closing time - a giveaway.

and so once again, blogtoberfest comes to a close...
pop over here to check out the massive list of lovely bloggers that joined in this year!
every year i make a promise to myself that i'm going to visit every blog on that list, but the way that blogtoberfest seems to grow every year, i never even come close!
maybe by next blogtoberfest ha ha!

i managed to get all of my kitchen cupboard painting done yesterday!



it seems like a silly thing but it's a big achievement to me ha ha!
now i know that when things get messy in there, a simple wipe over with a cloth should see them clean and sparkly new again :D

now i thought i'd have a little last minute giveaway too! i love me a blogtoberfest giveaway!
i have a few of these littlies left over from the weekend that was, and i thought it'd be lovely to share!



all you need to do to go in the draw is to leave a comment on this post!
maybe you could let me know the best blog you discovered from the list? or your favourite post from blogtoberfest? or anything at all really! just say hello!

the giveaway will be open for today only!
i'll draw it tonight when i get home from ncb!

make sure you're not a no-reply blogger though! i need to be able to get onto you if you win!!!


hope you've enjoyed blogtoberfest as much as i did!!

day 18 - we have a winner.

a little bit later than i was expecting, but bb surprised me by taking me out for dinner! we went to the local pub and had a yummy meal and watched the cricket. not exactly the most romantic of meals but nice all the same.
now i'd best get to announcing le winner!
because we were out for dinner, i asked bb to pick a number between 1 and 7. he picked number 6, so a big congratulations goes to the lovely pinkpatentmaryjanes!
i'll be sending her an email right away to get her address and pop it in the post.

but first, would you like to see the finished product?



it came off my knitting needles at about 4.15 this afternoon. i then sewed in all the ends and sorted through my inherited button stash for something matching.



so, ta-da! done just in the nick of time!

congratulations again to the lucky winner :D

hope you've all had a fabulous weekend!

the month that was.

this past month of blogging has actually been great! playing along with 30 days hath november has been really motivating and has caused me to blog about things in my life i normally wouldn't and to look for inspiration in places i normally wouldn't too.
i've thoroughly enjoyed having a topic each day to blog about and i'm pretty proud not to have missed a single post (some of them were a bit late, but they did get there in the end...)

speaking of which, i'd best get to today's topic, 'three wonderful things that happened this month'

the first of which, was that i won some giveaways...


this wonderful cook book from sophie.




and this amazing pattern book from lisa! i made a special trip to a local wool shop to buy some extra nice yarn to lace up :D
the patterns are quite well written and i would highly recommend it!

the second wonderful thing that happened was that i was invited to the opening of a very cool little shop.



betty's place officially opened last saturday and is somewhere i'd highly recommend you stop by! especially in the lead up to christmas ;) the lovely magdalena, or her hubby will be there to help you out!

the third wonderful thing actually involves this very post!
this post is number 300! 300 posts of me nattering on, who'd have thought!
i thought i'd have a little giveaway to celebrate, to say thanks for reading all my silly words and looking at my pictures and even making the occasional comment. it's awesome :D



the prize for this giveaway is one of two cushion covers... neither of which is 100% finished, but i did pop into spotlight for all the necessary finishing touch items! they'll be finished verrrrrrry soon!




unfortunately, you do not win your choice of cushions, this lady does. i owe her a cushion from back in may! i am such a slack crafter sometimes! so i will let you know once i get them to lyndel, and she has made her choice, but until then, dream of both i guess!

to enter, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post, easy as pie! oh and it's open to everyone, international readers and all!
i'll draw the winner sunday the 11th of december (at 6pm my time), it should hopefully arrive before christmas that way :D


i would just like to say a big thank you to des for running everything. it's been a lot of fun playing along!

may days.

so the inevitable happened, it's may. the days keep trickling by at a rate that is a little alarming.
won't you slow down days?
anywho, what are your plans for may?

my may will be very crafty i think! lots and lots of wooly, crafty things to do, and maybe even some sewing too!
on the creative to-do list this month, lea's blankie (the aim is to have it finished by the end of the month, we'll see how that goes...), more beanies (i finished this one off on the weekend, 3 to go now!), a test knit (which incidentally, is a beanie), some baby presents (one is getting quite close to due, need to pull my finger out...) and finally a cushion (or two).
which reminds me, my giveaway ended on sunday and i was wayyy too peed off at my computer to try and use it (i can't type a thing anymore, not a thing! starting to save for a new one...) so without further ado, the winner is

lyndel!

