Op Shop Finds

I spent a day visiting my favourite thrift shops last week, and here's some of my finds -A hand appliqued cushion cover, perfectly stitched.Another pillow case made from a panel of a very sweet little cat, surrounded by pot plants and matching backing material. Both were only AU$1.00.This is the most glorious native Australian flora folk art painting, complete with butterflies, only AU$3.00. (I must show you my flower folk art collection one day!)A gorgeous rose accordion folder with a pocket for every month, only AU$2.00. It will be perfect for storing birthday cards in! Notice the table cloth underneath? It's made of plastic for an easy wipe down, and fits my family room dining table perfectly! I bought it, too, from a thrift store not long ago for AU$3.00!A medium sized metal bucket for AU$0.50, which is great for storing all sorts of goodies!Last but not least, this sweet little egg cup for AU$0.50 which I shall soon turn into a new pincushion.

Have you been thrifting or bargain hunting recently? What's your all time favourite item that's been picked up for next to nothing?

Ului

Edited to Add:
Cyclone Ului crossed the coast on Sunday morning at 1:30am, 500kms north of us. Mackay has caught the brunt of it, but as all of Queensland is saying - we have been through much worse, and if you have to have a cyclone, then this is the kind you want! It has been downgraded to an ex-cyclone, and is now a rain depression heading west to Jenny of Elefantz. Millions of dollars worth of damage, mostly to the sugar cane crops, but Mackay is a beautiful city with wonderful people, and they're on their way to being back to normal already!
We got a heap of wind and rain - it's still raining in fact! Some lightning and thunder, and a palm tree in our front yard was pulled up by the roots, with a heap of palm fronds we had to clean up, but that's it.
Thankyou all so much for your thoughts and prayers! They worked!


Forgive me for not having blogged about my crafting the last week or so. We're on Cyclone watch! Cyclone Ului is headed our way, and already the wind is quite strong, so we've been securing everything around the house and preparing, just in case.A cyclone watch has been declared for between Cardwell and Yeppoon, with residents warned to prepare for damaging winds and outlying areas to expect heavy rainfall.

"Damaging winds should develop between Cardwell and Yeppoon during Saturday, and increase further on Saturday night as the cyclone approaches the coast," according to a Bureau statement.

Here's a link if you would like to read and learn some more.

A big thankyou to all who have left a comment on my mushroom pin topper tutorial!

Mushroom Pin-Topper Tutorial

I've been asked by my good friend Teresa how I made the mushroom pins I showed in my last post. So yesterday I grabbed out my supplies and with camera in hand, created an easy peasy tutorial for her, and thought I'd share it with all of you guys too! It is so easy, you won't believe you never knew how to make them!You will need -

• Pearl head pins
• Polymer clay in your chosen colours (I used red and white)
• Small beads
• Oven

Step one - Roll a small amount of white clay into tic tac sized and shaped pieces:Step two - Push this "tic tac" of clay up through the sharp end of the pin, so it's sitting as pictured:Step three - Roll pea-sized bits of red clay into balls:Step four - slightly flatten red clay balls as pictured:Step five - Push pearl pin head softly into the center of your flattened red ball of clay, pick it all up and gently squeeze the edges of your flattened red clay around the pin head as pictured:Step six -Once flattened all the way around and in the shape of a mushroom, add however many beads you wish to make your mushroom look shroom-y (You could also use small round balls of clay to achieve this effect):Step seven - lay on some baking paper and follow directions on your polymer clay packet to bake:Step eight - Once cooked and cooled, take pins and stick them in your pin cushion for a photo shoot!!Step nine - Leave a comment on this post letting me know that you've made some!

EDITED TO ADD:

Thankyou all so much for your wonderful comments! Here's some links to crafter's who have made their own! I love how they all turn out differently -

Teresa (of course) of All Things Vintage
Lisa at Cubby House Crafts

Stumped

So last year sometime, I've forgotten when, I found a little vase at a second hand shop for AU$0.50. It looked like a little tree stump. Too tempting! I bought it, brought it home, and have turned it into a pincushion.I've even made some little mushroom pins to go with it and make it seem more "woodsy-ish."It's currently sitting on my bookshelf, hence the background in the photos!Very easy, very effective, very cute! Waddaya all think?

Double Rescue

It seems like I'm always finding animals that need to be rescued and looked after!

Meet Oscar. I rescued Oscar from a street corner in the rain. He was terribly frightened and wet and muddy and shivering, and desperately trying to get across the road in between the traffic. So I parked the car up the street, walked back, and coaxed him over to me. I brought him home, cleaned him up, called him Oscar and fed him.He is the most beautiful cat, I don't know how anyone could have left him there, or would not look for him when he went missing! But without any collar or micro chip, his "found" ad has been in the local paper, and his description left at a few different vets, but all to no avail. So he's been taken on by Capricorn Animal Aid and has already been adopted!!! I'll have him for a few more weeks while he gets fixed up and heals from his wounds, but after that, he will be moving on to his forever home, which just happens to be on a property out of town. He will simply love it there!

