habit forming

I really hope that my slackness toward posting recently doesn't become habit forming.

It had better not.

Anyway I'm in for a long night tonight so thought it would be a good idea to catch up on recent events.

I have been busy with wedding stuff as you can imagine, less than five weeks to go and things are hotting up. Managed to find the other flowergirl's shoes. Had the first alteration dress fitting on Thursday which was really exciting as I was able to see if the shoes went with the dress and to my relief they do, thank heavens! I'm having the dress hemmed so that it will be above the ground and my cute wee pointy shoes will peep out from beneath when I am walking and talking. Ordered my wedding ring to fit. Found a great bonboniere site in the Hunter valley of all places called Hearts and Themes. I figured that they will be able to satisfy my cheap but quality tastes better than any of the other places I have. I also finally picked up the button badges I had made for the hens night, now I just have to remember to take them with me. Discovered that I have a really clueless bridesmaid who is incredibly self concerned and have had to organise the bridal shower with my SIL. Thank heavens for her. Anyway was accused of all sorts of unfair activities by the BM. The BM is rather cheeky to say the least letting glib comments pass such as since it is all organised why should she bother to bring anything...making me very anti BM. After her telling me that she may not turn up things got worse. Accusations of my taking it away from her etc. Gosh only knows how she came to that one. I just knew that 30 older ladies and younger ladies wouldn't fit in her tiny flat. No parking to add to the dilemma had me sourcing another venue. She didn't complain at the time so I carried on. When the invitations went out I expected her to use her initiative and call SIL and take back her duties. but no she rolled over and waited until the last moment. I'm fuming, anyway. It all takes the cake when I call and ask her to call SIL to organise what is going on and get a "i'm so busy and tired" reply, great someone who doesn't care about me. fantastic.

So I've spent the last week finding places for cheap partyware and sourcing great fingerfood and have come up with some nice sounding recipes. The truth will be in the comments...

Stay tuned.

tardyness

Yes I'm slack, I can't believe I have almost let this lapse for a week. I can't believe it.

I am busy at the moment with work which doesn't help but also trying to organise my own bridal shower too doesn't make it any easier to find the time to blog and do that.

I spoke to BM tonight and after asking her to contact the SIL who is generously having the shower at her house BM tells me to stop stressing out. This did not make my temper any less and I was holding back a myriad of emotions which I didn't think should be let out then on the phone. I can't believe she can't picture herself in my shoes. I can appreciate her working long hours but I'm only asking her to be the friend she is supposed to be and organise the shower.

OK enough b*tching

Am sourcing party food for the shower and am having a dress fitting on Thursday next week. How exciting, I'm relieved that I have the shoes for it! The only problem I will have is the really unsightly tan lines I developed over the weekend.

We went to the lake to go celebrate D's best buds birthday. I had D plaster my alabaster with suncream 30+ and by the time 3pm rolled around I had a really bad sunburn on my chest with the worst tan lines in history. I don't know how I'm going to get rid of these and only have six weeks to fix them up with some creative tanning.
D's mates family is into water skiing and I've never done that before but really was looking forward to a turn. I didn't end up having a go but D did and he got up first try. I think it was a real comparisson to his last attempt where he ended up being dragged behind the boat hanging on for dear life bouncing on his rear and all that dwells there. Poor thing, he took the advice to don't let go a little to literally! But a whole lot wiser this time he managed to pop himself right up there out of the water and zoomed around for a couple of laps. I was so excited for him, it must have been such a thrill. Now he wants to go and buy all the gear and take it up for a passtime. I think it beats fishing for now as there isn't a great deal of fish to be caught due to drastic over fishing of the area. I did manage to have a go on the big tube that was being towed around behind the boat, the driver trying his darndest to flip us off. My shoulder ended up giving in before my vice like grip did and that was the reason I didn't get to go skiing. Next time. right?

Dress cutting soon. Promise!

We have shoes!

Yes I finally found some suitable shoes for my wedding day.

After dragging D's wee girl around a four level mall for three and a half hours on Saturday all for naught I found a good pair of shoes. I had spied them earlier last week and after the ordeal on the weekend I decided that I should go and try them on. I think they will fit the bill nicely. They didn't cost more than a hundred dollars which is well within budget. I also didn't realise until I got home that the swing tag attached explained that the diamantes on them were in fact swarovski crystal diamontes so I'm super happy about that touch!

D's wee girl did find the perfect pair of shoes for herself on Saturday so all that traipsing wasn't really for nothing. She's very excited about wearing some "heels" to the wedding. Very grownup!