congratulations to you! i'll be knitting and crocheting (yes, the cushion has both, not great at choosing between the two) you a cushion cover up as well! and look,



i've even made a start! after two tension swatches knitted up on the train, i cast on and managed to get a few rows done too, only 85 cms or so left to knit up, twice ha ha!
yes, i will most definitely be a busy bee this month but for now, i've got to go and be a busy bee in the kitchen. the dishes are piled high and i need some of them to cook dinner. the call of housework *sigh*.
hope your month is a wonderful one!

have you seen this bag?

i know i'm pretty slow to get on this, but you know, keeping awareness going.
definitely have my fingers crossed that this gorgeous creation ends up back where it belongs!

also, did you see my giveaway yesterday?

i'm off to check ebay to make sure i can't find a red handmade bag with an ink and spindle flap and vintage buttons.
hope your wednesday is treating you well!

easter diy.

apparently (well according to bunnings ads...), the easter long weekend is a fantastic time to get some of those diy projects done that you've been putting off.
i think it might have been the (not so subliminal) advertising at work but last night i decided to get in on some of this diy action. i thought i'd make a start on something i've been putting off since we pretty much moved in... the bathroom cabinet (warning: gruesome picture)



yes, that is duct tape. and mold. and some very tacky wallpaper with clear contact over the top.
needless to say it was a NIGHTMARE to strip back. but i got it done. and then i sanded it all and cleaned it! it was a particularly productive night last night... probably would have gotten it all done too, if k-mart still stocked house paint.
in any case, i waited til bunnings was open today and bought some paint and ta-da!



the first coat is done! looks much better in my books. one or two more coats and i'll be able to put everything back in where it belongs (and out of the box in my bedroom...)
the next challenge will be to pretty up the front of the mirror...



yes, more duct tape. by the end of this i think i'll be ready to throttle the person who decided duct tape was a good framing solution. actually i think i'm already there...

i'm off to trawl ravelry for a cushion pattern, to knit or crochet, that is the question?
are you joining in with vic's cushion swap?



sign up is closed now and we've all been sent the address and blog address of the person we're sending our cushion to, i think i might have a bit of a browse of my cushion receiver so i can (hopefully) make one she'll like!

and you know what? because this is my 200th blog post, i'll make you one of you one too!
leave a comment on this post and i'll draw a winner this sunday (1/5) at 8pm. just one comment per person please!
so even if you missed out on the cushion swap sign up, you could still get a cushion!

flea market finds. slightly illegal edition.

so this isn't a new flea market find, it's not even technically a 'flea market' find.
it's a stolen from hard rubbish find. why let something go to landfill when you can find a use for it yourself?



i picked up this large and lovely specimen last year just before the last hard rubbish pickup.
i love it because it's so solid and heavy, unlike most of my other ikea furniture...
anywho, the reason i'm talking about my table today is that it's in pretty bad nick. i'm almost certain that before it got turfed onto the nature strip, it was an outdoor table, used by someone's grandkids as a painting palette.
while i'm sure it served it's purpose quite well as a palette/footrest/pot stand/whatever else, it's time for it to serve it's purpose as my beautiful coffee table.
today is renovation day!
i've got my reno clothes on, my hair tied back and my protective eye wear on (sunglasses).

after 30 minutes of sanding with my* orbital sander, this is how far i've gotten. could be a very long afternoon...



while i'm slaving away, sanding away years of glass rings and acrylic paint mixes, you should do two things:
1) visit the home of flea market finds. sophie is having a giveaway today too, so you should join in!
2) bid on my flood relief auction. you could win an amazing handmade crochet blanket, designed by you! it also ENDS TODAY! get on it!


