I just wanted to pop in and let you know this...

If I don't manage to get here again before Christmas, I would like to say that I hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and delightful New Year!

I have been granted a few moments of time to throw together some little Christmas decos and placemats this afternoon which I am very proud of. I feel such acheivement when I manage to do something crafty- as my time is very full of looking after my two girls. They are such treasures but very demanding of my time! I hope to be able to share these very quick and easy Christmasy delights with you but it all depends on whether I am able to get the photos downloaded so you can see my crudely put together creations! Haha!

In the meantime, hope your Christmas preparations are coming along well and you can at least take the time to celebrate all that is good and lovely in your life!!

With Sprinkles of Sunshine...

Anna

A friend of mine in Tassie (and one of her friends) put together a Photo Challenge for the month of November. I thought that I would give it a go.

So I grabbed Mr POC ("Plain Old Camera") and started snapping. I thought I would share a couple of my favourite shots...

 ^Black & White

 ^Shallow Depth of Field

 ^Spring



I am joining in with Janelle Wind's Thrifty Thursday tradition with a post of my own about some fab finds I came across at my local op-shop.

I don't get to visit the op shops around here as often as I would like due to distance issues. My 'very' local op shop is 40 mins away which is good but I still haven't had a THOROUGH look around that shop because as soon as I step in there, the kids decide AT THAT MOMENT to get stroppy and difficult!! Isn't that the way it goes? [sigh]

Alas...

I did manage to snavel these goodies up last time I visited my 'very' local op shop...

 ^I am sooo excited about this purchase. I remember having something similar to this in different colouring in our household as a kid and have always in the back on my mind thought I wouldn't mind one. So when I turned the corner into another section of my 'very' local op shop, it was like a beacon of light shining down on this wondrous piece of furniture and I just HAD to take it home. And for $5, I DEFINITELY wasn't leaving it behind - thank you very much!!

I am thinking I might recover the seat with a patchy vintagy fabric cover just to add abit more zing to it. Whatta ya think?

And it's always nice to find some of these in the store ready for you to pop into the shopping basket and make your own. A vintage sheet and a purple single doona cover - all for $1.50 each! Don't know if I will use these as their original purpose or re-purpose them? Now I'm looking at it, that sheet might look good as part of the seat cover for the above shown item! What do you call that thing? I'm just gonna call it my 'nooky seat' cos it IS a seat none-the-less and it will be placed in a little nook where I can go and sit with my cuppa tea and look out the window dreaming and pondering about all the weird and wonderful things that roam my mind on a daily basis!

Well, that's my show of thrifty-ness for this week. Might have more next week. Ya never know!!

With Sprinkles of Sunshine...

Anna



I couldn't leave these on the shelf for some reason. I think it was just because they look so different to other shoes I've seen on the shop shelves before.

They do fit me (a little tight in the toe area but not too bad) - whether I wear them much I don't know. They were only 4 bucks so I'm not too worried. I just like the look of them.

What do you think?

With Sprinkles of Sunshine...

And it seems it is a more 'husband friendly' shopping option in that you don't seem to get the normal roll of the eyes or wary look as to how much you are going to spend cos he knows that it is bargain shopping. I could come out with a bag full of stuff and only have paid $20!!

I thought that I would share some of my op-shop finds of late. The photos aren't really good so I apologise for that but you get the idea.

A Jacqui E vest. I really like having these in my wardrobe stash as they are often something that I can put over a certain top just to add that extra 'pop' to the outfit!!

My Precious 'Little Sparkle'

Need I say more?

With Sprinkles of Sunshine...

For two new little people!One for my new little bubba in June...and one for my bestie's new little one in July.

Mini Crocheted HeartsThis year, at pretty much the last minute, I had a sparkly idea to make a bunch of these cute little things for my mother and mother-in-law for their Mothers Day gifts this year. I had never made them before but had the pattern printed off from one of my favourite crochet blogs, Attic 24.

After the first one, I steadily completed the second one to make sure I had it right, and so by the third - I was pumping them out one after the other with no trouble. Very simple little things to make!

I had two piles. About 11 or 12 in each for the Mums!

I packaged them up really nice with a picture from the blog (mentioned above), where I got the pattern and the idea from in the first place, so they could see a potential way to display them . I am looking forward to seeing the pictures of how each mother decided to use them.

I should pump out a few more and make my own little tree branch decoration!

It looks totally great in front of a window or just as a table centrepiece!!

With Sprinkles of Sunshine...

I was flicking through a 'Get Creative' mag the other week and come across a page I had doggy eared when I had first browsed the mag. It was for an easy kids beanie. As I have been looking for some easy baby knitting projects, I thought I would give it a try. This was my practice round...^I made a newborn size. This is after completing it and before I stitched the edges together. As this was only a practice round, I used a ball of 8ply acrylic wool I had in my yarn box for such a purpose as this.

Yay, I have a FINISHED OBJECT.

