6 Month Upadate

It's a bit overdue. I have had the pictures sitting in the Camera for a week or 2 but here they are.

It's just incredible how time goes way too fast.

I want it to slow down so I can enjoy this, but I don't think it's going to do that.

Jess decided to learn how to roll onto her tummy.

But wasn't very impressed when I dashed off to get the camera and she hadn't figured out how to get back over yet.

Look at how much she has grown since we first received this quilt from my lovely quilting friends. Look HERE to see her 6 months ago.
This is just to show our lovely green grassat the moment, we went up the paddock and saw the men this day while they were up in the sheep yards. The paddocks are all lovely and green with a bit of grass and the Dams are all full, we have had a excellent lateWinter/early spring for rain and we are hoping for a bit more before the really hot weather gets here.

Swapping & Thrifty goodness

First off today we will start with the thrifty goodnes I found while in town on Monday.
A rare trip to Albury with Sam staying home with my lovely Mother in law and Jess having a nice sleep in the pram mean that I got time to look around a couple of thrift shops.
Who would have thought that one of them was having a $2 sale, not per item but per bag. The lady even packed it for me way better than I would have.
So I got some great pillowcases, some lovely fabric with circles on it (already in use for a new quilt), and the pink thing on the right is a really cute tablecloth.
The second photo is also stuff that she managed to fit in the bag, 3 100% wool jumpers. The one on the far right is 100% Alpaca...soooooo soft.... and the striped one is lambswool.
It was just my lucky day I guess.

The next 2 quilts are of swap quilts I have just received.

The first one is tiny, only about 12" big, it is from Swap Till You Drop in Flickr

The theme for August was buildings or houses, mine is on it's way to Dave and Suzi today.

It's so cute there are 2 little tents and outside them is a Doll and a rabbit, it's just lovely.

This next one is truly a work of art.

It was from the Quilting GallerySpring Blooms Swap my partner was Lilliana.
It is a full size mini at 24". I don't know if you can see it in the photo but the top right hand corner is a blue winged butterfly, it is 3D with the body of the butterfly being stuffed and squishy. The bottom left hand corner has a lovely yellow flower that is also dimensional and a bit puffy. The centre is cut out with a beaded lattice running through it with butterflies fussy cut and stuck onto the lattice.

These next 2 are from me to 2 other people. One of them is for Suzi who sent me the lovely little tent one above from the Swap till you drop flickr group, the other one is for a lovely lady called Ana from Portugal who is my partner in the Crafternoon Tea swap flickr group for September.

This one is 2 little houses that are only about 6" and a little pouch/purse
The next one is a little house that is about 12" square.
I had so much fun making these little houses. I found them in a book that I bought, it's Japanese but the diagrams are really easy to understand and all I have to do is trace out the templace and go from there.

Not too much else is happening. Busy on the farm with shearing coming up in the next few weeks if we can get some shearers, they are pretty scarce these days even though the money is really good if you can do a good job.

We have had some horrible winds with 100km/hr and over, luckily none of our trees have come down and our new house and verandah are still standing.

Our boys play in the preliminary final Aussie Rules football this Saturday so we will all have our fingers crossed to be going to a Grand Final game next weekend, it will be the first one in mega-years and will probably be husbands last chance at a 1st grade final game so keep the boys in your thoughts.

Bye for now.

Lucky in every way today.

I have lots of photos today.
The first is of my latest win in blogland.
I couldn't believe it... I won a beautiful set of Heather Bailey fabrics, a Heather Bailey Pattern for a baby stacking game, a raggedy flower pattern and a lovely handmade pincushion. I just can't believe my luck.










Then these are the best photo's of all. I took some pictures of Jess and Sam today on our new finally finished deck that took 6 months to build, it was such a beautiful sunny day.
Jess turned 5 months yesterday and I cannot believe how time flies and how fast they grow.












One of her favourite pasttimes is sucking on her fingers.








And then there's spending time with her big brother.

