double decker red

The title of this post is the name of the nail polish I just applied! It’s quite something, don’t you think? After a blindingly terrible weekend, I felt a little self-indulgence in the form of a self-mani was completely in order.

Last week I posted a give away where readers could enter for the chance to win this adorable kids scarf.

We had a few entries and the lucky winner this time was Caitlyn! Congrats Caitlyn : ) I’ll be in touch soon about delivering your prize.

Also, two lucky ladies snagged a ticket to my anniversary blog event on the 14th of July! Anne and Amy will be sent a ticket that includes the details of the mystery location! It’s all happening!

Next weekend I won’t be posting my usual weekly post because of two exciting things:
First, on Saturday: I’ll be participating (through work) in the Design Industry’s BrisbaneInDesign festival. It will be a couple of days filled with rad showroom events and massively cool product.
Second, on Sunday: I’ll be leaving for a two-week holiday in Tasmania! I’m so badly looking forward to this – relaxation is required!

So sadly, next week will be a little quiet around here. But rest assured that there will be some very beautiful shots being posted when I return. If you are on twitter or Instagram, I’ll be posting holiday pics now and then. Follow me!

Twitter: @stitchlyrical
Instagram: @luckysairs

Until next time, find a way to relax and look after yourself : ) x

the kids are alright

Good morning! And if it’s applicable to you, Happy Mothers’ Day!

There’s heaps to get through today so let’s get started!

FIRST: A KID’S GIVE AWAY : )
Today is the day when we have the first stitching lyrical give away for 2012! Hooray! This give away is for the little ones! The first for kids that I’ve hosted on this blog. YOU could win this beautiful hand-knitted scarf for your little one. The scarf was knitted with love by my very own Mum.

We can’t remember what the yarn is, but it’s really really soft and quite spongy. It’s about 80cm long and about 10cm wide. The perfect size for a little munchkin!

To win your little someone this mega-adorable mini-scarf, all you have to do is leave a comment below telling me which little person you would give this to if you won it. That’s it! Easy-squeezy.

If you haven’t subscribed to stitching lyrical yet, and you want an extra chance to win – type your email address in the subscribe panel to the right of the page and you’ll get an extra entry! Existing subscribers will automatically get two entries.
The entries (including comments and subscriptions) will be numbered and drawn randomly using www.random.org on Saturday 19th May at 7pm.

So that’s it!……. Or is it!!
No! There’s more!

If you would like to nab a ticket to my stitching lyrical blog event on July 14th, entering this give away could win you one! If you want to be in the running for a ticket, just tell me so in your give away entry comment. There are five tix to be won this round and they will be handed out to five lucky commenters. So get typing!

Everyone please be sure to include your email address in your comment so that I can contact you if you win the scarf or a ticket or both! No email, no prize!

And one last thing before I go. If you’re wandering around the internetz on Friday (18th), amble past this great blog I know called Suger Coat It. I’ll be guest starring over there in Suger’s regular Friends of Suger style post – talking about what I wear! Eep!

If you click either of the pretty pictures below, you’ll be taken to Suger’s site. While you’re there, you should look around! She’s incredible.

I hope you’re having a lovely day today – OUTSIDE. Because this weather is drop dead amazing. I’m dining with loved ones for every meal today. But right now I’m going to take a bit of time for myself and go and sit in the sun and read a book. Much love and see you next week : )

P.S. GET COMMENTING

a photo a day: my april

Just like my February post, today I’ll be sharing my photos from April. Every second month, I take a photo every single day, following a list set up by FatMumSlim.

So reading from left to right, top to bottom, let’s begin!!

1 – Reflection
2 – Colour (my bright orange chair)
3 – Mail (we’ve been living here for over a year & we’re still getting other people’s mail!)
4 – Someone who makes you happy (I am in charge of my happiness!)

5 – Tiny (a tiny little doggie! SIL’s sausage dog Chelsea)
6 – Lunch (freshly baked quiche to feed to the man & his bro & dad who were putting up our big new shed!)
7 – Shadow
8 – Inside my Wallet (I’ve had this wallet for 3 years. It’s my ultimate all time fave.)

9 – A Younger Me (grade 1 in Central QLD)
10 – Cold (I’m so excited to go to freezing Tassie in May when it will be even colder!! #ilovewinter)
11 – Where you ate breakfast (Buzz cafe brekky with Mum the morning after book club)
12 – Stairs (the wall graphic I designed for a stairwell in a heritage listed building)

13 – Something I found (I got into the car the other day & found a bunch of hard hats on the passenger seat… #miningman)
14 – How I feel today (courtesy of cute fridge magnets made for me by my awesome friend K)
15 – Sunset (this is what we served up at sunset for dins. Lamb shanks & winter veges with pasta)
16 – Flower (the garden behind my bus stop is really sweet)

17 – Something I don’t like (when the thread winds out of the eye of the needle & I have to re-thread!!)
18 – Hair (there are hardly any photos of me with my current very-short-haircut!)
19 – Orange (the clay ducks with orange feathers that sit on top of the serving window)
20 – Something I drew (I drew this at the Matisse drawings exhibition earlier this year)

21 – Bottle (these are my timber bottle men from Zuster)
22 – The last thing I bought (hair product for my super short ‘do!)
23 – Vegetable (I had just harvested these GIANT beans from our vege patch)
24 – Something I’m grateful for (our house and the love in it)

25 – Looking down (looking down at my quilting project)
26 – Black & white (newest musical purchase – excited!)
27 – Somewhere I went (love these markets!!)
28 – 1pm (GIANT pots of soup at Hakataya Noodle for lunch!)