My other rescue happened last Friday. I was at the local Botanic Gardens taking photos of birds (twitching) when I focused my lens on an egret sitting on the ground, only to realize he was a baby who had fallen from his nest in a big old palm tree.Well there's no way I was getting him back into his nest, so I took him up to the office. "Take him to the vets," was their response. So I did. "Oh no, not another one!" was theirs. "It's the 7th baby egret this week! No carers will take them on, so we've just been culling them."Not my rescue baby! He was way too cute to be killed! So I brought him home, and looked up local carers on the Internet. Finding one, I called her, and "Yes, I'll take him. Just bring him over!"

Ahh yes, happy endings all round!!

Finished -

Kitten block number eight. Only four more to go!

giveaway winner

Now that my Valentines Giveaway is over and the prizes have been gifted, it's time I told you that I'm a winner also! I seriously can't believe how lucky I am!
The most gorgeous crocheted bonbons arrived at my door the other week, along with a fabulous doughnut pincushion, from Missie of Crafting With Cat Hair!Aren't they just divine? Thankyou so very much Missie, and your sweet fur babies! Hope you're feeling better soon!
Some of you know that the OWOH giveaway extravaganza for this year has just finished. I wasn't quick enough to have a giveaway in amongst the 1100 or so blogs, and hosted mine separately. However, I was lucky enough to win two gorgeous prizes!
Firstly, this beautiful handmade crystal heart pendant by Vikki from Wicked Stones.Thankyou Vikki! I can't wait to start wearing it! I'll let you know when it gets here!
Secondly, I won this wonderfully decorated Artist Trading Card made by Deana from Always Inspired.Don't you just love the papers and stamps she used to make it? Thankyou Deana, this one's going straight onto display in my collection! I'll let you know when it arrives!

And let's all be honest. Who wouldn't LOVE to be the winner of the most GLORIOUS of giveaways - Lila Tueller's QUILT GIVEAWAY! You NEED to enter this, just in case you are lucky! Link here!

Drumroll Please...

We have our winners!! With thanks to -

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

29 41 3 

Timestamp: 2010-02-20 08:31:57 UTC

Number 29 and first prize goes to Debbie of Debbie in Nashville! Deb, you've won prize number 1 - the Queen of Hearts bracelet with matching matchbox! Congratulations! I hope you'll enjoy wearing it!

Number 41 and second prize goes to Sarah of Sarah's Prim Treasures. Sarah, I'm going to have to ban you from entering my giveaways! This is the second time you've won in a row! You've won prize number 2 - the felt bead brooch! I hope you'll like it!

Number 3 and third prize (funny huh?) goes to Christine of McDonald's Patch. Christine, you've won prize number 3 - The basket full of hearts notebook! I hope you'll use it until it's falling to bits!

Ladies, please let me know your address, along with which felt heart you'd like from my valentines tree. I will go search out your winning comment in my e-mails and let you know you've won!!
I hope all three of you will enjoy your prizes!!
Thank you to all who entered, you have truly made my heart glad with such beautiful comments!
There may just be an Easter giveaway in the future, so stay tuned!

Valentines Giveaway!

Yes, you read that title correctly! There's so much love being shown around blogland at the moment, I just had to join in with a giveaway of my own! There will be 3 prize winners* and each person will get to pick a heart from my Valentines tree!(First in best dressed, if your heart has already been chosen by 1st (or second) prize winner, you'll have to pick another.)

Prize number 1 -This handmade (by me) Queen of Hearts valentines bracelet with custom built matchbox holder!

Prize number 2 -This one of a kind handmade (by me!) brooch with jewel embellishment.

Prize number 3 -Last but not least, this gorgeous little notebook (not made by me) fit for writing all your crafty ideas and needs into.

• If you would like to win one of my prizes (I will throw into each prize some extra carfty goodness) then all you have to do is leave a comment! Let me know where you're from and what kind of crafts you enjoy the most! It's that easy! Make sure you either leave an e-mail address or that I can link back to you in case you win!
• If you'd like another 2 entries to be in the running, then all you have to do is become a follower. If you already are (I love each and every one of you!) then let me know in a seperate comment!
• I will pick the winners randomly on 20th Feb (was going to be Valentines Day itself, but that only gives everyone a few days to enter, so I've extended the time period!) and let the lucky people know on the same day! If I cannot contact you somehow (or you don't reply within a week) then I will have to choose another winner, so make sure your links are working and your e-mail is typed correctly!
• Have fun, and don't hesitate to spread the word! (I might even throw your name in the hat a couple extra times if you do!)
  

*Terms and conditions apply. See above for details.

New Bolster Cover

Remember this?
I finally made it into something!My old bolster pillow needed a new cover, and this was perfect for it! Plus, the colours of the material I used compliment the colours of my other pillows. I didn't intend this, and only realized it when I put the bolster there to photograph!All sewn by hand, I've never made a pillow cover like this before, so am very pleased with the way it's turned out. Just one more embroidery to use up now!Also, Look at the wonderful package that arrived in my mailbox the other day!Thank you Robyn, I love the fabric!!