I Love Cloth Dolls and Cloth Crafts.

School Starts and Some Tips.

2012-01-22T16:37:00.001+10:00

School starts in the morning and darling Son 12 will be doing 8^th grade work from tomorrow so I am going to be a bit busier again.

To keep me sane and give me something fun to do in my spare time (apart from sewing) I will be working on my blog, researching different crafts to do and being inspired by lots of amazing people.

Here a couple of tips that you may not have heard before, have you got any handy tips that might help someone else? I would love to hear them.

Household Tip…

You can divide and store ground meat in a zip loc bag. Just break off how much you need and keep the rest in the freezer for later. So much easier than dividing and individually wrapping. See the tips here...

Quilting tip…

Never use a fabric’s selvedge in a quilt – it may shrink and pucker your finished project.

I am looking forward to starting the new school year on a good note so will make sure I get to bed on time tonight, I am just so done in if I don't get a good nights sleep these days.

Not much happening here on the "Sewing" front I am afraid, I need to be inspired to get my Mojo back...it is possibly because I am still in "Holiday Mode".

I got some really nice fabrics (french General) a couple of months ago now and had an idea of what I would like to make with them...I just have to make that a reality.

I hope you all are being inspired and are having fun sewing away on your projects.

Until next time

Happy Stitching...

Summer Break Nearly Over...What have I Achieved?

2012-01-17T03:52:00.000+10:00

Well as the title implies our Summer Break is nearly over and exactly what have I achieved?

Did I do much on my “To Do” list, Or have I been a slacker…

Perhaps I should have reviewed my to do list a bit better, included some things and excluded others.

So have I achieved anything?

Of course I have, I have had a fantastic summer of coffee with friends, movies and lunches with friends, Rest and relaxation.

Now is any of this on my list…well maybe not so much, but it could come under the heading of “Have Fun”.

I have spring cleaned some, but not all I had hoped to do.

I still have a week left before school starts so I still may get something done.

I guess the point really is that though you may have big and amazing plans, they don’t always work out the way you imagined them to. Life is like that isn’t it?

I have had a few health issues that have prevented me from doing some things so I am ever mindful of re-organizing my time and prioritising.

Coming up this year I am hoping to have a once a month spot about the people that inspire me, from all walks of life…

So I shall be posting this at the end of each month hopefully. I will also have a few giveaways this year as well. Keep an eye out for more…

I hope you are inspired by others, I hope you are able to use that inspiration to inspire others…

Happy Stitching

A Great Start to 2012...

2012-01-04T17:01:00.000+10:00

What a lovely start to 2012 for us, the weather here is perfect and we have about 3 weeks left of Summer holidays...

First Project for 2012 Complete…

Well the first project for 2012 is complete and sitting on DD2’s bed.

DD2 has asked me to teach her how to sew, she picked some fabric from the local fabric shop and chose to make a cushion.

I had purchased an old sewing machine last year for her so she could learn on something that might have a bit more resilience than my modern machines.

Top view of the pillow shows how it joins up nicely…

This is the side Ally did mostly on her own…

This is the side I helped teach Her how to cut, iron seams and sew everything straight.

She did a great job for her first attempt...She will have lots of practice as she has lined up a bunch of projects already...

I love that she wants to learn how to sew...

That is it for me for now, I must get back to the sewing room...

Happy stitching

Amanda

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T06:14:00.001+10:00

Just popping in to say

And not forgetting the reason for the Celebrations...

I pray this Christmas is a safe and happy one for you all, may your hearts be filled with joy as you celebrate the birth of Christ and enjoy your time with much loved family and friends…

Many Christmas Blessings

Amanda

To Do's

2011-12-12T14:24:00.000+10:00

“Summer to do list”

Ok so now I have been working on my Summer to do list and am just about ready to add it to my Blog.

I do have a few extra things to add so keep an eye out for changes over time.

These are not in any kind of order, and I may have managed to get some done already.

· Bake Christmas Goodies

· Organize meal plans

· Sew a Union Jack table runner

· Finish the Disappearing 9 patch bed topper top

· Have Fun

· Reduce…Reuse…Recycle…Spring Clean everything.

· Tidy up my Blog…Learn the “How to’s”

· Sew something out of one of the new books I got

· Do a Tutors Course in Orton-Gillingham for Dyslexia

· Get back into my walking routine

· Lose more weight

Maybe that is enough for now…

I will tick them off as I achieve them, and add to them as I come up with more bright ideas.

Very happy Stitching…

Amanda

Update...

2011-12-12T14:03:00.000+10:00

"Update on Union Jack"

I have managed to get the A2 sized "Union Jack" done... I went off to Officeworks and had the pattern enlarged to what I thought would suit.

It was a challenge, again...

But not too hard, just having to get my head around "which way was I placing the fabric again"?

It came together nicely.

Looks familiar doesn't it.

Love these colours.

Final piece to stitch together...

Viola! all done, well the top was but I still had to put a lining and back on it.

She can use this for her dresser, or wherever she likes really.

Finished pUnion Jack is at the top of the page along with the one I made earlier...

hope she likes them...

happy stitching

Amanda

What a Day, What To Do...

2011-12-07T18:39:00.001+10:00

It has been raining all blinking day...

What have I been up to all day then?

Well you may ask, and I shall delight in telling you I have almost completed a Christmas present for our dear sweet “Adopted” daughter Rachel…

She loves all things “Union Jack” and I found a pattern for a paper pieced mug rug sized union jack over at the Four Twin Sisters site.

I know you are probably thinking how crazy I am doing a union jack for my first paper piecing attempt… you be the judge (be nice though).

I have Pieced it, added batting and stitched on a back...now all I need to do is some hand top stitching for added effect and hey presto a little union jack mug rug is done.

Because of time issues I have only made this size (10 inches x 5 inches) but will in the near future make her a table runner that she can put on her duchess.

i may even get that done before Christmas but I am not holding my breath, because I am busy and have more stuff to make.

I forgot to mention how lovely it was when we went to Southbank with my Sister and her family (when they were here in October). we went to Max Brenner (first time for me) and had a decadent time.

This is my Danish hot chocolate (extremely sweet) I could not drink it all so had to leave it in the end...

This is my Dessert, how decadent does that look?

it was chocolate ice-cream with choc fudge, choc dusted crispies and choc coated crunchy toffee...with a melted chocolate sauce to pour over it.

Did I manage to eat that ? no way...I ended up giving all but 1/2 a piece of fudge to my nephew and I ate mainly only the ice-cream.

This is Hubby's dessert, he didn't want any but I thought perhaps a piece of fudge would be small enough...think again.

he had the chilli hot chocolate and loved it.

So if you ever see a Max Brenner around and are a chocolate lover, do yourself a favour and have the chocolate experience of your life.

well I must get a wiggle on, I am popping out to pick Hubby up from work this afternoon and it is getting close...keep an eye out for my "Summer to do List" coming soon....

Happy Stitching

Amanda

Christmas Swap

2011-12-01T17:04:00.000+10:00

C.R.A.F.T. Christmas Swap

it is that time of year again...

Some of the nicest ladies in the world are members of the C.R.A.F.T. group online…it was time for our annual Christmas Swap, my partner was Lynda from Brisbane (not far from me).

We met up today to swap our gifts face to face.

I met Lynda in October this year at our Retreat and she is a very nice lady…

We met at the Kuta café on top of Mt. Coot-Tha what a view…

We had to choose gifts that we thought our swap partner would like, starting with each letter of the word Christmas…

The Gifts were wrapped individually with a tag on the front for each letter.