* technically, it's my dad's sander. having actually used it more than he has, i'm claiming it as my own.

accomplishment.

last night i attended my cousin's wedding.
it was beautiful, the ceremony was held at the botanical gardens so the setting was gorgeous. her dress was a fantastic, cream-coloured vintage number and looked a dream.
the reception was held in balaclava, at a very trendy and overall amazing venue. the food was divine, the drinks free-flowing and the company warm.
and the wedding blanket?
i did manage to get it finished. sneaking out to the car between the entree and main courses.
hence why there are no photos really....
i wasn't entirely happy with the length, i wanted it to be square originally but was completely out of time! i cheated by making my outside edge trebles along either end and single crochet along the sides.
in any case, after the absolute marathon of making it in the past 3 weeks, i feel giddily free. for the entire 3 weeks, i've been saying no to and putting off things that i've desperately wanted or needed to do (sleeping in, gardening, vaccuuming, dusting and organising) and now i find myself with an entire weekend to get some of it done. the boyfriend has even offered to cook dinner tonight!
so i'm off to do some housework (and probably actually enjoy it) while i dream about my next blankie project. you can bid for it here, you even get to design it yourself! and it's all for a fantastic cause. get in quick though, it ends VERY soon!!

postal love.

as i mentioned before i was very VERY lucky to win alli's december giveaway and i received some more fabulous prizes in the mail recently! gosh i love mail!



i received the chandelier necklace from stuff you'll love and i do SO love it! however it's sparked much debate amongst myself, the boy and my friends. the boy and a couple of my friends think it's strange as it's asymmetrical but i love it just the way it is!



the postman also brought me this cute-as-a-button beret from lisa of goodknits. if you think this hat is cute, you should see how it was wrapped!



amazing!!! how lovely are her business cards too? and that doily deco? i put it straight on the christmas tree (which i should probably take down today...)

well i'm off, i've just started a new big blankie (no, ripple blankie isn't finished yet, i'm not good at finishing things ok?) and it has a very close due date, the third weekend in january. yes, i'm crazy but it's an easy and quick pattern i swear! should be back to share tomorrow :D
until then, enjoy today's public holiday and the first day of the 5th cricket test (BLEURGH!)

how many sleeps til christmas?

only 3????
but i still have soooooooo much to do!!!
i feel like i am slowwwwwwwly getting through my christmas craft stash...
and after talking talking talking about them so much...



i've actually finished some of clare's party frocks! i've had them cut out for a fair while but last night i finally got a chance to put some together. they were a little tedious, but i think that's because i'm not much of a sewer... i've still actually got about 8 more cut out and ready to go (silly me, only bought enough tulle to make 4 and enough ribbon to make 5) so i might make some more if i get a chance to get to the shops.
might not happen as i've still got to finish the christmas stockings i started yesterday and i just booked in to give the perfect gift, inspired by the wonderful curlypops.

also i was very happy when i checked the mail box yesterday as it contained the first part of my one pearl button giveaway win!




i've been checking my mail box every morning waiting ha ha. i do LOVE mail :D especially when it happens to contain gorgeous little parcels like this one! these two amazing bracelets are from alamod vintage. you should definitely have a look-see at their shop, it's full of the most gorgeous little vintagey bits and pieces.

anywho i'm off now. have to embroider my fingers off and drink my own body weight in water (i have pesky little veins...), oh and hang another load of washing out, this weather is just glorious for drying washing :D

and then there were 50...

while i was at work tonight, my follower count ticked over to 50 (thanks megan)!

so after cooking (yes cooking! i ignored the call of the drive-thru, eve though i'm home alone tonight) i got to writing down 50 names, on 50 little pieces of paper (seeing as how there's not really a numbering system to blog followers...)



can you see your name in there??

so without further adieu... the winner of my little heart garland issssssssssssssssss...............

bec!

hopefully this will be a nice little surprise for her to wake up to (especially after being kept awake by those 7 year olds talking all night)!

once again, thanks everyone so much for following along with my little piece of the blogging world.
it makes me so ridiculously happy every time i think about you all!!!

hope you're all having a great saturday night!

appreciation.

i thought i'd just express a little love.
for all those wonderful people that follow my blog.
i beam and jump whenever that follower number goes up (i know it sounds superficial but i really do, it gives me a thrill to have concrete evidence that real people actually read the words i write)




and so i made this 'love' heart garland for one of you amazing followers!
do you like it? my boyfriend does. he is very jealous that i'm giving it away!!!
as soon as my follower count reaches the big 5-0, i'll be drawing the winner of this little garland.

blogtoberfest wrap up.

