live, love, laugh...

my new pendant to celebrate life ovaryless!

Looking Up

2009 has been a tough year for me, for regular followers I don't have to go into details. For new followers, You'll just have to take my word for it. But with 2009 almost over, it's time to start looking up, and thinking about all the good things that next year will hold.
To start with there is Jamie Oliver - well, 20 hours of Jamie courtesy of Mr Sew Funky who brought me his box set for Christmas!

Then there are the new friends I've made since moving to Pukekohe. Friends like Helena who gave me some lovely flowers, just to brighten my day!

Then there's the vegetables. Mr Sew Funky seems to have found his green fingers, and the tomato plants are showing promising signs of fruit!

More immediate is the broccoli - this beauty will probably be on our dinner plates this week!

Last but definitely not least, there is Henry. Henry is one of the surviving kittens and he's become quite attached to me, as I have to him...

Mrs Sew Funky is now resting in her OWN BED!!!! :-)

Dione should be home in the morning :-)

Hard Day

Today was a hard day for Mrs Sew Funky - but she's been able to move around a bit, so it's called progress, even if it comes with pain.

Tomorrow will be a tough day as Mr Sew Funky has to go back to work and will only get to the hospital by 5pm.

Recovering

Mrs Sew Funky is recovering well in hospital. The operation went well, despite some hospital politics causing a very emotional start to the day yesterday

Understaffing and an emergency in another ward today, combined with dodgy hospital equipment meant that Mrs Sew Funky was with out pain meds for three hours this morning (before I arrived) which set her recovery back a bit.

A very tiring day for everyone, but hopefully tomorrow Mrs Sew Funky will be able to stretch her legs and go for a little walk.

Looking forward to having her home by Wednesday.

Mr Sew Funky

So, tomorrow morning I'm going to be getting my surgery done.  I'm feeling a lot better about it all.  There were a few hard days, namely yesterday and Tuesday, when it actually hit me that I am going through with it all.  I am feeling upheld by the prayers of everyone around me and much more ready to do this thing!  :)

Thank you everyone for all your kind thoughts thus far, I know there will be more, and I so appreciate it more than you all could ever realise it.  God has blessed me big time with great friends and family and I sense that He is really in control of this thing.  I certainly don't feel able to do it alone.

My father in law arrives tonight so that we have someone to watch the girls, I'm needing to leave super early tomorrow morning (need to get to the surgical centre by 7.30am).  So it's good to know that someone will be home making sure they all get breakfast and go to school etc.  He will be staying until Wednesday, which should be the day I come out of hospital, and then he is taking the girls back to start their Christmas/Summer holidays early.  Thank God for good families! :)

This is one of the scariest things I've ever had to decide on and it helps to know that it's the right thing for me to do.  It has been a funny thing to decide on, mainly because I do have the choice.  If I had cancer, that choice would have been taken from me.  So it is a very powerful thing.  Taking back my life from the fear of cancer is very empowering.

So, yeah, I do appreciate ALL of your prayers and well wishes.  They're what is carrying me through at the moment, until I see you at the other side! :)

D.

sometimes I just want to...

crawl into a hole
and not come out till it’s over

Source: Silent Illusions

And the winners are;

Winner of Red Dawn & cards; Kristy of PAISLEY JADE

Winner of Cupcake Tea Wallet & cards; Nadine of PLEASE PLEASE GO TO SLEEP

Winner of the Funky Ruched Brooch & cards; Amber of CREATIVE HEART

Congratulations to you all, I only wish all of the entrants could get a prize!   Winners were chosen randomly using the random number generator found here!

My hysterectomy is only days away now, and so I expect the blog will be a little quiet for a few weeks or so.  Love you all.

D.

Giveaway Extravaganza!

That's right I'm having a giveaway extravaganza right here, right now!

My blog has had it's 100,000th visitor and I think that's something to celebrate!

There are going to be three different giveaways, so three of you, my wonderful readers, will win something I've made.  I've decided to give away a few of my favourite makes, each with a wee set of little miss cards.


All you need to do to enter is;
*  comment on this post
*  become a follower (if you aren't already) of this blog
*  become a follower of my new sewfunkyshop blog
*  comment on any of the posts over on the sewfunkyshop blog

So, you have four opportunities to enter this great celebratory giveaway...

And, now, drumroll please...

Prize #1

You can win Red Dawn the cutest little monsta in town, and three very cute little miss cards.  Red Dawn has a huge heart, ready to give you lots of love and hugs too!

Prize #2

You could win a very cute cupcake loyalty card wallet, and three very cute little miss cards.  The loyalty card wallet can double as a tea wallet, and with this prize you will receive three individual packets of twinings tea. YUM!

Prize #3

You might win a very funky ruched brooch, and three very cute little miss cards.  The ruched brooch was lovingly made by me out of gorgeous cotton quilting fabric.  You can use it to zoosh up any outfit you're wearing, attach it to your handbag, or even wear it as a corsage!