C- Charm Pack “Ruby"

H- Humbug Bag

R- “Red” & green Angels

I- “Incredibly” cute Owls

S- Snowflake Soap

T- Tea Cup

M- Mesh Bag

A- Amanda’s Key

S- Spotty Scissors

Pictures at home…

Close up Pictures, Don't you just love those cute little owls and coloured Angels.

I Love Ruby fabric...

This bag is just gorgeous…

I am so Blessed by Lynda's beautiful and thoughtful gifts...we had such a lovely time at lunch, can't wait to do it again...

I am still working on my "Summer to do List"...I will post it here when I am finished it.

Summer is officially here as today is the First of December...we had a lovely day, the heatwave broke and we ended up with a big storm in the Ipswich area, which I had to drive through to get home from my lunch with Lynda.

hope you are all stitching up a storm for Christmas...will let you all know what the Book winners think of their books when I hear from them.

Happy Stitching

Amanda

Give Away Draw

2011-11-27T14:12:00.001+10:00

Time for my Give away to be drawn….

Using the random number generator…

For the Summer Book

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1

Max: 24

Result:

Sharon-NZ said...

hmm summer adventures........ LOL getting the new wee terrorist under control methinks over the xmas summer hols.....Omy....

Winter Book

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1

Max: 24

Result:

Anonymous said...

Hello Amanda, I see you have friends all over the world. Now, I write from just around the corner (Germany) :-) Here the Winter ist comming and we will prepare the Christmas celebration with snow and cold windy days. A warm cup of cacao is the most wonderful think after a long walk outside and sitting with my children and talk about the little problems in there life and big love we have for each other. I hope you have a wonderful summertime. Maybe I can win the Winterbook...  Send Anna best wishes from me! Petra from Cologne in Germany.

Congratulations to Sharon and Petra, I will contact you by email for your postal address.

...Happy Stitching Ladies...

Amanda

Summer Give Away

2011-11-20T08:30:00.000+10:00

Woot woo Summer is upon us in a big way here in the southern hemisphere, so in celebration of that and Christmas coming up I have decided to have a little (quick) giveaway, in fact if you blink you might miss this one.

As I mentioned in my last post, I am making a “summer wish list” for myself to get some stuff done over Summer. I mentioned I would love to hear about your summer adventures you may have had or intend to have…

What do you have to do?

Easy, just leave me a Summer adventure comment on this post and on Sunday 27^th November (one week away) I will run numbers through the random number thingy and pick a winner…

The Prize…

An awesome Tilda book for you to make some lovely Christmas stuff…hopefully you will get it by early December…well that is why this is a quick giveaway.

Added Prize…

Because those in the Northern Hemisphere are heading into Winter I will pop in an extra prize... Tildas Winter Book…

*Very important*

Please specify if you would prefer the Winter book or the Summer book, I must be able to email you for your postal address on the day of the draw so please make sure your email is attached to your blog or leave me your email address...If I can't contact you I will have to re=draw the prize on the same day.

Tell your friends, just to make it more fun…

Can’t wait to hear of your fun adventures…

Happy stitching

Amanda

New Books and Some Finishes.

2011-11-17T16:46:00.001+10:00

I have had a few finishes for a change.

While away at Retreat I made a table topper and only had the binding to do. I had to find some fabric for the edge, I was happy to find some when we visited Bargain Box Fabrics… So finally it is finished, what do you think?

A Close Up...

On the Table...

I also had some fun making a couple of toppers for our bedside tables with the fabrics I bought on our shopping spree with retreat. I love these colours and mixed them up a bit… I am learning more each time I sew something whoo hoo.

Some new books arrived too…

Quilted Gifts…

Home Sweet Sewn…

Home Sewn…

French Twist…

Aprons Book…

Home Made Vintage…

What Yummy Books, I am looking forward to doing some of the projects over the Summer Break. I home school my DS12 because he has Aspergers and just does not fit into the “System”. When school finishes for the summer I am putting together a “Summer Wish List”…a list of the projects I want to make, books I want to read and places I want to go…have you thought about making such a list?
The reason I am doing it is because I never seem to get anything done for ME...
It is how I relax and God knows I need to relax.

I would love to hear about summer adventures you intend to have or have had in the past, just leave me a comment.
Anyhow I must dash… things to do.

Many Happy Stitches to you
Amanda

Homemade tips...

2011-11-10T17:23:00.000+10:00

I have been surfing the blogs and been seeing a few lovely blogs with many helpful hints for us women who are constantly cooking and cleaning etc.

Sharon from NZ shared this one with us on Pinterest and it is quite a good tip...

Do you use Febreeze or something like it?

Well why not make your own for next to nothing. Click on the picture to go to the blog with all the details.

Another fantastic hint for those really hard jobs can be found at "SimpleLiving" by clicking on the toilet.

My Tip

I thought I would share my little helpful tip for air freshener we keep in the Toilet for Hubby and DS1 who tend leave behind an door that could melt human flesh..hehehe.

First you will need a spray bottle that has a very good fine mist spray to it, I have recycled this old bottle from an aerosol free air freshener purchased ages ago for around the $6 mark.

You will also need some essential oil, the cheap variety of oil burner oils that you can get from the $2 stores is ideal.

I put around 3 mil into the empty bottle. I find this is quite enough to give a very nice scent, not too strong and not too faint either. Then I top up with warm water from the tap and give it a really good shake.

Hey Presto you now have amazing smelling air freshener for a fraction of the price. In fact it would take about a year for our family to use up all of the 50ml bottle of oil. If you use only 3ml you can make 16, 300ml bottles of air freshener up from that single bottle of oil. That is a massive saving when you think the original bottle was $6, if you bought 16 of them it would add up to $96. so for $2 for the oil I am saving a massive $94.

Now in my books that is Frugal, I do have to point out that in this picture I have used my very yummy "Crabtree & Evelyn" oil which cost me $14.95 at their store because I could not find my $2 oil (which is very yummy vanilla scent).

Do you have any awesome tips you can share with others? perhaps you would like to share on your blog, send me a link so I can follow your frugal ideas too.

Happy Stitching and Money Saving.

Amanda

Long Awaited Post...

2011-11-10T10:22:00.000+10:00

Warning this post has many pictures...

Well I did promise a post about our time away on the Gold Coast, so here it is...

We went down to stay at a beautiful house on the canal at Burleigh Waters, we had no idea just how gorgeous it would be.

My Darling Sister, her hubby, daughter, son and his girlfriend joined the five of us on this lovely holiday.

We spent plenty of time by the pool and enjoyed the most amazing sunsets and wildlife.

We went swimming at Miami Beach (not far from the house) and had a great day at one of the fun theme parks here…Dreamworld.

We went shopping of course, how could we not with 6 teenagers...

this is very funny board in one of the shops, I had to take a picture to you all how funny it was. one sign says "Relax, Take a bath" then the very next sign as you can see says "ask staff for a demo"...so funny.

On the Sunday morning we went off to the Carrara Markets, they were just so big…we could not possibly have seen everything. But we had a great time.

After we came home on the Monday morning (driving through heavy rain) we settled back in at our place for a few more days together…we did a lovely day trip up to Montville in the Glass House Mountains and had a wonderful time shopping and eating (the teens were bored out of their brains).

Beautiful View

We stopped in at Patchwork Angel and spent some dollars on fabrics…

Then we stopped at the "Ettamogah Pub" and "Aussieworld"...just to have a look and go to the ladies...

