Creative Space...

It's too late now.

I'm already addicted...

I started out on the soft stuff. You know, knitting and sewing... but I kept thinking about trying the harder stuff. Just a taste...

Yesterday I went to another Spotlight and brought more fabric for the quilt... I washed it that night...

Today I cut out all the blocks for the quilt and then lay them out and played with them... (as did the cat and the baby) Once I was happy with the layout they were pinned, ready to be sewn up... ...which I have started this evening...

and so it continues...

Thanks to kootoyoo for the meme, pop on over to check out the other participants.

If I just try it once...

If I just try it once, I won't get addicted, will I? I just can't stop thinking about it. I see it everywhere... I knew someone who did it once, just to see what it was like, and they never did it again. But I know others. Once was enough, they were hooked... Maybe the addiction is in your genes? Maybe it is hereditary? If so, I'm in trouble. My mum and my sister are both recovering addicts. I couldn't say no. It's peer-blog-pressure or something. I think I could do it a few times and stop. Yeah. I'll do it. I'll buy some fabric to make my first quilt. I can't resist... Spotlight has 20% off today only... And so it begins... collecting fabric to make my first quilt and quilting lessons from my Mum...

Give away...

Amy is having a giveaway on her beautiful blog: Badskirt!

If you, me, or someone else is really lucky, we may just be one of the ones who wins! You could be the owner of one of her beautiful hippos or broochs - like Lollie and Flitter (my favourites!)

(Pic. of Lollie from Amy's Flikr photostream)

Eye spy.... My favourite Colour

lighter...

darker...

lighter... darker... I can't decide. But lighter or darker, my favourite colour at the moment is duck egg blue... Image 1. horses and tigers, image 2. Van Gough poster in nursery, image 3. Jolieree, image 4. A tree called life. Thanks to Cindy for hosting Eye Spy, and amity ville boronia for the theme this week!

I love op-shopping....

The baby is asleep and I am supposed to be making bickies to bring to a house warming... but I just wanted to quickly share with you the beautiful fabric I got yesterday from an op-shop in Ipswich...

I think the fabric it is muslin (it is see-throughy) and it has Japanese stickers on it. The pieces have finished edges (stitched) but I think they are too big to be hankies or napkins (not big enough to be a bandanna!), so I am not sure what they are!

I brought them for $1.50 each because they were so funky, but I have no idea what I can do with them! They will be added to the stash for now... Any suggestions?

Oops...

I'm sorry blog. I know I have been side tracked... How could it have been so long since I last posted? Pre-baby I was blogging everyday and crafting up a storm. Lately is has been all breastfeeding, nappies, doctors, washing, cleaning and cooking - no crafting! Baby is now three months old... I'm back, I promise, just maybe not every day...

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Thank you Mixtape zine for your article by greenolive - "Making time for crafting"... it's just what I needed!

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I now have a new-for-me sewing table thanks, to my lovely parents, which was once my mothers and which I learnt to sew on

(which is in a different room from my fabric etc. which is a problem for another day...) and I have finally found some 'me' time to start playing with fabric again... ...baby related of course... although I don't have much in the way of masculine fabric... so bibs for girls it is. The cotton and towelling are overlocked together. My first bib with bias binding attempt... not the best... any suggestions or patterns without bias?