Next Big Thing

Last year I took Charlie to the local Million Paws Walk in aid of the RSPCA. We had a great time and met up with so many of her doggy friends from obedience class as well as so many new friends. It was a lot of fun to just get together with other crazy dog loving people and have a pleasant morning together. We even got our photo in the paper! Some people took the event really seriously and were out to be the first across the finish line. Charlie and I weren't in that category, we just went to have some fun.

Around Christmas I came across another fun event that we are going to participate in. It is a 5km walk/run event in aid of Guide Dogs Qld. It is called Run With Your Dog 2012. Should be fun and we have actually been training for the event. I am really looking forward to it and hope our current wet, miserable weather clears in time for a lovely day.

This is a photo I took of Charlie just after a training event. She really does look like an athlete doesn't she?

Little Round Pouch Purses

Another creation thanks to the wonderful tutorials on Dog Under My Desk. Isn't that a wonderful blog name? I made this sweet round little pouch purse. It is really easy to use and provided an opportunity to use some yellow zips that I had given to me a while ago. They are a great way to use up fairly small offcuts of fabric too. They are super quick and easy to make and make a very handy little purse that can be attached to things like your handbag, dog harness or even dog lead. Is the perfect size to carry a few whoopsie bags on a dog walk.

You can find the tutorial here on Erin's blog. Erin writes the most amazing tutorials, they are very clear and easy to follow thanks to clear text and wonderful photos. As I've mentioned before, actually much better than some patterns that I have paid good money for.. Anyhow, enjoy, I know I did.

Twinkie Chan's Super Blargh Giveaway

I love bright colours and fun, silly things that just put a smile on your face. One of my favourite bloggers, Twinkie Chan is giving away a fab bag of goodies at her site. You have to check it out!

I admire a person who can make either a ginerbread man or T-bone steak crocket scarf look so cool! Awesome.

Ah look, I even tweeted about it, wish me luck in my quest to win this booty!

Charlie's New Doggie Harness

I love the Internet. There are so many lovely people and wonderful resources who share their knowledge, experience and creativity freely. When I need some inspiration or a a method to do something, I often begin with a search of the web. Just recently I discovered a great new blog: Dog Under My Desk by Erin Erickson. We have common loves of dogs and sewing. She has some awesome patterns and free tutorials on her site. Not just dog stuff, but all really, really well made and simple to follow. Even the instructions on her free tutorials are superior to some commercial patterns that I have bought. If you're wondering, no I don't even know Erin, but she rocks! Anyhow, as soon as I saw her wonderful dog harness tutorial I knew that Charlie absolutely needed one. I could not sleep that night until I had finished this project. In the morning it was into the tub for my girl as she had modelling work to do, she is a great model, but not really looking her best in this shot.

Isn't the fabric cool? I need to thank Jennifer Jangles for that! If you are my regular reader, you will remember that I won a swag of beautiful fabrics from Jennifer, it was wonderful but I just couldn't use it. It was too beautiful. It just sat in the cupboard, all ribboned up and brought out to be admired by friends only. Anyhow, as soon as I went through my fabric stash to decide on a fabric nice enough for a harness for Charlie I knew this was a project that I had been waiting for, it is absolutely beautiful! I took the finished harness in to the local haberdashery, where I bought the 'D clip' and the owner admired my handiwork and proclaimed that it looked wonderfully professional.

So, thanks from Charlie and me to Erin and Jennifer. You are both talented, inspiring and generous. I hope the love comes back to you both

I have no idea why this post looks so bad with no spacing, but I cannot fix it! Ugh, sorry it is so hard to read.

Like A Well Oiled Machine!

No, you're not seeing double - another sweet bamboo handled bag has rolled of the production line. So cute. I am having to resist the very strong urge to sew some lime green pants to go with it. I would love the look silly, but fear that others may simply think I look silly!

I really should get over my addiction to using super-processed Instagram images. As much as I love Instagram, I don't thing they have the right 'look' for my blog..

With holidays drawing to an end, I am hoping to do one last sewing splash out. I have one green top that I would like to sew and one piece of fabric from my recent Spotlight shopping splash out that MUST be completed. Wish me luck!

On A Crafting Roll

I am still on holidays and have immensely enjoyed completely relaxing this holiday. I have done a bit of sewing but no craft other than sewing.

Last night I stayed up and completed my 'neutral bag' with some hand stitching. If you know me, you know my aversion to both hemming and hand sewing so this is a big deal. I really love the finished product and I'm itching to move on with my next project. I altered the pattern as the original was enormous! I also added an interior pocket. When making this bag, I was reminded of a favourite peeve.. Patterns are not inexpensive and I think you are expecting a quality product when you part with your cash. Fortunately I am an experienced sewer so can use my imitative but any beginner would not have a chance of pulling off a quality product using the pattern that I used. They never include finishing off such as overstitching, pressing or even simple edge finishing. Don't even get me started on the way they somehow haphazardly mix in metric and imperial measurements. Agh!!

Never mind, here is what you're waiting for. Ta da!

Back on the Horse

Another year, another attempt to keep to stay a bit more up-to-date with my neglected blog. I have lately been thinking about the convenience of keeping my blog updated, so I'll have a go. I seem to have so much to write about, it is all a bit overwhelming. So just for today, I'll write about my latest fabric buying spree. Why not, it is as good a place to start as anywhere.

I am going through a bit of a craft rejuvenation at the moment. Firstly I made my friend, 'T' a lovely bento bag exactly the same as I made for myself a while back. I love that bag and get a lot of use out of it and thought it would be right up here ally too. I was right and she loved it.

Then a friend sent me a picture of a really nice wooden handles bag that the made from twill - white background with retro green apples. So, so nice.. Of course that was on my mind when I went to Spotlight last weekend. I was really pleased that my visit to Spotlight coincided with their 30% off fabric sale! I like to use furnishing fabric to make bags, and you know how much I like bags. I had a great time searching all the great fabrics and eventually settled on a retro green print with matching plain green for lining and the rim to make a bento bag; a crisp hot pink and white print to make a shopping bag and a natural print of brown, bone and metallic silver that I plan to make a handbag with wooden handles. After I thought I had finished all my fabric shopping, I was excited to find the elusive green apple fabric, so I will soon have my own green apple bag! Cool..

I have already made the retro green bento bag and it is on its way to my friend who made the green apple handbag. I think she would enjoy using the little bento bag to put her lunch in.

I have been planning the wooden handled bag from the neutral fabric, will work on that again tomorrow.

Since I was too slack to do a Christmas update, I'll take this opportunity to share a photo of the wold's cutest dog waiting for Santa. Enjoy.

Okay, so until next next time, take care and keep on crafting. I plan a new update soon and I'll share some other interests I have picked up since my last post. You may be surprised about my latest addictions - iPhone Apps are only one of those addictions..