So, what are you waiting for, get entering!  Giveaway ends on November 30th!

D.

What does BRCA1 look like?

hmmm...

What can you post on, when your camera is missing?!

This is a picture of what the BRCA1 gene looks like.  Isn't God amazing, an artist in even the small things!

One week to go until my operation, trying not to think too much about it.  But it's still there.

D.

Muppets | Bohemian Rhapsody

Thanks for bringing this you tube vid to my attention Mr Sew-Funky!

to market, to market,

to buy a fat pig crafty thing

home again, home again

jiggity jig!

So many fun people and things to buy that I couldn't possibly remember everyone, here are a few stand-out people though!

I'm loving the organisers of Crafternoon tea - Luisa & Trent, you guys do a brilliant job of bringing it all together without a hitch!  Thanks so much. :)

Now, onto the things I bought and swapped - I think a little show-off is in order;

cute earrings and brooch from songbird designs

the very first issue of extra curricular!

beautiful camellia brooch from Jo of Unexpected Hug

button hairgrips from my neighbour, Weak Willed and Easily Led

gorgeous chrissy decoration from Jennie of Softings

I seriously had to restrain myself from buying more, as if I could have, I'd have bought brooches galore!  I'd have bought that cute little ninja brooch from DMCAY designs, the ninja softie from Unexpected Hug, the little Max brooches that Little Bird Designs makes and so, so much more!  It was very difficult to stop myself spending with all the crafty goodness around.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway - you have until November 30th.

D.

hysterectomy here I come...

Back in March I posted on this very blog about my struggles because of carrying the BRCA 1
+ genetic mutation. 

I now have less than two weeks to go until I actually do something practical about it.  I'm booked in to have a radical hysterectomy on December 4th.  I appreciate all of your prayers and kind thoughts as I go through this mammoth event in my life.

It has been a fairly terrible year for me, and I am especially missing my Mum at this time, knowing how much of a great support she would have been for me.

I'm not looking forward to the pain of the operation and recovery time.  I do however know in my heart of hearts that it's the right decision for me and for my family.

I choose to live my life without the constant nagging fear of ovarian cancer hanging over it.  Oh, and won't life be grand without having to worry about menstruation!  :)

D.

shop update | New Design Brooches

Meet my new funky brooches.  I had a brain-wave on Sunday and came up with these super cool little accessories.  The sock monkey fabric had just been sitting around waiting to be made into these...

At 5cm in diameter, they're sure to be commented on! :)

Available in my shop now.

Where did the money go?

Yep, I've managed to quickly spend the profits of Saturday's market.  I bought and swapped for some fabulous crafty goodness, and also spent a good hour at Spotlight buying new fabric to make some more items to sell.  The crafty addiction cycle goes on...

kiwiana goodness...

I've found that you can find great fabric in the curtaining department!

some fabric to make things for the boys...

1930's reproduction fabrics

some florals...

and look what I spotted, 

you may remember seeing this in something I recently bought from softings!

I'll do another post about all the good people I met and things I bought and swapped at the markets tomorrow.  Keep an eye out...

Plus, don't forget to enter my giveaway - you have until November 30th.

D.

Crafternoon Tea | a success!

I had so much fun, met so many great people at the super, well-organised Crafternoon Tea!  Can't speak highly enough of how fantastic the day was.  I sold a lot of my loyalty card wallets, sew-funky cards and brooches!

what my table looked like...

My daughter came along to help - Thanks Hope!

It was funny how we were sitting under the auspiciousness of this...

I know that I certainly broke the tenth commandment - it was just too difficult not to with all the fantastic things I was surrounded with!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway - you have until November 30th.

D.

Crafternoon Tea is on today!

And I'll be there...  So come on down if you're anywhere near that part of Auckland today!

As it says in the poster above, it's at the Trinity Methodist Church Hall in Kingsland from 10am to 2pm. So go grab a coffee or brunch at one of the Kingsland Cafe's and then mosey on down to the Crafternoon Tea.


Plus, don't forget to enter my giveaway - you have until November 30th.


D.

A new day, a new face...

Meet my new monsta, Anne... 

Isn't she just the bee's knee's with a smile like that?!

I decided that something must be done about all the sad faces appearing on my monsta creations...  Enough is enough, can't some of them be happy?!

She's now up for adoption over in the sewfunkyshop, and I'll be bringing her along to crafternoon tea on Saturday too!  If you're anywhere near Kingsland, don't forget to pop on over and meet us!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway extravaganza, you have like 10 more days or so to enter...

D.

shop update | Brooches

New brooches in the shop.

Now selling @ Artefact

You can now purchase sewfunky products at the local Franklin gallery shop - Artefact.  Artefact is run by Franklin Arts, Culture & Library Trust.