yes, i'm a little late with this... i always tend to be pretty tired and grouchy of a sunday afternoon, i work all morning you see, and while i had great intentions of blogging up a wrap-up last sunday, all i could muster was a happy hallowe'en. then the week just kind of ran away from me...
i went and visited my parents after cup day and ended up taking public transport down there so i was not very keen to be lugging my laptop around.

anywho!
i really, super enjoyed participating in blogtoberfest. at times i felt really inspired to be posting every day and was really excited to work out what i was going to post about. however towards the end of the month my enthusiasm kind of waned, the stress and tiredness of exams and work and everything got a little much and my blog posts kind of suffered. sorry about that ha ha!



did you enter lots of giveaways over blogtoberfest? i did! and i was even lucky enough to win a couple of things!!!
i won these vintage knitting patterns when selina held a giveaway. i can't wait to have a crack at some of those patterns!



and then i was lucky enough to win this mary kay hand pamper kit when leonie held a giveaway!
so very lucky and spoiled i am!

suuuuuuuper big round of applause for cathy for organising everything and to cam for organising giveaways :D you ladies are both amazing!!!

i'm also very glad that cathy has left the list up too! i'm still working my way through it.... slowly but surely ha ha!

can't wait til next year now!!!

drum-roll please...

as i had a fair few entries into this giveaway, i've decided to use the technology available to me, instead of writing out 42 names by hand and drawing them out of a hat i'll use the random number generator...



so without further ado, the winner of the first prize (big box of craft goodies including but not limited to: buttons, beads, paper embellishments, ribbons, wool, fastenings & embroidery thread) is....

number 33! which is peach rainbow!

i decided to have a second (minor) prize as well, because i had so many entrants aaaaaand because so many people commented saying that they loved the little pink box (i only meant the little pink box to be a prop because i really wanted to have a hundred-post giveaway but was HORRIBLY unorganised due to it being the last day of my uni degree/laziness).



so the winner of the second prize (little teeny box of craft goodies including but not limited to: buttons, beads, paper embellishments, ribbon, wool & fastenings) is.........

number 18, which is faith hope & cherrytea!

congratulations to you both and i'll be trying to get in contact with you to get your mailing address to send off your goodies!

i would really like to thank absolutely everyone who entered, i loved reading through all your comments and fully intend (once these horrible, dreadful, dreary exams are over and done with) to come and visit all your blogs and return the comment-y blog love!!!

on another note... i just noticed i'm nearly at 50 followers, i think when that happens, i might have another little giveaway, follower appreciation style. what do you think?
in the mean time, there's tonnes more giveaways you can enter over at curlypops' blog!

my creative space.

my creative space is all about the time-wasting.
procrastination. i'm getting pretty good at it after 3 years at uni...



i've done some mending. this is a dress that i bought at the mister mode night market a couple of weeks ago that needed a little attention. the front panel section was a little gapey, and by that i mean it was very VERY cleavage-y. too much for public consumption in any case. all fixed but i think it needs a dye job, it's faded very unevenly...



i sewed together this beanie that i knitted up a little while ago. this is my brother modelling it for me. i really should learn to knit beanies in the round, saves on the pesky sewing up the seams part that i always put off...



oh and the boyfriends family dropped us off a new (old) couch. so naturally the entire house needed to be rearranged to fit the couch in (excuse the mess)... lots of time wasting...

now i'm going to go and spend the next couple of hours studying (maybe) but i'll be back at 5 to draw my giveaway! absolute last chance to enter now! goooooooood luck!!!

pop over to kirsty's for more creative spaces.

oh and in case you hadn't heard, no ncb tonight! or for a while... not until a new home is found for it! let tinniegirl know if you think you know of a good place to hold it...

blogtoberfest day 13 - self-portrait day.

yesterday tinniegirl suggested a self-portrait day, where we all reveal what we look like in real life to one another (eek!). i took this to mean make a self portrait... i was later corrected on twitter but encouraged to make one anyway :D


so out came my media, i couldn't choose because, as you can see, i was a little spoilt for choice...
dry pastels, paints, pencils, markers, water colour pencils, you name it, i've got it!

and then what size to choose? i had both an A4 and A3 sketchbook... while i was deciding, i found some sketches i'd done for one of my subjects in year 12. they're not from memory, we had to copy them from an image. would you like to see?

ok so maybe i never got that last one finished... i'm not very good at completing things i start ha ha!



