Easter - Hot Air Balloons

Every Easter we have hot air ballons flying over our area.  Such a beautiful sight this morning
They seem to fly so  low

Enjoy your day
Judy

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to all - I hope you find a little time for crafting during this holiday break.  I have been sewing for another Red Carpet Market day, however I always forget to take photos to share.  I usually remember after I have priced them and packed them away.

An overcast day today, and the finish of daylight savings (hooray).  Most of my family are working (yes I know, Easter Sunday, it should not be allowed), so I am not sure what I will get up to today.  I have some little tea wallets to finish, but may venture out to the Narrandera Farmers Market for a little road trip

Have a great day with family and friends

Judy

Easter, Anzac Day, Craft and Clearance Sale

The title says it all, a lot has been happening the last few weeks.

This Easter we celebrated the Leeton Sunrice Festival in my town - it occurs every two years and brings a lot of  festivities and fun to the town which enforces the recognition of the contribution the rice industry has to the region.

I love the street parade - and this year they had over 80 entries

A lot of vintage machinery and cars

Last Friday April 25th was Anzac Day, when we remember all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and suffering of all those who have served.

'ANZAC' stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

My friend Ray painted this Poppies painting, the red poppy is a symbol of war remembrance.

My new fun craft has been experimenting with the loom bands.  My niece and nephew gave me a craft lesson, rather than the other way around before Easter, and I am hooked.  What fun!

The following photos are examples of the loom items that the kids have made during the school holidays.

Lastly, I have been busy with my online store, organising a huge clearance sale.  Over the years, the online store has diversified into carrying a lot of products.  I have decided to go back to the original concept, and just stock buttons, bells and rusty products.  So, everything else is being marked down to sell.  If you are after a bargain, check out the online store (Cat 'n Cart Crafts) as I am trying to keep prices under $5.00, so there are a lot of bargains.

Until next time

Judy

Time Gets Away

Time has really got away from me the last couple of weeks, busy at both work and home!  New wireless Internet ADSL modem installed without any difficulty so everything is back to normal on that front.

Only 1 week until the first Red Carpet Market Day for 2014 at the Leeton Visitors Centre.  See flyer below.  Come and say HI if you are in the area!

 

I have made a lot of little fun gifts for Easter, as well as small hand made sewn gifts.  Everything is organised, for a change, I only need to iron the tablecloths and I will be ready. 

 

Goodies all packed up ready to take

 

 

I even had time to make these little Easter baskets and fill them with Easter Eggs.  Instructions are here, just in case you want to make some for Easter gifts.

 

 

Take care

Judy

Bunny Kisses and Tails

Yes, that is what I am working on today, really cute!

Hershey kisses:

Packaged up with a topper, they become Bunny Kisses

Using mini marshmallows, the next pack is Bunny Tails

These printables are quick and easy to make up, but I am unsure of how many I should make for the market stall.  I can always use the leftovers as gifts for my family and friends for Easter.

(Please keep it secret, Olivia)

Judy

Easter Goodies

I have started making some inroads into the mess on my desk, that I showed you in my last post.  These will be all little gifts to have on my Red Market Day stall just before Easter

First up seed packets, a lovely gift to pop in a card:

From this:

 

To this, the packet of seeds enclosed in a cute envelope:

 

 

Ordinary looking Kleenex pocket size tissues

 

 

Looking much cuter, with a "Bee Happy: wrapper

 

 

Still lots to do, and would you believe that I have not yet sampled any of the chocolate (?)

 

Judy

Carrot Cutlery

The idea seemed right, but the execution was not quite right ... oh well

I thought that I could wrap the cutlery with orange and green tissue paper to represent a carrot.  Unfortunately I could not get the desired carrot shape, but these will be a fun addition to the lunch table tomorrow anyway

Enjoy your Easter celebrations with family and friends
Judy

Sewing Time

Gosh, it was good to spend some time in the craft studio today.  It has been about 2 weeks since I have sewn, and I was having withdrawal symptoms!

