Pink wishes and Shabby Dreams

Happy New Year to all.

2010-01-03T00:30:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone, I am so sorry for being missing for nearly a year OMG has it really been that long (hanging head in shame) I have had some issues with illnes (My back) and have opened a small cafe', and am in the process of opening a small craft shop here in my home. I have a large room that is sposed to be the family room, but since my family consists of me and hubby and grown son, who lives in the flat outside, I am able to convert this large room into what I want it to be, I am at the moment painting the yukky wood panelled walls white, and all my book shelves white as well, it is coming along nicely, I will post some pics as soon as I find which folder I put them in lol.

In the meantime I can show you what I have made for a very dear freind of mine, who has just painted her kitchen all white, and is making pink and white curtains and chair cushions etc.

I whipped it up last night for her, and a few goodies I found in the after christmas sales.

I feel really bad for being missing in action for so long, but I promise I will catch up with all the lovely blogs as I get time.

I am so pleased with how this tea towel turned out, I am now making one for myself, for when I get around to painting my own kitchen lol.

I hope everyone had a happy and safe christmas and new year, and as I said I am looking forward to catching up with you all.

All the best and I hope to be around a bit more often than I have been.

Cheers Deb.

A happy new year to all

2009-01-12T05:55:00.000-08:00

Sorry to any one who has visited me over the past couple of months, life has been pretty rough for me, with my back and one thing and another I have neglected my blog and my new blogging friends something shocking. I will try to rectify this.

I am afraid life is not being so kind to me at this time, we all have our trying times, and I am sure I will come out the other side a stronger person, but for now it is like there is no end in sight.

I have found some gorgeous flowers to brighten my day, I hope they do yours as well.

Enjoy.

Cheers, and Happy pink Saturday my friends, I will try to call back more often, and get around to say hi to some bloggers when I sort some things out.

Debra.

Strawberry cheescake

2008-12-05T19:27:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I was here, I have been very ill with my back, it allows me nothing, some days I can not even walk, and others I have the energy of a new puppy, lol. The heat is starting to creep in to our lives with summer upon us now here in Australia. So what is a gal to do on a lazy saturday afternoon but eat strawberry cheesecake of course lol. So grab a fork and I will share it with ya.....:)

Cheers and Happy Pink Saturday to ya all.

Debra.

Its been a while

2008-11-20T18:35:00.001-08:00

Yes Its been a long time since I have posted anything, I am sorry to those who do come to visit. I have put my back out, and can not walk very well, I need to have daily morphine injections at the moment, and needless to say I can hardly use my arms, lol, I think they will have to start jabbing me in the backside lol, it is a lot tougher than my arms, YIKES....

I hope to be able to post something nice for pink Saturday this week, I have been working on one of my dollshouses, though this one is yellow not pink, I will show you some of it, also I have been making polymer clay plants to fill a mini conservatory, I need lots and it is starting to look very nice indeed.

Most of the plants are made from polymer clay including the hanging baskets, and the baskets themsleves, I make these and use jewellery findings for the chain etc
A couple of the larger plants are made with mulberry paper leaves , but all in all I think It will be quite nice and green and lush when finished, now I just have to make the conservatory to put them all in lol.
The tiles on the floor are from Hirst Arts (R) and will be painted another colour, they are made from plaster of paris, from a mold, and are about 1 inch in size, so in real life these would be about 1 foot square pavers which is about right.I would like to get this finished soon as I have just purchased 2 more dolls houses, very large Dura Craft (R) ones, both mansions lol.

Here is a pic of some others that very clever people have built.

This one is from the very clever Tracey Topps, if you google her you will see more wonderful houses she has made.

And this gorgeous one, I can t remember where this one came from.

If mine turns out half as nice as these I will be very pleased indeed.

Cheers for now Debra.

Happy Pink Saturday.

2008-11-02T01:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the late posting, and I missed out last week, I am so busy getting my shop ready, yes a real life shop. It is getting there slowly (I will tell you all about it in another post OK),any way I have found some jewellery I made ages ago I hope you like it . Plus my space bar has just packed it in. Gggrrrrrrrrr

The first one made with polymer clay canes. Dont you just love the butterflys and roses. It has only been temporarily strung. Waiting for a creation to come to mind lol.

Cheers Debra.

Now I lay me down to sleep....

2008-10-18T05:22:00.000-07:00

I pray the lord my soul to keep.
And a nice warm and soft bed to sleep in.
Tucked up between my mummy and my daddy.
I will never know what it is like to sleep outside, or in a laundry.
I will never feel the cold wind on my fur, or have to be wet and damp
and have only a tattered rug to sleep on, or worse.
I pray for all the little doggies that have to live this way.
May they too find a home to be warm and loved.
Yep I am sure one very lucky little doggy.
Please find it in your heart to adopt a little mate and save him or her from a fate worse than death, you will be forever loved in return, every single day of our lives we only want to be near you and to love you.
I am posting this tonight for mum, she is busy getting her new shop ready, won't she be surprised to see what I have done woof woof...:)

Good night
And Happy Pink Saturday to ya all.

