How to keep track of that punchneedle threader.....

Do you have trouble finding your punchneedle threader? It used to drive me nuts, they are so hard to see! So I decided to fix the problem once and for all...... I chose two vintage buttons, put the tab end of the threader between them and tied the lot with perle cotton. It was so easy... they look good and are easy to find now.

My first creation on the Featherweight

I wanted something quick and easy to make on my Featherweight.

Jenny has a great project for coasters on her blog http://allsorts.typepad.com/allsorts/2006/11/crisscross_coas.html#comment-67792730 so I gave them a go. I just used scraps from an applique pack I bought years ago, so they have a very scrappy look.

I will probably stain them later for a more "prim" look,

or I may just let the family do it for me lol..........

My "new" sewing machine....

I have been inspired by Kelle's wonderful blog http://twodancingcrows.blogspot.com/index.html

and have followed her lead to purchase a Singer Featherweight machine. It is sooo cute, and runs like a dream. The pics aren't the best, but you get the idea......

This is the carry case, the whole thing only weighs 10kg, so it is really light and portable.

I love it!

This little beauty was born in Scotland in 1952, that makes it 16 years older than me!

Challenge items

Genny and Cheryl from Ewenique treasures http://eweniquetreasures.blogspot.com/index.html

have had some great challenges for us lately.

CHALLENGE 1

The first was a tote made from 3 placemats.

This is my tote bag, it's hard to tell but it's a chocolatey brown.

The pockets are made from the leftovers and there are vintage buttons on the corners.

I reversed the fabrics for this side, the pocket has a dividing seam down the centre so it is actually two pockets in one.

CHALLENGE 2

For this challenge we were given some label graphics to work with,

we could use them however we liked.

These are my Prim journals. I used heavy recycled cardboard and tied recycled paper pages inside. The one on the right is for a bingo prize on P4P, the other one is a keeper lol.....

I also made these Prim spice jars - easy peasy! I was pleased with how they turned out....

I am really enjoying these challenges, it is fun to get out of my comfort zone and work with different materials and ideas.

The gypsy wagon and our lovely girls.....

We love to go out in our gypsy wagon and cart. The girls are such darlings, very quiet..... Blossom is 11 years old, her daughter Vixen is 5. We don't get out nearly as often as we would like, but it's fun when we do....

Monica's menagerie...

On our little farm we currently have 5 horses, a jersey cow, 3 dogs, 3 cats, 6 chickens, 5 birds, a pet magpie, a goat and a sheep. That's 26 pets at last count. Here's a couple of my babies.........

Victor the goat

Pearl the lamb

and last but not least, my girls, Nutmeg and Cinnamon.

Of course our numbers change all the time, we recently sold my calf, and one of the ponies. And sadly one of our dogs was hit by a car and died not long ago. But we always seem to come home with more animals, tomorrow we will pick up 4 pregnant ewes to add to our menagerie.........

My sewing shed - The Doll House

This is where I do most of my creating.I was lucky enough to find an old Telstra exchange shed for sale. All we had to do was bring it home, hook up the power and paint!

My hubby sanded and sealed the floors for me and put up a few shelves, most of the shelves were already there.

I have my stereo, a kettle, oil burner and armchair- all the comforts of home. It's a great spot to have some "me time" when the kids are getting a bit rambunctuous! We still need to finish painting the outside, and have to replace the timber around the windows, but there's plenty of time for that. We call it the Doll House because I love to make primitve cloth dolls. Aren't I spoilt?

Our tank gardens......

We recently decided to try our hands at no-dig gardening. The best option for a raised bed was to cut down two old water tanks into thirds and fill them with compostable materials.

My brother has done a permaculture trainer's course so we hit him up for some tips! We collected old newspapers from the newsagency, sawdust from the woodwork room at our highschool and old straw from a friend's shed. That gave us our carbon content.
Another friend has a chook farm so he very generously gave us a huge load of chicken manure, taking care of the nitrogen content. As you can see, we still have lots to do. Each garden has to be layered with carbon and nitrogen materials, sort of like a big lasagne. Once it has settled we will be able to plant our vegies. We also set up compost bins made from wooden pallets. This will give us the ongoing compost we need to fertilise our gardens.

Here is my latest creation, a sewing roll made for a challenge on a forum I am part of. I am really happy with it, and will probably make more of them for friends.

Here goes........

Never having blogged before, this is all new to me.... I thought it would be fun, so let's see....

I am married to the sweetest man on earth, I am a mum of 2 and stepmum of 2 , and we all live together on a little 21 acre farm. We have loads of gorgeous animals that are all part of our little family. When I am not doing all my "Mum" roles, I manage to fit in my part time job selling skincare and cosmetics.

My favourite pastime is making prim goodies. I love to sew cloth dolls, do punchneedle and I am learning rug-hooking. I hope to share some of my creations with you via this blog.