Monday 31 December 2012

12 Things in 2012

As the year draws to a close, I thought I might make mention of a few significant things that went on in my life in 2012.

1. I gave up coffee. This is a big deal for coffee-loving Amy. It was a recommendation from my dr as my blood pressure is running pretty high. It seems to be making a slight difference so I shall continue to be (mostly) caffeine free. I have the odd glass of coke and chocolate so can't properly claim caffeine free. I had my last cup of coffee in mid- May so 7 months going strong.

2. I learnt how to use power tools. Dave taught me about the different types of power tools on an educational trip to Mitre 10 and supervised me using a skill saw. It is fair to say I am a natural and I haven't looked back. Safety first though, I usually have my ear muffs on.

3. I got over my fear of the Dr. I'm not sure if it was a fear but more a waste of money. However my view has changed dramatically and I very much appreciate the service that GPs do. I am now much more likely to suggest a trip to the Dr if something is not quite right.

4. The dentist. I won't tell you how long I left my teeth to do their own thing but this year I finally got them sorted. Just a few fillings mind you, but any longer and things could have turned out differently. I would like to thank my IRD refund for that.

5. I started blogging! It seems like I have been at it for way longer than a year but my blog history tells me that I started blogging just after New Years 2012.
Blogging has done wonders for my creative life. I am much more motivated and have made a tonne of new 'friends' to share and gain inspiration.

6. I am on my way to starting a mini-business. My pallet art has become a decent little hobby that is proving to be very popular. Early in 2013 I hope to re do my stocks and get a felt shop up and running, as well as a few more markets.

7. This is the longest I have ever been at a job! It is coming up to 2 years and that may sound like not very long but between moving cities a bunch of times, studying and earthquakes 2 years is quite an achievement.

8. We started our house buying journey. Not quite there yet but hopefully in a few months we will own our first home!

9. We got our finances sorted. Our debt is nearly gone! (Not including student loans grumble grumble) just one year left on our car loan, totally achievable.

10. We watched the entire Stargate franchise. We also own them all. Self confessed sci-fi geeks we are.

11. We had a good go at a handmade Christmas. 90% of our gifts were handmade which I think is an awesome achievement.

12. I had my most successful (and currently only) re-purposed sale on trade me. A $2 hall table became $95 in my pocket. I aim to sell a lot more stuff in 2013. The problem is that everything I do I want to keep. But we have run out of room so the only way is out.

Happy New Years to all my readers, I pray 2013 is a year that you achieve so much more than you plan to!

Xoxo

Sunday 30 December 2012

Some Things

As well as 90% of the population, I am on holiday. The only horrible thing is that blogging becomes rather difficult when you only have an iPhone. So instead of recent crafty escapades, I thought I would rifle through my photos and give you a reminder that I am still here!!
















Tuesday 25 December 2012

Advent Swap Days 22-25

It's over! I am really going to miss opening a present every morning.

Day 22: measuring tapes! I must be a super slack sewer because I have none of these items Louise has gotten me! It's handy though!

Day 23: Super soft white wool

Day 24: Delicious Crunchie bars, yum

Day 25: Christmas!!! My big present was a cutter and stamp set so I can make cute labels for all my homemade items. Such I cool gift, I love it.

Thanks so much Louise, you have been a wonderful swap partner!

Merry Christmas to you all, I pray you all have a wonderful day and relax in the coming days. Xoxoxo







Friday 21 December 2012

Advent Swap Day 17-21

Day 17: A bread saver, I was eyeing one f these up in a shop the other day, you soak it in water and stick it in the bag with your bread (or cakes etc) and it keeps it fresher longer. Handy!

Day 18: The best chocolate Cadbury make :) yum!!!

Day 19: Elastic! Also handy, I have
None in my stash, and now I do :)

Day 20: Blu-Tac. Surprisingly don't have any of this either, now I do!

Day 21: A super cool wall plaque. Now to find some space on my walls...

On the home stretch now, Advent has just flown by!!









Sunday 16 December 2012

Advent Days 13-16

Day 13: Werthers Originals - yum!!!!

Day 14: a huge roll of white thread. After using a few rolls quilt-making, this is perfect!

Day 15: Knucklebones! Fair to say I am useless but it is such a fun game.

Day 16: Some super cute woodland fabric and some cool green polka dot fabric.









Wednesday 12 December 2012

Advent Days 9 - 12

Day 9: Some pretty navy yarn

Day 10: Delicious Hershey's Kisses (which are all gone already)

Day 11: Paperclips in the shapes of stars and hearts - so awesome!

Day 12: Stickers where you can create your own cupcakes and sundaes, nearly good enough to eat!