Hymie (And mum Debra) She is the light of my life, I love her with all my heart.

I say my prayers..each and every night.
I wait for you to come to bed...

I got sick of waiting, so I will keep the bed warm for you.

Sweet Dreams

I'll give you a daisy a day dear

2008-10-16T06:59:00.000-07:00

Just thought I would share these gorgeous daisys I picked today while grocery shopping, they were growing next to where I parked my car, so I picked a few, not even thinking that they might not survive the trip home. It is starting to get hot here in Australia, anyway as it turned out I had to go to the chemist for a script, so while there I noticed they have one of those free drinking water bottles that you help yourself to, so I helped myself to a drink and took another cup full to the car for my daisys.

It also makes for a beautiful vase, dont you think. lol.

Have a happy daisy a day dear.

I have no idea how to spell the plural of daisy, is it daisys or is it daysies. Yikes I am usually so good at these things.

Cheers Debra.

My art/craft room studio

2008-10-15T04:16:00.000-07:00

Yay, my new craft room is nearly done. I have finished the painting. And am now ready to start making the frames for my cubes, that will hold those red and black tubs you see sitting on the foor. Plus an array of other shelves desks, work stations etc.
I am still deciding if the computer will go up here or not, I can always just bring up the lap top, so I can still blogg away lol.

I have to accomodate a sewing machine and very large fabric stash (see an earlier post) a scrapbook/cardmaking area, a painting and drawing place, and also a bead/jewellery and polymer clay station, including somewhere for my boys toys, (bandsaw, scroll saw, electric drill, jigsaw, sander and many other wood working items) and my dolls houses lol, I really need to plan this out right, or it won't work.

The room is a reasonable size 10 feet by 14 feet, so I do have some room to play with. I know many people have to share the bedrooms, dining rooms, under stairs or just a cupboard etc for their crafting area, so I am very lucky to have a whole room I know.

I have been trawling the internet the past few weeks for ideas, and have come up with some really nice ones. Especially the colour scheme I have picked.
I must email the lady in question and see if it is ok to mention her here. I had no intentions of copying anyone, it just happened.

You see I had already painted the room yellow. and I bought the rust red for the floor (floor is crappy chipboard) then I came across it, this gorgeous room in yellow and would you believe it rust red. OH my instantly I fell in love with the colours, and seeing as I had the rust red, well the rest is history lol.

I am very happy with it, it is big change from pink and white and green, but my shop downstairs will be in all those colours, so I will still have my shabby fix lol.

If anyone has any ideas I would be very grateful for your help and suggestions b4 I start cutting and nailing.

I have been buying lots of storage containers etc ready to stack into my cubes and shelves, so I will have plenty of storage, it is the little nooks I need to create around the room for my different activities, Oh why do I do so much lol, couldnt I just stick to sewing or painting lol.

I am thinking I will build a large table on wheels for the centre of the room, with storage on each end, just the right height to be able to stand and do my work, also I will be able to bolt the bandsaw and scrollsaw to this table. (this must be done for saftey)

So I am thinking shelves and work spaces all around the walls, and the large table in the centre.

I also have a double door built in cupboard in the room, but I was thinking this could be utilised for my stamp collection and many thousands of stamps I have collected, (Yes another hobby) and my stamp reference books etc. I could put a small table and a light in there and when I want to work on my stamp collection I can just open the doors and I am good to go.

So many ideas, so much to do so many craft items to store, so little time lol.

Oh well it could be worse, I could have no where to go play, I am so lucky yes I should be so lucky lucky lol, sorry Kylie just popped into my head being an aussie and all.

Ok Thats it for now, I'm off to start measuring walls and storage containers.

Cheers Debra.

Here are a few pics of the finished room, well so far anyways lol. You did ask for updates, if you have not seen the before pics just scroll back a few entries.

These curtains are not staying. Or the heater, it belongs in the pretty room.

The red chair, is really old, it can stay.

Storage tubs for the cubes, and a large round cardboard box, painted rust.

Black cats for good luck, I don't have any real ones ATM :( I love cats.

Its pink Saturday again

2008-10-10T19:52:00.000-07:00

Happy pink Saturday everyone, again I am still busy finishing my craft room, so I am cheating in a way, and snagging some pics off my computer of things I have made from polymer clay, These items I have made and sold in the past year. Some are not pink, but hey isnt everything in our world pink lol, just put on your rose coloured glasses and it will all be pink lol.

Hope you like them.

Cheers Debra.

Anyone for valentines day cakes. The hearts are actually sugar candy from the cake decorating isle, bought in a container of thousands, and are about 2mm in size lol

They are for dollshouses, with little calories in them lol.
Not pink, but they are the size of a dime I spose, or a 10c piece.
Ready for a party.....I wish I had something for size reference, but they are about 1 inch across, if that.
Sitting on a dollshouse table, the table is about5 inches across, oh they look so yummy.

Anyone for a pot of orange tea, strawberry maybe, oh you want apple okies lol.

All made from polymer clay, and about 5mm in size.

How did that pic get in here, lol, my beautiful granson Luke......