The most trouble I'm having at the moment is with my bridesmaid (BM). She's the only one and is a bit of a "me" person. I think she doesn't really understand what she should be doing and I've tried to be nice and given her some gentle pointers but have ended up organising the bridal shower myself with the help of D's SIL, thank heavens for her! I've had some interesting conversations with BM, the first when we went looking for a dress for her to wear. She tried on a great dress but it was plunging down to her bellybutton and she was wrapped with how it looked and I had to tell her how good it looked on her but I thought it was a bit too sexy for a bridesmaid to wear, very inappropriate. She had to agree with me on that one. The dress that I really thought was appropriate and complementary to my own dress was quite perfect but she had it on and told me that if I wanted her to wear it I would have to pay for it myself. I said that she wouldn't be wearing it then. While I was shoe shopping she called me and said she'd found another dress that was great. I asked her what it looked like and she said fushia, which is not the colour I was hoping for. So she said she'd send me a pic which I haven't received yet and that she was going to buy it anyway and have it altered. There was no way I was able to see this dress and I asked her if she could return it if it wasn't any good, which was a no as it was from a "vintage" shop. I told her that if I didn't like it she would have to buy something else and she agreed. thank heavens. The other day I got a phone call from her and she said that she may not be able to make the bridal shower. say what?! I couldn't believe it. What is she on?? Anyway I said that she should really try to make it and if she is working then perhaps she could ask for an early finish time in order to get to the shower on time. It's at 2:30pm so I can't see why she won't be able to make it. This means that I'll be organising the whole thing and she's not contributing much at all. Very disappointing.

What would you do? anyone out there? I would appreciate some advice if anyone is reading. Sorry about the long posts btw. I have quite a lot going on at the moment.

Stay tuned. I'm cutting the flower girl dresses out!!! Progress!

Here's the one I promised earlier

So here are the pics from the most recent 2005 Christmas charity dress the bears event.

I made outfits for four bears this time.

Two were girls and two were boys, just to keep it fair.

It's all too easy to make girly outfits.

This year I also made them bags to accompany them so that the kids could keep a wee something in them.

The boys get two pockets. Either on their pants or both shirt and pants.


This guy is looking a bit like he's had one too many honey sandwiches!

See the great lining in the girly bag, I liked this one the most I think.
Here's a wee confession, I only realised after sewing up the bag that I had made it around the wrong way. The yellow flower was intended to be on the right, pale pink in the middle at the top and the other on the left...whoops. That is what happens when I rush though.

This wee lady has a reversible dress with pockets on both sides. One side is as you see and the other is reversed, it has the skirt in floral and bib part in stripes. The bag has the lining you can see on the strap. Its a shame you can't see the stitched stems to the "flowers" that are sewn on the outside.
The dress does up at the back with good ole velcro for ease of removal and changing.

This lass has a lovely yellow gingham dress on the other side of this sage pixie floral print. Finished with velvet green straps and an apron to keep her lovely dress clean. I realise only now that there isn't a pic of her with the yellow side showing which looks great with the apron. Sorry!


Well I think that will have to do it for tonight. Short on time but I have wedding shoes!!! A bit of a breakthrough if you ask me!

stay tuned.

Here's one I prepared earlier

Way earlier!

These three were from our annual Christmas charity at work, 2004. The charity gives us the teds to dress and then they give them to the poor and disadvantaged kids for Christmas. I think it is a wonderful idea and also lets me flex my creative muscle at least once a year in a charitable way. A lot of the employees make the clothes themselves but some are creative using things like fancy hairties that resemble tutus and others give them to their mum/partner/kids/grandparents to dress. I figured that out when some were coming back with knitted outfits, very cute, cricketers complete with shin pads and jumpers, imagine! We even had a Steve Irwin character this same year! Very amusing. For those who the name doesn't ring a bell, how about the Crocodile Hunter? same guy, I believe he is big over in the states.

This was the first year that I made reversible dresses for the girls. Sorry I don't have a pic handy with the reverse of the outfits to show you. The yellow dress was fine purple and white stripes and the pink floral had green gingham with red rosebuds around the waist. I figured that having two outfits in one was a good idea, kind of like Mollychicken's recent post on how she made a dress for Tibbles.

I have pics of the last recent Christmas 2005 creations which were very similar but they each had bags accompanying them. I shall post them tomorrow as I have tried for the last hour to attach the pics in a decent order only to delete them when I move the text around. Very Frustrating!

So in order to lure you back again tomorrow if you are lurking around there, hopefully someone is! I'll get those pics in order and up for show and tell.

Stay tuned.

Paper and paste and waste

I've been really proactive so far this week.

I have finished the third layer on the balloon for the pinata. Tomorrow I will be assembling the tail and maybe the rotors. I would like to do away with the feathery crepe paper this time and just paint it since it isn't an animal. I know this is going to show up the major imperfections of the pasting of which there are many. The reason being with the heat of summer the balloon expands and the paper layer is restricting which eventually splits and then I have to patch it up by which time the balloon shrinks with the cool paste and then I get a really ugly lumpy vein-like line. hmmm. Thinking of sanding it to get rid of major problem areas but run the risk of my perfectionist streak getting the upper hand and never being happy with it...oh what to do. I'll post some pics later when the film is processed, not sure if anyone is interested but it is crafty so I think I'd better show something!

