Christmas

My writing in the later part of last year pretty much went to hell.  I had so much going on.  I barely made it to the gym even which is weird for me. This was me and my friend Robert leaving work on Christmas Eve as I went on well needed leave until January 8.

 

Randomly the only thing I was on top of was Christmas.  I eased into the season this year with a relaxed mind and a happy heart.  I can’t remember the last time that happened.

Christmas Eve looked like this in our house.

Under that tree is, of course, the handmade gifts are under there also.  I was pretty proud of them this year 🙂

Oldest daughter is going through her hippy phase and wanted something pretty, feminine and also maybe something to do with nature.  I found the bit of drift wood when out walking along the beach way back in July or August and had it tucked away.

She was super excited when she opened it and we had to hang it that day 🙂

Our youngest daughter is extremely into 21 Pilots so I made her this:

Middle daughter is going through a painful stage and I have absolutely no idea what to make for her this year so she got this:

Boys are always hard to make stuff for so after and entire year of having no idea what to do this time our son got these to go with his new home.

Then there was my lovely daughter in law and awesome trainer.

I made them fairy jars only they went COMPLETELY wrong and you couldn’t see through them in the slightest.  I was so disappointed! Rather than sit down and cry I added some pretties to them, stuck a couple of candles in them an voila, we have hanging candle lanterns.

I will be trying that fairy lantern idea again at some stage in 2018.

So that is my crafting round-up for Christmas.  Hope everyone had a fantastic break.

Ka Kete Ano xxx

 

 

A month without a post

Goodness! A whole month has passed since my last personal crafty post.  Have I been sitting on my laurels? Pretty much lol 😉 Yea I have not been tremendiously productive but I have done a ton of knitting.

I have nearly made my second bunny.  Just need to get my act together and sew and stuff 🙂

I finally started my first ever jersey.  I have only had the wool about 18 months.  I have finished the back 🙂

I picked up the stripey strip for my knitted blanket.  Its probably been a year since the last time I picked this one up BUT I have been putting some serious time into it and have knitted probably 11 stripes in the past week.

AND I got out my diamond painting again 🙂 Not a huge amount done, but a little 🙂

And I got a row done on my cross stitch

Not an epic month for crafty stuff but at least we are still moving forward.

Oh dear, Christmas is coming.  I’m gunna need to get me shit together and start the presents if I don’t want to end in mad panic.

Ka Kete Ano xx

 

Crafty Bitches July 2017

With September only 2 days away I thought I had better get this posted.

July’s evening was at Jamie & Ricki’s place.  The dinner theme was Syria which turns out to be a lot like Egyptian but slightly different. It was delicious and mum made homemade pita’s.

Ricki’s make for the month was Mulled Wine ala Jamie Oliver http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/recipe/jamie-s-mulled-wine/ I suggest keeping this recipe somewhere safe because it’s a good one 😉

She also got started on her Diamond Painting. Apparently her and Mel have figured out its going to take about 8 years to finish.

Ana & Craig couldn’t make it so it was just us Lunam’s in residence.  Mel made her world-famous Kiwifruit Jam which I am sure she will be pleased to know that mine wandered past being eaten with a spoon by my daughter the next morning.

And I made this

My mosaic was too close together so I ran out of bits and stole some different ones from my daughter. At least it looks like it was supposed to look like this.

Other Mel phoned her’s in and was once more incredibly prolific in her stitching.

After dinner we adjourned to the new outdoor bush entertainment area.  As it’s the middle of winter I had to borrow pants and a jacket.  We got the music humming and lit the fire pit and generally had a fabulous remainder of our evening.

You can’t bet an evening with good food, wine (when you aren’t doing Dry July and aren’t the sober driver), family, loads of laughter and several chihuahua’s

Ka Kete Ano xx

Where Did That 3 Weeks Go?

Wow! Its been 3 weeks since my last crafty update.  Whoops! My bad.

