Winner?

Due to crazy Me, the winner will be announced later today...

So there is still a chance to get your tips in to go in the draw. Let your friends know.

Happy Stitching

 Amanda

Organizing Give Away Time...

 

How many of us have the same dilemma when it comes to craft areas and keeping them tidy or organized. You might be really blessed and have your own room like I do or you might just have a corner or nook in a room that is shared by the rest of the household.

Whatever your craft space size, we all face the same problem…keeping it tidy. I apologize right up front to those sewing sisters who are super organized and never have a thing out of place (if anyone like that really exists) this might not be the blog post for you and you might find it all very boring…

This post is really for those women who are like me and struggle to keep things in order (especially when in the middle of a project). I find inspiration online and because I am a visual person I love Pinterest and the endless pictures of tidy craft rooms and inspirational ideas of how to store my craft stuff.

Of course the dilemma is HOW to take the inspiration I see on Pinterest and use it in my craft area.  Being organized is an art I think…some people are good at it and others like me struggle and barely get by.

I am hoping with the New Year many people like me are inspired to get it all sorted so that you can craft away till your hearts content.

To help you along I have a little give away…

 

Book of Organization: The Art of Creating Order

Where Women Create: Book of Organization--the third in the Where Women Create series, published in association with the wildly popular magazine of the same name--is the essential guide to getting the most out of your creative workspace.  In 176 eye-catching and photograph-filled pages, it offers storage ideas, tips, tricks, and dos and don'ts for organizing over 10 types of crafts studios. Profiles showcase more than 25 artistic, inspirational women and delve into their organization style and techniques. The featured crafts include paper, fabric, jewelry, journaling, mixed media, and needlework.

An Inspirational book that just might be the thing that might help you kick a goal when it comes to organizing your craft area. This of course could apply to any craft, whether it is sewing or scrap booking, jewelry making or knitting. There are so many crafts out there and sometimes (if you are like me) you can have a habit of dabbling in a few and then end up with a hoard of craft stuff.

My inspiration this year has been the fact I am moving rooms, DS14 has moved into a larger room in the house and freed up a good sized room that I have claimed.

 Moving my craft stuff up into the house instead of the rumpus area out the back of the house has meant a few things for me. Hard work moving everything is probably the negative side but there are far more positives.

Being in the house means when the weather has extremes I am in the main house which has heating and air conditioning and therefore makes the sewing room more pleasant all year round. Which in turn means I am more apt to go into my sewing room and sew away.

And of course when you have to move everything it is the perfect opportunity to reassess how functional the craft room will be and how can I make it better organized.

I wonder if you too need a bit of a make over for your craft area, What is your inspiration?

To go in for the draw of the book just leave a comment below with your best organizational tip.

 On Australia Day, Jan 26^th at 6pm Brisbane time (GMT+10) I will choose the best tip and post on here, who that winner is and of course what the tip is.

Come on Ladies get your thinking caps on and post those tips.

Happy Crafting

Amanda

Slow Cooked Beef Curry

 Whilst I am not able to sew until I finish moving my sewing room, I thought I would share some of my recipes that are yummy...

Enjoy!

Slow Cooked Beef Curry.
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time:  8 hours slow cook
Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:
1kg cubed casserole beef
2 brown onions, thickly sliced
2 tbsp ground Cumin
2 tbsp ground Coriander
2 tbsp Garam Marsala
2 tsp Sweet Paprika
1/2 tsp ground Turmeric

2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
1/2 cauliflower, cut into florets (frozen if fresh unavailable)
6 carrots, peeled, thickly sliced 
1 cup chopped beans (frozen)
1 tin coconut cream 
fresh coriander

Salt to taste.

Instructions:

• Put cubed beef in slow cooker.
• Add spices to the beef, rub into beef with bare hands (washed of course).

• Add onion, Carrot, tinned tomatoes and coconut cream.
• Mix with a spoon.
• Cook on 'Low' heat for 6-8 hours in the slow cooker

2 Hours before serving:

• Add cauliflower and beans.

·       Serve on a bed of steaming Basmati rice and garnish with the fresh coriander, and sour cream if desired.

 Notes:
I have seen similar versions to this but I prefer to add everything to the slow cooker and let it do all the hard work.

Bon Appetit !

Six Long Months

Well Blog friends (if I have any left) it has been a long six months since I posted last, what a bad girl I am…

Life has been very busy and I have battled a few health issues, some remain ongoing. But shock Horror I have managed to get some sewing done in the last couple of weeks. I had a lovely day @Khristina’s having a Christmas party sew-in with a couple of the local CRAFT group girls. We each made a lovely Star Trivet from “The Bronze Wombat” Blog it was fun and I managed finishing off the binding at home. I was so inspired that I made a cute pink one for my friend Kate…

What else has been going on here? Well we added a new fur baby to our family…

His Name is Phoenix and we adopted him from the RSPCA at one of the local adoption sites throughout our area. He is such a delight and I think Charlie is finally getting used to him. They groom each other (mostly Phoenix does the grooming) and spend time running round the house playing chasey.

My sewing room has often felt like a Ghost Town because I just have not had the gumption to get in there and sew…it has not helped that it is one of those rooms that feel the heat and the cold and is not a place you really want to be. That will be changing in the New Year though, we will have our large room at the back of the house back when our DD2’s best friend moves out into another friends house. Long story short, she could not live with her family due to some serious issues with one of the family members, 3 years later she is moving out. Don’t get me wrong we have loved having her here; we have given her a home to live in because we believed she would have ended up in dire straights otherwise. And it seems to have made a difference in her life. No she still cannot move “Home” but is working on those relationships.

