ahh, op-shopping.

one of my favourite kinds of weekends - one that involves a bit of op-shopping and some vintage linen.

like this sheet (oh, i have such good plans)

and this tablecloth (what fun!)...

i hope your weekend was full of goodness!

fridge pie

mmm. i know it sounds weird, but it tastes so so good and its so so easy.

basically take a conglomeration of vegies from the bottom of your fridge. for me this was:

• 1 brown onion
• 1 red capiscum
• 1 small chilli
• a quarter of a head of celery
• 2 carrots
• half a head of cauliflower
• a small head of broccoli
• a packet of baby spinach

i fried these up with some garlic and then added

• 1 can of tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1 can of soy beans

then i defrosted some puff pastry and popped in into the pie tins. covering the bottom with some grated cheddar cheese and then scooped fridge pie guts into tins and topped with more pastry. it cooked in mod oven for about 20 min and then once it cooled a little... mmm...

fridge pie guts are not the most attractive, but so so delicious. perfect for a hail filled night like this one...

on being date-less

so it turns out that i need to pay a bit more attention to things. i made muesli and date loaf today:

well, actually i made date-less muesli and date loaf. see my new breadmaker (brilliantly op-shopped for $20) has an automatic fruit dispenser. and having not used it before, i popped the dates into the dispenser, popped the other ingredients into the bread tin and walked away. (the walking away bit was the killer). 

it turned out that the "automatic" fruit dispenser was automatic, but just didn't actually open wide enough to "dispense". opps. 

but warm buttered date-less muesli and date loaf is still good...    

my creative space

so, my creative space this week is full of fabric

pulled from my fabric stash box and 

strewn around the room and 

sorted into colour piles. the first steps in my next project. eek, how exciting...

as always, check out other creative spaces over at kirsty's...

mmm...

i can smell chocolate. 

 chocolate brownie muffins... 

mmm....

the next project

so, i've been vaguely mentioning my next project for some time now - since i finished my last one actually. its a project that is going to be dear to my heart. see, i've got a nephew on the way he will be my sister's third, after a bit of a gap. her other two were born while our nan was around. and our very crafty nan made them all sorts of things. things like this:

i inherited a whole lot of stuff from my nan, part of which includes her fabric stash. its full of bits and pieces, scraps and chunks. fabrics that remind me of my childhood, of the things she made for me. and the same fabrics that nan used to make things for my sister's kids.

seeing she isn't around to make things for this new nephew-on-the-way, i want to. i want to make something out of her fabrics, out of her legacy. i'm not that great at softies, so i am heading in a slightly different direction. but i am starting to get a picture of what it will look like, and i'll tell you the details as they come together, so its still a bit of a watch this space project. its on its way. like my nephew. fortunately, he isn't due until december, so i've got a bit of time...

baby blanket postscript

so, i thought i'd do a little post-script on the baby blanket i had been making for so so long. as you know i gave it to the parents-to-be a few weeks before their baby was actually due. and well, i was glad i did, as their little girl decided to come early. all good and healthy, just teeny tiny. 

anyway, i went to visit them in hospital, and was blown away by the fact that the first time i met her, she was wrapped in the blanket i had made. not yet 24 hrs old, and covered in something that i had made for her. it made me really happy. 

then a few days later i got a txt from her mum that said 

"i just wanted to say your blanket has been the best thing ever.
she's had it on constantly since she was born.
it's a perfect size and weight and just so cheerful to cuddle up with.
thanks so much."

i hesitated a little while before posting about this. at first it seemed gratuitous and all self-congratulatory. but i've been thinking about it, and for me, this is what craft is about. making stuff, be it craft or sewing or making food, is about showing love. for me, its practical love, love embodied in this thing i give to you. something helpful. something to nourish your body or your soul, that nourishes my soul as i give it. and its kinda nice when the person you give it to gets that as well.

ahh, the joy of computers

 well, we are back up and running, and i am thankful for the engineers in my life - one who hassled and hassled me a few months ago, until i finally got an external hard-drive and did a back-up of everything (well, most things). and another engineer, who was able to save almost all of the other things, before fixing my computer and after quite a bit of work, finally getting it to talk to the internet again. 

but in crafty news, well, to be honest, despite my extra computer free time, i've not been as crafty busy as i'd like. i'm still procrastinating on starting my new project. i think its the mess that it will entail. see, its a fabric based project and to start, i am really going to need to a few solid hours of uninterrupted planning- to pull everything out of my fabric stash. oh and i'll need some decent fabric scissors too (any suggestions are welcome).

so in the mean-time, i have been crocheting for my secondary back-up refashioning project. it will eventually be a two-person sized granny rug for snuggling under in the lounge room. i'm up to 50 squares, only about a billion to go!