Happy PINK saturday again.....:)

I must wear plaid and garbadeine NOT

2008-10-07T17:32:00.000-07:00

I was going through some pics yesterday, I found this one, yikes. I look like I stepped out of a horror movie lol, I spose I thought I looked good at the time.

Time....about 6 months ago

Place....Friends 50 th Birthday.

The other pic is when I first got my glasses, (About 18 months ago) so I thought I would dye my hair red, yikes, a bit different lol, I have now gond back to blonde lol.

Its mine in another 7 months, so I spose I'm not doiong so bad for and ole chickie hey. It could be worse lol.

I was reflecting back, who said when you get to a certain age you must dress a certain way. I remember my mum dressing like a very old woman when she was only about 40 but that was the 60s, back then woman were made to feel old very early on. Once you were a married woman with children you tended to forget about fashions and looking super good, after all your job was done, you had snagged your hubby had your children, made your home etc. You had no need to look good hey.

How wrong did they get it. Apart from the obligatory trackie and slippers in the mornings I could no more wear old fogie clothes than swim in the lake in winter.

I like to be able to wear the latest fashions if I want to, pull on a pair of skinny jeans and bubble top if Iwant to, not that I want to do the latter very often lol.

But I do enjoy and pair of jeans and a white top, or a litle sundress if it is very hot.

I guess I am lucky I have been relatively thin all my life, I did have a patch there after my child was born where I put on a lot of weight, so I know what it is like to be over weight, its not nice.

Anyway I thought I would dig out some pics of me when I was a child, some of the creations my cousin made for me were nothing short of hip and mod, well it was the 70s after all, you know cycadelic 70s lol, (Well some of you will) oh how I loved the 70s, but I think I will leave that for another post lol.

Cheers Debra.

Not quite pink

2008-10-04T00:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Pink Saturday.

Ok so my pics today are not really pink, they could be lol, depends on how you perceive the colour of the walls on my new craft room. I had painted it all yellow, then I came across a wonderful webpage with the red colour as well, I said to my self, self: you have that colour why not go way out of your comfort zone and paint a couple of walls red.

Now I have to tell you I am not really a red person. But I seemed to like this idea, so a new colour scheme was born.

I have black and red storage boxes (sitting on the floor) and am going to make cubes from mdf, these will be painted black and red and the storage boxes will slide right on into them, well thats the plan anyways lol.

The window will be white and the blinds will be in the bin. I am making yellow curtains (I think) that could change, Blinds would be good. But so would an unlimited bank account.

So I must do what I can with limited funds and two hands, and a lot of hard work.

Now bloggers, this is why I have not beed around lately, every spare moment has been spent walking up 13 steps, yes the room is upstairs, oh lordy me, oh well excersise I spose with out really trying. The computer is so going up there too pmsl.

Anyways this is my contribution to pink Saturday, like it or lump it, rofl.

Have a great day.

Cheers Debra.

Edit Bit....

I couldnt leave out my best friend could I, he is with me everywhere I go, even he got sick of walking up and down the stairs lol, so in the end he just stayed on my puter chair till I came and sat down again, he knew I would be back sooner of later.

Oh and my rough drawn plans for my cube station, to hold the tubs, to hold my STUFF, well that is the general idea, if it all comes together lol. (Have faith woman, have faith) I intend to make them all different sizes, for various items.

Pink Saturday

2008-09-27T20:21:00.001-07:00

Happy pink Saturday.

I have been really busy sewing and getting my large craft room ready to open my shop, more about that later.

So I am posting more pics of my gorgeous quilt for ya all.

Hope ya understand lol, I will fill ya in on the shop details and plans in another blog.

Cheers and Happy Pink Saturday.

Debra.

Tea time and a shabby quilt

2008-09-24T02:36:00.001-07:00

I did this post earlier and it wiped itself, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, so I will upload the pics, then add to it.

This is my quilt I have been working on, it is huge about 5 feet square. All cotton fabrics with pure wool wadding and pink drill cotton backing, sewed with gutterman cotton thread as well.

2008-09-22T00:37:00.000-07:00

Just thought you might like this puzzle to do, I love trees and green grass, hope you do to. Then the next one is my new faux flowers I bought yesterday.
Just click on the arrow to get them ready for solving, I hope you enjoy them.
Cheers Debra.

The day the country came to town

2008-09-21T22:23:00.000-07:00

Log September 22
Its now 3pm in the afternoon

I awoke from a granny power nap, to find it looking more like I had been transported to mars, it was an eerie brown out side all the windows, so with camera in hand I went out to investigate, not knowing If I were going to b e deported to some ailien martian lets see what your made from camp or what, so I took my little dog with me for protection (Of course) and on venturing out side I was greeted by dust, yes dust and more dust.

It seems every few years we are bestowed upon by the country, they seem to think we need some of their precious top soil for some reson or another, but I do however feel sorry for those poor souls who washed their cars yesterday, or the little girl I saw cleaning the windows at the local woolies supermarket pmsl.

Here are a few pics of what greeted me out the front and side of my house .

