Birthday Party Fun

As I may have mentioned in Wednesday's post, yesterday was my birthday and I got a lovely surprise when I arrived at Sarah's place and saw that she had set up a gorgeous little tea party!She even put up some super cute bunting around the windows:

On the menu for afternoon tea were a dozen delicious cupcakes from Poppy Cakes. The Red Velvet cupcake was totally amazing; the buttercream icing wasn't sickly sweet like so many cupcakes can be and the contrast of the red cake and white icing looked so pretty.

I also got some lovely presents and what with having Italian food for lunch (my fave) and tasty cupcakes for afternoon tea, it was a great day all 'round. Thanks Sarah! (And Mum and Dad too for buying the cupcakes!)

What's Hot & What's Not Wednesday

My oh my how long it has been since I last did a What's Hot & What's Not Wednesday! Or an actual blog post for that matter....(*hides in shame*).

So, getting straight to it! (Written in festive colours of course).

What's Hot:

- The super cool embroidery patterns at Sublime Stitching. They're just so fab i'm going to order some and give it ago, despite the general awfulness of my past hand sewing attempts. Dodgy sock monkey anyone?

- My birthday on Sunday. Who doesn't love it when their b'day comes around? Presents, food and cake! What's not to love?

- Our Christmas tree! It's over 2m tall with twinkly lights and is decorated with ornaments that have been in our family for years. (Altough the weight of said ornaments are now giving the tree a lovely forward lean). There's nothing better than the feeling of putting up all of those familiar little ornaments and decorations on the tree and around the house every Christmas. And adding new ones too of course!

- Yankee Candles. A recent and lovely discovery. They have an absolutely huge range of scented candles and tonnes of yummy Christmas themed ones. The Christmas Biscuit and Cinnamon Sugar ones literally smell good enough to eat.

What's Not:

- The sad neglect of our little blog! New Years resolution- blog way more often!

- Oh, and people hacking into my email account and spamming everyone I know. Aargh!

Check out what else is Hot and Not at Loobylu.

What's Hot & What's Not Wednesday

Yet another Wednesday and another What's Hot and What's Not from Loobylu! My, how time flies when you're studying for an exam!

So, What's Hot?

- Getting my Uni exam over and done with on Monday. Although summer semester starts in a couple of weeks, it still means I can get back into crafting and blogging which have been somewhat neglected while I was studying!

- Having a long lunch with Sarah and Sean on Tuesday. It was a great way to celebrate the end of exams and Sarah and Sean leaving for their much anticipated holiday to Japan. Stay tuned for Sarah's upcoming post showing off all the fabric and crafty things she's picked up over there! Can you tell that i'm a teeny bit jealous?

- The Box. A really cool and unusual movie that keeps you guessing through 'til the end. It also gets you thinking- would you press the button? You can tell the story was originally on the Twilight Zone and is directed by the same guy who did Donnie Darko- much retro sci-fi music and weird atmosphere abounds!

-Plus, Cameron Diaz rocks some really great 70's hairstyles (and outfits) in it. Observe:

And What's Not?

- The fact that i'm not going to Japan to search for Geisha and Hello Kitty.

- Not being able to craft or blog in the last week because i've had to study for an exam instead.

- Blogger constantly changing the layout of my posts so the published version looks different (and much messier) than the draft version! So unbelievably irritating!

- Not being able to buy Cath Kidston's new book or the Food Safari cookbook because I have to wait until my birthday or Christmas to get them. (Insert a childish sounding "Aww, not fair!" here.)

Finders Keepers Brisbane

After a few weeks of saving and excitement the Finders Keepers market has finally arrived in Brisbane.

and boy where the crowds out in force....

the Old Museum was filled to capacity with eager market goers of all ages and persuasions. This was just the view outside on the verandah.

Inside was just as busy and unfortunately it made it quite hard to actually be able to see what was on display.

Frankie Magazine had a fantastic little stall of their own and I was able to pick up these vintage inspired goodies. I managed to score some great wrapping paper, a vintage pillowcase, and a gorgeous 70's inspired Christmas card. What's with the hairspray you say? Well it was actually a lucky dip prize given to every customer. I can't remember the last time I dabbled in a lucky dip. (I did not realise they still made this stuff, I might have to use it with caution).

One of my favourite finds of the day were these beautiful Christmas tags from paper boat press . They are going to look great as decoration on bottles of Jam or simply as decorations for the tree. For hand made ceramic gift tags, they were very reasonable at only $15 a pack.

I also found these great packs of Christmas Cards from Blossom Creations. I can't wait to break them out for Christmas this year.

