Running around in circles

More circle work...


with a bit of "daisy" by ink & spindle and some black "orchard" by pippiejoe. I'm really happy with them - if I don't say so myself.

Another eleven to go in red "orchard" by pippiejoe.
Then a couple more aprons (hmm, 7 I think), a tablecloth or two and a bag ... before Friday...
Must learn my limitations & not procrastinate.
Must learn not take orders so late in December.
Must also remember to pick up and feed the kids...

Hope you're not running around in circles too!
Jenny

Out of the sweat shop

Some aprons hot off the press and out of the sweat shop that is my kitchen table.

Collected yesterday, I hope they make some people happy at Christmas.

Now onto the next five.....

Phew - made it just in time

The advent calendar was finished just in time - phew.
And 2 days in, the kiddies are loving it.

I still have some pockets to fill but now have a week or so up my sleeve.

And yep, the piece of wood found in the back of a laundry cupboard at midnight is a tad big but we can call it a design feature - can't we ??

Advent adrenalin

I've been meaning to make an advent calendar for my tribe for years but still there is nothing. My son is 10.
I was inspired by these clever ladies and decided that this is the year.

I planned.
I measured.
I cut.
I appliqued.
I painted.
I got sick of it after about 10 numbers (24 numbers, phew....) so put it aside.

The funny thing about Advent calendars is that they generally start on the 1st December.
Today I realised that it's now Tuesday 29th November.
CRAP!!! (Insert eye roll, sigh and a couple of fruity expletives!)
I've been stuck in "early Nov" all month. Where did November go? Did someone pinch it?
Needless to say there has been some hasty painting and playing and I'm planning to whack it together tomorrow night (as well as finishing off 10 or so aprons for some orders - hence the adrenalin...)
Crikey, I'll also have to get something to put in it......

Ah well, if I don't make it I'll be really organised for next year, won't I?!?

Hope your holiday/festive celebrations are a tad more organised than mine!

Cheers

Jenny

Still listing ...

Still working through the list.

A bag of buttons, a heap of black hair elastics, a trashed, hand me down school dress (it was washed I promise!) and you end up with some hair ties that have been donated to the school uniform shop.

Hope your lists are under control too.

Cheers

Jenny

(you may have noticed the new header ... playing with a few things here which I'll share when the dust settles...)

working through the list

I have a list.
A list of projects that need to be done.
Some are not finished.
Most are not even started.
I don't like this list - it makes me feel a little AAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!
SO I'm going to shorten this list.

A couple of Ink & Spindle cushions for my sister.
The fabric (that she purchased AGES ago) has been eyeballing me for months.
Ticked off the list!

Next???

Still here

Image from ARTISANIEeurope on etsy. How cute are these!

Hello, it's been a while and feels like even longer.

Here there's been lots of:

• nursing - 3 kids almost over chicken pox - they're fighting again so they must be on the mend. Feels like we've been house bound forever.



• cookbooking - the school cookbook is being launched in 3 weeks (insert wide eyed, panic spasm and some hyperventilating) - ooh, there is a bit to do. I hope people like it ... and buy the bloody thing.



• aproning - a couple of orders have been thrown in the mix too but I forgot to take photos.
  


• waiting - did you know that possums like to eat through phone lines? Yep, completley through! So spent a bit of time waiting for Telstra to fix it ... but rather than complain about incompetence, I'm choosing to put it in a bubble, blow it away and move on as it is now fixed.

Looking forward to kids being back at school/kinder soon and removing ourselves from quarantine!

10 things about me

I've been tagged by the lovely Jacqueline at Zippy Zippy so brace yourselves, here are 10 things you probably didn't know about me ...

1. I am the 2nd of five kids who grew up on a farm but married a city boy.


2. I love my little family (me, the man, the boy, the 2 girls and the smelly old dog).


3. I was the only girl in my class for prep, grade 1 and grade 2.


4. Once upon a time I jumped out of an aeroplane in Zimbabwe attached to a very hungover man that I had never met and a parachute.


5. I love a cookbook - can you really have too many??


6. I made my first skirt in grade 4 and loved it. (Never wore it, just loved making it)


7. We make hotcross buns from scratch every year on Good Friday even though we're not religious. I like to do things from scratch.


