The marvel of conception to birth - a video.

The marvel of life from conception to birth and on is so beautiful. 

I thought I would share this incredible clip with you that my Dad, who lives in Canada, just sent me. 

Please enjoy.

One forty-five in the morning

I'm not suggesting that you get up at this time in the morning to let the dogs take a refreshing walk in the back yard or to spray the kitchen for the ever present cockroaches or have half a cup of milo with some milk while you are there but IF you should do so this is what you might see:

At least it will give you something to blog about until you have finished googling all the possible projects the net has to offer and get down and actually do something. 

Befores and Afters

A ten dollar dressing table from the tip shop.

Sanded and coat with two oats of paint.

A toy basket from the side of the road.

Painted in cheap white paint from Bunnings ($16).

Oops!

I think I need to go back and paint the base.

The rest of the mess is courtesy of moving time.

Tutorial - easy peasy storage drawer

Materials needed

1 top shelf from any fridge so long as it already has a drawer

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 140C

2. Remove all rosemary leaves, bits of cheese, etc that may linger after turning it upside down over the bin.

3. Clean item in warm/hot soapy water or with whichever method you might normally use to clean it.

4. After rinsing and double checking for unwanted pieces left in hard to find crevices allow to dry for half an hour, turning frequently to drip all water out.

5. Switch oven off.

6.Place clean teatowel on oven rack so that plastic will not melt and stick to it.

6. Place item in oven on towel. There may still be a few drops of water left but that is not a problem as these will quickly evaporate. 

7. As I forgot to time the process I cannot say for sure how long this will take. Let intuition be your guide and check back every couple of hours.

8. When completed to your satisfaction remove from oven.

Cost: $55 plus postage and handling.

This will not be available in my madeit shop but purchase is available via this blog.

For a reduced price please quote the word "stupid".

Visit here for other creative projects.

What are your cutting tools? - Link In

I'm not a professional anything so what you are about to see is not up to the best standards. However, these are the only cutting tools I use in my sewing.

And I don't know where I would be without them.

I thought it would be a good idea to share our cutting secrets with each other so have enlisted the help of Mister Linky. 

It sure would be grand if you could let us know what you use in your crafting world because a little advice, of others tried and true methods, never goes astray.

 I use two el-cheapo cutting mats, sitting side by side, on my cutting table which is just my old dining table raised up, using all sorts of contraptions found at the hardware shop, to a level that allows me to cut without straining my back or arms.

Luckily I am only a short person because I don't know how many more plumbing extensions or verandah post holders can be added to one table leg!!

Anyway, generally these two mats are together as you see them here so that I can cut across longish pieces of fabric.
Sometimes, though, as in my previous post, I will take one out to the proper dining table and just keep turning the mat as I cut so that I don't have to lift the piece I am working on. This seems to give a neater finish to the item.  

I've even been known to put them down on the carpet to assist when cutting out curtains, etc.

And of course, they are always pulled off and shared around when the kiddos get together for scrapbooking or other crafts.

I use two acrylic rulers.

One is 24" and the other 14".

Unless I specifically need the large one I'll just pick up whichever one is closest.

I have used plastic rulers in the past before I purchased these but I think these are better as the weight helps to hold the fabric down as you cut. 

They also have angles printed on them and these are great if you can figure out how to use them.

I bought my rotary cutter years ago for 1/2 price.

For many years I used the same blade which a friends' husband kept sharpening for me.

I didn't realise that a new blade only costs around $10.

Now I keep the old blade in a little casing and use it when I want to cut heavy cardboard for my folders.

My scissors are cheap but sharp.

The brown handled one is for paper cutting and will definitely let you know if you try to cut fabric with it.

I've had a number of expensive scissors before and have come to the conclusion that sharpness, not expense, is what matters.

And, of course, keeping your sewing scissors for fabric only.

Cutting paper, wire, wood or tomato plants is not healthy for them.

I think I would like a few more pairs as they are one of those items that can easily get lost under all the piles of goodness in my sewing space.

And where would we be without the trusty quick unpick?

I did a post a couple of years ago and received a comment to the  intent that Clover makes a really good one.

I can't dispute that as I've never tried theirs.

I just know that this wonderful little invention is heaps better than trying to unpick with pins or needles or with a razor blade as I was taught when I was little in the !960's.
This is another product that you can never have too many of.

If you have time to share your cutting tools with us and explain why they work for YOU that would be great.

Fun at the fun park

While everyone else was struggling with soaking wet slippery slides, too fast cornering down steep hills and sunshine, I was quietly enjoying a break from housework.

With just a friend to talk too, icecream to eat and a wonderful shady roof over my head I was able to spend Saturday crocheting to my hearts content.

