The Rabbit....

Yep. I took the Rabbit. How could I not?

Me...

I've recently been thinking about how I portray myself on this blog and wondering if maybe I've been a bit of a fraud. Everything I've put on here is in fact me and things I have done, but I've neglected to share a part of myself that has really made me who I am today. I didn't think this would ever need to be an issue that would come up, but found myself questioning that when a beautiful girl whose blog I have been following for a little while recently passed away. Her name was Eva, and she had cystic fibrosis. Although she was young and vibrant and gave everything she had to making people aware of this disease and seems different to me, we shared a common ailment, I too have cystic fibrosis. Her passing made me question why I have always kept this part of me secret. I didn't like to tell my co-workers and hated having to tell my new boss when she took over the shop 18 months ago. I have never wanted people to think I'm different, to treat me differently, I just want to get on with the job at hand and get on with the job of living.

I have seen many people wait for their second chance at life and never receive that ultimate gift, and I have seen the other side of that when people get that second chance and go and make the best of it. And while my health now is quite good, at some point in the future I too will need someone to offer up that gift, and the more people who are aware of organ donation and make the decision to become an organ donor, the better my, and others, chances will be.

Maybe it's time for me to just take a step back from all that and say, look at all I can do with this disease. My parents were told initially that I probably wouldn't live to see the age of 8. At almost 35 maybe it's time to reflect on that, stop denying this part of myself and look at all I've achieved, and look at all I've still yet to achieve. I'm not looking for sympathy, I just wanted to honour a gorgeous young woman who fought so bravely and made such a difference in her short time on this earth. Maybe by sharing this and making people more aware about an everyday person living with something like this, I too can make a small difference. If you've ever thought about becoming an organ donor, I urge you to at least discuss this with your family and let them know what you want or go here to sign up on the register (In Australia).

If you've got this far, thanks for reading, if you have questions you can leave a message in the comments, I'm happy to answer anything. Once this is out there, there is no going back!

Saturday Shopping List.....Bunnies

I have seen other bloggers do the Saturday Shopping list and I thought I'd join in with a bit of a bunny theme. Here we go!

1: Wabbit Joe. From chunkychooky. Found here.


2: Bunny. From edwardandlilly. Found here.
3: Mae A mini mohair bunny. From Tiddlywinks. Found here.

4: Jonquil. From teddybearswednesday. Found here.

And while I'm spruiking the handmade bunnies, if you're in the Ipswich area pop into Handmade Heaven for one of my vintage chenille bunnies.

Happy Saturday everyone!

and apologies if you popped by earlier and saw my very untidy post! Blogger was annoying me and doing strange things to my pictures. fingers crossed it's all fixed up now!

Bunny Friday - week 3

Bunny Friday! Yay! This week I want to show you the bunny I made from this fabulous pattern from Hop Skip Jump. This wasn't a free one, but for the small amount I paid for it, it was well worth it! Very well written and so easy to follow. Isn't she cute! This bunny is going to be a present for a very sweet little girl who just turned one. I hope she likes her!


And what self respecting rabbit doesn't like some carrots! The carrots I made using this great little tutorial from Clare and the dyed chenille from yesterday. So easy and quick! Thank you Clare!

Go and check out these gorgeous little bunnies, the tutorial found here. I'm going to have to make me some of them!

Image from here.

And check out this super cute scrappy bunny, made using an old t-shirt!

Image from here.

I hope these bunny patterns don't give you a hard time! Come back next week on the Bunniest of Fridays, Good Friday, when I (hopefully!) will have the piece de resistance of bunnies to show you, fingers crossed I can pull it off!

my creative space...

I had a rather debilitating case of E.I.T.T.T.S on Tuesday. One of my brilliant plans came about because I couldn't be stuffed leaving the house. I wanted to dye some chenille orange for a little something I wanted to make so I thought "why not use food colouring!!" ingenious...or not! After leaving the chenille in this beautiful pot of food colouring for over an hour it had turned the most gorgeous shade of orange. When I then proceeded to rinse, it all came out. Every last trace. Seems (after some googling of what the heck did I do wrong??!) that cotton doesn't hold food colouring. Hmmm.


Plan B on Wednesday. Off to buy some dye. This time it worked. Mmmm, delicious orange chenille. Come back tomorrow on Bunny Friday to see what I did with it.*

*Although I'm sure regular readers of this blog may already have an idea.

More creative spaces over here.

Flea Market finds

I had a very successful op shopping week this week! Along with some clothes I was actually looking to buy (big chunky cardigan for winter! Yay!) I found not 1 but 2 vintage chenille bedspreads! In colours I actually liked! I also found a very cute little 100% cotton sheet, not vintage but very sweet and perfect for the back of one of my little chenille baby quilts.


And my favourite find of the week, this very cute little jug with toadstools on it. $1.00!


Want to see other finds of the week? Head over to Sophie's place!

Bunny Friday - week 2

Yay! Bunny Friday again! I've found some simple knitting and crochet bunny patterns that are free on the net this week.

First this little crochet amigurumi bunny. It looks a little like Miffy! I'm not sure if this pattern is written in English or American (still unable to tell the difference!) if you know leave a message in the comments (Mum, that means you too).

image here

Then there is this simple knitted bunny. Very cute. I think even I could manage to knit this one!

image here

And this teeny tiny bunny from Little Cotton Rabbits. It is almost too cute for words! There is also a pattern for a teeny bear and a teeny iced bun! Too cute!

image here

Hope these bunnies keep you going until next week! I plan to have a bunny done next week that I bought a pattern for, it's very sweet. Fingers crossed I can find the time!

my creative space...

This last week I was in lockdown to finish the little quilts and bunnies for Handmade Heaven, but couldn't resist making a start on one of my submissions for this years Ipswich Show. This bear is made from a very old and well loved (read: very tatty!) Grandmothers flower garden quilt. I bought this piece on ebay and it's just divine. It had been so worn in some spots the owner had re-sewn hexagons over the worn ones to get extra life out of it. The stuffing is going to be slow going, I don't want to poke a hole in him! I've got nothing else planned for the weekend though, so he should be all done by Sunday. (Note my very sophisticated stuffing tool!)

More creative peeps here.

I'm in love!!

With a boy named Mung Bean! Isn't he dreamy?!

Thank you Jess, I'm totally smitten!

They're baaaack!

The quilts that is! Just in time too as the nights start to cool down here in South East Queensland. These quilts, along with Bluebell and Violet, are on their way to Handmade Heaven. Make them feel welcome won't you?