8. I hate (and refuse to purchase) over-packaged food - especially for children. If you want to give them biscuits just get some out of a larger packet or make your own. Why do kids need to have their own little packet out of a larger packet. Have you seen the waste at schools at lunch time ????? It drives me mad! Oops ... how did I get up here on this soapbox?


9. I have a Maths/Science teaching degree but have never taught (yep, i'm a nerd).


10. Sewing keeps me on the socially acceptable side of sane ... hopefully.

Join in too if you like.

Have a lovely weekend and pop into the market if you're around.......

Jenny

Still tucking along

A new little "tucked" apron off the production line, ie the kitchen table, which the family would like to see again soon - it's buried under the piles of stuff somewhere...

On Sunday it is the 1st Birthday of the Mulgrave Makers Market (Happy Birthday guys!!) and I'll be there with my Ohjoh goodies.

Come and say hello at Cnr Wellington & Jacksons Rds in Mulgrave on Sunday morning.

Lots of fun, & food, the farmers market is on at the same time, so go on make it a date!

I'll see you there.

Cheers

Jenny

Quilt Number 5 - finished just in time

Quilt number 5 has had a baptism of fire.

I finished the binding just before the spots hit.
Miss Spotty and her quilt have spent most of the last week together - snuggled on the couch, lying on the carpet, or just being dragged around the house sharing the joys of chicken pox.

When I can separate them I will continue with the hand stitching ... one day ... maybe ...

Showing the old girl some love

First of all I should give you a heads up - I'm having a moment.

A silly sentimental moment about my kitchen table.

She's an old girl and I love her so last night I gave her a bit of beeswax attention (and now our house smells of "lavender bees wax" which is big step up from "old dog and 3 kids").

So why is this worthy of a blog post ? Very good question, it probably isn't.

But I'm going to give you the story of this table anyway.

I think my grandfather picked it up 2nd hand for his bride (we're talking late 1920's).
Their 4 kids and gazillion grandkids have all congregated around this table.
Apparently the world stopped for morning tea and afternoon tea at this table every day.
I was allowed to dunk biscuits in (very milky and weak) coffee at this table and felt so BIG.
I learnt to shuffle cards as a kid at this table
I helped make lamingtons at this table.
I watched my grandmother do her ironing on this table.
My sister, as a young girl, scratched her name into this table - it is still there.
Every bump and scratch means something.
I recently found out that Nanny used to make lots of aprons at this table (how funny!).
She passed away in the early '80's and my lovely Great Uncle kept business as usual until the late 90's.
Being a good, country bachelor, he asked that everything be sold at auction after his death. Unfortunately this auction was the same week as we were hoping to buy our first home so every cent we had was tied up in our deposit. I watched the table go and thought what a shame.
We didn't get the house (aah the Melbourne Real Estate market...) so through my Aunty we tracked down the Antique dealer and bought it back.
Then I cried (yep, I'm soft!).
It makes me feel a bit mushy to think that my kids are refusing to eat dinner at the same table that my Dad (who they never met) probably did in the 1940's.
I don't now how old she is but she's lovely and represents a lot of family history. To my kids she's just a table but I think she's more ... like I said I'm soft!

Ok, that's it - moment over.
Hope you all have a lovely weekend.
Jenny

Getting Zippered

You may know that Tanya is having a "Julie & Julia" thing with Nikki.

I did mention to Tanya that the idea was so fabulous we should all do it and then proceeded to do nothing.

But now I have.I been zippered!

These were easy (her patterns always are) lovely and wonderful. And I love how they've turned out.

The little one is for me and the big one has been posted to my Mum so she can carry around some "secret lady business" in her bag while she has the side effects of her chemo. (Have I told you how proud we are of our Mum - she's brave, strong, determined and has a tummy of steel!)

It took me 5 months to crack the seal on Nikki's book (which is not a reflection on her book at all!) I wonder if I can do another project before March 2012 ??

Seeing Spots

School goes back today.

Spots came out yesterday.

Hello Chicken Pox, (unfortunately) we've been waiting for you.

And the winner is .....

