Settling In

The very cheeky monkey pixie (CMP) seems to be settling into Donnie and Poppies' place, FINALLY. It might not sound like a big deal, HOWEVER, someone has developed stranger anxiety. Sheesh Poppie was public enemy number ONE!! Oh well.

On the crafting front. I have been mucking around with Donnie's felting machine. Clever me did not go and look at what the thing is called. But it is cool. I am having fun felting all sorts of things into plain onesies, and singlets at the moment... Hmm I was going to naive applique retro designs on them. Oh well. I have also been working on a quilt Donnie is making for CMP. It's a fairy quilt with tons of button hole applique. I plan to get onto this project in the not too distant future.

Sign one does not have the url for this amazing little site. It's on my bookmarks. CMP sticky fingers needs to have a wall hanging at her hight that she can't get up too mischief with. It also cannot stay on the floor because one of the resident dish lickers is blind so can't sit on the couch anymore. A quiet quilt would make an excellent patch of comfort on wooden floors as far as he is concerned.

Here are some photos of Evie's awesome swap. Evie it definately was worth the wait and in the last 2 hours at home when I was feeling distressed about never seeing my beloved car again (we had lots of adventures in together over 8 years), it was a welcome distraction. Enjoy the photos. I think I have enough time to upload them before CMP wakes up.

CMP distracting goodness.

Naptime over. Have to fly.

Swaps

Hmm I read a rant somewhere in blogdom over the past week or so ( well at least before I morphed into 'The-Move-Banshee'). So one thinks that they have been remiss in swap netiquette. May be it is time for me to blog about my swap adventures. Before this year, I was never much of a photographer, so I do not automatically think, 'I should photograph this'. Or I get in a mad panic that I have to post the swap NOW and when I get home I have a penny dropping in an empty moneybox moment. So I do not have complete swap pictures.

Swap number 1 Fall Swap
If you go to my flickr stream you can see most of the photos as well. (In my warped little universe I like to drop hints about surprises without giving it away. I just get excited about giving I guess. But noticed that no one else was dropping hints...)Evie from the sunny climes in San Francisco was my swap partner and being a fellow Japanophile, I decided to go with my favourite Japanese autumn festival, Tsukimi. So that was the approach I took to the handmade things. I ate the most fab Japanese mushroom dish the first time I was in Japan for this festival. The other bits and pieces? All bits of Japanese goodness but you will need to see Evie's blog to check it out. Like I said I do not always remember to take photos.

Swap number 2: Domestic Bliss Miscellany Swap

I sent my swap to Jessica from California. I tried to marry my interests with her interests and include some Japanese and Australian goodness as you can see below.

How do you think I did?

Received items from the lovely Fairlight. I was surprised that the box had this sticker on it:

Why?
I felt that maybe I need to review my packaging strategies after seeing this. I grew up with tree huggers (their words), so what goes on the outside has never been a priority. I was not disappointed when I opened the package up.


Thank you Fairlight. I was so touched especially seeing you were SO pregnant. (Been there done that this year)

Swap 3:Stocking swap
The lovely rhyming twee Leigh. After looking at her blog and flickr, I decided Kinky Boots was a stocking theme. I was DESPERATE to make sure that I made the Christmas deadline (even though we had both agreed to post late) which was made more challenging because of the MOVE. No photos to show you. Not until Leigh has confirmed that she has received her swap. That will be another post.

On the move front, bansai, I have sorted the stuff. Now all I have to do is survive a housing inspection on Tuesday morning (sigh, more cleaning tomorrow) and a solo flight with a 9 month old pixie monkey on Wednesday night.

Sigh. Just viewed the blog. Hmm the flickr photos did not load. Troubleshooting anyone??

Introductions

Hello world are you ready for me??

I intend this blog to be mainly about my crafty/sewing endeavours and not really about my family or family life. But I guess that sometimes the two will collide.

Ahh about the blog title. May be it gives a hint about my sense of humour. But the name is deliberate. It comes from a very interesting girl in my mothers' group. I like to make clothes and 'stuff' for my little girl (her user name is Niko Niko or Nii-chan). Well one day at mothers' group one of the mum's commented on how nice the outfit I had made was. The interesting one's response was, "So What!" I don't think she meant to say it so everyone could hear, there was a pregnant pause, then my sense of humour set in, I thanked her for a fantastic craft blog name. Her response? "Mcspannar (my user name), wouldn't it be lovely if we could all live in the same universe as your mind?" It was a brilliant idea and I was trying to diffuse a situation.

But it is a good name. It could cynical or positive. Just a matter of perspective. However, be warned I have a very British even Monty Python-esque sense of humour.

We'll have to see how much blogging and sharing I will be able to do in the next few months... See being the procrastinator that I am, I have started a blog instead of doing the following: clearing out the kitchen, linen cupboard and odd-sods-bods cupboard ready for a move to Singapore; make Christmas presents; pack suitcase for Nii-chan and I (going to Brisbane for Christmas and until a place to live in Singapore is found); and write Christmas. Why not start a blog to share with whoever my adventures in sewing? One has wanted to do this for awhile now (and there has been behind the scenes encouraging), but Stingy (darling hubby's user name, you'll find out why in due time...) is out tonight tripping the light fantastic at a work related function and here I am at home.... Procrastinate now! Anyhow I am having real sewing withdrawal symptoms. As depicted below.


Even though I will miss my apartment, and my current sewing space as depicted above (cramped but I have had fun in it), haunts and favourite fabric stores, Singapore here I come. With a short sojourn in Brisvegas thrown in with Donnie and Happy (parents user names).

Nite all, really do need to do some more stuff sorting...

Ps Chara, is my 'studio' a bigger disaster site than yours before it had a 'fall' clean??