She just has to see him and she smiles and laughs.

Sam loves to hold her hand and put on different hats to make her laugh.

Weekly Update

It has been an eventful week. I had to go to Albury last monday for some more Moles to be taken off my back, I am pretty sure that all is well though.
Thursday I went to Canberra to the Craft & Quilt fair. Jess had to come with me of course because she is still on "Mummy's Milk" but she was such an angel. We drove the 1.5 hrs to Tumut and caught the bus the rest of the way (2hrs more) which was great as I got to have a sleep on the way. I had a wonderful time, took in a couple of talks, learnt a great deal and spent all the money that I'd saved especially for this trip.
Now for these 2 photo's.


This is Sam inside his new Cubby House that my mum had someone build for him. It's like a little house and is even almost exactly the same colours as our new house. A few of our neighbours saw it go past on the truck when it came home and they all thought it may be for Marcus when he is in the "Dog House" well you never know I guess. Jess is there too in her farm pram. It's nice and green at the moment cause we have had a bit of rain the last few months. We still need heaps more rain before summer but here's hoping it keeps coming. Our water tanks are full and the Dams are looking good at least.

And this pic is Jess sleeping right now as I type, I wanted to get one of her sucking her fingers but she dropped them before I could get the camera out. She has no idea what to do with a dummy but loves her fingers, oh well whatever helps soothe I guess.

Now an update on other things...

Water only challenge has been good a bit hard to remember when I go to my inlaws for morning tea each day so I have left strict instructions with Bev to just give me a cup of hot water. A few people have said that they couldn't do it, don't worry I may not make it yet. The good thing is I don't drink alcohol at all and I rarely keep softdrink in the house. I do however love a coke every now and then so Iwill miss that on occasions I am sure.

Soap sales have skyrocketed all of a sudden with a new wholesale order so I really have to get stuck into production, and with Christmas coming up it's a busy time of year judging on last year.

I am in a couple of swaps which is forcing me to make time to be creative, I am in the process of making a house mini quilt (max 15"), a summer quilt (max 24"), a friendship bag and collecting goodies for an avent swap.

The quilt that I finished last month for the Footy club auction sold quite well so I was happy with that.

Nothing else to report really, just trying to keep up with housework and get some creativity done everyday. I'd rather be sewing really...

A new challenge

I have set myself a new challenge.

At first I didn't thing that it would be too hard as I don't drink alcohol at all and not too much soft drink or cordial either.

But.

Occasionally I love a good coke or a lemonade and I have the best homemade lemon cordial recipe from my mother in law.

Oh well.

I have signed up for the challenge before it's too late.

I found it here at Belinda we are joining in with Daharja

Are you game???

Inspired by the good people of Bundanoon, who have banned bottled water from their town, I'm going to do The WATER challenge.

THE RULES:

The Water Challenge is simple.For one year, starting on August 3rd, I can drink only water.

I am giving up
Fizzy drinks
Teas and coffees (coffee is easy, I don't drink it anyway)
Juices
All alcohol
All cordials and drink flavourings
All bottled water (except in my own, re-usable water bottle)
All milks - except on my cereal, and then in only enough of a portion to wet the food appropriately
Anything else not specifically included in this list that is not tap water or rain water.In other words, I'm on tap water for a year.

Medicines are excepted, of course. So if I need a medicine, and it is in liquid form, that's fine. That's also just common-sense.

Soup is excepted. Soups are not a drink, and are not part of the Challenge.

Also, if I get really sick to the point where I am in need of vitamin C in juice form or my medical professional recommends I drink something other than water, I'll do as recommended. I'm not a twit.

Why?

Because I'm sick of doing the talk but not the walk.

I'm sick of whinging about bottled water (which I do) yet still buying the odd juice or soft drink, figuring that it's okay to use a single-use bottle because it's flavoured instead of just water.

Fact is, it's not.

I'm adding tea and coffee to the list of contraband, simply because I want to get used to drinking water and water only, and I won't do that if I replace all the other rubbish with tea, even if it is herbal tea.