I assure you I have not doctored these pics in any way, this is the colour it was outside, it has somewhat cleared a little now as I type, but is very very widy, so I am sure the winds will blow it on to the next town along its path, dropping some it of its load as it goes. Yes it is bin night, if the wind dosnt blow the bin down the street for all to see my gargbage lol.
OK I think I will go save the bin from this fate, and go secure everything that is likely to blow around in the yard.
So it has jsut started to rain turning this dust into yep you guessed it (MUD)

Then the power went down for a few hours tonight, so I had to take a pic of me all set up with my laptop still connected to the internet, thanks to still keeping my dial up account, I knew that would come in handy one day lol. And one of my mums old kero lamps, the amount of light they throw out is amazing. And of course the wood fire burning, it was glorious while it lasted, now the power is back on. I am so tempted to turn off the lights again and stay the way I was. Oh the good ole days lol, I could have even gone and done some sewing as well. I use my mums trusty singer treddle machine. I sews better than my two electric ones I own.

Oh well now back to the mundane things of doing the dishes now I can see what I am doing lol, yuck.

Cheers Debra (Australia)

Yippeeeee Pink Saturday again

2008-09-19T00:52:00.001-07:00

The cutest pink cotton buds, I dont think hubby will miss these ones. Pink tags I have cut out to put on some gifts, lucky recipients.:)

My spray starch in its bottle with pink handle and nozzle, too darn cute..:)

Dolls house I am making with its pink painted siding....:)

A fabric piece I got at the local thrift shop last week, its destined to become a cushion I feel.....:)

And my favorite, a bag of pink rose pot purri, it smells as good as it looks I can tell you, it was reduced down from $8 to $1 I cant figure out why, it is devine, I am going back for some more if they have any left........:)

Well I hope you like my pink things for this week, It is not too hard to find pink around this house lol, everywhere you look there is pink, oh except the kitchen, it is going to be yellow and blue, but that is for another blog entry..:)

Cheers Have a wonderful evening.................:)

Debra.

The first flowers for

2008-09-19T00:52:00.000-07:00

The season, I love these freesias, they smell divine, if you have them in your garden you will know what I mean. I cant leave them in the garden I have to pick them and bring them inside, I adore the smell wafting through the house, though hubby will come home and say, what is that infernal spray you have gone and bought now lol.

He does not hold the same affinity with cut flowers that I do. That could be why I never seem to get flowers for any occasions lol, Hmmmmmmmmmm might have to work on that, come to think of it, I dont get flowers or chocolates or anything for any occasion. :(

Any way on a lighter note the weather is warming up, I think this will be the first night since the start of winter that I wont have to light the wood fire. I have bought in the kindling etc incase it cools down, but I am hopeful I wont need it.

Also my quilt is coming along nicely, I have got three strips of squares sewn up, and I am very pleased with it so far. ( I had to take a pic of the progress) I cant help myself ROFL.

Let me know what you think of the table cloth pink green and white fabric I have mixed in with it (the table cloth fabric I call it lol), it is so hard to find a nice green to go with my beautiful roses fabrics, but I think this works. Too bad cause it is all cut and sewn up now lol.

Oh my the smell is wafting out to me now at the computer, it really is a strong fragrance isnt it. Its making me feel more like spring has finally arrived.

Ok back to sewing up my quilt.

Cheers till next time.

Debra....:)

10 sewn 90 to go

2008-09-17T15:51:00.000-07:00

I am making a shabby quilt, I have sewn 100 squares of gorgeous shabby roses fabrics, all wadded with pure wool wadding and backed with pink drill cotton. It is going to be huge, I have 100 by 100 7 inch squares if I use them all on the one quilt, I will decide as I go along.

Here are the squares waiting to be sewn together, and you can see some of the fabrics I have used sitting beside them.

I have been wanting to make one of these quilts for so long, I started one a couple of years ago, but was not happy with the fabrics I had.

I hope to finish it in the next couple of days, If I can stop having visitors that is lol.

Hopefuly my builder freind will be here in the next week also to make a start on my shop, I am converting the large family room in our home into a shabby shop, I have all the furniture etc and most of the stock to fit it out, and we are in a fabulous spot for a shop. I will update you more as it progresses, this is something that has been in the works for about 2 years now, it is so hard to get any one to come and do work, and even harder when it is not a major building project. But I am hopeful it will happen sooner rather than later lol.

And to all of you who sent well whishes for my recent back surgery, A big big thankyou, I am much better thankyou, I think it may have worked a litte, I had a couple of nerves burnt off at the ends so I do not feel as much pain.

I still have the lower back to see to though, and have to still take my pain medication for that, so am unable to get of it yet. If you ever have to take pain medication, please try to only take it as you need it, it creeps up on you and before you know it you are addicted to the stuff.

Anyways the main thing is I feel somewhat better, and am able to do the things I love doing. So with that said it is off back to the sewing room.......

Cheers and have a lovely weekend.

Debra.

Miniature Furniture and a shabby cushion

2008-09-09T22:40:00.000-07:00

I have been busy, my headache finally left me, so I got busy, I have a few dollshouses on the go at the moment, so while I wait for glue etc to dry, I shabbied up some furniture for one of my houses. It is just the same as doing real life size lol, but it dosnt take as long.