So having said all that we are having a big move around, DS14 is moving into that room with his many electrical devices (Xbox, Computer etc) and I will be moving my sewing room up into his old room in the house. It will be cooler in summer (air con) and warmer in winter so I might be inspired to sew something. Keep your eyes peeled for future posts.

We have just celebrated Christmas and are heading into the New Year…what will it bring, I wonder. I pray it brings peace and joy for us and for all the readers out there.

In keeping with the New Year and hope for the future I will be posting a competition in the beginning of January so keep checking back to get a chance to go in the draw.

Well I have said enough for now…

Happy Stitching

Amanda

A Reply

I have meant to reply to a comment posted after one of my Blog posts about my dietary changes but of course have been too ill and distracted… so here goes

“Thank you for sharing what you are going through, your diet change, and what it is~ I am also trying to lose weight, and it has been next to impossible. I don't have any digestive issues...just can't seem to lose. I've gone from vegetarian, to vegan to raw to juicing to raw and juicing and I've decided I need to eat a small amount of protein, some veggies and a little fruit and some oils. That is it. Sounds almost like what you are doing. Anyways, it was interesting to read what you are dealing with”.

Thanks Cathy, it sounds like you are on a journey just as I am...I hope you find the right combination for you that will help kick start your weight loss. I do know that the key ingredient in any weight loss regime is exercise, bah, very sad but true. Unfortunately my exercise regime gets forgotten or is just too hard some days...I am working on it though.

I am a firm believer that weight loss starts in your mind, if you are not in the right frame of mind or distracted then it becomes a real battle, having the right frame of mind at the time is a major help when making choices about exercise and food.

I also believe it makes it easier if you are able to forgive yourself when you fall off the wagon so to speak…when I eat that chocolate or drink that full milk Latte with vanilla flavor (not that I can drink full fat milk anymore), I have to remember that it was just once and I should not throw out the entire diet and exercise regime just because I failed once. My trouble is I feel guilt about it and let it change my mindset about how I am doing. Guilt is the enemy of the mind when it comes to weight loss.

I have to say to my self OK you blew it today but tomorrow is another day and I can start again.

Weight loss only gets harder the older you get sadly, so I hope those who are on any kind of weight loss journey will take my advice and be kind to yourself, forgive yourself when you fall off the wagon and jump back on.

Happy Weight loss

Amanda

Long Time No See

A Busy time…

Well don’t fall off your rockers folks here I am blogging again for the first time in 2 months. Life has been indeed busy and I have had a lot of sickness to contend with hence my absence from my blog.

Now I don’t promise this is going to be any great read, but I do promise it will be a bit of a catch up on the last 2 months.

Sickness and Battles…

After the great start to my elimination diet it all had to go by the wayside due to having to have tests that required me to go back on a “regular” diet. Not long after that I ended up in surgery so I have spent a while recovering from that and trying to find out the cause of certain illness.

No great shock it is age related (pooh) and I have to investigate a path of treatment that suits me, I would much rather that then just blindly follow what the GP says is OK…says HE a male Doctor who does not have to suffer what we women must go through at a certain time of life.

We had a new fence erected and the gardens were "simplified" here are some before and after shots of the work...can you see a difference?

Our Yard was tidied up and a new fence erected.

Happier Times…

Well after not doing much sewing at all this year I finally got my house blocks done for the house block swap I have been doing with our online CRAFT group.

I thought I was going to die before I could get them done, but Praise God they are done and handed in. now just waiting on the others to come back to me and then onwards with putting it all together.

I tidied my sewing room and actually got a top finished for my DD who has been waiting for 7 months for me to put together something with the fabrics I bought for her at the craft fair in October last year.  I bought the Ghastlies fabric and managed to get some yardage for the backing from the States. I just have to sandwich it together quilt it and bind it and she will be happier.

I seem to have lost my Mojo again, I am just tired all the time and not really motivated to get into the sewing room. That will change I have no doubt….

I Recently found an old Genoa Lounge in an op shop and was so happy when I got to bring it home and call it mine. Hubby and I have longed for one of these little beauties most of our married life and yippee we got one…it is not too shabby and will be re-covered in the next year. So now my love for all things 1930-1940’s comes back to life.

Maybe I just yearn for the simpler life of 1940”s yes we were a world at war but the amazing people and the things they did to “make do” is really inspiring…

Alright this is becoming a novel and I need to rest…so Hopefully in the near future you will see some more posts about the sewing I am doing (hoping) and even the decorating I am doing in the lounge to match a 1940’s style.

Happy stitching

Amanda

Some Sewing

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Don’t fall off your chair, or sofa, or bed or wherever you are reading this blog from…But I actually did some sewing for the first time in a long time, I must be feeling a bit better.

I got in and sewed up a couple of house blocks for the swap I am in,  I need to finish them by the end of this month, is there hope of that happening? Always…

I started out with paper piecing but that was too time consuming because it required my brain to be engaged and think about what I was doing…so what am I saying exactly? Well For ME (not saying this is so for anyone else) I need a lot of brain power to do the paper piecing so I don’t have to constantly “Reverse Stitch” and re-stitch a piece. I decided to do the much easier task of wonky houses…can you see the way I think? By doing wonky houses it does not matter if things are even or lined up properly, as long as they look like a house and they measure out right by the end…no problems.

I am hoping to get a bunch of them done this weekend, but we will see how I feel…

How about you? Are you sewing anything nice, do you have a project you would like to share?

Happy stitching

Amanda