29 – Circle (a large mug of peppermint tea that I shared with the man of the house)
30 – Something that makes you sad (when cake disappears)
The last two are my best drawings from Draw Something (an addictive but crazily fun game app on the the iphone). Can you guess what they are!?

There you have it – that was my April in photos. I have such a great time doing these. I can’t wait to do June’s one because for part of it I’ll be in Tasmania. Pretty excited about that!

Next week I’ll be hosting a give away!! So get excited! I’ll give you a hint: it’s handmade and it’s for kids! Also stay tuned for next week’s post because there will be info on how to snag some tix to my stitching lyrical blog event in July. It’s gonna be behemoth.

Until then have a great week and stay warm! xx

anniversary

Without realising it, I let the anniversary of this blog pass me by! It was on the 2nd of April! I have been blogging on stitching lyrical for a whole year. What a milestone!

And I’d like to celebrate! So I’ve decided that I will try to host my first blog event. Blogs are so great because they connect people with similar interests and passions. So to mark the first year of this handmade blog, I’m going to host a handmade event. Here’s what I’m thinking:

when & where
The event will be on Saturday the 14th of July at a mystery location. Time will be confirmed closer to the date.

cost
There will only be a limited number of tickets. But here’s the best bit: the tickets will be totally free. NO cost for tickets! Between now and the event I’ll be posting information posts about specific ways in which people can nab some tickets. Cost on the day will just be for whatever food and drink you’d like to purchase (the venue will be one from which you can buy coffees & delights).

goody bags!
Every person who attends will receive a goody bag full of handmade-related delights and trinkets. Included in these goody bags will be a little kit for a tiny handmade project which will be easy but impressive.

what
The event will involve some tasty treats, some hot beverages, chatting and making the little handmade project in the goody bags. My favourite things!!

So that ‘s that! How exciting is this! I’ll be very busy from now on organising the event as well as living my normal hectic life but I can’t wait to get started! Stay tuned for the information posts on how to snag some tickets! : ) x

finish that damn quilt

This is what part of my Sunday afternoon looked like today. And this

It’s some work I was doing today on a quilt I’ve been making for about probably 5 years. It’s a log cabin quilt! And log cabins don’t get constructed over night! (I do realise it doesn’t take 5 years either, but that’s life pal). Here’s a little snap of a single completed block.

I started out stitching all the strips together by hand. It took a long time but my main reason for doing it by hand was that I wanted to have a quilt that I had made in the old style. Like before electricity. But after 15 blocks stitched by hand, I thought that it was taking too long and I actually DO have electricity. And I like it.

So today I started stitching blocks on the machine. I did three blocks in about 40mins. I feel a bit sad about not sticking to my original conviction but I can’t wait to see it finished! I’ve got 18 blocks now & I think I’ll need 81. Hello sewing machine. You’re my new best friend. Here is a pic that shows what it will look like when it’s put together. (think this kind of thing but a lot lot more of them)

I’m going to put a black border around it & it’s going to be our bed quilt. I’m pretty excited to have found a renewed zealousness for this quilt. I’ll keep you updated on my progress with this, my first log cabin quilt!

Also this afternoon I made mini Banoffee Pies because I felt like it. Banoffee pies are my total fave dessert but this was my first attempt at making them. They were pretty good but definitely need a few more tries I think. To improve my skill & the recipe of course!

Next week is the April meeting of my CWA group so get excited about reading up on that! This month we’ll be learning How to Prepare a High Tea. I think I can safely say it’ll be off the hook.

Until then I’ll be eagerly seeking out every opportunity to sleep as long as possible. Hope you get to relax too : ) x

further from the sun

I love Winter!

Don’t scoff. You’re either with me or against me. And you know which. There’s no grey in this debate!

There are Summer people and Winter people and I am a winter person through and through. The people who I work with are 95% summer people. The people in my family are probably 50/50. Whether you’re a hottie or a coldie, this post will now proceed to love all over Winter and its many many benefits (in my humble opinion).

Here is a list I have compiled of some aspects of life which are enhanced, nay, owned by Winter.

