More time to do nothing

Now that I'm laid up at home I have more time to do little things - even though it takes me a lot longer to do things because I have to move around so slowly. Anyway, yesterday I made some almond and cinnamon tea cakes and baked them in the silicon heart muffin pan that my mom sent me from America. They turned out delightful so I decided to take a little picture of them - they are displayed on a vintage napkin/serviette that my sister bought for me in Seattle.

And you better believe I enjoyed those tea cakes with a nice hot cup of Masala Chai with a little bit of sugar and milk. Lovely!

Ouch!

One year ago Cam and I moved to Melbourne Australia and to mark this monumental occasion I celebrated by hurting my back, getting a ride to the hospital in an ambulance, and being admitted to the hospital for overnight observation. Long story short - ouch! Cam has been very diligent in helping me around the house and even brought home a lovely bouquet of my favorite flowers - Lilies!! Did you know that I have a tattoo of a lily on my arm? I like them that much.

I'm laying low and trying to get better. I've got lots of time to watch SNL, read some books, and knit. In a few days time I should be well enough to go back to work (bummer).

Here's a pic of my Get Well flowers on our dresser next to a photo that I had printed for Cam for our 3rd wedding anniversary (a couple weeks ago) - the photo was taken a month after we were married (we look so young!).

Latest Market

Magnus and Mathilda is a collaboration between myself and my good friend Louise - some lovely things for kids and for the kids at heart. Check out our etsy shop here. I sell my cushions through Magnus and Mathilda too, but I have a separate etsy shop here.

Louise and I had fun at our 2nd market last weekend in Yarra Glen. We met some lovely folks and people were very excited to see us there. We are going to try and do some more markets closer into the city next year. Here are some photos of our stall at the Yarra Valley Food, Wine, and Craft market.

Nice buttons!

As you probably already know I love to recycle and reuse different items and make them into re-visioned works of art. So I made some little ornaments for the tree in the guest room from recycled cardstock and Juniper wood buttons I bought in Estonia. The cardstock came from a "fat quarters" of fabric that I bought and I've been saving them up for something useful.

I made a heart template and traced a heart onto each of the pieces of cardstock I had

I sewed a straight stitch around the perimeter of the heart with red thread

And hand-sewed the buttons to the cardstock heart. I sewed the buttons instead of gluing them on because after Christmas is over I want to reuse the buttons for something else. I can simply cut the thread and the buttons will come off easily

Then punched a hole with a hole-punch and thread a piece of yarn through the hole

Voila! Recycled loveliness

Disaster zone

I've been working like crazy getting ready for the market this weekend and getting ready for Christmas that I had neglected the cleanliness of my workspace. I really can't stand a messy space for long.

So in an hour it went from this...

to this...

and Yes those are nicely wrapped Christmas presents - just waiting for some

cute gift tags from our Magnus and Mathilda shop.

On the wall I hung the apron that I use when we're at the markets (I made it from IKEA fabric) . It's on the cutest hook from Zakkaya in Melbourne and also features a

toadstool ornament from my etsy shop.

Here's a fresh to-do list of things that I need to get done before the weekend. To fasten the list together I used a bird clip from Lark.

New Matryoshka

I found some amazing remnant tweed fabric the last time I was at the remnant shop and decided to make a Matryoshka (Russian nesting doll) cushion out of it. It features three matryoshka dolls in polka dot cotton with three different expressions on their faces - hand embroidered by me. On the backside of the cushion is a love heart in red polka dot cotton fabric. This is a big oblong cushion that is just divine to cozy up with.

It will be up for sale at the craft market this weekend. I hope this little diddy goes home with someone special ♥

To market I go

I'm doing another market this weekend. Come along if you're in the area!!

Birdie

I sold a Birdie cushion last week at the market and realized that these little birdies are still as popular as ever - and I'm glad because I love them! New Birdie cushion in my etsy shop.

Market success

My lovely friend Louise (and partner in crime with our little side business called Magnus and Mathilda) and I did our first market this weekend. It was wonderful to see our creations come to life and all of it looked so different set up and decorated instead of laying in bunches in my spare room. We met some lovely people and got a lot of good feedback. We're doing another market this weekend - it should be packed! I'm really surprised that my little mushroom ornaments were selling like hot-cakes. I'll be making more for this weekend's market and some NEW little goodies.

Here are some photos of us and our stall. Our etsy shop will be up and running on Monday - we're taking a little break :o)

this little Piggy went to market...

... that's right, I'm going to be selling my wares at a craft market. When? This Friday. See photo for details. All those in the Melbourne area come and see me!!