Friday, March 30, 2012

its all about loving to learn to read ...

i've mentioned this trip to Ambon
a couple of times lately
its departure-eve!
i am so organised its un-characteristic!
so yes ... this trip to support the foundation
is all about visiting the schools where the 
main goal is that we will set up
a reading centre in the library
i'm going on handed down info here
but i understand that these libraries
are not very well used or resourced or loved
we are taking & donating LOTS of books
both Bahasa Indonesian & English
but in some ways the goal of physically
changing about the furniture
organising the books
training the teachers how to use this great resource
&
visually making the spaces a really welcoming
comfortable, safe place where the children will be 
encouraged
to read ...
... so
its all about loving to learn to read

as a team we will spend some time
in each school & we have planned some
activities to do with the various aged classes
we've gone for a theme
(you know me well - i LOVE a theme!)
enter stage left
yep ... kinda mentioned this the other day
i love it as there are so many layers
so
we've used the copy right permission
colouring page from the 
which is the only way to use his image!!
& lots of other great resources
like
these fabric wall panels
set of 5: x2 sets = 10 panels
No 1 - caterpillar
No 2 -mini caterpillar on leaf
No 3 - x1 apple & x2 pears & x3 plums & x4 strawberries & x5 oranges
No 4 - choc cake, ice cream, pickle, Swiss cheese, slice of salami,
lollipop,piece of cherry pie, sausage, cup cake & one slice of watermelon
No 5 - when he became a 'beautiful butterfly'
a huge thanks to the ABC Prayers & Squares group 
& my mum, for helping me get these made
& thanks to Lizzie who helped me source the fabric panels & fabrics

& x2 I SPY quilts ... 
well .... they are actually more mats....
designed so that they can be moved about
sat around & used as starting point for the 
students to write/make up their own stories
as I used in both the I Spy mats & the VHC panels
 an acrylic wadding that is quite static ... was left over from a 
mammoth project from years ago ...
& i sewed lots of rows of quilting stitches to make it all quite stiff
& i used a thicker sturdy curtaining fabric (with fun animals) for the backing
it was extra wide so i didn't need to piece the backing
 ... whew!
a huge thanks to Bron for helping me out getting the fabrics chosen, cut & pieced together!
 &
for the secondary aged kids x 12 that Lawamena sponsor
i made a notebook fabric cover to fit the exercise books that they will be given in their gift bag
a huge thanks to Cas for stealing Oscar away sew i could get these sewn!!
we're attending a huge dinner with all these children ... 
i think there are 40 & their parents/guardians
in fact the organizers had a spot of trouble finding 
an appropriate venue nearby to host us all!!
this will be a special event & i'm really proud to have some 
handmade goodies 
in with their stationary 
oh & the 28 pencil rolls are not in the pic below but for 2 ...
(i know the original post said we made 22 but some more we needed!)
as they have already been distributed about the other group members
to pack safely in their cases! 
another big thanks to Lizzie, Jo, Judy, Cas, 
tally ....
10 VHC panels
2 i spy quilt mats
28 pencil rolls
12 exercise book covers
= 52 hand made items!!!
& various other teaching aides ...
& lots of English books 
a big thankyou to Naden for helping out with some of those too!
oh & yeah I packed some stuff for us to wear & use etc ...
& we're meeting the Governor General ...
what do you wear for that?
sam & karen ... i'm keeping you 2 up my sleeve for
the next round of ideas!!
think i may come home with 1 or 2!!! xxx
so joining in
Finish it Friday
with the crowd over at
crazy mom quilts
as this was all a mammoth finish line
(i'm best with a deadline!)

Monday, March 26, 2012

creative past

went on a little walk down memory lane
this morning
& so i thought i'd take the moment
to say hi to a few people!
there are lots of artistic relics
from my time as art teacher still about
which i was very pleased to see
 lots of changes but it seems a happier place
let me tell you a little about these pics i snapped in a hurry
there are a number of mosaics on doors & walls & in the gardens
around the early childhood centre
made by the 3 & 4 year old kinder groups 
with a little help from me
&
the quilt you spied
... do you notice a little sunflower theme here??
a great way to start a year with the happy yellow
sun flower faces of summer
the quilt has hundreds of hand drawn & painted baby sized sunflowers
created by the children over a time frame
of about 5 years 
then each of those star blocks were hand sewn together
by lots of the mums ...
& then i sewed the whole thing together
just one of the very many massive all-in type
projects i used to do with my eyes closed!!
& more colour mixing exploring learning canvases
with a circle theme
& lovely glass beads all strung up like water falling
was nice to visit

Thursday, March 22, 2012

kids clothes week challenge

ok ... so
so an age ago i got all motivated to
make my boy some sandbox pants
even bought the fabric x2
& planned to up-cycle a black denim skirt of mine
so that's 3 pairs of pants
now i need in my life to make sure
that i also sew & make for personal reasons
not just all market or mission or gifting sewing
mix it up, you know!
so i'm planning on joining in the zakka style sew-a-long
as you know which i'm really excited about
& now i'm going to join the
kids clothes week challenge
as well ... talk about following patterns!
 i'm up for it!
thanks elsie marley