I have had this gorgeous Rachel Ashwell fabric for forever, and I had already tea stained it and the vintage chenille, I finally got around to making a cushion out of it last night. I am very pleased with the way it turned out, I diddnt tizzy it up with lace and ruffles, I was going to but decided against it, I wanted it to just be bold as it is. The back is brown cotton fabric.

Well that is it for today, I am off to pack my bag, I am going to have a small operation on my back on Friday, I cant rememebr what it is called, but they inject some sort of pain blocker into your spine, and hopefully it will alleiviate my pain. I have two discs that are stuffed in my lower back.

I spose it cant be any worse than the big horse tablets I have to take for it now lol. I have been this way for about 3 years, and have waited 12 months for this operation.

Due to my back problems I am unable to work outside the home any more, so if anyone is interested in buying this cushion or dollhouse furniture from me just send me an email and I will send you the purchase details, I will also put them into my shabby vintage blogshop as well, I dont have much in there yet, but I am working on it. I hope to have shabby items, and dollhouse furnture and miniatures, all hand crafted by me.

Ok happy bloggers have a lovely evening and I will talk to you when I get back from my operation.

Cheers Debra.

Pink Saturday

2008-09-05T16:51:00.000-07:00

Good Morning. Ok am a bit late for posting my pink items I know, but if you have ever had a migrane headache you will understand, as sit here lookng for pink, I feel very pink lol.

I will try to fnd what I can without running around the house taking pictures of everything pink and let me tell you most things I own are pink. I will upload some more pictures a bit later in the day, when my drugs start to work lol.

This is a cushion I made ages ago.

I found this on polyvore, isnt it wonderful.

Cheers Debra (For now)

Yay my favorite time of the year

2008-09-02T06:34:00.000-07:00

Spring time, I love spring time, it would have to be my favorite time, the birds are singing, the grass is green, the bulbs are coming out, and the sun is shining. I feel better, everything is just coming up roses lol.
Speaking of roses, I finished another painting, my second ever rose painting. I think though when it dries a bit I will add some more detail to it, I prefer to paint with oil, the only drawback is the time it takes to dry.

I am quite pleased with the way it turned out, I am working on a fence picket now and a wooden book, a knife block, and few other little items. As I need to do the main colour, let it dry a bit then add the detail.

But thats ok it gives me time to work on other things in the meantime. Like the two quilts I have yet to finish, and the mountain of cushion squares I have cut out ready to sew.

I would like to send a big hello and thankyou to all the lovely ladies that popped over to see me and left wonderful comments, I will get back to you all I promise, and when I can work out how to do it , I will add your blogs to my list.

Well thats it for tonight, a short and sweet post, I am off to have an early night, might do me some good lol, as I tend to stay up till the sun comes up most nights. I love taking my dog out first thing for his morning ritual, the sun is coming up and the birds are just waking up, the dew is on the ground, and the air is fresh and crisp and ready for a new day.

So what do I do then, yep I go to bed for a few hours. The dog is pretty happy about that too. He is such a mommys boy, he wont go to bed until I do, no matter what time it is. And he wont get up until I do, strange dog.

Night all you night owl bloggers, till tommorrow.

Cheers Debra.

Well it is finally................

2008-08-30T00:01:00.001-07:00

Raining here in County NSW. I dont know how long for, we really need it, our crops are not doing so well. (Wheat, barley, rice, canola, etc) And if we dont get sufficient rain the crops fail and then the bread and groceries are dearer at the checkout, so next time it rains in the city and you start to complain rememeber this fact.
Here is a flower to brighten your day, mine is not going so well, despite the lovely rain.
I may post again later I will see how I feel. I cant decide if I want to do some sewing or some painting, as you can see on the side bar, I painted my first roses yesterday, I am pretty chuffed with my effort, so I would like to try and paint some every day or so to get better at them. I mostly paint landscapes, and flowers have not been a biggie for me, but here goes.

Click on the puzzle for it to start.

Cheers Debra, (Sitting back with an evening drink enjoying the rain)

I have a serious addiction........

2008-08-28T23:16:00.001-07:00

To fabric, I can't help myself.

Todays finds at the op shop (thrift store, for my US friends) some little boxes to paint, a wooden salt and pepper shaker, they will look great shabbied up with some roses on them. A picture frame and a vintage book holder, I had a couple of those in the 70s lol.

Hidden on the bottom of the shelf was the most vintage retro packet of lavender bath tea bags, lol, yes tea bags, I dont think I will use them though, I'm thinking lavender satchets made from the vintage fabric.

But doesn't the picture of the envelope they came in look divine, I have put it on the side bar too, I love it, so retro.

And of course fabric, and more fabric, there is about 4 meters of green vintage cotton, and a meter of pink, and two meters of green and yellow vintage stripe.

Also the most scrumptuous round cushion topper. It is very heavy fabric with tufted felt, and a couple of vintage pillow cases, they should come up ok soaked in bleach over night.

All up not a bad days bargain hunting I would say. Yes I am very pleased with my booty. And all of it only cost me $14.