Bed

Bed is 4000% comfier in Winter and so is sleep. I could basically just put a QED right now based on this point alone but I will continue to sing this season’s praises.
Reluctance to get out of bed in the morning felt by everyone during Winter is because sleeping in the cold under a nice thick doona all toasty warm is so so delicious. I am never able to sleep well on humid summer nights. Like that time I went to sleep in summer and there was a mosquito in the room all night – I think you can guess what happened. Unpleasant.
Just think of your comfy bed right now and how amazing it is to sink under a sea of soft linens and cloud-like but supportive pillows.
So there’s that point cleared up.

Food

 

Get them up ya! Images and recipes (click the image for a link to the recipe) sourced from River Cottage.
Winter food is my personal favourite. So rich and warming and comforting. So worth that food-coma afterwards – which you can experience in your nice warm toasty bed!!
You know that feeling when you’re sitting outside at your favourite cafe in the middle of Winter because it’s always so packed. You’re shivering and thinking “this weather is causing me to become displeased”. And then your order of fresh spiced pumpkin soup with crusty sourdough bread arrives in the hands of friendly wait staff and instantly you feel warmer and more agreeable.
It’s science, dear readers. It doesn’t work in the reverse. You can’t cool down in summer by eating a main course. Unless it’s in air conditioning, for which your electricity bill thanks you.

Hugs

Hugs are nice all year of course, but for this aspect, you can choose either sticky, sweaty hugs or warm, soft hugs. If you choose the former, my hat is off to you and your apparently sophisticated level of tolerance.

Clothes

This one is obviously a question of personal taste, but I am so much more at home in jeans, sneakers and a cardigan than in a short summer dress and strappy, thingy sandals.
In Winter, you can easily put more soft, comfy, striped/spotted/floral layers on to warm up. But in Summer, once you’re naked…well, you have to turn to other methods in Summer.
Also, I would just like to point out the following awesome things:
Beannies, Scarves, Socks, Tights/Leggings, PYJAMAS, Cardigans, Old Soft Jumpers, Slippers.
You can’t look me in the eye and tell me truthfully that even thinking about those delightful clothing categories during Summer doesn’t make you want to vomit.

Brainpower

Lastly, I don’t know about you, but warm weather makes me sleepy. I think this has something to do with how warm and toasty my bed is in Winter and how my brain, obviously preferring sleep to having to think through difficult problems, associates warmth with bedtime.
Also, you know how when you’re driving late at night and you’re a bit sleepy but you’re scared of micro-sleeps and crashing? So then you turn on the a/c full pelt onto freezing so that you stay awake and alert and make it home safely? The chill in the air makes you feel alive! It brings you to your senses! Even if it is numbing your toes at this very moment! The fact that you are aware that you can’t feel your toes reminds you that you have toes! How exhilarating!

Of course there are always two sides to every argument. And if you, as a Summer person, are sitting there rattling off 50 more reasons about Summer overturning Winter in the benefit stakes, then I am absolutely not adverse to listening and probably agreeing with lots of them. But I will always staunchly and whole-heartedly love Winter and it’s comfy softness. And no amount of swimming pools, ice cream (although this would be tough to give up), bbqs, or holidays could take away my preference for pleasant, hearty dinners, fireplaces, rugs, doonas and hot chocolate.

Mmmm hot chocolate.

easter constructions

How awesome is having a four-day weekend. I would like these a lot more often!

Over this wonderful-amazing-delight which is the four-day-easter-weekend, the man of the house had a goal to get as much of his gigantic shed constructed as possible. His family pitched in to help him, while I went off to wine and dine with my friends and family on the other side of the city. How is that for a perfect deal??
I helped on the fourth day though. You’ve never seen someone adjust a colourbond sheet so deftly, or level a horizontal beam more accurately. My skills are many and varied.

Here are some progress shots…

The last photo is from today (the fourth day) but that isn’t how it currently looks. We got the whole back wall sheeted and figured out a plan of attack for sheeting the rest of it.

My forehead and the tops of my feet got sunburnt. Thank you Sun! But it feels so good to have helped in even a small way on such a mammoth project!

For some of the weekend, while the man was constructing an actual building, I was inside constructing easter treats for my family. My Mum, two bros and the D man all got a little treat assembled by me with love. Here’s what I did.

I melted (a lot of) blocks of Lindt & Sprungli chocolate and poured them into a cute little half-egg silicone mold I got from woolies. I used creamy milk chocolate, white chocolate, blueberry intense flavour, orange intense flavour and passionfruit intense flavour. Then when the chocolate was still warm and molten, I poured hundreds and thousands on the backs to make little half-egg-freckle-things.

Then I put them in a nice bed of cellophane and put them in the cutest little cardboard popcorn tubs which I also got at woolies. This is the result.

I would be telling you untruths if I said I didn’t take full advantage of the fact that these needed to be taste tested along the way. But each person ended up with quite a few of these delish little sweeties. Aannnnnd it worked out waaaaaayy cheaper than buying them all commercial easter eggs. Cop that shops!

So now that I’ve updated you on the constructions that went on in this house over the long weekend, I think I might go and eat some coconut loaf and have a cup of tea. Hope you had a delectable easter and that you have a great week! : ) x