I needed to make a small gift bag for a family members birthday this Tuesday, so I quickly made this one from some beautiful Satin fabric.  Nothing too fancy, just sew the sides, box the bottom, hem the top and then sew a ribbon to the back so that you can bring it around the front to tie a bow  ... easy!

 

Filled with goodies, ready for gift giving.  Much better than a paper gift bag!  Soft and flexible!

Then I decided to make some "Little Wallets".  This is a pattern my sister Ann sent to me, designed by Valori Wells.  These wallets have a number of uses, for your business cards, credit cards, drivers license, cash, anything you want to pop inside.

   

 

The wallet has three generous sized pockets inside, which can hold all your cards, and then keep them safe with the press stud closure.

 

They were such fun to make, and they may be another small gift that I can add to the Breast Cancer Drain Bags.

Also drying today, are some Yarn Eggs.  These are a Easter version of my String Balls, see here.

Excuse the mess in the background of this photo ..

The yarn was strung around a small water balloon, this was great for the sizing, however it was much harder to keep the yarn even as the bottom portion is so small.

I will show you the end results once they have dried.

Hope you have been able to get some time for your favourite craft this weekend

Judy

Easter Egg Mug Mats

I am trying to fit some Easter craft in amongst the Christmas Santa's.  I copied an Easter Egg shape out of a colouring book to get the template for these Easter Egg Mug Mats.

 

I then used a piece of leftover braid quilt for the top section, with a thin piece of wadding in the middle. 

Just big enough to fit your mug / cup of coffee and a small treat  (choc mint ball, yummy)

 

Remember Bill?  Here he is lounging on my quilt stand ...cheeky 

 

Another Santa is in the design stage, hope to finish him later today

Judy

Meet Bill - Easter Bunny

It is incredible when having a "like minded" crafty friend stay with you, how it gets the creative juices running. 

Meet Bill -

Now Bill looks like he would be the life of the party - ho hum! 

Is it Easter yet, where are all those Easter Eggs I am supposed to deliver?

Are they hiding in these bricks?

 

Maybe in this flower pot?

 

OK, I give up, I will just rest here near this star until they turn up! I am feeling a bit weary.

 

This pattern was "tweaked" from a Threadbare Primitives pattern called Bindy The Bunny 

He makes me smile, and has now taken up residence on my quilt stand - maybe he will find his Easter eggs under the quilts?

Have a great day

Judy

Easter Bunny Pops

These gorgeous bunny pops were finished just in time for Easter giving.

Based on instructions (with a little twigging) from The Mother Huddle these bunny pops were very easy to put together,  and they are super cute.  I had everything on hand, with the exception of the pops, but a quick trip to the supermarket, netted me a bag of Chupa Chups.  I imagine they are smaller than what is available in the States, but they worked out fine.  I used a small polystyrene ball for the head.  It was very easy to thread the stick of the lollipop through the polystyrene.  It also made it much easier to insert the pipe cleaner ears.

Googley eyes, different sized pom poms, and he is finished.  He even has a little tail on the back.

These little bunny pops are making there way to my nieces and nephews in Tumut, I also made up some kits for them to try and make their own.  Great for the school holidays.

All eight Chupa Chups completed ...

According to Wikipedia, A group of rabbits is known as a colony or a nest.  I think my "colony" is very cute

I hope you all enjoyed your Easter holiday with family and friends

Judy

Easter Gift Boxes

Using graphics from Sunflower Friends, I have made these little gift boxes.  Filled with mini Easter eggs.

The first featuring Vintage graphics, closed with ribbon, wool & bakers twine

The second set, are a more modern take on the Easter Bunny

These little boxes will be handed out to family and friends.  Cute substitute for Easter Eggs.  You could fill them with any type of sweet, if chocolate was not your choice.

I had planned to make some little Easter Bunnies, and fingers crossed I will get them made before Easter arrives.

Judy

Easter Freebies

Over at the Old Road Primitives Blog Kim has two printable freebies for Easter ..
One to cover a small chocolate bar to look like a Easter rabbit

Click here to download

The other printable allows you to cover small wrapped sweets, for Easter giving.



Click here to download

Something different to pop in your Easter Basket this year?

Judy