Plain water was good enough for my grandparents. It was good enough for people all throughout history. It is good enough for every other animal on the planet. It should be good enough for me.

Just in the Nick of Time

It's the 31 July here in Australia and I have a few finished things that I cannot post yet as they are secret swaps and I don't want to ruin the surprise.

However,

here is one that I have had the quilt top made for about 2 years now and I finished it off tonight with a simple polar fleece backing and some simple lines of quilting. The Polar fleece has cute little green frogs on it.

Our AFL football club is having our annual promise Auction tomorrow night after the game and I am donating this to help raise funds.

Last year and the year before my quilt made over $30, which doesn't sound like much but they are only lap size quilts and I used scraps and assorted odds to make them.

4 months already

I have been very slack this week. I totally forgot to do this last friday.

Jess turned 4 months last friday and oh my goodness she has grown so much.
I tried to put her in the Bassinnette the other day for a little day sleep and she pretty much fits end to end, so I have to put her in the big cot for her day sleeps from now on. I have been using the bassinnette just during the day as it is out in the loungeroom next to the computer and I can hear her if she wakes up.

Here she is one her lovely quilt that we have actually been using on really cold nights, which we have had a few this month. It's so hard being a mum, you never stop worrying, I know this is not really a topic that people talk about but I constantly worry about SIDS. It's super cold here at night right now and I refuse to have a heater in the bedroom cause it's just not do-able to warm up that end of the house. So we have to have a few layers on us and the kids. They both wear sleeping bags and then we have to put a few blankets on. So I just worry and every time I get up I check them. Sam is a heavy breather so I can still just stand at the door to his room and lisen but Jess is so quiet and doesn't move all night so when I want to check I have to put my finger under her nose.

I know it's silly but I worry about things that you can't see or do anything about. So I will keep checkin for many months to come.

Enough of the morbid stuff. The farm is great. We have had some rain and things are green. We have had some lovely winter days too. On Wednesday it was so hot that I almost put a t-shirt on. The verandah is finished and we spend the afternoons out in the sun, Sam drives his truck around and I usually read or play too.

That's it for now.

More lovely prizes and Swap Goodness

Oh me oh my what a lucky girl am I!!!

These are the last 2 items from my spectacular Winning month in June.
I won a giveaway from Aussie Handmade Giveaway which was a voucher to spend at the Rainbow Revolution shop. I of course couldn't resist spending more and bought this lovely Bamboo/Cotton Wrap which is hand dyed in a lovely purply/pinky combination.
On the right is the "Material Obsession" Book that I won from Jackie at Canton Village Quiltworks, I have long admired this book and nearly bought a copy once or twice but thank goodness I didn't. It is such a lovley read. The projects are beautiful and the instructions and easy to follow, I cannot recommend it enough. Even my husband had a flick through and admired it.









The lovley little quilt that you see below is made by Nannette from Salt Lake City in the USA. She is my swap partner in the "Swap Till You Drop" Group on Flickr for the July swap and it is a lovley little quilt measuring 15inches, A matching pin cushion and a roll of Chenille Blooming Bias.









This quilt is absolutely amazing considering that it was done very quickly we only got each other as partners on the 7th July and it takes 7-10 days for her mail to get to me, you do the maths...
All the detail that you see is appliqued, the vines, flowers, cat, stars. There is also alot of quilting of different varieties on the roof, the background and the lower bit below the house. You can have a closer look in my Flickr Photos

I just love it and will be making sure it is hung on my wall for people to see.
Now I just have to finish mine to send to her by the 31 July, I have it nearly done, just a few more finishing touches.
Thank you Nannette, I love it and am so glad that I got you for my first S.T.U.D. partner.

