Busy Pencils

Good morning to you all. It seems I am easily led astray. I often get requests for this and that and just recently (very recently) a little seed was planted in to fertile soil.....the messy and chaotic place known as my mind! Don't feel sorry for me because really it is my happy place. Tossing and turning, staring off into space and lots of doodling ensued. That is until I told myself "Just get on with! You know you want to!" Want to see?

Yep! Another little Alphabet. I thought you all may have had enough of them but apparently that is not the case. This one is for all those of you who adore Country themed stitching or live in a rural area. It was such great fun to do. So a bit more tweaking and I can get it printed out. Hope you like it as much as I loved creating it. FYI.....there is another one lurking in my mind too! My goodness! There goes the housework AGAIN!!!!
In amongst all of this I have been doing this little bit of stitchery as a gift.

Poor tree, it does look lopsided. I am sure it will look lush when it is done.
I have a busy weekend coming up with lots of popping in and out of home but I am definitely going to be helping Chooky celebrate....

Virtually of course. I am going to be working on more handquilting....

I may also play with a new journal I bought. Thanks to my lovely friend Janeen I seemed to have got absolutely besotted by something called ART JOURNALS.....have you heard of them and do any of you clever folk out there play with them too........just love them!!!!

Ok I must fly as I have a special visitor popping in for a cuppa. My dear bestie Ann..

Enjoy your weekend

Namaste and Blessings

Michelle xxx

P.S. Lately I have had quite a few lovely comments from people who are coming up as Non-reply bloggers, just wanted to let you know that if I have not responded to your comment this is why. I do appreciate every single one....so thank you xx

Sweet Mail

Yesterday I received some lovely mail from our gorgeous "Swap Mama" Cheryll. As most of you know things have been a bit fraught with worry around this little homestead of late. I have really appreciated all the love and support I have received from my friends both bloggers and non bloggers. I was so touched to receive this feel better little package from Cheryll. Inside was the sweetest Nancy Halvorsen panel. I have always been a "Nancy" fan.

Some close ups...

Aren't they pretty. I just love them. A garden does make you happy.
So thank you my beautiful friend from the bottom of my heart xxx
Stitching lately has consisted of lots of hand quilting....still going! I am at the moment stitching the binding down on the spotty number I showed a sneaky of last week..

 Bit blurry (sorry folks) Sometimes I have to speak to my photographer for lack of concentration!
In between quilting I have been working away making wee hexie flowers and they are growing.

Still quite a few to go but progress continues :) Yay!
That's it from my little corner of the world.
One last little comment on friends....
Thank you Miss Helen for a beautiful Yoga session and catchup.... it was just what was needed.

Namaste and Blessings,
Michelle xxx

Nana Post!

Good Morning and Happy Monday. I am warning you that this post is a very heavy Nana post and I will understand if you zip on by.
As I said last post my weekend was going to involve cake. My Daughter gave a little Teaparty for Erin's 1st Birthday and she did a beautiful job. It was a Moo cow and pink themed little party as Erin's favourite toy is a stuffed cow. Everything looked so pretty.

And the cake, a gift from a loving friend was sooo very cute! There was also the yummiest cupcakes another gift from a friend.....themed of course!

So a girl has to blow at her candles...

and then a taste test...just to see if it is ok for the guests.

Yep! Passed muster!
Lots of lovely presents to open too....

But I also thought pulling Grampy's beard was good fun!

Nana messed my hair and crumpled my dress in this photo.....Sorry!

It was lovely to have this little celebration and we throughly enjoyed it....great fun.
I wanted to share with you the gorgeous card my friend Ann made that I gave to Erin....

She is so clever and we all love what has become known now as an "Ann" card. Charlotte received and "Ann" card as well.
For both my beautiful Granddaughters as a little Nana memento of their 1st Birthdays I did a little drawing for them and popped it into a frame. Erin's....

of course there had to be bears and this is Charlotte's...

Are you still with me? Thank you and bravo for hanging in there! I have no sewing to show you as the rest of the weekend was taken up with wrestling with new technology and a new car.....scary stuff!
Enjoy your day,
Namaste and blessings,
Michelle xxx

May is a Special Month

May has always been a special month for birthdays in our family. Today is very special as our youngest granddaughter Erin celebrates her first big birthday. What a year it has been....

She is such a big girl now....

Sending you big hugs and lots of love and kisses ((((0)))) and wishing you a much easier path ahead x

Although I have been doing lots of stitching and quilting I only have a snippet to share...a little bit of hand quilting..

Ok that's it from me. I would like to leave you with a beautiful image from the Crystal Castle on Facebook.

