One World One Heart giveaway - and some Very Exciting News

**********GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED**********

Sweet House

Mixed media
123 x 174 mm

Hello again! It's been some weeks since I posted but I do have a good reason and some Very Exciting News... we have bought a house! So I'm busy busy busy cleaning, dusting and packing everything I own into a million boxes. Then on the 14th of February we will move into our new, sweet little house. The above artwork is a portrait of our new home. The big sunny room at the front will be my studio! And that is indeed a giant lemon tree outside the front door.

To celebrate I'm having a giveaway! It's also a part of the One World, One Heart blog event hosted by Lisa Oceandreamer. This is a wonderful event where bloggers all over the world will hold giveaways at their own blogs. To see the list of over 800 participants and find some new lovely blogs to visit, go to the official site here!

My giveaway is for a 5 x 7 print of Sweet House, and a matching original ATC. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment at this post. (If your comment doesn't link back to a public blog, please leave your email so I can contact you if you win.) That's it! The winner will be drawn on the 12th of February, which is also our settlement date - let's hope it's a lucky day!

Sweet House ATC

Here's some crochet

It's going to be the Go For Baroque cardie from the Happy Hooker book. It's also going to be finished by March 1st so I can wear it to a wedding.

Thinking positive here...

A close up under strong light so you can see the glimmer. How exciting to find glimmery yarn!

It's not like I didn't have enough to do in the next 6 weeks. However, I am determined... I will have a nice new cardie!

Tomatoes

The hot hot weather has been good for some of the tomatoes. They are ripening fast and it's wonderful to go outside and pick one, fresh and warm from the sun, and put it in a sandwich with some homemade bread and fresh mesclun salad.

Unfortunately, not all of the tomatoes have been so well behaved. Some of them have formed these black patches at the base of the fruit. I can't think why... it's happening on different plants, and it's been so hot and dry lately it can't be mildew. I don't think it's too much water forming on the fruit, as they are sheltered from rain and I make sure not to wet the foliage when I water. Does anyone have any ideas what causes this?

I got some Thrive Soluble Flower & Fruit to feed my plants with and it's terrible! Above you can see the residue left in my watering can after using it. The rose was blocked and I had to remove it and give the whole thing a good rinse out. I think I'll go back to using Miracle Gro!

Thrifted treasures

Here's a photo I took on New Year's Eve. I meant to post it straight away, but got sidetracked as usual... So instead of being symbolic of the last night of the year, it can now be symbolic of the last night of my holidays. Yes, I'm back to work tomorrow. Not really looking forward to it but the holiday has been nice - the weather's been about 98% perfect and I actually feel like I had a break and rested up a bit!

Here are some goodies I picked up at an op shop. I really prefer the American term - thrift store - it sounds so much nicer! But, no matter what you call them, these are some treasures...

Hand carved ivory toothpicks with itty bitty camels on top...

A gorgeous 1920s mirror with flapper girl painting...

And the buttons! Oh, the buttons. I spent at least 20 minutes fossicking through a basket (one of three) filled with genuine vintage buttons. My favourites were the tiny shell ones I kept finding which were obviously hand-carved. The more asymmetric the drilled holes, the more I liked them!

Tip out the buttons and here's what you get.

The other big score was a hand-carved bone crochet hook (see second photo). I can't wait to use it in a project! But that will have to wait for the weekend.

Handmade Christmas present round up, part 2

These were the most ambitious gifts I worked on - personalised embroidered pillowcases! I had a lot of fun designing and making them, even though I did start to wonder if I'd ever be finished in time...

Some girly designs with flowers, flourishes, birdies and dragonflies...

And one for a boy with SKULLS of course!

For more photos, see my Flickr page.

Mango chutney recipes

This was another handmade christmas present - mango chutney. I made two kinds - Sweet Mango Chutney and Mango Chilli Chutney, and packaged them in glass jars with a striped fabric cover tied with raffia and a handwritten tag.

