Happy New Year!!

We have had a most enjoyable and relaxing Christmas this year - spending time with family and friends. We trust that your Christmas was also a special one - creating lots of happy memories!

I was spoilt by my family at Christmas and received these lovely Japanese sewing books I have been admiring for some time, Machine Made Patchworks and From Quilters Studio.

I have already made my first project from the Patchwork book, this little quilted log cabin pencil case. I love the scrappy log cabin look and plan to make some more gifts using this style.

For Christmas, I gave all my nieces a monogrammed Moleskine notebook,that I teamed with some Smiggle supplies. I forgot to take pictures of them all, but here is the one I made for Sarah. 

2008 has been a wonderful year. My goal this year was to find time to spend on my hobbies of sewing and crafting, something I hadn't done much of for several years. It was in January 08 I discovered the inspiring world of sewing blogs, and with some encouragement from Sarah, we set up this blog and have had so much fun. We have met so many like minded and inspiring people, have been encouraged by so many wonderful comments, have witnessed so much generosity from crafters, and have been on the receiving end of so many lovely prizes and giveaways!! We are now looking forward to 2009 and hope to continue to inspire and be inspired by you all. Thank you so very much for stopping by over the year and taking the time to comment - it is very much appreciated. 

Sarah and I would like to wish you all, good health and happiness in 2009! 

Tis the Season....

During the festive season, I have been up to lots of Christmas baking and crafting. In the last week of school, I made a cool wreath out of fabric strips and a wire coat hanger.

As a gift, I have made up a batch of chocolate fudge and have presented them in origami boxes made out of 5 inch pieces of origami paper. The recipe is here.

Yesterday we decorated some Royale Biscuits to look like mini plum puddings - we got the inspiration from It's All About Us.

Tonight as a yummy treat I made some Candy Cane Frappes for the family, out of candy canes, ice cream, milk and ice. I presented them with a candy cane and a festive coloured straw.




We have been given loads of awards over the past week or so. Thanks so much to
Hannah - Hannah M Shaw
Val - Yarni Gras
Christy - Sweet Tidings
Kraftykash
Anya - Hills Creek Quilter
Julz - Julz Dezign
All of these sites are full of inspiration - please go and say hi!!

Mum and I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and health and happiness in the year ahead!

Posted by Sarah

The Winner Takes it all...

Sorry I can't get the Mamma Mia soundtrack out of my head!! Thanks to everyone who entered our giveaway. The random number generator has identified the winner as Leanne. Well done Leanne - we will send the prize off to you on Monday!!

I have just completed this little soft ball made out of hand stitched pentagons. I used to make these when my kids were small - it was a fun project to use up some scraps of my favourite fabric!




Here are the Cross Stitched Christmas stockings I made for my kids back in 1996. We were living in Norway at the time and I didn't have my sewing machine with me so I did a lot of cross stitching. Firstly, I made one for my dear son and then made up one for Sarah - adding the name in after she was born. I love getting them out each Christmas.




Hope everyone's Christmas preparations are going smoothly. I have one more week of work and then will be on holidays for 6 weeks - can't wait!

Posted by Lisa

A little bit of this and a little bit of that....

Firstly, thanks so much for all the wonderful feedback on Silver. For those WA readers that asked, the magazine is available in approx 80% of newsagencies in WA or by subscription from here.




I recently ordered a wonderful Japanese hat book from here. It has 35 full scale hat patterns in three different sizes. The pictorial instructions were really clear. I have already made my first hat - a wide brimmed sun hat - perfect for our upcoming summer holiday.




I have made another addition to Sarah's bedroom makeover. I attached some fabric to an inexpensive Ikea mousemat so it will co-ordinate with her room.




I have also been making some gifts...




Sarah was delighted to receive a wonderful book from Tiffanie of Three Peas in a pod last week
that she won in a giveaway. It arrived with a beautiful hand made card. Thanks so much Tiffanie!! Tiffanie has loads of giveaways on her lovely blog and lots of crafty projects.




Thanks also to Suzie from Little Busy Bee for a lovely award that she bestowed on us recently!! Check out her lovely Christmas decorations and her tutorial to make a sweet little Christmas bag - perfect for gift giving.

Posted by Lisa

Silver Magazine + Giveaway

I am very excited to announce the arrival of Western Australia's newest lifestyle magazine - Silver. This bimonthly publication features the best of WA fashion, beauty, food, craft, and feature articles.


The first issue features 12 of my Christmas Craft projects and I will be a regular contributor each issue. The craft covers a range of projects - sewing, paper crafts, kitchen crafts, kids crafts. Most of the projects can be completed in under an hour. Here is a peak of some of the projects in the first issue.







For your chance to win a copy of Silver Magazine, an E. Funkhouser New York Bandana and Tattoo, plus some silver craft goodies, just leave a comment on this post. The prize will be drawn on December 12, and I am happy to ship worldwide.



I would also like to extend a warm welcome to any visitors from Simply This That and the Other.
Posted by Lisa

Festive Chocolate and Lolly Wrappers

Transform chocolate bars, mints, and rolled candy into festive treats with some basic supplies.



We spent a couple of enjoyable hours customising treats for gift giving. We used a range of chocolate bars; rolls of Mentos; Tic Tacs; and peanut brittle. Firstly we wrapped the chocolate bars in aluminium foil. Then covered them with Christmas themed scrap booking paper, and added ribbons, tags, stickers, and other embellishments.



The possibilities are endless!



Sarah is going to give some to her Kris Kindle (Secret Santa) at school and the large blocks of chocolate to her teachers. Some of the smaller treats will be added to Christmas packages and stockings; or used as place cards at the Christmas table.




This is a great activity for kids!




Posted by Lisa and Sarah