Have a lovely weekend everyone....mine involves cake!!!
Namaste and Blessings,
Michelle xxx

A LITTLE FREEBIE

Hello all. I had all intentions of offering a little Easter Freebie to you but with all the unfortunate stress in our family around that time it came and went. So sorry about that. As I have been in a very "beary" state of mind of late and the weather is getting cooler I thought I would draw you all a little stitching furry friend to stitch to keep you warm.

You can tell by her face she is a very serious stitcher! Tee Hee...Anyway I hope you can use her. Just click on her piccie under my sketchpad and print her out. Mr R. assures me it is working.
I know it is not very fashionable to love bears but I have never been a follower of the latest trends and I adore them. Particularly the gorgeous handmade very serious types. Plus they make the best models for drawing and are so well behaved.
On the sewing front I am still working away on my upcoming projects but am making good progress....

Just working on a bit of needleturn at present......I love needleturn applique! But you know that already. I have told you enough times and you are so polite. With all the stitching going on at the moment around here and sewing stuff everywhere this sign is my new mantra...

Well I am off to applique some more, enjoy your afternoon.
Namaste and Blessings,
Michelle xxx

Deadlines to Meet

A quick post as I have some deadlines looming and lots of playing has caught up with me. You may see more of this combo a little later....

I also wanted to wish my lovely Hubby (who is not feeling too well today) a very Happy Birthday. As you can see he is very patient and has a great sense of humour under trying circumstances...

He is the one person in this world that I know I can always count on, my friend, my soft place to fall, my safe place and my biggest supporter in this crazy thing that I love to do. He is a super Dad and Granddad...

and we love him lots and lots...

even when "Grampy" turns into "Grumpy"! LOL!
So Happy Birthday Gaz xx

Ok must fly....Happy Monday all,
Namaste and Blessings,
Michelle xxx

FNSI

Last evening I joined in our monthly on line virtual stitch-a-long....

The lovely Wendy was our hostess for the evening. So after battling the crazy peak hour traffic on the way home from the hairdressers across town, I promptly donned my Friday night uniform (Jim Jams) and set to work....

Of course a little sustenance was required...you know to keep up the energy.

I was quite pleased with my efforts as I managed to get little hexies appliqued into almost 3 corners of the quilt.

I thought if I started with the corners first I could see what it looked like and proceed from there...just like that little boy says in the ad on TV says "we're gonna need a bigger boat"...well! "I'm gonna need a lot more little hexies and butterflies"! Still at least I have made a start.
I hope all the other Friday-nighters had an enjoyable night stitching. I will drop by to visit later on and see what you got up to. Thank you Wendy for looking after us all so nicely xxx
Enjoy your weekend.

Namaste and Blessings,
Michelle xxx

Can't Stay Away From My Pencils!

Oh what enjoyment I get out of that pencil case and it's contents. I have been diligently practising with my pencils but I just can't seem to leave the Bear people alone in my family. I am sure they are trying to hide from me...I tried...

and whilst I enjoyed it, coercing my big handsome, furry boy Bruno into the chair was much more fun and he was the perfect model....

I love his big honey tummy! I then spoke very sweetly to little Rosie and asked her to bring her handpainted hat box to see what we could create....

She is such a cutie. Now while these may not be masterpieces art wise, I am have been enjoying challenging myself with self imposed little rules about freehand drawing....no rulers, no tracing of any kind. Just pencils and eraser. I don't trace anyway but I have been known to use my ruler..sssh!
Not being impatient with self-improvement I think is my biggest challenge.
Ok! Sewing! I had a lovely evening with the Wednesday night girls last night. I love catching up with these ladies and it was extra special to see friends Jan and Robyn there. Robyn P. you were missed xx
Between flapping the gums big time I did get some more tiny hexies done.....oh and did I mention Diane's chokkie slice and delicious jam drops YUM! I didn't say I had any mind you I just said did I mention them...

That's all from me folks, have a lovely day.

Namaste and blessings,
Michelle xxx

A New Aussie!

Last evening Mr R. and I went to the Australian Citizenship ceremony in our local district to witness our Son-in-law John become an Australian citizen. John hails originally from the UK. It was very well organised and there were lots of new Aussies taking the pledge.

Here is yours truly with my Grandson and one of my oldest friends Karen, who just happens to be married to our SIL's uncle....confused??/ LOL!

John being congratulated by our Mayor Pam Parker.

Next a family photo with that very precious certificate.

After several rousing rounds of Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi,oi oi! and the singing of our National Anthem to close the night we got to partake of a cuppa and and a huge Anzac bikkie. Lachie was first in line!

So all that remains to be said is......John...

I thought I would leave you with a photo of a favourite Aussie spot of mine. This place was so beautiful and peaceful....Simpson's Gap N.T.

Namaste and blessings,
Michelle xxx