It was time to pic a winner.
The kids and I hatched a (cunning) plan that had the kids occupied for a while (and, hey, that's a good thing on the school holidays!).


Create some wonderful designs on paper.

Randomly number them on the back.

Fold and fold and fold some more.

Park them in the hanger.

Launch them one at a time from the deck.

The plane that travelled the furthest ...

is the winner!

Congratulations Quilary!! A piece of Ohjoh is yours.

Thanks to those that left comments. Maybe another one at 150 posts ??

Cheers

Jenny

A creative space ...

A little thank you for a lovely sister and her Mr Tall who loved and spoiled the dog when we were on holidays last month.

The London fabric came from Andi's giveaway (yep, lucky me!) and as soon as I saw it I knew where it was going to end up. Both the sister and her Mr have spent time living in London so it is perfect! Thanks Andi.

Check out more creative spaces here.

Updating the shop

Some newbies in the shop today:

Hope you are all enjoying your day!

Jenny

Last day for the giveaway - leave a comment here for something nice!

What could be better ?

What could be better than a rotary cutter ?

A NEW BLADE in your rotary cutter!!! Ooooh it's like a hot knife through butter.

I'm cutting anything in arm's reach.

And I now realise how much that teeny, tiny nick in the old blade (that left a single thread still joined on every rotation) was really annoying me. Aaah it's a whole new world of shiny, sharp calm.

Have you entered the giveaway - go in do it and get a freeby!

Have a great day.

Jenny

Happy 100 Giveaway!!!

Happy 100!!

Who would have thought we'd ever get to 100 posts ???

There were times when I didn't.

To be honest, this blog started as a way to explore and promote my little ohjoh apron/clothing business but it quickly morphed into something else.

It now tends to be about what I make and feel like making and the odd little snippets into the crazy world of ohjoh. (Oh the things I "could have", "should have" and "glad i didn't" blog about!)

It is also an amazing source of inspiration! Man, you guys are clever! From quilts to bags to crocheted collars for trees. I am always impressed, inspired and amazed! Thanks!

And if we're throwing some honesty out there, this little blog has given me a quiet sanctuary from the craziness that sometimes is life. Hmm, maybe it has helped me keep a grip on the socially acceptable side of sane ??? (Yes, they are snorts of disbelief that you can hear coming from my family!)

But enough navel gazing.... it is GIVEAWAY time!!!

Just a simple giveaway to say thanks for popping by over the last 100.

Leave a comment by end of Wednesday 5th Oct and I'll randomly draw a winner next Thursday 6th Oct.

What do you win?? Your choice of something from my shop.

Goodluck!

Happy school holidays people! (we're expecting a visit from the chicken pox virus - hmm yes, we're all so excited!)

Cheers

Jenny

PS I'm also celebrating with free shipping within Aust for Sept/Oct.

My Creative Space

In my Creative Space there has been more playing with free motion stitching in the form of linen pot holders.

And sewing up a couple of "Cath" aprons for an order and a few more for the stock box.

These guys were destined for the market on Sunday but they'll have to wait for next month.

In the juggling act that is life, we've been thrown a basketball this week. So I thought I would continue juggling the "kids", "family", "daughter", "wife", "friend", "mum", "school", "kinder" and "socially acceptable side of sane" balls (amongst others) and put the "market" one down for the moment so that they don't all crash around us.

If you're doing nothing on Sunday and you're in Melbourne why not check out the other lovely people at Mulgrave Makers Market. We'll do our best to be at the next one in October.

Hope your juggling act is under control.

Check out other creative spaces here.

Cheers

Jenny

PS this is post number 99 which means a giveaway for the next one to celebrate the "century"!

Practice makes perfect

Practice makes perfect, so they say. In that case, I have a whole lot of practicing to do when it comes to free motion machine quilting ...

This is what happened to those circles. 100% linen tea towels for a market on Sunday. If you can make it to Mulgrave in Melbourne on Sunday morning, please come and say hello!

Cheers

Jenny

PS. This is post number 98 - who would have thought??? - so I'm thinking a celebratory giveaway for the big 100. Will keep you posted...

Circles

Lots of circles today. Starting to get dizzy.