Sadness

How did you go with the tutorial?  Have you downloaded it yet ?  A friend requested 30 rabbit themed calendars for her rabbit breeder friends.  I had so much fun making them.  I find the process very relaxing although I can't do it all in one sitting and have to keep going back to it as sitting for too long isn't good for my pain levels.

I finished them off sitting up in bed with the heat on my spine.  My bedroom is beginning to look a little like a hospital room these days.  I have an over the bed roller table just like the hospitals but it makes things much easier when I am confined to bed.  Here they all are packaged up and ready for collection along with some rabbit themed birthday cards I made a little while ago.

From next Friday 28th October I will be having a linky party every week for anyone that has made something using any of my tutorials.  There will be a little random prize every week for one of the bloggers that joins up their link to their make.

I have entitled this post "Sadness".  That is what I felt last week after my initial joy of discovering this gorgeous quilt at my local oppy for just $6.00

It is in perfect condition and the perfect size to throw over me on top of the bed.  And what's more it is in beautiful pastel colours which I love.

It saddens me to think that a quilter has lovingly made this quilt and sat at her machine for hours putting it together, had it professionally quilted and then most probably gifted it to a loved one, only for it to end up on the racks at a thrift shop.

But it is safe now and will stay with me forever and will be my constant daily companion.  I was going to make myself one that was big enough to cover my feet but not too wide and this special find fits the bill perfectly.

Now I need a little help from you.  I also purchased this item for 50c on the same day.  It is metal and measures 19cm from handle to handle.  I think it may be a butter slicer ?  But I'm not sure.

What are your thoughts?  What do you think it is ?

I'll be working on a new little idea today for a tutorial to be uploaded in a few days.  I'll catch you then.

Hugs,

Fee 

Magnetic Calendar Tutorial

Today I am sharing my tutorial to make these gorgeous little magnetic calendars.  They are perfect as gifts and are very useful on the refrigerator.

I have to admit to being quite addicted to making them !

I hope you enjoy the tutorial.  Don't forget to take some photographs of yours once you have made them.

You can download the tutorial HERE

Hugs,

Fee 

Free Frugal Gift Giving Tutorials

Over the past few months I have been making some little items for gifts.  Luckily I took photographs as I went (it's become a real habit since beginning blogging 8 years ago) So I already have lots to share with you and a big long list of items yet to be made.  Here is a little taster of what's to come.  

The photograph above is of some little post it note packs.  They are so handy and practical.  They could be made for men with a masculine theme such a fishing or golf.  

Shabby flower brooches or embellishments made from recycled textiles.  Keep your eye out on the $1 rack at your local opportunity shop.

One of my favourite recent makes is this fabric keepsake memory book.  I just love it and can't wait to show you just how easy it is.

Sweet little tissue holder packs made from scrap fabric and trim.  These would be great for work mate gifts or as a stocking filler.

Gorgeous little note books that would fit inside a card to be sent in the mail.  Just a nice touch and a thoughtful useful gift.

My Zippy Pouch Tutorial is another one of my favourites.  If you are afraid of zips then my easy tutorial will be wonderful for you.  You will fear them no more !

Super easy shabby christmas stocking made from lace from clothing and linen/calico and adorned with a handmade shabby flower.  I love these !

Paper Lavender sachets - Always a favourite for Aunts and Grandma's

My second calendar tutorial.  This one mounted on an art easel for an office desk.

I will also show you some different techniques to colour stamped or printed pictures.  They are so effective and allow you to make your very own embellishments for cards and paper projects without having to go to the expense of buying expensive pre-made ones.

Then I will show you some easy tricks to making them look fantastic and ready to be mounted on your project.

I've also got a quick and easy tutorial for making your very own gift bags.

And this beautiful fabric bag using a recycled doily.  It could be used for so many things, Jewellery, Make Up, Ipad ......  The list is endless.

So as you can see that not being able to do very much physically has led to an over abundance of time and thinking.  As I said yesterday it was really important to me to have lots to go on with at the beginning and then I can quietly work on some new ones whilst you are all busy making your favourite ones from some of the tutorials coming your way in the next few weeks.

Can I ask a favour of you though ?  Would you mind very much placing this logo on your side bar, linking it to my blog and sharing about the upcoming tutorials on your own blog ?  Simply right click on the logo, Choose Save Image As and then save to your computer.

 It would be great if we could reach as many people as possible.  The first tutorial will be the magnetic calendar and I will release it on Friday.  There are no hoops to jump through or no payment required just share with as many people as you can - That's all I ask.

Love and Hugs and happy frugal crafting to you all,

Fee xx

The Flood and Moving Forward

Reading your comments and emails from yesterday has made my eyes leak, quite considerably.  It looks like I have made the right decision.  Blog land has always been good to me and has given me lots of beautiful friends throughout the last 8 years and I appreciate you all now more than ever.  The FREE tutorials will form part of my therapy but will also allow me to give back to the blogging community.  It will also give me a purpose and a reason to craft.  Thank you all.  Thank you so much.

As you can see from the photo above we had our own water feature here a week or so ago.  Our land is on a slope and the water from all of the hills behind us formed a little river all the way to our front boundary.  

In the process it flooded my entire paved breeze through area out the back of the house which I use to dry clothing etc in the winter and is also the area that has been cat netted so my kitties can play safely in the fresh air and sunshine.  It was shin deep in places.  The quick flow of water was just too much for the drainage system.

The clean up was massive but thanks to an army of local friends they were here to assist the SES with sand bagging and drain digging to stop the flow of water from entering the house.

2 rooms were flooded at the front of the house including my craft studio/bed sit.  Luckily we were able to move most things out of harms way and were able to minimise the contents damage.