Winning in June, Shopping and Thrift finds

Well I had a lovely June, there were a few giveaway's happening and I won about 3 or 4. I have been very remiss in not blogging them sooner but I wanted to wait until I had a couple so here they are.
From left to right
1. A lovely set of Fat Quarters in the Fig & Plum range from the lovely blog Patches Indooroopilly

2. A very cute pincushion from the lovely Erica

3. A very cute little kit of hexagons from Lovely Lorraine

There are also 2 more that I have yet to blog but I am waiting on one to arrive so will post them later.

Then...

I won this lovely cushion pattern from the most beautiful blog you have ever seen. Kellie is a very talented Aussie who makes the most lovely patterns and quilts and cushions and I was a lucky winner on her blog, here is what I won. A beautiful cushion pattern. She is a bit of pioneer in easy ways to do lovely applique.

While I was there I decided to order a couple of her current patterns which you can see below. There are also 2 new ones that I have pre-ordered, check out her blog and her shop and I will be checking out her classes if they should ever come to my area.

Then I was a bit naughty and went shopping on Etsy at Fresh Fabrics and bought all these lovely Fat Quarters, there are 20 in total but they were so cheap and lovely and I now own some Anna Maria Horner, Amy Butler and Momo.

And last but not least I always enjoy a good thrift store and I found these lovely items in my local St Vinnies. A nice big bit of fabric that will look sooo cute in a pinafore on Jess in year or 2. a Lovely little girls pattern and a nice big double bed sheet that will look wonderful as a quilt backing.

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Oh I nearly forgot. I also love this store: Karaku on Etsy. I bought some lovely Cotton & Linen offcuts and a couple of bits of fabric to use as applique and panels.

Swap Quilt complte

I actually finished this the other day but have not had time to blog it.
It is a mini quilt measuring 20 x 21 inches, that I did for an international swap and it is currently winging its way to the USA. The theme was "Spring Blooms" and I found a lovely free pattern here: Dontlooknow
and thought that i would use it for my quilt. I am not very good at making up my own patterns yet but I did change it a little by adding a couple of tulips and my quilting is just basic contour quilting following some of the lines and patterns made by the applique.

She makes the loveliest patterns and some ladies I know are lucky enough to be going to a workshop with her soon, I don't live close enough but I will be keeping my eye out for one in the future near me.

Anyway, I howe my recipient likes this little offering. My swapee is a wonderful quilter and this is not up to her standard by any means but I made it with love and I had a wonderful time doing some techniques that I have only learnt this last year, I think it looks great so hopefully she does too.

3 Months already

My oh my how time flies. It has been 3 months since we had Jess and already I can't think of how life was without her.

Jess and Sam on their lovely EB Aunties Quilt click on the Jess label on the sidebar to see how much she has grown every month.

Sam is a pretty good big brother for a 2 year old, he just wants to play, but he loves to hold her hand and if she cries he asks if she's o.k. It's really very cute.

Speaking of Sam he can be very 2 at the moment but we still love him and it really must be hard not being able to do everything you want and not understanding why.

Everything else here on the farm is great, not enough rain as usual but we had a little in the Autumn which will hopefully keep us going for a while. Husband is doing well and their football (AFL) team has actually won lots of games this year and we are hoping they make it into the finals and he is playing really well too, I am not playing netball this year but am working on my Umpiring which I am loving.

I nearly forgot, I got a lovely parcel in the mail today it contained 6 beautiful coasters and a lovely bag to keep them in from my swap partner in Texas USA.

Thanks for visiting

SEWN GIVEAWAY WINNER

It's over finally, the SEWN giveaway is finished and I have used the ever so popular random number generator to pick a winner who is
....
....
....

Becanne


CONGRATULATIONS.

Thank you to everyone who visited and entered, I have had a wonderful time visiting all the other blogs and my blog following list is just getting ridiculous.

Don't forget I am participating in a Pay It Forward and I have one space left to make something for someone just click here: PAY IT FORWARD

AND THE WINNER IS...

Well after a bit of fussing around in excel cause I don't know how to make blogger number my comments, I managed to transfer all the comments over and number them and random org has generated the following winners of my "Sew Mamma Sew" giveaway.