Its been a little hectic here, but then when isn’t it.  All we seem to do is dash about getting older, and boy do I feel old lately.  My legs been taped up for the past 5 weeks.  I’m still not allowed to run and I have now been banned from climbing that big hill in my back yard.  There has been minimal improvement lately so if none has occurred over the next week my physio is bringing out the big guns and getting his boss to have a look.  He’s getting concerned that there might be something major going on that he’s missed seeing acupuncture, massage and rest have had no effect.  Here’s the thing, I’m not a sook and I push through pain so we really are starting to wonder what the heck I’ve done to myself.  Oh well.  At least its winter so I’m not missing out on the fun summer stuff 😀 Always a bright side right 😀

Crafty wise I have been right into my knitting.  Last night was the first night in a week that I haven’t knitted.  I’ve managed a few squared for the Patchwork blanket 🙂

Garter Stitch Square

Moss Zigzag Square

That one has a minor hiccup where I apparently zagged when I should have zigged but I didn’t notice till I had cast off.  On to the ‘re-do’ pile it will go 🙂

Moss Stitch Square

I then put the needles down for a few days and did a little cross stitching on Warm My Heart.

Only 1,500 stitches achieved over the past 3 weeks thanks to knitting bug.

So then I went back to knitting and made myself a wee hat 🙂 Now, bear in mind that I have only achieved one completed knitting project so far which is my bunny from a few weeks ago.  I am super chuffed with this even though it’s probably more kid sized and I don’t suit hats.  Going to have another go in a few weeks and make one a smidge bigger so I can get my ponytail in it 😀

Then this past weekend I suddenly realised that I had yet to complete this months craft for next Saturday.  As it was too late to start something new I dug out an old mosaic kit that I started around 4 years ago and had a play with it.  Wouldn’t you know it, kit didn’t come with enough bits! So I go creative and stole some from Natalies that I bought at the same time.  As that was 4 years ago I doubt she will miss them 😀

I kinda like this and now have a wee idea that I might like to make hearts for above all the doorways in the house as I have a wooden one that is already insitue that my cousin made 🙂 Might just add a little quirk to my world 😉

Then I went back to knitting and started on my first ever jersey. After a week I have nearly finished the back and I am rather proud of myself 🙂 I had to un-stitch a couple of times because of errors but it has been rather easy.  Mind your it’s just a stocking stitch so not super complicated but I am about halfway up the Raglan sleeve hole bits which has been a bit of a learn.

Its a yoga jersey and will have a hood for which the instructions kind of scare me but I am determined lol 🙂

The wool is a joy to work with.  A Cashmere and Marino blend and the colour is a sort of dusty sea-foam.  I can’t wait to wear this but I am picking it will not be finished till next winter.  I am going to finish the back this week and them go on to my stripey blanket which is yodeling from the basket at me and has been neglected for too long.  I also need to get my second bunny both started and finished.  Anyone know where I could find an extra 4 – 5 hours each day hahaha 😉

Ka Kete Ano xx

 

When You’re Busy Busy But Not Busy Crafting

We’ve been super busy in the Semmens household recently.  We’ve been out way more than we’ve been in, and when we have been in we’ve had visitors everywhere 🙂 This is a good thing! I introvert way too easily and too often so this has gotten me out of my comfort zone and made my husband happy. We’ve been for walks and runs and visits and had people over for dinner and drinks and games of pool and made stairs in the bush and . . .

I fear I haven’t picked up a needle in 2 weeks and chances are rather high that I won’t this week either lol We are out to dinner Friday night and have a party to go to Saturday night but who knows.  The weathers supposed to be bollocks so we will be in the house the rest of the time.  Plenty of crafting opportunities  then 🙂

That doesn’t mean that I have done nothing, just that I haven’t done a lot.  I’ve managed to get 2 squares done for my patchwork blanket!

Double Moss Stitch Square

This one came together quite nicely 🙂 Knitted up in an evening.  No restarts and no dramas.

Checkerboard Square

I hate this one! and please don’t look at it closely.  It was re-started 4 F@#$%^G times!!!! and I should have restarted it again cept I’m pretty sure they would have put me in one of those jackets that let you hug yourself in one of those rooms with the squishy walls if I did.  I have no idea why this one had a hate on for me because I have certainly done more complicated works but I just couldn’t get it to work.  It took me a week to get 50 rows done which the most ridiculous thing ever! GRRRRRRR!

One day I will attempt to redo this square . . . one day before I sew the blanket together . . . today is not that day.