Overall the market was a lot of fun but some of the stalls were aimed at higher end buyers and quite expensive. It was however great to see Selvedge House, Rebecca from Edward and Lilly and the other girls from BrisStyle all displaying their amazing creations. I would have to say that the BrisStyle Markets are still more my cup of tea with vintage inspired creations and less mainstream high fashion kind of style. Now I just have to hold on till the BrisStyle Indie Designers Market in December to get my market fix.

Loving Right Now...

Here are a few cool things we here at Shary Bobbins are coveting right now:

1. Made By White's gorgeous wall stickers.

2. Able & Game's super cute and quirky cards. The card below was inspired by a hilarious 80's dating video that you watch on their blog. Gotta love those hairstyles.

3. Victoria Mason's Nice biscuit necklace. An Australian afternoon tea icon! Plus this one won't get soggy and end up in the bottom of your tea cup. All we need now is an Iced Vovo and we're all set!

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas...

I must admit that I absolutely love Christmas and all of the associated Chrismass-y things: Santa, twinkly fairy lights on the front of people's homes, Rudolph and his little red nose, Christmas carols; but one of the things I love most are Christmas decorations! Which is why I was rather excited to go a special Christmas preview at Unique Gifts so I could get a sneak peek at all of their seasonal goodies! Here are some photos of the decorations I just had to buy:

As soon as I saw the ice cream decorations I had to have them because they're so sweet and unique. I also got a little shimmery gold bird because it was cute and the same goes for the toadstool candle. Yes, I know toadstools don't have anything to do with Christmas but I just thought it was adorable. The tree the decorations are displayed on is a nifty little thing that slots together and can be laid flat when you're not using it. I think it would make a lovely table centerpiece on Christmas Day!

Hot 'n' Not

HOT!

- Only two more days until the Finders Keepers market comes to Brisbane! I can't wait to head into the Old Museum at Herston on Saturday to look at all the handmade goodies. It will be great to see all of Brisbane's creative talent in the one spot.

- Holidays!! Only two days left of work, thank god and only one week till Japan.

- Reading the new Frankie magazine and the latest Matthew Reilly book.

NOT!
- Being so busy with getting work sorted out that I have not had much energy to anything else, much less anything crafty.

- Sore throats. Fingers crossed I don't get sick before my holidays.

- The fact that it is almost the end of strawberry season.


Find more Hot's and Not's here at Loobylu.

Eye Spy...Something Cuddly

Today I thought i'd join in on the Eye Spy meme from bugandpop and the theme for this week is Something Cuddly, which is right up my alley! I can think of lots of cuddly things but I have two in mind that are particularly cuddly so here they are:

The first is my toy bunny Basil who I have had since I was about 10 years old when I wheedled my parents into buying him for me in Coffs Harbour when we were on holidays. He has since been sufficiently cuddled and been taken on many more family trips away. He's clocked up quite a few frequent flyer miles!

And secondly there's my little toy poodle Phoebe who is super-duper cuddly. Her favourite past times include sleeping on the fluffy living room rug and hoovering crumbs off the kitchen floor.

Ahh rain, how I have missed you!

Tonight I am just chilling enjoying the beautiful sound of rain on our tin roof. It is so relaxing to just sit back and watch a summer storm roll in on the horizon.......

Photo courtesy of ourbrisbane.com

25# Gotta love council pick up day

Today I thought I would share with you a project that I have been working on for a while. Now as I have mentioned previously I may have a problem when it comes to hoarding things but I have to admit that I also have the bad habit of pulling things out of dumpsters and picking things up off the side of the road. Let me present you with Exhibit A:



Last year while driving home we realised that unbeknownst to us it was council pick up day. I decided that a detour was in order and we began to scour the streets. Not long into our search we came across these little beauties. Now I know they look like they were throw out for good reason but I thought that with a little work we could turn them into something useable.

Now the funny thing was were driving our little Corolla at the time which really is not the best vehicle for transporting a five piece outdoor setting but I was determined to fit it all in. A few other people in vehicles more appropriate for transporting furniture waited near by hoping that we would give up but in the end we triumphed! (although I must admit that I had to drive home because the driver seat had to be put so far forward that my husband could not actually fit behind the wheel!).



I originally was going to coat the table and chairs in some varnish and keep the look of the cane but it just did not seem like it was going to freshen them up enough. After we moved into our new house I decided that a fresh coat of white outdoor paint might do the trick. After a couple of coats of paint they came up a treat.



While there were no cushions left with the chairs I decided to turn the cushions from some old couches that were given to us by my in laws into the base for our new chairs.



I am loving the look of stripes on outdoor furniture at the moment and managed to find some great fabric at Ikea that fitted the bill perfectly. I tried to use the old cushion covers as a guide when sewing the new ones but in the end I used some brown paper to create some rudimentary patterns. They turned out a little big but I suppose that is better than being too small.



