the rules of losing and finding things

i reckon I spend half my life looking and finding things.

I have noticed the following..

The more you look for something the less likely you are too find it and the more likely you are too lose something else in the process.

Things only turn up when you a have forgotten about them, b made another or c bought another one or d when you are looking for something else.

for eg- yesterday all i could find was pins, and all I wanted was needles,

today was all I could find was needles when i wanted was pins.

example 2- i lost a very precious necklace that mum gave me for my 30th last year. Looked and looked and looked for it to no avail. It turned up when I was looking for a doll needle ( i didn't find the doll needle)

Size doesn't really matter when losing things, the things I am most likely to lose are tapestry needles, lighters, scissors, bear heads, bear arms and legs, sunglasses, stuffing sticks and doll needles. I lose more doll and tapestry needle than I do fine sewing or embroidery needles.

The worst sort of losing is not in fact losing per say but the putting it in the " special place where it seems totally logical". That special logical place doesn't seem so logical when looking for it. Take the case of my headphones for my phone that I listen the radio with which I put a "special logical place that i would remember" when I went to England last year, knowing I wouldn't need them there. Not sure what logic I was working on as all the logical places I can think of have no headphones in them. And there for they are "lost"

WHen looking for something look both in the logical places, but also the completely strange places. The fridge , the bathroom ( in a mad fit of bear head obsessing) , the bed side table and the pantry. ( also check the milk isn't in the wool basket, butter isn't in the sewing basket etc etc)

Socks were made to be lost and worn odd, come on they look so much cuter.

have you noticed any of these?

Happy looking and finding. ( if there is such a thing)

the slow and the quick

Quick- the final selection for my own necklaces.
Playing around with colours for the next lot of them for a few lovely people. I do love playing around with colours, it's about the only thing I miss about when I made dolls. I love how sometimes the best colours combos are the surprising one, the ones that don't quite match or go, but totally go off and look fabulous together ( does that make any sense?)

And the Slow-Head wrestling.

for me the mix of the slow and the quick is a perfect creative balance.

And since it's thursday you know what that means ...

what? Not a bear or animal?

other possible names for this post were.

"Self photography is not my forte"

"in case you hadn't realised it i don't have much in the boobies department"

ANyway, a while ago, while on Pinterest I saw these ( via this style guru), feel in love with them and became completely obsessed with them. I wanted some badly

I googled and googled crochet edging and lace patterns but could not find anything that satisfied me, everything was too complicated and not what I had wanted. what I had loved about the original on littletreasures was their simplicity.

So late after one last failed google search, I turned to an old chestnut of a needlework book and a combo of a "foundation chain" and some mucking around with trebles, double trebles and triple trebles i made a pattern up.

it all coincided perfectly as last week was a tram travel heavy week, and not much time for bear/toy stuffing and making up. After crocheting my 3 turtle body it began to feel all too much like mass production to me, so i made crocheted necklaces instead.

What I love about these is they are quick and easy , and when you a finished you are finished, all you need to do it tie them in a knot and you have an instant necklace. No weaving in ends or sewing up. And when you're done, you can wear it. It's so instant, not that i don't love making bears and animals but it's nice to get a quick fix too.

I thought perhaps you might like some too, so I thought I'd share the pattern and if you can crochet you so can make your own. Even if you are just a beginner.

A few notes before I begin though. I've used in the English crochet terms, so if you are used to reading crochet in US terms you might need to translate it.

I used 8ply yarn with a 3mm hook, partly because i like the size it can out and partly because this is the hook I feel most comfy with and crochet best with. I'm sure you could use a 4mm, or bigger yarn or a bigger hook, it's all up to your preference.

And a warning these are addictive. The more you make the more you want to make. I originally was gonna to make 3 and now I've got 5 and i think I need a sixth....

Quick Crochet Necklace

*Chain 4

do 2 double trebles in fourth chain from hook , and then a triple treble in that same fourth chain from the hook * repeat from there to there over and over until you get the length you like. then chain a few ( maybe 10) and fasten off, break yarn and tie two ends in a know put on.

