days for girls

have your heard of

days for girls??

Every girl.

Everywhere.

Period.

well then let me encourage you to go & read

ok ... you back now?

well i'm joining in their

first annual global sew-a-thon

in fact I'm having a few friends over

to help put together a whole heap

of these kits

if you'd like to help

let me know

or donate even??

we need to buy supplies etc

or join in on the day yourself!!

Friday 11th October

is the

International Day of the Girl

why?

because i believe in a humanity

that gives dignity to all

that all people no matter gender 

or race or status or religion

are equal

i believe that every single person has the right

to be educated 

so to be able to better their circumstances

should they choose to

i believe in the Chinese proverb:

"Give a man a fish 

and you feed him for a day. 

Teach a man to fish 

and you feed him for a lifetime."

 .... or woman!

i have a great calling to act on opportunities

like these ... really in our 'western urban' lives

they are often simple acts

but i have seen how simple acts of kindness

can truly make an impact

global change starts from within

starts with the 'people'

so go on ... join in!

the Playful Market @ ABC

 last Saturday we held a wonderful event

the Playful Market ..... 

the story behind it ....

14 months ago I stood behind my own handmade stall 

at another market ... chatting with a great friend, Aretha ...

i waved my arm across the room ....

"we can do this ..... ABC style!"

our Playful Market 

at Ashburton Baptist Church

was born ... its kind of my baby!

its been a massive work in progress

last year's august market brought more than 500 adults

through our doors ... the sun shone 

there was the infamous piggy

we had stalls galore

the baristas were sensational

& more ....

from there the question was repeated

it echoed .... ok lets do it again in 2012

 ..... twice

one just gone & one to plan

so excited about all the involvement of the people in our 

ABC community

we make an amazing team

my cup runneth over

 i know i've mentioned it here once or twice

making no apologies for that

i love it

theres barely anything to do with the PM

that I have not had anything to do with

i have an amazing duo who have my back

thanks to Aretha & Christine

we complement each other v nicely!

i adore the process ... its the journey

i'm always on about enJOYing the journey ....

from dreaming up the ideas both

large & small

to the actual implementation

where so many people join in the create the fun

i love it when people 'own' the process

take on the idea & make it their own

 as part of our Playful Market

i had spotted the idea about blogland

of a treasure hunt using

egg cartons  ... with painted colour blotches

all i needed to make this happen was an amazing 

bunch of enthusiastic

creative

energetic

engaging

funny & caring

young women

thankyou to

kate & bonnie & marie & carolyn & miriam & katrina

 they hopped, skipped & jumped in puddles

all day long

leading all the little children & their families

along the garden path

past the orange flowers

around the green frog pond

catching aqua fishys

un-pegging cute red lady bugs

spotting little grey rock friends

climbing through the deep dark black of the spiders web

walking the tight rope to find the pink hearts

catching falling snow balls

flitting past the purple butterflies

digging like pirates for gold

chasing blue balloons

planting sunflower seeds

.... & so the Rainbow Treasure Hunt 

grew .... just like the magic beanstalk

it was a huge hit

was lots of fun

was all about the experience

seriously ... it was so much fun

& i managed half an hour to go & be 'mum'

& have the priveldge of enJOYing this little journey

ladies you made my heart swell with pride & thanks

 its taken me days & days to process

some of these thoughts

i put so much of myself into every aspect

physically & emotionally

but i would & will do it all again

the 'ripple affect' of an event like this

expands wider than we will know

there were funds raised for the amazing & worthy causes

 we the people of ABC worked together across the generations towards a common goal

& lastly we welcomed many many people in through our doors to have a look at what we are about ...

the outcomes of all of this is almost immeasurable

but in my book it was all an abounding success

 there was face painting & fairy floss & a patchwork demonstration

& the ABC Cafe & the Sausage Sizzle & 2nd Hand Books

& the Lob-a-Choc game & Gingerbread Decoration

 .... & our amazing resident clown Marcella

all fabulous .... & really the weather barely stopped us!

&

then of course there were all our stalls

all Handmade or Fair Trade

for all these details please look over here

 over at our Playful Market blog

i have thanked the mass of people who helped hands on with this event

right here i'd like to thank the people

who helped me personally

who cared for Oscar in some way

who asked how they could help

& particuallry those who jumped on in the join in the

Full Circle project

.... which is a whole other blog post 

(coming soon!)

.... i must on a personal note

say a really really big Thank You

to my husband Craig & my little boy

without their support
& forever entertaining

the well used phrase
"I had an idea!!!"

it simply would not be .... xxxx

Pencil Rolls ... all 22 started & finished!

thankyou

so much to an awesome bunch of girls

for helping make these pencil rolls!

 so yep all finished up on a friday!!!
so joining in for finish it up friday with crazy mom quilts
if you'd like to make your own sweet little pencil roll
then have a look here
... i wrote you all a tutorial & an explanation
as to why we've made this a group effort & so many??!
also joining in MAKE:GROW:THRIFT
with the Haby Goddess again this week ...
has been one of my MAKE projects this week ...

thanks again to:
Cas

Lizzie

Jo

Rhonda

Aretha

Judy

we made
22 pencil rolls

2 hours

7 girls

5 machines

2 irons

2 bottles of rose

1 water soluble marker pen

(my only mistake was not having another pen!)

its was a really great time

& we were so productive

what's next?

hmmm

messenger bags?

i spy patchworky mini quilts?

any ideas

working on it!

but thankyou

and we missed you

Sam, Karen, Cath & Kate

will take some better pics

of all our work tomorrow

when the sun comes up 

& they are dry from all the water spray!

