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

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.)

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!

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.

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....

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!

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!

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!

Macrame Owl Goodness!

I got the coolest surprise today when I opened my letterbox and found two super awesome owls from Ange!

I just love their cute retro-ness and they now have a happy new home in my room.
However I'm now thinking they would look rather lovely hanging over my sewing desk instead so they will be relocated once I (okay, my Dad) has put some hooks into the wall!
So a BIG thank you to Ange for the new resident owls, I just love them!

Crafty book goodness!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I have acquired a lovely new crafty book by Cath Kidston called Make! It is full of Cath's famous fabric designs that you can photocopy and use in your own projects. I particularly heart the bird and star designs. The book is mainly concerned with the decoration and application of embroidery and designs onto things like bags, towels, socks and clothes. The pictures are gorgeous and colourful and very inspiring- the little pink songbird socks are especially adorable!

The coolest thing about the book is that you get a plain tote to use and decorate as your first project. I think I might cover mine in little multi-coloured stars. Watch this space to see how it goes. Knowing my hand sewing skills it's sure to be interesting! (Read: dodgy).

And the good news is that Cath has another book called Sew! coming out in a couple of weeks for the die hard sewers out there. The book also includes some of her trademark fabric to make a bag with. I can't wait!

Mmm...Cheesecake

Besides crafting another hobby of mine is cooking and especially baking. So therefore I deemed that for my Blogtoberfest post today I would show you the cheesecake that Mum and I made together for Dad's birthday. (Happy Birthday Dad!)

I love sweet things (who doesn't?) and as a result I really love collecting all sorts of cookbooks that support my habit. I have around 50 so far and I plan to keep on adding to my collection in the future. They're just so addictive! The beautiful, tummy-rumbling inducing photos, the yummy recipes, I mean even if you don't actually like cooking you can still have fun flipping through them. I particularly love Nigella Lawson, the Goddess of the kitchen and Jamie Oliver. Nigella has the most gorgeous cookbooks and I dare you to read one and not want to cook something! Her chocolate peanut butter cups really are drool inducing.

At the moment I am coveting Jamie's new book Jamie's America. At the first possible opportunity I am so getting myself a copy! Unfortunately that may not be for a while because I spent the last of my money buying Kath Kidston's Make book. Dammit.

The cheesecake Mum and I made is a New York baked cheesecake from the good ol' Australian Women's Weekly and it was goooood! (If I do say so myself.) I was really happy with how it turned out and it was very easy to make it gluten free by using rice cookies for the base. Actually, the rice cookies were heaps tastier as a base than the usual Nice biscuits I use.

I believe everything tastes better when it's home made, and this cheesecake was definitely better than a store bought one. The recipe is one I will certainly use again and besides, who doesn't love an old fashioned dessert anyway?

Does anyone have any favourite retro desserts they couldn't live without? I'd love to hear about them!

Holey Moley it's a Sock Monkey!

I know this post is a day late but I swear that I really did finish my sock monkey yesterday, I just decided to hold off until posting today. Really!!! I swear on my fabric stash!
As you can see Mr Sock Monkey looks very "rustic", or as Sarah would say, "shabby chic". Or you could say he's just plain dodgy looking.

There is some truly craptastic hand stitching going on here, and I somehow managed to sew on one ear higher than the other. The stitches on his head give him a lovely frontal-lobe lobotomy look, but he can still read his Mixtape zine so it's all good!

Despite the questionable workmanship, I still love him and his sock monkey adorable-ness.

Has anyone else out there in crafty blog land made any sock monkeys? If you have i'd love to see any pics you have of them!

Birdbrained!

Well i'm so glad todays' topic is birds! I love birds. Whenever I see something with a bird on it I want to buy it. It can get rather expensive. I especially love owls. I mean, how could you not love them? Their big eyes, their cute sort-of-round shape, their lovely hooting, the way they can swoop down and carry off squirrels...well perhaps not the last part. I really like squirrels too.

I especially love how people are using birds in their crafting. From softie owls to bird themed crosstitch patterns, jewellery and paintings, I just love looking at peoples' different interpretations of birds.

One of my recent bird acquisitions is a gorgeous owl tealight holder by Have You Met Miss Jones which was a present from my Mum.


You can't tell from the photo but when you light it up it glows beautifully from within.

Does anyone else out there have a love of collecting birds? Or is perhaps doing any crafting with birds as the feature? I'd love to know!

Oh and as for the sock monkey, I hope to finish him off tomorrow. Watch this space! Hopefully he will come out actually looking like a sock monkey. At the moment I have my doubts.

When Sewing Machines Go Bad...

Since it's day four of Blogtoberfest and my turn to post, I thought I would make a cute little sock monkey and post some pics of that. Unfortunately several things went wrong along the way...

Firstly, I sewed one of his arms the wrong way out. I didn't realise this until I had spent a copious amount of time re-sewing it because it had a hole in it. So I had to cut a new arm from a new sock.

Secondly, my sewing machine went crazy and appeared to have a big tangle of thread stuck under the mechanism of the bobbin. I then had the genius idea of using a sewing needle to fish it out. I then lost said needle inside of the sewing machine. It made a lovely rattling noise whenever I moved it around. Thus began the long job of trying to get the tangle and the needle out of the machine. So to cut a long story short, a phone call to Sarah, alot of help from my Dad (thanks Dad!) and the complete removal of the casing of my machine and voila! The needle! Unfortunately I also discovered that there was no actual tangle in the bobbin mechanism and therefore using the needle in the first place was absoultely pointless.

So with my machine finally put back together and for some reason now working perfectly, I got back to working on my sock monkey.

But... then I sewed the tail the wrong way out (apparently I still hadn't learned my lesson) and had to cut a new one. Then I finally had all the limbs made and was stuffing the body with polyfill....until I ran out of it. So that's why I have no sock monkey picture to post and why I have to go to Lincraft tomorrow.

But maybe, just maybe, there will be a sock monkey to post tomorrow... or maybe Tuesday...

Blogtoberfest!

Well Sarah just informed me about an hour ago that she had signed us up for Blogtoberfest (gee thanks sis!) While I was slightly alarmed at first at having to find something vaguely interesting to write about for a month I now think that it will be a lot of fun. I love that there are kooky topic suggestions for every day of the month (thank God!) and really who could resist participating in something with such a cute name? Plus it is a good poke in the arm to blog more regularly!

Since the first topic is Knocktober I will tell you a few things about me...

Basically I am what I refer to as a "socially functioning nerd" in that i'm a nerd who actually has some social skills. I love geeky stuff like The Lord of the Rings, Buffy, Miyazaki films and anime. I also believe I should have been born in Japan, the land of Hello Kitty and other absurdly cute fluffy things.

The nerdy highlight of my life recently was meeting Ben Barnes (aka Prince Caspian) at the set of The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Best-day-ever!

While Sarah and I have always been into the crafty stuff, I got back into it again recently when Sarah told me about all the cool craft blogs out there. Then she said she wanted to learn to sew, so in true little sister fashion I tagged along and started doing it too! Plus I started watching Martha Stewart on the How To channel. Martha can be very persuasive.

Well that's a bit about me. Tomorrow it looks like I will be writing about music. If I remember that is, because another thing about me is that I tend to forget stuff. So therefore I might be writing about music tomorrow.