Not only but also I made this.  It’s a bit shit, somebody described it as ‘looks like a monkeys penis, and looks way better from a distance (So I made a smaller picture) but, hey, you live you learn 🙂

Finally to round things up, this isn’t crafty but I love the way the light is reflecting so I’m putting it in here to end the month with 😉

So to sum it all up, I have been as lazy af lately but what the heck.  Tomorrow is another day . . . oh that’s right, its July even and this year I am once again going sober for the month to raise money for people living with cancer 🙂 The money raised through this campaign goes towards upgrades in the chemo centres as well as other areas.  It pays for the free wifi and the non-government-issue comfy chairs that the patients can be in for several hours at a time, books and magazines, morning and afternoon teas etc. and that’s only the beginning.  Such a worthy cause that is often overlooked by the other fundraising drives that you see and, trust me, one that my liver thanks me for every time that I do this.  So far over the 3 years I have participated I have raised around $600 myself and look forward to contributing more again this year.  Please feel free to sponsor my Dry July – http://www.dryjuly.co.nz/users/toni-semmens

Ka kete ano xx

 

 

Love A Good Craft Store Sale

This week went a little better than the past couple regarding pretty much everything.  Last Monday was a bank holiday here in little ole NZ and it was miserable as far as the weather was concerned.  My darling husband ended up downstairs for the afternoon with our neighbour playing pool and calling each other rude names.  This left me unchaperoned upstairs with the movie channel, fire, furry fat friends and my cross stitch.  That combined with yesterdays effort has resulted in some good progress on Warm My Heart and a page finish 🙂

Wednesday night saw me wander downstairs with my knitting while my husband was watching the Lions test.  I was hoping to knit up a bobble square for the patchwork blanket but I didn’t get that far along before I needed to find my bed.  The next night saw 2 more rows before unravelling the whole thing and starting again.  2 rows of bobbles done and I spot a mistake further back that means another total unravel so I threw it in the corner for the night.  Friday night saw 2 rows of bobbles and I ran out of puff so it was bedtime. Saturday I spotted a mistake 2 rows back that meant a minor unravel.  Sunday saw to more minor unravels and FINALLY a completed square.  I now officially hate bobble squares!

There are still way to many mistakes in that square but I just needed to accept this and walk away.

Friday I checked our bank account and got a lovely surprise of an unexpected dividend payout.  Rather than be completely practical and pay bills then put the rest in savings I took myself off to the craft store to kit up an idea that I have had scratching at my brain for the past few weeks.

I have a Storykeep Selina Fenech cross stitch chart that I think might make a pretty cool floor rug.

I must have looked a little mad running around the knitting section at Spotlight.  I got the skeins of DMC that the chart called for and ran around colour matching with balls of wool.  This lead to loads of talking to myself and running around in circles pushing my basket with my toes as my hands were full of chart, skeins and wooly balls.  It took forever but I think I am happy with the choices.

I have no idea how many ‘stitches’ I am going to get per ball of wool so went with 1000 per ball and am hoping for the best.

I love that the rug canvas comes in 10 x 10 squares.  This is going to make life so much easier with the ‘stitch’ counting.

Of course I then couldn’t wait and just had to have a go 😀

Its going to be interesting as the balls are all different textures.  I have either made a huge error in judgement or something that is going to be texturely sumptuous 😀 Only time will tell.

Its going to end up 0.5 x 2 metres in size so it may take me a week or 2 😉

Ka Kete Ano xx

 

Where Does The Time Go

We are flat-out at work, right smack bang in the middle of one of the busiest seasons I have seen. That’s great for business but not so great for crafty achievements.  There has been some progress but not nearly as much as I would have liked to get done.

I finished my mat 😀 This was a bit of a mad panic as it was my monthly crafting achievement and it nearly came down to the wire.  If I hadn’t gotten that tummy bug a couple of weeks ago I am pretty sure it would have been my first month without a craft finish.

As you can tell, I had a wee helper in my endeavours.  He accidentally got poked a couple of times with the hooky thing but it didn’t seem to phase him.

We call it the ugly rug.

It’s definitely not the prettiest thing that I have ever achieved but it has given me a fantastic idea for another one.  I just need to get a long bit of matting and some wool and I will be off 😀

After the tummy bug finished its 3 day vacation in my body and I could finally do something that required thinking again I managed to get a bit further along on my cross stitch, although this has not been of epic proportions.  Any progress is good progress right 🙂

And that’s about it really.  I did purchase a couple of new patterns as they had a 50% off flash sale over at Heaven & Earth Designs.