The same cannot be said for the carpet and walls of those 2 rooms.  It's going to take a few months for repair work to happen so unfortunately my daughter and her family that were living with us since March have to find a rental ASAP.  

I've tried to do a little stitching when my spine will allow me to sit long enough to actually achieve something and I have been working on an old UFO "Butterfly Garden"

 These blocks have lots of applique and stitchery but they are eating into my scrap box which is great as I see it as a Freebie project with no actual fabric or thread purchases required.  I am just using what I have on hand.

This is Block 4 completed.  I am currently working on Block 5.  I am almost at the half way mark.

It's a pretty bleak day here today, the wind is bashing the trees around and the ground is getting yet more water with the occasional shower.  Perfect weather for a casserole for dinner.  I just fry up the casserole beef and onions in a little butter and add my own home made tomato paste and home made tomato chutney with 1 Litre of stock for a recipe base and then just simply add vegetables.

The house smells divine !  I like meals these days that can be put together quickly and left on it's own to enhance the flavours and cook.  I'll just thicken it before serving and we will have a nice hot meal tonight and left overs for the next few days on toast.  YUMMO !

I have been thinking of a way to give back to the blogging community for some time and  decided on simple tutorials to share with you all, so I have quite a collection of them ready to go.  I didn't want to offer you something that I couldn't deliver upon so I have waited until I had a nice collection together before I promised anything.  I have learnt with my conditions to not plan ahead anything because I never know what the next day will bring.

Here is a little taster for you.  I have 2 different Calendar tutorials coming up and this first one is magnetic and is designed for the refrigerator.  They use a little calendar pad that can be purchased from scrapbooking shops online or in your local area.  My local scrapbooking shop has them for $3.00 for 10 sets.  An amazing price at just 30c each and I will show you how to turn them into the most awesome gift.  I have even used recycled advertising magnets for the pack to cut down on the cost of making them.  I bet if you make 1 you will make 10 - They are so easy !  This will be the first tutorial that I offer in the next week or so - I was going to wait until November but have decided that the more time you get to start on your gifts the better.

Next time I blog I will preview the first dozen or so tutorials for you and give you my FREE TUTORIAL Badge so you can share them with your friends.

Once again thank you for your kindness and love.  I really do have a warmed heart and leaking eyes from your beautiful e-mails.

Hugs,

Fee xxx

The Black Dog

It's been a tough year for me physically, mentally and medically.  I have had to come to terms with another plummet in my overall well being and health and have had a hard time accepting the cold hard facts.

I hadn't told anyone other than close friends and family that I went back to full time work in July.  I was offered a full time position within the state's health department and I embraced the position and my new workmates and really enjoyed being at work and around other people but as each day passed my fatigue and pain levels increased.  So much that, after 4 weeks I was bedridden for 3 weeks.  

I had to make the heart breaking decision to quit.  I was offered part-time to see how that went but sadly even one day was going to be too much.  I felt like a failure .......  I have failed my family (I was the only bread winner), I have failed our lifestyle and most of all I feel like I have failed myself.  

Our future financially looks very bleak.  I can't commit to any type of work because each day brings it's own combination of problems.  If I am not fatigued, I may be lame, or I may be having a fibro flare , my back or my neck may be giving me grief, my bladder or  my bowel may decide to have a mind of it's own, my pain levels may be through the roof or the black dog may have grabbed me and if you have ever encountered him you know how hard he is to shake off. I know that many people suffer much worse than I, but at the moment I am really struggling to deal with it.  I am allowing myself that luxury for the time being.

I am so very lucky to be cared for by a lovely practice with great doctors.  We are all on a first name basis now.  

My psychiatrist has been wonderful, he is helping me to deal with all of the lifestyle changes and together we are working at killing off the black dog.   In fact he has encouraged me to find a purpose again in my life which is very difficult when once I was the worker, home maker, taxi, shopper, gardener, crafter and overall go to person in our home.

Now on the bad days hubby has to help me dress, shower, cook, clean - You get the picture.  On the good days I can do a little but never for very long.  So Dr GS says that I need to find a purpose, a purpose to get out of bed every day, to keep going and to look for the sunny days.  After giving it a lot of thought I have decided that I need to get back into blogging.  I have been plugging away on some stitcheries and paper craft over the past few weeks - Until the house flooded last week (That's another story for another day).

It's going to be a frugal Christmas around here so I thought I would make some simple gifts, made from the heart and beautiful but cheap.

I will photograph each project as I go and offer some FREE tutorials in November so that you can join in with frugal christmas gift giving too.

If you have read this far - Thank You.  I don't expect that many people read my blog these days since Facebook and Instagram have taken over but I really do love my blog.  I have it printed each year and it becomes my own life's journal although over the past 18 months it has been fairly light on content !

Finally today I will leave you with a photograph of the beautiful items I purchased from the op shop today on the way home from my medical appointment.  I haven't had an op shop fix for some time but today decided to splurge a little.  I buy all of my magazine reading material second hand these days.  Magazines have become just way too expensive for my budget.  I picked up 3 Frankie magazines today for $1 each. These retail for $9.95 each.  I will enjoy flicking through these with a lovely hot cup of coffee and a little sweet treat.

As you can see I also scored some tart/pie pans for $1 each, A letter rack for $1 - It's just begging to be painted white to put on my desk.  A glass jug to add to my growing collection and finally those sweet little metal chocolate moulds and 1 cutter for $2 the lot.  This little outing really did put a smile on my face.

Thank you for listening to me warble on.  A problem shared is a problem halved or so they say.  I'll tell you all about our flood next time.

Hugs,

Fee xx