... out takes .... great fun!

you make me smile like the sun

... hey i adore comments!
love to hear your thoughts ....

Ambon Mission Trip: Pencil Rolls

my little family

 my husband

my boy

my mum

& my dad

are all joining in a mission/awareness

tour to Ambon, Indonesia

we're very excited about this

& think its going to be a wonderful

life experience for all of us

we're supporting the foundation

Lawamena

Lawamena is an Ambonese word that means

keep on moving forward! i like that!

they sponsor children in order to continue their eduction

we also are really great friends with the directors

& so this foundation has a special place in our hearts

there's noting like personal ties!

our ABC Playful Market

fundraising contributed to Lawamena

pronounced "LA-WA-MEAN-A"

(psst ... yes we are going to do another PM or 2!!

the 28th July & the 8th Dec ..... interested??)

we're going to visit two of the schools

that Lawamena supports

the idea is to help the teachers

with a fresh look at a literacy programme
set up reading corners

donate books & teaching aides
help demonstrate with the students the 'how'
of using some of these new resources

& we'd like to give a little gift to the children that Lawamena sponsor

along with taking them some stationary items
i had the idea to make a whole lot of pencil rolls

so i've got a little group of girls

helping me out tonight
to make

22 pencil rolls

(if you're at all moved by this you'd be welcome to donate or contribute in some way!?)

hint hint ... we actually need the pencils to fill these ... xxoo

 

i'm excited!

so

here's what we're making & how

i'm also thinking of making versions of these for

the various markets i'm heading off to ...

i've had a good read on a few blogs & taken in the 

instructions written by a friend ... on how to make a pencil roll

i've come up with my own version that suits this venture

here it is

if you make one please leave me a message & send me a pic

would love to see ...

PENCIL ROLL

cut x1 outer fabric piece 9 inches by 14.5 inches

cut x1 sandwich layer fabric piece 9 inches by 14.5 inches

cut x1 inner/lining fabric piece 9 inches by 14.5 inches

cut x1 pocket fabric piece 4 inches by 14.5 inches

cut & press x1 WOF width of fabric 2 inch binding

some of these fabric choices could be the same but here you will note mine are all different

& i also made the outer piece by piecing two fabrics together purely for interest sake!

note the thrifty batik style fabric used

told you there'd be a whole other post on that!!

guessing you've worked out the Ambon, Indonesian batik link there!

 STEP 1:

sew some of the binding onto the top edge

of the pocket fabric piece & press

this of course neatens the raw edge & strengthens the pocket

 STEP 2:

assemble sandwich layer fabric

(treat the sandwich layer as if its wadding 

but i think wadding makes it too chunky)

then inner/lining fabric

and then pocket section

all lined up square at the bottom edge

pin in position

mark out 1 inch lines with a fabric washable marker pen
(or tailors chalk if you have a darker fabric!)

 you should have 12 pencil pockets

as a result but measure carefully ...

to do this mark the first line 1 inch from the side edge
& continue all along ... maybe on the skimpy side of 1 inch to be sure

then sew

 quilting stitches through all layers along these lines

from edge to edge

this holds all the layers together neatly

& your back stitching will be hidden in the next seam

 STEP 3:

 use remaining section of 2 inch binding

by folding over & sewing down the length of the binding

to create a ribbon/ tie

STEP 4:

assemble the pocket, lining layer with

RSF right side facing

the outer fabric piece

pin in position

include the binding tie by folding it in half

then pin in between the RSF layers

i have pinned mine to line up neatly with the

binding on the edge of the pocket

tuck the length of the binding tie neatly insides the layers

 STEP 5:

as now you sew all around the rectangle

leaving a 3 inch gap at the top
when you get to the spot where the binding tie is
give it a few back stitches to strengthen

be careful not to catch the binding tie in the stitching

 STEP 6:

 trim the corners

turn out the right way

poke out the corners neatly

press well including tucking under the gap seams

then top stitch all the way around

trim any loose threads

 to finish

fill with 12 different coloured pencils

or 

grey leads of varying softness

or 

pens

or 

crayons

or

twistables etc

you can always alter the height measurement

for short or taller items!!

 roll it up

tie it proudly

its ready to create a masterpiece ...

enJOY

the'playful' market

I have organised this market from start to finish
& loved it all ...
(so if you've been wondering why I've been so quiet ... just a little project on the go!!)
It is going to be a wonderful event ..
Please come along & enjoy yourself!!!
Bring your family, friends, neighbors ...
Come over & 'play' ...
Something for everyone ...