Qld Flood Appeal Auctions, blog house keeping & crafting in the rain

Greetings all,
Well what a month of rain & the horror of the floods in Queensland all building up to such frightening levels, flash flooding & lives being lost.  As i sit in Canberra, yes in the rain but not floods, not this week at least . . . my husband is on his way up to Qld as i type/ blog/ worry.  He's a soldier who lives in Brisbane (for 3 years, we're living a part) & they need him there, so i had to let him go a little earlier than planned. 
On a happier & more useful note, i am going to donate/ raffle some handmade goodness to raise money for the floods.  Stay tuned for more & if you want to join in to donate/ raffle or sell something amazing at a set price via your blog, join in with Toni from Make it Perfect blog too (details here) & her fabulous auction is already up!!  Grab the badge now to spread the word, quickly & support the Flood Appeal Auctions now!!

 I was thinking my donation to auction might include some patchworky goodness??  Stay tuned.

 Quick update on the Tangled family movie ticket giveaway - lucky winners were Cate from Keep Cate Busy blog & Rachel from Little Angel Little Devil blog.  Congratulations ladies, my husband took our 4 children to see Tangled yesterday & they all loved him, handsome soldier included!!  Thank you to everyone who entered.  I'll have a new giveaway soon.

Now for some crafting in the rain . . . when i get new fabrics i chop each style/ colour/ design into a 17cm strip, they are extremely useful for quick fabric access for patchwork (if using 15cm squares), pencil roll strips, purses, yo yo penny wheels & more . . .

 I pile the strips into fabric 'collection' groups . . .

 lay the strips out flat & chop 3-4 fabrics at a time, into squares & measured pieces for projects for large scale sewing (trying not to say mass production) for markets & Shop Handmade.

 I deal out fabric squares for patchwork quilts . . .

 & cushion tops!!

 Thanks all for the lovely comments on our twins post, yes, i love them to pieces, they are such happy wonderful girls, very special to our family.  Voila, their new fish in the new large bowl.

 You might note the sushi loving Kokeshi doll has moved on & the oven has been relocated with the glowing pussy cat, so a stress free environment for Mint & Vanilla.

 I've also moved Smiggle to a bowl in the lounge which is kind of fun, i find myself gazing at him all the time.  Very relaxing & he's quite content in there.

 We had to do some fish tank renovation & remove some plants, currently drying on the window sill.  The Siamese Fighting Fish live on in our eldest daughter's room & 2 more fantails in our son's room, all very healthy.  I think half the battle in fish rearing is buying quality fit fish in the first place!! 

 So what to do while the children are playing in their rooms in the school holidays & i'm sewing in the studio . . . put on a bit of Don Draper & lose myself into the 1960's!!  My husband bought me series 3 of Mad Men before he left.   

Thinking of everyone in the floods, stay safe, that includes my husband!!  Love Posie

my first born has graduated, warning: proud mumma post

Greetings all,
You may have followed the last couple of posts about making my eldest daughter a dress for her year 6 graduation dinner/ dance . . . voila, here she is.  Yes, i'm at home doing a blog post about it while her preferred parent took her in to the event, i know my place (behind the scenes!!)  Handsome soldier just rang to say she's really excited, her dress is perfect, she's having photos & will be sitting next to her best boy-friend at the dinner. 
This afternoon i fled Shop Handmade to dash over to her graduation ceremony.  I was filled with pride & had camera in hand.  Just 6 years ago (she skipped a year) this little girl started primary school in NSW, then the NT & now ACT . . . she's ready for high school.  She also took out the Sport's Prize today!!  Looking very grown up, she got her ears peirced just for this occasion & no, my husband is NOT coping with his little girl growing up. 

Let's just say her 9y.o. twin sisters can not wait to grow up!!  They love dresses & accessories - i'm thinking this could get expensive??!!  Are boys cheaper, mine really likes fashion.

 She picked the style, fabric & accessories.

 She's actually wearing little kitten heels.

 A sash brings it all together & keeps it young & girlie.

 Dames & Divas vintage kimona clip, earrings from Katakolon in Greece on our cruise & Grace Designs organza hair slides.

My gorgeous husband helped her with the mask, why a mask in year 6??
So there you have it, she was happy, i didn't stab her once while hemming the dress & she went off excited & even rang me from the car to say thank you, again!!  Success!!
In the mean time, i'm far less glamorous in a nightie, madly tidying up the house & doing laundry - all things i neglected this week to get this dress right, run a 3 day P&C fundraiser + trip to Sydney for 2 days, it's been a busy week to say the least!!
Special hello to those of you out there in Queanbeyan, Dubbo & Wagga who are flooded out of your towns.  There are thousands of school children stranded in Canberra tonight who can't get home due to flooding in Queanbeyan.  Stay safe everyone, it's traffic chaos out there.  Love Posie