In first place: Luke & Pamela
from Michigan in the USA. Also a bit exciting.

In second place: Junebug


Pamela will get to choose her large and small pendants first then Junebug will get a go.

That was so much fun. I really appreciate all the wonderful comments that I have received during the giveaway and hope that some of you will stop by to visit again sometime.

Also her is a pic of a quilt that i have nearly finished for my cousins 21st birthday. He is an Essendon fan (Australian football) and is turning 21. The back will have the black with a red sash like their uniforms.

Finished Project for May

I didn't think I would get anything done this month but Ta Daaaah!!!

Here is my creation.

A "Mei Tai" for me to carry Jess in.

I found a heap of different websites that give patterns and instructions and I just fused a couple together and went for it, I put a pleat in the bottom cause I felt that it was too wide for little Jesss' hips and now it is perfect. The fabric is a FQ that I got on Ebay and the inside is a lovely Jade green with the Hot Pink straps.

DON'T FORGET ABOUT MY GIVEAWAY!!!

I still have one open to Australian Residents a couple of posts below this one.

**NOW CLOSED** GIVEAWAY!!!

Welcome to yet another giveaway.

SEW,MAMMA,SEW is having their 2nd giveaway day.

It was great fun the first time around and I was even lucky enough to win a prize. I also gave away some of my lovely handmade soap to 1 winner.

This time I am going to open my giveaway up to anyone in the world. There will be 2 prizes of my newest creations.

1st prize: 1 large Pendant & 1 small Pendant of your choice from my "Bec Clarke Creations" Blog

2nd prize: 1 small Pendant of your choice from my "Bec Clarke Creations" Blog

I will be adding more Pendants over the next few days there are lots of new squares and some rectangles that I am in the process of photographing so you don't have to decide right now, wait until you hear from me if you are the lucky random winner.

Anyone is welcome to enter, there is only 1 condition, I must be able to contact you. Either through your blog, leave me your e-mail address or follow my blog so that when I announce the winner you can contact me. I must hear back from you within 48 hrs of the drawing or the 2nd place person becomes first and a new 2nd place gets drawn. Winners will be drawn on 31 May Australian (Sydney Time).
DON'T FORGET my other giveaway which you can read about here:
Sewn Giveaway

And my pay it forward which is still lacking a couple of participants, go and have a look and see if it is your cup of tea
Pay If Forward

2 Months already!!!

Just a little post about our prescious little girl. On 17 May (tomorrow for us) she will be 2 months old already. My how time flies.

Here she is on the very special quilt made by my lovely internet quilting friends. I am going to try and remember to do this every month for at least the first year, I have seen it done by other people and it really gives you perspective on how much they grow in such a short period. I didn't do it with Sam as I didn't know about it and I only just made him his first quilt when he went in to his "Big Bed" but here he is with Jess today.

By the way, Jess is wearing the cutest little outfit knitted for her by my very clever step-mum. There is a cute little pair of yellow booties and pants and a little cardi in yellows, blues and purples. Everyone commented at football today and she was toasty warm too.

Don't forget about the giveaway that I am participating in and the Pay it forward too. Just see the 2 posts below this one for more details.

All Sewn Up - GIVEAWAY

I am joining in the party!!!

A new website totally dedicated to sewers is about to be launched and they are having a big party. People who have blogs are invited to have giveaways to celebrate and I have decided to join in and offer some goodies to giveaway.

NOTE: AUSTRALIAN PARTICIPANTS ONLY
sorry about that but postage outside the country is ridiculous for what i am giving away.

Now down to business. What will you win off me and how will you win it.
WHAT YOU WILL WIN
1. 2 x Bars of my handmade soap, you pick the sort that you would like, just visit my soap blog and let me know.

2. 1 x of my hand decorated pendants which can also be seen over on the soap blog, if you have a colour preference I have plenty others here at home that I can make up to suit you, otherwise just pick one of the available ones on the blog.