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Spending time while waiting

I'm not much good at standing still. 

Lying down and waiting or sitting and waiting but definitely not standing and waiting. 

I can get extremely tired just standing around even in shops so generally I like to keep walking until everyone else is finished with what they need to do.

So when we were stuck in a ranger's dusty front yard, waiting for the courtesy bus to pick us up and take us down to Jenolan Caves I decided to keep busy by taking pot shots of my surroundings.

Up close ones that is.

Little details of the beauty around me.

Some more from before

I really can't understand why I am constantly needing to tidy new places in my house. 

Very annoying and time consuming.

It is, however, a good excuse for not getting anything done because all available surfaces get covered in the relay of goods from one place to another.

This time it all started because my son told me he needed more drawers.

Well, with no council cleanup looming and no money to spend either I decided to use my powers of reason and come up with another way to solve the problem. Hence the mess you saw when I was looking for my creative space last week.

Which, incidently, is still hidden, only now with different piles. 

Anyway, I though I could give him the wire baskets from my wardrobe which were holding the wool and crochet. 

This meant rearranging that space which in turn led to another brilliant idea for sorting out some of the mess in there.

And so on and so on, etc...

Which led to the discovery of these old projects of mine.

You could call some of them UFOs.

I prefer to think of them as memories.

An applque and embroidery that I stated the instant I saw it in whichever mag it was but then lost half way through.

My first ever attempt at a journal cover, complete with stencilled teddy for the middle, which ended as a mini quilt.

And that tracing of the poky little puppy for the center panel of a quilt for my youngest which she didn't like then but was amazed at today.

Incidetally, if you want to give me a gate like in the first picture I would be very happy to take it.

According to my wise source the correct word for this is reconfuffling.
I must remember that!!

IPV and PTSD

PTSD is an anxiety disorder that some people get after seeing or living through a dangerous event.

Originally it was accepted as something that happened to returning soldiers. Then around the time of 9/11 we learned that it was common to anyone from any background who had gone through a physically life threatening situation.

Now it is also accepted as being caused by emotionlly threatening experiences.

PTSD is an anxiety disorder that some people get after seeing or living through a dangerous event.

When in danger, it’s natural to feel afraid. This fear triggers many split-second changes in the body to prepare to defend against the danger or to avoid it. This “fight-or-flight” response is a healthy reaction meant to protect a person from harm. But in PTSD, this reaction is changed or damaged. People who have PTSD may feel stressed or frightened even when they’re no longer in danger.

Ordinary events can serve as reminders of the trauma and trigger flashbacks or intrusive images. A flashback may make the person lose touch with reality and reenact the event for a period of seconds or hours or, very rarely, days. A person having a flashback, which can come in the form of images, sounds, smells, or feelings, usually believes that the traumatic event is happening all over again.

IPV stands for Intimate Partner Violence and includes physical, sexual and psychological violence. read

The following quote is quite astounding and has a direct association with my life.

In particular, the psychological component of intimate partner violence was the strongest predictor of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

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This week a friend of mine left her husband after years of trauma at the hands of her husband. Completely different, yet amazingly the same, this weeks acknowledgement of her situation and the immediate resulting actions have sent me back into a downward spiral.
I have been living in a vague tunnel, aware of what I was doing but spending my whole time madly mentally trying to solve her problem. I've made many stupid mistakes, cried convulsively anumber of times and spent dream time abusing my ex and defending myself in indefensible situations.
Very draining.
It is all too close to what we have been through.
Finally I have been able to tell her some of my concerns and things to lookout for and the fear is going. I am coming to terms with this week now because I have learnt to recognise the cause of my distress although it could recur because my friend is still here in town dealing with her immediate needs but it has been an interesting lesson that even after 6 years it is all still very much there and I have to be wary of how I tread.

One of the most important things you can do for people in any sort of emotionally abusive relationship is to let them know that you believe them even if you don't understand or relate in your life experiences to anything the are going through and you CAN'T see any evidence that they are telling the truth.
Please don't make the mistake of minimising their experience by comparing it to your own. It is amazing how many friends thought I had just had a husband who was occasionally out of sorts and that I was being insensitve in not accepting his foibles.
What we have been through is as individual as our personalities but completely different to your average relationship trouble.
To have to fight the results of the abuse without the understanding of fellow humans is incredibly hard and only reinforces the trauma we feel and the length of time we will be stuck with the PTSD.

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In happier news I was able find these scraps of purpley fabrics which will end up in a tiered skirt for a ten year old.
In searching for a free pattern online (totally lazy of me because who needs a free pattern for such a skirt) I came upon this wonderful tier calculator on jcaroline creative.