Sunday...

Yesterday I found out that the latest twilight movie was playing at the open air cinema. I missed out on watching it while it was at the cinemas in the big smoke, so I rescheduled my crafty date with my crafty friend for tonight so that I could make it... 

I love everything about drive in. The echo of the speakers, the grainy quality of the picture and the romance of the notion. The Panna drive in is particularly special. I imagine that it's unchanged since the 70's. Perched on the edge of town, with views of a red dirt landscape and a starry sky untainted by city lights. A hot breeze floating off the desert and a not a mozzie in sight makes for a magical evening... 

We have already been out to play this morning and the temperature is soaring. Another day of drawing pictures and watching movie's and taking it easy in the air-con. Seeing as we are spending another lazy day around the house I thought I would share a few the links I have been enjoying this week...

Loving this pretty valentines day D.I.Y

This freebie desktop calendar on this truly beautiful and new-to-me blog

A tasty recipe for Zucchini bread 
AND

this fun print is currently at the top of my wishlist...
(a wish list that is growing with every second I stay on the computer...)


have a wonderful Sunday xoxoxo

Good morning!!

Last  night I chose a hot bath and an early night over crafty pursuits (and the dishes for that matter). The promise of a fresh bed made up with my finest sheets was to good to pass up on.

I fell asleep after a flurry of writing down thoughts in my notebook. Lately my brain has been in overdrive, thinking about the future of my business, my blog and plans for my home. I am constantly reaching for pen and paper to capture my latest thoughts. It must be rubbing off on the small person. The other day after I caught her scribbling over the pages of my journal  she looked at me triumphantly and proclaimed that 'she had an idea in mummy's book...' A future list maker, me thinks...

well, once again I have no huge plans for the weekend. Being up here means that there are no markets to visit or cafes to enjoy a lazy sunday breakfast. BUT not all is lost as I can make my own coffee with my fabulous stove-top espresso maker and I do have a crafty date with a rather lovely crafty lady who is coming over to play tonight.... lucky for me crafty lady is also a little bit gorgeous and has agreed to have a go at modelling some dresses for me eventually, so an awesome desert photoshoot is on the cards!

I will leave you with a few random pictures from my week... Have a good one xo

1. A storm rolling in, this is my incredible view from the edge of town...
2. Miracle brand play equipment at the park with gorgeous patina and texture...
3. A sneaky peak at a work-in-progress made from the pink and purple FQ's from Kel's last swap...
4. peachy owl friend with a dodgy paint job...

happenings...

Today I was able to get stuck into my latest orders. I am taking it slow and steady, easing my way back into production. It makes my task so much more enjoyable when I am sewing with exquisite fabrics, so I am lucky to have customers with such fabulous taste... 

On the home front, Zavian has just started sleeping in her own bed, and although I am still waking to tuck her back in a couple of times a night, I am sleeping better than ever. It must be not having to keep my arms high above my head or maybe it's having more than 15cm of mattress...  Now that I am getting this deep sleep I feel more tired than ever! It's like I am catching up on three years of lost slumber. 

I have decided to take the pressure off myself and not release any more custom orders for another week, so I can enjoy a few lazy days and early nights...

Thank-you all so much for entering my giveaway. Such a huge  response!! I will be offering another scrap bag next week, so don't be shy to enter again if you didn't win. From 59 comments the winner by random.org is............... Whiskers Lane!!

Shoot me an email to naughtyshorts@y7mail.com so I can grab your postal address. 

Have a good evening beautiful people.

Project d-stash and a scrap-stash GIVEAWAY...

You may have heard me mention project d-stash a few times now. This is what its all about! It's no secret that I have a fabric addiction. I collect more than I can store and I hoard my scraps, dreaming of the amazing quilts and projects that I will one day make.... Now that we have moved into a smaller house, and I no longer have a spare room to house part of my collection, a cull is in order.


Here is my plan of attack....


If I don't love it, it has to go! There are a few prints in my collection that I have been keeping in-case someone might fancy them for custom orders. I have decided that if I don't love it, I don't want it out there representing me and my business.