HOW TO WIN IT.
1. Leave a comment on this post telling me which soap you would like to win and your favourite colour for the pendant.
2. Tell your friends.
That's it!!! Draw takes place on 8 June at 10am EST sharp.

I am also still looking for more people for my Pay It Forward so feel free to have a look and join in.
GOOD LUCK

Paying it Forward

I am jumping on the bandwagon and doing something nice for strangers.

I found my idea here: Marianne's Art Blog

I am entering into the following contract with the first 5 people who comment and then commit to do the same on their blog.
Just read below and if you feel up to the task copy the following into your blog and leave me a comment. I am willing to post overseas (I am in Australia), but remember you must committ on your blog to do the same to others.

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. Whatcha get is whatcha get.
2. What I create will be just for you, with love.
3. It’ll be done this year (2009).
4. I will not give you any clue what it’s going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber. It may be weird or beautiful. Or it may be monstrous and annoying. Heck, I might bake something for you and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that’s for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something strange.
6. In return, all you need to do is post this text on your blog and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to your blog post.
7. Send your mailing address - after I contact you.

Welcome to everyone. I will however, make an effort to do something that you like based on what I see on your blog, BUT there is no guarantees.
Bec

April Finished Project

Well I am hoping that this counts. I have had this litte jewellery making kit at home for a while and finally got around to making them up. It wasn't too hard, just a bit fiddly, decorating them and then glueing on the bail (silver thing).

A beautiful present for Jessica

This is a HUGE thank you to 3 lovely ladies that I know through an online quilting group that I am a part of.

This just came in the mail for Jess and it is from 3 of her "EB Aunties".

Helen AJ Adds

You are just the loveliest. She loves it already.

Jessica Grace Clarke 17 March 2009

Here she is the new addition to our family.

Miss Jessica Grace Clarke born 10.30am Tuesday 17 March 2009.

Now that's got to be lucky, St Patrick's Day...

Finished Project for March

Yay, just in time to go to hospital and have a baby. I have finished Sam's quilt that I have been working on since late last year.

Here are some pictures of the quilt and it's owner with his very photogenic poses.

I had a Jelly Roll that I purchased specifically for making his quilt and it is a simple Log Cabin type block that I put sashing around. It wasn't quite big enough to drape over the edges of a single bed so I added quite a large navy border and I was worried about how it would looke especially when I had to make the border wider on the top than the sides but after quilting and binding I think it looks great.

For the quilting I did a simple stitch in the ditch around each square and did some free motion waves around the whole border. It was only my 2nd attempt at freemotion and I am in love with it, I have got my machine all worked out and will be doing much more of it in the future.

I am also really happy with the fact that I had enough Jelly Roll left over to use as the binding, you can't see it much in the pictures but boy it really finishes the quilt off.

IT'S RAINING IT'S POURING

OK well maybe not pouring... but it did for a while. We have had 20mm of rain in the last 24hrs.











Some people that stumble across this blog may ask why all the fuss over a bit of rain. Well just take a look at the ground in the background of the pictures and you may see why.














We have been in a drought pretty much for the past 7 years. There has been the occasional good fall of rain in either Spring or Autumn, BUT, there has not been a good spring AND autumn for a long long time.





















Now, I haven't even lived here that long but my lovely husband can remember when it started and for so long now the ground has been getting drier, the undergrounds springs have been running less and less and the Dams just don't get full when it rains.

So what's the big deal about 20ml you ask. I am not sure but it is still raining and it has probably been about 6 months since we saw that much rain in one go so I think I am allowed to get a bit excited. As you can see from the photo's it rained so hard at one stage that the creek out the back of our house is almost a raging torrent (sorry bit of exaggeration there but it's about a foot deep now and I haven't seen it run like that for a couple of years.


Now all that needs to happen is it needs to keep raining for a day or so nice and gently as it is now and we will be very happy.

LATER THAT DAY
We had a massive storm last night and more rain, all up we have had 41mm of rain. Woo hoo.