i decided to have a crack with some dry pastels, i've always liked them but they drive me insane when they smudge all over the place!



so then i though i'd have a crack with some watercolour pencils... according to the boyfriend, it's a little paler than me in real life and sadder, but not an entirely inaccurate representation.

so i thought i'd show you me in real life too, that way you can decide for yourself! that's my friend kat, she's amazing!


pop on over to tinniegirl's to join in the portraiture fun and see some other head-shots
hope you're all having a happy blogtoberfest!

ps. if you haven't already... definitely enter my giveaway. it ends tomorrow and i've just put the prizes together!!! excitement plus!

tuesday treasures.

so my treasure this week isn't something old. it's not something i inherited, or will pass onto anyone i know.
this week my treasure is all about the greenery :D



the seeds that i planted last week, the mystery seeds, have popped out of the dirt.
do they look familiar to anyone? not me ha ha!



and also the basil i planted.

now i consider these treasures because when i see those little green bits popping out of the dirt it makes me RIDICULOUSLY HAPPY!
seriously. i run around the house like a madwoman, singing and dancing my butt off.
i screech at the boyfriend, 'baby, baby, come and LOOK! it's AMAZING!'
he half heartedly has a looks, replies with 'that's great'
and i continue to sing and dance for the rest of the day!

it's something i share with my mum, this excitement for new green things. though she's a little bit more reserved, not so much singing and dancing, just a smile :D

what's your treasure on this fine tuesday? pop in and see clare to play along.

ps. my giveaway is coming to a close VERY quickly and you should enter to be in with a chance. i'm thinking of perhaps having a second prize... so even more chances for winning :D

sunday funday.

well it was a funday, up until now...

Discuss your results. How did you arrive at your identification?

Importance of pure cultures, any problems you experienced, suggestions for improving the procedure you used, suggestions for any other media that could be used or tests that could be done. Did looking at one week old, refrigerated cultures, affect the results?

Did the identified bacteria match that of the specified bacteria for each supplement? Did the numbers (e.g. CFU/mL) correspond to any that may be reported for each supplement? What effect(s) do antibiotics have on probiotics? Discuss.

you know that assignment i was meant to have done friday, before any giveaway fun?
it might not have actually gotten finished...
i only have that one section to write, 350 words worth, but writing it feels as painful as pulling teeth.
it's times like these i wonder, how many marks would i lose if i just didn't do it? yes i'm a horrible uni student!

anywho. the sunday prior to awful-assignment writing time was actually pretty great! i worked this morning (ok, not so great) and then headed into the city for finders keepers! more about that tomorrow though when i can get my camera to connect to my computer and pop up some pictures (though not many, i was too awestruck to lift my camera for most of the adventuring)!

have you entered my giveaway yet? please do! you could win some amazing goodies :D

hope you've had a great weekend!

things i'm grateful for...

today i'm playing along with maxabella
something i'm incredibly grateful for this week is...


my lint shaver.
seriously!
it cost me less than $5 from spotlight and has given new life to pretty much all of my clothes! my washing machine like to throw lint all over absolutely everything! not to mention, it's fairly relaxing... yup i'm a little weird...

ok so that was a little bit tongue-in-cheek (but true!), this week i'm grateful for this spring weather we've been having.
all my plants are in bloom and it makes me so happy to leave the house (as opposed to winter when you almost couldn't pay me to leave...)

hope you're all having a wonderful saturday and not having too much fun at finders keepers. i'm hoping i'll get there for some retail therapy after work tomorrow...

ps. have you registered for my giveaway yet? you could win random crafty goodies! in a box! tell your friends!!!

post numero cien!

that's right, post number 100!
doesn't actually seem that long ago since post number 50... i guess my posting frequency has increased a little...

anywho! you may remember that for my 50th post i had a little giveaway, well susan l remembers, she was the lucky winner :D

so i thought that as this is my 100th post, and it IS blogtoberfest, that i'd have another :D


and what am i giving away?
a box of crafty goodies!!!
miss curlypops suggested it so here it is!
i will however be keeping the contents a little bit secretive... until i pick out the winner of course!
*disclaimer* box may be larger than pictured.

to be in the running, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post :D
easy as pie!
i'll draw a winner thursday afternoon, let's say at 5. right before northern craft bonanza.
good luck everyone!!!