Enjoy!!

and please email or comment if you have any questions, or if it doesn't make sense

Tigger or George

s the name of this little guy ( Yes Tania he's a boy- more about that soon)

Im hoping you might be able to help me decide.

While at first when I was making him i wasn't sure if he was a he, and one clever chook picked that up, whether in fact he was a she. but then as soon as I put the ears in place where they looked best, there was no doubt. BOY BOY BOY, i'm terrible aren't I?!

He's a new pattern , or really a variation of a pattern I've been mucking around with.

he's the sort of bear whose always got his paws in some sort of jar of something sweet, whether it be Nutella or Jam, or chocolate sauce , but strangely enough he's not a big fan of honey. More golden syrup type of bear. Licking the bowl when baking is another of his favourite past times.

And while he's a fairly quiet and sweet sort of bear, he does possibly the worlds loudest sneezes.

He also like making tic tac castles which you can imagine take a very long time.

SO it's strange that I know all this about but am still not sure of his name?

Tigger or George?

for more creative spaces ...

Weekend snaps

Craft Hatch,

The Art of the Brick and

a yummy lunch at Journal with a mate.

Walking and sticks with Dusty

and the beginnings of a new little wonky dude.

hope you're weekend was great and your week ahead greater.

xo

PS Ring up RRR and subscribe to Radiothon, between 9am-12 and you might get to speak to me, doing my best impersonation of the AAMI lady.

what the hell just ring up and subscribe whenever !

The beginning of a beautiful friendship

My new cons ( the Green Machines)

Happy Birthday Dad

today is my Dad's birthday so you've have to put up with me getting a little mushy over him, as if there is any dad worth getting mushy over it's my dad.

My dad is very special. He is loving, kind, sensitive and gentle. He's a great hugger and more in touch with his emotions than a lot of men I know , but not in a sissy way. In a beautifully strong fragile way. He takes on deeply the suffering in the world, he is often moved to tears by things both sad and happy.

He is wise and gives great advice, he's a great cook ( the sort of psycho cook that cooks 7 hour beef or something) loves his glass of wine, or a nice beer. But he also likes to indulge in the his Irish fry ups when mum's not around, and despite his great taste in food always eats lunch if he's in the city in the David Jones food court.

he takes an interest in my craft , which I know a lot dads/men don't and is always so lovely when talking to my friends. I'll never forget when I did my first Craft Hatch how he both dropped me off and picked up me, and then came back in the middle of the market. Just to see how I was going and show that he cared.

But as well as all the good stuff about my dad, I love so many of the funny and wicked things about my dad. Like he's the best dancer, well technically he can't dance but he doesn't care, he is so creative and inventive and gives it his all. As a kid and a teenager I was embarrassed by his dancing but now I think he's the best dancer and always want the first dance.

One of the highlights in my dad's dancing career was at a cousins weddy, my inflexible father doing his version of break dancing ending in a somersault.

It's the small things like even though he says he's not a sweet tooth, at breakfast it's more like he has toast with his jam.

He has great sense of humour ( except the bullshit part), loves animals almost as much as I do

and loves sport ( fox sports channels was made from him). It's from him I think I get my love of footy, and whenever I'm not watching it with him, I never enjoy it as much.

he has the most infuriating way of watching the most ridiculous sports like Curling, Rugby, Soccer and Pool and if I'm over there somehow getting me involved and entraced in them. I think partly he likes all my rude comments.

And golf totally and utterly obsessed with golf.

He also loves gossip and one of the things I love about him is even though he is one of the most highly educated and smartest people I know, he loves to read Womans Day and New Idea. ( he's especially into Jen, Brad, Ange, Nicole, Julia, Katie and Tom) I admit I support his habit and buy him magazines and last year bought him Brangelina for Xmas.

There is so much to love about my dad, and i feel so lucky to have him as my dad and not someone else.

Happy Birthday Dad!!! I love you to bits!!

Somethings don't change

When I was a kid, I would go through little phases. Where I was totally obsessed with things, like Spot, elephants, cats, lambs, cows whatever. Where it was just all totally about Spot, all I would draw is Spot, play with Spot, read Spot etc. Until something else entered my sphere and then it was all about them and so on and so forth.*

SOmetimes one of these obssessions would start out of thin air, but most of the time they started when I had some sort of experience of or saw pic, or heard about a certain animal.

