socks - part two

Here's a little pic of my sock monkeys before I packed them up to send, I'm sure they'll all be good friends by the time they make it to Wellington!

socks

I first heard about the The Great Sock Monkey Challenge on Melissa's blog - Tiny Happy. The idea struck a chord with me, I like the idea of crafting for charity or for where there is a need, rather than trying to make a profit (not that I'd know what a "profit" looked like!). I think there is something really special about sharing skills and taking the time out to do something for someone else, especially if it's for sick children!

Several long months ago miss E and I found a sock monkey kit in our local Salvation Army store. It was unused and came with everything, including rainbow socks, poly fill and cottons and a needle too. I'd planned to do it together with miss E but we had never got a round to it. That was all we needed to get started! Once I realised how easy they were to make there was nothing stopping me, except a lack of socks!

I found an assortment of kids socks at my local JK kids outlet store - 6 pairs for under $5 - bargain!

Over the past few weeks I've been stitching little arms and ears on here and there and now I've got 6 finished all ready to send away. I'm waiting for this rain to clear before taking a photo of the menagerie! But above is one of the first ones that I finished.

You don't have to actually make monkeys to help out, you could donate socks, buttons or sewing cotton and poly fill too.

If you want more details you can find out all you need to know on the Facebook page here:  The Great Sock Monkey Challenge.

Fabric-a-brac Auckland!

Have you heard? There is going to be a Fabric-a-brac event here in Auckland! I've decided to have a stall and clear out some of my fabric stash. It will be mainly vintage, thrifted finds. I've got a rather large collection *blush* and it's time to let some go! Yes I will be brave!!! I've got brand new vintage sheets, some lovely woollen blankets, vintage scarves, other lovely fabric and vintage trims too!  So Aucklanders I'd love to see you there!

thanks

Today I'm feeling thankful for a number of things.Things like:
Activities that cost little and entertain for a long time (and big thanks for pinterest in helping find such activities)
For sunny Winter days and going for neighbourhood walks on such sunny days
Easy, yummy and quick recipe
Not worrying too much about the mess these "holiday" kids are creating ( I can clean later right?)
A warm and cosy home and electric blankets!

bubble snakes!

These holidays have been cold and the kids have been getting over some winter time bugs, so lots of outdoor play hasn't been high on our to do list. I remembered this idea from pinterest - you can find the pin here. I didn't have any small drink type bottles to try it with, but I did have some empty milk bottles. It worked really well and the kids had a great time playing away, out the window! Yip it was still a bit cold for them this morning. I'm sure it would work lots better if you did have a smaller "juice" type bottle as it took quite a big breath to make a "bubble snake" with the big milk bottles, also with a smaller bottle you could use a rubber band to hold on the towel rather than the tape that I used. That would make it a reusable bubble maker . I will make some of these again over the summer months I'm sure the kids will enjoy them again.

blue I'm blue

I've got that 60's song stuck in my head today "blue I'm blue, heartache on heartache ...." I'm not that blue really but the sky certainly is here today. It's a super dark inky blue and it's the prettiest thing.

It's been a long absence from this space, we've had around two weeks of internet problems, a new modem, a changed phone line and lots and LOTS of calls to our service provider later (fingers crossed and touching all the wood I can) I think we've got it sorted.

I've been on a bit of a go slow lately, I didn't apply for the Auckland art and craft fair this time around, I just didn't have the heart (well desire really) to do all that crafting. But now I'm kind of wishing that I had, it's probably just what I needed - a deadline. I don't work well just meandering along, I've always worked better under pressure and having a deadline. I'm thinking I might have to start creating some deadlines of my own to get motivated!

Over the weekend I did have a chance to do some dyeing of some super soft merino. It was my first attempt and I'm pretty pleased with the results - although there is plenty of room for improvement! The photos aren't so great due to the "inky" sky hanging around today, but once I've spun it all up I'll take some more.

Hopefully I'll be back here tomorrow, sharing some other things we've been up to in my absence!