We stopped on the way home to go to Mount Coot-Tha lookout for coffee cake and a view of the Sunset over Brisbane city...it was beautiful.

My camera battery died and I had to take Pictures on my phone which are not perfect but...

On the last day they were with us we went off to Southbank for the day

(camera did not work).

We looked all over and even went to the Art Gallery, it was fantastic standing a few inches away from a Picasso or Lautrec, and other amazing artists work. The teens were so bored by this…eeesh.

We had an amazing time together and plan to do it again, I think most of the teens will not be coming next time as they will most likely be busy with their own lives, Jobs and such.

More posts to come with a few of my favourite things...

happy stitching

Amanda

Retreat 2011

2011-10-19T15:49:00.000+10:00

This is the first time I have been able to post about our retreat since I have been back. I went off again for a week away with my family (another post will cover that).

For us early girls we had dinner together at a local restaurant with 2 of the Hubbies that happen to be there..hehe.

On October 3rd a bunch of our CRAFT ladies went to Mount Alford Lodge for our annual retreat.

Now as often happens with retreats and meeting people you have never met face to face, there were a few butterflies about it.

This particular group of Ladies are very lovely, easy to talk to and genuinely care about not just what you craft but You as a person.

No we were no where near the ocean, this is just a picture of our leaders.

Our leader is Khristina (whom I knew from school) and her tag team of Diana and Sharon(NZ) who together take very good care of us girls.

Mount Alford is approx 1 hour from Ipswich in the “Scenic Rim”.

The Scenic Rim region is a thriving rural paradise set in the foothills of “The Great Dividing Range” and surrounded by world heritage listed national parks.

We got to spend 3 beautiful nights there together just sewing , laughing, playing games and getting to know one another better.

There were so many prizes…

These are just my prize stash

We popped down to Boonah for a quick look at the local shops, we had great fun in one particular dress shop.

The food was catered for by the staff at Mt. Alford, it was fantastic, I highly recommend it as a special place to have your staff get aways etc.

After we left Mt. Alford we all went around to many local fabric and patchwork shops doing some shopping (like we really needed any more fabrics)

We had morning tea and then lunch, afternoon tea together and I parted company after a few more shops were explored with the Girls…I had a busy time ahead for our holiday away so I needed to say goodbye then…

How hard that was…

These Ladies are a true bunch of amazing crafters who we all have discovered have very much in common…we get on so well.

I was particularly touched by the ease at which I felt when I first set eyes the girls that arrived just before our car journey to the retreat. It was as if we had known each other all our lives.

Some of the sewing that got done was truly awesome…

We are so looking forward to next year when some of the girls from the states will venture over for retreat….I can’t wait to meet those girls.

But wait my adventure does not end there… see the next post for my family holiday…

Happy stitching, chatting and just enjoying your crafty friends

Amanda

Ethiopia, Huggles and Some Very Happy Children...

2011-10-19T13:48:00.000+10:00

I just wanted to share with you all the photo’s Andrea sent me while I was away.

Here are some gorgeous little children who were the recipients of your Huggles…just look at the happy faces, do you see your Huggle?

How many times can I say thank you? It never seems enough, just seeing the faces on these little darlings makes everything worthwhile don’t you think.

leave me a comment if one of these is your Huggle...love feedback.

Many Thanks, Blessings and Hugs to you all

Amanda

2011-09-29T10:01:00.000+10:00

Inspired By…

Our Ethiopian Mission Team

Have you read about the Huggles? where they went, what they would do in the life of a child who has nearly nothing of any great monetary value in this world.

I was so inspired by the hearts of the people in our Ethiopian Mission team that I felt we needed to do something to help bring some cheer to the lives of these gorgeous little kids in Ethiopia...Hence the Huggles Challenge.

Go on over to the Teams Blog and be inspired yourself by the amazing journey they are presently on in Ethiopia, follow along the posts so far that they have been on, up to today. Please leave them a comment, they need to know we are here watching and be thrilled by what they are doing.

I am always amazed by People who can give so much to those who don't have enough...Look at the faces of these children who have received a wonderful gift of Sponsorship, Love and compassion...and a Huggle as well.

So borrowing from Rosie...

I Wish you many days of happiness and sunshine...and big Huggles

Amanda

Inspired By...

2011-09-23T09:14:00.000+10:00

I am

Inspired By…Bonnie

In a past post I mentioned Bonnie from "The Beans Blog",

She spoke at a ladies retreat I went to in early September.

I am truly inspired by her love for Family life and making things work better for all families by being organised in many areas in life.

She has a fantastic blog with many tasty recipes and links etc.

Bonnie, along with family and friends from all over the world contribute to her blog with amazing recipes to tantalise and tease your taste buds.

you will also find posts and links about menu planning and stocking your fridge and pantry.

When Bonnie spoke at retreat she spoke about making fun memories with your family growing up, how did you want your kids to remember their childhood?

She spoke about the kitchen being the Heart of the home and a place her children sit and talk to her about their day while she prepares a healthy meal for them.

Bonnie inspired me to think about what we prepare for our family, is it healthy and nutritious or is it a real afterthought?

So as I take the plunge and prepare menu's and shopping lists to help me make better meals for my family whom I love so dearly, I am truly grateful to Bonnie and her team of family & friends who give us some fantastic ideas to make dinner magnificent...

Go be inspired by Bonnie, explore her blog and try something new for dinner tonight.

Thank You Bonnie

Happy Stitching and Cooking

Amanda

Inspired By...

2011-09-15T12:46:00.000+10:00

Today I am starting a new Post theme...Inspired By...basically it is going to be a weekly post (I hope) writing about the people, blogs pages etc. that inspire me...So, onward and upward as they say.

I am...

Inspired By… Rosie

Over at Rosie's farm you will find Rosie, her sheep and Chooks, Tilly the cat, Dig (her Hubby?) lots of crafts and I am sure many more amazing things that keep her busy as a Farmers wife and Nurse...

I first met Rosie (online) when I was running the Huggles for Ethiopia challenge this year.

her enthusiasm and lovely posts really drew me in...Rosie sent me some very amazing Huggles that she made up over a couple of "Rainy Days" on the farm.

She included a very lovely card for me, encouraging me in the effort being put for the kids in Ethiopia...finishing it with...

Wishing you days of happiness and sunshine...

I love it, don't you...

I love the pictures of Rosie's farm and the animals she loves and cares for...we have had a chance to email a couple of times and I find we have a few things in common, which is always nice when you meet someone new.

Rosie was one of our winners in the draw for our Ethiopia Huggles prizes...instead of taking the prize, Rosie asked if the prize could go to the next Huggle cause...amazing woman.

Why don't you pop on over to Rosie's Farm and get to know her a little bit just like I have.

you will be so much richer for knowing a lovely lady like Rosie...

Thank You Rosie

for being an inspiration to me... and many more no doubt.

Amanda

Many Thanks...

2011-09-13T19:41:00.000+10:00

Hi wonderful Ladies (and any gents who may read this) I just wanted to once again say a very big thank you to all who contributed to the Huggle numbers for the Ethiopian Children.

I got a parcel late last week with a few more Huggles in for the cause...have a look at the gorgeous little dolls.

Thanks to Kylie for these little darlings...they are on their way to Ethiopia tomorrow...

I think life can seem a bit underwhelming when you don't have a project on the boil...so I will have to set myself a little project...Hmmm what to make?? I better do some surfing I think.