Pretty much halfway through now, I am useless at the old present feel so I have no idea what's coming up next. I can't believe how fast this month is going, 7 more workdays until we fly up north.
Christmas joy is creeping in everywhere yay!








Sunday 9 December 2012

An Actual Quilt

 Some long-time readers may remember a Quilt I made earlier this year. It isn't technically a quilt in the fact that it hasnt been 'quilted', it is really just a glorified duvet cover.

So if we are going on technicalities, then this is my first actual quilt I have finished!

This is a Christmas present but I am fairly certain the recipient doesn't read my blog so we are safe.

I got the material from the Travelling Stash Box that made its way around NZ a couple of months ago. The strips of material were pre-cut so it was perfect! I went and bought some cheap batting from Kutwell Fabrics, I also got the backing material from there too, and I was away laughing. My stitching-in-the-ditch leaves a bit to be desired but it still looks awesome and it will be a great lap quilt for a certain person.

I even ironed my own bias binding! If you know me, you know I NEVER iron anything, so this was a big step!

Anyway, here are some pretty pictures of it blowing in the breeze!


I see you stray thread! Go away!


Saturday 8 December 2012

Advent Days 6,7,8

Things are getting exciting in the advent swap, I am so impressed with the gifts Louise has gotten me. Good blog stalking!

Day 6: A two-stoppered bottle that holds both olive oil and balsamic vinegar. This is Daves favourite gift so far lol

Day 7: Tailors chalk in different colours, handy because I only have white and I use a lot of white fabric. Not a good mix. So yay very useful!

Day 8: A box of peppermint tea! Yum! My favourite!









Thursday 6 December 2012

To Market...Again

 I attempted my first proper market again last weekend, this time the weather co-operated and it all went ahead as planned. By the time I had taken these photos, all my statement pieces had been sold! I also made a few batches of fudge to sell too which went down a treat until the sun got super hot!

I sold nearly all my fudge and 4 pieces of pallet art and a couple of vintage frames, so all up a decent profit for a few hours of selling. I enjoyed networking too and meeting some of the other stall-holders.

Massive kudos to Holly from Hollymayb for arranging the whole thing!







Wednesday 5 December 2012

Advent Day 3,4,5

The other day I forgot to open my present before work!! Shocking!! A whole day of suspense. I enjoy opening a wee present each day and seeing how Louise has interpreted me and my interests :) I hope she likes her goodies!

Day 3: huge sheet of white felt

Day 4: a super cute giraffe notebook

Day 5: some orange ribbon

20 more to go!!



Sunday 2 December 2012

Advent Day 2

Today's advent gift was an awesome play on words. Or numbers in this case. For Day 2 I received a Resene test pot of paint, test pot number two, which is a cool shiny silver. So clever!



Saturday 1 December 2012

Advent Swap Day 1

Today is the first day of December which meant I got to open my first advent present!!!

For those of you that don't know, I am taking part in an advent gift swap with a bunch of other awesome bloggers run by the awesome Cat. Earlier last month we got together 24 small gifts and one larger gift to give our swap partner. We got a wee sheet of information with their likes and interests plus their blog address for stalking to get hints from.

My swap partner is the amazing Louise and we had a quick meet up to swap presents a couple of weeks ago. TWO WHOLE WEEKS I have had to not open all these cool presents under our tree! But I managed.

Anyway, todays gift was... A personalised 'Amy' Coke bottle! So cute! and perfect for the hot market day we had (more about that later). What a cool start to December. I may or may not post every day but it is so exciting.

Happy Christmas Tree Putting Up Day everyone!

Wednesday 21 November 2012

LOVE - DIY Yarn Art

Thanks to my awesome oversupply of yarn and the joy of Pinterest I imagined up a wee piece of wall art.

Lessons learnt:
-Hammers are heavy.
-Thumbs shouldn't get in the way but mine wasn't playing ball.
-It takes a lot of nails to do this. A lot. Like more than a hundred.
-Modern Family is a good soundtrack for makings.

Like?
More word suggestions?









Sunday 18 November 2012

Sidewalk Wonders

I found a couple of faded golden rickety chairs on the side of the road a couple of weeks back. I made Dave pull over and reverse down the road to beat off some other people who had spotted the roadside stash.

In the car they went and then in the corner they sat for a week while life went on.

I still have a tonne of striped fabric left from when I bought a whole roll and re-covered a footstool. It seemed perfect for the chairs so off on the now-familiar journey of re-upholstery I went.

I did a bit of a survey on whether or not to paint the chairs white but the vote was a resounding 'keep the wood!'
Dave helped me sand the varnish back off the chairs (my favourite job-not) and I reckon they look pretty awesome!

We had a long weekend here in Canterbury and I so appreciated having an extra day to relax. We even put our Christmas tree up!

Here's to the last few weeks of the year!