I also got some new fabric yesterday at a local fabric store on special and it was calling my name so I couldnt pass it by lol.

All gorgeous rose fabrics that will be just yummy made into a quilt and some matching cushions.

Here's a peek.................

Isn't it just the most gorgeous fabric you have ever seen. Now to finish sorting out the fabric cupboard so I can start sewing lol.

Ok now I had better go start on tea for my boys, left over spaghetti with chips and salad tonight, and easy one.

Untill next time stay safe and warm just like my darling dog....:)

Hymie Dog

Cheers till next time Debra...:)

A letter to myself at age14

2008-08-27T19:58:00.000-07:00

I was blog hopping last night and found a couple of posts where the ladies had written a letter to themselves at the age of 13, I have chosen 14 as this is when my life till now starts to make sense.
It is very strange reading it back again. Well here goes.......

A Letter to myself at 14

Dear Debra.

Don’t worry that your mother calls you Debra, and you hate it, you will actually love that name when you are 50. Debbie is such a ditzy blonde name anyways. (Apologies to the ditzy blonde Debbie’s out there) lol

And your best girlfriend even though her mother said your friend ship wouldn’t last will be your bridesmaid twice, yes twice, but that is for later in the letter.

I wish I could say that you will become that art teacher you so desperately want to be, but that infernal mother had other ideas for you, you will instead float from one job to another never really finding your niche, even at 50 you are still floating, but it was a great journey all the same, you have been many places and made many great friends along the way. Though you won’t stay in touch with most of them, until one day when you can travel the world and meet people without leaving your desk, one day you will understand, all I can say is keep up those typing lessons you so hate, they will be invaluable to you when you are 40 onwards, you will understand why soon enough. Oh and get plenty of outdoors now as soon you will seem to never leave the house, but will have been all over the world in an hour.

Make the most of your time at school, I know you already love school, and those art classes, and if I were to tell you that the boy you are in love with, yes I know you are in love with him at 14, the one who doesn’t seem to notice you, well let me tell you he noticed. Oh he is noticing, if he wasn’t a shy gangly 16 year old male he would do something about it. You know how you tingle every time you brush up against him in class line up, or in the corridor, well I can tell you that feeling will never go away. Not even at 50.
Even though you will marry some one else and have a wonderful son, and have a very privileged life for 20 years, you will never forget that boy in school, your first love.

Let me tell you a little secret, don’t forget him, if I were to tell you, you are going to marry him, one day (When you are 35 to be exact), would you believe me.
And that texta case you have written your married names on and hidden in the garage, remember, you will find it 30 years later, when you are married to that boy. Don’t listen to people who say young love is nothing, you know in your heart he is the right one, and yes you were right even at the tender age of 14 you knew.

You will not have a mansion to live in, but your home will be filled with love, mess and things for your creativity just like it is now, you will always paint and sew and will still have lots of pets, you will have ups and downs and seem like life is not worth living at times, but believe me it is.
You will still be trying to hatch a new scheme to make money, but never quite get there, but you will have fun trying.
Stop fighting with mother, let me tell you it doesn’t get any better, just accept the age gap, and yes it is a big one 40 years, you will understand more when you read this letter.
Oh and please brush your teeth, cause when you are 45 you are going to spend $14,000 on them, yes so be warned.
And don’t worry my sweet innocent you will stay that size 10 you are so lucky and will still be that way when you are 50.
Life in general will be kind to you, though at times you think it will suck big time,. Continue to be kind to the elderly and the sick, and the animals, as your home will be filled with them, you will stay sweet and kind, but will develop some very bad habits along the way, and be very cross if your son does half the things you are thinking of doing, but will go ahead and do anyway, it is all part of the learning curve, but you will come through it just fine.
You will always stay a loner and only have one real friend, as you will find out most woman never leave the school yard (Taken from another blog, as It is so true) women can be very nasty when in large groups, you are right to have very few friends, you will have lots of pals, but very few confidants. And that is quite ok, don’t feel strange because you don’t do all the things like go out for coffee, or trawl the shops.
Your favorite shops will still be the hardware and the paper store, and the thrift shops, you get very adept at re purposing items that other people throw away.
But as you will learn, global warming land fills and the planet will thank you for this practice one day.
Oh and you will find and meet your real mother and sisters and brother too, be patient they will come into your life one by one, you will find a real friend in your brother, you are very similar having grown up in very similar circumstances, and you will stay in touch with him.
Well I wish I could tell you how the next 30 years pans out, but I haven’t lived it yet, as you haven’t lived to this stage yet, maybe you can write me a letter when you get there.
Stay as you are and keep enjoying your carefree life, and remember he is noticing you.

Debra.

I know it was a long letter, but when you start it is very hard to stop writting, you want to tell yourself so many things, lol.
I will post again tonight with some pictures of pretties I promise, to make up for the novel lol.

Cheers Debra.