I went away over the weekend to Alexander Headlands on the Sunshine coast of Queensland for Ladies Retreat.
Well the company was fantastic (thanks Girls) and the scenery was to die for...all in all it was a very nice weekend...even though I ended up sick on the Saturday night and had to come home early...
our guest speaker was Bonnie Switzer-Giles of "Pass the beans Please" ...what an awesome speaker and fantastic prizes...I won a small square frying pan, used to toast nuts etc...we had so many gifts and prizes over the weekend I almost had to buy another bag to bring them home.
Bonnie spoke on "Family Life" and Organisation...you will love her blog...go have a look.

The beautiful sunrise on the beach at Alexander Headlands

Have a look at this beautiful "Wedding Quilt"

that the Mum of the darling Emily made for her wedding in the beginning of this year.

so very beautiful.

Finished off with a gorgeous Wedding Photo of the couple.

what a beautiful treasure for her to have...

well Ladies I am off for the evening and perhaps I will be able to find a project to keep my hands occupied for the time being.

many hugs and blessings to those who Huggled...

Amanda

Winners...

2011-09-01T19:17:00.001+10:00

Thanks to all those who sent us Huggles for the Children of Ethiopia...Please keep following the Ethiopian teams blog to catch up with what they are up to on their trip to Ethiopia.
I will post photo's when available of your Huggles being given to the children.

I called Leanne and we did the draw together over the phone, she had her container with the names in it and I had mine...we took turns at pulling a name out...these are the results.

Congratulations!

The first of my prizes goes to...
...DEB...

Second of My prizes goes to...
...Khris's Team...

Third Prize goes to ...
...Rosie...

Prize for linking to my blog goes to...
...Karen...

Leanne's Prizes

1st of Leanne's prizes goes to...
...Pip...

2nd of Leanne's prizes goes to...
...Khris's Team...

3rd of Leanne's prizes goes to ...
...Claire...

Leanne drew out the names for my prizes, and I drew out the names for her prizes.
A very big thank you to all who participated, congratulations to all our winners...if you are a winner could you please email me with your postal details so I can make sure you get your prizes in the post ASAP.

Very Happy Stitching

Amanda

Final Days

2011-08-30T21:18:00.000+10:00

Hey Ladies we have one more day till the end of the Huggle Challenge...
I received 3 more Huggles today from Geniene in the ACT...thanks heaps Geniene they are so cute.

Please leave me a comment if you have linked at all to any of the Huggles posts...so I can put you in the draw for the book...Google is playing up and I cannot find many links, but I do know a few of you have definitely linked.

Here is a picture of all the Huggles sitting on the Ethiopian flag ready to be packed into the bags for the children.

We had to bring forward the handing over of the Huggles to the team earlier because next Sunday is Fathers day here and most of us will be very busy, and the team really needed to get the bags packed and ready.

The team are so very excited and thankful to all you ladies who have contributed the Huggles to the children of Ethiopia.

I am awestruck at your willingness to share the love...

The number of Huggles here is 94 (with 3 in a bag awaiting faces and 3 already packed) so they have our full 100...Lucky has some more which will be sent soon and I should have them by the beginning of next week. They are from Kylie in SA (will post pics when they arrive).

Leanne and I will do the draw for prizes on Thursday night (our time) just so you all have had time to catch up...here is hoping we can get the posts up in good time on Thursday night.

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your generosity and love that went in to making all the Huggles for the kids in Ethiopia.

And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.

James 3:18

Keep an eye on this blog for the winners to be posted.

Happy Stitching

Amanda

Yipee...We did it...

2011-08-22T18:46:00.000+10:00

Wahoo...with the safe arrival of 9 more Huggles from Deb (Lucky's Sister) we have gone over the 100 mark that we set...

Now any amount over the 100 will be given to children along the way on the streets of the towns visited in Ethiopia...

You Ladies are so darn Awesome in my books, please give yourselves a very big pat on the back for being so generous with your time and talents.

If you have made Huggles please get them in the post to me ASAP to go in the draw of prizes...we still have 9 days. Any Huggles received after the draw will get a special mention and go in a secret prize for stragglers(hehehe).

And remember that any Huggles over the 100 will be blessing a child on the street....

A little glimpse of what a treasure it really is to sponsor a child through "Compassion".

From an Email I sent last week:

"Yesterday I was so very sick with a severe migraine and extreme nausea I have never felt so bad before...in fact I spent the day in bed in my Jammie's unable to function properly (the brain does not want to work when it hurts so bad).

after the entire day being ill I had just about had enough and was crying out to God again (for the 500th time that day) pleading for Him to fix my head.

It amazes me how often we forget to stop and take a break, take a deep breath and just breath in God...I talk to him constantly but sometimes it is on the run...

Just when I was feeling sorry for myself, Ally bought the mail in and there was a letter from compassion...the first letter from our sponsor child...I opened it and just cried as I read every heartfelt word from our little Ethiopian Girl.

She is so delighted to be sponsored by us, she said we were the answer to her prayers and thanks God so much for us. her favourite pet is a cow (love it) and she wants to be a doctor when she grows up...now these words may not say much to many people, but knowing the difference sponsoring a child can make not just to her life but also to her entire family can truly humble one".

This is just a little piece of my heart after a truly terrible day being ill...

We will be packing the Huggles into the bags for the Children on the 4th of September so look out for photo's coming not long after that.

Please email me for my address if you don't have it and are wanting to send Huggles.

Happy stitching Ladies

Many Hugs

Amanda

More Huggles...

2011-08-06T10:19:00.000+10:00

A big parcel arrived today from Khris and her awesome team of girls...in fact it was a litter of Kitties...20 to be exact.

Thank you so much Khris and team this pushes the numbers right up there..

Another gorgeous Lady I know has made 5 lovely little owls to add to the numbers.

Claire is so awesome, she is a very busy , lively lady in her 70's who took the time to help us out and I am so grateful.

So our numbers are now 93 down, 7 to go...Whoo Hoo

Here is a picture of most of the Ethiopia team who will be taking the Huggles to the gorgeous little Children...Just have to put the Huggles in the bags and all will be ready to go...to follow the group as they head off to Ethiopia you can go here.

I just want to take this opportunity to say thanks to everyone who has made Huggles, or is making Huggles for the children. the effect your generosity will have on these beautiful little children will be very long lasting...Can anyone remember a favourite toy from childhood? we generally had many toys when we were growing up...but these Children may only have ever had the one you are about to give, so no doubt it will be a treasured and much loved gift.
Many more names to go in the draw for the prizes when I get individual names from Khris's team.

Links
I am having a lot of trouble finding the links to the challenge due to the technical skills I don't possess...if you have linked to this challenge at all please leave a comment on this post with your blog address so i can put your name down for the link prize, I am sorry if that makes anyone miss out I am rather challenged in some of these areas sometimes.

Many Happy Stitches...Till we meet again.

Amanda

More Huggles Arrive, and Fishing

2011-07-30T14:35:00.000+10:00

Wow the Huggles are really coming in now...thanks to Rosie for a bunch of gorgeous Huggles that arrived today, aren't they just delightful. Go and have a look at Rosie's blog...very good reading.

I will endeavour to post a picture of the Ethiopia team packing the little bags for the children (minus the Huggles, they will go to them at the end of August) just having some tech problems getting the pictures...keep an eye out.

Fishing...
We took DS 12 out last week to do a little fishing as he had said he would like to try it...a couple of cheap rods and a little drive to Moogerah Dam and we were having fun throwing a line in.

He liked it so much he wanted us to go again the next day...well I had a doctors appointment so we had to wait till today (Saturday)...here is a picture of our 3 kids fishing at Atkinsons Dam here in the Lockyer Valley. Even the dog loved it...It was very relaxing and we had a lovely lunch by the water...can't wait for the next time...oh by the way we never caught single fish...lots of Dam Weeds..

