Fun in the Sun ........

Today was one of those extraordinary beautiful and calm winter days so I had to get outside .....

These gourds were painted previously by darlings ES and DIL but had got very sunburnt and moulted!  They need to be sorted before they (ES/DIL) visit later this year.......

Hubz primed them many weeks ago...........

I set myself up comfortably in the sun with a mug of coffee.........

......it is hard not to just sit and look at the view and listen to the birds ...............

Two cups of coffee and two coats of paint later..........

..... just need a permanent home now.......

They are rather cute aren't they?

"Bouquet" and "Dresden" and more Blogsurfing......

There seems to be no end to the creativity shared on our blogs......... so much inspiration and talent.........

This week Peg's Angel Story blocks were being finished - go have a look - they are 'angelic'.... I love the colours she has used.

Michele Made Me has given a tutorial for home made covered buttons with great results. Good thinking Michelle........ I think making these could become addictive....... You can find this tutorial HERE.

Kaaren at The Painted Quilt is starting a Raggedy and Friends BOM in a week's time - this is from her first full size quilt design and she is sharing it with us!! Thanks Kaaren, I am looking forward to that..... P.S. Kaaren also has some cute stitcheries she shares on First Friday Freebies.... just look for the button on her sidebar.........

If you like bugs you will like the little Bitty Bug pincushion designed by Goody Goody ...... I have mine cut out waiting to get stitched................ I think I might end up with a family of them round my house...........

Another family I would love round my house are Theresa's little Gingerbread men decorations - they are so adorable.......... she also has just finished put the top together for her amazing Girls Day Out Quilt . Go have a look.............

And I loved the presentation of the fat quarters that Fee from  Mothers Cupboard made ...... Who doesn't like cupcakes (???) and especially these one don't put anything on the thigh's! Fee has just done her first craft fair using these little beauties.......... I would  have definitely bought a few if I'd been there........ scrumptious...

There are lots more to write about - I'll keep some for next time but these will, I'm sure act as a appetisers for your crafting this week...............

Well, in spite of a little glitch with my email this week ........ I did manage to start another page on my blog - can you see the tab on my page for recipes..... these will be some of my favourites which are almost always quick and easy and relatively fail proof. I love good food but I also love to have time for other things........

Earlier this year Jenny shared a 'Bouquet' BOM with us - I have finally managed to finish the stitching and put borders on the blocks.........  She has the BOM on her Etsy store now - over HERE.  (By the way there's a sale on there!!)

This is the corner block (there are 4 of them)

This is the centre block.......... with Jenny's lovely rose poem.........

Here we have the chair - there is still a shabby rose to add on the seat (once the quilting is done!)

This is the girl with the pearls in her hair...............

and a bucket of roses.................

and the jug (also to be finished off with a bow after quilting)

The plan is to put all the blocks together this week............

Meanwhile Jenny is running a July Little Bird challenge - she provides a cute little stitchery and we make it into whatever we want........ this is my stitchery - I just can't decide what to make it into......... any ideas for me????? (can you tell I watched Alice in  Wonderland this week?)

Something new - I have never made a Dresden plate before.......... off on a blogsurf for some help.  Stephanie at Loft Creations has a tutorial HERE - I don't have the ruler, or a 'purple thang' but the guidelines for the points are great - this is my first Dresden............... (made out of some scraps)

I think I'm in love..................

Hugz from Bubz

email glitch.............

A quick post to say I have had a problem with my email account - it just said there was no such identity as me!! so I had to create a new account - as a result I have lost my past emails! Apologies if I haven't replied to your much appreciated comments ............

I hope this new email works okay!!

Tuesday Treasure #2

Our computer ........

I feel this is such a 'worldly' item to have as a treasure so I will explain..........

We have 3 of our children and 3 grandchildren in the UK so this is my lifeline to keep in touch with them. I am so grateful for modern technology that enables me to see and chat to each of my children at least once a week (often more than that) and am able to watch my grandchildren grow.

Not forgetting brothers, in-laws and especially 80yr old MIL who has also challenged herself with learning the new technology so we can keep in touch.

We are very lucky to have one daughter and her partner and the little widget living close by so I can get in a real cuddle every now and then.

I'm sure you will understand why a computer station is such a treasure in my house..................

I am looking forward to reading about other people's treasures - if you want to join in the fun come visit us at Clare's Craftroom.

Hubz had a bad cold this last week but behaved so well I baked this ............

However.......................... he has shared the cold with me so I wonder if he should get any?????? sniff, sniff

Have a wonderful week everyone..........

Hugz

Blogsurfing and Finishing Touches.....