And if I didn't have a toy whatever if was I was into at the current time, I would just make it. SOmetimes I would draw it and then cut it out and carry it round, sometimes i might staple two of my drawings together and stuffed it with scrunched up paper sometimes I might sew or make one of out of something in The Making Box.

think forward 26 or more years.
When I heard of Kate's special turtle experience in Mataranka , I couldn't get turtles out of my brain. All I could think of was turtles and how much I wanted to go there myself and have my own special turtle experience. Now Im big lover of turtles anyway ... ( oh here she goes again i hear you think) I mean I have a cat named after them and have a small collection of turtle things. But her story made my love grow double. I digress

Realising I couldn't do that for about a year busy year!) I decided to have my turtle experience right here in melbourne.

Funny how we don't really change that much at all.

*one obsession i quite clearly never moved on from was the Bear phase.

Timid Tim

Little Tim is a bit timid, he's the sort of bear that likes to spend a lot of time in his room listening to music and making up songs on his ukelele. Not that's he's stand offish, he's very loving and into hugs. He's just not super confident and takes a bit of time to come out of his shell and for one to get to know him.

His favourite foods are plumcots and gooseberry pie.

I actually never thought I would call a bear Tim, but it suits him the more than anything I could think of. And not that I didn't look for other answers, I've found a fabulous website for names but after looking through lists and lists of names, I felt he was more Tim than anything.

He's quite hard to photograph and yesterday I was ready to kill my camera as almost every photo I took didn't really look like him at all. These ones here are the best I could do, but he's does look a bit sweeter than this in real life.

Time for me to take some camera lessons I feel.

anyway I hope you are having a great start to your week.

See ya! xo

back to my old tricks

After last weeks brief foray into pink, im back in my comfortable off whites, browns, tans and dirty whites. Including a rather nutty staining the nose and muzzle six times.

But you know me, i love this stuff.

On another completely different topic it's my parents Wedding Anniversary today. They've be married 38 years today. I hope when ( and if ) I find a soul mate, I hope i have a relationship as strong, loving, passionate and companiable as theirs! Happy Anniversary Mum and Dad.

For more creative spaces ...

and another pair bites the dust

( Cons post Jess )

Three weeks ago a tragedy happened which I have not been able to write about til now.

My yellow cons died ( once were bright yellow) They were my best cons ever but then I think I say that about every pair of cons that bite the dust.

(cons pre Jess)

The worst part of this whole death of the beloved friends was I feel I had a small ( ok big part it in) Perhaps it wasn't the smartest idea to take them on a family holiday where there would be a lot of hiking - " there aren't your only pair of hiking shoes are they?" Somehow I don't think my mary janes would have been better.

But to be honest they were on their way out ( even though they had acquired the perfect look) with their heals worn to the degree that on a rainy day I might get a refreshing little foot path, or a stray pebble.

Despite this however they did me proud hiking I didn't slip or fall once. Until the last day.

I was babysitting and in a effort to get a very tired baby to sleep, put him the papoose and off we went. The rhthym of walking worked like a charm and the little dude soon slipped off to sleep.

All was going smoothly until I came to a muddy watery bit, and what I thought was a solid bit of mud indeed wasn't and said shoes were enveloped in mud. ( think quick sand) Luckily i didn't fall or anything, but since the precious parcel was fast asleep ( and had not been sleeiping) on I walking for another 45 mins in the most revolting muddy squilcy shoes.

I knew pretty much then they were gone, but the next day I rather optimistically tried to put them on. The mud had hardened, they had slightly skrunk(?) and no longer felt like my second skin.

When it was time to pack and go, i was faced with the fact i should really throw them out, as they were a shadow of their former dirty yellow selves. but the thought of throwing them out upset me too.

Luckily a family friend on the trip with us, saw them and asked if she could use them in her art.

SO it is a sad happy story as my dear old yellow babies, now with a new purpose in life.