Things that happen when you're supposed to be studying...

So, I find that I am at my most productive, life-wise, when I have a tonne of stuff to do for uni. I know it's been awhile since I posted, but I've been waiting to take photos of things and only just bothered to actually get my camera battery off Mikey.

First, let me show off a blog giveaway I won from Kiki Chaos:

I won these two art deco style tea cups from her giveaway. I'm so in love with them! I've had them on the kitchen table since they arrived, and I'm just so in love with them. I love their unusual shape and their colour - I don't normally like green, but I love the green on these.

Here's a closer look:



Crazy pretty. Thanks so much for this, Kiki Chaos!

I've also finished some projects I started. I know, the horror! It feels so good to actually finish something I started.

First, last Thursday I decided to skip uni, as often happens with me. But this time I decided that if I was ignoring my studies, I should at least accomplish something. So, remembering a pattern that caught my eye a couple of months ago on Ravelry, I decided to make this earring holder:

Here's a close up look:

It's basically a crocheted mesh (done in the picquot stitch which I learnt as I went), then I bought a cheap frame from a Salvos store, took out the glass, covered the backing board with some pretty paper and stretched the mesh over the whole thing. I think it looks really cute, and I'm still pretty chuffed that I decided that I would make it and actually carried through with the plan, and finished it in a few hours. That said, I thought I owned a lot more dangly earrings that that! A reason to go shopping?

I've also managed to finish my little sister's birthday present:

(Ignore the un-ironed hem.) It's just a simple skirt made with fabric she chose, and a hair ribbon to go with it. I'm still not over how quick this was to whip up - it took me about an hour. The part that took the most time was trying to figure out how long to make the hem. I made it for her in time for her birthday, but I deliberately didn't hem it. When Mary-Anne tried it on, she decided she wanted it to be about three inches shorter than I had cut it. Kids these days. Meanwhile, my baby girl is 17!!! Next year she'll be 18, as she loves reminding me at every moment. I love that little brat.

The ribbon in the middle of the skirt is actually a hair clip I made her. For some reason she's into bow hair clips. I've never been a ribbon person, and I always envied those in primary and high school who were. I just never felt like I could pull it off, or if I did wear one in my hair, I felt like I was lying to the world, trying to pretend to be a much sweeter and lovelier person than I really was. But Mary-Anne's really into them at the moment, and spends heaps of money on them. I figured it would be very easy to make one of my own. Well, it is, but it's actually quite difficult to find the right sort of clip. I did find some eventually, and then bought a hot glue gun. Those babies are so much fun to play with!

Here's a close up of the ribbon:

Too cute!!

Next up are my works in progress. First is a blanket that, fingers crossed, will be ready in time for next winter:

Why I decided to make it so big, I'll never know. No, wait - I do know: I wanted something really snuggly and thick. I just didn't realise how long it would take to work up, and how much wool it would require, especially because I decided that I wanted it to be 100% wool, and I only found small balls of this colour at Spotlight. So, I've been through about 8 balls of wool so far, and it's not even a quarter of the size I'd like it to eventually become. But that said, I'm enjoying the process.

It's a chevron pattern that I found in a magazine, but I'm just keeping it all the one colour. I'm envisioning it on my future lounge, looking gorgeous in its neutralness and adaptability. No matter what, at least it will be warm.

And last, but not least, in order to assure my place on the Nanna-in-Training podium, last night I attended my first ever quilting class. Yup, I'm a loser. BUT I'm a loser that now has her first four patches!!! Here they are thrown onto my messy bed:

How cute is this fabric?

The sense of accomplishment that came with making these was awesome. I was so chuffed with how they turned out, although, I really just chose the placement of the patches and sewed them together. The fabric was bought in a pre-cut bundle, so it was all in a complimentary colour scheme, and the lady holding the class was the one that guided me through step by step. Whatever - I'm proud of myself, and I'm also a proud flag bearer in the nanna brigade.

And that's what I've been up to. Oh, apart from hanging out with friends, drinking too much, buying too much and all of that. It's been fun though. I'm working on something right now to give to Jenni's baby when I finally get to meet him.

Let the Holidays Begin!

So after stressing out like a crazed loon for the past three months, uni is finally over for the semester. Excuse me while I dance in the street.

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Aaaaand I'm back!

So, now that I have just over a month off, I plan to party, clean, and get creative. I really love making things, but uni makes that a little hard. I'd like to start finishing off some of the thousands of projects I started during the semester.

But first,  I just finished making something for my friend Beau's birthday, which is today. It looks kind of fugly, but it's the thought that counts, yeah? YEAH?? Lol. No pics yet because I haven't given it to him yet, but we're going to bowling and laser tag tonight, so pics tomorrow.

Project: Complete!!

So, a month or two ago I bought a new bookshelf as my old one had run out of room for new books, even with books stacked on top of each other. I was also afraid there'd be a Flat Stanley moment when I woke up with it on top of me one day, seeing as it was a cheapie and was tilting at a very precarious angle.

So off to Ikea I trotted to buy a different type of cheap bookshelf, one that I thought would be able to hold a lot more books. As it turns out, it only just fits all of my books (probably shouldn't have bought a heap of books the day I bought the shelf).

There was a slight hitch in the assembly process, as one of the pieces was damaged when I got it out of the flatpack cardboard, but the Ikea people were lovely and arranged to send me a replacement piece.

When I finally put it together, with all the books it looked like this:

Before

Books everywhere, no co-ordination. I'd been meaning to do something with it, but really couldn't be bothered.

That is, until last night.

Insomnia's a terrible thing, but every now and then, sometimes it makes me incredibly productive. I decided to finally organise my preciouses.

During

Above you can see the piles of books being sorted. So much effort. I almost wanted to give up then, but I persevered, and in a lot less time than I thought it would take, I ended up with this:

Ta-daaaaah!

Colour co-ordinated books!!

Now, I know many people would hate the idea of separating books from the one series, but I'm not too bothered by that. The bottom two right cubes of the shelf are just textbooks that I didn't want to incorporate into the colour scheme. The books are ridiculously heavy and I wanted to keep them on the lower shelf, lest this cheapie end up on a scary tilt like my last one.

Now, looking at my books like this, I realise I need to be branching out in my literary pursuits: less white and yellow, more blue and purple.

Sorry about the blurriness of the photos. I must learn how to actually use that silly camera.

But I do love the effect. I'm just worried though because the shelves are completely full, and I know there's a bunch of books I own floating about amongst my friends, and a bunch on their way from Book Depository.