I bought and sent dad his birthday pressie, books of course. Unfortunately they are a bit pricey to send as they weigh quite a bit so I am thinking hard of alternative gifts for him. It was a last minute thing though so I paid the price. Did you know that he is a valentines baby? His mum was a Christmas Eve baby!

I've lost almost 5kg since starting my diet a few weeks ago. I'm thrilled with this as I'm feeling so healthy and looking back at some pics of me from a year ago this is just great and a relief. I have a waist again and my tummy is flattening out. Just those jolly hips and thighs need to be whittled away, the last and hardest part! The only downer about losing weight is that my bosom shrinks too. D surprised me on the weekend and said that he wanted to get into shape for the wedding also. I guess I must have inspired him in some subliminal way. He is one of those people who doesn't put on weight. Like a greyhound. But since meeting him a few years ago he has lost a lot of his tone and definition, use it or lose it as they say. I don't mind as his job keeps him fit enough but he was working out with weights before I met him and he was quite buff. His friend had taken his old set and won't give them back so rather than make a fuss on the weekend he went out and bought a set of weights. I've been inspired in turn by this and decided to up the ante also and get into this too. Feeling a bit sore at the moment but this is good right!?
Milo is also reaping the rewards of more frequent walks/runs. Happy dog = no barking!

I must say that I am sad to see Little Birds taking a hiatus, I'll miss reading about her daily life and crafting adventures. All the best with your ventures Stephanie!

Stay tuned!

Badness

Yep that's me, I can't believe I haven't blogged for like a whole week. Darn work and extra curricular activities!

Anyway a whole lot of things have been happening to keep me from my blog.

1. Wedding Invitations - finally they are out and in mailboxes as I type. I can't believe they are all done and delivered. I had a fit of inspiration fuelled by deadlines whizzing by and made some pretty neat invitations for the showers and bucks parties. Will post some pics soon, yeah promises again! I had a whole lot of dramas with the invitations taking so long and making me really anxious that they weren't going to get done and sent in time, as it was they were a week late in being sent. I'm still getting queries about dates and things and it is so annoying that people are asking me as I feel it is all my fault and ultimately it really is but I don't want to be going there right now.

2. Work - has been really busy lately, full on and no time for invitations and blogging. Everything suffers when work is busy. But it puts bread on the table and a keyboard under my fingers. I'm really very lucky when I think about it, so no complaints. Tonight is quieter so catching up on the past weeks worth of blogs, there is so much I have missed out on out there. Great for those really quiet nights!

3. Wedding to do's - I have a few to check off my list, the invitations, D's suit! and his ring!! I'm thrilled that he was inspired to get these done last weekend. I was quite surprised too that he chose the style he did. This weekend I'm going to be concentrating on my shoes and flowergirls dresses.

Those are all I can think of right now, there are quite a few subgroups that I could include, mostly in the invitation sector.
I've started the papier mache for the pinata I'm making for D's nephew. It's going to be a helicopter so will be quite different again from anything I've done before, for once it is not an animal of some description.
I bought some books for dad's birthday coming up so now all I have to do is get them in the post.

Speaking of post I have received so many wonderful postcards for the year of the dog postcard swap that was organised by My Little Mochi. I was even the lucky recipient of one of her delightful zodiac cards with the rubberstamp dog and ducks on the back. She even stamped the envelope too so I was excited when I saw the dog on there as I knew straight away who it was from! COOL! Also I got an amazing sewn card from Creativelittledaisy which has some sewn embroidery in the shape of a handbag, complete with button closure. Wishthimble sent me an original card using an unusual technique that I will simply have to investigate, great stuff! Weecottagestudio sent a great hand painted card of a dancing dog, cute! and an adorable handpainted card from My Vintage Days, such beautiful artistry. Tenderarts sent a really neat sewn card and Lilfish send a photo of a dog she'd made, that made me wish it was a softie swap instead! and the envelope had dog paws inside it with these great muppet stamps on the outside! Too cute. Beautiful Things sent me a picture of a quilted scene of the Wildwood in Devon, Lafeecoriandre sent me a great collage of some Parisian style and Debbie from Wataame sent me a great sewn card with some fabulous handstitching on it. Thank you so much ladies! I have received all ten of my cards now and am very pleased I decided to do the swap, so much fun. I hope everyone else out there had as much fun sending and receiving their cards.

Thanks My Little Mochi, I can't wait until the next one!

Well better go now. Back to the grindstone...

flying blind

Yep that's what I'm doing at the moment.

I tried to post the day before yesterday, yesterday and everytime I look at my blog page there is nothing at all there. No banner. No side bar, none of my pics I just managed to figure out how to post. I have no idea what is going on so if anyone else can see what I've written here I would appreciate a comment or email if you have it.

I've been receiving the New Years cards which are absolutely wonderful, I love how they are all different.

I'm going to email some folks and see if they know what is going on and why. I think three days is too long to be out of action.

Anyway until I post again. Stay tuned!