Sweet Mango Chutney
4x 425g cans of mangoes, or 6 fresh mangoes, peeled and chopped
1 small (100g) can mandarins
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 tbsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp chilli
1 tbsp panch phora (spice blend of the seeds of fennel, nigella, brown mustard, cumin and fenugreek), dry roasted then ground
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup malt vinegar
Zest and juice of 2 limes

Bring all ingredients except lime juice to the boil in a large pot, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 50-55 mins or until mixture thickens and is syrupy. Stir in lime juice. Bottle and seal.


Mango Chilli Chutney
4x 425g cans of mangoes, or 6 fresh mangoes, peeled and chopped
1 onion
1 cup malt vinegar
1 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp panch phora (spice blend of the seeds of fennel, nigella, brown mustard, cumin and fenugreek), dry roasted then ground
2 tsp grated ginger
2 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 - 1 tsp dried chilli (or use chopped fresh chilli, to taste - I like it so it has a bit of a chilli kick without being overpowering.)

Cook onion, ginger and garlic in a little oil until onion is soft. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 50-55 mins or until mixture thickens and is syrupy. Bottle and seal.

Handmade Christmas present round up, part 1

After spending the weeks leading up to Christmas in a blur of gift making, gift unwrapping, photo-taking and blogging, the day itself passed rather quickly for such a lot of preparation (as it always does!) Now that everything has been opened and hopefully enjoyed, I can show you pictures of some of the gifts I made for family members...

Boys are the hardest to make for! (Especially grown boys who are actually men but you still call them boys because they are your brothers.) I had some crochet skulls that I decided to make bodies for. Then they grew into funny little creatures all on their own. When the hat and buttons went onto this one I thought he looked kind of Victorian - like an undertaker or Scrooge from A Christmas Carol!

This one got a hat and some buttons but I still felt he needed something else. Some twig arms were added and voila - a gothic snowman!

I also crocheted some purple and red flower pins for my mum and auntie who are members of the Red Hat Society. Unfortunately I forgot to photograph them, but I will hopefully make more in the New Year and post about them then. (Some more handmade gifts to share in the next post!)

Days 12 and 13

The last gift I got to open is from Debra Cooper. It's a sweet stuffed birdie with a gorgeous beaded tassel. I love the bright colours Debra has used on this piece. How sweet will this look hanging from a christmas tree - I really must sort one out for next year!

I love the sparkly beads and the crochet strands in the tassel! Thank you so much Debra!

And, now that everyone in the exchange has opened theirs, I can share the secret Day 13 gift! It's from Lelainia Lloyd, our lovely hostess and organiser.

Lelainia put together this great pack of ephemera, a cd of funky christmas tunes, a recipe for christmas nibbles and a beautiful ornament!

Look at the way that glitter sparkles :) Thanks Lelainia for such a thoughtful gift, and for organising such a fantastic swap - it's a highlight of my christmas every year!

That's it from me for the next few days - I'm off to spend christmas with family. Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas, full of joy, good food and good company!

xxx

Day 11

Today's gift is a sweet little stuffed birdie from Liz Smith. Each side is made from a different patterned fabric. In the bottom photo my birdie is looking a bit unsteady... or perhaps he has eaten too much christmas pudding?! Thanks Liz for this lovely ornament!

Only one more gift left... don't forget to stop by tomorrow and see what it is!

Kiwi Christmas Ornament Swap

One Christmas swap is never enough, so this year I also took part in an ornament swap run by Louise of Twenty Cent Mixture. This one was for crafty kiwis only, and while it's always fun getting international mail, it was nice to keep it all in the neighbourhood (so to speak) for this swap.

From left to right I received: wise man by Mariana Reinoso, heart ornament by Norma McDonald, stocking embroidery by Pauline Smythe, owl by Shelley Gardner, and angel ornament by Lucy Rust. I recommend checking out these ladies' blogs!

And now for a bit of a sad confession: all these lovely ornaments, and I don't even have a christmas tree! Our flat is just too small and already overflowing to squeeze one in. I had plans this year to decorate the mantelpiece, but somehow that never happened. I've spent most of my spare time working on handmade presents which meant little things like housework and decorating got put to one side! I do however have photos of some of the things I've been working on but will wait till after The Day to share those.