I'm really happy that I was able to convert the chairs into something a little more comfortable and it feels great to give life to some old down and out furniture. At the moment all four chairs are painted but I still have to buy the other two colours of striped fabric from Ikea. I'm hoping to make up the other cushions in matching green and yellow stripped fabric.

Now I just have to wait for this years council pick up day so that I can get my next fix.

My Place and Yours: Bedside

Another week, another 'My Place and Yours' meme from Meet Me at Mikes! This week's theme is 'Bedside'. My bedside table isn't that enthralling but here it is anyway!I am actually rather pleased with the state of my bedside table at the moment. It used to get stacked high with books but I have tried to keep the pile to a minimum and now I can actually see the time on my Hello Kitty clock! I absolutely love my clock because it is in the shape of a teacup and the lemon slice on the side is actually a little night light. (And yes, I do actually turn it on every night!) Plus it's just really, really cute!Recently I also put my little glow in the dark Fimo bunny and Totoro that I made on there and they glow very nicely next to the lit up slice of lemon.

To check out other blogger's bedsides head over to Mike's!

Amigurumi Sweetness

Today I was lurking around around my local bookshop (as usual) when I came across this little gem of a crochet book called Super Cute by Annie Obaachan. You know a book's going to be good when it has a title like that!

The book is full of super sweet little animals. From budgies and penguins to sausage dogs and goldfish this book has lots of quirky little friends to crochet. I am particularly in love with the itty bitty hamsters:

Now all I have to do is learn to crochet properly....

22# Book Week

Wow what a week! Things have been so busy at work that creatively things have been very quiet indeed. However the highlight of the week would have to be the release of the new Matthew Reilly book. Now I'm sure you are probably thinking Matthew Reilly!?! but I have to admit I absolutely love his work. If you want something action packed, fast paced and just a good read then you would love his books.



I know there are people out there that turn their nose up at his books but even though they are not literary classics they are a lot of fun. I think my love of his books stems from my love of good old fashion action thrillers like Aliens and Terminator.

I absolutely love reading and I think that's why I love blogs so much. I personally think that anything that gets people reading is a good thing. I'd love to know if you have read any of Matthew Reilly's books or if there is one series which you always love to read?

I think this picture I bought on Etsy by Aunty Cookie pretty much sums me up in a nutshell.



Now I just have to hang out for the new Kinsey Millhone book by Sue Grafton. Hmmm I think I feel like a quarter pounder......

What's Hot & What's Not Wednesday

Thank God for What's Hot and What's Not Wednesday because without it I would have no idea what to blog about today!

So, What's Hot?

- Seeing 500 Days of Summer before its run finishes at the cinemas. I loved this movie because it was something really original and so much better than the usual 'boy meets girl' storyline. Plus it was just damn funny. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a cutie.

- Recieving my new issue of delicious. in the mail and reading the new Donna Hay magazine. Mmm....cookies....

- Being able to buy the new issue of Frankie magazine tomorrow! Total yay-ness all 'round!

- The release of the New Moon soundtrack. Yes, I like Twilight. Go on. Make fun of me. But remember i've told you before that i'm a total nerd. What did you expect?

What's Not?

- Uni exams. Having to study for uni exams. So very, very boring. I'd rather be crafting!

- Figuring out what to cook for dinner every night. Sure I like to cook, but it's hard to decide on what to cook every night. I wish I could have cupcakes for dinner. That would definitely go under Hot!

Let me show you a little secret............

This is the little room we found hidden out the back of our new house. When we inspected the property the tenants had piles of junk stacked to the ceiling and we were unable to see what a hidden gem it really was. It is just a small L shaped room but I am hoping to turn into my own little sewing and craft room.

It comes with some fairly retro fittings like this yellow light fitting, and

some vintage wallpaper which apart from the dirt and gecko poop is in pretty good condition

but this would have to be my favourite part. The view over my own backyard. I can't wait to get in there to clean it all up!

My Place and Yours: On the Shelf

I was passing by Meet Me at Mikes yesterday (i'm a long time lurker there) and saw the meme called My Place and Yours and Pip's theme is On the Shelf. So without much further ado here is what's on my shelf (or shelves to be exact):Cookbooks! I can't help myself when it comes to buying them and now i'm a certified cookbook junkie. Nigella and Jamie are my faves. Is there a rehab clinic for an addiciton like this? Betty Ford for book junkies?

A whole bunch of stuff! This shelf is above my desk and as you can see it's chock full of little bits and pieces i've collected plus some of my Uni textbooks. It's really hard to dust though!

Sarah will post a pic of her shelf tomorrow, and you can bet that hers will be a hell of alot neater than mine!