A square peg in a round hole

2008-08-26T08:10:00.000-07:00

Well in this case it is 2 large bookcases full of fabric into one large bookcase. I must have thought that I would use all this fabric, I am sure I just buy it for something to do, you know, the old saying I will use it one day, I have so much fabric. I have Laura Ashley, Rachel Ashwell, Moda prints, and so many rose prints its beyond funny, heaps of white textures and many many silky fabrics., fluffies and animal prints. And as for the chenille, well I dont think I will even go there lol. As you can see by the pics below, this is pretty much my fabric stash.

Then there is a box full of my really good fabrics..............................YIKES

So here is the start I have made on this mammoth task....

It will be worth it after I have finished, I have to keep telling myself that lol, it has taken me 3 days to get this far lol, do you think I am just putting it off. (Te He) I really want to get to and sew some things, I have the sewing bug now after playing with my fabric stash. And to make matters worse, I had to buy some more sewing goodies on the weekend, where will it all end I say. But I couldnt resist, they were selling the edging for 25c a meter and the pins were reduced from $5 down to 50c, what good woman in their right mind could pass up a bargain like that I say, you tell me...

I intend to use this for cushion edging, after I get the fabric put away (I promise) lol.

Is it just in our makeup to keep buing more fabric or for that matter more stuff, when we know we already have quite enough stuff, it is a compulsive urge I can not do anything about. At least the MOTH (Man of the House) does not see when I bring it in and squirrell it away, thank goodness, he doesnt see any of it come into the house, I am sure he thinks it just all multiplies when we are asleep pmsl. Men are like that though arn't they, its like the new dress story, Oh I have had it for ages honey, or the, it was in another room dear and I just moved it today....lol.

God bless the poor MOTH what would we do without them, well actually (Tapping foot and scratching head) I could think of a few things lol. I am sure we all could at times.

I also want to get on with some furniture painting as well, but am waiting to get my tin of white paint, (Tommorrow I am told) I have quite a few items to shabby up. They will be going into my pretty room. Well untill I sell them that is lol. The room my fabric is in now is going to be turned into a shop, but that is another story.

Ok back to the fabric, and yes it is 1.30am again, never mind at least I can have a sleep in, yay for me.

Untill next time, stay safe and warm.

UPDATE

I have done it...:)

Well sort of I still need to fold them all again, but they are in there. Oh Happy days lol.

Cheers Debra

A great watercolour rose video

2008-08-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

My very own vintage market.

2008-08-24T00:59:00.000-07:00

I have been searching my house today for treasures, yes my mother had so many treasures lol.

Well actually first of all I aked DH to get a couple of old cupboards down from the loft in the shed for me. I know they are old, as one was my dads, read last post, and the other one with the sliding doors (Above) sat in our garage for as long as I can remember. I have ideas of painting it white and chippy and putting chicken wire on the doors, if not chicken wire it will be fabric, I havn't decided yet, I will let it talk to me as I am painting it lol.

The Old cupboard with drawers (Not pictured) will be painted white and shabbied up, it has bakelite handles on the drawers, I am going to take those off, and put some more pretty ones on it, dont worry I will find another use for the bakelite handles, or if any one is interested in purchasing them from me, just contact me through my profile.
As I continued to search for things I kept finding items other than what I thought I would find, for intance have a lookie at these little beauties...................:)

What a treasure trove I uncovered on my whip around the house today, I wonder what other goodies mum has squirelled away, all to be found another day. Thankyou mum for leaving me with all these woderful memories. They will be treasured for many more years yet.

Oh and if you were wondering I finished painting that rather large cupboard that I intend to put my fabric stash in.

I am really pleased with the colour, I have no idea what it is lol, I really dont think it is pink after all, but it will be mostly covered with fabric anyhow.
Now to go start folding and sorting all my fabrics, oh my that is going to be a big job, did I hear it is going to rain tommorrow, ohhhhh a great job for a rainy day yesssssss I love rainy days.

Thanks for reading my ramblings lol, I would love to hear from you and if you have any comments or suggestions please do leave a comment or email me.

Cheers and have a safe and happy evening.

Debra XXXX:)

A new home for my fabric stash

2008-08-23T03:08:00.000-07:00

Why do I start to do things at midnight lol, after the boys have gone to bed, fed and watered lol. I am more relaxed, no interuptions, no phone calls, no errands I should be doing, just peace and quite, me and the wee small hours of the morning. Yep love it......:)

I am finally gathering up enough energy to move all my pretties into the pretty room. We have a very large house, and I have what I call a formal lounge room, we dont use this room at all, as we have two other living areas.
I have so many nice things all squirelled away into boxes, it so should be out where I can admire it, and appreciate the linens my mother had and all those gorgeous doilies and laces that she and her mother spent hours on way back before electricity, well not quite but nearly. Though my mother was born in 1917 and my dad in 1906 They were 40 and 50 respectivley when they adopted me as a one year old.
So I pretty much grew up with grandparents, I only just rememebr my grandparents, I do not know when they were born, but it would have been a long time ago, I am very lucky to have many items of linen etc that belonged to her, so it is very very old, and very very nice.
So I think I will put my fabric stash and my linens in the pretty room after all. Where they can be admired once again.

And as I am lucky enough to own a lovely old singer treddle sewing machine, (Thankyou to my mum) I figured it could live in the pretty room, so why not have my own fabrics here as well, they will look good as most of it............... well all of it is for the shabby look anyways.

