purple denim brooch

purple
Originally uploaded by djbebe

I whipped up 10 or so of these today, from this pile. Barely made a dent. I've signed up to 'use what I have' for August which is giving me a lot more time to be creative - I didn't realise how addicted I was to my weekly round of the thrift stores. Seriously, the stash is getting out of control. There's no room for any more!

It's raining here! For the first time in a month or so. Decent rain too, hopefully we're getting some in the dams - our water supply was at 13% last time I looked.

In other news, if you care to take a look at page 38 of this week's Brisbane news you can see my friend Alyssa the designer behind Lyssy May, and if you're observant you may notice that she's wearing one of my cuffs. Yeah, I know - you have to look closely, but do you think it might be enough to kickstart the cuff craze in Brisvegas? Subliminally?

tea and sympathy

sympathy flowers
Originally uploaded by djbebe

This has been a very long week, and I'm totally pooped. My grandfather, known to everyone as Pa, passed away on Sunday. It wasn't unexpected but that only makes so much difference. He'd been in hospital for the last five weeks, gradually getting worse. I saw him in the hospital on Saturday and that was one of the hardest things I've done. He looked so small and empty, like a shell. Then Tuesday was my birthday and Wednesday was the funeral. So I've been giving hugs and having cups of tea and washing dishes and looking after my grandma all week. They were married for 61 years. He was very special, always had time for everyone, and is very loved.

It has been good though, in a way, to have the time to spend with family that we don't see that often. I also managed some diversionary crafting, as you may have noticed. But now I'm going to have a beer and veg in front of the telly. Goodnight!

platypus for Henry

platypus
Originally uploaded by djbebe

Inspired by the lovelies I saw at Two Little Banshees - go check out her etsy store - I made a platypus for my nephew Henry's birthday - he'll be 2 in 2 weeks. Think he'll know what it is?

cover for a dvd player

cover for a dvd player
Originally uploaded by djbebe

I whipped up this cover for my little nephew's portable dvd player - he's almost 2 - that keeps him amused on long car trips. On their last trip up this way they said he was very concerned by the viewing - chewing his fingernails, frowning etc. I asked what he was watching, they said Chicken Little - now I remember seeing this at the movies and there were aliens and big spaceships and scary stuff - so I said they should stick to Tractor Tom for the moment.

Anyhow, they said the player was getting dusty in the car so I said I would make them a cover for it. I just hope I've put the holes for the cords in the right places. You know when you measure something and then when it's not in front of you any more you're can't be absolutely sure that you wrote it down right? Well they're back coming back tomorrow so we'll see.

reverse garbage and old-school cinema

I had a super excellent weekend - starting with Friday off and a visit with HandyMan and ex-bridesmaid Sponky to various fabric stores and spare car parts shops (something for everyone!), Lyssy May's shop and - finally got there - Reverse Garbage. I've been meaning to visit Reverse Garbage for a while and I read about an art exhibition here so decided to have a look. I love making things from recycled or rescued materials so it was right up my alley. The art exhibition was small but interesting, and I found some fabrics that have reuse potential - though I think the art exhibitionists may have cleaned out the haberdashery section! Worth a look for supplies if you're in Brisbane and don't have anything specific in mind.

And then, on Saturday night we finally got around to going to Toowoomba's Icon Cinema where one weekend each month they show old movies from the 30's and 40's and you sit in old bench seats with a blanket over your knees and watch a pre-movie serial and drink wine and have intermission. Intermission! Fabulous. I can't believe we haven't been before. We saw Mr Deeds goes to Town, and it was sweet and funny and starred the handsome Gary Cooper.

And Sunday, I had the whole day to myself in my craft room, and got lots of things done.

the evils of velvet

I was previously aware of the evils of satin but have only recently become fully versed in the evils of velvet. I have a mountain of velvet that I bought at a Lincraft sale - back in the good old days, when Lincraft still stocked fabric. It's been hanging up in my cupboard for about 10 years I reckon, and I just figured out one use for it - fabulous velvet cuffs. There were about 5 failed methods before I found this one that works - I had an idea for combining velvet and thrifted silk ties but couldn't get them to play nice together. Shifting and sliding, bunching and gathering. Abandon ship! Ribbon on velvet - same problem. Finally, a quilting foot and vintage cotton print border manage to save the day. And I really like the effect. Also it seems to be an acceptable use for these garish rhinestone buttons that were clearly thrifted on some very deep instinct... Anyhow, I've listed some on etsy if you want to take a look.