Well I hope you all are doing fine and enjoying life...
Happy Stitching till next time

Amanda

More Huggles Arrive

2011-07-22T10:02:00.000+10:00

Thanks so much PIP for the latest Owls to arrive here on my doorstep...

Aren't they gorgeous...

What a blessing these are, absolutely everyone loves these owls, imagine how much the children will enjoy cuddling these little beauties.

I have had some issues with contacting people when asked to send my postal address...if you need me to contact you please make sure your email that is linked to your blog is correct and active...I can't post my address on here or post my email address (neither should you) because they end up on spam lists and junk emails start to come in by the dozen.

I hope today is a nice day for you, here in Sunny Queensland we are warming up a bit but still a bit cold .

I hope you all have a nice relaxing day as we head in to the weekend, and get lots of stitching done.

Happy Stitching

and Big Hugs to you all.

Amanda

Patterns For Huggles...

2011-07-19T08:50:00.001+10:00

Ladies and Gents I have come across a few links to share with you for Softies that can be made for the Huggles for Ethiopia challenge.

Hope you like them.

Silly Girl Doll

Click on the name to go to the site and get your free pattern.

Chibi Kitty and Rabbit

Ruby Doll

Little Teddy (sorry no picture)

Well my lovelies that is enough for now, I do have to get my day started and get DS into his school work...

hugs

to all and Happy stitching...

Amanda

A Couple of Good Ideas...Just For A Change.

2011-07-16T07:46:00.000+10:00

I have been too busy to Blog Hop too much in the last few months (sadly) but today is a new day and I am determined to do something that helps me to relax, apart from sewing.
So here we are with a few of the things I have seen out there in Blogland lately...Enjoy...

This is a lovely tutorial to show you how you can make your very own tabletop ironing board by Lil Blue Boo.

what a great idea, I may make one of these yet.

I always liked the look of these gorgeous camera straps, as opposed to the ugly ones that come with your camera when you purchase it.

Have a look at what Ikatbag has created, you are only limited by your imagination and the fabric you have...

Well that was just two lovely things I have seen out there in Blogland, there are so many more gorgeous things to make or just be inspired by.

have a look and see what you can find...comment me and show me some of your amazing finds...I am always open to see new and awesome things that you all are sewing out there.

hugs

Amanda

More Arrivals and Something Special...

2011-07-15T12:03:00.000+10:00

Some gorgeous fabrics from the very generous Anna have arrived safe and sound, I will use these to make some Huggles for the cause. Thanks heaps Anna for the fabrics they are just perfect.

Another safe arrival came just yesterday all the way from the USA from Karen.

Isn't he just adorable...one very lucky little boy or girl in Ethiopia is going to fall in love with this little fellow.

Thanks so much Karen for such an amazing Monkey, he will be a blessing.

Ladies please keep those Huggles coming, we have just over a month left before you need to get the Huggles in to go in the prize draw... so far we have 4 people in the draw and 7 prizes...odds for a prize are pretty good.

I also have to say that my dear husband has been working very hard lately to save up for a little treasure for himself, but was very disappointed when yet again he was not paid properly (he works for QLD Health who has been having pay problems for over a year now).

He went off to work this morning thinking that all hope of getting himself an Ipad 2 was lost...But I am able to work wonders with the budget and managed to find exactly what he was after for a good price.

So when he gets home from work tonight after a long and very busy 12 hour shift guess what will be sitting on his desk...

I am sure he will be very happy, he deserves it...

Off I go now, to my sewing room to see what amazing creation I can come up with...no doubt it will be a little Huggle creation...

Happy Stitching everyone...

Amanda

Whoo Hoo...More Huggles Arrive

2011-06-28T08:36:00.000+10:00

I am so thrilled ladies and gents...look at the cute little Huggles that have flown all the way from South Australia...they must be tired...OK well maybe they had a little help from Australia Post...thanks so much Pip for these Gorgeous Owls they are so beautiful and very unique I know the children will love them so much.

As Pip tells us on her blog a group of owls is called a Parliament...this implies that those in parliament are wise as owls ???

our tally now sits at 44 Down 56 to go ...how are you all doing out there with this challenge??

Remember to email me here for my address and give yourself plenty of time for the post to reach me before the last day of August.

Ladies if you live outside of Australia or find the postage on stuffed Huggles is just too high, please don't let it be a barrier for you, send me an email and we can work something out. I would not want anyone to miss going in the draw because of those reasons.

My Birthday Money from my on-line CRAFT group

how did spend it??? well my parcel from the States arrived yesterday and I was so happy, don't you just love your postman when he brings you something nice...

Two gorgeous bag patterns, a yard of Swiss Chocolate Lovely Lotus Fabric and a fat quarter bundle of Espresso Swiss Chocolate fabrics by Amanda Murphy for Robert Kaufman Fabrics.

Awesome fabrics and I can't wait to try out the bag patterns...this may only happen over the school holidays so I better get a move along.

Oh and I still have birthday money left to buy more fabrics, when I get a chance to have a really good look and decide what fabrics I love the most.

Keep up the fantastic sewing you all are doing, I hope life is good for you as well.

Happy Stitching

Amanda

Huggles Arriving Already...

2011-06-23T17:39:00.001+10:00

Wow some of you gorgeous Ladies are fast off the mark...I came home to find on my doorstep a parcel from the lovely Sandra with 6 Huggles hiding inside...along with a $10 donation toward stuffing...thanks so much Sandra I am extremely excited about all these darling Huggles going off to Ethiopia in a matter of weeks (10weeks even).

I also received these gorgeous Teddies from Lucky and Maria, 7 from Lucky and 4 from Maria...Lucky (Leanne) is co-hosting this challenge so she has opted out of going in the draw (as do I) so more of a chance for others to enter...

I am so excited as these darling little Huggles are arriving on my doorstep, I can just picture the sheer joy on the faces of the children who will receive them.

thanks so much for being in this fantastic challenge and helping bring great big smiles to faces of very sweet little children.

Happy Stitching Ladies...

Amanda

Huggles for Ethiopia Prizes Galore...

2011-06-18T12:01:00.003+10:00

Yep you read the heading right, there are prizes galore...
Myself and Lucky are having prizes for those lovely people who send in Huggles...

What is a Huggle you ask...a small soft toy made with love by you...
Pop over to my post explaining Huggles for Ethiopia so you know where these little darling Huggles will be going in September.

if you had a look at my last post you will read the details about the Challenge to make Huggles and have them get to me by the end of August...this post is about the lovely prizes and entry details...

Entry...
to enter for the prizes all you have to do is make Huggles and post them to me so that they reach me by the last day in August...Please be mindful of postage times, if you are overseas it may take 2 weeks to get to little ol' me so plan to send them at least 2 weeks before the draw closes...

At 6pm on August 31st Lucky and I will draw our prizes, we will have all entries in a bag and pull out the winners. you must pop in your email address with the Huggles so we can notify you if you are one of our lucky winners.

The exciting part is the number of times you are entered is entirely up to you...if you send 1 Huggle you have 1 entry...if you send 10 Huggles you have 10 entries and so on...
Please make sure you go to my previous post to read up about what sort of Huggles are good to do and even get a couple of patterns.

Don't worry if you have already sent me Huggles, I know who you are and you have gone in to the draw already..

Prizes...

You will need to go to Lucky's Blog to view her prizes, but as for the prizes I have up they are as follows...