I intend to paint it a very light slamon pink, that is the colour I already have in a tin, so I thought I might as well use it, I would prefer white, but it will be ok.

Here it is with some of the colour on it,

I think it will be ok, it is quite dark in the room at the moment too.

Most of my other pieces will be painted white, and chippied up.

About 10 years ago I would no more have had pink things in my house than flown to the moon, (well actually I wouldn't mind going to the moon) lol but that is for another entry lol.

Now I cant get enough of this shabby look, I hae pieces all over the house, and the yard lol, lots of items that belonged to my mum are now finding a new lease on life as shabby furniture.

I make my own shabby cushions and quilts, and can also paint shabby roses, not as good as some though. But I will get better at it.

This is a pic of some of my cushions and an unfinished quilt, I am using gorgeous Laura Ashley cottage Garden fabric for this one.

I am also painting lots of bit and pieces of furniture, a coffee table and a small shelf, I think it was an elcycolpaedia shelf in its former life lol.

You know buy this gorgeous shelf for a $1,000 and we will throw in this set of encyclopaedias He He.......Plus a set of steak knives, I think I still have the steak knives lol.

I had grand ideas of buying it for my baby son so he would go off to uni and be a doctor or a lawer, but that never eventuated, instead he is a well adjusted, bright, intelligent, funny, hard working young man with a son of his own now. What more could a mother ask for.....:)

I only had one child, so I never got to play with dolls and little girls things, or make frilly little dresses and the like, proly why I was never a pink person, now I cant get enough of the colour, even all my clothes have to be pink, YIKES....

What a shame this little darling will sit on the lounge now and look pretty........I do so love her though, I made the outfit for her, I love sewing little frilly things like this...............................

Isnt she soooooooooooooooooo pretty, I need a name for hher, any ideas.......:)

Well I am off to finish the first coat of paint on my large fabric shelves. I cantwait to be able to arrange my gorgeous fabrics on it. Pink in one no wait 5 shelves, green, white, lavender, blue, yellow, brown, red, ok ok ok so I have alot of fabric lol. I will only put the White, green, and pink fabric in ther , that will be all the room I have anyway, by the time I get those colours in there I will be wanting more shelves. Oh dear, at least I do have more shelves, then there is all my lace, oh my collection of lace lol, that is for a blog all of its own I feel, I have so much lace. I could never tell you about it all in 5 minutes, some of it is so old, I mean old, it is to die for. But next time ok.

Ok back to my painting, have a lovely evening all. Untill next time, stay safe and warm.

Debra.

Welcome to my first post.

2008-08-16T08:33:00.000-07:00

With this blog I hope to be able to share my passion for all things pink and shabby, I am addicted to this wonderful style, and love to find old furniture etc and transform it into a work of art, I will share this process with you over time.

If you see anything you would like to purchase, just send me an email and I would be only too happy to negotiate a price with you.

I also sew shabby cushions and quilts, and I think at last count I had 35 chenille bedspreads lol YIKES, don't tell DH. I team these with my stash of Rachel Ashwell and Laura Ashley fabrics, I have an enormous stash of shabby pink fabrics too lol.

Another of my passions is making jewellery and love using polymer clay, I have many canes I received from two lovely ladies in Israel, they are just devine, roses, butterflys, flowers and even a ladybug, I will share some creations with you soon.

I also paint in oils and pastels, landscapes mostly.

And I have only recently become addicted to card making, I have lots of fiskars (R) embossing templates, I just love those things. They are wonderful for many uses not just for card making.
I also use them for my next passion of which is..................................:)

Dollshouses and miniatures, yep as if I dont have enough to do lol, I make dollshouses and miniature items to put in them, plants, furniture, rocks and I actually make most of the houses myself as well. I have been fortunate to be able to set myself up with an array of power tools, yep they are not only for the boys you know.
I love my boys toys, I have a bandsaw, a scroll saw, a drill, well who hasnt got a drill lol, lots of other bits and pieces, and last but not least I have a wood lathe on order. Oh happy days lol.

So if you are interested in a dollshouse for yourself or your little princess drop me a line and we can work something out, but be early if you would like it for Christmas, as I cant make them over night rofl.
Now having said all that my houses are more for the adult collector, I do not make childs toys.
I work in 1/12th scale. One inch equals 1 foot in real life, I can also do 1/24th as well.

Weather permitting I love to potter around in the garden, not that I have much of a garden atm, but I am working on it. I ecpecially love to have a vegie garden, nothing like picking your own produce and cooking it up that same night.
We also have chooks who are kind enough to let us have a few eggs everyday, but then they do get all the kitchen scraps, so it all goes around and works out very well.

OK so now you know a little of what I like to do, please feel free to send me an email and have a chat, I do like to have a chat lol. I usually sit up till about 2am most nights, I am not a morning person at all, however I can arise early if I have to...:)

Well I am off to find a nice shabby pink template for this blog, if you know of any good ones please let me know.

Cheers, stay safe and have a wonderful evening.

Deb.