Monday, March 19, 2012

my little peace of zakka styling

i'm really excited about joining in with
this sew-along project
i've been intending to one day 
have my hands on my own copy of one of these
now i'm going to do it!
I love the look of linen or such with pops
of great fabric!
spot the notebooks & tissue pouches
so looking forward to getting my teeth into 
lots of these projects 
& checking out everyone else's masterpieces as well 
... are you joining in too?
April to September 2012
now i just actually need to 'follow' the pattern
& not make it up as i go!!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

the great art of hand painted tissue paper ...

i was smitten when i was little
 i read it once or twice or more
when i was teaching art ...
& now i read & re-read 
to my little boy
i'm still smitten
 this book is
simply genius
&
creative
numbers to count
the sun comes up
the moon shines brightly
there is a feast of food
colour
texture
days of the week
refreshed
waiting
rest & restore
hope
the joy of something beautiful 
we're thinking about using this masterpiece as
a jumping off point 
to encourage learning to read
as a valuable life skill
 to the children 
when will visit a some schools in  

my mind is buzzing
and i'm
so excited
as i've just worked out that 
THE
great  
Eric Carle
writes his own BLOG

yes peoples.... you can read what he thinks!!
whooo hooo!!
i've had a bit of a read...
go on you should too
he's wonderful
2009 was the 
40th Anniversary of the VHC
& Eric Carle turned 80 that same year
are you doing the maths
so i'm 40 ... what's my VHC going to be??
hmmm i'm working on it!
for the love of story time
you have got to witness 
at least once in your life
.... yep! 
and so do the little people in your life
& the older people too ...
basically anyone who has ever wondered
after the thought of a butterfly
(you know after all that time in cocoon - they don't live for very long!)
 
 oh & yeah ...
6 more pencil rolls were needed for the count
that's 28 total
.... loaded now with the lead loot
they are cute & fun & the kids will love them i am sure

Saturday, March 17, 2012

sunshine & sales

lovely sunshine-y time this morning at this sweet little 
indoors market in my home suburb
had lots of visits from people in my life too
and a fabulous position today!
lots of different items sold
including a few larger items which i am most pleased about
new notebooks & tissue pouches were a hit
i am getting this display thing sorted out
trying to perfect it just so ...
each market i try something new with the set up 
& alter how various products are displayed
it does makes a difference
product placement .... hmmm
can you see leaning against the wall one of my recent hard rubbish finds
... that white ladder looking rack is part of a discarded cot
worked really well displaying some of my patchwork bamboo blankets etc
nearly had a disaster when i forgot a tablecloth for the ragged card table
another friendly stall holder saved me with a spare! whew!
don't mind the phone pics ... looking at these it doesn't look all that impressive
however i've kind of been up close & personal with every stitch!
but in real life i thought it all looked great ... good to record & take stock ...

Friday, March 16, 2012

Treasures & Tastes @ Trinity Market

 i'm excited! 
my No:1 Market for the year is tomorrow
i have got on & sewed & sewed 
& made & made ....
& had a ball creating it all 
.... had some time at home to myself last weekend
so many great little & large items finished ...
really should have posted as i've gone along but seriously
been so busy whenever i've had a spare moment
to just 'make' ... so blogging now ...

Treasures and Tastes @ Trinity
Trinity Anglican Church
Union Road Surrey Hills
9am - 1pm
every item is hand made or home grown
3rd Saturday of each month
March to Dec
note i've listed the dates to the right ...
 little girls' skirts
travel tissue pack covers
patchwork baby blankets in 2 sizes
appliqued baby suits
notebook covers
photo brag book covers
kids aprons
crochet flower clips
muslin & bamboo baby wraps
so finishing up on a friday ...
... or maybe early sat morn!?
ready for the 1st market of 2012
so with another finish it up friday ... enJOY
 if you see anything you like
you can always ask ....
i'm sure we can work something out!

Friday, March 2, 2012

Pencil Rolls ... all 22 started & finished!

thankyou
so much to an awesome bunch of girls
for helping make these pencil rolls!

 so yep all finished up on a friday!!!
so joining in for finish it up friday with crazy mom quilts
if you'd like to make your own sweet little pencil roll
then have a look here
... i wrote you all a tutorial & an explanation
as to why we've made this a group effort & so many??!
also joining in MAKE:GROW:THRIFT
with the Haby Goddess again this week ...
has been one of my MAKE projects this week ...
thanks again to:
Cas
Lizzie
Jo
Rhonda
Aretha
we made
22 pencil rolls
2 hours
7 girls
5 machines
2 irons
2 bottles of rose
1 water soluble marker pen
(my only mistake was not having another pen!)
its was a really great time
& we were so productive
what's next?
hmmm
messenger bags?
i spy patchworky mini quilts?
any ideas
working on it!
but thankyou
and we missed you
Sam, Karen, Cath & Kate
will take some better pics
of all our work tomorrow
when the sun comes up 
& they are dry from all the water spray!

... out takes .... great fun!
you make me smile like the sun

... hey i adore comments!
love to hear your thoughts ....