1st Prize...

Tone Finnanger Book- Fabrics and a few Embellishments

2nd Prize...

Autumn Coloured fabrics

3rd Prize...

Black, White and Red Fabrics

Blog & Link Prize...

We will also have a prize if you Blog about this and link back to either myself or Lucky...you can also put a link up on Facebook which will get you entered in the prize draw...you must leave a comment on this post with your link so we can put you in the draw for that prize...which is...

Tone Finnanger Book...

Well I am pretty sure I have covered everything, but in case I have missed something I can always pop back here and add a bit...

Thank you ladies and Gents out there in Blog land for being so giving of your time and talents to make these Huggles for such gorgeous little Children who so deserve a small token of Love from us...

Happy stitching...

Amanda

A Season of Huggles- A Challenge.

2011-05-31T08:35:00.000+10:00

June, July and August are going to be Huggles season for me I have decided to have a challenge to try to add to the Huggle numbers for our Ethiopian Compassion children.
if you are not sure what I am talking about have a look at this post.

There will be prizes...

Starting on the first day of June...
There are a couple of ways to do this, you can either make up as many complete Huggles as you can and post them to me, or make them up fully (including face) and send them to me without stuffing and I can stuff them here.
every person who makes them and sends them goes in the draw for a prize at the end of the challenge...
I will have 3 prizes...More on this later.

On the sidebar of my blog you will see a tally for how many Huggles we have so far and how many we need...please keep an eye on this, I will put the numbers up as I receive them.

I am also going to have a Huggle-Fest in the near future, a get together to sew together some Huggles...keep an eye out for this too, you may not be in the area but you may know someone who is and would like to meet up and sew for a cause.

Keep an eye out for future posts regarding this challenge.

to sign up please leave a comment on this post or if Google is still playing up please send me an email here... once at my profile click on the email word below the picture to send me an email.

Ladies Please think about doing this challenge, it will help some lovely Compassion children in Ethiopia. there will be many pictures of your Huggles being adored by the children after September.

Happy Stitching

Amanda

New Fur-Baby

2011-05-28T10:28:00.000+10:00

This is "Cosmo" our new Fur-Baby...isn't he adorable

Cosmo is 8 years old and needed to be re-housed because his loving family moved out to the country and their home had no fencing. they were very sad that they had to leave him with family members here in town, but the family in town already had 3 dogs so it was an impossible situation...We had been looking for a dog for ages but waiting for the right one to come along.

Cosmo is a purebred Miniature Poodle and has an amazing personality, He was considered a "Special Needs Dog" because of some quirky little behaviors. when alone he becomes very distressed and cries and yelps...He fits in well because we have someone home 99% of the time.

the photo above shows Cossie before his haircut on Tuesday have a look at him in the photo below...a little bit of a difference.

We are so happy to have Cosmo as our baby, he has a loving personality that really fits in so well with each of our family members even the Cat "Aetius" who has always felt he is the king of the house...when they first met Aetius was a bit put off but by the end of the first week He was quite used to Cosmo and now they close to sitting together on the couch to cuddle and warm up together.

Thank you for dropping by and meeting Cosmo, I will post more pictures as time goes by and Cosmo has more adventures with us.

Big Hugs

and

Happy Stitching

Amanda

Mothers Day

2011-05-09T06:33:00.000+10:00

Our church decided to cancel the second service on Mothers Day and instead hold a morning tea for our Ladies. It was a ticketed event so the Ladies had to get their tickets in advance, but some were still available at the door.

The first service was fantastic and then we flowed out to the cafe for our special Ladies event. we provided the usual coffee and tea for after the first service, but in a different location to normal, in the Foyer.

What a fantastic morning we had at church for mothers day, a group of our men were our waiters for the morning, they served us well. they were dressed in black pants, white shirts with gloves and a pale pink cloth draped over their arms (just like real waiters) to mop up any spills I guess, I am not really sure of the original function of the cloths for waiters, I assume it was a tea towel used to mop up messes or carry hot plates etc But for aesthetic reasons we had them, I sewed them up on Saturday, the day before Mothers Day...I have sore shoulders from hunching over the machine...

Our waiters lined the entry and guided us to our tables as we arrived. they all looked very presentable...Did I mention even some of our Pastors and Elders were waiters...

If you look behind our smiling waiter you will notice the Band that we had playing for a good part of the morning, they sang quite a lot of classics from the 50's and 60's even some Elvis, which went down very well with the Ladies.

This was a morning tea our Women's Ministry put on for Mothers Day and we had around 40 Ladies who had never been to a church before, or not to our church.

We had 150 women who had such a fantastic time, we ate scones and sipped tea or coffee that was served to us by our lovely waiters.

We had our "Hands Up" people there (deaf community) they were served by one of their own wonderful Men who has the ability read lips as well as sign, which was quite helpful for us to be able to serve the Ladies well. you can see the interpreter signing the message to the "Hands Up" group.

Our guest speaker was Kelly Chelsom from Perth in WA, she was so amazing.

She spoke about a slogan she has seen often in Asia "same same but different" which tied in to life with her children and others.

She shared about her boys and their personalities and how we treat people by the same measure of love but differently to suit their personality types. for instance, how you discipline a child who is tender hearted is different to how you discipline your head strong child.

she also talked about Grace and Mercy and how it is disappearing from society and how we need to bestow those gifts upon our fellow man...of course she is perfectly correct.

What a fantastic morning for so many beautiful Ladies...I am so grateful for the efforts of many people including the Maitre de my Hubby...

If you are celebrating Mothers Day in your country today (or yesterday for us) I hope you have a fantastic Mothers Day and that you will be blessed beyond reason.

Many Hugs and Happy Stitching

Amanda

Life...

2011-04-25T09:31:00.000+10:00

What an amazing time of year for us, we have just celebrated the death and resurrection of our savior Jesus Christ...an amazing time for reflection into ones own personal world and how we treat our fellow man...I pray I can be more loving toward those people around me and in my sphere of influence.

I have had a very busy school holidays, it would seem nothing got done but I was still so very busy...

I had a lovely win over the holidays...
This gorgeous coin purse from A Stitch of Hope go have a look at what they do...

Huggles for Ethiopia

Well I did manage to get some bodies made for the Huggles...but alas they are faceless so far...I have yet to stuff them and stitch on their little faces.

I will endeavor to make more each week, but it has been so very busy...the deadline is 1st of September so if you are one of the gorgeous ladies making some Huggles please let me know how you are going, as I am feeling a bit lonely here in solo Hugglesville...

a reminder of what this is all about can be found here.

A range of Huggles

Well Ladies out there in Blog Land keep up the good work with all the various crafts that you do, you inspire and encourage others with the great crafting you do.

until next time

Happy Stitching

Amanda

2011-04-09T17:38:00.002+10:00

The ABC's of Me

I was looking at the blogs I follow and stumbled upon Joy’s post of the ABC’s of her. I thought this was a fabulous idea so here is mine.

Age: 44 Bed Size: Queen with pillow top mattress Chore You Hate: Cat Litter tray cleaning Dogs: none Essential Start of Your Day: Walk Favorite Color: Pink Gold or Silver: Gold Height: 1.6m Instruments You Play: Spoons Job Title: Mum, Wife and teacher Kids: 3- 2DD, 1DS Live: Queensland Australia Mom's Name: Rita Nicknames: Mandy Overnight Hospital Stays: Yes 2 MYOB Pet Peeve: Bad manners, tardiness and just plain rude people Quote From a Movie: “……Are we Lovers that you would thee and thou me…”Bedlam” very old movie Right- or Left-Handed: Right Siblings: 1 older sister, 1 younger sister and 1 younger brother Time You Wake Up: Usually around 5am -ish. Underwear: Definitely Veggie You Dislike: brussel sprouts yuck What Makes You Run Late: nothing, I am always on time or earlier X-Rays You Have Had: too many Yummy Food You Make: I make a very nice coconut cream pie the kids love it Zoo Animal You Like Best: Monkey’s

Why don’t you have a bit of fun and post this (with your own answers of course) it is a great way to learn a bit more about each other.