The first one, Frozen, will be for my daughter.  As I have already done one for her this is not going to be high on my priority list and I have told her she may get it by the time she is 50 if she’s lucky.

The second, Lest We Forget, I may do in diamond painting.  The long-term goal for this one is to get it framed up with my Grandfathers and Great Grandfathers war medals.

The third, Mint & Roses, I just thought was really cute 😀

So that’s pretty much me for this week.

Ka Kete Ano xxx

 

Crafty Bitches May 2017

Well April turned into a bit a fizzer.  Half the team was on vacation in Venice and the other half was off babysitting the first couples chickens and chihuahua’s.  That along with great flooding across the nation cause the Crafty Bitches to pretend we didn’t have an April.

The May one went much better

We have decided due to this ‘show and tell’ event turning into a drinking session every time that it would be better for all if we make it a pot luck dinner.  This was an excellent idea and nobody had to sneak through a drive through on the way home or try to not burn the house down making toasted sandwiches at 10.30 at night.

The crafts were an interesting variety once again. Ana repurposed some toilet rolls into something very un-toilet rolly and fabulous.

I don’t know about y’all but I’m impressed 🙂

Ana’s mother-in-law presented her knitted bed socks, a pair of slippers and a blanket.  Very busy with the needles she has been.  She tells us that the socks and slippers are all ‘one size fits all’ and she sells the blankets for $60 NZD if anyone is keen.

Mel revisited her childhood and make bookmark using lamination (They used to use clear plastics over greeting cards), hole punches and crochet.  Very cool way of repurposing stuff.

Our lovely Ricki finished her long term quilting and stitching project.  The stitching on this beautiful.  It had a minor wardrobe malfunction in that it had a pocket which is now on the inside against the padding.  If she hadn’t told us we would never have known.

Then there was me 🙂 I bought my bunny from last month because I was proud of him even if his arms are on upside down.  I also bought my finished ugly mat which was this months project 🙂

Amy and Other Mel both phoned in theirs this month.  Amy continued her cross stitch and Other Mel continued with her rotation.

Amy

Other Mel

Because the dinner idea was a success we are going to make it regular and are giving it a twist.  We are going to cook our way around the world and each meeting will have a different country for the dinner theme.  June will be Egypt 🙂  See you then xxx

All Rugged Up

Not a massive amount to share from last week. I came down with rather a nasty tummy bug so there wasn’t much stitching in my world .  I sat with my rug and between bathroom runs and bucket breaks I worked on it.  Got through 3 seasons of Game of Thrones though so yay 😀

My rug is awfully close to being finished now and I am hopeful that this week will see it out 🙂

Its kinda ugly but I have learnt a lot and am keen to try again 🙂 I even have a cunning plan that I am in the process of sorting out where I might have a go at rugging up one of the HAED storykeeps but I will have to wait a little for this 🙂  You know how it is, if it wasn’t for the moths then my wallet would be empty lol 😉

I did manage to get a little stitching done late Saturday and on Sunday 🙂

The weather was extremely chilly so this was happening, which is a good excuse for a ‘do nothing’ day 🙂

Ka kete ano xxx

 

Whoops I Missed A Week

The busy season is back again.  Jolly old winter rocked up last week and I am now running from one end of the country to the other quoting.  This has meant that not nearly as much ‘me’ time as usual as its mostly ‘clean up after dinner and blob out on the couch till someone wakes me up for bedtime’ moments.

Can’t complain though 🙂 It keeps me employed and that pays for the couch that I nap on 🙂

That’s not saying that I have done nothing of course.  Tash and kids has been framed and gifted.  So happy with the way that it came out.  Tash loved it 🙂

Because this is now completed I have managed to make good headway on Warm My Heart.  I really do love this one.  It’s such a dream to stitch 🙂

Not quite sure how that one photo ended upside down but oh well hahaha

Also, because I’m once again relaxed and not over focused on one project I have gotten the diamond painting out again and made some good progress.  Mind you, this is helped by it being winter and I tend to do it in the morning when darling husband is catching up on the previous nights rugby 🙂 Turns out the little diamond thingies reflect light really well so you can’t actually see what you are doing if you need to turn a light bulb on.  Better to do it in natural sunlight 🙂

Faster than cross stitch but still a slow process 🙂

Well that has been the grand total of all my endeavours in the past 2 weeks.

Ka Kete Ano