Reconnect with my fabric and simply use what I have. I will spend time playing with my piles of fabric, mixing and matching, new with old and linen with cotton. Sometimes I think that the fabric will tell you what it wants to be, and once I have a gorgeous stack of fabric ready to be sewn, nothing will hold me back.


Stop being so precious!!. Do you ever hold back from using a special fabric just in case you might ruin it?? Or you think that you are saving it for something else? I do that all the time! I end up using a fabric that is 'just OK' and not loving what I made.  And the truth is that I end up with these piles of incredible fabric just sitting there, gathering dust. Eventually I might be bored of the print and not want to use it any more. Wouldn't that be a shame! Time to hack into that amazing print and make something super snazzy!


That's it! So I am sure that after 3 months of this behaviour, I will hopefully of emptied one of our linen cupboards. And then we can put towels and stuff in there. That would be awesome...


Anyway! in celebration of project d-stash, and to help me get things going, I am going to offer a regular scrap-stash give-away. A pretty pile of vintage linen scraps to add to your collection and to make with whatever your heart desires... Sound good? Leave a comment if you wish to be in the draw. (Australian residents only for this give-away, sorry international friends...) I will draw a winner in a couple of days... easy. 

art journal project...

Hey all! I have signed up for the new e-course available over at a beautiful mess. It is an art journal creating course, with 52 different projects to complete over a year. 

My plan is to photograph my finished projects to share here and make a small book once I am finished... The pictures above are snippets of what I was playing with this afternoon. I figure that if I am photographing the end result, it wont matter so much if I use bits and pieces that can't be glued down...

I'm really looking forward to dedicating a couple of hours a week to getting creative with a glue stick and a pair of scissors...

Keen to join me?

my new man...

Last week I was cruising around blogland, checking up on all of my favourite reads, when I stumbled across a little inspiration in the form of a 'Graeme' doll, made by the totally fabulous Michelle over at rockmyroll blog... I realised that the men are totally under represented in Zavian's toy box, and something had to be done about it...

So last week I had a late night sewing sesh to make up this guy - as yet still unnamed which seems to be the case with most things around here. He is being referred to as 'man doll' which works well seeing as his best friends are 'lady doll', 'long person', 'frog' and 'bear'...

FYI - I did not use a pattern- I drew simple rectangular shapes for all of his body parts and no mum, his pant's do not come off... If you wanted to make your own and you are not an experienced doll maker, I have discovered that leaving a small opening in the seams of the leg's and arm's, then stuffing them after you have sewn them into the body, using a slip-stitch to close the holes in the limbs - is a lot easier than trying to sew up the body with fat arms and legs stuffed inside, and then turning out the right way... if that makes any sense at all??

In other news - Zavian has ripped all of the keys off my laptop, and this time I have had a real problem getting them back on again. This is making typing slow and frustrating...

Yesterday we brought the outdoors in to prepare for cyclone iggy (great name!!), but this one too has passed us and I will now spend the rest of today getting my house back in order and re-arranging my pot plants...

On the shop front, the re-opening was a fabulous success (thank you so much ladies) and I sold out of custom orders within a few hours. There will be a few more available next week if you missed out this time. 

I hope you have had the most fabulous weekend. 

Bec x

We are OPEN...

What does Australia Day mean to you? Do you have special plans. Are you the type to hang flags from your car and don a cork hat and some thongs to slug back a few cold ones on the beach?? ha ha. Don't lie, I bet there are a few closet bogan's amongst us!


How have I spent my Australia day so far??


enjoying the highs and lows of the triple j hottest 100...
eating damper which we have been slathering with golden syrup....
giving the house a much needed spruce....
re-opening the etsy shop...
digging out a few treasures to make a plate wall in my studio...
sitting around drinking coffee and wearing my nightie with a flower wreath in my hair, for good measure...


Eventually I might get dressed and head over to the sports club where they are having a slip'n'slide for the kids and a band is playing...


Happy Australia Day! Lets all hope that this year is safe and happy for EVERYONE, and that no yucky racism or violence ruins what should be a fun day for all.


Much love.


Bec x