I enjoyed visiting lots of blog friends this week..........
Molly's Place has a lovely Tree Time BOM - I hope I get to do some of these for Christmas...... It is her first free BOM and I think they are blogalicious..... Have a look HERE and let her know what you think....
Raylee at Sunflower Quilting has a great idea for a ruler holder.......... This will make fingers feel a lot safer.......
I had such a lot of fun with Sue's story at Charlotte's Cottage - you need to start this lovely fairy tale HERE - the end is amazingly beautiful..........
Polka Dot Pineapple has lots of cute goodies to make - I love her T shirt yarn posies ...... YS (younger son) left his T shirt collection with me when he went overseas......... they are in great danger .........
Marina made some really beautiful pot-holders for a swap ..... I don't think I could have given them away! I have found thermal lining so must get to work.............
I went in to visit Chookyblue as I remembered she has some very useful tutorials and I was getting very frustrated with loading pictures ever so slowly through blogger...... today was much quicker - thanks Chookyblue. If you have the same trouble you can find the tutorial HERE.
Whilst I was over there I noticed Chookyblue has some great photo's of ornamental spiderwebs in her garden...... so I went on the hunt for some gardenart myself. I found this..............




and this...................

and this...........




My spiders are obviously feral......... and then I realised my stitching work is a bit like that at the moment .... too many bits and pieces lying around and a LOT OF MESS....


Coffee time ................ leads to think time......



Don't you just love the bugs on the tray cloth??.........

.......... and so to work...

I finished the stitching on my Bluebird of Hope design of Natalie Lymers



The tiny little bluebirds are just so cute ......




Then I tidyed up a few of the tiny blocks for the cuddle quilt - these mushrooms were off mittens - they are little 1" blocks..... cute though....

I can never find my mobile phone in my bag - so I made this little carrier that can easily loop to bag handles......... (no escuses now for missing the call!)

Judith from has an Early Bird Christmas challenge running and I finished this two colour cushion for the July home decor......

Jenny has a cute Daisy-Do BOM running at the moment and I finished off this block.



I couldn't find the buttons I wanted so I improvised with beads..... I quite like the 3 dimensions they make....

The project box is STILL full .......... so I had better get back to it............

RainForest Walks and other bits....

I love a walk in a rainforest .......

fungi under logs...........

artistic displays.......

Beautiful seedpods (each seed is about 10cm long) .....

Hubz and I had a 'widget' to stay. The weather turned and we ran out of warm clothes....

I found an old (but too small) favourite :

chop, chop, stitch, stitch........

Widget likes it..................

he left this in the washing machine...............

this in the warmer draw.......

and this in the bath.........

A little calm created out of the chaos on the cuddlerug ...........

I'll not forget this patch!!!

Hugz from Bubz

Treasure Tuesday and Early Bird Christmas Crafting

Clare has invited us to join Treasure Tuesday where we can share about treasures we have.....

These special treasures are my family of ducks. My Mum & Dad loved them and they were always displayed in a prominent place wherever we lived. They have had quite a traumatic life, having moved from UK to join my parents, survived countless moves, they lived through a mortar bomb attack (1960/70's Zimbabwean Independence War). You can see they all have permanent injuries - one even broke his neck!. Mum saved them, of course, and nursed them back as best she could. When Mum passed on I had to rescue them from the big bad tipper truck that was going to have them for dinner.... They were carefully wrapped and came to Australia to live with us, where they are safe and happily retired.

I love to have all my ducks in a row and these little fellows remind me it is not always possible for everything to go right, and sometimes we have cracks and pains in our lives, but we can still stand tall.....

This week I joined up for Early Bird Christmas Crafting with Judith who has so many ideas. I am starting a bit late but I did make a journal...... I found a tutorial in blogland (of course). Bloom has lots of ideas and clear instructions and it really is nice and easy. If you want to see how it is done go HERE.

Simple, but elegant I think........ for noting down thoughts and ideas for Christmas goodies?

Lots of people responded to my last blog (thanks) and the consensus seems to be that it is fine to mention others so long as designers are mentioned and the links to their blogs are made - best to get permission before using personal pictures. Most people reply to comments, some prefer to visit and leave a comment - it seems the idea is to maintain contact. Chookieblue gave some great ideas for new bloggers yesterday - she also has some very useful blogging "how-to" tutorials..... and she has a really fun blog..........

Grandie#3 has now grown out of lots of those cute little clothes so I am making them into a cuddle quilt???
This is where we are up to now.....

Not pretty..... in this case my ducks are not in a row - I'd better get to work!

From me to you........... happy thoughts