New Project Bag and Stitch Marker Holder

I seem to be doing a lot of sewing for other people lately, don't mind doing this one bit, but it's nice to make something for yourself every now and then so a couple of weeks ago I was stuck on a project for someone, when I thought I would have a wee break and make myself the following:

Project Bag, I started using the tutorial from Yarnmonster, but then decided to just make a duffel style bag.


Stitch Marker Holder, I saw something similar on Ravelry and decided to make my own.


Stitch Marker Holder open


xx

Secret Santa 2009

I am very lucky to be a member of a really great forum. We are having a Secret Santa swap this year and I was lucky to get Kelly from Knit.So.Quaint.

Kelly is in New Zealand at the moment and I had organised a get together with some of the Auckland mums on Monday. Kelly arrived and handed me two parcels, one for me and one for Cara. Because Christmas is still a few weeks away I thought it would be better to wait before I opened them, I would have loved to open them while Kelly was here though but was trying to be good.

BUT..

I succumbed to peer pressure......

Last week an email turned up in my email account to say that the 'Bloom' pattern by Georgie Hallam. I had made a comment on a blog about getting it, and within hours it was in my 'Inbox'. Very very cool.

AND all this:
100gm 10 ply Jolly Jumbuck Paper Roses
50gm 4ply Louet Gems
A packet of Ikea Bag Clips - very very cool
Ikea fabric - lovely and I will have to come up with some knitting bags out of these
A Ikea reusable bag, so needed this
Spring Garden Tee Pattern
Jo Sharp Knitting Book
A couple of Ravelry.com stickers







Cara was super spoilt as well, this is what she got

The cutest skirt by Bee and Me - totally love this. Will get an auction shot soon
A box of Honey Sticks - now how did you know I had these on her Christmas List Laughing
The cutest little toy, she is so so cute, love it
An adorable Christmas decoration






I feel so incredibly lucky to have Kelly as a friend, everything is just so perfect.

Thanks so much hun

xxx

Yummy Mail

I was very very lucky to win the latest Giveaway on Sheryl's blog.

Check this out



It is so so cool, the yarn is beautiful, not sure what I will knit from it yet.

The project bag is perfect, needed another one of these and the Pukeko is so so cute. Miss C wants it for herself, but I think I will keep it on my desk.

Thank you so much Sheryl, I love it all :)

My Etsy Store is Open

Oh My Goodness, I can't believe I have finally got there. While there is still some tweaking to do on the appearance, everything else is up and running.

I only have my Needle Case pattern up for sale at the moment so if you are interested, pop on over.

Crazy Crafter NZ

Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me to get this pattern made. It has been a long long road to get there, but I've done it and extremely proud. Just hope I get some sales.

xx

Shucks I got an Award

I'm feeling all gooey today, the lovely Kelly from knit.so.quaint has awarded me a Gorgeous Blogger Award



Along with accepting the award you need to share 6 things about yourself that people probably don't know, here goes...

1) I always over commit to what I can do, I never have just one project on the go except for knitting, but this is mainly due to the fact that there are a number of other things on my 'to do' list that I am working on. My partner Aaron is the same, hence the reason we never seem to finish anything here LOL. There should be a CA as well as AA. Then I can introduce myself as Jo the Crafterholic :)

2) Both Aaron and I are Scorpians, I knew the day I was going to meet him as something odd happened to me and that afternoon I met him through mutual friends. We have been together now for 10 years. He's my soul mate and I love him dearly.

3) I don't dress as I see myself, I'm very plain in how I dress. This is probably due to low self esteem and hating how I look. I've struggled with my weight my whole life and got hassled all through school because of it. I see beautiful clothes but am too scared to wear them for fear of looking like a fat dork.

4) I'm obsessed with my garden, when I was working long hours it was my stress relief, I would pour myself a bourbon and potter about in the garden. I dream of owning a large property which I would deck out as an artists retreat, beautiful gardens, beautiful sculpture and little shacks for studios. We would hold week long workshops for various arts and crafts. I would also love to be able to live off the land more than what we can now.

5) I used to work as an office manager and worked stupidly long hours. I never thought I would be able to not work and be a Stay at Home Mum, but guess what I am and love every single minute I get to spend with my little miss, she is a dream and the best thing apart from Aaron to happen to me.

6) I have a sewing pattern that I am about to release, unfortunately this has taken me longer to do than I thought, it's not like the old days when I worked and I could work 12 hours on a project each day, I'm lucky if I get to spend 2 hours in a row. This does my head in a bit, but I just need to be patient and get it done.

So it's not very exciting, probably quite boring for everyone to read the above, sorry.

Now I am going to award 5 Bloggers this award so that we can get to know them a little better as well.


1. First up is Jacqui from Hazelnuts
. I love Jacqui's blog, her sewing is amazing and she also does lots of other crafty stuff. I'm not even sure if Jacqui checks my blog so I hope she sees this.

2. Next is Juila from Just One W.I.P. Julia is an absolute sweetie, amazing knitter and dyer and I feel really lucky to have her as a friend.

3. Now it's time to introduce Meika from Meika's Little Treasures. This blog is amazing, her sewing is so so beautiful.

4. Can't forget Sam from Sams Snippets, I've only started to get to know Sam a bit more through an online forum we are on. Check out her amazing knitting and scrapbook pages.

5. Last but not least is Ali from 006. Licensed to Knit, Ali's blog is relatively new, but she has done some amazing knitting and has a new venture with Julia (above) and Kate from Chevgirl


Toodles
xx

Thanks :)

I just wanted to thank everyone who has commented on my blog, become a follower or even just popped in for a quick browse.

I have totally loved every minute of this month and while I have been a bit slack this past week or so, I have promised myself to make more regular posts in the future, have more giveaways, and be more crafty. Also in the pipeline are more free tutorials :)

A big thank you to the organisers of Blogtoberfest, I have discovered so many lovely blogs, with amazing and incredibly talented people from all walks of life. There are still many more blogs I need to check, there just hasn't been enough time in the day to spend the hours I need to drool over all the lovely and inspiring blogs that signed up. I will though :)

I was hoping to have my Etsy shop up and running with my pattern for the needle case, unfortunately a few things have held me back, but I am hoping to have it for sale within the next two weeks. Pattern making is hard, and even though mine is only a photo tutorial, it's still pretty full on.

I hope everyone has enjoyed Blogtoberfest as much as me, and I'm looking forward to next year. I've already written it on my 2010 calender so I can be more prepared and have some fantastic giveaways planned.

xx

Blogtoberfest Giveaway - Winner Announced

Today is the last day of Blogtoberfest and as promised I have just used Random.org to draw the winner of a custom made Needle Case, Sewing Needle Case and Stitch Marker Pouch.

The lucky winner is:

sewfunky said...

Hey there fellow kiwi!

Please enter me in the draw - I love your stuff!
October 20, 2009 2:29 PM

Congratulations, I will be in contact to sort out fabrics etc.

xx