Enjoy!

Amanda

What Have I Been Up To

2011-04-08T15:29:00.000+10:00

Well dear ladies out there in Blog Land it has been a very busy last few weeks, I have not had much time to craft i am afraid...I did manage to get a couple of Owls done for DD2's friend for her birthday and also made a few Healing Hearts for some gorgeous Ladies but apart from that it is all quiet here on the sewing front.

Tomorrow is another day though, so I intend to get out my sewing music and stitch away...I have a few owls and teddies traced out for the Ethiopia Children but have yet to sew them up so that gives me something to start with.

I am not sure if it is the same where you all are in the world but it just seems like the cost of living has gone through the roof...I had to put some fuel in the car the other day but the price was so high I begrudged paying that amount per litre, so I only put $15 in and boy I was cranky when I turned on the key and the fuel light was still on and the low fuel alarm still went off...

More and more I feel the push to get back to basics and stop this crazy merry go round we live on. we don't have to have the best of everything but we tell ourselves we do. we get sucked into thinking that if we don't have this or that then life will not be as good.

how about when grandma was alive and we would go to her house? there were always fresh cookies for a snack and a meal easily prepared and ready for a hungry kid.
we have become so busy that when it comes to meal time if we have any energy left to cook we don't always manage to do it...well why would you when there are so many places that will cook for you.

One of the saddest things I find is when take away food is cheaper than healthy fresh food. the obesity epidemic is out of control and we still continue to "Dine out". I am not too sure about other countries but here in Australia it has become quite a problem...we seem to have lost the "Family Meal Time" where we all sit down together and have a fantastic home cooked meal prepared by Mum or Grandma and we talked and listened to how each others day went.

Can we fix this? of course we can but how?
one of my latest urges is to cook from scratch, wholesome and healthy foods. nothing too fancy but very healthy, to steal back our family time and get those fun times of laughing together over a meal happening again.
For a few months now I have been very mindful of what we eat and where (at home or out).
I have also been working on a menu plan again ( I had one years ago when the girls were very young) and shopping accordingly. I know that it takes time initially but once you have a good menu plan and shopping list too it will be much easier than guessing what is for dinner tonight and being tempted to eat out because it is more convenient.

I would love to hear of some of your favourite Blogs about this subject, just leave me a comment with your favourite blog .
Enjoy a couple of my favourite Blogs

now whilst on this Back to Basics kind of thinking it also occurred to me that we should be doing the same with gifts for Birthdays etc.
It is not a cheap exercise to buy gifts for family and friends anymore and I have decided to work on making gifts for Christmas this year. but more about that later I think.

this has become quite a long post so I will sign off now, hopefully I will have some sewing to share in the next few days so until then

Happy Stitching Ladies...

Amanda

Huggles For Ethiopia

2011-03-21T08:48:00.003+10:00

I have had this thought on my mind for a while but have not really known how it can come to fruition...I wanted to be able to bless the children of Ethiopia with something that will say "We love you and are thinking of you".

Our church is involved in many missions, Compassion Australia along with our church Catalyst Church in Ipswich sponsor children in Ethiopia. A couple of the most amazingly big hearted generous women I know are involved in our Ethiopia missions, they inspire me to want to help in whatever way I can.
Enter Lucky (Leanne) who is the lovely generous Lady who has created the Huggle (or softie) for kids. take a look at my last post to read about some of what she has managed to get sorted out for our trip to Grantham school to bless the children there.

So back to my thought...how can we bless the children of Ethiopia, I know how about sending Huggles for the children the next time there is a missions trip.
good idea....well it just so happens there is a trip planned for mid September this year...great.

OK Ladies it is all worked out, we need to make at least 100 Huggles to send with our mission trippers to Ethiopia in September. we need the huggles to be not much bigger than 8" x 8" the reason for this is room, for the little toys to be transported over they need to fit into the backpacks of the Missionaries amongst their clothing and other stuff they need to take.
we need to make sure also that they are only filled with fibre fill...as this will guarantee to keep the weight down.
*Use Bright Colours

*Embroider or draw on the eyes so as not to cause a choking hazard

Teddy Pattern here..
or Owl pattern here..
other patterns here...
Doll Pattern Here...
Gingerbread Doll Here...

We have approximately 6 months to get these little toys made and posted in to Me (email me for the address) in order to get them to the missionaries and packed up for delivery to the children.
if you go to Leanne's blog you can read all about her past fun with making and distributing Huggles to many well deserved recipients.
Just a little note so you are aware, Ethiopia is a predominantly Muslim country so we do request that you do not send cute little piggies, as much as I love them they are not really appropriate for this country.

Our Missionaries are also involved in Grace Centres in Ethiopia, you can read about the great things they do by going to their web page.

I will post a Huggles Roll on the side of my blog to keep track of who is making Huggles for Ethiopia, that is probably more for me than anyone (getting old).

I really appreciate the generosity and heart that so many of you wonderful ladies put in to your creative works, I am so happy to be able to guide you into a very worthy cause...Huggles for Ethiopia.

Happy Sewing

Amanda

A fabulous couple of Days...

2011-03-06T18:11:00.000+10:00

On Friday Khristina of Sew Prim Khris, Helena, Bev and I took a very wet drive out to Grantham to deliver some wonderful little Huggles to the local school children who had survived a horrendous flood in January of this year (2011).

Leanne creator of Huggles for kids had organized for people to make Huggles and made many herself, Have a read on her blog about them and what she does with them.

Here is Khristina with the school Principle in their little library...there were enough Huggles for each student.

The principle will take pictures of the kids with their Huggles and post them off to Leanne...she expressed how happy they were to have these lovely little gifts, and explained how important they could be for the students to help them move on..."some children take a special toy to bed and will talk through things with their toy" she said, so the potential to help them beyond what we imagined is there.

After visiting the school we went on to Gatton to take some of the quilts to a family who had lost all of their belongings, both the mother and mother in law and most tragic of all their 2 year old daughter...

After such tragic loss you would imagine that these people would be basket cases...not so. i found that both Matthew and Stacy were handling this amazingly, they are well aware of the potential this tragedy has to really sink them as a family...they are so determined not to let that happen, they have two surviving children and a little girl due in 7 weeks for whom they must go on.
they are awesome people and like most of us prefer to do their grieving in private...
I did not feel comfortable taking pictures of them so I did not ask...but just know that the quilts that the ladies in the C-r-a-f-t group made for them were well accepted and will be much loved.

On saturday morning (more rain) Khristina and Helena came over to my place for a lovely cup of tea...then we went on to another family that I knew of from church who had lost everything in the flood...we gave them a beautiful quilt for each child and a stunning heart quilt for Mum...they were very happy to receive such wonderful gifts...

Here is Naomi with baby Ezra who was one week old when they had to evacuate their home and lost most of their belongings...they managed to grab the precious photographs as they left...

the Ladies of our C-r-a-f-t- online group outdid themselves in making the quilts and some of the Huggles...these Ladies are from all over the world including the United States, UK, NZ and Australia...they all contributed greatly to making these quilts, whether it was by making hearts or donating funds to help or just their encouragement of the ladies who got together to physically put the quilts together.
I think they are awesome...