Rubber Stamp-y Fun

Today I finally tried out the super cute Love Stamp Set by O-Check Design Graphics that I bought recently from one of my fave shops in Bulimba, Coming Up Roses.

I love the quirky little designs and they're perfect stamped on to gift tags to make a present that extra bit special.

17# Shake and Bake

Today for the first time in awhile I actually had the time to take it a bit easier and fit in some baking. I have had the Crabapple Bakery Cookbook by Jennifer Graham for a little while now and despite drooling over the pages had not actually had a chance to make any of the yummy cupcakes.

So with the time and the fact that I have been invited to the Brisbane Brown Owl meeting tomorrow I decided to get baking...........

It was great to have the time to make something a bit special. Since my husband was diagnosed with Coeliac Disease last year I have had to really be creative and cook most meals from scratch. I have been lucky to find some great gluten free packet mixes for cakes but today I thought I would try a normal cupcake recipe and simply replace the normal plain flour with gluten free plain flour. This was with some trepidation I must admit.

I was actually quite surprised with the final result. I have found particularly when making pikelets that the gluten free flour can not rise quite as well as normal flour but the cupcakes rose really well, almost too well. I also found the texture to be a lot more lighter and fluffier with the gluten free flour.

Please excuse the icing though it was my first attempt at using a piping bag :)

My Creative Space

Well, seeing as it is my turn to post I thought i'd be a typical little sister and follow Sarah's lead by showing you all what i'm working on at the moment.

I am part way through the super-cool cross stitch pattern by LoungeKat which is featured in the latest issue of Mixtape. I have just finished the lettering and am now trying to figure out the best way to tackle all of the the outer detail.

I haven't done any cross stitching in forever as I hadn't really been inspired by any patterns but when I saw this one I just had to do it. I love its uniqueness and quirkiness- you don't see many cross stitch charts with skulls in them!

I am now on the hunt to find other cool patterns. It would be great if there were more cross stitch patterns like the ones that Sublime Stitching have for embroidery... which brings me to my new endeavour- learning embroidery! I have totally fallen in love with the gorgeous designs on the site, especially those from the Artist Series. I have also swiped a Sublime Stitching book from Sarah so i'm pretty well set! I've never really embroidered anything before as i've always thought it was too hard but now that i've seen all the cool designs out there I can't resist giving it a go!

If anyone has any pics on their blog of any projects they've embroidered or cross stitched i'd love to have a peek!

My creative space

Wow I can't believe we are up to Day 15 already, time flies when your having fun (enter tired sigh here).

Today my creative space is the craft project currently occupying (or should I say engulfing) my dining room table. I have decided this year to to try and get a head start on some crafty projects for Christmas. Did she just mention the C Word, I hear you all crying out. I know, I know it is still early days but most years I always have grand plans which end up falling by the way side. It is hard with a full time job to try and fit it all in but this year I am going to triumph!

During all my blog surfing lately I have come across some really beautiful projects all revolving around creating garlands. This tutorial at dottieangel is just stunning and inspired me to maybe make my own garland. Another blog (do you think I can find it) used paper to create a similar effect. It used a technique similar to this.


As you can see from the photos I have recycled some old Christmas shopping bags from last year, particularily one from Crabtree and Evelyn. Using some cookie cutters as templates I managed to cut out lots of different shapes with different patterns. All I can say is thank god for the movie length Jonathan Creek on Sunday night which gave me ample entertainment while cutting most of them out (whose stupid idea was that anyway!).

I am hoping to use some baking paper to sew each individual cut out into a beautiful Christmas garland. I promise more pictures to come, stay tuned.

What's Hot and What's Not

HOT:

1. Roller derby
On Tuesday we threw caution to the wind and went out to the movies on a school night. We saw Whip It and it was well worth trip. It made me want to go out and see some derby here in Brisbane and break out the skates. Go Girls!


2. Wednesday Market Day at UQ
I'm very lucky to have a market appear every Wednesday right at work. It is something to look forward to, in a normally uneventful work week. I especially love this time of year when the most delicious strawberries are on offer. (Please excuse the quality of the photo I was afraid that if I had waited until tonight there may not have been any left to photograph).


3. Holidays
In just a few weeks time it will finally be holiday time. We are lucky enough to be heading off to Japan for 8 days and I can't wait! The autumn leaves, all the cute fabric and stationary. What more can you say.

Photo courtesy of Kamoda on Flickr

NOT:

1. More Dust !
Today another dust cloud made it's way into Brisbane. While it was not as bad as the red dust of previous weeks it is still a major pain especially with my asthma.



2. Holidays
The fact I still have 12 days left at work before the above mentioned holidays!