Mandy in Oz

Yes, yes, I know - it's been a really long time since my last post :S  Ah well, no point making excuses, it's been a bit of a dry time, creatively speaking.  Though, that's not to say that I haven't done anything crafty, because I have!  I just haven't felt that it was terribly blogworthy ;)  However, the urge to *make stuff* has reemerged, (yay!) and I finally have something that seems to warrant a picture, at the very least. Presenting - the portrait that I've been working on for a very long time....  this is actually my grandfather, back when he was very young.  I'm the keeper of most of the family pictures from my dad's side of the family, so I used an old photograph as a reference picture.  It's not 100% finished yet, but pretty close.  And here is the sum total of equipment used to do this picture.  Yep, that's right - a pacer and a piece of blu-tack :P  That's all that you need ;)  And maybe some fixative, once y...

 2011 is Lily's first year at school (prep), so for her birthday we did the unthinkable - we invited her entire class to our home for her 5th birthday!  Now, we decided only 3 weeks out from her birthday that we'd do this, hence the complete silence from me on my usual forums and here on the blog - I've been working like a demon to put this 'Fairy tea party' themed do together (with a little help from the amazing Mr J of course ;)  )  The party was yesterday, and while we are still in clean-up mode, it all went really well!  Lily had a wonderful time with her classmates and family (around half of her class came - that's a lot of 5 and 6 year olds!) and we had loads of positive feedback from parents and kids alike :)  My favourite part of the day was definitely the pinata - I almost split my sides from laughing so hard, it was just adorable!  I over-catered of course (lets face it, it beats the hell out of under-catering), so the fridge is full of party...

But it's finally done! I mentioned in my last blog post that I had a big project on....well, I actually had *two* big projects on. The first one was my commitment, as part of a fantastic swap organised by the lovely Kelly , to make 17 items for a swap. All 18 swap fiends do the same, we send them all into Kelly and receive 17 different items. It's a fabulous idea of course, but I did find it quite challenging for a number of reasons. The first reason being that I find it *very* difficult to do simple :P Anyone who knows me is quite aware of this of course! I'll start out saying 'I'm going to keep this really simple', then start justifying why I 'need' to make things more elaborate and before you know it, I'm doing 17 entirely unique hand-dyed and hand-painted bags, and panicking that I won't be done in time! I'm very pleased to say, however, that I did in fact get them all done, in plenty of time. This is a minor miracle in itsel...

Yep, I've been a slack blogger again, blah blah, slap on the wrist :P Anyway, I've been a little sidetracked - but not by crafty goodness this time. I've been cheating on my crafting.....with the gym. And the treadmill. Oh yes, I'm really getting around. It's been a long time (years in fact) since I last had a gym membership, but now that I've returned, I can remember just why I used to love it so much :) I've been having a fantastic time, and am feeling so much fitter and healthier. I'm even doing the C25k program (squeezing that time in on the treadmill *very* early in the morning). That's not to say that I haven't been doing any crafting - there has been some dyeing action, in preparation for my first ever 'production line' kind of crafting. I've cheated a little and have dyed up a few different colours, so my items won't be *identical*, just similar. Thankfully, I won't be the one deciding who gets what (hehehe ...

Yep, that's right - I'm a slack blogger. There, I said it. I have been doing quite a lot of *other* stuff though, which may redeem me a little. Not to mention, I haven't been feeling terribly great, of late. I had a somewhat disastrous experience with a dentist in mid December, the end result being that I now have damage to my inferior alveolar nerve :S Which basically means numbness, tingling, burning and pain in half of my chin, lower lip and teeth. The really bad bit? Feeling like my teeth are being crushed in a vise, a lot of the time. Oh yeah, and the occasional sensation of bugs crawling under my skin. Worse bit? This could last for 6 months, or 2 years, or forever. Though I'm hoping for a somewhat shorter time than forever, you know? Because that doesn't really bear thinking about now, does it? There has been some improvement lately, in that I can now make it through some days without having to resort to pain relief. lol. How awesome is that, I ...

Oh boy, it's full steam ahead on the Christmas crafting! I've done a heap of *making*, with loads more yet to do. But I'm not panicking..... *shifty eyes* Anyway, here's a bit of what I've been up to this weekend. Some dyeing that's currently batching, and some yarn for a swap. I think I'm in love with this one, which I've dubbed 'Dawn's first light'. It's soft and lovely. Wonder if it would be wrong to keep it for me?

how I love thee. I have a couple on the go currently ;) One I'm taking part in is within a great group on Ravelry - we always have the most awesome swaps, thoroughly enjoyable! And.....I've now also received a secret santa brief - I'm so excited! This one will be fun :P Here are some piccies of what I've been working on for my rav swap....anyone who is averse to yellow, you may like to look away.....right about now.