This knitted strip was one I found in my stash back in Tassie while cleaning out our storage container. I had started this when I was about 12 years old and it was going to be a knitted coathanger cover. The pattern had a little hat that you knitted to put on the hook. It was quite cute but I'm really not into that kind of thing these days so I just kept knitting in garter stitch until the ball ran out, cast off and brought it home with me for some purpose that was unknown.
^The other week I came across this little insert in a knitting mag I was flicking through and I thought of my little knitted strip sitting in the craft room awaiting inspiration. So I decided to give this crochet edging on it a go.

This was a result of being sidetracked! You see, I initially went into the shop to get some wool for a different project but couldn't find what I was after (in my budget anyway) - but I did see this wool and think, "Hmmm...that is a nice neutral colour to crochet a granny blankie for my new little wee one that is coming!" So I purchased two balls of it. It is Panda Magnum Soft 8ply wool and feels so cosy and I just LOVE the colours.I figured that it could do for a boy or a girl considering it has either purple or blue with a neutral colour thrown in for some balance. Do you think it is neutral enough or do you think it is more gender specific?
^This is how far I have got. I realise now that I do actually need another ball to make it a nice size baby blanket so until I am able to get into town again, the project is currently on hold. I have found a great tutorial over at an awesome little blog called Attic24 for the edging that I would like to try as this little goodies border. We will see how we go!

Thanks for dropping by!

I thought that I would show a few of my Works in Progress

(considering I can't seem to get time to finish them at this point in time).

At least you can see what I like to do and what I get up to.^While back in Tassie, I went to a workshop at the local scrapbook shop that I visited frequently while living over there. It was great to catch up with some of my 'scrappy' friends (sounds bad, but I mean that in the most fondest way)! We made this wall display. Obviously, mine did not get finished hence being a part of my WIP's pile. I am not entirely happy with the sizing and placement of the photos so I need to do abit of tweaking before I can say I'm totally happy with it!
^Here is some embellishments I purchased to help jazz it up abit.
It will get finished one day - hopefully in the next few months but we'll see!

I will be back with some more of my WIPs soon.
Stay tuned!

Wearing her 'Made By Mummy' special dress on Christmas morning.Not the best photo but is all I have of her wearing it.

Just thought I'd share!

With Sprinkles of Sunshine...

Oops!

I think I forgot to mention and display a piccie of the book that I got the pattern for little Sprout's dress from.

When I saw this on the shelf at my local bookstore, I had to have it. The kids clothes are so deliciously stylish and the patterns are pretty easy to follow and simply explained!Weather here lately has been abit cooler (where is Summer?) but I am not complaining! Maybe that is why I have felt the urge to get out my knitting needles/crochet hooks and patterns. Nothing like a windy overcast day to sit down with a cup of tea and knit away!!

More to come on that later I'm sure!

With Sprinkles of Sunshine...

I had an idea in my head of how to make a tote bag and I wanted to make one for Hubby's sister-in-law for Christmas. I chose this lovely lime green and pink printed fabric out of a scrap stash that I got sent to me with some other online fabric purchases yonky donks ago. I just bought some lime green fabric for lining and the inside pocket and handles.

I was pretty sure I had it all nutted out in my head but after mentioning it to my mother when she was over, we sat down and worked out the easiest, effective way to create this cool little bag! Coulda got a pattern I suppose but where is the fun in that!!!

I did use some thin wadding but next time I make one I am gonna leave that out and just have it a floppy fabric tote bag. But it makes it sit up nicely, hey?!!

As promised, the first of some things I have made lately.

Well, this project actually started at the beginning of 2010. I have always wanted to get into making our own clothes - well at least for my kids. So this was the first of my garment sewing endeavours.

It began as a birthday dress for little Sprout but ended up being her Christmas dress because I didn't get it done in time for her 2nd birthday last year.^Here is the finished product. I did most of it myself but when my mother came over to visit in November I did nab her to help me with the attachment of the skirt to the bodice (as I was a little bewildered with gathering for the first time and wanted some guidance), and she also did the buttons for me (I will master it next time!!).
^Back view

Yes, it has been THREE months since my last post. Just terrible, I know! (haha)

Well, alot has been happening. Between entering my second pregnancy and all that that entails, Christmas, New Year AND going on a holiday - it hasn't left me much time for blogging. I have managed to do a little bit of crafting though which I will share with you in another post.

Right now, I would like to leave you with some pics that shows what Hubby got up too back home here while little Sprout and I went back to Tassie to sort out our container and catch up with family and friends.^This is all my clothes sorted and folded on our bedroom shelves. Hubby constructed some new shelves out of old playpen walls (so thrifty my man is!) and now I have enough room for all my clothes and shoes and other stuff that needs storing there!
^Before I left for Tassie with our daughter, this room had only one coat of white over the VERY bright and bold shade of blue that was in there. As this room is for little Sprout, we were keen to change it to a different colour...white. Now, painting is the LEAST favourite thing that my husband likes to do - so coming home to this and the furniture set up was a VERY pleasant and overwhelming surprise!! Little Sprout LOVED it also!