Khristina says on her blog..."Thank you to Lucky, Amanda, Terry, Christine, Pam, Melissa, Judy, Sheila and the ladies in my CRAFT group who have sent hearts . Sorry if I have missed any specific names but I thank you so very much for your help, generosity and kindness".

we had some time to kill on friday afternoon so guess where we went ladies???

The ladies who are coming to the retreat in October will have to wait till then to go to Bargain Box...
We got to play a while, we are very happy they survived the Floods...

thanks for reading my little blog, if you want to join the craft ladies just follow the links and apply to join...
As a final note, I just want to say that no matter how hard life seems sometimes, there is always someone doing it harder than us...hug your kids and loved ones and thank God we areble to do just that..
Happy Stitching

Amanda

A Wonderful Surprise

2011-02-22T11:32:00.000+10:00

I was having a lovely cup of tea the other afternoon with my Step mother in law on the patio when the delivery van pulled in.

I said to her I know this is because I had been waiting 3 weeks for some books for DS's distance ed.

to my surprise she had 2 parcels...I was wondering if I had ordered something or if hubby had ordered something...no not that I could remember.

when she gave me the parcel I read the back and just cried because I knew what it was...the return address said Khris and Co...I knew it was from the fabulous ladies in the online craft group I am in and that it was a "Healing Heart Quilt"...yes my heart is bruised from losing my Dad late last year after a long battle with cancer. what a difference a gesture like this makes...

These gorgeous ladies live all over the world, we are connected by a love of craft of all kinds and we communicate through the Internet.

the healing heart quilts are a beautiful reminder that you are loved and thought of...the ladies make the squares in all parts of the world and then post them off to someone in the group who will put them all together as a quilt and send it off to the recipient.

theses gorgeous ladies have been working hard making hearts for the flood victims in south east QLD. they have so far made 10 complete lap quilts and have made many more hearts to post off to others who will put together a quilt for a close family member who has lost everything...

doesn't it just make your heart melt when you hear about some of the amazing things that people do for each other in such hard times.

I for one appreciate the beautiful creativeness of these ladies, and will be forever grateful for their love and care.

I also had a surprise in the mail yesterday from one of the winners of my give away earlier this month...

Judy from South Australia who won the kitty pack sent me an adorable heart...isn't it just gorgeous.

Thank you so much Judy for this delightful little gift.

hugs and Blessings to all you wonderful ladies.

happy stitching

Amanda

All Prizes Posted

2011-02-09T16:22:00.000+10:00

Well Winners I was at the post office when they opened this morning and posted off every prize..so keep an eye out for your postman he/she will bring you your prize soon...

This is the first time I have ever posted an item to Hungary and Russia so I am not sure how long it Will take for those parcels to get there.

Please let me know when they arrive so I can breath a sigh of relief. And please, when you make something from your prize blog about it and send me an email so I can share the excitement of it all.

Again thank you all for participating in this giveaway...

Happy Stitching

Amanda

Re-Draw.....

2011-02-08T07:40:00.000+10:00

Well as I said yesterday I am going to do a re-draw of the Angel kisses wall hanging pattern...

I stated at the very first draw that each winner had 6 days to make contact with their postal details or I would do a re-draw...so I am very sorry Deborah in Atlanta, after much effort including personal emails I still have not heard from you so I am redrawing the prize now...

A reminder of the prize...it is a very nice pattern for Angel Kisses wall hanging...

I ask the lucky winner to send an email and show us all the finished product when you get it done...it would be lovely to see what each prize winner does with the prize whether it was fabric or a pattern...

I have decided to draw this one differently, I will use the random number generator to choose a number between 1 and 74.

74 is the number of followers I have...I will then count down the list of followers from my followers list in my dashboard and that is how the winner will be found...

OK drum roll please...the re-drawn prize goes to...

Wackywoman

Please email me here so I can get your postal details...

Congratulations and thank you to all who participated, and all who won .

Keep an eye on my blog in the near future I will be starting a challenge...

have a wonderful day happily stitching and crafting.

Amanda

Final Prize Draw

2011-02-07T16:12:00.000+10:00

Woo Hoo the final prize winner is...

Dolly Cloth said...

Hi Amanda I am a follower and I have bloged about your site great giveaways

Dollycloth.

January 28, 2011 7:15 PM

Well no matter how small this picture is, I had to post it due to the fact that I know dollycloth really well and I wanted to prove this was not rigged...

...well that was the last draw in this giveaway, however it has passed the 6 days for the first winner to contact me and she has not done so...I have emailed her at the email she gave but to no avail so hold on to your hats ladies there will be a re-draw tomorrow morning...

the prize was the Angel kisses wall hanging pattern.

Thank you to all those that participated...Congratulations to all the winners, I hope you enjoy the prizes and I ask that you send me a pick and blog about what you make with them..

till tomorrows re-draw, happy stitching.

Amanda

Draw Number 6

2011-02-06T16:52:00.000+10:00

very pretty fabrics, 3 Quarter meters of fabric some Flower ribbon and a spool of pretty polka dot ribbon.

the Winner is...

Lilang said...

Nice gift!

http://lilangkrea.blogspot.com/

January 25, 2011 7:12 PM

Lilang you have 6 days to make contact here with your postal details so I can post the prize off to you...if not I will have to re-draw the prize.

Tomorrow's prize is...

Four gorgeous fat quarters, some pretty pink ribbon and a quarter square triangle tool with pattern and baby appliques.

Don't forget ladies that i will post all prizes at the same time through the week...make sure you contact me ASAP so I have your postal details on time.

have a fantastic evening tonight, enjoy whatever it is that you are doing whether that is sewing and crafting or just chilling out together.

Amanda

5th lucky Winner...

2011-02-05T17:25:00.001+10:00

The "Friendship" wall hanging pattern

Winner is...

Renee said...

I have just discovered the world of blogging. Especially quilting and sewing blogs, so congratulations on your blog and 100th post.

January 19, 2011 5:35 PM

Renee you have 6 days to make contact here with your postal details so I can post the prize off to you...if not I will have to re-draw the prize.

Ladies because I have been so busy the last few days and will be just as busy next week, I have decided to post off all prizes at the same time next week...it saves me going to the post office every day.
unfortunately I have not been busy doing what I love (sewing) but just busy being a homeschooling Mum and wife, friend etc...but I know life will slow down again soon.

Tomorrow's Prize is...

Some very pretty fabrics, 3 Quarter meters of fabric some Flower ribbon and a spool of pretty polka dot ribbon.

have a wonderful evening and till tomorrow...
happy stitching and Happy Blogging.

Amanda

4th Prize Drawn...

2011-02-04T16:13:00.000+10:00

Four beautiful fat Quarters of beige colored fabrics and some sequins to sew on.

The Fourth draw is done, Congratulations...

Koshka Lu said...

О, надеюсь, я не опоздала ))) http://koshkalu.blogspot.com/

Translation:

Oh, I hope I'm not late)))

Koshka Lu you have 6 days to make contact here with your postal details so i can post the prized off to you...if not I will have to re-draw the prize.

I give up on trying to get the picture of the draw posted so you can see the Number...too difficult at this time, and I guess you will just have to believe me that it was done objectively.
Coming up tomorrow...
a "Friendship" wall hanging pattern

Best of luck for the draw Ladies...

till tomorrow...

Amanda