Still Going

My birthday (or the Festival of Cam as we named it today), is still going strong...

When I arrived at work yesterday, Nikki and her wee girl had baked me a very delicious chocolate birthday cake with yummy sprinkles on top! I also received a beautiful pressie, some chocolates and a very special handmade card (photo to come tomorrow).

Then on top of that, the other Nikki arrived with a block of yummy Cadbury (now fairtrade) chocolate for me too!

Anyone would think that I might like a bit of chocolate every now and then.....

Tune in tomorrow for the next exciting episode of the Festival of Cam (with tongue firmly planted in cheek)!

Taking Advice

Nikki reminded me earlier this week that it's important to just make something beautiful for oneself.

It's something that I don't seem to do very often. I usually only keep dodgy test pieces and prototypes for me...... then Steph double dared me to actually use one of the sparkly things that I bought this week.

I needed to make this thisafternoon. Some days start out OK, and then something crappy happens. I'm so glad that I can distract myself by just making something.

The Bonanza

Thanks for all of the lovely blogaversary comments yesterday. I'll be drawing a winner tomorrow night, so keep your fingers and toes crossed at all times!

On Thursday night, I headed off to the Northern Craft Bonanza to meet up with some wonderful crafty girls.

I took along some brooches that needed hand stitching..... although there was more talking and eating than hand stitching going on.....

The time absolutely flew by (as is always the case when you're having fun). I'll be counting down the days until the next one..... head on over here if you're interested in coming along!

It's a Blogaversary!

The very first CurlyPops Banner

It's been two whole gigantic years since I began my day to day bloggy blabber...... and wow, how things have changed!

The first ever photo on CurlyPops Blog

What began as a bit of fun on the computer has completely changed everything in my life - lots of new friends, new work, new creative dreams, new motivation, new life.

When I first sat down in front of the screen and signed up, and started blogging in secret (yep - I didn't tell anyone at all), I could never have dreamed that it would have such a positive effect on my life.

So to celebrate my 2nd bloggaversary, I'm having a giveaway.

After chatting to Nikki and Cathy lastnight, I'm going to totally pinch Cathy's idea, and custom make something to suit the blogger who wins...... it's a bit like a lucky dip - you just never know what it could be!

Anyhow - you've gotta be in it to win it - so just leave me a comment - simple as that.

Another market wrap

Well it was another lovely day at the Made'n'Thornbury market yesterday. I only managed to take a couple of happy snaps before my camera started beeping to let me know that my battery was flat...drats!

Looking at the photo, I can now see that I had far too much stock on my table - a good lesson for the next one.

It's always great to meet up with the rest of the stallholders for a chat, and we also had lots of other lovely visitors come to say hello too.

We missed Cathie.... we were dreaming of her red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting all afternoon.

I've spent all day today sitting on the couch eating (tim tams, vegemite toast, and cupcakes) and drinking cups of tea, and generally just veging out which has been wonderful.

Hmmm I think I have just enough time for one more tim tam without spoiling my dinner!

Finally

It seems like I've been harping on about this woollen jumper forever.... until lastnight, when I finally tired of it sitting on my craft bench and mocking me while I sewed!

The photo above is the style that I was aiming for. All I did was to cut it down the centre front panel, and then hack the arms off with a pair of scissors.

I really liked the look of the short sleeve cardi. I didn't like the fact that the arm holes were actually cutting off my circulation. I have my hands on my hips in the photo because the arm holes were so tight that I physically couldn't put my arms by my side.

Luckily for this project (unluckily for when I actually try to buy clothes), I have really narrow shoulders which are quite out of proportion to the rest of my body. My shoulders are actually the perfect size for my poor little shrunken jumper.

I kept hacking at the arm holes trying to fix the problem, but it seems that the arm holes had other ideas, so I hacked off the arms entirely...

.....and ended up with this.

At least it's a beginning - I'm looking forward to trying out some felted refashioning projects after looking at even more inspiration this week here and here.

My creative space

My creative space is taking a number, joining a queue, and waiting patiently (or not so patiently) in line.....

There are so many ideas and creative visions rolling around in my head at the moment, and it's impossible to do everything that I want all at the same time - so all new ideas are now required to join the queue.

I'm not really sure where this project fits in the queue. I spotted the jumper at an oppy in Yarraville on Saturday. It's pure wool, and I'm assuming that somebody accidentally felted it (therefore saving me the trouble of felting it myself), and then gave it away.

The neck opening is so small now, that even a child would have trouble getting this jumper over their head.

Inspired by the refashioning talents of Gina and Nikki and Tania, I am going to try to refashion it into either a scoop necked cardigan, or a scoop necked vest.

Please try to ignore my pathetic attempts to illustrate what I'm trying to do in photoshop (hopefully it makes enough sense though)!
I've never attempted anything like this before so I need a little advice.

The jumper looks felted to me. If I just cut it, will it unravel, or am I safe?
How do I finish it - do I have to hem, or overlock the edges?

Disclaimer - I make no promises that I'll even attempt this in the next month!