It's so exciting to actually be selling my creations in a real store. :D  I am jumping up and down with excitement here!  I can barely contain myself!!!

D.

going dotty...

Yep, but it's for a good cause!

I'm busy making some polka dot things for a swap I'm involved in.  It needs to be mailed by the end of the month, so I thought I'd better get cracking!

sneak peak

Have a neat day, and don't forget to enter the giveaway!

D.

mmmmm! raspberries

We have been so blessed over the past couple of months to see yummy things growing in our garden.  It's amazing all the surprises we've had.  Cape gooseberries, apples, feijoas, raspberries, and a range of vegetables grow in our garden.

Even the cat didn't want to miss out on the fun of harvesting...

yummy, red goodness

It was the first time I've ever eaten raspberry muffins within an hour of picking the fruit!   So delicious!

D.

PS. Don't forget to enter my giveaway extravaganza!

craft market...

Lot's of fun.  Sold a wee bit.  Happy.  Tired.  Write more later.

Doily Mad...

It's all gone a little doily mad at the sew-funky house.  It all began with an upcycled skirt and has progressed to doily loyalty card wallets and even a doily piece of art. 

doily upcycled skirt

The skirt was upcycled from a comfy old pair of jeans.  I cut the crotch out and by using the bottom half of the jean leg was able to infill the space - so cool, and easy.  The old jeans had an oil stain and a couple of little paint marks which were easily covered by doily's! :)

doily loyalty card wallets

These will be available in my shop, later on today...  And also at the local craft fair tomorrow morning. :)

doily art

I went to the local art group this morning, what fun we all had.  Lot's of talking, some coffee and some art making too!  This is what I came up with, after a brain storm at around 4am this morning.  I plan on making more of these in different background colours.  What a great way of showing off the workmanship that goes into these old family heirlooms.

Feel the doily love...

Don't forget I'm at the local Lions Craft Fair tomorrow at the Pukekohe Town Hall.  If you are in the Franklin area, drop in and say hi.  I'd love to see you.  Doors open at 9am & close at 1pm.  It's all held inside - so if the weather is not so good the craft fair is a great place to be.

And don't forget to enter my giveaway extravaganza!

D.

new | Crocheted Hair Grips

It is impossible to take a good photo of one's hairclips by yourself.  After NINE tries I managed to get something only slightly half decent.  At least you get the gist of what these look like.

Made from a deconstructed cotton crocheted cardigan (so GROSS), these are actually quite cool.  I painted them with acrylic paint - both sides - and then sprayed them with matt varnish.  Then, using those skinny hair grips I used to pretty up my very boring hair-do.  I was going to say style, but with hair like mine you can't really use the word style in the same sentence!

I've made them in white, blue, yellow and red.  But, blue and red turned out the best.

Oh, and have you looked at my sitemeter counter lately?  Nearly 100,000 visitors to my blog - WOW!  So to celebrate that milestone I'll be putting up a giveaway on the blog tomorrow.  Keep an eye out and don't forget to enter.  :)

Also, if you haven't checked out my new sewfunkyshop blog - go take a look.  :)   There's not a lot on there yet.  But there will be.  Keep an eye on it for all the great things you see me making on this blog!

D.

Flower Brooch Display

Part of doing craft markets is about how you display your wares.  After pondering about how to display my flower brooches I had a brain-wave.  Yes, those still occur occasionally in the sew-funky household ;).  I have, literally tons of old plastic knitting needles, which I hate to knit with.  I prefer metal needles.

So in the interest of upcycling and using what I have lying around, I came up with this;

Excuse the photo, it does look better in real life!

What do you think?  Goer or Noer?

And what type of needles do you prefer to use?  Plastic, Bamboo, Rosewood, Metal, Other?

D.

Favourite things Friday...

my new favourite thing...

my brooch as a corsage

and my new favourite thing to make...

more loyalty card wallets...

D.

everything will be okay...

source|fridgedoor.com

made | tea wallets

Yep, I went crazy and made some more tea wallets to sell at the markets. It's a fun way to put to use all of that nice japanesey fabric that I have in my stash!

I'm loving the red two...

5/11/09 Postscript;

I've just sold the cute red tea wallet (the one with little pink flowers). :) Helena was wandering around with a plastic bag to hold her rooibos teabags in her handbag. I opened her eyes to a better way.

D.

new | Coffee Card Wallets!

I've been thinking of making some of these for a little while, and was inspired to put idea into action at the Craft Market on Saturday! Thanks for the encouragement Jodz! You Rock!

They are basically an extension of the good old tea wallet and are for all those customer loyalty cards you get at cafe's and stores. I've also included a couple of coffee sachet's for times when you might get caught without your fix! ;)

What do you think? Good idea?

I guess the real question is, will it sell at the markets?!

D.